The Year of Living Dangerously

I thought this movie was ok, and I'm glad I watched it, but I don't know if I would recommend this movie to someone else or watch it again. I was never familiar with the Communinist party or the civil war in Jakarta because I do not know a lot about Indonesia or anything that goes on in that part of the world. The only reason I'm familiar with Balinese Gamelan music and the Javanese shadow puppets is because I was introduced to this culture and its different art forms in MUSC 120 with Randy Griswold a year ago. I really liked Linda Hunt's character, Billy, although I was confused by his character because I wasn't sure about what gender he is. I was truly appaled when Guy & the other reporter who was a total pervert went to the cemetary so that the pervert reporter could pick up one of the prostitutes - it was sad how desparate these women were to be able to make some food by advertising themselves in order to make a buck. I felt sorry for Guy because, towards the end of the movie, he wasn't sure who he could trust, which was portrayed during his dream when Tiger Lily was drowning him in the pool. The part where Billy went crazy and decided to be a martyr for making known and criticizing Sukarno's failure to meet the needs of most Indonesians made me really sad. One wonders if he was really thrown out by the men or if he threw himself out in order to send out a message. While I was half expecting Guy to be watching the plane flying away when he got to the airport, I'm really glad Guy was able to give up the story of a lifetime for his love and leave Jakarta with her.

Event 5

On Sunday, November 21st, I went to Disneyland and California Adventure. My boyfriend and I arrived early enough to receive fast passes so that we could witness Disney's World of Color. After a very long day, we were finally able to go see what all of the hype was about, and I must say that it was very much worth waiting for! It was amazing how they incorporated water, lights, fire, fog, lasers, and projectors, as well as the Ferris wheel, for the show. The 30 minute show included scenes of Tinker Bell, Little Mermaid, Fantasia 2000, Finding Nemo, WALL-E, Aladdin, A Bug's Life, Pirates of the Caribbean, UP, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Fantasia, Beauty and the Beast, and many, many other Disney movies. There were also songs the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Pocahontas, the "Little April Showers" song from Bambi, Beauty and the Beast, and a couple songs that had been composed specifically for World of Color. I thought the entirety of the World of Color performance was put together very nicely, and it had a very nice flow from one song or scene to the next, and it was interesting seeing how they had altered some of the movie scenes to fit in with the performance. I was in awe throughout the entire performance because watching clips from a lot of the movies I grew up with brought back a lot of memories, and I was on the verge of happy tears because I had not seen many of the classic Disney cartoons since I was younger. My favorite part of the entire World of Color performance was the Tron: Legacy encore, which they included song’s from Daft Punk’s new soundtrack to the Tron: Legacy movie, which come out in two weeks! It was so cool how the light bikes were projected onto the mist screen, and it included clips from the movie trailer. The lights on the California Screamin’ rollercoaster displayed an interesting flow of blue and green lights, as well as the Ferris wheel in the back ground. My favorite part of the Tron: Legacy encore portion was when it finished because it seemed that all of the colors glitched out and flickered back to the rainbow colors from World of Color. After World of Color, we wandered over to the Hollywood backstage area of California Adventure, where they were promoting Tron: Legacy with ElecTRONica, where there was a live dj spinning electronica dance music, as well as dancers on stages all around the area. There was also a Laser Man performance, which was pretty much one of the coolest things ever! There was a man on a platform wearing a suit one would expect to be seen worn in the world of Tron, and he was interacting with lasers by bending, splitting, spreading out, spinning, and twirling beams of light! It was very interesting and mind-boggling to watch. I thought this was an interesting and unique way to promote a Disney movie, and now I definitely cannot wait until the Official Sound Track and the movie Tron: Legacy come out!

