A beautiful homage and fiery bodily fluids

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I just watched this trailer the other day and holy shit this looks amazing. As far as I can tell it will be a black and white silent film. I probably just lost more than half of the audience by saying "black and white silent film" (Go watch Transformers 3 and Step Up 3D). It has been making waves at the Cannes Film Festival.

It is about a silent movie star, George Valentin, who wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause his career to die. It seems like it may borrow from the life of famous silent film star, Rudolph Valentino. Along the way he meets Peppy Miller, an up-and-coming dancer about to get her big break.

I am already really excited to see this movie. Doing a movie like this is really ballsy. I love it because it is something different and creative. It relies on core basics of what every movie should rely on; story, plot and acting. As an audience, we have lost that due to flashy eye candy...explosions, slow-mo, 3D, and over use of CGI/special effects.

Another reason to love this movie is it is a period piece. I find history and where we come from very fascinating. It it is fun to watch a time like this to be recreated in a movie. Also, who doesn't like a good love story?

Another way this trailer sold me was with the music it used. I absolutely LOVE film scores, not soundtracks that features today's "hot" artist that play in the movie. It is music written specifically for the movie that uses orchestral and instrumental pieces. I am specifically referring to the music used towards the end of the trailer. Music in movies really carry and help define the feel of the movie. Scores are really something that can go hand and hand with a movie or totally just stand on it's own as a great work of art. There are a lot of god awful movies out there with amazing scores that I love.

Every year I probably have less than a handful of movies I am excited for to come out. This is one of them. It is a beautiful homage on so many levels. I await it's release on November 23rd.

I am a huge advocate of rottentomatoes.com. I find their rating system pretty on point with how good a movie is. I'm talking about the tomatometer, not the moron audience who don't really know what they are talking about. So if you enjoyed 2007's Ghost Rider, than you probably enjoyed Daredevil. They were directed by the same guy.

Well let's flash forward to today. Ghost Rider 2 is going to be released in 2012. I'm not even surprised anymore when I see this kind of garbage. I watch the trailer and I am sitting there in silence not believing that this movie was actually made. So I try to be fair and give the movie a chance and I look up the directors to see what they have done in the past. Let's see, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor directed Crank, Crank: High Voltage, Gamer and they wrote Jonah Hex. Holy shit, at that moment I knew what movie I would be covering next.

Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider is back. This time he is in Eastern Europe to stop the devil from taking human form. The trailer starts by using music from "The Island" score, which a TON of trailers use today. From there awesome Nicolas Cage-ness begins to ensue. Oh, Nic Cage. He is one of those actors that I love to hate to love to hate (no typo there). If you are not familiar with The Nicolas Cage Matrix, please allow me to introduce it to you.

As I was watching this trailer and taking screen shots for the blog, I noticed how bad ass they have made Ghost Rider look. That's all though. It just looks cool. Like I said above, just flashy eye candy. Also, don't forget about the clangy rock music to get your blood flowing with the bad assness that is this cool looking trash of a movie.

Johnny Blaze will continue to battle his inner demons as he takes on the dark lord himself! Let me leave you with some actual dialogue from the movie:

I'm not afraid of you...

Well you should be....

In 2012, Ghost Rider will puke and piss all over you...can't wait.

Hurricane...more like bore-icane

So I'll keep the bloggy part of the blog less bloggy. Let's just start by saying that I have been drinking. The hurricane was coming to rock our world. So I was like "Shit, might as well stay in and drink some dranks". Thus far it doesn't seem that crazy. But by the time it seems like it isn't that bad, I'm already not ok to drive anywhere. So I might as well keep it going.

As I was typing, Wedge rolled up against my leg and started acting like a cute cat

Lemme tell you about Wedge the cat. He's a cat. He is my roommate's cat and I love him as much as I can love a cat. He reminds me of my cat Tigger who died many a year ago. Adam (my roommate) gets weird to the fact that I take pictures of him and love a cat that is not mine. He is a cat of convenience. I rarely need to feed him or watch him. I get to enjoy the perks of him being cute as fuck.

