Sunday, November 16, 2014

You Win or You Die - Yep, it's Game of Thrones!

Hey guys! It's finally time, winter is coming! Oh and ... 

****SPOILER WARNING****

At this point I am only going to write about the television show as this is a film and media blog and I haven’t read the books yet. One of my 2015 goals is to read all the books in preparation for George R.R. Martin’s 6th book The Winds of Winter. (Odds are, he may actually be done by the time I am haha). On that note though, I do have a couple of friends who have read the books, and one in particular is like the Game of Thrones historian fanatic so I know quite a lot for someone who hasn’t delved in yet.

I laugh a little as I write this because when I started watching the show, I was only going to watch one episode…  you know, just to see what it’s like… I did NOT want to be a bandwagon fan and moreover I was only watching it because I heard of certain characters and was interested in them.

Welp, 4 binge-sessions later I finished season four and can’t stop thinking about it. It’s been the most enveloping story for me in a long while. It’s like watching a spider create her web, so intricate and complex, an instrument of both beauty and death. I just can’t turn away until I see it come full circle. 

Like anything else there are things I love and things I don't. I like ending posts on a positive note if possible so first I’ll go into what I don’t love about the show so that I can end on what I do.

What I don’t love…

Yes, I'm a prude for saying this and I don't care. I hate how HBO, well, HBOifies everything. What made me hesitate to watch GOT in the first place was HBO’s inexplicable need to make everything over-the-top and excessive. Now HBO isn’t the only offender, Showtime and Starz and many other premium channels also get a kick out of their ability to show everything, but I think I am not the only one who wishes things were a little more veiled.


The sex and violence in GOT is completely unnecessary. Not that things don’t happen in the books, but from what I’ve heard a lot of the gratuitous scenes and especially the sexual content have been twisted and magnified in the process of book-to-screen adaptation. HBO feels like people won’t watch if there isn’t something shocking or sexually stimulating every five minutes, but I can assure you the plot and dialogue of GOT are so intriguing that adding all this feels like someone just threw a full garbage can all over a sumptuous feast table. It isn't enough to make me stop watching, I can omit all the parts I don't like from my viewing if I want, but it leaves me sometimes with a disappointing taste in my mouth.

For example... Did we need to see Gregor crush Prince Oberyn’s head, watching his eyeballs get pushed in until his skull tore apart? NO. I think simply the aftermath or a sound effect would have been just as effective. Alfred Hitchcock was a master because he knew the art of subtlety. Often seeing mere pieces of an image is enough to leave a haunting impression forever.


Brienne and Jamie.
For them, I fangirl.
Why do we feel like we need a deluge of sex, nudity, and shocking imagery to keep people interested, as if you were trying to pitch this to a 13-year old boy? As a society we really take pride in leaving nothing to the imagination like it's an expression of freedom, yet here we are exhausted and numbed because we’ve seen it all.

On that note, I also know that there are some scenes, characters, and circumstances in the show that are different from the books that really did not need to be changed. I can understand their need to change a few things because things on screen do not flow or make sense in the same way they do in prose. I am huge advocate for NOT being a purist because of those reasons, however when you do stupid things that don’t have a purpose, that’s where I draw the line. Sometimes it changes the entire makeup of a character or situation, and that is unacceptable. 

Okay, thus ends my segment on what I don’t love. Now, onto the good stuff!

What I love…

Jon Snow, as epic as he looks.
I adore the story and world of Game of Thrones, more formally known as the series A Song of Ice and Fire. As a lover of all things Tolkien, I am instantly attracted to the complex worlds, cultures, languages, and characters. George R.R. Martin is a pronounced Tolkien fan and said one of his inspirations for ASOIAF was my favorite story of all time, The Lord of the Rings. Here's what Martin had to say here in his Rolling Stone interview earlier this year:

“As I read Return of the King, I didn't want it to be over. That last book blew my mind, particularly the scouring of the Shire. I didn't like that when I was in high school. The story's over, and they destroyed the ring — but he didn't write "and now they lived happily ever after." Instead, they went home and home was all fucked up. The evil guys had burned down some of the woods; a fascist-like tyranny had taken over. That seemed anticlimactic to me. Frodo didn't live happily ever after or marry a nice girl hobbit. He was permanently wounded; he was damaged. As a 13 year old, I couldn't grasp that. Now, every time I re-read The Lord of the Rings — which I do, every few years — I appreciate the brilliance of the scouring of the Shire. That's part of what lifts the book from all its imitators. There was a real cost to Tolkien's world. There's a tremendous sadness at the end of Lord of the Rings, and it has a power. I think that's partly why people are still reading and re-reading these books.”

Bran Stark, the hope.
In other interviews Martin mentions that The Scouring of the Shire was one of the biggest inspirations for the series. This notion that life isn’t a fairy tale, but that heroes and goodness are always among us. Like Martin, The Return of the King was the book that blew my mind too first reading Tolkien. Martin’s series is incredibly harsh, but I think that’s what makes the heroes stand out more. The light of the hopeful characters, though they are few, is like a lamp held up in a window.


Though I can definitely see Martin’s love for Tolkien in his story, it isn’t quite as high-fantasy or magical as most in the same genre. The magic and mystery are definitely there but the brutality of the story makes it more historical in essence. Personally, it reminds me very much of the Old Testament, particularly the book of Judges which is full of carnality and the wickedness of man as it marks one of the darkest times in Israel’s history. Just like Westeros, during the time of the Judges there was no king and it was a select few trying their best to hold the land together at a time when people treated life as a free-for-all. The time of the Judges spans throughout the OT and includes memorable characters like Samson, Delilah, Gideon, and one of the most interesting females in the Bible, Deborah. The time of the Judges was also a time where men were fighting over gods and idols very much like in Martin’s world, and the honorable men (like Ned Stark) were ignored or killed off.



