Back to "work"

Sorry, nothing too interesting or any witty comments for today. I made the pilgrimadge back to my college which was uneventful. The weather was beautiful and I honestly could not have asked for better driving conditions.

However, the bigger matter looming over my head like an anvil is the exam I have on Tuesday for Biomedical Science. It covers a fair amount of material (three weeks, though that is easily a couple hundred pages) and I feel as though I really have not had the time to put into studying it. I invested a good deal of time today and feel alright about half or so of the material- but I am a bit nervous about it all the same. I don't like to let onto it too much so that I seem "above it all" and very chill about the whole shebang, but I'm just as anxious as the rest of them.

I am going to head to bed early tonight (yes, midnight is early for me these days) and hopefully the extra rest will do me some good. Fingers are crossed.

-Reven

"The Game Has Changed!"

A Review of "Tron: Legacy"



Since my last post has garnered my more traffic than I have had in months, I decided, why not give the people what they want? Err...people if you are out there, please let me know what you want. I love to write for an audience.

Anyways, the background to this particular film is interesting. I was sort of hesitant to see it as it looked very aesthetically pleasing but I fear that that would be all that the movie would: beautiful but without substance. Anyways, one of my friends from church wanted to hang out and do lunch and a movie. I was more than willing to oblige as it had been some time since I had seen him and I was up for anything.

It should be noted at this point that I had little to no clue about what "Tron" is or was. In fact, all of my knowledge of the series came from a gaming series called "Kingdom Hearts." Which is to say, not too much at all.

So, we got to the theatre and it turns out that the movie came in 3D and 2D settings, which was fine. I'm not a fan of 3D, mostly because it feels (more often than not) gimmicky. While gimmicks can be fine, they can't be the only thing holding up a movie. I'm talking to you, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland! Ahem.

We opted for the 3D showing much to the pining cries of my wallet and the few dead presidents left inside and hopped in.

As the credits flew in a most beautiful way, I picked up a deal of the story. There was this guy named Kevin Flynn (played by Jeff Bridges) who was an amazing computer programmer who had oodles of dollars (unlike my wallet) and was the CEO of a computer company named ENCOM. And he has a son name Sam who has a wonderful relationship with his father, until Kevin flat out disappears. Yes, Kevin vanishes into thin air, leaving his young son the lion's share of the company.

Now, while Kevin's whereabouts are unknown (though he mumbled often about living in a computer and the games played therein), young Sam is left to muddle through the loss of his father and as a result turns into an angsty 27 year old young man who while intelligent is too much of a rebel to really accomplish anything in the way of college degrees or running the company his father pretty much left him.

Angsty young men are pretty much the standard bill affair for Disney protagonists for the last fifteen years (Hercules, Aladdin, Simba, etc.) and Sam Flynn is no different, though a few years older than the usual. He broods and rides his motorcycle and pulls pranks on the company he owns (pretty much) before returning to his "Fortress of Solitude"esque dwelling in a daring escape sequence (one of the better ones of the film).

It is there that Sam finds that his father in his ramblings may have not been far off in his statements of living in a computer and playing games on "The Grid." When Sam gets a tip to check out his father's arcade, he turns on an old computer and magically (as there is seriously no explanation for how this happens) is transported into the computer and onto The Grid.

Now, it appears that life in a computer is not all that it's cracked up to be. Sure, the architecture is beautiful in mostly drab greys and electric blues, but there seem to be an awful lot of people who have orange lights on them instead of blue, who decide to throw Programs (beings who live in the computer but look like human beings) onto The Grid and play various games against each other, not unlike ancient Romans, with similar consequences (de-rezzing, or deresolution, seems to be the equivalent of death in the computer universe).

Sam gets thrown right into the middle of these games and manages to survive, much to the surprise of the Program watching the games and after a few flashy action sequences, Sam's presence makes him the number one target of the dictator-esque, CLU (also played by Bridges) who seems to rule The Grid.

