If Movie Posters Were Honest...

My roommate just showed me this and I couldn't help letting the rest of you in on the joke. The "funny, ha ha" blog Holy Taco put up a post of photoshopped movie posters that are, well, a bit more honest than the originals. Click here to see the full post and I hope you have as good of a laugh as I did. Oh, and I am not saying that I agree with all of the posters, excluding the obvious one of course, but they aren't meant to be serious so please don't get upset if your favorite movie is among the "victims."

And The Nominees Are...

It's that time of year again. The nominations for the Oscars were released just last week and it the competition is as stiff as ever this year. I have seen quite a few of the nominated films already, and I am trying to see as many more as I can before the February 22nd event. Anyways, I hope everyone gets the chance to see some of the films up for awards and I hope that you tune in for the show!

The link for the full list of nominations can be found here. I would list them myself, but the official list is just so nice.

1/27/2009: I found another list for the OFTA (Online Film & Television Association) with a side bar of the tallied number of nominations for each film. Notice how Let The Right One In (which I reviewed late last year and gave it well deserved praise) is up for two categories!

Gran Torino Impressions

I must admit, was a bit skeptical going in to this film. The trailers weren't terribly exciting and Clint Eastwood looked as mean as ever on his front porch in the gang-ridden setting of the film. By the end, however, I found myself to be very much attached to Clint Eastwood's "Walt Kowalski" despite the numerous racial slurs thrown about. I found his portrayal of Walt to be "classic Eastwood" in every sense of the phrase, but by the end of the film I could really see that tough exterior beginning to crack as he welcomed in, and set out to protect, these people that an extreme amount of violence taught him to hate. Don't worry though, he still does his fair amount of cursing, grunting, and gun waving. The conclusion of the film is what I found to be the most profound, however. I honestly did not see it ending the way it did, but I wouldn't change a second of it. It was the ending that you didn't expect to see. The film's score was also quite excellent and I loved the little number Clint performed during the credit sequence.

My only complaint about Gran Torino was that a bit of the film's commentary on today's youth felt overplayed at times. It just seemed like Eastwood stretched that framing further than it needed to go to maintain its importance.

I am awarding Gran Torino four and a half stars out of five and a spot on my favorite films list for Clint Eastwood's amazing acting, storytelling, and directing. It's really something special to see an actor so close to retirement still making films of this quality. I found Gran Torino to be amazing overall and if you haven't seen it yet, I hope you take the time to do so.

Please go to the official site for the trailer and more information about the film.

All Alone

It has been over a month since I last posted any of my writing. It's so crazy how fast things move when you overlook them for just a moment. Ah well. I wrote this not too long ago and it's still a part of my fifth poetry series which is all about different types of love. I have really been trying to avoid posting a master list of all my deviantArt writings, but I just may one of these days.


All Alone

Once when we were
All alone,
You spoke softly to me
And I knew then
That no one was there.

How can I have so many
Good memories
When it hurts so much
To just look at you?
To just hear your voice?

It is as though we were
A part of some wonderful dream
That I have removed myself from,
But you are still
Living.

I suppose that it is just
Easier this way.
Easier to feel this anger,
This hatred,
When I am removed.

You can not really regret
Anything
If you take away all of the
Good.
All of the love.

But how are you still living there?
Still dreaming?
I can not seem to tell
If you are just oblivious,
Or if you never really cared at all.

I am trying desperately to believe
That you did at some point,
But I may just be lying
To myself.
We all need lies sometimes.

We all need to feel like
Everything is okay,
But I can not keep going through
The motions.
They are not getting us anywhere.

At that time,
You may have meant those magic words you said,
But I just can not accept them anymore.
I just want to get to a place
Where I can feel again.

Is that so wrong?


Copyright © 2008 Jarred Lee

Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin: Persona 3

"A nation mourns."

