11/29/12 Journal Entry

            This was a day of mixed results.  I got up this morning intent on going to both of my classes this day but didn’t quite succeed at it.  I got to my first class ten minutes late but went through the lecture without a problem.  However I somehow forgot entirely about my second class after I came home for an intended two hours.  I also intended to work on a paper that was due for this class but the same things that distracted my from my afternoon class distracted me from said paper and I didn’t get nearly as much of it done as I wanted to.  All around, it was a day of mixed results and half-finished things.

11/26/12 Journal Entry

            Like yesterday, this was a day I got nothing done.  I had intended to go to both my morning classes and then work on my assignments.  Unfortunately, I did not sleep much the previous night and I ended up sleeping right through them.  And like yesterday I ended up playing Old Republic for the entire day and ended up wasting it again.  

11/25/12 Journal Entry

            On this day I had told myself that I would continue to work on the various assignments for this class but that did not happen.  Instead I got caught up playing the videogame Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic and this ended up occupying all of my time and I felt that I wasted the entire day.

11/24/12 Journal Entry

          On this day, I resolved to promote the video like crazy showing it to various people I know and trying to get them to like the Facebook page or subscribe to the channel.  The results were kind of mixed but I managed to get several people looking at the video and the number of views seems to be growing so an all-around a successful day.

11/23/12 Journal Entry

            This was a very progressive day for me.  In the morning I resolved to render the video I mentioned, finish a review of Lincoln and post it to this site and another I have, post that video on YouTube, set up a channel for it and set up a Facebook page and to help promote it and I am glad to say that I was successful in all of these things and like previous days this week, I’ve found it to be a very progressive and successful week and I could not be happier.  If you’re interested in seeing this video or the Liking the Facebook page please check the links below.  All around it was a good day.

http://www.facebook.com/GriffethGalaxyProductions

Lincoln

            Of all the filmmakers in Hollywood today, few names carry as much respect and credibility as Steven Spielberg.  In a fifty three year-long carrier, the man has made many beloved classics and masterpieces such as Jaws, The Indiana Jones films, E.T., Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, has been a producer or a direct influence in over a hundred other projects, founded DreamWorks Pictures and is one of the few directors from the New Hollywood Era who has managed stay relevant, fresh and able to adapt and change with time.  While some people argue that his best days are behind him, films like Munich, The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse still prove that the man hasn’t run out of steam even if they are a far cry from what he did in the 70s and 80s.  But today we’re here to talk about his most recent film, Lincoln.

            Taking place during the final months of the Civil War, the film revolves around Abe Lincoln as he tries to get the 13^th Amendment passed that will end slavery in the United States, showing all of the backdoor deals that had to be made in order to get the amendment passed as well as showing the personal grief he and his family went through during this time.  And because I am making a point to see as many films as I can this year, (and sense nothing came out that weekend other than Twilight), I decided to take a look at Spielberg’s latest film.  This is my review of Lincoln.   

            Now, as you might expect, the acting in this movie is fantastic.  The most notable and the guy who steals the show is Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln and talk about a perfect casting choice.  Everything about this guy just said that he is Abraham Lincoln from his body structure, to the way he walked, to his hair style, the wrinkles on his face, to his voice and his monologs and frequent storytelling.  And this probably won’t be a surprise to anyone, but I think we have our Best Actor Winner of the year.   One thing that I have noticed lately is that many historical themed films and videogames are showing revered people in a more human light and this film is no exception to this.  It shows him as a fallible human being and how much a negative effect his presidency has had on his personal life, particularly with his eldest son and wife.

            While this movie obviously belongs to Daniel Day-Lewis, all of the other actors do great work in their roles as well.  Tommy Lee Jones was perfect as the Radical Republican leader Thaddeus Stevens and steals any scene he is in and Sally Field was great as Lincoln’s wife who has been the most effected by the personal burdens of being a family member of a president.  Many of the other cast members are great in their roles such as David Strathairn, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Jackie Earle Haley, and Bruce McGill but are ultimately limited by their screen time to do as much as they could. 

            One thing that might surprise you is that the story is very good.  The problem with most Oscar Bait-type films like The King’s Speech, The Master, or Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy is that their narratives are not very compelling and often come off as being bland and dry.  This film however is the exception to that rule.  Within the film we get a really good look at all of the politics and backdoor deals that went into getting the amendment passed and it’s probably the only film that I can think of that shows how difficult the games of politicians can be, especially when dealing with big issues such as this. 

