CATFISH

Today on my wonderful blog I will be reviewing a little movie by the name of CATFISH. I already know that most of you out there have no earthly idea what movie this is. And all I can say is that is good, because maybe after reading this you just might say, "Hey I want to see that movie, and wow this guy knows a thing or two about movies I think I'll come here for all my movie reviews, and I'll tell my friends to come here." But hey that might just be wishful thinking. So let's get started.

CATFISH probably won't be familiar with too many of you out there because it is what we in the biz call an "indie". Now an "indie" for those of you that don't know is an independent film. Which to say is a movie made for very little money and not by a major studio. Often times it is bankrolled by the person or persons who wrote and directed it. They are then shown at any number of film festivals with the intent of being picked up by a major studio that later distributes it on a wide scale. So there is you're first lesson on film wither you wanted it or not.

So now that that's out of the way lets get to why we are all here, CATFISH. The Who: You will not know a single person in this movie, believe me. The only way that it might be possible know any of these people is if by some chance you are related to them. The What: So right off the bat I was so excited to see this movie when I saw the preview. Because the movie plays out like a thriller of some sorts, and you never really quite know if this thing is a movie that is about to have an incredible twist or if it actually is a documentary. I think I'll do my best not to ruin that little surprise for you.

So the movie starts out with a photographer, is brother and friend who are both filmmakers. The photographer's name is Nev or Dev, really it's irrelevant. Apparently he photographs things and maybe they are posted on his facebook or something, but by some happenstance a 8 year old by the name of Abby sees this photograph, becomes facebook friends with him and then paints that picture and sends it to him. Then he and Abby and her family embark on this friendship that Nev's brother and friend have to film. After a few paintings are sent to him, Nev sees that Abby has an older sister Megan just about his age, and through facebook, they really hit it off. They are facebooking back and forth smiley faces at the end of there sentences, uploading different pictures of each other back and forth, and finally they talk of the phone. It is facebook official they are basically in love, and who can blame them this can't miss right? They are so into each other that they actually plan a trip where Megan will come to New York and stay with him, but it just doesn't happen.

Now here comes the twist. Nev, his brother, and his friend are all going to Colorado to film some ballet and they tell Megan and her family that they should come and meet up with them because it's fairly close to where they live with is in Michigan if I'm not mistaken. Now while they are up in the hotel in Colorado facebooking each other Megan says that she records music with her mother sometimes. So Nev tells her to send him some and she does. The only problem is that they soon find out that it is not really them singing these songs. Instead they are just uploading them off of the Internet.

Now her comes the real funny part, You meet somebody on facebook and surprise surprise they don't end up being who they say they are. The reactions on these guys faces when they finally put all this stuff together, and then go to Michigan to call Megan out on her shit is worth the price of admission alone. The third act of this movie is just outstanding. It is sad, and funny all at the same time, and it really does kind of put you right on the edge of your seat wondering what exactly is going to happen next.

Now let me just say right off here and now that CATFISH is not going to be for everybody, hell it might not be for most people. But if you are like me and you love love love independent film then this movie will be right up your alley. For those other people out there that really are more comfortable with the mainstream stuff, I'm pretty sure that there is a little movie by the name of LIFE AS WE KNOW IT that opened this weekend. And I'm pretty sure that it will be filled with a neurotic every woman Kathrine Heigel, and I'm sure she will have twenty or so wardrobe changes with her tits jumping out of most of them. And of course there will be a predictable cookie cutter happy ending at the end of it all. But for those of you that like to step out on the edge and see something different, something that you haven't quite seen before then I tell you CATFISH is that movie, and you won't leave disappointed.

So until next time my friends...... Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

Hi guys, it's ponder here again. I know it's been a while, but I'm back, and after a long weekend of drinking in Texas and a great sooner win I figured it was time to give you all what you want. More of me spouting out my views on everything that I know you all care about. So I'm going to throw a little change up here tonight. I will now use my blog as a movie review site as well as the other things I like to put on here. So for all over you that don't know if you really want to see a movie, and you can't quite trust the mainstream outlets for reviews, come to me and let mr. goodbar (just a name I got from pleasuring women) tell you if you want to see it or not.

