In The Chamber

For my creative writing class we had to attend a play put on by Theater Project Manitoba called In The Chamber. What the title means exactly I couldn't tell you, nor can I explain what the play really was about. I can however let you know what I thought about it.

The play starts out with a man and women wrestling for control of the covers (Has it ever occurred to couples that they can have their OWN blankets?) and then an oddly placed handjob scene that made no sense in context to what happens next. (Of course this might be just because I'm not the well versed in the nuances of theater)

The stage goes black and when the lights come back on we watch as a man goes through an epiphany moment as he records a video of a presentation he was going to do at a farm safety convention. He then goes into an hour long monologue about 15,000 pigs burning to death in a fire. It was a heartfelt and genuinely well acted speech, although I just couldn't find enough reason to care. The actor Gordon Tanner plays the part so well you'd think he wasn't acting at all.

-Intermission-

Lights up bring us into a restaurant scene where a man who just quit his job is giving a speech to his "friends" (Friends is in quotations because this again is really just a one man show and the people are represented by balloons). The man discusses the death of his son and the circumstances surrounding his death within the Health Sciences Center pediatric facility. His son, born with Downs Syndrome and a malformed heart, spent most of his life in and out of the hospital. The acting again is superb, and the actor Steven Ratzlaff makes me feel like he isn't acting at all. Unfortunately I really didn't care about the story and felt completely disconnected. The play ends with a waiter (played by Gordon Tanner from the previous act) talking with the man about a fight he's having with his wife, which in my mind is completely separate from what his previous speech was about. (again this may just be because I don't really read into what the script is deep enough to understand the underlying issues)


I'm torn. I loved the acting, hated the stories. I did like it but I know that the only way I'll ever see anything like this is if I'm forced to go or have to go for another assignment which is pretty sad.

Theater is not for me, but I really did give this one a try.

Top 10 Movies of 2009!

Another year has passed and it's for some reason very contagious to recap the year that was. I love Top 10 lists and have been thinking for a long time about each placement for this list.

Remember these are all personal choices.

You all know how it works.

Top Ten Movies of 2009.


10. Taken. (Released in Canada Jan 09)
Easily one of Liam Neesons better movies, this one was a sleeper hit. The story revolved around an ex CIA operative (Neeson) sees his daughter off on her trip to Paris. Neeson's character is a quiet, but very lethal man and you feel very sorry for him in the first 20 minutes. His estrangement from his daughter and desire to be in her life is at the forefront of his mind. Neeson's daughter gets kidnapped and he is told by his CIA buddies that he has little time to find his daughter before she is sold into sex slavery and is gone forever. Great action scenes, combined with a solid script and some great camera angles make this movie one to see.


9. The Hangover.
Easily the best comedy of the year. Great script, fantastic comedic timing, dumb story, but that only works to the movies credit. The movie centers around a bachelor party gone wrong (Hooray for original ideas!) and when the group can't find the groom, things get crazy. With one great scene after another, it easily makes the 9 spot. Would have been higher had it had more staying power, but I felt bored after the second viewing.


8. Pandorum.
I'll be honest, this movie was not what I was expecting, but what it was, was great. It took the great psychological fears of being alone, in the dark, and in the most dangerous environment imaginable, space. And combined it with a great reboot of your average killer alien. The ending was a surprise and it was a welcome one. It just needed to NOT have Denis Quaid in it.


7. Haunting in Connecticut.
I think this movie is very underrated. It's a classic ghost story that aired in what was supposed to be a one off show on the Discovery Channel, but the popularity of it spawned a mini-series. Filmed in Teulon Manitoba and featuring a Winnipeg born actor Erik J. Berg this movie set a very creepy tone. The story revolves around a family that rents a new home to be closer to the hospital for their son who has cancer. He needs to be closer to the hospital because treatment is so hard on his body. Eventually the boy starts seeing things in his new house, is it real, or is it just the stress of his body fighting to stay alive? This is something that played a big part in the TV show, but the movie was hollywoodized to be more entertaining. And that's ok, but this is a main gripe for fans of the show. Listen for great creepy music in the trailer and easily the best opening and ending credits sequence this year!


