America's Got Talent (Live Taping) in Chicago 2010

I went to America's Got Talent live taping today!

It was very exciting at first (after standing in line in the cold for the longest time)--  it looked exactly like what I watch on TV! Nick Cannon and all of the judges were there in their little table. The stage director gave us a crash course of how to be a good audience. Basically, the louder, the better and don't look at the camera because it freaks people out at home. Then, the show was a waiting game. More time was spent waiting for the acts than actually watching them. The stage crew had to fix the sound and stage a couple of times. The stage director attempted to entertain us, but he was just looking for energetic people to give his prizes to and we balcony people didn't have the luxury of impressing him with our enthusiasm. The acts were okay...no million-dollar acts yet. A little less than half of the audience left during the intermission (no wonder the audience always looks small on TV). Yup, it was kinda boring.

(They didn't let us take cameras, which explains my bad photoshopping-- Howie replaced The Hasselhoff. Howie is more critical than Hasselhoff, which is a good thing.)

There was one Russian gymnast that was very talented; she was like the Olympians! She twirled hula hoops on her feet while doing all sorts of crazy flexible moves. There was a magician that had some difficulties with his equipment, but he got through anyways. There was one 2-man band that had a deadweight member. The judges tried to get the main singer to go solo, but they stayed together. Oh the drama!

Thank God there weren't any super weirdoes auditioning today.

Awesome! Kick-Ass!

Kick-Ass Hit Girl Red Band Trailer - The best home videos are here

Must. Watch.

Let the Movies Begin! Tokyo Sonata

This movie is all about secrets. No, not this kind of Secret... Tokyo Sonata shows one ordinary family that is a family by blood, but they are strangers to each other. This family spirals down out of control when the father, Ryûhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa), is fired from his office job. He decides to keep his unemployment a secret, but his wife, Megumi Sasaki (Kyôko Koizumi), eventually finds out. The secrets that Megumi keeps are well kept, but they hurt her as the pressure builds. Ryûhei's secret spreads misery to himself and his family as he detaches himself from the people around him. In order to keep his authority in the Japanese family, he objects to the accomplishments of his sons: Kenji (Inowaki Kai) wants to enroll in piano lessons and Takashi (Yû Koyanagi) wants to join the military. Each of the family members go through different adventures that make them stronger.

Tokyo Sonata was empowering. Although there isn't much action (for the first half, at least), every moment is intense. The depression and feelings of hopelessness take jabs at you when you connect with each character. The movie takes takes the time to thoroughly introduce the audience to every character and to get a good idea of what they're thinking. I thought the piano teacher wasn't developed that well, but she's just a minor character. The story is beautiful and surprisingly realistic in terms of unemployment and depression. The second half of the movie has a turn in the plot--a little strange, but it's um...interesting? strange. The open-ending was a little abrupt, but you gotta love that piano solo.