...In which our heroine is a film snob.

Believe it or not, the most significant change I've
experienced since leaving home is the number of films of seen.

This week alone I've seen: Burn After Reading, 28 Weeks Later, In the Mood for Love, and Punch-Drunk Love. And there's guaranteed to be more by this weekend. I bet I've watched at least 25 films since I've been here.

This is what heaven must feel like, if it wasn't just a creation of humans.

I love film school. End of story. I'm not coming home. Well...I am, but not without a fight.

...In which our heroine burns after reading.

So we made our first official pilgrimage to a Chicago movie theatre yesterday, in the pouring rain and through the flooded CTA. But there was no way I wasn't going to see Burn After Reading this weekend.

I really liked the film. The reviews I had only glanced at were very mixed, but I thought the film was very well put together. Kathleen asked me afterward if I thought the film would be up for any Oscars, and while I certainly don't think it will, if you like the Coen Brothers, it's definitely worth seeing. It reminded me of Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski in that the humor is pretty absurd, but still fits in the context of the film. It also seemed as if the actors in the film were just having fun with their roles. Brad Pitt is especially hilarious, Frances McDormand is as fantastic as always, and George Clooney does a great smarmy. The ending of the film is one of the funniest I've seen in a very long time.

Otherwise, I'm just staring down a mountain of homework. Our weekends have become pretty much routine at this point--with bible study and community service Thursday nights, which makes us pretty thirsty, going out Fridays, this week to Belmont, and Saturdays more subdued with usually just a movie.

Friday we ventured to Samah, the coolest hookah bar I've ever been to. For ten bucks a person, we got nine hookahs and a drink for everyone. The bar itself was incredibly cool, with private rooms for parties of ten and up (which we were). It feels like a 19th century opium den, with the wonderfully chosen music, elaborate decor, and generally relaxed feeling. The hookahs were also high quality and the pumpkin pie flavor proved to be beyond delicious, so much so that I got an intense hookah high that lasted the whole ride home.

Belmont is quickly becoming my favorite area of the city--it's got all the same stores as Wicker Park, but minus all the hipsters. Besides Samah, there's a bunch of vintage stores, tattoo parlors, head shops, and interesting, uh, boutiques.

Here's an interesting occurence: in my moving here, my parents are back to being best friends. Don't get me wrong, they've always been close and never really fought, for which I consider myself extremely lucky. But now they're doing crazy things like going out on weeknights, and talking on the phone when they're at work. I can tell when I talk to my mom that it's been a good thing, them being forced to depend on each other. For that, I am glad I could be the catalyst.

And for the most thrilling news of the week, I bought Neil Young tickets for December 9th. Mom and Dad are coming up to see the show, which I realized after the fact was during finals week but oh well, Neil's getting old and I need to hear "Cortez the Killer" live just one time. Or "Cowgirl in the Sand." Or "Like a Hurricane."

...In which our heroine plays DJ.

When we aren't going to class here at CCC, there's only three real activities that occur amongst the group: cooking together/eating, watching movies, or listening to music. Due to my ginormous and elitist iTunes library, I get the duty spinning the tunes every night.

What we listen to most often...

The Allman Brothers Band, here doing a kick-ass live version of "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"


Led Zeppelin. I can't stop listening to "The Battle of Evermore," and this video hits on a whole other geek level as well.


Daft Punk. Wes, Ben, and I are big fans of the French robots and their music makes for a pretty decent impromptu dance party, especially "ALIVE 2007."


Assorted Motown/hot wax/girl groups. But this song is the most played, especially on the weekend mornings:


The Decemberists, mostly because I have their songs in my head constantly:

...In which our heroine has the screenwriter's blues.

It's a cold and rainy day and I'm in a cold and rainy mood. I don't really know why--Friday was the bad day, when iTunes ate itself for the third fucking time and Emily knocked a casserole dish on my foot and cut it pretty significantly--but it's just one of those days when everyone is bugging me.

However, yesterday was awesome because I started the first strains of work on what will be a screenplay for Development and Pre-Production. All the characters, the lines of dialog, the settings, and the scenarios which have been germinating in my head ever since I realized that I had an imagination. Now they get to come out and play, to meet the world, and escape my brain.

The Residence Life Association also had a screening of No Country for Old Men yesterday, and beforehand they asked the most impossible trivia about the Coen Brothers, for prize packs with Burn After Reading stuff. I ended up winning and got a shirt, poster, flash drive, water bottle, wrist band, and pre-screening passes for Wednesday. But I don't think I can go due to class. Grr.

Think your day was boring? I got to watch three hours of silent film today in History of Cinema.

Bright Eyes are playing here on Halloween. So the dilemna is: Go to OU with Cassie as valkyrie Maude Lebowski, or go to Bright Eyes with Kris as valkyrie Maude Lebowski. Decisions, decisions

I feel like I'm getting too ramble-y on here. What do we think kids? Am I talking too much about my personal life and not enought about stuff other people want to read? Leave a comment and let me know. I don't want to bore all four of you that read this...

...In which our heroine chokes.

Wednesday was a new record for Katydid. I saw not one, not two, but THREE films in one day, which was kind of ridiculous. First up was Burden of Dreams, about the making of Werner Herzog's Fitzcarraldo, which was a great intro to the film buisiness. The film was a hellish experience that almost killed people in the process, but Herzog had some wonderful quotes that really resonated with me as a burgeoning creative mind:

"If I abandon this project, I would be a man without dreams."

"Everyday life is an illusion behind which lies the reality of dreams."

In Development and Preproduction, we watched The Red Balloon (Le Balloon Rouge). In all honesty, I think it's kind of boring, having seen it 1.5 times now. Maybe I was just antsy for the evening's main event.

