Uh-mazing

"So what's the plot?"
Uhhh...
"And what's on the plane?"
Snakes!!!!!

Oh. My god. Snakes on a Plane. So bad that it's good. So cheesy that you howl. Such blatant one-liners that can only make you laugh they're so bad. And to boot, I got carded to see the movie. Hello world? I can't even remember what movie I was last carded for!

Do the world a favor. Go see this movie. In a full house. And laugh more than you have laughed this summer. You shall enjoy it. Like you're on crack.

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SUMMER MOVIE ROUNDUP
Since I have been doing non-post things for a few weeks, like packing, forgetting hard drives up in Maine, and casting wistful glances at the pool, I figure I should post about something, eh?
So
SNAKES ON A PLANE A must-see movie for the summer. Or end of summer. There's plenty more good shit coming out in the months to come, but if you love movies, go see this.
CLERKS 2 Being a devoted fan of the first film, how could I not like this movie? There are so many in-jokes and scenes that should cut out way earlier, but what can you do. I have respect for this movie for the jail scene (it's not a give away, you can't be that surprised someone ends up in jail :P) which is both 1) well written and pretty visceral for a comedy and 2) well edited. Any editor/director woulda cut out of that scene much earlier, but go kevin Smith. That scene was the heart of the movie, and to cut out earlier woulda been muy stupido.
The BROTHER GRIMM OMG, such bad dubbing that I couldn't even watch the movie. Seriously. Gag.
RABBIT PROOF FENCE There are some movies that introduce you to a piece of history that makes you most uncomfortable. The Magdalene Sisters was the last movie that did it for me. Assez difficile to believe that people can be that awful, especially on such a wide scale institutional level. Gag. And Rabbit Proof Fence does the same, and tells a story about Australia's governance of "half caste" children, or those born to 1 white parent and 1 aboriginal parent. Watch the making of on the DVD, which gives hope to me since the movie almost fell apart at the last minute, and proof that non-Hollywood films are held together with shoestrings, just like mine ;)
NATURAL BORN KILLERS I actually fell asleep in the middle of this, coz when I'm knackered, and it's dark, I crash no matter what. However, what I saw was enough to confirm the genius of Oliver Stone. As if U-Turn didn't prove that, but whatever.
SUPERMAN Amazing. I loved it. Alot of people hate it. Why the hate for Superman, yo? The flying was fantabulous. And Clark Kent is cute. What more do you need really?
DEVIL WEARS PRADA I loved the book and loved the movie. When's the last time something like that has happened to you? Hah! Never I bet! Rightly so. It's like lightning striking in the same place. Doesn't happen often. Which is too bad. Meryl Streep was just awesome. The perfect bitch boss. And the clothes were lovely.
UNITED 93 I mean, just amazing. I still remember how I felt coming out of the movie theater after the credit roll. The movie was perfect and beautiful and cathartic. I haven't seen World Trade Center, but
Ok, i can't remember what else I've seen this summer. A large part of my viewing pleasure time was taken up with Lost viewing, since I got TOTALLY 100% SUCKED IN to that damned TV show. Oh wait, I watched a Sundance series called THE STAIRCASE which is a documentary series that followed a crime case in small town, North Carolina. Initially, you see both sides of the story, but as time goes on, the prosecution stops allowing the filmmakers to tape. Which is fine, since you see how a pricey defense prepares it's case for the court. Very interesting. Great commentary on society. To say more would give it away. Enjoy it from Netflix!

Alright. Possibly more related Post stuff to come, or maybe just remiscining of stories from Maine. Either way, spell check won't be involved.

Maine- the land of cashews and whoopie pies

---not a terribly post related post-----

That about says it all, don't you think? I'm a week away from leaving Maine and it's been nothing short of fantastic. I would stay, if possible. Well, really, it is possible, however, I have Responsibilities in DC, like finishing my degree and starting my new job. Le sigh.

Maine has been nothing short of fantastic, despite my rather procrastinatic being not doing much whilst I was here. Sure I've edited, I've critiqued, I've scheduled. In short, I've fulfilled my job description with a tad more. This resulted in a stress free job environment. However, it's stress free for more than that- I haven't had to worry about finances very much and there have been very few extracurricular stresses. I realize this is unlikely to happen again in my life for some time, so have I embraced it? Yes. I know what I have. I also took the opportunity to sleep in my bed, with it's gloriously soft sheets, and drink much coffee, and shower at noon. On a Wednesday.

