Movie Trailers

IMDB had this awesome link on the other day that I just need to write about.

IFC.com released a list of the 50 greatest film trailers of all time. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but be completely impressed by the list. I am such of fan of movie trailers. I have this idea that I think could be great, but I really don’t have enough energy to make it happen. So, here goes. I think movie theatres should have a theatre open just to show trailers. Think about it. At any given time there is about somewhere around 50-ish trailers for upcoming features circulating on the Internet. We can then suppose 2 minutes for each trailers, which would put us around 100 minutes, give or take—the same time that is the length of a typical, average movie. They could play these trailers in a loop, and you could walk in and out whenever you wanted. I think it’s genius! But that is just because I love movie trailers so much. I’m telling you, like I’ve said before, I just feed off of the anticipation.

So, out of their list of 50 movies, I have seen 36 of them (I couldn’t count one of them because it’s not out yet, but I do plan on seeing it as soon as it comes out. Trailer for it below.), and I definitely agree with a lot of their choices. Here are some of the trailers via YouTube.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009) [This is the movie that is not out yet, and I am dying to see it. The song in the trailer is the bomb. “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire. It’s making its way up my play count on my iTunes.]



Cloverfield (2008) [J. J. Abrams. Need I say more.]



Sleeper (1973) [A Woody Allen trailer. Okay, so not my favorite film of all time, but I totally understand why this made IFC’s list. Plus, it’s just interesting to talk about.]



Pyscho (1960 ) [Hitchcock spills all here.]



[This was not on the list, but I think it is so funny that in Tarantino and Rodriguez’s Grindhouse film they included fake trailers to play off of what their own films were doing. Here’s the trailer for Machete.]

"You Cheated Me" by Martha Wainwright

You Cheated Me


So, those of you who know all about my obsession with all things Wainwright and McGarrigle, will most likely not be all that surprising. I was cruising around YouTube with some friends the other night when I noticed that I hadn’t really watch too many music videos recently. I also then started thinking about how in my writing class on visual culture, I have a day planned to talk about music videos. And I am excited about it. There was this awesome day in my pop culture class when I was a junior in undergrad when two friends came up with a music video theory. Awesome, right?

Well, I recently discovered that Martha Wainwright is going to covering some Edith Piaf songs, and I decided to check out some of her music videos. I found the one for “You Cheated Me” from her most recent CD, I Know You’re Married But I’ve Got Feelings Too. The video is so interesting, not to mention that the song is uber-awesome.

What I think is so awesome about the video is it how it uses the sofa. I mean, it is pretty hard not to miss, right? She sort of comes embedded in it, and I wonder if the sofa is a metaphor for how we become consumed by our emotions and anxiety after we discover some really bad news. The sofa is a place of comfort, and it is a place where we can get away and escape through a variety of means: conversation, TV, reading, avoiding work, sleeping.


Here are the lyrics:

I know you've got to go
And I wanted to be afraid to say
But I'm not
I'm scared to death of what you've become

You were my only ally
Now you're looking around for an alibi
Why don't you go ask your new set on the set of lies

Chorus: You cheated me and I can't believe it
I've been calling since four o'clock last night
You cheated me and I can't believe it
I saw you singing and dancing in the rain
All the way home

You left the keys in the door when you left that night
I don't wanna point the finger but I can't help it
Why don't you run your scared little ass down the block
I'll catch up to you when you come back and

Chorus

When all the bills have been unrolled
And your story has been untold
Tell me if it was worth it
To see the whole damn thing unfold

Chorus (2xs)

Playing Cards

I have been playing an immense amount of cards lately, which for me has been like a seventh heaven. It has brought up so many memories, both good and bad, of playing cards with family, friends, and roommates. I have been playing so much that I have been neglecting a ton of reading that I could be doing this summer. At this point, I'm okay not reading and sacrificing some time to be with friends. But I might need to play extreme super-speed catch up when school starts in August. But, as of now, I'm not worried about that.

