The Prettiness of Grimm

I have been a busy little bee, watching great films, documentaries, jammin’ to ma music, and reading interesting things. For some reason, I have been heavily in to the dark, contemplative, British, gruesome, cinematographically intriguing type fare. Before I list my wondrous new loves in film/music/lit-RA-ture, let me just say that my taste has tended to the pretty and yet, grim. Sidenote: Before I give my suggestions, I must comment on the fail that is my Youtube account. I started a channel to make a few videos that deal with things from my everyday life to movies and TV I love. So far, I have come to realize it is hard to make concise, effective videos that really convey your passion for, well, your passions. I think channels like “videoclerks” and “StupidforMovies” are much better at conveying their cinematic love.

http://www.youtube.com/user/videoclerks

http://www.youtube.com/user/StupidForMovies

And this way of communicating through the Internet kind of reaches a new level on Youtube. It is personal and impersonal at the same time. While I thoroughly enjoy Youtube vids of all kinds, I think it takes a certain kind of person to make these videos, to be all over Twitter, to update Tumblr, etc. Because ultimately, we are missing the ”angst and ambiguity that real communication brings” (NPR). Can I really communicate through the Internet? Is this blog really saying something to you, my few and far between readers? In the end, I LOVE, LOVE the works of art that are films and TV shows and music, and I get the greatest joy from writing and/or talking about this love. If my blog (and maybe my Youtube account) can spread this love, then even better!

ANYWAY, I finally got around to watching several interesting movies and TV, including the mindblowing AMC show “The Walking Dead”, the rich film “Fish Tank”, the twisty, clever, and epically entertaining documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop”, and revisited some lush songs.

Fish Tank

Jarvis's character and her love of hip-hop dance

Many people have heard of this unexpectedly craftful and well-acted family/teen/urban/subtle 2009 British drama, with the now movie-star Michael Fassbender and previous unknown (and not even previously an actress) Katie Jarvis. The story itself is simple; a troubled British teen living with her mean mother and younger sister becomes intrigued with her mother’s new boyfriend, who is seductive and likable yet somehow untrustworthy. As I watched the “plot” of this movie unfold, I was really surprised by the movie’s tone and focus. I was expecting a gnarly look at urban British life along the lines of Precious, but it was really not like that at all. It was actually a VERY subtle, lush look at the relationship of sorts that forms between Jarvis and Fassbender’s characters. The wonderful thing about Jarvis being untrained and naturally talented is that her performance is completely naturalistic. She is angry and vulnerable and tight-lipped, but in ways only a teen could be. Even at their worst, you can’t help liking all the characters. The film is also gorgeously shot. It is really a  hazy, lush, and gritty “interaction” piece. The mother is awful but human, and the younger sister is delightful foul-mouthed. The reoccuring themes of the chained white horse along the road that Mia keeps trying to free, and her love for hip-hop dance, both add to her desire for freedom and beauty in her life, yet the often futile attempts to get it. At the end, these “metaphors” are not heavy handed, and this movie is not hopelessly depressing. Mia herself provides all the hope you need in the end. (a note on the few sex scenes in this movie-one of the few films where sex scenes added to characterization, were not unnecessary, and were realistic)

Exit Through the Gift Shop

The deliciously mysterious street artist Banksy

Let me just say, if you love art in anyway you will LOVE this movie. And if you don’t really care for art, you will STILL LOVE this movie. This doc is definitely hard to accurately describe. It is basically about this crazy French guy who was obsessed with videotaping anything, so he stumbles open a “community” of street artists the stretch across the world. He eventually meets the super famous street artist/genius Banksy, who eventually realizes the documentary of sorts French guy is making is shit, so he turns the documentary into a film about the French guy (THIERRY, I remember), and how Thierry somehow becomes a street artist himself. Ignore the seeming convolution. This documentary is a mind-fuck in the best kind of way. It is a funny as hell, exciting, shocking, awe-inspiring look at street art today and it endless possibilities and dizzying heights. Banksy is a genius for turning this project into an Oscar nominated doc. While you watch this doc, you will be smiling and gasping with the ludriciousness of Thierry’s journey and the fact that this wondrous world of street art actually exists. And with Thierry’s rise to fame as a “street artist”, you will suddenly question the very meaning and definition of art itself. WHAT IS ART? IS THE JOKE ON US? IF THERE A JOKE? brillianttttttt.

