I'm Finished

Again, it's been over a month since I last blogged, and a few posts since I actually wrote anything, so first a little catch up.

Yes, I am finished! July 29th and 30th, 2008 were the two days I took the IL Bar Exam, and if I passed that most daunting of exams, I will officially be a licensed attorney in November. As for Day 1 of the exam, which was all essays, the morning had me pumped up as they were some of the easiest essay topics I could have asked for, but that afternoon had me freaked out. It's frustrating to spend a whole summer learning and memorizing 14 areas of law and inane acronyms, anticipating that the bar examiners could throw anything at you, including the impossibly confusing Secured Transactions, only to get a bunch of essays on the MBE topics (Torts, Contracts, Constitutional Law, Real Property, Criminal Law, Evidence). Day 2 was the multiple choice. While I had done my fair share of practice problems over the course of the summer, it's still nearly impossible to say how it really went. It's a long wait until October to see how it went, and I'm trying not to think about it too much, but it's obviously a nerveracking wait.
I still can't believe I had to wait a week and a half to see The Dark Knight. The summer Batman Begins came out, I was going to every midnight screening I could (although I was also living in the suburbs with my mom so entertainment was short at hand), but thanks to the Bar Exam, I had to wait. Seeing it the night before the Bar Exam was not the great idea it seemed it would be. I had heard from a lot of people that one should unwind, relax, and distract one's self by catching a movie before the exam. When that was suggested, no one probably had a sold out show at the Navy Pier Imax in mind. It wasn't quite as bad as the time I watched Beatrix Kiddo get buried alive the day of my Poppy's funeral, but it probably ranks right under as one of my worst theater going experiences. And no, this does not reflect on the film, which I thought was very good, but not the masterpiece that some are claiming (Ah, if only I had a large readership who could flame me in my comments for not saying it's perfect). With all the commercials claiming, "It must be seen twice," what I like to think is that they mean, "You must see it twice if you saw it under a high stress situation seated next to a little girl who could not have been more than 2 years old who babbled endlessly and clapped every time the Joker was on screen while her brother rummaged through plastic bags next to you for ten minutes searching for snacks and a distraction because he was also too young to see the film and was scared." Please, leave the kids at home next time. I am the Batman.
Luckily, I've been able to stay pretty busy since taking the Bar Exam as I am now currently funemployed and my days are wide open. Even the day after, I went to my sister's law firm and picked up a small assignment. After spending a whole summer studying, it felt suprisingly light and easy and fortunately paid extremely well. Then, it was off to Lollapalooza for the weekend. I also am trying to avoid making comparisons to last year, because it at least felt like a let down, but I think that's a little unfair. It's easy to look back at last year and only think of the highs like dancing at Interpol or standing in the rain at Spoon and forget about the down times when this year also had its own share of highs and lows. Mark Ronson blew me away, Bloc Party reminded me that I forgot how enjoyable they are, Foals and Flogging Molly were energetic highlights, and Nine Inch Nails were a suprisingly fun way to end the festival by singing along to Hurt and jumping around to Head Like a Hole. While I claimed countless times that this might be my last year of the festival, we'll see if I can resist next year.
Yesterday I saw Pineapple Express. While it was really funny and James Franco was hilarious (so nice to see him in something good), it was definitely on the lower tier of Apatow productions. With another script by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, the heart of the film couldn't help but feel like a retread of Superbad, being about male comradare and friendship. With the announcement of Knocked Up, I was so excited to hear that Seth Rogen would be a Hollywood lead, but two years later, Rogen already seems to be overstaying his welcome with his limited range and annoying laugh. Again, I didn't hate the film. The first three quarters were really funny, but the last quarter simply fell apart by transforming into an action movie. I felt the film was trying to do what Hot Fuzz did so well and become a parody of action films with such over the top and cliche action, but the problem is with the direction. David Gordon Green grounds so much of the film in some semblance of reality, shooting the over the top action in a way that still makes the viewer wince and groan, that when Red gets shot for a third time, it's hard to know whether to just laugh and accept it, or roll your eyes at such implausability. Still, it was a good time at the movies.

