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LookitsEugene
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Name: Eugene Abano
Gender: Male
Interests: I'm currently trying to get back to my original weight of 7 Pounds and 6 ounces. yeah it's an onward battle...
Editing, creative thinking, guitar, piano (hardly though), leading the youth group, collecting toys and comics, watching shows that aren't on tv anymore, watching movies, and working on my movie, and now I can add awarding winning filmmaker
knowledge is ammunition
Expertise: Creativity and humor... and being sarcastic. Thinking between the ticks of a second.
Oh and being a Rock
Occupation: Student
Industry: Entertainment
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  LookitsEugene
Member Since:
1/15/2003
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Extract
By Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Beth Grant, Jenny O'Hara, Gene Simmons
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| Last night I dreamt that we were on a tour of the WB lot, but the weird thing is that it's right next to the Fox lot. A simple tram ride away. The lot looked way different from what I remember, it resembled a theme park more than a lot. Brightly colored buildings, yellows and blues. Almost like a cartoon or a section of The Simpsons come to life. Then the tour ends, the lobby even resembles something like very much like the Tower of Terror ride or the Haunted Mansion, just old and neatly kept. But it's got a lot of people just sitting down looking beaten down. The tram comes around, and it's just like the Universal Tram ride. I take it back to the Fox lot and head over to the studio store for a set of the latest Simpsons DVD. Then I'm at Blockbuster helping in a customer service demonstration.
Yesterday I watched Extract, not the best. But also enjoyable. This will not go in to history as one of Mike Judge's best. At the heart of the movie is a drama, there's just some comedic elements that are peppered throughout. Everyone in it is great, but it felt like a straight to dvd movie. The advertising for this movie is very misleading, it's not the laugh out loud comedy they promised, it's more than just that. Not really much else to say.
Then I finished watching The Proposition. Previous to The Road John Hillcoat did The Proposition. It's a western that takes place in Australia. What is going on in this movie?? I don't care, but I loves it. Guy Pearce is caught and then released by Ray Winstone to find his criminal brother. There's a lot going on here; murder, outlaws, spiritual healing, family, racism, western civilization vs. native culture. Where does a person stand when blood is thicker than water? Yet being forced to chose between blood? The motivations of some characters are very ambiguous. Maybe I just love westerns, but this one is worth checking out. The choice of modern music is also interesting. | | |
| Last night I dreamt that I had already gotten ready to go to work. I'm sure people have had this dream, you use the bathroom and take a shower, and then wake up and discover that you have to do it all over again. Those are the worst, it's almost a theft of your time, you're asleep and dreaming, why dream of what you're about to do?? Anyway, other things I remember are that I was in a fight, the guy I'm fighting is very familiar, but not a single name comes to mind. The fight is also unusual, as I had just watch Sherlock Holmes and I was attempting to inflict punches much like in the movie, I'll go in to this later - below. Then I'm at some premiere of a new pilot, they're screening it at a bar on the beech, apparently it's a surfer show, sort of like Pacific Blue, if anyone remembers that show on USA. While in the premiere I see my old roommate, and he tells me that he's adopting a blonde girl, yeah, that came out of nowhere. Then I make my way to the apartment, the design is different, but it's where I live. There are glass doors separating the call box from the apartment entrance, it reminded me of this place we stayed in Connecticut, where they structure was a three unit thing, but the front door was the same. So you walk in to the front door then there are steps that go in to each of the units.
I had a long holiday break. But it was only three work days. It still feels like forever, getting back in to the grove of things just didn't feel right this morning.
http://lookitseugene.xanga.com/718721275/item/
So this weekend I saw some movies. Watched Gentlemen Broncos again, always a pleasure. Then Land of the Lost, followed by District 9. Those are the movies I saw that I had already seen.
Here are the movies I watched for the first time: Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda. A movie about a story and the perceptions people take from it. Melinda walks in to a dinner party unexpectedly and where does it go from there? This is the start of the movie, some writers at a table, one of them begins with this premise, then the dramatic writer tells his version, and the comedic writer gives his take. It's a great analysis of how perception is a big part of how we tell stories. But I found the comedic writer's take not really that funny, instead focusing on small bits of life as funny rather than the story arc being funny. Both versions of the story were quite tragic. Perhaps this is just Allen, since he did write and direct. If it weren't for Will Ferrell perhaps the "funny story" wouldn't have been so funny. Still worth checking out.
I gave in to my nephew's wishes and we saw Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. Is it sad to say that the first movie was better? Alvin 2 didn't have as many songs, I realize that this movie's purpose is to introduce the Chippettes, but still... I grew up watching the Alvin and the Chipmunks cartoon, even some of the old ones. There's just something universally funny about sped up voices. Why are we paying for live action actors to voice the chipmunks in the movie? Justin Long, Christina Applegate? Not needed, you can't even tell it's them. Oh well, the kiddies loved it.
