How I became what I am now
I ask a girl named Mary:(who calls herself a musicians just because she plays a bit of guitar, sings along and loves Pink Floyd.
-When did your love for music begin?
And guess what she answered:
-I was 10 months old when I sang along as my grandmother sang a lullaby for me.
And she says that with that very innocent, I-am-so-kind face, which I hate and it makes me want to punch her in a face. Sang along her ganny’s lullaby when she was 10 months?! I did that too, so what? That didn’t make a musician. I sang along many other songs when I was a kid, and loved playing the piano and singing stupid Russian songs which were extremely famous in the 90s.
I someone asked me when my love for art and drawing began, I wouldn’t fuckin’ say “Oh when I was still a toddler I used to doodle a lot hahahahaha”. NO!
Ask me now and I’ll tell you that it all began when stumbled upon a website, where they post all kinds of drawings and illustrators by not so famous artists. I don’t even now the name of it anymore. But I wasn’t a fuckin toddler when that happened! I was 15 or something like that. Until then I hadn’t even thought of going into art seriously. I just loved doodling and scribbling. It all got bigger when I learnt about Andy Warhol. That’s where I knew for sure what I wanted, and realized what my true love in life was. And I was 16 for chrissake. Not 10 months old!
I always get the same replies from people as Mary’s.
-How did your love for writing come?
-Oh, I just watched as my father (a writer) used to write when I was 2 years old or something, I hadn’t even read what he had written, I just loved it!
*A huge sigh*. Both of my parents are pediatricians. All of my life I have been living in a house smelling of Aspirin, Panadol and Rivotril. I have watched a thousand times how my father goes away to work every 2 weeks. I have seen tons of medical books, heard millions of medical phrases and words, and heard thousands of little kids’ cries as I called my mom to work. I was always surrounded by Medicine, but I never thought about becoming a medic myself.
Okay, if you have a talent for things and your parents did the same things, then it’s kinda okay to say that. But when you have never written until the age of 13 how the fuck can you say that you loved writing?! Just because your dad used to write. So what. My dad injected a needle into my sister’s b**tt and I saw how it’s done but I didn’t say that after that I wanted to become a doctor. If I had a thing for Medicine, I would say that. But I don’t. And the majority of people of keep giving me the same answers over and over again don’t have it either. They just love telling sentimental stories of how they became what they are now.
Let me end this punctually incorrect and aggressive post with one sentence.
You didn’t become a musician because you sang lullabies at the age of 10 months, you became a musician because maybe you found a Pink Floyd CD in your dad’s collection, or saw Morrissey singing This Charming Man, or discovered the Bristol underground scene and it’s artists like Tricky, Massive Attack and Portishead. You become what you are by all the experience you gather throughout the years and all the things you discover on your way.
Michel Gondry Vs. Luc Besson
In an art class today, the teacher asked a question: who, in your opinion, is the greatest film director? I knew the answer right away. Most of the kids didn’t answer because when they watch a movie, they pay attention only to actors, and don’t care about who the film is by. The only answers were, and everyone agreed: Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, and Michel Gondry. I love all of these filmmakers, and all of them,except for Gondry, are my favorite ones, really, but why only them? How can 30 people in one room not think of other great directors? I was beginning to get really angry when they started discussing Michel Gondry’s films. Then, at last, I said: “what about Guy Ritchie? Or Luc Besson? Or Lars Von Trier, Mathieu Kassovitz, Sofia Coppolla, Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Tim Burton, the Wachowski Brothers and Emir Kusturica? On top of all Danny Boyle!” Danny Boyle, who made Trainspotting! And Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 hours! My classmates started saying that Guy Ritchie is nothing, that Luc Besson’s movies have no sense in them, that the only famous movies Wachowski brothers made was The Matrix, which is lame and totally sucks, (I totally disagree, Matrix is definitely the best action movie, and if you pay attention to what it is about and forget about the stereotypical opinion that Matrix is lame, you’ll love it.) that Tim Burton’s movies are only special effects and nothings else. They didn’t even know the other directors, only one girl who said Michel Gondry knew them.
