Important
This will be my very very last post here, at boyinbrownshirt.blogspot.com. Repeated security breaches have necessitated my transition to another journal. If you have any interest in reading this new journal, please e-mail me at...
Brian_Solem@hotmail.com
Don't e-mail me at aol.com, since I rarely check that E-mail. Archives will remain here until I can figure out how to move them. Thank you for your understanding; a detailed explaination of everything can be found at my new journal.
A record of the life and times of one brown shirt-wearing university student, struggling to escape his fear of intimacy, overcome his hunger for eternal supremacy in every aspect, and never have to write a description of his life like this again.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Friday, November 12, 2004
Abbilash Talkies
I haven't seen a film with a real, live human character in many many weeks. First, Theo and I saw The Polar Express, a film with an awful plot (perhaps I think it's awful because I was never read the book as a child and therefore have no emotional tie to it) and a faulty, awkward animation style. Then, he and I saw The Incredibles, which was wonderful all over. I really enjoy Pixar films; they're timeless and flawless. One day later, Lauren (in an outing that was preceded by several months of me being a cold, dirty fish to her) and I saw Team America: World Police, which enthralled me mostly based on the marionettes. I have always been fascinated by marionettes, and wanted one desperately as a child. The plot--well, as the Onion wrote, it worked better as a real Jerry Bruckheimer-brand action film than a satire. But it was still fun. THEN, to reach my quota of four non-human films per year, I rented Shrek 2, which was annoying, awful, and proposterous. I didn't really like the first one, mostly because of its association with a guy I dated (it was our first date activity; he was an asshole). The second one reminds me of that old camp song adage, "Second verse, same as the first--a little bit louder, and a little bit worse." Blah.
There are at least 67 films I'd like to see that are coming out before the new year.
Otherwise, nothing to report. I feel like these film reviews cheapen this journal, but when filmwatching is the highlight of my life, what else do I have to write about?
Oh, the Newberry Seminar. It's a 6-credit hour course hosted by all of the Chicago-area universities at the Newberry Library downtown. Essentially, it's an English course with an emphasis on research, and only five students from each participating university are allowed to participate. Even though I just got a rave review on a well-researched essay from my S. Asian lit prof. (who happens to be the dept. chair this year), my insecurities prevented me from applying. So, I basically have nothing to help me get into a good graduate school except for decent grades. So, I'm fucked. So, aaaah.
I haven't seen a film with a real, live human character in many many weeks. First, Theo and I saw The Polar Express, a film with an awful plot (perhaps I think it's awful because I was never read the book as a child and therefore have no emotional tie to it) and a faulty, awkward animation style. Then, he and I saw The Incredibles, which was wonderful all over. I really enjoy Pixar films; they're timeless and flawless. One day later, Lauren (in an outing that was preceded by several months of me being a cold, dirty fish to her) and I saw Team America: World Police, which enthralled me mostly based on the marionettes. I have always been fascinated by marionettes, and wanted one desperately as a child. The plot--well, as the Onion wrote, it worked better as a real Jerry Bruckheimer-brand action film than a satire. But it was still fun. THEN, to reach my quota of four non-human films per year, I rented Shrek 2, which was annoying, awful, and proposterous. I didn't really like the first one, mostly because of its association with a guy I dated (it was our first date activity; he was an asshole). The second one reminds me of that old camp song adage, "Second verse, same as the first--a little bit louder, and a little bit worse." Blah.
There are at least 67 films I'd like to see that are coming out before the new year.
Otherwise, nothing to report. I feel like these film reviews cheapen this journal, but when filmwatching is the highlight of my life, what else do I have to write about?
Oh, the Newberry Seminar. It's a 6-credit hour course hosted by all of the Chicago-area universities at the Newberry Library downtown. Essentially, it's an English course with an emphasis on research, and only five students from each participating university are allowed to participate. Even though I just got a rave review on a well-researched essay from my S. Asian lit prof. (who happens to be the dept. chair this year), my insecurities prevented me from applying. So, I basically have nothing to help me get into a good graduate school except for decent grades. So, I'm fucked. So, aaaah.