Cesar

Oscar Predictions

Predictions are as follows:

Let me just start by saying this has been a year with amazing films in theaters with so much variety in the genre and subject matter.  Some of them taking on multiple genres--Secret Life of Walter Mitty. So I don't expect to be right on.  Especially with the Academy creating their ballots before the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild announce their winners.  The Guilds will have no influence over nominees.  So here is my stab at the predictions.

Best Picture

The best picture nominees will have at the most 10 nominees. With their complicated nominations process, there will likely only be eight or nine.  I'm going to just list ten of my pics and go with the number being at 9 Best Picture nominations.

That said, predicting the Best Picture category right will be a difficult feat that few will accomplish.

Best Picture
12 Years a Slave

Gravity

American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Philomena
Nebraska
Her
Dallas Buyers Club
Inside Llewyn Davis

alternates: Saving Mr. Banks, August: Osage County, All is Lost, The Butler.

I have a feeling Wolf of Wall Street will be left out this year because of the Academy controversy at the screening and because of a more conservative Academy branch of voters.  Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine will likely get left off the list too.

Best Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Robert Redford, All is Lost
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips

This was a tough year for actors wanting to make the cut.  I predict Leonardo DiCaprio will barely miss the list as he usually does.

alternates:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Christian Bale, American Hustle

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench, Philomena
Amy Adams, American Hustle

alternate:

I predict Meryl Streep will miss the mark this year because she previously won and probably because of some outspoken comments she made about Disney.  I'm going to leave Amy Adams on the short list.

Meryl Streep, August: Osage County


Supporting Actor
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave

Barkhad Abdi Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl, Rush
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle

alternates:

James Gandolfini, Enough Said

Will Forte, Nebraksa
Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street
Tom Hanks, Saving Mr. Banks


Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Oprah Winfrey, The Butler
June Squibb, Nebraska
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County

alternates:

Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Scarlett Johansson, Her


Director
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity

David O. Russell, American Hustle
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Alexander Payne, Nebraska

It is going to be difficult to choose a fourth director here.  They've only given Marty one Oscar, and that's probably all he will get save for a lifetime achievement award before he dies.  But they like to nominate him a lot.  And his editor who he's worked with for a long time.  Choosing the Cohen brothers seems redundant and the film hasn't really done well with the guilds or box office (Llewyn Davis).  I decided to go with Alexander Payne for Nebraska because of the lack of controversy or redundancy.  He's been given an nod twice and Nebraska has been well recieved, plus its going to get that actor's nod.

alternates:

Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
Spike Jonze, Her
 Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
Jean-Marc Vallée, Dallas Buyers Club
Stephen Frears, Philomena
JC Chandor, All is Lost
Lee Daniels, The Butler
John Lee Hancock, Saving Mr. Banks

Original Screenplay
Spike Jonze, Her
Eric Singer, David O. Russell, American Hustle
Joel and Ethan Coen, Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine

I have a feeling Cuaron's Gravity will be left off this list unfortunately, not because it's not good, but because of all the other rich content that was penned this year.

alternates:

Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron, Gravity
Craig Borten, Dallas Buyers Club
Kelly Marcel, Saving Mr. Banks
Nicole Holofcener, Enough Said


Adapted Screenplay
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Tracy Letts, August: Osage County
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater, Before Midnight

Steve Coogan, Philomena
Billy Ray, Captain Phillips

This is a category that drives me nuts right now.  Not usually. Here is why: Tracy Letts wrote the play that August: Osage County is based on, so it should be in the Original Screenplay category because it is originally penned by the same play/screen writer.  

I'm going to be crazy and predict Before Midnight in this category.  I'll leave Terrence Winter off for Wolf of Wall Street yet again.  It was a three hour orgy, so it's not really writing.  

Alternates:

Terrence Winter, Wolf of Wall Street


Editing
Alfonso Cuarón Mark Sanger, Gravity
Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers,American Hustle
Joe Walker, 12 Years a Slave
Christopher Rouse, Captain Phillips
Jeff Buchanan, Eric Zumbrunnen, Her 

Again the fourth one is difficult to predict here.

Alternates:

Daniel P Hanley, Rush
Thelma Schoonmaker, The Wolf of Wall Street

Kevin Tent, Nebraska
Pete Beaudreau, All is Lost
Roderick Jaynes, Inside Llewyn Davis

Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki Gravity
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Sean Bobbit, 12 Years a Slave
Phedon Papamichael, Nebraska
Frank G. DeMarco, Peter Zuccarini, All is Lost 

I don't want to throw Captain Phillips in this category because I hate the style of cinematography.  Just becuase it's in the Best Picture category does not because it is going to be nominated.  I wish the Hobbit was a genuine contender here because they did some great work on that.  

