December 12, 2005

  • Narnia...Among Other Things.

    Gahhh more tears.  Dang that Emergency Vets show.   It's so heartbreaking, but I can't pull myself away.  It's such a great show, but still so very evil. I can already cry all by myself WITHOUT watching something incredibly sad; I don't need even MORE encouragement.  Blah.  I saw that German Shepherd saying his final goodbyes to his family, trying to stand up on the back legs that no longer worked because of spine deterioration from a disease he had.  Gawsh it was horrible.  His legs were practically stiff and dead, and he whined as if he knew what was to come.  And then everyone else cried at the same I was.  *sigh* I wish animals lived forever.  What sucks about loving animals as much as I do is the fact that they're gonna die way before me.  I'd have to go through so many motions of attachments and losses, and yet, I can't picture myself never having a pet.  I guess they're always worth the risk.


    Well, wish me luck or say a prayer or whatever.  Though I have no experience in the specific position they're hiring for, I'm hoping that my general 5+ years of retail experience will still be enough to get Walgreens' attention so that maybe they'll be willing to train me in that area (human resources, I believe) I'm trying to be positive about it, though my negativity (or realism as I like to call it), is still trying to pierce through.  Anyway, it's a full-time position that pays about 4 dollars more than what I make, though I'd be willing to even settle for a mesely buck more if it means I'd definitely get in there.  And heck, maybe that desire might just win me over to them....that I'm willing to do their job for 3 dollars less than what they're asking, and them training me is a small price to pay to get that done.  Oh of course more money would be better, but at this rate, I'll take ANYTHING over my current job, just as long as it's offering equal or more pay, even it's more by 50 cents.  The work week would consist of four nights a week (Monday through Thursday), each with 10 hour shifts, and I'd have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off.  That'd be good enough for me.  I definitely wouldn't mind working 10 hour shifts in exchange for guaranteed weekends.  Bring it on.  A bit too good to be true, but alas...it's true.  It's just a matter of how flexible they'll be on their "demands" of previous experience. I won't get my hopes up, but I'm trying not to kill them off either.  It would be nice to be away from my very evil job.


    Anyway, I went to see "Narnia" last night.  Beware of probable spoilers.  A wonderfully spiffy movie.  It was just a whee bit slow to start, but I won't dwell on that, cuz this seems to be a movie that needs to build its story, and shouldn't just rush into things without people having an adequate understanding of what's going on.  I guess I was looking too much forward to those griffins and that unicorn heh.  So many fantasy creatures.  It made me want to see "Legend" or "The Neverending Story" or "Labrynth."  It was really cute. The technology today has improved drastically.  Aslan (the lion) looked as real as can be. Oh of course, the "animal expert" in me still knows better, and can still tell when real animals aren't being used, as was the case with him, but still, it was a dang good job anyway.  He made the animated lion in Jumanji look pretty sad if you ask me.  I'm glad they at least had SOME footage of real animals, like the pack of wolves running through the forest.  They almost looked like huskies, but I could be wrong. Wolves and Huskies look so close to each other anyway. 


    And of course, I very much appreciated the spirituality of the movie.  The Lion being symbolic of Christ the King, symbolic all the way down to his death sacrifice to save another.  Heck, even the act of "shaming" the lion by chopping off his mane before killing him was much like what the soldiers did to Jesus to shame him--stripping him down naked to be clothed in fake "king robes" and beating him bloody--before crucifying him.  Putting a big and powerful King to shame, and the King doing nothing to stop it when everyone knows he has the power, simply because of his immense love for even the proven guilty.  It was really rather moving, and might have made me cry if I thought about it enough.  But I wasn't in the mood to cry just then.  Then of course the resurrection, followed by the "breathing" that he did to bring creatures back to life who were recently "dead" by the White Queen's magics, much like Jesus blowing on people to heal them, or breathing out the Holy Spirit to empower them. 


    The witch as some sort of Satan figure...that was clever too.  She was manipulative as Satan is, portraying herself as some sort of angel of light (at least at first) offering these wonderful temptations in exchange for being hailed as queen or worshipped or whatever.  And her minions being wolves?  Nice touch.  That whole wolves in sheeps clothing thing.  Not that these wolves had sheeps clothing, but you know what I mean.  They're the bad wolves without the clothing.  But it was especially clever because they talked, and did their own taunting, tempting, and badgering as demons typically do to a human conscience.  Edmund the brother was like Judas, the one who betrayed Christ and started the process that lead to his death.  Edmund betrayed his siblings, in this case, but the act still lead to the death of Aslan, who forgave him and offered himself in his place, knowing that he'd be risen again. Edmund betrayed for junk food, and Judas betrayed for silver. The betrayed for "goodies."  Ahh I love it.  Then there's the kids being sons/daughters of the original humans Adam and Eve.  It was rather clever and imaginative.  A very interesting way of sending a message.


    I especially liked that Phoenix bird that bursted from the arrow.  That was awesome.  Too bad we didn't get to see more of that beautiful red and black bird.  I was sitting there in quiet glee watching that thing.  First it was the awesome Griffins, and then that Phoenix.  Made me even more anxious for X3, if they put a Phoenix in there anyway.  And all the other fantasy creatures (Minotaurs, Centaurs, Griffins, Unicorns, Giants, etc) were just cool.  I was all excited to see all those different existent animals too, no matter how computer generated they were.  I was like, "Ooh Cheetahs! Ah leopards! OH polar bears!" The only unrealistic creature was that rhino.  He looked crappy, but it was forgiveable cuz his little action scene wasn't that long, so I didn't focus on the fact that he had computer written all over him.


    Well anyway, that's enough Narnia talk.  It was a very cool movie.  Pirates of the Caribbean 2 looks awesome.  But that's still a very long way away.  I'm getting anxious now for King Kong.  Two more days (if I see it on Wednesday that is).


    By the way, thankfully, my Fantastic 4 DVD has the ending I remember.  However, it doesn't have the planetarium scene, and instead has some kind of boring bridge scene with the same dialogue.  The Planetarium scene is now in the deleted scenes menu.  Dunno WHAT their reasoning behind that one was.  *shakes head* But alas, it's okay. 


    Anyway, that's it I guess.  Ta-ta.

