RhymePhile's Rat Race

Ahh, Mondays. I just did a skip=320. Cuz that's how I roll, y'all.

Some minor things of note:

1. Battlestar Galactica on Friday. I love Aaron Douglas as Chief Galen Tyrol. However, seeing him face off against Edward James Olmos -- a notoriously Bring Your A Game Actor -- was icing on my luv cake. Did I mention I bought a Tyrol action figure autographed by him at Comic Con?

2. Children of Men was effin' depressing. I was looking for something sci-fi-ish to watch this weekend that didn't include whiny hipsters and shaky camera work (Cloverfield), or anything (I Am Legend) starring The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (because Big Willy, you will always be the Fresh Prince to me, I don't care what you say). I rented CoM for the sci-fi factor, but also for the Clive Owen factor (and I enjoy his work so much I even watched Bent). I get the whole end of the world, dystopian no-babies future, but GAH, depressing!

3. I cleaned out the large fish tank this weekend which previously held Big Guy, my huge freshwater shark that I had for almost 8 years. When I got him he was the size of my little finger, and eventually he outgrew two tanks and was over a foot long. He died Thursday. I didn't feel like posting about it then because yes, I cried over a fish, okay? I might have cried a lot, in fact. He barely fit in the Amazon box I used for his fishy coffin. *sigh* I'm still sniffly over it.

4. I'm taking my mother to go see Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Mom can fangirl with the best of them.

5. I'd like some of that Doctor Who Adipose stuff so I can lose like 30 pounds before May 31st. I wouldn't even mind those cute Tribble-like blobs of fat!

The winner of the free movie tickets to see Semi-Pro is: tye_dyed_daisy!!!

My girlfriend drew your name out of the hat. Congratulations!!

Please e-mail me at rhymephile (at) hotmail (dot) com with your address, and I will put them in the mail on Monday.

I'm giving away two free tickets to see Will Ferrell's new movie, Semi-Pro later today, so if you haven't thrown your name into the pool, you still have time!

Go to my original post over here and follow the directions. Easy! And you get two tickets.

Right now there are only three people in the raffle, so why not add your name?

In semi-related news, I hate the Oscars and they haven't even aired yet. Gah. SO MUCH STRESS IN WORK. Oh, and it's also SNOWING today. Double gah.

It's okay...chocolate can cure anything.

I haven't been able to keep up with LJ this week, so I hope everyone is doing okay. The main reason? The Oscars are on Sunday (I'll be here, in New York City, in work, covering them and updating the Big Dot Com's website as the winners are announced) and I've been super busy.

You wouldn't think it should be such a stressful time; last year went off without a hitch and ran smoothly. Maybe this year I'm a bit stressed because MY BOSS DECIDED NOW WAS A GOOD TIME TO GO ON VACATION. Gah!

Within the next week he's off there's the Oscars, a huge sale, and now I have the responsibility to look after all of DVD, on top of completing my own pages (which I haven't even started yet). And since he won't be here I can't take Monday off. I'm going to be up until 1 a.m.-ish...I wanted a comp day.

I did stop and buy myself some Entenmann's chocolate frosted donuts last night. I soothe stress with fattening products. Mmmmmmmm.

*deep sigh*

Oh, quick note about the season finale of Nip/Tuck, which I watched last night: It's like stawberry-flavored blow. It's so wrong, yet so tasty. Also? "I can't believe I have to say this, but stop sleeping with your sister!" BWAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!! Christian gets all the best lines, fo realz.

Anyway, I'm also reminding everyone who didn't hear about it to check out my Free Movie Ticket Giveaway Drawing that's occurring tomorrow. You get two free tickets to the new Will Ferrell comedy Semi-Pro. Details and such are available by clicking the link.

My girlfriend and I spent the entire weekend setting up my new TV. Friday I cleaned; Saturday she built the TV stand and component stands while I unhooked the old stuff; I needed to move my 27-inch TV from the bedroom into the living room while getting rid of the ancient 19-inch I had in there already; we had to move a giant bookcase, VCR cabinet and fish tank; she put the books back while I hooked up the new stuff; I was going crazy trying to hook up the receiver and speakers until she figured it out; Sunday we had to disassemble my old heavy wooden entertainment center; and this morning we both had to work even though it's a FEDERAL HOLIDAY. Sheeeeeeet.