But what really shocked me was just how funny this movie was.  Unlike most Oscar Bait, the film had a very good sense of humor integrated throughout its runtime.  Often Lincoln will start telling stories to various people almost at random and the stories themselves are either hilarious or his audiences reaction to them is.  One that really stood out to me was the story of the bird who was predicting the end of the world and the tone of that joke is more or less the tone of the humor throughout the film.  The rest of the comedy came from situations that really felt natural and unscripted.  Unlike the humor in a lot of modern films a lot of the jokes in this film actually felt like they could happen, such as the situations James Spader and his band of backdoor dealers get into while trying to get the votes for the 13^th Amendment or some of the reactions to Lincoln’s stories.  It’s very well done, funny, and puts it a step above most Oscar Bait and could not have been happier about this. 

Now I usually don’t gawk over set designs or where or how films are shot, but dear god is this film well done in those regards.  Everything in this film from the set designs, to the costumes, to the fact that Lincoln often carries a blanket around with him to stave off the cold makes it seem like it legitimately takes place in 1865, (although I have to admit the fact that I’ve been to several of the places the film was shot in Richmond did take me out of the mood a bit).  Adding to this effect was the lighting as everything seemed like it was shot with only sunlight, candle light, and fireplaces light.

There are, however, a few things that annoyed me about the film.  For starters, Day-Lewis had a few to many monologs and they can and will ware on you after a while and it almost makes it seems like the writers felt that it was their job to make sure he won an Oscar as opposed to letting his performance carry it.  The second thing, and it breaks my heart to say this, was John Williams’ score.  The man has been responsible for some of the greatest and most memorable scores in film history such as the music for Indiana Jones, Jaws, Star Wars, Superman and a ton of others and holds the record for the most number of Oscar nominations in history and has won five.  This score, however, sounds like the exact same thing that he has been composing for the last fifteen years and it’s not particularly well used.  Whenever the music comes up it usually sounds manipulative, like the filmmakers are trying to tell you what to feel as opposed to letting the feeling come naturally.  Often I found myself thinking that certain scenes would have been better if they had been completely silent or actually had a score that complimented what was on screen.  And again, it breaks my heart to say this but I’m starting to think that John Williams may need to retire.

All around, despite the monologues and manipulative score, I really enjoyed this film and to be perfectly honest, I think it may be my favorite of the year.  I loved the acting, the dialog, the story, the humor and the way it was shot and put together.  If you’re a history buff like me then I recommend that you go and see it because it is worth your time and money and considering all the other stuff that has been coming out over the past few weeks this one is much more deserving of them.

All Around
9.25/10

11/22/12 Journal Entry

            On this day I resolved to do three things.  The first was to put the final touches on the video that I have been mentioning lately.  The last two things were to stuff my face full of turkey and play Old Republic all day and I’m glad to report that I succeeded in all of these things.  Happy Thanksgiving!

11/21/12 Journal Entry

            On this day I woke up and was resolved to edit the video that I filmed yesterday.  After getting through the majority of it I decided that certain things needed to be added so I assembled my cast and reshot certain parts of it without much difficultly.  So everything worked out today.

11/20/12 Journal Entry

            On this day I resolved to do two things.  The first was to, as usual, go to my classes and the second was to film the video that I have been referring to over the past week and I am happy to report that I was successful on doing both of these things.  Aside from one or two hick-ups the filming process went perfectly and although I may want to shoot a bit more to draw out the suspense the majority of it is done and I am extremely proud of that fact.  All around, it was a day that I am glad of.

11/19/12 Journal Entry

Over the past few days I have not been posting these because I feel that I had nothing to report and forgot the entire purpose behind these blog entries; to state my goals that I made in the morning and to if I accomplished them or not.  And in this, I failed to do the past few days.  However I seemed to have remembered this today and have started on this once again.  This morning I woke up and decided on two goals: to go to my classes and put in the final preparations for the short that I am trying to make and filming for it should begin tomorrow.  All around, it was a day that worked out.

