Hours Until Departure...

As I sit in my room debating whether to watch Rescuers Down Under of Finding Nemo at 3:30 am on the day that I leave Australia, I look back on the time I had here...

I departed on July 13th to a country that I barely knew, to live at a place that I didn't know where it was, with people who I have never heard of before. I leave on November 23rd from a country that I deeply love, from a place that I considered home, with people who have become my second family.

There is no possible way to describe all of my experiences in hundreds of thousands of words. So I am no going to even try. I am just going to say that it was the best decision I ever made and sincerely recomend it to anyone who has a chance.

Thanks to everyone who followed my goings on and asked about my time here. I look forward to seeing all of you over thanksgiving and christas break

Video Coming Soon.

Cheers and Love,
Richard

One Month Left in Australia!

So it is October 23rd in Oz right now and I realized I leave a month from today! It is crazy to think I have been here for three and a half months already. I have experienced so many things and have so many stories that I could spend all week typing and not be able to tell everything.

Just for a couple a recent things. This past weekend, I went to Brisbane for the Australian Mixed Ultimate Frisbee Championships. It was an amazing tournament to say I've played in a nationals. The team I played for, Rubi, was ranked 6th in the tournament, but we ended up getting 17th. It was unfortunate because the team won 5 games and lost only three. However, we just lost the wrong games, losing to two teams who we had beaten a couple of weeks earlier. However the tournament was a great deal of fun, and it was a good atmosphere meeting a bunch of people. The party was also some good fun with a Vegas theme, and made me realize I dont really know what people in vegas wear. So i just threw on a collared shirt and tie and had some fun dancing and what not.

The weekend before that I went to a party and my friend Ali B's house for a frisbee social. There was a talent show and dinner and stuff. His house looks on the harbor and the bridge and it is an amazing sight at night and during the day. I also went to Manly beach which is like half an hour bus and half an hour ferry and went surfing there for the first time in Australia. The waves weren't much but it was a lot of fun surfing and soaking up the sun. It was a definitely reminder or southern california life.

Besides for day to day actions, nothing is really going on besides what I described. My brother, Dave, did crash at my apartment fot the night. We just had a few beers and chilled. It was fun to see him. It has been quite an unbelievable experience these past three and a half months and i can't even begin to think what the last month will bring. This trip has been such a blessing in disguise. From barely deciding to even applying to com to Australia to loving every moment of this trip, I am so happy with my decisions, and thank everyone who encouraged me to go on this adventure, my biggest supporters being my parents.

Thanks everyone for being interested in my goings on and see you all soon.

Love and Cheers,

Richard

Hey Hey

It's been way too long this time so I have a slideshow from my mid-semester break trip. These pictures are more than I can say in a long winded blog and it has music too! So I hope you enjoy and I'll throw some words up here in a few days.

Oz Again

So Saturday was another amazing day to continue one of the best weekends of my life. I went down to Paddy’s market which is essentially a large swap meet with cheap stuff and lots of produce. I got a sweet touristy beach towel and some comfy sweat pants. In the afternoon I took a train down to Sutherland with Josh and Jimmy to meet our friend Eywen. We want on this thirty minute bush, nature walk down this trail that I wouldn’t have noticed from the road. About fifteen to twenty minutes in, the path opened up onto the Woronora River, which was absolutely amazing. After another fifteen minutes of walking, we came up to his house.

We hung out there for a little while and then got ready to head out on the river. His backyard literally is on the river. Like if I kept walking through his backyard I would have fallen onto the water. So we took out some kayaks on river and began to paddle. We stopped several times along the river to relax and have some fun. At one of the places, we want rock climbing up to this ledge to look out on the river. I only feared for my life a couple of times, climbing up the face in just some board shorts. Unfortunately no one had a water proof camera because the view was picturesque. Later down the river, we put are kayaks on the shore and swam over to some rope swings. After some group and personal difficulties we had some good jumps.
The group headed back to the house for some playoff footy (rugby). We headed up to get some Indian food before hopping on the train and back to the dorms. We all realized how difficult it is to stay awake after kayaking for four hours because we all passed out back at the dorms within an hour.

