Shatter Star

Listening to: The Morning Benders, "Excuses." While the song by itself is pretty great, watching this video of them performing with a bunch of their friends is the way to go. I dig the front man and something about the way he croons (yes, he definitely croons) is hypnotizing. It's his sleepy eyes, the way his mouth contorts, his rumpled haircut and outfit. Plus the way he clasps his hands as he sings. It's all so awkwardly beautiful. I want to befriend him immediately. We already got tickets for their upcoming show in SF. Couldn't be more excited.

Started by a few brave souls who have dared to find a lifestyle that isn't "the norm" and succeeded, Untemplater is a newish site with articles about expanding your skills, working on your relationships, self employment and finance tips, and fun stuff like "Don't Be A Facebook Loser."

Untemplater was looking for guest contributors recently and I hit them up with a sample article or two. I mean, I'm trying to find a lifestyle that would allow me to keep my weird hours -- sleep at sunrise, wake up late afternoon -- forever so I hope I qualified. Assuming I don't get the chance to turn to vampirism anytime soon, this will be a site for me to bookmark.

So my Untemplater article is about going back to school and it's right here: "Going going, back back...to school?" Hopefully I'll be invited back for another article or two because I got a lot to say about this cobbling together an out of the box lifestyle.

And if you haven't checked out my friend Sam's "The Gatekeepers" web series, you should get on it because it's already on episode three and each one has been gorgeous and amazing. I love the way everything is shot, the music Sam is using, and the settings they are placing themselves in. Plus Sam and Chad are just ridiculously stylish, so I look upon them with envy.

Actually I just pestered my friends into doing a "Who's the Most Stylish Guy" poll and Sam won by a landslide. Watch the episodes and you'll see the win was well deserved. I myself came a little closer to the bottom...but not in complete last!

Some of the pull quotes from things my so-called friends said about me. According to them I most likely shop at: Old Navy, Costco, Pac Sun, Gap, Uniqlo, and Anthropologie. For the record I don't own anything from Anthropologie. That would almost hurt my feelings if not for one of the next revelations. Their favorite items of mine include: tattoos, my grey Forever 21 hoodie, and sculpted veiny calves. Yes, I have a Forever 21 hoodie. I shopped there once okay? And the hoodie is pretty fantastic (it looks almost exactly like this Wings + Horns one but cost an eighth as much). My defining style items include: iPhone belt clip, cargo shorts, hand sanitizer, and smoking gloves. Their combined advice to me? "Retire the white tees." Oh friends, who needs'em?

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief (2010)

Degradingly referred to as "The next Harry Potter," Percy Jackson deserves to be judged based on its own merits. Throwing Greek gods into a teenage setting is genius and there are a lot of neat ideas flowing throughout the backstory and world building. I'm about halfway through the first book and it's been entertaining. Everyone loves Olympian gods so the combination of myths and modern stuff is appealing.

The problem was the adaptation of the book into the movie. From what I've heard, they changed quite a few things. More important than that, the pace of the movie is just terrible. The script is sullen, the dialogue isn't horrible but will be dated in about six months, and everything seems slightly less than epic.

Pieces were in place for a decent action movie. I mean, the cast was selected well, especially based on looks (Brandon T. Jackson makes a perfect goat/satyr. Sorry dude, just saying). Logan Lerman is maybe a little too good looking to be Percy but he works for the teen hot throb role. Alexandra Daddario is cute but also believably strong and a good choice for a daughter of Athena. On top of that, the special effects were good, especially the various mythical creatures, so it wasn't a budget issue.

The biggest problem in my estimation was hiring Chris Columbus to direct. "Let's hire the guy who made the first two sub-par Potter flicks!" Not a good idea. I completely blame him for this movie's failure and Columbus should have stopped directing movies after Adventures in Babysitting and Home Alone. So if you want to spend two hours wishing you could be struck down by Zeus' lightning bolt, hurry to the theater for this one.

Shutter Island (2010)

The trailers make Shutter Island seem like it would be scary. I wanted it to be scary, I needed it to be scary. But it's not scary at all. The movie plays out more like a procedural and whodunit. Stop reading if you're planning on watching this movie. While there won't be any overt spoilers below, the less you know about the movie the better.

There's nothing particularly wrong with Shutter Island except for the fact that you leave feeling unsatisfied. Too many mini-plot holes, not enough successful thriller aspects, and ultimately the movie was ten years too late. If you're going to sit through an unreliable narrator story with an easily telegraphed ending, it better be damn entertaining all the way through. Instead you get some fine acting performances, a choppy directorial effort -- Scorsese is consistently hit-or-miss -- and some nice visuals. The premise of the movie is good but everything just kind of drags. I'm more interested in reading the book (by Dennis Lehane of Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone fame) because it's probably deeper and more psychological.