August 9, 2005

  • A flower offers beauty all its own,
    Smell the fragrance; see its bloom.
    See its colors litter the world,
    Delicate but bold, frail but strong.
    Mishandle it, though, and feel its thorns.
    A wilted rose in need of light,
    Will still prick you if not treated right.
    Gather a bundle for display,
    Gather a bunch for a bouquet,
    But blood can still splatter.
    So it's best to leave a flower be,
    If you can't give it what it needs.
    Care and attention, gentle affection.
    Respect for what it can do,
    It will beautify your life if pampered,
    But spill your blood if it isn't.
    Don't pick what you aren't ready to have,
    It may be just a flower in your world,
    But in its own world you're all it has.

July 5, 2005

  • Twice so far.  And today will more than likely be a third.  I speak of "War of the Worlds."  It's about bloody time I get to enjoy myself in the theaters again.  "Land of the Dead" and "Batman Begins" just didn't do it for me.  They were, as a whole, big yawners.  Nothing too exciting for me.  I saw "War of the Worlds" once with DJ, having tons of fun absorbing in all that was going on as if it was really happening.  I love doomsday movies...Armageddon, Deep Impact, Day After Tomorrow, The Core, Independence Day, etc, when the scale of destruction is so grand, but yet so believable that you actually have a small smidgen of fear that it could possibly happen in your own lifetime.  I saw it a second time with my mom, uncle, and two cousins.  And if the day goes by according the plan, then I'll be seeing it a third time today with my dad, who is the biggest sci-fi fan of us ALL.  Well, maybe not bigger than ME, but still big enough.  He's dying to see it. 


    Already I've seen this movie more than Star Wars, which I only saw once in theaters.  Nevermind the fact that I have a bootleg of Star Wars to view over and over again, but I still thought the movie was sorely lacking and it didn't leave me me too enthused.  And though I did enjoy many scenes, I didn't enjoy it as a WHOLE like I should have, not as much as I did "War of the Worlds."  You've failed me, George Lucas, first with the killing of Darth Maul and then with the incompletion of your third installment.  But thankfully, Steven Spielberg, who has never made a movie I didn't like (though I've never seen Minority Report) is there to save me.  But maybe my liking of Spielberg as even a guy in general has something to do with it as well.  Spielberg's personality and his own fascination with whatever his movies portray are refreshing.  Lucas is the opposite. 


    He's a rather "dull" man (when it comes to interviews), and though he might have a great story to tell, he's not the best in telling it.  I hate listening to Lucas talk about his movies, because he seems so bored talking about them.  That voice of his is like nails on a chalkboard to me, so monotone and lifeless.  I just don't know what it is.  When Spielberg or Peter Jackson or even James Horner talk about their movies, they speak of them with "happiness" in their tones, like they actually LIKE making these movies and being a part of them.  You can see and hear the humanity and childlike wonder in their body language, like even though they're filthy rich directors, they can still be like us normal people and ENJOY something.  Lucas is just so dry and seemingly bored out of his mind when he talks about his beloved Star Wars, like he lacks all enthusiasm for his films.  Dare I say, he's even a bit "cocky" in his mumblings.  I get a "Yep-I'm-George-Lucas-and-I-KNOW-I'm-good" vibe from him.  True, he can't enjoy his movies like the average fan, but at least show that you enjoy MAKING them!  Seriously...just watch each director talking about their big-budget movies in interviews and perhaps you'll see a difference in their attitudes.  But maybe it's just me.  Either way, I adore Spielberg, his personality, and his general attitude about filmmaking.  He simply rules.


    *SPOILERS AHEAD* 


    And I adore this latest release by him.  "War of the Worlds" was, simply put, an AWESOME movie.  Admittedly, though, I DID have just a few questions that were unanswered (not nearly as many questions as I had for Star Wars, however), but after reading several reviews and explanations from other viewers and readers of the book, I have a better understanding of the movie.  And it got right to the point too.  There was seriously only about 15 to 20 minutes (if not less) of introduction time so you can know the characters, but after that, you're tossed right into the action.  In fact, the action starts on the exact same day you even meet the characters.  The clothes they're wearing in the beginning are the clothes they'll be wearing throughout the entire movie.  This is the type of movie that really benefits from that straight-to-the-action thing, and I love that it was like that. 


    First with the dark gray clouds in the sky, followed by the violent lightning strikes.  Such a scene had me thinking, "That just goes to show how truly puny and insignificant we are in the universe."  People looking up in awe and wonder at the immense activity going on above their heads, naively thinking that they're out of harm's way simply because they're seemingly so FAR away, but that all goes to hell once things start coming down and all in their faces.  Cruise was all grinning with fascination and delight while Dakota was freaking out, as any child might.  It was only when the lightning was striking IN HIS YARD when it dawned on him that, "Gee, perhaps I should get us to safety?"  Cruise's character was like an immature teenager.  He potrayed a deadbeat, divorced dad who seemingly knew nothing about HOW to be a dad.  It was only through the ordeals he experienced throughout the film when he is forced to realize that he actually has to step up to the plate and be a dad, the protector.  But it took awhile for it to sink in.  After the lightning strikes, he abandons his kid in the house so he can have a look around and see what was up, complete with that whole childlike fascination thing. Sure, he sends his rebel son inside the house to be with the sister, but still.  It was only after he sees a father running with his daughter in his arms when he remembers he has his own kids to look after.


    The laser scene was...intense.  Eery and graphic.  Not bloody graphic, just...creepy.  At first I thought the people were just being transported into the tripod machines because their clothes would flutter in the wind after they were zapped.  So I thought the aliens were just abducting them.  But then afterwards, when Cruise finally freaks out that he was covered in the ash of his fellow citizens, I realized that these aliens weren't playing nice.  So it was definitely creepy that it was the people that were getting fried, but yet their clothes were as safe as can be.  And Cruise's character lucked out SO many times haha.  To avoid being incinerated by the beams that were instead frying the people who were running beside him must have been a scary experience.  I mean, assuming you were in his shoes.  That's why I enjoyed the movie so much.  It was rather realistic, even if it IS science fiction.  Spielberg forces the audience to experience what it would be like to be in such a situation, without hinting what else is going on around them. 


