Bzzzz...

4) The Secret Life of Bees

I just read this book a month ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was really excited for the film version, and was not disappointed: the adaptation for the silver screen stayed for the most part true to the original novel. I've seen some criticisms for the film, that it was too slow-paced and therefore boring and unenjoyable, but I think in some way it was deliberately written that way by the writers to echo the slower pace of life during the summer months of the sweltering south. The acting was well done; May and June were exactly as I had imagined them, though I always imagined Rosaleen played by Jennifer Hudson as little more comelier than she appeared in the movie. Dakota Fanning is growing up, but she's still in that awkward pubescent age, and though she had her moments where she looked almost pretty, it will take a few more years for her to grow into her face and body. Other than that, she did a good job of portraying Lily, though I felt the Lily in the novel was a bit more "desperate" feeling than the Lily in the movie. Overall, a sweet, uplifting, sisterly-bonding type of film.

Quite Fitting, Actually

3) Slumdog Millionaire

What can I say about a movie that just won eight monumental Oscars on Sunday night? Overall, it was a brilliant screenplay beautifully executed by an engaging cast and a visionary production/directing team. All to say, I don't think it was thaaaaat great. Yes, it was a good movie, and had some memorable moments. Kid jumping up and down covered in excrement with an Indian movie star's autograph in hand, anyone? Found out later on IMDb that the fake poo mix was made from chocolate and peanut butter... yum. I think possibly the answer to why this movie has been a critical as well as audience hit is because the competition has not been very fierce in the last year. Also, I think the appeal for specifically American audiences is the sheer novelty of the fierce juxtaposition of Americanistic affluence (I hesitate to use this type of imagery, with the States' current financial situation -_-;) apparent in the scenes on the "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" set, and the drudgery of living and surviving as an orphan in the slums of India. I think this is globalism working in reverse, where the poverty of one nation begins to influence the ideas and thinking of another. Anyways, I'm starting to go off subject. This was a good film, but not worth the amount of attention and praise that it has garnered up to now.

By the way...

It is your birthday.



THAT PARTY WAS THE BEST PARTY EVER. PLEASE MAKE ME A SIGN LIKE THAT ONE FOR MY BIRTHDAY PLEASE. I WILL LAUGH MY HEAD OFF IF YOU DO.

Ick and Orah.

2) Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

No surprise here, awesome soundtrack with less well-known indie underground (5 adj.) artists. Near the end of the movie, I realized I was watching the "16 Candles"/"She's All That" of the 2000's. It's cleverly hidden behind the exterior of an indie-feeling alternative teen movie in the mode of "Juno" and "Superbad"(Michael Cera's presence in all three films is duly noted), but these are all prime examples of what is clearly becoming the new 21st Century teenage flick. A little less fluffy (pun not intended), and a little more "underground"-feeling, but "Nick and Norah" still had the tricks more traditional teen movies most readily employ. For instance, the "pretend you're my boyfriend and kiss me oh wow we felt a nice connection there" plot line is easily identified in other types of teenaged romantic comedies. Others just as easily recognizable are the "jealous evil ex-girlfriend/beauty queen/diva", the "mini-makover" Norah receives in the van from a gay guy, the "gay guy" (but in this case a nice trio of them), and the "all-night driving around town doing crazy and ridiculous things, but having the time of their lives" themes. There are plenty more, but I'll leave it at that. I think you get my drift. Other than the generally predictable plot themes stated above that made this movie feel a little too prosaically familiar, it was a fun ride with some really interesting and funny supporting cast and characters. The most memorable characters for me were the drunk friend who picked her gum out of the nasty public toilet water (disturbingly reminiscent of "Trainspotting"), and the gay Asian friend played by Aaron Yoo (only because he's Asian, and any sort of representation in the entertainment business delights me). Oh, and the Yugo. Oh, how I desire one now. Oh, and getting to see the inside of "Electric Lady Studios". WOW MOM I'M PEEING MY PANTS RIGHT NOW THAT WAS SO TOTALLY AWESOME. The end.

