The Princess Bride

So I just wrote a brief classic movie review for the Broadside about "The Princess Bride."

I didn't want to do just a straight up, "This was a good movie because" kind of review. That gets boring.

Allie helped be draft a bunch of ideas, but everything was too lofty.

Especially for a 500 or so word story.

Somehow, I came up with the brilliant idea of Andre the Giant.


Now I know what you're think, "Andre the Giant? Really?"

Think about it. He was one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time and a moderately successful actor.

Within the context of "The Princess Bride", Andre the Giant was the actual heart and kindness of the movie. Granted, the movie is all about true love, but that stuff gets overplayed.

Make sure to check out next week's issue of the Broadside and you'll see just what I mean.

Running With Scissors

I've been reading "Running with Scissors" whenever I get the time this semester. It's definitely an odd book, but it is awfully quirky. Not much of the "memoir" has been affecting me like many of my favorite books have (like "Too Loud a Solitude" or "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"). But the chapter I read today made me stop and think.

Here's some passages:

"Freedom was what we had. Nobody told us when to go to bed. Nobody told us to do our homework. Nobody told us we couldn't drink two six-packs of Budweiser and then throw up in the Maytag.
So why did we feel so trapped? Why did I feel like I had no options in my life when it seemed the options were the only thing I did have?...
More than anything I wanted to break free. But free from what? That was the problem. Becuase I didn't know what I wanted to break free from, I was stuck."

"The problem with not having anybody to tell you what to do, I understood, is that there was nobody to tell you what not to do."

There have been several times in my life I've looked for someone to tell me what not to do, and I cannot find them. I cannot get direction of where not to go, that I end up either doing something stupid or more than likely, I do nothing at all.

I was surprised to find such a concept in this book of mental illness, homosexuality and just uninhibited action.

No wonder the novel has had such acclaim.

Music Season Begins!

As the spring is (kind of) making its way to us, the music tours are everywhere! There are all kinds of bands that are coming to the area that I'm exstatic to see!

Thankfully DC has tons of venues to hold them all in! Baltimore too!

Black Cat:
Sun May 20: Pretty Girls make Graves (Last DC Show EVER!), Moonrats, Call me Lightning

9:30 Club:
Wed April 25: Wolfmother
Tues May 1: Third Eye Blind, The Upwelling
Thurs May 10: Ben Gibbard (from Death Cab), David Bazan (from Pedro the Lion), and David Bazan
Wed May 16: Arctic Monkeys
Fri May 18: Elvis Costello and the Imposters

Velvet Lounge:
Fri May 4: King Giant, Serpents, Solome, Vog

Rock and Roll Hotel:
Wed April 25: John Vanderslice, St. Vincent
Mon Jun 18: MewithoutYou, Piebald, Manchester Orchestra, The Snake the Cross the Crown

Ottobar:
Mon May 21: River City Rebels, The Ratches, The Rockvilles, Singleton and Whales
Sun Jun 24: The Chariot, Mistery Signals, I Am Ghost, and I Hate Sally

Sonar:
Wed May 24: Mastadon, Against Me and Cursive
Fri May 25 - Sun May 27: Maryland Deathfest

Recher Theater:
Fri May 4: Thrice, Norma Jean, The Receiving End of Sirens, and Moneen

Rams Head Live:
Sat May 5: Mr. GreenGenes
Sun May 6: Saves the Day, Say Anything, Manchester Orchestra, and Meg & Dia
Mon May 7: Bullet for my Valentine, All the Remains, Escape the Fate, The Confession


I know this is a lot of choices, but who knows where I'll be and what I'll be doign on those days. They should be fun though. Plus, if you are on Myspace at all, you can search almost all of these bands and find their page with samples of their music. I advise doing it, you may find something you like that surprises you.

Go out and support local music.

Pat Robertson

This post, like most from today's 361 Online Journalism videoconference will discuss our guest, Pat Robertson.

Friday at 10a.m on C-Span3, the video-conference will be rebroadcast. That's exciting.

However, many of you may know who Pat Robertson is. He is very respected in the conservative Christian world, and it's easy to see why.

Through much of the interview, Robertson quoted Bible passages; made very insensitive remarks about other religions and continuously contradicted himself. Granted, Robertson is quite the politician. Hence the flip-flopping.

I was a little disappointed I didn't have time to ask my question about the separation of chruch and state within the court room after many of his Regent University Law school grads are under fire for conflating the God's word with that of the president.



There were several times I caught myself rolling my eyes during the conference. But I know and understand that's my natural reaction to something I don't want to hear.

I'm surprised Dr. Robertson wasn't doing much of the same.

Welcome Back

I went away last weekend back to PA for originally the holiday. But sadly, my grandmother passed away and thus, most of my weekend was filled with family.

It's always interesting to see how people cope with these types of events.

During the viewing, hardly any people cried or were upset. The viewing was basically for us to get reacquaitned with those we haven't seen in a long time. For instance, I haven't seen many of my cousins since I was four or five. I met the Zinger boys again. Turns out, my cousin Keith is a line-backer for LSU. Geaux Tigers!

However, the funeral service and actual funeral were the worst for everyone. It was rough on me becuase my older brother was away at boot camp for drill instructor training.

I did spend much of my weekend laughing and smiling, which is nice. It's always good to go home and see friends and family, even if it is under such sad circumstances. I did make time to get away from my family and see some old friends, hit a few bars, had a few drinks.

You know.
Cope.

Oh Arnold!

I watched Kindergarten Cop last night.

And boy, was it as fantastic as ever. I must say, it was the best $5 purchase I've made in a long time.

That's right folks.

Five dollars.

Probably one of Ivan Reitman's less successful movies, and one that's become a kitchy secret in the Governors closet.

It did, however, help shape many of the young people today. I know I grew up watching it, as did many of my friends. It's pretty obvious when you watch it with us becuase only certain lines have stuck with us since it's 1990 release.



Some of the best lines of that movie, (or at least memorable ones) are in that clip thanks to YouTube.

But there's one missing.

And with the wonders of the internet, I found a link for the WAV file.
Enjoy.

Sometimes, these movies survive for a reason, and this one has got to be the cute kids and their one-liners.

300

All the hype is right.

"300" is amazing.

Visually, it was difficult to adjust to the colors director Zack Snyder used, but it became easier maybe 15 minutes or so into the movie. It was almost like the colors were darker and almost bronzed, like if they had been resting with antiquity for thousands of years. It was a nice touch to separate us the viewers from the actors on screen.



Some of the dialogue was a little weak, but you cannot overlook some of the performances. Dominic West as Theron was so conniving, so aggrivating. You could almost smell the smarmy ego coming out of the screen. Rodrigo Santoro as the God King Xerses unnerved me throughout the film. (He is pictured above with the noble King Leonidas).

Something about Xerses, whether it be his huge stature, his immeasurable power, or his wealth made me nervous everytime he was on screen. Whether this was Snyder's intention or not, it made me dislike Xerses from the first time he was on screen.

Overall, 300 was visually stunning, with massive battle scenes and serene shots of Sparta. It's not a film for the faint of heart, but for the strong of imagination.