Film...obviously. Going to the show to see whatever's new and desperately trying to watch the movies on my coffee table before I get new ones (which is far too often). And then there's Music, Video Games, and sometimes Writing, when I can get myself up to it. Basically running the gamut of nerd stuff. But I did give up comic books years ago. Hooray for me.
Music
DAVID BOWIE, Radiohead, Moby, Jurassic 5, DJ Krush, Sigur Ros, Snow Patrol, Explosions in the Sky, Asian Kung Fu Generation, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Tomoyasu Hotei, Dragon Ash, Rip Slyme, Telefon Tel Aviv, Lightheaded, Sufjan Stevens, Joe Hisaishi, Massive Attack, Robbie Williams, Damien Rice, James Blunt, Zutons, DJ Nu Mark, Cat Stevens, Jeff Buckley, John Butler Trio, Joe Purdy, Keane, Back Horn, Supercar, Thievery Corporation, Arcade Fire, DJ Shadow, Aimee Mann, Caesars, Crystal Method, My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse, Ohmega Watts, Sneaker Pimps, Shout Out Louds, Starsailor, Sun Kil Moon, The Pillows, The Perishers, Thom Yorke, Jem, Mark Kozelek, Tokyo Police Club, Lily Allen, I'm From Barcelona, Asobi Seksu, Ok Go, Mew, Cobra Starship, Ray Lamontagne, IAMX, Sparklehorse, Cold War Kids, Beirut, Monoral, Shiina Ringo, and DAVID BOWIE
Movies
Fifth Element (and everything Luc Besson's done), Exiled and every other film by Johnnie To, Grindhouse, Battle Royale, Gen X Cops, Bio Zombie, Versus, SPL, Kill Bill (everything Tarantino), Swingers, Hero, Infernal Affairs trilogy, Hard Boiled, Serenity, Labyrinth, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Robocop, Sin City (everything Robert Rodriguez), Luke's Father and the Sled, Evil Dead trilogy (everything Sam Raimi), Re-Animator, George Romero's Living Dead films, all the Star Trek flicks (bonus points if they star Shatner), the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Takashi Miike's films, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films, Kung Fu Hustle, Katsuhito Ishii's films, Leon, New Police Story, Ping Pong, Drive, Zeiram, Sabu's films, Bittersweet Life, Oldboy, The Host, Pang Ho Cheung's films, Last Life in the Universe, Invisible Waves, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, The Matrix, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Shiri, Galaxy Quest, Tim Burton's films, John Carpenter's films, Die Hard trilogy, Night of the Creeps, Maniac Cop, Feast, Kamikaze Girls, Time and Tide, Wild Zero, Casshern, Uchoten Hotel, University of Laughs, 28 Days and Weeks Later, Trainspotting, Sunshine, Van Damme flicks, High School Musical 1 & 2, Casino Royale, Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men, 300, Shoot 'Em Up, The Mist, Cloverfield, There Will Be Blood (all P.T. Anderson movies), Rambo, and a whole hell of a lot more. Sorry if the list is a mess, but I add them as I see them, or as I remember more.
And some of my absolute favorites, in no real order...
Television
Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Arrested Development, Boston Legal, Chuck, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Day Break, Deadwood, Dexter, Doctor Who, Eureka, Extras, Firefly, Flight of the Conchords, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Great Horror Family, Green Wing, G vs. E, Heroes, Hustle, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Kage no Gunden (aka Shadow Warriors), Keen Eddie, Kill Point, Life on Mars, Lost, Mighty Boosh, Nathan Barley, The Office (UK and US versions), Prison Break, Rome, Seinfeld, Snuff Box, Spaced, Surface, Threshold, 24, Venture Brothers, Veronica Mars, X-Files
Books
Koushun Takami's Battle Royale, Beowulf, Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide, Tom Mes' Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike, Lenny McLean's autobiography The Guv'nor, Koji Suzuki's Ring, Bruce Campbell's If Chins Could Kill, the works of Ryu Murakami and Haruki Murakami, Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez, Enki Bilal's Nikopol Trilogy, Frank Miller's Sin City, Madman comics by Mike Allred (one of my biggest dreams is to one day adapt this brilliant series into a film...oddly, it was once rumored that Robert Rodriguez would do the same)...looks like I read more than I thought, and I still have a stack of books that need going through. One day...
