There was a delay with the subtitles in the copy of Alien vs. Ninja I rented the other day, and the translation would appear on the screen 20 to 30 seconds after the sentence had been spoken, if it appeared at all. It didn't really matter too much however inasmuch as I could gather what was going on simply by watching (there are a group of ninjas, aliens arrive out of nowhere, they fight).
The film's a lot of fun, because, on the one hand, when the heroes stop to discuss things, it seems as if it's taking itself rather seriously, while, on the other, whenever battle or the comic relief is introduced, it's obvious that it is well aware of its ridiculous nature.
Excessively serious ridiculousness is a winning combination in my books, in the realm of kitschy film production, meaning Alien vs. Ninja worked for me.
It may not have worked if I had a better grasp of the linguistic momentum, but the exaggerations were striking without being overbearing, the ways in which director Seiji Chiba catered to his audience's tastes were appreciated, logic was appealed to and ignored depending on the improvisations of the design, aliens fighting ninjas equals good, potentially entertaining possibilities are ignored in favour of bizarre fluctuations, and classic sci-fi franchises such as Alien and Predator are unabashedly lampooned, while Chiba borrows heavily from their storylines nonetheless.
Perhaps Aliens and Ninjas fighting in a campy over-the-top romp with spur of the moment production values isn't for you, I really don't know, but if you're interested in a bit of lighthearted nauseating questionable roguishness, Alien vs. Ninja will cater to your needs, while causing you to recklessly twist and squirm.
Before or after basketball practice.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
The Help
Boldly displaying the ugly dimensions permeating a culture whose social fabric is thoroughly racist, Tate Taylor's The Help situates us in Jackson, Mississippi, and demonstrates how difficult it was for African Americans to either express their points of view or hope for a better life within.
Not to say that it's any easier now, Taylor just situates her narrative in the past in order to mitigate the shock of investigating current pervasive racist realities, thereby making her message easier to digest while enabling it to reach a broader audience.
This strategy works effectively for the aforementioned reason but it also ignores the fact that there are still systematic racist discourses influencing sundry public and private spheres whose destabilizing affects are as vicious as they are subtle. It's not a matter of thinking that things were like that 50 years ago and they're fine in the present, it's a matter of reexamining the present in order to discover the ways in which racist attitudes continue to disable so that 50 years from now our cultures will be all the more inclusive, and so on.
The film presents an aspiring writer, 'Skeeter' Phelan (Emma Stone), who finds the ways in which her African American compatriots are treated revolting, seeing how their wages are low, there is no possibility for advancement, they are treated like slaves, and have basically no means by which to defend themselves. She seeks to disseminate their voices in the form of a book which collects and transmits their stories. This is no easy task due to the legal ramifications of challenging Mississippi's segregated society, so said stories must be collected clandestinely, pseudonyms must be employed, specific geographic locations cannot be identified, and during the collection process appearances must be kept up as usual.
Two maids, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), agree to share their stories at great personal risk and as the Civil Rights Movement intensifies many of their friends sign-up as well. The book is released, it has an impact, there's a happy ending.
I found one aspect of the ending troubling, however, in regards to the ways in which Minny is offered full-time employment with the Footes (Jessica Chastain as Celia and Mike Vogel as Johnny). Internally, the ending works insofar as Minny's career had been threatened by a rumour spread by her former employer and she now no longer has to worry about putting food on the table. But she's offered full-time employment within the same set of circumstances within which she was previously employed, albeit with a much more enlightened couple. Obviously one book isn't going to magically uproot and transform decades of oppressive practices and suggesting that this had happened would have made The Help seem somewhat flippant. But if the Footes had made a stronger commitment to trying to redefine things so that Minny didn't have to work as a maid for the rest of her life, thereby suggesting that they were trying to open up a broader commercial space for her within which her talents could flourish, The Help would have packed a stronger progressive punch into its already sturdy, innovative, repertoire.
The stifling nature of being any married woman in a culture defined by strict patriarchal gender roles is intelligently illustrated as well.
Not to say that it's any easier now, Taylor just situates her narrative in the past in order to mitigate the shock of investigating current pervasive racist realities, thereby making her message easier to digest while enabling it to reach a broader audience.
This strategy works effectively for the aforementioned reason but it also ignores the fact that there are still systematic racist discourses influencing sundry public and private spheres whose destabilizing affects are as vicious as they are subtle. It's not a matter of thinking that things were like that 50 years ago and they're fine in the present, it's a matter of reexamining the present in order to discover the ways in which racist attitudes continue to disable so that 50 years from now our cultures will be all the more inclusive, and so on.
