In Celluloid We Trust

Valentines Day

2006-02-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

Man oh man, I had the best V-day ever. Last year on Valentines day, my parents told me they were splitting up and that was hard enough, but Jake and I were having financial problems too so we couldn't really afford to do anything. It was just hellish and emotionally draining all around. So this year, I was a little apprehensive about the holiday.

We go to bed around 3 or 4 and get up at 8 on Tuesday morning. The alarm went off, Jake got up, shut the alarm off and crawled back into bed. I don't remember any of this. The next thing we know, it's 11:00 a.m. and I've missed class by over an hour. Oh boy. I thought it was going to be another Valentines day fiasco. So we decide to make the best of it by skipping and have a nice leisurely morning. We go downtown, drop off our homework and go have some lovely gourmet sandwiches and iced tea at Cosi. The weather was just beautiful, everyone was smiling and carrying around flowers and balloons. Who knew 45 degree weather could make people so happy?

After we got home, Jake worked on his movie for a while and then pretended to go out and get a soda. He came home and had 18 beautimous red carnations for me, 8 or so Russell Stover chocolate caramel hearts in a cute red heart basket, he had already given me The Crazies dvd, and gave me lots of xoxoxo. Isn't he a sweetie?

Then it was my turn to go out and I got him a pink/purple french tulip, a few chocolate covered heart shaped peanut butter cups, a 4 pack of sour patch kids, and as kind of a joke gift, mechanical pencils. He already got his It's All About Love dvd the day before. And I gave him lots and lots of xoxoxo. hehehe.

We skipped our night class, which was wonderful because I had a speech due. Bwhahaha. I hate speeches. And we watched The Notebook and both cried our little eyes out. It's such a cliche story, but Nick Cassavetes takes his dad's approach in telling their courtship. He takes his time letting Allie and Noah fall in love, there's no quick edited montage of them doing cute things and then they're automatically in love. It's slow and sweet, in the most southern of styles, and you get completely enveloped in their courtship. And all four of the main people are just so damn convincing. You'd be a heartless bastard if you didn't fall for Gena and James as old farts and Rachel and Ryan as youngsters. It's just so lurvely. And then Jake worked on his movie and I painted and pasteled...we snuggled, watched Desperate Housewives and just had the most relaxing day we've had in a very long time. We got to do exactly what we wanted to do without any compromise. It's nice to do that every once in a while.

Sorry about the pictures being at the top, I haven't quite figured out how to control them to go where I want. Top one is us in our matching bathrobes (I know, gag, but we got them for Christmas), second one is Jake when he's sleeping, and those are my flowers! Take care everyone! And I know Valentines isn't that big of a holiday, but it was just an excuse to spend time with my sweetie. And I hope some other people took advantage like I did.

Lavender Gold

2006-02-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

That's the name of the nail polish I'm wearing. Yep. I had no other introduction planned, so I went with that one. Fun, huh? And it's awfully pretty.

All in all I had a pretty damn good week. Started Tuesday off with no sleep whatsoever because I accidentally took a 3 hour nap and it screwed up my sleeping schedule. But I got to watch two whole episodes of Desperate Housewives and that was awesome. And I mean awesome. I lurve Desperate Housewives. Hopefully I get that T-shirt for my birthday...

Wednesday was A-ok, watched A Star is Born (1954) in Musicals class and it knocked me on my kiester. I added it to my top 20 right when I got home. Judy Garland was SO amazing! I'd never really seen her in anything before after 1950, and her performance just astounded me. And who knew ol' George had it in him? This movie has some great visual eye candy that I've rarely seen in his work. This was his first technicolor film, so maybe he was just having some fun. But I can't remember anything later on in his career that could touch this stylistically....My Fair Lady (1964) comes pretty close. George is just awesome. Aside from Camille, I've liked/loved all the movies I've seen of his. They have this charm, this witty charm that you rarely see in other films. He may not have been a very visual fella for most of his career, but I think you could still call Cukor an "auteur" because of the other little things he brings to the screen. No one filmed a better bitch fight than he did, he worked with some of the greatest leading actresses ever and they wanted to work with him, the dialogue is always really snappy, and he can make a woman look beautiful, even if she isn't.

Thursday we had the day off and cleaned, did our homework, and did some premature Valentines day snuggling. Le sigh. We also watched Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which I'd only seen pieces of before, and I looooooooved it. Bogie is one ugly man though, let me tell ya. At least Lauren loved him and that's what counts. I haven't seen a movie I didn't like in a really long time, I think Season of the Witch was the last really bad one and that was a couple weeks ago. It's been pleasant movie watching ever since then. YAY!

