I feel optimistic.

I'm listening to : NPR

YES!

Tags: happy, politics

So I finally saw Batman last night. Okay, The Dark Knight. But it's just easier to say Batman. And I thought it was good, but it wasn't great. Heath Ledger was amazing. Every time he was on the screen I was completely mesmerized. And the only two major things I can criticize were the pacing (I thought it was REALLY long) and Bale's stupid growling that just got more and more out of control to the point where Jay and I were having to consciously not crack up. So why didn't I think it was the most fantastic movie ever created ever ever ever like so many other people?

Dunno.

But it was okay. Don't need to see it again for a while.

I feel: indescribable

I have been having some really bizarre dreams lately. Two nights ago I dreamed that Jim from The Office was my boyfriend (?????)

And then last night I had this really horrifying dream where I was pulling up to a house to pick up a friend (no idea who or where) and as I'm driving down this street I see that there is a kid sitting in a car next door to my friend's house pounding on the car windows. It was a really warm day/night (I don't remember) and I parked in front of my friend's house and got out and started walking toward the car when these people come storming out of the house, get in the car, slam the door and squeal away. So I go ring my friend's doorbell, they're like, "I'll be there in a minute" and I go back to my car. I'm sitting there, and all of a sudden the passenger door opens and one of the people who had come storming out of the house starts to get in my car, threatening me and saying "This'll teach you to snoop" or something like that. So I hit the gas and the guy is trying to hang on, he gets this terrified look on his face, yells at me that he'll find me and bails out. I remember just turning onto a street in this subdivision and driving as fast as I could, with my passenger door hanging open the whole time.

I woke up scared out of my wits. I even got up and rinsed off my face because I couldn't shake any of it and was seriously trembling, I was so scared. Then I laid in bed for another half hour before falling asleep again.

Ugh. I wonder if this is a byproduct of all the stress I've been undergoing? Because it's not the only weird, scary dream I've had - it's just the latest one that I remember.

Between occasionally waking up because Chris comes to bed super late, his snoring, knee pain, general stress and these dreams I'm getting really shitty sleep anymore.

I'm at: Work
I feel: exhausted
I'm listening to : OMD - Tesla Girls

First the boring life stuff - my neck is much better but my knees are getting worse by the day. I even woke up this morning because my knees were killing me and I was laying in bed for chrissake. I would rather not have to live on ibuprofen or anything to quell the pain. I'm just irked because whenever I walk I look like I'm about 110 years old and I'm in excruciating pain. I'm going to give it a little more time, but I may have to see the doctor soon.

Work is obnoxious. While I'm getting some really great, meaty projects I find that I've got so much on my plate I'm working my ass off but not even getting anything done because more and more things pop up. The big website project I'm heading up is due to launch in less than two weeks and I have an obscene amount of work to do on it. Not to mention the fact that I'm scheduled for several days to train at various organizations/agencies/synagogues for those who didn't make the community-wide training next week. Ugh. It's going to be nice when it all smooths over but I don't see that happening for about 6 months at least. Meanwhile I come home and practically fall over on the couch I'm so worn out, and that's after I have to get over the guilt from not having the energy to prepare a meal for Chris and I. Double ugh.

Which is why I should be sitting here typing a stupid LJ entry instead of doing some work, right? Heh.

Okay, Oscar stuff. We're heading into the home stretch and we still have a lot of movies to see, unfortunately. Two weeks ago Chris and I went back to that wonderful Sundance theater in Madison and saw Michael Clayton (I'd already seen it, but it was just as good the second time) and Persepolis, which I absolutely loved. It was SO good. I wouldn't be surprised if it made my top 10 list of 2008. (Plug: Top ten list for 2007 - two months late, is coming in the next week.) I actually would love to watch it again, but I think I'll have to wait until it comes on video because I just don't have time. Great, great movie. We also went to another theater and saw The Savages, which was also really good. The acting was superb. I don't think I could recommend it to some people though because it really is a difficult subject. I would have loved to steer my parents toward it, but my stepmom's dad has dementia and it just would not be an easy pill to swallow. I thought it was really good, though. I also watched Sicko that weekend on DVD I think. The time just all kind of flows lately. I thought it was better than I thought it would be but it doesn't compare to War/Dance.

Then last weekend we saw the Oscar-nominated animated shorts which were pretty crappy for the most part. I Met the Walrus, an animated treatment of a short tape-recorded interview with John Lennon in 1969 (I think) was the best by far, and there were two that were "meh...okay", but nothing really compared to last year's winner, "The Danish Poet" which I simply adored. So that was kind of disappointing. But then Chris, Jay and I went over to the Westgate Art Cinema and saw Citizen Kane, my absolute favorite movie of all time, and though I've probably seen it a few dozen times, it was my first time seeing it on the big screen. No matter how often I see that movie I am completely carried away by its greatness, and I honestly feel like I'm looking at it through fresh eyes. Sunday Chris and I watched Away From Her and La Vie en Rose. Away From Her was an okay movie, and I really connected with the husband character; he really broke my heart. Julie Christie was good, indeed. But unfortunately alzheimer's isn't as pretty as Julie Christie, so while it was a well-crafted film, I couldn't get into it too much as a whole. La Vie en Rose was also just kind of okay, but it was really enhanced by Marion Cotillard's performance. I haven't seen Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age yet, but at this point, give Cotillard the Oscar. She was unreal, and turned an otherwise average movie into something better and more compelling than it maybe should have been.

