"Dear Mr. Vernon...

...We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for what ever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a movie guy, a writer, a kitty girl, a fashion guru, a comic enthusiast, a journalist, a film lover, a konami kid, a rap star, a knitter, a poker kid, and a tv junkie. Does that answer your question? Sincerely Yours, The Blogosphere"

Don't you forget about me,

Don't Don't Don't Don't

Don't you forget about me....

Where is my mind?

The Pixies were on to something. Umass can make you lose your mind, I have never felt more uninspired to do any work than ever before. Maybe because its so close to the end, oh well. But it gets me thinking...did you ever feel like your life was routine, that it wasn't going to change or get any better or any worse? That it was what it was. What if something happened that forced you to change your life, made you drop what you were doing and start something new. When I think about that, a few movies about life come to mind...

25TH HOUR: A Spike Lee joint about a guy(Edward Norton) who is on his way to jail for the next 8 years, he has only 24 hours left to spend with his family and friends, the final montage at the end was pretty amazing the 1st time I saw it when Norton's father tells him as he's driving his son to jail what his life could be if they just kept driving onward. I won't spoil it anymore but it's a pretty solid movie I thought. Here's a angsty F. U. scene from Norton on the city of New York...








STRANGER THAN FICTION: Something a little more new, maybe you've seen but if not you netflix it or whatever. Harold (Will Farrell) finds out hes a character in a book and more importantly he's going to die in the end. In the routine life Harold lives, he decides to change things around. Same concept, but more lighthearted if your want to see a comedy.






IKIRU: Perhaps one of favorite movies directed by perhaps the greatest Director ever in my opinion, Akira Kurosawa. An old man who lives a quiet routine depressing life finds out he is terminally ill and is going to die. He only has a short time to live and make the most of his final days. Few movies ever get into concepts of the meaning of life but this one handles it nicely. I feel everyone should see this movie at least once. To me, it gets the rare 5 star rating on netflix.









...And why do I bring this all up? because I found out over the weekend mt family wants to move to California which basically means my life changes, for better or worse we shall see....

weapon of choice

D.A.R.E. was a complete waste of time. So was "Requiem for a Dream" or anything else that wants to scare you out of doing drugs. You shouldn't listen to a loved one on the matter, you should be listening to the real people who are looking out for your interests; celebrities. queue up "gimme shelter"...

courtesy of celebguru.com, here's some celeb quotes on drugs...



"I’ve slept with too many women, done too many drugs and been to too many parties. I loved acid when I was at college. It was an escape. I liked mushrooms. They were like easy acid. I did like blow…Blow would dress you up for a party, but never take you there. You’re always like. This is going to be great! Then you’re just depressed."



"The strangest thing I’ve tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father. He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared. "

"My mind seemed to have a huge neon sign in it that blinked nonstop: COKE. GET COKE. So I did. It was great for dieting, partying and picking up my mood."



"I ended up on a shrink’s couch, and he told me to write down how much I did in a week: 20 E’s, 4 grams of coke, six of speed, half an ounce of hash, three bottles of Jack Daniel’s, 12 bottles of red wine, 60 pints."

...and we havent even touched on the Lindsay Lohan's or the Alec Baldwins of the world. Sure Tom Cruise is crazy, but isn't everyone else pretty much. Playing it straight doesn't cut it anymore, if you want to be succesful in the business, you better start re-enacting scenes from "Blow". Don't be afraid of the River Phoenix stories, your invincible my sweetest friend....everyone you know won't go away in the end. Comon you'll be rich, its totally worth it, I promise...

...well qualified to represent the LBC, Me and Louie we're gonna run to the party and dance till the rythem gets harder

The summer time has finally come. The months of May through August means beaches, bbq's and of course blockbuster movies. Here are my top 5 most anticipated summer movies, but first some notables....

The Honorable Mention Trilogies: Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Oceans 13th, The Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 3, Shrek 3




Ladies and Gentleman, after falling of the planet since middle school, the return of Mr. Chris Tucker. Maybe i'll watch Rush Hour on a friday cause i'm gonna get high, I ain't got no job and I ain't got shit to do.




The Sleepers: Hot Rod, The King of Kong, Fanboys, Eagle vs Shark, Rescue Dawn, The Invasion

one thats the new breed of SNL movies, one about donkey kong, one about star wars, one new age indie, one by Werner Herzog, one about aliens...but don't take my word for it, look em up or wait for them in theatres, you'll feel like you found a diamond in the rough.




