Autumn Round-Up: Halloween, East Coast Trip, and Thanksgiving

Hey all! It's been a while since I was able to post on here, because things have been rather hectic, but here's an overlong (but somehow still far too brief) update of what I've been up to (complete with the necessary film reviews):

First up was Halloween! Arguably my favorite holiday (Christmas gives it a run for its money) partially because I enjoy many things creepy and ghoulish, but mainly because I love pretending to be someone else for a day. Last year I had a pretty nifty Joker outfit I was pretty proud of, but this year I came up with something else really cool--Wikus from "District 9"! Pics above. And yes, I did win the Halloween costume contest at work two years in a row, for the two years I've been there (ugh...don't remind me).
As is always necessary come late October, I did my best to view a number of spooky movies, so here we go:
1. "[REC]" Jason and David (current roomies, if you weren't aware already) turned me on to this great little foreign zombie movie. The film "Quarantine" is apparently an English-speaking remake of this Spanish flick, but why would you remake it? Ditch the underwhelming, uninspired, high-budget "Zombieland," and rent this baby, which tells the story of a news crew caught in the midst of a zombie outbreak, forced to deal with each other inside a high-rise apartment building. Many terrifying and shocking moments, all done in a way that remind me, "Hey, maybe I CAN actually afford to make movies." I've mentioned before that, though I love zombie movies, I think they've run the gamut, but "[REC]" proved there is still inventiveness to be had.
2. "The Fourth Kind" Starts out promising, but quickly turns into one of the worst "scary" movies I've seen in a while. The entire thing feels like an overlong, bland episode of the X-Files. An interesting premise about UFO abductions in Alaska sadly leads nowhere and meanders in its supposed "creepiness," and the "real footage" just feels gimmicky. Aside from a sort of cool motif involving owl probes (!) there is very little this movie has to offer. Which is too bad...how hard can it be to make alien abduction interesting anyway?
3. "Trick 'R Treat" I think my hopes were a little too high for this film, but it still had a lot of fun bits, and was VERY festive. Sort of a "Love Actually" for Halloween, it involves four intersecting stories that all take place on Halloween night. The only problem is, like all anthology movies, some of the bits were better than others. Though I like Dylan Baker, his story as a serial killer was pretty insufferable. Anna Paquin's story is pretty cool, but you can see the "twist" coming a mile away. The story about the kids is fun, except it ends on a rather unsettling note that left a bad feeling in my stomach. The best of the lot is the final story that, while going through familiar motions, involves a creepy little monster/demon terrorizing a Scrooge-like Brian Cox who "doesn't believe in Halloween." Recommended as one to rent on the 31st of October. It nails the overall tone of the holiday better than any movie has since...well, the original "Halloween."
4."Creepshow" Again, another horror anthology movie. Most of the bits were so-so, some were awful (Stephen King should never act!), and one in particular totally awesome. The awesome one actually felt more like something you'd see on a "Twilight Zone" or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" than any horror film. Leslie Nielsen plays a surprisingly effective villain who tortures his wife and her lover (played by Ted Danson!) by burying them in sand on the beach, while a video camera films them...cool!
5. "Salem's Lot" A REALLY cool vampire movie dealing with them in a "modern" setting (OK, it's the 70s...so not that modern). Apparently this was originally a miniseries on television, which explains some of the choppiness and long length, but it's still a gripping fun movie with some tense moments (and a few cheeseball ones). Cool bits include the famous imagery of the vampire kid floating outside the window and scratching on the glass (remember that "Simpsons" Halloween special?), and look for a cool cameo from a young Fred Willard! Most importantly, it's an important reminder that vampires once upon a time used to be actually scary and cool, and not pussy-whipped unrealistic man-boys. Vampires aren't supposed to be your boyfriend...vampires are supposed to suck your blood and kill you! Which is ironic, considering that any girl who puts Cullen-esque expectations on their boyfriend probably will be sucking their BOYFRIEND'S spirits dry. But I digress...
