300

A lot of my friends are seeing the midnight showing of 300 tonight, but luckily I was able to use my press pass once again and see it Tuesday evening.

The advanced screening was shown on an IMAX screen, which made the film even more impressive. However, the auditorium was also filled with loud UCLA football players who were there in a viral effort to promote the film among college kids, but they fortunately were stunned into silence as the film started.

Maybe it was the vague commercials or the film's bloody logo, but I wasn’t expecting to like 300, yet I was happy to discover that I did.

From the creators of Sin City, 300 is also based on a graphic novel and filmed in the same animated style. And like a novel, 300 has a narrator throughout the film and lives up to the graphic part, both sexually and violently. However, that’s what 300 is about—blood, honor and going against-all-odds.

The film’s title refers to the Spartan’s seemingly bad odds, given that their army is comprised of 300 warriors compared to the ruler Xerxes and his massive Persian army with soldiers and slaves from around the globe. However, it’s the will and skill of these 300 that inspire all of Greece to untie against the attacking Persian enemy and is the stuff that myths and legends are made of.

“The Spartans remain a mystery to everybody,” said Frank Miller, who wrote the comic book mini-series which 300 was based on. “They are arguably unique in that they are completely a battle culture, absolutely dedicated to warfare. They have a code of honor on what it means to be a Spartan, and out of that arises a heroic class like the world has never seen before.”

The tale overall is a spectacle, both mythical and exotic and action packed. I was sucked in from the beginning scene as the narrative’s momentum built a steady climatic anticipation.

The characters, however, are comprised of a relatively unknown cast. King Leonidas, Spartan’s leader, is played by Gerald Butler and his queen is portrayed by Lena Headey. I did recognize cast members, Dominic West from The Forgotten and David Wenham from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but neither are household names by no means. However, this film didn’t need big names like Brad Pitt in Trojan, the story and filming accommodated the lesser known talent as did their own performances. And speaking of LOTR, I couldn’t help but compare 300 to the trilogy in its glorification of battle and folklore.

As for the filming, the sometimes cartoon style, it was easier to separate the blood and gore from the scenes, since the splattering of blood looked more like bright red paint being cast out on the screen in slow motion. Often the speed of the camera would slow on certain motions, creating a surreal and fantastical environment. The scenery at times looked like an artists painting but married with motion.

I was also impressed that a female character, the queen, had a surprisingly strong role in such a male dominated, bare-chested film. However, the female oracle and her simply voyeuristic role negated any true female empowerment.

Check out my full review at Film School Rejects.

My duvet in the ring

Tyler Durden: Do you know what a duvet is?
Narrator: It's a comforter...
Tyler Durden: It's a blanket. Just a blanket.
--Fight Club (1999)

I just bought a new duvet cover from The Company Store per their Building Blocks design, but had a hell of a time getting my feathered insert inside it. I wish someone was videotaping me because it would have made for one funny YouTube clip. I literally crawled inside the covering, shifting the feather blanket down towards the end of the duvet cover while sitting on it. It was like being trapped inside a tent and wrestling with yourself. Once I got the down feather padding inside the duvet, I then tried lifting the full size bedding like you would a pillow case to make it all fall evenly, this caused me to trip and fall backwards onto the bed, my feet up in the air, encompassed by the whole thing. I went a good three rounds with the mighty duvet from Virgina, but I won in the end and it looks great in the room.

Note the photo above is one from the store catalog not my room. I wish it was, but sadly it is not. However, I have similar square shelving above the bed. I also bought L shaped shelves for the living room also via The Comapny Store, which I blogged about earlier. Anyway, the new bed spread looks good, makes the room look brighter and livelier.

La Brea Tar Pits

Back when my friend was visiting we visited the La Brea Tar Pits, which I've been wanting to see ever since My Girl 2 (there's a scene that takes place there). Anyway, I knew there would be gated off tar pits to look at where many prehistoric/ice age animal fossils were found, but I didn't realize the tar would be elsewhere on the grounds and in the area. When crossing the street to get to the outdoor museum park, I could smell the tar fumes and spot some tar oozing out of the cracks in the sidewalk and in patches all along the pretty grounds around the pits. I even got to play with a stick in the tar and yes, this amused me.