Wrapping up, my time is honestly wide open right now expect for a short stint at CD City in 11 days where although I will be "working," my time will comprably be just as free. I'm thinking of doing something comprable to what I did when I was watching Skins and blogging every episode of a series, but can't decide what to do it with. If I can figure it out, I may add a poll (although I don't actually know if I have enough readers to actually vote) but in the running are Mad Men, Doctor Who, and Battlestar Galactica.

And That's Why You Don't Cancel a Beloved Series

I promise that I won't just be pasting Youtube clips, but to quote Almost Famous, "It's all happening."




That's right! It looks like the Arrested Development movie is really going to happen!

Legen.....!

Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris. Joss Whedon musical goodness! Can not wait!

Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

American Gangster

Not to sound like I am above it all, because, of course, I also stopped at the corner of Roscoe and Clark during the shoot of Public Enemies to possibly catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp, but it is somewhat astounding how little respect people generally have for a film production. People were literally yelling out to Johnny in the middle of shooting.
Public Enemies has been shooting around the Midwest, and specifically around Chicago for months now, and not just by chance, but because it is about John Dillinger, a famous gangster who lived the end of his life in our beloved city, and who was shot right outside the Biograph Theater in Lincoln Park (A digression: I have always loved the part in High Fidelity where Rob complains about how Dillinger inevitably was caught by the police. “You know who tipped them off? His fucking girlfriend! He just wanted to see a movie.”)

Out of the maybe 100 people crowded around the shoot, it seemed that no one knew what this period gangster film was about despite the period dress and cars, and on top of that, no one knew who was directing or anyone else cast in what looks to be a pretty incredible combination of cast and crew. Besides the great Johnny Depp, the film co-stars Christian Bale, Channing Tatum, Billy Crudup, Leeli Sobieski (don’t know how to feel about that one), Emelie de Ravin, Gionvanni Ribisi, Marion Cottilard, Lili Taylor, and Rory Cochrane. That cast alone, count me in.
Michael Mann is directing, who directed greats like Manhunter, The Insider, Heat, and Collateral. He was able to freely be within feet of the crowd without a single person saying peep. It may be hypocritical for me since I also didn’t remember what he looked like, but I would think at least one other person would have recongnized him. Plus, when statements like “I might recognize the director if he was Spielberg” are made it's extra insulting. But alas, it’s Johnny’s show.

Summer Trash

So rather than do the responsible thing this morning and do some more Bar studying, I got distracted. First up was Alan Ball's pilot for True Blood. While the version I downloaded (surely through legal means) was unfinished, I don't see what could really make the final product any better. Being a huge Six Feet Under fan, and adoring American Beauty in high school, I had been anticipating another series from Alan Ball. And being a fan of most things involving vampires, I thought Ball couldn't go wrong. While the series is based on a bunch of trashy "Southern Gothic" books, I probably shouldn't have expected much depth, but this is just shallow unsatisfying pulp. Anna Paquin is grating, the New Orleans setting feels like an inappropriate way to mention Katrina, and the nudity is just excessively unsexy.

Continuing my trashy romp, I decided to watch the first episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. While it was much lighter and more entertaining than True Blood, partly due to its much shorter running time, it mostly felt disposable. Don't get me wrong, Billie Piper is quite captivating to watch, and of course sexy, really sexier than anything in True Blood. But the idea of a call girl trying to keep her private life and professional life separate, never the twain shall meet, while it could be interesting, the series seems that it will handle the conflict by way of close calls rather than any psychological introspection on Hannah/ Belle's part. I guess that there's not much more you can ask for for summer entertainment, and I could see myself catching up on the rest, but I would never consider it must see. Also, how does Showtime expect people to wait for each episode to air when they are readily and easily available online and the show is already shooting a second season and has a third set to shoot?
Really, watching Secret Diary of a Call Girl made me still want to catch up on some other trashy television (though in an entirely different way) the Doctor Who revamp. I've caught an episode here and there, and some which were downright ridiculous, but with the internet abuzz about the Stephen Moffat episodes, I feel the need to really get on the bandwagon.