Long story short, Sam discovers that his father is indeed alive and well in the computer and chilling out in a hideout with a Program that he made named Quorra (Olivia Wilde). Though "hiding out" seems like it would be a better term as CLU is out to exterminate Kevin for a number of reasons, Kevin's abode is awful nice looking and sleek, almost if the entire thing had been designed by Apple.

So sum up the rest of the movie, Sam, Kevin and Quorra basically attempt to escape from The Grid and the armies of CLU preventing them from leaving. Yes, that is the plot. There is a whole lot more of detail, though the storytelling is convoluted to say the least and not especially engaged.

Though why should it be? The movie relies strongly enough on its powerful visuals and those visuals do succeed. Even if I hadn't seen the movie in 3D, I would still be raving about a few sequences- the light cycle sequence and the flying sequence near the end are of special note.

Also as a strength, the movie really delivers on the musical end of the spectrum with all of the music done by Daft Punk, who did the movie for the first film. The techno beats fit the film perfectly and make the action that much more believable and visceral.

Though with these strengths come many weaknesses. The plot, as mentioned before is poor and the characterization of the characters is disappointing, to say the least. Granted the movie mostly takes place in a computer, but must all of their performances also be robotic? I felt such low empathy for the characters in the film that I found myself indifferent to their plight and just wanted to do more of the action sequences.

The actors don't really bring much to the table here- Bridges is ok as Kevin, especially when he has that spaced out look in his eye and starts waxing philosophical about life in the computer, but not really intimidating as CLU. Garrett Hedlund is the generic angsty male hero as Sam and not really compelling. Quorra is just another pretty face and while she is a Program, she could at least attempt some emotion or make us feel for her. I mean, Wall-E was able to do that for most! Even Ah-nold in the second Terminator movie got us to feel empathetic for him by the end of T2! So, why not a Program?

Sigh. In the end, what "Tron: Legacy" does well, it does well. Even though it wasn't a great movie, it was an enjoyable experience, so I will give it that much.

Basically there are three reasons to see this film: soundtrack by Daft Punk, beautiful art/action scenes, and soundtrack by Daft Punk. If you go in wanting those three things you will be pleasantly rewarded by sparkly lights and choruses of "ooh, how pretty!" However, if you are looking for a deep movie or one with decent dialogue and characterization, I would direct you elsewhere.

7.1/10 - Alright

-Reven

1/1/11

So, yeah. I had to write that. Anyways, it's another new year and as such I have several goals so what better forum to display them then here?

1. Write one short story every two weeks
2. Read the Bible in some capacity every day
3. Finish a playthrough on Mass Effect 2 with Male Shepard romancing Jack
4. Write in this blog every three days, minimum.
5. Stay up to date with school work
6. Limit my time playing "Mafia Wars" on Facebook.
7. Smile. Daily.

Anyways, I guess also since my viewership got a huge spike after I wrote that "Black Swan" article (according to the stats, anyways), I'd like to welcome any new viewers. If you have any questions or suggestions for me and this blog feel free to rattle off. Until then, I'll be outlining the first story. Oh, and I'll be chronicallying my success with these these seven tasks probably ever other post or so, to keep myself thinking about them.

Anyways, Happy New Year!

-Reven

"I was perfect..."

A Review of "Black Swan"



So, some time back, some friends of mine and I saw the movie "Hereafter." We were uttely dissapointed by the movie and though it was not possible, we all wished that somehow we could have regained those two hours of our time and the $6.75 that we had lost. This was not possible, though there was one good thing about it. One of the trailers showed a very dark twisted movie starring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis called "Black Swan". It seemed to promanently feature ballet, which admittedly was not too much of a draw initially, but the trailer looked disturbing enough for me to get interested.

Fast forward to two days ago when I actually saw the movie with one of my friends. He was skeptical of seeing a movie that centered around ballerinas, but I assured him that the trailer looked weird enough for him to be interested. His interest piqued, we walked in.

"Black Swan" is a psychological thriller by Darren Aronofsky which was intially released to a limited number of locations but has since rolled out to almost a national release.

