duh, are we shocked...?

check out this new york times article today...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/24/world/middleeast/24terror.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&en=a2ca3fabce5ec328&ex=1159416000

gee, it took them this long to figure this out...? how about using... what's it called...? common sense...!!!
fuck war on terrorism...

the science of sleep...

go and see it...
one of the most magical, imaginative, beautiful, fascinating, touching, funny, brilliant, even real(!) and romantic movies i've ever seen and ever will...
michel gondry is absolutely a genius... and the movies still can have magic thanks to someone like him...
loved everything about it... gael garcía bernal and charlotte gainsbourg are just fantastic... along with alain chabat who plays guy... gorgeous music and sets... ah, just everything about this movie is breathtakingly imaginative...
too bad angelika is such a crappy theater to see it... still think i'm going back to watch it again... ah...

cafe de la esquina...

with my friend valerie, we ran into this fabulous mexican restaurant on lafayette between kenmare and broom... we were originally heading for some other restaurant but this restaurant looked so appealing, we couldn't resist...
the place is rather small but has a high ceiling and huge windows that helps the space look airy and pleasant... we got lucky with table and had to wait only for a couple of minutes... but people who came in after us ended up waiting for quite a bit...
we started off with de la casa salad which had excellent balsamic vinegar dressing with crunch corn tortilla chips (tasted baked)... then we shared fish taco and pork taco with pineapple which were full of vibrant taste and freshness... then had this great flan like dessert with cafe con leche and tea... yum... and the price was really reasonable... the whole thing came out to about $40. which was worth every penny... i'm going back...

judgment at nuremberg...

sounds cheesy but this movie "judgment at nuremberg" has the real all-superstar casting... starring spencer tracy, burt lancaster, maximillian schell, richard widmark, marlene dietrich, judy garland and montgomery clift... directed by stanley kramer and shot by ernest laszlo... as you might be able to guess from the title, this movie is about the trial of nazi judges at nuremberg that took place two years after the second world war was over...
sounds heavy, right...? and yes, the movie is damn heavy... not only because of the subject matter and the length (a bit longer than 3 hours) but also how these characters all interact and clash with each other... it's a real human drama asking a simple yet hard question about human nature and the meaning of justice...
ok, let's start with the simple things... all the actors in the movie are just brilliant... spencer tracy, who i sometimes find too intense(!), portrays the american judge, who has to call the tough decision after trying to see things through basic morality as a human being, with such calm yet strong conviction... burt lancaster with very limited lines plays the nazi judge who thought he stayed with nazi regime in order to carry out his belief and save people yet begins to realized that he failed, with such a fiery and solemn dignity... richard widmark plays the prosecutor with pure idealism but faces the reality of the other "practical" reasons why america and other allies went into the war... maximillian schell plays the german defense attorney who wants to put not only the germans but all the rest under the trial... marlene dietrich's german widow of a high ranking officer who claims that most of germans didn't know and were not all monsters like nazis and hitler... judy garland, oh, judy, gets the most emotional part in the movie... a german girl who didn't give up on her basic morality and ended up suffering... and montgomery clift played another german victim who was sterilized because his father was communist with such a heartbreaking emotional weight...
all these characters are so strong and real presentation of what it probably was like... and the screenplay is just so superb in bringing out the essence of all the different point of views and characters and made them all so appealing...
and the footage of concentration camps were so powerful and provoking and leaving you with the ultimate question...
how could they let this happen...?
if you have seen "downfall" which was one of the best movies came out last year, you would understand, at least have an idea of the mentality that was hovering in germany after the death of hitler and revelation of the holocaust and all... many of them declared that they just didn't know how horrific it was and they wouldn't have gone along if only they knew... like marlene dietrich's character in this movie or like the young secretary in "downfall"... after all they are humans just like all of us... it was hitler and only those horrible nazis who were in power...
however does it really justify the actions that the german people did not take...?
...
many of us might be saying the same thing about what's happening all over the world right now... it's not only the questions to germans or japanese after the world war II... the same things is happening right now... so many things we decide to look away so we can tell ourselves that we just didn't know how bad it was...
maybe it's time to ask ourselves some questions... and take little steps on our own other than waiting for someone else to do it for us...

fight club, the wizard of oz, born yesterday and a couple more...

so finally i got a nerve to watch "fight club" 7(!) years after it came out... i usually don't do that well with violent movies and that's why i was avoiding this movie... then i was just too curious and had to get over that fear...
and it was fucking great...!!!
yes, certain scenes made me feel ill and sick to the stomach and leaving me that bloody taste in my mouth but thought the movie was brilliant...! edward norton is such a great actor who can transform himself completely into the character... still remember the first time when i watched "primal fear" which was his first movie role and he killed it... also in "25th hour"... and brad pitt is dazzling... i know many people consider him as a sex symbol and nothing more but to me he's a pretty actor... guess i never really liked well built blond guy... let me think... nope, not my type... but whenever i saw him in the movies like in "se7en" and "twelve monkeys" i thought he was rather good... guess those are all brad pitt movies i've seen... oh, wait, just saw "ocean's eleven" and he was pretty cool too...
then believe it or not, i hadn't seen "the wizard of oz" until this tuesday... yes, hard to believe but true... so when i saw that this movie was showing at ziegfeld theater, i had to go... don't know if you've been to that theater or not, but that place is magical... so beautiful... imagining what it must have been like back in the days watching movies in such a beautiful place... got so excited... then as soon as judy garland appeared on the screen, i started to feel sentimental... and then she did it... sang "over the rainbow"... and boy, that alone was worth everything... her voice is just so powerfully rich in emotions, that makes your heart ache on a single note... have to say i didn't love the movie... sorry but true... thought the characters were great, especially the tin man... but i felt the whole thing was way too short... funny because i know that they cut out at least 20 minutes from the original... have to admit that the lion was getting on my nerve...
then i watched "born yesterday:" with judy holiday and william holden... wanted to see it on a big screen about a month ago when they were showing it at walter reade but missed the chance... judy holiday is great playing a dumb blond with bigger brain that she thinks... and when she's singing along the record, she's hilarious...! have to say william holden's character was a bit muted but still... wondering why it had "mature +18" sticker on the case...
oh, also watched "me and you and everybody we know" which was cute but maybe trying to be too smart and quirky for me... some of the lines are great... and the same for "garden state"... although natalie portman IS great... and something about zach braff bothers me... don't know why... maybe it's his lips...?
now want to watch "the apartment" again... feeling sentimental... it's the cold weather perhaps...

