Rack Focus: Review: The Artist
As I live in Los Angeles, I am an avid listener to the hilarious Kevin & Bean Show in the mornings on KROQ 106.7 FM. This past Tuesday, Kevin was complaining about The Artist, this year’s apparent frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards. Not only does our man Kevin dislike the film, but he has gone as far as to call it “utter BS.”
He has, of course, made up his mind having never seen the film, under the guise that it is for hipsters and intellectuals. They’re all wrong, but we’re going to circle back to that.
In the meantime, let me explain a little bit about The Artist. Here we have a silent film about the silent film era, specifically focusing on the transition into the talkies. Many silent film stars lost their livelihood when sound came along, and more than a few ended their lives when they were told their careers as movie stars were over. Those who could afford to reinvent themselves did just that, and such is the path of our protagonist, George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), a Frenchman who has spent his career singing and dancing and emoting without the aid of words. When sound hits the street, his success hits the skids, and he’s left to navigate the ways of filmmaking with only his faithful dog and his faithful driver (James Cromwell). Continue reading “Rack Focus: Review: The Artist”
A Story About Bailey
Here is a short narrative I wrote. It’s about my dog. It’s sad. It actually won the Pulitzer Prize, so…it has that going for it.
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I once heard a saying from someone who believed that, uncompromisingly, women fantasize about being rescued, and men fantasize about being the rescuers. I can’t attest to the statement’s ubiquity, but when I was young, this belief, in part, held to be true.
Looking back now, it’s almost alarming the amount of time I conjuring up ludicrous scenarios in which I could step in, the valiant white knight, and save my distressed damsel from whatever catastrophes descended upon her. Maybe this urge stemmed from a desire to be noticed, recognized for my feats of bravery, and then appreciated thereafter. Of course, I know now that it’s a false way of thinking, to protect someone out of selfish intentions. At the time, it all seemed the same to me. Continue reading “A Story About Bailey”
At the Buzzer (02/02/12)
Episode 30: All the Boys, They Call Me Macarena — The guys attempt to break down the Super Bowl, use Lawrence Fishburne as an allegory for relationships, and manage to find common ground in a heartwarming Buzz Off. Also, Chris recounts … Continue reading At the Buzzer (02/02/12)
Dunk You Very Much
I jumped up as high as I could, stretched my arm out as far as I could, and by mere inches I got that tennis ball up and over the rim.
That’s the closest I’ve ever come to doing the coolest thing one can do on a basketball court: dunking. I was 15 years old and on my JV basketball team in high school. While many attempts of dunking an actual basketball were made (I once got a women’s ball in, but it couldn’t have been called a dunk), I never hit that point. Now, 12 years later, my chances of dunking on a 10-foot hoop are pretty much shot.
Monday night, Blake Griffin showed the world once again that he’s some sort of inhuman basketball monster. His dunk over Kendrick Perkins sent the basketball world (and me) into a frenzy. That got me to thinking something that has been debated many times over the years: What are the 10 best dunks of all time? Continue reading “Dunk You Very Much”
Going the Distance 013: Go Fish
Don’t spend too much time thinking about this one logistically. Just go with it. In Going the Distance, our main character, “You,” has to manage to make his way to delicious cake. Sounds simple, right? But there are deadly spikes to deal with, and a host of other problems that appear each time. Let’s just say You fails more often than You succeeds. After all, it wouldn’t be much of a quest if You could just get cake whenever You wanted, would it? For more background on the comic or info on how to submit your own ideas, click here. Continue reading Going the Distance 013: Go Fish
Number Two with a Bullet
Sometimes you oversleep and you wake up and realize that you have a post to put up.
See, I got a new pillow-top mattress lately. And while the jury is still out on whether it’s good for my back or not, the fact remains that I’ve been sleeping way more soundly for the last week or so. That’s good.
Unfortunately, it also means I’ve blown through my alarm a couple of times. And when you’re the person responsible for putting up essentially every single thing on the site, that’s when mistakes happen.
So instead, here’s a bulleted list of little things that have been on my mind recently: Continue reading “Number Two with a Bullet”
Career and Life
People’s capacity for settling is staggering.
I’m no exception. My entire life has been one of stark contradiction, dictated by both faceless society and those closest to me. Their words, telling me to stop at nothing to pursue what makes me happy and reach the depths of my potential, and yet their actions and reflected beliefs conditioning me to place no priority higher than that of reaching certain goals as deemed appropriate by the general public’s conventional wisdom. To reach a socially acceptable end, regardless of the means. Attaining goals for the goals sake.
When I chose to get an English degree, I inherently made an entire series of decisions that would seal the next seven years of my life. After all, law was the next logical progression; not because I particularly liked (or even cared about) the field, but because I was told by family/friends/society that it was the only really viable career possible with my area of study. I didn’t forge ahead and take a chance, because I couldn’t possibly conjure that route as a possibility. How could I? Much like the idea of “censored vocabulary” explored in George Orwell’s 1984, if a thought process or idea is foreign to you or completely absent altogether, it’s difficult to formulate those thoughts on your own.
So instead of forging ahead, taking chances, and finding what it was I really loved, I took the safe track and settled for the choice that was put in front of me by everyone but myself. The world told me it’s better to spend your life wondering “what if” then to actually find out for yourself and deal with whatever consequences await. Continue reading “Career and Life”
At the Buzzer (01/26/12)
Episode 29: World’s Greatest Unsolved Mysteries: Mace Windu — The guys discuss a breaking story: Mace Windu may have survived his fall in Coruscant — plus math questions with slavery and top three lists in Buzzcut. Also, Chris can’t seem … Continue reading At the Buzzer (01/26/12)
Running Man
People have been running since the dawn of humanity. Really, it used to be the only possible way to get around. Then we got bikes and horses and cars and Segways, and running got left by the wayside. I was fully guilty of this; I despised running. A treadmill was my nightmare; a run around the neighborhood was pure torture for me. I’m still blown away by the fact that I just ran three miles tonight. For me, the only type of exercise I was able to get was through some sort of sport. Basketball, kickball, softball, golf, racquetball — … Continue reading Running Man
Going the Distance 012: Knowledge is Power
You can do the little jingle and sparkle noise in your head. Or you can click here. In Going the Distance, our main character, “You,” has to manage to make his way to delicious cake. Sounds simple, right? But there are deadly spikes to deal with, and a host of other problems that appear each time. Let’s just say You fails more often than You succeeds. After all, it wouldn’t be much of a quest if You could just get cake whenever You wanted, would it? For more background on the comic or info on how to submit your own … Continue reading Going the Distance 012: Knowledge is Power
