Tweets for October 7, 2016

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Movies Watched -- Queen of the Earth

Added on by C. Maoxian.

90 minutes, which is the right length for a movie. This is a W.D. By movie so it suffers from the usual W.D. pretentiousness. I streamed it on Netflix so I couldn't fast forward, which I surely would have done (2x ffwd to retain audio).

Hannah Gold's review gets right to the point with her title: Exploring the Psycho-Horror of Female Friendship. Peggy Olson is the daughter of some famous artist who commits suicide and then her rotten boyfriend dumps her, so her mental health isn't so great. She goes to her best friend's place on some upstate lake to recover, but it doesn't help, the place has too many memories, and she and her buddy have a kind of screwed up relationship (i.e., a typical female friendship). Flashbacks to their previous summer there together when their places were sort of flip-flopped. Mirroring, ya know, artsy. 

Peggy's mental health deteriorates. Her buddy isn't much help. And the buddy's boyfriend is a really cruel asshole. At times it has a Martha Marcy May Marlene vibe (a movie I really liked, though mainly because I think Elizabeth Olsen is incredibly beautiful and talented). 

I wasn't thrilled with this. It isn't terrible but it also isn't any good. The critics will love it, audiences will hate it. Yellow rating (consider).

Stop judging me

Stop judging me

2015 Movies Watched -- Master List

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Bold means recommended. Italics means I haven't seen it yet. No documentaries included here.

  1. 45 Years (2015) {My review}

  2. '71 (2015)

  3. 99 Homes (2015)

  4. A Most Violent Year (2015)

  5. A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2015)

  6. About Elly (2015)

  7. Anomalisa (2015) [Refuse to watch Charlie Kaufman pics on principle]

  8. Ant-Man (2015)

  9. Appropriate Behavior (2015)

  10. Beasts of No Nation (2015)

  11. Black Souls (2015)

  12. Bone Tomahawk (2015)

  13. Boy and the World (O Menino e o Mundo) (2015)

  14. Breathe (2015)

  15. Bridge of Spies (2015)

  16. Brooklyn (2015)

  17. Carol (2015)

  18. Clouds of Sils Maria (2015)

  19. Coming Home (2015)

  20. Creed (2015)

  21. Dope (2015)

  22. Ex Machina (2015)

  23. GETT: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2015) (My review)

  24. Girlhood (2015)

  25. Grandma (2015)

  26. Güeros (2015)

  27. I'll See You in My Dreams (2015)

  28. Inside Out (2015)

  29. It Follows (2015)

  30. James White (2015)

  31. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2015)

  32. Love & Mercy (2015)

  33. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

  34. Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015)

  35. Mississippi Grind (2015)

  36. Mommy (2015)

  37. Mr. Holmes (2015)

  38. Mustang (2015)

  39. Paddington (2015)

  40. Phoenix (2015)

  41. Queen of Earth (2015)

  42. Room (2015)

  43. Selma (2015)

  44. Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) {My review}

  45. Sicario (2015)

  46. Slow West (2015)

  47. Son of Saul (2015) {My review}

  48. Spotlight (2015)

  49. Spring (2015)

  50. Spy (2015)

  51. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

  52. Steve Jobs (2015) [Quit after five minutes, looked that bad]

  53. Still Alice (2015)

  54. Straight Outta Compton (2015) [Quit after five minutes, alien culture]

  55. Tangerine (2015) {My review}

  56. The Big Short (2015)

  57. The Diary Of A Teenage Girl (2015) {My review}

  58. The Duke Of Burgundy (2015)

  59. The End Of The Tour (2015)

  60. The Forbidden Room (2015)

  61. The Gift (2015)

  62. The Lady In The Van (2015)

  63. The Look of Silence (2015) [Refused to watch after suffering The Act of Killing last year]

  64. The Martian (2015)

  65. The Peanuts Movie (2015)

  66. The Revenant (2015) {My review}

  67. The Second Mother (Que Horas Ela Volta?) (2015)

  68. The Tribe (2015)

  69. The Walk (2015) [Refused to watch re-make of Man on Wire, which I enjoyed]

  70. The Wonders (2015)

  71. Theeb (2015)

  72. Timbuktu (2015)

  73. Trainwreck (2015)

  74. We Are Still Here (2015)

  75. What We Do In The Shadows (2015)

  76. When Marnie Was There (2015)

  77. White God (2015)

  78. Wild Tales (2015) {My review}

Movies Watched -- Phoenix

Added on by C. Maoxian.

In German. 98 minutes, which is within the sacred 100 minute mark, but it still felt slow.  Watched on Netflix so I couldn't fast forward at 2x (retain audio) which I surely would have done. It's about a concentration camp survivor (yes, I again broke the Never Watch a Holocaust Movie rule, though unlike with Son of Saul, I wasn't glad I did here) who has reconstructive surgery of her face, and her husband doesn't recognize her when she sees him again. It's a capital A.R.T. movie, implausible story told so that the director can deliver his heavy-handed morality tale (identity, guilt, infatuation, transformation, etc.). Wasn't thrilled. Not really a red, but I'll give it a low-ranked yellow (consider) instead. 

The Book of Esther

The Book of Esther

Movies Watched -- What We Do In The Shadows

Added on by C. Maoxian.

