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I realized on Monday that this past Easter Sunday marked the ten year anniversary (To The Day!) of when I was in St. Peter's Square in Rome, watching the Pope give the Easter Mass. I didn't know much about it then, and I still don't, but it was pretty amazing being in a place with ONE MILLION PEOPLE. Plus, I was in Rome, backpacking around Europe. What an incredible experience that was, and one I will treasure forever. It was the best time in my life up to that point, and can only be rivaled by married life and Noah's birth. Also, it reminded me how fast time passes, because it really doesn't seem like that long ago...but ten years has gone by! A lot has happened since then, and I don't regret any of it. It's just makes me think about how fast time moves, and especially makes me appreciate my time with my wife and son.
Lacey was at a ladies meeting last evening, so I was by my lonesome (once I put Noah to sleep) and flipping around the channels, and I happened to come across Pulp Fiction on one of the movie channels. Now, I love this movie, and I think it is one of my favorites of all time. For many reasons, one of which being that it is a Hebrew chiasm. Anyway, here are a few random thoughts I had last night, while watching it again.
1.John Travolta can roll and smoke cigarettes like no one else. He's the only person I can think of that when he smokes, it makes me want to smoke. Oh yeah, he can dance pretty well, too.
2.Christopher Walken is the MAN! The Gold Watch monologue might be one of the greatest monologues in cinematic history.
3.I, like Bruce Willis, would like to be Ving Rhames' "ni**a". It just sounds cool. Props to Remy for saying this before me.
4.One time, I tried to shave like Sam Jackson in his role in this movie. You know, with the massive chops and goatee? It was when I first shaved my massive beard off in the winter of 2001. Yeah, it looked retarded. Sam Jackson though? Freaking awesome. Especially in P.F.
5.Josh McInnis, if you're reading this, I think we should take another scene from this movie and put it into Latin. For old time's sake.
I Am Legend comes out on DVD today, and I literally CAN NOT WAIT to buy it. I saw it twice in theaters, and would love to see it a couple more times. I can't put my finger on why this movie struck such a big chord with me (although there are reasons), but it's freaking amazing. I LOVE this movie. I encourage everyone to see it immediately.
UPDATE
I went to see this movie in the theaters when we were down in Monroe, and both times I was with members of the Rockett family. A couple of them (I can't remember which) were bemoaning the ending a bit, and felt they could have done more with the leader of the "monsters", Will Smith, and the "patient" he was treating. They felt like the "bad guy" just wanted his woman back, and perhaps the filmmakers could have gone a different way. Well, the 2-disc special edition has just such an alternate ending. You see, they are the people who dealt with this movie far longer than the 2 hours we spent in the theater, and yes, they had actually thought of that. Anyway, I watched the alternate ending last night, where Will Smith (spoiler alert!) lives, and gives the woman back to the dark seekers and everyone is happy. And guess what? It totally and completely SUCKED in every way. I mean, it was awful. If it had ended like that in the theater, I would have thrown popcorn at the screen. Suffice it to say that sometimes when we get what we ask for, it isn't as good as what we already had.
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?&id=1583143&vid=215372
Well, that looks freaking awesome...and yet not exactly what I was hoping for. I guess my whole prolem with the Hulk movies, is that I've been hoping for a series of films much like the TV show - wanderer Bruce Banner, cast off from society, dealing with serious issues, and they're trying to fit the entire mythology into 2 hours. Hulk definitely sucked, it tried to be a thinkpiece, and Ang Lee is totally overrated (though I love Crouching Tiger). I dunno, I'll definitely see this new one (I love Norton) but I'm trying not to get my hopes too high.
In other news:
1."After months of rumors, Warner Bros. and the producers of the massively successful movies will announce Thursday that they plan to split Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling's seventh and final "Potter" novel, into two blockbuster films -- one to be released in November 2010 and the second in May 2011, says the Los Angeles Times."
--Not sure what I think about this. I'm excited that they will be able to fit more of the book in, but I'm hesitant about it not being 1 cogent story. We'll see.
2.A Beverly Hills 90210 spin-off is in the works. Yep, you heard me right. No word on original cast members being back or not. Very sketchy details on this one. As someone who was and is a sucker for this show (Hey! Don't judge!), I'll be watching this very closely.
3.NBC is still unsure what to do with their last few Scrubs episodes (we'll get like 6 more this season, but no definitive ending), but it sounds like it's a done deal that my favorite show will be back next season...on ABC!! Hooray!
I think I should start doing this in my classes:
"Children need encouragement. If a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess. That way he develops a good, lucky feeling."
My top ten movies of 2007 needed revising. Here is the new list:
10.Michael Clayton - Amazing performances by Tom Wilkinson and George Clooney, great dialogue, and a nail-biting script. REALLY well done, and very gripping.
9.Atonement - incredible shot of Dunkirk, incredibly sad...really well done.
8.The Golden Compass - wonderfully beautiful to look at, failed miserably in what the author of the book tried to accomplish, and had quite a bit good to say if you knew what to look for.
7.Knocked Up - probably the funniest movie of the year (apologies to superbad, hot rod and hot fuzz) with a good moral to the story: grow up!
6.Once - most likely the best musical I've ever seen, with the exception of Moulin Rouge. Loved the music, the performances, the script...loved everything. Suprisingly moving.
5.Juno - knockout performance by the lead, great soundtrack and engaging dialogue. What more do you need?
4.Transformers - without the f/x this wouldn't be up here, but I can't put it any lower, because I haven't had this much fun at the movies since, oh I don't know, ever?
3.No Country For Old Men - this movie bit my head off, then spit it back out, and reattached it crooked and upside down. Tommy Lee Jones was scary good, and I'm still thinking about what the film meant.
2.There Will Be Blood - This really should be #1, because of how chock full of "stuff" this movie has. It's incredibly layered. With I am Legend, what you see is what you get, but not with this. A ridiculous performance by Hawkeye, and just a (pardon my french) hell of a movie. I just enjoyed my #1 SO MUCH, I had to put it there:
1.I Am Legend - I don't know if this was the best movie of the year, or just my favorite. Certainly without the Christian undertones it wouldn't be up at #1, but I still say it deserves it. Ridiculously skilled people put this movie together in every facet of movie-making.
Just missing the cut is a trilogy of crime thrillers that I absolutely LOVED: We Own the Night, American Gangster, Gone Baby Gone. Also, the smartest comedy I've seen in a long time - Hot Fuzz.