#99

Hello all

Sorry about not posting yesterday, it was a rather busy and hectic day until around six o’clock and after that point I was a little too out of it to update. Nothing really new and exciting is going on, I am excited to be on Spring Break although I am already feeling like it’s just another week. Worked this morning and am just about to head back in for a night shift, not feeling well at all today and I have no idea why.

I have been slowly going through the Watchmen Motion Comic that comes out on Tuesday and I am still blown away by that material’s enormous gravity. Hopefully I’ll finish that by Monday or Tuesday and spend the next two days re-reading the novel itself prior to seeing it Thursday night at midnight. I am so very excited about Watchmen but apprehensive at the same time (as any lover of the source material would be), we will have to see what comes of it.

This is getting long-winded again so I’ll end here, I just want to say I think I want to take some time off but who knows when I’ll get the chance, it’s extremely frustrating. I will probably get over this by later tonight, everyone have a great evening and enjoy the rest of your weekend, I probably will not update tomorrow.

Currently Listening: All Get Out – Self Titled

Currently Reading: still Zen & Art of Motorcylce Maintenance

#98

Hello all

I am sitting in Spanish waiting for it to start and thought I’d update real quick. I am officially registered for Summer Semester, my second to last semester of undergrad. It is really bizarre how fast it went by, I feel like I just started college not too long ago. All I have to do is get through today than a whole week off from schoolwork and the like, not sure what my plans are yet but I will be sure to keep you all informed as soon as I do. 

I really want the Watchmen & Philosophy book prior to next Friday, maybe I will pick it up tomorrow. Not much else is new, 8 more days till Watchmen and 12 more days till Cursive’s new album comes out. Everyone have a great day and expect an update in the very near future. 

Thank you for reading.

Currently Listening: Idlewild – 100 Broken Windows (something I used to listen to around late ’03/ early ’04, great album)

Currently Reading: Picking back up Zen & Art of Motorcycle Maintenance due to the fact that Spring Break is about to begin

#97

Hello all

Today’s post will not be as long winded as yesterday’s, just wanted to say that I am moving forward. The steps I took yesterday included locking myself in my room immediately after finishing that post until I finished a paper that I am quite satisfied with. Proceeded to work on Spanish with a brief intermission for dinner and went to bed around eleven o’clock. I have been up since just a bit before eight (Wednesday is typically one of two days that I have to sleep in). 

Sorry about the lack of reviews, I promise to work on them today. Nothing else is really new, I can’t believe we are halfway through this month and also nearly finished with the second month of this year, it’s flying by. Not much else to say as of right now, depending on how much work I get done after breakfast I may be able to write those reviews. Thank you for reading as always.

#96

Hello all

This may be the most inspired blog I have ever written, and it came about through a recent (as in earlier today) insurgence of self-awareness. More specifically, I am starting to realize that my life is in need of a total revamping and restructuring. I should be careful using any form of the word “structure” due to the fact that I do not think that it is any structure that I lack, it is priority and a better understanding of the bigger picture that is missing. My grades, something that is not usually that much of a concern to me, have started dropping, and one would assume this is due to an increase in work and/or stress, but in all honesty, neither of those have gone up. In fact, I am working roughly six to seven hours less a week, have five nights off a week, and have very little to stress about.

So the task is this, figure out what the problem is, solve it, and progress forward to being more productive and to put it simply, lead a better life. The objective seems simple enough, with this and the reward of accomplishing said objective; this is a personal declaration that I will start the process of change IMMEDIATELY. Every action I take, I will personally step back and think of what is to be gained from the action, and if it is not a positive move in regards to the most important factors of my life, I will not take part in it.

This marks the first time I have ever used this blog to “rant,” and I am particularly glad it was about me and not any personal or figurative attack. This blog will also prove to be a useful tool with the task at hand, I intend on writing every day with the exception of Saturday and Sunday, be it something simple or a bit more complex. It’s just important to note that I am aware that I need to take my writing more seriously. I appreciate anyone who reads this and to anyone who has personal suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments and/or email me at thomasbalkcom@gmail.com. The upcoming blogs (outside of my new set of reviews) will focus primarily on the steps I have taken and/or intend taking in the near future.

After I finish my Ethics paper, I will start working on those reviews. I would like to say that although I was skeptical about being able to watch thirty films this month (due to LOST), I am only eight away and have at least that many I have been trying to watch. On LOST, Bill, John, and I finished Season Four last night and only have the six episodes from the current season to catch up on and I will do a little write-up on my thoughts.

