the awesome/terrifying freedom

You are a Social Liberal (73% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (20% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

interesting quiz. after you take it, you can see a breakdown of bush vs kerry voters on the chart. fascinating.

ever go to a movie and realize that it is not at all what you were sold in the trailer? this is a brilliant illustration of how a trailer can be cobbled from raw footage to make a movie look like whatever you want it to look like. which really means there's no excuse for a film to have a bad trailer - and if it does, look out.



what i love about this, is that the film it advertises is exactly the movie everyone pretended to make around little danny lloyd, who kubrick was determined to keep protected from the horrific nature of the movie he was starring in. danny had no idea what it was about until it was released.

this is lovely as well.

trailer looks good. i like rob marshall. and because it's an english-language film, i'm willing to forgive the casting of mostly chinese actors. but.

the goddamed thing is in trajan.

listen to ray's voice-over reel.. mmm..

i'm so sad that the unfortunately named 'black family' was the first cut from the amazing race. i started watching late and i didn't know if 'black family' was the cutesy name given to them by the producers, or their actual last name.

designed the dvd box for this upcoming independent film...

i've been watching 'open bar' on 'logo,' the gay channel. the show is about former frat boy tyler, 34, who graduates from usc with an mba, comes out of the closet and decides to try and raise a million dollars and open a gay bar in west hollywood.



and he's pretty hot too.

it's clear he loves a challenge, and is an ambitious, passionate guy. it's also clear that his primary motivation behind opening the bar is to thrust himself into the center of a world he'd been outside of for most of his life, and ultimately, to find a boyfriend.

and that's really why we do anything, isn't it?

decisions about my life need to be made. if i'm gonna do anything, i'd better do it now.

is there anything more disheartening than learning through friendster that the person you wanted to date/thought you were sorta dating is now 'in a relationship'? i don't think so.

under new management, friendster has finally made some much needed changes. remember the old days when nothing worked and it took forever to load your home page?

this new feature is totally addicting - you can chart your connections to other people, and their connections amongst themselves. double click on anyone and their dot explodes with a hundred other dots representing their friends.. and on and on and on.




it's disturbing and amazing how interconnected we all are.

'reunion' is an interesting show - it's not a great show: the concept is better than the execution, but unlike 'lost' or 'prisonbreak,' 'renuion' is building to a clearly defined ending that will take 20 episodes to get to - and it's clear from the jumps in time that the entire plot structure and timeline has been thought out pretty thoroughly. and matthew st. patrick from 'six feet under' is in it. and it's fun to see the hair/clothes and hear the music from each year, and i enjoy watching actors in their mid 20's juggle multiple hairpieces and try to credibly play 18 and 38 in the same episode. it will be interesting to see these characters turn 25, 30, 35, have kids, see the kids grow up..

and that pic of sean faris (the boy has a beauty mark. jesus) in full 'risky business' 1986 gear. hot. except for one tiny thing. can you guess what it is?

yes.

the logo is in TRAJAN.

ARGRHAGAHRGRHGARHGARHGAHRGHRH


i watched the hour recap of season 1 of 'lost,' and the premiere - yes, it's a good show. the performances are great, the cast is great, the writing is good.. it's better than prisonbreak, but suffers the same problem of being, almost literally 'gilligan's island.' it will go on forever, mystery after mystery, question after question, coincidence after coincidence until finally, as with x-files and alias, the audience gets tired or the actors get tired and they finally decide to wrap things up and cancel the show. but the coincidences that we're asked to swallow really push the limit for me - it's tempered by having a main character who is as skeptical as i am, which helps a lot - he's very easy to identify with - but if in the end we're expected to accept supernatural explanations and 'miracles'.. eh. i dunno. i'm skeptical. it's still a very watchable show, though.

and enjoying it very much.. i like that the book experience is so much different from the films, which are fun, but do not ruin the books by any means. i just love the detail and imagination.



final 'goblet' poster is great.

looks pretty ok.

much like gilbert gottfried (have you seen the aristocrats??), andy dick is an unsung comic genius. check out this brilliant short..

i love rome.


lucius: "do not address me in that tone!" (leaves)
niobe: "my father's cock! how's that for tone?"


"shall i be merciful? i think not."


"if she did kill glabius, i swear by the gods i'll open her throat with my teeth."


