Christopher Nolan.

In the past few weeks, I have watched 3 movies by Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Inception. Each one I watched trying to find common threads and reasons why I like his directing style so much. Here's what I have decided.

1 - each movie uses Michael Caine. Way cool. But on a more serious note, his choice of actors is superb. He does not shy away from really popular actors (Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hugh Jackman), and yet he also chooses actors for characters that play decisive supporting roles in which you may have seen that actor in one or two movies beforehand, but not nearly enough to influence your opinion about him. Two examples of this are Arthur in Inception (played by Joseph Gordon-Leavitt) and Harvey Dent in Dark Knight (played by Aaron Eckhart). These actors are known, but not famous; and they fit their roles perfectly. Christopher Nolan can be credited then with an uncanny ability to fill his characters with actors who fit. This task seems way too hard for most directors (I mean, come on - who saw Nick Cage as Ghost Rider?). He has also benefitted from unseen dynamic performances, performances that knock your socks off, like Heath Ledger as the Joker, and Cyto in Inception. Sometimes the actor fits the mold impossibly well.

2 - Nolan's movies all feature spectacular cinematography, each according to the type of movie it is. Inception was breathtaking on so many levels. Who could have seen a city on top of another city, or a train careening through a street? Not to mention the Halo-like 3rd level, which was unbelievably cool. The Dark Knight was, well, unreal. The hospital scene actually featured a real building being blown up - credit Nolan for taking George Lucas-like consideration for real special effects and not just going to the computers for CGI.

3 - Nolan's movies (almost all of them) feature soundtracks composed by Hans Zimmer. This is comparable to Spielberg's reliance on John Williams, the Beethoven of movie soundtracks. Zimmer is Williams reincarnated, and the music only serves to support the movie (see tracks such as "Dream is Collapsing," "Time," and "Like a Dog Chasing Cars").

4 - Nolan's movies always leave you guessing, even if you know the outcome. The inherent problem with superhero movies is that you know how it is going to end. The superhero will come out on top, yada yada yada. However, Nolan's careful intertwining of the Joker and his madness throughout the Dark Knight left the audience (including myself) literally on their edge of their seat in suspense during the boat scene. The guessing happens throughout the movie, but never leaves you guessless. I was never completely lost in Inception.

5 - Nolan does not use pointless scenes as "filler." I recently saw a movie with Will Ferrell that included some scenes that were attempts to be funny, but had no bearing on the plot of the movie whatsoever. Nolan's films do not have these scenes. In fact, I was so aware of this fact that in Inception i was paying close attention to every single scene. Good thing, too; otherwise, I would have missed something.

6 - Nolan's films always include a Twist that, despite your best efforts, you do not see coming. Who pictured the last scene in the Prestige? Inception? Who saw Batman make the decision he did at the end? Not me. Stop being prideful and admit that you didn't either.

Those are just a few things I have noticed. I could go on. I hope to see this go on, and to see him continue at this position of prominence akin to Spielberg.

The Top 10...

Now that I have graduated, I can look back on my life at BYU and characterize what I liked and what I didn't like. I will use Letterman's top 10 format.

Top 10 things I DISLIKED about BYU:

10. APX hustlers.
9. Getting mobbed with flyers every time I walked from the WILK to the Library.
8. Mass Holiday Text Messages.
7. Mass emails from classmates who wanted notes from the previous class that they had missed.
6. Students who answered their phone OR other student's answers directed to the professor in class.
5. Students who asked questions in class just to make themselves sound smart OR attempted to blatantly contradict the Professor.
4. OCHEM.
3. BYUSA and their 7 dollar hot dogs.
2. The phrase "when I was on my mission..."
1. Utah Haters/Tools.

Honorable Mention: People who bear their testimony every month because it's their "goal"; loud neighbors; long lines; no close parking spots; shortchanging the students in athletics (see older post).

Top 10 things I LIKED about BYU:

10. An easily accessible weight room and basketball court (although crowded at times)
9. Lunches at the Cougareat (TB, anyone?)
8. SMASH!
7. On-Campus Jobs that were easily adjustable to my shifting schedule.
6. Affordable housing accommodations.
5. Intramurals.
4. Genuinely good, hardworking, friendly People.
3. HAROLD and the solace found inside his walls.
2. The Learning Environment, including unbelievably good professors.
1. It truly is a land flowing with milk and HONEYS...

There you have it. Feel free to add a list of your own.

A Story Describing why Provo is Cool.

