no, no, no (remix) - destiny's child feat. wyclef jean
fell asleep hungry, woke up hungry... what's new? whatever. sometimes i just really hate money. especially when i don't have a lot of it and when i have to pay off debts for it...
angel - amanda perez
OK. i have a new crush. riley smith. really hot. i thought i'd seen him somewhere! he was kyle singer in 24!!!! see, i was watching this movie, spring break, shark attack (i know. pathetic. i just woke up ok?) and i saw him and he was hot... so, thought i'd imdb him. he's so summery... like he belongs in california or something... i love his look. so cute, hot, sexy. he's fine... apparently he's from iowa... hmm... makes you wonder...
tru love - faith evans
can't stop thinking about one other person though... wow. so favorite number ko sya ganon? whatever. but can't help it. he's so charming and sweet and funny and smart and cute and hot and entertaining (wink!) and a gentleman and mysterious...
slow jamz - twista feat. jamie foxx
haha! one thing. i woke up 6pm sat i thought my alarm didn't go off and i was late for work. umm, workaholic much? yah i think so... it's so funny! i'm just exhausted i think.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Sunday, March 12, 2006
dare to walk the line
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS REVIEW!
Review by: Mark Englehart
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon
8 out of 10 stars: "The only time you're allowed to talk to me is onstage," Reese Witherspoon says to Joaquin Phoenix near the end of Walk the Line, and they're words well spoken, for when either of these two stars are performing, separate or together, this movie comes electrifyingly to life. As Johnny Cash, legendary man in black, and June Carter Cash, his lifetime love, Phoenix and Witherspoon do most of their romancing, flirting, courting and fighting while they're singing in front of an audience, as opposed to when they're alone together. Offstage, they're halting and shy, or obstinate and angry, all surface emotions that barely scratch the surface of their dialogue; onstage, however, they buzz with an energy that's giddy and intoxicating, communicating a wealth of emotions and enacting what can only be called a modern day mating dance. Hovering closer to each other over a microphone than they ever do in real life, they come so tantalizingly close as they sing, mouths almost next to each other, that to kiss would seem almost anticlimactic - not to mention that it would take away from the incredible music they're making. And when they sing, Walk the Line pulses with a life you can rarely find anywhere these days in a movie world where the artificial passes for reality.
As for the rest of the movie, well, despite those great performances and a studious, earnest attention to detail, Walk the Line is an aggressively standard biopic, in both its form and execution. The structure is no different from any other celeb story you've seen, as it's told in flashback, hits all the high (and low) points at the appropriate times, and by the end puts its flawed yet iconic hero on the right track to fame and fortune and immortality. To say such rote things about this movie, though, is to neglect the sizzle that Phoenix and Witherspoon give it, and their performances alone are enough to make it great and worthy of notice - much as Jamie Foxx did for Ray last year. This time out, however, the two stars (unlike Foxx) do their own singing, and their performances, both musical and non-musical, lift Walk the Line from its rather standard conception. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it tells the story of one of the great 20th century romances, that the music is phenomenal, and that it's all handsomely, lovingly mounted with just the right amount of reverence. Were that it was as bold as its hero and heroine, though -- that movie would knock your socks off.
There's a reason middling directors are attracted to biopics - they're an easy format to work within, and allow just the right amount of creativity and expression before bumping up against a border that keeps it all within its shape; it's the cinematic equivalent of coloring within the lines. When great directors try it, like Martin Scorsese with The Aviator, the result is artsy mess that doesn't get to either the heart of its main character or its director; when adventurous directors try it, like Julie Taymor with Frida, the result is something unabashedly fun and daring, but you leave feeling more a kinship with the art than the artist. (Of course, when bad directors go at it, you get a campy mess like De-Lovely or Beyond the Sea.) But when, well, okay directors try it, what you get is something rather safe, at times dull, and only fitfully illuminating about the characters it portrays. Taylor Hackford achieved similar results with Ray, which was certainly entertaining if manipulative, and gave sparkles and shimmers to a story that could have been told as easily within a VH-1 documentary. Similarly, James Mangold does the same with Walk the Line, drawing the outlines of Cash's life with big, broad strokes that never threaten to go off the page, and connecting the salient points of the singer's life like so many dots.