86 minutes, so a good length, the right length. Mockumentary from New Zealand. Goofy, silly fun, but you sort of have to be in the mood for it. I watched it at 2x ffwd to retain the audio. Chronicles the lives of four vampire housemates. Had a strong gay vibe to me, set off my gay-dar for some reason.  But it was fun, and cute. Still won't get a coveted green rating ... I give this only a yellow (consider).  Rex gave it a green. (Rex is gay.)

Look into my eyes, look into my eyes

Look into my eyes, look into my eyes

Top 30 Schools in Math League (6th Grade)

Added on by C. Maoxian.

Here are the top 30 schools in New York state that participated in the Math League contest last year for the sixth grade. The lists for grades seven and eight are similar, but not exact.  I've rearranged the list geographically, and noted the "Great School" (GS) rating for all the public schools, which I think makes for more interesting reading. 

1 New Exploration into Science Tech & Math New York 165 (Manhattan) (GS10)

2 PS 334 - Anderson School New York 164 (Manhattan) (GS10)

5 Park East Day School New York 150 (Manhattan) (Private - Jewish)

9 Friends Seminary New York 142 (Manhattan) (Private - Quaker)

12 NYC Lab School New York 136 (Manhattan) (GS10)

18 Speyer Legacy School New York 123 (Manhattan) (Private -- Founded in 2009)

20 Ramaz Middle School New York 119 (Manhattan) (Private - Jewish)

21 Grace Church School New York 118 (Manhattan) (Private)

25 Special Music School New York 112 (Manhattan) (GS9)

6 Horace Mann School Bronx 148 (Bronx) (Private)

3 Mark Twain IS 239 Brooklyn 163 (Brooklyn) (GS10)

4 Big Apple Academy Brooklyn 162 (Brooklyn) (Private)

21 Yeshivah of Flatbush Brooklyn 118 (Brooklyn) (Private - Jewish)

25 Poly Prep Country Day School Brooklyn 112 (Brooklyn) (Private)

11 Russell Sage JHS 190 Forest Hills 138 (Queens) (GS9)

14 P.S. 188 - The Kingsbury School Bayside 134 (Queens) (GS10)

29 Daniel Carter Beard JHS 189 Flushing 106 (Queens) (GS7)

7 Oceanside Union Free SD Oceanside 147 (Long Island, Nassau County) (GS9)

9 Shelter Rock ES Manhasset 142 (Long Island, Nassau County) (GS10)

12 Munsey Park ES Manhasset 136 (Long Island, Nassau County) (GS10)

8 Felix V. Festa MS West Nyack 143 (Rockland County) (GS8)

17 Suffern Middle School Suffern 125 (Rockland County) (GS9)

24 Ardsley Middle School Ardsley 116 (Westchester County) (GS9)

16 Iroquois Middle School Niskayuna 126 (Albany / Schenectady suburb) (GS9)

19 Ballston Spa MS Ballston Spa 120 (Saratoga Springs suburb) (GS8)

 15 Johanna Perrin MS Fairport 127 (Rochester suburb) (GS9)

21 Martha Brown Middle School Fairport 118 (Rochester suburb) (GS9)

27 Nichols School Buffalo 110 (Buffalo) (Private)

30 Elmwood-Franklin School Buffalo 105 (Buffalo) (Private)

28 Lansing Middle School Lansing 107 (Tompkins County) (GS8)

...

Additional schools taken from 7th and 8th grade contests:

Collegiate School New York (Manhattan) (Private)

Salanter Akiba Riverdale (SAR) Academy Riverdale (Bronx) (Private - Jewish)

Louis Pasteur MS 67 Little Neck (Queens) (GS10)

Baccalaureate Sch. for Global Educ. Astoria (Queens) (GS10)

IS 237--Rachel L. Carson Flushing (Queens) (GS9)

Great Neck North MS Great Neck (Long Island, Nassau County) (GS10)

Jericho MS Jericho (Long Island, Nassau County) (GS10)

Herricks Middle School Albertson (Long Island, Nassau County) (GS10)

Paul J. Gelinas JHS East Setauket (Long Island, Suffolk County) (GS9)

Solomon Schechter School Hartsdale (Westchester County) (Private - Jewish)

Rye Country Day School Rye (Westchester County) (Private)

Sweet Home Middle School Amherst (Buffalo) (GS6) (!)

Jamesville DeWitt MS Jamesville (Syracuse suburb) (GS10)

Movies Watched -- James White

Added on by C. Maoxian.

85 minutes, which is the right length. A W.D. By movie. Unable to ffwd since I streamed it using Netflix. Marnie's boyfriend Charlie is Miranda Hobbes' son and is known as James White. James is a real slacker and self-destructive to boot. Despite not having his shit together in the least, he's a handsome bastard who can pick up girls in bars and have sex with them the same night (the lucky prick). Anyway, his Mom (Miranda) is dying of some unspecified cancer, but she's also delusional at times, which is confusing. She's manipulative too. James is her caregiver (all day at first, and later, only at night). It's a bummer. This is a depressing movie, not a bad movie, just depressing. Reminded me a little bit of Shame (which I *loved*). And there are some very funny scenes. Definitely a yellow rating (consider), not a red. 

George Cocksucker Bush

George Cocksucker Bush