What Movies I Saw in 2011

This is a new list for me. It's safe to say I've watched a lot more, but fell asleep during or quit halfway through, or something. I also haven't counted the amount of television I've watched. Some honorable mentions of television series include (in which I've watched at least four episodes--at least):

• Mad Men
• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• New Girl
• Parks and Recreation
• Party Down
• Battlestar Galactica
• Slings and Arrows

Anyway, here's the official list:

MOVIES WATCHED 2011

1.       The Social Network - Jan

2.       500 Days of Summer - Jan

3.       OT: Our Town - Jan

4.       Being John Malkovich - Jan

5.       The Dark Crystal – Feb

6.       Dune – Feb

7.       Greenberg – Feb

8.       There Will Be Blood – Feb

9.       The Town – Feb

10.   Annie Hall – March

11.   Love and Other Drugs – March

12.   Clue – March

13.   The Adjustment Bureau – March

14.   Bad Cop – April

15.   Cedar Rapids – April

16.   The Fighter – April

17.   Black Swan – April

18.   The Walking Dead, season 1 – April

19.   The Young Victoria – May

20.   The Jerk – May

21.   American Psycho – May

22.   The Illusionist – May

23.   Thor – May

24.   Bridesmaids – May

25.   Six Degrees of Separation - May

26.   Never Let Me Go – June

27.   X-Men First Class – June

28.   True Grit – June

29.   L.A. Confidential – June

30.   Coraline – July

31.   Moulin Rouge –July

32.   Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 – July

33.   My Dinner With Andre – September

34.   Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – October

35.   Herzog’s Woyzeck – October

36.   Dangerous Beauty – November

37.   As You Like It – November

38.   The Three Musketeers – November

39.   Magnolia – November

40.   Disney’s animated Robin Hood – November

41.   The Muppets – November

42.   Midnight in Paris – December

43.   The Darjheeling Limited – December

44.   Easy A – December

45.   Our Idiot Brother – December

46.   How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carey) – December

47.   National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – December

48.   Muppet Treasure Island - December

Plays Attended 2011

Plays Attended

1.       Compound/Complex by Steve Moulds (Brouhaha Comedy Festival) – Jan

2.       The Winter’s Tale at the Guthrie – Jan

3.       Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Steppenwolf - Feb

4.       Metamorphoses at the Commonweal (apprentice prod.) – March

5.       Sylvia at the Commonweal – May

6.       Boom! at the Legion – June

7.       Little Shop of Horrors at the Commonweal – June

8.       A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Great River Shakespeare Festival –June

9.       Henry IV, Part One at Great River Shakespeare Festival – July

10.   Street Scene with Girl Friday Productions – July

11.   Othello with the Houston Shakespeare Festival – July

12.   The Taming of the Shrew with Houston Shakespeare Festival – July

13.   Ether Dome at the Alley Theatre – September

14.   Dividing the Estate at the Alley Theatre – October

15.   Our Lady of 121^st Street at UH – October

16.   Zombie Prom at UH – October

17.   A Christmas Carol at the Alley Theatre – November

18.   Macbeth at Rice University – November

19.   Charley’s Aunt at the Guthrie – December

20.   I Am My Own Wife at the Jungle Theater – December

21.   Parfumerie at the Commonweal - December

I really hope I can see more theatre in Houston (that's not just at the Alley). There are some promising shows down the pipeline, and I even know some of the folks who are in them. The trick is time and money. But I'd say, for living in a town of 788 people for the first half of the year, and then moving to Houston and starting graduate training, this is an okay list that's fairly eclectic.

If you're curious about what I've seen in years past, you can check out lists from 2010 and 2009.