First up we meet our protagonist, Nina Sayer (played by Natlie Portman), who is a ballerina. Yes, Nina the ballerina. My memory may be failing me, but I could swear that there was some children's toy with the same name. Anyways, Nina the ballerina is a sweet girl and Portman plays her with such innocence at first. She lives in New York City with her mother (played quite well by Barbara Hershey) who is something of a soccer mom by way of Carrie White's mother sans religious craziness. Nina while she is by age a woman, is somewhat (read: quite) emotionally stunted- almost reminiscant of a dog rescued from an abusive home who winces in pain every time a person moves towards it. She dreams of perfection in her dance and is frustrated with her lack of progress in her dance company in spite of her having been with the group for awhile.

But, that must change. The flamboyant and lecherous head of the dance company, Thomas (Vincent Cassel) announces that they are doing "Swan Lake" in the upcoming season. For those unfamiliar with the story, the story is such that a princess falls in love with prince, but a sorceror turns her into a swan. Fortunately, true love can change the princess back into human form, but *unfortunately* the princesses evil twin, the black swan seduces the prince and as a result the white swan princess in mourning throws herself from the top of a cliff to her death. Yeah, when you have *this* kind of story that the movie revolves around, you know that the movie is not going to exactly be rainbows and puppies.

The lead role for which all of the ballerinas are eyeing is the dual role of the White Swan and the Black Swan- which makes sense as the characters are twins, though the parts are quite different. While the White Swan part is more technical skill, the Black Swan is much more sensual and letting onesself go. Foreshadowing and symbolism much?

Anyways, Nina auditions and it goes quite well until the very end, when a newcomer, Lily (Mila Kunis) walks through the studio door and throws off Nina's concentration. Distraught and with enough existing emotional baggage to rival soap opera characters, Nina begs Thomas for the part the following morning. Thomas explains that Nina was quite good at the White Swan part but lacked the inability to let herself go to truly become sensual enough for the Black Swan. In short, Nina's obsession with perfection inhibits her from letting herself go to actually achieve it, which is deliciously ironic and boarderline poetic.

In order to not spoil too much of the plot for anyone actually interested in seeing it, Nina gets the lead part and that's where the story really heats up. The stress of such a complicated role lumps an enormous amount of stress onto the poor woman's psyche and various other stressors such as her micromanaging mother (who is herself a failed ballerina) and the overt sexual advances (boardering on harrassment) from Thomas adds more fuel to the fire. Enter Lily (Kunis) who appears to be everything that Nina is not. Lily is chill, calm and willing to let her hair down whenever and is a near perfect foil to Nina. Unlike Nina, Lily is able to let herself go into the part and while she lacks all of the technical skill of Nina, Lily is a darn good dancer herself. So, naturally when Lily approaches Nina for mere friendship, one would assume that it would exactly what Nina needed to help her calm down. And of course, Lily would learn from Nina and they'd become great friends.

...but this is "Black Swan" we are talking about. That doesn't exactly happen and a rivalry quickly rises between Lily and Nina and the central conflict of the movie appears and drives Nina further into her insanity.

And poor Nina, her hallucinations are absolutely nightmare inducing at the least. One of her early stress induced hallucinations involves her pulling at a recalcitrant hangnail on her index finger and ripping off skin up to her knuckle. My jaw was on the floor. I should also make the point that I am rarely squeamish and hard to startle- I have dissected cats and have seen many a cadaver and are able to call many "scares" in a given horror movie. With that out of the way, there are a few scenes that left me disturbed after the movie that I won't spoil in this review, but if you see it- the hallucination in Nina's mother's art studio was particularly jarring. Holy crap.

Nina's descent into madness is almost hypnotizing to watch and Portman's portrayal of her is nothing short of amazing. Portman, who is twenty-nine years old, can transform herself from young adult to emotionally wrecked little girl in a way that is both compelling and authentic. She makes the viewer really care for her and this viewer personally wished at a few points he could jump into the projector screen and assure Nina that everything was going to be alright.

