Mika's "Happy Ending."
This man is strange, but deeply wonderful.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Finis
Today is the last day of school.
I just looked for a picture that I took today that would articulate it all, but I didn't find one. Flipping through the pictures didn't even give me a full overview of the day. I don't think that anything could provide anyone—including me—of a full overview of the sheer impact of this day.
Haven't cried yet. Teared up. Made other people cry. I guess I'll cry later.
I feel a little numb right now. Not in a bad way; just detatched. It hasn't sunk in.
I am done with high school.
... wow.
I just looked for a picture that I took today that would articulate it all, but I didn't find one. Flipping through the pictures didn't even give me a full overview of the day. I don't think that anything could provide anyone—including me—of a full overview of the sheer impact of this day.
Haven't cried yet. Teared up. Made other people cry. I guess I'll cry later.
I feel a little numb right now. Not in a bad way; just detatched. It hasn't sunk in.
I am done with high school.
... wow.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Prince Caspian
Spoilers, FYI.
Okay that movie was awesome.
From the beginning now.
I have always always always wondered what it was like for Lucy after the first book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I mean, she's all grown up, and then she's a little girl again, just like that! What must her mind be like? Freud would have a freakin' field day. It's so cruel of C.S. Lewis to do that, amongst other things—don't get me started on how messed up the seventh book, The Last Battle, was. I cannot BELIEVE he leaves out Susan. That is SO CRUEL and frustratingly fundamentalist. Ugh. Lipstick is not corrupting, I promise!
I'm sensing that Susan kissing Caspian was a nod to her eventual downfall (-type-thing). I assume they're just going to phase her and Peter out. By the way, and this is just my inner fourth grade boy talking, Peter and Caspian completely had an about-to-kiss moment. I sort of wanted to yell at the screen. Have I mentioned that both Ben Barnes (Caspian) and William Moseley (Peter) are deeply attractive? Google Image Search them right now. So is Anna Popplewell, in an Artemis sort of way. Her archer skills are beautiful. I mean seriously. That one scene of her during the battle, where it pulls back to show most of the field, and she's firing arrows like a machine gun... wow. I am deeply impressed.
Rant: I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT MOVIE WAS PG. I have to complain about the movie ratings system again. (It was the subject of my very first column last year). Stupid Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) with their insane rules about violence and sex. I bet if there would have been actual making out, instead of just a kiss, it would have been PG-13. Also, just because there's not blood doesn't mean that it should be rated lower. There are still people getting their heads cut off, arrows shoved into spleens, horses having their knees shot out from under them, heavily implied drowning, throat slitting.... The lack of realism is more disturbing, because that makes it more acceptable. I don't dislike the violence—it's necessary to the movie—I just hate how the MPAA thinks it's acceptable for children under 13. I would have been totally freaked watching that at a PG-level age. The part where they had to retreat from the castle was the worst. The minotaur who held up the gate, dying... all of the Narnians trapped inside, clawing at the bars, getting shot from behind by the merciless soldiers... That is horrible horrible horrible and the trauma of that sequence alone should have gotten it a higher rating.
But no. Disney would complain about it being appropriate for their target audience—they are large, rich, and powerful, after all. It makes me want to scream. Rant over.
I'm torn by the Christian allegory. The Aslan is God element (Liam Neeson would play God, by the way) is basically basic. And the Pevensies being Christ-like figures—well, sort of—is also excusable, since they all have their faithless moments. Peter's angst thing is either a) homoerotic undertones (I don't actually think that, I'm just deeply amused by the idea) or b) the old tortured hero character device. He's not an antihero—for one thing, he's blond—but he does lose his faith during the second movie. And possibly during the first; haven't seen it in a while. Going to soon, though. Anyway, he's all emo, in a pouty, you-look-freakishly-hot-in-armor sort of way. (No, seriously. That man is smokin' in plate metal.) And eventually gets his faith back, as do they all. Susan has the whole, "Suddenly guys like me—what am I supposed to do about it?" thing going, which she eventually gets exiled for (see above). The discovery of sex is evidently worse than all other crimes—including murder, which is committed at least a hundred times each, per character. That I think I hate the most. Edward was really good in this movie. I like the repentant sinner character, at least when they're not too sanctimonious. Him destroying the White Witch (EXCELLENT CAMEO, Tilda Swinton!!)—and believing Lucy was very well-done. And him delivering the challenge to Miraz. Good stuff. Lucy's was interesting, too. That she didn't go to find Aslan earlier, and that he implies that she could have saved a lot of lives if only she would have been more willing to be faithful without worrying what the others thought, was pretty risky for a kid's movie. I liked.