Barry Ackroyd, Captain Phillips

Roger Deakins Prisoners
Philippe Le Sourd, The Grandmaster
Anthony Dod Mantle, Rush
John Schwartzman, Saving Mr. Banks
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Her
Adriano Goldman, August: Osage County

Production Design
Gravity
12 Years a Slave
The Great Gatsby
Her
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Alternates:

Inside llewyn Davis
Saving Mr. Banks

Sound Mixing
Gravity
Lone Survivor
All is Lost
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Alternates:

Rush
Captain Phillips

Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
Oz Great and Powerful
Fast and Furious 6
World War Z

Sound Editing
Gravity
Captain Phillips
Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

alternates:

Oz Great and Powerful
Fast and Furious 6
World War Z

Costume Design
American Hustle
12 Years a Slave
Saving Mr. Banks
The Great Gatsby
The Hunger Games

Unfortunately I think The Hobbit might be left out of this category.

alternates:

Oz
The Invisible Woman
The Desolation of Smaug


Original Score
Gravity
All is Lost
12 Years a Slave
Frozen

Saving Mr. Banks

alternates:

Captain Phillips

Her

Animated Feature
Frozen
The Wind Rises
Despicable Me 2
Monsters University
The Croods

alternate:

Epic


Visual Effects
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek Into Darkness

others:

The Lone Ranger
Oblivion
Elysium
Thor: The Dark World
World War Z

Makeup
American Hustle**
Dallas Buyers Club
The Great Gatsby*
Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
The Lone Ranger

Song
[Full List]
"My Lord Sunshine (Sunrise)" from "12 Years a Slave"
Atlas (Hunger Games Catching Fire)**
Let It Go (Frozen)**
Ordinary Love (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)**
Happy (Despicable Me2) **
Sweeter Than Fiction (One Chance) *
Amen (All Is Lost)
Young and Beautiful (Great Gatsby)
Sweeter Than Fiction (One Chance)
Shine Your Way (The Croods)
The Moon Song (Her)
I See Fire The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)
Last Mile Home (August: Osage County)

Top 10 Films of 2013 Preview

Making a Top Ten

This movie watcher is almost ready to make a Top Ten list.  There are a few I need to watch by either renting or attending inexpensive showings.  That said, the list might not be out until February, but I hope to compile what a normal critic would.

Making a Top Ten is tricky.  You want to leave room for your favorites while acknowledging that there are others that were technically more solid films.  Plus there are multiple genres that need mentioning.  At the end of it all, you have to enjoy the films you put on this list.

For now, let's analyze the year and take a look at what worked and what did not work in the world of cinema.  Some of the movies I discuss will likely make my top ten.  Since I cannot attend every film, because I'd be broke, I can come up with a solid list and go to movies and rent them based on word of mouth and personal interest.  For instance, I was anticipating Gravity for a long time, because of its solid marketing campaign, and upon seeing it and tracking its box office and reviews, I'm super happy with that film.

And in another case, I will NOT be seeing Wolf of Wall Street after hearing nasty reviews and looking at the running time, basically 3 hours.  Lots of top critics said it was boring.  Unless some trusty sources say different, I'll leave that off my "to see" list, it definitely DID NOT make the "to-see-in-theaters" list.  Too many comments about bordom, its "C" rating on Cinemascore, Academy Members walking out in the middle, and word of orgies and pornographic scenes are just a few reasons not to see it.  I've really appreciated Leonardo's work lately, but this seems a lot like Gatsby, and even Django.  His characters are starting to carry a motif of gluttony that is getting old.

Enough of that, here are some of my favorites so far:

The Year in Cinema

Unless there are an exceptional amount of animated films, I will usually only include my favorite one in the top ten list.  This year I'm guessing Frozen and The Wind Rises will duke it out.

I Have not Seen The Wind Rises yet but I'm looking forward to it. I've enjoyed all of Miyazaki's work.

Expect The Hobbit to be somewhere on there.  I loved this second outing to Middle Earth regardless of what people are saying about it.

Another favorite is Gravity, almost a short film, it is very tightly montaged into 1 hour and 1/2 running time with plenty of stuff that will blow you away. I looked forward to it all year when I learned who was in it and who the filmmakers were.  It was amazing.










Pacific Rim was the best summer movie in my opinion. Best monsters, and action scenes in a long time.  The story was deeper than a 2 dimensional action flick too which was nice.  People had feelings and crap.












12 Years a Slave will also likely make the list, Solomon Northrop's journey is unmissable, everyone needs to see this film.  It is crazy to think that this happened not too long ago.

Another one of my favorites was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, it is really an inspiring piece by Ben Stiller--people criticized it for having multiple genres, but I believe that is what made it stand out and that is where it drew its strength.

 I loved Catching Fire, but somehow it is not as memorable to me as other films this year and even the first Hunger Games. It was still solid and better than the first film, it had an ending like Empire Strikes Back.















There are a few films I have yet to see.