Life is good.

That said, I've done a fair amount of travel up and down the Maine coast these past 2 weeks. I've fallen in love with Acadia and would return in a heartbeat. I was mesmerized by Pemaquid. While Damariscotta and Wiscasset were cute and quaint, they don't hold a candle to the natural beauty of Acadia and Pemaquid. Boothbay was boring (despite the fact I found my father's birthday gift there). Do I feel somewhat guilty that I didn't do this travel in June? Sure. Terribly guilty? Uh, not really. Because sleeping is amazing. And sleeping past 9? Truly something to behold.

Along these travels, either by myself or with a good friend of mine, I've discovered that Mainers love cashews and whoopie pies. It's beyond explanation from moi, look to a real Mainer. However, from roughly Bath to Acadia, there are road side stands advertising cashews. WTF? Hey, I like cashews as much as the next person. In fact, one of the dishes I love most in the world is Cashews with Chicken from Neisha Thai. But I'm not sure I would stop at a road side stand and buy them. As for whoopie pies? Emmmm, yeah, they're good, but isn't that like stopping by the side of the road for good chocolate chip cookies? As a baker, I admit there's more to whoopie pies that good brown sugar and chocolate chips, but I can't imagine stopping the car for some.

Well, if I was marooned on Antartica for a year, then maybe, yes, I would.

But anyway. I think the conclusion is, if you want a fun summer, be an editor up in Maine. (Don't be a course manager, because that will suck the life out of you. Post, baby, post.) Don't think twice about it, really. Be a course manager if you want to learn more about specific skills. And be sure to get to Acadia. It's one of the most beautiful places that I've ever seen. In fact, I present now with PICTURE SPAM!

Acadia- Day 1
Acadia- Day 2
Pemaquid

Camden, etc, to come. For now, enjoy. And no, I didn't color correct or Photoshop anything. Look forward to crooked horizon lines ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE. Pictures taken by moi and another friend. Don't use sans permission, yo.

Tracks and Titles and Tears, Oh My!

You know, it's a bit of a line that I don't want to be crossing here- getting rather specific about situations here in Post, but I had to ask myself- how many people read this thing and also surely no one who attends this school knows of this blog, so, um, whatev.

Right.

And tonight was really weird.

Because there were tears shed in the edit room (not by moi of course) but by a student I was helping with an edit. It had begun as a critique (who on earth decides i am qualified to do such things?! the instructor of course, go figure) and this edit had Problems. But the Problems could be Solved, of this I was sure. So we spent maybe 15 minutes going through the possibilities and several things became clear to me:
1- People should not shoot personal docs and edit them themselves. This is just asking for trouble, is stupid, and I can't really figure out what the point is, honestly. A friend of mine went through something like this in the spring, and it made no sense to me then, and it makes no sense to me now. Being too close to a project does no one any good. That's what Editors Are For. Use Them. We feel useful and appreciate the paycheck.
2- This person hated the piece after seeing the footage, largely because they were on camera and were narrating. I sympathized for sure. I DETEST being on camera and do my best to make sure any cameos I'm part of end up on the editing floor. Past directors can attest to this fact. So this person hated it, and there's not much you can do to convince someone not to hate themselves on camera. It can rarely be done.
3- People need to learn how to chill the fuck out and move past things and this person surely did. I could not convince them to do so, not that I thought I could succeed, but I had to try. Move on! It's a short project! There are more! It's not the final for chrissakes!

So the gates of Niagara didn't open when we were working together, no. I'm not that evil, but I am brutally honest, as we all know. My commentary was helpful to many other people in the class, so I knew whatever I was doing was working. No, this person decided to bawl when the instructor asked how it was going. Oi. Neither of us knew what to do really. Time was spent calming them down, etc, but, shit, you know? Crying! Macs! Final Cut Pro! These things do not mix! Nor should they. Oi!

Now, wine and a walk would've helped them, of this I'm sure, but they stuck around and continued to fiddle with the project.

Le Sigh.

Hopefully when I come in tomorrow, they will be feeling significantly better about the piece, but I doubt it. Mmmph.