It's just that as an Atheist I can't help but be disappointed in the faith aspect of the movie. I mean, it's just so obvious and not-subtle. Be faithful, get a reward. Believe in Aslan and Aslan will believe in you. That element of it didn't make me like the movie less—it just served to underscore how faulty this whole religion thing is. Life is not a movie, you know. I wanted to yell that at the screen too. Just because Lucy's brave dedication to a plot device saved the day doesn't mean your faith in a Huge Invisible Thing will do the same. For all you know, all you are here to do is die. That doesn't depress me, though. Even if all I am here to do is die, I should at least make the life I have the best one I can. Anyway, back to Narnia.
Reepicheep!!! I am very excited in advance about Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the best in the Chronicles of Narnia (in my opinion). The bit in The Magician's Nephew with Tarn and Jadis was pretty good too, though. However, all of Voyage of the Dawn Treader is completely awesome. I couldn't even choose a favorite part. I'm not sure when it's coming out. I hope it is, though, and I hope it comes out in the winter this time. Remember how when the first movie came out and completely ate King Kong's grosses? New Line must have been utterly flummoxed by that.
Complaints; what was with the random river god? That part with Angry Water Dude was really weird, and such a plot device. (If you can't tell, I have problems with plot devices.) And why was Miraz killed so suddenly? There was no dramatic death face. And I definitely saw Caspian sparing Miraz. I mean, everyone did, but that one was more obvious that usual. I was, for instance, actively worried that Miraz was gonna kill Peter during the duel, although every single law of plot tells me that this would never occur. Good movies make you forget what you know is going to happen. This one did, with the exception of that one part. The trees were pretty weird also.
Highs:
• The sheer amazingness of the production values
• The witty banter
• The archery
• The duel
• The kiss
• Peter being all, "They tried to make me apologize so I hit him," which is SO realistic
• The Spanish actors
• The White Witch thing
• DLF
• Fawsome centaurs
• The tomb
• Reepicheep!!!!
• Actor hotness levels (through the roof)
Lows:
• The faith thing
• The random Water God
• The trees
• The rating
• The lack of repentance on Caspian's part for the White Witch thing
• The SONG at the end—why???
• The massively drawn out length of the goodbye scene
And with that, valete.
PS: GO SEE IT. If I were writing for EW, I'd give it an B.
Currently Reading:
Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand
Okay that movie was awesome.
From the beginning now.
I have always always always wondered what it was like for Lucy after the first book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I mean, she's all grown up, and then she's a little girl again, just like that! What must her mind be like? Freud would have a freakin' field day. It's so cruel of C.S. Lewis to do that, amongst other things—don't get me started on how messed up the seventh book, The Last Battle, was. I cannot BELIEVE he leaves out Susan. That is SO CRUEL and frustratingly fundamentalist. Ugh. Lipstick is not corrupting, I promise!
I'm sensing that Susan kissing Caspian was a nod to her eventual downfall (-type-thing). I assume they're just going to phase her and Peter out. By the way, and this is just my inner fourth grade boy talking, Peter and Caspian completely had an about-to-kiss moment. I sort of wanted to yell at the screen. Have I mentioned that both Ben Barnes (Caspian) and William Moseley (Peter) are deeply attractive? Google Image Search them right now. So is Anna Popplewell, in an Artemis sort of way. Her archer skills are beautiful. I mean seriously. That one scene of her during the battle, where it pulls back to show most of the field, and she's firing arrows like a machine gun... wow. I am deeply impressed.
Rant: I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT MOVIE WAS PG. I have to complain about the movie ratings system again. (It was the subject of my very first column last year). Stupid Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) with their insane rules about violence and sex. I bet if there would have been actual making out, instead of just a kiss, it would have been PG-13. Also, just because there's not blood doesn't mean that it should be rated lower. There are still people getting their heads cut off, arrows shoved into spleens, horses having their knees shot out from under them, heavily implied drowning, throat slitting.... The lack of realism is more disturbing, because that makes it more acceptable. I don't dislike the violence—it's necessary to the movie—I just hate how the MPAA thinks it's acceptable for children under 13. I would have been totally freaked watching that at a PG-level age. The part where they had to retreat from the castle was the worst. The minotaur who held up the gate, dying... all of the Narnians trapped inside, clawing at the bars, getting shot from behind by the merciless soldiers... That is horrible horrible horrible and the trauma of that sequence alone should have gotten it a higher rating.
