I Love Film, How Can I Count The Ways?

It seems my good friend The Silver Screener has tagged me in a rather interesting (as he called it) meme. I am to state ten facts about myself and film... a love affair if you will. Though I feel I have previously gone into rants that resulted in my expression of such basic me-isms, I think it would be rude of me not to participate. And hell, I wanna play the game.

1. I have always wanted to be an Actor. Ever since I saw Hook (Yes, Hook) when I was little and recognized Robin Williams as a truly awesome person, I've wanted to have that job. I even auditioned for Julliard because I figured Robin went there... that must be the place.

2. I watch The Big Lebowski multiple times a year. While I usually like to see films I haven't seen before, that one always makes the rounds. Something about the flick just calls out to me and makes me feel good when I'm down. It's like an old friend.

3. While I like to see every genre (and I am a big genre guy), my favorite is Sci-fi. When I was in middle school, I had to do an assignment on cloning. I looked through a few books and watched a few movies related to the subject. Somehow, the gene-splicing aspects got mixed in and I was introduced to GATTACA. That film and I have had a regular love affair ever since. Other flicks I love in sci-fi include: 12 Monkeys, Children Of Men, The Day The Earth Stood Still (Original), Sunshine, Robocop, Moon, and the list seems to go on and on and on. Ask me if you ever want a good sci-fi recommendation. I'll find you a good one.

4. Back in high school my friends and I used to sit around for hours playing the movie game. we'd name an actor then a movie they were in, then another actor in that movie, than another movie that actor was in, etc. I think it has helped a great deal as I have slowly tried to work my way into the industry.

5. It wasn't until College that I realized I had the freedom to write whenever I wanted. I began coming up with script ideas and by the end of my second year I had written at least five original works. Since then my process has slowed down, but I also think it has gained a hardened quality and voice I never could have found without that first initial surge. In fact, just two years ago Silver Screener and I wrote out a pretty fun script I hope to one day shape into something we can make. Oh that will be quite a day.

6. I have seen 95 of AFI's top 100 movies (10th anniversary) and oddly enough 95 of the original list as well. Key flicks I still need to see include: The Best Years Of Our Lives, American Graffiti, and The French Connection.

7. The last Stanley Kubrick film I have to see is Killer's Kiss. When I watch that next week, I will have finally seen all of the master's work. The first time I watched The Shining, I was balled up like a little girl. The first time I watched A Clockwork Orange, I was so giddy I had to take a night on the town doing whatever it is promiscuous teenagers do. The first time I watched 2001, I knew I was home. See Paths Of Glory. See Barry Lyndon. See Lolita. You'll be glad you did. I even like Eyes Wide Shut. The only one I could do without(???), Full Metal Jacket. Too bad. But still a watchable film. Spartacus, Dr. Strangelove, The Killing. And... maybe A.I. It's not so bad.

8. I grew up on Disney. When I was little I used to run around in red underwear pretending I was Mowgli from The Jungle Book.

9. In college, I took a Film Genres class in which I knew more than the teacher. I wish I could go back and have actually learned something in that class. But c'est la vie. I had to spend hours upon hours in independent study watching the classics. The classic first film I ever fell in love with? Lost Horizon.

10. I recently compiled a list of my all time favorite films in order by year. Every once and a while you can catch me posting a little love letter to one of those in my Favorite Films entries. So far I've done Metropolis; Steamboat Willie; M; and Tarzan, The Ape Man... but those don't even touch the tip of the iceberg.

I don't know that many other bloggers, but I'll tag a few that I do (I doubt most of them will respond): Whedonesque, John August, Oh Cinema, and Kissing Tigers. Thanks again Silver Screener for the post. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I Officially Cannot Wait For 2025

In a recent article I found myself discussing the future of NASA and space travel as a whole. Yesterday, Obama stood up to discuss such things in more detail. I think he made the correct decision here. And if you take a look at his plan you may further understand why he felt it necessary to cancel the current programs in construction.

It's important to recognize that Obama has not put a "stop-work" on NASA. Quite the opposite in fact, our president has ensured that space not just be a place for scientific study, but a potential future. This is what we need. Every year the Earth seems to get smaller as quality of life expands, population increases, and... organizations wage whatever conflict is on their minds. So it stands to reason that we learn to create homes away from Earth. That is a big time goal.