The next day we woke up to find the rain pouring down. After beautiful clear skies and sunshine from Monday through Saturday, Sunday was a different story. This day, I headed over to Macquarie University for the New South Wales mixed regionals club tournament. Yeah that was a long name, but we did well. We were ranked seventh going into the tournament, and ended up getting fourth. The top three teams had their own tournament due to the time constraints and field space. So the team I played for (RuBi) went undefeated, winning five games in the day and getting the best place we could. I was stoked on the day because it was extremely windy and rainy all day, and to play as well as we did for never practicing together as a team, was quite encouraging. So this means that I will be traveling to Brisbane for the Australia mixed club nationals tournament in the middle of October. RuBi is going in ranked sixth in the nation, which is awesome to be able to say.

Monday was not as fun as a day because I had two essays due. One was 1,500 words and the other was 2,500 words. So it pretty much took all of my mental capacity to push out those two papers over the last week. I did complete them and turned them in on time, and I felt pretty solid about them. However it caused me to just lay around and be lazy all day yesterday which felt amazing.

That’s all for now. I am having the best time here in Australia. I do miss everyone back home and couldn’t be more grateful to my parents, hi mum and dad, for this opportunity. I hope all my friends traveling around the world are safe and hopefully give me an update soon. I’ll be back soon, but not too soon!

Cheers, Richard

More Oz

In my last post, I forget to mention going to the Sydney Aquarium. I went with Jimmy, Josh, and Libby from next door. I am pretty sure I could spend all day there. At the seal tank, you can go underneath and seal the seals underwater which was pretty fun to seem them swimming around. However, it couldn't beat the underground tunnels of the other tank. It had turtles, rays, and sharks; Oh My! We stayed in there for at least half an hour just out of amazement. It was nice to get out of the rain that has been going on. But i finally think winter is wearing off because most of the past couple weeks have been beautiful.

The tournament I got asked to play for with Rubi, a mixed club team based in Sydney, got canceled last weekend because it rained from Thursday morning on through the weekend. The tournament has been rescheduled for this coming Sunday. Due to time constraints and field shortages, 3 teams have automatically moved on and the remaining eight teams will play for 5 bids to nationals in the middle of October. So it is looking likely that we will be going to Brisbane than.

Yesterday was one of the best days I have ever had. I woke up about 10, had a quick breakfast and headed for a train down to Cronulla. We (Josh, Jimmy, and Myself) got there about 12 maybe 1215 and got picked up by our friend Brett, who plays Frisbee at Sydney Uni. We took a walkabout around the cliffs of Cronulla for about an hour and a half. We then walked around a hill and along a shore to our friend Rachel's house, who lives in her parent's beach house literally on the shore. It was the single most amazing view/ housing placement that I have ever seen. She let us borrow her paddle boards and kayak to go out around the lake or bay for a while. We came back to hang out on the shore for a while just soaking up the sun and enjoying some native friendship. From there we went to Brett's house for a barbecue and continuation of relaxation. We then headed back to uni for some cocktails, disc golf in Victoria Park, and karaoke at Paddy's Irish Pub. It was a day that I will remember forever.

School is going fairly well. I turned in a paper about The Dark Knight last week. On Monday, i have a paper discussing the religious influences of Fight Club due and a comparison of The Thin Red Line and Saving Private Ryan. Should be interesting to see how the papers turn out. I am about half way done with both of them. School is kind of crazy for the next couple weeks with papers and projects. But I cant wait for Spring Break to go on the Great Ocean Road and Kangaroo Island. Then no assignments due in October! So i am getting excited to complete all of these and continue to enjoy Australia.