The film presents an aspiring writer, 'Skeeter' Phelan (Emma Stone), who finds the ways in which her African American compatriots are treated revolting, seeing how their wages are low, there is no possibility for advancement, they are treated like slaves, and have basically no means by which to defend themselves. She seeks to disseminate their voices in the form of a book which collects and transmits their stories. This is no easy task due to the legal ramifications of challenging Mississippi's segregated society, so said stories must be collected clandestinely, pseudonyms must be employed, specific geographic locations cannot be identified, and during the collection process appearances must be kept up as usual.
Two maids, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis) and Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer), agree to share their stories at great personal risk and as the Civil Rights Movement intensifies many of their friends sign-up as well. The book is released, it has an impact, there's a happy ending.
I found one aspect of the ending troubling, however, in regards to the ways in which Minny is offered full-time employment with the Footes (Jessica Chastain as Celia and Mike Vogel as Johnny). Internally, the ending works insofar as Minny's career had been threatened by a rumour spread by her former employer and she now no longer has to worry about putting food on the table. But she's offered full-time employment within the same set of circumstances within which she was previously employed, albeit with a much more enlightened couple. Obviously one book isn't going to magically uproot and transform decades of oppressive practices and suggesting that this had happened would have made The Help seem somewhat flippant. But if the Footes had made a stronger commitment to trying to redefine things so that Minny didn't have to work as a maid for the rest of her life, thereby suggesting that they were trying to open up a broader commercial space for her within which her talents could flourish, The Help would have packed a stronger progressive punch into its already sturdy, innovative, repertoire.
The stifling nature of being any married woman in a culture defined by strict patriarchal gender roles is intelligently illustrated as well.
30 Minutes or Less
Ruben Fleischer's 30 Minutes or Less is a well-crafted ridiculous summertime flick. Full of plenty of diversifying intertextuality, a father/son relationship to comedically rival that maintained between Braveheart's Longshanks and Prince Edward (enlivened by Fred Ward's machismo [the scene where he thinks it's funny that his son is trying to kill him is priceless]), a sharp examination of the concept of role-playing, witty banters exchanged between both pairs of struggling male duos, complete with different brands of particularized logistical clarifications concerning 'mature' and 'immature' approaches to life after 25, and a shoot out involving a flame thrower (brilliant), all wrapped up in an indirect salute to the puzzling benefits of living in a small town, it keeps the juvenile effervescence flowing abrasively and unapologetically, as it levitates towards its incandescent glass ceiling.
Anxiously highlighting the leveraged conditions of possibility, while playfully working within the master/slave dichotomy, the productive output of this individualized synthesis guarantees a destructive resolution.
Is this because Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) and Chet (Aziz Ansari) so eagerly and effectively became that which they had never considered they possibly would due to the imposition of tyrannical constraints, the force of the necessary malevolence which they are forced to distribute overcoming their previously established socially acclimatized psychologies due to the unforeseen consequences of concrete shock?
It's possible that this is what Fleischer means although the point is certainly up for debate. Other phenomenons such as sleeping with your best friend's sister and hiring trained killers are investigated as well.
Anxiously highlighting the leveraged conditions of possibility, while playfully working within the master/slave dichotomy, the productive output of this individualized synthesis guarantees a destructive resolution.
Is this because Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) and Chet (Aziz Ansari) so eagerly and effectively became that which they had never considered they possibly would due to the imposition of tyrannical constraints, the force of the necessary malevolence which they are forced to distribute overcoming their previously established socially acclimatized psychologies due to the unforeseen consequences of concrete shock?
It's possible that this is what Fleischer means although the point is certainly up for debate. Other phenomenons such as sleeping with your best friend's sister and hiring trained killers are investigated as well.
Found an easier way to consume 30 grams of protein powder every morning today thanks to laziness.
I only have four bowls and they were all dirty last night and I decided not to clean them, even though I knew I would need one the next morning in which to place yogurt, granola, maple syrup, cream, and 30 grams of protein powder for breakfast. I reckoned I would simply skip breakfast because washing dishes first thing in the morning is out of the question always, but then decided to simply add the (vanilla flavoured) powder to my morning cup of coffee. The powder tastes pretty gross, the coffee I brew tastes pretty gross, but when mixed together, they don't taste half-bad.
Once again, laziness pays off.
I only have four bowls and they were all dirty last night and I decided not to clean them, even though I knew I would need one the next morning in which to place yogurt, granola, maple syrup, cream, and 30 grams of protein powder for breakfast. I reckoned I would simply skip breakfast because washing dishes first thing in the morning is out of the question always, but then decided to simply add the (vanilla flavoured) powder to my morning cup of coffee. The powder tastes pretty gross, the coffee I brew tastes pretty gross, but when mixed together, they don't taste half-bad.
Once again, laziness pays off.