So I am ready for a the fall season. I have things in the works I'm looking forward to. The one thing that has been a drag since leaving the restaurant world is that my social circles have dramatically shrunken to a very small amount of people. I'm tired of it and want that to change. I have this new thing called the Friends Outreach Program. I want to meet new people or get to know friends I don't know that well. So I have numerous different events planned for the future. I went to my friend's birthday brunch last week at Beacon's bar and grill and it was AWESOME! Unlimited mimosa is a fun shit show. So I would like to do that as often as possible. Also, through another friend, they have a bus service thing that does bar crawls and wine tours. That sounds like a lot of fun to me. Bar crawls will be cool but I feel like wine tours will be a lot more fun. Working in the restaurant industry and getting older has definitely helped me develop my wine pallet. So I am totally game for anything...

On with the show!

I was all ready to do the rest of the blog but then I played Xbox and ate a sandwich. Now I'm really full and tired. Fuck you, Irene. You messed up my weekend.

Next time I will have these movies for you! Watch the trailers and be ready for a discussion! 

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Rirruto?

Next week classes begin again. I'm happy to say that it is my last year of undergrad. JESUS....finally. It will have only taken ten years! Go me! No, but really. I blame the high school me for getting into several fender benders. That in turn led to me getting my own car insurance with Progressive at 17/18. Geico would have otherwise cancelled my parent's coverage if I didn't get dropped off their plan. So when my insurance was at $550/month, that was when my Dad thought it would be a great time for me to start getting a job. Cue: the restaurant world. Not before working at Famous Footwear for three months...which SUCKED. The highlights of that job was: 1. Discounted shitty shoes 2. Accidentally giving away a kid's shoes to other customers while his mom was looking for new shoes to get him. After his shoes "magically" disappeared, she didn't get anything after all and he walked out of the store in his socks. Not one of my finer moments. 3. Absentmindedly putting a customer's check back into their bag, giving them free shoes 4. Being soooo bored that we got into the first aid kit and wanted to see what smelling salts smelt like (a kick to the face) and 5. Making a rubber band ball the size a softball.

At the time my sister was working at Macaroni Grill and said how amazing the money was. So that's where I went. The rest is kind of history and has blown by at an extremely scary rate. Nine years and two restaurants later, here we are. In a way serving tables is addicting. It is quick money and hanging out with people who mainly just wanna party all the time. It definitely was a huge learning experience in many different ways. The server employee turnover rate is generally pretty high. So when you stay in one place for a while, you meet a WIDE spectrum of individuals. I have met a lot of people I am still keep in touch with today because I think they are good people. So when you are living out of the nest for the first time and making just enough to pay rent/bills, travel and have a good time, school doesn't really seem that high of a priority to you. Just to make the parents happy, you take a class here and there, skip a semester, take another class here and there, skip a semester...etc. Friends start graduating college and you are like "Oh shit. It's ok though. I won't be that far behind." Then you kinda just get comfortable for a while with the server lifestyle. I'm a patient person so I can do the same redundant shit for a while. Well after that while, shit got redundant. Then you kinda freak out and ask yourself what the fuck you are doing with you life. I eventually woke up and started to get the ball rolling for real with school. So after reminding yourself that the serving gig was supposed to be temporary, having a quarterly life crisis, dating certain individuals who helped you strive to do better for yourself and getting your shit in order, you finally see the academic finish line. Better late than never, right? Sure.

Back to school...back to school...to prove to Dad that I'm not a fool.

So like I said, it's the last year of undergrad. I already can't wait for it to be over. Before I know it, this year will blow by like all the others. I can't say that I regret the way I have gone, but part of me always wanted to do the four year college life experience. That's not to say that I haven't met plenty of amazing people, have a lot of fun stories to tell and done my fair share of partying. Things have really turned around for me in the last year and half in regards to school and finding a legit bomb job that I will be able to transition into a more serious role once I graduate. So I couldn't be happier about that. So I guess this is the home stretch for school. That is until grad school comes along. I'm totally not opposed to the idea of going back to school since my job does pay for you to go.