    You're forced to feel the fear that you know the characters must have been feeling, and you're also forced to have the same questions that the characters must have been having.  "What's going on?" or "Where do I go?" or "Where should I run?" or "Am I gonna get out of this?"  You have to experience the war from the viewpoint of Cruise and his family.  A very frustrating thing since, as a movie audience, you always want the advantage and know exactly what's going on, having all the answers, witnessing the worldwide terror simultaneously like in "Independence Day."  But you don't get that luxury in this movie.  Not TOO too much, anyway.  Morgan Freeman, who kinda "narrated" the thing for a bit, told us what happened, so in that sense we learned more than the characters, but that was about it.  And that's what I loved about the movie.  You feel like you're on the same level as the characters.  You're not the high and mighty audience with the knowledge of what to do or where to go, information you'd find yourself wishing you can pass on to the characters in the movie.  Nope. You gotta experience it as well, and you don't know SQUAT.  It's pure genious. 


    The visual effects were awesome, the sound was awesome, and the sound EFFECTS were awesome.  The blare that the tripods emitted just before striking was powerfully effective.  It made even ME a bit cringe-worthy.  Like, "Oh God, not again!" And the aliens were being so unfair lol, but then, why should they be fair?  They're in extermination phase.  Since when do humans ever show mercy to the termites and whatever pests they obliterate with foggers?  Same deal.  Every time Cruise escapes certain death with his kids, then something new comes along to threaten him as well.  I was actually exhausted for the poor guy.  He avoids the lasers and lives.  He and his family avoid the lasers while driving and live.  They just barely avoid a plan crashing and burning into the mother's home.  They avoid being killed by an angry mob, though not without some cuts and bruises.   They manage to almost escape by jumping on the barge, but they only put themselves in another harm's way when a tripod emerged from beneath the barge and tipped it over.  They avoid drowning after being spilled into the cold river, but then are at risk of it again when a car pushes all three of them back down.  They manage to swim back up for air, but not AWAY from the spinning propellors from the barge.  They manage to avoid those propellors and swim away from the dangling tentacles of the tripod, which were at that time pulling people out from the water, capturing them.  And let's not forget the constant laser beams as well.  The family avoided certain death so many times, that it actually got me mad. I'm like UGH SOMEONE KILL THE ALIENS ALREADY. 


    But it was a very intense movie.  I even liked the desperation of the characters, though it was still upsetting.  The mob who succeeded in tossing out Cruise and his family from the only working vehicle in town, for instance.  Everyone wanted a ride and swamped the van.  There was even the guy who was breaking the glass with his bare hands.  Or how about when a man picked up Cruise's gun to kill the man who took the van and try to take it himself.  Oh and I can't forget about Cruise having to murder Tim Robbin's character just to keep him quiet in order to protect his daughter.  That's desperation.  Or when Dakota was taken, Cruise had to throw a grenade at the tripod to get its attention before being lifted up as well.  Desperation.  And you better believe that people can and DO give in to desperation.  As the saying goes, "Desperate times call for desperate measures."  What person is above that when ALL are in danger of the same threat?  More often than not, a whole lot of people are gonna do what they normally wouldn't do just to survive, and that includes killing.  It's unfortunate, and I don't think EVERY person would resort to it, but it still happens.


    The ending of the movie was a bit abrupt, but that's definitely forgiveable.  I didn't understand the significance of the red algae (though now I do, at least moreso than I DID) and I actually didn't even fully grasp what it was that killed them.  Only after talking about it with DJ did it start to make sense.  And it still does.  It's not a normal hollywood ending, which is probably why a lot of people hated the movie.  We didn't defeat the aliens.  Germs did.  It can cause you to scratch your head and be like, "Riiiiight," but seriously, it's not THAT fargone.  I think it's quite unique and original and even logical.  The aliens used human blood to fertilize their algae, which I've learned was probably their own plant life being spread to simply help them take over the planet.  But it didn't dawn on them that this miracle blood had poisons.  We humans had developed our immunity to the microscopic germs over tons of years, but the aliens, in all their naive arrogance, didn't think about that.  They decided to wander the earth and play and drink its water, absorbing into themselves the harmful substances that they have no immunity to, and didn't suspect they'd even be in danger.  Whether or not they were using the blood to help them out didn't make a difference, since they already had their playtime in our world and didn't "wash their hands" so to speak.  Maybe on their world, germs don't even exist.  *shrugs*  It's a different kind of ending, but an acceptable one.  We can't all go on believing that the aliens are gonna always be smarter than us, at least in the movies, anyway.


    All in all, an excellent movie.  Four out of 5 stars, but I can lean more towards 5 stars.  I look forward to seeing it again if my dad still wants to go. 


    Anyway, that's a big enough blog NOT based on Linda's sucky life.  Embrace it while you can. That said...I shall go.


    Ta-ta.

June 10, 2005

  • more than sorry


    don't you wish there was more than sorry...
    to ease the yearn for what isn't there...
    whenever you want mere words to heal...
    when sorry doesn't prove that you care.


    don't you wish there was more than sorry...
    to purge away all despair in sight...
    whenever you see pained tears to fall...
    when sorry doesn't make things alright.


    you must wish there was more than sorry...
    to be the comfort when you've left pain...
    whenever you'd love to start anew...
    when sorry doesn't help save your name.


    --------------------------------------------------


    Well seriously...if you really hurt someone, and you say you're sorry, what part of those two words would actually make things better?  It's actually frustrating when you think about it.  You hurt someone, you genuinely hate that you've done so, but all you can ever do to remedy the situation is to say "I'm sorry."  Society needs to think of a much better method of expressing apologetic behavior.  Yes...that's it.  BEHAVIOR.  It's one thing to SAY "I'm sorry," but it's a whole different thing to BEHAVE like you're sorry.  I think that's what's missing...the actions of a sorry person.  Nowadays, it's just not enough to say you're sorry anymore.  At least it shouldn't be, especially when the pain is knife-piercingly deep. 


    What brought this on? Well nothing lol. I was actually just watching Maury Povich, and he was doing updates on past shows.  Of course there were paternity test updates, and whenever they'd show a clip about someone confessing the secret, all that person could EVER say was, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I mean really...those words mean squat!  Especially when said person is saying sorry for cheating 40 times or something.  No, friend, you're not at all sorry.  You're just sorry that you weren't sorry about it the FIRST time it happened.  Blah.  But yeah, every time I watch dramatic situations happening and a person only says "I'm sorry" to comfort the supposed loves of their lives, it makes me grumble.  But I guess there seriously is a lack of something MORE to say.