Blue Jasmine
Her
Inside Llewin Davis
Mud
American Hustle
Philomena
Fruitvale Station
MAndela
Prisoners
Enough Said
All is Lost
Saving Mr. Banks
Nebraska
Don Jon
The Wind Rises


Have Seen That are worth leaving on a Top Ten List:
The Butler****
Gravity *****
12 Years a Slave*****
Frozen****
The Great Gatsby***
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty****1/2
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug****1/2
Captain Phillips***1/2
The Croods****
Catching Fire****1/2
The Wolverine***1/2
Pacific Rim****
Elysium ***1/2
Philomena ****
(5 Stars is the most)


Probably Will NOT see unless more good word of mouth circulates:
August: Osage County
Wolf of Wall Street

Other Movies I've seen:
Monsters University ***
Iron Man 3 ***
Man of Steel ***
Lone Ranger ***
Oz the Great and Powerful ***
Thor 2 ***
Despicable Me 2 ***
The Heat ***
Ender's Game ***
The Internship **
Anchorman 2 ***



Boxoffice

It was a year where a lot of unexpected things happened as far as box office returns go. Unpredictable gems showed up, there were lots of risks taken by studios, and there were huge flops. The summer blockbusters were underwhelming save for Iron Man 3 and Pacific Rim.

Box Office Success

A few animated films rocked it.
Frozen, The Croods, Monsters Univeristy, and Despicable Me 2 were solid, almost all of them closing north of $200 million, with the exception of Croods.  Frozen will pass $300 million soon, and Despicable Me 2 closed at $367 million.  Most notable is Frozen's ability to stay at the top of the box office 7 weeks after it was opened.  A rarity in movies today.

Marvel and Disney are good to go.
Their recipe for success is still working and DC comics from Warner Bros. is taking notes by planning a Batman Vs. Superman for 2015. Thor 2 made an improvement over its predecessor and will close at a little over $200 million.  Iron Man 3 is sitting comfortably at the top of 2013's highest grossing films.  Soon to be surpassed by...

Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The success of this franchise is not slowing down.  With a very strong opening of $158 million.  It is one of the highest openings for a 2D film.  It will soon surpass Iron Man's box office in the next few days.

Gravity
This film did really solid business domestically and internationally considering it had no previously written source material, it was not a sequel, and not a major franchise.  It opened very solidly at $55 million and stayed number 1 at the box office for 3 weekeneds consecutively in October with no other competition. A smart move for Warner Bros. It closed at around $255 million.

The Desolation of the Box Office
The Hobbit 2. With general audiences not appreciating the first film as much, the second Hobbit opened to around  $73 million ($10 million dollars lower than its predecessor).  A solid opener for a December film. It has a chance at reaching $280- $300 million domestically (in my opinon) and it will likely reach around $1 billion worldwide, being only the second film this year to do so behind Iron Man.  The Hobbit also stayed number 1 at the box office for 3 weekends in a row like Gravity and Fast and Furious earlier in the year. It did not do the same sort of business as Unexpeced Journay a year ago but it did solid business nonetheless. It helped close the year off as one of the biggest box office years in history for Hollywood.



Box office failures

Lone Ranger was unfortunately NOT a success financially. I say unfortunately because it was a film that was largely shot in the region I'm from, New Mexico.  I am a huge fan of Johnny Depp and his work, I think of him as a modern day Charlie Chaplin and his comedic timing was perfect on Lone Ranger and in all his movies. This was a film on a huge budget, likely north of $200 million and it flopped. Only making $29 million its opening weekend and then staggering to a $89 million halt, it was forgotten by filmgoers despite large marketing campaigns by Disney.  Disney will take a huge right-off for this project somewhere around $200 million when considering the addition of its marketing budget.  I personally enjoyed it thoroughly, perhaps it was because I'm a fan of the southwest, westerns and Johnny. Or maybe because I just decide to let go of my suspension of disbelief sometimes to enjoy a movie.  I thought it had remarkable cinematography, stunts, special effects, and comedic timing.  Moviegoers missed out by skipping Lone Ranger.  


47 Ronin
The moment I saw a trailer for this picture, I thought to myself, this looks interesting, but I need a good reason to go watch it.  The martial arts was not selling it to me, the special effects looked ok, they revealed a cool looking dragon, and some interesting looking action scenes.  But what made the movie flop from the start was the decision to keep the title 47 Ronin.  Who is going to remember that and what makes it unique and special?  It would have been more interesting to call this thing Dragon Killers, Samurai Vs. Cowboy, or Keanu Reeves Tries to Make a Comeback. No one is going to remember that title. In fact, when I first wrote down the name of the film just now, I wrote 49 Ronin and struggled to remember the second word.  It only made $10 million in its first weekend, which is very bad for a $150+ million film.  It will only get worse from here, it has a bad Cinema Score and no word of mouth.  Plus a very low Rotten Tomatoes Rating. Below 20%.


