So, I don't know what you thought of the Oscars last weekend, but I was pleasantly pleased. Hugo and The Artistdominated that night, and rightly so. I didn't see The Artist till tonight, but I already knew it was going to be great! It was a great story that relied on the talent of the actors to tell the story and they did an excellent job. It's these kind of films that inspired me to get into film making in the first place! The kind of films where the actor actually has to be able to act and not just be a pretty face on the screen who appears scantily clad occasionally to distract us from realizing that this person is a crap actor and this is a crap film. Calamity Jane, Singing in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, West Side Story - these movies that I was slowly introduce to around the age of 8 are my inspiration. Now I'm not saying that I want to exclusively produce musical films, but it was the stories and the talent that drew me to the field. Where has it all gone? You used to have to be a triple threat to make it to Hollywood (singer, actor, dancer). Now you aren't even required to be able to act (see Kristen Stewart). The Artist gives audience members a taste of what real cinema used to be while also reflecting on a similar time period in history when the industry made a major change (this time for the better). It also goes to show that you don't need to overload a film with words, explosion, and sexuality to make it interesting. I was more interested in the story Jean Dujardin told as George Valentine simply through his body language than I was watching Channing Tatum cry over Rachel McAdams in The Vow. I've yet to see a film with a more deserving actor for the Oscar for Best Actor (except perhaps Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood). That's not to say that the previous winners didn't deserve it, just that Jean Dujardin performed the hell out of that role so it clearly belonged to him. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The French know how to do it best.
Have you noticed that the majority of Oscars for best performance frequently go to performers portraying a person in a biopic or a book?
Colin Firth in 2011, Jeff Bridges 2010, Sean Penn 2009, Daniel Day-Lewis 2008, Forest Whitaker 2007, Philip Seymour Hoffman 2006...All played historical characters or characters from a book. The last raw, original character developed by an actor who won Best Actor was done in 2001 when Denzel Washington won for Training Day. Since the year 2000, the only actress to win Best Actress for the performance of a character that did not previously exist in literature or history was Natalie Portman for The Black Swan. There's something to be said about that. Do you think it's harder or easier for actors to develop raw, fresh characters or preexisting ones? One could argue that the pressure to be accurate and faithful to the original source would make the preexisting character more challenging. On the other hand, though, a new character doesn't provide the obvious nuances or familiar, researchable history. One has millions of options for how to portray a new character- how does one know what the right character choices are? Both are pretty challenging, I'd say, but a fresh character would be a bit tougher to me. Even with remakes or revivals (film or theatre) you have previous performances that you could research if you need help figuring out a character- unless you want to own the character as your own version.
I wish there'd be more original films /screenplays being produced. Today about 95% (possible over/under exaggeration) of all films coming out today are based on books, remakes, stage shows, sequels, comics, historical figures. I guess as long as they're good it shouldn't matter right? I just can't shake the feeling that I'm missing something in my movie-going experience these days. The film industry plays it safe by producing familiar story lines because they know it will put butts in seats and make bank. Well, I must be the odd man out, cause I could go for a little unfamiliarity in my cinematic life. Give me something I haven't seen before! Isn't that what society used to want in their cinematic experience? The Artist made it seem that way...
Looking Forward to:
And this:
Oh and this!!
And finally, this is wicked awesome!!! I so want to be a part of this crew!
I've been ultra busy the last two months. So I didn't end up being a zombie, but instead I was cast as Calpurnia in To Kill A Mockingbird, Ensemble in 9 to 5 the Musical, and the mother of Harriet Tubman in a piece for Arts Fest. It has been so exciting meeting new people and getting to work on shows! To Kill a Mockingbird opened last weekend and it went really well - despite the minor hiccup of one of our actresses being sent to the hospital for the weekend. The cast is great, and we've all become so close throughout this process. Not having rehearsal with them everyday this week is going to be tough! Don't even get me started on when the show closes. Luckily a small handful of the girls are in 9 to 5 as well.