Those who knew Luc Besson, had seen only Transporter or The 5th element, which should be in the list of 100 movies to watch before you die, but of course, people don’t agree with me.
I asked which Guy Ritchie movies they had seen, and they said Snatch, of course, and added that Brad Pitt sucked in the movie. I think that Brad Pitt was amazing in the movies, and those who say that Guy Ritchie sucks, have never really watched his movies, and paid attention to all the conversations and finny situations in his movies.
Another thing that made me angry is that these people don’t even want to realize the fact that a movie shouldn’t necessarily have a huge meaning in it! The girl in my class which knew all the directors I listed and loves movies too, said that Michel Gondry is the best. I’m not fond of Gondry’s movies, even though they are supposed to have a meaning as many people say (thought I don’t see it), because I can’t understand them. I like his style, the way he films, and the colors of his movies, and I do respect him, but I can’t say he’s the best director.
Luc Besson, on the other hand, is a real genius. Despite the fact that his movies are mostly action movies, with a thriller, comedy, or romantic twist, he’s the best among such genres. Have you seen The 5th Element? I don’t understand how people don’t like it, and say that it has no meaning to it. I don’t love movies which’s only theme is love, but despite that, The 5th Element is a comedy! A great comedy! I have watched it literally a hundred times, and watch it every time I see it on TV. How can you not laugh at the way Ruby Rhod walks, talks, laughs, screams, complains? Ruby Rhod should be in the list of the most memorable characters in the movies. And Mila Jovovich? She plays Leeloo, and she’s so cute and innocent and naive, but also tough and strong and sensitive. Every character in the movie is unique, and makes you remember them very well: Zorg, played bu Gary Oldman. I know all of his quotes from the movies. Cornelius, the priest, played by Ian Holm, is always so nervous and comic that I can’t stop laughing and the way his hands and lips always shake. And in the end, Korben Dallas, the coolest and the most memorable name in the history of movies. The coolest character Bruce Willis has ever played. What’s the meaning of this movie? It has only one meaning: that loves can save the world, the only movie which portrayed this quote, without it being corny and lame. Another of Luc Besson’s masterpieces is Angel-A. Truly a masterpiece. Nobody can say about this movies that it makes no sense now that’s for sure.
Some don’t like Bessons’s Joan Of Arc, but I love it. His Wasabi? A very funny movie indeed. Yamakasi, my favorite movie as I was a kid. there’s a huge list of his great movies, some of which he has written, and some directed, including: Taxi, Nikita, Unleashed, Bandidas, Transpoter, From Paris With Love, The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adele Blanc-Sec.
I have no words to describe all the other directors I listed, but all of their movies are amazing and unique. Each of these directors has his own style, that you can’t confuse with others.
I know I left out many other directors, like Cohen Brothers or Gus van Sant, but that would make them too many.
Summer Films
Now that school has begun, and I have to get private lessons in like 5 subjects, I won’t have enough time for my precious movies. I downloaded a lot of movies I wanted to watch in summer, but somehow, I had only one month to watch them. Here is a list of those few films:
1. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels:
I have written about this film in the previous words, and I simply have no words to describe just how much I loved it! It was amazing, stunning, bad-ass, witty, funny as hell, and definitely left me begging for more.
2. Cruel Intentions:
Who doesn’t love sexy bitches is romantic movies and handsome guys who cry because they realize that they were someone’s toy? The movie was so cute, so bitchy and so sexy that I couldn’t stop watching it over and over again. I really liked it, I’m a huge fan of it! I loved Ryan Phillippe so I knew I had to watch the movie.
