Touché, "Drive". Touché.

In honor of the Academy Awards tomorrow night, I have a concession to make.

Itz okay ryan.
At least ur still pritty.

Remember how I wrote about "Drive" (2011) last year and was all annoyed at how much buzz it was getting in spite of having no characters and a weak-at-best plot?  Remember how, in spite of wanting to believe that several culture commentators, trusted film criticism sites, and publications couldn't possibly be wrong in their unanimous support of this film, I decided that they were completely delusional?

Well, I suppose I'm a bit vindicated.  "Drive" got roundly "snubbed" by the Oscars, not getting nominated in any major categories (Note: "snubbed" is in quotes because being "snubbed" implies being denied something you deserve, and as you might guess, in this case I find that characterization a bit inaccurate).  I hardly look to the Academy as an unimpeachable judge of good cinema, so while I take its rejection of any movie with a grain of salt, I would nevertheless be lying if I said I didn't experience a tiny smidgen of schadenfreude when I learned that all that "best movie of the year" crap didn't pan out, little gold statue-wise.

No, it certainly didn't pan out... Or did it?  See, while the movie didn't get the best picture nod or recognition for best screen play (Aahahahahaha, what a ridiculous proposition!), it did get nominated in one category: Best Sound Editing.

You may remember that I noted the sound editing in "Drive" in my original post on the movie:

There were definitely some charmingly realistic acoustic tricks thrown in to make sure you knew someone's face just got stomped in, but the violence was so random, senseless, and so extreme as to not seem plausible in the real world.  It's desensitizing, achieving exactly the opposite effect of the violence in "Eastern Promises".  That, I would argue, is pretty troubling.

...Notice that little compliment buried in there?  Notice how I begrudgingly acknowledge the realism with which sound conveyed the rending of tissue and brutal crunching of little bones as shoe meets face?

Guys, I totally foresaw this nomination!  And, despite my selection of this movie as the worst in 2011, I have to concede: "Drive" definitely deserves the Oscar for sound editing.  If I can still tell precisely what kind of violence is transpiring even with eyes averted, that's some pretty masterful manipulation of sound.

So: Touché "Drive."  You win this round.

<3

Thesis Chickens Coming Home to Roost

Hi everyone,

Remember how last year I made a resolution to finish my master's thesis by 2012?  Well, there's a reason I didn't write a 2012 edition of New Year's resolutions for the blog. 

...Well, two reasons: (1) I was avoiding acknowledging that I had failed miserably to complete that resolution, and (2) I didn't have time to think about resolutions for the new year because I was frantically attempting to complete my thesis.

Needless to say, I deeply regret my resolution failure.  My thesis is due on March 1st, and as the deadline has loomed ever nearer, I have gradually sacrificed every minute of free time on the altar of horrifyingly momentous grad school requirements until I literally don't know what to do with free time anymore other than work. 

Here's how things have gone since 2012 began: I finally finished my introduction in mid-January.  I cranked out my methods section with relative speed, then painfully struggled through my results section over Super Bowl weekend.  I took an unbelievably long time to build tables of demographic data and regression output and individual study effect sizes (and then change those tables into countless subtly different permutations of their original selves).  Finally, last week, I drafted my discussion section and sent my mentor a draft of the entire document.  Final edits and finishing touches are currently being administered.

All of this frantic overwork has definitely made me a less than pleasant human being.  Pajamas have been worn for more than 24 hours at a time.  Tears have been shed.  Expletives and APA Style Guides have been hurled.  Cats have been freaked out at for sitting on keyboards (OH MY GOD SERIOUSLY CAT WHYYYYYYYYYYY).

It's such an absurdly privileged first-world problem to have to do something like write a thesis.  When I can muster the self-reflection necessary to step outside of my misery and self-pity and take stock of my life, feeling sorry for myself for sitting in my sweet, comfortable apartment with my sweet, affectionate kittens and writing [bullshit that no one--NO ONE--beyond myself and two poor professors will EVER read RAHHHHH] on my Mac is absolutely ridiculous.  I know, in the big scheme of things, I have no right whatsoever to feel badly for myself. 

That being the case, I still honestly have to say it's been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.  It's immensely taxing and requires mental stamina that I just haven't needed before.  As a result, in spite of my mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion, I'm really proud to finally be wrapping this up.  I think my thesis is really good, even if only three sets of eyeballs ever actually grace its pages.

And mercifully, I think I'm just about done.  Because after almost two full months of constant thesis freak-out, I feel like this:

 Like really a lot.

ANYWAY, I am clearly exaggerating at least a tiny bit about leaving myself no free time, because I totally watched some movies last month.

What a bitch.

The first movies I watched in 2012 were!:

1. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (4)
2. Meek's Cutoff (4)
3. Marwencol (3)
4. The Great Muppet Caper (4)

On track for the 52 movies/year thing and EVERYTHING.  HOW DO I DO IT??

Well... getting no sleep helps.

 
On that note, given that the sun has set, it's probably time to change into real clothes.

Sigh.

Thanks for reading!

<3