Amherst Lane

The end of another year. I don’t know about you guys, but this always makes me pensive. I reflect on all the things I did and didn’t do during the year. I guess that’s where the whole resolution thing comes from. I tend to think of this as a great time to set yearly goals. So, here are some of my yearly goals…or at least the ones that don’t involve donkey shows and crazy one-eyed chickens.

1. Finish four comic books. (Professionals do twelve a year. Of course, since I have a day job, I still should be able to pump out one comic every three months…slacker.)

2. Get paid at least once for doing storyboards. (I’m storyboarding a short film right now. I’ll put together a portfolio and start beating the e-pavement.)

3. Go on a trip outside of the country. ( I think getting a passport would be essential for this one)

4. Not procrastinate on getting my passport.

5. To stop using the word “nice”.

6. Purchase a thesaurus that does not have the word “nice” in it.

Post a comment and let me know what you guys have planned for this year.

-HAPPY NEW YEAR

-Tony

Battestar Gallatica- A breath of fresh air.

I was not excited about this show at all. Remakes usually don’t live up to the originals. With Battlestar Gallatica, I was wrong.

BSG is not a new show. It’s now rocking its third season on TV. I sadly do not watch as much TV as I should and have just now started watching this show. I’ve seen every episode from season 1 and 3. I kind of skipped over the second season. I will definitely go back and watch it as soon as Rene is done with his DVDs. itunes offered a forty five minute primer that led up to season three, so I wasn’t completely lost.

The story is based on the war between Humans and the Cylons ( a robotic race created by humans.) The humans are comprised of twelve colonies living deep in space. The Cylons, robots created with self awareness, turn on their masters in what is known as the Cylon war. It has been forty years since the first Cylon war. Unbeknownst to the humans, the Cylons have created new models that look just like humans. After forty years of peace, the Cylons execute a sneak attack, obliterating all but fifty thousand humans. On the brink of extinction, the remaining survivors band together in a convoy in order to escape the Cylon invasion. Led by Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) the fleet heads for a mythical planet called Earth.

That is about as close as this show gets to the original series. The modern version is dark and gritty. The show tackles issues from alcoholism to infidelity. Yes, the show has lots of sex. Apparently being in space makes people horny. Even the Cylons.

I cannot say too many good things about this series. I’ll try and keep it short.

One of my favorite aspects about the character development is the ambiguous nature of morality. There are no hard lines between Good and Evil. Everything is grey. Since the Human fleet is running for their lives, they are constantly being forced to make life or death decisions, which usually end with the viewer second guessing the Humans as the good guys.

Alternatively, the Cylons are represented a hyper-religious zealots who are on a search for meaning and God. Several of the human-like Cylons become conflicted and even end up siding with the humans.

So, for anyone who wants a good sci-fi series, that is full of pathos and complicated plot lines, this is the show for you. Battlestar Gallatica is a perfect example of “getting it right.”- Tony

I have to say that this is a beautiful film. Everything about this movie is a work of art, from the acting, to the music, to the amazing cinematography.

The Fountain is a story about a doctor (Hugh Jackman) who is desperately trying to find a cure for his wife’s brain tumor (Rachel Weisz). In the process his wife is writing a book called the Fountain, where she contemplates the meaning of life and death through the eyes of a Mayan myth about a dying star.

The movie is full of symbolism. There are recurring themes of life, death, and rebirth that are bound together in a non-linear fashion, and rooted in the tree of life. This is the fabled tree of life, that is supposed to possess the ability to give transcendence beyond death.

The story jumps between three time periods that are connected by the tree, past, present, and future. In every time-line the male character is on a quest to save his love. I won’t tell much more about the story, because it is a movie that should be experienced, and not told. One of the aspects of the Fountain that struct me so hard is the acting. This above all is a love story. Weisz and Jackman bring this story home. The main struggle for Tom is Isabel’s slow journey to death. Aronofsky focuses on their love and how they both differ in the way they approach her dying.

What I enjoyed most about this movie is that it’s meaning is not necessarily clear. The underlying themes are there, but they aren’t spoon fed to the audience. This is usually the aspect that can make or break a movie with the average viewer. It was definitely one of those movies that left me thinking, and that’s the sign of a good movie to me. -Tony

Mates of State played at Emo’s in Austin tonight.

It was F-ing cold, they didin’t come on until almost midnight, the opening bands were kind of lame, and I can’t feel my toes…but it was well worth it.

I’ve been wanting to see these guys live for almost a year now, and they didn’t dissapoint. They are just as energetic in person as on their albums. The show was even more upbeat than I imagined, which could have something to do with this being their last show of the year.
They played mostly songs off of “Bring It Back”, but did throw in a couple of oldies at the crowd’s request. Kori and Jason were great at working the crowd. Bands that can engage the audience as well as they do, are few and far between. They stopped more than once to talk to the crowd. (Kori even had a hat thrown at her, that she ended up wearing for the encore).

Along with a lot of the old stuff, we got to hear a new song as well. Kori stated that it didn’t have a name yet. Jason jokingly said that they were going to call it “Freebird”. After the song was over Kori referenced the choruse by saying, “That was 168 NOs, in case you were wondering.”Also, during the middle of “Like U Crazy”, they broke off into a medley of “Crazy” by Gnarles Barkley. This only accentuated the sense of fun and reckless abandon that they approached the show with. After playing a solid set and encore, MOS ended the show with their version of “Danny’s song” by Kenny Loggins.

After tonight Mates of State has officially gone down in my book with The Flaming Lips as a “don’t miss these guys when they come to town.” - Tony

I am what you would normally consider a positive person. I don’t like to say bad things about people or their works of art. But today, I am going to have to make an exception for the movie I rented last night.

An American Haunting has got to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Even the presence of acting veterans such as Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek could not save this flop.

An American Haunting is based on the true events of the Bell family, who lived in Tennessee. I won’t really go into the details of the story too much. I would prefer to focus on why the movie was so bad. If you would like to know more about the real story, just google “the Bell witch.”

The movie actually started out pretty good, but went South very quickly. First off, this movie has terrible sound design. Most of the surprise scenes are met with this awful cymbal crash. I’ve never heard this in a modern movie, and now I know why. Also, there are supposed to be ghostly whispers that torment the family. The whispers are so hoaky that they are almost comical. A teenage girl on a cell phone would have been more terrifying.

Also, the camera work is extremely annoying. I don’t blame this on the cinematographer, it was probably the director’s idea. Most of the scenes are shot really well. It’s the point of view of the entity that is so annoying. The camera sweeps around the room focusing on the faces of the family, capturing their reactions. This trick might have worked once, but it is driven into the ground after the fifth time. Also, while looking through the spirit’s eyes, the color switches randomly back and forth from color to Black and White. this was so poorly done, that it made me want to check the connections on the DVD player.

The main reason this movie is terrible is it’s ending. Granted, you can choose between four alternate endings…all of them bad. The biggest problem with Hollywood is that they feel the need to explain the movie for the audience. (A hallmark of bad story-telling,) This movie not only subjects you to an unnecessary explanation, you actually get it twice! The ghost actually materializes and tells the audience everything. Then there is a flashback sequence that shows you everything that happened.

I for one would have preferred the movie without all the explaining that takes up the last ten minutes of the movie. At least I could have felt confused by the bad story-telling, instead of nauseous about the worst ending in movie history.- Tony