I adore this image of Arya and Ned.
Daddy's girl is an understatement.
Though Martin's tale is indeed dark and full of terrors, there is also a bond that entraps both reader and viewer and that is the Stark family. The children of two of the last honorable people in Westeros begin together and then are separated over distance and time. The bond and love that unites them is the driving force of the story. I love what Martin said in the Rolling Stone interview about Ned Stark's death and why it had to happen: 

"I knew right from the beginning that Ned wasn't going to survive. For one thing, many of the stars are his children, and you'd have to remove daddy for them to come into their own. That was part of it: I wanted to remove the certainty. There are moments in motion pictures or in books where the death of a character has enormous impact, not only because you miss the character and you identified with the character, but also because the remaining characters are now in serious trouble."

I cannot wait to start reading the books and even moreso to find out what Martin is going to do in his last two books.

Martin is one of the few male writers
to have created truly exceptional
and diverse female characters.
Technically, the show is proficient in ways so many others only dream of.  It has an intense cinematic look and feel and it's probably a good thing that there are only 10 episodes a season because if there were more HBO would go bankrupt. And on that note, I love that the seasons are only 10 episodes making this deeply involved and complex world easy to digest for non-bookreaders. Though I haven’t read the books, I feel like I have in many ways just by how gloriously exquisite and detailed the show is with everything from the costumes to the food to the landscapes. I feel like I’ve been to Westeros even though I haven’t left my couch, (or really my computer desk). Additionally, the score of each season is breathtaking. And that opening theme? You know you’ve made a masterpiece when people actually look forward to the opening credits. It’s a knockout!


But my favorite part of the show has got to be the cast. I can’t say enough about them. They are so unique, ranging in a wide variety of ages, races, and appearance. Their casting director deserves an Emmy just for that. This wasn’t a happenstance cast but one chosen very purposefully and specifically to suit their characters. I don’t feel that any of them are acting while watching the show, but rather that I am indeed watching events unfolding in real time. I see a lot of funny memes and articles about how weird it is to see GOT actors in real life, and that’s mostly because they are so good at being their characters you forget even the idea that they could possibly be anyone else. 

I would not recommend Game of Thrones to everyone, particularly to those who are sensitive to graphic material. It's quite brutal. However, as a story I couldn't recommend it enough. I've never felt so emotionally torn, intrigued, disgusted, entranced, and even afraid all at once. No one really knows what "Martin the Mastermind" is up to or what is in store, but I hope that he will at least give a few of his wonderful characters a fate that ends in redemptive hope. Even so, valar morghulis!

And if you want to watch the coolest opening sequence ever, here you  go! What is really neat is that every season they show (or don't show) new places on the map based on what's happening where in the story. Also next to each actor's name is their house sigil (symbol) of the character they play. It's the little details that matter. Love it!

Saturday, September 20, 2014

"You Are Being Watched..." - Person of Interest

So I came to the Person of Interest party a little late and because of that I couldn’t watch Season 3 in real time and had to wait to binge watch it once the DVD was released on September 2nd. But in many ways I prefer marathoning and this was definitely worth the wait! 

Though I currently watch several shows, my personal opinion is that Person of Interest is the best currently on TV. I have broken down the “why” into three parts on all its epicness and what I believe makes the show stand out a head higher than the rest 

So here we go! 

1. The Ladies 
I’ll unpack reason number one by explaining one thing I hate most in contemporary entertainment, feminazis. This on-the-nose, Lara-Croft-Wannabe archetype that seems to be drowning all forms of art and entertainment in a deluge of affectation. Person of Interest is very unique in this aspect because it follows some simple rules of creating bad-ass female characters… 

I. Rule number one, bad-ass women don’t need to say they’re bad-ass… or say anything really to prelude their badassery, for that matter. All they need to do is be themselves. The female characters of POI never say phrases like, “Is it because I’m a woman?” or any other colloquialism we’ve heard so much it makes us want to tear our hair out. No speeches, no sob-stories, no explanations. No on-the-nose monologues that hit you in the face with the abrasive brick of neo-feminism. A true bad-ass female doesn’t need that garbage, she need only be herself and actions will almost always speak louder than words. Additionally, she doesn’t need to bait her respect by being a bully. The women of POI are awesome and highly esteemed with equality and care by each other and their male comrades.  

II. Guns and combat training are not necessary, but they help. The women of POI are either police, military, psychotic or a combination of all three. Their amazing combat skills and weapon-wielding flair certainly make them a force to be reckoned with. And while POI certainly does not shy away from letting these ladies shine with guns a-blazing, it also doesn’t neglect their most important assets, their minds. The ladies of POI are highly intelligent, clever, and (for the most part) rational.  As my dear Tyrion Lannister so wonderfully puts it, their minds are their weapons and they must keep them sharp. I would list the lovely Zoe Morgan as one of the bad-ass women of POI and she doesn't wield any other weapons apart from her mind (and the occasional taser). Additionally, she doesn’t sleep around or seduce people to get what she wants, and yet she has half the people of New York City in the palm of her hand. Power is both might and mind. 

III. And that brings me to door number three, sexuality. A woman does not need to be seductive to have power. She does not need to sleep around to have power. In our contemporary Western culture a woman’s power is stressed almost always through sexuality, and I think that’s sad. Young women especially seem prouder about their ability to go on birth control more than they are to vote, own land, have a successful career or run a business. Feminism today is definitely not the same concept it was before. Our culture likes to spread the lie that Sex = Power, Sex Sells, or whatever mantra is being pushed on us at the time.

