I checked my e-mail this morning and found more about the buzz on this movie. I hear that it doesn't have a release date here yet, but it's coming out in the fall in Italy. I wish they'd release it somewhere in the states. Even if it's in limited release. I really do want to see it.
The clip that I did see, the same one that's all over You Tube...it stayed with me. I actually dreamt about it stayed with me so deeply and I only saw the clip once. This also reminds me of a bizarre/eerie thing that happened to me last weekend. I was napping and I woke up and started channel surfing, completely at random. I ran up on one of the few Heath Ledger movies that I hadn't seen before I'm Not There. When, I found it, it was right on the "Robbie" part. I want to see the movie in its entiretly to fully appreciate it, but I have to say, finding it at that exact point, was...weird to say the least.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month...
Wednesday night PBS had two programs on about being Chinese in Hollywood. The first covered all Chinese and Chinese-American actors. The second focused on Chinese men. I think every minority goes through similar experiences in Hollywood, but it's still interesting to hear the different perspectives.
One thing that definitely jumped out at me, was the story that was told about the screening of the original ending for Romeo Must Die. They tested this with an urban audience, and supposedly, the urban audience didn't like seeing Jet Li and Aaliyah kiss. When I heard this, I felt anger, disappointment, and frustration. To me, all that buildup without the kiss, just doesn't make sense. I felt cheated by the ending and now I know exactly why. I would like to think that if minority groups banded together over the things we all have in common, more opportunities would open up for all, and we'd be a step closer to color blind casting (Yeah, I'm still hanging on to the tattered shreds of my idealism. Don't you just love it? Color blind casting. For the most part, I love the idea of it. Particularly, examples of it like . But on the other hand, the idea of it seems odd to me, like the instance where someone decided to put on Huck Finn with a Black Huck and a White Jim.)
Something else has me wondering too...I love to watch J-horror films ( I know I've mentioned this before.). Usually they have an all Asian cast, whether they are shot in Japan or Thailand.
Why don't they think Asians would pay to see an All Asian cast? Or that no one else would want to see an All Asian cast? The American version of Shutter takes on a whole different meaning/tone with the lead male character played by a White actor. But then, maybe that helps make the story all the more disturbing.
I overheard an interesting conversation when I was at my job's Annual Cultural Fair for Asian Pacific American month. An Asian woman was asking an Asian man, who I'm assuming was Chinese, what Chinese attitudes are about someone being part Chinese. The man answered that they are seen as completely Chinese. Now, when you look at the man and woman having this conversation, they look unmistakably Asian. I found out something about my ancestry last year, that I would like to verify before I go out on a limb, but it got me to thinking anyway, because when you look at me, I just look African-American. I don't look like Kimora Lee either. I just look African-American. I wanted so badly to ask, and what about me? I wouldn't be surprised to hear him tell me "No, it doesn't include a situation like yours.". I've run into this type of attitude when I was trying to track down a Chickahominy relative (She'd have been my maternal great-grandmother.). Most of the Native American nations that I know about have largely oral traditions of record-keeping, so I think I was fighting a losing battle anyway. I also found out she would have been shunned/ostracized/disowned for marrying a Black man. So, as I said, I basically hit a wall.
As far as what was/is driving me to do all this research...It was a variety of things. Alex Haley's books Roots and Queen. And I guess when I was in my late teens and in early adulthood, I just became very wrapped up in searching for identity...finding and learning everything I could about all the people who made me me. I wanted to research it...document it. I felt like I'd be more confident, if I just knew who I was. Don't think I'm neglecting the African part of my African-American heritage either. I'm very interested in finding out from where in West Africa I came from, what language is spoken there, etc. . But that would take considerably more time and money than I have right now (I want to go to graduate school, and get my Masters degree in Library Science, or whatever the new jargon is for it now. I'm also very interested in becoming a museum technician. I'm very into history, pop culture, and I was an English major in college. It all just makes so much sense to me now. I wish I'd been this clear-headed when I graduated high school. Everything in its own time I guess...).
It will be interesting to see whether having Barack Obama in The White House will change how people of different races relate to one another (And no, this is not something that I expect to happen overnight.), and whether or not it will be a lasting change or a cosmetic change. Although I never expected to live to see a Black president, for the most part, I still think that race is that elephant in the room that no one is quite comfortable talking about.