The supporting cast is also incredible. Mila Kunis portrays Lily as the sensual, world wise woman that Nina clearly is not and reminds me of Brad Pitt's performance as Tyler Durdan in "Fight Club" (another excellent movie). Thomas makes me want throttle him every time he is on camera and manipulates the naive Nina and Cassel does a fantastic job, as does Hershey as Nina's mother. Also of note, is Winona Ryder's performance as Beth, who was the former head ballerina who is forced into retirement by Thomas to make way for Nina. Beth is full of bitterness and regret (understandably due to a plot twist about an hour in) and makes the viewer wonder if Nina will turn into another Beth.

Anyone going into the movie should not expect it to be a happy one. It is dark, psychotic, sensual and visceral. Of particular note on the "sensual" nature is a sex scene that is graphic and easily offended people may wish to skip out (for reference, Kunis, who participates in the scene, publically forbid her father from watching the movie specifically for that), though the scene is symbolic and makes sense in context of the movie.

The only (and this is really nitpicky) issue that I have with the film is the ambigious resolution in the end. I have no problem with the ending (in fact, I believe that it was excellent) but there is a plot twist near the end that really makes the viewer question how exactly the story took place. Weasel words, I know, and that this lack of clarity may have been the point that the movie was gong for. However, I felt one or two explainations were due that were left ignored, though that could be me being too anal retentive. But that's not enough to detract from a solid movie.

If you want a particuarly interesting character study full of drama and psychological thrill, I invite you into the tale of Ms. Nina Sayers. It is a dark one, and full of pain, but it is one of the best written films of this year and if you are willing to delve into her psyche, you will not be underwhelmed.

9.2/10- Excellent

-Reven

PS- I will be away from the blog for the next few days. I am going to a Orthodox Christian retreat and hope to gain some level of comradery and spiritual enlightenment. Pray for me a sinner, please.

Back again...for good?

So, not having written in here for awhile, I think I owe anyone still reading this an explanation.

Basically school really amped up the difficulty when I returned for winter quarter- harder than I expected. Nothing impossible to be sure, but it was unexpected. On top of that, I really have not felt as though anything significant has happened in my life, mentally/physically/spiritually. So, I didn't have anywhere to start.

But now, I guess I came to a few conclusions and here they are:

First off, I think I realize why I have difficulty getting into the "Christmas spirit." Historically, I have difficulty with the saccharine sweet atmosphere that pervades from (currently) mid-November to December 25th. I strongly dislike the consumerism and the overplayed Christmas commercials and certain Christmas songs (think along the lines of "I wanna Hippopotamus for Christmas," "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth", "Blue Christmas," etc.). But...that isn't the real issue. Even after all of my venting to friends that this should be more of a religious holiday (as it well should be), I think I realized the bit of Christmas that both the secular and religious folk would agree on.

Getting out of ones mind and actually doing stuff.

Yeah, it wasn't until *after* I got away from my school (where I hang out with pretty much the same five or so people all the time usually in one of our rooms watching a movie or something) that I realized how great it is to actually get out of ones house/dorm room and do something. In the last week, I have hung out with ten or so different people and it was fantastic! Not just because it had been awhile since I had actually seen them (it had) but because I got out of my rut and actually did something for a change. Which is something I think both secular and religious Christmas would agree on- doing something different.

The second thing was that I realized I need to get back to writing. Not just on here, but back to the short stories I have been working on since freshman year (but mostly last year). I figured out that last year, I had basically written a decent short story every other week I had been in school. And if I actually want to do something with them, I should probably keep at it. Additionally, finishing a story gives me some kind of inner peace and relaxation that tells me "Hey, you actually did something. You made something new." I really video games and they are a wonderful stress relief, but they can't compare to that feeling. Food for though.