Sorry that that was so long, but this is very important to me and ordinarily I would not make this information public, but I think by doing so it increases my motivation that much more. Thank you for reading, and expect an update soon.

Currently Listening: Cursive (discography)

Currently Reading: Heidegger (for school)

#95

I just wanted to start this off by stating I am starting to change my mind about Best Picture and Best Director but I think I’ll stick with my picks. Hope you all enjoy this…

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler (my pick, a wild guess I figured the category was fair game)

Writing (Original)

Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin McDonough, In Bruges (my pick)
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Andrew Stanton, WALL-E

Writing (Adapted)

Eric Roth, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley, Doubt
Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon
David Hare, The Reader
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire (my pick)

Best Animated Feature Film

Bolt
Kung-Fu Panda
WALL-E  (my pick)

Cinematography

Tom Stern, Changeling
Claudio Miranda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Wally Pfister, The Dark Knight
Roger Deakins & Chris Menges, The Reader
Anthony Dod Mantle, Slumdog Millionaire (my pick)

Best Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (my pick)
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road

Directing

David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (my pick)
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader (my pick)

Best Actor

Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/ Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (my pick)

Best Picture

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (my pick)
Frost/ Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

Only predicted half this year, far worse than last year but I’m glad the Academy recognized a truly deserving picture, thanks for reading, I’ll update in the morning.

#94

Hello all

Just got home from work and about to finish up Nothing But the Truth, I’m a little over halfway through and have enjoyed it thus far. I will be watching Frozen River immediately afterwards hopefully finishing up in-time for the awards ceremony. I am going to be live blogging it in here, I think, and if I don’t I’ll do a recap piece in the morning. 

Expect an update very soon, thank you for reading.

#93

Hello all 

It’s two thiry in the morning and I still cannot sleep so I thought I’d post, I was sick today so I did not work but after some good rest I felt perfectly fine. Watched a few great movies, relaxed, and got some work done and here I am, wide awake when I have to be up in three hours.

I am going to be eating crow on Sunday night (though I’ll be happy about it) because I think a few of my big picks are way off (most notably Best Picture and Best Director, I think Slumdog and Boyle are going to win now) but I have decided to stick with my original picks for obvious reasons. I am not sure if I’ll be live blogging the Oscars or not, though I am seriously considering it just for the sake of fun. 

Not much else is new, I work in the morning till around three tomorrow and plan on getting some serious work done and finishing out those films on that list. Hopefully I’ll start getting tired soon…

Good night all and thank you for reading.

#92

Hello all,

Finally some reviews, please excuse the new format, it allows me to keep track of the number of films I watch and also ensures that I do not miss any when reviewing. The only problem I’ve noticed so far is the idea that I sometimes watch one movie more than one time in a week (as you’ll see in this post with Cinemania), but other than that it should not make too big of a difference, enjoy.

27. The Rocker(Peter Cattaneo, 2008) – 3/10 <- – This film actually had a pretty decent start but took a dive off into the deep end soon thereafter. The only funny character towards the end of the film was the “agent” character who provided a few decent laughs but still not worth its roughly ninety minute runtime.

28. (revisit) Blades of Glory (Josh Gordon & Will Speck, 2007) – 4/10 <- – Reviewed before, just wanted to say how much I love this movie, it’s hysterical.

29. (revisit) Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry, 2008) – 6.5/10 <- – Reviewed before

30. Cinemania (Angela Christlieb & Stephen Kijak, 2002) – 5.5/10 <- – This is a documentary that was recommended to me through one of the blogs I read, and I have to say although overall it was very enjoyable I found it more scary than anything. Scary insofar as I fear that my life could head down this path (not as extreme but if you have seen it you may no what I am talking about). All of the cinephiles individual stories were immensely interesting, my one complaint is I wish they would have gone just a bit more in-depth with each of them but overall I liked this documentary very much.

31. Lakeview Terrace (Neil LaBute, 2008) – 2/10 <- – This is a complete piece of trash, I still can’t believe LaBute has taken this path film-wise but I guess that’s out of our control. A good deal of it did not make any sense and you never feel anything for any of the characters in my opinion.

32. RocknRolla (Guy Ritchie, 2008) – 6/10 <- – I was really excited for this film due to the fact that I missed it during its limited theatrical run and hoping for a return-to-form by director Guy Ritchie, and for the most part I was satisfied. It had a very entertaining story line, very formulaic in regards to Ritchie but overall a good film, a nice addition to my collection.

