VoxSentia

No Country for Old Men -- hated it

I rented "No Country for Old Men" since there was so much buzz about the movie with it winning Best Picture Oscar and all. I wanted to see what the hype was all about. And I enjoy a good movie even if it's long, dry, lots of dialogue, in any genre. Boy was I wrong. I really did not like this movie at all. First of all, the movie was much too violent for me. The whole story is about this psychopathic killer who kills anyone of inconvenience to him while he's chasing after a guy who has a suitcase of money ($2 million dollars) that he wants. That's it. Seriously. It would have at least been interesting if they delved into the psychopathic killer's psyche or something, but the Coen brothers did none of  that. This was tagged as a "thrilling cat and mouse chase"; but it was more like a "stroll while sleepwalking." It was painfully slow.

Also, I'm sure Javier Bardem is a fine actor, but I didn't think his performance outshined the other cast members on this film (he won the Best Actor Oscar). I thought Josh Brolin was a very convincing cowboy. I wanted him to run off with the money. Tommy Lee Jones did pretty well too in this movie. But I don't think it was the acting, I just did not enjoy the script. I thought it sucked.

I can't believe this movie won Best Picture this year. But then again, there weren't any great movies out last year (there were no obvious sweepers like Lord of the Rings or something). So when you are pitted against not much, then I guess you have a better chance.

Really bored and unmotivated

I find myself really bored and unmotivated to do just about anything these days. I need to shape up. I have a few personal projects in the queue, gotta do my taxes, and I need to catch up on some work work. But everything just seems so blah. Maybe it's because I haven't exercised in a while. Whatever it may be, I need it to stop.

Fine dining in Los Angeles

My girlfriend Rasika and I are both foodies and we see fancy dining as an experience. I occasionally enjoy fine dining, but these days I haven't been out much lately. Summer is coming up and weather is nice and warm and I need to be out more. Neither one of us are in a serious relationship right now, so we decided to do a once a month fine dining outing. We will dress up and dine out in fancy and expensive restaurants in Hollywood and Beverly Hills area. It'll be fun. It can get pricy if I did this every week, but once a month spending a $100 bucks is not bad. Our first stop next weekend: Hotel Bel Air, Beverly Hills.

Here's a list of possible places we want to visit (I've already visited a few of these in the past but I want to visit some again):

Restaurants:

BOA Steakhouse, Ruth’s Steakhouse, Bungalow club, Asia de Cuba, Il Cielo, Lawry’s, Mr. Chow’s, Dan Tana’s, The Ivy, Spago, Crustacean, Kate Mantilini, Crustacean, Chinois on Main, Nobu, Table 8, Dolce, Valentino, Geisha House, Yamashiro, Koi, Melisse, Cut, Drago, Matsuhisa

Bar/Lounge:

Veranda Bar/Casa Del Mar, Whiskey Blue/W Hotel, Sky Bar/Mondrian, Viceroy, Roosevelt Hotel, Chateu Marmont, Hotel Bel Air, Beverly Hills Hotel (Polo Lounge), Bodega Wine Bar

I need a maid

I hate cleaning my apartment. I hate messy places, but I hate cleaning my place for some reason. I don't think I'm opposed to cleaning in general but I just don't like cleaning my apartment. It's not even a big place. I really want to find a maid that will come in once a month and do thorough cleaning including my laundry. I just don't know any maids. It would be nice if my neighbors had a maid so that I can ask her to come to my apartment too. You see, it's a problem trying to find a maid that you trust that won't steal from you.

Mary Queen of Scots

I've been pretty obsessed about watching all these movies about the Tudor dynasty as well as reading about them. The next movie to be made is Mary Queen of Scots starring Scarlet Johansson. Mary was a brunnette, I wonder if she will dye her hair for the part. Mary was the cousin of queen Elizabeth of England(not to be mistaken with her half-sister Mary I). They didn't quite get along. Mary was a devout Catholic and Elizabeth trying to establish a Protestant England. You see, Mary tried to have Elizabeth assassinated. In the end, Mary was beheaded for treason. It should be interesting to watch. Although, I don't find her story as exciting as Elizabeth's.

I already talked about this, but the movie "Elizabeth" was amazing. The second installment, "Elizabeth, the Golden Age" wasn't as good. The movie just wasn't quite as moving or gripping as the first and made Elizabeth look too emotional. I just also didn't buy the relationship dynamics between her and Sir Walter Raleigh. The costume and set design is amazing though for both movies.

Wow, only in America...

By now, everyone's probably heard of the NY governer Spitzer scandal. He obviously resigned.

On March 10, 2008, The New York Times reported that Spitzer had previously patronized a high-priced prostitution service called Emperors Club VIP and met for over two hours with a $1,000-an-hour call girl now known to be a New York City singer going by the name Ashley Alexandra Dupré.

The most surprising part is that the call girl Ashley Alexandra Dupre was offered $1 million by Joe Francis ("Girls Gone Wild" franchise) to tell her side of the story and pose none-nude for his new magazine! She even made $200,000 from her music downloads (she is apparently an aspiring singer). Not only that, there is a low six figure deal from a vodka company to post billboards of her butt all around NY. Dude, at this rate, she might even get a record deal.

I'm not judging. I'm sure she has a lot she's dealing with regarding her choices in life, being outed publicly, humiliation without people pointing fingers. I guess everything has a price. Although, some people will say, the scandal is the best thing that happened to her since she's been getting all sorts of endorsement deals and she can laugh all the way to the bank. But really, I wonder money gained in these means ever sit right with them. But then again, you can say that about so many people who got the money "legitimately" in business, entertainment, sports, inheritance, divorce settlement(Heather Mills). It's really not that different.