The Ones I'm Staying Away From: Hostel 2, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hairspray, Mr Beans Holiday

-Eli Roth annoys me, even if he is from my town.
-I wasted 2 hours of my life watching the 1st Fantastic 4 on HBO and I want it back
-I just realized Borat is basically a total ripoff of Mr. Bean except like 1000 times better
- Ok I literally spent 10 minutes trying to sum up John Travolta's crazy up and down career with the punchline being its probably about to be way down with his new movie Hairspray but I couldn't put it into words, I mean just LOOK at this pic...

Oh my god, it's Tom Cruise, Oh my god

and now the TOP 5....

5. Transformers: I can't believe I talked myself into a Micheal Bay movie staring Tyrese and Shia LaBeouf. But comon, its Optimus Prime, its Megatron, it's "Transformers!....robots in disguise!"




4. Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix: I usually go to the movies with friends most of the time but here's one tradition that's been going strong for the past few years. I've seen every Harry Potter movie with my Mom and Sister(who's married) and we'll keep that going until all of them are done. Ahhhh how cute you watch kids movies with your mom ahhhh, great, look at the silly cat




3. Paris, je t'aime: 20 directors and a large cast make up vignettes about the city of love. It includes directors such as the Coen Brothers, Walter Salles, Alfonso Cuaron, Alexander Payne and Gus Van Sant and a cast including Natalie Portman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Elijah Wood, Nick Nolte, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Steve Buscemi to name a few. Sounds amazing.

2. Knocked Up: AKA 40 Year Old Virgin 2 as writer/director Judd Apatow returns with the same cast sans Carrell for another Comedy of awkward love situations. For all you Grey's Anatomy fans this one stars Katherine Heigl

and the #1 movie im waiting for this summer.....






1. The Simpsons Movie: Out of any show in history, The Simpsons might go down as perhaps the greatest of our generation. What other show can remain watchable from age 5 to age 22. They're keeping this plot top secret but who knows, maybe we find out where Springfield is...or not.

...Summertime, and the livin's easy...

My favorite actor

The forgotten ones are just that; Forgotten. He only appreared in 6 movies in his entire lifetime, 5 of them were argueably some of the greatest movies ever made. John Cazale unfortunatly died of cancer at the age of 42 and made a widow of a young Merryl Streep. A native of Boston, John appeared in The Conversation, The Deer Hunter, Dog Day Afternoon and of course The Godfather 1 and 2. You probably know him as Fredo. To me, he's probably my favorite actor.

I wish i could find some video clips but unfortuantly there are none. You can listen to this sound clip and use your imagination. Its the lake house scene in the godfather 2 that starred Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall and Annie Hall herself, and yet John steals the show with probably the best scene in the movie, enjoy.

Note to self,...

....make sure to drive home more often so I can watch more Planet Earth in HD, its awesome.

...pizza makes for fantastic ammo against annoying fans at ballgames

...I think Entourage is slowly but surely jumping the shark

...I can't wait until Vince goes back with Ari and makes meddilin.

...Next time you joke around about throwing your red cup at the chicks face who cut you in line to the bathroom at the party, make sure she can't hear you.

...Buy some of "Jordan's Furniture" furniture cause the sox could definatly go all the way.

...If some bad player raises 6 times the BB, don't go over the top All-In with your 9's, they clearly had KK you idiot.

...Download that song in the ending credits of the last Sopranos episode, need to give that one another listen.

...I'd actually watch "Cleaver"

...Bet on Tony living, just my gut feeling...I hope.

...If your ever on Deal or No Deal, have the courage to say "Deal", $100,000 is a lot of money.

...watching Babel again made me realize for 2nd time around what an amazing movie it is.

...Anna's Taqueria will NEVER get old.

...nothing beats the solo at the end of Freebird, guitar hero rocks.

...Do NOT choose Vince Young in next seasons fantasy draft.

...Celebrate by taking a shot if the C's get a top 2 pick, take a bunch of shots if they don't.

...the next time you have serious writers block, try and write a better blog entry than this.

...more to come

You know how in old westerns, they would say things like "Your alright in my book" or "In my book, your alright", well.....I actually have a book.