I cannot applaud POI enough for keeping sexuality subtle and mysterious. The anticipations and flirtations are far sexier and more alluring than the graphic sex scenes you'll see on any HBO or Showtime program. Any scenes of sexuality on POI are shown with the respect and leave most things up to the imagination. The series is like a film noir, they have nailed the sexuality aspect by not being ostentatious yet not being prudish or ignoring the topic either. I know television is corrupt and I don’t hold out too much hope that this beautiful series will be able to withstand society's pressure and maintain this high standard for sex, but I sure hope and pray they do. Sex isn’t everything and you don’t *need* it to sell your work. Sexuality is in everything innately already, it’s in the atmosphere and it’s about time we tell a story that doesn’t need clips of nudity to hook people. The plot and characters are already hooking enough. 

2. This Cast














All I needed to hear was “Hey there’s a show created by Jonathan Nolan and J.J. Abrams and it stars Jim Caviezel and Michael Emerson” to get me to stop what I was doing and watch it. Michael Emerson blew me away by playing Ben Linus – one of the most complex and intriguing characters in television – on LOST and Jim Caviezel is just Jim Caviezel. 'Nuff said. Those two piqued my interest, but the rest of the cast swooped in and blew me away. Especially in season three when they all get amazing moments to shine. Taraji P. Henson was nominated for an Oscar for a reason, Kevin Chapman is hilarious, and seeing Enrico Colantoni be a villain is just as awesome as it sounds. Though he’s actually more of a Frenemy, Colantoni’s portrayal of the character Elias is one of my favorite things about the show. Additionally, Sarah Shahi is perfect as the ass-kicking, emotional-robot Shaw and Amy Acker is dynamite as the sugary-sweet, mentally unstable, femme fatale who goes by Root. My only regret is that season three hard barely a trace of the lovely Paige Turco as the sleek and sophisticated Zoe Morgan.

This cast is full of lovely people who go together like PB&J. Though most of them are hard, cold operatives you get colorful bursts of crazy from Amy Acker and Kevin Chapman which balance the brooding tones. I could watch these people interact for days, oh wait, I just did that...




















3. Hyper Intelligence There's smart and then there’s smart. This show is the latter. I should expect nothing less than twists and turns from anything J.J. Abrams touches, but Jonathan Nolan’s creative genius is definitely gives it the intelligence and edge it needs to not only maintain consistency but push the envelope as well. In one episode, Mr. Finch compares Shaw to a hammer and Mr. Reese to a scalpel. That's how I view this show in comparison with many others. Lots of shows like to hammer their point, their message, their plots, but this show is a scalpel it cuts so smoothly and seemlessly that it isn't until later you realize what it's done. Masterful. POI gets better and better like a rocket pushing through the atmosphere. A little turbulence in the beginning - like most television shows- but now there’s no limit to how high or how many glass ceilings it will break. POI seamlessly weaves aspects of spy thriller, mobster movies, film noir, action, and political drama. The scary thing is that what is happening in the show could most certainly be happening within higher powers in real life. Art definitely imitiates life here.

Anyway, if you've somehow managed to miss this sleeper masterpiece, I would highly reccomend it. The seasons are easy to find and just as easily addicting to watch. I would love to hear feedback from other POI fans about what they love most about the show in the comments below!

Until next time!

The perfect bromance...




Wednesday, August 13, 2014

"Take my hand..." - Guardians of the Galaxy


Guardians of the Galaxy was the cleverest, most unanticipated, most fun Marvel-sci-fi-we-never-knew-we-wanted, at least for me. I hadn't even heard of the storyline until I saw the film was coming out, and for a nerd that's pretty bad! I had no idea what to expect really, and this film more than exceeded my expectations. Next to Avengers I think it's my favorite Marvel movie. Anyway...

So what was so great about this movie? It's one thing to have a flashy sci-fi with a lot of visuals but it's quite another to have that in addition to a quippy script and thematic substance. Guardians is one of the most colorful films I have ever seen. As a woman obsessed with the cosmos and all things "outer space" it was like devouring my favorite dessert for two hours. Not just the glorious nebulous backdrops, but the diversity of creatures and alien races, costumes, spacecraft, and terrain made it quite the visual feast. I love how the production designers seemed to have specifically chosen unique and bright colors to sort of visually show the characters journey from the pale yellow prison uniforms to the shiny, garnet leather of the ravager garb. The villain Ronan and his people remain in blues and blacks with a dark, Egyptian style setting them starkly apart from the other beings.


One of my favorite things about Guardians is that it feels so much like a great sci-fi of old. The first of the three times I've seen it, I was overwhelmed as a heavy robe of nostalgia wrapped around me. Channeling the great sci-fi and adventure films of the 70s and 80s you are instantly transported to a childhood memory where everything is possible and magical. But this isn't to say the film wasn't original, it was incredibly so. I am speaking to its credit by pointing out that it was channeling the greats while at the same time authoring it's own legend.

But what I really want to talk about most is the best part of the film. It's the same thing that made Avengers great, a strong backbone of themes rooted in teamwork, defying the odds, and the "losers" being the winners. The Lego Movie released earlier this year (also starring Chris Pratt) is another film about people with insanely different personality types and backstories coming together to overcome a great threat. I have labeled Lego Movie, Avengers, and now Guardians of the Galaxy the "Myers-Brigg study films" because they are perfectly packaged examples of finding harmony and victory between even the most opposite and diverse of types.

In Guardians you have Peter Quill (aka: Starlord), a sweet boy from a podunk American town who has hero in him from childhood, but makes wrong choices on his path and settles for less than he is capable of. A funny, charming ladies-man he spends more time chasing alien tail with his favorite mix tapes playing in his out-dated headphones, rather than figuring out his destiny. Then you have Gamora. A rock hard woman with a rock hard past involving abuse, torture, loss, death, and living in the shadow of evil. However, this life has not fully corrupted her. She has a heart and compassion for others and a mind for honor. She wants to do the right thing, but doesn't always attempt it in the right way.

