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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

opening paragraph of a potential novel idea.

In this time no one could have predicted the gravity of consequence that led the world to the brink and beyond.  It was a harsh time, blinded through smog and shadows cast by a cruel sun.  And within The City nothing was sacred anymore, it was a step backward, civilization had slipped, and fallen flat on its face, and was bleeding all over itself.  Scarred and tortured it's been limping on ever since, trying and failing to find a foothold back to harmony.  Within this harsh equilibrium that has unfailing consequence hero's rose out of ash, but still were scarred themselves, beatin, humiliated, broken, cast out, they hid in shadows trying to discover a moral code they never followed before, trying to find a higher road, trying to find the solution through the problem, they sought all this and suffered greatly as they became gods of men.  This is their story, this is their resolve, and their deaths, this is the story of the misfits, and their misguided vigilantism that saved The City from the grave.

Sing Song

there was a song in his voice, a distant realm of insanity clawing at the wet walls of his broken throat.  This voice persisted outward, and broke down the boundaries on the way down the slope, nothing could stop the snowballing upward sickness that penetrated the unholy limp masses who were spoon fed rat poison in grains of sugar, and then the sounds piercing calamity will unravel their wrapped bodies, spinning them out of control and into oblivion, the mass destruction of their order of themselves, while the truly inspired lovers of life sang out.  The voice will go on, and on, until the end of the darkest realm of idiocracy, but no one can say for sure when this'll all be over.  Go your own way children, scream your heart out, and find your speaking part, the role of your lifetime and hit with everything within you.  God speed outcasts.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

X-Men: First Class

(the following may contain spoilers if you can read between the lines, but nothing is spelled right out)
Saturday afternoon took a drive to the movie theater settled into my chair, leaned back with my feet up on the empty seats in front of me that I hoped would not be filled by fellow patrons.  The theater darkened and then commenced the numerous flash of trailers for this summers super hero, or super hero esque movies, including Real Steel, which my brother unfortunately leaned over and asked to be taken to, which now i'll have to, and Transformers 3, Green Lantern and Captain America.   And then the movie began and the well known Twentieth Century Fox logo and fanfare began to trumpet through the stadium like seated theater.  And so began X-Men First Class.
The only reason I waste my time writing out that beginning and mundane paragraph is to set up just how much this movie surprised me, you settle in, the usual stuff shows up and your prepared to possibly be disappointed, X-men aren't my favorite group of superheroes, even though the movies were very entertaining, the 2nd part of the original trilogy really the only memorable one the first origin story of Wolverine was an extremely poor film.  Maybe however the reason Wolverine was jsuch a weak movie was that the character behind it, while fun, and cool, and slickly played by Hugh Jackman just lacks a personality to carry a film, and was the spotlighted hero in the original trilogy so, maybe i was more or less tired of him for one thing, and then back to that poorly constructed film.
And then comes this origin story, which exceeded my expectations but is still not a great film, but a very good one nonetheless.  I'd like to say that a Magneto solo origin story probably would have worked very very well, given the early scenes in which he's hunting the nazi's responsible for his parents death, and that is some hefty dramatic stuff, a whole movie dedicated to that, a Nazi hunting movie surely has been done numerous times, but not with mutants.  Those early scenes are some of the best work.  And it seems that Michael Fassbender was really given all the emotional weight of the movie, like one review said, he is the Wolverine like character of the film.
Xavier is not really given as good a treatment dramatically as Erik Lensherr aka Magneto, but James McAvoy plays him to death with naive convictions, which is suitable, just not altogether thrilling.  Though their differentiating attitudes would have probably made a sequel much more interesting, the studio most likely forced on a neatly wrapped up ending to link it directly to the other films.  And that ending does not feel right, we are given a very very interesting and great emotional climax, a perfect scene setting up the moral conundrum between Professor X, and Magneto, that would create a rift between them, and its perfect and simple, there is already big fight scenes minutes before this point, this was the high dramatic climax, the movie should have found a way to end at Magneto's victory, and X's loss, but it doesn't, it continues on, and even Michael Fassbender or the editing boys seemed to know that the ending coming wasn't what they wanted.  Because Fassbenders irish voice begins to sneak in, and you'd think given that the rest of the film didn't have a hint of it, they could have used better takes or something.  Anyways, the climax after the climax was just tacked on and lame.  i can't get into a great many details without ruining it, but if you've seen the movie you probably know what i'm talking about
As for other issues I had the CGI was unpolished in quite a few areas, but not Wolverine horrible however.  And it looked pretty good given that the movie production only wrapped months ago.  So the fact that the movie was very very good, is a testament to the actors, and filmmakers.  Beast looked kind of goofy as though they couldn't didn't want to take the time to do really great make up and prosthetics.  The Angel mutant with the fairy wings, and such was a lame one as well, mostly because she spit fireballs out of her mouth.  Other than that the movie was very well put together.
I loved the Azazel and Beast Fight, it was a little to brief for my taste.  I would like to learn more about Azazel's character.  And as i've stated before the actors all do a top notch job in the movie, they all believe in what the characters their playing are, and it shows.  And the violence is actually pretty intense for a pg-13 super hero movie, pushing it a little bit, especially when Azazel dispatches of some people in the light of the moon, but that's not a strike for me, just a side note that this one doesn't play as simple fun. 
So bottom line very good movie, superbly acted, some minor CGI flaws, and a forced ending.  Go see this movie, its box office isn't doing well, I want the studios to keep making their summer movies of this caliber, or at least the x-men movies, and not like the higher grossing Wolverine movie.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