May 20, 2005

  • "Revenge of the Sith"


    (BEWARE OF SPOILERS)


    What'd I think?  Firstly I must vent my frustrations.  Keep in mind that they don't make or break a movie for me.  They're just ventings.  Just rantings.  Also keep in mind that I'm horridly tired at the moment, so much of this might not make much sense.


    Now before I start, I'm gonna say that I think...no...I KNOW I need to see it several more times to give it a better and more meaningful review, but I'll take a stab at it anyway with just my one viewing of it.  All in all, it was of course an awesome movie, but not in the way I expected it to be awesome.  Dunno if that makes much sense.  I didn't have high expectations...just MORE expectations.  Honestly, though I did love the movie, I feel like I have more complaints than I do praises.  And don't kill me for saying that.   I think I need to see it more times, like I said before.


    The movie was way too rushed.  Which is ironic since there were still scenes that were way too slow.  Okay, more specificly, the scenes that I myself felt were crucial were way too rushed, while the seemingly useless scenes were too long.  The scenes jumped too much and I got confused periodically as to what the heck was going on.  (I'll have to play the game now to see if it'll help me better understand).  I mean geeze, ALREADY Padme had the news about being pregnant not even 30 minutes into the movie?  I was like, "Huh.  A tad rushed."  I guess cuz I didn't see enough onscreen chemistry (in both this film AND in AotC) for me to believe that they're supposedly "in love."  So I guess in reality, the love story part is what's way too rushed. 


    The fall to the dark side? Also too rushed.  It started out fine, what with Anakin double-checking his every move, like he has regrets.  I liked that.  I liked that internal conflict.  That shows that the good side of the force still wanted to play a role in his decisions, though obviously weakened.  But then all of a sudden (quite literally) he decided to call Palpatine "master," getting over what he had done to help defeat Mace rather quickly, decided to bow on his knees, etc, etc.  I'm like, "Already?"  I mean think about it.  He's so cocky and stubborn, so why was he seemingly LOVING to serve another master and then minutes later decide to agree that he needs to kill all the Jedi without one more conflicted thought about it?  I guess that's the attempt to further prove how powerful the Dark Side is, but geeze, it still was a wee bit too fast for me.  I felt that the seduction of the Dark Side should have taken longer, especially since he was raised up as a Jedi much longer.  It was the same, still unresolved issue I had with Dooku.  I STILL don't know why that old man joined the Dark Side.  To me, he has no place in the movie.  Maul could have pulled off the role just the same and gotten his head sliced off just the same.  Dooku never had a point, and it STILL wasn't explained why he turned to the Dark Side, especially at HIS age.  Why Dooku?  Pointless.


    Anyway, then there were the deaths of the characters.  ALSO RUSHED.  First it was Grievous. WHAT THE HELL?  He didn't do crap.  He was totally ripped off.  He gets two of his claws lopped off in only a few seconds?  He did all those fancy saber swings just to intimidate Obi-Wan, but where were the maneuvers when he was fighting?The Grievous in the Clone Wars cartoons had FAR better screen presence.  That's why I decided to look forward to him in the movie.  I was expecting so much more from him.  SO MUCH MORE.  Unfortunately, he had the vibe of weakness instantaneously when he started coughing for some unexplained reason.  What is it with Lucas wanting to destroy his most interesting of characters so damn QUICKLY?  And sloppily?  Grievous was another Maul.  Underused, yet so full of awesome potential.  I WANTED TO SEE THE GRIEVOUS FROM THE TOONS, DAMMIT!  This one in the movie was a threat?  Please. 


    And don't even get me started on the Jedi Masters.  Nevermind, I'll just get myself started.  So very LAME.  *sigh*  They died too fast.  None of them really put up much of a fight. Now don't get me wrong, I loved the music playing while they were being massacred unmercilessly, and the scenes, though HORRIBLY short, were still indeed dramatic, but...oyyy...why rush it?  Okay, I can forgive the scenes with the clones slaughtering the Jedi, because after all, I do get the point.  But the scene when Mace and the others attempted to arrest Palpatine was a disappointment as well.  It made me wonder why these Jedi were even masters if they can be killed in two seconds.  Okay yeah, they were caught off guard which is understandable, but you're masters.  Shouldn't your knowledge of the force put you at least at SOME bit of an advantage?  I mean geeze, the first two Jedi died within 5 seconds.  Luckily Mace managed to hold on a little longer, and had a more decent death, but still.  I would have liked to see the Jedi Masters put up a much better fight.  That's two movies in a row where I feel kinda gyped from their full potential.  Yes, even in "Attack of the Clones," I feel like they weren't maximized.  Yes, they were all fighting at once, but most of the fights were in the background so I didn't see much of anything.


    The acting in some places was HORRIBLE.  But mostly it was Natalie's performance.  Sorry guys.  The girl may be pretty to look at, but she can't act worth a damn in my opinion.  Even after so many years to practice perfecting Padme, she just didn't improve much for me.  Some scenes were okay and bearable, like when Obi was telling her the news of Anakin's betrayal and turn to the Dark Side, her reactions were realistic enough.  But most of the other times, she's just blah.  She wasn't terribly horrible, but just not as good as she could have been.  She was unrealistic, and seemingly tried desperately to BE the actual character but didn't pull it off quite well.  I guess I'm just not a fan of her work.  *shrugs*  I didn't know WHAT the heck she muttered about while giving birth (in a rather unconvincing way) to the twins.  Both DJ and I were scratching our heads as to how easy a time she was having giving birth.  Probably because Natalie can't act and pretend she's really doing it.  Blah.