We've somehow managed to play five or six different card games in the past couple weeks. We've mastered about all of them, and each of us have one that we like and tend to win in. I'm proud to say that I've reclaimed my title of fighting solitaire champ after losing it to some of my Behan roommates a couple years ago.





(This is a blurry picture of Marli, Chris, and Patrick playing some card game.)










(This is my roommate Steven. I don’t remember what we were playing at the time. But for a while we were on several canasta and fighting solitaire runs.)


















Cards are so much fun. But sad note, they remind me a lot of my grandmother, the one that currently has Alzheimer's now. I'm happy that my friends have allowed me to share her games with them so that a part of her still lives on through me. So this goes out to the friends—past, present, and future:

Slam

“While it would not work for me, and I do feel the process of classic immigration has liberated me in ways that expatriation never could, I must be prepared to accept the validity of my sister Mira’s narrative of expatriation and those of others like her. Their voices are hidden inside me, I have written some of their stories, and I grieve for them far more than I resent them—it’s a reaction curiously similar to that of most Third World writers towards the work of V. S. Naipaul. “Damn him,” I want to shout, damn his superior airs, damn his cold detachment, damn his vast talent, damn his crystalline sentences. I want him to manifest love, for just a paragraph or two, to cut loose. This does not affect my respect for his work. I want my sister to feel love for this country that she, in the depth of her heart, cannot” (222).

Mukherjee, Bharati. “Imagining Homelands.” Seeing and Writing 3. Ed. Donald and Christine McQuade. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2006. 216-222.

Class, Houses, Discussion

My students and I just spent about an hour talking and writing about this painting by Edward Hopper entitled “House by the Railroad.” I am teaching 1004 right now, and I am trying to integrate visual culture studies into writing. I choose this topic because I figured it would be something that all of my students (all three of them) would be familiar with. We look at the world around us all of the time. It is in fact one of the major senses through which we experience life.

Today’s class was just one of those days that was kind of rewarding. I met a fellow teacher in the stairwell just before getting to class, and I talked about how I feel so awkward teaching sometimes—that I talk to much, that I make a big deal out of nothing, that I am interested in the topic and my students are just little bobble heads nodding agreement. When I got to class and one of the students was not there, I was kind of shocked and thought it might be a bad day, but I was luckily rewarded with her reassuring presence.

We talked a lot about place and space because we started with the chapter, “Coming to Terms with Place.” We spent time talking about the difference between space and place, and my students were getting the really theoretical stuff that I wanted them to understand, which felt great. We ended talking about this poem by Edward Hirsch—an ekphrastic poem about Hopper’s painting. We then learned how to incorporate MLA into our writing and talked about introductions and rhetorical questions. Good discussion.

But what I was most happy about is that I started to realize how awesome Hopper is. Of course, I am very familiar with Nighthawks, his most famous painting. And this one time I downloaded some random podcasts from MOMA about him. I think there might be some research going on Hopper in the near future. What do you think about the painting?

This is exactly what I wanted to say...

Oh, my, thank you, feministing! Jaclyn Friedman is awesome.

This post is also here as a shout out to my friend, ToSomeoneLikeMinded. You wanted some activism, and while I didn't think I wanted it to, I'm starting to realize I need it. I want it. It is my desire to end oppression. To create equality. To make a difference.

Monday, Monday, Monday

Monday Monday Monday Lyrics
Artist(Band):Tegan & Sara

This week or last week
I don't really care about it anymore
I write myself this letter
I tell myself you let me go
Without me
What's wrong with you?
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Your house or mine
I don't really care about it anymore
I close my eyes
I, I make myself unhappy so you'll go
Without me
What's wrong with you
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Oh, and I
I say damn your mood swings
Damn your mood swings
Oh, and I
I say damn your mood swings
Damn your mood swings
I'm calling out
I don't really care for your city anymore
I spend the night
I lay awake and miss you when you go
Without me
What's wrong with you
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Monday Monday Monday
Oh, and I
I say damn your mood swings
Oh, and I
I say damn your mood swings
Damn your mood swings
Oh, and I
I say damn your mood swings
Damn your mood swings
Oh, and I
I say damn your mood swings
Damn your mood swings

More, More, More (I Can't Let It Go) and Spotlight on Clarkson

My friend Jesse, who actually attended to Human Rights Campaign gala in New Orleans (and whose Facebook statuses for four days were all about the gala), did not tell me that Patricia Clarkson spoke about gay rights that night. I mean, I figured that would be the topic of anyone’s talk, but I didn’t know Clarkson would be the one speaking.

