Lorene Scafaria's Seeking a Friend for the End of the World comes close to falling in a distinct category of films containing Pocahontas and The Day After Tomorrow. These films are generally provocative, but historically and scientifically inaccurate. But Seeking a Friend doesn't try to explain why the Earth is ending with abstract physics or emphasize political events. Scafaria's world ends quietly and intimately, without the bombastic global conferences and widespread tragedy. It is a world collected, a world in which all of humanity isn't trying too hard to survive. Save for scattered outbursts--understandable, given the circumstances--the three weeks depicted in the film are calm and therefore, effective.
At the very least, the film, released earlier this year, is not about 2012. Scientists blew that shit out of the water years ago, and continue to do so. In Seeking a Friend, radio and news broadcasts keep the public updated about an approaching meteor. It's almost eerily civil. If our world were to end, and if we had forewarning, would everyone maintain the right to know? Would the information be concealed? Or would authorities attempt to calm public nerves by issuing false assurances that the planet is nowhere close to spontaneous combustion? Or do we continue in a path of denial?
I'm not an end-of-days enthusiast, I'm just interested in the ethics of telling six billion people they're going to, well, die. Seeking a Friend plays up the social aspect. It is an end-of-days film which appeals to a multitude of audiences, simply because it doesn't overwhelm you with facts and computer-generated graphics; it's easy to relate to. I've answered this before, but if armageddon were to occur, I would do like Penny and Dodge: put on some records, walk the dog, kick back, and enjoy the show. Realistically, very few will be pulling a Jake Gyllenhaal.
So, what about you? How would you spend your final days on Earth?
Posters for this film have been cropping up around town, surprisingly. You wouldn't think its advertisers would target the suburbs, but their ploy worked. I now want to see Colin Farrell kicking ass more than I did a month ago when I first saw the trailer for Total Recall, which premiers August 3rd. He was fantastic in Phone Booth.
Classically, I've been getting rather blue these last 14 days. In the past, this had led to taxing reflections, self-destructive behaviour, and loss of decision-making skills. Mom suggested I look up museums I might want to check out. She suggests this every summer. To put it simply, between the ROM and the Ontario Science Centre, I've made at least 20 visits. I daresay I'm all ROM'ed out. So tomorrow I'm headed to the big T.O. again, but not to visit museums. Nor to church-hop, I'm afraid. I'm going to shop condos.
I don't know how to beat it, this blasted season known as summer. It's bliss for the first week, and then it's hotter than Inferno (which I've made a note to read at some point before school takes up again). Yesterday night after the thundershowers, there was visible steam rising from the ground. Disgusting, pathetic fallacy is. Therefore, to make myself feel slightly more content, I've compiled a list of my accomplishments since returning from Alberta.
written seven posts here, two posts there and still trying to make it a habit
swam about 15km... where are my abs?!
bought new boat shoes, and went a little accessory-overboard on a weekend shopping excursion. At least I'm coming to terms with my bulging closet.
viewed eight films: the latest Jane Eyre, Source Code and Moon by that Jones guy, plus additional Mansell masterpieces to be found in The Fountain, Affleck's The Town, Duplicity, The Prince And Me (starring Julia Stiles), and Mirror Mirror.
read philosophy (There are Two Errors in the the Title of this Book, Outliers), gothic lit (Northanger Abbey, The Picture of Dorian Gray), and a fair share of trashy summer novels.
biked over 150km; across town and back, and then again
spent a day in downtown Toronto, running errands.
ran 20km, which I realize is embarrassing.
downloaded 21 new tracks, but mostly reacquainting with old ones
In two weeks, The Drop will be 365 days old. This domain will have four years on the interwebs, and I will have aged a decade since I wrote my first princess story.
We used to be cute.
Forgetting Anna started out as an equal balance of emotional hockey, poetry, and teenage rebellion. In 2010, it was rebuilt, and I finally settled into reviewing music that year. However, it was still meant to be about 25% hockey and poetry combined. Since we abolished our cable service, I've kind of fallen out with the former. Then I lost my sex poetic drive.