Actually what is fascinating is reading the Wikipedia entry about lobotomies, and how the transorbital lobotomy was accomplished. Put it this way, the movie got their facts right. They did use an ice pick, they did go through the eye, and there's a mallet involved. Fascinating! The procedure was first done in 1946. We've come so far with lobotomies since then right? Right?

Astro Girl

I don't think I've ever done an interview on this site but I just had to ask Realm Lovejoy some questions because she's got all sorts of interesting things going on. She's a writer, an illustrator, works in the video game industry, has great music taste, and I believe recently attended a Labyrinth masquerade ball. You heard that last part right, Labyrinth!

On Realm's blog, she does a series of interviews and illustrations with authors and she did one for Chloe-Grace a couple of months back, for which I'll be eternally grateful. Realm's current project is CLAN, an illustrated novel for young adults and here's the synopsis below:

"The person we will have to face every day is ourselves.
Fast-paced, edgy, humorous, and dark, Clan explores the concept that an exact clone is impossible. Clan begins on an abandoned planet, where a single survivor refuses to live alone. Fifty years later, the Clan has emerged: an all-male society of the survivor's clones, who live harmoniously with an ideal of no personal identity and label each other with numbers.

Three teenage clones meet.

Apart from having the same body, they have nothing in common."

(1) What is the CLAN universe and how did you come up with the idea?

CLAN is about a society consisting of one man that's been cloned many times over. Since I'm a 3D artist, I was thinking about what it'd be like to duplicate one character and make a whole film out of it. It'd be challenging, but the opportunities for unique scenarios and character development pulled me in. I immediately started writing CLAN and couldn't stop until the story was done.

(2) In CLAN, the entire society is male. What made you decide to create an all-male society versus a female one and did you ever think about creating an all-female world? And since you write across gender (like me!), do you think you have to change your mindset or perspective while writing?

Initially, I did consider an all-female cast. An all-male cast provided interesting scenarios for me to work with, such as the fact that they'd need incubation chambers to birth the clones. Plus, the idea of teen boys having to grow up with his clones seemed chaotic and hilarious to me. I find that I have an easy time thinking from a teen boy's perspective and tend to write their dialogue naturally. I believe it's because I grew up with two brothers and a lot of my friends were guys.

(3) I know you grew up in Japan, when did you move here and what was the hardest transition do you think? What do you miss about it most?

I've been to Japan and USA back-and-forth all throughout my childhood, but I moved for good to the US when I was eleven years-old. The hardest transition both ways for me was that I had to re-orient myself with the language and culture…and then move again and repeat the process. What I miss the most about Japan is the lively city of Tokyo and the delicious food.

(4) Could you share some of your favorite comics, movies, and video games? Maybe just a few "must see/read" influences. For someone who is as creative and talented across so many fields as you, I'd imagine it's quite a list, so even one of each would be amazing. But definitely I'd love to know which or who are your favorite comics!

My favorite comic is anything done by Tezuka Osamu. I've admired his work since I was a kid and still consider him my hero. My favorite movie is Spirited Away. It knocked my socks off when I first saw it. I also love Edward Scissorhands. And my favorite video game…hmm, this one is tough! I love Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII pretty equally! Another game I recently got into is the Phoenix Wright series.

(5) You must be incredibly busy with so many projects going on, an awesome job, and what seems like a wealth of hobbies -- like skateboarding! How do you manage your time and when do you find the time to write?

Since I was a kid, I've been balancing my time with schoolwork, drawing, and writing. I learned to form a habit and to focus when it's time to focus. I'll dedicate an hour to writing or drawing on weekdays and that adds up. I also spend several hours on the weekends to write, whether it's in a cafe or in my home office. In my spare moments, I'll work on my blog as well. It's also important to me to go have fun -- so I go out as much as possible!

(6) I visited Seattle last year and heard about this whole phenomenon known as the Seattle Freeze. I personally found everyone to be super nice and friendly but maybe I was just being frozen out! What's your take on what that's all about? Overblown or somewhat accurate?

I heard about this too! I've never experienced the Seattle freeze! For such a rainy place, everyone seems pretty friendly. Some people that just moved to Seattle say it's harder to make friends here...but I've personally never experienced any difficulty.

Thanks for the answers Realm, and everyone go to her site because she recently had a birthday and she should be celebrated. Go,go!