Whale Rider

I really enjoyed this movie and I regret not having watched it sooner. This movie was very emotionally touching and had a great story line. I think that it's horrible that Koro resented his granddaughter, Pai, so much because she was female, the first-born, she had the name of their ancestor, and she was basically the "end" of their family-line of chiefs. It was especially saddening when Koro would not treat Pai respectfully while training the boys in the town to be future leaders because she was a female, and he felt that she had caused enough damage. I think it's great that Pai's grandmother Flowers believed in her and loved her so much. Also, it's great that Pai was able to learn all of the different characteristics of a leader, even if it was done behind her grandfather's back, but it proved to be useful becase she really was the next chief. One could see that she loved her grandfather so much, and it was awful that he believed her birth to be the reason why the Whangara people were suffering so much. Her speech about her ancestors that was dedicated to Koro was very moving, and even had me in tears! I felt so bad that Koro was prepared to go to her concert, but never showed up once he saw all of the breached whales near their house. After much hardship, I'm glad Koro was finally able to accept Pai as the new cheif. This movie emphasized the importance of change, especially when it comes to culture, because change is necessary in the modern world, and in order to continue one's traditional ways, one must be willing to accept changes.

Event 3/4

On Friday, November 19, 2010, I went to It’s a Grind coffee shop in Carlsbad to see MandoBasso perform. I had gone to the coffee shop on Saturday, November 13th, only to find out when I had gotten there that it had been rescheduled. On Friday, when I arrived around 8pm, Bill Bradbury and Gunnar Biggs were socializing with a lot of the people in the coffee shop, and I recognized several people from class. At around 8:30, MandoBasso began performing for the next 30 minutes. I think MandoBasso is a good twist on words of mandolin and bass. I knew what a mandolin is, which Bill was playing, but I had never heard one before, so this was an interesting experience for me. The three or four songs that they played together during these 30 minutes included an arrangement of jazz, Irish, blues, and classical music. At some points during their performance, I felt like I was in medieval times, or somewhere in the Irish countryside because of the music that was being played. I heard one of the titles of their songs, but I failed to make note of it, and I could not hear the others because, surprisingly, it was pretty noisy inside the coffee shop. The baristas were nice, and it was neat that one of them happens to be friends with my boyfriend, so we talked with him when he wasn’t busy serving all of the people coming in. This was a nice mix-up for me, compared to the past couple events I’ve gone to, because this setting was much more laid back, and it was nice lounging in comfy chairs, sipping a warm chai latte, and sitting cozy next to a fire place. It was relaxing to listen to this type of music too while I was talking to my boyfriend, his friend, and one of my classmates. Usually, I can’t stand any music that comes anywhere close to the “jazz” genre, but because MandoBasso’s music did not have the incessant saxophone, flute, or trumpet, it was nice listening to their music. I hope the next time they are playing in the area, I’ll be able to catch more of their set.

Manufactured Landscapes

I thought this was an interesting documentary about Edward Burtynsky, a photographer I had never heard of, but I'm glad I was able to see this. His photographs seemed so surreal, it was hard to believe that his pictures were actual scenes of globalization and idustrialization. One of my favorites was the one from the nickel and copper mines, where the water was a turquoise color and the color of the mineral walls were different shades of orange, yellow, and red. It's interesting to see all of the colors and beauty in industrialized sites - areas that one would not expect to find such beauty. Also, the ship breaking sights in Bangladesh were interesting to see, especially the one where it looks like a statue with the other ships shown in the background of the photograph. The scene with all of the coal piles was also interesting because the Chinese mining company didn't want it getting out how much coal they used, but were willing to let Edward photograph the scene in order to demonstrate the beauty he saw. It's unbelievable how much of the United States' wastes goes to China, such as the piles of computer parts and all of the wires. Also, the comparison of the old Shanghai and new Shanghai was interesting to see how the wealthy and those living in poverty can live in such close quarters those who live in such nice homes while other live in shacks. It is saddening to know that with while there can be such progress that comes with industrialization, there also comes destruction, and many people are unknowing of this fact. While I, myself, am very comfortable with my lifestyle living with such advancements, and I do not know if I could change, but I am glad that I am aware of others' hardships, and will do what is possible to alleviate the problem.