Nonetheless, I now feel the need to entertain you with my incessant rambling of my recent engagements. Partly because I've been so focused on music, music, music lately, and partly because I haven't done one of these since last year.
Wednesday morning was pancakes. Pancakes and the self-dissapointment of being unable to finish watching Disney's Aladdin in the early hours of morning. Although a poolside afternoon before going to Chapters, a vocal lesson, and a 9:30PM showing of Friends With Benefits the previous night could be to blame. (I cannot stress how hilarious Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are in this film. I saw it twice for the brilliant screenwriting and soundtrack music.)
I worked from 8-5 on Thursday, because they called me in. And because I had nothing better to do. Then I wasted the rest of my evening and also managed to put my bus pass through the wash. No, of course it didn't survive.
Friday. Another full day of work, during which I made fruit sticks (again) and cookies. I don't believe that I've yet mentioned this job at Sobeys: well, I got a job at Sobeys. Then, I spent the evening cleaning up cat vomit.
Saturday with an early start! I woke up at 6AM to wrap a birthday gift, fed the neighbours' cats one last time, and headed off to work. I was unfortunate enough to come across a really picky couple the first time icing "Happy Birthday" onto a cake.
After that, it haunted me for an hour. I just couldn't stop thinking about the godforsaken cake. While I hadn't destroyed it (certainly a passable degree of neatness for any ordinary person), I knew that someone else (namely the cake decorator who was on lunch) could've done better.
As soon as my shift ended, I hopped on a 4PM bus to the birthday party. An afternoon outside at the splash pad and having water balloon fights on a trampoline made me forget all about the day's earlier woes. Dinner at Turtlejack's, followed by way too much ice cream cake and other junk. Washed down with a Japanese animated film, and I'm fast asleep.
It rained on Sunday morning, leaving my inner Earth spirit a tad disoriented. It birthed me at 6AM, left my body for a few dark hours, and birthed me again at 10AM in the breaking light. I find out that I'm really quite terrible at both drums and guitar on Rock Band.
I go home after brunch, make these citrus shortbread cookies, and prepare myself for another party. A work party Daddy's hosted. One where every coworker brings their family, and where we realize that we don't have enough chairs outside. And one where Mommy gets so fed up with the screaming little boys that she yells for them to "shut up". They shut up.
The cookies were a hit; the double-and-a-half batch devoured.
I replaced the lime peel and juice with lemon.
Feeling nostalgic, today began with a speedread of the second half of HP7. Following one of those Kirkland cookies that someone brought to the party and that made me feel guilty, I biked to Sobeys to retrieve my uniform and check my schedule again. Yep, full day tomorrow as well. Then I pedaled onward to the library, where I dropped off an overdue Gone Baby Gone (2007, Ben Affleck).
The place hadn't opened yet, so I decided to go to that warehouse store. The Recordings store on Kerr Street isn't ever open (on Mondays, especially), and Grigorian only sells classical/jazz CDs. They wouldn't have had Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor. And they definitely wouldn't have had Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor for 50 cents, brand new. Which is what the cashier charged me for it. Which must've been an error, I protested, indicating the $5 sticker on the plastic wrap. She shrugged and asked me if I wanted a bag for it and my other purchase, Atonement (2007, Jon Wright, $3).
Then I went back to the library, picked up some reading, and bought one of those non-longer-in-circulation-and-I-probably-smell-funny books. "Leave the Office Earlier", it's called; a productivity/self-help type book, because I still don't believe that I'm efficient enough. And I love dissecting self-help material with a laconic sarcasm evident in some of my writing.
It was still fairly early and the sunshine gave the feeling of euphoria, so I took to downtown Oakville. After a swim shop, trying on an ill-patterned capris-length romper, browsing kitchenware, a card store, and Ten Thousand Villages, I walked in a couple of consignment shops.
The first one had a light, spring green dress outside that enticed me. (Later, it wouldn't fit very well.) Inside, there was a real snakeskin skirt and a magnificent Valentino dress. To be honest, I'd be very uncomfortable with python exterior rubbing against my legs. No luck at that store. The second shop was more promising, and I ended up buying a maxi dress very similar to the one pictured to the left.
