I've just started my first post and I already hate the title of this blog.
I'm not even really sure what this blog is for yet. I know that I want to take some of the things running around in my head and commit them to some written form. Normally that's when one would turn to a journal, but being a young American in the 21st century I have two attributes that make a blog more ideal: (1) I type much more quickly than I write and (2) I'm an egomaniac and believe that everyone deserves (nay needs!) to read my thoughts.
One thing that I want to chronicle in this blog is a change in myself that I've been trying to work on for some time. Like a lot of people who are painfully shy I developed a protective layer of cynicism and pessimism while I was still in high school that never quite went away. It's taken me a while, but it's clear to me now that I don't want to live out my life that way, and that for those who aren't religious, hope and cheeriness are vital for keeping all your marbles.
As such, I have made a short list of goals that I would like to achieve in the near future and plan to post at least once a week my progress. Before the next few months are out I would like to:
!) Gain employment. Anywhere. No really, anywhere. Who needs me to hold a sign?
@) Lose 50 lb. and maintain a regular exercise routine
#) Finish all my applications to graduate school. (Take the GRE, get the letters of recommendation...)
$) Make new friends
The secondary goal of this blog will be to document my consumption of the major vice in my life, films. There are few limits to the kinds of films I will watch. My absolute favorite directors are Woody Allen and Jean-Pierre Melville, but I have to stop it quickly there or the list won't end. Within the last month I've seen...
>Hiroshima Mon Amour by French "New Wave" film director Alain Resnais
>Night Train to Munich, featuring the legendary Rex Harrison
>Kirot - a Ukranian/Israeli film starring the gorgeous duo of former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko and Israeli pop idol Ninet Tayeb
>Last year's Captain America (I'm going through the pre-Avengers movies pre-Avengers)
>Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie (You really need to be able to enjoy the concept. I did, and it was worth it.)
>Le Doulos (another Melville), starring the brilliant Jean-Paul Belmondo
>How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - usually I'm not a big fan of musicals, but I trusted Robert Morse from seeing him earlier with Walter Mathau in The Guide for the Married Man. Turned out to be worth it, thanks in no small part to Morse's delivery (which Jim Carrey tried, and failed, to emulate) and the music of Frank Loesser.
>The Seven Year Itch - O.K. to zone out to on a quite night. How lucky is Tom Ewell to have worked that closely with Marilyn here and with Jayne Mansfield in The Girl Can't Help It?
>This Film Is Not Yet Rated - a great documentary because it provides a thoughtful, needed exposé
>Marwencol - a great documentary because it uses its subject matter to tell a compelling, relatable story
>21 Jump Street - I'll give a film the benefit of the doubt if it means I can go to the theater. Everyone's gotta have their own church. Surprisingly funny, surprisingly well-written, and surprisingly well-acted by Channing Tatum
>The Hunger Games - There's nothing wrong with going to see a film for the aesthetic elements. Or to see Woody Harrelson (can I hear a "Scorched"). Eh.
>And I rewatched Ghostbusters. Because everyone should rewatch Ghostbusters.
Anyway, I'll probably dedicate a few posts to my response to films I've just seen, new and classic ones alike. I don't want to consider them reviews because I don't want to impose a subjective opinion as if it were the truth of the film and because I'm an amateur at this at best. Still, I think it'd be good to proselytize films I think are worth spreading and I enjoy talking about the subtext and concepts of films, even if it's just to myself. I just received my copy of François Truffaut's debut feature film Les Quatre Cents Coups ("The 400 Blows") from Netflix (huzzah Netflix!) so that'll probably be my first.
If all else fails, I'll have something to pass the hours.