Today I will be reviewing THE SOCIAL NETWORK. Yes folks I am reviewing the facebook movie. For those of you that don't know this, I think that facebook is somewhat ridiculous, and I say that because people become so obsessed with it that they neglect things in their real life. And people really believe that this computer interaction is the same as the real thing. But that is the society that we are living in. A society where people would rather search the Internet to find somebody that to actually go out and find somebody. But I guess life is better on facebook, you actually get to be the start of your own reality tv show. With all of this said, I will just go ahead and review this. And then when I'm done, I will post this on FACEBOOK, conundrum I know.

So let me just give you a little rundown of the movie before I get into. the WHO: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, and new to the party Armie Hammer. the WHAT: a genius in college gets dumped horribly, and does what all other great geniuses do... creates a social network that will revolutionize the entire world just to stick it back in her face. And along the way there are girls, parties, and lawsuits.

Okay so right of the bat, I guess I should say that this movie is masterfully directed by one David Fincher. I mean the guy is pretty much a god when it comes to cinema as far as I'm concerned. The movie looks effortlessly gorgeous but really what else is new. I mean I was amazed to find out that Armie Hammer who plays twins in the movie was just one person. This guy is going to be around for a while, he definitely has that movie star look about him. David Fincher does such a great job showing this film throw the eyes of three separate groups and yet the movie moves through effortlessly and never really bogs down for a single second.

After seeing this movie for the first time someone asked me what I thought about it and the word that came to mind was tragic. They asked me if I thought the movie was bad because I used that word, but it's not at all. I thought that the movie was tragic because for me at the heart of it, it is about this guy or rather kid, because when he started this whole facebook revolution he was just a sophomore in college. A kid who is a genius and has changed the world we live in today essentially, but he did it at the cost of all or what personal relationships that he had. But who knows, maybe that is was true genius is. To be a genius you have to be willing to walk alone sometimes.

So who exactly owns this movie? That's easy, Jesse Eisenberg is slowly but surely becoming a star. His smart ass, fast talking turn as Mark Zuckerberg the creator of facebook is fantastic. He has all the wittiness to let you know that he is the smartest guy in the room and you have no problem realizing that this guy did create facebook. And even though he is rough around the edges and is a complete asshole for most of the movie and he never lets up believe me. You do at the end of the movie feel somewhat sorry for this guy who has been so consumed with this thing that he has given up his personal relationships. Also great in this movie is Andrew Garfield who I for one can't wait to see him in NEVER LET ME GO or even more mainstream to watch his turn as Peter Parker in the up in coming SPIDERMAN remake. In this he plays the best friend to Jesse Eisenberg's character. The guy who helped upstart facebook, and was for the most part Zuckerberg's only friend, and the guy who eventually gets cut out of facebook and ends up suing his best friend. Also fantastic is Justin Timberlake, who plays Sean Parker, the founder of napster, who creates the divided between Eisenberg and Garfield's characters which ultimately leads to the collapse of their friendship and the lawsuit. This might be the best acting of Timberlakes young acting career. He is great, coming in as this fast talking slick guy who comes in and gets Zuckerberg hooked on anything that he spews out of his mouth. Timberlake was perfect for this character and he plays it to perfection.

My final verdict on this movie is an 8. It gets a hard 8 from me, I think that it might be a little higher but I suffered from the fact that everybody in the world has said that this is the greatest movie of the fall. And believe me it was great but it is kind of hard to live up to all the expectations that everybody has put out there for it. I think that this movie is a very relevant movie that everyone should go see. Especially since this our entire world is dominated by facebook. So go see it asap, and let me know what you think.

Next time I will be reviewing an independent movie by the name of CATFISH. Until then, Don't start nothin' won't be nothin'

ONE-LINERS

Hello out there, if there really is anyone out there. Or am I just typing into my own infinite abyss? Maybe, sometimes it feels that way. You know like there really is no ending to anything that is going on around us. Just an infinite free fall into life. It's like three thirty in the morning right now and i take it that when I am done writing this little diddy it will probably be about four in the morning. When do I sleep you ask? Well a infamous man once told me that I could sleep when I'm dead, and I guess over the years I have become a firm believer in that statement.

So why are we here tonight? What is it that I want to talk about this time? There are so many things that have happened to me over the past month but in particular I want to talk about one-liners. I feel like it is necessary for my own personal manhood that at least once in my life I be able to spit out a really great one-liner to somebody. I know that sounds completely ridiculous but this is the type of shit that I think about.

