Sifting through CNN.com's articles as I do nearly every day (it's like a newspaper, only I don't have to read about the nothingness that goes on in Northwestern, Pennsylvania -- whoa, a new parking garage in Erie? Front page material there), I came across what could be the greatest story I've ever encountered on there. This is a story that will follow a single Chinese man on his quest for love, friendship, and ultimately, redemption.

Zhang Xinyan was a simple man. The 35-year old father of two, who works as a migrant laborer, was going through the normal stresses that any man in China would -- Subway or Quiznos, Unleaded or Premium, should I keep my newborn daughter or throw her in the river? As you can imagine, the stresses sometimes would get to him, and he just wanted to drink those stresses away with four pitchers of beer on a on lazy Wednesday afternoon at the Beijing Zoo.

As many drunk people often do, "he felt a sudden urge to touch the panda with his hand," so he jumped over the railing, made his way over to the panda bear and tried to give it a hug.

This panda was in no mood for love, though, and bit Zhang in his right leg. Zhang didn't appreciate this, so he kicked the panda with his good leg. The panda then bit that leg. He then decided there was only one thing left to do.

"I bit the fellow in the back," Zhang said after the incident. "Its skin was quite thick."

Of course, the panda was quickly calmed by zookeepers, and the man apprehended. He later noted that he had seen pandas on television before and that "they seemed to get along well with people. ... No one ever said they would bite people. I just wanted to touch it."

Well, Mr. Xinyan (or is it Mr. Zhang? I'm not sure how that works really in China), you're lucky this made the national news, or else you'd probably be quietly and quickly executed. China does not put up with that sort of nonsense. Maybe they'll just let you watch the Lion King, and then let you back at the zoo.

Labels: Rambling

I've watch a lot (probably way too many) great films in the past year, so I figured this should be updated some. These are in no particular order, by the way. I didn't really put much thought into this either, and only half finished it because I'm lazy. So, enjoy.


Sergio Leone
Leone is, simply put, a god of filmmaking. He made love to that camera like it was nobody's business. The influence he has had one films today is right there alongside Hitchcock, Kurosawa, or Lean. His filmography wasn't extensive, but to have three unarguable masterpieces (The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Once Upon a Time in America), and then others right on the verge of being (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dynamite) is something that only a very select few directors has been able to accomplish.


Alfred Hitchcock
Do I really have to explain this? He's definitely a master of filmmaking. Psycho, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Vertigo, Notorious, Rope, To Catch a Thief, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Birds, The 39 Steps, Dial M for Murder, Rebecca. Need I say more?

Clint Eastwood
He has a laid back style that can be seen in all of his movies. His direction isn't necessarily revolutionary -- it's pretty simple -- but maybe that's what I like about it so much. He's not looking to change the way people direct movies. He just directs them, because he enjoys it, and it seems the critics enjoy him too. He's surely directed his fair share of crappy movies, but his greats outweight those: Unforgiven (Best Picture), The Outlaw Josey Wales, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby (Best Picture), High Plains Drifter, Pale Rider, Play Misty For Me, Bird, The Bridges of Madison County, Absolute Power... 'nuff said.

Akira Kurosawa
This man is legendary. He made one of the most influential movies of all time in Seven Samurai, a 3-hour epic about samurai defending a village from being pillaged. His other samurai tales, such as Yojimbo and Rashomon are masterpieces in their own right. He's also a master of capturing emotions, which can especially be seen in Ikiru, a heartbreaking tale of a corporate man on the verge of death. I haven't gotten around to watching any of his other films, but those four alone are masterpieces and enough to give him a spot on here.


Joel & Ethan Coen
These guys are underappreciated, and it's a shame. There movies never make much money, but often get critical acclaim. My view is that their movies are just too smart for the general public. They're always darkly comedic, but the movie always means more than what is just on the surface. They also have a way with the camera and dialogue (since they write all of their own movies too) and their movies all cleverly and subtly reference great movies of the past, whether through style or story. Great Coen movies: Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Though?, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Hudsucker Proxy, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing

Ridley Scott
Sure, he directed GI Jane and Hannibal, but look closer. Scott is amazing at capturing scenery (he likes pretty colors, so do I), and he can get great performances out of all his actors. He also has jumped genres like very few directors are capable of. Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator, Matchstick Men, Blackhawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven are all to his credit, and they're all some of the best looking films of their time. Soon he'll be reteaming with Russell Crowe in A Good Year. Look out for it.

