Thursday

Today was - interesting to say the least. I spent the morning trying to get out of the office to the next photoshoot session and it was all the way in Great Neck, out on Long Island. I took a car service and we got a little lost, all the while watching the porn baby boy put on my ipod this morning. Yeah, I am really experiencing the power of the video ipod.

I get to the shoot, a few minutes minutes late because the cab got lost on the way there. This shoot was good as well. Then lunch time came and I had another fantastic lunch at this place called Grimaldis. We sat outside, the weather was beautiful and I had another awesome time. Those guys really made my week. I had a an awesome time helping out on the set and learning about photography and getting to know them as people.

We get to the branch and set up. For the days I had been on the set with them, I had finally met people that I had only spoken to over the phone in the last couple of years, which was great to finally put the a face to the voices, but it was sad, because this was going to be the first and last time I would speak to them at all, since this was the day before my last day of work.

We get set up and I meet more interesting people, mainly the ones who were scheduled to be photographed that day. We all laughed and talked about virturally everything.

After the shoot, was done, it was about 4 o'clock and we all had been kinda tired from moving and lifting the equipment around all day. We packed up the truck and hea back. Dennis and Hermes was heading back to NJ, but they were dropping Mark back in Astoria, where he lives. They wanted to know where they could drop me off, I told them they could drop me off in Astoria as well, since I could take the N train back to where I was going. They drop me off and Mark walks with me around the corner since, he lives in the neighborhood. He thought he was showing me to the train, but since there were large set of tracks and an elevated platform in front me, I think I got the picture. Mark and I had the most to talk about since he was into movies and horror movies, just like me. Also keep in mind that Mark is a 53 year old man, who does make-up for a living, so when he asked me if I wanted to stop by his house - I respectively declined. I hoped on the N train and took my tired ass home.

Wednesday

Today was another decent day. I cleaned out more of desk and tried to get alot of work done. Since I was out of the office the day before, there was a pile. Plus there were things I had to take care of this week before I leave on friday. There's still some projects I am working that apparently, only I can do before I leave.

At this point, conversion is pretty much complete and there's not much that I am doing there, but helping out as much as I can.
I pack up more and I leave to pick up baby boy at the blockbuster. I get there and I am in a serious movie buying mode right now. I've been getting a lot of old school horor flicks, like Phantasm and the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead. Then there's also all of the 80s movies that I love that I am getting.

All and all - I am happy.

Tuesday

Today, I spent the day on the set of the photoshoot for the bank's new fall ad campaign. My first stop was really close at the branch on Court St. and Atlantic Ave. There I met the photographer Dennis, his production assistant Hermes, and the make up artist Mark. I really enjoyed meeting them. We talked alot during the shoot and had a fantastic lunch at the Hill Restaraunt down Court Street. I got to know them all really well. We talked about movies, restaurants, and just life in general. They were really great guys.

Our next stop was at a branch in Bay Ridge for the last two people to shoot. That flew by and we were done pretty quickly. Still during this time, we got to learn more about each other. After that was over, Dennis wanted to know if I was going to help them again on Thursday. I reassured him that I was. He was glad, because he really appreciated my help and that I made it easier for them to film.

After that, they dropped me off back at the office, because tonight was also my good bye dinner. I got back around 5 and we had reservations for 5:30 at Rosa Mexicana in Coloumbus Circle. I had never been here before, but I had heard earlier that day that it was a fantastic place to eat and it sure was. The food was excellent and it was authentic Mexican food. The guacamole was hand made right in front of us and it was the best tasting food I had in a good long while. We all had Pomergranite Margaritas that were awesome! Meki, Kari and Maria and I got hammered and started talking badly about a previous woman who worked with us. That was hysterical. Afterwards, Maria and I walked to the train station and she told me how bad she felt that everything was ending and I told her not to think that way, but look at it as a positive experience that can only get better.

At the end of the night, I started to believe it myself.

Monday

Today is the first day of my last week of work. I am pretty excited to say the least. Most people would be freaking out at this point, especiall because I don't have a job lined up yet. There were several people that I know who has jobs lined up before they left, but me - I think I am going to take it easy for a few weeks. Work on some projects and yeah do some job searching, but most of it's going to be doing things that make me happy.

Nevertheless, today I threw alot of stuff out in my cubicle. It's never looked so clean. I was really happy with throwing things out. I packed up a few boxes of things I want to keep and will mail it from here and have it sent to my place during next week.

