Has it been over a week already?

Phew.
 
Things have been getting a lot busier these days and I'm really enjoying it. I'm finding myself at a transitional period in my life where lots of things are happening and for the better.
 
A screenplay that is taking up my time. Work which is consuming me. There's a friend who has come back into my life that I am forever greatful for. Slowly working on some new film reviews. And still working out as much as possible to keep as fit as possible. Onto week FIVE without caffinated products, and I have just as much energy without the 1 Litre Dr. Pepper.
 
Hence no posts to the blog until now. Life is being lived right now and I'm loving it. Sure, there are still a few things that I want to change, and I'm working on it, but I'm having a good time regardless.
 
Jason
efilmcritic.com

Such Great Heights

I normally don't promote music, but this is the best song of the year. It's been pretty much on repeat, for a completely original sound and honest, beautiful lyrics. And it's a freakin' FREE download here:
http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/download.php?url=/multimedia/Such_Great_Heights214.mp3&mid=214
 
Seriously campers, you can't lose.
 
Jason

What the...sleep much?

Isn't it funny when you think you're really tired, go to sleep, wake up and realize that you've only slept a few hours? After working on that Lindsay Lohan rant, working on my screenplay and getting a call from a friend in Vancouver just shortly after midnight, I was sure I'd be ready for a 8-10 hour sleep, but here I am at 7am, wide awake and doing my usual friday morning online thingy (ie. Read Ebert's new reviews, check out the HBS forums, IM with the usual people on at this time) after only about five hours of sleep.
 
But I sure thought that I slept longer. My dreams are typically very odd, a ramble of thoughts in a particular setting, and then suddenly the setting changes itself and I'm somewhere else on another tangent. Like one of those pesky Godard flicks. heh. I normally don't remember my dreams although images from them (my last night's dream was kind of like a Blake Edwards comedy, with a whole lot of my friends interchanging rooms in a four-star hotel that looked like something out of Metropolis...NO, not what you're thinking by the way) still linger. Who knows, it'll make a great screenplay some day.

The Lindsay Lohan Rant

In 1998 I viewed nothing short of magic. The remake of the Disney classic "The Parent Trap" somehow transcended upon the original film, mostly for the reason that its star, the perky and lovely Lindsay Lohan, was at the forefront. And there were two of her. Instead of saving a bundle on visual effects and hiring the Olsen twins, the filmmakers chose to plunk this adorable redhead into the action.

And boy did it ever work. Lohan took on the difficult task of playing twins who switch identities like it was nothing at all. She played a dapper British chick, while she also played a cool American girl with strut and cofidence. And then, 40 minutes into the movie, the bait and switch thus begin, and suddenly that Brit lass is pretending to be her American counterpart, while the American girl is London Calling with a fake accent. It was no doubt an incredibly difficult role to play, with this little 11 year old playing two different characters who had to pretend they were one another.

I was instantly a fan. At the time I saw the film, there were already about a dozen or so fansites on the tyke, and I worked on one of them ("There She Goes", now defunct). I also wrote a bio for her official website which was up and running around early 1999, but had since went under new management. The same management then wanted to promote her new CD's and movies rather than make it a place for fans to actually appreciate her work. (Mostly the reason why julia-stiles.com, which I co-own, is not an official site, rather a fansite with Julia's involvement.)

Ahh, the 90's. Lohan then continued onto a few small films, including one for Disney by the name of "Life Size" with Tyra Banks. TERRIBLE film that was shot in nearby Vancouver, but Lohan still kept her adorable, plucky attitude and I was sure that this was going to continue onward. She even showed up on that god-awful Bette Midler show which was quickly yanked.

And then she started going through puberty...and all hell broke loose. Suddenly she's partying, wearing the "55" shirt more than she should (hey, if you catch this reference you're an apt observer of the youth philosophy) and telling her publicists to make us believe she's a Straight-A student and endlessly involved with athletics (yeah, right). Sure, many teen girls are like this, but why Lindsay? We fell in love with Hallie Parker and Annie James, two awesome kids who we want to grow up just as confident and likable as they once were. And we knew that there was a lot of Lindsay herself in that performance.