Alice Practice

Last night was the Crystal Castles show at the Double Door, and it was insane.

Jon, my sister Emily, and I grabbed a quick bite to eat at Piece. I highly recommend banana peppers as a choice pizza topping. Then we headed over to the show.

Doors were scheduled to open at 8 with the show set to begin at 9pm. We showed up around 8:30 to witness the largest crowd I have ever seen standing outside waiting to get in. The line was wrapped around the corner into the alley and must have been at least 300 people deep. I guess that's what happens when you offer a free show to hipster 20-somethings. After waiting until 9:45 and giving up all hope of ever getting in, we lucked out. Alana, a waitress at Double Door, and the one responsible for my owning of the 46 inch big screen TV in my living room, was working the door, and after a quick aside to one of her supervisors let us waltz inside. I really do owe her.

While the show was scheduled to start at 9 and I was sure that we had probably missed the opening act, I was wrong. Now we waited another hour and fifteen minutes inside through a DJ set for LMNOP to go on, which was the shitty new industrial project of someone Jon and I used to see in Champaign plays shows as The Idle Hours. Playing a full 40 minute set, he definitely overstayed his welcome. Then it was just another short weight until around midnight for the main event.



In a packed house, with everybody dancing and moving, Crystal Castles put on one of the most energetic shows I have ever seen. While on album, Alice's screaming can get somewhat grating, in the live setting, it just further amped up the raw energy of the room (although Jon would say otherwise who after walking out simply said "It's just not my thing"). As an added bonus, they opened with the remix to Klaxons- Atlantis to Interzone. Other than Ethan on keyboards and synthesizers and Alice on vocals (who loves to crowd surf up front, but can miraculously always find her way back to the stage), live drums were also a propulsive and pleasant surprise. While some of the nuance of the production of the studio recordings were lost, namely a lot of the video game noises, it didn't much matter with the floor literally bouncing to the beat.

While the night was nearly four and a half hours for really only 40 worthwhile minutes, it was quite the show.

It Belongs in a Museum

While the month and a half for which I haven't blogged doesn't even begin to approach the 19 years it's been since the last Indiana Jones movie, I'm back. And like Indy, I'm also now a doctor. A juris doctor.

I hadn't really been anticipating Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at all. As for high profile summer movies, I'd been mostly indifferent and mildly dreading the return of the part-time professor. Having grown up watching Raiders and Last Crusade repeatedly (sorry Temple of Doom, even having caught up with you, you really are the black sheep) I don't quite know why. I mostly dreaded the wink-wink-nudge-nudge that seemed inevitable with a much older Indy. What was I thinking?

How exciting! Really, this movie is a ride. Not to sound like a quote-grabbing-critic, but this movie does not let up, and not that it's some visceral edge of your seat experience, but it sure is inventive fun. I must have been grinning through at least 3/4 of the 2+ hours. Besides each exciting set piece, the highlight for me being the duck boat chase, the cast is so much fun. I absolutely loved Karen Allen in this, and on top of that, I actually liked Shia. Instead of being comic relief or a trustful sidekick, Mutt Williams, or Henry Jones III (sorry, if you didn't see that one coming), is a fully realized character in the Indy world.

I'd definitely wait more than 19 years, meaning hopefully forever, for another Indiana Jones, but I'd be glad to see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull again. It might actually be just a bit better than The Last Crusade, though nothing can top Raiders.

For an excellent review and insight (I wish I could write like this) read this. I'm glad I'm not the only one who seemed to really love it.