"eat your goat testicles while they're warm, octavius, they'll put oak in your penis."
"she has a good cosmetic slave, but win the heart of caesar? ridiculous."
"castor, after you kill me, you must kill yourself. your survival would be...inappropriate."
"if i were not a genteel woman, i'd have you flayed and hung from a bracket at the door."

i'm starting classes at the atlantic theatre company acting school in a few weeks. founded by david mamet and william h. macy, it's the only acting technique/philosophy that really speaks to me. after being emotionally raped in so many acting classes in undergrad and grad school, it will be so nice to focus on action. and it will be great to finally get instruction in the technique that i attempted to teach so many poor first year acting students. and it will be great to work on scenes again. and it will be great to learn how to not suck.

think you've seen the gayest thing ever?

and i am telling you i think you probably haven't.

tamyra gray gets ghetto in a shrieky, mascara-streaking, 'oh no you did NOT just shoot my man' kinda way in david lachapelle's take on 'romeo and juliet,' second only in gayness to baz luhrman's. click on h&m denim - romeo and juliet.

this would have been waaaay better if it starred frenchie davis.

i couldn't bear to watch most of it.

did you notice the entire thing was in TRAJAN??

AGRHAGRHGRHGHRAHGRHGR

well, saw 'hellbent,' the 'first gay slasher film' this weekend. i hope it's not the last, and i hope that whoever does it next (kevin williamson - you queen, know you want to, though the fabulous bitchyness of 'scream' makes it my first gay horror film) does a better job of it.

if the goal of this film was to remake, shot for shot, setup for setup, a second rate 80's horror film, clunky acting, 'run bitch' moments and all, with hot gay men standing in for nubile teen girls, then it was a very successful endeavor. if the goal was to make something that would stand as a good horror movie on it's own, then i have to say it was a failure.

and there were a couple moments of actual surprise, and a couple jokes that worked - but it fell trap to an inexplicably stupid third act wrapup that offered nothing but the same tired cliches that even the lamest horror series' save until part 3 or higher.

the boys were super cute though, and there was a weird pleasure in watching hotties decapitated.

went to an awesome event last night at the ziegfeld theatre to promote this book of the star wars prequel costumes by trisha biggar. it was part of fashion week, so they had models wear the signature costumes of the trilogy and walk the catwalk just as in a fashion show.

when i arrived, there were so many seats available that the door nazis weren't even checking the list - i walked into the theatre and tech crews were still adjusting lights and doing a sound check. i took a seat right up near the front of the catwalk. it looked like the show wasn't actually going to start for another 45 minutes or so. i casually read my book, and nearly fell asleep in my seat waiting for it to start when my friend emily called asking if she would be able to get into the event. i said 'yeah, there's tons of seats and they're not even checking the list, so just come over!'

after i hung up with emily i heard a commotion behind me. a silver haired man was walking down the aisle, directly towards me, flanked by banks of photographers on either side. holy mo-hamma wowza goo fa hoompa it was george lucas. he walked over to his seat a row down and across the aisle from me. what? how can this be? and there's hardly anyone here! and it was the one day i didn't have my camera in my bag!

it was at about the point that i recognized rick mccallum, producer of the prequels, taking his seat next to george, that a second commotion was occurring behind me. and wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt under a slick gray blazer was the hottie himself, hayden christensen. (cue angel chorus)

emily arrived. i said look over there. she said holy crap. she said and this is the one day i don't have my camera on me. crap. she called work and ran across the street to pick up one of the digital cameras from her office. when she got back, the show was about to get started, but after the show she managed to snag one shot of lucas, hayden, and the white haired guy next to hayden is.. (cue raider's march)



john williams. hayden and lucas were too protected by the various bouncers for us to get in close, but after the show john williams was in the aisle talking to people and signing autographs. i shook his hand, and as is always the case when i meet someone who i have utmost respect for, didn't know what to say. i mumbled 'you're it's peration. inspiration. you're um work has beenspiration.' he said thank you very much.

let's look at the classic themes williams' has written: NBC news theme, jaws, family plot (for hitchcock), star wars, close encounters, superman, indiana jones, et, jurassic park, schindler's list, and harry potter (his least memorable major theme if you ask me)

anyway, the show was incredible. the costumes look amazing in person. and that book looks really cool, except for one small detail. can you guess what it is?

yes, the title is in TRAJAN! ARRRAHRAGHRAGHRAGHRAGRGR

love the punctuation, george.

i think i may need to bury my head in the sand and scream? is this possible

we're good enough to die, but only when we have to die.

it's not news, but finding the official document should change some things. right?

from towleroad.

i was flipping around last night and came across 'the punisher.' it's a terrible movie, but for much of it thomas jane is shirtless, and pumped up beyond belief. brilliant.

but.

how did he go from this:







to this:


...so quickly?