I got out of class at 6:20 and Choke started at 7:00. Kathleen had gone early to secure a spot for us, and even getting there forty minutes early, I was the third to last person let in. I had mixed feelings going in, since Choke really isn't a very good book.

However, the film was really, really entertaining. Sam Rockwell gives an outstanding, layered performance as Victor Mancini, and I was way more empathetic towards his character in the film than in the book. I didn't really like the guy who played Denny, but Kelly MacDonald and Anjelica Huston were very good in their roles as Paige Marshall and Ida.

The script was really smart and in addition to the editing, it made the sexual content very funny and non-titillating. I was amazed how much of the blatant sexuality they kept from the book, and in an ironic twist, the hottest scene in the movie *SPOILER* is the very end with just Victor and Paige making out over Radiohead's "Reckoner." I also like the way they handled the whole "Victor as the Second Coming" plot line a lot better as well.

I liked the film much more than the book and the mostly Columbia audience was very responsive. Then, in an especially cool twist, Capone from Ain't Cool News was sitting two rows in front of me and led the Q&A with Sam Rockwell:

The Q&A was hilarious, and Rockwell was very candid in discussing his work in the film. He seems like a very humble guy, and actor who makes the choices he wants to and isn't concerned at all with celebrity. Beforehand, I was kind of nonchalant about him, but now I want to seek out his films.

Sam Rockwell talks sex scenes:

In other news, I'm going to be a busy little worker bee with all of my classes. I already have a ton of homework, and found myself as one of two freshman in my Creative Non-Fiction: Memoir Writing class, the rest of the class being seniors.

Our immediate group of 12 friends have been getting along really well. We've just been hanging out, listening to lots of music and watching lots of films. As a group of seven guys and five girls, with only one of each in committed relationships, we've now reached the stage when everyone has decided they like someone else in the group. (Katydid has no comment at this time. :) Things are going to go really well if we all start dating each other and then end up miserably breaking up and hating each other. Oh, what a year it's going to be.

...In which our heroine is tired of coming up with clever headlines.

Here's the red-band, very NSFW trailer for Zack and Miri Make a Porno. I'm still not totally sure how I feel about the movie, but am hoping that it's kind of like Chasing Amy in that it's both totally obscene but sweet too. And my interest might have something to do with the fact that Seth Rogen looks more adorable than ever in the trailerIf he plays the romantic in this half as well as he did in Knocked Up, it'll be over for Katydid:


Last night we didn't have much to do before classes started, so someone said, "Fuck it, let's go bowling,"...well not really but we did watch The Big Lebowski. Rolling Stone actually produced a decent story not about the Jonas Brothers about the film, entitled "The Decade of the Dude." The continued coverage on the website is good as well.

Radiohead does Neil Young's "Tell Me Why":


I registered to vote today in the state of Illinois, although Ohio could use my vote more. I won't go into how I feel patronized and pandered to with the choice of Sarah Palin for McCain's VP as an independent young woman, or how he picked her 'cause he's old and she's a MILF. Or how I hate all her views, whether they be on the enviroment or issues of choice. However, they are all just more reasons I cannot wait to cast a ballot for Barack Obama on November 4th.

I had my first college class today, the freshman seminar, called New Millenium Studies. It seemed pretty easy and the professor was incredibly sweet. I have SIX WHOLE HOURS of film classes tomorrow--Development and Preproduction and Aesthetics of Cinema. Then it's the super-cool screening of Choke. I am quite excited.

...In which our heroine is continually amazed.

You know what an ideal day for Katydid is like? It was yesterday.

Kathleen, Julia, and I made the trek up State Street to find the mega three story Borders so I could get books for my memoir writing class (seventy-four effing dollars for four books) and I just couldn't help the special edition of True Romance was half off. I was glad to explore State Street and see all the discount retail stores that I'm sure many pilgrimages will be made to.

After hitting up the student discount at Pizza Hut, the group dispersed to go to the Chicago Jazz Festival, Kathleen and I went back to the apartment and watched the best television show ever, Freaks and Geeks, for four hours before we decided to go be social. It was both Kris and Paul's birthday, but Paul was being Paul, so we ended up hanging out with Kris. I felt kind of bad that it was his 21st, but he had been left by his roommate Benny

So, we ended up coming back to the apartment to watch the perfect cinematic duo of Dead Alive and Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, two of Kris's favorites. And I made an amazing batch of katehagen brownies.

Dead Alive is one of Peter Jackson's first films, and according to Wiki, the single bloodiest film ever made. It's a treat. Well, not really, but it's just one of those things you have to watch. The sick, sick humor makes the gore almost tolerable. Almost. Gore doesn't bother me, but there's a scene in the movie that stimulates my gag reflex. Hard to believe that Peter Jackson went on to make Lord of the Rings after creating nuggets like this, which Youtube correctly says is not suitable for minors, or frankly anyone of sane mind:


There would be no Dead Alive without Evil Dead II, considered a classic amongst geeks like me. It's my favorite horror movie and makes my Top 10 of all-time. After Dead Alive, the gore in ED II felt tame. Kathleen said she'd become totally numb to any kind of gore, although the best scene in the movie isn't gory at all:


So yeah, it was a perfect day.

A couple cool links:

• Crazy 4 Cult Poster: It's an event that I know Kevin Smith is influential in that showcases artwork inspired by cult film. This year's poster is beyond awesome and I need it. See if you can figure out who all the characters are. I think this might just have to be a dumb impulse purchase.
• In the same vein, there's Montygog's Art-O-Rama, which offers adorable little sketches of movie/comic/televison characters from all over the place. I currently am featuring cartoon Ash as my desktop background.
• Oh look, it's a preview screening of Choke with a Q&A with Sam Rockwell in Chicago. It'd be cool to have tickets for that. Hmm, I guess I do.