Somewhere, something went wrong. Maybe there was a rift in her family (dad is a big producer, mom was a former Rockette) or she got teased for her "And I have CLASS and you don't!" line in "Parent Trap" too much. Maybe she had a Nikki Reed step into her life and change her entire outlook on things. She used her popularity to ensnare that kid singer Aaron Carter; meanwhile, that pesky Lizzie McGuire was ALSO using her celebrity to Get Carter. All the meanwhile Carter is probably laughing at how easy he can have two simulteanous girlfriends.

So what do I think about...

- Her rumored breast implants? Despite many stating that no one would even try to get plastic surgery under the age of 18, these kinds of rules don't exist in the state of California, especially if you're industry. (An aside: Lohan was driving in L.A. a few months ago without a licence but with a learner's permit, and had yet to take her road test. No warning or ticket.) If you have money, you can get anything. Implants, nose job, lypo, chin enhancement...and it has been performed to teenagers with the right amount of coin. Many made mention of a "scar" around the bottom right of her left breast, but who knows. I'm sure bras can get scratchy.

"I didn't get breast implants," Lindsay said in an interview. "I'm only 17! I just got my boobs this year and my body is filling out. My mom would kill me!"

Add to the fact that Lindsay suddenly gained solid, round breasts at the height of her popularity? (Notice that around her "Freaky Friday" era, her breats were less round and a bit pushed; not by a push-up bra, but rather at an odd higher shape.) The exact same thing happened to Britney Spears a few years ago. You have #1 movies at the box office, you have a CD contract, rich parents, YOU'RE A SMOKER, you live on your own in L.A...and all of a sudden your breasts get bigger? Funny how things work out sometimes.

I guess we'll never really know the truth. If you're asking for my opinion (and you are) she did, but for the "Ultimate" truth, a polygraph would be the best course of action. Just think of the questions I could ask!

- Smoking? I guess this one is easy. She smokes, it's true. All smokers must die.

- Feud with the Lohan and the Duff C'mon, what is it with teen starlets and Aaron Carter? What is it with you teens kicking the other teens out of premieres? Do you expect anyone to take you two seriously when all you do is pine for the pretty boys? And you're stupid teens; no relationship in your high school years lasts more than a short while, so does it really matter that much? Hilary, did you HAVE to get your "people" to try to get Lohan kicked out of your stupid "Cheaper By The Dozen" flick? You were probably doing her a favor. I don't think people will be lined around the block to see you in "A Cinderella Story" this weekend, either.

- Her freckles? I love freckles. I think they're adorable. But the girl herself obviously disagrees and decides to wax herself with that tan-in-a-bottle crap that makes you look a bit more like a "dipped" cone at Dairy Queen than someone who's been out in the sun too long. Why not EMBRACE what you have instead of trying to hide it? Learn to love the flaws on yourself, THAT is what makes you beautiful.

I honestly don't know why I care so much. It's fun in a way to get wrapped up in celeb gossip to an extent. I've also known this actress for years and it's somewhat sad to see her decline from an awesome kid to party-freak 18 year old, smoking, partying, having sex, getting implants, nose job and covering her bodice in fake tan. I'm sorry Lindsay, you're not cute anymore, and you're certainly less of an inspiration to the current kid actors who I hope don't follow down the same path.

Jenna Boyd, I'm looking at you.

Here we are now...entertain us! Frontloading and Box Office....

A few posts ago, I mentioned the impatientness of people. It's one of the few things that is irking me about society as a whole, a pantheon of people who want what they want RIGHT NOW, rather than later. Why wait when you can see it now? When it comes to going to the movies, all the money is going head-first into the few opening days, where now a film will be made or broken by Sunday evening (except for those great indie films that get word-of-mouth, but even those are starting to get rushed).

What is really frustrating in the cinematic world is to see the latest opening film come out on 4000 theaters (which normally means about 8000-9000 prints are in circulation), hog up all the screens, get every last person who wants to see it out on opening weekend...and then, the movie doesn't matter on monday. Well, maybe a bit on monday, because that's when everyone gets the news on how much money it makes, like a film wins a race because a lot of people paid money to see it. And if you miss the movie, well...just wait three months because the DVD will be out by then.