It was surreal reading that bones from extinct species, like the sabor-toothed cat, have been escavted from these pitts, while children were now running up and down the steep grassy slope just yards away. The oldest fossil from Rancho La Brea is a wood fragment dated at around 40,000 years old and since 1906, more than one million bones have been recovered representing over 231 species of vertebrates. It just reminds you of how old our earth is and how much it has evolved, yet in this one area of Los Angeles you can practically step back in time to an era before people. It was especially creepy to see an art sculpture of a Wally Mammoth stuck in the tar as a child mammoth looks on at its mother from the safe banks. Distrubing. 

Something funny was said

For me to go from this pose:

to this one: 

I found these two in-the-moment photos on my friend's wedding photographer's page. Imagine the laughter this photo continued to cause being amongst the family photos and wedding cake. My bad.

PS: I almost titled this post, "I'm coming out."  

Q&A with author Farrah Rochon

I'm proud to announce my second ever guest blogger, this time it's my friend Farrah Rochon who's first book, Deliver Me comes out today. It's also the first African American romantic fiction novel to openly discuss post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. The very sensitive subject was inspired by Farrah's own local observations of the aftermath of Katrina. Deliver Me is a story though of love and rebirth rather than tragedy and is the third book in Dorchester's new African American romance line. You better not have rolled your eyes to the romance part. Romantic fiction accounts for 54.9% of all popular mass-market fiction sold and $1.2 billion in sales each year. Yes, I'm being defensive!

 

The coolest thing though about Farrah is that she's truly a super sweet person and I've been inspired by her journey to get this book published. Last year, Farrah bravely left her safe job in order to pursue her dreams of becoming a published author despite the risk and her friends encouraging her to leave New Orleans like many others. OK, I'll let her tell the rest in the following Q&A.

 

How did you begin writing?

 

Farrah Rochon: The pat answer to this question is usually “I’ve always loved to write”, right? Yeah, well, that doesn’t really apply to me. Writing isn’t something I’ve always had a burning desire to do; however, it is something I’ve always been able to do really well. Writing was always easy for me. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I seriously considered writing a romance novel. By that time, I had rediscovered my love for reading fiction after being sidetracked for a few years by the introduction of Super Mario Brothers during junior high and my early high school years. While studying Psychology during my undergrad years, I thought it would be an exciting challenge to take a few of those voices in my head and give them life. All it took was a pen, notebook, and a professor who believed in my writing ability. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

Tell me a little about Deliver Me.

 

Even though it's my first published work of fiction, Deliver Me was actually the fifth manuscript I completed. It is centered around two doctors, Elijah Holmes, a handsome, sexy Ob-gyn who is known as ‘Super Doc’ to his colleagues, and Monica Gardner, a new ER physician who relocates to New Orleans from St. Louis. Monica and Eli butt heads at their first meeting, but soon find themselves working together to save the hospital’s beloved Parenting Center. Deliver Me was originally written pre-Hurricane Katrina, but at the urging of my editor, I changed the book’s setting to post-Katrina New Orleans. The city is almost its own character in the book. I am really pleased with the way it turned out.

 

What role has the internet played in your writing success?

 

Was there a world before the internet? I’d hate to go back to those days. The internet has been instrumental to my writing. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say that none of this would be happening if not for the internet. Years ago, I started posting on the message board of one of my favorite authors. At the time, I read very little romance authors, but due to all the wonderful recommendations from the other ladies who posted to the board, reading and buying romance novels soon became an obsession. That was over six years ago, and over those years, those ladies have become some of my closest friends, and staunches supporters. They have traveled on this road to publication with me, and there’s just no way I would have a book on the store shelves today without their encouragement. I owe them all so much.

The internet has also been essential in connecting with readers. By posting on my blog and on friendship communities such as MySpace I’ve met a number of exciting new fans from all walks of life. Establishing a strong internet presence has been paramount to my writing. Like I said, I wouldn’t want to live in a world without the internet.

 

 

Have your friends and family supported you as a first time author?

Are leaves green? Is the sky blue? Seriously, I don't know what I would have done without my family and friends stepping up to the plate and showering me with tons of love and support. My photographer happens to be one of my best friends who started taking pictures as a hobby when she had her first baby five years ago. When it was time for me to get a website up and running, I called on my uncle, whom I knew would have some kind of connection (he's an NFL coach, who always knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone...) And, when it came to promoting Deliver Me, I was lucky enough to land the most kick-ass publicist on the face of the planet! She has a great mind for marketing and promotion, and more tenacity in her little finger than most people have in their entire body. She also has this really cool blog (hint: you're reading it right now)!