11/14/12 Journal Entry

            Today happened to be a very progressive day.  As usual on the weekdays I went to all of my classes without much problem, other than some brief engine trouble that resolved itself very quickly.  The real progress came when I returned home.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I have a number of video projects that I’ve been working on for some time now but kept on putting it off for one reason or another.  It seems, however that the video my finally be moving forward.  I completed the first draft of the script earlier this day to my satisfaction, (although I do intend to do more to it if it is required).  I also was able to convince a friend to use his house as a shooting location and another to play one of the parts for a reasonable price.  Who will be in the opposing role is still open but it’s more progress then I’ve made on it sense I started planning it.  The last major achievement made was some light testing and actually found that the room wasn’t dark enough which surprised me.  The final thing I did worth noting was the continual work on my rough draft of my paper.  All around, it was a good day.

11/13/12 Journal Entry

            On this day I woke up and dedicated myself to doing two major things.  The first was to go to my classes which I succeeded at and to write out three things.  The first was to finish a post I was writing for another blog, in which I was successful and the post turned out great.  The second was to outline a paper for this class in which I was partly successful.  The third was to outline a screenplay for a short video I plan on doing later this month.  I was at least partly successful in all of my tasks so this was a good day.  

11/12/12 Journal Entry

            Today was a very progressive day, especially considering how sick I was yesterday.  I got up planning simply to go to my morning classes and do nothing progressive for the rest of the day but my plans changed.  I was successful in my first task and upon arriving home assigned myself to two others.  The first was writing out a draft of an article for another blog I run, dealing with my complaints against a certain game.  The second was to write out a draft for a video I plan on making this weekend.  I was successful in both tasks and hopefully both of these things will yield fruit in the near future.

11/11/12 Journal Entry

            On this day, I had no goals and outside of writing this post I accomplished nothing because I was sick.  I don’t know what was wrong with me but I had no goals for the day and slept for most of it.  I feel better now though.

11/10/12 Journal Entry

            This was yet another day.  All I wanted to do was to type something up, do my laundry and play a videogame that has taken me far too long to beat.  And I succeeded in all three things so a day well done I guess.

11/09/12 Journal Entry

Today was a day where I only planned on going to one class which I succeeded in.  The rest of the day was dedicated to hanging out with my friends and seeing Skyfall, which I succeeded in doing both.  So I did what I set out to do even if it wasn’t much. 

I Voted!

I Voted!

11/8/12 Journal Entry

            This day was yet another lazy one, as when I woke up the only thing that I planned on doing was again to go to class and come home which I successfully did.  The rest of the day menial tasks kept popping up, such as cleaning my desk, dusting out my CPU and getting books that I’ve read off my Kindle.  All around, it could have been a more productive day but better than most where I’m usually lazy. 

11/7/12 Journal Entry

            On this day, I woke up only with the intention to go to both of my morning classes which I was only partly successful at due to my oversleeping.  However as the day went on, new goals started to emerge and I was able to complete them.  This included writing and posting an assignment on virtues which was due on Monday but I was unable to do due to physical and mental exhaustion I was experiencing.  Another thing popped up was for me start work on a project that I’ve been meaning to get started on for far too long.  I was able to get a general outline for it done and now I have to type out the first draft for it.  The last major thing was to get through a good deal of the storyline of Assassin’s Creed III for personal reasons.  And in all of these things, minus one of my classes, I was successful.  All around, it was a good day.

Virtues to Cultivate

            There are a number of virtues that people wish to live by throughout their lives but people are often unsuccessful in doing so.  There are some that I wish to cultivate myself and I can only hope that I am able to do so throughout my life.

1.      Industry

Keep active and hardworking, never giving into laziness, sloth, or useless actions.

2.      Ambition

Always have my eyes set on something bigger and better and never accepting good enough.

3.     Tolerance

Accepting those of other cultures, traditions, intelligent and education levels that differ from my own.

4.     Resolution

To keep at something once I have begun to peruse it.

5.     Moderation

Do not spend in excess.

6.     Truthfulness

Honesty with all of those around you.

7.     Charity

Give to those who are in need.

11/6/12 Journal Entry

            The past few days I was unable to update this blog due to my being out of town during the weekend and being physically and mentally exhausted because of it but I’m back to do this once again.  All I wanted to do today was to go to my classes and vote and that was the good I did for today.  Again, I need to put more effort into what I do daily but today was dedicated just to those things.