To anyone following this blog....

I'm trying to simplify things (which will hopefully allow me to post more) and will be shifting my primary blog to my website.  Please follow me there at www.thecinemaphile.com

Thanks!

Cinema Hooligante!

Very excited to read the press release from Milwaukee Film this morning announcing the lineup for Cinema Hooligante, the Milwaukee Film Festival's cult film and midnight movie program.

The highlights of the lineup include 35 mm prints of Enter the Dragon and 2001: A Space Odyssey.  Here's a link to the full Hooligante lineup.

I'm not so excited because I plan to see all of them; these films tend to be scheduled downtown at midnight.  But if this is any indication of the caliber of the rest of the lineup, this should be another amazing year.

Upstairs/Downstairs

I tend to use the word "hate" lightly... I hate baked beans, I hate the sun in my eyes, etc.  but rarely do I feel a pure hatred as much as I hate my upstairs neighbors.  First of all, there are six people up there in a three bedroom place, and four of them are children under the age of 13.  Secondly, they are so inconsiderate with the amount of noise they make; stomping, screaming, pounding, and a television with a subwoofer that is right on the floor above where I sit and blaring.

Seriously, tonight there was so much going on up there that I finally got up, went outside and rang the doorbell.  Of course, there was no answer.  So I stood under their window and yelled "You have neighbors!"  That worked for about 5 minutes... Now there's no stomping because they're watching a movie that's all rumble and so loud I can't hear my own TV.  There's a million other issues with hem, but that's just the issue du jour.

I give up.  This should inspire me to save more so I/we can get a house where we don't have to worry about this.  That brings up a whole 'nother can of issues, but saving money isn't a bad thing regardless.

The Matrix

Not much to report today (that's why I love Sundays) but I did watch most of the last half of The Matrix, and it holds up surprisingly well.  There are a couple of snicker-worthy parts (Neo and Smith's climatic fight) but it's still really entertaining.

In other viewing news, I'm hoping to get through the rest of season 2 of The Wire in the next couple of days.  (Can you tell nothing much is going on right now that I'm talking about TV shows?). Better cut my losses for tonite.

Saying goodbye

Today I had to say goodbye to an old friend who passed away from cancer and leukemia.  This was someone I worked with, but she and I were close.  We had our differences, mainly political and lifestyle, but she was genuinely a good person.

After she got sick and had to stop working, I didn't stay in touch with her, which made me feel guilty until it turned into acceptance, especially since she didn't reach out to me either.  She was sick for a while, but I feel like her death was sudden, mainly because I always assumed she would be there, and we would just reconnect...someday.

I've learned a hard lesson, because now the guilt consumes me.  Facing her husband today was so difficult, and honestly, I didn't know what to say to him.  I guess I learned a hard lesson about taking someone for granted, and I hope this doesn't happen again.

Anyway, I'm really glad Chris was there with me, and then we went on a nice, long meandering drive, despite the fact he needed to get some things done.  I love that guy.

Blogging is not my friend...

...but it will be!

This is my valiant attempt to work on the blogging thing.  What I really wanted to do was pretend that I don't have gaping holes in my blogging history and start a new blog, but hey, what fun would that be?  Plus, what the hell would I do with all of my review and film festival blogging histories?  Meh.  I'll go the sloppy but responsible route.

So yeah, dusting off the keyboard, cracking my knuckles and getting back in the swing of writing.  I once asked Augusten Burroughs what his best advice would be for a fledgling writer who has the desire, but not the discipline to write, and he told me to write every day.  Even if it's for 5 minutes, write every day. 

So that's my promise.  It may be gibberish, it may be inane, but I'm going to dedicate a minimum of 5 minutes a day to ye olde blog. 

Unfortunately, 5 minutes is about all the time I have at the moment, but I'm excited to quickly share some 2013 Milwaukee Film Festival news:  My vacation days are set, and today I applied for my credentials.  As exhausted as I always am by the end of the festival, I'm always so excited for it to happen every year, and 2013 is no exception.  I'm not sure what the venues will be yet, and I don't think they're releasing the program schedule for at least another month, but they did announce that their country focus will be Germany, so that's pretty awesome.  I don't remember ever being disappointed with any German films I've seen.  Here's a link to the Passport Germany program.  I'm particularly excited that Wings of Desire will be shown.  I hope Chris will join me for that one (and maybe another one or two films!)

Holy crap, it's coming!

I'm so thrilled to say that I spent my lunch hour today poring over the Milwaukee Film Festival program book for the first time!  I got it on Saturday but only was able to glance at it before today, and of course, there are a million movies I want to see.

I'm not going to get too excited until I have confirmation of my press credentials (which really should be any day now I think) so I'm not going to make a definite schedule until then, but it's looking like at least 37 to 39 films this year.  I'm really excited about the new venue at the Fox Bay Cinema; from what I understand, it's a film critic's dream because it's a "cinedine" so not only will there be sustenance for those of us who are there all day, but it also has tables that I can make notes on.  That's right: no squinting with the steno pad pressed up against my nose and bizarre, barely legible handwriting!  Plus, there's a Starbucks down the street, so that can't be all bad.

This year I'm planning on taking some photos and trying to integrate social media into my experience (we'll see how that whole thing goes...) so it could get interesting for me.

So, once I get my creds, I'm all over this like white on rice.  I can still stand with my nose pressed up against the window though.