Everyone was masturbating over the fact last week that "Spiderman 2" made over $165 million dollars by the time cash registers closed the sunday night after its first weekend. Sure, the movie is a hit (everyone saw it coming) but when you think about it, it's just another victim of overloading this film into a competition-free zone. The movie opened at nearly every theater in North America, on multiple screens, with endless showtimes so no matter who wanted to see it could see it, rather than back in the day when people were lined outsided single-screen 70mm houses to catch "Star Wars" or "Jaws" and may have had to wait all day to get in to the show. But hey, who needs that with automated ticket kiosks and online ticket purchases? To rush your ticket, just click it. (You also know how Blockbuster Video has the "Guranteed Rental" credo? The megaplexes may not be too far behind.)

What's even more amusing: the $165 million take for "Spidey Two" was for FIVE days, including the tuesday night midnight shows leading into its Wednesday opening. The first "Spiderman" opened on a friday, taking in $114 million from Friday to Sunday. "Spiderman 2" only made about $88 million in the same amount of time. But hey, when you know you have box office gold, it's smart to open it on a Wednesday. I mean, look at how well "White Chicks" is doing!

(Columbia also opened the film on a Wednesday to off-set the release of "King Arthur" which just opened last Wenesday. They needen't have bothered. Columbia would still be riding high on Spidey tickets anyway.)

And, of course, the film dropped 50% in its second weekend, and it will continue to free-fall as new movies open, because you know what? Not only are newer movies out like "I Robot" and "The Bourne Supremacy", any movie is now unpopular after its first weekend. People would rather be caught dead than in a megaplex for a week-old flick! It's not "popular" for people to come into the office on monday morning and go "Hey, I just saw Spiderman 2 on Sunday...it was awesome!" "So?" says the co-worker "Everyone here saw it on the opening weekend when it made all that money. That movie is SO out, man." Watch also as all of the overbearing 4-star reviews (for the record, I gave it 3/4) and "Best comic book movie ever!" platitudes start getting rescinded and everyone starts thinking again that "Superman" is the best comic book movie ever (and it is!).

This is just part of an annoying trend today in an overreacting culture that wants what they want, and they want it NOW. We don't want to wait. We don't want to see the movie three weeks down the road. And we want that new CD on opening day instead of our day off on Saturday. And we don't want to wait for Hilary Duff to turn 18.

Jason
efilmcritic.com

The "Character Actors I Like" Series, Volume #1: Jamie Harrold

You know those smaller actors you see in films that immediately make you go into the "Where have I seen this guy before? He's really good!" That happened this morning, (and also spearheading this series into my blog) by watching the so-so "Swimming" (2000), an indie drama starring Lauren Ambrose about a lonely, quiet young girl living in Myrtle Beach, SC, who has a best friend and has some changes in her life when a new girl comes into the restaurant she co-owns. Nothing spectacular, just a small slice-of-life drama that plods along.

Where the film takes of is the introduction of a drifter named Heath, who is played by Jamie Harrold. He's one of those actors who is "just around" in big flicks. If you've seen "The Score", you may remember him as the primary hacker for DeNiro and Norton who lives with his parents; he was also in "Erin Brockovich" as the runner a the public records department that gets wooed by Julia Roberts so she can go expose the evil corporation, P.G.E (hey, Julia can woo me any day!). In "Swimming" he gets his largest role to date; well of course he does, because this is an indie flick and character actors in bigger films get these kinds of parts. He makes a good match against the awesome Lauren Ambrose in the flick (I've adored her since seeing her red-headness in "Can't Harly Wait" in '98).

But hey, Jamie's a good actor. He has a confidence on screen that is well worth watching in all of his work. I would like to see him in more, and I even think he has the capability to play a leading role in the future, if they were smart enough to cast him, or if Jude Law was sick that day.

Jason
efilmcritic.com

Swimming and Activeness Rule

Hey everyone, (and if you read this by the way, drop a comment if you feel like it!)

I love swimming. Whenever I'm in Victoria on the weekend I try my best to get Marty together and go for about a 2/2.5 hour swim at either Commonwealth Pool or at Crystal Pool which is near downtown. Do some laps in the deep pool, do some free-falling off the 5-metre board, a couple of waterslides, and some very intense soaking in the hot tub. Ahhh, hot tub. Nothing better. All of this theraputic bliss for a five-spot? It's better than half the movies that I see, and those sometimes cost more!

