My Favorite Things

This post is dedicated to all of my homosexual brothers and sisters out there in the fight to prove one point: love is love, and the rest of you can go screw yourselves. It was inspired by a post I ran into on Facebook by a person that I wish I had the luck to meet - Erik Lehman, a sound design MFA student at CalArts, with whom I should be working closely. But, alas, that is quite a different update. Instead, I will link the article here, and then continue on with my post.

Amidst the data collected from OkCupid's dating service, they have a very interesting section headed "Stuff Gay People Like" and the complementary "Stuff Straight People Like," both separated out very neatly into gender.  I found my personal tastes to be atypical for a straight male and decided to share.  I'm going to list everything on the two male lists and place an [X] next to the bands, hobbies, movies, activities, and other things that I do, in fact, enjoy.

Oh, and: these are listed in order of greatest number of likes on the dating profiles to least.

Stuff Gay Men Like
[X] The Devil Wears Prada
Britney Spears
[X] Mean Girls
Kelly Clarkson
The Color Purple
Project Runway
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Running with Scissors
M.I.A.
[X] Imogen Heap
A boyfriend
[X] Lily Allen
[X] Lady Gaga
[X] The theater
[X] Katy Perry
[X] Buffy the Vampire Slayer
[X] Tori Amos
Joni Mitchell
[X] Owl City
The right guy
David Sedaris
American Idol
[X] Harry Potter
[X] Angels in America
[X] Modern Family
[X] The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Came out
Maroon 5
Mr. Right
Gossip Girl
Moulin Rouge
[X] X-Men
Six Feet Under
[X] The theatre
Justin Timberlake
Nina Simone
[X] Black Eyed Peas
[X] Michael Buble`
[X] Ella Fitzgerald
Sufjan Stevens
[X] All-American Rejects
The XX
[X] Final Fantasy
The club
[X] Rocky Horror Picture Show
[X] Cuddling
Panic! at the Disco
[X] Jason Mraz
[X] Fiona Apple
[X] Kill Bill

Stuff Straight Men Like
Band of Brothers
Poker
Cars
My boat
Saving Private Ryan
Hunting
Fishing
My buddies
Golf
Sports
The right woman
Ping pong
Engineering
[X] Rock
Working out
Playing pool
Burn Notice
A country boy
Law enforcement
Can fix anything
Breaking Bad
[X] Tom Clancy
[X] Computers
[X] Building things
Tall, dark, and handsome
[X] Apocalypse Now
Coen brothers
Queens of the Stone Age
Full Metal Jacket
[X] Guitar
Van Halen
My band
Taxi Driver
UFC

Final Tally
Likes in common with gay men:  26
Likes in common with straight men:  6

Interesting.

Top 10 Favorite Movies of All Time (Thus Far)

I have deviated from my standard "song title as post title" in order to bring you a list of sorts. The post you are about to read consists of My Favorite Movies Of All Time (Thus Far), and I will include you in the process of elimination leading to a list of My Top 10 Movies. I cannot promise that they will actually be in order, for that may take years of contemplation. I also have in mind right now that I may do separate lists for my top 10 favorites and the top 10 best. Believe me, there are differences. Let's get started, shall we?

First off, I went through all of the movies that myself and my family own. Then, I studied a list I've kept for a few years now of pretty much everything that I could ever want. For this, just the "Movies" section. Obviously. In order for said film to make the list, it must have met some basic criteria:

1. I enjoyed the movie. Enough to own it or desire to own it, at least. And, I enjoy it enough to watch it multiple times. In some cases, multiple times in a row. 
2. The movie has (or had, in a couple of cases) some technical merit and may have been nominated for awards in such. Typically, I go for writing and acting. I really could care less about cinematography most of the time, but I almost made an exception for Inception. Almost. 
3. Be a film in all standard recognized definitions - no concerts, no plays or staged musicals, no comedy specials, no TV or internet series, and no Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, whatever that actually is. 

