The Spring 2001 semester is finally over! I only had one final yesterday (my Philosophy class)...even though it was at 8 in the morning. Ugh. Actually, it wasn't really a final...I had a take-home assignment in which I had to write two essays about what I learned over the course of the semester in this class. Once again, I B.S.ed...but at least I'm finally done!! Unfortunately, I thought we just had to go to the classroom to turn our essays in. Turns out we had to be in class from 8 to 10 A.M. Two hours of more philosophical nonsense. Ugh once again!!


After I left school, I went to the AMC theater near my house to watch the WWII epic Pearl Harbor. So what did I think of it? Much like the 1997 film its formula is based on--Titanic--Pearl Harbor didn't really get that exciting until the historical events began to kick in. Not only that, but the love story kinda hurt the film because it felt contrived. Director Michael Bay said the WWII flick was mold in the same fashion as James Cameron's Oscar-winning film: a love story based against a historical backdrop. As I said before, this was not a good thing because the audience (at least those who go on movie websites and read movie magazines) knows that Bay is trying to create a romance epic. Some things about the love story seemed artificial, as a result (even though it obviously was, but you know what I mean)...

Pearl Harbor should've been more like a 'brotherhood' flick (like Stand By Me or maybe Saving Private Ryan)...since Ben Affleck and Josh Harnett's characters seemed like actual genuine friends as opposed to the forced romantic relationship with Kate Beckinsale's character. A'ight, I'm done ranting about the film. Other than the remarks made above, Pearl Harbor was pretty good.


Later in the evening (also yesterday), I went to one of my friends' house to watch the Lakers rout the San Antonio Spurs, 111-72, in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals. Just one more win at STAPLES Center on Sunday, and this series is HISTORY. NBA FINALS, here we come!! Or at least, here the Lakers come... Haha.

Me and my friends went to a billiards place to shoot some pool after the game. I won most of the games (mostly on my friends' mistakes, but also cuz I'm dope like that)

This past weekend, I went to the theater twice to see the new film, The Mummy Returns. Considering the fact I saw it two times (both occasions with my friends), you can tell I thought the movie was pretty good. That warrior-guy with the tattoo on his face (the one who helped Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz find their son) was pretty cool...and those little pygmy-dudes with the blowguns were hilarious (and sometimes scary, haha). Rachel Weisz isn't so bad looking either.


However, ILM could've done a better job on the CGI version of the Scorpion Rock--er, King.


Anyways, the next film that I want to see is Pearl Harbor. It comes out May 25, the last day of school for me.

I'm 2 for 3, now, haha. Last night, Gladiator won in the 73rd annual Academy Awards...as predicted, which made it the second film for me to correctly guess as being the Best Picture Oscar winner. Of course, how can a film lose if it was one of only two nominees this year to get double-digit nominations (along with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)?

I predicted Titanic as being the Best Picture winner in 1998 [of course, it DID get 14 (or was it 15?) nominations] but got thoroughly disappointed when Shakespeare in Love beat out Saving Private Ryan in 1999. Oh well.

Yesterday, two of my friends and I went to a studio in Downey, California to be film extras during the shooting of the upcoming Spider-Man movie. Needless to say, it was AWESOME! We were extras on the New York set for an action scene...which involved renowned actor Willem Dafoe and a stuntman. Although it was pretty tiring, it was fun to run around pretending we were scared like hell as an "evil entity" was wreaking havoc around us.

I would go into more details, but I don't want to ruin the movie for you guys when it hits theaters in 2002. That, and I'm not really suppose to talk about it. See ya next year!


UPDATE (August 2006): Here's a screencap from Spider-Man:

Yesterday, I came back from Utah after attending the Sundance Film Festival. It was pretty interesting...besides watching my sister's film The Flip Side, I also watched a New Zealand short film called Moko as well as a Japanese gangster film called Brother (which had Omar Epps and Tatyana Ali in it). Brother was actually pretty funny in a gross / sadistic kind of way...considering just how tongue-in-cheek the filmmakers depicted guys getting shot in the head, their fingers being sliced off and other neat / disturbing stuff.


The one bad thing about Utah is that it's not the place to be when you're sick...especially during the winter. Considering the fact I arrived in Salt Lake City with a headache, walking in 40-degree weather during the day and 20-degree weather at night is not really a prudent thing to do. As of this typing, I'm still coughing, darn it!

Anyways, as for the celebrities that attended Sundance, I saw actor Forest Whitaker...who was at the hotel where my sister's film was being shown. In case you people don't know who Forest Whitaker is, he was in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai and, um, Battlefield Earth. Not exactly the same as running into Sean Connery or Al Pacino...but it'll do.

I'm a day late in mentioning this, but congratulations to director Ridley Scott for Gladiator nabbing the Best Motion Picture Drama award (as well as the award for Best Original Music Score) during the 58th Annual Golden Globe awards.

Now let's see how the Roman epic fares in the Academy Awards two months from now...

Yesterday, I watched the Russell Crowe-Meg Ryan film Proof of Life with a couple of my friends. The film was pretty good, but I'd say that the movie Russell Crowe is going to be most noticed in for a while is Gladiator.

By the way... For those of you wondering where I got that quote located on the left hand side of this screen (above the archives), it's by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars (1977). It sure beats Jar Jar Bink's "Yousa tinken yousa people ganna die?" remark from The Phantom Menace.


Only 4 days till the official start of the new millennium...

A few minutes ago, I came back from the theater after watching the new Tom Hanks film Cast Away. The movie was pretty good... out of 4 stars I give it 4.

One of my favorite films of 2000, Gladiator, just got nominated for 5 Golden Globe awards yesterday. The nominations include Best Picture, Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Director (Ridley Scott), Best Supporting Actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard).

If Gladiator is gonna win a Golden Globe, it'd be for best original score. The film's soundtrack kicks @$$.


The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. also singled out the Roman epic for some awards...while the San Diego Film Critics singled out Russell Crowe for best actor.

Well, this news isn't about me...but it's all good. Today, my sister has just informed my family that a film she worked on about 3 years back, called The Flip Side, will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Pretty cool, hah?

For those of you who don't know what The Flip Side is (namely, everyone who reads this), it's an independent film about a Filipino family and how they live everyday life. The person who made this film, one of my sister's friends name Rod Pulido, also attended Long Beach State.

Ironically, it's me who's trying to pursue a career in film. But at least my sis could probably hook me up with connections with some big name filmmakers like George Lucas, HAHA. By the time I talk to Lucas he would've already been done making the Star Wars prequel trilogy. Oh well.

On a different note, I have to get an oil change for my car today.