Check out NASA's article here. And find a transcript of the video here.

We look from the past... to the future.

Cement And Solstice

My life is back on track. I'm working and actually trying to make things work. I haven't been just plain lazy in a while. And that's a good thing. Spring is happening and soon it'll be on the outs and summer'll take over. And my mind is on the future. I'm planning and planning to make money to fund projects I'd like to get underway. I've completed the first step, and that's writing. I'm working on the second, and that's funding. The overwhelming number of steps to actually get things moving do not frighten me at this point. They just seem like obstacles I'll be glad to reach and take. 'Cause the future is coming fast. And we've all got to be ready to lay the bricks before winter hits:

1. Either Way - Wilco
2. Nothing At All - The Shins
3. The Seed (2.0) - The Roots
4. And It Rained All Night - Thom Yorke
5. On Mercury - Red Hot Chili Peppers
6. The Well And The Lighthouse - The Arcade Fire
7. Offcell - Pinback
8. Old Man Time - O.A.R.
9. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Antony & The Johnsons
10. On Again, Off Again - Sean Lennon
11. Missed The Boat - Modest Mouse
12. One More Time With Feeling - Regina Spektor
13. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - Moby
14. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi - Radiohead
15. Under The Milky Way - Sia
16. When The Sun Goes Down - Arctic Monkeys
17. Life On Earth - Tiny Vipers
18. The Seer's Tower - Sufjan Stevens
19. Honey Or Tar - CocoRosie

If Only Space Were Closer To Home

Recently my friend Andrew Kappas (Writer/Director) made a comment about Obama's plans for NASA and the space program. You may recall my stand on the Ares. What follows is my response to the situation:

Normally I'd agree that this was a stupid move... but this situation is very iffy. I've been following the Ares program for a while and must say, have been very underwhelmed. The thing was so similar to Apollo that it didn't even really make sense. The reason Obama's pushing to cancel this particular program (instituted during the Bush administration) is because NASA wasn't given a chance to think radically about the new technologies they could pursue. Now we have a chance to focus on technology that can actually help us... it doesn't help anybody if we just go to the moon and come back... it doesn't help anybody if we just go to mars and come back. It helps everybody if we institute a social progression plan that leads to new homes for people and advanced travel techniques etc. etc. NASA'll figure it out. They're pretty smart over there. I think in a very short time we'll hear some interesting and exciting news from the spacehouse.


Find more on the subject HERE.


If Only Space Were Closer To Home:


1. Satellite - Dave Matthews Band
2. A Better Future -  David Bowie
3. The Sky Is Broken - Moby
4. The Water - Feist
5. Wire To Wire - Razorlight
6. Weird Divide - The Shins
7. We Need Love - Hard-Fi
8. We Used To Know - Jethro Tull
9. It's Not Enough - The Who
10. The Gallery - Muse
11. Dark Center Of The Universe - Modest Mouse
12. Nightmare Part II - The Zutons
13. The Eternal - Kings Of Convenience
14. Tina - Louis XIV
15. I Don't Know - Lisa Hannigan
16. Eet - Regina Spektor
17. Forever Changes Everything Now - Moonbabies
18. Gravity - Coldplay
19. The Abandoned Hospital Ship - The Flaming Lips

Favorite Films: Tarzan, The Ape Man

If you ever get a chance to see the original MGM flick Tarzan, The Ape Man... take it. This movie is so much fun. It’s quirky too, but that’s not a bad thing. Most interesting to me is how real it looks when he fights with a lion. I was very impressed with the quality of such a primitive movie to make something so dangerous look that good. Obviously he didn’t fight a lion, so how did they do that??

In the end some of the film’s plot breaks down, but this doesn’t take away from the fun. No sir, it actually opens things up. What is that creature in the pit? Why does it look like a gorilla? Why does it have such sharp teeth? 

And that little monkey is awesome.

I definitely understand why this flick spawned umpteen sequels. Check it out.

The List So Far:

1927 - Metropolis - Fritz Lang

1928 - Steamboat Willie - Ub Iwerks

1931 - M - Fritz Lang

1932 - Tarzan, The Ape Man - W. S. Van Dyke

O God Of Chaos, O God Of Love

It feels like it’s been a while... I recently started a new job and around the same time, online classes. So my schedule is very much less free than I am used to. 