Ender's Game was pretty good! I think the reasons why the masses decided to avoid Ender's Game was surrounding some of the Orson Scott Card's positions on Gay Marriage.  The film started at number one at the box office and did not hold well as Hunger Games: Catching Fire hit theaters the very next weekend. Closing at a low $61 million.


After Earth looked promising.  Good cast, (Father and son Smiths) and directed by M. Night Shyamalon.  He has not made good stuff ever since his last critical (though not financial) bomb Avatar: the Last Airbender.  There was just no attendance or solid word-of-mouth, and a poor Rotten Tomatoes Score.  It closed at a low $60 million.

On Being Single and Potentially Marrying

I really appreciated Mark Driscoll's sermon this week on being married and NOT being married.  I appreciated that he said that Jesus was NOT married.  I love marriage and all those that are participating in the beautiful union. However, I feel like people often feel rushed into it and they feel like being single is being secondary in society and in the church.

I was asked once, "Were you the third wheel?" when I was hanging out with some friends who were a couple.  To which my thought process wanted to rudely reply, "No I was the first wheel and they were the 2nd and 3rd wheel."

Someone who was engaged asked me if I was seeing anyone and upon my "no" response she could only say "oooh" in a high pitched voice feeling sorry for me.  In my confusion I said, "There is nothing wrong with me, I'm just not in a relationship. I'm fine." It was a shame that I had to explain to someone that because I was single I was in fact quite alright.

I do want to get married someday, but frankly there is a lot in my life I need to get together right now. I'm not about to go into detail on all of it.

For now, I am happy that the pastor of my church preached a sermon that spoke to single men and women alike and relieved the pressure of being married.  I'm still not sure that being married is the "Second most important decision you'll ever have to make." As Mark Driscoll so often states.  This is not criticism of his sermons, this is just me publicly wondering.

If you consider the first and 2nd Commandments that Jesus of Nazareth gives.  The first is to love God, the 2nd is to Love your neighbor as you would love yourself.  I would argue the 2nd most important decision you have to make in your life is how you ought to love your neighbor.  Not to diminish the importance or marriage or the beauty of the union that is a reflection of the trinity.  It is quite a wonderful sharpening journey I'm told.  Some would group loving neighbor into loving your spouse, which seems different to me since after marriage you are considered one flesh.

On that note, there is so much to do and see and be in this life.  (Frodo tells that to Sam)  There are people to help, there are people who have not heard the gospel.  There are mountains to climb.  I suppose I can do that while married, yes. But it is much easier to do what I can now, as a single person, for the kingdom, then when I have a wife and a family to ALSO take care of.  I hope to be able to use my time wisely in this life wisely for Jesus and for the kingdom.  God knows I have failed.  But he has been there to pick me up every step of the way.  For that I am thankful.

These are my current frames of thought.

And to my Engaged friends: A heartfelt Congratulations! May God bless your marriages with adventure and unending growth and newness.

Coming soon to a Theater and Computer screen near you!

Coming soon to this page will be another great story, this time about my family fishing adventures! This post will be here next week with a guest artist/writer friend of mine featured as the illustrator.

In other personal news: A Place to Stand, the movie, is still up and running and I'm excited to gain support and see the movie's progress in the next couple of months. If you're interested in supporting, contact me directly, visit aplacetostandmovie.com, and like us on Facebook.  See my last post here.



Back to the fishing story...

The exciting thing is that a friend of mine who has inspired my writing and blogging habits: Clara, writer of an amazing comedy blog called Clarafication will be a guest illustrator for this public journal site.  Prepare yourselves for laughs.

Some of the terrible things you can look forward to: Certain death on a fishing boat, dramamine, lots of throwing up, reeling in some big catches, and a sketchy hotel room filled with instant brew coffee.

All of these are important to the beautiful true life story that is to come. I am a big advocate of collaborative work and I think some great things will come of it.

To view my Anchorage Adventure, it's called A City by the Sea, check it out. (it's related, you'll see)

A Place to Stand

Best Films of 2011

Top ten.  Here it goes!




10. Jane Eyre

This isn't some foreign film, just an international poster for Jane Eyre that I liked a lot.  After watching Jane Eyre and realizing the story was such a gimic in the end that she just gave up to easily (Charlotte Bronte) it seemed, I realized that this was somewhat of the Twilight of the time.  The only difference being that the characters were three dimensional, and the time was interesting. By "Twlilight of the time" I mean that it was the love story everyone was falling for.  Except it didn't suck. People during the time of Bronte were able to tell the difference between good and bad writing.

Jane Eyre was well acted, directed, and technically sound in all areas.


9. Rango

I had so much fun watching this animated western.  It came out at the beginning of 2011 when there were no other good films out.  It's entertaining to see animals acting like old western characters and interesting to see the divide between animal and human characteristics as portrayed by animation.  Sometimes animals can talk about issues like water in Las Vegas that humans can understand better.