3. Flags Of Our Fathers.
I knew the picture “Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima” long before I watched this movie, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I thought about how amazing and epic and well done the photo was, and after watching this film, I felt guilty about not thinking about who this soldiers were, why did they raise the flag in reality, what they had been through, and how hey lived after this photo. The movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, has such a fresh feel to it and looks so natural that you totally forget that it is a film. I was shocked everytime some soldier died, and cried everytime Ryan Phillippe’s character remembered the Battle Of Iwo Jima. This movie won’t leave anyone without emotions and will always be remembered as a masterpiece (I think)
4. Lincoln Lawyer. (Yes, I am obsessed with Ryan Phillipe)
I watched this movie spontaneously on TV. My father said it was a good one and said I should watch it. I wasn’t really that much into it, since I don’t really love all this american movies about lawyers and criminals (except for Primal Fear), but I noticed just how handsome Ryan Phillippe is in this movie and he became my favorite actor from then on. Can’t really say much about the movie, except for “I wasn’t impressed, but it was okay”
5. The I inside.
Watched it only because of Ryan, again! It’s a lot like Butterfly effect, only less mature. I liked Ryan in the movie of course, but in general, it was nothing special.
6. The Eagle
Jamie Bell and Channing Tatum in one movie? How AWESOME can it be?? I watched it the moment I saw the trailer, and really liked it! The fact that Jamie Bell is a great actor doesn’t need proving, but he was amazing in this film! Unlike Channing Tatum, whose face changed from deep-thought-face to angry and vice versa. The movie is mainly about friendship, how the slave saves his master’s life because they become really good friends. It was cute in a way, and the ending was cool. The only thing I didn’t like is that by seeing the trailer and the poster, one might think that it is an epic film, which it is supposed to be, but isn’t. I didn’t really see the epicness of it and of the final battle which is supposed to rock your socks off. But it’s worth watching anyway.
7. Snatch
Another Guy Ritchie masterpiece, starring amazing actors like: Vinnie Jones, Benicio Del Torro, Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng and most importantly-Brad Pitt in the role of an Irish Gypsy, who lives with is mother in a caravan. To be honest, I couldn’t understand a word of what Brad Pitt said in the movies, but that was the funniest part. It’s a really amusing movie, with lots of funny quotes and a lot corpses that’s for sure.
8. Last Night.
What I liked about this movie, was that it’s really pleasant to watch, and it’s filmed well, and the actors do their job well. In short, it’s about a married couple whose marriage is slowly falling apart because Keira Knightley’s character is jealous of her husband’s relationship with his co-worker. A lot of things happen in one night, and both of them try not to tell each other that they actually cheated on their partner, but the ending leaves you quite satisfied. It was kind of boring to watch in moments, but it’s a nice movie.
9. The Boys Are Back.
10.Hanna
There was absolutely nothing interesting and special in this movie, except for the soundtrack, for me that is. When I watched the trailer, I couldn’t wait to see the movie, but when I saw it at last, I was very disappointed. I expected it to be a real hard-boiled action, with many thrilling moments, and amusing fights in between, but the only thing that made the fights amusing was the music. I was really bored. The end of the movies was supposed to be shocking and was supposed to leave you asking for more, but it didn’t. I knew how it would end. Although I really love Eric Bana, Saorse Ronan, Kate Blanchett, and Joe Wrights other movies (Atonement, Pride & Prejudice), I didn’t like Hanna. Wright should stick to 20th century-based movies I think.
11. Friends With Benefits.
I think this is the only romantic comedy movie I saw this summer. FWB is like any other typical movie about friends who just want to have sex with no strings attached, and end up falling in love, but what made this movie different from others and a bit more special, is the chemistry between Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake. These two make such an amazing couple, that you can’t help liking the movie. It’s really funny and has a lot of memorable moments, one of the best romantic comedies after Love Actually I’ve ever seen.
And Lastly! : Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2!
I have been reading HP since the age of six, and watching it since the age of 7, and now, after ten years, it’s like my childhood is over. I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling so nostalgic. I have no new movies to wait for each year! It’s so bad. HP is definitely a legend. I really like the movie, I loved it! The acting was amazing, the three leads acted peculiarly well! The tension while watching the movies is huge! Every second makes your heart beat faster. But I was a very little bit disappointed. The dialogue between Dumbledore and Harry seemed added only because of politeness or something. Dumbledore was supposed to explain everything to Harry, why he didn’t explain everything in the beginning to Harry, why he didn’t tell him about his family and all that, but in the movie, the conversation was lame. I was impressed by it in the book, but not in the film. Fred’s death was one very very well. Ron and Hermione kiss was fantastic! Snape’s death was the moment that made me cry more than I had ever cried about any HP movie. I was also a bit disappointed by how Harry killed Voldemort. I didn’t realize that he died until he began falling to pieces, which made me unsatisfied because I was expecting something a lot bigger! But it wasn’t… But all in all, this movie deserves to placed in the greatest movies of all time, and was very well done for the ending of the great HP.