Drax the destroyer is similar. As dangerous as he appears and from a race of people who speak clearly, and concisely at all times. He does not understand symbolism, metaphors, or deeper thinking. With his wife and daughter slaughtered he can think of nothing but revenge. His loyalty to his people and family is his strength, but it is also weakness. His rage and pain blind him from making tactful decisions and thereby endangering the lives of those around him.

Rocket and Groot show up as a pair. Rocket being the cutting, sarcastic genetically modified Racoon with a cynical outlook on life. Life is money and survival is for the fittest. His small size is a distraction from the truth that he may, in fact, may be the most intelligent of the entire group. His strength lies in planning and strategy, but his bleak outlook and mistrust can lead him astray from the thing he really needs most... friends. Groot is his muscle, his back up. A humanoid tree who can only speak one sentence "I am Groot." He is sweet, distracted, and totally out of his element. However, Groot has a protective nature that proves to be his shining quality in the end.



This is far from the dream team. The awkward bunch of misfits can barely go two minutes without one of them trying to kill the other, with the exception of Peter. Peter is my favorite. Not just because he's played by the super-handsome and funny Chris Pratt, but because of his nature. As an adult he seems like a reckless brat who roams around the galaxy sleeping around and wasting time, but this isn't the true him.

From his opening scene as a child you get a foreshadowing of who he truly is. His mother lies in bed dying of cancer. She asks him why he's been fighting with the other boys, noticing his black eye. He replies that these boys killed a frog with a stick. Seeing this defenseless creature get tortured and killed was too much for Peter. He feels the need to stand for the defenseless. There was a light inside him from day one (which ends up being both figurative and literal as we come to find out later).

Peter is the hero, the leader, and peacekeeper. He is the true guardian of the galaxy, even as he guards his misfit team from the volatility of one another. Peter is an ESFP without a doubt. If you want to know why or what the heck that means just read this: http://personalitypage.com/html/ESFP.html and this here: http://personalitypage.com/html/ESFP_rel.html You'll see what I mean.

Anyhow, back to the scene with his mother on her deathbed. This is a crucial moment. As she lays dying she gives Peter a present instructing him to open it only after she's gone. She then asks him to take her hand, but he doesn't. He turns his head away as if he can't look at her. He's afraid. She asks him again this time with tears in her eyes but he still cannot do it. Before he can change his mind her hand drops, she is dead.

We don't visit this moment again till the end of the film, but at one point Rocket discovers Peter's present still unopened after 26 years. Peter defensively kicks it back in the drawer and tells Rocket to shut up. Clearly, he hasn't been able to move on from that day his whole life. His childish actions are a reflection of the little boy inside who never truly could let go of his mother or his life on Earth. Even when the prison guard confiscates the cassette player, Peter is willing to die for it. He clings to it for dear life. It's his security blanket.

Love that they did NOT ending up kissing here or in the movie at all. They are saving that for later.
Finally someone does it right! 
In the climax of the film our guardians face off against Ronan, the warlord bent on vengeance with a mind to destroy an entire planet. Ronan comes to possess an infinity stone (one of six, Loki's teseract in Avengers is also one of the six). This instrument of epic, universal power that can easily wipe out the planet he desires to destroy. Mortals are unable to handle infinity stones, the power is so great it would split anyone apart into irretrievable pieces.

In this moment Peter finally has to make a choice. To choose himself or to choose the lives of the many. In a feverish showdown Peter has an opportunity to take the stone from Ronan. When he does it painfully begins to tear him apart, though he holds onto it longer than any other would normally be able to. Knowing the fate he is about to face Gamora reaches out to him and says, "Peter, take my hand!"


In this moment my heart dropped because they brought his journey full circle. He was too afraid to take his mother's hand, but he now has a chance to rectify that. He reaches for Gamora, and though two energies are better than one, it's still not enough. But Drax is already on his way. He too reaches out his hand for Peter and touches him and Rocket shortly follows. Together, connected out of devotion to each other and a calling to protect the many, they are able to harness the energy of the infinity stone. Seriously one of the coolest, most goose-bump-inducing moments this year. Apart they are weak, but together they are mighty.

But Peter wasn't the only one ready to sacrifice himself. Shortly before this we got a foreshadowing of what would be asked of the others when Groot wrapped himself around his friends turning his very body into an organic safe haven. Gamora and Peter knew what he was doing, he was giving himself up for them. The enemy ship was going down and without something to shield them they would  not survive the crash. Rocket, however, does not understand why Groot would do this, why would he die, for them? Groot smiles and says "We Are Groot" Now at what looks like the end, Groot has learned to think outside of himself. Whereas before he could only say "I am Groot." he now realizes that his friends are a part of him, just like the branches that make up his limbs. And there is no greater love the he who will lay his life down for his friends.


Wow! This got long. But I couldn't wait to dig apart these themes. I will end this post by returning one more time to Peter's mother and her gift. At the end, Peter is at a place where he can finally open the gift and take his mother's hand. The gift is the Vol. 2 cassette of her Awesome Mix. This to me represents Vol. 2 or Phase 2 of Peter's life. He is now the man he was always meant to be, no longer a child who can't let go of childish things.

But speaking of Peter's parentage, how messed up is it that we get all these cool hints about his true father being some ancient celestial being, but that's it! Really!?


But seriously, this film was some good stuff. Go see it if I haven't ruined the experience for you, haha! Have a great week folks, until next time!



Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The Other Video Art - Sia's "Chandelier"

So this isn’t about a film or show, but it is about two other art forms which are just as important in narrative: music video and dance. I felt very compelled to write about this particular music video and though I am a little late to the party, here we go…

It’s been a while since I’ve been absolutely floored by a music video. Often times they are light on substance and heavy on flash. I don’t like much in the way of popular music (with a few exceptions) and especially don’t like the culture magnified in the music or the videos. But every once in a while you can find a gem in the rubble and this video is just that.

