Not much going on these last fool days. Sorry for the absence of posts theses days (for all five people that read this). While I stated early on that I wasn't going to talk much about myself on here I do have some pretty big news.

I have decided to go back to school and get my Masters degree. I seriously sat down and thought what the hell can I do with my life that I will really enjoy. Everyone that knows me knows that I love talking about film all day and night. I feel that I have a pretty good knowledge of and was thinking of the perfect thing that would fit me as a career. I decided that what I would thoroughly enjoy would be to teach film in college. I emailed a film professor I had and truly admired at Kent State, Professor Robert West, and he recommended that I participate in the Pop Culture graduate program at Bowling Green. So right now I am making those steps to see if that is the best thing for me. I am extremely excited to learn more about their program and the college. One of my friends have graduated from Bowling Green while another is currently attending it right now. Both tell me this is a great program. So I am pretty psyched, but enough about me.

I ordered Chiaki and I some tickets for a handful of films at the Cleveland International Film Festival. We are going for a record this year. So far we are planning on see four films. This year we plan on seeing the following films:

Abduction : The Megumi Yokata Story
At 13 years old, Megumi Yokota disappears on her way home from school. After nearly 20 years with no idea what happened to their daughter, Megumi parents learn from a North Korean defector she was one of at least 13 Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean spies in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Five years later, North Korea admits to the kidnappings and reveals the fates of the abducted. Resolving to bring Megumi home, her parents tenacious and untiring campaign takes their personal tragedy to the political forefront, resulting ultimately in a battle between nations. Set to haunting images of Megumi and wrought with half-truths and near triumphs, ABDUCTION (Executive Produced by Jane Campion, the Oscar winning director of "The Piano") is a shocking portrait of the strength of one family and the bureaucracy barring them from the truth. (In Japanese and Korean with English Subtitiles)

The Proposition
Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) is presented with a proposition by British police Captain Stanley to choose between his two brothers. The Captain, fixated on bringing civility to his English settlement and on relieving the settlement of its worst outlaws, creates his own rule of law . Charlie searches for his elusive, vicious elder brother while his younger brother sits, terrified, in a jail cell. In town, the consequences of the Captain proposition begin to spread far, wide, and rather bloodily. The havoc reaches even to the Captain gentle wife, Martha (Emily Watson), who is no longer able to be protected by porcelain teapots and English roses. Nick Cave screenplay astounds, and the haunting soundtrack fits perfectly with the visibly sweltering and audibly painful outback. THE PROPOSITION is a thrilling twist on the Wild West genre, dealing brutally and beautifully with loyalty, revenge, and love in a violent and unforgiving territory.

Quo Vadis, Baby?
Working for her father private detective agency in Bologna, Giorgia is an unglamorous, short-tempered, quick-witted investigator. She spends most of her time trailing cheating spouses and lamenting that she has wasted her life. But when she receives a box containing video diaries of her younger sister Ada, she begins to question whether or not Ada's death 16 years ago was really a suicide. On the tapes, outgoing Ada appears to be happily struggling with her acting career and having a secret affair; nothing that suggests she was suicidal. Convinced that her sister was murdered, Giorgia begins interviewing Ada friends and family members. As she digs deeper into the past, a questionable family history begins to emerge. Wholly clever, atmospheric, and stylishly shot, QUO VADIS, BABY? is a thrilling contemporary noir film that invites the audience in to play detective. (In Italian with English subtitles)

Midnight, My Love
Driving though the Bangkok night is Bati, a shy cab driver who is more interested in listening to dramatic radio shows and the music of a time past than in picking up customers. Reluctant to adjust to modern technologies, Bati is happily stuck in his ways, often lost in his own romantic reveries that play out like old musical films. One evening he picks up a group of four prostitutes in his cab, three of whom loudly tease him and one who sits quietly. Bati and the beautiful woman, Nuan, have dinner together, agree that he shall pick her up each night, and begin a chaste romance. Bati dreams of a more passionate affair and of saving Nuan from her tarnished life, but both have their reasons for keeping the other at a distance. Popular Thai comedic actor Pechtai Wongkamlao brings a spectacular dimension to his sad, sweet character and his uncanny reason for resisting modernity. Soft-lensing, a romantic soundtrack, and stunning images establish the dreamy feel of this memorable, melancholic tale of an unlikely love. (In Thai, with English subtitles)

Alright we are off to see Block Party. I will probably post tonight to give everyone my opinion. Until then...