6. The Fourth Kind.
I have to say right off the bat that this movie has a very niche market. It revolves around "real" recordings of hypnosis sessions documented by the "real" Dr.Abigail Tyler a therapist in Alaska. Patients claim to be visited by owls at night, and while under hypnosis, we find that the "owls" are the most frightening species ever! The movie jumps from the "real" recording to reenactments of these session with actor Milla Jovovich and other notables who fill in for key rolls in the story. The highlight of this movie is the shocking hypnosis sessions that take place in the second and third acts of the movie. I jumped in the theater at one point because I was expecting the scare to have some build up. This movie also has an ending that some people will find surprising but I saw it coming. Great experience, and it's always good to see a director try something new.


5.Collapse.
There were a few great documentaries this year (special mention goes to the amazing "Tyson") but this one really stood out for me. I just recently watched this but it left an impact on me that I just can't shake. Without going into to much detail the movie is one long interview with Michael Rupert. This man basically details how the economy of the world will collapse. Government, Safety, Food, Oil, everything is coming down. Believe him or not, this is a great movie with a guy who is very passionate about what he is preaching. He wants to help, but no one is listening.


4. Inglorious Basterds.
Wow. Just wow. Quentin Tarantino better get an Oscar nomination for this film because it is brilliant! Writing, pacing, acting, shot composition, violence, everything is damn near perfect. If Christoph Waltz doesn't get a nomination for his chilling and flawless role as Colonel Hans Landa we should all petition. This movie was pretty long at almost 2 and a half hours but I was never bored during any of it. Watch. This. Movie!


3. Paranormal Activity.
I'm proud to be the first one who signed the online petition to bring this movie to Winnipeg, and my name is even in the credits. (Seriously, look for it!) This movie was actually made in 2007 but wasn't officially released until late this year, after a very long campaign in which people "Demanded It" to come to their city. The movie had a small budget of roughly $15,000 and it was shot in the director Oren Peli's home. Although I'm not a fan of the Hollywood ending, this movie embodies everything I love about film making. It has scenes where I just can't imagine how they did it on such a low budget and scenes that just scare the crap out of you. I wasn't really scared at all in the movie, but a lot of people were. The thing I love about movies like this is that we, the audience, already know it's going to end up badly for these characters. We do everything we can to wish that they wind up ok, but going in we know it's not going to be good for them. The Cinderella story for 2009, and my number 3. Paranormal Activity.


2. District 9.
This movie blows my mind. The story, the directing, the special effects, the sci-fi, the aliens, the EVERYTHING! This movie creates a story that is cohesive as not only a standalone but as a allegory to the apartheid. This movie was originally a short film called Alive in Johburg that was made by Neill Blomkamp in 2005. It was picked up by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and Neill was told to, "go crazy". He did and it worked. This movie was my number one until late December when my now number one came out.


Alive in Johburg


1. Avatar.
Did you expect anything else? My full review is the blog entry previous to this, read here.
I'm not gonna say much other than, this movie is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Yes it does have a few script problems and similarities to other movie, in principal. But I've never been to a world like Pandora, no one has, except James Cameron. This movie is something that needs to be experienced and I will see it again when it goes to IMAX. This is now the fourth all time highest grossing movie, and James Cameron's second movie to make over 1 Billion dollars. Yes Billion.


Check out Kenton Larsen's Blog for other great movies that I didn't add to my list.

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Avatar - Part 2

Alright so its been a week since seeing Avatar and I've had enough time now to really let the film sink in. Almost any other movie I would give my opinion right after, but I felt like this movie in particular needed some downtime so that I could digest what it really is as not only a movie, but really an experience.

Let's start with the main problems of the film first.

1. 3D Eye Strain.
This is more of a personal issue than anything else and because every one's eyes are different I can't fault the filmmakers or the technology for this.
The entire requires you to wear 3D glasses and while they are much more comfortable than they were in the past it's still very uncomfortable for me to wear. There are also quite a few instances where I wasn't sure what I should be focusing on and some of the picture became blurry, which hurt my eyes even more. Overall after the film I did have a headache, and with a run time of 2 hours 41 minutes, plus 3D previews, it was a lot to sit through.

2. Not Being In Kansas Anymore.
Although just a 2 second line, the "we're not in Kansas anymore" line is one that kills me every time. Hollywood needs to STOP metaphorically leaving Kansas! I realize it's from one of the greatest movies of all time, but it should stay with that movie. Stop putting it in movies, it's cheesy and very stupid.