Next up: "Slumdog Millionaire"

The Secret Life of the Hours' Slumdog Playlist

I've seen some really good movies in the past few days, and feel the need to post about them.

1) The Hours

I was afraid this would be a slightly creepy moderately depressing movie about depression and suicide, and on the most part I was right. There was some incredible acting here, especially on Nicole Kidman's part, and according to the Academy as well (she won a Best Female Actor Award for her role). For some reason, though she looked less classically beautiful, I really really loved her with the prosthetic nose. It was strangely attractive, and I almost prefer her with it than without. I wish I had read Mrs. Dalloway before I watched the movie, but I'm kind of intimidated by it now. I was vaguely uncomfortable with the lesbianic themes throughout the film, but there weren't any graphic scenes, so I was able to stomach most of the kisses. I didn't understand the whole "water engulfing Julianne Moore's character in the hotel room" until the end, when I was reminded of how Virginia Woolf commited suicide. One pleasant surprise was Claire Danes' role (I'm kind of a fan), though it was small. After finishing the film, I recalled that Claire Danes and Meryl Streep were in "Evening" together, though they never shared any scenes. Overall, though I haven't read The Hours, I was convinced with the acting (effortlessly executed by seasoned professionals), intrigued by the stories and how they were interwoven with each other, and inspired by the simple beauty of the visuals of the film.

My reviews of the other films will follow soon.

Jeez, people, get a grip. :)

Ok, here is what Robo commented after many confused speculations about what exactly had happened:

Robo Paik at 12:30pm February 9

lol
clarification time
i don't think they were aiming directly for grace but I have a feeling they were asked to leave or something along those lines, and so in retaliation they launched a brick into the restaurant which ended up hitting grace.

i ran after the guys, out of like animal instinct.
i caught up to them and one guy was just inanely (idiotically) just dropping the F-bomb on me left and right. They were both intoxicated and I realized punches could end up being thrown pretty easily and this wasn't high school where things would just end with a suspension. I approached the other less argumentative drunk and by this time I was feeling a mixture of fear and anger. My left leg was shaking and my right hand was curled up into a fist ready to catapult into the guys face.

I didn't know what I wanted from them but I realized an apology would be nice. By this time Jessica had followed me out, the cursing buffoon had squandered away and it was just one drunk me and jessica.

Robo Paik at 12:32pm February 9

so after a strange conversation in which the guy told me he thought the brick was a piece of bread, he apologized to jessica and me. the whole time he had his hand on my shoulder so i put mine on his as well. he apologized and I told him that I hoped he felt better. end of story.

In addendum, the pain was only momentary, and I don't hurt at all now. So thanks for your concern, but I'm okay! Jeez, people, get a grip. :) I love you too~ ^^

I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE DRUNK OR HIGH OR EVEN MENTALLY DISABLED, THAT'S JUST PLAIN WRONG.

The most craziest surreal thing happened to me today...

I was minding my own business eating dinner with friends at Lush for Open Mic Night. There was a table in the corner with some loud drunk guys who started yelling at a girl that was with them, and we noticed that she left soon after that. We were a little bit leery of them, but decided that they weren't worth much more of our attention... boy were we wrong about that.

We were absorbed in our own conversation, and didn't really notice the guys getting up to leave, until I suddenly felt something heavy and rough hit me in my right shoulder blade. For some reason I immediately assumed that it was a chair falling on me (weird), but it turned out to be something a bit more malicious than that.

Before I could absorb what was happening, and rubbing my shoulder from that prickly-throbbing pain you get when someone's punched you a little bit harder than is friendly, Robo was up and out the door. Everyone else around me started asking me if I was okay, and for some reason I frantically looked around at the waitresses to see if they had noticed this injustice that had just been imposed upon me, still clueless to what exactly had happened.

Sally went into the corner where whatever missile had been launched upon this poor unsuspecting girl had fallen, and she came back with a dumbfounded look on her face and a broken piece of red brick larger than my fist in her hand. WTF??? WHO DOES THAT??? WHO THROWS A FREAKIN' BRICK AT SOMEONE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW??? I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE DRUNK OR HIGH OR EVEN MENTALLY DISABLED, THAT'S JUST PLAIN WRONG.