One thing that definitely jumped out at me, was the story that was told about the screening of the original ending for Romeo Must Die. They tested this with an urban audience, and supposedly, the urban audience didn't like seeing Jet Li and Aaliyah kiss. When I heard this, I felt anger, disappointment, and frustration. To me, all that buildup without the kiss, just doesn't make sense. I felt cheated by the ending and now I know exactly why. I would like to think that if minority groups banded together over the things we all have in common, more opportunities would open up for all, and we'd be a step closer to color blind casting (Yeah, I'm still hanging on to the tattered shreds of my idealism. Don't you just love it? Color blind casting. For the most part, I love the idea of it. Particularly, examples of it like . But on the other hand, the idea of it seems odd to me, like the instance where someone decided to put on Huck Finn with a Black Huck and a White Jim.)
Something else has me wondering too...I love to watch J-horror films ( I know I've mentioned this before.). Usually they have an all Asian cast, whether they are shot in Japan or Thailand.
Why don't they think Asians would pay to see an All Asian cast? Or that no one else would want to see an All Asian cast? The American version of Shutter takes on a whole different meaning/tone with the lead male character played by a White actor. But then, maybe that helps make the story all the more disturbing.
I overheard an interesting conversation when I was at my job's Annual Cultural Fair for Asian Pacific American month. An Asian woman was asking an Asian man, who I'm assuming was Chinese, what Chinese attitudes are about someone being part Chinese. The man answered that they are seen as completely Chinese. Now, when you look at the man and woman having this conversation, they look unmistakably Asian. I found out something about my ancestry last year, that I would like to verify before I go out on a limb, but it got me to thinking anyway, because when you look at me, I just look African-American. I don't look like Kimora Lee either. I just look African-American. I wanted so badly to ask, and what about me? I wouldn't be surprised to hear him tell me "No, it doesn't include a situation like yours.". I've run into this type of attitude when I was trying to track down a Chickahominy relative (She'd have been my maternal great-grandmother.). Most of the Native American nations that I know about have largely oral traditions of record-keeping, so I think I was fighting a losing battle anyway. I also found out she would have been shunned/ostracized/disowned for marrying a Black man. So, as I said, I basically hit a wall.
As far as what was/is driving me to do all this research...It was a variety of things. Alex Haley's books Roots and Queen. And I guess when I was in my late teens and in early adulthood, I just became very wrapped up in searching for identity...finding and learning everything I could about all the people who made me me. I wanted to research it...document it. I felt like I'd be more confident, if I just knew who I was. Don't think I'm neglecting the African part of my African-American heritage either. I'm very interested in finding out from where in West Africa I came from, what language is spoken there, etc. . But that would take considerably more time and money than I have right now (I want to go to graduate school, and get my Masters degree in Library Science, or whatever the new jargon is for it now. I'm also very interested in becoming a museum technician. I'm very into history, pop culture, and I was an English major in college. It all just makes so much sense to me now. I wish I'd been this clear-headed when I graduated high school. Everything in its own time I guess...).
It will be interesting to see whether having Barack Obama in The White House will change how people of different races relate to one another (And no, this is not something that I expect to happen overnight.), and whether or not it will be a lasting change or a cosmetic change. Although I never expected to live to see a Black president, for the most part, I still think that race is that elephant in the room that no one is quite comfortable talking about.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
They wanna what?!!!?!!!!
I just checked out my Google newspage under my screename(I have two, one under my real name and one under my screenname. I may eventually delete the one under my real name once I bring all the features from that one over to the other.) and found out, that they might be making a Buffy movie, only Joss Whedon won't be involved. I don't understand how that could be...Didn't he create the character? His name is so closely associated with Buffy, I couldn't imagine anyone else doing it and doing it well. Plus, he has certain trademarks that are uniquely his (We wouldn't get the Mutant Enemy Grr Argh thing at the end of the movie, either. Corny as it sounds, I love that little thing. I smile almost every time I see it. Same thing with Bad Robot.)
To some degree, I can understand how some of the more serious fans of TOS felt about Star Trek. I was/am a huge BtVS and Angel fan. (I think I've said that in different posts here. I'm not sure.) I associated the actors with the characters they portrayed and they all did a fantastic job. I've even met some of them at a con (Moonlight Rising I think it was). With as much time that's passed, I can't imagine all of them would want to return to their roles, even if they could.
I read some of the comments at the EW.com website and there are a couple of ideas that helped make this idea a bit easier to accept. Thinking of the movie as a form of fanfiction for example. All fanfiction is not a part of cannon, right? Some of it, the authors themselves even identify as AU. [Speaking of AU, I wish they hadn't killed off Kendra (I think she and Xander would've worked.). but without Kendra being killed, we wouldn't have gotten Faith and I enjoyed her character too.] I believe the AU idea, is part of why the Star Trek reboot worked so well, and made it easier to accept for a lot of people. Those that didn't...Well, you can't please all of the people all of the time. And like fanfiction, if you don't want to read the fic, you don't have to.