But no. Disney would complain about it being appropriate for their target audience—they are large, rich, and powerful, after all. It makes me want to scream. Rant over.
I'm torn by the Christian allegory. The Aslan is God element (Liam Neeson would play God, by the way) is basically basic. And the Pevensies being Christ-like figures—well, sort of—is also excusable, since they all have their faithless moments. Peter's angst thing is either a) homoerotic undertones (I don't actually think that, I'm just deeply amused by the idea) or b) the old tortured hero character device. He's not an antihero—for one thing, he's blond—but he does lose his faith during the second movie. And possibly during the first; haven't seen it in a while. Going to soon, though. Anyway, he's all emo, in a pouty, you-look-freakishly-hot-in-armor sort of way. (No, seriously. That man is smokin' in plate metal.) And eventually gets his faith back, as do they all. Susan has the whole, "Suddenly guys like me—what am I supposed to do about it?" thing going, which she eventually gets exiled for (see above). The discovery of sex is evidently worse than all other crimes—including murder, which is committed at least a hundred times each, per character. That I think I hate the most. Edward was really good in this movie. I like the repentant sinner character, at least when they're not too sanctimonious. Him destroying the White Witch (EXCELLENT CAMEO, Tilda Swinton!!)—and believing Lucy was very well-done. And him delivering the challenge to Miraz. Good stuff. Lucy's was interesting, too. That she didn't go to find Aslan earlier, and that he implies that she could have saved a lot of lives if only she would have been more willing to be faithful without worrying what the others thought, was pretty risky for a kid's movie. I liked.
It's just that as an Atheist I can't help but be disappointed in the faith aspect of the movie. I mean, it's just so obvious and not-subtle. Be faithful, get a reward. Believe in Aslan and Aslan will believe in you. That element of it didn't make me like the movie less—it just served to underscore how faulty this whole religion thing is. Life is not a movie, you know. I wanted to yell that at the screen too. Just because Lucy's brave dedication to a plot device saved the day doesn't mean your faith in a Huge Invisible Thing will do the same. For all you know, all you are here to do is die. That doesn't depress me, though. Even if all I am here to do is die, I should at least make the life I have the best one I can. Anyway, back to Narnia.
Reepicheep!!! I am very excited in advance about Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the best in the Chronicles of Narnia (in my opinion). The bit in The Magician's Nephew with Tarn and Jadis was pretty good too, though. However, all of Voyage of the Dawn Treader is completely awesome. I couldn't even choose a favorite part. I'm not sure when it's coming out. I hope it is, though, and I hope it comes out in the winter this time. Remember how when the first movie came out and completely ate King Kong's grosses? New Line must have been utterly flummoxed by that.
Complaints; what was with the random river god? That part with Angry Water Dude was really weird, and such a plot device. (If you can't tell, I have problems with plot devices.) And why was Miraz killed so suddenly? There was no dramatic death face. And I definitely saw Caspian sparing Miraz. I mean, everyone did, but that one was more obvious that usual. I was, for instance, actively worried that Miraz was gonna kill Peter during the duel, although every single law of plot tells me that this would never occur. Good movies make you forget what you know is going to happen. This one did, with the exception of that one part. The trees were pretty weird also.
Highs:
• The sheer amazingness of the production values
• The witty banter
• The archery
• The duel
• The kiss
• Peter being all, "They tried to make me apologize so I hit him," which is SO realistic
• The Spanish actors
• The White Witch thing
• DLF
• Fawsome centaurs
• The tomb
• Reepicheep!!!!
• Actor hotness levels (through the roof)
Lows:
• The faith thing
• The random Water God
• The trees
• The rating
• The lack of repentance on Caspian's part for the White Witch thing
• The SONG at the end—why???
• The massively drawn out length of the goodbye scene
And with that, valete.
PS: GO SEE IT. If I were writing for EW, I'd give it an B.
Currently Reading:
Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand
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