6. "Paranormal Activity" The scary low-budget hit of the year, which I LOVED. As a big fan of horror in the last several years, it's become harder and harder for me to actually get scared by stuff anymore. I see the jumps coming, know when the musical sting will hit, and figure out who will get offed next. However, it has been YEARS since I have winced, closed my eyes, and plugged my ears so constantly throughout a movie. I was terrified, and it felt SO GOOD. It takes about a half hour before anything exciting actually starts to happen, and I was starting to think, "Maybe this was overhyped." Then there was a moment (involving a roar and a swinging lamp...that's enough to tell you without ruining it) where a chill went down my spine and I realized, "Uh-oh...I may be in trouble." Highly recommended as an example of what inventiveness can get you on a low budget, but not recommended if you scare easily. It took me hours to get to sleep after seeing it, and when I did finally doze off, I had nightmares.

I also saw these films in October, which were unrelated to Halloween but still deserve a review:
1. "A Serious Man" One of the best films of the year, and one of the best from the Coen brothers (I enjoyed it far more than their Oscar-winning "No Country For Old Men"). It's a movie basically about what it means to be Jewish during the 1960s (an alien world to me, anyway), but it's also an interesting take on the biblical story of Job. It also deserves mentioning that it is SO fresh to see a film of such caliber showcasing hardly any actors I've recognized from previous movies. It causes one to not focus on "oh he's the guy from THAT film" and instead just get drawn up in the filmmaking. See this movie.
2. "Where the Wild Things Are" I admire Spike Jonze for attempting what is basically a mainstream art film, but I ultimately thought the finished result was a mixed bag. The monsters themselves look incredible, and it's wonderful to see a movie that doesn't talk down to kids and instead shows them as complicated individuals in their own right full of turmoil and confusion at the world (anyone who looks back on childhood and remembers only innocent bliss is doing so with a checkered memory).
However while the movie starts out wonderfully, once Max gets to the island where the creatures live, things meander too much and the film loses its focus (which is actually the same feeling I had when I read the screenplay months before the release, so my instincts are good). This wandering style was intended to be a reflection on childhood games, and how kids playing in the sandbox often will make up their own stories on the fly as they play with each other. While this is an interesting idea, it unfortunately makes for rather aimless filmmaking. Things heat up and get better in the final act, but the middle just sagged too much. It's also a little surprising that the wild things are all such a bunch of Debbie Downers (my co-worker Blake joked that the island was a halfway house for monsters), which gives the entire thing a melancholy air that could have been a little lighter. While the wonderful children's book certainly had a dark edge about it, it didn't feel anywhere near as somber as this film.
Worth a look, but not the masterpiece I was hoping for.

Also, during a weekend at home, I saw these with the parents:
1. "Hombre" Underwhelming western with stilted acting, made interesting only by Paul Newman as a half-Apache. There are much better classic westerns out there to waste your time with.
2. "The 39 Steps" Classic early Hitchcock film that works great for its time, but feels dated by today's standards. Hitchcock got much better later in his career, but if you're a purist, you can check this one out. It's certainly better than a few others from his early career.

So anyway, that's October. November arrived with me FINALLY taking a vacation from my ever-tiresome job and going to the east coast, where I had TONS of fun.
Here is a list of what I did!
Day One: Flew in to New Jersey to meet with my Uncle Nelson. Of course, the best part of flying (for this blog anyway) is the in-flight movie. What was interesting about the airline I went on is that, instead of being dictated what movie you will be watching, everybody gets a screen attached to the seat in front of them, and you can pick whatever you want to watch (movies and TV shows) and even play games. And it's free! Even airplanes have On Demand stuff these days. What is most interesting is that while there are many new releases available, there are also many classic films. On this plane I viewed both "500 Days of Summer" and "Arsenic and Old Lace."
REVIEWS!
"500 Days of Summer" I was expecting to dislike this movie, mainly because I don't like hipster bait, and because (frankly) most romantic comedies these days suck balls. Plus I've also never really understood why people go ga-ga over Zooey Deschanel. I was surprised to find myself really getting into this movie, although perhaps for reasons not intended by the filmmakers. I instead saw it all as an anti-love movie. Instead of seeing Zooey Deschanel's character as the "ideal" woman for Joseph Gordon Levitt (who gives another stellar performance, by the way), I instead just kept shouting at him, "Get out! She's crazy...don't get involved! You're only going to end up a sad, broken man!" (perhaps this has something to do with my own personal experiences, but that's another story).
