What a Great Weekend (Films 128, 129, and 130)
Words cannot express the great weekend I just had, but I will try to to tell you here. And I needed it. The past couple of weeks at school were rough, behavior-wise. Not sure why, but the students have been amped up ever since coming back from April vacation; and now we are making the last push up the hill until the end of the year (June 18th).
So, on Friday, my friend had a dinner party for Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath filled with restrictions on doing any work over the weekend, which is meant for prayer and family gathering). We had a brisket and this fantastic cooked-noodles/brown sugar/nuts concoction that was unbelievably delicious. It was a great night of food with friends. And then we pulled out the game "Cards Against Humanity" which is like the adult-rated version of Apples to Apples. It's a great opportunity to learn more about your friends and their sense of humor. The idea is to hopefully be as inappropriate as possible (or at least play to the audience). I cannot remember some of the exact cards played but let's just say meth and muppets like Kermit the Frog were brought up while playing the game. I loved ending the game with a 3-card play in order to create a haiku. I've only played the game one other time, with my sister and her friends on Christmas, but I think it's my new favorite game.
Saturday, I had my last Graduate class in Inquiry in Education. I had to give a presentation on my action research project, which focused on "Parental Involvement." And now I can graduate with my Master's Degree. I'm hoping to continue on next year and get my certification for Assistant Principal, even though I love being a teacher. I feel like I have great ideas for how to be progressive and change education, but I want a bigger position in order to affect change. I've always considered myself a rather progressive thinker and it's a sad, sorry state of affairs these days with education. I want my voice to be heard and unfortunately I think I need to have a higher position than classroom teacher in order to bring about the change that needs to happen. And in Maine, it's certainly hard with a Governor that shows no compassion for teachers and who thinks public education is an absolute failure.
After my class, I went to my friends' daughter's 7th birthday party. It's crazy to think that their kids have been in our lives now for about 5 years. When the kids came to live in Maine they were 2 years old and 5 years old, respectively. It's made me think about my close friends and my sister, who all have kids and in my opinion are doing a fantastic job at raising them. Through my observations, it isn't that difficult to do a great job, and I know that sounds like I'm dumbing it down (and anyway with kids will probably shout in my face for hours how difficult it can be, and what do I know, not having kids myself). But, here's why I say it's not that difficult: as long as you're willing to put in the effort and recognize the responsibility that comes with having a child and recognize that it's a complete life-altering course of events (that you cannot just go about your life as if a child isn't in it, you know, like go out drinking or partying or doing whatever you want), then honestly it will all be great. Yes, I recognize that it's a constant struggle and can be emotionally and mentally draining, but I see how my friends and sister have all approached being parents now and I'm so impressed with them. Maybe that means little to them, but I wish more people would recognize the responsibilities of adulthood and parenthood. I also thought about this because of the population of at-risk kids that I'm working with, especially this year. The parental involvement has been minimal, at best, all year and I have never felt more emotionally drained at the end of the day/week than I have this year, because each of my students brings a lot of emotional baggage to school because of their family situations. All of this makes me think I can be a parent and that I would be great at it. I believe I have what it takes. I've decided that I'd love to be a parent someday, if the opportunity presents itself one of these days. Oh, and if the right woman comes along whom I think I can co-parent with, that's kind of an important piece of the puzzle, too, I guess.
Sunday was Cinco de Mayo and I headed down to El Rayo, which was packed and it was great to be outside and enjoy the great weather with friends and colleagues. I've been re-arranging my apartment, as well, and I really like how it's turning out. I'm going to throwing myself a graduation party next weekend, so I wanted to fix up the apartment. Now, I'm getting ready for another week of school after a great, restful weekend.
......................................................
"Philadelphia"
Starring: Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington
Directed by: Jonathan Demme
The year was 1993 and it was the first time that Hollywood took the risk of making a film with AIDS as the controversial subject that became public knowledge in the 1980s. But, they also answered the question of how to make it less controversial, because they turned it into an epic courtroom drama. They also picked the right crew with Tom Hanks in the lead role as Andrew Beckett, Denzel Washington as his homophobic lawyer who takes on the case after a slight change -of-heart over denying him representation, although his homophobia runs rampant throughout the trial and the film. I think it was important to write Washington's character as they did, because clearly he is the one that needs to have his epiphany. He's the one that will be open to changing. There's a great scene between Hanks and Washington in Beckett's apartment. He is playing some opera music for the lawyer and speaking passionately about it. You can tell that Washington's character is having a change-of-heart and is locating his soul in these moments with Beckett.
