Determined To Succeed

Sorry this blog is going to sound a bit scattered and cluttered. It’s just how I’m feeling today.

Back when I worked in the movie promotion “biz” I used to have piles on my desk at work because I never used to have much of a filing system. I used to place all my documents, etc. in one central stack (or a couple of stacks because one could easily topple) as my way of “knowing where everything is.” It was a scattered, distracted way of doing things, and this coming from a guy who always wanted (and still does want) to be successful. I always told myself “Oh, I’ll get to that later.” And the piles kept growing and me more distracted with them.

What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? What does that have to do with weight loss? Why tell you about that? Because I am so freaking distracted lately! I hate to say it but I am. Man! It’s like I have life ADD. For example, I could be throwing laundry in the washer but then I see a movie on TV and I start watching. Or I get started on something and then – poof – something grabs my attention on the internet. I could want to go workout but then I get sucked into the virtual world of which I spoke the other day.

And slowly I see my piles of stuff coming back – half-finished stacks of laundry or filed receipts or dust bunnies that need to be swept away. I feel like an old AM radio on which you just quite can’t get the station. The announcers are talking but the reception is all fuzzy with static.

Why do I have life ADD? Well, some of it is personal (I’ve been feeling distracted with thoughts of my mom, especially with Mother’s Day approaching followed closely by the one year anniversary of her death from pancreatic cancer) and some of it is professional (just trying to keep up with things I need to do and people I need to see to keep moving forward with this website and my writing).

I know I talk about the “Star Wars” movies a lot but there really is a quote in them for everything. In “The Empire Strikes Back” (which I can’t freaking believe is 30 years old already) Yoda is training Luke who has many questions because he’s anxious, young and very distracted. Yoda, in speaking about Luke, says “Always has this one looked away, to the future. Never his mind on where he was. Hmmm. What he was doing.”

Yoda’s right.

Sometimes distractions can be good – very good really – like planning trips and vacations to see family, or reconnecting with people to let them know you still care (even if it is 3 o’clock in the morning) or getting inspiration to write a weight loss blog even though you start the morning in a sleepy fog. It’s just the other distractions that are bad and those are what can keep you from your weight loss goal. This is what leads to me stress eating, binging and eating crap that’s no good for me. So today I will continue to be good with my eating (I am well on track to lose that pound by tomorrow) and stay focused.

It is easy to be lost. Lately I know exactly how that feels. But it’s OK. At the end of it all, underneath all those piles of goo that need to be filed is your focus, your goal. And you will get there.

Someone wise once said to me “ya know. If you clean off your desk and file things away you’d have more space to work.” And that is very true, even to this day. I need to focus on one thing at a time.

After all, these piles of crap won’t clear themselves away. Will they?

I don’t know about you but I get excited when I see packages. In my old movie publicity and promotion days I used to share a phrase with my co-workers, “today is package day.”  “Package days” were days when big brown boxes would appear from Fedex or UPS filled with God knows what kind of fun, interesting and cool movie promotional goodies to be shared, passed around and enjoyed (in the movie business you get all kinds of groovy stuff).

I had been looking forward to yesterday for quite some time. You see, I had shared my weight loss journey with New Balance (yep, the shoe and athletic wear company) and the very nice folks there took a kind ear and liking to my story and sent me some apparel and new shoes. It was again “Package Day” and who doesn’t enjoy getting packages, especially packages filled with a pair of brand new shoes.

As a kid I loved (I mean LOVED) getting new tennis shoes (or as we called them in Chicago gym shoes) so I could be the one  jumping higher (presumably), running faster (arguably) and being cooler (definitely) on the playground or basketball court of school. But getting these new shoes on “package day” means I have to replace my old trainers. Yeppers, it is retirement city for my second trusty old pair of New Balance shoes who had seen their fair share of wear and tear since I got them more than – oh – over a year and a half ago. Your feet get “used” to a shoe and I’m kind of sad to permanently be retiring them but shoes should be replaced no later than one year after purchase because of wear and tear and overall foot comfort (but more on that later).