Another idea that I saw that would make a new BtVS movie more acceptable, would be to have it be about one of the new slayers. Which would certainly work given the events of BtVS season 7 ( I didn't really love Seasons 6 and 7, but I was so emotionally invested in the characters, that I couldn't imagine not watching the series until it's end. ) I would also enjoy it (if the script is well-written and doing so makes sense) having someone from the TV series in the movie as their character, if it's not too ridiculous and far-fetched (Xander would work. I don't like Andrew. If I think about it some more, I could probably come up with some other characters that would work.)
Something else that hadn't even occurred to me, that was also pointed out in the comments on this at EW.com, was that they're only doing this to cash in on the vampire trend that the movie version of Twilight started. That idea sickens me, but it doesn't surprise me, especially when one considers the fact that the WB has a show called The Vampire Diaries lined up (That series is also based on a series of books, from what I understand. These I've never read. I love vampire novels, but only if they're well-written. If they're not, I don't waste my time. The same goes for vampire movies [for movies, it also helps a lot if they actors know what they're doing. You can have the best script in the world, but if the actors don't know what they're doing, or the casting is just wrong, it becomes a joke.]. )
I'm leaning towards boycott, unless I see or read something that makes me change my mind. I gave Star Trek the benefit of the doubt and I'm far from sorry (I love them both for different reasons.). So for right now (although I was very unhappy to hear the news) , I've got a wait and see attitude.
To some degree, I can understand how some of the more serious fans of TOS felt about Star Trek. I was/am a huge BtVS and Angel fan. (I think I've said that in different posts here. I'm not sure.) I associated the actors with the characters they portrayed and they all did a fantastic job. I've even met some of them at a con (Moonlight Rising I think it was). With as much time that's passed, I can't imagine all of them would want to return to their roles, even if they could.
I read some of the comments at the EW.com website and there are a couple of ideas that helped make this idea a bit easier to accept. Thinking of the movie as a form of fanfiction for example. All fanfiction is not a part of cannon, right? Some of it, the authors themselves even identify as AU. [Speaking of AU, I wish they hadn't killed off Kendra (I think she and Xander would've worked.). but without Kendra being killed, we wouldn't have gotten Faith and I enjoyed her character too.] I believe the AU idea, is part of why the Star Trek reboot worked so well, and made it easier to accept for a lot of people. Those that didn't...Well, you can't please all of the people all of the time. And like fanfiction, if you don't want to read the fic, you don't have to.
Another idea that I saw that would make a new BtVS movie more acceptable, would be to have it be about one of the new slayers. Which would certainly work given the events of BtVS season 7 ( I didn't really love Seasons 6 and 7, but I was so emotionally invested in the characters, that I couldn't imagine not watching the series until it's end. ) I would also enjoy it (if the script is well-written and doing so makes sense) having someone from the TV series in the movie as their character, if it's not too ridiculous and far-fetched (Xander would work. I don't like Andrew. If I think about it some more, I could probably come up with some other characters that would work.)
Something else that hadn't even occurred to me, that was also pointed out in the comments on this at EW.com, was that they're only doing this to cash in on the vampire trend that the movie version of Twilight started. That idea sickens me, but it doesn't surprise me, especially when one considers the fact that the WB has a show called The Vampire Diaries lined up (That series is also based on a series of books, from what I understand. These I've never read. I love vampire novels, but only if they're well-written. If they're not, I don't waste my time. The same goes for vampire movies [for movies, it also helps a lot if they actors know what they're doing. You can have the best script in the world, but if the actors don't know what they're doing, or the casting is just wrong, it becomes a joke.]. )
I'm leaning towards boycott, unless I see or read something that makes me change my mind. I gave Star Trek the benefit of the doubt and I'm far from sorry (I love them both for different reasons.). So for right now (although I was very unhappy to hear the news) , I've got a wait and see attitude.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Land of the Lost marathon(s) on the Sci-Fi channel
I caught the first one of these they did, which was during the Memorial Day weekend. It's funny, this wasn't even my favorite Kroft show (I had lots of little favorites. HR Pufnstuf definitely stands out. About the only Kroft shows I didn't like were Far Out Space Nuts [Bob Denver was basically still playing Gilligan only in space. It was just as annoying in space.] and The Lost Saucer.) and I found myself sitting in front of the television really getting into these episodes. Now don't get me wrong, the special effects and some of the costumes were pretty awful. (I think I actually tweeted something like "Harryhausen this ain't." or something like that.) But the writing, was actually pretty good in the first season. I noticed some names that I recognized, like Walter Koenig, Ben Bova, and I think there was another sci-fi writer's name I noticed, but I'm drawing a blank. At one point in an episode Rick Marshall cracked me up, because he was describing sleestaks to a parachutist that had somehow wound up in the Land of the Lost as well. (I'm guessing it was one of those pylons that caused it.) But anyway, Rick described it as a "giant insect". I'm like "Huh?" They look more like lizard people to me. Bizarre. To each his own.
