Sam's Blog

Link: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/closer/

I can’t take my mind off of the movie Closer. I saw it on Friday night and the song (in the beginning and end of the film) still haunts me. So I downloaded it. (Damien Rice – The Blower’s Daughter) Almost instant gratification. It’s wonderful. I really liked the movie. I read parts of the play a few months ago when I heard that they were making it into a movie. It’s very brutally graphic in a way, not visually but mentally. It delves into topics such as love, relationships, trust, infidelity, honesty, lust, fate, sex, betrayal and so many other things. It’s amazing how so many movies lately neglect these topics. I’m so disappointed with the movies that were released this year. I can only think of a handful of movies that I liked (and remembered). There’s Garden State (obviously), I Heart Huckabees, The Incredibles, Bad Education, Hero, Kill Bill vol. 2, Sideways, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, House of Flying Daggers, and The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (which is a bit older, but I saw it this year). Those are all that I can think of offhand. I am sure there are more, well, at least I hope there are more. I haven’t watched many movies this year actually. So sad.

I was a bit elated at the UCLA vs. USC game. Even though we lost, we put up a very good fight, only losing by 5 points to the #1 team in the nation. We had a glimmer of hope in the end, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I was actually thinking that it was going to be a blowout, but I stayed ‘til the very end. It was nice seeing old friends again, especially Lindsay, Julie, Scott, Denise, and Natasha, whom I haven’t seen in awhile.

I tried ZaZen, a sushi place in Venice and it was really fabulous! It was very expensive, but I am glad that it was tasty.

Okay, so I know that I say it every year, but shopping during the holiday season is ridiculous! Please, don’t ever go to the Beverly Center, stay clear from it. It took me and Angela a good hour to get there and find parking. It took a while to leave as well, and honestly, the customer service in most of their “top premiere stores” isn’t that great. I’ve done customer service in the past and what I experienced yesterday was a sad sad excuse for it. I know that they are busy because of the holidays, but at least pretend that you are in the holiday spirit, if not for my sake, but for their own sanity as well. It was absolutely crazy, so I think I’m going to buy things online from now on.

And I saw this online today and it made me happy. I also had lunch with Vanessa and it made me happier.