These past few weeks I've been trying my best to be quite health-savvy, making sure that my eating and workout habits have been improving. This normally involvs a good balance of milk, cereals, fruits, vegetables and, of course, the occasional bad food from time to time. Add to that, I have this pretty awesome ski machine/treadmill that I knock about 20-25 minutes on about four-five times a week before work. It sure hurts the first few minutes I'm on that machine, but before I know it I'm sweating like crazy and I feel more energized than ever before.

And I don't know how, but I've knocked caffeine. It's been over two weeks since I drank caffeine, and I simply don't want it anymore. If you know me, I've been known to go head-first to the litre-bottle of Dr. Pepper at 7-11, now it's a big bottle of Dasani. Yep, you guessed it, I'm addicted to bottled water. Even the ones where they use salt in their filtration process (Dasani, Aquafina, I'm looking at you!), but hey, you still need salt to live, and as long as you don't dump two packets worth of McDonalds salt on your dinner, I say bring on the salt in the water.

Which is not to say that I've written all the bad food off of the face of the earth, I still enjoy a big Blizzard at Dairy Queen or an A&W burger; heck last week while doing a Costco run with my mom, I did a devilish turn and got their ridicoulsy delicious and fattening poutine. The coolest food invention by Canadians, bar none. I even think the heavenly creation is making its way down into the US now, so find it if you can. Be warned, however: you gain a pound.

All said, I think I like where I'm going with this. I feel more productive during the day and I am sure sleeping a lot better (roughly the same 6-7 hours I normally get every night), and the waistline appears to be going down. It's going to take a lot of discipline and hard work to better my physique, but I think I'm ready for the challenge. 'sides, I'm looking at the road ahead, and I don't want to have horrible health problems down the road. And I'm having fun along the way.

What else: caught an IMAX screening of "Adreanline" tonight at the museum. It's been a while since I've seen the flick on the format, which I've never been the biggest fan of. I still say that large format 70mm for films is the way to go, and here's hoping that New Line Cinema, who recently said that they had interest in the nearly-dead large format for a future relase, does something with it. Fingers crossed that this happens and we can have a slight return to the classiness and magic of actually going to the movies, rather than waiting for the DVD.

Jason
efilmcritic.com

So far, so morning....

Hey to the people who are reading this (or aren't),

Ahhh just waking up after a long comfy slumber. My friday nights are normally the most boring on the face of the planet; no partying, no friends over, just the Jay Man chillin' with flicks, computer and music makes me happy. Cat Stevens' Harold and Maude soundtrack is playing on my cheap computer speakers (the soundtrack from a absolutely INCREDIBLE film that I viewed virgin earlier this week; picking up the DVD today).

Suddenly the idea of this Blog thing isn't a bad one after all. But how do they make money off of this thing? I'm amazed I haven't been swarmed by pop-ups and "buy this piece of crap!" ads that placate themselves all over the internet.

Anyhoos, off to Victoria to take in "Anchorman" and "King Arthur". Reviews will be posted tonight. Sunday will be even more fun since I'm doing swimming (anyone who wants to get in shape, I couldn't recommend this highly enough, it's great fun) with Marty and then possibly a screening of "Dogville" at UVIC. Damn you, Lars Von Trier!

Have fun everyone!

Jason
efilmcritic.com

Look mom, I have a blog!

Okay, mom won't be reading this, but after posting on Jakob's (http://jakeopolis.blogspot.com/) Blog that I wouldn't create a Blog, suddenly I've made one and suddenly I feel like typing to it.

Maybe one of these days I'll actually create some thoughts on this thing, thoughts such as this screenplay that I'm working on now, or why certain people in Vancouver won't return phone calls (bleh, Hollywood Types!), or thoughts on my intense desire to reboot my entire existence rather than let it fall into an irreversible chasm.

In this case, I will just tease you with a poke into my subconcious, the free-flow of my existence falling out of the shackles of my brain and onto a post section. Oh and hey, for those of you who don't know, I also do movie reviews. :)

Jason
efilmcritic.com