War Photographer

I find war very intriguing: I am always fascinated with the photographs, the footage, the stories, the history that comes out of war. I do feel that war is horrible, and it's great that photographers are able to show what war and poverty is really like to those on the other side of the globe, or those who are unaware of what is going on in the world. Like myself and part of the population, I do not know what is happening in other countries other than my own, and I rarely find myself watching the news because I do not want to be exposed to the horrors of what is going on in the world. On the other hand, photographers like Jim are able to provide an insight as to what needs to be seen. If I were to ever be put in the extremes of war, violence, famine, death, and poverty, I do not think I would be able to handle the situation. Unlike Jim, I think I would crumble under all of the fear that would come hand-in-hand with photographing war, let alone being where the wars are taking place. Like when the photographer next to Jim was shot dead, I do not think I would have been able to remain as calm as Jim had during that predicament. I liked the idea of the mini video cameras on Jim's camera while he was taking photographs because it allowed the audience to see what Jim was seeing and the scene as a whole for when he was not taking photographs, so the portions which were not photographed. The photographs of the man being beaten to death only because he was of a different race/nationality than the others was terrible to hear about, as well as the house in Kosovo that filled with bodies that were unidentifable. I thought it was really sweet of the little boys to be throwing flowers on the bodies while the photographers and news crews were there. Overall, I thought this was a really good documentary, and it provided some excellent insight to the world of those who deal with war, death, and poverty on a regular basis. Major kudos to war photographers!

Shall We Dance?

I remember watching the 2004 version of "Shall We Dance?" on a whim, and while I didn't watch to watch it in the beginning, I ended up thoroughly enjoying the movie. Both movies were very similar, but there were some differences. Personally, I liked the American version more, which I think is due to the fact that I cannot relate to the Japanese culture, and I think it's interesting that the main reason why dancing is so frowned upon in Japan is because of their culture and dancing is considered a suspcious and shameful thing, especially when dancing with a woman who is not one's wife. Also, the Japanese culture is very different from American culture because the wife in the 1996 version was a softspoken, stay-at-home wife, while the 2004 version was a working mom. I still do not understand why in the 2004 version, John did not want to tell his wife because he didn't want to hurt her - I feel that he was doing more harm by keeping secrets from his wife, especially over dancing. However, just now I realized that he didn't want to let her know that he was missing something in his life and felt like dancing (and not her) could fill that void. I kind of did not like Mai's reason for not dancing anymore, which was because her partner did not protect her when they had fallen, but it made sense for her to come to the conclusion that she felt that she had always danced alone. The part that especially made me mad was when the daughter would yell out to her father during the dance competition, distracting him and virtually ruining the whole dance routine for him - I could not stand that scene, whether it's in the 1996 version or the 2004 version. I think it's great that the dad character continued to dance, even after Mai/Paulina's character coldly told him that she hopes he was dancing for reasons other than just to get a date with her, because it shows his dedication and love for something new. This meant a lot to me because, even though I do not know how to dance professionally, I really enjoy dancing at events and I do not know what I would do if I had not discovered dancing or if I weren't able to dance. Before dancing, I attended punk/rock shows which all one would do is mosh, tap their foot, or bob their head. Now, I attend electronic dance music (EDM) events, as well as Dubstep, Reggae, and occasionally a Hip-Hop event. I really enjoyed watching both versions of "Shall We Dance?"

Maya Lin

This was a very interesting documentary to watch, and, like I'd stated before, I have to be really interested and heard many good reviews before I watch a documentary. I'd heard about the Vietnam Memorial before, but I never knew the history behind it, and it was interesting hearing about the thought process, as well as the struggle that went into this memorial. It really touched me Maya's thought process that supported her design for the memorial, which was to help people come to terms and accept the death of those who were lost during the Vietnam war. By being able to see and touch their names, as well as see the chronological order in which they died rather than being grouped in a sea of the same last names, it made the memorial more personal to those affected during the war. It was saddening to see how critical some of the veterans were of Maya's design, and it hurt me to see how hurt she was when some would put her down so harshly. This documentary reminds me of a video I watched in my studio arts class over the summer, which was about the architect I.M. Pei, and Maya Lin reminds me a lot of I.M. Pei because they are both architechts, but also artists because their designs are both aesthetically pleasing and mean a great deal to those who see their work. I liked this documentary, and I wouldn't mind watching it for a second time, as well as recommending it to others to watch.

