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| So I started posting some of my reviews of movies I've seen lately on Myspace so I thought I'd share them on here, too. First up is Juno. It begins with a look. Diablo Cody, the first-time screenwriter behind “Juno,” tries to convince the audience that it starts with a chair, but it really begins with a look. The camera fixates on a nervous and naked Paulie Bleaker (Michael Cera), so unsure of himself and the moment, but in the moment nonetheless. The camera then pans to Juno (Ellen Page) with her ever present air of self-confidence, but we can sense there’s something more to this girl than she’s letting on. And with one look at two completely different people, the movie begins to sweep us into the story, and ultimately, into a relationship with the characters that leaves us breathless when it all finally culminates into the happiest, and most satisfying, end of any other movie this year. The movie is a coming of age story that follows 16-year-old Juno MacGuff for the full term of her accidental pregnancy, brought about by a night of boredom with her best friend, Paulie. Even Juno’s father, Mac MacGuff (J.K. Simmons) is surprised that Bleaker “had it in him.” Juno explores the option of an abortion but is turned away after discovering that babies grow fingernails in the womb. Her stepmom, Bren (Allison Janney), is a “nail technician.” Realizing that she’s too young to raise a child, Juno and gal-pal Leah (Olivia Thirby) take to the Penny Saver to seek out an adoptive couple. Having formulated a 16-year-old’s idea of a plan to handle a pregnancy, Juno reveals to her parents that she is pregnant. This scene reveals the only parents in cinematic history that doesn’t unleash a tidal wave of anger on their teenage daughter, but rather, a set of parents that every teenager wishes they had growing up. The realism is there, however. They are upset and disappointed, but they care. The realism probably ends with how quickly they recover from the shock and begin to trade quick quips regarding their initial hopes that Juno had developed a drug addiction. I do appreciate the manner in which Diablo Cody presented Bren and Mac. Even if you didn’t have parents like them, you probably had friends that did. It’s refreshing to see someone avoid the all-too easy and all-too common “troubled teen vs. strict parents” theme. Mac decides to go with Juno to meet the adoptive parents, Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) and Mark (Jason Bateman) Loring, in a scene much better seen firsthand than read about secondhand. Mark and Vanessa are the stereotypical young, yuppie couple. Vanessa badly wants children, and Mark badly wants to be a rock star (a rebel in his own home), but has to settle for writing jingles. Vanessa is the exact opposite of Juno, but Mark hits a note with Juno when he discovers her love of slasher movies and Les Paul guitars. What quickly develops into a friendship, just as quickly dissolves when Mark tells Juno something she doesn’t want to hear (also better seen than read). Vanessa and Juno, however, share an intimate moment in a mall in which Jennifer Garner shines. It’s a small moment in a film that stands on its comedic flare, but it’s the small moments that make this film. They are dotted throughout, and always, without exception, at the right time. The direction of Jason Reitman had as much do with that as Diablo Cody did. There isn’t a single scene that doesn’t work or flow the way it should. The performances of everyone in the film keep it on the right side of cheesy, as well. Not many people can pull off a line like, “Honest to blog!” and get away with it. Not to mention, Ellen Page delivers a performance that may very well earn her an Oscar nomination. But more than anything, for me, it’s about the looks. Every little moment, scratch that, every single scene, has something more brewing under the surface. Often you can’t tell it’s there amidst the rapid-fire dialogue, but you can feel it in the characters’ faces. Take, for instance, the closing scene. Juno has gone from Autumn to Spring and has changed as much and as quickly as the passing seasons. She’s no longer the girl that didn’t “know what kind of girl” she was. She and Paulie are together, playing their guitars, and singing to each other. Jason Reitman puts us at the center of the scene and slowly pans out, reminding us that this is their moment, and it’s our turn to look at them. Finally together. Finally themselves. It ends with a look. | | |
| Wow. It's been a LONG time. But I have a job now. I finally got one after months of worrying what I was going to do once Missy went back to school and dropped to part time. But in August, I got the call from United Stationer's for an interview, and two weeks later, I had a job. It pays great and the benefits are awesome, but my hours kind of suck. I work 11am - 8pm. It doesn't seem like it'd be that bad, but if I sleep in at all, my day is lost. I'm at work all day long. When I leave it's already dark outside. I get home, eat supper, watch some tv/spend time with Missy, and go to bed. Repeat until Saturday. But my hours are supposed to change in the next two weeks or so, so we'll see how that goes. Also, Missy and I have started teaching the high school Sunday School class at our church. It started out slow, but it's going great right now. It's actually a ton of fun. God is doing some awesome stuff with the class, too. They've really been excited recently to get involved with a charity called the Clear Blue Project. The charity is a Free Methodist charity that builds wells in Africa. Our class just decided to raise some money for it. A lot of money. Our goal in the next year is $30,000. So it'll be exciting to see what happens with that. And this update seems really impersonal and detached, but I wanted to update and I'm really tired so this will have to suffice for now. | | |
| I think it's official now. I've added three people to the very exclusive list of "The Three People I Hate List."
