This trailer got me way more excited than the first time I saw the Watchmen trailer. Will I be seeing this movie? Oh yes. I will.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Day 3 cont...
I went to McDonald's here in Berlin. The quarter pounder IS called the Royale Burger! Vincent was right! Also, they do give you mayonaise with fries but they also give you ketchup, often in the same cup. All you have to do is mix them together and it's like Utah.
However, McDonald's meals cost like 10 bucks (with a small drink even) and inside of the place is a McCafé which is like a little Starbucks. There are two floors at McDonald's and it seems like a much nicer place than at home where it's basically the bottom of the barrel.
The keyboards here are a bit different. The most notable difference being that "z" and "y" are switched presumably because "y" is almost never found in a word whereas "z" frequently is. So I guess people didn't like exhausting their left pinky fingers and never using their right index.
Dunkin Donuts bares the subtext "American Bakery." Doesn't that fill you with pride? It does for me. Earlier I was watching Police Academy and The Man With The Golden Gun on German tv. The difference being that Steve Güttenberg is way funnier when you can't understand him and Roger Moore is less stuck up full of himself. (Can you tell I wrote Guttenberg with the ü just to take advantage of this keyboard having that?)
So now you know that since coming to Germany I've been to McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts and watched Police Academy. So you know I'm making the most of my time. Honestly, though, I've spent so much time on trains, walking, and feeling my head spin from exhaustion that it's not always so awful to just relax and do something unimportant.
Our hostel is right above a strip club and at night we can hear the music through the ground. It doesn't bother me. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices so that other peoples' lives can be enriched and made full. Bless you, strippers.
Tomorrow the embassy. Bright and early.
However, McDonald's meals cost like 10 bucks (with a small drink even) and inside of the place is a McCafé which is like a little Starbucks. There are two floors at McDonald's and it seems like a much nicer place than at home where it's basically the bottom of the barrel.
The keyboards here are a bit different. The most notable difference being that "z" and "y" are switched presumably because "y" is almost never found in a word whereas "z" frequently is. So I guess people didn't like exhausting their left pinky fingers and never using their right index.
Dunkin Donuts bares the subtext "American Bakery." Doesn't that fill you with pride? It does for me. Earlier I was watching Police Academy and The Man With The Golden Gun on German tv. The difference being that Steve Güttenberg is way funnier when you can't understand him and Roger Moore is less stuck up full of himself. (Can you tell I wrote Guttenberg with the ü just to take advantage of this keyboard having that?)
So now you know that since coming to Germany I've been to McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts and watched Police Academy. So you know I'm making the most of my time. Honestly, though, I've spent so much time on trains, walking, and feeling my head spin from exhaustion that it's not always so awful to just relax and do something unimportant.
Our hostel is right above a strip club and at night we can hear the music through the ground. It doesn't bother me. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices so that other peoples' lives can be enriched and made full. Bless you, strippers.
Tomorrow the embassy. Bright and early.
Eurotrip day 3
Day 1 we went to New York. We went to the city for about an hour and promptly hopped a flight to Germany.
From Frankfurt to Berlin we flew, and here we stay. We were leaving a train when Chandler noticed I'd left my bag behind. In doing so, he himself forgot his planner. His planner which contained his passport, ID, and cash. So we are staying in Berlin for the next while.
From Frankfurt to Berlin we flew, and here we stay. We were leaving a train when Chandler noticed I'd left my bag behind. In doing so, he himself forgot his planner. His planner which contained his passport, ID, and cash. So we are staying in Berlin for the next while.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Another word added to the "do not say" list...
"Oh Snap!"
Your time has come. You were amusing for a little while there. Now, when people say you, I want trigger a rat trap over their lips and giggle at the sound it makes when it snaps closed on them. Like the guy who said it during one of the talks in church today. Are you kidding? No more, "oh snap." No more. Just go away quietly.
Also, Zoolander was a stupid movie whose only saving grace was Bowie.