Today was also an amazing day. I headed out to Coogee Beach with some friends from the apartments after class. We hung out on the beach, playing some volleyball, laying out, and body surfing. The water seems to be warming up just enough to start going in. Tomorrow, I am going to Sutherland to hang out with some natives and go kayaking down the river to some rope swings and have another unbelievable day.

I am truly blessed to be given this experience and I couldn't be happier with my decision to come to Australia. I miss everyone back home, but look forward to coming home in November with a more worldly perspective on life and a better outlook for having experienced a new beauty in this world. I miss you all and do please keep me updated on all travels and adventures.

Australia Part 4

Once again there has been some delay in the posting, but I think that is a good thing for me since it means that I have been busy experiencing Australia. Don’t quite remember all of the tiny details of the past couple weeks, but a run-through should give you a hint of what I have been doing.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been hanging out with a couple of kids who play ultimate back in the states; Josh from Arizona and Jimmy from Penn State. These are truly awesome guys and they live next door to me in the on-campus housing so it’s pretty convenient. I have gone down to Bondi Beach a couple of times now. The first time, I enjoyed some amazing fish and chips from a little shop across the street from the beach followed by a couple of 30 cent soft serve cones from McDonalds. On the way to Bondi, I saw the Sydney Harbor Bridge for the first time since I have been it, and it was amazing. I actually got to drive over it today on the way back from Canberra, but more about that later.

School is nothing to write home about even though I pretty much am writing home about it… hmm. I just submitted part of a paper to my religion and film teacher to attempt to get it approved for the 2,500 word essay due on the 15th of the month. It is about the religious influences in the movie Fight Club, like the four noble truths of Buddhism, yin and yang, Taoism, and the Holy Trinity. I had a lot of fun writing the first couple of paragraphs, so hopefully it gets accepted. No too much going on in the other classes, except for a media campaign in media relations class. My group is trying to raise the level of teacher preparation for accommodating deaf children grades K-6 in a theoretical sense.

Ultimate Frisbee is going a lot better than expected. Although I declined to officially be on the Sydney Uni Uni Games Team, I still practice with them during the week and even joined them on a warm up tournament this weekend. I went to Canberra with the team whish is about three hours southwest from Sydney. We just played a round robin kind of style with three other teams. We won our games 15-4, 15-3, and 15-1. Technically meaning we won the tournament with a huge prize of 20 pieces of chocolate. Our team also won the spirit award which gained us another 20 pieced of chocolate. We were all pretty happy with the win because we had between 7-9 people throughout the day, so it was pretty tiring but very satisfying to win those games like that. For the total of the three games I caught two scores, and had team leading totals of eight d’s, and fourteen assists. Also, I only had one turn, so I was stoked on the weekend. Next weekend I got asked to play on a mixed club team at NSW regionals. There are going to be sixteen teams there and eight go to nationals and we are going in to the tournament ranked 3rd or 4th so it like we will go to nationals, which is pretty exciting.

I have seen Dark Knight twice, Pineapple Express, and Tropic Thunder since I have been here. I was happy with all of them but they couldn’t really compare with Ledger’s Joker even though James Franco gave it a good effort in Pineapple Express.

I hope everyone is doing well. I don’t know how long it will be until I post next because including this weekend I am gone 4 out of 5 weekends with five assignments due this month, so it’ll be a busy one. Thanks for checking my blog out, and please give me updates on your lives are going, either on facebook or email, because I miss everyone and want to know how you are doing!

Cheers,
Richard

Australia, Part 3

Ok. So I was trying to post every weekend, but I got a little side-tracked last weekend. For all 5 of you who read it religiously Sunday night before you drift off to sleep thinking about me, I apologize. I have been doing quite well though. I am two for two in completing my homework assignments (on time!) and I haven’t missed a class as of half way in to my third week of classes. I am not just saying this because my parents read this, it’s true. Classes are going fairly well except for my Cross Cultural Perspectives in Cinema class which has a little old lady who likes she could have been a villain in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. She has this creepy penetrating stare that makes me feel uncomfortable. But I push on and proceed in the world of academia as any strong-willed person finds themselves doing. However, I have not been a hermit the whole time since school started.

