A rant-a-post

Sometimes I get a tad defensive and opinionated about movies, which is why I am so proud of myself today. I suppressed my urge to verbally slap my friend across the face. I am training to be diplomatic about these matters, and today was a step in the right direction.

My friend, Sarah, exclaimed today (nothing new- I knew this about her but each time it comes up again it hits me like a bullet train) that she "can't stand movies with sad or depressing endings. There's enough sadness in the world! Why would [she] want to watch it in a movie?!" xoxo! smiley face! heart!

gag.

I'm sorry. I love this girl so dearly. She is my oldest friend. But each time she mentions this I literally die a little inside. You know why? Because this girl will never even begin to understand what it is that I truly love and why I truly love it. I will spend the rest of my life completely devoted to creating films that change peoples lives on the biggest and smallest levels, and my close close friend will never even understand that and what that means.

So, it is not so much about the fact that I believe her statement to be completely ridiculous. She is entitled to her opinion. A lot of people feel that way about movies. It just breaks my heart that she cannot ever share with me my true love for movies and my belief in the power of film to create change.

Also, about 2 weeks ago I was sitting on the campus quad with Sarah, on a beautiful day, talking about how funny it was that all of my girlfriends from high school have decided to go into the medical field (literally- all but one!). Sarah then says, "that must make your chosen profession seem pretty shallow, doesn't it?" I just sat there and stared at her. I knew what she meant. And yes, I do have an inferiority complex about my chosen profession because it isn't doctor, lawyer, politician, vet, you get the idea. But to say that to me, literally made me feel this: | | big. I know she meant no harm. I know she was joking, but it seriously hurt me. I responded with my usual "I like to think I'm affecting people from another angle" shpeel but I was still hurt. It reminded me of the time my friend from highschool's parents (who are both successful lawyers, and very politically involved, who used to LOVE me because I wanted to be a politician) took me and another friend of ours out to dinner, and ignored me the entire meal, and only talked to our other friend about getting into Med school. Those people used to love me. Now they ignored me because I changed course. This was the same feeling. People around me losing faith and interest.

It makes those who have faith in me all that much more important.

The incident with Sarah on the quad made me realize that for my whole life I will have to defend my chosen path to people who deem it unworthy, selling out, shallow, whatever. I guess I just have to prepare myself for that. Or not defend it at all. Maybe thats the best idea. But I can't stand to sit there in silence. It's just not what I do.

Oscar Madness

Ah, my favorite time of year: award season!
The oscars are on tonight and I couldn't be more excited.
Here are my picks (who I think SHOULD win, not necessarily who I think will win) this year:
Oh, and P.S- I have seen every movie nominated for best picture except "There Will Be Blood" but I am judging that film and a few others I haven't seen based on the countless reviews I have read these past few months.

Performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)
Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax)
Johnny Depp in "Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Valley of Elah" (Warner Independent)
Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises" (Focus Features)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role (by far the hardest category...they were all AMAZING!)
Casey Affleck in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.)
Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War" (Universal)
Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild" (Paramount Vantage and River Road Entertainment)
Tom Wilkinson in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal)
Julie Christie in "Away from Her" (Lionsgate)
Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse)
Laura Linney in "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight)
Ellen Page in "Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett in "I'm Not There" (The Weinstein Company)
Ruby Dee in "American Gangster" (Universal)
Saoirse Ronan in "Atonement" (Focus Features)
Amy Ryan in "Gone Baby Gone" (Miramax)
Tilda Swinton in "Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.)

Achievement in art direction
"American Gangster" (Universal): Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth A. Rubino
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
"The Golden Compass" (New Line in association with Ingenious Film Partners): Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount): Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Achievement in cinematography
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Warner Bros.): Roger Deakins
"Atonement" (Focus Features): Seamus McGarvey
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn): Janusz Kaminski
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage): Roger Deakins
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax): Robert Elswit

Achievement in costume design
"Across the Universe" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Albert Wolsky
"Atonement" (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (Universal) Alexandra Byrne
"La Vie en Rose" (Picturehouse) Marit Allen
"Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount) Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Julian Schnabel
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Jason Reitman
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Tony Gilroy
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Paul Thomas Anderson

Best motion picture of the year
"Atonement" (Focus Features) A Working Title Production: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, Producers
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production) A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production: Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, Producers
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.) A Clayton Productions, LLC Production: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox and Kerry Orent, Producers
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage) A Scott Rudin/Mike Zoss Production: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax) A JoAnne Sellar/Ghoulardi Film Company Production: JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Lupi, Producers

Adapted screenplay
"Atonement" (Focus Features), Screenplay by Christopher Hampton
"Away from Her" (Lionsgate), Written by Sarah Polley
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" (Miramax/Pathé Renn), Screenplay by Ronald Harwood
"No Country for Old Men" (Miramax and Paramount Vantage), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"There Will Be Blood" (Paramount Vantage and Miramax), Written for the screen by Paul Thomas Anderson

Original screenplay
"Juno" (A Mandate Pictures/Mr. Mudd Production), Written by Diablo Cody
"Lars and the Real Girl" (MGM), Written by Nancy Oliver
"Michael Clayton" (Warner Bros.), Written by Tony Gilroy
"Ratatouille" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Brad Bird; Story by Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird
"The Savages" (Fox Searchlight), Written by Tamara Jenkins



p.s- you all sucked at replying to the last post. Shame!