Right now it's snowing outside...I hate snow, but I'm in such a good mood today, that I don't think it'll bother me a bit. I've gotta go get some groceries because I'm going to make a big ass grilled chicken salad for us tomorrow so we don't have to keep buying expensive take out. Even though it's so tasty...yum.

My twentieth birthday keeps getting closer and closer...13 days...it'll be weird not being a teenager anymore. I've never really thought about it, but it will be strange. My mom is getting me some nice perfume and a big present she's keeping a secret about, my dad some $, and Jake won't give me any clues. Hmph. And on my birthday I'm going to indulge and eat a huge piece of chocolate cake. It's been forever since I had real chocolate. Ok, now I'm hungry so I will be leaving. Ta ta.

~Sara

Oh, and I have a new picture! Out of 50 pictures, this was basically the only one I liked. So yay!

In Celluloid we trust?

2006-02-05T00:07:00.000-08:00

As most of the readers of this blog know, there was a recent arguement at the ol' verdict regarding basically visuals vs. story in cinema. I made my first post when I was very tired and kind of in a bitchy mood and let my opinion become weakened because of the state I was in. It was stupid of me. But I basically said stories belong in books and not on film. And I don't agree with that...so why did I say it? I was set off because a lot of people were saying Tim Burton's films were bad because they lacked a solid, straight A to Z narrative structure and that pisssssssssssseeeeeed me off. Tim Burton is not necessarily my abolute favorite fella anymore, but I will always have a special place in my heart for him and his work. He does make narrative films, but the reason I've always liked them is because they are able to speak through visuals in a dark and beautiful way that's always connected with me on a personal level. As I said, if you turn the sound off on a good Tim Burton movie, you will always be able to know what's going on.

And during the past year or so, I've been exposed to all sorts of different kinds of cinema I didn't even know existed. It's a mind opening experience that I've enjoyed immensely. Stan Brakhage, Maya Deren, Joseph Cornell, Man Ray, and an armful of others relied on no story at all and the images they created were a lot more powerful than many of the narrative films I've seen. And even though the images were not part of a story, they all seemed like they fit together in a brilliant and scattered puzzle. Some experimental stuff really sucks, I had to go to a screening at Chicago Filmmakers last summer and everything in it was absolutely terrible except for maybe two of the shorts. But if it's good, I can't even begin to tell you what power it beholds.

And since learning about some of this stuff, I've tried to share my newfound love with some other film fans I happen to know. They didn't take to it at all and proclaimed it to be bad because there's no cohesive story. I told them I didn't understand because the basis of cinema is about visual storytelling and whoever said a story had to go from A to B to C, why can't it go from A to P and back to E? That was the general reaction and it was very frustrating. So when the same kind of thing happened on DVD Verdict, a place I love to be, I was really taken aback and defensive. I know not everyone can like the same thing, but why can't people be open to new experiences? If you claim to be a film fan, why not give it a shot? Maybe they were saying they were open and just responding to my poorly worded opening statement. I ruined any chance of getting people to try it because of that.

Oh well, it's been a frustrating week there anyway. I've had many insulting things said to me, all by the same asshole of a person, including that I have the writing and thought processes of an 8th grader and a hypocrite. What I've never really told anyone at verdict before is that I've got some slight brain problems because of my OD on sleeping pills when I was 15. Ever since then, I haven't been able to articulate myself in writing or in speech nearly as well as I used to. So, it usually takes me twice as long to prepare an essay or research paper when the occasion arises. It's also not fun not being able to articulate yourself when you're a perfectionist. It's also very exhausting, so when I come online to relax, I don't pay nearly as much attention to my form. I write enough as it is, twenty to thirty pages minimum, I don't need my relaxation time to be crowded with the anxiety of proper English. I'm sorry if that bugs any of you. It's just my way.

But I really appreciate those who came forward with a kind p.m. to tell me their feelings. It was very nice and greatly helpful because I was feeling kind of down on myself. Thank you. Good night!

Rear Window

2006-01-28T01:07:00.000-08:00

Ok, so every night I sit here in front of this here computer and look out my apartment window. There's only one other person in this vicinity (I can see 6-7 apartment buildings because we're so high up) who's ever awake as late as Jake and I are. He/she only has the curtains pulled slightly back so I can just barely make out that there's a television on the other side of the curtain. It's just very strange because what's on the screen looks like either porn or wrestling. If I have time to fiddle with my digi camera, I'll try to take a pic tomorrow night.