I usually just write about movies but lately I've been working on some film projects. I'll get to that in a second. This weekend I saw Grindhouse. A double feature homage to grindhouse cinema by pulp Directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. The two features, Planet Terror(RR) and Death Proof(QT) combined for a 3 hour romp full of deliberate grainy footage, cut scenes and even fake trailers. My favorite by a landslide was Rodriguez's Planet Terror, a classic B-movie zombie flick with a budget. Its full of fun characters and cameos, including Bruce Willis and of course Fergie, who no one can take seriously anymore since Alanis Morrisette shat on her face. It was fun, not to sound like the retarded guy on Howard Stern but, I GIVE IT A 10! On the other hand, Tarantino's Death Proof left me with mixed feelings. I expected more from him, sure it had the good dialogue but kind of lacked a strong story. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't B-movie fun like Planet Terror. If nothing else, check out Grindhouse for the fake trailers, high comedy.


speaking of those that are good and not good in my book, UVC-TV19 is having their 2nd annual film festival April 26th, 7pm in the Cape Cod Lounge. I used to work there for a while until I quit last semester. So consider this my 1st and last shout out to them. If you wanna check out some short films you should come. I actually have my own entry in there that I did with a buddy of mine. He was more the creative force behind it and I was more of a producer. I don't really feel like writing about it so just ask me if your curious.


Oh but the short film fun doesn't end there. Tuesday(before class) and Wednesday i'll be shooting a promo with that same friend for WBUR in Boston. We then have to edit it for our friday deadline. I also have to edit another promo for my Brother-In-laws fundraiser, so hopefully i'll be done with that at some point. Saturday i'll be in Boston acting in my friends film project, you know because i'm a regular combo of Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and John Cusack and all. I'll also be doing some cinematography work for his short film planned for may. And there's more to come i'm sure, so i'll be keeping busy from here on out. And...since i have nothing else to add, here's a hot picture of my new girlfriend...

The secret revealed

I'm sure you all heard of this DVD that's all the rage called "The Secret". But who likes keeping secrets. I recently watched this, so im going to spill all the beans and give you the complete lowdown. I'll do my best to give you every bit of relevant info they say and jumble it all together...

so first off, the secret is.....(drumroll)............



THE LAW OF ATTRACTION.


Now its not attraction in the sense as in "I like you, you like me", it's actual attraction. "think of yourself like a magnet" they say. What you attract will be guided by your thoughts. "Thoughts become things". If your thinking about the dreaded upcoming bill and your debt, your attracting more debt. We can't monitor all our thought so we know this by how we are feeling. If your feeling bad, your probably on a path to feel worse. So in a sense, don't worry be happy. The universe will respond to your thoughts, like a genie "your wish is my command" There is a creative process so to speak. 1. Ask. 2. Believe 3.Revieve. But you really have to believe and feel your going to get what you want. The path to happiness begins with gratitude. Sit there and think about all that is good about your life and appreciate it. When you want something, visualize yourself accomplishing it. Act on inspired thoughts and always focus on prosperity. As an example, don't be anti-warbe pro-peace. If you want tru happiness, focus on your inner joy. Love yourself. You create your own joy. Don't stress. When talking about health think of it this way. When your sick your body is not at ease, it's literally at dis-ease so you have disease, but if you think positivly you can overcome it. Dis-ease cannot live in a healthy mind. If you want success you can have it. Your mind is the key. Man becomes what he wants. Don't think becuase everyone is using the secret that there won't be enough to go around, theres enough for everyone. We are all the same, we are just beings of energy so follow your bliss.


...the end. that's pretty much an hour and half in a nutshell. Do I believe it i don't know. Hmm i'm thinking about not typing anymore, i'm visualizing not typing anymore. I am not typing anymore.

March Madness!

Lets cut right to the picks

1st round upsets: 14 Oral Roberts over 3 Washington St.

12 Long Beach State over 5 Tennessee

11 Stanford over 6 Louisville

13 Holy Cross over 4 Southern Illinois

12 Old Dominion Over 5 Butler

1st round upset special: 15 Texas A&M-CC over 2 Wisconsin

My picks starting with the sweet 16: 4 Texas Over 1 UNC

7 BC over 6 Vanderbilt

1 Ohio St. over 12 Long Beach St.

3 Texas A&M over 7 Nevada

1 Florida over 4 Maryland

7 UNLV over 3 Oregon

1 Kansas over 5 Va. Tech

2 UCLA over 3 Pitt.

Elite Eight: 4 Texas Over 7 BC

1 Ohio St. over 3 Texas A&M

1 Florida over 7 UNLV

1 Kansas over 2 UCLA

FINAL FOUR: 4 Texas over 1 Ohio St.

1 Florida over 1 Kansas

CHAMPIONSHIP: 1 Florida over 4 Texas

Troma Aroma

Quick. What's the worst movie you have ever seen??


...Keep thinking, you can do better than that...




Well regardless, I'm sure any bad film shares at least one thing in common; they were trying to be good.



But what about the other way around, what about a movie studio that had no care in the world how well its films were received, didn't care about oscar nominations, special effects or anything pretentious. What about a movie studio focused on making terrible films that made no sense.


Such a thing actually exists. Troma Studios.