This is a quick story of something funny that happened to me last night that illustrates a much deeper point.

I spent the evening last night in Provo, but I couldn't move into my new apartment yet so I had to find a buddy's couch or extra mattress to sleep on for the night. I called my old roommate Mark to see if he had space for me, which he did. He told me the apartment number (102A) in the Elms and that he would leave the door locked. Well, a certain female named Lindsay kept me out pretty late, so I arrived at the apartment after (I thought, at least) every one had gone to bed. Unfortunately, I forgot one thing... the apartment number. Was it 101A? I guessed. I tried the doorknob - open. I immediately lay down on the couch and fell asleep.

That morning, I awoke to the sound of a laptop next to me. One of the guys living there was typing on the couch next to me. I realized this was probably not Mark's apartment. This is the dialogue that ensued.

Me: "Uh, is this Mark Laney's apartment."
Him: "No..."
Me: "Oh. Shoot. I thought it was... oops."
Him: "No problem. You are welcome to use our couch."

It was that simple. An absolute stranger was sleeping on his couch (only doing so by entering his apartment in the middle of the night - intruder alert, anyone?), and he responded with a "no worries" attitude I wasn't expecting. I thanked him for letting me crash there, then headed out to the fieldhouse, where I showered and got ready for work (I know - I'm a homeless bum!).

This brings me to my point. Only in Provo could this happen, with such nonchalance as he handled it. Say what you will about Provo, about Utah. This place, however, is ridiculously people-friendly. I would have a hard time imagining this being ok if I were to try and slide into an apartment in, say, LA or Chicago. Most likely, I would be arrested. Or maybe they would just yell and tell me to get the (expletive) out of there.

Provo, indeed, is a nice place. Provo haters take the city for granted. And if they don't like it, maybe they can go elsewhere. I know quite a few homeless people who would let them cuddle up with them on the street in the middle of the night.

Chivalry is Dead...?

Recently, my a good friend of mine said no to two different guys who treated her poorly the first time around and attempted to pick up where they left off. The first spent many days at dinner with her (while they were dating) talking to one of his “bro”s on the phone for 15, 20 minutes. These bro talks, in his mind, seemed to outweigh the importance of being with her. Bro talks he probably had with his “bro”s every single night. One time, he went to pick her up with his buddy, and his buddy refused to get out of the front seat and let her sit in the front seat. The boyfriend said ne’er a word.

The second guy has some serious issues with the concept of “other people.” Even in his last dying request before she chose to go on a mission instead of date him, he said (and I quote): “I don’t want us to wonder forever what we could have had together… although I will say I’m not ‘smitten’ by you, and I don’t know if this will lead to marriage. I just feel so good being around you and I love how I feel when I’m around you…” Even in his final plea, he chose to focus on his own insecurities and how HE felt like the relationship would progress (I could imagine him saying after this final plea, “There you have it. The ball is in your court. Well, actually, the ball is still totally in my court, if that’s ok with you.”) I see here a complete failure on his part of respect and trust in the relationship, replaced by a selfish desire to “see what happens” instead of letting her serve a mission.

Another girl told me the other day that the last guy she dated was so into himself, she had to tell him one day that he had not asked about how SHE was doing that entire week. Perhaps he had become so wrapped up in himself, he forgot that he was dating someone.

This all applies (loosely, perhaps) to chivalry, in my mind. Too much have I heard chivalry defined in very strict terms: open the door for a girl, let the women be served food first, etc. etc. Is this really what chivalry is?

I was raised with a mother who never opened her own door. She always insisted that we act as gentlemen and open it for her. She was not acting in superiority, arrogance, or selfishness. She did it to teach me and my brothers one simple way in which to treat women. Frequent occurrences like this one played a huge part in helping my brothers and I develop a respect for women that can be referred to as “chivalry.” Women, to us, were not our “bros;” they deserved more. From what we said to how we acted to what we thought, women were to be treated with the utmost respect.

Did this always translate? No. I played my fair share of pranks on my sisters, and I have failed to get the door for my date a number of times. I guess my point is that too many times I hear chivalry regarded as outdated, unnecessary, and sometimes even irritating, when in reality chivalry, like virtue, should be protected, fostered, and encouraged. Gone should be the days where a girl sits at dinner while her boyfriend talks to his buddy on the phone for 20 minutes about the next Jazz game.

I’ll sum up my new definition of chivalry as thus:

Chivalry is the internal respect of women translated into external behavior.

I’m really curious about how you guys would define chivalry, so feel free to chime in.