Your time has come. You were amusing for a little while there. Now, when people say you, I want trigger a rat trap over their lips and giggle at the sound it makes when it snaps closed on them. Like the guy who said it during one of the talks in church today. Are you kidding? No more, "oh snap." No more. Just go away quietly.
Also, Zoolander was a stupid movie whose only saving grace was Bowie.
Watchmen: thoughts on the movie and thoughts as a fan
Alan Moore and David Gibbons' Watchmen is the most beloved graphic novel of all time. The trailers for the film weren't just spouting that to get people in seats. It's true. It's even my favorite graphic novel. I didn't want it to be. The Batman fan in me wanted to read it and be able to say at the end, "It's good but it's not as good as Miller's Dark Knight Returns." The Dark Knight Returns actually has a very similar tone and similar themes to Watchmen, but Watchmen is easily the superior book. It blew my mind and I've spent hours pooring over it again and again finding new depth and meaning to both the writing and the artwork. It's the best graphic novel ever written.
So, considering my love for it, seeing it and writing a proper, impartial film review is a difficult. It'd be very easy to nit-pick and hate everything that differed from the book and allow that to effect my view of it simply as a film. And that's pretty much what I did. So I decided not to write anything about it until I had allowed it to sink in a bit more. And my perception has changed but just a bit. Certain things I still stand by.
Without book comparison, I feel I can say Watchmen IS a good movie. The cinematography is stunning. Visually it's unlike anything seen before and has nearly 3 hours of rich characters and story.
For anyone who's unfamiliar with the story, Watchmen takes place in our world if masked heroes were real. For anyone who says, "well so is Spider-Man," let me explain. In the Watchmen world things were the same as ours except in 1938 after the release of Action Comics #1 (the first Superman comic), real life people began dressing in masks and going out to fight crime. None of them actually had super powers (except one who comes later on).
The story of the film itself is set in this world's 1985. America won the war in Vietnam, Richard Nixon is serving his 5th term in office, masked heroes have been outlawed, the United States and the Soviet Union seem inescapably headed towards nuclear armegeddon and someone has just murdered one of the old costumed heroes. There you go.
I feel it's important to let people know that this is very different from any superhero movie that's come out in recent years. Probably most importantly in the fact that it's rated R. And that R rating is no joke, people. If you have a problem with lots of violence, sex, and nudity but feel like this wont be so bad because it has people in tights and domino masks, I'm telling you now DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE. It's incredibly violent and has one sex scene in it I'd go as far as labeling a softcore porn scene. And, honestly, these are two reasons I have to put marks against it if only because they took me out of it.
Here's the thing. Zack Snyder is a talented but still very young director who still hasn't learned the meaning of the word "subtlety." The film he did immediately before this was Frank Miller's 300. In that film, the stylized ultra-violence was fantastic. It suited the source material and the overall testosterone and effects driven goal of the movie. I loved 300 for that. With Watchmen, however, you're dealing with a more tangible world, yet we're still seeing the same slow-motion closeup of an bone tearing through skin as it breaks, blood flying towards the screen. I felt like it was contradictory to have a real world populated by powerless people, yet have the action and violence so stylized.
It's a question of what you're wanting to see more. Stylish violence with coreographed martial arts and wire-fu is fun to watch, but the trade is that the violence loses its threat. With more realistic looking movements and impacts, we're left with something that isn't as exciting to watch, but forces us to realize that these hits hurt. I enjoy either one if done well. What it comes down to for me is what serves the film's overall established reality and mood. In 300, stylish violence fits. In Watchmen it doesn't.
On to the sex and nudity. For the most part, the sexuality and nudity are handled just fine. It doesn't deviate from the book, really, and it could've easily gone much further than it did. The most prominent bit of nudity that drew loads of giggles from the unprepared audience was Dr. Manhattan, who spends most of the film naked with no attempt to cover is big, blue, glowing dong. In this case, the nudity is warrented and even important to the character. Dr. Manhattan is the only hero in the Watchmen cast who has superpowers. And he has a LOT of them. They've caused him to become further and further distant from humanity to the point where he's lost touch entirely. The clothes are a way of representing this. He sees no purpose in wearing them so he chooses not to.