Was lucky enough to see 10 grizzlies the other day in Haines, Alaska, on the Chilkoot River. 2 moms, one lone bear, and 7 cubs. The cubs were fishing, wrestling, and playing in the river. Also saw a lone black bear behind the Gold Creek Salmon Bake in Juneau, Alaska. Bunch of humpback whales in the Lynn Canal too.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Grizzly Bear Sighting
Spent last Sunday in a cabin reserved for travellers in need of a place to rest on the road between Haines Junction, Yukon, and Haines, Alaska, located in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in Northern British Columbia. Almost immediately after arriving, a grizzly bear emerged from the bush and sauntered past, in search of food to help him or her survive the upcoming winter. Never seen a grizzly before so I was rather excited. Everyone else was a wee bit more worried about the wild powerful animal passing by, only 30 feet away, and weren't that interested in discussing it for the next three hours. I watched it walk down the side of the highway for about 20 minutes, and then was happy to see it return (although his or her return made me somewhat more nervous!). I'm thankful that I was finally able to see a grizzly and am now in search of polar, kodiak, glacier and kermode bears.
Note that a lynx, a coyote, and some swans were also seen that day.
Note that a lynx, a coyote, and some swans were also seen that day.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
The problem with penetrating a social group lies in being able to bluff your way through the unspoken. There are usually subjects of conversation that are avoided, their semantic being existing primarily in metaphor and tone. If you have trouble discerning the objects to which these subtle tonal and metaphorical displacements correspond, your verbal capital may have trouble actively accruing, depending on the seductive longevity of your novelty.
L'amour fou
Examining the life and times of fashion designer Yves Saint-Laurent, Pierre Thoretton's L'amour fou lucidly injects a sober biographical sketch with an informative alluring amorous solution.
Within we discover a prolific artist prone to depression and substance abuse whose innovative vision redefined and enabled various voices. An avid art collector, he acquired a vast array of works over the years whose particular features were loosely situated within the specific temporal coordinates of a constantly transforming personalized aesthetic.
Much like Charles Swann.
Primarily framed by the accounts of lifelong partner Pierre Bergé, St. Laurent's trajectory is characterized by brilliance, success, and mental illness. Their relationship endures as Yves creates and Bergé manages, a stable juxtaposition of art and commerce which survives their passion's deterioration.
What Saint-Laurent achieved throughout his lifetime is remarkable, resulting from the ways in which he consistently reinvented himself while continuing to cultivate his insight. The film could have elaborated to a greater degree on the latter part of his engagement, his personal life and idiosyncrasies enjoying more screen time throughout. He's often portrayed as an undeniable genius whose only destabilizing lesions were self-inflicted. There must have been more controversy associated with his pursuits, controversy that could have been focused on more acutely than Bergé's role in his life story.
But the film's about crazy love, and Bergé's role in Saint-Laurent's success was paramount. L'amour fou only presents a brief introduction to their union, and although this introduction provides a significant amount of anecdotal refreshment, it principally serves to encourage further investigations.
Which isn't so bad.
Within we discover a prolific artist prone to depression and substance abuse whose innovative vision redefined and enabled various voices. An avid art collector, he acquired a vast array of works over the years whose particular features were loosely situated within the specific temporal coordinates of a constantly transforming personalized aesthetic.
Much like Charles Swann.
Primarily framed by the accounts of lifelong partner Pierre Bergé, St. Laurent's trajectory is characterized by brilliance, success, and mental illness. Their relationship endures as Yves creates and Bergé manages, a stable juxtaposition of art and commerce which survives their passion's deterioration.
What Saint-Laurent achieved throughout his lifetime is remarkable, resulting from the ways in which he consistently reinvented himself while continuing to cultivate his insight. The film could have elaborated to a greater degree on the latter part of his engagement, his personal life and idiosyncrasies enjoying more screen time throughout. He's often portrayed as an undeniable genius whose only destabilizing lesions were self-inflicted. There must have been more controversy associated with his pursuits, controversy that could have been focused on more acutely than Bergé's role in his life story.
But the film's about crazy love, and Bergé's role in Saint-Laurent's success was paramount. L'amour fou only presents a brief introduction to their union, and although this introduction provides a significant amount of anecdotal refreshment, it principally serves to encourage further investigations.
Which isn't so bad.
Midnight in Paris
Working within a light-hearted quaint sharply crystallized kitschy tradition, presenting thoughtful witty self-aware observations concerning creativity, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris frankly endures its own self-destructive mechanizations as it simultaneously satirizes and elevates various philosophical/sociological/historical/. . . ical points.
Plus it has time travel.
Gil (Owen Wilson) wants to make the transition from writing screen plays to novels while daydreaming about moving to Paris. He trusts no one with his work, however, as he isn't yet prepared to subsume negative criticisms. He encounters a self-assured erudite slightly pompous handsome individual (Michael Sheen as Paul) to whose clarifications his fiancée (Rachel McAdams as Inez) takes a shine. Gil's able to interject the occasional colourful contradiction after travelling back in time to the Paris of the 1920s (which he proceeds to do every evening at midnight) and learning various facts about Hemingway (Corey Stoll), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo), and . . . first hand, facts which Inez is quick to dismiss because he occupies a less prestigious position.