Most of you don’t know this but I can honestly say I have worn only New Balance shoes during my entire 175-pound weight loss journey. Because of that I thought about my shoes in a brand new way. I thought about my shoes not in terms of durability or performance but in terms of miles, and how many miles two pairs of shoes from this one particular brand of sneaker had traveled with me in my quest to lose weight.

When I thought about it and put pen to paper I figured my New Balance shoes and I have traveled approximately 4,320 miles (estimating walking, treadmill and elliptical distances averaging four miles per day x an average of 20 days a month x 12 months a year x 4.5 years since beginning my weight loss journey). That’s approximately 4,320 miles on my two retired pairs of running shoes. This would be about the same mileage as me going from Boston (New Balance’s home town) to Los Angeles (home of all things movie biz) and back to Chicago (my wonderful and beloved home town).

That’s a lot of mileage for two pairs of shoes.

Have you ever heard the phrase “walk a mile in my shoes?” You could either take that phrase either literally or figuratively. Yesterday, I talked about the very beginning of a weight loss journey, that first step we all take that begins the journey of a thousand miles. I had been reminded of what it was like to take that intrepid first scary step on that journey and took a trip down memory lane, walking a mile in the shoes of someone just as scared just starting their own weight loss. And along that journey there have been many ups and downs, tears and smiles on a road that hasn’t always been the smoothest road to travel. But when I stumbled I got back up and kept on going. When I cried I dried my tears. When I re-gained, I re-lost. Today, as I slip on a new pair of shoes I reset my odometer knowing I will add more mileage to my own weight loss journey. Mileage that you can count on me counting so I keep track of not only how far I’ve traveled in miles but how far I’ve come in that experience.

Being introduced to New Balance was the best thing that happened to me in terms of workout gear. Is this a shameless product endorsement? Yep, it is. I believe in their product and their store staff actually do fit you with the right shoes for your feet – dreadfully important when it comes to fit and comfort – as opposed to your standard shoe store run by teenagers who don’t know really how shoes should fit (who knew I even needed a corrective orthodic because of my tendency to walk on the outsides of my feet). But no matter what brand of shoe you wear make damned sure they are a good fit for your feet. You are going to be putting serious mileage on the only two feet you have.

Every journey of a thousand miles begins with a single, scary step. And as much as you deserve the rewards of such a long and hard journey you deserve to splurge and have your feet feel as good as they possibly can on that journey, too. If your feet hurt you won’t want to walk or run, or stand on an elliptical for half-an-hour. Most of all, though, it is these shoes you will have to put on to get your butt moving and motivated to lose weight. They will be with you no matter what, logging the same miles you do, feeling the same pain as you do. When you put foot to pavement or place foot in gym remember the journey you’re undertaking will take time, patience, forgiveness and understanding of yourself. It may not always be an easy road (hell, I am proof of that). But as Tom Hanks said in “A League of Their Own,” “it’s supposed to be hard. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

And you my friends will be ever so great.

So I’m lacing up my shoes and heading out to start my weekend. Ah, I love the feel of a good pair of new shoes. I also love the feel of knowing I will be adding more miles to my weight loss journey. I love to travel and traveling this road, especially with you guys, is awesome.

Now if the weather would get just a bit warmer and I could travel this road outside walking…

Run For Your Life From “Daybreakers” – ½ Bucket of Popcorn out of Four

Oh man. I am shaking my head right now trying to figure out how to sink my teeth into this review of “Daybreakers.” I always jump at the chance to see vampire flicks but after seeing this one I ran from the theater like a bat out of hell.

In the year 2019, a plague has transformed almost every human into vampires with the remainders on the run from companies who harvest their blood to sell to the population.. Faced with a dwindling blood supply (you can only drain humans so much, after all), the fractured dominant race plots their very survival as those who go “blood deprived” start to devolve and attack their own mutating into horrible creatures known as “subsiders.”  Meanwhile, a researcher (played by Ethan Hawke – what the hell happened to him!) works with a covert band of vamps and humans to find a way to save human and vampire kind.