33. The Visitor (Thomas McCarthy, 2007) – 8/10 <- – An absolutely fantastic film that took about three rentals to finally sit down and watch. Jenkins really does deserve his nomination against the giants that are nominated this year, his performance was superb.

34. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Peter Sollett, 2008) – 4.5/10 <- – Not much to say about this, found at least a little enjoyable, did not really affect me in any profound way. I have to say it would make a great date movie.

35. (revisit) Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008) – 7/10 <- – Reviewed before

36. (revisit) Cinemania (Angela Christlieb & Stephen Kijak, 2002) – 5.5/10 <- – Watched it again when it was on TV a week or so after watching it for the first time.

37. (revisit) The Rules of Attraction (Roger Avary, 2002) – 6.5/10 <- – Reviewed before just want to say this is such a great film, very underappreciated in my eyes.

38. (revisit) Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller, 2008) – 4/10 <- – Had a burning desire to re-watch this film for some reason or another, anyway it’s been reviewed before.

39. Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950) – 7.5/10 <- – I more than likely put this on my queue about two years ago and it finally came. It took me about three different sittings to get through it (due to how busy I am, no fault to the film itself), I absolutely loved it. It was brilliantly shot, the story was told in a very effective manner, and the plot itself was enthralling to say the least. This was only my second exposure to Kurosawa and far from my last.

40. The Reader (Stephen Daldry, 2008) – 7/10 <- – After all of the negative feedback I have heard about this film I came in to it with low expectations however I was very pleasantly surprised. It was a great film in my eyes, Fiennes and Winslet were absolutely fantastic, I now understand why Winslet is a favorite this Sunday night. I have officially seen all five of the Best Picture nominees, I could not be more excited for Sunday night.

41. Changeling (Clint Eastwood, 2008) – 7.5/10 <- – Again came into this with low expectations, no real sound reasoning why just from what I had seen and heard it did not appeal to me at all. I really, really enjoyed this film, it’s very heartbreaking and intense throughout. I was shocked by Jolie’s performance, I was not aware of her acting ability prior to this film, she sincerely deserves her nomination as well. Eastwood batted two for two with his films last year (in my eyes at least), wonder what this year has in store for him.

I am continuing pushing through those twenty-five films I listed a few weeks back, trying my hardest to complete as much of the list as possible prior to the Oscars on Sunday. With a busy school week this week it’s proving very difficult but I am optimistic. Here’s the updated list….

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionaire
Milk
Frost/Nixon
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Revolutionary Road
Wall-E
The Wrestler
Gran Torino
The Reader
Rachel Getting Married
Changeling
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
tropic Thunder
Happy-Go-Lucky
The Visitor
I’ve Loved You So Long
Frozen River
Nothing But the Truth
Man on Wire
Synecdoche, New York
The Duchess
Defiance
Australia (which I probably will not ever see)

I still probably will not ever watch Australia and The Duchess for that matter, but I am desperately trying to get through the rest, in fact, I am about to watch Rachel Getting Married.

Thank you for reading, everyone have a good day tomorrow.

#91

Hello all

All apologies concerning the recent lack of updates, extremely busy with both work and school for the next couple of weeks. Not much is new, I hope all had a nice Valentine’s Day and a good weekend overall. I have been working on a paper ever since the Thrashers game started at roughly ten thirty and am putting the finishing touches on it now only to move on to Spanish busy work before bed. The eleventh goal of the game was just scored and there’s still nine minutes remaining, I do not find high scoring games entertaining at all. I have been listening to the Synecdoche, New York soundtrack for the past thirty minutes and I’m in love with it, makes March 10th seem increasingly further away (painfully the same release date as Let the right one in, Milk, Happy-Go-Lucky, and Cursive’s new album). 

Reviews coming soon (I actually watched a few movies this week and plan on watching a good deal this week time permitting). Oscars are on Sunday night and here’s a reminder of my predictions, I cannot wait to relax Sunday evening and watch them. Not much else is new, just pushing along as always, I’ll be sure to update again soon. A quick brief note concerning Notes from Underground, I’ve found it extremely entertaining since I started reading it, but true shock came when I realized I have never in my entire life been able to identify more with what Dostoevsky says in the first section of Part II (Apropos of the Wet Snow), he makes simple statements that seem so profound to me, feelings I’ve had for the past couple years that I’ve been unable to articulate he says so precisely. One of the best writers I’ve ever read (and you all know how I feel about making statements such as this). Enough rambling, thanks for reading as always.