In the order of things.
Travelling through time raises some interesting points, most of which have likely been mentioned before. Would the novelty of a 21st century kitschy work make it seem literary in the early 20th? Would the novelty of taking a writer and placing him within a 21st century manifestation of the 1920s seem literary from a 21st century filmic perspective? Would the novelty of a literary comedic 21st century filmic perspective seem incisive from an atemporal disengaged discursive non-committal self-reflexive perspective? Would an atemporal disengaged discursive non-committal self-reflexive perspective seem comedic from the point of view of a dedicated modernist cultivating a particular artistic market, working within broad guidelines, an aspect, in reaction to Victorian counterpoints?
Bears.
Hemingway's lines become increasingly trite as Gil's gain critical momentum. As Gil comes closer to situating himself within a burgeoning movement's jouissance, his confidence increases. As his confidence increases within the imaginary, his stability pleasantly deteriorates in the symbolic.
And he succeeds.
Is Gil the greatest kitschy-filmic-literary-atemporal-discursive-disengaged-perpetually-productive sprout ever?
Perhaps, although, with the passing of time, these answers seem harder and harder to ephemerally tether to a shape shifting transformative meteorology, within which moments coyly whisper, "by the light of the sickle moon."
lol
Plus it has time travel.
Gil (Owen Wilson) wants to make the transition from writing screen plays to novels while daydreaming about moving to Paris. He trusts no one with his work, however, as he isn't yet prepared to subsume negative criticisms. He encounters a self-assured erudite slightly pompous handsome individual (Michael Sheen as Paul) to whose clarifications his fiancée (Rachel McAdams as Inez) takes a shine. Gil's able to interject the occasional colourful contradiction after travelling back in time to the Paris of the 1920s (which he proceeds to do every evening at midnight) and learning various facts about Hemingway (Corey Stoll), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo), and . . . first hand, facts which Inez is quick to dismiss because he occupies a less prestigious position.
In the order of things.
Travelling through time raises some interesting points, most of which have likely been mentioned before. Would the novelty of a 21st century kitschy work make it seem literary in the early 20th? Would the novelty of taking a writer and placing him within a 21st century manifestation of the 1920s seem literary from a 21st century filmic perspective? Would the novelty of a literary comedic 21st century filmic perspective seem incisive from an atemporal disengaged discursive non-committal self-reflexive perspective? Would an atemporal disengaged discursive non-committal self-reflexive perspective seem comedic from the point of view of a dedicated modernist cultivating a particular artistic market, working within broad guidelines, an aspect, in reaction to Victorian counterpoints?
Bears.
Hemingway's lines become increasingly trite as Gil's gain critical momentum. As Gil comes closer to situating himself within a burgeoning movement's jouissance, his confidence increases. As his confidence increases within the imaginary, his stability pleasantly deteriorates in the symbolic.
And he succeeds.
Is Gil the greatest kitschy-filmic-literary-atemporal-discursive-disengaged-perpetually-productive sprout ever?
Perhaps, although, with the passing of time, these answers seem harder and harder to ephemerally tether to a shape shifting transformative meteorology, within which moments coyly whisper, "by the light of the sickle moon."
lol
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The real demands that you comport yourself confidently if you are to taste one of the myriad imaginary constructions of the symbolic, cynical, stoic, and/or epicurean responses being social appendages that can be used to garner acceptance/support/friendship/. . . , while specific situations consider, adapt, and recalibrate. Intuitively managing your aura effectively can lead to success depending upon your reaction to spontaneous unforeseen consequences, the ways in which you blend the establishment with the disenfranchised, your maintenance of the motivational capacities of the genuine, and your ability to consistently make cogent decisions.
Portraits, 2009-2010, Sarah Fuller
peaceful potential
age-old hike
the forest through the trees
concrete reconstructions
Dreamwork
The Good Sam Club
patience and portents
endurance
stewardship
chillin' distillin'
the photographic eye
symmetrical solutions
age-old hike
the forest through the trees
concrete reconstructions
Dreamwork
The Good Sam Club
patience and portents
endurance
stewardship
chillin' distillin'
the photographic eye
symmetrical solutions
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The final battle between Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has been materialized in David Yates's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.
Lacking the need to establish purpose and point, this is a film that gets right down to it.
And right down to it it does get.
On the hunt for Voldemort's remaining horcruxes, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson), with the help of the conniving Griphook (Warwick Davis), sneak into Gringotts in search of Helga Hufflepuff's besieged golden cup. Having discovered it, they then break out, riding the back of a dragon, only to eventually find themselves back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Ready for the final showdown.