Lastly, and most importantly, I've been a bit...lackadaisical/apathetic/lost in my spiritual life. One of my friends has started up a Bible study among a few of us friends and some parts of it are...awkward to say a little. Kratos (my friend) talks about God speaking to him and...I have honestly never felt that feeling. Or at least not been cognizant of it. Truth to be told, my prayers at night feel like ritual but that it is a one way conversation with my not listening to what God wants. It's frustrating and I really don't know how to over come it. Kratos suggested reading the Bible and I said sure, and started at Genesis but found myself getting upset at various stories (don't even get me started on Lot's wives or Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac or Jacob's trickery being justification for stealing Esau's birthright). I mean, literal or figurative, I dislike some of the stories in the message that they convey. As a result, I get disheartened and close the book. Perhaps I'm not reading them correctly or don't have the correct mindset, but I have issues with those three stories. I admit, the problem is on my end and I need to work it out somehow.

How often I've had difficulty with these issues (and others), I really cannot say, but they need to be dealt with. My sister convinced me to go to a spiritual retreat this upcoming week and I can only hope that it will be able to help me.

But until then, for first time in awhile, I'm going to seriously meditate, pray and crack open that Bible. Hopefully, I will be able to sort some things out before the retreat and even moreso after. My fingers are crossed and morale is high. I will get through this.

To anyone reading this- Merry Chirstmas to you and yours! Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

-Reven

"I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous..."

I may have been a bit sleep deprived last night. This revelation was brought on after going to sleep at 12:40am last night and waking up around 1:40pm today. I never (read: rarely) sleep in past 10, so I may have been a bit tired from exam week. Anyways, after waking up to an empty house (sister still being at school, my dad at work and my mom running errands) I staggered downstairs and collapsed once more in the supine position on the couch. Finding the remote, I found that I recorded an episode of Total Drama Island. Smiling, I leaned back and enjoyed.

When I first came across this show, roughly around this summer, I was discussing cartoons with my roommate and we had made the declaration that 90s cartoons were the best ever. This was undeniably true (in our minds). We had Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Beast Wars, Gargoyles among tens of others. And when we turned on the TV while studying, the newer shows often make us sigh in desperation and think of "better" times. So, one could imagine my derision when I saw in an online article that listed the best cartoons of this decade (so far). Wanting to justify my scorn, I found the first episode of TDI on youtube and started watching. Twenty-three minutes later- I was hooked and had one of my shoes firmly jammed in my mouth.


To explain, the concept of the show is that 22 teens (pictured above) are on this reality show called (you guessed it) Total Drama Island hosted by the jerkish host Chris McLean. It is a show within a show that openly lampoons the conventions of reality television while creating compelling drama of its own (sort of like what the movie Scream is to the slasher horror genre). Each of the characters is admittedly a stereotype- there is the goth girl, the juvenile delinquent, the nerd, the dumb blonde, the gentle giant, the party guy, the surfer girl, the queen bee among many others (though these are all played for laughs). However, in spite of each of the characters obviously being stereotypes, none are portrayed as the sole protagonist and all have flaws of some sort, which I find impressive. Obviously due to one character being voted off each episode, some characters end up better characterized than others, though there does not seem to be a bias for who should win upon the part of the writers. This being said, the viewer will root for whomever she or he wishes until the finale.

Now, the teens (pictured above)are competing on this island (as all reality shows must) for the chance at winning $100,000. They are divided into two teams and must compete in a series of challenges (some mental, the majority physical) in hopes to win. At the end of each episode, the losing team must vote off one of their members in a campfire ceremony where the member voted out boards the "boat of losers" and leaves the island.


Now, given that I am a college student, it is assumed that I should be watching South Park, Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Jersey Shore and House. I do enjoy SP and the odd episodes of House and ATHF (especially if I am especially sleep deprived) but I find myself turned off by the language and overall senseless vulgarity. This is not to say that TDI is not less than saintly- characters swear, vomit and one character (whom I cannot stand) frequently breaks wind. However, it isn't done in a way to turn me off- rather the characters all act quite human. Even though I cannot stand Owen (the aforementioned character), I still come back episode after episode.

