Jimmy: Moviepass, and the Art of Moviegoing Bad Films

For me, The Oscar’s season is my “most wonderful time of the year.” I love going to the box office to see all of the year’s most critically acclaimed movies. But there’s also a pleasure of going to the movies to see something you know you’re not going to like.
I swear I’m not sponsored, but Movie Pass was the best investment I’ve made in a while. For only $9.99 a month, you get to see one movie a day for a month. Most large chain theaters participate (Regal, AMC, and the Brattle Theater in Cambridge do too). For me – a snobby, snobby film boy – I would have never paid money to see Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in theaters. But since I felt like I wasn’t paying for it, it was one of my favorite movie going experiences of the season! It’s cool when spending too much isn’t a factor in what you want to see.
That said, I had a good time watching some pretty bad movies. Here are some of my top clunkers. By the way, it’s only fun if you go with a friend. Save your alone movie theater experiences for something like The Florida Project (which was excellent!):
Justice League
Personally, I haven’t been following superhero movies for a while because they’re not my taste. But this is, like, CRAZY misguided. Henry Cavill’s CGI mustache looked pretty bad. Batman is kind of a psychopathic murderer. The color palette of this movie looks like when your friends were at an Applebee’s and mixed all of the condiments together in a cup. And who were Ezra Miller’s jokes supposed to be directed towards? Crazy
Loving Vincent
The concept seems cool, right? A biographical piece about Vincent Van Goh in which every different frame is an impressionist painting. But the gimmick wears down quickly when the canvass thin, Nancy Drew Mystery Computer game plot goes in circles. Also, the motion of the paintings looks really weird!
The Greatest Showman
Some really cringe-ey dance sequences (one in particular set in a bar) and non-musical theater music with ultra-generic lyrics. If you had a hunch that Hollywood romanticized Hugh Jackman’s character, check out this Entertainment Weekly Article. (tl;dr: P.T. Barnum was not a good dude).
The Room
Okay, while technically bad, The Room is really exceptional work of film. Most live screenings have a similar atmosphere to a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening, where audience members yell at the screen, dress up, and dance around. I used my Movie Pass to go see it and it was a blast. People were throwing spoons!

Tom: The Balancing Act of College

Tom ImageHey guys! I am back and blogging for you guys again. Earlier in the semester I told you guys that I was auditioning for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Time sure does fly by as I am now in the final week of rehearsals before opening night!! For the past month, my life has been schoolwork, work, rehearsal & sleep, all day everyday. But I’ve still managed to find time for a social life. For this blog post, I’ve chosen to write my Top 5 Tips for surviving the balancing act of college.

1.     Caffeine… but with a limit. I am so grateful to be on a campus that has five Starbucks locations on campus. When I’m trying to balance all of the different things, I find my daily dose of caffeine a necessity. However, you need to keep it within limit. Pulling all nighters with a redbull in hand is never productive. A cup of coffee or two will do you fine.

2.     Find the best study space. If it wasn’t for my favorite go-to study space (The Starbucks in SMG), I would never be productive. Find a productive place to do all of your work and you will get work done in half the time!

3.     Get plenty of sleep. You will only be able to function with enough sleep. While it may seem like a better idea to stay up all night and finish all your work, trust me – getting sleep will lead to more efficient work.

4.     Know when to say “no”. My classic problem is the “over-achieving, I want to take on the world” problem. You know what I’m talking about – you want to be on the Executive Board for five different clubs, while working and while maintaining a 4.0. Trust me, learn when is enough and learn to say “no” to commitments that come your way.

5.     Stay Calm! Probably most important of all. College is a time to have fun – not be stressed. Do things that keep you calm – take a mental health day and go shopping or go to the movies, and never let yourself get too overwhelmed.

Follow these five tips (and maybe even learn some of your own) and you will be good to go! I’ve managed to balance a part-time job, COM Ambassador duties, my school work and all of my work with BU On Broadway. I have confidence you’ll be able to handle the balancing act of college the same way.

Signing off,

Tom