Like on my trip to Chicago that I just took my good friend Mr. Hagedorn dropped a brilliant one-liner to a very annoying drunk guy that wanted to show him some bullshit picture of who really knows what. But as the guy continued to force this picture upon Mr. Hagedorn he simply responded with a, "Listen Asshole, I'm not trying to be rude, but I don't want to see your picture." Or something to this effect, the thing about it is that it was brilliant. I need that, well I guess I don't really need it, but I want it and very bad all of the sudden.

I guess my want for this to happen just stems from the fact that I am such a nice guy. And really who doesn't walk all over the nice guy? I'm here to tell you not that many people. So for once I'd like to be bad ass, I mean I am pretty bad ass, but like bonafide bad ass you know, like Bruce Willis in Die Hard bad ass, or Clint Eastwood in anything bad ass.

The funny thing about this whole entry is that I already kind of know what I want to say, given the opportunity of course. I just want to really get is some body's shit, like all up in it after a fight or whatever and I want them to feel it to know that I was there and to be so pissed off about it that they can't see straight, so pissed off in fact that they tell me that I'm gonna pay for this and everything else, and that I'm dead or that I'm gonna die, just so I can look back at him and say,
"Yeah I know, someday." Pretty pathetic I know, but I love it. If you've read this congratulations you have just gotten a wonderful insight into one thing that might pop into my head at any given moment, so you are very welcome.

60 feet 6 inches

Well folks, I'm back after quite a bit of time off. I feel like I have really been slacking and I know that there are oh so many of you out there that just really need to hear about all the many wonderful things going on in my life so I'm sorry for the hiatus. With that said I think I might change the pace a little bit with this one. I mean yes, my sister is still bat shit crazy, and yes she just got done working everyday for two straight weeks(longest weeks of my life)but I think I will cover all of that stuff on another day. Today I feel like talking about one of great loves of my life, I feel like talking baseball.

There are so many different reasons why I love baseball. Almost too many to count, I can go on obnoxiously about baseball for hours upon hours believe me. Some of you out there have already ended up in the cross hairs of one of these rants that I sometimes go on, and for that all I can say is, You're Welcome!

Now as I was saying, there are so many things that I love about baseball, but the thing that I love the most, the thing that I miss more than anything, the thing that I can feel deep down inside of me that comes up every year around this time and won't leave until sometime in October. The thing that I love most about baseball is 60 feet and 6 inches. You might be thinking what is this 60 feet 6 inches you speak of? Well the best way that I could describe it is that quite honestly it is the distance that turns boys into men. It's the distance where games are won and lost, where careers are made or broken, it's the distance between death and immortality.

You may at this point be think what in the world is wrong with this guy, is he delusional, how can that be all of those things? You may not understand it, but it is, it is most certainly all of those things and then some. For those of you that still don't know what 60 feet 6 inches is, it's the distance from the pitcher's mound to home plate on a baseball field. To me it's home, it's Mt. Everest, it's the greatest place on earth. I spent many a days out on a ball field, 60 feet 6 inches away, some of the best days and the most heart breaking days of my life.

Now to really understand what I'm talking about you have to understand what baseball is. Some people think it's just a game, that it's something for boys to do in the summer. Some people know it's our national pass time but they really don't think much more than that. To the people that have been goodly enough to be touched by this sport know that it is so much more. It becomes so much more than a game, it changes who you are inside, it becomes a certain way of life, it becomes a religion of sorts, where people pray to the god of first pitch strikes, and the god of the hanging curve ball. When I was a wee lad of 18 years a coach told me that sooner or later you'll find that there are those in this world that have played baseball, really played baseball and then there is everybody else. Now at the time I didn't have any idea what that meant, and when he said it I just kind of smirked and shrugged it off, but as I've grown up I know that he his absolutely right.

Now baseball is the ultimate team sport. There is no shot clock or game clock or time limit, as long as the weather is good and there is no lightning, you play until the game is over. And you're gonna fail more than you're gonna succeed. It doesn't just test you physically, it test you mentally on every imaginable level. I was at one point a pretty good baseball player, nothing special in particular though I worked hard, tried to set a good example, and showed up everyday. And once I got to the level where my little bit of talent and my hard work couldn't exactly cut the mustard anymore I had to give it up. It left a sour taste in my mouth but I guess it always does, when things end. They always seem to end too soon, weather you play for 15 years or 40.