The first list consisted of the following pictures:
(500) Days of Summer
Amelie
Apocalypse Now
As You Like It (Branagh)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Big Trouble
The Boondock Saints
The Brothers Bloom
Charlie Bartlett
Chasing Amy
Clerks
Clue
Dan in Real Life
The Darjeeling Limited
The Dark Knight
District 9
Elf
The Emperor’s New Groove
Equilibrium
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fifth Element
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Galaxy Quest
Grosse Pointe Blank
Hamlet (Branagh)
The Hangover
Henry V (Branagh)
Howl’s Moving Castle
Hot Fuzz
I Am Legend
In Bruges
Inglorious Basterds
Jersey Girl
Juno
Kick-Ass
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Lars and the Real Girl
Life is Beautiful
Meet the Robinsons
Mystery Men
Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
Night Watch
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Once
Pan’s Labyrinth
The Prestige
The Princess Bride
The Radioland Murders
The Rock
Saw
Saw II
Shakespeare in Love
Shaun of the Dead
The Shawshank Redemption
Sin City
SLC Punk
Slither
Slumdog Millionaire
Sneakers
The Specials
Spirited Away
Stand by Me
Stranger Than Fiction
Sunshine Cleaning
Three Musketeers (Disney)
Twelfth Night (Branagh)
Othello (Branagh)
Waitress
WALL-E
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Zombieland

I then went through that list and highlighted what I considered the "best of the best."  Those that were cut to form this list just lacked . . . something.  Sometimes it was a bad stretch of dialogue, a section of the film that made it seem long or otherwise drew me out, some horrible technical mishap that I can't believe went through, or even just bad music.  The survivors were:
(500) Days of Summer

The Boondock Saints
The Brothers Bloom
Charlie Bartlett
Dan in Real Life
The Darjeeling Limited
The Dark Knight
Equilibrium
Grosse Pointe Blank
The Hangover
Howl's Moving Castle
Hot Fuzz
I Am Legend
In Bruges
Inglorious Basterds
Jersey Girl
Kick-Ass
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Lars and the Real Girl
Meet the Robinsons
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Once
The Princess Bride
The Radioland Murders
Saw
Shakespeare in Love
Shaun of the Dead
The Shawshank Redemption
Sin City
SLC Punk
Slither
Slumdog Millionaire
Spirited Away
Stranger Than Fiction
Sunshine Cleaning
Waitress
WALL-E
Zombieland

Next, I went through and distinguished my absolute favorites and those that I thought were technically spectacular.  Most are on both lists, but a few made it to either one or the other.

Favorites:
(500) Days of Summer
The Boondock Saints
Charlie Bartlett
The Darjeeling Limited
Grosse Pointe Blank
Howl's Moving Castle
Hot Fuzz
Jersey Girl
Kick-Ass
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Meet the Robinsons
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Once
Shakespeare In Love
The Shawshank Redemption
Sin City
SLC Punk
Stranger Than Fiction
Waitress
Zombieland

Best:
(500) Days of Summer
The Darjeeling Limited
Grosse Pointe Blank
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Once
Shakespeare In Love
The Shawshank Redemption
Sin City
SLC Punk
Slumdog Millionaire
Stranger Than Fiction
WALL-E
Zombieland

Aha!  21 and 15!  That's actually less than I thought it would be at this level.  The next step is My Top 10 Movies of Right Now, which shall be drawn from the previous 2 lists.  I will try to put them in order, and give some notes as to why each particular film rates as it does.  Here goes nothing:

1. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
   Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer.  Great. Freaking. Film.  Amazing dialogue, amazing acting, shot well, action packed, and very aware that it is a film.  This one I can watch every night and love it every time.
2. Grosse Point Blank
   John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Aakroyd, Jeremy Piven, Hank Azaria.  This movie blew my mind, and I spent the entire duration of my exposure with my mouth open.  I alternate this with #1 on a viewing schedule.  Also, spectacular music.
3. (500 Days of Summer)
   Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zoe Deschanel, Chloe Moretz.  Another "great use of music" flick.  Also the second of the top 3 to use narration.  The non-linear presentation is very interesting, and a random musical number to celebrate sex is always a plus.  Also, Chloe Moretz is the coolest little sister ever.
4. Howl's Moving Castle
   Hayao Miyazaki/Disney joint; Christian Bale as the voice of Howl.  Miyazaki's films never cease to amaze me, but this one stands out on top for me.  It may be because Howl appears to be some kind of were-raven (near and dear to my heart), or that his fire is voiced by Billy Crystal.  Either way, a must-see movie, even if it is animated.
5. Shakespeare In Love
   Written by Tom Stoppard; Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush.  Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night rolled into one.  This movie follows the creation of Romeo and Juliet based on Will's current love affair, a girl who poses as a boy to audition for a play.  Probably the most romantic movie you will ever see, and might cause you to change your mind about Romeo and Juliet being highly overrated (though I still agree overDONE).
6. Stranger Than Fiction
   Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson, Maggie Gylenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah.  This is such an interesting, well-put together story.  With a surprisingly amazing, strong cast.  And amazing graphics and GUI effects.  Although I do support my own opinion about making the end a bit different, and that's probably why it's not in the top 5. 
7. Hot Fuzz
   Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, some cameos from Simon Pegg/Nick Frost regulars.  Between Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz came in slightly higher only because there is one scene in Shaun of the Dead that I think could have been left out of the movie and it wouldn't have suffered at all.  None of the movies on this list have that tiny little flaw.  Also, it's a better murder/mystery than Shaun of the Dead is a zombie flick.  Besides, I already have Zombieland up here.
8. Jersey Girl
   Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez (kinda), Liv Tyler, George Carlin, tons of other Kevin Smith regulars.  This alternates between a romance, comedy, and father-daughter tale.  Tragedy strikes quickly and Ben is left with a daughter to raise on his own.  He moves back to Jersey with his father, George Carlin, and life goes on.  Touching, sweet, and a scene from Sweeney Todd.  Brilliant.
9. Zombieland
   Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin.  A zombie movie that knows it's a zombie movie.  Awesome use of graphics (though the CG blood leaves something to be desired) and spectacularly written with possibly the best 1) intro/opening credits segments ever and 2) cameo.  Ever.  Seriously.  Own it.  Now.
10. Once
    Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova.  Also known as The Swell Season.  This primarily makes the list because of the music, but the actors' lack of technique and experience allow for a naturalistic tone to every word they speak and every gesture they make.  Watch this with someone you like and you will fall in love immediately.  Trust me, it's happened.  It has probably 4 or 5 of my Top 10 Favorite Songs on it, though I don't know if I'll get around to making that list.

A Suicide Blazon - Draft 1

She wore a simple dress. His favorite. It was black and had slits all the way up to her toned, soccer-sculpted thighs, which she had shaved. She didn't have on shoes, not his favorite heels with black leather laces that started at her toes and wound themselves around her sleek calves. Calves scarred with memories of long days in the woods behind her grandfather's house. An unbidden and unwelcome smile sneaked onto his face when his eyes caught up to her knee; they wouldn't continue until they had taken in the scar, another remnant of her favorite past time. The scar provoked that unwanted smile in response to “the button,” a place on her knee where she couldn't feel anything, just a little bit of pressure. She had laughed whenever he touched it.

The dress hugged a little more snugly than when she had bought it. His senior prom, her first year of college. He wore a zoot suit, she wore that little black dress, not wanting to outdo him However, eyes followed her wherever she went. She wasn't wearing anything under it that night, either. And, again, she had shaved.

She still had delicate wrists. It was a wonder that the recoil from the single round hadn't broken one. Her arms had been hard at work, putting her physical education degree to use. She complained about gaining weight, even though she knew that most of it was muscle. She wasn't fat, she had never been fat. She had been perfect. Still was, lying in that still-expanding burgundy pool.