Books and Plays Read in 2011

Books Read

1.       The Write to Write by Julia Cameron – Jan

2.       Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon – Feb

3.       Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith – Feb

4.       Prayer Book (poems) by Matt Mauch – March

5.       Reality Hunger, A Manifesto by David Shields – March

6.       Backwards and Forwards by David Ball – March

7.       Bossypants by Tina Fey – April

8.       An Actor’s Work (a fusion of An Actor Prepares and Building a Character) by Stanislavski – May

9.       Advice to the Players by Robert Lewis – May

10.   Method or Madness? By Robert Lewis – May

11.   Creating a Role by Stanislavski – May

12.   The Open Door by Peter Brook – May

13.   Acting the First Six Lessons by Boleslavsky – May

14.   Audition by Michael Shurtleff – May

15.   The Empty Space by Peter Brook – May

16.   Acting Power by Robert Cohen – June

17.   Acting Professionally by Robert Cohen  - June

18.   Acting is Believing by Charles McGaw – June

19.   True and False by David Mamet – June

20.   Writing in Restaurants by David Mamet – June

21.   Impro by Keith Johnstone – June

22.   Improvisation for the Theatre by Viola Spolin – July

23.   The Shifting Point by Peter Brook – July

24.   The Craft of Comedy by Athene Seyler – July

25.   Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen – July

26.   The Craftsmen of Dionysius by Jerome Rockwood – July

27.   My Life in Art by Stanislavski - August (I honestly did read this entire beast...)

28.   Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugene Herrigel – August

29.   A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - December

Plays Read

1.       Beyond the Horizon by Eugene O’Neill – Jan

2.       Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman – Feb

3.       An Enemy of the People (Jeffrey Hatcher/Ibsen) - Feb

4.       Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams – March

5.       Ghosts by Ibsen – March

6.       Anna Christie by Eugene O’Neill – March

7.       Hedda Gabler by Ibsen – March

8.       The Master Builder by Ibsen – March

9.       Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O’Neill – March

10.   The Homecoming (Mourning Becomes Electra) by Eugene O’Neill – March

11.   The Hunted (Mourning Becomes Electra) by Eugene O’Neill – April

12.   The Haunted (Mourning Becomes Electra) by Eugene O’Neill – April

13.   A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O’Neill – April

14.   A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O’Neill – April

15.   Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams – April

16.   Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams - April

17.   Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams – April

18.   The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams – April

19.   The Eccentricities of a Nightingale by Tennessee Williams – April

20.   Parfumerie by E. Dowdall – April

21.   Penelope by Enda Walsh – May

22.   The Hot L Baltimore by Lanford Wilson – May

23.   Some Girl(s) by Neil LaBute – May

24.   Our Lady of 121^st Street by Stephen Adly Guirgis – May

25.   The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh – May

26.   Julius Caesar by Shakespeare – May

27.   Leonce and Lena by Buchner – May

28.   Don Juan by Moliere – May

29.   The Unmentionables by Bruce Norris – June

30.   Blue / Orange by Joe Penhall – June

31.   The Country Club by Douglas Carter Beane – June

32.   The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute – June

33.   Toronto, Mississippi by Joan MacLeod – June

34.   Pterodactyls by Nicky Silver – June

35.   Dissocia by Anthony Neilson – June

36.   The Lion in Winter by James Goldman – June

37.   Come Blow Your Horn by Neil Simon – June

38.   Red by John Logan – July

39.   My Zinc Bed by David Hare – July

40.   Cymbeline by Shakespeare – July

41.   Deathtrap by Ira Levin – July

42.   Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris – July

43.   Look Back In Anger by John Osborne – July

44.   The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh – July

45.   Bug by Tracy Letts – July

46.   Richard III by Shakespeare – August

47.   Twelfth Night by Shakespeare – August

48.   Troilus and Cressida by Shakespeare – August

49.   Fortinbras by Lee Blessing – August

50.   Scenes From An Execution by Howard Baker – October

51.   The Crucible by Arthur Miller – October

52.   Woyzeck by Buchner – October

53.   Defiance by John Patrick Shanley - October

54.   Doubt  by John Patrick Shanley – October

55.   Misalliance by Shaw – October

56.   Candida by Shaw – October

57.   In a Dark Dark House by Neil LaBute – November

58.   Two Rooms by Lee Blessing – November

59.   Art by Yasmina Reza – November

60.   Ruined by Lynn Nottage – December

61.   Noises Off by Michael Frayn – December

62.   The Glass Menagerie by Tenneessee Williams – December

SOME THOUGHTS:

I only read 2 novels in 2011. There was a huge gap of reading any kind of books during the second half of the year, because...well...I'm in grad school. I am halfway through Lev Grossman's The Magician King, but it's not gripping me as much as I'd thought. It probably doesn't help that I was using it to put me to asleep at night. I was more just reading it to digest something that wasn't acting theory or a play. That's probably not the best way to enjoy a book, but there you go. 

The amount of plays I've devoured this year has tripled from the other years, which you can examine in the links below.

I'll provide a list of movies and plays I attended next.

Here's what I read and saw in 2009.

Here's what I read and saw in 2010.

My Blogging Metabolism Has Slowed Way Down

It seems every time I come home for Christmas, I get  the itch to blog more. I consider making a list of resolutions. I have ideas of posting every day. I also have plans to share what culture I've "consumed" over the year. I think about extended essays, short anecdotes, pictures, quotes, videos, etc.

But this year, I've been less enthusiastic.




Writing about all my grad school homework does very little for me. Also, because I don't brandish this blog, I feel less obligated.


I've got loads of homework. The biggie is learning the role of Brutus in JULIUS CAESAR. We're rehearsing this beast for a week, and then giving four performances. It's trimmed fairly well, but it's still JULIUS CAESAR!


The other thing is that I've grown quite tired of reading "Actor Blogs" and don't want mine to turn into one. I find them (most, anyway) incredibly annoying.


Actor training blogs aren't, actually, I found them quite useful--especially in realizing that I wanted to go to grad school (shout out to David and Angela). But there's a dearth of them, and I think that's for a good reason.

Generally, "Actor Blog" posts are: "I scored an audition. I got calledback. I didn't get calledback. I can finally announce what I'm doing a month after I've scored the gig. As I rode on the subway, memorizing the sides, I just really felt a connection to the character!"

And then there's a sticky relationship with actors brandishing news and gossip (even if it's harmless) online for anyone to read. From what I can tell, they either reek of too much information or a ton of vagueness.

Gosh, I sound like a downer.

Egad. I just remembered the title of my blog DRIPS of "Acting Blog."




But writing more would probably be better for me (and I need to remember that I can make some posts private). I actually wrote very little during grad school. (Although I did take copious notes in Acting class. I filled up a notebook quickly, and those pages are ALL OVER THE PLACE! Oh man, if someone who had no connection with my graduate training got hold of it, this person would most definitely think I was crazy. I'm not kidding.)


Who knows what the future of this blog will be. I don't want to eliminate it. I've considered transferring this over to my official website, but I think I'll keep that separate for now. I've always had aspirations of commenting more on television, current events, music, literature, and the like. I've just never got there. Goodness, I think I say this every year.


And, really, there's no time to do that while I'm in training.


So, perhaps my haphazard musings will have to do.


The Christmas tree glows. Everyone in the house is asleep. Except for the animals: the cats, and this ridiculously charming and rowdy golden retriever puppy (though he's probably 70 pounds). I'm listening to this incredible new band Polica. There are plenty of treats (chocolate almond toffee!) and drinks. What I'm trying to say that this atmosphere allows for blogging. It doesn't when I have to rush off to combat class at 8:30 am, or drill the open "o" vowel for a General American dialect, memorize, rehearse, clean, or, if I do have some precious time, it's for necessary vegging out and catching up on Parks 'n Rec.


For the near future, I've got some more posts up my sleeve. I have been keeping track of every book and play I've read, every play I've attended, and every movie I watched this year. So I'll get those lists up soon. (Some of it's impressive, some of it's meh.)

Otherwise, I've got ACTING to do (I really do--though I'll probably watch the final episode of Downton Abbey right now). That's what I want to do. It's not about keeping a blog about acting. And I'm ok with that.