So to spare you the more boring details, here are the fair to moderately boring details:
- There is a much larger number of girls than guys and this college is definitely one that has a party school rep (reffered to as "Sex, Fun, and Alcohol" by many as its initials are SFA)
- Apparently, there isa Baby Dolls (strip club) down the street where the strippers are big enough to kick your ass
- I asked one of the counselers about his experience in a frat and how initiation went and he told me "All that stuff you see on TV is just shock value, don't ever let another grown man hit you man" and yet I still don't trust the things.
- We were set in really nice two bedroom apartments that passed as "dorms" for our stay. That was a cheap way of buttering us up as we'll actually be staying in four bed dorms. Those fuckers.
- My first semester classes thus far: Anthropology, Film History, Intro to Psychology and a History course. I should have taken a music course but asan Undecided there'salways time for a Music Ed minor I guess
- I got two free t-shirts outta the thing and met some cool people, one of which was my roommate who was the prom king. Based on that, I thought we wouldn't have got along, yet most of his concerns were the same as I mine; especially interesting was his concern that it wouldn't be like high school. The fuckin'prom king was tired of the same social "I can't be seen talkin' to you BS" I was, go figure. Which I guess makes since as I guess outcast is outcast on either side of the social ladder (tbh I never had many social problems, but then my graduating class was 111). Also, he's a Halo 2 nerd and I... brought my DS as an alarm clock.
Reviews
The last time I saw something Kevin Smith did that 1up's niche audience loved but no one else talked about, I despised the majority of the experience, as that last thing was the abysmal excuse of a cartoon series Clerks which had one good episode in its entire existence; even that episode wasn't as funny as the majority of other cartoon funnies, or even the vastly superior sitcoms it so vehemently attempted to mock and in essence became.
A telling sign that Mallrats was going to be a more enjoyable experience was that its running joke was actually funny. Pardon the reference here that no one who hasn't seen these works will catch but "It's a schooner!" trumps "Why are we walking like this?" any day.
That and the irreverent humor (then again, I've never seen a "reverent" humor so I'm not sure why that even needs to be said, but it is an accurate description) like a 15 year old sex researcher, Easter bunny ass kicking, and a couple of pairs of tits and plenty of potty humor.
It's not exactly the most touching film and in fact, the main character is an asshole in most every regard. A well-played asshole thanks to Jason Lee who for a first-time actor seemed remarkably less stiff than most of the other actors, but a Sega loving, comic book nerd who acts hostile towards his girlfriend nonetheless. There is romance, and the climax actually revolves around a remake of The Dating Game, but it's still not what you'd call a romantic comedy unless you're really into sharks.
It's also not at the top of Smith's best films pile for me but it has an easy-to-watch quality and the characters are likeable enough that it's worth at least a rental (hell, I got it for free as a "classic" Blockbuster title which makes me feel old cause 1995 feels like yesterday to me) and Mewes should always be Jay. Not Seth Green. Mewes.
On a bleaker but vastly greater note from a cinematography standpoint, we have the extremely well shot Children of Men.
The pacing, acting, directing and screenplay are all handled incredibly well, and most importantly of all it's handled in away that provides genuine emotion.
Now while I accepted No Country for Old Men asa very well-done thriller, and can possibly acknowledge there was more depth than I'm willing to attribute it (while still considering my shallow view on it) I didn't feel any chills down my spine. No remorse either, really. Just a scary dude with an oxygen tank offing people in awell-paced film.
There Will Be Blood managed to give me a bit of an emotional reaction, but wanting to give Daniel Plainview a metal baseball bat to the balls doesn't really count as profound character-audience connectivity now does it?
What Children of Men did that those other movies didn't was make me feel real empathy for all the suffering that occurs in this movie. We spend so much time watching these characters getting pummeled with despair after every brief moment of hope that it's hard not to feel their pain.
But more than just despair which God knows is easy Oscar gold, it also shows the hope and joy that still rests in some of centerpiece Britain's residents through Michael Caine's loving hippy character as well as thoughtful and righteous rebellion towards corrupt authorities.
Not only that, but from a purely visceral standpoint it's still better than most films. The action sequences opt to let the characters act and to show the gritty environents and the effects of death rather than cheaply taking the unemotional Michael Bay cookie cutter quick-cuts route, and while dystopian future settings are getting very fucking old and this is not really so different there's at least enough going on that you usually don't have to focus on the seventeenth ghetto side street except to visually aid the despair of this universe.
By the end of the movie, it's almost like you've been through an ordeal yourself thanks to countless "nope, not over yet, someone's still getting fucked just like in real life" moments and yet so sated by the message of hope in the final moments that everything feels perfectly worth it.
So to recap:
Malrats is 3 1/2 star fun
Children of Men is 5 star masterpiece
As per glassadam's feelings that my greeting looked like a blog, I've decided to incorporate three of my playlist songs at the end of each entry and give descriptions on each. For starters, hereare three newest entries in my playlist:
- Iron Maiden - The Trooper - I traded this out for Rime of the Ancient Mariner purley cause Mariner hadtechnical flaws. Well, that and Trooper is actually my favorite Maiden song. Dickenson's "whoa oh oh oh ooo" along with thoughtful lyrics regarding warfare and the experience therein plus fast yet melodic guitar work and some of the best riffsand hook in a metal song a good tune make. Also, see manualist performances in your area:
Bob Dylan - 115th Song - Because I felt like it. To be honest I can only take Dylan's voice for so long and will probably end up switching this for something smoother of his like "Sarah" but I love the guy so he at least stays on the playlist for sure. For now, enjoy the happy tune.
Black Keys - Just Got to Be - Name says it all. This band is too brilliant not to be on my playlist, so Wolfmother had to go in favor of the mighty bearded finger picking rock/blues guitarist and his awesomedrummer counterpart. I like the live version of "Stack Shot Billy" but what I heard of therecording wasn't stacking up to what I saw on Letterman:
so instead "Just Got to Be" is up there as one of my favorite recorded riffs by them.
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