On with the show!

Underworld: Awakening 3D

A quick note about 3D. Kill me already. They are really shoving 3D down your throat and it does not wow me at all. It was cool for two seconds. I've been over it since Avatar. Give me more IMAX movies and less 3D. I will pay $15 for IMAX, not for 3D. I dislike it but I know those who HATE it and for good reason. I need to post my friend Scott's article he did on 3D for a Thai newspaper he reviews films for. He covers it nicely.

You don't even need the 3D glasses. It is painfully obvious when they are adding in the effect.

So a terrible movie series these days isn't complete unless it's (hopefully) last installment is in 3Deee-eee-eee (echoing). Wait a second. This is the 4th movie but it has "3D" in the title? That is a little misleading. I was under the impression that 3D implied that it was the third movie in the series and it was in 3D! See how they did that? Clever marketing, guys. Whatever. The third one did have Rhona Mitra instead, so that doesn't count. Side note: She is arguably WAY hotter than our girl Kate.

"Phew! Thanks guy, for conveniently having all my clothes here for me to put back on just in case I happen to get out!"

So fortunately for us, Underworld is making sure we get some more awesome vampire 3D action. You know how much we need more vampire movies right about know. Kate Beckinsale has always been very hot. Especially compared to Bella. You could stand up a cardboard cut out of her and no one would know the difference in her acting.

The first one was barely cool, the second was god awful, and I barely remember the 3rd it was so bad. All I remember was that Bill Nighy got his face sliced off by helicopter blades. This one is going to be terriblerest of them all. Actually, that isn't true. The third was REALLY bad. I won't hold my breath though. Underworld has always been very matrixy. I mean come on that is so 1999 and sooo passé.

I'll admit, a hot girl in tight leather who is firing multiple guns at once is always very hot. Good thing she didn't do it that much in the last three movies... 

Uh oh, everyone! It's a fish out of water story for the hot vampire who thought she knew the world she lived in. Now watch as she tries to make heads or tails of her new crazy life. Let's hope she gets to bang the werewolf again! Tune in tonight at 9 on the WB!

On another side note directed towards the people who make movie trailers: Can we really stop with this extremely over used Adobe After Effects effect. Where some 3D object is spinning in the background with text in the foreground. Who was the first trailer to do this? X-Men? Resident Evil? It is probably just me but when you see the same thing over and over again in trailers, it just takes away from the fun. It also really categorizes the type of movie you are going to be watching...and I don't mean that in a good way.


Have your world end a little bit early in 2012 in...Underworld 4...er..3D!

Nice to meet you. I'm Autumn.

Note: This is my first time making my own .gifs (animated images). I made them larger than I should I have. They may take a moment to load. They are optimized for Chrome, so in any other browser they may seem to go faster or slower than they should.

At a certain point, you stop feeling bad about how things didn't go your way and are out of your control. I think you really get to know someone when you are no longer their friend. You see their good and bad side. When you get to see both sides that is when you really know what that person is really like. Then again, what can you expect from younger aged individuals? That's not meant to be a slam, it is just the truth. Not to say I'm some wise old sage. I just like to think I have more of a perspective than those younger than myself. I'm sure some could argue that point. That is the thing though. It is not that they are childish or an immature person. They are just young minded. They just do what is right for them without really thinking about the ripple effect. You hope that somewhere down the line they gain that experience and perspective to see that they did stupid shit when they were younger.

There are those out there that can do a good job of not showing how they really feel about something. They get a deep cut on their finger. Instead of getting stitches on that finger, they just cut off the hand so they don't have to deal with the finger anymore. Tossing things under the rug and leaving them in limbo to never think about is not really a logical resolution. That does not work in the real world. Running away from your problems just gives you a false sense of security. Not to say that people run away from all their problems. Only the ones they can't control. That's what it comes down to; control.