I also really liked that the filmmakers gave Los Angeles such a homey, east coast vibe. I really thought the movie was supposed to take place somewhere like New York, until I suddenly realized about halfway through that I recognized a number of locations such as UCLA, LA City Hall, and the Bradbury Building (neat also because the main character is interested in architecture). And the Hall & Oates dance sequence was one of the best things I've ever seen in a film in a longer time. If it's possible to be both a bitter and hopeless romantic at once, then this movie hits the nail right on the head.
"Arsenic and Old Lace" I always feel bad when I don't get into a classic film as much as I should, but I honestly didn't enjoy this madcap frenetic comedy as much as I felt I was expected to. The goofy, bonkers reactions of Cary Grant and co. just felt too ridiculous and over-the-top, as was the entire premise of old English biddies murdering people. I know this is a five-star AMC certified classic, but I just couldn't get into it...sorry!
Anyway, once I flew in to Jersey, I went to my aunt and uncle's house, where we played catch-up, I met with their dogs (three dachshunds + a long-legged German shepherd mix), and we had drinks.
Special note: I had an evening of drinks EVERY NIGHT of this trip, something which I rarely do. It was fun.
Day Two: A leisurely "settling in" day in Jersey. Didn't do much except walk the dogs and have more drinks. I also watched...
"Three Days of the Condor" Pretty solid film starring Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway, and also featuring a the great Max von Sydow as a threatening hit man. A great paranoid journalism thriller that fits right into the '70s, and paved the way for "All The President's Men" (a movie which I admittedly still haven't seen). Aside from a few corny lines of dialogue, ("The night is still young..." really Faye Dunaway...really?) this movie was gripping from start to finish. And it was directed by Sydney Pollack! Did I mention I met Sydney Pollack once? He's a smart dude. Or he was, until he died. Suddenly I'm sad...
Day Three: Took the train up to Boston to see my old roomie Sean. The train ride through New England was BEAUTIFUL, and I really started to see the appeal of the east coast. Growing up in California, around autumn and winter, you sort of feel cheated during certain holidays. Christmas never feels like Christmas SHOULD. Seeing areas of New England, with old Halloween pumpkins still on the doorsteps, I really "got" it. This is the way Fall is supposed to look, with vibrant oranges and reds painting endless tree-filled hills, while children bundled up in extra layers leisurely wander through the (somehow safer-feeling) neighborhoods. And I could imagine Winter, with these beautiful houses that just BELONG there covered in blankets of snow, while kids sit by the fireplaces (they actually need) and sip hot chocolate after a day of tobogganing. California just doesn't have that.
I will say, though, that I brought a piece of California with me weather-wise. Despite the Fall colors, it was surprisingly warm, and I spent most of my time in New England wearing little more than a T-shirt. Which (I'm told) is odd for early November.
Before heading to Boston, I called a few friends from the area, and as it turned out, my good friend Alex was in her hometown in Connecticut (for rather unhappy reasons actually), even though she currently lives in SB. I got off the train and spent the afternoon with her, which was wonderful, especially considering I hadn't seen her for several months.
It was an odd experience, seeing where she grew up; imaging her as a kid running through those streets lined with old-fashioned two-story houses. We had lunch at the local 24-hour diner, and I saw the little neighborhood sound with its soft beach and gently lapping water. I understood why someone could fall in love with the area, and I really got a stronger feeling of who Alex is and where she came from.
Anyway, after my foray in CT I finally shipped up to Boston, where I got gypped at the train station and met Sean O'Toole!!! Sean lives near the Cambridge area, and after meeting his two cool roommates, we all went out to eat, where we hopelessly flirted with a Zooey Deschanel-esque waitress (in a good way this time), and I had a delicious peanut butter burger (you read that right). We also wandered through Harvard that night, and I have to say, I'm disappointed...kids at Harvard are NERDS. We wandered through the dorm area around 9pm, and the place was SILENT. All the kids were studying! Not a single beer being drank or a prank being pulled. At one point we passed by two hot Radcliffy girls, only to hear them discussing the potential uses of DNA. Huh???