With Cash's seminal concert at Folsom State Prison as its choice of framing device, Walk the Line immediately flashes back to its protagonist's poor childhood picking cotton alongside his cold father (Robert Patrick), loving mother (Shelby Lynne), and adored brother, Jack (Lucas Till). From there it's a short jump to Jack's tragic death in a tablesaw accident, then a grown-up Johnny's enlistment in the army, his marriage to the young Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), and his budding attempts at singing and songwriting. Along the way there are little roadside distractions - there's Johnny crafting the lyrics to "Folsom Prison Blues," there's a young singer named Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) recording at Sun Records, there's little Rosanne Cash as a squalling baby - but only a little to flesh out Cash's story. Mangold does dole out tantalizing glimpses, especially Phoenix trying out Cash's trademark growl in his first few songs, but the movie doesn't truly light up until Phoenix gets in front of a microphone, and then it blasts into something resembling pure Technicolor. And when a little spitfire named June Carter comes along, well… it's fireworks all around.
Shucking off the trappings around them - namely Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), Roy Orbison (Johnathan Rice), and the aforementioned Presley - Phoenix and Witherspoon hone in on each other with the precision of sharpshooters and dig into both their own characters and each other's. A standard meet-and-greet at an all-night diner is sweet and touching with the right hints of awkwardness and desire, but when he coerces her into singing onstage, then all bets are off and the two actors - and characters - come together with a blissful kind of alchemy rarely seen. It's hard to put words to it, but their give and take is so nuanced, so seductive, so perfect, that you can't help but be caught up in it. And once they've performed together, their interaction infuses the rest of Phoenix and Witherspoon's musical performances, as it seems (as it did in real life) that Johnny and June are singing solely for each other, to express their love and tell their stories.
This chemistry takes the film through both its highlight, a tour in Vegas that culminates in a one-night stand, and its lowlight, Cash's drug addiction and withdrawal. The drug sequences are a bit of a long haul, as this kind of thing has been done much better in other movies, but it is enlivened by nice grace notes; June, protesting to her mother that she doesn't want to get further into Cash's problems, is kindly rebuffed that "Honey, you're already in it." Once Cash is cleaned up and in fighting shape again, the movie speeds towards the Folsom Prison show, an electric performance that's one of the best concert scenes in recent memory, and then to the night of February 22, 1968, when Johnny proposes to June onstage and she finally says yes.
It's in that final scene that the movie earns - and cashes in -- all the emotion and good will it's pent up for its two-hour plus running time, and Phoenix and Witherspoon finally consummate their onstage romance with a passionate kiss. Both actors come together effortlessly, and it's the kind of cathartic, ecstatic embrace that's the stuff of great acting. And despite their opposite approaches to the material, Phoenix and Witherspoon work together with a perfect kind of grace. His Johnny is firmly grounded in a growly kind of Method acting, all angst and grimaces and begging and pleading, with emotions all over the place, while her June is all showbiz sweetness, a smooth surface that belies a wealth of stubbornness and bravery and grit. During most of the movie you certainly get a feeling for their passion, but not the great obsession that spawned the desire of "Ring of Fire." But in their final scenes, however, all the tortured emotions that have ensnared Johnny and June come bubbling to the surface and spill over. And despite Walk the Line's many flaws, it's well worth the wait.
I CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH THIS MOVIE NOW!
Review by: Mark Englehart
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon
8 out of 10 stars: "The only time you're allowed to talk to me is onstage," Reese Witherspoon says to Joaquin Phoenix near the end of Walk the Line, and they're words well spoken, for when either of these two stars are performing, separate or together, this movie comes electrifyingly to life. As Johnny Cash, legendary man in black, and June Carter Cash, his lifetime love, Phoenix and Witherspoon do most of their romancing, flirting, courting and fighting while they're singing in front of an audience, as opposed to when they're alone together. Offstage, they're halting and shy, or obstinate and angry, all surface emotions that barely scratch the surface of their dialogue; onstage, however, they buzz with an energy that's giddy and intoxicating, communicating a wealth of emotions and enacting what can only be called a modern day mating dance. Hovering closer to each other over a microphone than they ever do in real life, they come so tantalizingly close as they sing, mouths almost next to each other, that to kiss would seem almost anticlimactic - not to mention that it would take away from the incredible music they're making. And when they sing, Walk the Line pulses with a life you can rarely find anywhere these days in a movie world where the artificial passes for reality.