I know, I know,

I have been super neglectful of this blog. School has been ridiculously hard, and so has my partying.

I swear I'll be back with a vengence in no time flat.

In the mean time, answer these questions:

1. Is there one thing all of your love interests have had in common?

2. When was your first kiss?

3. If you had to choose to not ever wash your bed sheets again or not wash your bath towel ever again, which would you rather not wash?

4. Are you currently mad at someone?

5. If you won a million dollars today and you were not allowed to spend any of it on yourself, you would...

6.Where is the weirdest place you have slept?

7. Last time you puked from drinking was...

8. Favorite style of underwear?

9. Favorite style of underwear for the opposite sex?

10. Who would you rather be: Luke Skywalker or Indiana Jones and why?

I knew these questions are suuuuper lame and sooo livejournal circa 2001 but deal with it. I am under mental and physical stress and its time you all talked for a change!!!

Greetings from Emotional Siberia

Where is the drama? The intrigue? The pazazz? My life is currently dullsville. Yes, I said dullsville. And here is why...

In high school I was surrounded my drama and seriously hated it. I went to a tiny private school where no one had anything better to do, and we were walking, talking stereotypes of upper middle and upper class snobbish high schoolers.

But at least it was interesting!

In college, nothing really goes on. I mean you get the occasional fun night where one or two things are pretty notable, but on the whole, my college life's story could fit on a single sheet of paper, front and back, if that.

There is no drama. Everyone here is super chill, laid back, and specifically the group I hang out with is extremely drama-free. I should be counting my lucky stars, right?

WRONG.

I'm so bored! And what am I supposed to write about? I mean honestly, the most exciting think in my life right now is my crush on my friend's roommate (Chad- the good-looking screenwriter I am currently working with), but even THAT crush is boring! Everyone has a crush on that kid! How completely common of me.

So, I apologize to you all, and to myself for being so dull. I should go spend a year in Zimbabwe or something. That would be tight.

Hugs and Kisses

127 Days until I move to Los Angeles.

So I decided to ditch the "currently listening too" business because it stresses me out spelling things correctly and making sure I am putting in something different every time.

Also, I learned this past week that I am going to be able to graduate early from college. One quarter early. Which means I will be graduating next March. I will probably stick around my college town for the last quarter and work/play equally as hard before I must enter the real world.

Also- Here is something I would like to know.

So we were hanging out last night with 2 of our closest guy friends last night. Totally casual and everything, like always, and it was 2 guys, and me and my 2 girlfriends. So one of my guy friends, lets call him Sam, made many very inappropriate and awkward moves on one of my girlfriends. Now, we have been friends with this guy for 3 years now, and all of us hang out all the time almost every weekend, don't you think that the platonic relationships have been established? I mean, she had to turn him down sooo awkwardly, and he drunkenly got very bitter and his attitude turned sour and ruined the whole evening. I mean, really?? Where did this come from? Why do guys do awkward shit like this? I mean, there is a fine line between desperation and and just plain obnoxious. When we hung out today to smoke and play frisbee in the park, there was this very uncomfortable vibe. All his fault. Geeze.

Ok that is my rant of the day. Boys: DO NOT HIT ON YOUR CLOSE GIRLFRIENDS UNLESS SHE WANTS IT TOO. SHE WILL TURN YOU DOWN AND IT WILL BE AWKWARD FOR EVERYONE.

Ok peace out lovers.

America can't go wrong.

I wish I was a college dropout

Seriously.

I am allowed to write angry stuff about college professors because my mom is one of them and she would totally agree with me on about 99% of the stuff I have to say.

Qualm #1:
They make their exams absolutely impossible, even to the most avid studier, and then curve them all the way to hell and back. For example, I just looked at my online grade book for my communications course and it says that my raw score on the midterm was a 66% and my curved grade a 81% WHY NOT JUST MAKE THE EXAM SLIGHTLY EASIER. If their goal was to give students aneurysms during exams then they succeeded. College professors love to make their classes "challenging" in order to curve the grades to however they see fit. How about you just not test us at all and randomly hand out grades to us on a bell curve, since that is basically what you do anyway. Save us all the trouble.

Qualm #2:
They pontificate about the importance of asking questions in class, and then glare and/or roll their eyes when a student actually asks a question. Often these questions are valid and very much related to the topic at hand. I understand the eye-rolling when the over-achiever wants to know the color of Napoleon's eye's for his notes, but come ON. Don't be a hippocrite.

Qualm #3:
LEARN HOW TO DRESS YOURSELF. Seriously. I am not a shallow person, but I do have to stare at you for an hour and fifty minutes every other day. Try to put in SOME effort for God's sake. My mom, though she is sixty, looks like a million bucks every day when she goes to work and actually puts in minimal effort. This is partially due to the fact that she is naturally beautiful, but it is also just common sense. Hair brushes are for hair. Tooth brushes are for teeth. Orange and lime are not complimentary colors. You get the idea.

Though college is an incredible privilege that I have, it is also, in it's own way, a joke. Universities are giant mills that churn out average Jo's, and these Jo's are merely going through the motions of scholardom just to reach that glorious day when they are handed a diploma and they can high-tail it out of college. Or, for the less-motivated Jo, a week in college is merely a distraction from heavy drinking on weekends....over and over and over until they finally reach the end and realize that their drinking habit is no longer normal; it is alcoholism.

This little bout of negativity was brought to you by,



P.S- Why can't all college professors be like Indy?