Her hair. His eyes stopped again at her hair – her blond, red, brown, black, white, silver, yellow, indigo hair – refusing to wander without taking in every tangled curl. She loved it when he ran his hand through it lying next to her in their queen-size pillow-top bed, their first purchase together. He loved it, too, and made it a point for his fingertips ti find their way to her perfect, wavy strands whenever possible. He closed his eyes, remembering the scent of her shampoo. Lavender and sandalwood. She didn't like it, but used it because he had mentioned once that it was his favorite. Still was, even mingled with the copper taste of wood incarnadine.

Her various smiles, frowns, sighs, and laughs fluctuated the pigment in her iris from blue to turquoise to gray to green, always remaining the colors of the sea. Now, black. The storm has passed.

He let a couple of tears wet his cheek before he set to work.

He grabbed the gun, holding it in both hands, touching the grip to his face, breathing it in. He placed it between his jeans and the small of his back, draping his shirt over the handle that still held her warmth.

He pulled it out quickly, placing the muzzle against his temple, intent on following her into the dark. Not his phrase, but he couldn't help but think of her favorite song.

His arms dropped just as suddenly, his body hunched over on itself and heaved silently with sobs. His knees hit the newly-finished wood floor and his arms fell flaccid to his sides. He lost the grip on the gun and it landed next to her unpainted toes. The rest of his body continued to the floor, his forehead smacking the wood hard. He couldn't tell if he was dizzy from the impact or sudden surge of emotion, but he let it work its way out through his breath.

Twenty minutes passed before he could do anything else. He grabbed the gun, tucking it back against his skin. He went to the fridge. Four bottles of Corona. In order to be convincing, he'd have to use them all. He checked the freezer. A half-empty bottle of vodka. He didn't know she'd bought it. That would have to go, too. He opened one of the Coronas, swallowed half of it, then went back to her body.

Jaw clenched, he took the butt of the pistol and slammed it as hard as he could onto the right side of his face. Left-handed swing, right-sided blow. Then, he grabbed her left hand as hard as he could, trying to leave bruises. He knew they would be able to tell that her injuries were caused post-mortem, but if his plan worked, no one would check too thoroughly. He touched the Corona to her lips and then finished the bottle himself and cracked open the vodka.

Eric paced back and forth in the now-quiet second-floor apartment. He was sure that neighbors had heard, police had been called, and investigations had been initiated. He took deep pulls from the frozen bottle as he eyed the suddenly unfamiliar room. The shelf of books, half of them his. The case of DVDs, all of them hers. Hardwood table with four different chairs. Sleeper couch for late-night party stragglers, and a chest containing extra sheets for those partiers who couldn't hold their liquor. He finished the vodka, hoping to black out before the sirens arrived.

Movies

(First of all, I had to think really hard to come up with a title that was still a song name . . .)

This is going to be about what I look for in movies, and maybe a bit rant-y, too.

I don't necessarily want a movie to entertain me.  Sure, it's nice every now and then to watch a popcorn-eater or mind-bubblegum.  But, not all the time.  I want something that makes me think, something that challenges what I believe, and something that contains a well-told story.  Everything in the film should work together to create that story - good writing, good direction, good acting, good sound, good soundtrack, good cinematography . . . all that jazz.  So I tend to surprise people when I say I didn't really care for Avatar (WHAT?) or Inception (Blashphemy!).  There was just something in each of those that didn't really give them a leg to stand on.  Avatar relied solely on visuals, but told basically the same story as Dances with Wolves or any other empire/colonial-condemning story.  Inception had an outstanding cast (top billing excluded), but the story was transparent, trite, masturbatory, and predictable.  Also, the soundtrack sucked, which is surprising because I tend to like Hans Zimmer.  I did enjoy the mixing they pulled off with that Edith Piaf tune, but everything else sounded like exactly the same song.

Some of the movies I've found to be inspiration lately are films that haven't been in the mainstream and haven't received attention outside of - dare I say it - hipster and scene circles, like (500) Days of Summer, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and for some reason, children's movies.  That may be because they aren't striving to be pretentious, high-budget showcases for expensive equipment and effects.