As for the rest of the movie, well, despite those great performances and a studious, earnest attention to detail, Walk the Line is an aggressively standard biopic, in both its form and execution. The structure is no different from any other celeb story you've seen, as it's told in flashback, hits all the high (and low) points at the appropriate times, and by the end puts its flawed yet iconic hero on the right track to fame and fortune and immortality. To say such rote things about this movie, though, is to neglect the sizzle that Phoenix and Witherspoon give it, and their performances alone are enough to make it great and worthy of notice - much as Jamie Foxx did for Ray last year. This time out, however, the two stars (unlike Foxx) do their own singing, and their performances, both musical and non-musical, lift Walk the Line from its rather standard conception. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it tells the story of one of the great 20th century romances, that the music is phenomenal, and that it's all handsomely, lovingly mounted with just the right amount of reverence. Were that it was as bold as its hero and heroine, though -- that movie would knock your socks off.
There's a reason middling directors are attracted to biopics - they're an easy format to work within, and allow just the right amount of creativity and expression before bumping up against a border that keeps it all within its shape; it's the cinematic equivalent of coloring within the lines. When great directors try it, like Martin Scorsese with The Aviator, the result is artsy mess that doesn't get to either the heart of its main character or its director; when adventurous directors try it, like Julie Taymor with Frida, the result is something unabashedly fun and daring, but you leave feeling more a kinship with the art than the artist. (Of course, when bad directors go at it, you get a campy mess like De-Lovely or Beyond the Sea.) But when, well, okay directors try it, what you get is something rather safe, at times dull, and only fitfully illuminating about the characters it portrays. Taylor Hackford achieved similar results with Ray, which was certainly entertaining if manipulative, and gave sparkles and shimmers to a story that could have been told as easily within a VH-1 documentary. Similarly, James Mangold does the same with Walk the Line, drawing the outlines of Cash's life with big, broad strokes that never threaten to go off the page, and connecting the salient points of the singer's life like so many dots.
With Cash's seminal concert at Folsom State Prison as its choice of framing device, Walk the Line immediately flashes back to its protagonist's poor childhood picking cotton alongside his cold father (Robert Patrick), loving mother (Shelby Lynne), and adored brother, Jack (Lucas Till). From there it's a short jump to Jack's tragic death in a tablesaw accident, then a grown-up Johnny's enlistment in the army, his marriage to the young Vivian (Ginnifer Goodwin), and his budding attempts at singing and songwriting. Along the way there are little roadside distractions - there's Johnny crafting the lyrics to "Folsom Prison Blues," there's a young singer named Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) recording at Sun Records, there's little Rosanne Cash as a squalling baby - but only a little to flesh out Cash's story. Mangold does dole out tantalizing glimpses, especially Phoenix trying out Cash's trademark growl in his first few songs, but the movie doesn't truly light up until Phoenix gets in front of a microphone, and then it blasts into something resembling pure Technicolor. And when a little spitfire named June Carter comes along, well… it's fireworks all around.
Shucking off the trappings around them - namely Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Payne), Roy Orbison (Johnathan Rice), and the aforementioned Presley - Phoenix and Witherspoon hone in on each other with the precision of sharpshooters and dig into both their own characters and each other's. A standard meet-and-greet at an all-night diner is sweet and touching with the right hints of awkwardness and desire, but when he coerces her into singing onstage, then all bets are off and the two actors - and characters - come together with a blissful kind of alchemy rarely seen. It's hard to put words to it, but their give and take is so nuanced, so seductive, so perfect, that you can't help but be caught up in it. And once they've performed together, their interaction infuses the rest of Phoenix and Witherspoon's musical performances, as it seems (as it did in real life) that Johnny and June are singing solely for each other, to express their love and tell their stories.