I loved Sia when I heard the song “She Wolf” by her and David Guetta. The video was just gorgeous and her powerful, raspy voice was perfect for conveying the deep emotion of the song. I have since come to like many, though not all, of her songs and love her as an expressive artist.

In the song “Chandelier” Sia weaves a sad tale detailing her personal struggles with alcoholism and prescription drugs early on in her career. She is now sober, yay!

I recommend reading the lyrics below first and then watching the video below the lyrics. When I first clicked play I had no idea what the song was about, but once I saw the girl dancing it all became clear to me. It was so exquisitely expressed.

I love that Sia chose to direct the video herself and featured eleven-year-old dancer Maddie Ziegler to portray herself. She put Maddie in a skin-toned leotard and a wig resembling the Sia’s own hairstyle. I think by making the dancer a child she showed the immaturity, vulnerability, and loss of innocence that happens when you dive headfirst into the drug and partying lifestyle.

In Maddie’s modern, interpretive dance she uses every part of her body, every facial muscle and expression, and movement to communicate the out-of-control insanity and addiction of the lifestyle Sia once led. It’s almost like a cross between dancing and miming. The fact that she is in a skin-toned leo also symbolizes innocence and vulnerability but also recklessness, like being naked for all the world to see.


The setting was perfect. Choosing a run-down apartment and showing that no matter how much she runs around and parties she is actually trapped, trapped and unable to leave without help.

It’s a very melancholic video and song in it’s theme of the unruliness of addiction and how though she smiles it’s strained, forced and not genuine happiness or freedom.

Also this was filmed practically all in one shot, amazing!

I can't honestly explain why this video affected me so much. When I first discovered it earlier this week I had to watch it three times in a row and I was just in awe. It made me so sad and feel this renewed mercy and empathy for people trapped inside addictions and who need a high just to make it through the night. That's the power of art! This video is haunting and creepy in many ways too, maybe another reason why I liked it ha ha. 

Anyway, I was really inspired by Sia’s honesty in sharing her personal experience in such a profound way. It’s hard to do this without coming off as pretentious or ostentatious but I think she nailed it. I hope more people will come to see the beauty and power of music videos and using dance more as an artful expression instead of all the bump n' grind crap they call dance in videos today. There's so much to be done in this field and I hope more will follow in Sia's footsteps.

Also check out part two where I unpack Elastic Heart and all it's "controversy."  Click this link:


Chandelier
By, Sia

Party girls don't get hurt
Can't feel anything, when will I learn?
I push it down, push it down

I'm the one "for a good time call"
Phone's blowin' up, ringin' my doorbell
I feel the love, feel the love

1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink

Throw 'em back 'til I lose count

I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist
Like it doesn't exist
I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier

But I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down, won't open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, 'cause I'm just holding on for tonight
Help me, I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down, won't open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, 'cause I'm just holding on for tonight
On for tonight

Sun is up, I'm a mess
Gotta get out now, gotta run from this
Here comes the shame, here comes the shame

1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, drink

Throw 'em back 'til I lose count

I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
I'm gonna live like tomorrow doesn't exist
Like it doesn't exist
I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
I'm gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier

But I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down, won't open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, 'cause I'm just holding on for tonight
Help me, I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down, won't open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, 'cause I'm just holding on for tonight

'Cause I'm just holding on for tonight
Oh, I'm just holding on for tonight
On for tonight

On for tonight






Friday, July 11, 2014

Dear Walt, Wish You Were Here...

Hey everyone!

Wow… it has been a struggle to write in here lately. Not because I haven’t had time. I’ve actually had time for once! But I have been feeling so uninspired and I can’t just crank something out without inspiration. It’s too hard for my heart haha.

I know people were asking if I would do a follow up to my most popular post on X-Men: First Class by doing X-Men: Days of Future Past. Now I LOVED Days of Future Past, it was brilliant, but for whatever reason I just felt no inspiration to write about it. I think because it’s so connected to First Class that I feel like I would be writing about a lot of the same things. It’s a connection story binding X-Men films together and thankfully undoing the damage of the deplorable Last Stand film. But even still, in all it’s awesomeness. I just don’t feel like writing about it…. Sorry!

I think the reason for my lack of inspiration to blog is I have been very upset about the film/television world lately. Mainly my beloved Disney and what their company is doing, but even just other aspects in general. I wrote a post last December kind of a long these lines, but my heart just grows sadder and sadder each day seeing what’s happening in my beloved industry and how certain creative engines are being destroyed. As a passionate creator, I have actually been very depressed about it lately, to tell you the truth.

It does mainly root in how I currently feel about Disney and ABC. You see, I don't just like or enjoy Disney... I LOVE Disney. It pretty much goes back to the first days of my life. Walt’s films and ideas shaped who I am in a way that no other culture has. I have a natural love for all things fairy tale, but it was more than just that. His innovation and his constantly expanding mind and ideas I could relate to even then. Walt Disney was the first biography paper topic I ever wrote about in school (I think I was about 8) and he was the first person I wanted to be like. I don’t like to make earthly idols of people and things, but Walt Disney comes very close to crossing that line. People always try to chime in and tell me about unsavory things about his character or what he thought and I just want to tell them to shut up because I don’t care. His personal life isn’t why I admire him. I have always been in awe of his creativity that never ceases, his ideas that literally shaped and molded culture, changing the film industry (and storytelling in general) forever.


Walt wasn’t about the money. One of my favorite quotes of his is “Money doesn’t excite me, my ideas excite me.” I completely understand that. I have never wanted to be rich and famous, but I HAVE wanted to make big films that will make an impact the ways his have. That’s the priority. Ideas are why we do what we do.