I think Jonathan Demme was the right director for this film because he takes us out of the courtroom just enough to break up the courtroom drama. I've always been a huge fan of Demme as a director. I like how he transitions the film between courtroom scenes and scenes that focus on Beckett as a human being, because that's what this film is truly about: a human being with a disease who was wrongly terminated because of fear and prejudice.
The story is the Andrew Beckett is an up-and-coming lawyer at a large firm and he is being positioned to move up the ladder and become partner in the near-future. When he is put in charge of an important client's case, another lawyer at the firm notices lesions on Beckett's skin that were commonly associated with AIDS. As an audience we know that Beckett has AIDS because we watch him visit a clinic. No one at the firm knows until this lawyer tells others. He is quickly taken off the case and fired (due to "negligence" but we all know better).
The film trades courtroom scenes with scenes showcasing the development of Beckett's disease. We see him deteriorate physically because of AIDS, so as an audience we can see the effect AIDS actually has on a person. Bravo to Tom Hanks for really becoming enveloped in his character.
Now, back in this day AIDS was most commonly associated with gay men (which Beckett happens to be). There is a lot of homophobic undertones throughout the film, either through jokes that these older, white mean make to each other in a sauna or the confrontation of Washington's character an a gay, black man who tries to pick him up in a pharmacy.
Knowing the film came out in 1993, this all makes sense because homosexuality was looked at completely differently throughout the 90s, as well as AIDS. So, yes, the film is controversial in that it touches upon two important subjects that needed to be in on the front pages in order to get people talking about them. And, now, look where we are with both topics. I mean, gay marriage has become the new civil rights movement and AIDS has really taken a backseat (besides in Africa) because science and technology has really developed over the years.
There have been many other films that tackle the subject, which has become less taboo over the years.
Rent, Kids, and Gia are a few of my favorites.
Tom Hanks is not one of my favorite actors, but I have to admit he's been in some excellent films where he is committed to the role.
Big, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, and Saving Private Ryan
.........................................................................................................
"Phantoms"
Starring: Ben Affleck, Joanna Going, Rose McGowan, Peter O'Toole
Written by: Dean Koontz
All I could think of when I watched this film (again, yes, I saw it back in 1998 when it first came out and it's just one of those cheesy, awful films that you have to watch again) was the scene in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" when Ben Affleck actually pokes fun at his own movie and says "Ben Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms!" Unfortunately, he's not. And the film's script, written by Dean Koontz himself from his own novel, doesn't help at all.
"What kind of threat are we dealing with? Biological? Chemical? Other?"
Answer: "I'm leaning towards Other."
The other is considered the Ancient Enemy, thanks to Dr. Timothy Flyte, played by Peter O'Toole, far from his career-making role in "Lawrence of Arabia." I feel bad for him and everyone else involved in this film. It's not good, at all. It takes every other science fiction film's cliche and rolls them into a ball and literally spits it out into the audience's face. It's a bit like "Tremors" but I think that film at least knew it was cheesy and rolled with it. I think the major problem here is that Koontz is taking himself far too seriously as a writer.
The creature in question can take on any form and when it eats a human, it suddenly learns everything it needs to know. The humans think they are being consumed by the devil. And it communicates in almost an Exorcist kind of way with the heroes of the film. This creature ultimately wants Dr. Flyte.
This film really showcases that Rose McGowan is a horrible actress with no screen presence at all, because I completely forgot about her, even when she was on the screen. Ben Affleck doesn't help the case that he's probably a better director than actor with this on his resume. He speaks each line like an acting class freshman.
Totally avoid this film if possible. Or maybe, put it on at a party and play a new drinking game. You make up the game. I can't do all the work for you!
..........................................................
"The Faculty"
Starring: Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Famke Janssen, Clea Duvall, Jordana Brewster, Laura Harris, Shawn Hatosy, Selma Hayek, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, and Jon Stewart
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Written by: Kevin Williamson
Here's another sci-fi film geared for the teenage generation thanks in large part to the anchoring of the cast and the screenplay writer, which came out in 1998. It's a film that could've been another disaster. Could've been, if it wasn't put into the capable hands of director Robert Rodriquez, who really knows how to shoot these types of films; and writer Kevin Williamson, who really seems like the guy to call if you have a script idea that involves teenagers. For some reason, he can really write for them. (Re: Dawson's Creek and the Scream trilogy).