Billy Elliot

I thought that Billy Elliot was a really good movie. I enjoyed the actor who played Billy because he has so much passion for dancing and it was entertaining watching him dance with such enthusiasm, especially when he was jumping on the bed during the opening credits of the movie, when he was dancing after Mrs. Wilkinson had come by his house and he was mad at his brother Tony, and when he was dancing in the gym on Christmas when he father walked in on him and Michael dancing. This movie was a bit of a culture shock in the beginning because it was very difficult to understand their English accents, so much so that I had to watch the movie with the subtitles on. It was also a bit of a shock how much each of the characters in the movie cursed and dropped the f-bomb. I didn't understand the background of the movie involving the strike and the miners, so the scenes where the mob was calling people "scabs" and attacking the buses really confused me. I thought it was funny that Mrs. Wilkinson told Billy to join her dancing lesson rather than give her the keys to the gym and stand there waiting, and I think it's great that Mrs. Wilkinson believed there to be such great potential in Billy to be a dancer that she was willing to do everything to could in order to making him the best and getting him into the best dancing school. I'm really glad Billy was able to get into the school because it would have been HORRIBLE if he didn't get in because he punched the other boy in the face. I wish they could have shown Billy dancing in Swan Lake when he was older more rather than just ending right as he is about to dance on stage. It would have been great to see his father and Tony's reactions, as well as Michael's to Billy being a professional dancer and not seeing him for so many years. Overall, I thought this was a very touching film, and I even recommended my family watch it.

Event 2

On Saturday, October 10th, 2010 at the Hollywood Palladium off of Sunset Blvd., I attended Kaskade's second day of his Dynasty Tour. This was mine and my boyfriend's first time at the Palladium, and I will say that this has been one of the best venues I have ever been to, and we will definitely be back for more events! The tickets were well priced, security was helpful, the atmosphere was excellent, the drinks were decently priced, and the acoustics were amazing!! There were two DJs known as Justin Michael and Kamal, who were spinning together from 9pm until 1230am, which is when Kaskade was on. My boyfriend and I spent most of the night either uptop on the balcony, outside getting some air (since it was a little warm inside the venue), or in the back of the dance floor. Considering that both nights were sold out, there was still plenty of room to dance and move around throughout the night - we easily made our way up to the front of the stage against the blockade which separated the stage from the crowd, and there was still plenty of room behind us. Throughout the night, there were these two women on stilts dressed up in white costumes with LED umbrellas who would walk around the entire venue or dance in front of the stage during Kaskade's set, who I danced with, and even got a picture with! I even got to hold hands and take pictures with an older woman whom I'm guessing to be Kaskade's mother! I'd first seen Kaskade at Coachella 2010, and I would have to say that this set he'd played in Hollywood was equally, if not better, than when I'd seen him in April. I had not danced this hard since my boyfriend's birthday event at HARD Summer Festival, and I was SO happy, I even cried when he played my favorite song of his, "I Remember"! I cannot wait to come back to the Palladium or see Kaskade perform again, hopefully in the very near future! :]

[Sorry the videos don't have the best quality: they were recorded on my phone]

P.S. I am currently waiting for Maya Lin in the mail - I'd mailed it on Saturday and my queue says that there's a short wait for the DVD, so I may not get it for the next few days. Hopefully I'll get either Maya Lin or Billy Elliot in the mail soon.

Buena Vista Social Club

I was not a fan of this movie. Not that I'm saying it wasn't a good movie, but if it were up to me, I would never watch this movie again. Even then, I fell asleep part of the way through the movie, and I am not very interested in watching what I had missed. Documentaries aren't my choice for movies, and when I do watch a documentary, it has to be about something I'm really interested in and heard good reviews for. I have never heard of the Buena Vista Social Club before - at first, I thought it had something to do with Disney because I remember their older cartoons saying "Buena Vista" as part of their opening/closing credits, as well as possibly Knott's because Knott's Berry Farm is located in Buena Vista, CA. To my disappointment, it was about a musical group I had never heard of, let alone the fact that they're from Cuba. Not that I have anything against Cuba, but I have also never had an interest in Cuba, mainly because it's not near California and I have not heard of anything good coming out of Cuba. It was interesting (not in a good way) seeing the poverty-stricken streets of Havana though, as well as the stray dogs everywhere, some having no shame and just pooping in the middle of the street. Their music had a nice, relaxing feel to it, which is part of the reason why I fell asleep during the movie, but it's not like I would go out and buy their music. I do not speak Spanish, so their music does not relate to me, especially when it's talking about getting aroused at the beach. I like going to the beach with my significant other just as much as the next person, but I don't think I'd ever get turned on after watching my boyfriend's booty shake [haha!] in the sand because, unfortunately, sand is one of the main reasons I don't go to the beach because I don't like the feel of it and how it gets stuck everywhere you didn't think was possible. Anyways, enough ranting. Overall, I would say that this movie was mediocre.