In the interim, I have seen quite an abundance of films - in theaters and on Netflix. Let's see:
The Adventures of Tintin - Ah-May-Zing! I grew up watching the cartoons on Nickelodeon, so to me this was golden! The casting was perfect, the story had me on the edge of my seat, and the action was awesome, especially for a CGI film. Jamie Bell was perfect for Tintin. I think they made the right decision in keeping the film animated instead of live action because there are a lot of elements to the action and the story that toy with suspension of disbelief that would be really tough to get away with in a live action film. Totally worth the ticket, and I definitely plan on buying the Blu-ray (for the special features) A ++
Underworld Awakening - Not the best, not the worst. I think I only liked it because I've been a fan of the series since the beginning. It's the most graphic of the 4 films, and it's provoked some mildly stimulating controversy on the message boards (Rooting for the bad guy to win: Are the Vampires the villians?) I say the Humans and the Lycans are the worst of the worst in this film, but some people believe otherwise. Ultimately, I say wait till this one hits the rental rack. C -
The Woman in Black - TERRIFYING! I couldn't sleep right for a week. But Daniel Radcliffe did a phenomenal job on his performance. He's the only reason I saw this film, and I still regret it. Nothing like an army of dead children crawling out of the mud to ruin your life temporarily. This film taught me that curiosity can sometimes be a bad thing, and you should never let go of your child's hand. Everyone else says it was full of cliche horror film techniques, but since I'm not an expert on the genre, I think it was effective in it's endeavor even if it did stray rather far from the original novel. B
Chronicle - Unique style, pretty creative, but rather predictable. I thought some of the story line choices were kind of general. Of course the emo, loner, abused, suffering kid is going to do bad things! Give me something I won't expect. I think the reason the film has been so well received is because of the film technique and the fact that it's a general fantasy of many (especially fan boys and girls) to stumble upon super powers. I do like the fact that it isn't your Marvel or DC variety hero story, but I still knew most of what was going to happen before it happened. Not gonnna lie, I was rather upset by the choice they made on who to kill off midway through the film. It all went downhill from there for me. B -
Journey 2 :Mysterious Island - An entertaining adventure that isn't to deep but is full of laughs and action that I think only work in IMAX - otherwise it's not worth it. Dwayne Johnson made this film better than the first one (his humor is less corny than Brendan Fraser's, although isn't it ironic that they both did The Mummy 2 together and now they've both done a Journey film) Just don't go in with low expectations and you won't be disappointed. C
The Vow - Predictable, sappy, and romantic. The best part of the film was the city of Chicago. Watching the film made me miss it even more! D
My Week With Marilyn - unfortunately a fire alarm went off in the cinema about an hour in to the film so I never got to finish it, but the hour that I did get to watch was quite brilliant. I became enamoured with Eddie Redmayne's performance and quickly watched any film I could get my hands on that he starred in (which is quite a lot). I had no idea Marilyn Monroe was so unbalanced and drugged up. The fact that she couldn't have any private life, that she lived in a fishbowl, was her downfall. I can't wait to see the end of the film. So far I give it an A for cinematic beauty, character portrayal and story telling.
Joyful Noise - Surprisingly good, although not to everyone's taste (especially if you don't like Dolly Parton). I found it to be very funny, sad, sometimes shocking, and thought provoking. The music was great! I was surprised at how far they took certain scenarios, but at the same time it was REALLY long. I almost think some scenes were a bit unnecessary. Luckily I saw it for free because of a mishap with the fire at the theater. WIN! B-
If I went on to list all the films I have absorbed on Netflix, I'd be up all night and no one would want to read that! haha I must say, though, I just watchedGlorious 39(another Eddie Redmayne film), and it shook me to the core. It showed a side of history during the cusp of WWII that I was totally unaware of. It was really well done, the kind of movie that stays with you and keeps you thinking long after it ends. It was unbelievable and unexpected. I definitely give it an A+ and suggest that those who have Netflix instant watch check it out.
I'm looking forward to this one:
I'd love to hear others' opinions on these films or any others that I should perhaps watch.
So my roommate and I went to go see The Descendants last night. Talk about a bucket of tears! I was crying the entire movie! Shailene Woodley was very impressive, I must say. Her character was very different from the girl she plays on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which I am not ashamed to admit is a guilty pleasure of mine (along with Switched at Birth). Anyway, George Clooney's character was so adorably tragic. The film showed the beauty of Hawaii, but also made me grateful to live on the mainland (a vacation there is enough for me!). I did catch a mistake in the details of the film. Clooney's character said that Princess Kaiulani was his great great great etc grandmother. Well, it just so happens that I watched the biopic Princess Kaiulani over the holidays, and she never got married or had children and she died of pneumonia at age 23. Haha! I bet they didn't expect any viewers to know that did they! It was a good film, but it's definitely a downer. Death, infidelity, and children who have no respect for their parents - I'd say that's a fair summation. 4 stars
Sooo, Tanesha and I decided to audition for some shows in Orlando, and tonight was our first attempt. All we needed was to prepare 32 bars of music to sing. She sang "In my own little corner" from Cinderella and I sang "My Strongest Suit" from Aida. We also had to dance for the audition. It was so fun! I didn't even care whether I made it or not. The adrenaline rush of the whole experience was satisfying enough! You know that knot you get in your chest and the butterflies that have a dance party in your stomach right before you step out to do your piece, hoping they'll like it and praying you won't royally screw up (which is that same feeling I get right before stepping on stage at the top of a performance). It's terrifying, but I love it. It gets your blood flowing and your heart pumping like crazy! Well, long story short...We both got cast!! Which is pretty awesome! I'm super pumped! We'll see how it goes. The show is called Zombie Prom the Musical. Pretty ironic considering zombies scare me more than any other supernatural creature. Oh well! I'll keep all of you posted, but for now GOOD NIGHT :))
I hope everyone had a splendid 2011. I know mine was action-packed and life altering. I did a professional internship with Disney, tore my ACL, had major surgery on my knee (I now have the ACL of a 36 year old in my right knee yay!), got my first real apartment that required paying my first real bills, fell in and out of love (at least I think that's what it was haha), made a bunch of new friends, performed in two plays, and wrote/directed my first play - "A Christmas Cabaret." Those were just the highlights, but all in all I had a pretty fruitful year, I'd say, full of great memories.