I don't really seem to know anyone who agrees with me on any of these points, and that has provided a bit of difficulty lately.  I'm part of a group that's going to put together a short film for a competition, and everyone seems to want to string a bunch of pop culture references and clever one-liners together enough to fill about four minutes, but I can't get a decent story out of them.

Conflict.  That's what drives stories.  Drama.  Suffering.  Pain.  Catharsis.  Aristotle wasn't wrong about this one.  I don't think he foresaw flicks like Dude Where's My Car?, but it still follows (very basically) his analysis of poetry.  Something happens to the characters, they get over it, the audience leaves feeling something, whether that be side-splitting pain from sheer ridiculousness or amused relief that the car was found and the weird German guys saved the planet.

I guess I'm looking for my movies to behave like literature.  That's where they started, after all.  Poetry led to the play led to the screenplay.  And everything in between.

Rollercoaster

Ups and freaking downs.  Like, for real.

It's been a very long time, so let's start with the most connected occurrence:  I got into CalArts and had everything ready right up until the tuition deposit was due.  Then, everyone who said they would be able to help me out ended up not having the money.  SO, no CalArts.

I've had interviews and auditions for three or four jobs, but nothing has stuck.  Still looking for a full-time position, hopefully in an area of theatre.  Or film.  Or television.  At this point, entertainment would be nice.

Still working at the movie theatre.  It looks like I'm moving up to Supervisor soon, but I'm not really sure how I feel about that.  I hadn't planned on working there this long.

My father was diagnosed with cancer in his neck a few weeks ago.  He's already had 2 surgeries, and we're waiting now on radiation and chemotherapy.

All of my student loans are in forbearance because I'm having to help with the mortgage, bills, and medical expenses.

I'm ready to test for my driver's license (finally, at the age of 23) on my next day off.

Mostly downs, but life happens.  When I'm able to drive, I'll be able to audition for shows downtown.  Get myself out there.

U/RTA Day 1: Recap

I woke up at 6 AM, shaved, showered, and centered.  I had a nice little breakfast at one of the zillion Dunkin' Donuts around here . . . seriously, they're like Starbucks.  Weird.  Then, at 7:45, I headed to Roosevelt University.  After a brief orientation (and free chapstick?), I set up my portfolio, then walked around and looked at a few others.  There were 5 or 6 other sound portfolios.  All of them but 2 had the same headphones as me (Sony Professional series), and the others had plain consumer grade over-the-head earphones.  One other portfolio included business cards and stands for his resumes, and I was the only other one who did that.  He had one thing that I didn't think of, though: about 40 copies of his portfolio on CD for the auditors to take with them.  Brilliant.


I got 6 interviews:  California Institute of the Arts, Ohio University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of California - Irvine, and University of California - Los Angeles, and University of Cincinnati - Conservatory-College of Music.


CalArts liked me because my portfolio was very diverse, and he was impressed with my soundscoring capabilities.  The main part of my portfolio included a soundscore for Metamorphoses, and he was part of the original production.  He was also excited to learn that I greatly enjoy designing sound for non-conventional performances (and my goals to study Performance Studies).  He said that he thought my mentality and style meshed well with the CalArts community.  However, financial aid is kind of slim, and no one gets full-rides.  It would be about $50,000/year.


Ohio University was also impressed at the range of my portfolio, and said that the focus of the program was conceptual, with technology taking a bit of a back seat to that.  He "encouraged me to apply," and wants me to visit campus (in Athens, OH).  He did mention that the 2 sound design positions received full tuition waivers and a stipend per semester.  Holy.  Cow.


UI was interested in me because of extensive experience in live sound set up, sound reinforcement capabilities, and my background with my father's sound business.  But, the interviewer wasn't too enthused beyond that.  He seemed tired and just floating, like he didn't really care about anything besides getting the information out there.  I was kind of excited about this one, but I'm not sure if I just want to do reinforcement and mixing my entire grad school career.