However, there's one moment of sexuality that, like the violence, was a bit too over the top. This involves a sex scene between two characters that's stretched from two panels in the book (involving a clever innuendo that thankfully made it into the film), to a full on porn scene. I should be clear on something, this doesn't come from any prudishness or religious outrage. I could care less about sex in a movie as long as it serves a purpose. Here it's so gratuitously thrown at us that even I laughed a bit and said, "Really?" I hate to think that cerain elements of the book were left out because we needed time to explore the different positions Nite Owl and Silk Spectre have sex in. It's so very important to the overall story. So important that the book was able to get it across just as plane and much more deftly without turning it into a scene you'd have to go to the curtained area of a comic store to read.
Again, it's not a moral position because, honestly, I couldn't give a crap about that. It's about knowing when to pull the reigns as director and realize when a softer approach is more effective than brow-beating. Those long rants, however, are my only criticism of the film as a film. Aside from that, it's quite good and I think you'll really enjoy it.
As a fan of the book there's one more thing in particular that upset me and that's the ending which is very different and loses a great deal of its meaning. Not just the big thing either (those who've read it know what I'm talking about) but also small changes at the end that, if put back to normal, would've made it so much better. Not to mention the changes in character's costumes that pissed me off (Ozymandias dresses like a blonde, superhero Ramses II. Not in something George Clooney threw out after Batman and Robin).
HOWEVER, by and large I was pleased even as a fan of the book. The opening montage explaining the history of this world with Bob Dylan played over was brilliant. Certain scenes are panel to panel perfect. Rorshach's diologue is almost completely unchanged and gloriously fragmented. The casting is pretty much perfect. Even Adrian Veidt, who I initially thought would be a horrible Ozymandias because he really didn't look the part, did a great job. Aside from him all the characters looked and behaved very much like their comic counterparts. Jackie Earl Haley's Rorshach was especially fun. Certain scenes and images were wonderful to see brought to life. Even structurally the story of the film follows that of the comic. These loyalties were refreshing.
Overall, I'm obviously going to prefer the book. I knew that before I went in. It was just a question of whether or not I'd hate the movie. And I don't. For the most part I like it. So while I can't say it's as good as The Dark Knight (what comic movie is?) I feel like I can recommend it. Go see it and enjoy. Leave the kids at home.
So, considering my love for it, seeing it and writing a proper, impartial film review is a difficult. It'd be very easy to nit-pick and hate everything that differed from the book and allow that to effect my view of it simply as a film. And that's pretty much what I did. So I decided not to write anything about it until I had allowed it to sink in a bit more. And my perception has changed but just a bit. Certain things I still stand by.
Without book comparison, I feel I can say Watchmen IS a good movie. The cinematography is stunning. Visually it's unlike anything seen before and has nearly 3 hours of rich characters and story.
For anyone who's unfamiliar with the story, Watchmen takes place in our world if masked heroes were real. For anyone who says, "well so is Spider-Man," let me explain. In the Watchmen world things were the same as ours except in 1938 after the release of Action Comics #1 (the first Superman comic), real life people began dressing in masks and going out to fight crime. None of them actually had super powers (except one who comes later on).
The story of the film itself is set in this world's 1985. America won the war in Vietnam, Richard Nixon is serving his 5th term in office, masked heroes have been outlawed, the United States and the Soviet Union seem inescapably headed towards nuclear armegeddon and someone has just murdered one of the old costumed heroes. There you go.
I feel it's important to let people know that this is very different from any superhero movie that's come out in recent years. Probably most importantly in the fact that it's rated R. And that R rating is no joke, people. If you have a problem with lots of violence, sex, and nudity but feel like this wont be so bad because it has people in tights and domino masks, I'm telling you now DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE. It's incredibly violent and has one sex scene in it I'd go as far as labeling a softcore porn scene. And, honestly, these are two reasons I have to put marks against it if only because they took me out of it.