The film focuses on Harry's pursuits as he searches for Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem and investigates Snape's (Alan Rickman) memories, and neither he nor Voldemort take an active role in the initial confrontation. Although, since Harry misses the majority of the action in order to hunt horcruxes, he arguably takes the most active and direct role possible.
Even more active and direct than Neville Longbottom's (Matthew Lewis), who steals every scene he's in and delivers an appropriately timed inspirational speech when victory for Voldemort's forces seems inevitable.
And shortly thereafter Harry springs back to life to face Voldemort head-on, autocratic versus democratic duelling to the end, the insatiable aggressor challenging the counterstrike of the momentum his voraciousness engendered. Harry's democratic counterstrike lacks the influence, resources, and bloodlust of their opponents but charges onwards nonetheless, the product of coerced ingenuity. As he faces Voldemort, it's as if two competing conceptions of Nietzsche's übermensch contend, one using cruelty and pain to solidify its response to its culture's perceived moral vacuum (the fascist response wherein creativity must fit within a one-dimensional frame approved by whomever occupies a corresponding position of power), the other enabling individuals to create their own place within that vacuum based upon the wisdom of the free choices they make in response to its sundry enlivening manifestations. It's as if Harry is the ideal superperson since he doesn't seek to rule or govern on his own, or have an invincible advantage, even though he could easily take advantage of his fame to occupy a prestigious position, preferring instead to work within a malleable system with a minimized degree of hierarchical structure which encourages creativity and innovation.
Many of the characters from the previous films make an appearance, even Professor Sprout (Miriam Margoyles), with Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) delivering some memorable lines. Love has been represented/depicted/rationalized/conceptualized/. . . billions of times, and one of its illustrations that I find the most endearing is that found within Deathly Hallows 2, in regards to Severus Snape, whose love for Lilly Potter (Ellie Darcey-Alden, Geraldine Somerville) is exceptionally motivating.
It still almost brings tears to my eyes whenever I revisit the related scenes and encounter their undeniably intense and patient beauty.
Lacking the need to establish purpose and point, this is a film that gets right down to it.
And right down to it it does get.
On the hunt for Voldemort's remaining horcruxes, Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson), with the help of the conniving Griphook (Warwick Davis), sneak into Gringotts in search of Helga Hufflepuff's besieged golden cup. Having discovered it, they then break out, riding the back of a dragon, only to eventually find themselves back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Ready for the final showdown.
The film focuses on Harry's pursuits as he searches for Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem and investigates Snape's (Alan Rickman) memories, and neither he nor Voldemort take an active role in the initial confrontation. Although, since Harry misses the majority of the action in order to hunt horcruxes, he arguably takes the most active and direct role possible.
Even more active and direct than Neville Longbottom's (Matthew Lewis), who steals every scene he's in and delivers an appropriately timed inspirational speech when victory for Voldemort's forces seems inevitable.
And shortly thereafter Harry springs back to life to face Voldemort head-on, autocratic versus democratic duelling to the end, the insatiable aggressor challenging the counterstrike of the momentum his voraciousness engendered. Harry's democratic counterstrike lacks the influence, resources, and bloodlust of their opponents but charges onwards nonetheless, the product of coerced ingenuity. As he faces Voldemort, it's as if two competing conceptions of Nietzsche's übermensch contend, one using cruelty and pain to solidify its response to its culture's perceived moral vacuum (the fascist response wherein creativity must fit within a one-dimensional frame approved by whomever occupies a corresponding position of power), the other enabling individuals to create their own place within that vacuum based upon the wisdom of the free choices they make in response to its sundry enlivening manifestations. It's as if Harry is the ideal superperson since he doesn't seek to rule or govern on his own, or have an invincible advantage, even though he could easily take advantage of his fame to occupy a prestigious position, preferring instead to work within a malleable system with a minimized degree of hierarchical structure which encourages creativity and innovation.
Many of the characters from the previous films make an appearance, even Professor Sprout (Miriam Margoyles), with Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) delivering some memorable lines. Love has been represented/depicted/rationalized/conceptualized/. . . billions of times, and one of its illustrations that I find the most endearing is that found within Deathly Hallows 2, in regards to Severus Snape, whose love for Lilly Potter (Ellie Darcey-Alden, Geraldine Somerville) is exceptionally motivating.
It still almost brings tears to my eyes whenever I revisit the related scenes and encounter their undeniably intense and patient beauty.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wave Modulation, 2003, Jim Campbell
That was neat yesterday when you used the word scintillating.