But obviously, somewhere along the way, Disney as a company lost sight of Walt’s true vision. Walt was a risk-taker and a culture shaker and money wasn’t the objective but rather the result of just being creative and sharing it with the world. He also said, “We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” But today the objective of his company (which now has engulfed ABC and several other companies) has reversed that thought. They now unfortunately do make movies to make money, and when you do that, you completely spoil and confine the boundaries of the creativity. They are playing it safe, but the ironic thing is there is nothing safe about letting the minds of the general public decide how and what you create. Disney didn’t give the people what they wanted, at least not intentionally. He made what he wanted to make and the people fell in love with it on their own.


Disney is now just regurgitating old ideas, recycling old stories and old productions. This is NOT moving forward. This is not the root vision. The company as a whole is like a carousel. They are just going around and around in circles heading nowhere new and pretty soon it will cause so much dizziness that the world will be sick of it and give up on them forever. But if Walt were still here he would make those horses fly right off the carousel and into a new world… in fact, he did that literally in one of their greatest pictures...



Now I explained in a previous blogpost (http://reelreflections11.blogspot.com/2013/12/yo-movies-what-gives.html) my problems with Frozen. I don’t dislike the movie, in fact most of it I really loved, but it fell short in so many ways it left me feeling a dissatisfaction. It was missing something. In my own opinion, Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph were far superior because they were created by people who seemed to understand Walt’s ideas of new ways and new worlds. But anyway, another good example I can give of carousel story-telling is Maleficent which came out this year.

I liked the film, but I didn’t love it. It wasn’t because of anything mechanical… the actors were superb, the visuals beautiful, the score fantastic, and the idea of the retelling was great. However it was the execution of that idea that made the movie fall flat.

Maleficent introduces some great new twisty themes to the tale of Sleeping Beauty. The best parts involved Maleficent having a relationship with Aurora’s father Stephan, a man who claims he loves her and then ultimately betrays her in the worst way. I loved this dark idea presented by both Maleficent and Stephan… the idea that true love doesn’t exist. It’s so sad and so twisted and it’s an idea that causes them both to fall away into darkness, each for their own reasons. 


The movie then twists the tale even further by having Maleficent and Aurora form a sort of mother daughter bond and that mother’s love being the true love that breaks the spell and awakens Aurora from her sleep. True love takes many forms and shapes and meets us in so many ways. I like the idea that romantic love is but one of those loves and showing Maleficent that true love does exist and is alive within her. This was a wonderful theme!

I ♥ Diaval haha
But the film made some mistakes. Numero uno is that it was rushed… ugh just like Frozen and just like every other movie being cranked out right now. The story fell victim to this ADHD catering our culture seems to be obsessed with. It’s crap. Secondly, it also fell victim to commercialism and appeasing people to get butts in the seats. Mainly this was brought up with Prince Phillip who was an utterly pointless character and the movie did not need him to be good or to make it’s point. But they felt, as they always do, that if there’s isn’t some cute One-Direction-wannabe actor in it, girls won’t go and see it. Stop insulting everyone’s intelligence! Not having Phillip in the movie would have been a risk but it would have been one worth taking. His presence was jarring, random, and completely unnecessary. Personally, I was hoping they would twist the tale even further and have Aurora fall in love with Maleficent’s “servant” Diaval who was much hotter and cooler than Phillip haha… but that’s my own imagination at work.


“I don't believe in playing down to children, either in life or in motion pictures. I didn't treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers, and I think no parent should. Children are people, and they should have to reach to learn about things, to understand things, just as adults have to reach if they want to grow in mental stature. Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. The important thing is to teach a child that good can always triumph over evil, and that is what our pictures attempt to do.”

In my previous post regarding Once Upon a Time I explained how the show spiraled downhill. This was also the handiwork of post-Walt Disney, commercialism, and fan appeasement to get ratings and to make money. ABC and all involved made horrible decisions for that show that desperately need to be fixed. The show went from 2.5 brilliant seasons to flushing itself now swirling around the toilet bowl of entertainment. I am mad about a lot of things they did that show, but I think the commercialism has me the most upset. I HATE that they are bringing in Frozen. First off, the movie just came out, give it a rest! But I suppose there is no rest when there is more money to made. Secondly, Frozen isn’t even the best source of the fairy tale, it’s Disney’s completely retold version of the Snow Queen. OUAT is now about remaking Disney movies and not about retelling fairy tales into their own story which is how it began. I can’t imagine the Frozen storyline will be even remotely good, but because I am a true fan I will stay loyal to the show… for now… and see how it plays out.

If you feel like I do about the wretched decisions ABC and the Once writers have made for the direction of the show, please post with the hashtag #FixOnceUponATime and tell them you aren’t happy. If all the Captain Swanners and Frozen fanaticals can make an impact, than so can we. If we ban together to reclaim the heart, soul, and roots of a beloved show we can have a chance to pluck it from the toilet before it officially reaches the sewer of entertainment. 

Anyway, I know this has been kind of a rant. But in my depression about the state of our industry and art, I just can’t bear to hold these feelings inside. We have to stand for good material. In an age of a gluttony of content, we must strive for quality not quantity. Our aim must be to please the story and everything/everyone else second. To be true to our hearts and the hearts of the stories we are telling. Stories are living things, but if we keep going the way we are with film and television they will soon become an entirely artificial intelligence.

“Fantasy, if it's really convincing, can't become dated, for the simple reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond the reach of time.”


(All quotes in this post from the late, great Walt Disney)

P.S. Did you know they are making a live-action Dumbo film with a guy who helped make Transformers? Heaven help us all! I can only say, WTF!? 



Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Noah Movie Analysis & Discussion Part III - The Rest

Wow, so I am WAY overdue on part three of my Noah series, but I was hoping to be able to go see the film a second time and I was waiting for that. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it a second time, but I am going to attempt this anyway! This will be a shorter post is all about Tubal Cain and "everybody else." Listening once again to the AMAZING score by the brilliant Clint Mansell.

