.tiff

blogging.on.typepad.tiff:murder.party.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:55:39 -0700

What can I say, I have a lot of blogs. They're like my many precious chilluns, scampering around the blogosphere and spreading the good word of .tiff. Maybe I lack focus, but I'd like to think I have too many things to blog about to keep it all in one place. Or maybe I just have a multi-blog disorder. Either way, you'll have to get used to it.

My newest blog baby is my .tiff TypePad blog. A work in progress, by all means, but something I'd like to improve upon in the months to come. You should head over there and take a look at my post about the movie Murder Party. It has folks like the characters below, if you're interested.

Murder Party

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velvet.goldmine.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:15:05 -0700

Last night Kat and I watched Velvet Goldmine, a film loosely based around the story of David Bowie's concept character Ziggy Stardust. Featuring a beautifully androgynous blonde Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the star Brian Slade, and paired alongside Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale, the film is saturated with the glittering life of the glamrock scene in the 70's and lined with colorful musical interludes and performances. The soundtrack beautifully compliments the film, and now I'm sitting here this afternoon, spring fevered and starry eyed to the album. Here are a few of my favorite tracks so far:

Ballad Of Maxwell Demon

Shudder To Think

Satellite Of Love

Lou Reed

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the.poughkeepsie.tapes.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 10:13:43 -0800

Looks like some filmmaker saw a buck or two to be made in exploiting the prostitute murders that happened in Poughkeepsie in the early 90's with this horror film The Poughkeepsie Tapes. The Internets seem to go back and forth between being over the whole 'shaky-cam' horror experience or being totally creeped the f*ck out. Those who went to see it at the Tribeca film festival this summer however say that its pretty damned scary.

With efforts to build up my horror film resume, I will probably see this when it comes out in February 2008. Let's just say I'm thankful that I've finished my time at Vassar before watching this movie. If it proves to be a decent flick, Poughkeepsie will finally have two good things to its name: The Poughkeepsie Tapes, and Soul Dog.

The Poughkeepsie Tapes

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day.watch.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Thu, 31 May 2007 16:55:43 -0700

i love vampire movies. especially russian ones.

Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) - trailer

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little.miss.sunshine.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 01:23:48 -0700

Endearing, hilarious, painful, and rich. Do yourself a favor and see Little Miss Sunshine. The film follows a disjointed American family, the Hoovers, on a road trip filled with humorous mishaps, emotional revelations, and quirky epiphanies.

The Hoovers

The casting was masterfully done, each actor swelling with character and tactfully working together to create a family that appears outlandish yet familiar in the same moment. Little Miss Sunshine is complete, and will keep you engaged and empathetic for each of the characters. From the dejected ex-scholar Uncle Frank (Steve Carell) to the overwhelmingly charming miss sunshine-in-training, Olive (Abigail Breslin), there is a good chance that you will fall in love with at least one, if not all, of the Hoover family. The soundtrack, in addition, is also incredible.

I give this movie at least a 9/10. I'd give it a 10/10, but I'd have to see it again to make sure. But really, go see it. I think you would be missing out if you didn't.

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the.science.of.sleep.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 22:23:55 -0700

Large Hands

By the director Michael Gondry, of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep may make me fall in love all over again.

Cat Men in a Band

Additionally, by way of raf's recommendation to tag more posts with variations of 'sauce', this movie so far gets a 100% saucesome tag. At least, of what I can see so far. Like men dressed up as furry cats playing in a band. That is, with all qualifications covered, the absolute sauce.

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a.scanner.darkly.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 02:21:48 -0700

Downey in A Scanner Darkly

Tonight I saw the much anticipated fim A Scanner Darkly. I think I need to see it again to truly rationalize my final decision, but I'll give it a 6.8/10 for the time being. Unfortunately as one would expect, Keanu Reeves' acting is as one dimensional as the flat colors that align to form his face in his animated form. The story is interesting both as a science fiction tale and as a metaphor for the domestic effect of experimental drug use, however I rarely felt like I was firmly on the same page with the characters or the plot. Perhaps this was the overarching intention, but in that case it didn't translate as clear as I would have wanted.

The animation however is pretty fantastic for the first hour or so. One becomes a little adjusted to the style á la Waking Life after a period of time, but I think they did a fantastic job taking advantage of the animated style, truly evoking a wonderfully disorienting mediated world. Robert Downey Jr. plays his part almost too well. He was wildly entertaining, and his performance was the only thing that really kept me on my feet. Officially, his character, Baris, is my new favorite substance-d-drug-addict-of-the-near-future to date!

Edit: I saw it again yesterday evening and while Keanu Reeves still fails to perform, the movie in general was more enjoyable. Maybe it was because I wasn't being so critical while I was watching the second time around, but I also tried to take it in at its face value and became more captivated, particularly by the conversation scenes between the men. So, while I personally don't think it's an entirely stellar movie all together, it is a good watch. Just don't expect anything profound (as one may have encountered in Waking Life)

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pirates.shmirates.

nobody@vox.com(.tiff) — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 22:40:59 -0700

This afternoon I watched Pirates of the Carribean - Dead Man's Chest and wasn't very impressed. The movie was fun to go to, but in general the script was mediocre, the action was too looney tooney for my tastes, and the plot really didn't go anywhere. Here, however, I compiled a list of the main things that ticked me off (don't worry, there aren't any spoilers, just commentary about the characters):

Kiera Knightly's Lips

At the beginning of the movie you see that Jack Sparrow's crew has new members, all of which are distinctly ethnic. Within 20 minutes into the movie however, these members are eliminated, and the crew becomes all caucasian again. The diversity within the crew from then on out is a member who is 'vertically challenged' and a member who is 'handicapped' because he has a wooden eye.(like wtf mate)
The female roles in this movie are for the most part stereotypical and upsetting. The only instance that Kiera Knightly gets any points is when she's disguised as a boy. From then on out she's either seducing various pirates with her over-bronzed complexion, or whining a lot about all the men fighting. The other female character is this mysterious Voodoo Queen, who comes across as a cracked out, exotic 'other' who is sexy in a 'I bite off chicken heads' kind of way. Kiera also figures that gazing dreamily with her lips parted througout the entire movie is a means of 'good acting', when really its just 'obnoixious'.
Johnny Depp plays a caricature of himself playing Jack Sparrow, so in other words, Jack Sparrow is a little redundent and a little more predictable in this movie, which unfortunately detracts from his savvy pirate charm.
There are too many plots/relationships/side-quests/conflicts/rum jokes going on at once. By the end of the movie you feel like you've gone no where, but are convinced that all of the answers will come around in Pirates of the Carribean 3.
As my friend Sean said 'If this movie was 85 minutes long, it would be kick-ass. But since it was 2 and a half hours long, it kind of sucked.'

The things that you can look forward to are Davy Jone's and his gnarly psuedo-sea animal crew and the one eyed pirate played by the UK's Office Mackenzie Crook. It's an entertaining movie for the first hour, but be prepared to feel like you kind of want to take a nap after 2 and a half.

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