Search action focus reflect
let's try on some hats
critical response
surreal subtext
increasing interpretative capital
(there are ways in which these things are done)
roller coasters and rowing
salamanders and jets
felines, frescoes,
transient transitions
fingers piano playing
waves crashing on shore
a floatation device
fjords, canals,
applause, crystal
coriander adjustments
immediacy junctions
quartz catamarans
diving sliding
striving residing
Penticton
composites
recalcitrant
digital dedication
clashes coaxing
detrital residual
contextual
kinetic
ties
Search action focus reflect
let's try on some hats
critical response
surreal subtext
increasing interpretative capital
(there are ways in which these things are done)
roller coasters and rowing
salamanders and jets
felines, frescoes,
transient transitions
fingers piano playing
waves crashing on shore
a floatation device
fjords, canals,
applause, crystal
coriander adjustments
immediacy junctions
quartz catamarans
diving sliding
striving residing
Penticton
composites
recalcitrant
digital dedication
clashes coaxing
detrital residual
contextual
kinetic
ties
Exploded View, 2010, Jim Campbell
Motion differentiates
allegiances.
Gravitational moors remain
constants.
Absolute definition
in shadow.
Wandering curiously
to and fro.
allegiances.
Gravitational moors remain
constants.
Absolute definition
in shadow.
Wandering curiously
to and fro.
We are Sacred Blade, 1990, Ken Lum
Unyielding kitschy confidence
redefines complacent subservience
appropriating indeterminate formulas
commanding presence.
redefines complacent subservience
appropriating indeterminate formulas
commanding presence.
The Doubter, 1937, Yves Tanguay
Reproaching conceptualization.
Ready to wear.
Infinite puzzle
secure and situated.
Breaking waves.
Partial parts pirouetting,
thirsting bursting coercing
automatically.
Ready to wear.
Infinite puzzle
secure and situated.
Breaking waves.
Partial parts pirouetting,
thirsting bursting coercing
automatically.
El viaducto, 1963, Paul Delvaux
Contiguous domains,
Predetermined brilliance,
Accidental accelerations,
Proclamations
Designations
Migrating reflections,
centralized detections,
bulbs burning brightly
into the night.
Predetermined brilliance,
Accidental accelerations,
Proclamations
Designations
Migrating reflections,
centralized detections,
bulbs burning brightly
into the night.
La géante, 1936, René Magritte
Destabilized point of view.
Supple conditioning.
Multilayered mitigation.
Visceral veins.
Concrete stylization.
Industrial fertility.
Verdantly manufactured.
Residential instinct.
Onwards and upwards.
Supple conditioning.
Multilayered mitigation.
Visceral veins.
Concrete stylization.
Industrial fertility.
Verdantly manufactured.
Residential instinct.
Onwards and upwards.
CBQM
Circulating Fort McPherson's warm and friendly pulse, Moccasin Telegraph radio (CBQM) quaintly coordinates the life and times of this Northwest Territorial town.
Bustling with vitality.
Fiddlers, recipes, philosophical advice, casual greetings, and informal announcements grace the gregarious airwaves as the mighty Peel River patrols the landscape.
Director Dennis Allen uses his lens to affectively edify CBQM's nocturnal hearth, focusing on the dynamics of Winter's tight-knit internal gatherings, while expanding his focus in Summer to capture vast fertile surrounding expanses.
Traditional activities are showcased within as salmon are dried and smoked, and a resounding sense of history permeates the present as contemporary events pay homage to the past.
Nice to see the ways in which a radio station's personalities can package and distribute value added information, from the darkened days of Winter to the setting of the midnight sun.
Bustling with vitality.
Fiddlers, recipes, philosophical advice, casual greetings, and informal announcements grace the gregarious airwaves as the mighty Peel River patrols the landscape.
Director Dennis Allen uses his lens to affectively edify CBQM's nocturnal hearth, focusing on the dynamics of Winter's tight-knit internal gatherings, while expanding his focus in Summer to capture vast fertile surrounding expanses.
Traditional activities are showcased within as salmon are dried and smoked, and a resounding sense of history permeates the present as contemporary events pay homage to the past.
Nice to see the ways in which a radio station's personalities can package and distribute value added information, from the darkened days of Winter to the setting of the midnight sun.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Had the best time last night.
Went to the movies on my own because my friends who were free had already seen the collection of films I wanted to see, and ran into one of my friends from France. She was chillin' with two people I'd never met before and cheerfully introduced me. After that the conversation continued in French and even though I verbally demonstrated that I'm still learning the language and couldn't understand everything they were saying, they didn't switch to English, which enabled me to learn so much more while gaining confidence. A plus evening for sure.
Went to the movies on my own because my friends who were free had already seen the collection of films I wanted to see, and ran into one of my friends from France. She was chillin' with two people I'd never met before and cheerfully introduced me. After that the conversation continued in French and even though I verbally demonstrated that I'm still learning the language and couldn't understand everything they were saying, they didn't switch to English, which enabled me to learn so much more while gaining confidence. A plus evening for sure.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Autobots and Decepticons battle once again in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, one group caring for the future of humanity, the other, not so much.
