Thursday, March 31, 2011

Movie log 2011, First Quarter

I set out to see as many movies as possible in the theater during 2011 as my new year's resolution. I am going to post a quarterly rundown, including my immediate reactions. I am also going to include notable movies that I watched at home via Netflix instant watch, which tend to be documentaries!

Here goes...

In theater:
-True Grit. Loved it! Have to see the original now.

-The Fighter. Marky Mark and Christian Bale were both good but overall the film was too violent for me. Made me very nervous/anxious. Also the ending was stupid.

-Somewhere. Was excited to see this and it thoroughly bored me. An uninteresting and unfunny version of Lost in Translation. Another stupid ending.

-Tron Legacy in 3d. Creepy computerized Jeff Bridges aside, the movie was pretty cool.

-Barney's Version. Meh. A sad story about a not very likeable guy. Pretty forgettable. Kind of feel like I wasted my free movie ticket on this one.

-Red Riding Hood. I feel like this had the potential to be awesome but it was pretty much just like Twilight but with a little more artsy look and no vampires.

Via Netflix:
-Finding Sean. This was a random documentary I found on Netflix and loved. It centers on a 6 year old boy who grew up in the Haight district of San Francisco in the '60s. Really great footage from that time period.

-Exit Through the Gift Shop. This documentary was so great. I did not really know much about Banksy or street art or this film before I watched it which probably made me like it all the more.

-Alice Neel. I found this on Netflix after watching Exit Through the Gift Shop and was so glad I chose to watch it. Never had heard of this fantastic painter but now am a big fan! The film was made by her grandson which made it all the more personal.

-The Cats of Mirikitani. Another art documentary found from Netflix, this was a very touching and interesting story of a Japanese artist living in New York I had never heard of. His story was very interesting, and it has a happy ending.

-District 9. Finally watched this. My feelings are mixed. It was disarming, stressful, extremely engaging, interesting, sad and maybe too real. Liked it a lot but wouldn't want to watch it again, too draining.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I'm an aunt.

Last week I took some time off work to go visit my little sister, her husband, and their new baby! My little nephew Evan Matthew.

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He was kind of scared of me at first, or just a little confused why I looked so much like his mom but wasn't actually his mom and kept taking pictures of him!

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But he came around pretty quickly. I feel like he grew up noticeably just in the 4 days I was there! By the last day he was almost smiling! Little Evan is so super adorable and his big brothers are so excited to have another brother! I had a great time visiting with all of them and hope to get back soon.

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Enjoy this video of the little guy hiccupping which is the cutest/funniest ever.


The rest of my trip was filled with lots of friends, gin, dancing, delicious food and fun. I miss California but was so glad to get home to Portland.

<3

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Watch our film! To the Land of the Setting Sun!

Hey friends, here is the latest film that Matthew and I worked on!

This film won Best Film, Audience Choice, and Best Writing in the 48 Hour Go Green 48 film competition in Portland! The film is now going on to be screened in Las Vegas along with the other competing cities' winning films.

We are so proud of this film and hope you enjoy it also! We have a very talented and fun team and I am glad to be part of it.

Watch the film here! (Vimeo won't let me embed it!)

See the rest of the film race films by Monsieur Soeur on Vimeo.