Today I had my first class about Powell/Scorsese and it was alright. The teacher seems like kind of a prick, but that can be tolerable if he doesn't get on my bad side. We watched clips from Contraband, 49th Parallel, The Edge of the World, and I Know Where I'm Going (which we're going to watch the whole thing next week). Contraband and 49th Parallel were pretty darn awful. The Edge of the World seemed to have some magic beneath its celluloid, and I Know Where I'm Going looks absolutely amazing. I loooooved the credits! I've never been given so much character detail in such a short period of time.

But alas, seeing as how I absolutely despised my Philosophical Issues in Film class/teacher, I have been looking high and low for another class to take, but I haven't been able to find one. The time is almost up and I have enough credit hours for full time, but I really, really wanted another class. All the ones left either collide with my schedule or sound wretched. We shall see how it turns out.

Today was payday, so the first thing I did with my check was buy Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist. This movie is so amazing, people will never believe me, but it really is. Speaking as a fan of Dickens, I can honestly say that this is the best adaptation I've seen. And I know people only think I'm saying this because I'm a Roman nut, but I'll be the first to admit if one of his movies might not be to someone's taste. But Oliver Twist really is a great movie that I think many people will appreciate and love if they give it a chance. It's up there with Chinatown and Tess! So, if you read this and happen to see it used or at the video store, please give it a shot. It's worth it.

I also got Deep Red (anchor bay version) because I saw it for the first time last weekend, thought it was awesome, and it was a great deal: $10. I also got Romero's the Season of the Witch/There's Always Vanilla double feature for $12. Romero is becoming one of my all time favorite guys. I always loved the Dead movies (I should say the first two and now 4, because I haven't seen 3) but my curiousity was seriously sparked when I saw The Crazies last October. I want the dvd for my birthday!!!! Romero is just great...can't wait to see more of his stuff.

Lately, I've been feeling the absolute need to create something...writing is fun and all, but there's nothing more relaxing for me than to get out my paint markers or my new pastels and doodle away in my sketch book. I wish I had more time to devote to it, but I just don't. It makes it much more uber fun when I do get a chance though. Art has never been something I'm particularly good at, but I've always loved expressing myself in that way. I miss simplicity.

I think that's about it for tonight. I work tomorrow night and before I go to work I'd like to get some cleaning and homework done. I doubt it'll pan out, but we shall see. Fascinating, huh?

~Sara

DVD Verdict

2006-01-27T00:53:00.000-08:00

Well, lately I've been having a great time reading some people's blogs from DVD Verdict. Mainly Molly's, Steve's, Harold's, and Dunnyman's. Recently, Dunnyman posted in his blog that I was one of his favorite people and it made me not only happy, but curious as to who my favorite people are...because I've never really thought about it. And so, I think I'll make a little list similar to his with people I really admire and like talking with on the ol' verdict.

Harold- One of my dearest friends on there, a genuinely nice and mature person, and he has a great love of cinema. He was also a great judge in his day. He is one of the staples of the board.
Bill Treadway- He's probably my oldest friend on the board. He and I would/will chat about this and that for ages. Bill knows the ins and outs of movies more than anyone I know. He's also a really great guy and it's a shame DVD Verdict treated him the way they did.
Addy- Who wouldn't love this guy? He's so sweet and fun to talk to. He loves movies and he's so genuine and honest about himself. Addy is just a fantastic person.
Molly- One of the few female film fans around. She's also honest about herself, in a slightly more cynical way, but I really value her opinions about movies. A great addition to the messageboard.
Dunnyman- Thank you for this idea! You're a really super sweet guy with passions for a lot of things: movies, sports, your work, etc. and it's great having you on the board.
Bryan Pope- One of the nicest people I've ever had the pleasure of conversing with on the net. He has such a taste for movies, he's humble, sweet, and just a downright good person.
Brett Cullum- I've only spoken with him a few times, but he has the same kind of appreciation I do for "weird" cinema. One of the best judges on DVD Verdict.
The Omen- One of my newest friends. He introduced me to some great horror movies and he seems like a nice person.
Dr. Criddle (Jack)- I've known this fella on and off for about 4 years, maybe longer...we were great e-mail/postal friends and I screwed it up. That still makes me sad when I think about it. He's in the same boat as me when it comes to movies, we both love them and want to learn as much as we can in the shortest amount of time. He's a truly nice human being and as sweet as can be.
Stypee- A really nice guy who is kind of misunderstood. He is a smart cookie and deserves more respect than what people give him.
Rollergirl- A super nice and smart gal! I love reading her posts about movies. I keep looking for her when I'm at work, but I've yet to see her.
Steve Power- One of the most happy go lucky folks around. He has a really cute daughter and is great to talk to. The board would be lost without him.
Gobear- A sweetheart with a love of cinema. What's not to like?
Parklife- Another of my old friends. He's got a sincere appreciation of worldly films that stands the test of time. He's really fun to talk to about the french new wave especially. He's also a really nice guy and I'm happy for him and his new bride.
Smokestack Jones- Ah, what a great guy! He loves Chinatown, how could I not adore what he provides for DVD Verdict? He's very creative and original. I've browsed through his blog a couple of times, but it slips my mind to do so when I go browsin'. Another staple of the jury room.
Chris Mcclinch- Another nice guy. DVD Verdict is full of them. He is the only one to ever really converse with me about Roman in a nice and civil manner. I really appreciate his overall maturity and what he brings to the board. Super nice guy!
BB King- And yet another nice one...he loves Donnie Darko and so do I. It's always fun to read his posts. He also possesses a great love of movies!
Lebowski- Never really spoken with him outside of the board, but he seems nice with a love of some of the directors I admire like Cronenberg and Lynch.
Azul017- He and I disagree on some things, but he's always nice about it. Just a nice person in general.

