ok, people...

well, not too long after melvin gibson's anti-semite remarks and heartfelt apology, kramer managed to hold the spotlight with yet another racial outburst... if you've seen his rant on youtube or some other places, you will all agree that it was not just him making senseless remarks but he was angry... he was burning in hatred... then he came on the letterman show with "help" of his friend seinfeld whose million dollar franchise was at stake, he apologized and muttered that "i'm not a racist"...
wait a minute, if you are really not a racist, how could you say all that stuff with so much hatred and intensity to begin with...? why can mel gibson and michael richards just all admit that they are racists and need to work on it damn hard... we are all product of conditioning through culture and government up to a certain point, sad to admit... and we are all taught to detect the "otherness" of others... but as a human being with conscience, we try to look beyond that difference and understand that we are all the same... and just because you don't go around say politically incorrect things about "other" people, it doesn't mean you are not a racist... if racism was such a easy thing to escape from by saying "i'm not a racist", we wouldn't be having so many problems we are having right now...

quick(?) notes on the movies i've seen lately...

casino royale
wow... what a great action movie with a good story line... and daniel craig fucking rocks... he definitely made the bond a real person with depth, not just an icon filled with mannerism and clichés... and thought eva green was so beautiful and charismatic... and the action scenes were more believable than other bond movies i've seen... have to confess i never liked sean connery's bond since he plays it so light and cool... although i do know that's how he made bond into this cultural figure... but the ones he played bond, i really couldn't care if he made it alive at the end or get to the villain... because you knew automatically there's no way bond can be harmed... well, guess that was somewhat true for this new bond but still i found myself caring if he would get hurt or not... and it did show him with scratches and wounds and pain...
a couple of things i wasn't crazy for were the main theme song and the opening credit... even though those old ones were filled with sexual images of naked girls, but they were awesome... this one is rather cute... still i cannot wait to see the next bond movie with daniel craig...

borat: cultural leanings of america for make benefit glorious nation of kazakhstan
can i just tell you, that movie is amazing... there is a scene that i know it can never be topped ever... if you've seen it, you know which scene i'm talking about... sacha baron cohen is genius... he really pushes it all the way... think i might have to see it again since there are so many jokes and lines i might have missed... it's pretty amazing there are so many people who are offended by this movie... and people suing the production company for misleading them... it's so obvious those people cannot face the truth about themselves...

volver
since i love almadovar, i knew that i wouldn't be disappointed by this new movie of his... and it was pretty good... it wasn't talk to her but still had so much emotional depth and warmth in the movie which was enough to be touching... the movie was all about bond and love between women which we don't get to see too often... thought penelope cruz was astonishing... and the music by alberto iglesias was so beautiful... oh, the opening credit is amazing too...

crash
well, i have to say i had many problems with this movie... not a bad movie but not as deep as other people made it to be... winning oscar for the best picture...? give me a break... not that oscar is to be taken serious but still... it was very shallow, safe and pretentious... total hollywood approach, heavily depending on the stereotypes of racism other than digging deeper into it and try to examine the reason behind... borat did it 1000 times better at putting a mirror in front of people exposing the real faces... and please, if you are making a movie about a racism, at least cast real korean people for the korean roles... oh, the ending with soppy pop songs back to back... wow...

the rules of the game
it was one of those rare movies that i was laughing throughout then felt so sad as soon as the movie ended... couldn't believe it was made in 1939... no wonder it was banned/destoyed by french and the nazis... way too ahead of its time like so many masterpieces... it showed how all those people were so locked in their roles and rules without being able to find out what they really were and wanted... and that hunting scene was truly chilling to the bone... definitely need to see it again... absolutely a work of genius...

the strange love of martha ivers
kirk douglas's debut... what a strange yet great movie... it also showed people trapped in their roles/desire/past not knowing what they really wanted... barbara stanwyck is fabulous as hot and cold martha ivers... was interesting to see van heflin as a young man though... i think i'd only seen him in western movies as older man... quite good looking here... and lizabeth scott looking so much like lauren bacall...

there are a few more but think this is more than enough for now...

ah, yes...