This past weekend I joined some kids from Australearn (The program that I enrolled to Australia with) on a self-guided tour of the Sydney Olympic Park, which was quite a sight to see. We unfortunately arrived too late to go into the stadium where they held the opening ceremony and some events, but we did check out lost of other venues like the volleyball / badminton/ table tennis gymnasium, the baseball stadium, and the aquatic center. People are supposed to pay $3 to get into the aquatic center since there were events going on, but due to the confusion of the aquatic staff, we were “confused” for athletes and entered through the exit for free. It was an amazing place to see, and we even sat down to watch a few events of a random swim meet.

Tuesday night, I went with a few people to the casino in Sydney called Sun City. We originally intended to watch the USA vs. Angola basketball game because the day time manager said that the sports bar ad satellite TV so the game would be no problem, but to our dismay the night manager informed us that this was not the case. So, being savvy Americans, we decided to grab a cold glass of beer and watch some Equestrian! It was quite an impressive showing from the women riders of Germany. However my self-diagnosed ADD kicked in and I decided to see what kind of damage I could do against the $5 video blackjack machine. The beer was starting to kick in and calm the nerves of gambling so I felt nice and relaxed. I played intelligently; hitting, standing, and doubling down on the right times. All in all, I won $55 on a mix of blackjack and roulette. I put $5 on odd, won, and collected my ten dollars in total. I had a good night.

It has been a great first month in Sydney, and I look forward for the weeks to come. I am truly blessed to have this opportunity and hope everyone at home is doing well.

Cheers,
Richard

Australia Part 2

So the first week of classes is over, as is my second week in Sydney. I am attempting to find some sort of a routine or organization with school and living in a foreign country, but I am wondering if that is even the best thing. Maybe I should just fly by the seat of m pants and see what happens. My classes seem like they will be interesting. I have three film classes and a media relations classes. The film classes all have a screening every week so I am on campus for quite a bit of time, but it’s ok because the campus is beautiful. I did have a bit of anxiety finding my classes because it’s a new campus and I didn’t find my classes before this week. I felt like a freshman again asking people where to go and finding kids who were in my class, but also had no idea where the room was. I eventually found them all. A couple highlights of my classes are I only have one final since they all want research papers instead. So once those are all turned in I can relax a little bit. For my religion and film class, I am writing a review on Fight Club’s religious parallels with Buddhism and its ongoing search for something to fill that void, when in the end the answer is nothingness.

The weather has been quite a different one than expected. It’s rained about half the time I have been, which has definitely prohibited the traveling around the city. I guess it is understandable since it is the middle of winter here, but I am excited for spring and some good weather. I have been over to Darling Harbor, but haven’t quite made it over to Sydney Harbor to the bridge or opera house, but I have plenty of time to do that. I have walked around the city a little bit with some other kids from my program. We saw where the Real World Sydney was filmed on the way to the harbor, so that was kind of cool. I haven’t done too much traveling around, but I look forward to in the weeks to come.

I have been trying to find a way to exercise around here because the food isn’t the healthiest place in the world. I can see how this beats America as the fattest country in the world even though the city doesn’t quite display this. So I joined the Sydney Uni Ultimate Frisbee Association (Suufa), and I have been practicing with them on Wednesdays. I also got asked to play with the club team (Fakulti) on Thursdays. So I am thankfully keeping myself running around outside because the pushups were just not cutting it. The Suufa is a co-ed team this semester and they are going to the Australia Uni Games in Melbourne in September. I made the squad, but told them I couldn’t go because it was a bit too expensive to play. I joined the team for some karaoke on Thursday night, and I can’t wait to see those pictures.

