Fish and Cherries Productions

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty should have been heartwarming whimsical movie that I fell in love with, but instead frustrated me to no end. The biggest problem is that none of the characters act in a way that any relatable human being would, which culminates in a near end twist that really took me out of the movie. The parts that are clever or heartwarming come at the expense of being a paint-by-numbers cliche. The dialogue comes off as very awkward, which is intentional, but not the awkward that lends itself to good writing that someone like Joss Whedon can produce. I am sure that I will appreciate the message and the intent behind it, but I was too frustrated and bored to enjoy watching it.

This Is The End is a movie that really shouldn’t have worked, yet had me doubled over laughing for the entire film. The idea of a bunch of Hollywood actors playing exaggerated versions of themselves as a band of survivors in the Biblical Apocalypse sounds like something that should fall flat on its face, but it surprisingly carries the whole way through, in part because the actors look like they’re having a ball making it. To say more would risk spoiling some hilarious scenes, so I’ll give you some brief non-spoiler comedic highlights: Jonah Hill’s shtick as the nicest guy in the world, Jason Siegel lampooning his own role on How I Met Your Mother, Michael Cera as an unapologetic sex and cocaine addict, anything that Craig Robinson does, the fake trailer for Pineapple Express 2, and EVERYTHING involving Emma Watson. So if you’re into getting some unapologetically raunchy and ridiculous comedy with a surprising amount of heart, catch it in theaters while you can. That said, approach with caution if you’re allergic to the Backstreet Boys because you’ll have that stuck in your head after you’re done.

Justin Carmical, a well-liked contributor on renowned website That Guy With The Glasses known as JewWario, died this past Thursday. While I did not watch many of his personal videos, I saw him in other people’s works and he seemed like a very fun and likable person. Many of the site’s other contributors talk about what a joy he was to work with. But this past Thursday, for whatever reason, he shot himself at age 42 in his bathroom.

I cannot judge Justin because I don’t know what kind of pain he was going through. At my very core, though, I feel that if I had gotten famous on the internet and had been picked up by That Guy With The Glasses, I could have done something, talked to him maybe. I know what it’s like to wrestle with thoughts of not going on and even though I don’t like them, those thoughts are hard to truly banish as you go forward in life. So perhaps, if I had gotten to know him earlier, I might have been able to help his wife talk him down, maybe even give him a perspective on what it’s like to stand at the edge, looking down into the abyss and thinking of jumping. But I can’t know for sure.

In truth, it hits close to home because this is another example of a person on the internet that I’ve respected falling into a dark place and I can’t help but wonder if it could happen to me too. I don’t know what it is to be famous outside of a small community, so I don’t know what all that exposure does to a person. I imagined that as long as I knew there were people that cared about me and fans that loved me, I would be fine and happy. But Justin was one of the most beloved people on the site and that didn’t help him. I honestly don’t know how I would cope if the world just came crashing down on me.

It feels strange mourning a man I’ve never met. There are some who believed Justin is forever damned, but they know nothing. God does not seem like a being who would condemn someone just because they were suffering in life. Again, I have struggled with feeling of suicide in the past and will probably continue to struggle with them for a long time. I implore everyone reading this to reach out to their friends and let them know that they are loved. Be there for them, look out for them, and step in if they look like they are overwhelmed by life’s challenges. To suffer is not to be weak and they need to know that they have support. Cherish the moments you have with your friends, for it might be those moments that could save them.

August: Osage County is a film about an extremely dysfunctional family that is not afraid to go to some very uncomfortable places. Every person in the family has some secrets or vices and in lesser hands, it might feel like a soap opera. Some instances do feel like a soap opera, but a very watchable one. I actually think that this is a movie designed to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, right down to the laughs and the implication by the end that Julia Roberts’ character may have become as bad as her mother played by Meryl Street. The big weak point that I see, as loathe I am to admit it because I like him, is Benedict Cumberbatch; I found his character a little too melodramatic, he disappears for almost the entire third act, and it’s hard to tell if his southern accent is convincing or not. I’m hesitant to recommend this movie because I feel like it’s an acquired taste and you won’t walk away from it feeling joyful, but at the very least, I enjoyed it, so take that for what it’s worth.

Just saw The Adventures of Tintin for the first time with my friend Robert. I’ve got to say, I did not expect to like it as much as I did. I don’t know how faithful it is to the original comic, but it was a really fun and insanely creative adventure film. All the characters were memorable and likable in some way and the CG animation was stunningly detailed while keeping the cartoonish quality on the animation. All the actors are good (I actually thought that the lead actor was Elijah Wood, but it turns out that it’s the guy who played Billy Elliot), but special attention should go to Andy Serkis (who you may know as Gollum) on his performance of the drunken ship captain. It shows that he’s got a great comedic delivery and can hold his own as a secondary lead. Hopefully he gets more diverse work because of this rather than just voicing monsters. Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright penned the script with one other person and they give the film a very offbeat quality that I think puts this above a lot of animated adventure films. All in all, a really good experience that I wish I’d caught in theaters. Also, gotta give special props to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who play two very amusing dry comic relief characters. I always love when those two are in a movie together and this is no exception. Go see it.

Hello, all.

Wow, last year kinda sucked for me. I got screwed out of my security deposit, moved into a place where I felt unsafe, experienced heartbreak, heard that the family dog had to be put down, went to a depression support group that actually made things worse, didn’t come out with any videos for the better part of the year, and lost sleep and peace of mind looking for a new place before the new year. But this is looking like it’s going to be a good year; I’ve got a creative writing job with a salary, I’m working on some projects, I’ve got a great new apartment all to myself, and my network of friends, family, and support is backing me for some potent creative works. With that said, there are going to be a few announcements.

First of all, I will not be posting v-logs for the immediate future. Twenty minutes of me rambling about a movie isn’t conducive to my time and doesn’t bring in a lot of revenue. Instead, I’m going to be posting short text reviews about movies which I will call Reel Snippets. They’ll take a lot less time to make and it will hopefully draw more interest, since I’m not asking you to spend a long time watching me get to the point. There’s a backlog of these on my Facebook, so be prepared for a flood of posts.

Second, you’re going to be seeing a lot more writing pieces up here (since that’s my job and I’ll be able to share some of my stuff here), however, this won’t be the first place you’ll find some of them. Websites won’t take pieces if they are not the first place they get posted, so they’ll appear there first. However, this is going to be the main hub of my work. I’ll update you as to whether the 2012 story will be posted here in the future, since it may need to follow the same rules to be published, even though it’ll have to go through a lot of edits.

Third, while I still want to do videos, especially Ronin’s Rants, my time to do them is going to be limited. You see, this is the first time that I’m working a full-time job, so I don’t have the free time that I used to. If the video involves social justice in some way (that’s part of the criteria of the job I have), then I can use work time for it, but I don’t know if that’ll happen anytime soon. Still though, there’s new things coming, that’s for sure. And now I don’t have to worry about anyone in my house snapping and threatening me with assault if something’s not to their liking.

Anyway, that’s my big opening announcement for 2014. Fish and Cherries Productions is certainly not dead and I’m looking forward to this year. Stay tuned!