As close as it will ever be at least, Troma Entertainment is a studio (not really, an office in NYC) that devotes itself to making low budget cheap thrill cult horror flicks. They are exploitation shock films showing off as much gore and nudity as possible. It's pretty much the epitome of the "B-Movie". It is the brainchild of Lloyd Kaufman, a Yale graduate who began a legitimate film career after college. Always a quirky guy and upset with people in the industry, Lloyd began making raunchy short films. His claim to fame was the movie, The Toxic Avenger, a comic book type cult film. From there, Troma was officially born and began its true independent glory. Such stars such as Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Costner, Marisa Tomei, Billy Bob Thornton,Trey Parker & Matt Stone and writer/director James Gunn(Slither) have all began their careers in Troma movies. Films like Blood Sucking Freaks, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Cannibal! The Musical, Fat Guy Goes Nutzoid, Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills and the soon to be released Poultrygeist! The Night Of The Chicken Dead are just some of what Troma has to offer.

You see, I first stumble upon Troma when I netflixed something called "Make Your Own Damn Movie" figuring I'd get some insightful advice. It turned out to be a big slap in the face of filmmaking made by Kaufman himself. It was poorly put together and the campy advice made you want Kaufman to eat a pile of toilet paper that you shat on, you know cause, he'd probably be into that sort of thing.


Then again, if anything it gets you thinking. What is filmmaking?, what should movies be? Art or Entertainment? Why should only a select few in Hollywood be monopolizing the business? With most professors, students, critics and the like claiming to talk of an "essence" of film, I mean, isn't all subjective really? So what do you think? What do you look for in your movies? Whats your take?

quiet on the set..take one...lights...camera...

I updated all the crap from my last years experimental class, so now all the class links are current.

Also, some things were said about my blog title which was simply "movies" which i was more than fine with really. But the origin of that came from last years class where we just needed to start a simple blog about 1 thing so everyone just had a bunch of simple titles explaining their place or thing (swimming pools, brooklyn, etc.). But now that we're doing more "serious" blogging, i might as well update it, besides i was getting bored with just "movies" myself and this way, a new title gives me an excuse to blog also about other things. So hopefully this blog will be a lot more bloggy. So here you have it, one mans take on movies and everything else. Action

This is the Zodiac speaking

Some quick things before I give my review of Zodiac:

-I got dragged into going to Hinsdale Greyhound Racetrack to play some Poker, yet a part of me was curious to see what this place was like. My friend and I entered $40 multi-table holdem tourney. The place was literally in the middle of nowhere in a woodsy rundown area of NH. Inside, everyone was the sketchiest sleazeball you've ever seen. Not one other remotely normal person in the house. All the it was missing was Teddy KGB. Brett, I'm sure you already know better, but never EVER go here. Here's a pic of some of the regulars...

still wanna be a poker slut?

Just a downright awful poker experience, the dealers were terrible and incredibly unprofessional, poor payouts and just shitty players in all. I got sucked out on my pocket 9's, oh well. My friend finished in the money and took home 3rd as I sat as far away from anyone and watched TV in a little personal area. Godfather 2 was on so that wasn't so bad. In general, the place is beyond dreadful and I never even want to step foot in NH for as long as I live. I really should have listened to my gut.

But the poker banter doesn't end there. He may or may not write about it yet, but check out Brett's blog for part 2 of his February Tournament he hosted at umass. I played in it and had success. I'm sure I'll get ripped apart by the future cardplayer magazine expert writer himself but what can you do. I admit I'm no expert or anything. I'm trying not to think about poker, and I'm def trying to forget that the A-10 Basketball tourney is in Atlantic City next weekend. You can read about how much I rule/suck here.

-I saw The Prestige on DVD. I like Christopher Nolan but this was just aight I thought. Mainly because I thought it was predictable and knew everything that would happen about 40 minutes in. I don't think I've ever fully enjoyed a twist ending movie in my lifetime.

-I also saw La Battaglia di Algeri, a netflix movie that was collecting dust in my queue for far too long. It was outstanding, it gets the seldom used 5-star rating. The cinematography and editing feels very modern and the issues brought up in the film about war, terrorism and discrimination hold up on point for today. You should really check it out if you have not already. Here's the trailer. It's pretty freakin badass. Oh and take a wild guess who did the music...