This chemistry takes the film through both its highlight, a tour in Vegas that culminates in a one-night stand, and its lowlight, Cash's drug addiction and withdrawal. The drug sequences are a bit of a long haul, as this kind of thing has been done much better in other movies, but it is enlivened by nice grace notes; June, protesting to her mother that she doesn't want to get further into Cash's problems, is kindly rebuffed that "Honey, you're already in it." Once Cash is cleaned up and in fighting shape again, the movie speeds towards the Folsom Prison show, an electric performance that's one of the best concert scenes in recent memory, and then to the night of February 22, 1968, when Johnny proposes to June onstage and she finally says yes.
It's in that final scene that the movie earns - and cashes in -- all the emotion and good will it's pent up for its two-hour plus running time, and Phoenix and Witherspoon finally consummate their onstage romance with a passionate kiss. Both actors come together effortlessly, and it's the kind of cathartic, ecstatic embrace that's the stuff of great acting. And despite their opposite approaches to the material, Phoenix and Witherspoon work together with a perfect kind of grace. His Johnny is firmly grounded in a growly kind of Method acting, all angst and grimaces and begging and pleading, with emotions all over the place, while her June is all showbiz sweetness, a smooth surface that belies a wealth of stubbornness and bravery and grit. During most of the movie you certainly get a feeling for their passion, but not the great obsession that spawned the desire of "Ring of Fire." But in their final scenes, however, all the tortured emotions that have ensnared Johnny and June come bubbling to the surface and spill over. And despite Walk the Line's many flaws, it's well worth the wait.
I CANNOT WAIT TO WATCH THIS MOVIE NOW!
impending doom and missing it
totally missed the oscars! and i had my heart set on watching jon stewart host it and seeing everyone i've loved from the beginning of their careers: heath ledger (i've watched him after i saw 10 things), reese witherspoon (such a cute, cute girl!), joaquin phoenix (crush forever!), michelle williams (dawson's creek was one of my fave shows before)... i was really disappointed that neither joaquin nor heath won, but i'm real glad they got in there at least. watching the backstage interviews right now and reese just said "just keep working hard"... hardwork really DOES pay off!Ü
i just wish i had seen walk the line when it came out. i really wanted to, i just didn't have the time. and now i have to buy the dvd somewhere... i so love joaquin! when i first saw the trailer, i just loved him in it and now i'm more intrigued with reese's performance because she won for it! can't wait!
OK... a while ago, my TC, bianca, mavic and anthony and i went out for drinks and eating and just hanging out and i just really enjoyed it a lot! kinda disappointed that some of the people we invited didn't show up, but whatever.
to live and die in L.A. - tupac
impending doom would be someone's wedding next sat... whatever. ayoko na!
basta... work my butt off and reap the rewards... can't wait to do some major shoppingÜ
i just wish i had seen walk the line when it came out. i really wanted to, i just didn't have the time. and now i have to buy the dvd somewhere... i so love joaquin! when i first saw the trailer, i just loved him in it and now i'm more intrigued with reese's performance because she won for it! can't wait!
OK... a while ago, my TC, bianca, mavic and anthony and i went out for drinks and eating and just hanging out and i just really enjoyed it a lot! kinda disappointed that some of the people we invited didn't show up, but whatever.
to live and die in L.A. - tupac
impending doom would be someone's wedding next sat... whatever. ayoko na!
basta... work my butt off and reap the rewards... can't wait to do some major shoppingÜ
Sunday, March 5, 2006
tupac
runnin' (dying to live)
oh my gosh. one of the best documentaries i've seen since bowling for columbine and fahrenheit 9/11... this is so freakin' amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was a bit confused and not-too-informed about the whole east-coast, west-coast, tupac-vs.-biggie thing so this film really cleared things up for me.
i got to see a side of someone he doesn't show to a lot of people, i think. this was so beautifully done. kudos to lauren lazin! amazing job:)
i just checked it on imdb.com and turns out eminem had ahand in producing some of the songs for the soundtrack... it kicks ass, em! the thing is, i LOVE hiphop and rap and r&b and all that, but in the height of tupac's fame, i was kinda "scared" to listen to his music, and i guess i was still too young to understand it all... but now, when i watched the movie and then heard the songs they used, i LOVED THEM ALL!!!! my fave right now is the same song i'm playing : runnin'. it just kills!