8. 50/50

This film perhaps helped me feel every emotion possible.  It touched on so many things that humans go through, loss, worry, death, cancer, the possibility of death, suffering, humor in the midst of suffering.  There was some crass humor but this movie made me respect the one on the left a little more.  Also, I already like Jason Gordon Levitt from Angels in the Outfield--a movie that maybe he wants to forget--and "3rd Rock from the Sun" the TV show.



7.Sourcecode

I've already seen Sourcecode three times and have enjoyed it with each viewing.  I'm a firm believer in seeing a movie more than once and enjoying it again the second or more time.  I think that's the mark of a good film.  Films weren't meant to be seen just once I think.  Originally the same great movies would come out once a year and people would be able to have a repeat viewing.  Like Gone With the Wind and such.  Anyway, this film is repetative to begin with.  You'll see.

It's mind boggling though! Alternate realities, strange ideas, time travel etc.  See it.









6. The Muppets

So many comedians have my respect this year. Jason Segal for example, though I haven't seen him too much before this, wrote The Muppets and performed singing numbers.  Gone are the days where people can do more than stand in front of a camera and deliver a good line while looking just right.  I loved this and I love those to actors on the poster.  Amy Adams and Jason Segal.

5. The Help

There has been a lot of complaint about this film with some silly talk about how the "white woman solved racism."  It's not about a white person solving a problem.  It's about anybody, anybody seeing that this issue needed to be talked about and doing something about it.  These issues are universal, not just to do with race.  We are all victims of racism, everyone is.  Just because someone is more privileged does not mean they don't have the right to do something about a problem.  Same goes for the underprivileged.

See The Help.  

4. The Artist

A silent movie, they call it.  For all intensive purposes, yes it is.  It plays with all aspect of what the cinema is and was to people.  It's a journey of a the cinema through the life of a man.  As if the movies themselves were personified.  Beautiful black and white piece of work.

3. Tree of Life

I think this poster is so appropriate for the film because of all the many images the film expresses.  It was the kind of montage (we call it editing but he french call it montage) that Eisenstein used to create.  It was a mixture of images to come up with a larger image, that is a larger message.  Two stories colliding.  Montage is collision as Eisenstein wrote.  (I think it was him.)  And this film had beautiful cinematography and had so many images and two stories--I would say becoming one.  The story of time itself, and that of an American family.  Shot in a way you've never seen a film before.

2. Hugo

Good think Martin Scorsese liked the 3D medium and ran with it.  This is like one of those peices of work that seem like it's been in someone's head their whole life and now that they get the chance to finally make it, it is breathtaking.  Martin Scorsese had all of those other movies his whole life to practice making this, what seems like, most autobiographical piece.  The movie that says the most about himself as a filmmaker.  Like The Artist it is a journey through the cinema.  Except this one is about a kid discovering what the magic of cinema is all about.  The BEST PICTURE of the year in my opinion.

My favorite though....

It All Comes Back to Harry

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Finale

The reason I picked Harry this year is because it brought back to me what the movies have always been about.  A social community experience.  I got to go experience the movies the way they used to be.  I went to the theater at midnight, all my friends were there, all excited to see this feature film.  It was a movie event, and that doesn't happen all that often.  I will hopefully talk about it more.  Plus it's amazing--simply the best of the year.

People were cheering, crying, laughing out loud.  People were dressed like wizards.  This was a huge mark in a cultural phenomenon.  Though not the end I think.  Harry Potter's magic will live on and we will understand it differently and more appropriately throughout our lives.  

BELOW ARE SOME MENTIONS



Honorable Mentions:
Tintin, WarHorse, Bridesmades, Crazy Stupid Love, Arther Christmas. Moneyball.

Best movie that takes place in both New Mexico and outerspace
THOR


Best movie of the year that was not released this year but was shown in theaters:
Lord of the Rings
It was remastered and had three intros by director Peter Jackson.
(There were a number of rereleases Lion King included)

Worst Movie possibly ever made:
Three Musketeers

Most Dissapointing Movie: War Horse
It used all the right tactics to get me to like the characters, I was supposed to like them because the film told me to, that's why I had a hard time.  Also the Horse had a best friend who was a horse.  It was an American Story Civil War tale like Gone with the Wind set in WWI Europe.  So many things just didn't belong there.  I thought it looked great--kudos to the cinematographer and art direction.  It just wasn't what it could have been--good.

Best Scene:
In The Artist where he has the dream and it is all in vibrant sound.  You must see it.

Best Movie going experience of all time:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. There were people dressed like wizards, brooms, goblins, house elves etc.  All there to enjoy, talk about, and wait for a wonderful movie that they all loved so dearly.  The audience I was with reacted to every expression, every moment with such appreciation.  The energy in the room was so high. That's what you go to the movies for--to laugh, cry, shout, and be in the moment.  I loved every minute of it.

Best Musical Number:
"Am I a man or a Muppet?" from The Muppets
Also the Opening number is pretty great.