Alright on to the review on Zodiac which opened in theaters this past weekend. I was personally amped up about because it was directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Panic Room and of course Fight Club; why aren't more Palahniuk books made into films?) . The film is about the real life event starting in the late 60's surrounding a series of murders in the California bay area by a self proclaimed "Zodiac Killer". It focuses mainly on the employees of the San Francisco Chronicle and the Inspectors in the San Francisco police department. Jake Gyllenhaal plays socially awkward unimportant cartoonist Robert Graysmith at the Chronicle. When the murder of a couple happens, the killer sends a letter to the Chronicle containing a cypher of cryptic codes and written response admitting to the murder. He writes that he will kill again if they don't post his cypher on the front page and leaves himself the moniker "The Zodiac Killer". Chain smoking alcoholic journalist Paul Avery played by Robert Downey Jr. starts writing exclusive columns on the case. Graysmith (Gyllenhaal) slowly becomes obsessed with deciphering the clues and finding the killer himself. The real cops on the case, played by Mark Ruffalo & Anthony Edwards follow the leads as the murders and letters continue. Ultimately it becomes a story of obsession as each man loses grasp of their life trying to find the killer that is outsmarting and patronizing them with clever codes and letters. Here's a cool site that shows those letters.

The film features good performances for its actors all around. I enjoyed Robert Downey Jr., even if he did play himself as a coke sniffing alcoholic. Although not as slick as previous films, the cinematography still does have that Fincheresque quality to it. A few cool shots hover directly over moving vehicles in a Grand Theft Auto type fashion. The film does a good job of exemplifying how hard it is on the cops to find the killer. In a city of panic where everyone believes their neighbor is the the killer, the inspectors have to struggle with sorting out and sharing all the proper information. Clocking in at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the movie is quite long. Too much for some film goers, this wasn't exactly a lord of the rings type movie. My only reasoning is that perhaps Fincher felt it necessary as the film spans over 20 years of long struggle that was the zodiac killer investigation. If your a fan of suspense or horror, the murder scenes serve all sorts of gratuitous violence. In a real life story that is shrouded in mystery, the film does its best at tying all the important aspects of it together while maintaining an entertaining story. If you already know the full story of the Zodiac Killer I'd still recommend it if you liked movies such as Silence of the Lambs or Se7en. If your into real life stories about crazy people then you just might find it fascinating and will make you want to wikipedia the story afterwards and can get you thinking. In fact....I'm pretty sure I ran into that sketchy asshole at Hinsdale. Fuck New Hampshire.

You must be the other guy!

Everyone saw them, everyone wrote about it; the 79th academy awards. A plate of mixed feelings. I'll cut to meat & potatoes.

-There was a moment during the telecast when I uttered "Wow, Pan's Labyrinth is cleaning up" only for them to lose out on the next award for best foreign feature, go figure. The german movie filmmakers must feel like everyone who made Crash last year when they "upset" Brokeback Mountain, a collective we got away with murder feeling.

-I thoroughly enjoyed Ellen Degeneres, I have nothing else to add to that other than, I had the same feeling at the end of Finding Nemo.

-Helen Mirren is a snob.

-Peter O' Toole wanted to look upset, except he permanently has the same bewildered expression on his face.

-It's not an award show without Jack, I just wish it was an award show with his hair

-Somewhere a brooding Dakota Fanning is pacing in front of a tv smoking a cigarette watching an interview of Abigal Breslin.

-Same goes for any actress without an oscar at the sight of Jennifer Hudson.

-I never saw Children of Men, I sort of regret that now.

-How about my boy Ennio! Two people called me to say "Hey thats the guy!", yup thats the guy. How two minutes of speaking Italian translates mainly to just, "He says thank you" is beyond me though.

-Alan Arkin, I liked you since So I married an Ax Murderer, good job.

-Word has come out that Eddie Murphy stormed out after his loss to Arkin, as if he were a serious actor, comon Buckwheat, even Bill Murray wouldn't make Norbit.

-If your in one of those minor catagories with two or three other people, wouldn't you arrange some type speaking rotation for the potential win. Instead someone always hogs the mike. Why do they always wing it?

-speaking of wings, what's everyones favorite flavor?, I ordered Jamaican Jerk and Garlic Parm that night.

-I had a blog entry similar to the one about Morricone on the backburner about Thelma Schoonmaker. I'm planing on doing a few entires on obscure or forgotten filmmaking figures that deserve to be recognized, however Thelma won for her editing in The Departed, and got a ton of praise when she went up to the mic. Did you see Martin Scorsese?, only time of the night he had tears. So that sort of renders that future entry somewhat moot. Oh well. But just take my word for it when I say she IS the best editor ever and is my favorite.

-There isn't a man who knows more about film or loves it more than Martin Scorsese. I find it cool when someone who is more film crazy than i'll ever be gets their due. If I could talk film with anyone for just one day, it would probably be Mr. Scorsese. He's 65 and still as fast talking and enthusiastic as day one. I'm glad he finally won.