Now I have decided to kick off the new year with a list of goals that I wish to share with you (and some that I'd rather withhold hehe):
1) Keep up with this blog.
2) Keep up with my physical therapy for my recovering new ACL (which is quite challenging at times)
3) Get a job in film/television/theatre that is career advancing
4) Move to one of the 3 awesome locations : New York City, LA, or France.
5) Finish at least half of the innumerable projects I've started.
6) Catch up on my reading.
7) Submit at least 2 films to festivals.
8) Catch up on my netflix queue.
9) See many good films
10) TRAVEL!!!
and probably tons more things that I've left out at the moment.
My friends and I started 2012 with a bang last night at EPCOT during they new years celebration. It was unbelievable! They had DJs set up in Italy, China, America and Future World. It was insane! There were so many people there it was nearly impossible to move in most areas. The lines for food and the bathroom were ridiculous! I've never seen anything like it. People were camped out more than 12 hours in advanced for the fireworks show with blankets and folding chairs from home. There were special booths setup at each pavilion with drinks that were specific to each country. My friends and I danced the night away and watched the fireworks. Each country got special fireworks to ring in the new year before the explosive show of the American new year! I was dead on my feet by the time I got home, and I slept a million years! Woke up at 6 PM the next day! I just went to see HUGO 3D with my friend Tanesha tonight, and it was beautiful. Everyone should go see it, HUGO is inspiring. Howard Shore provided a phenomenal score, and Scorsese's vision is superb. Paris looked beautiful in this adaptation of a book that I apparently need to read. I give it 5 stars and 2 thumbs up!
Other films I would like to rate:
New Years Eve - 2 and half stars
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - 4.5 stars
The Adventures of Tin Tin - 5 stars
Please give me your opinion on any of those films or anything you think I should see!
Currently watching: Being Human (U.S.) - which is nowhere near as good as the UK version so far
Currently Reading: Lost in Time a Blue Bloods novel by Melissa De La Cruz
Listening to: Lilly Allen
So I have done a poor job of keeping this blog updated, and I feel absolutely terrible for neglecting my faithful readers. I promise that my excuses are mildly legitimate.
Among other things:
1) I had to sift through 52 hours of footage for my documentary and create a 20 minute film for my final project as a film major.
2) There was the Senior Showcase to prepare for
3) Graduation
4) And of course my transition to life in Orlando for the Disney College program, which I have now successfully completed.
I have made the acquaintance of many wonderful people and have had many wonderful experiences thus far, and I wish to share them with you. All in good time, of course. The nature of my work is very exciting, but. like with any 9 to 5 job, it can be very draining. So I will do my best to keep you updated, my lovelies, but I apologize for any further delays. Comment and ask questions! That way I will remember to keep posting! Otherwise, I will do my best!
Hello my darlings! I hope everyone has had a splendid weekend! I've enjoyed myself rather well, I'd say. Friday night was the last night of rehearsals in Mundelien 409, and we worked on staging the end of the show. We got pretty close to finishing. We had quite a laugh towards the end because two cast members, Gabe and Michelle, had to do a kissing scene because they play a married couple. What made it so funny was that one minute Michelle's character is talking about how destroyed her house is- which is totally tragic- and in the next she goes to kiss her husband (Gabe) before talking about her destroyed house again. As the moment is written it seemed like "We've lost everything. *passionate kiss* damn Katrina, I can see straight through my house." I mean in context it makes sense because the husband and wife have been separated for a couple weeks because of the storm, but just reading the script made it seem hilarious and nonsensical. After rehearsal, Michelle, Kelsey, Lia and I went to Lia's apartment to hang out. My good friend Felipe came as well. We ate junk food, watched Pride and Prejudice ( we played a game where you had to take a sip of your drink every time someone curtsied or spoke about marriage), and talked until 4:30 in the morning. It was awesome and well needed.