Bill O'Reilly is easily number one on the list. Every time I watch The Factor, I just want to climb through the screen and beat the crap out of him. He is an arrogant and ignorant moron. He claims to expose liberal media's spinning of stories, but he might as well be a silk worm with all the spinning he does. He blatantly lies and shouts over people to make it seem like he's absolutely right. Then he simply cuts them off and dismisses them and while they are no longer on the screen, he berates them and smirks as if he's God himself. I know this sounds harsh, but I don't appreciate it when people that are supposedly representing the media, and as O'Reilly himself claims, the common man, don't responsibly and ethically do what their job asks them to do: present the facts. I appreciate political and cultural commentary, even from people I disagree with, but I don't appreciate it when the "commentary" avoids dialogue. That's the whole point of commentary: to encourage dialogue and discussion.
Another spin doctor that does his share of dissecting the facts out of stories is Glenn Beck. I've recently stumbled upon his riveting show. I'm surprised at how much he's like Bill O'Reilly. I didn't think it was possible for another person to present stories on television and blatantly lie to millions of people and get away with it. If you want to know how I feel about him, read the above section about Bill O'Reilly and replace "O'Reilly" with "Beck."
To round out this all-exclusive list is Sean Hannity. He's just a moron.
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| I think Xanga's dying. I remember when I used to update all of the time. Now I'm lucky to update once a week. If that! Not many other people update as often either. It's sad. I used to love Xanga. Now I just enjoy it's presence every once in awhile.
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| Holy crap, I'm married. If I were to describe what getting married is like in one word or less it would be "surreal." The entire day didn't feel real. Thus, "surreal," I suppose. It went by very quickly, too. It was a beautiful wedding. I may be biased in that opinion, but I believe it really was. Missy was beautiful. I was beautiful. Even Snaz was beautiful. :) Seriously, it was the greatest day of my life. Not only did I marry the woman I believe God wanted me to marry, but it was a really fun day. My groomsmen, whom I spent approximately 90% of the day with, were amazing. They were the funniest group of guys I could have chosen, and they were far and above the right choices. My brother was the best man, and he did his job well. Snaz, Max, and Josh were the remaining three. Hilariousness ensued. The wedding was very emotional. Mark cried. My dad cried. I cried. Crying all over the place. Afterwards, Missy and I were escorted to the reception by Mark. He played around 95382 songs on the iPod on the way, and none in completion. The reception was awesome. Everyone got down on the dance floor. My only regret of the evening was going to the back at one point to get some water because once I was back there, I couldn't get back to the dance floor. Everyone that was leaving wanted to talk my face off, but it was still good to see all of our close friends and family.
After the reception we drove to St. Louis to begin our honeymoon. We didn't get to the hotel until after midnight, and our flight left the next day at 7:55, which meant a 6:00 am wake-up call. We arrived in Massachusetts on the 17th at 3:00 pm. Our resort was really nice and we had a HUGE suite to ourselves. It was very nice. We took a nap from 6:00-9:30 pm. It was much needed. We had a pretty good plan for the week with lots to see and do, and ended up changing plans as we went. What else did you expect from me? But we did get to see a lot of cool things, including but not limited to: the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Botanical Gardens, Newport, RI, Boston, and (drum roll, please) the Baseball Hall of Fame! That's right. THE Hall of Fame. In Cooperstown, NY. It was amazing. And I have an amazing wife to suggest that we go. That's right. I didn't bring it up because it was our honeymoon and I didn't want to bore her with a bunch of baseball stuff. But God had a different plan:
God descended from the heavens and touched her and told her in a dream to take her husband to the place He deemed "Good and Perfect," Cooperstown, NY. She asked God, "What's in Cooperstown, Lord?" And the Lord replied, "Don't ask questions. Do what I say or you will be smote." Marissa answered, "If it is thy will, Lord." The next day Marissa awoke her husband and told him of her dream. Matthew, with a tear in his eye, said to his wife, "You are the one." The trip to the Holy Land seemed as if it would never end, but finally in the distance, Matthew saw it. A light shone upon it, and angels circled overhead. As soon as they had parked their mule, Matthew, with Marissa in hand, ran to the place in which God had spoken to Marissa. As they reached the entrance doors, Matthew stopped. He turned to Marissa and said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Well done, indeed." Once inside, an angel saw them and approached them. He spoke to them saying, "Welcome to the Baseball Hall of Fame. That'll be twenty-nine dollars, please." Matthew and Marissa paid the angel and proceeded to the Holy Land. Matthew was in awe. He saw many of the Saints that had entered the Holy Land long before he was even born. There was Saint Ruth, the Patron Saint of Home Runs and Cigars; Saint Cobb, the Patron Saint of Spiked Cleats; Saint Stan, the Patron Saint of the St. Louis Cardinals. After their tour of the Holy Land, Matthew was given, and by given we mean purchased, some relics, and by relics we mean souveniers, to take home with him. As they were leaving, Matthew and Marissa heard a voice from above say, "Thank you for coming. Please visit us again." Matthew looked at Marissa with a knowing smile and said, "We will, Lord. Oh, we will."
So it may not have happened exactly like that, but it was something close. Overall we had a fantastic time on our trip, but it's good to be back in Greenville. We're officially moved into our new apartment. We just have some small things to finish up to finalize the marriage, such as changing of addresses and paying bills and all the other things you don't have to do as a dependent. But it's going great, and I'm having a ton of fun. Hopefully, we can have some of you over in a few weeks. That'd be good times.
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