Which brings us to the best picture winner The Departed, a film that perfectly captures the city of Boston and its surroundings. It meant a lot to me considering I was born and raised in the city, the metro area. As I got older we progressively moved further west. (Even though im still 20 minutes away). At heart i'm a city boy through and through. Those characters in the movie, I grew up with those people, I know them, I still do. I knew those cops who would stop into my Dad's restaurant. We knew those sketchy guys who lived on the Harbor. We spent sundays at the Hay Market and Faneuil Hall. My uncle is as Irish as they come. I'm not talking New England, or even just Massachusetts, I'm talking about the city itself, it's part of me, Boston. When it comes to crime as the movie depicts, i've seen robbings, car theft and people held at gun point before back in the days of the late 80's, early 90's(Not that the city has ever been completely rampant in crime, it's very safe and nice now, later on the area I grew up in was named the safest city in America). I know the importance of Larry Bird, hell, my parents named me after Kevin McHale. I ran down comm ave with a pats flag when we won our first superbowl. I don't have a thick accent or anything, but it's all the same. I'm absolutely no masshole, I'm Bostonian. There's a difference. Who knew, It took a director who made a living off films based in New York to finally win the big one with a film about Boston. Thanks Marty. And thank you Honk Kong of course for the wonderful original. Ironically I shot a short film in the exact same area way before the films release. Those shots on the rooftop overlooking the harbor are identical. Same type of sky and everything. I remember after seeing the premiere with some friends who live in back bay. We went to the Boston Common theater and after walking out, it was awesome because there we were, right on the set itself. The State house to our right, and a walk back home right through the heart of Chinatown. Wicked awesome.

Ennio Morricone

You've never heard of him, but you've definitely heard him. Ennio Morricone has become Rome's most famous classical music composers to ever come out of the city. Over the past year he has preformed in various European cities and just recently preformed at radio city music hall, his first ever performance in the United States. He has collaborated with such classical stars such as violinist Yo-Yo Ma. Like all good music, his music takes you to another place, puts you in a certain mood. We all know that feeling that comes to all undergrads, whether its blasting Kanye as you pregame, Phish as you smoke, belting out the lyrics to "Red red wine" on your girls night out, "Sweet Caroline" after the sox win, That complicated R.E.M. song on karaoke night. 30 seconds to Mars as you put on your emo clothes, singing along to Led Zeppelin in your car. Or if your anything like my wannabe-gotti sophomore year roomate; cranking Jadakiss at all times and getting written up until you get in trouble with housing services. You get the picture. Music moves people. So what does this have to do with a guy who waves his conductor's wand to an orchestra of people, and more importantly, what does this have to do with movies??

Because Ennio Morricone also just might be the greatest film composer of all time. Here's an example of his work, you may know it...



It all started when he teamed up with Italian director Sergio Leone. These Italian versions of westerns or "Spaghetti Westerns" was born and would go on to become arguably one of the most popular genres in film history. Clint Eastwood would not have a career if it weren't for spaghetti westerns. They were revolutionary for there iconic characters and cinematography. But what made these films truly legendary was the epic music. Morricone being the go to guy on all these films from A Fistful of Dollars to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly to Once Upon A Time In The West. Directors like Quentin Tarantino(Kill Bill) and Robert Rodriguez(Once Upon A Time In Mexico), huge fans of the spaghetti westerns, have even sampled Morricone's music into their work. Here's an example. In my opinion, this is the best scene from Kill Bill: Volume 2, the song used is Morricone's "L'Arena" sampled from the film The Mercenary.



His music is so epic and influential, that films shot and edited their sequences to coincide with Morricone's music. You can see that in the Kill Bill clip from above which even Tarantino would admit to; quote "To me, movies and music go hand in hand. When I'm writing a script, one of the first things I do is find the music...". In Once Upon A Time In The West, Morricone not only completed the films score before shooting was done but he also brought other sound design ideas to the table such as telling director Sergio Leone to use the ambient sound of the land to heighten the drama, an aspect that is now a staple in most spaghetti westerns. Here's another example of all this from one of the dramatic opening scenes of Once Upon A Time In The West. You can just clearly see how all the sound and music from Morricone influences all the other artistic decisions the film presents.