On Saturday, we moved into the Mullady theatre for rehearsal, and we finished staging the whole play- whew! That afternoon we did a full run through with scripts for the music designer. We managed to get comfortable in the new space pretty quickly which was really good, and we finally got to work with tables! We use 12 chairs and 8 tables for the show, only we hadn't worked with tables in the staging up until this point because they had to be built. Well, now they are done! There are also a couple instruments that are going to be flown in and out for the "jazz band" moments, and they already had a trumpet, a sax, and a drum set wired to be flown in and out. It looks sooooo cool!!! I can't wait to see the whole thing when its all set up. They're just waiting to get a bass. At the end of rehearsal, we started to rework Part I a bit. There was this hilarious moment where Gabe plays Kelsey's producer and he asks "Should I cancel the show?" only at the end of rehearsal he accidentally said "Should I cancel the storm?" Everyone burst out laughing and was like "Yes! And the play ends..." lol With out the storm there'd be no story right? But wouldn't it be nice if you could just "cancel" a storm. Gabe didn't even realize he said it, which made it even more hilarious.
So that night I went to a concert with Kelsey, Michelle, and Kyle at The Metro in Wrigglyville to see Kelsey's good friend's band play. We got lost on the way there, but we managed to find it eventually- we went the wrong way for .7 miles thanks to some bad directions-spontaneous work out! The band was pretty good. The drummer was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon in between songs which I thought was funny, and one of the guitarists used a violin bow to play which was pretty awesome. The band had two drummers, which is something I've never seen before. All in all, good times. Poor Kyle was starved, so we only stayed for the first band before heading to a McDonalds for sustenance- much to my chagrin ( I try to avoid eating at fast food places as much as possible). But it was worth it because we witnessed what looked like a homeless man drug deal going down in there. There were two grubby looking guys sitting together pulling random crap out of their backpacks like a tea kettle, body spray, sponges, just the most random stuff. We had a good laugh about it. Afterward we made a pit stop at Starbucks where we chatted with the barista about the Power Rangers. Surprisingly he knew a lot about all of the different seasons. When we got back on campus, I went to Lia's to work on lines- we had to be off book by Sunday. Her friend Patrice was there, and we engaged in some healthy conversation. By the end of the night, I felt pretty confident about my lines!
Today was really rough. I got a decent night's sleep, but I was still dead tired! Everyone was! It was a really rough rehearsal which sucked because it was Paul's 20th birthday today. We went through and changed a lot of Part I and II of the play, and it looks a lot better! When 4:00 rolled around, though, I was revved to peace out. Tonight I ended up talking with my friend Andrew on the phone for 3 hours instead of sleeping like I had planned on doing lol. We ended up grabbing a drink at Rock Bottom Brewery and seeing The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. It was very weird and confusing at times but also cool and very beautiful. It was so nice to see Heath Ledger alive and in a new movie again. It almost made me forget he was dead. Whoever said his acting in this movie was like the Joker is ridiculous. He was splendidly different! But it was so strange- the plot I mean. I felt very lost towards the end. Well, I need to get some sleep. Bon nuit!
So I know its been a while since I've written, but I have a legitimate excuse. Did I mention that I'm taking 21 credit hours this semester? And, lest we forget, I have rehearsals every day except Mondays. Well, this week started out pretty well. We didn't have classes on Monday because of MLKJ day, so my friends Juan, Amy and I went out to Hamburger Mary's late Sunday night for some MaryOke (Karaoke for those of you who couldn't figure it out). Hamburger Mary's is this awesome diner/bar/ cool hang out that has free karaoke on Sunday and Monday nights. I went once last semester on Labor Day weekend to see a visiting friend who graduated and moved to New York 2 years ago. That Sunday was the day I was introduced to the amazingness that is Hamburger Mary's. They have the biggest collection of karaoke songs I've ever seen! They even have songs from Aladdin! Anyway last Sunday we got there too late and closing time (2 AM) rolled around right before I was supposed to sing! I cried inside a little because I've been dying to go back there since the first time, but everyone had class on Monday and Thursday morning so they couldn't go. Of course because it was a holiday weekend and no one had to work the next day the place was crowded! Next time we're going early enough so we can get 2 or more songs in like some of the other people there! New Goal!