Worst Best Visual Effects:
Planet of the Apes
It looked so real, the apes were expressing so much that I couldn't believe it.  No I literally didn't believe it.

Best 3D movie to date:
HUGO. See it, and see it in 3D.  It's absolutely stunning, it is beyond anything you've ever seen.  Haha beyond... whatever.

Most Montage:
Tree of Life


Best Acting:
The Ladies in The Help


Best Ensemble Cast:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
This is the best cast ever.  I'm pretty sure it's missing like 5 British Actors that I can think of, and that's it.


Best Summer Movies not released in the Summer
Sherlock Holmes and Mission Impossible 4

Thanks! featured photo etc.

Thanks to all who read! I'm having a fun time writing and posting important life information on here.  Glad this has been a part of my life.

This cat lives at our house.  We're not allowed to have pets, don't tell.

Skiing in Durango, notes on redundancy, and a curious case of the buts

Much to say about Not Skiing
A free write.

A sea monster relaxing in a Durango ski resort hot tub.

I decided long ago that I needed to do more things in life to enjoy it more.  I agreed to go on a ski trip to Durango.  It has been a wonderful experience mostly because I did anything BUT ski.  That's right, 'but' in capital letters and standing out as a preposition works in many ways here.  But here, I must interject more buts.  (Here my but functions as a conjunction and another is the subject). The things that I did instead of ("instead of" is quasi functioning as my but here) was lots of hot tubbing, going on a dangerous run that could have cost me my life if I had serious heart problems (but I don't), and enjoying the laughter of great friends I made who wanted nothing but laughter.

They teach you not to be redundant but I beg to differ.

Redundancy is a part of life and it is something necessary to enjoy it properly.  For example, if you are going on a ski trip to Durango as I did, but (or "though" in this case) I didn't actually ski, you would want to go on the ski lifts over and over again and you would go down the slopes over and over again in a redundant fashion. That's the only way you enjoy yourself and eventually get better at it or anything in life.

If you ski a lot you will be better at skiing, but writing is different, or so they insist.  For instance, it would be completely silly for me to repeat myself in a college essay they say.  But I repeat my thesis at the end of that essay, and I repeat my thoughts just in case you missed it.  In fact this is how they tell you to write an essay basically: "Tell them, Tell them what you just told with three solid points, and tell them again."  But don't be redundant, that's just annoying.  


So, to review.  I went skiing, but I didn't ski.  I'm ok with talking about and using buts a lot while I write.  And I think that redundancy is necessary in life, but it's annoying to English professors even though they profess that doing it is what makes the best essay. "Just kidding but don't, but seriously, do it."

The same sea monster relaxing in the same hot tub.

I wrote no essays while I didn't ski.  I began a letter which "should" be a lot like an essay, but it's not.  I began a journal entry which probably should be freely written but it always ends up being summed up and more organized than most essays I've ever written.  That's the trouble with writing, the more you practice, (like skiing) the better you get.  The more I practice writing, the more I think about all the rules I'm supposed to be following.

I sat in a hot tub in Durango while my friends skiied.  I told myself to relax and do very little to keep my mind occupied and worried about things that don't need to be worried about. These rules about having no rules are quite troubling and hard to follow like writing, skiing, using buts, and snowboarding.  There is a time to follow no rules and there is a time to follow all the rules, and relaxing is a lot like free writing where inhibitions in your mind still interrupt your freedom.  It's like, "no I want to write about candy, but I don't want to forget those awesome turnips that I ate too!"

Going skiing on my trip would have been like deleting a bad paragraph that just didn't fit with the tone of my college essay.  That paragraph would have likely been redundant with lot of buts.  Though I wanted to, relaxing, thinking, praying, spending time with people, and such, was what I came for. "That was what I was going to do dang it!"  I had time to run up and down the hill to the ski resort from the highway, catch amazing vistas, spend some quality time with some quality people, and get some quality relaxation in.

I share my inhibitions about writing with you dear reader (if you have managed to make it this far) because it is a lot like the way my mind works.  You see, my mind skis down slopes and manages to make the best runs at times with nothing getting in its way.  If it does see a  tree, it coolly goes around, if it makes a jump on a pass, it lands smoothly.  But. It isn't always like that. Many times it is like a bad run, it thinks that the tree really does affect it, it is afraid of the jumps and never lands smoothly.  If it lands terribly, it pretends to get up and say it was just fine with excuses as to why it fell down in the first place. 

At times your mind wants nothing to do with skiing, it wants to take no risks, not fall down, not win awards, not be the best.  Because the best thing for it is to enjoy what is around it and not make any more or less of what is around it than what it is. 

On this ski trip, I learned all the more about wanting more and more.  That is I learned about the concept of "wanting" itself not wanting more things necessarily.  The thing that causes us pain is wanting things to go a certain way.  This is the thing I've learned most this year.  Knowing that everything will NOT go as planned is a relief.  Because you know that much already.  Some things are just inevitable.  You will likely loose money, you will likely mess up, you will probably feel bad.  But the nice thing about that all is that lots of good things will happen in a way that you never expected as well.

