This is the first entry in my ongoing "Fortress of Derek" blog and I hope you have as much fun reading my entries as I enjoy writing them. Enjoy the show!
It's a moderately chilly evening (for Southern California standards) and I am in a Panera Bakery with my brother, both of us busy working behind our laptops. Today has been filled with busy work for me involving finances and medical things and filling out paperwork. Hoo-ray! Lots of fun. So, it's nice to take a few moments out to appreciate my free chemical-tasting water, inhale the rich aroma of fresh bread (accompanied by the stink of cigarette smoker sitting behind me, who is obviously not smoking indoors, but might as well be because he carries the thick cloud of carcinogens with him, and listen to the smooth sounds of classical jazz playing overhead, peppered by the cries of some obnoxious children running about wildly. Despite the cons, I am having a good time, and I'm preparing for a script meeting with my screenwriting partner tomorrow, while accidentally eavesdropping on people complaining about their malfunctioning i-phones, the government, the job market, and the increasing cost of food.
MOVIE REVIEWS!
I saw two movies yesterday. The first one I watched with my good buddy Danny while eating my Chipotle burrito bowl, and dealing with the smell of his dying dog and his mother puffing on her cancer sticks. The film, The Foot-Fist Way (written by Ben Best and Jody Hill and directed by Hill) was pretty darn funny, though. It stars Danny McBride from Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder as a strangely overconfident Tae Kwon Do instructor with marital problems who looks to inspire his students while simultaneously elevating himself to a larger-than-life status in their eyes. McBride plays such a clueless, semi-abusive 3rd degree black belt instructor, that it makes me long to get back into martial arts so I in turn could open my own school and yell at children and hold wicked demos. Our hero also seeks the approval of washed up-Chuck Norris-action star type (and no, don't go crazy on me---Chuck Norris is not washed up and nobody can come close to the awesomeness of the real Chuck!), and he does this perhaps to the detriment of his finances, his standing in the martial arts community, and even his marriage! It has a slow, indie-comedy vibe, but its worth seeing if you enjoy Danny McBride's brash, hick-charm and hilarious swagger, and if you are of fan of films the likes of Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre.
The second film I watched was with my buddies Cornbred, Zes, and Sohrob at their new bachelor house of sin. After Zes finished surviving the latest episode of the ever-sinking and downward-spiraling show Heroes on the DVR (honestly, I don't know how it is now...I'm like 5 episodes behind!), we popped in a film called JCVD to view on th
e big screen. Now JCVD stands for Jean-Claude Van Damme, and yes, the movie stars the 48 year old action star from the 1980's playing the Muscles from Brussels himself. This Belgium film, written by Frédéric Bénudis and Mabrouk El Mechri (and directed by El Mechri ), mostly takes place in Belgium, and it deals with some unexpected issues for a Van Damme flick, including violence in the media, how Arabs are portrayed on film, the downside of the Hollywood machine, how Hollywood is viewed by the rest of the world, and how stardom can take a serious toll on an individual. The opening single-take action sequence and Van Damme's emotional monologue breaking the fourth wall as he speaks to the viewer later in the film are the definite highlights. But my buddies Cornbred and Zes retired early from the movie-watching, and Sohrob fell asleep, which was shocking because he is perhaps the biggest Van Damme fan I know (he owns ALL of VD's movies on DVD, except JCVD...ha...that's a lot of letters). So, the movie dragged in several parts. And we weren't expecting to read subtitles for a majority of the film. Bummer. The plot of Van Damme being "in the wrong place at the wrong time" (oh, I miss you old school Die Hard!) during a bank robbery puts the aging actor, who has tax problems and is going through an ugly custody battle, in middle of a hostage crisis. Things get worse when criminals suspect VD of being the criminal mastermind himself behind the entire ordeal! The film overall is just alright, and it's pretty light on the action. It is interesting stylistically, though, with it's washed out grainy tones and the mixed up story sequencing.
e big screen. Now JCVD stands for Jean-Claude Van Damme, and yes, the movie stars the 48 year old action star from the 1980's playing the Muscles from Brussels himself. This Belgium film, written by Frédéric Bénudis and Mabrouk El Mechri (and directed by El Mechri ), mostly takes place in Belgium, and it deals with some unexpected issues for a Van Damme flick, including violence in the media, how Arabs are portrayed on film, the downside of the Hollywood machine, how Hollywood is viewed by the rest of the world, and how stardom can take a serious toll on an individual. The opening single-take action sequence and Van Damme's emotional monologue breaking the fourth wall as he speaks to the viewer later in the film are the definite highlights. But my buddies Cornbred and Zes retired early from the movie-watching, and Sohrob fell asleep, which was shocking because he is perhaps the biggest Van Damme fan I know (he owns ALL of VD's movies on DVD, except JCVD...ha...that's a lot of letters). So, the movie dragged in several parts. And we weren't expecting to read subtitles for a majority of the film. Bummer. The plot of Van Damme being "in the wrong place at the wrong time" (oh, I miss you old school Die Hard!) during a bank robbery puts the aging actor, who has tax problems and is going through an ugly custody battle, in middle of a hostage crisis. Things get worse when criminals suspect VD of being the criminal mastermind himself behind the entire ordeal! The film overall is just alright, and it's pretty light on the action. It is interesting stylistically, though, with it's washed out grainy tones and the mixed up story sequencing.I will be posting more movie reviews soon. I rented the straight to DVD Wonder Woman animated feature from DC Universe and the Hulk Versus animated feature from Marvel, so I'm excited about checking those out (I'm a big comic book fan). My brother had me read one of his academic blogs on blogger, and it made me think, "Why in the world don't I have a blog on this site? People wanna hear what I have to say!" Of course, I have blogged before on MySpace and movie blogs, but this will be a nice place to write about my daily ins and outs, and my entertainment industry progress, and my opinions on recent movies, politics, my cat, and whatever else.
So welcome to the Fortress of Derek!