Now on to Sherlock Holmes. In the vein of re-boots of late, this is the latest installment in the Hollywood fodder. It's quite entertaining. Guy Ritchie's style actually serves the story instead of just being his motif. Sherlock is played as being eccentric, almost over the top. While Watson is the straight man in the story. Mark Strong plays Blackwood, the antagonist in this movie, Ritchie previously worked with Strong in Rocknrolla. Like all reboots this one is more gritty and realistic. Holmes actually hits most of his "trademarks" shall we say? There is a boxing scene, which there are in almost all of Ritchie's movies. Holmes smokes a pipe, he plays a fiddle, he uses a magnifying glass, he has deductive reasoning, he's a borderline jerk. But gone is his hunting cap, which is fine. So we have Holmes, we have a non-fat Watson, we have a villain... who else are we missing? The answer is Inspector Lestrade, here he's played by Eddie Marsan. You may remember him as the villain in Hancock. So the characters are all there.
On to the story, it's your typical Holmes story; something supernatural terrifies London. The public fears it as being supernatural, but only the duo of Holmes and Watson can uncover the practical science by which the villain uses to mask as supernatural. The story is very complex, and elaborate conspiracy of technology and science mixed in with diabolical intentions... sprinkled in with some puppetry from a familiar heel. That's enough said without giving too much away.
Guy Ritchie's trademarks are not absent from this movie as mentioned above. His fast editing style serves to showcase Holmes' deduction reasoning skills, this is first shown as he ponders how to subdue a night watchman. He goes through a list of punches and blows he needs to inflict on the poor night watchman to take him down. Then Holmes actually does it in real time. This is almost displayed in the boxing match, another one of Ritchie's trademark motifs. Holmes is in an underground boxing match type thing. He's fighting an opponent much larger than he is, but Holmes has his brain. The sequence is filmed beautifully, Holmes deciding what punches to use and where. It's done in slow motion and it just works. This scene could've been lifted straight from Snatch, but it works for Holmes as well.
The most enjoyable part of this movie is the interaction between Law and Downey Jr.. They just play the iconic characters of Watson and Holmes so wonderfully. It's riddled with trademark road signs along with a breathe of fresh air. I smell squeak... ummm I mean sequel...
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| Last night I dreamt that I was in class. But my classmates were all from church, this is new considering I went through the public education system. Looking around while we're taking this test it reminds me of the time we took that survey. For some reason the person next to me has to whisper something in my ear, they get caught and the moderator/facilitator of this test calls it cheating. To make up for it we have to swap tests and write on someone else's test about how we've meant something to someone. I can't even remember what the questions were on this scantron test, but I'm sure there wasn't an essay portion. And then to have that question be so deep, what a complete one-eighty.
Yesterday I saw two movies, Funny People and The Princess and the Frog. The marketing campaign for Funny People is sooooo misleading. I like Judd Apatow, and I found myself liking Funny People, but when it was done, I can't say I would like to own this movie. The movie is certainly what he set out to do, a dramatic comedy. And it does get dark in various places. But those stupid marketing people promised us a laugh out loud comedy, not one with complex characters who's lives are equally complex and then become intertwined. This reminded me a lot of Observe and Report, but not as dark. Perhaps Funny People could've benefited if they went all the way dark with one or two of the characters. Ok, so that's the bad, the good. It's very real and the issues Apatow and co. are dealing with are something we can all relate to, but of course things are heightened for the cinema. And don't get me wrong, despite this movie not being a "true comedy" in the sense that we all know and love, this movie definitely has some funny moments.
On to The Princess and the Frog, saw it with Mickey and Tamara on a Monday night, this Monday night was supposed to be last Monday night, but there was a break down in communication, the break down was not on my part. So this movie is one for the history books, if you don't know that fact already. It is the forty ninth traditionally animated Disney feature. Home on the Range being the last in 2004, so with the five year hiatus in traditional 2D animation that Disney is famous for, we get it back! It was a sad year in '04 when that division closed and everything after was computer generated. But Disney is back, this movie is inspired by The Frog Prince fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. At first I thought, "doesn't Disney just simplify the fairy tale and add some song and dance numbers?" In the past yes, but with this new film, they not only manage to bring back the 2D world, but the story is fresh as well. They reference the original fairy tale but their story is original. Much like Avatar, time is really not an issue in this movie, but with The Princess and the Frog it's the opposite effect, a short run time feels longer. They really stretch their 97 min run time. The songs are done by Randy Newman, although they aren't performed by him, he seeps through, which works fine for Toy Story, but I don't really want it for this type of movie. The Princess and the Frog is just a marvelous achievement, traditional animation is back, and the first Black Princess. Way to bring it guys. One thing though, the opening shot of the movie on the streets of New Orleans is just superb, it almost looks to par with the artistry on Sleeping Beauty, but then when we get in to the room with our characters, they don't quite mesh with the gorgeous background we were just given. Whatever, go see this movie for it's historical landmark... ness.
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