There are a million reasons why people act the way they do. It could be how they were raised, treated as a child, things that happened in their life...etc. Going from general to specific, someone could be very good at their academic and professional career. While it is does take work, you can control how well you do in that aspect. You know for a fact if you do A, B, and C, then X, Y, and Z will happen. It is good to be brought up to be a hard worker and how to be successful in the business world. After a while though, it becomes a problem when that IS your life. When stress is your number one enemy, you make things way more difficult for yourself than they ever need to be. At the same time, it is that double edge sword. It pushes you to do your best and get results...in the business/academic world. You know what the end result will be. In your social life though, you are not always in control of what stressful situations come your way. Depending on the event, you don't know what the outcome is going to be nor do you know how to effectively deal with it on the social level. So you totally shutdown and toss it to the side. When you can't effectively interact with people outside a business element during stressful times that cause you to buckle and shutdown, that may point to some signs that some key social elements were never really learned as they grew up. It gets to the point to where they begin to talk to people like they are a job interview. After a while they are better at being a business professional than someone who can effectively socialize with someone when times are rough. I digress back to cutting off hands.

This is not meant to be some way of bashing. I'm sure it makes me sound bitter because a friendship wasn't able to continue. I still am in a way. I'd like to think that is only natural. It is just my way of trying to make sense of why people do the things that they do. After a while I'd like to say that you get to know someone pretty well. In that time you are able to observe how someone is and can be. In the end, when there were more bad moments than good you wonder if it all was worth it. I like to focus on people's positivity more than their negativity. We are all fucked up in our own way. I'm the last person to try and judge anyone. I think it was worth it.

 I thought I would add this because even though it is only several seconds long, it is my favorite of the whole movie. It is beautifully shot with the lighting and rain.

I recently watched (500) Days of Summer. I hadn't seen it in some time. It is definitely worth checking out. It is one of my favorites in it's genre. I'm fucking cheesy and sappy as all hell but I found it appropriate and somewhat relevant to the blog today. Plus I wanted to give you some eye candy since I'm boring the hell out of you with this actual BLOG. Haha....sorry.

Next Time:

Going out tomorrow to get wastefaced. Haven't done that in some time. Should be a good old time. Looking forward it.

As you've noticed I have adopted these animated gifs. I am quite enjoying them and did go a little overboard with geocities-ing/myspacing this blog. It's a fun way to keep it interesting, especially since we discuss movies here....for the most part.

I'm spent after this blog and it should not be any longer than it already is. I'll have some movie goodies for you next time. I promise. I was thinking 50/50 and Conan (even though it comes out tomorrow). We'll see. Night all.

Cheers, my droogs!

This will probably be my laziest post ever but whatever. I was gonna start today's blog but I'm gonna go out for some drinks instead. Be back soon I hope.

This is what you'll say once I get back to it.

13,000 Ways to die and Jason Bourne's mentally challenged stepson

Today was a beautiful day. It was great. This is one of the early tastes of fall and signs that summer is ending. It wasn't too hot and it carried a nice cool breeze. Where was I to enjoy it? Oh, you know. I was having my DNA broken down my sun rays, napping and brainstorming today's blog. I'm soakin' it up, man. No pun intended. School starts soon and I can only do this for a couple more weeks.

I feel like I say this every so often but I LOVE my job. I am really lucky to have landed it via GMU. I work for Military Sealift Command. I work at MSC HQ in their IT department at the Washington Navy Yard (right next to nats stadium). I've met a lot of great people there (Archie Stock). This is a HUGE opportunity for me and I am getting tons of experience, training and certs in various things. I'm not gonna dive into who they are and what they do but if you actually care to see check it here: http://www.msc.navy.mil/

Today was a really great day at work. A guy I work for is taking me under his wing and is getting me hooked up with more training and upping my workload. He really wants me to get involved with his projects. That, the nice day and the great lunch I had with my coworkers is what really topped off my work day. Speaking of which, the lovely lady summer interns who I have really enjoyed getting to know are heading back to NY for school. So they will definitely be missed without a doubt. I will see them soon when I go to NY in several weeks to visit them and other friends. 