I love that she included references to Williams and New Orleans in her speech. I was really excited about with my English background and all. And I know I have been harping on these topics lately, but they keep finding their way into my life. So, great quotes from the speech:

“All the violets--gay Americans, lesbian Americans, Bi-sexual Americans, transgender Americans, people of color, and the people of this city forgotten by Washington in hurricane Katrina--we are all are starting to break through the mountain of straight, white, male lawmakers in Washington.” - Oh, the might saxifrage. If only should would have used that image as well. It appears that the violets need to break through the stone as well.
“This is the age of Obama. And the people who oppose these causes need to realize that. But there is someone else who needs to realize that this is the Age of Obama. Obama. It is time, Mr. President. Do not fall behind others on these issues. My God, Dick Cheney announced that he is in favor of gay marriage. And on that very day, the National Weather Service reported hell froze over. So Mr. President, please catch up. Or you are in danger of being considered "just to the right" of a man who is "just to the left" of Vlad-the-Impaler.” - My sentiments exactly. Why is Obama so backed up on this issue? Why doesn’t he address it in his policy and discourse?

[Just as a side note, a new Tony Kushner play is about to be staged, and CNN has this great interview with him, in which he states, But [gay marriage] is really not a federal issue for the executive branch. What President Obama can do is get rid of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." That's a promise from his campaign, and he should honor that promise. Seventy or 80 percent of Americans actually support the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and having openly gay and lesbian soldiers serving in the military. So it's not -- it seems to me -- even that risky. So I'm assuming that'll happen soon. ...”]

Here’s a video of Clarkson’s speech, if you would like to see/hear more:


Here’s a link to the full-text via Huff Post.


And yet again, I return to the issue that is still troubling me about Obama. Why won’t he come out and openly support gay rights? I just wonder if all his talk was jus that. A way to win a demographic.

Time Traveler's Wife

Okay, so I know some of you have read this book (The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger), and I know some of you are going to read it shortly into the future. I also know that I've had conversations with you on whether you will see the movie, but I thought you might want to check out the trailer that was just released. I'm sure I will regret seeing the movie because I love the book so much, but I might have to see the movie. It’s one of those things I have been anticipating for so long. I haven’t figured out exactly why they have delayed the movie for so long since it finished filmed almost two years ago.

Here’s the trailer:


Also, here's a link to her new/next novel coming out soon.

Don't Ask Because I'm Telling

I know I just linked up this video/article from Huff Post on my facebook, but I wanted to write out some of my reactions. I think this is one of those things that sort of bothers me about Obama and about politicians more generally. They make promises or maybe say something about how they would like to make certain policy changes. It’s all bullshit. They are just saying what they need to say in order to get elected. I just think its crap when someone says he/she are progressive, and he/she holds onto backward ways.

I think the article is great when it snidely says, “Which is, of course, ridiculous. All "don't ask don't tell" is, is a policy by which everyone pretends that the gay and lesbian soldiers that are already serving in the military aren't really there, and that everything is okay provided that those gay and lesbian soldiers agree to participate in the Grand Shenanigan of Pollyanna Pretense.”

Why are people afraid of gays? I have been watching True Blood with some friends lately, and it is so awful to see how racists, sexist, and heterosexist people are. How closed minded they can be. Get with the fucking program. What’s wrong with gays serving in the military? When I went to London in 2006, it was the first time that gays got to wear their uniforms during the gay pride parade.





It’s harmless right. I mean, it’s not like they want to bugger all of their comrades. And if they did, would that be a problem? Why do we have to legislate love?

I have to stop typing this blog for time reasons but also because I am so angry that I feel a little incoherent at the moment.

Here is the full video if you don’t want to go to link above:

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