My roommates are still awesome, and there has been very little drama in the two weeks of living here. I am having a blast spending time with people from my program and meeting some amazing Australians that know how to have fun. I hope everyone back home is doing well. I miss you, and see you at Thanksgiving. More to follow…

Cheers, Richard

Australia, Part 1

Sorry for the delay of the update. This is the first time I have a stable internet connection of my own, so I decided to inform all four of you who look at my blog about my experiences so far in Australia. I arrived at the airport on Sunday, July 13th at 8:00 pm for an 11:50 pm flight, however with delays we left at about 3:00 am on Monday for Melbourne. We missed our connecting flight to Cairns and had to get a re-route through Brisbane. We finally got to Cairn twelve hours late and went strait to bed.

The next morning we woke up about six to head out for a day at the Great Barrier Reef. During the first session of the day, I went scuba diving for the first time and it was amazing. I was under for about 35 minutes. It was a little weird at first, because I kept wanting to go up for air, but had no need. During the next session we went out to this reef in the middle of nowhere where we got to snorkel. This was a breath-taking view. There were all of these colorful animals that would swim pretty close. It was amazing just sitting there and letting the ocean take me where it wanted me to go. It had a huge drop off that reminded me of Finding Nemo, I could have sworn it was where they went for that scene. We went out that night to the bar at the hostel we were staying and had a few drinks. The next day we went to the Nature Reef Park for an aboriginal (indigenous people of Australia) experience and to see some animals from Australia.

The next day we flew to Sydney and got acclimated with the city. I met one of my roommates Kris (Kirsten) who is from Australia. She is for lack of a better word, awesome. I have mostly been hanging out with people from my program but we have been going out to the pubs and bars soaking up the local culture because I want to be a good ambassador. I walked over to the harbor with some friends a few days ago, but not quite to the part with the Opera House. I have slowly been meeting my other roommates, Tash (from South Africa), and Francis and Leandra from the east coast of the states. I did see the Dark Knight on Sunday (with a review soon to follow) night with some Australearn people. It is indescribable how much I liked every aspect of the movie. All of the foreign exchange students have been having orientation the past couple of days, and I got my classes today.

Overall Australia is amazing and I couldn’t be happier. I do miss everyone, but this culture is helping out. I love my roommates and have me some good people from the program to spend some time with. Thanks for the people that asked how I am doing, and I hope Mission Viejo is functioning without me, and there me will more to follow….

Cheers, Richard

Pretty Late on Pretty. Odd.

Panic at the Disco’s new album, Pretty. Odd., is on the completely opposite end of the spectrum of their 2005 album, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. A Fever was a techno, dance-beat album with little time for breathing or slowing down. The 2005 album may have tired the guys of Panic out tempo wise, but lyrically and musically the band gives a different but amazing album that shows maturity and sensibility.

Pretty. Odd. is an unexpected rock present from Panic at the Disco. The differences between the new album may explain why the band has dropped the exclamation mark after the word panic in their name. They mellowed out but tightened up. Their musical sound has matured volumes; playing songs with more intricate arrangements, using a larger variety of musical instruments, and really experimenting with several different genres.

Panic could have easily made another 10-12 techno dance songs as A Fever You Cant Sweat Out part 2, but challenged themselves to create something that is another solid album by the band, but not because of the band’s name or ability to re-create an older album. I think that with technology, that the musical landscape is so vast that the album could fit in somewhere. I think it is a indie(even though they are on a major label, i was referring to the sound) rock/pop album if I had to give it a name, but also includes elements of folk, acoustic, and electronics.

...I liked it

Big Sur

I went to Big Sur with my friends Evan and Marc Spring Break of 2005, and I finally made a video for it. I hope you enjoy.

The Incredible Hulk

By: Richard Prodan

Preface: Went to the midnight showing of this movie. Don't know why I feel obligated to inform you of this but I do.

