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Drove down to Matt’s new apartment in El Segundo today. It’s like so next to the airport, but you don’t hear the planes. He didn’t have a couch yet so I sat on the floor mostly. Keith was also there and he brought his Xbox 360. I played some Call of Duty 2 and Hexic. I was quite impressed with my experience other than the Xbox crashing. Afterwards we headed out to lunch for some Thai food. We went to the theaters to catch The Ringer. I wanted to see Munich, but we missed the showtime. Ringer was pretty good anyway. Then we rented Alone in the Dark and watched it back at his place and ordered pizza. I suggested Oldboy after enjoying it recently, but Blockbuster didn’t carry it. So as a last undecisive resort, Alone in the Dark. It was such a terrible movie, I didn’t really pay attention to it. We spent most of the time making fun of it. Keith and I had this discussion about where the movie was filmed. He said it looked like Toronto, but I suggested Vancouver. I was correct . Bad movie, don’t watch it. I want Xbox 360 kinda.

On Monday, I went out and caught King Kong. It was truly a great film, but a few steps short of being awesome. Peter Jackson has become one of my favorite filmmakers and that statement holds true after watching this film. My only quirks about it is the length and some of the CG work. Kong, old New York, and the T-rexes were excellently done. Actually the only part that the CG felt weak was the brontosaurus (?) stampede. Weta did an excellent job with Kong but they were inconsistent with the overall CG. The movie was great but it was also a long 3 hours. Can’t help feel that there was a lot of trimming that could’ve been done. A lot of the minor characters had a bit of development that didn’t amount to anything at the end. The casting was good, Naomi Watts was perfect for this role. Jack Black was a questionable casting job, he felt right most of the time, other times I couldn’t help laugh at his presence. Overall, it is still one of my favorite movies of the year.

Today I watched Oldboy finally. I can’t believe I waited so long to watch this. It was such a good movie, but so so wrong and mildly disturbing. Visually it was stunning, and Min-sik Choi as Daesu was awesome. As Korean films are booming, Choi is really become a fan favorite, like a new Toshiro Mifune. Chan-wook Park directs this great movie. Oldboy has become one of the greatest films to come out of Korea, and has made me a big Chan-wook Park fan. I immediately watched Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance afterwards. I liked it as well, but it wasn’t as aweinspiring, or shocking as Oldboy was. Oldboy was just so twisted. I highly recommend catching these flicks. Even if you don’t like revenge films or violence. I’m gonna watch Sympathy for Lady Vengeance tomorrow.

Had so much food and so many people over. Too many kids in my room playing my games so I took off and hung out with Tac and my gf at this place called Indian. It’s not Asian Indian, but rather Native American Indian. But there were no Indians, it’s run by Taiwanese, and pretty much an Asian hang out, but it has Western/Indian decor? I don’t get it but whatever. Shared a pitcher of beer and had some snackies. Headed back. Opened a few presents. Got some clothes and mostly money.

My buddy James sent me a DVD of his last film project. It’s pretty cool and you should check it out at his site. It’s called As You Were.

I got a screener of Corpse Bride. I never got a chance to see it in theaters. It’s good, but not the memorable masterpiece like Nightmare Before Christmas. The story is cool. The characters are cool. There just wasn’t enough. The movie clocked in about 75 minutes or so. Even shorter than some Disney direct-to-video rubbish. Also the songs were forgettable. No memorable melodies here. The stop motion animation is a few steps above Nightmare. But I really wonder how much of the Nightmare stuff was reused. The main character, Victor’s body seems awfuly similar to Jack Skellington’s. Nevertheless, what I saw was good, but I’m glad I didn’t pay 8 bucks to see it because it’s really not worth it time-wise.

Been playing GTA: San Andreas again just for kicks. I completed it around this time last year on my winter break. Well, completed the story, but with total completion of 70 something percent. So there are lots of stuff I could do just for completist sake. Most of it is really meaningless, just busy work, but nevertheless something to do. So I’m aiming to get 100% or until I can’t stand it anymore.

I also started reading Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. I had read The Da Vinci Code in the summer and I really enjoyed it. Angels & Demons takes place before it, with the same lead character. It’s shaping out to be the same style so I’m sure to enjoy it. The Da Vinci Code is being made into a movie and it doesn’t look bad at all, check out the trailer at apple. Looks promising, but I would suggest reading the book first. It’s a short read and should go fast if you are as into it as I was.

Grades are out. I did better than I thought in some of the classes. I’m pretty happy considering how much work it was.

CS 408 – Programming Languages: A
CS 420 – Artificial Intelligence: B-
CS 411 – Compilers & Interpreters: B-
CS 445 – Computer Graphics: A
STA 326 – Statistical Methods: C

I am never taking 20 units again.

It’s such a great feeling when you have nothing to worry about. I pretty much wasted my whole day doing nothing, and I don’t feel bad about it. Slept late, woke up late, played games. Didn’t get to watch Narnia again. Probably won’t. King Kong is up next and I’ll likely see it this week. This one is my most anticipated, I’ve really become a Peter Jackson fanboy since he made Lord of the Rings. I recently ordered the Frighteners, an older movie he made. I was contemplating getting his production diaries for King Kong, but they are a little pricey for some behind the scenes footage. Besides I spent a lot more than I should have lately on DVDs. Gotta save some dough for xmas.

Done with finals! Rapture! Joy! I’m so worn out. After school I caught Chronicles of Narnia. It’s really awesome. It was a lot better than I expected. I’m going to see it again over the weekend I think. I also received my Guitar Hero controller today, and I’m taking it for a spin. It’s awesome, I’m loving the game so far.

I had a crazy school week this week. Since Tuesday, I haven’t had more than 6 hours of sleep each day. I had several programming projects and an essay to write. I got it all done and I finally get a full night’s rest. I didn’t wake up until 2 pm today. Now I’m just relaxing because tomorrow I start studying for finals. With 20 units (5 courses) I have a final exam every day of the week. So no downtime for me next week. I’m just enjoying today doing nothing. Actually I haven’t had time to do my laundry, so I’m doing that right now. I also really need a haircut, but it might be too late for today.