Dance Like Somebody's Watching

Remember a while back when I was looking for a mini-genre of movie to be into? Well, I picked assassin movies and to be honest, it's been a lot of hit and miss. That wasn't an attempted pun, really. While I soldier on and continue my assassin movie research, I realized I already have a mini-genre I'm totally dedicated to: dance movies. I don't even think my fandom qualifies as a guilty pleasure because dance movies and shows are so mainstream now. So what I'd like to do is combine two of my loves -- dance movies and rankings -- to pen detailed reviews of all the dance films of the recent past. Important cinematic events like Step Up, You Got Served, Save the Last Dance, Honey, Stomp the Yard, and the rest of the modern classics.

Some rules I'm making for myself: All movies must be fictional, so that eliminates documentaries (sorry Planet B-Boy, Rize, Mad Hot Ballroom). For now I'm avoiding anything before 1990, but I may have to lift that rule eventually. If only to cover Dirty Dancing -- which I've never seen all the way through -- and Footloose. I'm not sure how far I'll expand my definition of dance movie either. If it'll include stuff like Shall We Dance or Saturday Night Fever, which are arguably character films.

Most importantly, a movie with dancing in it is not necessarily a dance movie. Does it have laughable acting and a cliche-laden plot? Yes and yes? Then I want to watch it. Is the lead character taking their nontraditional street skills to an esteemed academy? Is the romantic relationship fraught with racial and/or sociological tension? Will you liberally utilize the fast forward button through repeat viewings yet rewind for key lines? That's the kind of movie I'm talking about. I could call the mini-genre "hip hop dance movies," but I'd like to leave some room for Bring It On (and its four sequels), which just might be the Citizen Kane of the genre.

"I am a choreographer. That's what I do. You are cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are dancers who have gone retarded. What you do is a tiny, pathetic subset of dancing. I will attempt to turn your robotic routines into poetry, written with the human body. Follow me, or perish, sweater monkeys."
-Bring It On-

Important things we'll be rating on a 1-10 scale include: Can the lead actors/actresses actually dance? How much fun are their sidekicks? What are the best lines from the movie? How's the music selection? What is this film's overall cultural impact?

If you'd like to guest judge or watch anything with me, please don't hesitate to ask. Nothing is better than watching dance movies with other dance-ophiles. Bring your snark, bring your fashion commentary, bring popcorn. On the other hand, if you want to know when I'm watching one of these and would like to not be around for the next three hours (DVD extras are a must), I can let you know that information too. And please tell me any suggestions you might have for movies I need to watch. Like the J.Lo produced Feel the Noise, or the upcoming Turn the Beat Around from MTV.

Are you excited people? All of this will culminate in a group viewing of Dance Flick, obviously.

Reviews
3.03.2010: Step Up
4.26.2010: Center Stage
6.04.2010: Street Dance
8.16.2010: Step Up 3
12.14.2010: You Got Served
5.23.2011: White Nights
10.18.2011: Footloose
8.03.2012: Step Up Revolution
10.11.2013: Battle of the Year
6.19.2014: Street Dance 2
9.18.2014: Step Up All In
7.02.2015: Magic Mike XXL
4.14.2019: Swing Kids / Seuwingkizeu
Next up: The Company

The Oak Park Story

"The Oak Park Story, the new documentary that captures the lives of a predominantly Southeast Asian and Latino community in an Oakland slum, will premiere at the 2010 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. The film is directed, edited, co-produced and co-written by Valerie Soe and co-produced and co-written by Russell Jeung, both of whom are professors of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University."

Sylvie (Antisocial Ladder) sent this along to spread the word. I spent a whole week going to showings at the SF Asian American Film Festival last year and loved every minute of it. While I unfortunately won't be in the Bay this year for the event, you might be, so go watch everything and especially go check out The Oak Park Story! Here's their blog, Facebook page, and a video clip link.

"The film recounts the struggles of three very different families (Cambodian, Mexican, and white American) who find themselves together in a run-down apartment complex in Oakland, CA. Together, these three households encountered drug dealing, gang violence and prostitution right in their parking lot. Yet their worst problem was their Stanford-educated landlord, who raised rents even when El Nino rains flooded their units. Facing unsanitary housing conditions that led to the hospitalization of several children, 44 households of Oak Park banded together to sue and eventually won a landmark settlement, against their landlord. Despite the victory, this too brought about some surprising, unintended consequences."
-Hyphen Magazine-

Where: Sundance Kabuki Cinema, San Francisco
When: March 14, 2010 at 2:00 pm and March 15, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Tickets: Available at the SFIAAFF website