The Acting: Maybe its just for my love of Edward Norton, but i thought he was a brilliant cast for this role. Norton plays the re-imagined Bruce Banner and alter-ego The Hulk. He perfectly portrays the fleeting scientist that is both frightened and trapped by the power within him. Edward Norton's facial expressions and body language help convey a man who simply want to be alone and has gone to great lengths to achieve his solidarity, but also shows his simple physical and emotional need for Liv Tyler's, Betty Ross. Liv Tyler did what she needed to do. She helped move the story along and played the daughter of her love's (American) enemy. She was whiny at some times but wasn't terrible. I thought Tim Roth's power hungry soldier who longed to have the strength that he saw in the Hulk and was conveyed in his eyes. (I thought it was powerful to use the same sense.)

Story (Script) ***Attention Some Spoilers*** : I thought the script was solid. The beginning was very clever with the blood spilling in the drink to help locate where Bruce Banner was hiding. I didn't quited understand why Emil Blonsky was brought in from the UK to help capture Banner. I don't know why he just wasn't American, but moving on. I thought that the idea of creating a super soldier was a little worn out, especially after Iron Man that came out in the previous month. I did enjoy Blonsky's transformation into the super soldier that eventually became the Abomination and it wasn't just a one time thing. The action scenes were well scripted, the dynamic of Ross and Banner was enticing, and the evolution of the Abomination was exciting. There was some cheesy-ness in some obvious lines, but i was made up for. Also, giving the Hulk a voice really humanized him allowing people an easier stretch to identify with him. My only major disagreement was with the very last part of the last fight scene. (The fight between the Hulk and when Blonsky finally becomes the full Abomination.) It lacked a certain edge or power. Why let the villain live, he served his purpose, now move on. Of course I loved Stark's cameo pointing toward an Avengers movie (Which will come out after Iron Man 2 and Thor in 2010, and Captain America in 2011 to set up the whole team.)

Directing: Louis Leterrier's direction was very good. I think that with the script he was given, he created an action-packed movie with little slowing down. However when there was a slower moment, it was not boring. Leterrier used comedy and plot to keep the audience's attention. He very effectively used light and shadows on the Hulk to maintain his first appearance mysterious. His shots of the chase in Brazil were also very thrilling. The fight scenes were well done. I cant remember any particular moment that I thought had some bad directing.

Overall I give this movie a B+ for Edward Norton's acting, a solid script, and great fight scenes.

The Daily Aztec Wouldnt Publish This so here it is...

SDSU is Ultimately Getting Better
By: Richard Prodan

You may have seen people running around Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday nights throwing frisbees on the turf fields near the Aquaplex. And I know what you were thinking, “Where are the dogs?” These guys don’t need dogs to play with frisbees. They are San Diego State’s Ultimate Frisbee team. Ultimate Frisbee, like many other sports, takes athleticism, dedication, perseverance, and a love for the game. The team practices multiple times a week, travels throughout the southwest states for tournaments playing different college teams, and works towards winning a national championship. However, this did not happen over night.
Five years ago, a couple of students took a frisbee and started throwing it around on the San Diego State campus. They caught the attention of some of their peers and began scheduling throwing sessions and working on offensive and defensive strategies. Soon they were traveling to local tournaments playing with other college teams. Little did those ten or eleven guys know that they had laid down the foundation for the San Diego State Ultimate Frisbee Program.
A brief explanation of the rules may be helpful to better understanding the game. The field is 120 yards long including both endzones and forty yards wide. To start a point, seven players from each team start out in opposite end zones and one team throws it to the other. The objective is to catch the disc inside your end zone. A player cannot move once he/she catches the frisbee and a player has ten seconds to throw to a teammate or it is a turn over. Games are traditionally played to fifteen and one can sub out after a point is over. Eligibility for a player is five years once he/she starts playing as long as they are working towards a degree. There are currently over 300 men’s college teams, and the number is constantly growing.
Fast forward five years and the growing program now has both an A and B Team and is hoping to add a women’s team with in the next couple of years. The A Team traveled to Nevada February 8-10 of this year for the annual 3-day Trouble in Vegas Tournament. This year brought eighty men’s teams from all around the nation. San Diego State finished up 24th with big wins over Western Washington, Richmond, and Texas A&M. During the Saturday through Monday of February 16-18, the A Team played in the President’s Day Tournament at UCSD. The team came in to the tournament ranked 5th and played tough the first day defeating Cal Poly SLO and UC Davis. The following day proved to be the best day in San Diego State ultimate frisbee history. The team beat UCLA for the first time in three seasons 12-10. Then, the team beat Arkansas University 12-11. The biggest win for the team was against Arizona, who is currently ranked 4th in the nation. San Diego State pulled out a hard-fought victory on universe point (next point wins) 12-11 with a layout catch by co-captain Will Griffin.
The San Diego State frisbee team is now 36th in the nation, the highest in program history, and hopes to continue climbing the ranks throughout the season. The A team will be traveling north for the Stanford Qualifier at the end of February while the B team has tournaments at both UCI and Long Beach State in March. The championship series (playoffs) will begin for both teams in April.

