Why Occupy Wall Street is Important: An Introduction

Would you like some satire with your greed?

Occupy Wall Street has been going on since September 17th, but most of us will say the date that it officially popped up on our radars as a “big deal” was October 2nd when 700 peaceful protestors were arrested while crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Some, myself included have been obsessed with promoting and furthering the movement by going to protests and using social networks like twitter to communicate the latest news about the movement. I have my own views about the movement, but I’m pretty sure more than a few identify with what I’m about to say, as millions around the globe have become passionate and enthralled by the Occupy movement in just a few short weeks.

Personally, as a well-informed and left-leaning College student at San Francisco State University, I was about 95% certain that I would need to move away from the United States at some point during my life time. Where would I go? Sweden, Finland, or the oh-so-typical Canada? It doesn’t really matter, I just know that every day I see that our great country is declining so fast. It is very difficult to look forward with any optimism. By the time I have kids, or better yet by the time they begin grade school, will this be a country anyone is proud to call home anymore? I hope so, but I have had my doubts for longer than I would like to admit.

I’m Back and it’s going to be a Little Different

Hey,

After a couple years and a bit of a journey I will start to post on this site again periodically. I’m not necessarily going to be posting about films only. This is going to very much be a personal blog where I’ll just sort of talk about what I’m interested in at the time. Much of the reason why a blog is supposed to have a specific focus is to just get as many views as possible, to fill an internet niche of some sort, but I don’t really care how many views I get.

I don’t have a journal and I will probably never write one. I don’t particularly like talking about myself or my own life, but I certainly don’t mind spouting off my opinion about things going in the world. From reviewing artwork or entertainment to commenting on the latest political trends, I have an opinion about almost everything. Whether or not you want to hear it is up to you. Just do or don’t read my stuff, it’s that simple. But realize I’m purely writing this because of my own interests. I certainly hope others share these interests, but I wouldn’t expect the blog to have a particular focus like only films, or only music, or only politics. Expect different subjects as the days and weeks go on. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy what I have to say headed into the future.

Sincerely,

Adam G.

Do Read! It’s Rather Urgent…

Lowly peons, do not be afraid: we are proud to announce that the Gold Standard is no more!

This morning, effectively at 5:00 AM PST, our newest iteration of this blog was born.

Behold…

Actor Profile of the Week: Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington is one of the biggest, most respected actors around today. He doesn’t have a Will Smith-style box office pull, but Smith doesn’t have the same respect that Washington does. Denzel has had a long career, spanning 30 years and filled with some really great films, as well as some pretty bad ones too.

From Spike Lee to Tony Scott, the guy has good relationships with the best in the business. He has five Academy Award nominations and two wins to show for his efforts.

The 55-year old actor is still busy, and with his high-profile post-apocalyptic thriller, The Book of Eli, coming out this weekend, it’s time to look into his future and check out what we can expect from Denzel.

This Weekend: “Youth in Revolt” Goes for Teens (Youth), “Daybreakers” Hopes to Suck in Crowds, Couples Don’t Leap for “Leap Year”

Generally if new films are released on the same weekend, these films will take the top slots at the box office. This weekend is definitely going to change this up quite a bit. There’s no doubt that the #1 slot this weekend will go to “Avatar” which will also zip past the $400 million mark domestic, and venture its new 2nd place worldwide record even further towards “Titanic” territory. The real question is how much will it make/drop this weekend? In its second weekend of release it dropped just 2%, allowing it the biggest second weekend ever by a few thousand. In its 3rd weekend it dropped under 10% shattering the 3rd weekend record as well.

Why James Cameron’s “Avatar” Might Not Beat “Titanic”

“Avatar” has been making a lot of noise lately in IMAX and 3-D theaters around the Globe. Us at the Gold Standard sort of try to stay away from it because it has gotten so much coverage from all major media outlets already. But we feel that many have not explored the specific reasons as to why the film may have a really difficult time beating “Titanic’s” two records. The domestic record of $600 million and the world wide record of $1.842 billion (no film has come within $700 million of that record)…

Actor Profile Of The Week: Zoe Saldana

“Avatar” celebrated a third #1 weekend today so it would only make sense to talk about perhaps its most noticeable star, Zoe Saldana. She’s the #2 most searched actor on IMDB (behind only the late Brittany Murphy) and she’s got a lot planned for the future, and more to come after the exceptional success of “Avatar”.

Toy Story 3′s New Character, Mr. Pricklepants, In UK Only Special

Toy Story 3 is one of the most anticipated movies of 2010, up there with “Alice and Wonderland”, “Iron Man 2″, and (for me at least) “Inception”. In 1996, “Toy Story” became the first feature-length CGI movie, and some say it is still the best ever made. After 14 years, Pixar will finally return to finish their modern fairy tale, after two critically-praised and popular installments in the adventures of Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

After the first two involved the toys coming to terms with their eventual fate, the third will actually see their owner, Andy, donate them to a daycare center full of belligerent toddlers.

It s is the reunion we have been waiting for, but Toy Story 3 will feature new characters as well: presumably other toys that were abandoned in a similar fashion.

Rob Marshall’s “Nine”: The Gold Standard Review

“Nine” was a front-runner for awards season as of the beginning of the year. Daniel Day-Lewis rarely lends a performance to a film these days (He did three in the entire decade before this one) and he’s been nominated for 4 career Academy Awards. He’s an actor of extreme pedigree and prestige, any film he’s in automatically is given a certain amount of confidence before its release.

Early Preview: 2010 January

Early 2009 propelled this year’s box office to new heights. There were more hits than Hollywood ever could have imagined, and of all genres. Horror, comedy, action, etc… it didn’t matter what it was. If it came out early last year there was a high probability that it made far more than anticipated. This year looks to possibly do the same with an equally diverse lineup.