Okay, I'm past it now. Whoever you are, I forgive you, just don't let it happen again, and get some rehab, because you obviously cannot behave like a normal, well-adjusted human being in polite society. The end.

"My hair-strewn memory lane.........."

I contemplated today about keeping my short hair, instead of growing it out again as originally planned. It's virtually fool-proof and comfortable most of the time. My roommates have complimented me several times about the "cute"ness of my style.

But there are those times when I stare with longing almost to the point of weirdness at other girls' long tresses, and twist inside with envy. I sometimes miss looking and feeling "feminine", and it can be hard without long hair, mind you.

So goes my delight/deriding dislike of my now growing-out-of-the-summer-shortness-and-trying-hard-not-to-look-like-a-mullet* drudgery. *It's confusing and difficult to type with the hyphen key minus the space bar. But hyphen is my best friend. He loves to get between words to make a new awesome word, and allow me to be a word-creator, a literary-artiste, a painter-of-words, as you like.

Back to the mullet thing. You will love me for this: Here are some pictures from a distant past that features a Little Grace with magnificent early '90s mullet hair, using the totally fantasmic software I recently stumbled upon in another blogger's website, Poladroid:

The first isn't so bad, my hair was longer and the short part of the hair basically just looks like bangs that extend a little wider around the front of the head than usual.

The next is embarrassingly bad, not only for the squinty eyes and the bushy bed-head hair, but for the faux shell necklaces and the daisy-print neon green shorts I lived in for two years. Forget the Grand Canyon. Here's a synthesized wonder that doesn't take a billion years of water and wind to create: take a scratchy blue polyester back seat in a 1990 Dodge Caravan, two weeks of driving around the American Southwest, and a truly disgusting haircut, and you have a classic picture that perfectly contrasts the rugged beauty of the rusty cliffs of the Grand Canyon with the offending neon-artifice of the 1990s with the naiivete of two young girls who won't be able to appreciate or absorb the mind-twisting grandness (pun intended) of the scenery behind them.

I hope you enjoyed yourself, because I certainly did, taking a walk down my hair-strewn memory lane.......

Sparks

I woke up this morning to the sound of our front door squeaking open: My roommates are home! I was bleary-eyed, smelly, and messy-haired, but I gave them all huge hugs of welcome. Home seems like home, now that the sounds of other people in the house fill the silent corners of my formerly single-membered residence.

I spent most of the day rearranging, reorganizing, and cleaning out my new private bedroom. I had Bridget Jones' Diary and Edge of Reason playing in the background throughout the day, and revisited my old friends Bridge, Mark, and Daniel. There's something very appealing about a frumpy chubby Texan-with-a-British-accent who wins the heart of not only one above-average attractive Brit, but two, and double that one more time, with the sequel.

Ate lunch at a neighborhood favorite, what we like to call the "Muslim" restaurant with the roomies, and talked about their backpacking trip through Malaysia. They came back rosy from the sun and weary-eyed from their red-eye flight.

Did some yoga in the afternoon, and was reminded of my extreme lack of balance and flexibility, and a bit turned off by the vibrating humming of a man chanting throughout the soundtrack of the DVD. Makes me feel weird. Hopefully by summertime, I'll be able to do one of those poses without my back leg trembling like crazy (what's up with that??) and making my leg flex as straightly as the oddly masculine-yet-femininely attractive lady on the DVD.

I'm trying to be healthy with all the free time on my hands these days, so I've started tracking my calories and physical activity throughout the day. Most of the time these kinds of things don't last for me, but my goal is at least two weeks, for now. Yesterday was a whopping 2,487 calories (it might have something to do with the Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard I had while waiting at the theater for Australia -_-;;), but I kind of made up for it with my 1,584 calorie food count today.

Tomorrow is our first team meeting in like, FOREVER, so it will be weird-awkward-good to see everyone all together again. I kind of wasted a lot of time doing nothing productive since I've been back, so I'm kinda nervous about seeing everyone else and 'fessing up to the fact.

Oh well, here goes.