Here's the thing. Zack Snyder is a talented but still very young director who still hasn't learned the meaning of the word "subtlety." The film he did immediately before this was Frank Miller's 300. In that film, the stylized ultra-violence was fantastic. It suited the source material and the overall testosterone and effects driven goal of the movie. I loved 300 for that. With Watchmen, however, you're dealing with a more tangible world, yet we're still seeing the same slow-motion closeup of an bone tearing through skin as it breaks, blood flying towards the screen. I felt like it was contradictory to have a real world populated by powerless people, yet have the action and violence so stylized.
It's a question of what you're wanting to see more. Stylish violence with coreographed martial arts and wire-fu is fun to watch, but the trade is that the violence loses its threat. With more realistic looking movements and impacts, we're left with something that isn't as exciting to watch, but forces us to realize that these hits hurt. I enjoy either one if done well. What it comes down to for me is what serves the film's overall established reality and mood. In 300, stylish violence fits. In Watchmen it doesn't.
On to the sex and nudity. For the most part, the sexuality and nudity are handled just fine. It doesn't deviate from the book, really, and it could've easily gone much further than it did. The most prominent bit of nudity that drew loads of giggles from the unprepared audience was Dr. Manhattan, who spends most of the film naked with no attempt to cover is big, blue, glowing dong. In this case, the nudity is warrented and even important to the character. Dr. Manhattan is the only hero in the Watchmen cast who has superpowers. And he has a LOT of them. They've caused him to become further and further distant from humanity to the point where he's lost touch entirely. The clothes are a way of representing this. He sees no purpose in wearing them so he chooses not to.
However, there's one moment of sexuality that, like the violence, was a bit too over the top. This involves a sex scene between two characters that's stretched from two panels in the book (involving a clever innuendo that thankfully made it into the film), to a full on porn scene. I should be clear on something, this doesn't come from any prudishness or religious outrage. I could care less about sex in a movie as long as it serves a purpose. Here it's so gratuitously thrown at us that even I laughed a bit and said, "Really?" I hate to think that cerain elements of the book were left out because we needed time to explore the different positions Nite Owl and Silk Spectre have sex in. It's so very important to the overall story. So important that the book was able to get it across just as plane and much more deftly without turning it into a scene you'd have to go to the curtained area of a comic store to read.
Again, it's not a moral position because, honestly, I couldn't give a crap about that. It's about knowing when to pull the reigns as director and realize when a softer approach is more effective than brow-beating. Those long rants, however, are my only criticism of the film as a film. Aside from that, it's quite good and I think you'll really enjoy it.
As a fan of the book there's one more thing in particular that upset me and that's the ending which is very different and loses a great deal of its meaning. Not just the big thing either (those who've read it know what I'm talking about) but also small changes at the end that, if put back to normal, would've made it so much better. Not to mention the changes in character's costumes that pissed me off (Ozymandias dresses like a blonde, superhero Ramses II. Not in something George Clooney threw out after Batman and Robin).
HOWEVER, by and large I was pleased even as a fan of the book. The opening montage explaining the history of this world with Bob Dylan played over was brilliant. Certain scenes are panel to panel perfect. Rorshach's diologue is almost completely unchanged and gloriously fragmented. The casting is pretty much perfect. Even Adrian Veidt, who I initially thought would be a horrible Ozymandias because he really didn't look the part, did a great job. Aside from him all the characters looked and behaved very much like their comic counterparts. Jackie Earl Haley's Rorshach was especially fun. Certain scenes and images were wonderful to see brought to life. Even structurally the story of the film follows that of the comic. These loyalties were refreshing.