I will say that the Harvard campus really puts USC to shame; the entire place looks feels like you just teleported (apparated?) into Hogwarts. At one point I saw a couple students disappear into a particularly fancy-looking castle-of-a-building, and so Sean and I took a peek inside. The interior was just as elaborate as the exterior, with high-arching ceilings that reminded me of a gothic cathedral (not that I'm any expert on historical architecture). It took me a few moments to realize this was their DINING HALL. Suddenly EVK feels even more lame than it did before!
After Harvard-ing, we stumbled back to Sean's apartment, where we played several rounds of Super Mario Drunk Driver, a drinking game I highly recommend, but one that takes to long to explain on a blog.
Day Four: The Boston day! I LOVED the City of Boston, and I frankly could easily have spent a few more days there. First things first, we went to Harvard's museum because it has dinosaurs (does USC have a museum? No). The most impressive fossil had to be their full skeleton of the monstrous fish lizard Kronosaurus, a true nightmare of the seas. However I also enjoyed their extensive geology collection, and was completely incredulous of their supposed "glass" flowers that I still don't believe are made of glass (Google it...I'm still calling bullshit). We were also invited to the first ever school-sponsored Harvard "rave," something I REALLY wanted to check out, but unfortunately I wasn't going to be in town (DAMN...I REALLY wanted to see how the east coast uber-geeks interpreted a rave).
After Harvard we made our way downtown. Like New York, Harvard is the sort of city you don't really need a car in, which is refreshing after being in Los Angeles for (too long) a while. What's incredible about Boston is that everything feels like it BELONGS there. Buildings seem to melt into the surroundings as if they've been there for hundreds of years (as many of them have). A number of cobblestone streets are used only for foot traffic, and without much effort you can easily imagine horse-drawn carriages moving down their paths. My favorite part of Boston was their massive Boston Common park, which reminded me a lot of Central Park, but less crowded and more hilly. Funnily enough, as I wandered through Boston Common soaking up the scenery I had a weird sense of deja vu, which I ultimately figured out stemmed from one of my favorite childhood books, "Make Way For Ducklings," which takes place in Boston Common!
After admiring a number of historical buildings and the Boston Fish Market, we eventually made our way to Boston Harbor, where I had some mandatory clam chowder and we wished we all had the foresight to bring some tea and stage a little protest. Then it was back to Sean's for another round of Drunk Driver.
Day Five: I got up early in the morning and wished Boston goodbye, feeling bummed I couldn't spend more time there. I had always assumed Boston to be a place filled with assholes (my same west coast assumption about New York, actually), but it is possibly my favorite "large city" I've visited thus far in my life.
Once in New York, I got a guided tour from my uncle of both the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim, which was good because my uncle knows a hell of a lot more about modern art than I do. Ultimately my experience there amounted to, "Well, I guess I just don't get modern art" although I really liked a lot of Kandinsky's work at the Guggenheim, as well as the structure of the overall building itself.
Day Six: A bit of a recuperation day back in Jersey. I played with the dogs, watched Woody Allen's "Zelig" on demand, and had some delicious Cuban food with my aunt before seeing "An Education" in theaters.
REVIEWS!
"Zelig" I've said it before, and I'll say it again...most of the time I just don't understand all the Woody Allen fuss. "Zelig" may have been one of the first movies to utilize the use of stock footage, but that doesn't mean I found it very interesting. But you're talking to a guy who also hated "Annie Hall" and "Sleeper," so take from that what you will.
"An Education" was an EXCELLENT film, and one of the best I've seen this year. The screenplay was written by one of my favorite writers EVER, Nick Hornby, and it shows. Hornby really knows how to crawl inside the skin of a character and make you see things from their point of view, even when they make bad decisions. This works for rock snobs (in "High Fidelity," one of my favorite books of all time), just as well as it works for inexperienced British schoolgirls (this film). Cinematography and direction are easy to look over in a film like this, but they are top notch, as is the acting all across the board. Alfred Molina and Peter Sarsgaard are predictably solid, but the real standout is young Carey Mulligan in the lead, whom I very much expect to see at the Oscars this year. Throughout the film she makes choices that you know will lead her down the wrong path, as she is slowly seduced from the straight-and-narrow Oxford-directed path by the much older, but charming, Sarsgaard character. Yet even while you are aware of this, you can fully understand and sympathize with her desire to be free, to experience the world, and to have fun (a struggle I can very much identify with, let me tell you!).