Yes, it's another film that takes pieces from other moves: we've got paranoia and parasites, an homage to "invasion of the Body Snatchers," slimy, sharp-toothed villainous humans that morph into otherworldly creatures a la "Aliens," and of course movie-smart teenagers like in "Scream."
This is certainly not a groundbreaking film in the genre, like "Scream" was in terms of re-inventing the horror genre that it set out to actually kind of make fun of. It's a semi-conscious mediocre film that is saved by the engaging cast of young-enough-looking actors playing teenagers with Elijah Wood set as the geeky hero. This cast of misfit characters is set up to save the world from ending because of a monster invasion in their small Midwestern town.
There's plenty of bloody violence, drug use and language thanks to Rodriguez. I'm convinced he's a master of his own art form. There are plenty of cheap-thrill-seeking scenes, as you are trying to figure out where the big bad is coming from (or who it is, actually, since the monsters take the form of humans-- more specifically, the faculty of the high school where all these teenagers attend-- haha, hence the title). The faculty consists of Bebe Neuwirth (you might remember her from Cheers and Frasier) as the principal, Robert Patrick as the gym teacher/football coach, and Famke Janssen as the new, pensive teacher, as well as Jon Stewart (in one of his few movie roles) as a science teacher.
The teenagers follow the almost cliche casting rituals: Jordana Brewster is Delilah (I love that name), the beautiful, tangy-tongued cheerleader captain and editor of the school newspaper; Shawn Hatosy is Stan, Delilah's ex-boyfriend if he quits the football to focus on his studies, Clea DuVall as Stokely, the loner (hello, typecast) an sci-fi aficionado who helps explain what's happening to everyone else thanks to her knowledg, Josh Hartnett is Zeke, the high school dealer of all things illegal, Elijah Wood is Casey, the geeky victim-turned-hero, who of course gets the girl in the end, and then there's Laura Harris who plays MaryBeth, the sweet, blonde Southern belle who is the new girl at school.
They all become close as they need to band together in order to save each other and the world. Even as an unlikely cast of characters, you root from them and want to see them succeed.
I absolutely dig this film and think you will, too, if you enjoy teenager/high school-based films. The difference here is that it's a sci-fi mixed bag. Rodriguez does a great job turning it into something decent when it could have been awful.
So, on Friday, my friend had a dinner party for Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath filled with restrictions on doing any work over the weekend, which is meant for prayer and family gathering). We had a brisket and this fantastic cooked-noodles/brown sugar/nuts concoction that was unbelievably delicious. It was a great night of food with friends. And then we pulled out the game "Cards Against Humanity" which is like the adult-rated version of Apples to Apples. It's a great opportunity to learn more about your friends and their sense of humor. The idea is to hopefully be as inappropriate as possible (or at least play to the audience). I cannot remember some of the exact cards played but let's just say meth and muppets like Kermit the Frog were brought up while playing the game. I loved ending the game with a 3-card play in order to create a haiku. I've only played the game one other time, with my sister and her friends on Christmas, but I think it's my new favorite game.
Saturday, I had my last Graduate class in Inquiry in Education. I had to give a presentation on my action research project, which focused on "Parental Involvement." And now I can graduate with my Master's Degree. I'm hoping to continue on next year and get my certification for Assistant Principal, even though I love being a teacher. I feel like I have great ideas for how to be progressive and change education, but I want a bigger position in order to affect change. I've always considered myself a rather progressive thinker and it's a sad, sorry state of affairs these days with education. I want my voice to be heard and unfortunately I think I need to have a higher position than classroom teacher in order to bring about the change that needs to happen. And in Maine, it's certainly hard with a Governor that shows no compassion for teachers and who thinks public education is an absolute failure.