On a somewhat more serious topic, I am going to harpers ferry on Sunday with friends for various fun activities. Out of those friends is a someone who I really haven't spoken with in like 7 months. There are a lot of reasons why we stopped talking. I'm not going to get into that here. I have no doubt that everyone will have a fun time and it will be a great day. Nonetheless, it has been on my mind all week and I'm quite apprehensive about it. The whole affair has weighed quite heavily on me for sometime now. I'm sure I am not the only one who has abruptly drifted apart from a friend. Especially one that you meshed well with and had a lot of good times with. It also can be a difficult scenario when those not speaking are related to the same family/friends social circles. I'm assuming that the individual is impartial one way or the other. In any case, it will be a fun day and at the very least we all will have fun as a group. That's all that matters. Right?

ANYWAY...

I know! I'm sorry!

On with the show...

Ouch! Is he ok?!

Ok, I'm starting with the good movie here and leaving the best for last. Before I dive in here, "terri-great" is a movie phrase I coined a long time ago. The movie is so terrible that it is great. This and all the Final Destination movies fall beautifully into this category. This movie is good because it is a horror movie that does NOT take itself seriously. Those my friends, are the best kinda. Please allow me to demonstrate with a few examples:

BBQ Death     Bus Death     Glass Death

If you really are feeling like a champ then here is ALL of the Final Destination deaths.

The first Final Destination came out in 2000. In my opinion, this series is the father of SAW. Saw is the fucked up way-over-the-top gory violent son who wanted to outshine his daddy. Final Destination is right at the top without going over it. These are disgustingly silly deaths that are awesome. I mean really, I would love to be on this morbid think tank team that came up with this stuff (SAW movies included). I wanna watch them brainstorm up these ideas. You have to be pretty sick to come up with the deaths that occur in these movies. More so SAW but these are pretty nasty as well. Like water getting into your computer monitor and exploding glass shards fly into your neck. Then while bleeding out, you crawl to get the phone that is on the counter. So you reach for the kitchen towel to drag it down to you, only to have 17 kitchen knives drop into your chest. I mean I could go on all day (I refer back to the all death scenes link). It is the same regurgitated plot BUT with all brand new awesome deaths.

I'd be upset too if boiling liquid tar spilled all over Champ Kind

THAT is why it will be good. It will scratch your morbid sense of curiosity to watch how all these poor kids will die. While they are dying, you will be laughing, wincing and involuntarily covering your body parts that are being pulverized on screen. This will definitely be one of the many terri-greats that are out there today.

I am quite excited to get down on this one. This movie is actually one of the main reasons I started this blog. A simple facebook post will just not cut it. Two things before I start: 1. I am ashamed to admit I know this reference, but Team Edward peeps, this isn't for you! 2. A friend of mine came up with a perfect name for him; smushface. So for the sake of typing Taylor Lauter's name over and over. I will be calling him smushface.

Even though I said I'd call him smushface, I can't help but think about Sealab 2021's squishface. I may use them both interchangeably.

Oh, man. Where to begin? This movie is like a tame and really, really, really bad story plot of WANTED/Bourne Identity, except he doesn't have the genetics of a hit man or a trained CIA agent that forgot who he was. Hell, that may even be the case. I'll never see this so I don't know. Somehow though, he's a fucking bad ass out of nowhere and can thwart off people trying to get him. 

Oh ok, thanks trailer 2 for the establishing shot of how he can take on the world.

Thanks to his "Dad" and the badass training, he is able to perform Jean-Claude Van Damme round house kicks, jump out of speeding cars, try to pull a Tom Cruise on a motorcycle, defeat trained men in hand-to-hand combat, dodge bullets, slide away from sniper fire and perform extremely poor Jason Bourne acrobatics. This is just from the trailers, people. Mario Bello and Ripley also star in this to prove that they have no careers left. Do I really need to go on? Oh and one more thing....

EXPLOSIONS!!!!

And...

MATT DAMON LOVE SMUSHFACE!

 Hopefully you already watched the first trailer. Catch the second trailer as well so that you can totally soak in the god awfulness. Enjoy.