Ta da; that's a week in my life. Be glad I don't frequently do this.
Release date: February 1st, 2011 Genre: dream pop, alternative rock, indie
This four-piece band from Montreal has the been the latest rage in the indie world. And for good reason- the soaring vocal harmonies are pleasant and the production is sound. LIYL The Ghost Is Dancing, Savoir Adore, West Indian Girl.
Meanwhile, "Never Let Me Go" is now out on home media.
Having just watched the movie, I must say that it was amongst the more provocative book-to-films I've seen. I read the book a couple of months ago; Kazuo Ishiguro did a magnificent job on it, and I think the director captured the concept very well exploring time, destiny, and the moral issues of cloning. Not to mention the starring actors: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, and Keira Knightley. It will definitely be remembered.
Directed by: Mark Romanek Filmed: April 2009, England Release date: September 15th, 2010 (limited)
This morning, some radio station was placing bets on which of our beloved Hollywood stars would be the first to be arrested for drugs in the new year. I think Lindsay Lohan had odds of 3:1, Snoop Dogg 4:1, and Eminem 25:1.
I've heard an interesting predicament in the halls recently that 'exam week is fast approaching', and every other day is a different season outside. Yesterday's snow lasted for only 24 hours, while temperatures are at a record high in the city. The best form of study is sleep- which I need more of- but instead, I'll publish a grab-bag post today.
Filmed: New York City and Los Angeles, 2010 Directed by: Will Gluck Release date: July 22nd, 2011
It's not so much that I want to see the movie for the movie, but that I feel mindblown that my NaNoWriMo plot developed into a similar story. Mila Kunis won me over after playing Lily in "Black Swan" and hey, we've already been through the JT deal. "Friends With Benefits" should be entertaining enough, especially as a summer blockbuster.
The cover art for Ponchototal (2010).
A tight, suspenseful tune from Latino indie pop trio PONCHO. I'm happy I checked this out only because I'm a moderate fan of !!!. "D.I.S.C.O." has that timeless sound; it's not ideal for dancing or relaxing, but it's still catchy and glorious at the same time. For all you cowbell lovers, there's a wonderful sequence in the bridge. You can't lose when it's free, either.
PS: The World Juniors finale is tonight, alongside the Peoples' Choice Awards (thanks, C). Neither of which I'll watch, probably.
1.How To Destroy Angels EP by How To Destroy Angels
For fans who thought it was over, psyche! In ways, I prefer this new project to Nine Inch Nails (oh, yes I did). The dark, dreamy background is perfect for Mariqueen Maandig's voice. (I posted about the lead single, "The Space In Between".)
2.Kanye West's Saturday Night Live performance. He reinforced his artistry with a well-developed contrast in the colours, the choreography, and the concept.
3.Teen Dream by Beach House
Sounds weird, but it was actually the following concert photograph that made me check these guys out. I believe they were supporting Vampire Weekend at the time. The resulting contribution was some necessary dream pop to my library; a genre I've previously had .
HMArcade Fire's interactive music video for "We Used To Wait". The creative use of Google Earth and extensive replaying warmed me to the song, which to be honest, I wouldn't have listened to previously.
1. "Like a G6" by Far East Movement Feat. Cataracs and Dev
Although I did previously mention this track (not once, but twice), I expected it to last longer. Instead, "Like a G6" popped and fizzled; most people got sick of it as a dance tune. It certainly generated enough searches for "what is a g6".
The song reference when "what" is typed into the search bar.
2. While we have the image above, Google Instant. I'm sure it'll be improved over time, but thus far, Instant Search has benefited me minimally. I'm not bothered enough to turn it off, but the reloading is a hassle when I'm doing a search engine run (frequent, in my case).
The Facebook changes were nothing compared to this, however I'm not an avid Facebook user to begin with.
3. "The Social Network" was reportedly one of the best movies of the year. When it was being previewed, my friends and family wanted to see it but I said no: No, it did not look like an engaging film; no, it did not look like it would meet people's expectations. I only recently watched it for Justin Timberlake, who I'll admit I'm a big fan of. (Don't ask how that came about.)