since the democrats won the election, i've been sensing something different in the air... like new kind of hope, positive energy and bumbling excitement... that people still have power to change things... although it took somewhat long time going downhill but when it reached certain point, people said "no more of this bull shit... things need to change"... that is truly inspiring... i do know that things will not change overnight just because the democrats is taking over but at least i can hope it'll be better than what has been going on for last 6 years... it has to be, how can it get worse than that to begin with...?
here's an article i personally found very heartening...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6133190.stm

out of all these places, south dakota... yes...
for that reason i feel more inspired to make music and enjoy life... keep getting ideas and finding new things to be excited about...
cannot stop feeling year 2007 will be fucking amazing...

weird flu, in her shoes, pinkberry... don't forget to vote...!

had this weird 24-hour-long flu thing last saturday... i was feeling just normal then all of sudden got this chill on my spine that crept up... then i passed out pretty much and slept for 14 hours, sweating like a pig... weird... then i was weak for a couple of days and i'm fine now... be careful...
so today is the election day...! please go and vote for the right ones if you are eligible to vote, not like me... i really hope this one will be different... ah... can you believe how republicans+bush are trying to manipulate people with all this saddam stuff...? think people should know it by now...
i watched "in her shoes" right before i passed out last saturday... i've been meaning to watch it since it's directed by curtis hanson, one of a few directors who's been consistently good over the years... "wonder boys", "LA confidential" and even "8 miles"... and this one was great too... thought all the actors were pretty great... and there were many lines that really got me too... especially what toni collette says to her friend when she's crying in her bed... then simon's character... wow, he was like the most ideal guy you'll ever meet... maybe except being a sports fan but other than that, he was honest, funny, sweet, sincere, manly enough, direct, into food and respectful... how come there aren't enough of them around...?!?!
oh, also a friend of mine took me to this frozen yogurt place in korean town and was amazing... too bad i was too full to eat much... the place is called pinkberry and it's on 7 west 32nd street between 5th and 6th avenue, closer to 5th... their frozen yogurt is tart and tangy, not full of nutrasweet like tasti-d-lite or other frozen yogurt you'd get... comes in two flavors, regular and green tea... then you get to choose toppings from fresh real, i mean real, fruits, cereals, cookies and all the goodies... it's not cheap though... the small regular starts at $2.99 while green tea costs $3.49(?), then each topping is $.95... but it is worth all the money in my opinion... also they have shaved ice... oh, did i mention it's fat free...? oh, my god, i sound like one of those horrible ads...

flags of our fathers, napoleon dynamite and the king...

went to see "flags of our fathers"... well, originally i wanted to see "marie antoinette" but then thought maybe "flags..." is the kind of movie i should see on a big screen... although i don't think clint eastwood's movies are always good but since "million dollar baby" was pretty damn touching...
have to say it was a pretty great antiwar movie... like how "saving private ryan" made you almost "experience" how awful it must be in a battle field by nauseating camera shots, realistic sounds and jumpy edits... this movie definitely made me think that nobody have any right to ask these people to die like that... nothing can be that worthwhile... most of them were drafted and was sent off to fight for their countries and ideologies but to kill and be killed like that...? and cannot believe it doesn't seem to have changed all that much since world war II and vietnam war and so on...
have to say how the movie kept going back and forth between the past and present got a bit tired but still all the performance were pretty great... and the look of the movie was pretty amazing... and all that black sand blasting everywhere against very pale palette of the iwo jima... and was great to see how the movie was able to recreate most of the scenes from the real pictures they show as the end credit rolls on... oh, the music done by clint eastwood was pretty lame... his typical doodling on piano... oh, well... think it worked pretty well on "million dollar baby" because it was more intimate and smaller scale movie but on this one, it did feel pretty lean...

maybe i'll go to see "marie antoinette" next week... watched "napoleon dynamite" finally and it was pretty sweet... don't think i can call this the funnies movie ever like so many other people but thought it was pretty hilarious... was amazing to learn that the actor who portrayed uncle rico who always eats steaks is actually vegetarian... and jon heder who plays the main character got paid only $1000... it's definitely one of those movies made with lots of pure love and enthusiasm... hope the success of the movie didn't spoil the director... he went on to make "nacho libre" which didn't do that well...
then watched "the king" with gael garcia bernal... pretty fucked up story... it's a pretty good anti-christianity movie... music was pretty good and pell james, the actress who played the main female character was good... of course, gael too... cannot wait to see "babel"...