Tuesday was the official start of the year. It was a bit overwhelming. I had a long day filled with 4 classes. My first class was Quantitative Literacy- sounds easy right? I thought so. Nope! Its definitely real math that requires a graphing calculator and major brain work. The professor is really chill, though, and he told us straight up that we didn't have to come to class all the time and that we could make up any quizzes or exams that we missed. Every class that I had up to this point took attendance and graded us based on it. Of course I'll probably still go every day because math is not my strong point so I need all the examples I can get. I had to go to a costume fitting after that which was interesting. I found out that none of my clothes will be distressed for the show, so I can use whatever I like in my wardrobe without fear! Thank God! Next was my Sex and Gender Differences and Similarities class which seems cool. The professor let us out of class an hour early! Meaning we were only there for 15 minutes. Playwriting, my third class of the day, may just be my new favorite. We all were given composition journals which we are supposed to write in every day because we are writers now (if we weren't already). I love being able to use my creativity for classes. I already have a ton of ideas. Now all I have to do is pick one to use as the one act play that will be put on at the end of the semester!!! The end of the day was kind of melancholy for me because I ran into Lia who was on her way to rehearsal while I had to head downtown to my Intro to Audio Production class. I told Lia to make sure I wasn't put in the back all the time since I wasn't there lol. I hate missing rehearsal! It made it hard to enjoy the class, which does seem like its going to be fun but... I just really didn't want to be there. I had to ask the professor for permission to miss two classes for rehearsals in February- which is a scary thing to do for a once a week class- but he was cool with it. I actually managed to make it to the last 20 minutes of rehearsal. I basically just watched them as they went through the new staging, but it was nice to be there. It just doesn't feel right not to see the cast everyday- except Monday- ya know? Oh and good news: I wasn't ever put in the back lol!
Wednesday was awesome because all I had was my Directing For the Screen class. It seems like its going to be extra fun! The group I'm working with is awesome, and I can't wait to get started. Rehearsal that night was pretty interesting. Sadly, Jake wasn't there for most of it, but he showed up at the very end! Apparently everyone had last names now so Jamal and I were the only ones who were last name-less because we both weren't there for Tuesdays rehearsal- even though I kind of was. I still need to get on that. Any ideas? My characters name is Rachel and I'm an English professor at Southeastern Louisiana University. First off, there is a scene where we are all in our chairs like we are waiting in a line for gas. Somebody realized that all of the black characters were at the front of the line and it looked very segregated! Ironic right? We had to change that up a bit, but it was hilarious when it was pointed out. We spent a lot of time on the floor because there's a scene where we imitate the levees breaking and the whole cast falls to the floor where they stand. So we spent a lot of time slowly getting up with the dialog and....we actually get to go off stage now!!!! Originally the plan was for us all to stay on stage the whole time, but for some of the scenes it just didn't make sense. This figuring out stuff as you go and ensemble interpretation and inspiration gets tough sometimes. There were moments where we'd all look at each other like: what do we do in this moment now? We got through it and things started to feel more natural to us. All in all, it was a pretty productive rehearsal.
Thursday night was really rough. We kind of dragged through getting the staging done and it took forever. People were confused, slap happy, and frustrated. I think Ann started to get irritated with us at times- after all, we are a very chatty cast. I had to use my reading glasses for the role of Grandmother which was tough because they are legit glasses, and I have to make sure I don't actually look through them to read from my Bible because they hurt my eyes. There was this hilarious moment when we were staging the part in the Superdome where Ann asked Kyle to reenact a rape scene with Kelsey. Now a lot of you may not know Kyle, but he's one of the sweetest, prettiest, doe- eyed boys I've ever met. Plus he's gay. So him playing a rapist was so out of character. We all cracked up for a good 5 minutes. When it came time for him to play out the moment, I think ever body turned to watch him, even though we were all supposed to be in character, and we just died!!!! Here's this sweet boy (who, by the way, has to grow facial hair for his character- which he's never done before) awkwardly chasing Kelsey off stage in what he think is the way of the rapist! We all just fell apart! I could barely breathe! Every time, I swear, they tried something a little different, but the results were the same- laughter. Finally we got to the end of part 5. We've still got a long way to go, and we move into the theatre tomorrow!!!! We did more work with costumes this afternoon, and everyone was given 20 bucks to buy what we need at thrift stores. I had Audition Seminar this morning which was fun- getting trained in how to be professional and skilled in auditions. I could really use that! lol I also randomly decided to audition for "The Vagina Monologues." I figured its senior year, it doesn't conflict with Katrina, so why not? Besides, I could use the extra practice auditioning. I'll find out tomorrow if I got it or not. We'll I have 25 minutes before I have to go to rehearsal. Time for a power nap! Later my lovelies....