It is not because I like reality television (which I cannot stand), but it is the incredible dialogue (my personal benchmark for shows I watch) that the genre savvy characters throw around that keeps me around. Take this line from the host (pictured below) as an example:

Chris: (to the audience) Hi. Sometimes teenagers just don't get along. So the producers thought what better than exploit it for ourselves! It's gonna be AWESOME!!

Yeah. That's pretty much the tone of the show. I would recommend it to anyone who can appreciate parodies of reality series, witty dialogue and dark humor. I'll return to more mature writings tomorrow- just needed to get back in the groove of writing every day.

-Reven

Anticipation and such

So, I came home from school today- first time in eleven weeks. It's been awhile.

From my college in western Ohio to the suburb of Cleveland where I live is roughly three or so hours according to Google maps. Since my roommate, Jack, lives around Cleveland, I drop him off at a location where our paths split and his parents take him the remaining half hour home.

This being said, our drive home consists of me driving and him passed out in my passenger seat due to having been awake for thirty or so hours studying for a given exam. His iPod earbuds are in and- while Jack is a great guy- his earbuds are of not the best quality. Even when he doesn't have the sound blasting, I can hear clear lyrics from his earbuds. Yes, maybe not the highest quality. But, I joke about it and he takes it in stride. In order not to wake him up, I kept my music off until I dropped him off.

And then, I smiled as I was around Cleveland and knew that I would be able to listen to my favorite radio channel. Now, I know it sounds silly, but I like to enjoy the little things in life and hearing 106.5 on the drive home just works for me. Turning the knob, I smile in anticipation as I expected to hear some rock or alternative song soothing my ears from the silent drive. I was...disappointed.
Christmas music began to fill my minivan- well, the parts of it that didn't have roughly fifty pounds of dirty laundry and other assorted objects I was taking him. It filled the car as I groaned in defeat. This couldn't be happening. It is November 18th. Over a month before Christmas.


As the blithe chorus of Feliz Navidad pounded against my head, I thought back to Halloween. One of my friends in my pharmacy class was hosting a party for her kids and needed some guys (read: me and my friends) to put on face paint, hide out in her backyard and scare her kids. Now, this was no difficult feat- children normally run screaming from me (ha ha), but finding face paint one day before Halloween was interesting as when I went into the Rite Aid across from my college- I really had to look for it. This was not because there was a lack of face paint- there were a few kits- but because all of the Halloween stuff was being cast aside for Christmas stuff. October 30th. Yikes.

I guess I have had a problem with Christmas- not so much the holiday itself, but the way that it is celebrated. For the purpose of this post, I think I am going to restrict my scope to the anticipation of Christmas, not so much the commercialization (at this point).


To be fair, I am Orthodox Christian, and the fasting for forty days before the Nativity that a number of faithful do is indeed anticipating the holiday. However, I draw the line at bombardment with Christmas ads and music. I mean, there are some Christmas songs that I like and some ads that aren't that bad, but I think the constant stream of them diminishes their value and by association- the holiday itself. Perhaps tomorrow I will go into some things I actually like about Christmas. To specify my terminology in future posts, Christmas is the secular holiday celebrated December 25th while the Nativity is the term I will use for the religious holiday celebrated December 25th.

Getting back to my original point, I think the fact that the celebration and anticipation for Christmas beginning so early really hurts the holiday itself. For one, how long could one stay excited for some event? How long could one sustain energy and fervor for a holiday? For me, maybe two weeks, depending on the holiday. But since the Christmas frenzy is starting in mid November, I may be burned out before December rears its head. I suppose I may have trouble getting excited for Christmas and the Nativity because I cannot focus solely on the holiday- moreso the tests and papers that will inevitably be assigned and stand between me and my journey home. I suppose I should feel more motivated for the Nativity, but it so difficult with so many early cares dragging one down. Hmm. Maybe I shall have to think on that some more.

Again, sorry for my delay in writing- it has been a hectic quarter and I need to ease myself back into the whole "writing every day" thing.

-Reven