If I forgot anyone, I'm really sorry!

~Sara

Celeb Obsession

2006-01-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hey,

Today I woke up, went to the computer, went to IMDB and looked at the box office to see who was king of last week, just like I usually do. It's usually updated on Sundays, but I guess IMDB is being lazy about it and so it's changed to Monday. Well, it still hasn't been updated! I was so bummed. This made me feel really stupid because I realized how important this dumb tally meant to me each week. I really like having to look forward to something like this on a Sunday afternoon. After coming back from the theatre before or after 6:00 and seeing what was #1, 2 or 10 and gasping in how little or big a given movie grossed. It's become my weekly routine. Just like looking at the IMDB news each night has become something of a nightly routine. I like reading it before I go to bed, I don't know why, but it's just kind of fun. I could care less about reading regular news...this is just my way of staying in touch with the part of the world I care about. Le sigh. I'm not saying it's healthy, but whatever.

Tomorrow school starts and I have my first class at 10 a.m. Ick. I both love and hate school so much. Hate it because it takes up so much of my time and love it because it'll pay off in the long run. I also have to get a shot of some sort because I haven't had one since 1991. Oh boy! More fun stuff. Today we're going to go get our U-passes and put in for a book voucher, then go hang out with our friend Pete and watch zombie movies. Fun stuff.

~Sara

It's been a long, long time...

2006-01-11T02:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't written in a while because I've been enjoying my time off for good behavior from school. I've also been working quite a lot (almost full time, gasp!) and it's been kind of fun. My sleeping hours are all fucked to hell though. Lately, I haven't been able to fall asleep before 5 a.m. and slept until 3 or 4 or even 5 in the afternoon. Whoops. In a half assed attempt to fix that, I've decided to pull an all nighter and go to work so I can fall asleep around midnight. I wonder if it'll work.

With all my time off, Jake and I have been having loads of fun catching up on our much needed DVD watching. I've also been diving into a newly found Woody Allen fanaticism. Jake and I saw Match Point at a screening in October and it knocked both of us on our asses. It was released theatrically last Friday and I've seen it two more times since then. It's my #1 of the year. I always liked Woody Allen before, but not enough to tear apart his filmography with my bear hands and squeeze the cinematic juices from inside. Now, I've seen 18 of his films and I can safely say that I'm nearly accomplished in that task. I think the three biggest movies I have yet to see are Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Everyone Says I Love You.

Sara's Top 10 Movies of 2005

1. Match Point, Woody Allen
2. Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Nick Park
3. Oliver Twist, Roman Polanski
4. My Summer of Love, Pawel Pawlikowski
5. A History of Violence, David Cronenberg
6. Palindromes, Todd Solondz
7. Weeping Meadow, Theo Angelopoulos
8. The New World, Terrence Malick
9. Sin City, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez
10. Grizzly Man, Werner Herzog

Honorable Mentions

King Kong, Peter Jackson
Good Night and Good Luck, George Clooney
Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee
Corpse Bride, Tim Burton
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tim Burton
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas
Howl's Moving Castle, Hayao Miyazaki
Shopgirl, Anand Tucker
Brothers Grimm, Terry Gilliam
Land of the Dead, George A. Romero
Me and You and Everyone We Know, Miranda July
Breakfast on Pluto, Neil Jordan

Favorite DVD of the year? Well, I really liked a lot of the releases this year. It was a monumental year. The King Kong disc, Wizard of Oz 3-disc, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, Titanic, Astaire and Rogers, and a lot of other mighty fine discs. But absolute fav? I gotta go with Titanic for sentimental value and because I've been waiting for the damn thing for ages.