By the mothe uckin way, I realize NOW I took a picture of street art while in Paris. In the tunnel under the road to get to the Arc de Triomphe, I think!

I took this mother uckin picture in PARIS

The Walking Dead

What has happened?

A stylized and yet realistic look at a zombie mad world. Great for zombie and non-zombie fans alike. Let me keep it brief. The show is stunning, will make your heart pound with suspense, will scare the crap out of you, will make you tear up, and will be satisfying gory. And at the same time, it is a drama on par with its Mad Men, Breaking Bad AMC counterparts. And the lead, played by the guy-who-was-in-love-with-Kiera-Knightley-in-Love-Actually, is a damn fine actor. The pilot IS thrilling, moving, gut-wrenching, quiet perfection.

Books—Wait, I read? Hell Yuh. Things I have read since my last book update: White Horses by Alice Hoffman, Walk on Water by Michael Ruhlman (gripping non-fic tale of pediatric heart surgeons), Unknown Soldier-Easy Kill, Maurice by E.M. Forster, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold and more David Sedaris with Me Talk Pretty One Day.

Read the book gorramit!

The Lovely Bones is a masterpiece of devastating loss that also manages to awaken you to the blinding beauty of being alive. Don’t have much to add to the acclaim, it is a masterpiece. Which does drag a bit the last hundred pages in terms of pacing. This is the kind of book that is consistently stunning in the actual writing; there are sentences that are so effective and moving you will literally want to cry. I can’t imagine the movie version did it justice. Even though I haven’t seen the movie, I know if it had done it justice it would have gotten every Oscar out there.

Music- I forgot all about you, The Flaming Lips. A fantastic interview on NPR this past weekend reminded to listen to their music again. “Do You Realize” is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard.

The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance

Excellent excellent song. Did not even realize it was a Vampire Weekend cover. Sorry Vampire Weekend, I love you to death, but B.o.B. really did this song justice. I Know this because I heard Vampire Weekend sing it and completely forgot it in an instant. Then I listen to the B.o.B. cover, and listened to it about 10 times in a row. That song would be ironic on the soundtrack of The Kids Are Alright. I am dying to see that. I have had a bit of a wild summer. Wild as in stressful. Life really stares you down the summer before your senior year in college. Medical school applications flood in, take all my money, and make me write bullshit proclamations. Sounds like the rest of my life. I find myself increasingly disappointed with the world around me. Not because of med school apps. I am actually looking forward to med school…especially if I can go in New York. That would be a dream. No, this disappointment comes from realizing the harsh reality of things. I will not get political here, because I find the Flame War video by College Humor quite amusing, and I don’t want to be one of those people. I am speaking more abstractly here. With all this “anti-incumbent” talk, Tea Party people, Prop 8, the Islamic center that is supposed to be built near ground zero, general wars going on everywhere, etc, I just want to scream how much everyone sucks.  I can see how people have become so polarized. When you see people spewing hatred, and turning everything you believe to your core to dust, it really makes you want to be completely radical in the other direction. Damn, I went and got all political. SORRY. But I can’t just become some crazy liberal either. I can’t tote the evils of war, the necessity of religious freedom, the deep racism and homophobia that live in this supposedly equal country. There would be no point. I don’t really know enough about politics to talk smack anyway. But when I see people preaching hatred as some way of protecting this country, it confounds me. How can we live in a world where people are still so prejudiced? Duh, I said to myself, wake up to reality. When I get this way, movies are a deep comfort. Watching a better world makes you believe that it can exist. People create movies because they have a vision of how things could be or should be, or reveal the true face of how things are. The Siege is one great example. This movie predicted the anti-Islam wave that would hit this country after a terrorist attack BEFORE 9/11 even happened. Way to tap into the vein of prejudice. I do not speak to get into politics, or even discuss that Islamic center being built…I am not here to argue anything. I just am deeply saddened and disappointed by people’s reactions. Milk is another excellent example of a movie that reveals something about society. This movie is based on the true story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office. I don’t need to tell you how inspiring this movie was. And it came at an essential time in this country’s history. Seeing what Harvey Milk could do, even at that time, inspired me to want a better world, where citizens of this country of different sexual orientation are given the rights they deserve. In this country, “gay” people (gay is an annoying word, just an observation) are treated like second class citizens. In this day and age, in the words of Margaret Cho, we live in a facist state. But there remains hope for “society”. Prejudice in all forms towards all kinds of differences will eventually be defeated. It just depends on how long it will take. When I have stopped and allowed myself to think about the state of things, it is almost too unbearable to comprehend. It hurts, but it must be comprehended. So, sometimes a rambling, mildly incomprehensible blog post is needed for a cathartic release. Ahhhhhh. That helped. Movies and music next time!!!!

too many Cookies!