UC-Irvine was very slick, very "California."  They stressed that they were state-of-the-art and had several performance spaces, none of which has an in-house system.  That means that every production is customizable with a HUGE selection of brand new equipment.  I was also excited about this one, but I'm pretty sure they only interviewed me because I asked them to.


UCLA wasn't as slick as I thought they'd be, and were actually much more interesting.  The head of the department designs sound for Cirque du Soleil, and every semester the design students take a trip to see the current show.  They did say that tech was also a little more background than creativity - he said that they teach the tech "to the point of use," and expect the students then to keep up.  This was actually pretty exciting, and it's not bad that it's UCLA, either.


UCincinnati was also pretty exciting.  I started looking at their program some time ago.  However, they are very focused on dramatic performance (theatre, musical theatre, opera, and dance are all supported by the program), and not really any non-theatrical sound exploits.  Which is ok, I guess, but it would be nice to do some performance art work.  It's just plain fun.  They expect me now, if I'm interested, to apply, visit the campus, see a show, show my portfolio, and formally interview.  I don't know about this one, either, but they seem l little more professional and high-caliber than some of the others, while still maintaining an approachable front.


There won't be much of an update for today - there aren't any acting schools in town set up yet, and my plan for today was to walk around and take advantage of the free walk-in auditions that were about last year.  The only school here at the moment is Rutgers, and their audition fee is $75.  Plus they have an application fee beyond that.


More to come on day 3.

U/RTA 2010 Prologue: Day 0

Tomorrow morning marks the first day of my 2010 grad school auditions.  I arrive at 8:00 in a conference room with tons of other designers (who probably know a lot more than me in most areas, and can probably draw) and set up a portfolio that consists of:

1. My computer looping a video containing all of my best sound pieces and production photos;
2. A binder containing the full process for Einstein and the Roosevelts;
3. A binder containing other useful pieces: original music for Twelfth Night, a marked up script, some production notes, and a class project
4. 40 copies of a pretty impressive resume`;
5. Some copies of my transcript;
6. Business cards

I'm not sure if this is going to cut it, and I'm not even sure if what I do have is actually anything that they care about.  But, one of the last things my advisor, coach, and mentor said to me as he stood up from checking it out was:  "I would be excited to work with this."  That boosted my confidence enough to at least shine during interviews, of which I have two.  I have already contacted Purdue and the University of California - Irvine, and they both said that they are going to look at my stuff while they're here.

Since this is the prologue, I'll leave it at that.  Saturday is going to be kind of a throw away day unless I can find some decent schools to audition for free of charge.

Thinking of Winter

I am not a Christian, nor do I adhere strictly to the Gregorian calendar, so this time of year can get a bit awkward.  I feel the intention when people say, "Merry Christmas," but it's not a sentiment I can return with the same meaning.  At least, not with the same words.  I've been struggling with how to phrase this exactly, and it seems I'm failing even now.  I don't exactly know how to express a "Merry Christmas" with the intention beyond religious connotation.  Nor can I say, "Happy Holidays" because theses days aren't necessarily any holier than any other.  Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh - these are more akin to the times of year I celebrate, though I wouldn't necessarily consider myself pagan, either.  Ultimately, I would consider myself Taoist in philosophy.

So what does this time of year mean to me?

Somehow, through all of the commercialism and materialism, the "true meaning of Christmas" has survived - it is a time for sharing, and a time for love.  I find it interesting that a generous gift-giving holiday comes in the middle of Winter, the cycle of Death, but I suppose it's kind of appropriate.  People want to escape the harsh environment and wish themselves warmth - physical and emotional.  So while I don't necessarily believe in The Lord Our Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth, or that he was born on Dec. 25 22BC, I do participate in the gift-giving ritual.

I'll have to ponder this a little further, but at least now I have some basic thoughts down.  Something to consider, something to think about.  More to come - stay tuned.