i · might · be · wrong

Last night, Crash won the Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards. I cannot even begin to describe to you how upset I am about this, but I willl try my best anyways. I saw Crash in Madison with the writer/director Paul Haggis present last year. This showing was actually 3-4 months before the movie would get a wide release. I was actually really excited about it since Haggis also wrote Million Dollar Baby.

The film ended and I thought it was terrible (as did my friend I attended it with). There are various reasons why I criticize the film so much. First off, the structure is a direct rip off of PT Anderson's Magnolia. I'm not saying this only because of the interconnnected stories, but because the film is even set up the same way Magnolia. Both films also feature a segment where we get a glimpse of the characters at their lowest point while a song plays (in Magnolia it is Aimee Mann, in Crash it is an Aimee Man rip off). Some could point out that Magnolia is very similiar to Robert Altman's Short Cuts and I would agree with them, but that doesn't bother me as much. Anderson and Altman are friends, so to me it is more of an example of influence than rip off. Finally, one could argue that Magnolia is a streamlined, polished version of Short Cuts (22 characters > 9 characters). Either way they are both excellent by 2 of my favorite directors.

My other problem with Crash is that I don't feel it says anything. I realize what it is trying to say, but that doesn't mean it does a good job of it. In fact, the writing is awful (Crash also won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar). In all, the movie reminds me of those cheap shirts in malls with the little boy in your favorite team's facepaint with his middle finger up. Crash takes the same approach, take something that seems innocent and throw a racial slur into it. It might be effective if it felt natural instead of forced. It is at this point that I found out that Haggis also wrote Walker, Texas Ranger.

After the film ended, there was a Q&A. It is at this point that people started praising the film, one girl even suggested that it should win a Nobel Peace prize. At that point, my friend and I had to leave. A few months later the movie would be released and become a surprise hit. Here we are now and it is a Best Picture winner. (The 2nd worst Best Picture selection in the history of the Academy. #1 would be 1976 when Rocky beat Taxi Driver, All the President's Men & Network). I am constantiy getting into arguments with people who claim Crash is good. As some have pointed out, Crash received a good reception because people desperately want to see socially conscious films so they are willing to praise movies that try to do something, even though they may fail at it. I think this very well could be part of it since it did come out in April, a month when film releases are historically poor. Another thought is that people like to say they like Crash because it makes them feel good (Kind of like saying, I'm not racist). I think it could be because every year a fringe mainstream film becomes a hit. Normally the movie is solid but nearly as good as everyone claims. I think Crash falls into this trap as well (Kind of like saying, I like independent films). The best quote I've heard about Crash is someone said that Crash is the favorite movie to everyone who likes to say, "alot of my friends are black".

In summary, I hate Crash and I'm embarassed that it won Best Picture.

I finally got a job, it only took 9 months.

On another note, I was at Pedros today (a mexican restaurant) and there was a couple eating hamburgers.

I saw this on another friend's blog, so please fill it out.

http://kevan.org/johari?name=shaftr

I own more pairs of pajama pants than I do pairs of jeans.

So, earlier this evening I found myself saying vowels out loud. At first, it started innocently with just listing them "a, e, i, o, u" verbally. Before long, I was trying to space out the vowels and give them a certain inflection to make it sound as if I was making a real sentence.

For example:
a e, i o u?
a, e i o u!
a e i o, u?

I'm not sure what it means, or even if it makes sense to anyone else. Either way, it can't be a good sign. Hopefully, Tuesday will go well for me and I'll be starting work in 06.

November was a busy month for me in regards to watching movies. I think this is a new record for me. This also doesn't count the 8 hrs of Band of Brothers I've watched (since I have 2 hrs left in it).

November - 40 films

Back to the Future Part III ***1/2
Back to the Future Part II ****
Back to the Future *****
Hackers ***
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation *
Annie Hall *****
War of the Worlds ****
The Brood ****1/2
The Grizzly Man ****1/2
Double Indemnity *****
Kung Fu Hustle ****
Big Trouble in Little China ****
Rocky ***1/2
The Grapes of Wrath ****1/2
Punch-Drunk Love *****
Short Cuts *****
Kids ***1/2
Dancer in the Dark ****1/2
Pitch Black ***
Toy Story ****
Dances with Wolves *****
Good Night, and Good Luck *****
The Godfather *****
One Hour Photo ***1/2
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ***
The Spaghetti West **1/2
March of the Penguins ****
The Weather Man ****
Judgment at Nuremberg ****
Field of Dreams ****
Bram Stoker's Dracula ****
Down by Law ***
The Thing ****1/2
Chappelle's Show: Season 2 ****1/2
On the Waterfront ****1/2
Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story ***
Jarhead ****
Six Feet Under: Season 4 *****
Comedian ****
Doom **1/2

Key:
2005 Release
Masterpiece

I keep having this dream where I have something stuck in my teeth. I use my tongue to try and get it out. I try and try, but I just cannot dislodge this item from my teeth. Eventually I sense that something is loosening up. I put more pressure on the object to try to dislodge it until I finally realize that my tooth is loose. Now, I'm continually testing my tooth by bumping it with my tongue to see if it really is loose. I continue to do this until my tooth falls out.

Last spring, I stopped going to Walmart. I wish I could sound like a good humanitarian and tell you that I stopped because they treat their workers so poorly, or because of the sweatshop possibility. Instead, I stopped going because one of the local Walmarts stopped carrying Widescreen DVDs. I was trying to find the new Casino DVD, my friend Dan and I noticed that they only had fullscreen. We looked around and noticed that the same thing occured with the Jaws DVDs. We asked a sales associate and he informed us that Walmart only carries Fullscreen. We laughed and asked him why and he told us that it is because that is what the Walmart customer prefers. Immediately after he told us that, a "typical" Walmart customer informed us all that she prefers Fullscreen.

Earlier this week, I broke down and went to Walmart. I had heard that they had an Xbox 360 demo, so I went there and played it and picked up some Windshield Wiper blades. Yesterday, I went to Walmart again. I looked online to try to find the cheapest price for Season 1 of Six Feet Under, and I found that Walmart was about $10 cheaper than anyone else. After I checked Sams Club, I went to Walmart to see if they had Six Feet Under. As I was walking to the Multimedia department, I walked by an aisle that had a puddle of urine in the middle of it. URINE!!! Apparently someone pissed themselves in the midde of the store. I sidestepped the urine and made my way to the DVD section to find that they didn't even have Six Feet Under.

It is no secret how successful Walmart has been. Yet, nearly all of my experiences in Walmart have been negative. The customer service is terrible and the layout is a mess. Walmart stores are just full of so much chaos. I go to Target and the environment feels safe, secure and clean. It is just incredible that a store could do so well relying completely on low prices and ignoring everything else. I wonder if that works for prostitution as well. A messy, chaotic, urine soaked, low class blow job for $7.95. Always Blow Prices. always.

Many of you already know this story, but I'll repeat it for those who haven't heard it before. The night before move out, Joe, Dan & I bought a dildo and glued it to Brad & Jess's apartment door. Apparently they didn't leave their apartment the next morning until 11:30, by then most of the residents (and their parents) who were moving out had already seen our work.

Photo of Joe and I admiring our work.

Photo of some Additional Commentary on the work.