the long goodbye...

you have no idea how glad i am that it's raining out...
so finally got to watch the movie adaptation of "the long goodbye"... i guess i had been somewhat avoiding it since the book by raymond chandler was such a huge influence on me... so after reading that book at least 5 times (the first time was in korean when i was 16 and didn't understand all that much) i had developed some kind of my own visual interpretation of the book and philip marlowe... then when i did see humphrey bogart in "the big sleep" or dick powell in "murder, my sweet" as marlowe, i was bitterly disappointed in how thin and superficial they were... they were plainly playing a touch guy marlowe who wouldn't take shit from people and go around punch people... but marlowe is more than that, at least to me... he's a touch guy, yes, who doesn't take shit from anybody, especially from the corrupt rich high-powered people and bad cops... he's content... he's a loner but doesn't try to reach out to make friends... but when he does, he will do anything for them... and even with the murderers he's chasing, he has sympathy for them... he's not cold blooded like many other typical film noir heroes... also he believes in being fair, tender and even in love... that's what makes him so damn unique and heart wrenching... my ideal kind of hero...
but after a friend of mine convinced me that the movie had changed his view on movies, i decided to give it a try...

so... did elliott gould's marlowe make my cut...?

first of all i was so glad that this adaptation of "the long goodbye", written by leigh brackett and directed by robert altman, was not a true-to-every-single-word adaptation but rather a loose one... the basic premise stays somewhat the same... at least at the beginning... and have to say elliott gould's marlowe was charming as hell from the get-go... not in a cute way but the way he carried himself had a lot more affection than any other marlowe's i'd seen in other movies... he wasn't trying to be cool but rather a wise guy and funny... i liked that... then also i loved how they adapted the book into the '70s and made it look so natural... throughout the movie, i kept saying to myself that this movie is was only possible to be made in the '70s... with enough bitter sarcasm, twisted humor and yet a hint of bizarre optimism... or rather taking things for what they are and moving on... hope i'm making some sense out of it... and elliott gould's voice was great... low growling, a bit husky...
oh, and i was more than relieved that they didn't include the love plot of the book... see, the love story that occurs in the book means so much to me, i was glad that i got to keep it within my imagination... in the book, it just breaks my heart... just even thinking of it makes me go crazy...
yes, i loved the movie... probably because it's a damn good movie and stands on its own... maybe the music could have been a bit better... they were doing "laura" approach to the music... using only one song over and over in all kinds of styles in foreground, background... wonder if they sold many copies of the music... oh, "laura" was the first movie to do so... david raksin wrote this gorgeous song for the movie (another one to check out if you are a film noir and otto preminger fan) and the song became a huge hit, selling lots of copies...
oh, sterling hayden plays a great character in the movie... at first i was confused because his character in the book wasn't so significant... but they gave him a very juicy part and he rocked... he was great in "the asphalt jungle"... another great movie by john houston definitely worth checking out...
but if you haven't read any of raymond chandler's book, please do... especially you are hopelessly romantic like me... yes, i am one, believe it or not... fine...
think i'm going to stay home and read the long goodbye again...

guilty pleasure...

hmm...
mine is ice cream cone from mcdonalds...
ah, yes, i admit it... the only, i swear, reason why i'll step into mcdonalds hoping nobody will catch me... don't know why but i like it better because somehow it tastes like it has less cream....? i don't do sundae or flurry by the way... just plain old cone...
what's your guilty pleasure... c'mon... your secret is safe with me...

funny...

but i feel better today... nothing has changed though... but i feel better...
wish could watch a movie or two today... but can't... the last thing i watched was "sunset boulevard" like for the 6th time... what a great movie... william holden and gloria swanson are perfect... dark, twisted, funny, brutal look at good old hollywood... gotta finish this billy wilder bio... been reading it on and off since june, damn it... amazing how he was able to embrace american english language fully and produced so many brilliant screen plays considering he didn't really speak any when he came to the states...!
uh, he is the director of "sunset boulevard" in case you didn't know...

what's wrong with me...?

i don't know why but i cannot help thinking that my cell phone's going to explode while i'm holding it... such a weird paranoia... wonder where that comes from... guess i've been feeling somewhat anxious... but about what...?
think since my schedule slowed down somewhat for august and september, i've been trying to figure out what to do next and stuff... then whenever i try to do something, like setting up a gig, thinking about new projects, i end up feeling so damn not focused, then get anxious, then feel like i'm stuck...
also i cannot help thinking that things seem to go a lot better when i'm not trying to push anything... then that's so passive... argh, i don't know anymore...
one of my mottoes has been to go with the flow... and i've been damn lucky so far by living it... however isn't it about the time for me to take charge in my life...? maybe it's some kind of block i need to get through...
hopefully it'll go away soon and i'll be able to sit down, breathe and focus... need to go away or something...