Event 1

On Friday, September 24th, I went to the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach to see the Easy Star All-Stars. Going to this concert was a spur of the moment and last minute decision to go to because I was originally planning on going to an event on Saturday September 25th, but some family matters had come up and I was unable to go. Anyways - The show started at 9pm, and me, my boyfriend, and our friend had shown up at 10:30, just in time to see the Easy Star All-Stars perform, which I'm glad I was able to see. The venue was very small, but it had a great atmosphere, and the three of us were easily able to make it to the front of the stage. I had never attended a concert with a dub or reggae genre before, so this was a very interesting setting for me. While I've never heard any of their songs before, I had heard of the Easy Star All-Stars from my boyfriend, who had mentioned "Dub Side of the Moon", saying that it is just like Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" except that there were reggae beats instead of the sythesized tunes. Their band includes a trombone player, a saxophone player, a bass player, a female vocalist, a drummer, a keyboard player, a guitarist, and a male vocalist who would randomly come onto the stage during their performance and sing really fast. When performing their "Dub Side of the Moon", they performed the first several track of "Dark Side of the Moon", which included "Speak to Me/Breathe", "On the Run", "Time", "The Great Gig in the Sky", "Money", etc. They also performed a couple Beatles songs, including "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "With a Little Help from My Friends". I thoroughly enjoyed myself that night, listening to good music and being around good people.

Stomp

When I hear the term "musical", I usually think of performers reciting lines and singing for a majority of their performance, but "Stomp" was quite the opposite. I found Stomp to be very fascinating because a group of people were able to create different pieces of music with the use of common objects, anywhere from Zippo lighters, brooms, trash cans, and even trash itself. It was interesting that there was minimal, if not lacking entirely, talking during the performances, which reminded me of a clown's performance at a circus because it's their performance, not their dialogue or monologue, which is supposed to keep the audience's attention. It was also interesting seeing how the performers interacted by looking at one another to make sure that they were with the tempo of the song, as well as silently communicate with one another. My favorite of the different performances included the segments with the rubber tubes, the newspaper, and the plastic water jugs. I liked the piece with the plastic water jugs because it reminds me of what I would imagine a bubble's song to sound like, as well as a song associated with water. I also liked the segments with the rubber tubes and the newspaper because they were aesthetically pleasing, but I liked them more for their comedic touch. This movie made me laugh out loud many a times, which is a great thing for me because I love to laugh and not very many movies make me laugh like they should. Overall, I would really recommend this movie to others because the entire process is very intriguing.

Viva La Revolucion

Over the weekend, I went to the street arts exhibit, "Viva La Revolucion" at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, and I was not in the very least disappointed. I am very glad that having to go to this exhibit was one of our assignments, and it was very interesting seeing all the different styles of types of art. When my boyfriend and I walked into the museum, we were greeted by sculptures, paintings, murals, videos, games, and music.
Shortly after, we were startled by banging and crashing, discovering that it was a trashcan making the music, each piece different from the next.

I really enjoyed all of the art being displayed. Every piece was unique and no two were alike. There were these two arcade-style games that were collection of different pieces of digital art which could be manipulate with the press of a button or a joystick, as well as short games similar to Pong or Frogger, all while listening to strange electronic music playing.

This room of art was very interesting to me because this exhibit discussed life and death and presented itself in the form of an altar, as well as presented several secular images. This room was somewhat of a touchy subject for me and hit me in a way that none of the other pieces did because I am currently dealing with a death in the family. It was nice seeing this section of the exhibit tho.