3. Cliche Romance.
This is a main part of the movie and unfortunately it follows the typical romantic plot points. It can be seen coming from a mile away and because of the way its been setup you know how it will evolve. Don't get me wrong though, James Cameron did a fantastic job writing this movie and even though the love story is cliched it still kinda works on some levels.

Now the good.

Overall the movie is one of the top 3 films of the year, maybe even number 1. I'll have to refer back to other movies.

Cameron deserves some big time credit here because he created a world that no one has ever seen. It's gigantic, gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking and it's an environment that no one has ever seen before. Every tiny detail is picture perfect and I have never seen a movie look this good. James Cameron does for Sci-Fi what Michael Bay does for explosions.

The action scenes are some of the best CG/Live Action I've ever seen, they're absolutely spectacular and when the 3D is in full effect, the scale of the scene is intensified tenfold. 3D is something that is rarely done right in my opinion, it's a very difficult thing to get right without it being called a gimmick. It is certainly not a gimmick here, as I actually found myself wiping off my glasses because I thought there were drops of water on them. Turns out, it was all in the movie. That is the mark of well done 3D.

The Na-Vi themselves are an amazing race of aliens, or actually humans are the aliens in this aren't we? They stand 10 feet tall are blue and so agile it makes your heart stop. The flying scenes are unlike anything I've ever experienced and just amazing to watch. The way that the motion capture works to perfectly, and I mean perfectly, capture every last detail of expression on the actors faces is phenomenal. It is as close to perfect as anything like that has ever been.

Without giving away too much of the story, I'll just say that it's a pretty well written story, the dialogue is all good and the overtones of politics, war and environment are certainly a driving factor. The story works well with everything and it all comes together nicely at the end. There are a few thins that don't make a lick of sense, but they're not really important in any way.

Overall I'd give this movie a 4.5 out of 5 and it's one that everyone should check out.

I'll be seeing it again when it goes to IMAX and I recommend doing that as well if you feel you can wait for a few weeks, because the experience on that screen in IMAX 3D will be awesome!

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Avatar - Part 1

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge movie fan. I live and breathe film and almost every aspect about it. It's my dream to become one of the elite Directors someday. In this medium my hero's include. (In order)

1. Martin Scorsese
- Martin to me, is one of those rare filmmakers that always has a perfect vision of the end product. He storyboards every single scene of his movies before filming so that he knows exactly what he wants us to see. His ideas are usually small to begin with, but as the story progresses everything becomes larger than life. Just recently he was FINALLY awarded with his first Best Director Oscar for the 2007 film The Departed which also received three other Oscars for Best Picture, Best Writing and Best Editing. Scorsese has rarely made a film I don't like and I'm very excited for his next film, 2010's Shutter Island with Leonardo DiCaprio.

2. James Cameron
- James Cameron can go to his grave knowing that he has made two of the best movie sequels of all time, Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Terminator 2 is, in my opinion, the best movie sequel of all time. Not only does he have those under his belt but he also is the man responsible for the largest grossing movie of all time Titanic which raked in a ridiculous $600,788,188 domestically and a whopping $1,242,091,767 in the foreign market. That makes a grand total of $1.84 BILLION dollars world wide. To put that in perspective the film in second place world wide is 2003's The Lord of The Rings; Return of the King which has made only $1.1 Billion.

3. Stanley Kubrick
-Kubrick is a brilliant filmmaker with the way ever single shot has to be 100% perfect. I remember listening to an interview with Jack Nicholson about filming The Shinning with Kubrick and he said that they had to scrap three days of shooting because there was a picture in the background that wasn't the right amount of crooked. That is the mark of a man who demands absolute perfection from his films. Unfortunately Kubrick passed away in 1999 but has left his stamp on cinema with classics like Dr.Strangelove (1964), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Full Metal Jacket (1980) and his last film (arguably his best) 1999's Eyes Wide Shut.


The real reason I decided to write this blog is because in just three days time a movie will be released that has the potential to go down in history as one of those movies that shapes cinema for years to come. James Cameron has been working for 15 years with concept and design, he wanted to make it directly after Titanic in 1997 but the technology wasn't available. After seeing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings Cameron knew the technology was ready to be utilized. Of course the movie I'm talking about is Avatar.