Sometimes, life is so overflowing with varying energies. It feels so chaotic. It feels like nothing makes sense. But it helps to breath, take a step back, and look at how everything works around and with everything else. There’s a balance to the world that we as humans often miss and never truly understand, but it is there. It’s all connected. It’s love:

1. On Your Wings - Iron & Wine

2. Light As A Feather - Norah Jones

3. God Has A Voice, She Speaks Through Me - CocoRosie

4. Living In The Past - Jethro Tull

5. The High Road - Broken Bells

6. Runaway - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

7. Impossible Germany - Wilco

8. Everyday It’s 1989 - Moby

9. Walking On My Feet - Moonbabies

10. Little Angel - Hard-Fi

11. Atoms For Peace - Thom Yorke

12. Worried Shoes - Karen O and the Kids

13. Marooned - Pink Floyd

14. The Age Of The Freak - Stardeath and White Dwarfs

15. Chaos Engine - Pinback

16. Fitzcarraldo - The Frames

17. The Meeting Place - The Last Shadow Puppets

18. Outside - Tiny Vipers

I recently had a conversation with a new friend (I always like saying that ‘new friend’) about a very serious subject. If you’ve ever seen the film Serenity (the finale to the show Firefly) you’ll recall Shepherd Book’s words “It doesn’t matter what you believe in. Just believe.” It’s a powerful scene, and a very important idea... and I’m definitely not talking about religion here, quite the opposite in fact. The universe is a fascinating place. And the little we know of it seems to imply a sense of greatness. There is something behind it all. Some tiny spark. Some tiny anything... and everything. And people often lose sight of that: what’s important. The simplest thing we know about the universe is that it is all around us, in us, an axiom almost. The universe is the universe. That is all that must be said for a person to understand the size of what they are dealing with. But the universe is confusing.... more so than my pros. The universe is made of the same stuff as we are, and vise-versa. There is an intense connection, a bond, between life and existence. That tiny spark. And if we could only believe in it, understand it without the necessity of actually understanding it, we may all be better off. I think it would lead us on a path toward love.

I’m not saying be ignorant. I’m not saying be lethargic. I am saying learn to find contentment in every part of your life. Develop a sense of peace. I think it will help.

The Discovery Is Looking Pretty Old

Well it’s getting to be that time in history when we switch from one form of space travel to another. And I for one am glad. At least as far as astronaut safety is concerned these old shuttles are getting up there in age. Even the highest quality car only has a life expectance of 8-15 years. And the shuttles are way more complex and thus more difficult to maintain. Granted (for the most part) NASA’s done a bang up job. I think they rarely get the praise they deserve these days. But after 30 years of flights, orbits, re-entries, etc. these old girls have taken more than their share of hits, injuries, and repairs. It’s time. Or almost time... the Discovery is being rolled out now for reassembly and if this is not its final journey than it’s at least one of its final “golden year” journeys.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the shuttle was a very cool way to travel. And I have some issues with the Ares (ie. why not make a bigger shuttle that can release a pod down to a planet’s surface? Is it a money issue?). 

But I also believe the people of NASA really know what they’re doing, and if the Ares is what we get, well I’m willing to give it a chance. I honestly believe space travel is far more important than most people seem to think now a days. And I sometimes feel a little disheartened that people don’t share my vision of the future. 

"The Jetsons" intro (Classic TV) (Retro)
Uploaded by SegaSaturnFan. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

See, I’m a dreamer. And I still wholeheartedly expect a version of that future we were all promised by pop culture sci-fi movies. I want a private spaceship with a warp drive and an awesome talking computer. I hope to explore distant planets and perhaps the advanced life forms that exist their. And I pray that I’ll one day get to at least feel what it’s like to be truly weightless... not simulated. 

Anyways, I’ve rambled long enough... but it seems like the end of an era to me. I grew up with the shuttles always being there, and a part of me never expected them to be placed in a museum somewhere, collecting dust, never to make another trip into the Cosmos. It’s a bittersweet thought. But the year is now 2010... and before you know it, it’ll be 2011. Oh man, where does the time go?