A Love Song

The young man loved and the young man died
That is the beginning and that is the end
Should his soul move on to a greener pasture
Or fall short and into a purgatory of its own divising
A simplistic choice, and an obvious one
But he trips and he falls more than once when he loved
And being dead, the ghost can't fall, cause the ghost can't walk
Should this be his end all be all forever and to the end
Should it be his choice to reach each new low with a peak of curiousity
Or to face each woe with a woe as me chip buried deep in his chest
All the world he wanted to have, standing alone in front of that big ole stage microphone
Caught on the microfilm of a thousand little beady eyes
That darted and photographed his perfection of imperfections
His cotton candied hair and his tie dye t-shirt under that overstuffed over coat
Maybe the tasteless trigonometry of this uncommon mortification could save him
He's only looking into the smoke and mirrors to see a muddled version of his current self
Where all that loving and all that dying looked so much more noble
So much more lasting, but now he's broken, he's falling down
Chasing a yeti monster into unknown places
Should his soul wake in heaven, would he not be satisfied then?
I should say not, for he'd look down up on the purgatory and see so many who fell only a step lower than he
He'd see the feast for gods, and he'd watch the mandatory servitude of a thousand angels and miss it
Miss feeling helpless and hopeless, because only in those feelings did he feel something at all
It'd be all too good for him, so much beauty, so much genteel and perfect natures,
With imagined rose colored cheeks ashamed to look their God in the eye, like infants he'd be, they'd all be
But in infancy he knew not anything,
Only through aging, and trials and tribulations did he value the warmth of placid calamity
Only in being without love was love so important
So in his life and his death the loving man would go on being what he was a man
Flawed and all, paddling away in his canoe, down a stream of fiction
Of actions and consequences, the fish of the tribulations dancing and making ripples in the never still waters
Rapids attacking, and threatening to overcome him, and he struck with fear,
Struck with absolute fright and remorse,
Only when the waters softened, and the chaos shrink would he be smiling again, and impatient for more
He thrived on chaos, he loved his pain, almost as much as his pleasure
for he had nothing to measure the other by without the other by his side
And by and by the winter comes, the seasons change, and the man makes a son
and he shapes and he molds and he builds him to be a citizen of earth to love and be free,
To take and to train his own child someday, to love and be loved, and be humbled through trials and pain
So he loved and he died and all happened thoroughly without a hitch,
Even when his eyes flickered and waved their farewells,
His love was still sticking around in the air that surrounds.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Beauty in a Cold Cold Stone

I am constantly amazed by your wishy wash raz ma taz
your unlikely choice to settle things wisely
You flash your gun, and then you pummel people to death with your words
And you counteract the fury with a sing a long prayer song
I know I know you only mean to help
But im only going tell you this forever
Don't expect me to fall down and kiss your toes
you are not the perfect rose devoid of a prick
I know your face your attitude and while you are sweet and deep in hte likes of a pool of joys
you don't know the first thing about us
This sin that i'm committing by slandering your good name
Well it can't be helped
you are beautiful and sweet, and have the grace of a bee sting
But you are not hte end all be all of natural honeycombs
I want so badly to be like you, to be so cold inside, and yet smile so fondly that you draw in the fruitflies to your electric light
In good time I know you'll see the truth and you will have gone for perfection
and found a warted mess swimming in feces and this'll be the greatest adventure
A bitter note to end on,
But i'm not bitter, just fond of your failings in the face of your perfect face.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Javier Bardem is Brilliant in Biutiful

Biutiful was released this past Tuesday, bought it myself on blu ray.  Great movie, if you are not familiar with Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu's work, than you are missing out, to be fair however his films are a little heavy dramatically, but they have such an urgent sense of realism.  They way they are written, shot, and acted, they feel like they exist in the real world.  In most movies there is the sense you are watching a movie, in this directors movies that line is almost blurred, and yes they are melodramas but they look and feel tangible, I belive that is his signature, you can see that common realistic quality in every one of his works from Amores Perros to 21 Grams to Babel, and now to Biutiful.  In a way it makes his films a trial to watch, a trial to our emotions, not a trial to get through, they aren't I love those movies.  The highlight of Biutiful is Javier Bardems amazingly shattered performance as a good father/small time criminal who tries his best to do the right think but is tragically held back by the circumstances and world he inhabits, its a great great performance and he deserved all of the accolades he got for the role.  Some of it is hard to watch but i encourage you to at least give it a look see at least once, Biutiful should not be missed.  Also check out his other works.

