Monday, December 31, 2007

I AM LEGEND

Saw "I AM LEGEND" at the Dupont Theater this weekend, complete with the usual drunken mumbling homeless sociopath in the theater. It was pretty good, you should see it (the movie, not the bum). It's kinda like Castaway meets 28 Days Later, but with less gore. Basically, mankind screwed up again with its godless science and pretty much everyone is either dead or has become scary predatory monsters. The movie takes places three years after the mass carnage subsides and we meet who may very well be the last person on Earth, Robert Neville, who is living in New York City. A series of flashbacks help to explain the intriguing backstory of what happened. Even though a post-apocalyptic city isn't exactly a groundbreaking idea for a film (the book was written in 1954, however), the movie does a good job of immersing you in the weirdness and isolation of the setting, and minor details really magnify the eeriness.

There's still a few big questions I have, but that's probably what happens when you adapt a book and don't have the luxury of making a 3.5-hour movie. This movie's runtime is 101 minutes.
As for acting, Will Smith, in general, is pretty easy to hate just because he's so damn lovable, but he's still he's pretty convincing in the movie. He does a good job of portraying the psychosis and paranoia that someone who might actually live through those events might display without resorting to the usual cockiness of a Converse commercial turned into a movie.
All in all, it's a pretty solid post-apocalyptic suspense/thriller movie despite its PG-13 rating. See it, and tell em Brice Lord sent ya. (Don't actually do that because you'll look like an asshole.)


Every time you come around my hood

Bling Bling.

A little update on my so-called investments in the stock market. E*Trade hasn't fared so well, and has lost about 35% of its value since my purchase. Awesome. So, it's gone from a quick turnaround lottery stock to a longer hold and wait-for-the-recession-that-won't-come-to-pass stock. Oh well.

Ironically, the best investment I made over the last year seems to have been the involuntary one. I've still got about 50 units worth of Euros and Swiss Francs in my wallet, which have both appreciated.

I'm particularly annoyed that the two other stocks I had seriously considered buying, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd: VSL and Tata Motors Ltd: TTM, have appreciated by 45% and 7%, respectively. Oh well, what're you gonna do?

Friday, December 28, 2007

NewCDs

I got some new CD's for Xmas. Here's what they are:

1) Black Moth Super Rainbow: Dandelion Gum
2) The Advantage: The Advantage
3) Say Hi To Your Mom: Numbers and Mumbles
4) Okkervil River: The Black Sheep Boy Appendix
5) Emperor X: Central Hug/Friend Army/Fractal Dunes

Is this sufficiently indie or should I try better next time?

indisputable

Ever think of something in the shower that seems so clever and illuminating that you think everyone should hear? Me too.

Bill Parcells. Spencer Pratt. The latter is 35 years the younger of the former. Get that?



New Year(')s

Does that have an official apostrophe? Does anyone know? Anyway, I have no plans for New Year's, and I hereby officially announce my hatred of the holiday. Here's what I hate about it:

1) requirement to go out, and
2) requirement to do something extraordinary, and
3) requirement to pretend like it's fun.

Additionally, here's what's not's fun's about's New's Year's:

1) paying $80 for a bar that would otherwise cost you $0.00
2) waiting an hour to get a single drink
3) being caught in a smash

Fuck this "holla-day". I'll ring in the new year the usual way instead: gutting a fetal goat. Wait, what?

Sunday, December 16, 2007