Where do I begin with this mess of a movie? I’d thought this movie would have some bite to it. I mean it’s got a decent cast (Dafoe, Hawke and Neill) and I totally eat up vampire flicks (except for the insipid tween-age “Twilight” movie series that is) but what in God’s name were they thinking with this script? This movie is the worst I’ve seen in a long time. Did the filmmakers think we’d all be drunk or something seeing this boring, vapid vampire flick? “How much better on paper this must have looked and sounded” is what I’m thinking. How else could they get those guys in the same movie that steals blatently from good movies like “The Matrix,” “I Am Legend,” “Zombieland” and more.

You really wanna know how bad this movie was? I almost walked out, and I never do that. Ever. There are two reasons I am giving it ½ star (or ¼ star per reason). 1) because of the “cure” they find. It worked enough for me when almost nothing else did. 2) because it is not the worst movie I’ve ever seen, or even saw last year. That honor goes to a very little known flick I purchased on DVD called “Immortal” – a part bad CGI, part live action all craptastic movie featuring the Egyptian god Horus, a Blade Runner rip-off society and Charlotte Rampling. It was a zero-bucket-of-popcorn flick.

As for “Daybreakers,” run back to your coffins and hide from this one. Even when it starts showing up for free on cable. I felt drained after watching this waste of an hour-and-a-half of my life.

And to the filmmakers – “fangs for nuthin’” guys. Your movie – wait for it – sucks.

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity

Runtime: 98 min

Ethan Hawke    …         Edward Dalton

Sam Neill          …         Charles Bromley

Willem Dafoe    …         Lionel ‘Elvis’ Cormac

Claudia Karvan …        Audrey Bennett

Definitely Get On Board and See “Up In The Air” – Four Buckets of Popcorn out of Four

Live long enough in this crazy world and you might get let go from a job. I know it sounds harsh, especially in this economy, but it is, unfortunately, a reality. One yours truly has lived through twice now (and as recently as August 2009). And no matter whether you are let go, fired, laid off, downsized, terminated (insert your language of choice here), there’s nothing that takes away its initial sting even if at the end of it all you feel “vocationally liberated” as I did (a weird mixture, indeed).

But as I sat and watched George Clooney tell people their services are no longer needed I felt that weird mixture again because “Up In The Air,” one of the best movies of 2009, does such a great job of using someone with no personal connections whatsoever, not even to his own family, .to give a “human dignity” to job loss.

Clooney plays Ryan Bingham whose job is to fire people from theirs. His home is in the hotels in which he stays, in the airports in which he gets his free sushi and drinks and in the planes in which he travels. He’s truly portable, living out of a suitcase and loving every second of it. His boss hires arrogant young Natalie (Anna Kendrick, a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actress) whose developed a method of video conferencing that will allow termination without ever leaving the office, essentially threatening the existence Ryan so cherishes. Determined to show the naive girl the error of her logic, Ryan takes her on one of his cross country firing expeditions, but as she starts to realize the disheartening realities of her profession, he begins to see the downfalls to his way of life just after he’s met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams (Vera Farmiga).

I cannot say enough about this movie. The performances are stellar, especially by the three leads. George Clooney is always likable on-screen even when he plays a bad guy (“From Dusk ‘til Dawn”), and it is that charm he emanates that makes you root for him so. You want him to be happy, and after he meets Farmiga’s Alex you really want him to give up his lonely life and settle in a place he can truly call home. You also want Kendrick’s Natalie to fail in her video conferencing. Not because she’s unintelligent but because it (all puns intended) flies in the face of Clooney’s lifestyle. Plus, Natalie represents so many self-entitled young assistants out there these days who think an e-mail, text message or video conference replace actual human contact – a handshake, face-to-face meeting. Hell, even a phone call. That their way is better and more efficient when all it does is further the disconnect between us humans even in situations involving termination.

One of the things I loved most about this movie is the absolute chemistry between Very Farmiga and George Clooney, who could very well make more movies together and I’d go see ‘em. They are cute, sexy, romantic, and just as busy as the other in this film – perfect for each other with glitches that you’ll have to see the film to understand.