Anyway.

To celebrate my beautiful new TV (which, by extension, means celebrating the fact that I have a job and the ability to even purchase said TV), I will be giving away two (2) free movie tickets to the upcoming Will Ferrell comedy Semi-Pro!!! YAY!!!

Now, the fine print:

1) You must go to http://www.hollywoodmoviemoney.com and plug in your ZIP code to see if there's a theatre near you that accepts the Hollywood Movie Money tickets. Not all do, so please visit the website first.

2) You must comment here for the tickets, and I will put names in a hat and draw on Friday, February 22. You don't have to be on my Flist, but you do need an LJ account (to make it fair). Oh, and in the comments, say something like "Please add my name to the drawing" or something like that so I know.

3) You must use the tickets before they expire on March 30.

4) Each ticket is good for up to a $10.50 movie ticket (which means even in NYC you're covered)

5) The movie comes out February 29, and although it's not yet rated, chances are it's going to be an R. Keep that in mind.

The 8-year-old in me is grinning, and the current-age-I-am is SQUEEING with both excitement and nostalgia. Oh, pleasepleaseplease don't suck. Please

Oh, Heath. I actually heard about it early this afternoon when the news first broke, but I didn't get around to posting about it.

As some of you may remember, back in December of 2005 I was able to attend one of the first screenings of Brokeback Mountain in Chelsea, before it went wide across the U.S. Many people on my Flist were excited about it, so I brought a notebook and pen with me to the movie to write down every little tidbit about the film.

I posted the review to my blog, and I know I met many new people because of the review.

I eventually updated the review with screencaps, which have since been removed just because the film is a couple of years old now. But at the time my review was one of the first that covered the entire film from beginning to end.

You can read the review here, which I present as a kind of memorial to Heath Ledger's amazing talent in the film.

This is a sad day for his fans and for Hollywood in general, considering we've lost two actors in as many weeks, the other being Brad Renfro. This shit has got to stop.

It's snowing/sleeting/raining at the moment. My bus ride home (80 miles) is going to be simply lovely.

Only in NYC: A guy walking his dog this morning let the dog pee on a Christmas tree that was for sale on the street! God, this (among other reasons) is why I hate people.

Only in NYC2: We have a Flavia coffee machine here in work. To use it, you take a packet of whatever you want (tea, coffee, hot chocolate), place it in the machine slot, and out comes the drink.

While I was heating my lunch, three executives, one after the other, came to get themselves coffee and were seemingly befuddled by the "Please Empty Bin" sign. The machine opens so you can toss out the used packets. There's even an instruction sheet, with pictures, tacked RIGHT ABOVE THE MACHINE. Each executive walked up with a cup, saw the blinking notice, pressed all the buttons on the machine blindly, and then walked away. Jebus Case. They all get paid God-knows-how-much, but they don't have the common sense to read instructions so they can have their coffee.

Wanna see what Heath Ledger looks like as The Joker in the new Batman movie?

Would you also like to see images from the new Indiana Jones movie?

I was watching the Supernatural episode from two weeks ago online, the one with the ghost ship (the title of which I can't be arsed to look up because it was so boring I shut it off), and thought I recognized the Yellow House shooting location from back in Millennium days.

Turns out I was wrong, and this Millennium fan site told me so.

While there, I happened upon info on the new X-Files movie. Apparently it's being called "Done One" (heh) for casting purposes. The Millennium fan site linked to some casting info...no actors yet, but characters are listed.

Find it here.

This movie starring Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson is filming on our block today outside my office in New York City. They shut down half of 16th Street so that all the huge trucks could park there. The cool thing is that the NYPD has to post these bright green notice signs to the poles in the area to let people know they can't park there, and on those signs they always list what production is working that day. That's the only reason why I know it's that film.

I don't particularly care for either actor, so it's not worth sneaking down there during lunch to see what they're doing, although I still get impressed that they're shooting a movie and all. Hell, I'm from New Jersey and I feel like a rube when I come into New York. Now, if SVU was going to be filming, I would have to play sick or something and stake out the block.