    Ewan was perfect.  I don't recall ever being annoyed. I practically saw Sir Alec Guinness in many of his moments.  Perfection.  Someone give him a medal because he pulled off Obi-Wan fantastically well.  I almost forgive him for slaughtering my man Maul.  ALMOST.  It's too bad Maul didn't do the move to defeat Obi-Wan that Obi-Wan used to defeat Anakin.  Geeze, speaking of that scene...wow.  I didn't even catch what happened. I must have blinked, cuz when I heard Anakin screaming in pain, I'm like, "What, what? What happened?"  My friend told me he had his legs chopped off and I'm like ohhhh.  And then ouch.  The ending scenes were of course the best, namely when Obi was like, "You were the chosen one!  I loved you!"  Good grief that gave me chills.  Such brilliant acting on both Ewan's AND Hayden's part, especially when Hayden was all like, "I hate you!"


    Hayden was awesome as well.  HOWEVER, he had his unrealistic moments just like Natalie.  Gosh that whole "I'm so in love with you!" line made me groan.  In fact, nearly all of their lovey dovey moments made me groan.  There's no chemistry.  It's not even cute.  It's just ugh-worthy.  Hehe, though I love the expression on Anakin's face when Padme was all like "Hold me...let's go back to Naboo to have the baby" blah blah blah nonsense.  Heh, his expression was like, "Ugh, shut UP already."  But anyway, back to his acting, it was awesome for the most part, especially the ending, but that goes without saying. 


    Of course Ian McDiarmid did awesome as well.  He was a little TOO evil!  I'm like "Whoaaaaa he seems to be loving this evil gig."  His perfection is nearly equal to Ewan's perfection. I just can't complain much.  Hehe I loved his fight scene with Yoda when all he did was cackle with maniacal delight as he went on with the battle.  He was even cackling when he was hanging off the ledge.  It was just so remiscent of the emperor in the OT. 


    Other meaningless, petty complaints that don't ruin a movie for me, but are worth ranting about.  Padme thinking of what to name the twins right there on the spot in 10 seconds?  That was silly.  Obviously forced into the script so we could actually know they are Luke and Leia.  It just felt awkward.  The babies were far too big for the small bulge on her belly.  She was far too pretty a corpse.  I'm assuming that this movie takes place over nine months?  Unless Padme's an alien whose species' has their young over a few days.  *rolls eyes* Time is so very inconsistent.  Exactly how long is this war for?  Anyway, her death was far too fake.  But she isn't the first to act a terrible death. To this day, I still like how the dead bodies of the actors were done for "Troy." They really looked dead. 


    Uhhh...I'm too tired to nitpick anymore, so I guess I'll stop for now.  Still a great movie, and I still very much enjoyed it.  I just have my need to vent.  I'll try and blog about the great things next time.

August 22, 2004

  • So yeah, yesterday, I went to the movies and saw the one movie that didn't seem to do too well.  The one movie that everyone seems to despise.  The one movie that everyone seems to be disappointed in.  The one movie that everyone says sucks, or is corny, or is horrible, or is the worst movie ever. The one movie that one ex says is cool, but the other says is stupid.  The one movie that everyone feels is a waste of the precious few bucks that they'd otherwise spend on what...a meal from Denny's?  *rolls eyes* The one movie called, "The Village."


    SPOILERS AHEAD (For those of you who don't easily guess the movie's supposed "twist" like the apparent rest of the freaking country claims to, anyway)


    SERIOUSLY, THERE'S SPOILERS AHEAD


    So what did I think of it?  Well then.  *cracks knuckles*  I thought it should get more freaking credit than it's getting, because it was damn good.  I thought it was thoughtful and imaginative and creative.  Sure, it was slow in some parts, but it had to be.  That was the only way to get the story across so it would make sense.  Plus, it developed the characters.  The last thing he wanted to do was throw the audience into random scenes and not prepare them for it.  He's gotta get the story out first, and that's what this movie does: tell a story.  A good one that makes one ponder about what else M. Knight Shyamalan is troubled with when it comes to this screwed up planet.  His movies were all great, including this one.  All have some type of lesson to be learned.  For "The Sixth Sense" it was learning to let go, and realizing that action to be the best one to take if for the sake of the peace between two parties. Plus, it's learning to be strong in your gifts.  "Unbreakable" was similar in the gift area, but it was also a lesson of developing a determination to strive to be the best that you can be, superhero or not.  "Signs" taught on having faith, and what it can do in the worst of times, and how it can continue to work if you learn to hold on to it.  And then there's "The Village," which, to me, teaches how precious innocence is, and the extremes that people might go to protect it and all they hold dear.  There's so little of it left in the world nowadays, but people can still crave so badly to keep it alive, even if it means separating themselves completely.


    But my sis was clever in digging further into it.  She liked the movie too, by the way, maybe more than even me.  Anyway, she suggested that the fact that a crime was committed should have proven to the villagers that, despite their attempt to escape from the modern world and its share of the crime that accompanies it, you can't escape an evil deed.  It's practically in human nature to be bad, even when surrounded by goodness.  That's why William Hurt's character was upset at the attempted murder of Lucius.  That's why he felt it was reason enough to allow his blind daughter, who'd never know where she was going or what she was witnessing, to go through those forbidden woods.   That's why he was like, "What happened here was a crime!"  And it's crime that the elder villagers wanted to escape from, and raise their families away from.  For the most part, it worked.  Until someone tried to kill someone else.  Well, guess they didn't get as far as they hoped, right?  But foolishly enough (or maybe NOT foolish?  Hmmm), at the very end, he and the elders still wanted to maintain their way of life, when it was rather obvious that crime can still find them no matter how far they are from normal civilization.  But the ending of the movie doesn't really END.  We have to imagine the rest on our own.  


    All in all, though, I liked this movie.  It wasn't the best, of Shyamalan's films, but it surely wasn't the worst.  It's just another addition to his already impressive list of movies.  I don't need a special twist or a surprise ending to be satisfied.  I don't go in expecting a scary  movie like I'm sure the rest of the country was.  But I guess it's not their fault.  The trailers do kinda lie to the people, making the movie appear to be a scary monster flick. Eh, in a way though, they had no choice.  I don't think it would have been as good in attracting an audience if they didn't make it appear to be a scary flick, especially by such a well-known director.  I actually liked how they weren't real monsters.  Because when I saw the first image of it, I was like, "Oh geeze.  There's seriously going to be monsters in here?"  Early on, it already seemed too good of a movie to harbor something as meaningless and typical as monsters.  It just didn't scream monster flick.  So yes, I was glad that it turned out the way it did, the monsters being some fabrication created by the elders in the village.  I already had monsters in "Signs." I already had the twist ending in "The Sixth Sense."  That's probably why I liked "Unbreakable" in the same way I liked "The Village."  The originality.  I'm glad Shyamalan doesn't repeat himself in his movies, such as always having a twist ending, for example.  I'm sure that's why so many people think this one sucks. Because it's an obvious "twist."  But whatever.  Obvious or not, I still liked it.  I for one didn't think it was obvious, but maybe that's because I was so caught up in waiting for it be as stupid as people say.  