Martin Scorsese
What can I possibly say about the man who helped make Robert De Niro the living legend that he is? He's certainly one of my personal favorites, probably one of my three very favorites... Scorsese seems to have a way to bring the best out in his actors (and actresses... he's lead some 9 women to Oscar nominations in his films), and it shows. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The King of Comedy, Gangs of New York, Casino, Mean Streets, Cape Fear, The Aviator, The Age of Innocence, The Color of Money. Add his recent The Departed to that list (which happens to be one of his greats, I'm even considering it to be better than Goodfellas), and you have yourself easily one of the greatest directors ever with four masterpieces under his belt. You can count on one hand the amount of other directors that can claim that many masterpieces. I'm looking forward to see his future works with Leonardo DiCaprio, his "new De Niro."



Sam Raimi
He hasn't done too much, but what he has done, oooh boy. As a kid, watching Army of Darkness was quite the experience. When I go to the ripe age of about 12, I rented the prequels Evil Dead and Evil Dead II and was hooked. A few years later, he had his western, The Quick and the Dead, which was a poor story, but well shot. Then A Simple Plan came out, and that was fantastic. Then, this man who started off making movies with money they raised and their own cameras (yeah, Evil Dead with Bruce Campbell), was signed on to bring Spider-Man to life. I don't think anyone could have done it even better.

Steven Spielberg
Yes, he made a few mediocre films (Hook and War of the Worlds comes to mind), but the man is a genius behind the camera. He makes the movie goers his pawns, and has the ability to capture any emotion he would like with perfection. You'll shed a tear (Schindler's List), you'll be excited (Raiders of the Lost Ark), you get chills down your spine (Saving Private Ryan), you'll be frightened (Jaws), you'll feel like a kid again (Jurassic Park), you'll be touched (E.T.), you'll be moved (Empire of the Sun), you'll laugh (every single film of his). Love him or hate him, whatever, that's your deal, but in my eyes, Spielberg may have arguably six masterpieces.

John Ford
John Wayne's two greatest westerns, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance came behind this man's camera. Throw the Grapes of Wrath (one of Henry Fonda's greatest films), The Quiet Man, My Darling Clementine, and Fort Apache on top of that, and there isn't much of a question why he's on my list.


A few directors on their way to becoming one of the all-time greats if they keep it up:
David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, The Game)
Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, the Frightners)
Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento, Insomnia)
Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys, Lucky You)


Other directors that I like, and would have added to this list, but I got hungry and too lazy to finish:
Stanley Kubrick
Francis Ford Coppola
John Huston
Tim Burton
Orson Welles
Roman Polanski
David Lean
Elia Kazan
Michael Mann
Terry Gilliam
Brian De Palma
Oliver Stone
Robert Zemeckis

Labels: Lists, Movies

Maybe you heard about the 25-year old man up at a college in Montreal who went on a shooting spree, killing one and injuring nineteen others. If you haven't heard, try turning on the television or reading the paper every once in a while.

Well, it just so has it that this disturbed man, who had a fascination with Columbine and lived a rather gothic lifestyle, had a journal up at VampireFreaks.com. CNN reported this site he had lurked on, and it was all too easy to find his journal, in which his last entry was only two hours before the shooting.

Now, I know I posted the blog of a cannibalistic killer only a few posts ago. Don't get the wrong idea -- I'm not obsessed with death and destruction here. Frankly, I just find it, well, odd how everything has changed over the years. Twenty years ago, a killer may have had a journal in his house, which police would seize and no one uninvolved ever gets a chance to see the primary source. Maybe through the media through the police, you'd get a random quote from it here or there, but that's it. Nowadays, with blogging and online journals, the whole world can read what was going through a killer's mind leading up to just moments before he breaks.

"Whiskey in the morning, mmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm, good !! :)"

That was the first sentence of his very last post. Hours before he had posted his mood as "crazy" and only hours before that he had his mood as "postal." Other than that though, it's hard to believe reading it that this man went right from posting these entries -- as if nothing was different -- right to doing what he did.

I'd like to say after reading through it, that I found something insanely suspicious, something that could had forewarned his twisted mind was about to break, yet, he just seemed like a lonely, disturbed individual with a fetish for Marylin Manson and shooting video games. He hated bullies and had obvious problems with authority. It was nothing you couldn't see at your very own college, or from that kid who sat in the back of class during high school, sketching freakish pictures all over his notebook. Usually, they are just ignored.

Just get ready to hear loads of blame being put on everyone but him.

It's not his fault, it's Marylin Manson's.
It's not his fault, it's that Postal video game's.
It's not his fault, it's his parents'.
It's not his fault, it's the bullies'.
It's not his fault, it's that website!

Check out the journal right here, if you're interested.

Labels: Rambling

Labels: Video