His body of work doesn't just end at Spaghetti Westerns. He's created scores for such acclaimed films as In The Line Of Fire, The Battle Of Algiers, The Untouchables, Malena, Cinema Paradiso, Bulworth, The Mission and Sergio Leone's final film Once Upon A Time In America. He has been nominated five times for the academy award yet never brought home the golden statue. On Feb 25th, Oscar Night, he will not only finally get one, but arguably receive the most acclaimed of all, the lifetime achievement honorary oscar. Deservedly so in my opinion. The final scene music in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly gives me chills just thinking about it. Music touches us all. It's all about emotions and the feeling we get out of it. With movies, we don't really think about it that way since everything is visual. But without a great composer like Ennio Morricone, I'm not sure if we could even appreciate those visuals in the first place.

Blog Wars: The Kevster Strikes Back

"I’ll be back"…Ok so I didn’t quite say that but the message is clear. I’m taking a step back in time and going back to the blog. I’m going to attack this new and improved blog like Michael J. Fox in "Teen Wolf" attacking the basket. I’m gonna treat it like Ivan Drago treats other boxers ("I vill break you blog") This is my blog. I’m the boss of me, I’m the star, you got that Jack? King Kong ain’t got shit on me!

<---- "Buy Direct TV!"



In case you haven’t caught on, my blog is about movies. Over the course of the year I will be reviewing a couple, lending my personal take on them, throwing out a lot of recommendations, and just talking about my life and how it relates to the world of cinema as it is something I really enjoy and would like for it to become a profession. The origins of this blog began last year in another 297 experimental english course; Digital Storytelling. There, I had so much fun with the blog that when I knew I could continue it, I had to tumble down that rabbit hole. Enter, Writing into the Blogosphere!

Ok so lets just jump into things and pretend I never left in the first place. I just finished watching "School Ties" which I think I can best describe as a movie trying to be a movie. The film boasts an ensemble young cast including Brendan Frasier, Matt Damon, Chris O’ Donnell, Ben Affleck, Anthony Rapp (That TA guy from Road Trip & also Dazed and Confused) and of course Cole Hauser who you gotta love cause he looks like the type of guy who would beat the crap out of you at a bar if you beat him in foosball and trash talked after.

"that was NOT a goal"

I love looking back on ensemble casts because I always think about how everyone’s career panned out. I mean, back then, if you had to bet, wouldn’t you have had to put all your money on Chris O’Donnell and not Matt Damon for who would have the most successful career of all the guys. He did "Fried Green Tomatoes", "School Ties" and "Scent of a Woman" in a span of a year back then. He was going places. What the hell happened Chris? (oh that’s right, "Batman & Robin", nevermind)

"AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!!"

The film is about Frasier’s character struggling to fit in at a rich prestigious New England prep school because of the fact he is Jewish. The rich white kids led by Damon give him a very hard time after initially befriending him when they find out his religious beliefs. Because of the greedy Jewish stereotypes they believe in, they do awful anti-Semitic things to him. It raises a lot of issues of prejudice in general. Personally, I feel there’s a larger issue at hand when it comes to prejudice. Why must we feel the need to strongly define ourselves in the first place? Isn’t that basically like trash talking others? Doesn’t that create backlash? In the spirit of black history month, shouldn’t we be defining people by the content of their character? Why did we never truly implement that? Why are humans so territorial? I always try and treat people of all backgrounds as equals and in life I’ve met plenty of good human beings from different backgrounds and beliefs just as much as I’ve met complete assholes from those same backgrounds and beliefs. Yet it seems most revert to what may seem to be loyalty in culture, which I think is wrong. I mean, isn’t that pretty much why we have war in places like the Middle East? I think it would be better if we lived in a utopian world where we were all just one country and we did not have religion too for that matter; imagine that. And hey, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

Sigh…I guess that’s why I like movies. I can escape in them and they never change. I’m happy that I get to do this blog as this gives me an excuse to watch more. I feel great and look forward to blogging again. Like Paul Newman in "The Color of Money"…IM BACK!

My top 25

Ok, so ive been doing recommendations throughout the year but now that things are wrapping up, I'll go the extra mile and give you my top 25 ALL-TIME fav's. Just so you know this is hard because its something I've been personally been meaning to do, so here goes nothing....

25. Fight Club - "When you have insomnia, you're never really asleep... and you're never really awake"...boy can I relate. I would tell you more about this movie but well there's a rule to not talk about it, and the 2nd rule, well im still not supposed to talk about it.





24. Munich - This movie is perhaps the best Steven Spielberg movie I've seen in a long time. Not only that but the John Williams score keeps you on the edge of your seat. It was nominated for Best Picture the past year.






23. Roger & Me - Director Michael Moore's 1st documentary from 1989.
I don't know what it is about it, but its very entertaining. It focuses on the aftermath of the downsizing of General Motors in Flint, Michigan and Moore's efforts to confront CEO Roger Smith.