i loved it so much because 1. i was re-exposed to this type of music again, and this time i appreciate it 100% 2. i finally found out the "truth" about what exactly happened with tupac and biggie and the whole shooting thing... i still love the part when their moms hugged at the VMAs. that was really special.
tupac was a phenom. i mean, he can actually back that mouth up! he can say stuff and he makes sense! granted that not everyone listens, but he is heard. 33.5 million records sold is no joke. i love that he was man enought to admit that jail changes you... for the worse. he said he was drained and uninspired and that he wasn't able to write anything. tupac was pretty deep. if you actually TAKE TIME to LISTEN to his songs ans understand and analyze, you realize that what he's talking about doesn't stray too far from what martin luther king, jr said or what the black panthers were fighting for. i now know what he stood for, what he was saying and who he was talking to. thank God for this movie. you're missing half of your life if you still haven't seen this.
missing you - tyler hilton
and now to the landmark ONE TREE HILL episode. it.rocked.period. naley was just perfection. the whole always and forever thing just made me choke up! and the protective naley was something and the handholding! i love this show! apart from the naleys and leytons, this show matters because it tackles a sensitive subject and was done in really good taste.
this quote just kills me:
This cruelty, this hatred, how did it find us?
Did it steal into our lives, or did we seek it out and embrace it?
What happened to us?
That we now send our children into the world like we send young men to war...
Hoping for their safe return...But knowing that some will be lost along the way.
When did we lose our way?
Consumed by the shadows, swallowed whole by the darkness.
Does this darkness have a name?
Is it your name?
oh! the best! this entire episode was da bomb! it just rocked. and now, for my fave naley moments:
oh my gosh. one of the best documentaries i've seen since bowling for columbine and fahrenheit 9/11... this is so freakin' amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i was a bit confused and not-too-informed about the whole east-coast, west-coast, tupac-vs.-biggie thing so this film really cleared things up for me.
i got to see a side of someone he doesn't show to a lot of people, i think. this was so beautifully done. kudos to lauren lazin! amazing job:)
i just checked it on imdb.com and turns out eminem had ahand in producing some of the songs for the soundtrack... it kicks ass, em! the thing is, i LOVE hiphop and rap and r&b and all that, but in the height of tupac's fame, i was kinda "scared" to listen to his music, and i guess i was still too young to understand it all... but now, when i watched the movie and then heard the songs they used, i LOVED THEM ALL!!!! my fave right now is the same song i'm playing : runnin'. it just kills!
i loved it so much because 1. i was re-exposed to this type of music again, and this time i appreciate it 100% 2. i finally found out the "truth" about what exactly happened with tupac and biggie and the whole shooting thing... i still love the part when their moms hugged at the VMAs. that was really special.
tupac was a phenom. i mean, he can actually back that mouth up! he can say stuff and he makes sense! granted that not everyone listens, but he is heard. 33.5 million records sold is no joke. i love that he was man enought to admit that jail changes you... for the worse. he said he was drained and uninspired and that he wasn't able to write anything. tupac was pretty deep. if you actually TAKE TIME to LISTEN to his songs ans understand and analyze, you realize that what he's talking about doesn't stray too far from what martin luther king, jr said or what the black panthers were fighting for. i now know what he stood for, what he was saying and who he was talking to. thank God for this movie. you're missing half of your life if you still haven't seen this.
missing you - tyler hilton
and now to the landmark ONE TREE HILL episode. it.rocked.period. naley was just perfection. the whole always and forever thing just made me choke up! and the protective naley was something and the handholding! i love this show! apart from the naleys and leytons, this show matters because it tackles a sensitive subject and was done in really good taste.
this quote just kills me:
This cruelty, this hatred, how did it find us?
Did it steal into our lives, or did we seek it out and embrace it?
What happened to us?
That we now send our children into the world like we send young men to war...
Hoping for their safe return...But knowing that some will be lost along the way.
When did we lose our way?
Consumed by the shadows, swallowed whole by the darkness.
Does this darkness have a name?
Is it your name?
oh! the best! this entire episode was da bomb! it just rocked. and now, for my fave naley moments:
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