I can’t say as I’ve seen many perfect movies in 2009 but this is one of them. The irony is ultimately “Up In The Air” will be an in-flight movie, catering to those who sacrifice their time away from their own homes, beds and loved ones in pursuit of work excellence. I am curious as to what they think of this movie. I’m sure it hits very close to home for them. Traveling these days is far from easy, particularly with even tighter restrictions on security and air travel. How people can do that for so long – my heart goes out to them. It can be lonely indeed, no matter how much per diem a company gives for hotel dinners or how many miles you get to keep. This movie makes you feel that if you didn’t already.

And Clooney’s Bingham may achieve millions upon millions of miles of air travel but in the end it only leads him nowhere where his only family is whoever happens to be sitting next to him on his next flight to God knows where…

Rated R for language and some sexual content

Runtime: 109 min

George Clooney…Ryan Bingham

Vera Farmiga…Alex Goran

Anna Kendrick…Natalie Keener

Jason Bateman…Craig Gregory

Amy Morton…Kara Bingham

Melanie Lynskey…Julie Bingham

J.K. Simmons…Bob

Sam Elliott…Maynard Finch

Danny McBride            …Jim Miller

Zach Galifianakis…Steve

“AVATAR” – Two-and-a-Half Buckets of Popcorn out of Four

Oh man. When am I going to stop buying into the hype generated by Hollywood over films supposed to herald the next great age of filmmaking? I fell for it once with George Lucas’ “Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace,” a film that patted itself so heartedly on the back for its ground-breaking special effects but so lacked story I don’t care of I ever see it again.

And I am one of the biggest “Star Wars” fans I know (the original, non-Special Edition trilogy, please and thank you).

Now here comes James Cameron’s “Avatar,” a film that visually is everything “Phantom Menace” wanted to be but sits right along side it as a movie so devoid of real characterization, compassion and humanity I can say now that I’ve seen it I don’t ever need to see it again.

In the future a paraplegic marine veteran, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), decides to take his deceased brother’s place on a mission to the distant world of Pandora is brought to Pandora, a planet inhabited by the Na’vi, a blue humanoid race with their own language and culture. Sully starts out as a military grunt whose mission it is to infiltrate the Na’vi to get them to relocate so that humans can get their hands on a precious material stupidly named “unobtanium”scattered throughout their rich woodland. However, after living among them, falling in love with one of them and learning of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge’s intentions of driving off the Na’vi by any means necessary including extermination, Jake decides to fight for the survival of not just the Na’vi but for Pandora, itself.

Sounds good, right? Meh. It is and it isn’t.

I place the blame for the film’s utter lack of heart on the film’s writer and director, James Cameron. As writer and director of some of the best futuristic/Action/Adventure films of all time (“Aliens,” “Terminator,” Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “True Lies,” and “Titanic”) he should know better. He may have created a new reason to see films on a big screen (and this one should be seen on the biggest, best screen you can if you go) but the reason I will watch his other films any day of the week with no arm twisting what-so-ever is because at the center of the action lay human stories and characters we care about. In other words, better writing and less dependency on special effects.

This film is two hours and forty-two minutes long but I wanted twenty more minutes. I wanted my backstory to explain the following:

1)      What happened to the Earth that was so horrible we needed this “unobtanium” so badly we were willing to kill for it?

2)      What the hell happened to any renewable sources of energy like solar power, or even human-made nuclear power? And why weren’t those options?

3)      How long had we tried to diplomatically negotiate with the Na’vi for their “unobtanium” and why wasn’t that working? Was it because Pandora somehow “needed” it’s minerals (a detail mentioned but never fully explored in the film)?

4)      What is the backstory of this horrible “company” that wants “unobtanium” so bad?

5)      Why did this company hire mercenaries to carry out the raids on the Na’vi? Did world governments not want official military action?

6)      And if we didn’t give a rat’s ass about the Na’vi people why not just nuke ‘em from space (ala Hicks/Ripley from “Aliens”) and just take it afterward?

Grrrrrr.