And I think that it's great that we make examples out of the men who do reprehensible things too rather than have the women suffer all the time as is typical in other countries. It's only in America that people benefit from such scandals. Look at Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. They had their sex tapes leaked, and now they are bigger celebrities. Only in America, my friends. Similar things have happened in other countries, and the careers and lives of those people were ruined.

But my general stance is that people should not be prosecuted for victimless crimes (solicitation of prostitution), unless they themselves prosecuted others for those same crimes. I hate hypocrites.

Update: Ha! Funny! She already appeared on Girls Gone Wild when she was 18.  This girl wastes no time. She went on tour with them. So the $1 million dollar deal is off.

Why oh why do men do this?

Hahaha! PWNED!

Why put the pressure on the woman in front of thousands of people like this? Does he think that there's a less likely chance she'll say "no"? Proposal is a private matter. For all we know they could have only been dating like a couple of weeks. It leads me to believe this because he would have known her answer if he truly knew her. Some people were saying that she was being a "bitch." Please, it's better than lying and saying "yes" and regretting it later. Check out the mascot, that's the best part.

Elizabeth I

Watching "The Other Boleyn Girl" prompted me to rent "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth the Goldgen Age" starring Kate Blachett. So far I've only seen "Elizabeth" and it's an excellent movie. I thought Kate Blanchett was a fine queen. The movie is a bit violent(severed heads, etc) for my taste but a lot of history is generally unpleasant.

Elizabeth I was the daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragorn of Spain, but she was unable to produce a male heir(she gave birth to a daughter named Mary, who would later become queen for a short period of time--bloody Mary). Henry anulled the marriage to Catherine Aragorn severing ties with the Catholic Church and married Anne Boleyn.

Anne Boleyn was a very ambitious girl(in those days a women's rise politically was pretty much limited to who she married). She was extremely intelligent and charismatic, and she manipulated her way to queendom despite her average looks(this was unusual since most of the king's women were beautiful). Ironically, after overthrowing the original queen, Anne herself was unable to bear a son. She gave birth to Elizabeth and then several miscarriages. Anne was eventually beheaded for treason (she was accused of adultery and incest; both which probably were not true, but convenient excuses to get rid of her so that the king can remarry and have a son). To Henry's relief, his 3rd wife bore him a son, Edward I.

Fastforward to years later; Henry VIII dies. Edward I becomes king of England at age 5. But he dies a few years later. Mary I, half-sister of Elizabeth, who is the daughter of Catherine Aragorn becomes queen. She tries to restore the Catholic Church in England. She burns lots of protestants at the stake; hence the moniker Bloody Mary. Mary I was unable to bear children. She dies of cancer after 5 years of reign. Elizabeth becomes queen at age 25. Elizabeth restores protestant faith and re-establishes the Church of England as her father Henry VIII had done in his reign.

The first movie chronicles how she rose to power as queen and how she maintained her throne despite people who wanted to overthrow her. The story includes betrayal, treachery, love, loyalty, murder...the story is indeed fascinating. The second movie chronicles her 45 year reign (I haven't seen it yet).

The story shows how Elizabeth in a patriarchical society where women had no place in politics succeeded in ruling one of the most powerful countries in Europe. I think she inherited her keen intelligence from her mother Anne Boleyn. She was apparently very witty like her mother. She was also one of the most educated women of the time because of her position as a princess. She was also an excellent horse rider as well as hunter, very unusual for women of her time. What's interesting about Elizabeth was that she never married despite the constant advice or her advisors. They thought alliance with France or Spain through marriage was the only way England can live in peace. She thought otherwise. This proved to be true, because alliance by marriage to either one of these countries would have placed England in a more precarious place; appearing like England is unable to stand on its own. She established her authority even more by not marrying and producing a male heir as well as not naming who her predecessor will be.

All I have to say is Elizabeth was the ultimate feminist of her time; and not in the man-hater way which I think is lame. She was truly an inspiring female figure in history. She saw herself as equal to men in a time where men did not. She won the respect and loyalty of the elders of the state even though they were not sure she was capable of ruling at first. She devoted herself to the affairs of the state rather than marrying (she said England was her husband). England experienced a period of peace during most of her rule. Not to mention all the literature, art, fashion that came about during her rule. The Elizabethan era produced some fine works; like Shakespeare.

Watching all these movies about the Tudor dynasty; I wanted to start watching the Showtime series, The Tudors. I heard it was good although probably more salacious than need be.

I miss acting

All this movie-watching coupled with boredom these days is making me miss the acting thing. It would be so much fun being a part of these period pieces. Although, I would be miscast since I'm asian. It would be so much fun putting on the beautiful costumes and dancing various waltzes. The dresses are simply divine.

Beauty, truly in the eye of the beholder

After watching "The Other Boleyn Girl", I was on the internet trying to find out more historically accurate information about the characters in the movie. While I was browsing, I came upon paintings of Henry VIII's 6 wives. I don't know, but they weren't exactly beauties in my opinion. They were downright unattractive. But I realize that standard of beauty was different back then. Thin women were not considered attractive, but rather portly ones as that was a sign of wealth and nobility. Also, dark eyes and hair were not considered as beautiful, but I guess that's still the case. But even what's considered beautiful facial features seemed to be different. Below are the 6 beauties of the 1500 century. Anne Boleyn was considered the least attractive of his wives (with the exception of Anne of Cleves whom Henry VIII ended up anulling the marrige to because she was ugly upon meeting her). Anne Boleyn though, was apparently striking in her features and had a very charismatic personality as well as keen intelligence which made men surround her. In my opinion, she was the best looking and the most interesting (see biography).

    

Here's a picture of Anne's sister Mary Boleyn; the other Boleyn girl (yes, Henry had both sisters). She was considered the more attractive Boleyn. Hmm...my vote still goes to Anne Boleyn in the looks department.