There are some people said to see me go, like Kari, my supervisor and Meki, my other colleague, but all of this is for the best and I looking forward to my future. I've told them I'd love to still work with them as a freelancer, so let's see how that pans out.

However, today is the start my countdown. Tomorrow I do something really fun and that's help coordinate a photoshoot for the new fall campaign. That sounds like a lot of fun, because I've never been to one before.

Movie Review: Crank

Crank is one of those movies where Hollywood made a pure joy ride of fun for moviegoers. Yeah it was another movie I had to check my brain at the door for, but that’s why I go to the movies. If I want real life or believable things, I’d stay at home and watch the news. Crank was just what I needed.

Now, when I first saw the trailer for it, I immediately dismissed as a derivative of a direct-to-video movie called Drive, which starred Mark Dacosas, Kadeem Hardison and then an virturally, unheard of Brittnay Murphy way back in the late 90s. Drive was about a young man, who the Chinese mafia replaced his heart with an adrenaline engine and they were trying to sell it to the highest bidder, until he decided to run away from them and hook up with Kadeem in a weird, martial arts buddy film. In that movie, he couldn’t slow down and did martial arts to stay alive.
Crank was not too different from that.

Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) is a hit man who wakes up one day to find he has been injected with a type of poison that should kill him within an hour. However, thanks to his good friend and doctor, Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakum – yup I said that. Dwight Yoakum) whose also out of town, but keeps up a running conversation with Chev by cellphone - tells him what it is and that the only way to extend his life is to keep his adrenaline pumping. So Chev does everything he knows/can to keep his adrenaline pumping. Driving fast, snorting heroine, getting into fights, drinking tons and tons of Red Bull, caffeine pills and energy boosters. All the while keeping his real job and certain death away from his girlfriend (Amy Smart).

Crank is a very simple movie. Meaning the premise alone does not twist, doesn’t turn in terms of storytelling. It keeps going, reviving itself up every few moments as Chev has to do in the movie to keep him alive. There’s nothing hidden in the plot, nothing we should be looking into as terms of redeeming this man. We know he’s a hitman. That’s it. There is little chance to get to know the character of Chev, because he is constantly in a state of motion and a state of violence. There’s no humanizing him here as we had in The Professional (yes I know - I love for Luc Besson movies!). So yeah, Chev should die and that’s what makes the movie good. It’s downright pure fun. How will he stay alive is the big question. Crank is a big, roller coaster ride of a movie.

Yeah the story may make no sense as to why he initially was poisoned (something about a botched job) and it uses tissue thin characters to tell its story of a gun for hire and his flight to fight death. Chev has this weird gay, informant that somehow plays a role in this movie, but you never got what that was or if it was an important role for Chev in past jobs. As for Chev, he’s a lovable guy. Not the most attractive man, but lovable. You root for him to try and survive this.
Crank has its greatest moments when Chev is trying his best to boost his adrenaline. One particular scene where he realizes one thing that can help keep his adrenaline going is to have sex and he wants to have sex with his girlfriend in the middle of a crowded street in China Town, like right on the ground. She wasn’t into at first, but opened up to it as it being exciting. This scene had balls, because they really had sex bent over a newspaper dispenser. Then there’s the time when he discovers Ephenephrinecan cure him and he takes too much of it and goes on a speeding chase through in a hospital gown, through the hospital and on a motorcycle showing the world his ass and the fact that too much gives Ephenephrine you a hard-on for hours. Yeah they showed that too.

The enjoyment is all in the action, however does wear a little thin as the movie progresses to its final scenes. It was still fun. The jittery camera work was insane, which fit the mood of the movie. Along the way to finding the man who injected him, Chev meets up with his henchmen and manages to subdue them and lop off various body parts. This makes for some bloody scenes, but also keeps Chev's adrenaline pumping.

However, the climax was a little odd and the way it ended didn’t give you a good sense of what exactly happened to Chev. The film’s lack of logic and intelligence, might not still well with everyone, but the male audience will eat this movie up.

Ever since Statham burst on the scene in "The Transporter" people have come to expect the ultimate action packed movie from him. He delivers the action here, but the plot and characterizations are left out in the cold. So most might be a little put off by this movie. Statham is doing his best to be billed as a true action hero of the antihero type, and he will hopefully give the film whatever box office clout it creates. I think a few more movies and he’ll be the next action hero to watch. Statham does have a presence in his movies and adds humor and sarcasm to his character's repertoire of actions. It was a fun movie, like I said. So if you want a pure kick-ass time at the movies. Go see this film!