Thor, Bridesmaids, and Kung Fu Panda 2

First off hello strange readers, or readers who are strangers, the strangers that read this, anyways, the anonymous group of individuals who decipher the words on this blog, i'm back.  I'm going to rant a little bit, not in any angry tone, but in a more just talking way too much but through my fingertips kind of way, the internet way.  The way of the future.


Seen a few movies since i've seen you last, well more than a few, but for the sake of time and space i'm only going to focus on the ones that i've seen in movie theaters, starting with Thor.

Roger Ebert wrote a rather bitter and angry review of the film, attacking it kind of, but in his defense when Kenneth Branagh is behind the camera you expect a little more than what you get, and what you get is pretty simple, simple in plot, simple in character, but all of that I kind of expected.  The performances stood out however as the highlight of the film, from Chris Hemsworths hot headed Thor, and Tom Hiddlestons secretly bitter Loki, to veteran Anthony Hopkins booming out from his lips lines that could have been written by a ten year old, but no matter, my point is all of the actors, not to short change Natalie Portman, in a rather wasted role, or Stellan Skarsgard in an equally wasted role, however the latter will be in The Avengers so maybe he'll have a chance to shine more, and its always great to see Portmans shining face, just there characters lacked much of anything, I digress.  As I was saying the players all handed in great acting jobs for a silly summer movie, and before I go on no I'm not a fan of the character of Thor but I had fun at this movie, yes the plot is lacking, the fight sequences edited kind of horribly, you don't real feel any of the punches, or really see them either, but are instead given over the top sound effects in replace of them.    What i coudl make out in terms of fight sequences was well done, the film looked great, the special facts were sufficient, and while Ebert remarked that the film seemed  a little childish, and took of points for its lack of substance, I was personally surprised they pulled off a watchable film, or a semi-enjoyable one, its beyond semi-enjoyable though, it is a fun movie to go see, and as far as childish goes thats fine I take my younger brother with me, sometimes simplstic fun is better to the brooding trials of say The Dark Knight (which I love).

Also saw Bridesmaids.  Kristin Wiig is my hero, well okay, she's not my hero but she's a great heroine for...comedy...?  nah.  My point is, she's a joy to watch and she proves like Tina Fey that women are a force to be reckoned with in comedy.  And she's rather subdued here, though still let lose, like the scene on the plane where she has some rather naughty behavior that had my cracking up laughing.  Her sort of restraint allows the supporting players to go all out in their ridiculousness, and these supporting women were cast to perfection, each one of them says a line or does something physical that just can't be resisted by your funny bone.  Jon Hamm whose proben on his regular season hosting gig on SNL that he's a great comedic actor, here he plays a sleazy douche bag of a kind of sort of not boyfriend to Wiigs depressed and lonely, loveable chaotic character.  And Jon Hamm eats up time everytime he's on screen but left me with a lasting impression, I hope he does more and more comedy, even the opening scene sex scene had my laughing because of his ridiculousness, you love him because you hate him so much.  The actor who plays the police officer, the love interst, whose name I do not know right now, and since i'm to lazy to go to IMDB i'll just call him the guy who plays the cop, he's a very good foil to the chaos that surrounds the rest of the movie, he brings the whole film, and Kristin Wiig back to sanity, and he too was perfect casting as the eventual love interest of Wiig.
also would like to add that i hope Kristin Wiig and Bill Hader do a movie together, even a predictable con-man comedy, where they can be different characters would be ideal, just something they both can dominate the screen with, love them both, by far the best cast members on SNL.

Finally, went and saw Kung Fu Panda 2.  Action all the way in this one, it was like Ice Age 3 but with Kung Fu, meaning the plot is simply there to get us into roller coaster esque fun fight scenes.  The animation was superb of course, and while its more entertaining because it moves faster than the first Kung Fu Panda, I feel like it may be inferior to the first one.  At least in the first one they tried to tell a good story, but strike that I'm wrong.  I could go back and delete what I just said, and say what i'm going to say next, but I won't, because this way my thought pattern can be seen sort of.  Kung Fu Panda in general is a pointless fun movie anyway, and if the aim of its sequel was to be pointless fun too, why not just make it fast paced and filled with action, and simply filler moments for a simple plot which includes a rather funny but evil and superior villain in the Peacock voiced by a great Gary Oldman.  Pixar is still the champion of animation, and no matter how much people may claim Shrek is a classic, its aged and lame, and annoying, its sequels more so, I can't think of one Pixar movie I can say that about even the 3 Toy Story's that have come out have proven as fresh and fascinating as the original.   Dreamworks seems quick to cash in, and while How to Train Your Dragon ill admit is a superior animated movie on par with some of Pixar's Kung Fu Panda is not, as a movie, I can say it didn't really leave me with anything, and by that I don't mean something intellectual, I just mean something I can get nerdy about, something particular cool, as I watched it I laughed, I thought some of the action was cool, but i can't put my finger on a single moment that stands out in my mind, it seemed like as soon as I left the theater I knew I'd seen a fun movie but I wasn't very impressed.  That sounds like a really horrible critique of the film, but its not, i know it was batter than monsters vs. aliens, and the shrek films, and i think Dreamworks is getting better, but i'm gonna wait to see what they have in store next to see if something impresses me.