The movie version coming out today, differs somewhat. Marshall, Will and Holly aren't related in this version. (It's kind of nice in a way, because I guess it gave the writers and the actors more room to play.) I may go see it and I may not. What I've heard hasn't been good so far. I would rather save my $10.00 if my gut feeling is right. I've still been thinking about going to see Up or Drag Me to Hell too. I'm not sure what I'll do...
Entertainment Weekly did a story on the Kroft brothers. I remember most of the shows the interview/article mentioned except for Lidsville, for some reason, I'm drawing a blank on that one.
The movie version coming out today, differs somewhat. Marshall, Will and Holly aren't related in this version. (It's kind of nice in a way, because I guess it gave the writers and the actors more room to play.) I may go see it and I may not. What I've heard hasn't been good so far. I would rather save my $10.00 if my gut feeling is right. I've still been thinking about going to see Up or Drag Me to Hell too. I'm not sure what I'll do...
Entertainment Weekly did a story on the Kroft brothers. I remember most of the shows the interview/article mentioned except for Lidsville, for some reason, I'm drawing a blank on that one.
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
This will probably be the first post of a few I do about this film.
I've seen some clips from the movie. EW.com had one up. I've also seen some really beautiful stills from it. Finally, seeing this film will be bittersweet (I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.) to say the least.
I've seen some clips from the movie. EW.com had one up. I've also seen some really beautiful stills from it. Finally, seeing this film will be bittersweet (I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.) to say the least.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
TV news that suprised me...
Dollhouse is getting another season. I couldn't be more thrilled. For the most part, I enjoy Joss Whedon's shows and comics. I'm a huge BtVS and Angel fan. Firefly was gone before I really got the chance to check it out and get into it (I'm also more into horror/fantasy. With a few exceptions here and there, I'm not quite as into Sci-fi.), so I'm glad this didn't happen with Dollhouse.
Fringe will also be back for another season. I am starting to get into that. I also think that Lance Reddick is pretty cool. I was very disappointed when they killed his character off on Lost. I think his was a character they could have done way more with. Especially with all the island enigmas that still have yet to be solved.
My Name is Earl has been dropped by NBC. That surprised me too. It can be silly sometimes, but I like it's overall message. It's hard for me to catch, because it comes on at the same time as Smallville ( Yeah, I still watch it. Are they going to drag that out for another season? How much longer will it take for Clark to become Superman? Don't get me wrong. Tom Welling still looks fantastic, but time doesn't stand still...at least not in reality.) , so I usually flick between the two, depending on which is more interesting.
Fringe will also be back for another season. I am starting to get into that. I also think that Lance Reddick is pretty cool. I was very disappointed when they killed his character off on Lost. I think his was a character they could have done way more with. Especially with all the island enigmas that still have yet to be solved.
My Name is Earl has been dropped by NBC. That surprised me too. It can be silly sometimes, but I like it's overall message. It's hard for me to catch, because it comes on at the same time as Smallville ( Yeah, I still watch it. Are they going to drag that out for another season? How much longer will it take for Clark to become Superman? Don't get me wrong. Tom Welling still looks fantastic, but time doesn't stand still...at least not in reality.) , so I usually flick between the two, depending on which is more interesting.
Crazy Nightmare
A crazy nightmare woke me up in the wee hours of the morning. I dreamed that (this thing...It kind of looked like one of those face-hugger things from Alien) while I was exploring some dark place, it dropped down on me, and was trying to suck my brain out of my head. The dream scared me so bad, that I woke up screaming. I must not have been too loud, because I didn't get cussed out. As for what brought the dream on, before bed I was channel flicking between MonsterQuest, some UFO documentary, and Star Trek : Nemesis. Not to mention that I'm worried that my younger sister is keeping some potentially devastating secret from me. I'm not really good with dream analysis, so I can't really break it down beyond that. I know I didn't eat anything weird. I just had some pepperoni pizza a couple of hours before I went to bed. This is actually the first nightmare I've had in a long time.
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