22. La Notte - A film that I saw recently that blew me away.
It's a simple story of a couple going through marital issues and the tempations that surround them. The cinematograhy is breathtaking.






21. Dr Strangelove -
You would think a film from 1964 wouldn't be funny or translate well to todays generation but yet it does. A timeless film really. It's a dark comedy from genius director Stanley Kubrick. It follows its crazy cast of characters as they prepare for nuclear war. Peter Sellars plays 3 roles in the film, all perfectly different, you would never know otherwise.

20. Contempt - I've recommended this film before, One of the best French New Wave films ever done. Music is fantastic and plus Brigitte Bardot is smoking hot.







19. Y tu mama Tambien - Such a chill movie. A fantastic road movie about two mexican friends and their own adolensense. Along the way they encounter a woman who brings them together in ways they never knew.



18. Vanilla Sky - Great from start to finish, the ending is amazing. Cameron Crowe is one of my favorite directors. Don't hate it cause Tom Cruise is in it, it came out before he went crazy. This is perhaps his best movie he's ever done (and probably will ever do)




17. Annie Hall - An unconventional film. But it works, and captures the vibe of relationships so well that it connects to people today. Winner of the 1978 Oscar for Best Picture







16. Rashoman - Another movie I've recommended. Akira Kurasawa is one of the most influential and greatest directors of all time. Every single one of his films is legendary, this just so happens to be my personal fav.







15. Taxi Driver - "Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man. " ...perhaps something we can relate to at certain points in our lives. Director Martin Scorcese, Paul Schrader's script and Robert DeNiro's acting weave into the story of single taxi driver in New York who reaches his boiling point and decides to fight back against society. You talkin to me? you talkin to me???

14. The Matrix - I'm not the biggest fan of the sequals but the first one is amazing. One of the most influential action movies to come out in our lifetime.






13. Boogie Nights - "You're not the boss of me, Jack. You're not the king of Dirk. I'm the boss of me. I'm the king of me. I'm Dirk Diggler. I'm the star." ....there are so many good quotes in this movie, its awesome.

12. Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Another good personal fav and one of Steven Spielberg's best. It's my fathers favorite movie so it connects us in a weird way.

11. Dog Day Afternoon - Sydney Lumet's thriller about a man played by Al Pacino who robs a bank and then all hell breaks loose. The cinematograhy is amazing. It also features perhaps my most favortie actor of all-time John Cazale.







10. The Great Escape - When you think action movie, you probably think big mindless explosions or something. This film does action and suspense the real way and its one of the greatest movies of all time.




9. Adaptation - You see that picture, that's how I feel coming up with an adequate summary for this film. the movie that put screenwriter Charlie Kaufman on the map.




8. Pulp Fiction - Perhaps the coolest movie ever made. I don't know what else really to say that hasn't been said.


"Tell that bitch to chill!"





7. Raiders of the Lost Ark - Perhaps the greatest paced movie of all-time. So many memorable images. One thing people forget, this film also received Oscar nominations for Best Picture. Indiana Jones is the man.



6. The Shawshank Redemption - One of the most beautiful movies ever done. It's a story about hope, even in the darkest of places. Morgan Freeman's voiceover is riveting.





5. Jackie Brown - My favorite Quentin Tarantino movie. Probably everyones least favorite. I don't know what it is but it's just such an awesome movie.

"I didn't know you liked the Delfonics"




4. The Shining - Stanley Kubricks best movie. The cinematograhy is probably the greatest of all time. Jack Nicholson gives an amazing performance...





3. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest - ....but not his best as he shines even better in this film about a mental institution and the cast of characters inside. This is a film that launched the careers of Danny Devito & Christopher Lloyd to name a few.





2. The Godfather Saga - Ok so I'm counting parts 1 and 2 as a single film. It is afterall a direct continuation of the story. Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Robert DeNiro, John Cazale....I mean does it get better than this??? well it didn't for me even as recent as a few weeks ago but since I've seen it so many times a new film has won me over..........

1. Goodfellas - This is perhaps the greatest edited movie ever. It's Martin Scorsese's masterpiece about the world of crime following Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pecsi. I've decided to rate it higher than the godfather because it very rewatchable. I can put it on anytime and be very entertained each time. I literally could keep watching this movie and never get sick of it. If you have never seen it, do so immediately





Well that wasn't a long post or anything. Who knows, this list will probably change dramatically soon as everyday I watch more and more films. Thats the cool thing about films, they are truly works of art and you can see them in a whole new light the next time you see it. Casey and Lisa, you guys have been awesome teachers and thanks for everything. Now if you will excuse me im going to watch this movies I left off the list just to make sure I didn't make a mistake.....