It was nice to NOT want to ski.  Because then I didn't have to want to ski better, or perfectly, or something.  I don't mean to say, "avoid things and you'll be happy" or "don't ski and you'll appreciate things more" or something lame like that.  I'm using skiing as an example to say something bigger.

An unfortunate man.  (His identity kept secret).

Here it goes: Why want so many things when we already have everything to begin with?  God gave us everything we need. Everything is inside us if we look to it an accept it.  With that knowledge, we can do something with it.  With the understanding and the choice to live life as if you have been given all you need already, there is so much to do.

This is basically a free write. But. You know, there were some touch ups here and there.  So to sum again:  Skiing is great, do it because you already have JOY in you, not because you need JOY from it.  And Joy will come of you doing it.  (Skiing is a life example here, not something to live your life by.)

Like I said, this was a free write.  Conclusion, conclusion, conclusion, something that sums up things with Buts, skiing, redundancies, redundancies, redundancies and free writes now I guess.  God gives you so much so accept it.

Also: Cats.

The Best of 2011 (In the life of this Blogger)

Here are some of the best moments and events in my life this year worth mentioning publicly. I want to mention people so bad, but I want to be able to ask people first, and it would be hard to get 30 or so people's permission to mention them. But So many things in my life this year are worth mentioning. Here are some milestones.

**All things written below are subject to amendment of any sort at any time**

Top Reasons to be Motivated to Enjoy Life

1. 1 Colossians 27

2. Frodo to Sam in Return of the King: "There is so much for you to be, and see, and do."

3. Freedom

4. Creativity

5. Energy (Light, Strength etc)

Top Things that I got to do this year.

A Glacier. You had to be there (alaska).

1. Deep Conversations with close people in my life (you all know who you are)

2. Small Group Coordinator with InterVarsity

2. Began Dancing and Working on a Film

3. Alaska Trip with My Family

4. Movie Nights

5. Worked at this pretty cool Tea Shop

6. Found this cool Coffee shop

7. Began reading/writing again

8. Drive people and participate in Chapter Camp

9. Help friends in need

10. Sing/Play/Listen to music of all kinds

11. Watched some great movies (Top films coming soon)

A fatter Andres in May 2010

Things Accomplished

1. So much Wellness and Emotional Healing (A healthier sense of Identity and God's Presence in my Life).

2. This Blog

3. Working on a Documentary with some cool people

4. Dance

5. Lost around 15-20lbs since summer 2010 (REALLY?!?!) ----->

Rugged Andres changing flat.

Key Events

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

2. Alaska-Fishing

3. Alaska Visiting/flying in by myself

4. Fiddler on the Roof

5. Christmas in my hometown with the monks

6. Salsa Dancing on Halloween

7. Chapter Camp

8. Flat Tire on the Way to Chapter Camp :)

9. Birthday Party

10. Forgetting to Graduate

Yes, really Harry Potter. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Really.

Best Worst things that happened to me (Worth mentioning)

Socorro, NM

1. A very forward and unappealing 45 yr old lady asks to date me while I'm working

2. 4 whole driving tickets all at once

3. Headache in a packed car with 5 family members who are just like me (practically) for about 10 hours.

4. Insomnia in Socorro

5. Transitioning out of InterVarsity

6. Changing 3 flat tires in one month's time

About this BLOG

This blog has functioned as an experimental public journal. It updates people on events in my life, and it attempts to share valuable experiences. So far, based on viewership, it has been a success.

Most Viewed Posts

1. How to Make the Most out of your Insomnia in Socorro (~74 page views to date)

2. A City by the Sea (~65 page views to date)

3. Coffee in Albuquerque Part I (58 page views to date)

4. Fellowship of the Ring AGAIN?! (47 page views to date)

5. The Gospel According to Boxes, Sam, and Andres (38 page views to date)

Please continue to Read more and Click the above links if you missed any posts.

Top Search Keywords

1. the one ring (5 referrals)

(others not worth mentioning)

Money made this year from the Blog

Around 30 dollars based on around 700 page views

Page Views by Month

1. November 341

2. October 315

3. December 281 (So Far)

4. September 196

5. August 174

6. June 192

7. March 104

8. July 59

9. January 16

10. April 12

11. February 5

12. May 4

So MUCH progress! Thank everyone who visits. Your comments are valuable. There has been so much growth in this blog this last year. Here's to hoping that next year will be better for blogging, photography, dance, and film. I think it will.

What to expect when you're expecting

First of all...MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!



This is not helpful advice about having a baby unfortunately.  It is about an age old thing we all have: expectations.  The general kind, not the baby kind.


In light of the holidays I will post on something about God's peace and sovereignty in our lives.  Because of God's incarnation on this earth, we are free and need not control or expect things.  We need not allow fear into our lives.