School!
School starts tomorrow, or should I say today! I can’t believe I’m graduating this year. When people look at me, they think I’m still in middle school, besides, I don’t really feel like a soon-to-be student. It’s so strange, I have only one year to finally decide what the hell I’m going to do with my life. Naturally, I have my own goals and dreams, which are pretty surreal from aside: like going to Hollywood to become the next Andy Warhol, or going to England to become an illustrator and a comic book writer. If nothing comes out of these two, I’ll try writing a book, and hope that it will be as successful as Harry Potter. I know I’m not ready for all this, and to some, it seems impossible that I will ever get out of this country, but who says that I can’t dream?
I’m already so sick of my classmates, and school, and all these boring subjects, that I will do anything to go to my favorite Academy Of Fine Arts here. I’m ready to work my ass off day and night, though some people think that it’s just useless talk, even my art teacher.
Even though I want to become and “artist”, I really hate this word. It’s probably because, to me, all these artists seem so full of themselves, so self-confident that they are different from other people, that I can’t bare being in their company. I hate the way they talk about how important it is in art to do as much as you can, and even more, or else you won’t be able to achieve anything at all. Like it isn’t like that in any profession you choose. I went to my first art teacher a few days ago, and I thought I would really like her, unlike all the others I have been to, but she really pissed me off. Artists are supposed to inspire you by the way they talk, even if this inspiration is really far from reality. The woman I talked to didn’t inspire me at all, in fact, she made me hate the word “artist” even more. I hate the way people, people my age, say that they are artist. How the fuck can you be an artist if you are just beginning to learn? Just because you have been drawing since the age of 0 doesn’t mean that you should call yourself and artist. Every kid loves to draw, that doesn’t mean that they will become “artists” The ones that give you that name are the people that appreciate your art. Not your friends and family, but the general crowd, the people who have never met you, but like you by your drawings and photos.
I mean, a law-school student doesn’t call himself a lawyer, and a medical-school student works hard for years to earn the name “doctor”. So how the fuck are art-school students called artists?
Guy Ritchie Obsession
I’m sure that if somebody watches one of Guy Ritchie’s movies, they can’t refrain from being obsessed with them. There are some movies that you watch, and get obsessed with for a month or so, but when you watch them after a while, you don’t feel anything about them anymore.
Here’s a great example of why Guy Ritchie’s movies are so catchy, and the feeling you have after watching them stays with you for quite a long time:
My father watched the movie Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels when it first came out in 1998. Since then, he always kept track of Ritchie’s new movies, and liked them more and more. Even now, in 2011, he still talks about them like he had just watched them in the cinema. He hasn’t watched Lock, Stock for many years, but remembers the dialogues and moments like he saw it yesterday. We always have so much fun talking about how Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels finished, keep laughing about Brat Pitt’s accent in Snatch, keep thinking about what the hell happened in Revolver and keep listening to Rock’n Rolla’s soundtrack.
I think Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Rock’n rolla are his best movies so far. Revolver was really confusing, and some think it’s his worst work, but you just have to watch it a few times to really understand what it’s about. You can’t understand Revolver by seeing it once, that’s just impossible.
One of the things I really love about Guy Ritchie and his movies, is that he doesn’t make them all Hollywoody, he doesn’t want all the Academy and Golden Globe Awards for them. He doesn’t create movies to create a masterpiece, he just does what he’s best at, makes movies that are based on the life around him. There are many English filmmakers who make movies in the same style as Ritchie, but nobody has ever been so successful. What’s the best thing in his movies that no other person can capture as well as he does? The conversations and dialogues. Some may not agree with me, but there is no other movie, American or British, which has the conversations as amusing, witty, natural and bad-ass as Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.And the soundtrack? Ritchie’s has the best music in his movies than any other film I’ve seen.
