"...WHICH BREAKS MY HEART, I DON'T KNOW WHY." - SAM MENDES, DIRECTOR.

well its been a long few weeks, and it feel like i've been disconnected from the outside world while being stuck in text-book quicksand. but tomorrow is my last exam and already i'm feeling the sand pissing off. its a funny thing 'exam period'; every one knows they're coming, and most of the time we get through them unscathed.

yet somehow, we always forget how we did, so when we're faced with them again and again, we freak out. well, i do. not so much"holy shit i'm going to fail," kind of freak out, but more a "my life will be on hold for three weeks." and it sucks i suppose when you can't go out or waste time or sleep in, because of the guilt of not studying, or going over notes you had forget you'd even written.

though a couple of things have been keeping my company over this time, and helping me keep my sanity. here they are, and in no particular order, have gotten me through (soon to be) four exams that i can't wait to be over.

JARHEAD
i bought the dvd the other week and have been watching it everyday since. there are a two scenes which make this film really worth it, and if you watch the movie or have seen it, and if you know me, you will also know which two i'm talking about. the performences by gyllenhaal and sarsgaard are perfect in these scenes, and listening to the director's commentary, its amazing to think how the fim could have taken a completely differnt direction had these scenes been done differently. its a movie about the marines deployed to fight the good fight in iraq without the political bullshit. its about marines in a situation they have no control over, and in a war that really doesn't make sense. watch it!

EGG DRINK
when i was a kid, my mom concocted this 'egg drink', which is pretty much just water, condensed milk, egg, and heaps of sugar. during this exam period though, i had consumed so much coffee, coke, and red bull that i thought i needed something esle to keep me awake. my sister has been stuck home too with study, and ended up making one of these thigns and now i get her to make em all the time (thank you!). although tonight we're out of eggs, so its back to the coffee and red bulls for me.

JUST FRIENDS
another movie that has been playing on my laptop constantly the last few days. i'm not much of a ryan reynolds fan, but anything anna faris is in i'll watch. and this movie, although made when a whole plethora of romanic comedies are, is genuinely funny and really does give you that "feel good" feeling that seems to be the goal of the entire genre. though the real highlight in this film is faris' character is supremely unhinged and just down-right crazy.

CAPTAIN PLANET
i d/led an episode of captain planet the other day where one of the bad guys uses drift nets to catch fish, and kill anything else that happens to get caught in them. as childhood kick-ass cartoon, as soon as i heard the theme song play i was immediately drawn into it. the concept of the idea alone was something just short of revolutionary, using the after-school cartoon medium as way of communicating to kids that the environment was worth protecting. ted turner, the guy who created the cartoon, believed in this so much and took a hug risk, but networks took up the idea and made it a hit. but remember, the power is yours!

COMEDY INC. THE LATE SHIFT
the series return of comedy inc was on a couple of weeks ago, the perfect way to take a breack from study on tuesday nights. of all teh comedy sketch shows out there, i think this is the best in recent times. there was skithouse which was also shithouse, then the big bite on channel 7 that didn't even last one season. i think there was another one that was made which went no where, and now there's "the wedge" on channel ten that i don't bother to watch. nope, comedy is th best out there in the sketch show landscape, with special mention to geneve morris, who i reckon is awesome.

MY MACBOOK
intel has gotten into bed with apple and their offspring is the new intel-powered apple laptops. apparently more kick-ass than the old processors, the intel macbook is supposed to be pretty damn good and can even run windows properly. i spent the better half of a day transferring files from my powerbook g4 (which i still love), but have been using the macbook to type up exam notes since the monitor is bigger and brighter. woohoo.

alright this post is long enough. one more exam and i can sleep easy. and for those who have still got them for a week or two, it's almost over.

-LOki

I STILL FUNCTION!

i still don't know what to expect, but with michael bay directing, at least it'll look awesome.



-LOki

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

2.9/5
stars hugh jackman, famke janssen, patrick stewart, ian mckellen

ok, so there was the phoenix saga, arguably the biggest storyline of the cartoon series, a whole bunch of mutants that were introduced in X2, all the original cast returning, a bigger budget than the first two films, and a legion of film and comic book fans with $14 ready to go. so what the hell went wrong?

the story does follow on from the second film with the return of jean - and something else. from here on, there is not only a battle between mutants and humans, but also a battle of loyalties within the x-men as well as magento's brotherhood of 'evil' mutants. through all this, we are introduced to a some new characters such as kitty pryde, collosus, and juggernaut.

with such a rich story and controversy, you'd think a decent director would create an end of a trilogy of epic, if not monumental proportions. but alas, that was the only thing X3 lacked - a good director. and what flowed from that was poor editing, hampered story, and just all-round unsatisfaction (the movie was that average that i had to make that word up).

the characters in the film are portrayed in a completely differnt light from the first two films, making the audience try to figure out what the hell is going on. xavier's character is the most frustrating, alongside the way the film deals with cyclops. not to metion i keep forgetting that rogue is supposed to be able to fly and super-strength. and doesn't the name "phoenix" bring to mind a bit of fire? i mean, a flint at least would suffice. oh, and mystique! the list could go on.

the mentality that the makers of this film had would have been something like this, "put in as many action sequences in as possible, regardless of how they punch holes in the story". i admit some of the action sequences were pretty impressive, but there were just so many that they all just compete with each other to say "hey, i'm the better action sequence!". the film, in both its story or special effects, never peaks or makes you think "holy shit!" like nightcrawler's intro in X2.

i think its fair to draw an analogy with the terminator series, where the first two kicked ass and the third - with a different director - was shit. after the trailer, i had a bit of confidence in brett ratner as a director but like a lot of good trailers, it showed all the good bits and that was about it. and no matter how many times storm uses her powers (finally), the film flatlines the whole way through.

it pains me to give such a dismal rating to one of the best franchises out there, but i can't justify giving it any more. i don't think i'll even see it a second time.

hopefully bryan singer returns to make the next triology, and brings back the elegance and just plan kick-assness of the first two. i hope superman returns was worth it!

oh, and one more thing: DAMN YOU BRETT RATNER!

-LOki