The funniest thing about this episode is how close to home it hits because one of my roommates is currently playing Persona 3 and I asked him the same question when I saw the "initiator" sequence for the first time. I really like the game play elements in Persona 3, but I just can't help but scoff at all the fangirls and fanboys out there who are only playing it because they get to pretend they are Japanese school kids (the game is part sim). Ah well, enjoy your suicidal magic teenagers.

*Note, you may have to click the scrolling bar once if the video doesn't start automatically.

Dragon Ball Evolution: The Movie: The Game

No, you read that right. The highly anticipated film Dragon Ball Evolution will be accompanied by a video game. A real video game. Luckily (or unluckily depending on your situation) for some of you, the game is only being released on the PSP so the damage is relatively low. I believe this to be a good thing seeing as the game looks about as generic as they come nowadays. I mean seriously, why make a fighter? With an action game they could have at least stood a small chance. No one is going to bother with a movie-based fighter... let alone one based off of what is sure to be a crappy movie.

Thanks to kotaku.com for the title image. For more, click here!

Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin: 2008 In Review

"Ash and Anthony discuss how last year measured up to the year before it."


I found this episode of HAWP to be especially interesting, aside from being hilarious, because I honestly don't know why a lot of people are calling 2007 such a big year for gaming. I mean, there were some big games, but I found myself passing on quite a number of them. What about Bioshock, you ask? Well... what about it? I haven't had an excessive amount of time with the game, but from what I've played there really isn't that much too it. Half-Life 2 is still light years ahead in every department. But I digress... enjoy the video!

**I really like Ash's new hairstyle. It makes her look a lot more femine... though I didn't mind it short.

Doctor... Who?

For all of you who aren't watching Britain's long running Sci-fi show Doctor Who, it was announced a few weeks ago that Matt Smith (that's the guy in the video) would be replacing David Tennant as the 11th incarnation of the title character. Many are saying that they expect to see Matt's portrayal as a much more serious Doctor, but I have my doubts. I do, however, see him playing a much more arrogant Doctor. He will be the youngest actor to play the role and he doesn't exactly have the longest imdb profile in the world. (It actually took some doing to even find it) I don't know, I will definitely be sad to see David go, but I suppose he couldn't play the role forever... even if we all want him to.

01/17/2009: Also, is it just me, or is Mr. Smith trying a bit to hard to act like the Doctor in this interview? What is with all of the unusual hand movements?

Repo! The Genetic Opera Impressions

My computer problems have finally been squared away, for the most part at least, so now I suppose it's time to get back to blogging...

Repo! The Genetic Opera has been getting a lot of buzz from certain "scenes," and I read a bit about it before its initial release so let's just say I have had my eye on it for a while now. A suspicious eye, mind you, but mine all the same. Why suspicious? Because Repo! is a dark and gory musical, which I am sure you have never heard the likes of before, with a cast far below that of the afore mentioned link. Sure, I enjoyed Anthony Head's role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Paris Hilton's singing, among others, offset that enjoyment tenfold. I mean seriously, the majority of the musical numbers in this film were just terrible. They felt forced and awkward and the overexaggerated gore just made me feel even more nauseated. I am not squeamish in the slightest when it comes to blood, but this Planet Terror style of gore is just distasteful and downright cheesy.

On the lighter side, the settings in the film were very well done and the costume work was great as well. I also enjoyed the interjections of comic-style panels to tell the character's backstories. None of this, however, was enough to make me enjoy this film.

I am awarding Repo! The Genetic Opera one star out of five because of the terrible musical numbers, and overly gory scenes. This film is just another case of an interesting concept being ruined by poor directing and even poorer casting. The film is right about one thing though. It is the "instant cult classic" that the poster ever so bluntly suggests. I mean, no one else could possibly like it.

Hiatus Due To Computer Problems

Happy Three Days After New Years!

Image by jmonzani

No, you read it right. I have never been too fond of New Years Day, which is another story all together, so I decided to be a little late. I hope everyone enjoyed their time off from school and whatnot, and best of luck in 2009! I will try to better the quality and quantity of my posting in this upcoming year so look forward to them!