Now that I've given you that little in site into my baseball, let me tell you exactly what 60 feet 6 inches means to me. I am an average guy, and on a good day I can be said to be kind of funny and somewhat awkwardly charming, but that's on a very good day. I was always a good student in school, not because I was just the smartest person in the room, but because I had this thing were I just wanted to know more about everything than anybody else, so I worked really hard to try and do that and in doing so school became something that I was good at. All of that is great. There is nothing wrong with any of it, but on the baseball field I was something totally different. On that pitcher's mound 60 feet 6 inches away from home plate I was a king. I was larger than life and I knew exactly what I was put on this earth for. To throw strikes and help my team win.

There's a feeling you get when you're up on that mound, when you're staring down the opposing team's batters and you know, I mean you absolutely know that on this given day they can't touch you. There is no greater feeling in the world. To know that you're team is depending on you and that you are going to be able to come through for them. And when it's gone, when it's all over all you want is it back. 60 feet 6 inches is where it all begins. You stare down the opposing batter, and you quietly tell him what you are about the throw before you throw it, and it doesn't matter because he can't touch it. You stand on that mound and you sing to yourself, to keep yourself in the rhythm of the game. You talk to yourself when you walk the nine hole. And people think that you are halfway crazy, and the beauty of it is that you are.

60 feet 6 inches can seem like five miles away when you are three outs away from closing out a big game. When you are 100 pitches into the game and your whole body feels like it's about to break down, and you dig down deep for that last out. You and your catch both know you got nothing left but you dig down anyway and find something, anything, and when you get that last out you feel like you can do anything, because you've pushed yourself further than you ever thought possible and you came out on the other side. 60 feet 6 inches, where most of the defining moments of my life have come.

the journey

It's been a while since I have wrote anything on here. For those few of you that actually do read this and somewhat enjoy it I would like to say that I am sorry for that. I just really haven't felt too inspired lately. The last few days I've talked to some friends on the phone and it has made me miss home more than I could have ever realized. And it also made me realize that when I moved, it was the abrupt and almost what seemed like it was out of nowhere, even though it really wasn't.

The last week or so when I wake up I feel different. I don't really know how to explain it besides the fact that I just really don't feel like myself. But really I don't know that last time I have felt like myself. I came out here on the journey to prove something to myself, and although I have just been out here a few months it kind of feels like by trying to prove one thing, I have proven the complete opposite. I almost felt like this was some sort of hero's journey. I know that that sounds really stupid and to be honest borderline insane, but that is the way that I felt about it. I felt as if it was the journey that I had to take at this particular point in my life and that by doing so it is going to make all the difference in my life. Now the hard part about this whole thing is that when i started off I was picturing the journey more a kin to that of Luke Skywalker, when in reality I am leaning more on the side of Anakin, and that is not a good thing, enough though some might beg to differ.

Now this whole thing is making me think about something a professor once talked about in class. He said no one is happy until the end is known. And I've been thinking about that statement a lot lately. Not to say that I am so unhappy because that is just not the case. I just really want to know what my end is, but I guess we all do. I miss my friends and family everyday. I once read a book and there was a quote at that end of it, it said something like never tell anybody anything, or you'll miss everyone. Never has that statement been more true than right now. Because I miss everyone like crazy, but I guess I must continue this journey weather I turn out to be the one that restores the force or I fall prey to the dark side, I'm in it now and hopefully I can make to best of this and not end up with my tail tucked between my legs back where I started.

I don't for the life of my even know why I wrote this post, it seems to be just another random blog, but I guess my intentions where to tell the ones that matter to me that I love and miss them, and that they are always with me.

Fridays after Five

Just last friday I had my first experience of "Friday's after Five" here in good ol' charlottesville. Now you may be asking yourself right now what exactly is"Friday's after Five" , you may not be also, you may be wondering how on earth did I stumble into this guy's blog? Either way you're here now so I'm just going to tell you. "Friday's after Five" is a thing they do here in charlottesville where a band puts on a concert at the downtown amphitheater, and people just sort of walk around and drink and eat and just enjoy the vibe of everything.