    I've only ONE complaint, though.  Noah being in the suit.  That seemed too...weird a thing.  The concept of having someone in the suit was just fine.   But it's the fact that it was HIM in the suit for that certain scene that bugged me.  Why have the urge to break the floor in his home to find the suit?  And why, upon finding it, would he want to wear it?  And why, upon wearing it, would he decide to go into the woods to scare Ivy?  How'd he even get out?  He was locked in, after all. Why would he want to even scare her?  How did he even know she was IN the woods?  Surely the villagers didn't go advertising it with a speakerphone, "Ivy's gone into the forbidden woods alone and might possibly run into those we don't speak of! Hint, hint Noah!" Heh, though it's funny they kept saying "those we don't speak of," since when they say that, they're technically speaking of them.  But anyway, I'm guessing he just wanted to scare her back into the village so he wouldn't lose her again like he almost did to Lucius before he stabbed him, which was, I must say, a very eery scene for some reason.  It was slow and subtle, but yet so...real.  I dunno.  And last but not least, how did he seemingly go right through her when he ran after her?  Cuz I could have sworn he succeeded in grabbing her and even ran with her a bit, almost smothering her, until he somehow magically appeared on the other side of her leaving her...well...standing there perplexed really, not knowing what just happened.  But eh...that's not a big enough reason to hate the movie.  I have small complaints about every movie I see anyway. 


    In conclusion, I'm not fond of building up unrealistic expectations, but there's at least one expectation that I think is a reasonable one when it comes to Shyamalan.  I expect a damn good imagination brought to life on the big screen to tell a story, especially a moral one.  It was all so clever.  Nice try in trying to ruin it for me all your reviewers out there! Guess you'll have to try a little bit harder.  But then again, I always formulate my own opinion anyway.  Oh well.  Long live movies, especially Shyamalan's.


    ************************************


    Heh, and by the way, I think my first ex Derek is oh so desperate to get me to swoon for him.  Take note of this small convo chunk:


    HIM:  Hi Miss Linda
    ME: Hi mr derek
    HIM: You are a sweet girl.


    Need I say more? Haha, he was all buttering me up, trying to make me giggle all girly like, I'm sure.  And so fast into the convo too!  Seriously, where did that even come from?  It was a totally abnormal spot to compliment me.  Heck, even if he was a boyfriend at that moment it still would have been weird.  So I was smooth and was like, "Yeah sometimes. Heh, just kidding."  And there was no response after that.  I'm guessing that to him, his attempts to compliment me leave me unfazed.  He didn't respond at all, so I had to brush it off completely and change the subject so the boy will be less embarrassed, as I'm sure he probably was.  Heh, so it's rather funny how he's all trying, and I don't respond like I used to.  Before I would have been like, "Awww really?  Well thank you! You're sweet too."  How times have changed, and he sadly doesn't realize it.  Well, that's partly my fault since I was always insistent of how I never hold grudges or never NOT forgive people for wronging me.  He's probably using that to his advantage.  However, there's another thing he doesn't know.  I may forgive people, but I don't really forget.  If I forget what triggered the lesson I learned, then I might just forget my lesson and make the same mistake all over again.  And THAT'S where he's going wrong.  Thinking that I'm forgetting, and even seemingly trying to win me over in the same way he did before.  Of course, that's not going to work.  All it ever does is remind me of how I felt when he first started doing those things, but that's the key word right there...FELT, as in past tense.  The present is not the past.  The present is where I'm at when it comes to my feelings for him.  The past me isn't here, and unfortunately, he still thinks she is.  Well actually, I AM still here, still the same girl he once liked with the same ethics and morals and spirit, but I'm different in that I learned a lesson that I didn't know before.  And that lesson is what I'll never let go of.  You can't be with someone who makes you feel bad about the person you are, even if it IS inadvertent.  Eh. Oh well.  It's cute anyway how he still tries like it matters.        


    Dang, I guess this is a long enough entry. You may all awaken from your slumber. Oh wait, barely ever do people read this far down...lol.  My mistake. Bye bye for now.

June 5, 2004

  • purge

    empty within walls of torment,
    but the screaming is everywhere.
    you can't pick out a single one,
    and you can't tell how many blare.
    not knowing if it's even near,
    you search in the dark for his hand.
    something to cling to here and now,
    or is it too much to demand?
    aimlessly through what can't be seen,
    it's the arms flailing in still air.
    desperate to find that hand nearby,
    aching to feel what isn't there.
    you can't be overcome with fear,
    but it's so hard when there's no light.
    don't fall victim to what's unknown,
    but there's simply no end in sight.
    please keep trying and don't give up,
    but i can't find my way from here.
    just hold on...for i'm there, right there,
    but there's no way; you're so unclear.
    stop searching...it's already found,
    but the screams are still calling out.
    ignore what's meant to deter you,
    then help purge this blossoming doubt.

March 1, 2004

  • "The Passion of the Christ"---Violently powerful.