Speaking of, I watched Celebrity Poker Showdown -- or whatever the hell it's called that airs on Bravo -- that I taped just to see Chris Meloni. I have thus come to realize three things: 1) a goofy Chris Meloni is one that I love more than any other, especially in that porkpie hat; 2) I really, really think poker is boring, and I fast-forwarded through most of it; and 3) my hatred for Sarah Silverman has, if possible, increased ten-fold. She simply embarassed herself, and everyone seemed uncomfortable after she made those bizarre, unfunny jokes about rubbing herself on the poker table. I just...I dunno. My hatred for her burns like a thousand white-hot suns.

My friend Bill went to see a press screening of King Kong last night and gives a short report at his blog here, for those of you interested in seeing the movie, which opens tomorrow. Apparently people with bug fear should steer clear (hey, that Rhymes ;-) -- or keep their eyes shut for about an hour of the film.

I ordered a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H1 digital camera from Amazon yesterday (it's a birthday present to myself, late though it is) so that I may spread photographic joy to my Flist when it gets here. I didn't pay what is advertised at Sony's site, however, because Amazon is the bee's knees, yo. It should get here before Christmas, along with a 1-gig Memory Stick to plug into that sucker. I went to Best Buy just to see what was out there, and when I picked up this camera and saw the huge LCD display I fell in love. My near-blind eyes thank you, Sony!

Along with my new super-geek hobby of turning X-Files episodes on DVD into MP3s so I can listen to them on my iPod, I also went hunting across the web for other sound bytes people have made. Lamentably, many of the best sites have gone away, but I did find almost 300 wavs and MP3s that I have set to shuffle on my iPod. This means that I heard "Do you think I'm spooky?" before Allison Krauss and Union Station sang me a song, which was quite bizarre.

And on the fic front, I'm in the final stages of my M/K lyric wheel story. Huzzah! It took me forever because writing in a notebook is deceiving, as it makes a story look longer. When I typed up what I had it only came to two pages. Unacceptable! More angst was needed! Hopefully I'll have it completed by this week.

 

 

 

I was scanning through my LJ communities this morning as I usually do and came across someone (chromatophobia) sharing screencaps of the Brokeback Mountain LOGO special.



I decided to include the screencaps within my recap that I posted Friday, so now you can see the kissing scenes and other important moments, right within my review!

Go here to read the detailed recap, now with screencaps!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/rhymephile/23617.html

EDITED on December 12 to add screencaps of the LOGO special made by chromatophobia



Evening, kids.

Mission accomplished. I went to see Brokeback Mountain today at 2:45 p.m. It eventually sold out at the Clearview Chelsea, and every single show starting at 6 p.m. onward into the night was sold out as well.

The theatre only held 320 people, but it was a nice crowd of mostly gay couples with a sprinkling of women thrown in. The age difference was varied as well, but there were a lot of young guys.

This is the first time I've been to a film in Manahattan, and for the $10.50 ticket price (for a matinee, yet!) I could have brought two people to the movies at home. But overall it was a really great experience...no one talking, no noise, no cell phones.

Now, for the quick review...

Heath Ledger is absolutely amazing in this film. I've seen him in a few things, none of which I cared for, but in this movie he's fantastic. Playing a gruff, non-talkative cowboy (or jackaroo as they say in Oz, right, since he looks after sheep?) suits him. Jake Gyllenhaal makes a great cowboy too, because that boy is so pretty. His eyes say it all in every scene. It was very brave of them to make this film, but I think they made a great choice because it really gave them a chance to stretch their acting chops. And for the record: one sex scene, one cuddling scene, and two really great kissing scenes.

If you've read the short story, you won't be surprised at all. It follows it exactly, with one little deviation in the script which you can discover if you read my long review. The vistas are gorgeous; Ang Lee has a knack for getting beautiful cinematography. Alberta, Canada stands in for Wyoming. The film's theme is hauntingly beautiful, and the music that plays over the credits includes Willie Nelson and Rufus Wainwright, whose tour T-shirt I just happened to wear today. Coincidence? Since it's set in Wyoming, expect lots of old-time country music with slide guitar, which I happen to love.

Okay, the long review. But first, a WARNING...

I actually took notes throughout the film, so this is going to be a very, very detailed recap of the whole movie. I even wrote down notable quotes. Near the end of this review/recap, I've included spoiler space for those of you who don't want to know the ending. You can read everything that happens up to there, but realize if you click on this cut you're going to get an *extremely* detailed recap of the movie. Okay? You've been warned. It's about 7 pages in Microsoft Word, so you know that if you read this you'll learn everything you need to know about Brokeback Mountain.