Sitting around during break is inevitably going to make me fat. All I eat is chocolate and bread. And I am not french. I think my tastes are slipping. I embrace escapism like a drowning person grasps a wooden board in the ocean. I used to watch documentaries and listen to NPR and read memoirs, but now all I want to do is watch romantic comedies. Granted, I still think the Wedding Planner is excruciating, but I love escapism none the less. So maybe I will settle for good escapism, like The Jane Austen Book Club. I LURVE that movie. BTW, I was looking at my last post and I realized I left off one of the sexiest characters on True Blood, though most people may not have noticed this sexy beast of a man. Ed Quinn. I don’t even remember if that man was a good actor, I just know that he was a hunky hunk of manliness. DAMN. I would literally watch Eureka just because he is in it. I’ll try not to be completely gratuitous and have any picture be of his face. There are certain things I get a sad, sick pleasure out of. Staring at Ed Quinn. Watching ridiculously idiotic romantic comedies. Eating Belgian chocolate covered cookies. Watching clips of the Zach Galifianakis show. Pretending I am not wasting the precious moments of my short life…and then indecently violating my family’s Netflix account. And then writing in my blog! It gives me a semblance of meaning.

Long time no see!

I feel I owe my blog an apology…I have abandoned you for an unprecedented amount of time. My level of happiness is directly correlated to how much I write in this blog. Directly. So, the last few weeks without you have been a meaningless collection of hours. Finals approach, and since drinking large amounts of alcohol is not a productive way to get rid of stress, or a good thing to do in general, I am writing in my blog. Writing that isn’t assigned is the best. I have a 12-15 page paper due, in a class I really need to improve in, but I consider writing in my blog right now as more important. I really didn’t see the importance of a creative outlet until recently. When all you do is study and hang out and study and watch movies and sleep, life get’s pretty pointless. You study to get better grades to feel better about your self-worth, you party to “release” stress, you go through all the motions, but do you still feel unfulfilled? I am not saying what we learn here in college is meaningless. However, I have come to realize  that it really takes effort on our part to bring meaning into our lives. You have to create meaning for your life. That can be through painting, writing bad poetry,  reading good poetry, really listening to an amazing song, or standing in your room as the sun disappears. Or maybe through writing some brilliant math proof, or learning all the constellations. To find meaning, we have to take part in creation or at least revel in it. Maybe take some breaks during your studying in the next two weeks to do these things, and when you get back to your history and theories, it will actually mean something.

Credit To my peeps

I can not leave the meaning of my blog name unmentioned. If you know what I mean you know who you are. And if you think you know what I mean I do not know who you are.  I changed Underground to Under because I was strangely afraid of being sued by a small business in Texas by the same name (pegasus underground, inc. !) .

Hello Internet…It’s me, Zebib

Never mind the Judy Bloom reference. This is my first ever blog! I do not have any experience with blogging or reading blogs. Never really thought that I could get into the mysterious sphere of “blogging”. For years the word was elusive.  What motivated me to take the risk, push past my super self-conscious barrier? I had to. I have always loved writing. I knew that writing would be a lifelong passion of mine when in the third grade I wrote a story about an alien that befriended a girl after it ate her pencil. Pencil Zapper Wapper Napper Doo. I was very creative. Anyways, my current life ambition is to be a doctor. I am studying my ass of at Univ. of MD, College Park as a neurology and physiology major, English Minor. My ambition is to me a doctor, but my other ambition is to write as often and in anyway I can. Write anything, even crap. One day, after I’m a doctor (if I can get straight As for the rest of college), I want to write a book. Until then, I find my salvation in this blog. I am really excited…

What do I do with this BLOG thing?!? so many ideas…

I find myself very overwhelmed by the sheer number of things I want to talk about. Not out loud. Although I do love the sound of my own voice. The sheer number of things I want to write about on this blog. That is why I created quite a few categories, just so I don’t write one 20 page, incoherent, rambling post where a rant about everything I think is cool about, I don’t know, anything. I do have to fight to urge to talk about a particular happy event in my family recently. DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL. But it is very good.

p.s. my ellipse obsession needs to end. why can I never conclusively end a sentence? I wonder why… er, DAMN.