"The sound of the Gion Shoja temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things. The color of the Sala flowers reveals the truth that to flourish is to fall. The proud do not endure, like a passing dream on a night in spring. The mighty fall at last, to be no more than dust before the wind."
Once upon a time in China, some believe, around the year one double-aught three, head priest of the White Lotus Clan, Chris Porto, was walking down the road, contemplating whatever it is that a man of Chris Porto's infinite power contemplates - which is another way of saying "who knows?" - when a Shaolin monk appeared, traveling in the opposite direction. As the monk and the priest crossed paths, Chris Porto, in a practically unfathomable display of generosity, gave the monk the slightest of nods. The nod was not returned. Now was it the intention of the Shaolin monk to insult Chris Porto? Or did he just fail to see the generous social gesture? The motives of the monk remain unknown. What is known, are the consequences. The next morning Chris Porto appeared at the Shaolin Temple and demanded of the Temple's head abbot that he offer Chris Porto his neck to repay the insult. The Abbot at first tried to console Chris Porto, only to find Chris Porto was inconsolable. So began the massacre of the Shaolin Temple and all sixty of the monks inside at the fists of the White Lotus. And so began the legend of Chris Porto's Five Point Palm Exploding Heart technique...
When it comes to film, I'm a world traveler. I've got movies from the US, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, England, Ireland, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Turkey, and probably some others that I can't remember right now.
Who I'd like to meet: DAVID BOWIE, Ryuhei Kitamura, Johnny Depp, Tadanobu Asano, Susumu Terajima, Ricky Gervais, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sonny Chiba, Tony Jaa, Mads Mikkelsen, Jessica Biel, Ashley Tisdale, Christopher Walken, Jeffrey Combs, Quentin Tarantino, Jason Statham, Robert Rodriguez, Will Arnett, William Shatner, Olivia Munn, Uwe Boll, Kristen Bell, Milla Jovovich, Olivia Hussey, Sasha Grey, every filmmaker whose movies I respect and love (including Sam Raimi, but I've already "met" him), Bruce Campbell is always worth re-meeting, and Jean-Claude Van Damme (seriously)
That's awesome that your writing a script.. Keep me informed with the process. Not much is new down here, I've been writing a lot of poetry lately, and reading a lot. Contemplating writing a book, but as usual I'm stuck in the how to do it right not wrong process, and hopefully I will just start writing soon. Keep in touch! I'm job hunting, etc..
That's good. Family fun! I guess all of the Koala Yummies got recalled. I'll make Kevin call you next time. I think he needs someone to freak out over the sushi with. He's at Circuit City.. for a little while. I already saw it! And I think Kevin and I are seeing it today. Don't let me down with that script. For someone who has seen as many movies as you have, you should be able to come up with the best script ever.
Hey! How was your Christmas/New Year? Kevin and I went to Mitsuwa a couple of weekends ago. I really liked the bookstore, but the market didn't have big boxes of Koala Yummies! Boooo!
Hey! I'm going to a Wolves game in Chicago on the 21st...are you and Zach available on the 22nd or 23rd? I am leaving the Region on the 25th, but Eric will be there until the 28th when he flies back to MA.
Hey hey! I'll be rolling into the Region on the 19th, and Eric comes in on the 19th or 20th, I can't remember. Not sure how long he is staying, but I will only be around 'til the 24th. So I'm really hoping we could meet up sometime between the 19th and the 23rd!
Hey! You going to be in the Region at all during Christmastime? I NEED a CJP-Zach-Mooks-Eric-and-Me reunion! I know it's forever away but we tried to do it last year and we FAILED miserably so I'm startin' EARLY! :D