As a guy who generally goes for the latest action flick, sci-fi fantasy, or elaborate animated work, I was surprised at how much I adored "An Education." And as a bonus, it was the perfect movie to see with my aunt!
Day Seven: Spent the day with my aunt visiting Brooklyn, which was fun because it my first time visiting a part of New York that wasn't Manhattan. The main reason I wanted to visit Brooklyn was to see if The Superhero Supply Company was actually real. It is! The store is a literal front for a non-profit organization that sponsors writing for kids. So my purchases of invisibility spray and maps of the negative zone all went to a good cause.
After my geeking out, we escaped from the drippiness (I was overdue for some crappy weather) by lunching at an incredibly affordable and delicious Thai place before returning home. That evening, we watched John Woo's "Red Cliff" on demand.
I'm not as big a John Woo fan as some others, but nevertheless, as far as Hong Kong action goes (and the action genre in general) he is the king. His inventive use of gunplay, doves, and slo-mo has been emulated by many, but he's the guy who really came up with it (ever seen this, by the way?). So I was very curious what Woo would do with swordplay instead of guns in "Red Cliff."
The swordplay IS really cool, but it doesn't feel as new or innovative as I had hoped (except for the awesome "turtle" scene). I felt like, after "Crouching Tiger," "Hero," and "House of Flying Daggers" we've seen things that were more or less the same. Even so, a lot of the stuff is pretty impressive, the best sequence invovling a VERY innovative way of stealing extra arrows from the enemy.
Still the film felt overlong and a little confusing; I kept forgetting who was on who's side (and not just because all Asians look alike...kidding!). Comment of the night goes to Max, however, for labeling the woman caught between the battle "Helen of Soy."
Yet my so-so attitude towards "Red Cliff" should be entirely ignored, because I later discovered that the film we Americans got was originally TWO films! Apparently American audiences can't handle a two-part epic foreign film (bullshit, I say), so instead of two cool movies that tell an overarching story a la "Lord of the Rings," we got a chopped up disjointed movie that felt too long for ONE film, and was somewhat convoluted and confusing. I kinda now wish I'd never seen this version of "Red Cliff," and just waited to snatch a copy from Hong Kong at some point, but oh well.
Day Eight: My final day on the east coast, and I made it COUNT. Early in the morning I took the train into Penn Station, and then the subway to Union Square. The mission...to meet my old friend from the cinema floor, Rachel Kerry! After hanging in Forbidden Planet for a while (the most awesome comic book shop ever), Rachel showed up, and treated me on a guided tour of the city.
We went to an amazingly delicious Ukranian place for lunch called Veselka's (I believe), and played catch up with each others lives, which was tons of fun. After we had stuffed ourselves, we forced more food down our throats by walking to the oldest pastry shop in New York (I'm told) called Venero's (not Venerio's, as I kept pronouncing it), where I polished off several delicious cannoli (is cannoli the plural of cannoli? I'm no sure). From there we wandered to a nearby hole-in-the-wall DVD store (called Kim's) full of obscure films. It was cool, although I still don't think it holds a candle to Amoeba. Sorry New Yorkers, but LA kids still do the movie stuff better than you.
After that we wandered over to a bar to grab a few midday drinks with Mack, which was tons of fun. It felt like old USC times, except we were all in the Big Apple! After an hour in the pub we parted ways, and I made a slow trek to another area of New York to catch the USC game (but not before stopping to get a good look at the T. Rex in the Times Square Toys 'R Us).
I went to a pretty swank bar and watched the USC game with Diana, my close friend since kindergarten. It was tons of fun catching up with Diana, and I met several of her really neat friends, but the game was a disaster...I believe it was our biggest loss in USC's history. I don't really get into football that much, but this was really painful.