'punisher 2' is supposed to come out next year.. better hit the gym, tj..

i'm sorry. yes, he's super hot, but i just don't buy it. and they have such great actors in that show, i mean, peter stormare!? even robin tunney is above this. it's all because brett ratner's hand is in it.

but here's why i won't be watching: it's gilligan's island.

and what that means is that the show is designed with a clear goal for the main characters, but with no end in sight. i like '24' because we know that the writers are creating a full arc leading to a season climax - that each season could essentially be the end of the show, and each season starts anew.

with this premise - what, are they ever gonna get out of prison? if the x-files is any example, we wont see any resolution until the ratings are so low that no one cares any more. at least the structure of the x-files allowed the larger arc to take a back seat to individual cases - here, all we're gonna see is how week after week he gets really close and then fails.

now, if this was a cable show - say, on hbo, we would know that there would likely be a five or six season arc designed, which would build to logical, cathartic conclusions, like watching a very big novel. but with network dramas, the chief concern is not to get cancelled - and those decisions aren't usually made until halfway through a particular season, at which point a finale episode is hastily tacked onto the existing show. sometimes, though, a network drama will end because the lead actor has decided not to renew their contract.. (this had disastrous results with x-files. once duchovny was out, they should have written a final season to accomodate it.)

on top of that, prisonbreak is perposterous. the warden pulls him out of his cell to build a taj mahal out of toothpicks? the nurse is the governor's daughter? and wentworth miller, who's hot white molten steel gaze led me to tune into the show in the first place, turns out to be like zoolander - he has one look. well, two looks: 'the look' and 'the smirk.'

i'm gonna forgo actually watching this show and just read the twop recaps instead.



that tattoo is pretty cool though. did they really have to use the tacky photoshop 'lens flare' feature, though? and what's with those pants?

saw 'the exorcism of emily rose' this weekend. two of the pre-show trailers used the font. and while the 'rose' marketing people showed extreme ingeneuity and risk-taking by not using trajan in the poster, all the opening and closing titles used it. it was such a disappointment, i could barely watch the film.

here's the poster for the fun-looking gay horror film. trailer here.



they try to fool you by adjusting the 'h,' using the bold version, and compressing the character width, but once again:

note to apple: stop it!

dear god, it will just never end will it? will the smallness and coolness never stop? this thing is the size of a business card. such is the way of technology. let's hope we never have a creativity fallout like we did during the beige box era of the 80's and 90's.

as i looked at this thing i found myself thinking 'holy crap, what kind of toys are our kids going to have?' and then i had to do a take and realize that i'm now old enough to have kids, and these are they toys they'd play with, and if my kids were anywhere near as distanced and jaded as i was, they'd be the ones saying 'holy crap, what kind of toys are our kids going to have?'

just finished this poster for my friend jon out in l.a. for his great short film starring sandra oh - shot in boulder.

emily, where on earth did you find this guy?

"Hurricane Katrina was powered by an angel of destruction (sometimes called the Destroyer) who put the fear of God in the hearts of the residents of New Orleans. The predicted storm path was over New Orleans at 90 W., for the new order of Israel. However, the Lord heard the prayers of Christians, and the storm only reached 89 W., for an authority counterattack."

if only those christians prayed harder.

for some mysterious reason, hbo put episode 3 of 'rome' on demand early.. and it was great. i don't really know much about roman history, and it's awesome to be totally engrossed in a history lesson where every care has been made for authenticity, and yet remains a great entertainment. looking forward to watching the series of rome programming on the history channel this month.



both 'the comeback' and 'entourage' ended their seasons this week. i really admired 'the comeback' a lot, though it's a stretch to say i always found it enjoyable. often the show was a brilliant slow torture watching kudrow play an expertly drawn caricature of desperation. it was a noble experiment in show-within-a-show-about-a-show structure, often with great results, but i don't think i need another season of it, unless they come up with a bold new direction to take it.



'entourage' is the straight male, l.a. version of 'sex and the city.' lloyd is the new stanford. this season was great. looking forward to 'curb your enthusiasm.'

i'll be happy if i never see trajan again. yes, it's a beautiful font, and yes, i used it a lot in my designs, and maybe one day it will look cool again, but when that day comes, in about 30 years, it will conjure memories of the 'aughts much like vavy fonts immediately conjure the 70's.

special thanks to cheshire dave for sending me his brilliant short 'etched in stone,' which addresses this plague head on.

i was telling neal about trajan over the weekend. he said he never noticed trajan anywhere before. during the course of the evening i pointed it out on two movie posters, in a movie trailer, and on a poster for billy graham on a phone booth.

and here's just a few of the current posters using trajan. some of them try to trick you by squishing or expanding the letters, but don't be fooled..


addendum: this poster is NOT in trajan! (notice the serifs on top of the 'm' and the distinctive swoop of the 'r' tail. i know it's hard when it's that tiny. bravo sony pictures, i salute you.









at least the 'sound of thunder' people played with it a little bit.



this is, otherwise, a brilliant poster.




or, basically every movie that's not a comedy.