Currently Listening: Synecdoche, New York soundtrack

Currently Reading: Notes from Underground still, nearly finished

#90

Hello all

Sorry for the lack of updates it has been a rather hectic week with various things going on. Not much new is going on, almost finished with LOST (holding off until Bill’s return from Milwaukee) and I started Life on Mars last night and was hooked after the first episode. I had to stop myself from starting the second episode at a little past two o’clock in the morning. I have a couple of stress-filled weeks up ahead schoolwise, things won’t calm down until Spring Break begins. 

I started writing a post Monday morning and decided to hold off for a couple days before posting it stating that this year music releases are similar to last year’s film releases, that is to say that so far we are headed into an amazing 2009 musicwise (where 2008 was overall very lacking) and a slow start to this year in film (as it always is). Long story short I am glad I held off because a good deal of films have been announced this week. Most impressive is the trailer for Inglorious Basterds…

A film that a good deal of us have been waiting for a good while. I also read on Tuesday that (beware these are all potential releases) we will have new Von Trier, Almodovar, Jarmusch, F.F. Coppola, and many more. 

List can be found here. 

That’s all really exciting news, and as far as music goes we have new Manchester Orchestra, Thursday, mewithoutYou, Cursive, Brand New, potentially Thrice, As Cities Burns among many more that have been announced. 

The lack of reviews is a result of my lack of film-watching, which I intend on picking back up over the next couple weeks. Thank you for reading.

Currently Listening: Radiohead – Pablo Honey (I am slowly introducing myself to Radiohead, one album a week for the next few weeks)

Currently Reading: taking a break from Zen & Art of Motorcycle Maintenance in order to focus on school, and for school I am reading the so-far brilliant Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky

#89

Hello all 

Quick update before I dive into some late night homework due to the fact that this is going to be the first difficult week I’ve had this semester. Had an outstanding weekend, worked all three mornings, took it easy Friday, good family time on Saturday, and today work was a bit rough but I got to go see my Flyers for the first time in a long time. It was a pretty boring game until the third period but it was really interesting being surrounded by Thrashers fans who were, for the most part, very respectful. 

After the game I went and played roughly two hours of competitive basketball for the first time in a couple years and I felt great afterwards. It made me realize how out-of-shape I am but hopefully I keep up with it. Not too much else to say, I hope everyone has a great start to the week and thank you for reading.

#88

Hello all

Good Friday pushing along so far, worked this morning and I’ve been slowly working on some homework ever since I got home, we’re marathoning ALL of Season Four of LOST today due to the fact that we finished Season Three last night. We will be all caught up by the time Bill leaves Monday morning so we can follow along as they air from here on out. 

Wednesday was the one year anniversary of this blog, and I’d thought I would post some numbers…

Total Views: 8,811

Average Views a Day: roughly 24 views a day

Average Views a Post: a little over 101 views a post

Those last two numbers are very rough calculations, but overall I am really proud of those numbers. Thanks for reading, I am glad I kept this up, and on to another year! I’d also like to add there’s less than 30 days until Watchmen premieres!! 

#87

Hello all

Wednesday is my lazy day of the week, I’ve just been bumming around not doing much and now I am settling in to watch The Visitor, a movie I keep putting off so I am finally sitting down to watch it. Stumbled across these pictures in a blog I read (here) and I thought I’d share.

Thought those were very cool, expect an update again very soon, thank you for reading.

#86

Hello all

Great news today…

I preordered Cursive’s new album last night, it’s nice to have some decent music coming out finally after quite a drought (for me at least). I cannot wait for new mewithoutYou, I think it’s been since September 2006 since Brother, Sister came out, so it’s long overdue.

Tuesdays are the longest days of the week for me, school all morning and I am about to head off to work, ton of work to catch up on during the next couple days so I am finding myself back into normal “schoolmode” something that I’ve strangely missed.

Reviews coming soon I hope, just depends on how productive I am tomorrow. Thank you for reading, I hope everyone’s week is pushing along nicely.

#85

Hello all

Just updating right before I head off to work for the evening, I am so happy that the game last night was such a great game. Great weekend overall, I got all of my homework done Thursday night as to have no real responsibilities this weekend. I worked all three mornings and just relaxed in the evening. 

Woke up this morning and went and bought the Steelbook for Paris Je T’aime for only $4.99 at Best Buy, a good deal to say the least. I love Mondays because they are so uneventful, off to shower and head to work. Happy Groundhog’s Day to everyone, thank you for reading.