So that leaves a lot of movies to see, unfortunately. In our possession, Chris and I have Eastern Promises, No End in Sight, Ratatouille, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (which I've seen), The Bourne Ultimatum and Gone Baby Gone. We're getting Surf's Up and Elizabeth: The Golden Age tomorrow. Plus, we're seeing the Oscar live-action shorts on Friday night, Jay and I are going to see The Man Who Knew Too Much at the Times in the afternoon on Saturday, and we have an opportunity to see Sweeney Todd as well. That's 10 Oscar movies all together in like, 5 days...lol. I wish I could take some vacation time right about now...heh. I guess if we watch a movie tonight, one or two tomorrow....okay, we're still screwed.

We're going to have a nice little Oscar shindig though - chips & salsa, chips & dip, cheese & crackers, garlic bread (Jay's request...) slow-roasted roast beef and gravy sammiches on good, crusty rolls, homemade cookies (if I'm ambitious enough) and Chris' request, pizza rolls...lol Hey, not a healthy thing in the bunch but meh. It should be fun.

Is it seriously only 3:04 pm? I don't think I can stand being here another two hours. And the person who sits in the office next to me sucks her teeth like some kind of neanderthal - no amount of music is going to cover that up.

I guess I better get back to it. Maybe if I really dig in it will go quickly. I really could use a cigarette though - I haven't had time to have one all day and now it's too late because the fascists I work for don't allow breaks. Seriously. You would think I work in a sweatshop - worse, it's non-profit.

Tags: blah, nerd, oscar, tired
I'm at: My office at work
I feel: lethargic
I'm listening to : Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Watching the Detectives

I'm actually doing pretty well in regard to seeing Oscar films, at least ones that are available to me. I have a few on DVD that I haven't watched yet (La Vie en Rose, Ratatouille, etc.) but I've seen all of the Best Picture contenders. And over the weekend Chris and I drove to Madison to see I'm Not There at the Orpheum (really good movie), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (fantastic movie) and War/Dance (fabulous movie, though I had seen it already) at the Sundance theater, which rocked.

Which leaves a few major films to see - The Savages, Sweeney Todd, Persepolis, a couple of documentaries. There are a few that I'm simply not able to see because of availability but I should have a decent showing in the end.

In other news, whatever is going on with the thing on the back of my neck (it's a small bump under the skin) is starting to really irritate me. All of a sudden my entire neck is sore and my shoulders super hurt. It's hard to turn my neck to either side, but I have a feeling the shoulder thing is just massive tension. Maybe the neck thing is too. But it hurts. And it makes me feel really crummy and vaguely feverish.

So now I have another excruciating 25 minutes at work, a 40 minute crappy commute home and then I can finally lie down.

Tags: nerd, oscar
I'm at: Work
I feel: crappy
I'm listening to : Something on the jazz station

I need to think about something other than life right now, so what better thing to do than not work and post the rest of the movies I saw at the MIFF this year?

MONDAY, SEPT. 24TH
Two Embraces
Grade: Fair

Crime Novel
Grade: Very Good

TUESDAY, SEPT. 25TH - NO SCREENINGS

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26TH
Beauty in Trouble
Grade: Good

Control
Grade: Very Good

THURSDAY, SEPT. 27TH
My Nikifor
Grade: Excellent

The Violin
Grade: Very Good

FRIDAY, SEPT. 28TH
OSS-177
Grade: Excellent

Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
Grade: Very Good

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29TH
Ghosts of Cite Soleil
Grade: Very Good

Lady Chatterly
Grade: Very Good

Tell No One
Grade: Excellent

SUNDAY, SEPT. 30TH (FINAL DAY)
Murch
Grade: Very Good

New Directors Shorts - overall they were good

For the Bible Tells Me So
Grade: Excellent

Tags: miff
I'm at: Work
I'm listening to : Nine Inch Nails - Head Like A Hole

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

I'm at: Work
I'm listening to : Cannonball Adderly Quintet - Stay on It

One of the lamest quizzes I've seen. But Chris took it.

I'm at: Work
I'm listening to : Sonny Stitt "Nother Fu'Ther

Okay, so I haven't posted in decades. I've been busy, okay? But I'm back and it's film festival time!

Yep, I'm covering the 5th Annual Milwaukee International Film Festival. This is the third year in a row I'm covering the festival and I'm having as good a time as I have in the past years. It's been super grueling though - this weekend alone I saw 13 movies. And my schedule doesn't let up this week either - I have 3 movies per night (except one night, I have 2) and then a full weekend of movies again.

The toughest thing is finding the time to scribble down notes from each movie. The last two years they scheduled things a little looser and I had time between films (sometimes too much time) but for the most part I had enough time to leave the theater, go potty, run outside for a quick smoke and then go back in. If the film started a little late I would have a couple of minutes. Amazingly, other than the last film I saw last night I am caught up with notes, though the big amount of work will be doing the actual reviews. Those will obviously be forthcoming, but I figured instead of telling individual people about some of the movies I saw I would just post what I see with their IMDB link for info and what my grading was for each. (They're doing the ballots again this year with categories being Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair & Poor)

THURSDAY
Son of Rambow
Grade: Excellent. This was an outstanding movie

FRIDAY
More Than Anything in the World
Grade: Good

How to Cook Your Life
Grade: Good

Madeinusa
Grade: Very Good

SATURDAY
The Yacoubian Building
Grade: Good (low good)

Viva Zapatero
Grade: Good

A Battle of Wits
Grade: Very Good

The Boss of it All
Grade: Very Good

SUNDAY
Blame it on Fidel
Grade: Excellent

War/Dance
Grade: Excellent

The Rape of Europa
Grade: Good

In the Shadow of the Moon
Grade: Excellent

The Signal
Grade: Very Good - Great horror flick

Another update in another day or two.

Tags: film fest, film geek
I'm at: Work
I feel: sleepy
I'm listening to : Ring of Fire - Social Distortion