However, a friend of one of Diana's friends was from Berkeley, and she invited us to go to a (far less fancy) bar to watch the Berkeley game. We did, mainly because (in my case) this girl from Berkeley was absolutely jaw-droppingly gorgeous and sweet. Diana actually left the Berkeley bar at that point, though I stuck around and hung out with a handful of Berkeley kids (and one girl from USC) whom I previously had never met before in my life. I even got my picture taken by the New York Post, because the reporter was doing an article on college football bar behavior, soI pretended to be a Berkeley kid (method acting...plus, my sister goes to Berkeley!). I never got to see if I made it into an issue of the New York Post, but I hope I did, and I hope that someone I know from USC catches it and gets very confused at my presence.
Anyway we parted ways from the bar, and the gorgeous Berkeley Amazonian went home to study (but we're facebook friends now...there is hope!). I wound up going to the place of the other girl from USC, where I met her roommate's yap-yap dog, we chatted, and I taught her some piano. From there we eventually joined up at the party with Diana, although I felt a little out of my element, hanging with all these ultra-young and yet somehow insanely rich New York investment banker types. I tried to pimp out my movie, but it didn't lead anywhere. We eventually wound up at some bar in the meat packing district, and from there I eventually found a way home back to Jersey. It was about 4 am. Whoops!
Day Nine: Took the plane home. There were a few interesting things on the journey (mostly revolving around myself not planning exactly WHO was going to pick me up from the airport), but I'm getting tired.
Having been to New York twice now, what I love about the city is that it is much more personable than I expected. In Los Angeles, everyone is confined to little bubbles as they drive around their cars, obsessed with their own lives and getting their OWN shit done. In New York, people are forced to walk on the streets, to take subways, and to look people in the face on a daily basis. Thus, you treat people more like actual people, and not as aliens (illegal or otherwise). As Logan so eloquently put it, "In Los Angeles, it's 'fuck everyone.' In New York, it's 'fuck YOU.'"

Anyway, the New York trip was great. Soon after that came Thanksgiving, which was a wonderful time back in Santa Barbara, and another welcome break from Hell-A. Four days with the family was just right, and the highlight of my time there was a wonderful hike with the two basset-jack russells (I think that's their mix, anyway) in the area ravaged by fire a couple summers ago. Plants were starting to grow back, but the trees were still wiry black skeletons. A thick eerie mist covered everything, occasionally parting to let us get a panoramic glimpse of the city below. It was hauntingly beautiful, and fun just to roam around in the woods with two sniffing canines again.
I also watched a few movies over the break. With my parents I viewed "Before Sunset," Richard Linklater's sequel to "Before Sunrise." The film is well-acted, and it's a nice change of pace to see a movie like this, which is basically little more than two people just talking and opening up to each other for an hour and a half.
But is it a good movie? I'm not sure about that. Linklater has done this before a number of times, and I sort of get his "trick" by now. These movies where characters just meander and talk are interesting poetic slices-of-life, and a welcome break from the Hollywood formulas we see so often over-and-over again, but they don't hold up very well or have much staying power (for me, anyway). "Dazed and Confused" and his feature debut, "Slacker" both fell into this trap and ultimately don't go anywhere, whereas "School of Rock" which he directed, but did not write, was ultimately a much more satisfying film.
You may be inclined to disagree, but I find the "pure" Linklater film a little tiresome and trite at the end of the day.
I also bought and viewed "The Valley of Gwangi" simply because it was a Ray Harryhausen movie about cowboys vs dinosaurs!!! It's a cheesy knock-off of "King Kong" with terrible acting and stilted dialogue, but the stop-motion animation is really excellent, and did I mention it has COWBOYS vs DINOSAURS?!?!?!
Lastly, I finished watching the original BBC version of the TV series "The Prisoner" in preparation for the new mini-series starring Ian McKellan (which I've now heard is awful and probably won't watch). As a whole, the original series is a landmark in television; without "The Prisoner" there would probably be none of the cerebral television on TV such as the "X-Files" and certainly "Lost." Patrick McGoohan's no-nonsense attitude grounds the show and makes you believe he can escape what he is fighting (he should have been played by Clive Owen or Daniel Craig in the remake rather than Jim Caviezel), and many of the episodes are gripping, subjective, and mind-bending. Others of them, not so much; it just goes through the motions. Yet as a whole I'm very glad I took the time to get through the series. If you're a fan of classic television, this is a must.

OK...that's good for now. Expect another update around Christmas...be seeing you ("Prisoner" reference FTW!).