Andrew Garfield; whom I can't wait to see in "Never Let Me Go".
Well, I watched it, and I still didn't like it. The cast was alright, but the humour was dry and the onscreen Zuckerberg was a trainwreck. I thought the characters lacked substance.
HMRecovery. I'm never impressed with Eminem, but in his defence, the musical choices him and his team made on Recovery are surprisingly better than they've been in the past. Unfairly in this list, I'd call it a fairly good overrated album.
This happened a couple days ago in Nashville, TN. The Houses of Hope Foundation works on providing a home for orphaned children in Zimbabwe and South Africa. I kind of love this girl. She is the only generic pop singer I can routinely listen to.
By the way: Black Swan is now in theatres everywhere! No, it's not the ideal holiday movie, but go watch it anyways. I promise you won't regret forget it.
Filmed: New York City, late 2009 Directed by: Darren Aronofsky Release date: December 3rd, 2010
The unbeatable duo of composer Clint Mansell and director are back. Their latest masterpiece, a psychological thriller takes place in a metropolitan ballet company. "Black Swan" explores the murky depths of ego and obsession, nothing short of what we've previously seen from Aronofsky. It was premiered at the 2010 Venice Film Festival.
Casted in the story are the aforementioned Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis (who also has a role in the upcoming Friends With Benefits), frenchman Vincent Cassel, and Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice; although in my memory, she plays the charismatic Susanna in Girl, Interrupted). Ballet classes were taken and meticulous practise led up to the filming. Visit the official site.
Yesterday afternoon, director/artist Tim Burton made an appearance at the Bell Lightbox in Toronto to open a 16-week exhibit celebrating all of his wacky, dark, whimsical work thus far. Some of his greatest films include "Sweeney Todd: The Demon on Barber Street", "Edward Scissorhands", and the recent "Alice In Wonderland".
Burton: "I never really went to a museum. A wax museum, maybe. I felt like it was an out-of-body experience. Like, there's your dirty socks hanging on the wall. There's something strange about it.
"I'm not dead yet. Hopefully there's still more to come."
This opening weekend, the city will have the opportunity to experience a 36-hour film marathon- The Burton Blitz. The exhibit itself at the Museum of Modern Art will run from November 26th, 2010 to April 17th, 2011. (info and tickets)
Release date: November 16th, 2010 Genre: hip hop, rap
Nelly made a notable return to the scene in 2008 with Brass Knuckles. Released last Monday, this is expected to be his second breakthrough in the industry since "Hot In Herre". Having peaked at #5 on the Canadian charts last week, "Just A Dream" is living up to the proposal. The American rapper is prolific when it comes to collaborations; 5.0 features T.I., Chris Brown, and Keri Hilson, amongst others.
Ever since David Yates began directing the movies ("Order of the Phoenix"-onward), I haven't been impressed at all. Part one of the finale received mixed reviews and I don't plan on seeing it until late next week. What relieves me is that castle scenes will be few or none. For the last five years, a "safe haven" has been depicted with inappropriate and unnecessary gloom. (official site)
Release date: November 22nd, 2010 Genre: hip hop, rap
A much anticipated My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy will focus on creativity and self-expression. From the half-hour music video/short film to the appearances by Bon Iver, this will definitely be Kanye's best release yet.
So what if he embarrassed some random country girl at an awards show? His open-mindedness can be observed through his previous work with contrasting artists from Fall Out Boy to Madonna. I must confess that- to me, MBDTF is more exciting than the Harry Potter premiere.
(After all, I'm a music junkie, not a Hogwarts wannabe.)
Filmed: January/February 2010 Directed by: Michael Goldbach
Premiered this fall at the Toronto International Film Festival, "Daydream Nation" is a movie I would definitely like to see when it hits theatres. It's Canadian, stars Kat Dennings as Caroline Wexler, and is yet another installation to the mass of recent feminist films.