There has to come a point in every movie that filmmakers allow you to get on the train. It helps you enjoy the movie more, explain the movie more and make you feel more a part of the story and experience. There was no way in “Avatar” to understand how we got to what we have to accept as the beginning of the film. Cameron doesn’t stop the train to let us on. Instead he just throws you into his special effects-laden story and expects the visual effects slight of hand to distract you from what is missing – an actual movie you care about.

Shame on you, James Cameron. You are a better writer and filmmaker than that.

When I was in line to see “Avatar” I decided to have some fun. I approached the young kid selling tickets I asked for “The Empire Strikes Back.” Instead of a smirk he actually looked it up in his system and said “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t see that movie here.” I asked him how old he was and he answered 17. Moreover, he had never heard of “The Empire Strikes Back.” I was so shocked I turned to the people in line behind me and shouted “He’s never heard of ‘The Empire Strikes Back!’”

The reason I’m relaying this tale is because I weep for this kid, and his and future generations of movie goers, who do not know the beauty of films like the original “Star Wars” trilogy, “Aliens,” etc., which told stories and made us care no matter how many guns were blazing. Hell, Sigourney Weaver, who is also in “Avatar,” was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in 1986’s “Aliens.” What breaks my heart is that the mediocrity that is “Avatar” is all this 17-year-old kid has, and he will think it’s great.

And he would be wrong.

“Avatar” is great to look at. But afterward the film leaves the mind just as easily as you leave the theater. And why? Because it never visited your heart.

Sam Worthington…Jake Sully

Zoe Saldana…Neytiri

Sigourney Weaver…Dr. Grace Augustine

Stephen Lang…Colonel Miles Quaritch

Michelle Rodriguez…Trudy Chacon

Giovanni Ribisi…Parker Selfridge

Joel Moore…Norm Spellman (as Joel David Moore)

CCH Pounder…Moat

Wes Studi…Eytukan

Laz Alonso…Tsu’tey

Dileep Rao…Dr. Max Patel

Matt Gerald…Corporal Lyle Wainfleet

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.

Runtime: 162 min

Folks. Gather ‘round the computer screen. Don’t be afraid. I won’t bite (wink). What I’m about to say I don’t want to say too loudly. I’ll wait for you. Grab a drink, some healthy munchies. Ok, are you ready? I’m going to whisper. Here it comes.

I kind of liked “Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

I am in no way, shape or form a “Twilighter” or moonie or whatever the hell the fans of the books and/or movies call themselves. But I was finding myself actually liking more of “New Moon” than I thought I would.

Better to review them with, my dear.

After Bella recovers from the vampire attack that almost claimed her life in the first book/movie, she looks to celebrate her birthday with Edward and his family. However, a minor accident during the festivities results in Bella’s blood being shed, a sight that proves too intense for the Cullens, who decide to leave the town of Forks, Washington for Bella and Edward’s sake. Initially heartbroken, Bella finds a form of comfort in reckless living, as well as an even-closer friendship with Jacob Black.

I haven’t read the books (oh darn) so I am keeping myself “pure” by just seeing the films. I will go on record as saying that the first “Twilight” movie was silly dreck. I laughed out loud at some of the scenes in “Twilight” because the looks given by characters, bad acting and dialogue and cheesiness overcame the story and after a while I just didn’t care. In “New Moon” there is still some of each, particularly from the wooden Robert Pattinson as Edward. But what you can sink your teeth into (OK, I couldn’t resist) is the love triangle that happens when heroin-chic Edward flies the coop and leave his beautiful Swan in the paws of burgeoning werewolf Jacob (Taylor Lautner). Take away the vampire/werewolf plot and you actually have a decent love/unrequited love story reasonably well-acted that you can care about.

As Jacob, Lautner is good and I felt for his character hopelessly drawn to Bella, allowing himself to be used by her as a way to “get over” Edward. You just want him to stand up and say “Are you nuts? Stop using me and let me go!” And for me to want him to say that means I was sucked into (pun intended) the story.

Of course, Edward comes back…blah, blah and we see him trying (operative word TRYING) to be all swoony/lovey but his slow-motion walks and brooding, drugged-out looks end up being more comical than romantic. And as Bella, Kristen Stweart is decent at playing the girl who the boys fawn over although I see no reason why they do. She’s an indecisive user who at 18 thinks she knows what she wants not just for the rest of her life but all eternity.

