some films

I've watched a bunch of movies within the past week and I thought I would share my thoughts on them.

Helvetica - More than just a documentary about a font, Helvetica explores the history of type faces, graphic design, and advertising. This was actually recommended to me by my technical writing professor. Click here for a great interview with the director of the film.

Nowhere Boy - I did like this film, but not as much as a wanted. Overall, it is about a boy named John Lennon who has a complicated family life. You do meet Paul and George along the way but the movie is not about The Beatles, per se. It looses focus often and keeps going without really giving any inkling on when it is going to end or peter out. Probably a good one for the Netflix Queue.

Paranormal Activity - First off, I would like to say that I love the idea that this is a low budget film that made a lot of money. Money can buy crane shots, car chases, and explosions but it can not buy good actors and a great story. With that being said, I do not think that Paranormal was a good film. Most of the film involves the audience getting to know two people, a young middle class couple named, Katie and Mescha. For such a slow burning film to work you really need characters that the audience can latch onto and some thought provoking dialogue to boot.

One more small problem I had with the film was how often Katie called Mescha by his name. It felt unnaturally and became really annoying around half way though. I know, stupid thing to get mad about but if you watch the movie again, please count how many times she does it and let me know.

Films on my to-see list:

Tarnation, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Pt. I

Speak easy,
Neil

The Rabbi.

Okay, so there’s this guy goes to the town Synagogue and says “Look Rabbi, my life is so miserable. My house is always a mess, my wife and I don‘t get along, and my children, they don‘t listen to me. Is there anything I can do to make my life better? I am at the end of my rope.” The Rabbi thinks for a minute. He strokes his long grey beard. He tells the man “Buy a goat.”. The guy says “A goat? How can this help me? Are you sure about that, Rabbi?” “Yes” the Rabbi replies. “Buy a goat and check back with me in one week.” The man follows the Rabbi’s orders and buys a goat from a local farmer. One week later he returns to the Rabbi. He says “Rabbi, I bought a goat but it‘s only made my life worse. I have to clean up after it and feed it. It has not helped anything.” The Rabbi nods his head and says to the man “Buy another goat.” The man can not believe what he has heard but follows the Rabbi’s word. One week later he returns to speak with the Rabbi. The man says “Look, Rabbi. One goat is hard enough but two goats, a wife, three children. All of this is too much for a man to handle. What do you think I should do Rabbi? I can not go on living as I do for very much longer.” The Rabbi’s response: “Buy another goat.” The man nearly pulls out his hair. He says “One more goat? I can’t handle two living in my house. I still have to provide for my family." “Do you trust me?” The Rabbi says to the man. “Yes Rabbi. I do.” The man goes out and buys a third goat. One week later he goes back to see the Rabbi. The man looks awful. Hasn‘t shaved in weeks. He smells terrible. Large bags under his eyes. He says “Rabbi. I am a serious man. I have followed your teachings since I was a young boy. I came to you for help. To make my life better but your advice has only made things worse. These goats, I can not handle them anymore.” The Rabbi smiles at the man and says “Sell the goats.” The man can’t believe his ears. He says, “What was that Rabbi?” The Rabbi says, “Sell the goats. Come back to see me in one week.” Sure enough, one week later the man returns to the Rabbi. The Rabbi asks the man “How is everything going?” The man shakes his head, laughs and says “My life is great, Rabbi. Thank you.”

Speak easy,

Neil

Settling For Geology

Can not get over how unproductive my day has been. I guess I'll just have to work extra hard this weekend. Wish they would turn up the heat in my building.

Speak easy,

Neil

Woman, strap on your petticoats. Men, buckle your bootstraps.

Lev and I are holding a wine and cheese night at our apartment next Wednesday. I encourage you to zoom in on the image above and read through the description. I spent a lot of time on it when I should have been doing homework.

These two comics were the first to get published. Guess they put my submissions out of order. Anyway, here they are!

Speak easy,

Neil

miss lonelyhearts transends the internet

I will be publishing comics in my school newspaper starting tomorrow. That was the project I was talking about last week. I have been working on them for a the past week or so and completed 5, which I submitted to the paper last night. Decided Miss Lonelyhearts would be a good name. Same spirit, different medium. This means that I will probably be updating the blog at least five times a week, if I keep on top of the comics (already a week and a half ahead of schedule).

This will mark the first time I've ever put my stuff out there to a large audience. The comics page says that there are about 10,000 people who read the paper and even if you cut that number in half, it's still kind of scary. I actually lost some sleep over this notion. I mean, it's all well in good when you write something and you read that yourself, or hand it off to the person next to you, or write a blog with 10-15 people who follow you, but having your worked looked at by thousands of people is kind of freaks me out. I know a lot of creative types will be reading this, so you must know what I'm talking about. Anyway, off to my British Literature reading.

Speak easy,
Neil