I must say that it was a pretty cool experience for me. Just being in that atmosphere with all of these very different people watching a jazz band up on stage was pretty cool. And really the coolest thing about the whole evening was the fact that I got to sit back and partake in one of my favorite past times, which is people watching. And let me just tell you like everywhere else there are some pretty crazy people that live here in charlottesville. But this entry is not to talk about all of those people, it's just about one in particular.

The first person that I'm going to talk about is a girl that I saw there. She really was just an ordinary girl like any other girl you might see these days. She was in her early 20's I'd say, definitely in college are on her way out. I think she probably didn't quite fit in high school through no fault of her own, just really didn't have to much in common with anybody there. But in college she has found the people that she was truly meant to be around. That sort of laid back bohemian group of people that just love to hang out in a field and hackie sack, or love talking about all different types of independent and foreign films. That love these little bitty coffee shops and cd stores that nobody has really ever heard about. I'm not at all saying any of this like it is a bad thing, because I seriously do fit into a lot of those categories that I just mentioned.

Now while I was watching this girl I found out one thing about myself, and that was the fact that never in my life did I want to be an inanimate object as much as I did when I saw her. She went up to a clearing on a hill and picked up a hula hoop, and she began hula hooping, and after just a few minutes of watching her I became completely mesmerized by her. I mean the way she was spinning this hula hoop up and down her body and flipping it around her hands and back down her body, I promise you it was like poetry in motion. I could almost swear that I was having this out of body experience. And it was quite wonderful. And after about five minutes or so she finally messed up and came down off the hill and hooked back up with the rest of her friends. But the thing is I think that is way I am in love with life so much that it sometimes hurts. Because I can see the beauty in all of these great things. Things that most people might just look at as an everyday occurrence, but to me it's not like that. Sometimes I feel like there is so much beauty in this world that we are all missing and it makes me sad. Sometimes it makes me sad because i feel like I need to find away to translate some of the beauty that I see to everyone else who might not see it. Sounds crazy I know, but really sanity doesn't sound this great, does it?

Rambling

I keep having this dream. It starts out very vividly, I'm not really sure where exactly i am but I am out in the water. And suddenly my legs just kind of give out, and I'm flapping my arms as fast and as hard as I can, but eventually they give out as well. and I just begin to sink. The crazy thing is that I'm just sinking and my brain is telling my body what it should be doing. You know what it needs to be doing to survive, but it just doesn't seem to be working. And after I can't hold my breath any longer I just open up and let it all overtake me. Now it is right around this moment that I seem to wake up in a panic. I've had that dream for the past three nights now. I kind of don't want to go to sleep tonight because I feel it might be more of the same.

But when I'm awake I can't say that it is too much better. I look out the window in my sister's apartment and I think that I actually might be drowning. I kind of feel the walls closing in on me. Did I make a mistake? Is this what I should be doing, or am I just bringing her down with me.

Sometimes I think I should just leave. Leave it all you know, no cell phone, no nothing. I don't want to be that guy you know. I don't want to be that guy that brings everyone else down with him. I didn't think I was that guy, but sometimes I get the feeling that I might be. I don't want people to have to worry about me messing thing up you know. I think that might think that, hell I kind of think that. This is not who I was always meant to be, but somehow, here I am. I think that I have let a lot of people down. I know I've let myself down thus far. I think I can see the disappointment in their eyes sometimes, even when they are doing there best to let me know that things happen, and you just have to keep trying.

My dad told me that you only fail when you stop trying. He said it's just life and things happen, but you have to keep going, when you stop that's when you fail. But I feel like I've already failed and that really sucks. I don't think I'm the man he wanted me to be, I always think that's hard for me, but I bet it's harder on him. A little image of himself running around being less than what he expected, probably doesn't feel too good.

I don't know why for the life of my I started writing this entry, I guess I wanted to talk about a dream that i felt was becoming reality or something, I don't know. It's a good thing nobody really reads this shit because it is total shit right now. Sorry for those of you who do. I'll wrap this thing up right now though. I was watching this movie the other day, and there was a line in it that was something like, " It's big, to finally let go and accept the life you never wanted." or something to that effect. And I remember being in the theater all by myself and thinking am I going to know what that feels like someday? Am I going to feel that way? I don't know....