The movie is set in a small, quiet town where people seem to be "permanently stoned". As the new girl, Caroline engages in an affair with her teacher (Josh Lucas, who looks way too young to be an English teacher) who is a writer. She also starts a relationship with one of those druggie losers, but realizes that Mr. Anderson may not be so different. (Not that he's on drugs, we're talking about the "loser" part.) Oh, and there's a serial killer roaming around attacking her classmates. (I like the way your mind works, Michael.)
Over 150 bands at over 15 venues; click for website.
If the world were a sphere, I would've gone to Yonge and Dundas last night to see Crash Parallel. If the world were a sphere, I'd be downtown tonight to see Tim Chaisson and Morning Fold. However, the world is a spheroid (put simply, "slightly squished").
I had previously heard of Indie Week, but didn't know much about it until this Friday when @timchaisson tweeted about it. It is held in both Canada and Ireland; one talented band will be chosen to preform at the other city as well. The better half of the festival is over and final judging takes place tomorrow, but I'll be looking into this event next year.
Man, Hot Panda really has me taking indie seriously now.
As for how I did spend the first half of this weekend, a couple of friends and I went to see "Easy A". Thoughts I have for this movie are mostly positive. The main character is witty, charismatic, and relateable (for me, at the least). It's only as unrealistic as every high school drama, still managing to follow and deviate from the girl-boy-love-musical recipe.
I was watching "Nightmare on Elm Street" last night and absolutely freaked out when Jesse Braun (Thomas Dekker) was wearing a Joy Division shirt... I don't even know. I also did some reading Saturday night (while at a different house party) in the form of The Hollow Tree by Janet Lunn, only because I'd read Shadow in Hawthorn Bay. All of her novles are irritatingly unrealistic historic novels. Yeah, I'm cool.
Anyhow, some releases for y'all Canadians to pick up after Thanksgiving:
Not-quite-white-trash Far East Movement's Free Wired
Norwegian black metal band Dimmu Borgir's Abrahadabra
All That Remains's For We Are Many; good old metalcore
I should talk less at you, but my days are dull; Oakville’s an uneventful town. Then again, I rarely spend time there, save for school.
Thursday afternoon, a bunch of us drove to Toronto. When I say “a bunch of us”, I don’t mean “the girls”- I mean “the dad, the sister, the cousin, and the aunt”. (It seems my cousin’s getting old or something, because he left yesterday for university.) We dropped by Service Ontario at 777 Bay St. to apply for a Health Card, and then headed toward the Eaton Centre.
I met a rapper on the way, by the name of Greedy Pockets. I’m pretty supportive of local acts, and love when artists hit the streets to promote, so I ended up with a snazzy paper sleeve and self-issued disc for $5. It became one of the only purchases of the day, alongside a printer, and two drinks at Starbucks. (By the way, don’t try to give Starbucks employees $100 bills for $6 purchases.) Oh, and the rapper? He’s just pretty amazing.
Friday was a birthday party. This time with “the girls”. A short trip to Mapleview Mall, during which we had the new DQ mini-size Blizzard- which although is good on the first bite, is way too sweet to finish. Forever 21 was deemed to be of dismal quality, and hand sanitizer was purchased at a sickly smelling Bath & Body Works. I’m rather skeptic about mall stores. We dropped by PharmaPlus on the way back, picking up an issue of Cosmopolitan some nail polish. I now have blue and green to go with my black, white, red, and my horrendous array of pinks and purples. After a couple rounds of “Identity Crisis” (what a great card game), “Step Up” and “Step Up 2” were the movies for the night/next morning.
Saturday. Slept for about 6 hours, until noon. Then we walked to Burlington Mall, bought shoes, school supplies, and visited the pet shop. Watched “The Matrix” upon return, and then bid goodbye to the cleaned mess of the previous night. As if three movies in a day weren’t enough, I went to the theatre that night to see a fourth, this time with the cousin. “Inception” was mindblowing, apart from the forever nagging thought: “Poor girl, she’s just like, randomly there with a bunch of 30+ guys”.
Finalement, dimanche. Did absolutely nothing, while the cousin left for his new rent place. I watched the movie that I wanted to see, but missed while I was in China: Salt; you gotta love Angelina Jolie.
Listening to: “I Like It” by Enrique Inglesias. I need to go get some good reading…