I posted this on FB the other day.  I've been thinking a lot about expectations.  

‎"If you expect things to go a specific exact way, you'll be super unhappy all your days. Expect the unexpected and appreciate things and people for what they are. Let God be in control."--lots of wise people probably

This is not the way God sees us.  Rather this is the way we think God sees us a lot of the time.

You see, many of some of my most valuable relationships were painful for me because of my ideas of how people should behave and treat me. My own construction of who they "should be" has messed things up big time.  


I hate seeing this happen to people, and mostly I hate that it is happening to me.  


The fact that God is in control is Huge! It is so refreshing.  It means that you don't have to be stuck anymore.  But you are.  

It is because of our fear that we want to control others and the situations around us.  If we just stepped back and let things unfold we'd be a lot happier.  If we just let people be who they are and stop trying to dictate their actions for our own benefit we'd be better off.  

It's best to realize that we have everything we need. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing." 

On this day our savior was born.  Let us remember all he did for us and why we can sit back and let him be in control of our lives.  Let us remember that we are free from bondage.  Free from sin.  Free from guilt and shame.  We are free to be the men and women that we are.  


Because of Jesus, you are NOT what you do.  You are not what you are guilty of.  You are not those thoughts.  You are not those actions.


You are something worthwhile.  You belong to the King. 

This is more accurate. God delights in his people.

Stuff you could have been for Halloween

I didn't participate in anything Halloweeny this year.  I had my reasons.  I went to a dance studio that night and wanted to wear my bat man undergarments, but I didn't want to offend anyone.  I camped out at some of my buddies house and watched the Office.

"I'm a little sleepy and hollow."

My friend Bryant--who has a great Twitter page btw--and my friend Stephen and I were at an art gallery listening to superhero poetry when I introduced my idea of being just an obscure thing like a "search engine" for Halloween.

His funny twitter account:
http://twitter.com/#!/kinderschema

My original idea for the search engine was to walk around with white tights (like any normal halloween costume) have some green, red, and yellow colors lingering about me, and have a keyboard with a box of junk that would represent what the person would search for.  I didn't follow through with it like many of my ideas in my life, but here's to hoping that somebody takes my amazing idea and does it next year.

We then noticed that you can be anything for Halloween which I'm sure you know.  But seriously anything.  An idea, a vitamin, a mineral, the thing you ate last week.

Some of the things we came up with:

• A search engine
• A poem
• The economy -- you wear a white T-shirt with a declining graph with an arrow
• Your lost sense of humor.
• That fifteen minutes you could have spent saving fifteen percent or more on car insurance.
• Maine. (yes the state)
• Murphy's Law
• The Pythagorean Theorem (whenever you need to solve triangle equations I'm there for you)
• Lost-(just a person who was lost) "Where am I? Who are you? Why do I exist?"
• Lost (the show)- you would tell stories with cliffhanger endings with multiple universes and never give a conclusive ending to anything you say.
• The wit of a Mark Twan novel
• The humor of a Jane Austen novel
• That coupon you never used
• That bill you never paid
• (Yeah it starts to get real scary and real personal)
• Those songs you never practiced on the piano
• That old piece of chocolate you left in the cupboard and is still melting
• A missed phone call you'll never know about
• That guy who wears pink everywhere because he wants to pretend he's not insecure
• I'm that guy that calls you by mistake and you always wondered why your lives crossed paths
• I'm those keys that you never made a copy of and now you're stranded haha.
• I'm the barista that always tries to convince you to buy soy products.
• I'm the parenting manual that your parents never got.
• I'm that box of Christmas cards you never sent.
• The self help book that you never applied to your life.
• The self help book on how to buy self help books.
• That Christmas ornament that your parents kept since you were in kindergarten because they have to.
• Runner's high
• The noise a tree makes in the forest that nobody hears when it falls (if no one is there to hear it)
• I'm the answer to the chicken and the egg question.
• I'm those colors in the spectrum that are invisible eyes.
• Hi...I'm all the pictures you've taken with your lens cap on.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving dear friends and fellow humans.

It's a great day to be an American, a man, a friend, a cousin, brother, son, grandson, etc...

Mostly it's a great day to belong to God.

I'm so thankful for everyone who reads, everyone who has supported me in any form.  I'm thankful for my skills as a pianist, dancer, and artist. I'm thankful for my silly and fearless writing ability whether it's good or not.

I'm thankful for people who have mentored and helped me this year. For friends, family, and co-workers/peers.

I'm thankful for coffee in albuquerque.

I'm thankful for this castle that my friend Stephen built in 10 minutes out of oatmeal buckets.

I'm thankful for my new opportunity to work on this film with some cool people:
 http://www.aplacetostandmovie.com

I'm thankful for dance.

I'm thankful that I got to help with this fun piece with some cool InterVarsity people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UGXSdQjD20

Thanks everyone for reading, and your presence and thoughtfulness in my life.