This exhibit was life changing for me, and has helped me to appreciate varying forms of art, whether it be on the street, in a museum, or both! I look forward to what other street art I will see in the future, as well as future exhibits presented at the MCASD.
Below are some other pieces of art that I appreciated:

Songcatcher

I will say that in the beginning of this movie, it did not look very promising. Roughly 15 minutes into the movie, I even told my boyfriend, who watched the movie with me, that I did not think I could get through the entire thing. Especially since the movie revolved around folk songs with a country and/or blue grass feel to them, and took place in the Mid-West, the genre of music was definitely not my cup of tea. One thing I did not like about the movie, besides how slow it was in the beginning, was the sound the panther made - that was a HORRIBLE sound. Good thing Viney told her what to do in case she were to cross paths with the panther. However, the movie took a surprising turn for the better, and I enjoyed watching Dr. Lily Penleric in her quest to collect as many ballads as she could from the secluded mountain areas. I liked her enthusiasm and love for all types of music, and while I am somewhat selective of what sorts of music I enjoy and like to listen to, I am open to listen to all sorts of music. I can relate to Lily's love for music because I, myself, am a collector of music. Not a day goes by where I have a song on my mind or I'm listening to music. My love for music influences my day-to-day mood, whether it's listening to music while I'm dancing, driving in my car, helping me concentrate while I do my homework, describing how I'm feeling, or listening to a song to lift my spirits. Music has been and always will be an important part of my life. At the end of the film, it made me feel good knowing that Lily was able to change the way others viewed the music of the rural mountain area, and that everything worked out to her advantage. Yay for feel good movies!

Mi Familia

I really enjoyed this movie because, even though a lot of terrible things happened to Paco's family, it was one of those feel-good movies that made me feel like I got something after watching it. I thought it was interesting how an owl was used to represent the river spirit because it presented an omen of something bad to come, which appeared before Maria and Chucho almost drowned in the river and before Chucho was killed by the police officer. I can relate to Maria's belief that it wasn't the police officer but the river spirit that killed Chucho because my Filipino side of my family is very superstitious, and while they are also very religious when it comes to honoring the Virgin Mary and Jesus, they believe in many different folklore and cultural stories. Also, the idea of Cihuateteo, the souls of women who had died giving birth and help the sun set, was very powerful to me. I felt so bad for Jimmy because he had so many horrible things happen to him and he was so full of anger that he wanted to hurt himself by bleeding and being placed in prison for years. I thought it was very selfless of Jimmy to go out of his way to marry Isabel so that she wasn't deported back to El Salvador, which eventually benefited him greatly because he found someone who shared just as much pain over the loss of a family member being shot right in front of her, which helped develop their love for each other. I liked how the director used the idea of Jimmy finding the baseball where Chucho was killed and throwing it back to the kids as a sense of closure for him and the loss of brother, and possibly his wife. It made me so happy when Jimmy decided to go to Texas to find Carlitos's rich cowboy father and invite him along, as well as when Carlitos was finally able to accept Jimmy as his father and go to Texas with him. I couldn't agree more with the ending of the film - Jose and Maria did live a very good life, and that it is wrong to ask for too much in this life. This presents a moral that many should listen to - be happy with your life and enjoy what God gives you.

"Rabbit-Proof Fence"

I thought this was a good movie, but I do not think I would watch it again. I prefer movies with a storyline that I can relate to, and since I have never been forcibly taken away from my family, I can only imagine what it was like for Molly, Gracie, and Daisy as they were taken away from their family and forced to be civilized so as to have their Aboriginal heritage “bread out” of them, like the rest of the half-caste children being held against their will at the Moore River Native Settlement. It was unbelievable how racism against Aborigines was portrayed in this movie, and the native people had every right to call Mr. Neville “Mr. Devil” because of how he was separating families and, ultimately, destroying the Aboriginal culture for the people being affected during this time period. In a sense, I look up to Molly, Gracie, and Daisy’s determination to pull through and get back home because, at such a young age, I’m surprised that they did not stay at the school or give up, especially when the rabbit-proof fence ended in the desert. Overall, this movie made me feel good knowing that Daisy and Molly were able to see their mother and grandmother again and, despite having to deal with the law which began this whole ordeal until the 1970s, the two were able to live out their lives.