In the trailer for the film, Tubal Cain (played by Ray Winstone) seems like a typical epic villain. I didn't expect much from him, but that was a very wrong assumption. I should have known that Darren Aronofsky wouldn't have created a two-dimensional "villain" and also that he would, of course, be a symbol of something greater.

I really love what they did with Tubal Cain's character. He represents man's inhumanity to man, to creation, and to the Creator. This is achieved by his hugely misinterpreted version of what it means to have dominion over the earth. True dominion means sovereignty, authority, ownership and within that is caretaking and stewardship over what you have been given dominion over.

Cain kills Abel with a rock, very cool scene
Just like any time of history, when dominion is misinterpreted it is followed by suffering, death, and destruction. When the descendants of Cain break away as their own people, they then create generations and legacy of the folly of this misinterpretation in dominion. They consume without sharing, take without giving. They make man into an idol and even dethrone the Creator in this new vision of dominion. They leave the world so ravaged that there is little nearby enough for them that they can partake of. They have stripped the earth bare and placed the desires of the flesh over the desires of the Spirit.

This has corrupted not only their view of the rest of creation, but of each other too. They trade their women in for meat giving a whole new meaning to the phrase "a piece of meat." They kill anyone who gets in the way of their own desires without blinking. They savagely take from the earth without respect or gratitude to their Provider. In their eyes, whatever they wish can belong to them. It's a survival of the fittest mindset and it is bloody.

Tubal Cain is the leader of Cain's descendants and they look to his leadership for provision, making him a god among men. He is ruthless and barbaric, but he is also intelligent and spiritual though he thrives on a complete misunderstanding of the Creator's calling for mankind. He is a nemesis for Noah in that way, they both believe they are doing what they should be, but the difference is Noah's humility and complete reverence to God's will, Tubal Cain only has reverence for works and what man can do, though he thinks he follows the Creator's will. When Tubal Cain bites the head off a lizard even knowing it's the last of it's kind, we know then instantly all he truly cares for is himself.

The conflict rises when Tubal Cain realizes Noah is building a vessel and though he thinks Noah is foolish, there is something in him that becomes frightened. I loved Ray Winstone's performance in this film. He showed that this bloody tyrant was very, very human. One of my favorite scenes is when he sits in a tent the night before the storm and asks the Creator. "Why do you not speak to me?" he reaches out in fear because he knows in his heart he cannot atone for what he's done. If Noah's words are true, he will die and be judged for his crimes in eternity. You can see the fear all over his face. His mouth quivers to even speak his prayer. This hard man has now been made completely vulnerable.

But his conviction only lasts only the night and in his fear he sets out with his men to attack Noah and his ark. Of course, they all fail. The rains come and water also comes from the earth and wipes them all away. In this film, Tubal Cain sneaks aboard the ark in a cowardly effort to save his life and to also give conflict for Ham, but his death naturally is inevitable as his sin cannot live in a new world.

There is always this question of why everyone was killed when there were innocents among Cain's descendants. But the truth is, no man is innocent, man's nature can only be made good by God's righteousness, grace, and love. Noah and his family did not follow in the wickedness of Cain, but they were not perfect by any means. Noah was chosen and favored by God, but Noah isn't God. He humbly accepted his role, just as the Creator knew he would which is why he chose him. Noah's obedience, reverence, and humility were gifts given to him by the Creator and why he was favored to carry out this task.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I absolutely loved the ending scene. And the main reason why is because it was made abundantly clear what true dominion is and now man would have a second chance to live faithfully to that vision of dominion. To be fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth, to be caretakers and stewards, to be the hands and feet of the Creator here on earth. It took Noah some time to truly understand dominion too, but the Lord knew his heart would be turned by love and grace and with it the understanding of the Creator's vision for man and dominion.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Noah Movie Analysis & Discussion Part II - New Life

This is part two in my three-part series on the Noah movie. This is also probably going to be my favorite post of the three because it involves what I thought was the most powerful and moving theme in the film… new life.

Aronofsky, whether intentional or not, made his characters into symbols. Noah represented obedience and stewardship, his wife Naameh represents mercy and nurturing, and so on and so on. Since this is a story about new life and rebirth, of course a character would naturally represent that too, that was Ila played by the lovely Emma Watson.

Ila is the girl who would become Shem’s wife. Of course she isn’t mentioned by name in the Bible, Aronofsky created her, but she represents so much of the importance of the story and it works beautifully in the film.

Noah and his family come upon Ila when she is a little girl. She has been badly wounded and is the last survivor of her group who were killed by Cain’s descendants while out scavenging. They decide to help her and sort of adopt her into their family. They heal her wound, but as it was a deep abdomen wound, Naameh points out that she will never be able to have children.

This is the first beautiful moment with Ila showing us one aspect of the Creator that He has passed down to us: adoption. We are adopted into his kingdom the same way Ila was brought into their family. They saved her life and gave her a new one just like the Lord does, it’s a beautiful picture.

Years go by and Ila grows up. As time draws nearer to the flood, she begins to feel set apart. She loves Shem and wants to remain his wife, yet she feels inadequate and unworthy of the role because she is barren.

She comes to Noah in a scene asking him in tears to find a new wife for Shem, one that can give him what she thinks he deserves, a family. Noah then reaches out to her in love and tells her that when the first found her he thought she would be a burden, but as time went on he saw that she was a gift, a beautiful gift.

But later Noah starts to go down a dark and merciless way of thinking. Because of how wicked the world is, he decides not to find wives for his two youngest sons and also decides that when they die, humanity ends. No more children no more generations. He becomes so sickened and grieved by the world that he thinks the Creator has asked him to end mankind completely.

Now this is where people began to freak out. Noah couldn’t possibly want that, right? I mean this isn’t in the Bible… what’s going on here?