After my class, I went to my friends' daughter's 7th birthday party. It's crazy to think that their kids have been in our lives now for about 5 years. When the kids came to live in Maine they were 2 years old and 5 years old, respectively. It's made me think about my close friends and my sister, who all have kids and in my opinion are doing a fantastic job at raising them. Through my observations, it isn't that difficult to do a great job, and I know that sounds like I'm dumbing it down (and anyway with kids will probably shout in my face for hours how difficult it can be, and what do I know, not having kids myself). But, here's why I say it's not that difficult: as long as you're willing to put in the effort and recognize the responsibility that comes with having a child and recognize that it's a complete life-altering course of events (that you cannot just go about your life as if a child isn't in it, you know, like go out drinking or partying or doing whatever you want), then honestly it will all be great. Yes, I recognize that it's a constant struggle and can be emotionally and mentally draining, but I see how my friends and sister have all approached being parents now and I'm so impressed with them. Maybe that means little to them, but I wish more people would recognize the responsibilities of adulthood and parenthood. I also thought about this because of the population of at-risk kids that I'm working with, especially this year. The parental involvement has been minimal, at best, all year and I have never felt more emotionally drained at the end of the day/week than I have this year, because each of my students brings a lot of emotional baggage to school because of their family situations. All of this makes me think I can be a parent and that I would be great at it. I believe I have what it takes. I've decided that I'd love to be a parent someday, if the opportunity presents itself one of these days. Oh, and if the right woman comes along whom I think I can co-parent with, that's kind of an important piece of the puzzle, too, I guess.
Sunday was Cinco de Mayo and I headed down to El Rayo, which was packed and it was great to be outside and enjoy the great weather with friends and colleagues. I've been re-arranging my apartment, as well, and I really like how it's turning out. I'm going to throwing myself a graduation party next weekend, so I wanted to fix up the apartment. Now, I'm getting ready for another week of school after a great, restful weekend.
......................................................
"Philadelphia"
Starring: Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington
Directed by: Jonathan Demme
The year was 1993 and it was the first time that Hollywood took the risk of making a film with AIDS as the controversial subject that became public knowledge in the 1980s. But, they also answered the question of how to make it less controversial, because they turned it into an epic courtroom drama. They also picked the right crew with Tom Hanks in the lead role as Andrew Beckett, Denzel Washington as his homophobic lawyer who takes on the case after a slight change -of-heart over denying him representation, although his homophobia runs rampant throughout the trial and the film. I think it was important to write Washington's character as they did, because clearly he is the one that needs to have his epiphany. He's the one that will be open to changing. There's a great scene between Hanks and Washington in Beckett's apartment. He is playing some opera music for the lawyer and speaking passionately about it. You can tell that Washington's character is having a change-of-heart and is locating his soul in these moments with Beckett.
I think Jonathan Demme was the right director for this film because he takes us out of the courtroom just enough to break up the courtroom drama. I've always been a huge fan of Demme as a director. I like how he transitions the film between courtroom scenes and scenes that focus on Beckett as a human being, because that's what this film is truly about: a human being with a disease who was wrongly terminated because of fear and prejudice.
The story is the Andrew Beckett is an up-and-coming lawyer at a large firm and he is being positioned to move up the ladder and become partner in the near-future. When he is put in charge of an important client's case, another lawyer at the firm notices lesions on Beckett's skin that were commonly associated with AIDS. As an audience we know that Beckett has AIDS because we watch him visit a clinic. No one at the firm knows until this lawyer tells others. He is quickly taken off the case and fired (due to "negligence" but we all know better).
The film trades courtroom scenes with scenes showcasing the development of Beckett's disease. We see him deteriorate physically because of AIDS, so as an audience we can see the effect AIDS actually has on a person. Bravo to Tom Hanks for really becoming enveloped in his character.
Now, back in this day AIDS was most commonly associated with gay men (which Beckett happens to be). There is a lot of homophobic undertones throughout the film, either through jokes that these older, white mean make to each other in a sauna or the confrontation of Washington's character an a gay, black man who tries to pick him up in a pharmacy.
Knowing the film came out in 1993, this all makes sense because homosexuality was looked at completely differently throughout the 90s, as well as AIDS. So, yes, the film is controversial in that it touches upon two important subjects that needed to be in on the front pages in order to get people talking about them. And, now, look where we are with both topics. I mean, gay marriage has become the new civil rights movement and AIDS has really taken a backseat (besides in Africa) because science and technology has really developed over the years.
There have been many other films that tackle the subject, which has become less taboo over the years.
Rent, Kids, and Gia are a few of my favorites.
Tom Hanks is not one of my favorite actors, but I have to admit he's been in some excellent films where he is committed to the role.
Big, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Forrest Gump, and Saving Private Ryan
.........................................................................................................
"Phantoms"
Starring: Ben Affleck, Joanna Going, Rose McGowan, Peter O'Toole
Written by: Dean Koontz
All I could think of when I watched this film (again, yes, I saw it back in 1998 when it first came out and it's just one of those cheesy, awful films that you have to watch again) was the scene in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" when Ben Affleck actually pokes fun at his own movie and says "Ben Affleck was the bomb in Phantoms!" Unfortunately, he's not. And the film's script, written by Dean Koontz himself from his own novel, doesn't help at all.