Enjoyed the first act of the film as Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) struggles to find a job, competently dealing with the shocks of the working world while reservedly accepting that successfully defeating the forces of evil twice does not necessarily guarantee that one will find full-time rewarding employment. Nevertheless, he still finds a position in the mail room of an innovative company and proceeds to prove himself while impressing partner Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) and mollifying his ill-tempered father (Kevin Dunn).
Until fellow employee Jerry Wang (Ken Jeong) suddenly provides him with top secret intelligence regarding the Ark, a spacecraft which escaped Cybertron during its transformational Armageddon and proceeded to crash land on Earth's moon.
Reunited with Seymour Simmons (John Turturro), they then unravel a plot involving the stockpiling of pillars on the moon and the murder of many of the people involved with American and Russian moon missions.
It turns out an Autobot named Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy) piloted the Ark away from Cybertron in order to ensure the Autobots's survival, but had really struck a deal with Megatron (Hugo Weaving) to betray them, believing that the future of the Transformers would pay more dividends in Decepticon hands.
With the help of Spencer's boss and Witwicky's rival Dylan Gould (Patrick Dempsey), the Decepticons conquer the earth and prepare to use Sentinel's technology to transport Cybertron to its solar system.
There are many quirky scenes that make the first act stand out, including the struggles of Alan Tudyk's character Dutch, awkward elevator encounters, and Sam and Jerry's discussion in the stall of a men's washroom. These scenes infuse the film with a catchy comedic sensibility that lightens the tension and disrupts the action, briefly, the sharp introduction of a distinct staccato which doesn't ruin the overall affect as it did in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (the comedy in a Transformers film finally worked for me).
The film also features the significant transitions most of the characters have entertainingly negotiated since Revenge of the Fallen, which, I suppose, is one of the principle points.
As if we're all Transformers.
Transformers 3's second act is primarily concerned with the Autobot/human counterattack and the momentum fluidly built up beforehand stalls significantly. I suppose if you have a constructed bountiful world that is then devastated it makes sense to ensure that its dynamic isn't present in the Decepticon aftermath. But it also makes sense to then build towards a salient climax wherein that world's productivity is brilliantly revitalized, and Dark of the Moon does contain a climax and its origins are revitalized, but the content used to fill this traditional form didn't exactly motivate me, apart from the quasi-rapprochement entre Simmons and Mearing (Frances McDormand).
Nonetheless, its saving grace is represented by how it presents the ways in which the right perverts "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" maxim, by placing it in Decepiticon hands, who, basically want to bring their world to ours, or supplant Earth's culture with another, the imperialist few using their resources to destroy the longevity of the many, in the interests of the one, the dark of the moon (note the necessity of maintaining a prominent place for the study of First Nations culture within educational systems).
Enjoyed the first act of the film as Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) struggles to find a job, competently dealing with the shocks of the working world while reservedly accepting that successfully defeating the forces of evil twice does not necessarily guarantee that one will find full-time rewarding employment. Nevertheless, he still finds a position in the mail room of an innovative company and proceeds to prove himself while impressing partner Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) and mollifying his ill-tempered father (Kevin Dunn).
Until fellow employee Jerry Wang (Ken Jeong) suddenly provides him with top secret intelligence regarding the Ark, a spacecraft which escaped Cybertron during its transformational Armageddon and proceeded to crash land on Earth's moon.
Reunited with Seymour Simmons (John Turturro), they then unravel a plot involving the stockpiling of pillars on the moon and the murder of many of the people involved with American and Russian moon missions.
It turns out an Autobot named Sentinel Prime (Leonard Nimoy) piloted the Ark away from Cybertron in order to ensure the Autobots's survival, but had really struck a deal with Megatron (Hugo Weaving) to betray them, believing that the future of the Transformers would pay more dividends in Decepticon hands.
With the help of Spencer's boss and Witwicky's rival Dylan Gould (Patrick Dempsey), the Decepticons conquer the earth and prepare to use Sentinel's technology to transport Cybertron to its solar system.
There are many quirky scenes that make the first act stand out, including the struggles of Alan Tudyk's character Dutch, awkward elevator encounters, and Sam and Jerry's discussion in the stall of a men's washroom. These scenes infuse the film with a catchy comedic sensibility that lightens the tension and disrupts the action, briefly, the sharp introduction of a distinct staccato which doesn't ruin the overall affect as it did in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (the comedy in a Transformers film finally worked for me).
The film also features the significant transitions most of the characters have entertainingly negotiated since Revenge of the Fallen, which, I suppose, is one of the principle points.
As if we're all Transformers.