Please feel free to share this recap to other communities, lists, journals, etc., just link back here or mention where you got it from, okay?

( Rhyme's detailed recap of Brokeback Mountain, now with screencaps )

I asked my boss for the okay, and right now my plans are to catch the 2:45 p.m. show of Brokeback Mountain tomorrow at the Chelsea Clearview on 23rd St. Of course, this is tentative, because if something comes up in work I won't be able to go, or if the show sells out I'm stuck. But I did all my work today like good girl! As soon as I get home Friday night my Flist will be the first people I'll report to.

I'm also still working on my M/K lyric wheel story. I happened to check the site yesterday and discovered that Marcia Elena is offline until the 15th, which sucks because that means I won't get to see what she did with the lyrics I sent her. And they were Keith Urban ones, too.

I hope everyone finds some interest in my story, because I know sometimes reading first-person stuff can be daunting. It's still coming along, slowly but surely, which also means I haven't made any revisions yet. I thought I'd post a little tidbit though, since I finally got around to typing the damn thing up, heh.

( Little tidbit from Rhyme's untitled M/K lyric wheel story )

I work in the heart of Chelsea, one of the major gay sections of New York City. It's a nice part of the City (and I've mentioned before the bonus of walking to get my lunch on a warm summer day and watching the boys come out of the gyms with no shirts, heh) and this Friday the Clearview Chelsea Cinema is showing Brokeback Mountain. Despite working in Manhattan, I've never taken advantage of going to see movies that have limited distribution, like Brokeback. And even better, I can let my Flist know what I thought Friday night when I get home.

The theatre is a short walk from my job, and one of my co-workers wants to go see a 12:45 p.m. show. But I took off yesterday, so I may just have to go to the 5 p.m. show after work instead. That means I'll have to figure out what time the movie gets out and how long it will take me to get back to Port Authority so I can decide what bus to catch. It's a pain in the ass, because the last bus that goes to my stop is 7:40. Hmm, maybe I can sneak out early and catch the 4 p.m. show.

I'm determined, though. I can't wait to see it.

Whooo, almost time to leave, and a week's vacation to look forward to (except for that part where I have to work, heh, but whatever, I'm feeling better about it) where I have a lot to do and a lot of time to spend lounging around the house.

This afternoon my co-worker Bill came back from lunch to announce that Oliver Stone's new movie about September 11 is filming right here near the corner of our building on 14th St. and 9th Ave. in Manhattan. He saw Nicholas Cage filming a scene as a New York City Police sergeant. He took photos, but he's sending them to Ain't It Cool News first.

Meh. I don't really care for Nic Cage, but maybe I'll get to have a celebrity sighting. I've worked in New York for over a year now, and I haven't seen anyone famous yet! Well, the fact that I work in Chelsea -- a gay mecca -- makes up for it, because if I go out for lunch I encounter herds of beautiful gay boys. *swoon* I'm also about a block from a gym, which increases the eye candy exponentially. I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch sweaty, muscled pretty boys than Nic Cage any day.

For all you looking forward to the film, and for people on my Flist not in the U.S., I transcribed another little something fer ya.

From this week's Entertainment Weekly's Fall Music Preview issue (with Sheryl Crow and Fiona Apple on the cover) comes this short review -- written by Owen Gleiberman -- of Brokeback Mountain, which played during the Toronto International Film Festival:

Take Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, a big, sweeping, and rapturous Hollywood love story that could turn out to be the most revolutionary movie of the year. It's adapted from Annie Proulx's 1997 short story about a ranch hand and a failed rodeo rider, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, who meet in the Wyoming wilderness in 1963 and fall into a love affair that lasts, in secret, through frayed marriages and broken dreams, over the next 20 years. At the festival, Brokeback Mountain was referred to as the "gay cowboy" movie, yet to see it through those words is to violate its tender, unprecedented spirit. Gyllenhaal and Ledger, in a performance of gnarled taciturn brilliance, are latter-day Marlboro Men who experience their deepening attraction as something inexplicable and wounding, a force they scarcely have words for. Brokeback Mountain is a film in which love feels almost as if it were being invented, yet at a moment when issues of equality in gay and straight relationships have become fuel for a fiery culture war, it is also the rare crowd-pleaser with the potential to change hearts and minds.