    Graphic.  Bloody. Totally graphic and bloody.  There were moments when my heart totally ached, and my sister as well said she had this sick feeling in her stomach.  The tears I cried primarily consisted of anger and sadness and then a nonstop flow in between.  I'd cry tears of immense anger, then sadness, then back to anger, and then again to sadness.  It kept shifting from one to the other, and I didn't even have room to cry tears of happiness when he rose at the end, even though the scene itself, though only a minute or two in length, was very beautiful.  But it was the gore and blood that we all had to witness moreso than anything else.  Sometimes I didn't even know HOW to feel.  It was just so unbelievably real.  You sit there watching it happen before your eyes on that big screen and you KNOW that it's not real...you KNOW that it's just a movie depicting the events leading up to Christ's death...you KNOW that those people aren't really tearing off the flesh from his bones with weapons so sickening, it makes me ashamed to be a human...you KNOW that they aren't really finding the act they are committing hilariously funny, watching an innocent man crumple to the dirt because his body's being beaten to a barely recognizable bloody pulp and he can no longer utilize the full use of his muscles, but despite your knowing that it's all just "fantastically" designed movie-makeup, the image of it all still cuts so deep into your heart, and everything about it is still so very real...still feels like he's really there, getting beaten without mercy for YOUR sake and you can't do a thing about it except weep and wonder why he WOULD go through such an ordeal when he didn't even have to.  I don't care what kind of person you are, whether or not you believed it all actually happened, or WHATEVER....if you're sitting there watching such inhumane torture on the big screen, it WILL stir you up inside.  Stir you to anger, or hate, or sadness, or whatever else...there's just no way on God's green earth that you can't be affected by it, unless you're a direct descendent of a robot family without feelings. Even the crowning of the the vine of thorns upon his skull was gruesome, and I think that I can honestly say that it wasn't necessary to have the soldier use a pole to purposely bore the thorn deep into his skull.  He practically shoved it against his flesh, and blood just flowed out.   

    I got so overwhelmed by the excessive amounts of beatings I was witnessing, that I was more than once tempted to scream out loud, "JUST STOP IT ALREADY!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!"  When the movie first started, I was already afraid for him.  Jim's acting was superb...he really brought out the fear that Jesus must have been feeling when he knew of his fate.  I was so nervous throughout the whole thing leading up to the first graphic beatings.  I wasn't sure if I was even ready to see it all.  But I wanted to muster up the courage, and I thought, "Yes, I can handle this.  It's probably not going to be as gory as people claim."  Boy was I ever wrong.  The scene that yanked out my first tears was during those first lashings, namely with that horrific "clinging" weapon, and I just did NOT want to see the result of that when it grabbed his side.  I looked away very quickly, covered my eyes....I couldn't take it.  I didn't stay looking away for long, but when I looked back, that's when I started to cry.  Those stupid soldiers just DIDN'T stop, and I was getting so pissed off.  It was just so painful to watch.  And that was only the first major, gruesome scene.  After witnessing that, I was so afraid of what was to come.  I thought, "Oh my God, that scene was totally violent enough...please tell me it's toned down from here on out."  Well, in my opinion, it pretty much DID tone down, but only a BIT.  It was hard to look at him during the rest of the movie, to look at all those bloody wounds.  It just hurt me all over.  Right when I think it's over, I remember that there's still the nail scene, and the stabbing of his side scene when he was already on the cross.  Ughhh...the nails.  That was just....just...ow.  And ugh, when that stupid soldier was yanking his arm completely out of the socket so it can reach the hold on the cross, I was just so engraged.  I was like what WILL they think of next to torture him?  How in the heck is he supposed to carry that cross if you keep wipping him all the time?!?! Blah, I was just so mad.  And then when they turned the cross upside down...EVERYONE in the theater just gasped and groaned.  I just wanted them to leave him alone.  I was so anxious to have his pain be eased and rise up from his death with a glorified body already.  That was the only comfort I had....that he will live again.  And if there's one thing I didn't take note of before that I should have before watching this movie, it's the mother of Jesus, Mary.  My God she must have been torn up inside to watch her son be tortured maliciously like that.  There was this one scene, where she watches him fall to his knees with the cross heavy on his back, and she flashbacks when he fell down as a child.  In the flashback, she ran to his aid, and of course, in the present, she ached to do the same.  She saw him collapse in front of her, and all she wanted to do was protect him, which she simply couldn't do.  She ran to him, telling him that she's there, but she still knew deep down that he had to endure all of this turmoil, and she couldn't prevent it.  She had no power, but she still wanted to be a mother.  God, that must have been so hard for her.  Even my dad said that he's got so much more repect for Mary for staying by his side the entire time.  That was brilliant on Gibson's part to pay close mind to her feelings. 

    It's hard to believe that a human being would willingly do that to a man, to just shred him up and not feel bad about doing it.  Demons were obviously in control, or so I HOPE they were, because I don't want to believe that people nowadays have a willing capability to be so cruel to someone so innocent.  I was left ashamed.  I was even ashamed of myself.  During many parts of the movie, I thought to myself, "Oh God, he's going through all of that for ME.  This is all MY fault."  And it is.  Humanity is to blame for what Christ went through, not just Jews, or just Romans or whoever else.  EVERYONE is responsible. Sometimes I STILL don't know how it's possible for someone to love people as much as Christ did.  If you want to know love, THAT'S love.  Watch this movie, and THEN you'll know what true love really is.  Can you honestly say that you'll let yourself get bloodied up to the point of losing your life for your friend?  Seriously...think about that question for a moment after watching this movie.  I can honestly say that I can't see myself going through that for anyone.  I feel so bad for saying that, but I really don't think I can.  I can't see myself willing to go through that torture for anyone.  I wish I could, but I just can't.  That just shows how incapable I am of matching the love that Christ has for me and for everyone else in the world.  This movie made me angry. It was a great movie, but it still left me feeling so angry.  I just can't stand how anyone can bash God and everything He stands for even after the knowledge of what He did for our sake.  He took out all his anger caused by humanity on Jesus.  Jesus is God in human form, for those who didn't know.  He had to reveal himself to humanity as a human, since his devine essence is too much for a measly human to fully embrace.  He had to put himself in a form that all people would understand, had to...dare I say..."lower" himself to our level, which is human.  So Jesus was God's way of punishing HIMSELF for all of the sins that ran rampant in the race of humanity, HIS creation, but yet He STILL didn't want to give up on us, and He still loves us just the same. So he let Jesus do the suffering FOR us.  God is love, and watching this movie, though incredibly difficult, helped remind me of just how great He really is.  His wrath was taken out on the purest of people, the most innocent of people in the most cruel of ways, and I'm even more thankful that I'm a part of His world. 