Jake has been making movies on my digital camera like crazy and all of them are sooooo good. I'm a lucky gal. He's doing a series of experimental type shorts that are all titled One/and the title. He's having a blast. He's on series two now.

I've been working on some scholarship stuff and writing a lot more on DVD Verdict. There are so many nice people there. I think I've made three of four new friends in the last week alone. It made me feel so nice to know that people think I'm special in some regard. It made me very sad to hear that someone thought I was grumpier since I moved away and got married though. In all actuality, I've never been happier. It feels so good to laugh...I never had a real relationship with someone before Jake and neither had he. We're just so compatible and in touch with eachother's psyches. Everyday I look at him when he goes to sleep and tell him how much I appreciate who he is. I never thought life could be so completely and totally enjoyable. I finally have smile lines on my cheeks. It's so great!!!!!!!!! He loves me so much! I love him! The world is full of great and wonderful things! Ok, enough mushy stuff...

School starts on Tuesday and my first class is at 10 a.m.......ugh. Tomorrow I work 12-10, so I don't know if I'll be able to blog it up tomorrow. But take care to everyone who bothers to read this in the netter world!

~Sara

Interesting Day

2005-12-17T03:10:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up at 10:30 a.m. and left the house with Jake at 11:30 a.m. to go catch the 12:30 p.m. showing of Brokeback Mountain at the theatre I work at, Landmark Century Centre Cinema. http://www.landmarktheatres.com/ We got tickets for that show because we thought it would be super busy, but it wasn't really. Only thirty or forty people total for our show.

The movie was really, really good. It wasn't fantastically amazing as I'd predicted it would be, but it was very effective and I bawled through the last half hour. Heath Ledger was so good, I was kind of hoping I would go out of there with the "Jake Gyllenhaal was better" point of view, but the kudos all should really go to Heath. Although, the rest of the cast was pretty awesome. I'll be checking this one out again, but it won't be for another couple of weeks.

After the movie, Jake and I went to go pick up our paychecks and visit a little with everyone. They told me my raise had finally gone through and would show up on the next check. I looked and it said "Your amount of pay has been changed from $6.75 to $6.90." I was and still am pissed. When I started working there, I was told I would get a quarter raise after the third month working there and after the first year. Well, I haven't got either. And they put a stupid fucking raise freeze on the company because they said we weren't working hard enough and if we worked harder, they would take it off. I stuck it out working there because I really like working with the people I do and whenver we have the time, we can see movies for free.

Now, I've always considered myself to be a good worker and I get treated like crap on a daily basis whenever I work any sort of position there. Customers compliment me all the time and I do the very best I can to be helpful and courteous. The managers know this, so instead of giving me at least a quarter, they give me $.15. It's bullshit. I'm making less now than I did with my very first job at the video store. Why should I bust my ass to do a good job if they're not going to give me any respect? I think it's finally time to get a new job.

Anyhoo, after that we had some last minute Christmas shopping to do for my mother in-law because we celebrated that Christmas tonight. Jake and I bothed scored majorly. Jake finally got his iPod (his parents and I split the cost), lots of Yes albums, lots of books, a pair of Rolling Stones boxers, and the dvd for My Dinner with Andre. I got a digital camera (really spiffy), a Burts Bees giftset, a new Venus razor, lime green bathmat, set of mirrors, Bambi shirt,jewelry, and we got a total of $350.00 all together.

So yeah, that was my day in a nutshell. I think I'm getting a cold too.

First post

2005-12-15T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!

First post of my new and improved blog where *I* pick the topics. I am Sara and if you would like to know more info, click the profile.

My username is taken from several different characters in film/literature I love. Lady comes from Lady and the Tramp (1955), Cecilia is from Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo, Rose is from Titanic (1997), and d'Urberville is from Tess d'Urberville, both a great movie from my favorite director Roman Polanski and a great book by Thomas Hardy.

Favorite Directors:

Roman Polanski
Tim Burton
John Casavettes
P.T. Anderson
Michael Powell
Lynne Ramsay
George Romero
Federico Fellini
Pedro Almodovar
George Cukor
David Lynch
David Cronenberg
Woody Allen
Billy Wilder
Jean-Luc Godard
Quentin Tarantino
Hayao Miyazaki
Stanley Kubrick

Growing to love: Francois Truffaut, John Huston, Werner Herzog, and Otto Preminger. Just haven't seen enough of their films yet.

Mildly dislike/dislike/hate: Michael Bay, Steven Soderbergh, Alexander Payne, Gore Verbinski, etc.

All I can handle for the moment. Happy Holidays!