People are forgetting that the Bible shows only what is most important information, it doesn’t always give the details on the inner struggles of the people. How can any of us claim to know what Noah felt or what  he was going through spiritually? He could very well have been struggling with this issue. Aronofsky  just chose to tap into what Noah MIGHT have been thinking or dealing with. He was just a man after all.

I don’t know why my fellow Christians are so upset about this. They have this picture in their head of Noah the saint in a long white beard gently sending out doves. But Noah, like anyone, wasn’t a saint! He wasn’t without sin, he wasn’t without bad choices, struggles, or wrong thinking. I am dumbfounded as to why people can’t wrap their head around that. He was capable of anything. Aronofsky’s Noah is devoted completely to his mindset. He truly believes the Creator wants all of mankind to be wiped out forever. This adds to his cynicism and takes away his hope. It is not so far-fetched to say that Noah may have actually been this way.

But Naameh resists his thinking. She doesn’t believe that this would happen so ruthlessly. She wants to see her sons marry and have children. She wants legacy to continue. She fully represents and fights for mercy.

Naameh goes to Methuselah (Noah’s grandfather and the only other person they love and trust) and begs him for help in dissuading Noah from his mindset and to turn his heart to hope and mercy. Methuselah knows he can’t do that, but he also is tricky and finds another way to break Noah’s heart open. Methuselah represents the Creator in many ways. He is mysterious and you can’t understand his ways, but he loves the family he created and guides them in that love toward their destiny.


Methuselah goes out to pick some berries to satisfy his "craving" (he was funny too) and just so happens to stumble upon Ila in the forest. As she approaches him, he says that he never got the chance to give her his blessing as part of their family. He reaches his hand out to her scarred abdomen and she is healed. She doesn’t fully understand what has happened to her, but she knows it was something important. She runs away to find Shem so that they can *celebrate* this healing.

Methuselah was working as the Creator would. He brought life out of barrenness. The universe was made from nothing and man was made from dust. The Lord in His power and glory brings life out of places where life is impossible.

The flood comes and they dwell on the ark. Close to the end of the 40 days of rain, Ila starts to feel sick. Naameh realizes she isn’t sick, she’s pregnant. Joy fills the family.

However, when they tell Noah he is horrified. Blinded by his misunderstanding of the Creator’s plan he tells them, if the child is a boy he will live, but if the child is a girl who could potentially become a mother and create more people. She will have to die at birth.

This is a terrifying and gut-wrenching time in the movie. And I think this is when many people turned off their listening ears and simply got angry. Noah wouldn’t do that! This is all wrong! But as I mentioned before, do any of us know what Noah was really thinking? Were we there? He could very well have believed that this was his calling and his faith was so strong nothing would shake it.


This causes natural unrest and conflict within the family. The rains stop but as it says in the Bible there was then 150 days of waiting for the water to recede. During this time Ila’s pregnancy develops further and tension mounts waiting for this child to be born and what will happen when they are. Ila’s water breaks during an intense scene, the moment of truth comes.

Now I want to stop and say this movie was a shining moment for Emma Watson. I have always liked her but she tends to stick to roles revolving around teeny-boppers and nothing truly all that challenging in my opinion. Ila, was definitely a challenging role and Watson showed her quality. Her performance was so vulnerable and authentic.

When she delivers not just one child comes, but two. Twins! And they are both girls. Their joy is cut short when they realize what is going to happen now. They go into defense mode. What I really loved here was tha Naameh tried to show Noah that the Lord provided for them, something he was forgetting. By giving them two daughters they were provided a way to bring new life to man again. It was so obvious, but Noah, like so many of us, was blinded by his misunderstanding and couldn't see the truth. 

But there is no running from anything on this Ark. Noah and Ila meet face to face on the roof where she holds her crying babies and Noah pursues with a knife in his hand. In tears Ila says she knows she cannot stop him but begs that he let her calm them down so that they don’t have to die crying. She then begins to sing the same lullaby Noah sung to her early in the film. This really choked me up because I wondered what the point of that song was. I knew if it was in there it had to have a point, and when I saw it come back at this moment it was breathtaking.

Noah makes his move and tells Ila she shouldn’t have to see this, but Ila protests that she will hold them until it is done. Noah raises his knife, and the struggle is all over his face (a mind-blowing performance from Russel Crowe, by the way). He raises… raises... and then….

A kiss.

Noah stoops down and kisses the foreheads of his granddaughters. It is over.

Love.

Mercy.

They now have reached land and then comes the memorable scene from the Bible of Noah getting drunk and being found naked by his sons. Noah was sad, but I don’t think it was because he couldn’t kill the children and therefore end mankind – which is what some people are saying – it was because he was *gasp* depressed. Yeah, Noah was a human, WOW what a concept! After going through everything they just did and then struggling inside and out for the last 200 days, I’d be depressed too! Noah was just a man, in his sadness he did what most men do, he turned to drink, but shortly after realized it wasn’t the way. The Bible never really states WHY Noah got drunk, so Aronofsky was making an educated guess. It’s really not that complicated.


After he recovers, Ila asks Noah why he spared her daughters. It was love. That his heart was full of love for them.

I knew this was coming and that Aronofsky wouldn't have missed the most important part of the story. Mercy out of love. I think it’s sad so many people are missing the point. The whole world deserves death, but God shows mercy through His love. Ila points out to Noah that that is why he was chosen. The Creator gave him the choice and knew he would choose life, he would choose love, and start again.

The final scene of this film is just glorious. The family stands together on a mountainside and Noah dedicates his grandchildren saying to them what God said to Adam and Eve in the garden, to be fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth. Noah finally understands the Creator’s plan for this new earth and a rainbow stretches across the sky. I seriously had goosebumps for the last five minutes of the film. Everything was brought home to a place of future and a hope. 


Thanks for reading and sticking with me for the longest of the three posts, but it’s also the most important. Part three will come soon all about Tubal-Cain and "the rest of the world."