    The depiction of Satan in this film was excellent.  He had this very elegant, yet scary vibe about him.  The look of the character was both beautiful and eery, like the mermaids in the live action movie of "Peter Pan."  You know he's dangerous...you suspect it.  But something about him still wants to captivate you, and you WILL be captivated if you don't stand your ground.  The look of him was subtle, yet still so effective. He was so "gentle"...like he could seduce anyone, and that's his job.  To seduce weary souls to what HE wants them to do.  He constantly picks on people when they're at their weakest, filling they're heads with what's easiest to believe, which is usually the direct opposite of what a person SHOULD be believing with the help of faith.  When he was picking on Jesus in the garden at the beginning of the movie, it was so real.  He just tried to weaken him with thoughts of fear, and that's his greatest weapon...FEAR.  It was just a great depiction of evil I think.  Even the little demons in the forms of children were interesting.  Freaky, but interesting.  Ohhh...and that demon in the cave wall that sparked the harrassment of Judas that inevitably led him to his death was....wow.  I never want to see anything like that in my life.  EVER.   

    In conclusion, "The Passion of the Christ" is one excellent movie, despite it's unbelievably gruesome scenes.  But alas, sometimes that's exactly what it takes to get people to understand.  No more sugar coating.  I don't know if I'll be able to see it again, however.  If I had to, then I'll probably just close my eyes.  I don't even know if I'll get it on DVD.  *sigh* But...time will tell.  They aren't joking when they say this movie is violent. It really is violent, and I'm hoping the handful of CHILDREN in my theater aren't permanently traumatized by what they witnessed. 

January 24, 2004

  • My sister and I went to see "The Butterfly Effect" last night.  I felt like an idiot when I was saying the title of the movie to the ticket booth lady.  I was like, "One for the butterfy efflect...err....butterly....butterfly effect."  Heh, I laughed at myself, but she was eh, unaffected.  Maybe she had a long day.  Oh well.  Anyway, that was such a great movie.  Better than I thought.  *MAJOR SPOILER ALERT AHEAD* By the trailers, I thought it was originally supposed to be about just him wanting to save his gf all the time, like it was just about him and her. But actually, it involved more than that.  Granted, she was his primary focus for most of the movie, but she wasn't the only one triggering his desire to go back and fix things.  Whew, there were some sad and depressing and disturbing scenes in there, much of it involving children.  Pfft, this one guy sitting behind us must have felt incredibly stupid for what he said during this one scene that involved a man wanting to film children.  Anyway, the little girl in the scene was like, "Are we gonna make a video?"  And then the man behind us was like, "I wanna make a porno!" He said it with a tone of a little girl.  Then a few seconds later in the movie, it showed the two kids without their shirts on.  Well obviously the scene was supposed to be very dramatic to show the severity of how disturbed the kids ended up being.  Anyway, the guy's gf was like "See that's why you should shut the hell up."  And he's like, "I had no idea it was actually going to happen."  This was all being whispered behind us.  He kept his mouth shut the rest of the time. 


    Anyway, it so sucked how every time Ashton's character tried to fix something, he ends up screwing something ELSE up.  As I said before, most of his focus was on the girl that he loved, though grrrr, I can't remember where it started...ohhhh, yes.  She eventually killed herself a bit after he contacted her again after 7 years of being away from her.  He moved away at age 13.  Heh, the story is quite complex.  He always had a thing for her, and she did for him.  He, her, her brother, and another friend hung out all the time, grew up together, and were rebels together.  Her brother though (a grrrr character!!) was a major cause of much of the problems.  Her father was sexually abusive and, along with her brother, was physically abusive as well to her.  So her brother had a majorly bad temper, very controlling, but also very, sometimes violently, protective, and ashton's character (younger version) was always trying to protect her too.  But anyway, he always had blackouts (memory loss) growing up and could never remember major situations that he went through with the kids.  Blah, it'd take too long to say every situation that happened.  Eventually, his mom said that they're moving, and Ashton's character writes a note saying, "I'll come back for you" to show to the girl. Well, he doesn't come back for 7 years, and the only thing that makes him come back is when his memory starts to return to him from those mutiple events.  He finds her again, inadvertently reminds her of her troublesome past by trying to remember his own, and causes her to kill herself.  So anyway, he tries to fix that by reinserting himself into his boyhood shoes and telling her father not to abuse her, and to discipline her brother more, since the bro learned violence towards the sis through his father.  So that eventually fixed things for HER, but not for her bro, who was then the new recipient of the father's abuse.  (Discipline the son...get it?) And when he tries to fix THAT for her future self's sake, he again messes something ELSE up.   


    Man, it'd take forever to explain each and every event, so I'll just hop to the ending, which was rather original and different and the most intersting.  I really liked it.  He loved her so much, that in the end, his final choice of event to go back and fix was to not even get to know her at all, to not even be in her life, because he eventually realized that it was his presence that brought so much pain to her.  Oh of course he didn't intend it be that way, however.  But how did he reach that conclusion?  Because in one of the new futures he created by his past interventions, she told him that he was the first person she ever truly cared about, and that he was the only reason that she chose to live with her father instead of her mother when they separated.  She didn't want to be away from Ashton's character, even though she hated her father.  But since she cared about Ashton's character so much, she chose to stay with her father, and her bro did too, who, if memory serves, stuck by his sister's side always.  So Ashton decides to go back to the day he first met her at the age of 7 for his birthday party, and he whispers in her ear, "Stay away from me forever or I'll kill you and your family."   The little girl gets very scared, and runs to her mom.  So yep, in conclusion, he became a symbol of fear for her, and hence, she didn't care about him at all, which caused her to desire to live with her mom instead of her dad....her AND her bro.  That means that the kids didn't grow up with the abusive father and hence, didn't have a tramatic childhood.  That was the final event Ashton changed.  He gave up her presence in his life for her own sake, even if he himself wanted her there so badly.  It was kind of sad that they didn't end up together, even though they did pass by each other on the streets in the city at the end of the movie, but eh, I still enjoyed the movie as a whole.  I could have SO done without the stupid sex scenes though.  Ugh.

June 8, 2003

  • POEM OF THE DAY

    meak

    should you govern all around you,
    it will all just fall apart. 
    the little power you possess,
    proves meaningless in trials. 
    just wonder with an open mind,
    what it is you will fight for,
    if the destiny that happens,
    will repeat what you know well. 
    why fight the fight and walk the walk,
    if your strength is not at peak?
    can't sit and wait for improvement,
    only hope to conquer all.
    it's just the duty of the meak.