Black Swan

On Tuesday, March 29, 2011, I went to see the movie Black Swan featuring Natalie Portman. The story is about a ballet dancer who gets the role of the Swan Queen in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet and her struggles with the roles and dealing with the stress of the situation.

The movie was good, but it's not one I would see again and one I would add to my collection. I usually follow very well in movies and I had difficulty following it. Granted of course, it does demonstrate the confusion of Nina, the main character, played by Portman very well.

Are you Canadians stupid?!!

So, the minority Conservative government has fallen due to a non-confidence vote and the election date is set for May 2, 2011.

I would imagine that I am just as sick of elections as any other Canadian right about now... We've had four elections over the past seven years, which is understandable. Most people would be.

However, a poll published today shows that Stephen Harper's Conservatives are in the lead with 39% of the popular vote and that he would form a majority government.

To the 39% of idiots who would support Harper. What are you, dumb?

I am tired of elections too. However, I understand why the opposition parties brought down this government. He was in contempt, people! He was hiding facts from the people who elected him in, to fellow Canadians. That's not democracy people! So what do you go do now? Vote him back in? What are you saying, you don't want democracy? There was clearly something wrong with that government. Now, you are given a chance to correct the situation. So what do people go do? They will support Harper's Conservatives, this time for a possible majority, of another government where they are going to be lied to... Again?

These people might just as well move to Libya, or Afghanistan. There was something wrong with the previous government, so we'll vote in the same one. Fucking idiots.

Just because you are sick of elections, don't spoil democracy for the rest of us who actually want real democracy.

Unfortunately, there are too many idiots who are too dumb to see past the contempt part and the false democracy part and will vote against the opposition parties because they forced an election. Perhaps one of the opposition parties could have propped up the budget so that the Conservatives could have dug them deeper into a whole. They have been in power for seven years and already so much shit has happened and there has been so much blatant disregard for the welfare of the vast majority of Canadians and how these Conservatives only pander to the rich.

Wake up the smell the coffee people! Idiots.

So... HMV is having a bit of difficulty?

I stumbled across this article about HMV.

I may be of this newer generation that supposedly likes to download music more so than buying a CD in store. I don't necessarily like to download anything. I find that the quality on a CD is better than an mp3 that I download. Also, I like the idea of having something that already acts as a back up. I find that a digital copy, it's hard to make sure that you have a back up of it. Yes, you can save it to another hard drive (external), but if that one fails, then you may not be guaranteed that it works.

However... What bugs me is that HMV makes stupid business decisions like the following: Making their customers pay to be part of their customer loyalty program.

Since when would customers pay to be loyal to a company? Do they actually have that much money to flaunt around? If I hold a loyalty card for the company, I am more prone to buying the item(s) at that particular company. HMV tends to be on the steep side in terms of pricing. But in my opinion, it's the stupid decisions like making people pay to be in their loyalty program that really drives people away. But that's just me.

I Love You, Phillip Morris

On Tuesday, March 22, 2011, I went to see the movie I Love You, Phillip Morris. This movie is based upon a book and partially a true story and it features Jim Carrey as Steven Russell and Ewan McGregor as Phillip Morris.

The story is about Steven Russell (Carrey), who was an adopted child. He knew that he was different as a child as he reflects about his childhood. We learn about his life, how he gets married, has a child, joins the police force, etc. After a car accident, he decides that he will no longer live a lie, that he was going to live his life as a homosexual.

However, this causes him to live a decadent lifestyle that involves stealing and having scams... Eventually, he ends up meeting the love of his life, Phillip Morris (McGregor).

What happens next? You'll need to watch the movie to find out. It was very well done though. Both the acting from Carrey and McGregor were very well done and totally worth to be seen.

Gnomeo & Juliet

On Tuesday, March 15, 2011, I went to see the movie Gnomeo and Juliet. This is an animated feature that is modelled after William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The movie is closely modelled after that story.

The only thing is that the main characters are all gnomes. The story takes place on Verona Drive instead of the city and the two feuding families of gnomes come from two neighbours who don't get along.

The movie is very clever and it was highly enjoyable for a February release. I was actually very engaged while watching this movie. I found that the writing was clever and there were many very recognizable voices. The music was great as well, although there is much Elton John.

A worthwhile movie to watch.

Youth nowadays...

Ugh, youth nowadays... I feel old while I write this, but this is just the generation that is growing up now... I do have a cane, so you can imagine that I am shaking a cane while sitting down and typing this up.

I was at Snowdon metro today. I was coming home from my substitution gig. I got off the metro and I needed to change lines. This one kid was walking towards the escalator. It was going up. Since this punk-ass kid was too lazy to go around and walk the stairs, he pressed the emergency button to stop it so that he can go down.

Since it is now stopped, I went down the escalator. However, who the fuck just presses the button just because they were too lazy to go around and walk the stairs? Why would you just do that? That's so inconsiderate for others, especially for the mobility impaired!

I swear... Youth nowadays need a rude awakening. I don't know what this awakening is, but they need one. Big time and soon. I am also so screwed in my old age.

Youtube video contest

I don't really like to admit it, but I did graduate from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

Apparently, they have this contest for a short video shoot regarding their CDS, kind of like a continuing education or something where you complete credits and you have lots of choice.

There's also some sort of contest for the most liked clip.

This one is nicely done and it's not heteronormative at all. I think it deserves a chance.

Please view it and then push like it if you do. All you need is a Facebook account or a Google account.

Blue Valentine

On Tuesday, March 8, 2011, I went to see the movie Blue Valentine featuring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling.

The movie talks about Cindy (Williams) and Dean (Gosling). They are a married couple with a child, Frankie.

This movie is done with two time frames: The present and the past. The present is what happens between Cindy and Dean right now. Their interactions with each other, how they treat each other, what problems arise, how they parent their child, Frankie.

In the past, we look at Cindy's past: How she met Dean, why she got married, who else was in competition with him and her schooling history: What she wanted to study at university and what she ended up studying now and how that affects her job.

In this movie, we see the progression of how much they were in love to what they experience now, which is a lack of romance...

Gosling and Williams both did a good job with their characters. I think it's a worthwhile movie to see in the theatres.

Beastly

On Friday, March 4, 2011, I went to see the movie Beastly featuring Alex Pettyfer.


The fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast but with modern technology thrown in is how I would describe the movie.

The acting is not the best in the world. Although I find that Mary-Kate Olsen did a great job in her role.

The dialogue might have been a bit clumsy at times. However, I very much enjoyed this movie. It was fun. I also thought that Alex Pettyfer in his Beastly form was more attractive than his regular attractive form.