If you haven't heard, Avatar is a movie about a Marine who is a paraplegic that is sent to the newly discovered Pandora to help with the collection of a resource earth desperately needs. The largest deposit of this resource however sits smack dab in the center of a large group of indigenous peoples called the Na'vi. They are 10 foot tall blue creatures that live in harmony with the planets otherwise hostile inhabitants. The Na'vi obviously don't want the marines raping their planet so they put up a fight (enter conflict) so the marines and scientists develop a way of infiltrating the Na'vi. They use bio-engineered bodies made to look and move and speak exactly like the Na'vi and a CT scan like machine to transport the mind of the paraplegic marine into this body so that he can convince the Na'vi to let the scientists have the ore they crave. They call this method Avatars.

James Cameron had a linguist come in and develop a language for the Na'vi much like Peter Jackson had one come in and develop a language for the Uruk-Hai in The Lord of the Rings. The film also uses some revolutionary 3-D tech that Cameron says will heighten the experience.

Watch the trailer in HD here.

Anyway so as you can tell I'm obviously going to the movie opening night and I'm very excited. My next blog will be my review of the movie.

If you want to know what my favourite critic rated it as click here.

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-JW

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

The semester is over and we're all exhausted. I honestly don't think I've ever been this tired or busy in my entire life. And I'm actually grateful that there has been this much work, because it's going to make the break seem so much better.

We've all been working so hard and the camaraderie has been unbelievable. Our class rallies like no other class I've ever been in. Even with all the work we have on our plates we're all more than willing to help one another.

We always deserve a good long break and I hope everyone has a blasty blast!

I do plan to blog during the break, but they will be most likely video blogs.
I look forward to next semester and even look forward to the truckload of work.

The Best Burger in Winnipeg!

Some people search their entire life for a plate of food so amazing, that they bestow it with the title of ‘the best’. Who would have thought that the best burger you’ll ever eat was in Winnipeg all along, at Billabong Bar and Bistro.
Billabong, located at 121 Osborne street, has many things to offer. From down under crab cakes, and calamari, both $8.75 to the uluru ribeye, which is a broiled ten oz ribeye topped with an Australian peppercorn spiced Jus at $23, and even the odd yet satisfying barbecued kangaroo. With three different menus for different times of day there is something for the non-adventurous types and kangaroo tacos, $14, for those looking to step outside the box.
Our waiter, John, a very nice and courteous man walked us through the menu choices explaining the different items and what they closely resemble in taste, a key factor when deciding on the barbecued kangaroo at $27.50. We started off our night eating the surprisingly tasty kangaroo tacos, $14 for 6, thinly sliced kangaroo with thai-red chili dressing and mango stacked in crispy shells. John directed my attention to a burger that I ‘have to’ try. Being a very picky eater I was hesitant, but I decided that every burger is the same so how could I not like it.
They call it “the legendary aussie burger”, $11.50, and that title is well deserved. What came to my table was the Everest of the burger world. A huge 1/4 pound sirloin patty topped with smokey bacon, already off to a good start, aged cheddar cheese and hot pepper beet relish. That may not seem like that big of a deal, but this is where the burger get’s ‘aussie’. A thick slice of barbecued pineapple sits on top of the cheese, sweet and juicy with all the sugars on the outside perfectly caramelized. Right on top of the pineapple sits a fried egg, yolk not yet popped.
At first I didn’t know what to do, I was in awe at how good it looked, although when you put these ingredients down on paper it doesn’t sound all that appealing. My first bite was like being reborn, reborn a carnivore. The beef was so perfectly done on the grill, with just the right amount of char. The relish, spicy yet sweet, the perfect contrast in the same bite. The cheddar cheese and the smokey bacon set each other off perfectly with a great balanced flavour. Finally the fried egg and pineapple, the egg providing the perfect texture in an unbelievably great burger. Everyone of these items combining so perfectly to create the Da Vinci of handheld food, not to mention the side of crispy, thinly sliced, perfectly seasoned chips.
Billabong Bar and Bistro may have some odd items, somethings you would never consider eating. For those who want a great atmosphere, friendly staff and literally the best burger I’ve ever eaten, look no further than Osborne village.

4/5 stars.

Drum Videos

It's been a while since I posted a drum video, so I figured now would be as good a time as any.
This is a song I've been trying to master all summer. I've had troubles getting the slower parts memorized and some of the fills (which I still have trouble with as you will see) and transitions.
The song is Decode by Paramour.
Yeah it's the song written for the first Twilight movie, I know, blasphemy. But I just really like playing the song.
Anyway, hope you all enjoy listening to it.