Some think that if you want to be thought of as a real movie lover, you have to like movies like Once Upon a Time In America, American Beauty, Casablanca and all those classic that I, personally, can’t find really interesting. In my opinion, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels shouldn’t have only a cult following, but should be thought of a classic in the history of films. And Guy Ritchie should be a legend in a few years.
Coffee & Cigarettes
This will be a little girl talk, so no boys allowed!
My sister and I have developed a tradition over summer of watching movies every night, and then going out on a balcony for a smoke (with coffee, of course). At such times, we often talk about all kinds of things, mainly problems with friends, family issues, and dating. I have never had a boyfriend so I don’t know much about this subject, or should I say I have no experience, but I know a lot of things by observing my friends’ relationships.
My sister and I stumbled over such an issue: breaking up with a boyfriend. This recently happened to my friend. She and the guy had been friends for a year (they met through forums) and she had a crush on him for the whole year. She didn’t tell us about the crush because she didn’t have any hope of a relationship. But 3 months ago, he asked her out and she instantly accepted to go out with him. It really surprised me because she would always give us all kinds of advice, like not telling immediately accepting the boy’s offer to date, an not writing to him first on facebook. These “rules” really made me wonder if they work or not. Isn’t a romantic relationship a bond between two people who love each other and don’t need all this kinds of stupid rules? If I like a guy, and he’s not a total jerk, then I make him feel that, and he make me feel that he likes me two and we call each other and meet each other without any hesitation. But my friend really worships these rules, and it was a shock for me to learn that she had a boyfriend so fast. And a boyfriend that she was totally crazy about. That’s another thing after the rules that I really hate: when girls go crazy over their boyfriends. As I watched those two, I knew they would brake up soon. It’s just that, I know that this wasn’t really love, and my friend didn’t. She hadn’t analyzed the fact that they might soon break up, besides, this was her first boyfriend, so she should have thought about that, right?
I asked my sister about that, and told her that 17 year old girls don’t fall in love, they are just infatuated and attracted to boys. I don’t believe that love comes so early, and if I like a guy, I just flirt with him, because that’s a lot better than having a relationship with him, and then getting depressed about the break-up. I explained this to my friend after their split, and she got angry. I was expecting that. She said I don’t understand her and that it really hurts. Yeah, it hurts, I know. I told her that it was her fault, that she should have held back her feelings, and should have known that that guy wasn’t the type that stick with you till the end. She got angry again and said the same thing, that I don’t understand, and that it’s impossible to hold back such feeling.
“such feelings”? I know she wasn’t in love, and she knows that very well too, but she just wanted somebody to hug her and tell her how bad it is and how the broken heart hurts, and even though time can heal it, you don’t believe in that and you want to feel better now. My other friend did exactly the same and hugged her and said she knew how she felt. But I didn’t start all the sentiments, and don’t think that I was unfair to her. We told her that everything was going fast and she should hold back, not because of the “rules”, but for her own good. But she didn’t listen and started making out with him on the first day, and then everyday, all day, all the time. It’s true that guys need a bit of teasing. And I do believe that if you like someone, and you think he is not worth you, or that it is a mistake, that you CAN hold back, at least when you’re only 16-17 years old!
Billy Elliot
So my current obsession with Billy Elliot was not a big surprise for everyone, especially my sister. You simply can NOT hate the movie, unless you are an emotionless jerk. It doesn’t lack anything, not the emotional range, not the acting quality and the quality of the plot. As the movie progressed, I fell more and more in love with every character of the movie, was it billy, his dad and brother, or his teacher, or her daughter and even billy’s best friend Michael. At first I though it was just a movie, like any other ordinary movie, and though that it was simply about a little 12-year-old kid (I don’t really love watching movies about kids) who dance ballet instead of taking boxing lessons. BUT, it left me with more feelings than Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which is a huge surprise, considering the fact that I’m a fan of HP). The way it’s shown how Billy’s family love each other was way too nice for me to handle so I went out of the room and hugged my dad as hard as I could. Most of all I loved how the kids sweared at each other (I know, it’s not really a fact to like, but it’s very funny).