"What kind of threat are we dealing with? Biological? Chemical? Other?"
Answer: "I'm leaning towards Other."
The other is considered the Ancient Enemy, thanks to Dr. Timothy Flyte, played by Peter O'Toole, far from his career-making role in "Lawrence of Arabia." I feel bad for him and everyone else involved in this film. It's not good, at all. It takes every other science fiction film's cliche and rolls them into a ball and literally spits it out into the audience's face. It's a bit like "Tremors" but I think that film at least knew it was cheesy and rolled with it. I think the major problem here is that Koontz is taking himself far too seriously as a writer.
The creature in question can take on any form and when it eats a human, it suddenly learns everything it needs to know. The humans think they are being consumed by the devil. And it communicates in almost an Exorcist kind of way with the heroes of the film. This creature ultimately wants Dr. Flyte.
This film really showcases that Rose McGowan is a horrible actress with no screen presence at all, because I completely forgot about her, even when she was on the screen. Ben Affleck doesn't help the case that he's probably a better director than actor with this on his resume. He speaks each line like an acting class freshman.
Totally avoid this film if possible. Or maybe, put it on at a party and play a new drinking game. You make up the game. I can't do all the work for you!
..........................................................
"The Faculty"
Starring: Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Famke Janssen, Clea Duvall, Jordana Brewster, Laura Harris, Shawn Hatosy, Selma Hayek, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Patrick, and Jon Stewart
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Written by: Kevin Williamson
Here's another sci-fi film geared for the teenage generation thanks in large part to the anchoring of the cast and the screenplay writer, which came out in 1998. It's a film that could've been another disaster. Could've been, if it wasn't put into the capable hands of director Robert Rodriquez, who really knows how to shoot these types of films; and writer Kevin Williamson, who really seems like the guy to call if you have a script idea that involves teenagers. For some reason, he can really write for them. (Re: Dawson's Creek and the Scream trilogy).
Yes, it's another film that takes pieces from other moves: we've got paranoia and parasites, an homage to "invasion of the Body Snatchers," slimy, sharp-toothed villainous humans that morph into otherworldly creatures a la "Aliens," and of course movie-smart teenagers like in "Scream."
This is certainly not a groundbreaking film in the genre, like "Scream" was in terms of re-inventing the horror genre that it set out to actually kind of make fun of. It's a semi-conscious mediocre film that is saved by the engaging cast of young-enough-looking actors playing teenagers with Elijah Wood set as the geeky hero. This cast of misfit characters is set up to save the world from ending because of a monster invasion in their small Midwestern town.
There's plenty of bloody violence, drug use and language thanks to Rodriguez. I'm convinced he's a master of his own art form. There are plenty of cheap-thrill-seeking scenes, as you are trying to figure out where the big bad is coming from (or who it is, actually, since the monsters take the form of humans-- more specifically, the faculty of the high school where all these teenagers attend-- haha, hence the title). The faculty consists of Bebe Neuwirth (you might remember her from Cheers and Frasier) as the principal, Robert Patrick as the gym teacher/football coach, and Famke Janssen as the new, pensive teacher, as well as Jon Stewart (in one of his few movie roles) as a science teacher.
The teenagers follow the almost cliche casting rituals: Jordana Brewster is Delilah (I love that name), the beautiful, tangy-tongued cheerleader captain and editor of the school newspaper; Shawn Hatosy is Stan, Delilah's ex-boyfriend if he quits the football to focus on his studies, Clea DuVall as Stokely, the loner (hello, typecast) an sci-fi aficionado who helps explain what's happening to everyone else thanks to her knowledg, Josh Hartnett is Zeke, the high school dealer of all things illegal, Elijah Wood is Casey, the geeky victim-turned-hero, who of course gets the girl in the end, and then there's Laura Harris who plays MaryBeth, the sweet, blonde Southern belle who is the new girl at school.
They all become close as they need to band together in order to save each other and the world. Even as an unlikely cast of characters, you root from them and want to see them succeed.
I absolutely dig this film and think you will, too, if you enjoy teenager/high school-based films. The difference here is that it's a sci-fi mixed bag. Rodriguez does a great job turning it into something decent when it could have been awful.
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