Transformers 3's second act is primarily concerned with the Autobot/human counterattack and the momentum fluidly built up beforehand stalls significantly. I suppose if you have a constructed bountiful world that is then devastated it makes sense to ensure that its dynamic isn't present in the Decepticon aftermath. But it also makes sense to then build towards a salient climax wherein that world's productivity is brilliantly revitalized, and Dark of the Moon does contain a climax and its origins are revitalized, but the content used to fill this traditional form didn't exactly motivate me, apart from the quasi-rapprochement entre Simmons and Mearing (Frances McDormand).
Nonetheless, its saving grace is represented by how it presents the ways in which the right perverts "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" maxim, by placing it in Decepiticon hands, who, basically want to bring their world to ours, or supplant Earth's culture with another, the imperialist few using their resources to destroy the longevity of the many, in the interests of the one, the dark of the moon (note the necessity of maintaining a prominent place for the study of First Nations culture within educational systems).
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Shock Corridor
Just how far will one person go to win the Pulitzer Prize?
Journalist Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) discovers an unsolved murder case and decides to engage in some psychological detective work of his own in order to bring the deceptive culprit to justice. After convincing a psychiatrist that he lacks sanity, his information hunt begins in a state mental hospital where three perennial residents witnessed the crime in question. Challenging his reason as he acclimatizes himself to life in the Shock Corridor, he discovers that when his clandestine lucidity is synthesized with a particular brand of patient curiosity, he can bring his troubled co-denizens back from the brink for long enough to unravel their valuable references. But his search is tempered by a mischievous and seductive mental quid pro quo that subtly reveals its malevolent intensity as he comes closer and closer to delineating the subject of his desire.
Through the passage of time.
Two of the three witnesses find themselves locked up because they have been unable to face the predominant homogenized semantic denominators that structure the social lives of their democratic communities, and have in turn embraced said denominators in a ridiculous fashion, thereby taking control of the means of production, subjectively situating themselves within positions of power.
One, while a prisoner of war, flirted with communism as a reaction against the bigotry that conditioned his family life growing up, and was given a dishonourable discharge after being exchanged. He was shunned afterwards and adopted the persona of an heroic confederate general to compensate.
The other, an African-American student attending a recently desegregated Southern University, was broken by the toxic racist sewer of white supremacy and reinvented himself as a grand wizard in the ku klux klan.
The third, being unable to handle the fact that he had helped to create weapons of mass destruction, reverted to an infantile state in order to forget the past.
Thus, in order for Johnny to solve the case and win his Pulitzer, he must function as an inclusive understanding open minded trustworthy citizen, thereby normalizing the activities his co-denizens engaged in prior to being committed in order to provide them with rational voices.
Unfortunately, Mr. Barrett was concerned primarily with winning the Pulitzer and not with capturing a criminal, and doesn't possess the fortitude required to individually combat madness's cloak and dagger, losing his voice in the process.
I think that's what Fuller's saying.
Journalist Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) discovers an unsolved murder case and decides to engage in some psychological detective work of his own in order to bring the deceptive culprit to justice. After convincing a psychiatrist that he lacks sanity, his information hunt begins in a state mental hospital where three perennial residents witnessed the crime in question. Challenging his reason as he acclimatizes himself to life in the Shock Corridor, he discovers that when his clandestine lucidity is synthesized with a particular brand of patient curiosity, he can bring his troubled co-denizens back from the brink for long enough to unravel their valuable references. But his search is tempered by a mischievous and seductive mental quid pro quo that subtly reveals its malevolent intensity as he comes closer and closer to delineating the subject of his desire.
Through the passage of time.
Two of the three witnesses find themselves locked up because they have been unable to face the predominant homogenized semantic denominators that structure the social lives of their democratic communities, and have in turn embraced said denominators in a ridiculous fashion, thereby taking control of the means of production, subjectively situating themselves within positions of power.
One, while a prisoner of war, flirted with communism as a reaction against the bigotry that conditioned his family life growing up, and was given a dishonourable discharge after being exchanged. He was shunned afterwards and adopted the persona of an heroic confederate general to compensate.
The other, an African-American student attending a recently desegregated Southern University, was broken by the toxic racist sewer of white supremacy and reinvented himself as a grand wizard in the ku klux klan.
The third, being unable to handle the fact that he had helped to create weapons of mass destruction, reverted to an infantile state in order to forget the past.
Thus, in order for Johnny to solve the case and win his Pulitzer, he must function as an inclusive understanding open minded trustworthy citizen, thereby normalizing the activities his co-denizens engaged in prior to being committed in order to provide them with rational voices.
Unfortunately, Mr. Barrett was concerned primarily with winning the Pulitzer and not with capturing a criminal, and doesn't possess the fortitude required to individually combat madness's cloak and dagger, losing his voice in the process.
I think that's what Fuller's saying.
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