But don’t all self-entitled teenagers these days.

Let’s just say this. With a soundtrack that’s pretty cool and a half-way decent love triangle “New Moon,” while nothing to really howl for isn’t a half-bad way to spend a rainy day at the movies.

Kristen Stewart … Bella Swan

Christina Jastrzembska … Gran / Bella

Robert Pattinson … Edward Cullen

Billy Burke … Charlie Swan

Anna Kendrick … Jessica

Michael Welch … Mike

Justin Chon … Eric

Christian Serratos … Angela

Taylor Lautner … Jacob Black

Ashley Greene … Alice Cullen

Jackson Rathbone … Jasper Hale

Russell Roberts … Mr. Berty

Cam Gigandet … James

Michael Sheen … Aro

Jamie Campbell Bower … Caius

Rated PG-13 for some violence and action.

Runtime: 130 min

From time to time you need to cleanse the movie-going palate. Any steady diet of romantic comedies or dramas needs to have that balanced with something else or life in a movie theater can get pretty boring pretty quick.

“Ninja Assassin” is just that palate cleanser.

This is a movie that absolutely makes no apologies for the blatant rip-offs it employs or for the copious amount of gratuitous violence and blood it spills forth (OK, that was cheap, I know). But I totally respect a movie that simply is what it is – a fun, wild, ninja-action thrill ride that is both fun and entertaining.

I won’t spend too much time going into the plot. What’s the point? A young ninja turns his back on the “orphanage” (a.k.a. ninja training academy) that raised him, leading to a confrontation with fellow ninjas from the school while helping detectives figure out worldwide assassinations seemingly carried out by – you guessed it – ninjas.

Does this sound absolutely ridiculous? Yes. Are the plot situations themselves merely set-ups for action scene after action scene. Yes.

Is this movie fun? Hell yes.

I counted four movies, four, that “Ninja Assassin” blatantly rips off. The first (best, and what should be only) “Highlander,” “The Terminator,” “Kill Bill” and “The Matrix.” In fact, some shots are so close they should be shown in film school to prove there really aren’t any original ideas running around Hollywood anymore. But I dig each of those movies and when they’re mashed-up like they are here it was totally worth the dough I shelled out to see it.

I liked this movie so much I hope there’s a sequel. I’m not giving anything away by saying that especially in a cinematic world where you can kill off the lead bad guy (i.e. “Saw’s” Jigsaw) in part three and still be using him in part six.

The acting in some scenes is, frankly, mediocre. The subplot about the political assassinations is almost unnecessary. What holds this film together is its central revenge story and the lead character played by international action star Rain.  His performance is so subtle but yet so explosive that I want to see his character more either in sequels or have him pop up in other flicks. You see what makes him fight and understand why he chooses not to unless provoked.

But please don’t provoke this guy. His nice guy doesn’t EVER finish last

Oh, by the way. I TOTALLY want to introduce his character to “Kill Bill’s” The Bride. Those two with their blade-swinging choreography, charm and body counts would make for a great action movie duo. The Astaire-Rodgers of the new-world matinee.

PS: For God’s sake, please do not take children to see it. I know kids these days seem a lot more desensitized to violence and “it’s OK.” But this film really is for adults. Let the kids see “Twilight: New Moon” or something else instead. It’ll be worth the wait until they’re 18.

Sung Kang…Hollywood

Randall Duk Kim…Tattoo Master

Jonathan Chan-Pensley…Yakuza Henchman

Yuki Iwamoto…Yakuza Couch

Ill-Young Kim  …Yakuza Mohawk

Ben Miles…Maslow

Naomie Harris  …Mika

Rain…Raizo

Stephen Marcus…Kingpin

Linh Dan Pham…Pretty Ninja

Yu Fang… Laundromat Manager

Adriana Altaras…Landlady

Shô Kosugi…Ozunu

Kylie Goldstein…Young Kiriko (as Kylie Liya Goldstein)

Yoon Sungwoong         …         Young Raizo

Total Running Time: 99 min

Rated R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language.