Music For the Rain

It was raining is San Deigo today and whenever it starts to rain I love listening to slower, more acoustic and more indie music. so I made a playlist, thought i would share it since I havent posted in a while, but I should be seeing in bruges soon


Augustana- Coffee and Cigarettes

Cartel- Piano Song

Coldplay- Warning Sign

Death Cab for Cutie- Marching Bands Of Manhattan

Dispatch- Water Stop

Jack Johnson- Breakdown

Jack Johnson- Traffic In The Sky

John Mayer- Gravity

Loudon Wainwright III- Daughter

Matt Costa- Emergency Call

Modest Mouse- Gravity Rides Everything

Modest Mouse- Little Motel

OK GO- Let It Rain

Rogue Wave- Bird On A Wire

Rogue Wave- Christians In Black

Rogue Wave- Catform

Rogue Wave- California

Wilco- Either Way

Wilco- Impossible Germany

+44- Weatherman

I Am Legend Review

By: Richard Prodan

I Am Legend is the gripping tale of physical and mental survival by the last man on Earth, Robert Neville played by Will Smith. Neville is a military scientist who is attempting to find a cure for the K-V virus that has killed a majority of the population and turned the rest into blood-thirsty vampires that feed on flesh and disintegrate when encountering sunlight. The objective during the day is to thrive and the objective at night is to survive. Neville creates a routine during the day including a hunt for fresh meat, a trip to the video store, and clearing out houses one by one. As the sun goes down, he begins to lock up his apartment and attempts to stay safe from what lurks at night.

Acting: Will Smith was phenomenal as the last man on Earth. The emotional connection he created with the audience has been unmatched by any actor in some time. Smith co-star was a dog named Sam (Samantha). Sam was an amazing addition to the movie. The well-trained canine created a great on screen presence that allowed Smith to further his depiction of loneliness and exemplify the human necessity for companionship.

Directing: The direction of the film was different from other blockbusters. It felt like a camera was attached to Smith’s waist during certain scenes giving the audience the feeling that he was the last man on Earth and the film was more or a self-made documentary than a full length feature; except this documentary had a very high production value. The direction of the film gave the audience a realistic view of an apocalyptic future where one man must carry on. The shots of an abandoned New York were beautiful visually and the fight sequences were edited perfectly to create a controlled chaos where the film was thrilling but comprehendible. It was a strong directorial showing for Francis Lawrence who also directed Constantine.

Writing: Portraying the main character as a military scientist is the perfect fit for the movie. It allowed Neville to both survive from the zombie-like vampires and test different samples of possible antidotes in his basement laboratory. A military background gave plausibility to Neville’s rigged traps for capturing the creatures, his weapons training, and ability to stay alive. The writing was specifically well-crafted when discussing the scientific logistics of the K-V virus. The monologue about the virus was intelligent and scientific yet easily accessible.


Overall I give this movie an B+