Overall, I'm obviously going to prefer the book. I knew that before I went in. It was just a question of whether or not I'd hate the movie. And I don't. For the most part I like it. So while I can't say it's as good as The Dark Knight (what comic movie is?) I feel like I can recommend it. Go see it and enjoy. Leave the kids at home.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Another Short Story
This one's more on the real side of things. Still about neurotic people, but aren't we all a bit neurotic sometimes about certain things? Don't we sometimes sweat the small stuff? I know I freak out more often over the car in front of me changing lanes without signaling than I would over a car actually colliding with me. It's interesting how we try very hard to keep our composure over major things yet we willingly and often very publicly surrender it over the small things. Oh well. After making complete asses of ourselves I guess we can always pick up the pieces of our dignity and try to be a little better the next time around. What was this blog about again? Oh, right. The story.
Her Name is Suzi
By Jordan Kenney
Her name was Suzi. Not Susan or Susie or even Siouxsie. Her name was Suzi. It was short for Suzette. So, naturally, it was just not right to spell her name any other way. It wasn’t just a misspelling. It was changing it to a completely different word.
Suzi lived with Brad. “Brad” wasn’t short for Bradley or Bradford or even Braddock. His given name at birth was Brad. It was a family name. At his high school graduation he was handed a diploma that read “Bradley S. Martin.” Brad winced when he first saw it and wrote a kind but firm letter to the district asking for a replacement. It came in three weeks. Seeing the corrected sheet was like coming up for breath out of the water.
Suzi moved into a simple one-bedroom apartment with Brad one month after their first date. The transition from her parents’ six-bedroom house in the palisades was sometimes difficult for her, but living with the man she loved was more than a fair trade for the lifestyle she’d left behind.
Brad had become much more confident in recent months. Early on in the relationship, he put a great deal of effort into fighting off his self-doubts. He feared he was a fraud who had tricked an upper-class girl into associating with him. It took a while for him to accept that she actually wanted to be with him for the reason that – in simplest terms – she liked him. Even loved him. He held to this knowledge like a warm blanket and was confident in himself, but still looked for chances like tonight to take her back to that world.
Tonight was their one-year anniversary, and he was taking her to Grace - the type of elegant, upscale restaurant that he wouldn’t set foot into otherwise. He made the reservations two months in advance. Afterwards he had first tier seating at the opera. He felt nothing but contempt for places like this, but he knew Suzi loved them, and that was what mattered. Tonight was about her and, in his typical neurotic fashion, Brad had planned out the occasion to every variable. Of course his best-laid plans were going to waste as he sat on the couch and waited. Suzi was still getting ready.
Suzi was very methodical in her preparation. Every item in her makeup bag had a specific and predetermined purpose. She had a carefully conceived blueprint in her mind of how she wanted to appear tonight. She knew exactly which shade of lipstick complimented which shade of eye shadow. She knew how to blend her foundation into her natural skin tone to keep it from looking like spackle scraped over her face. And, of course, she knew long before how all of it would blend with her dress.
She often prepared this way for such things, but no matter how well practiced she was, she always took her time. She adored nights out at fine dining and cultured society, and jumped at every opportunity to recapture that feeling of elegance and importance. She knew Brad went to a lot of trouble for it, and she wanted to look like royalty for him. The magic would be lost if she was careless enough to leave a hideous black clump in her mascara.
Brad had been ready and waiting for nearly an hour. He was nearly always ready and waiting for nearly an hour on nights like this. It frustrated him to no end, but he always waited and never complained - normally. But too much planning went into tonight, and his patience was gone. He leaned back on the couch and shouted towards the bathroom, “Would you PLEASE hurry the hell up?”
Suzi paused and breathed deeply before continuing with her mascara. She wished he would appreciate the effort she went to to look good for him. “I’ll only be a minute longer,” she said. He shot back, “That would’ve been great a half hour ago, but we have to leave now. So just dip your face in your makeup bag and see what happens because you always look like a damned mannequin anyway.” Brad felt the words he spoke as if they were directed at him. He knew exactly what it would mean to Suzi, and his stomach turned to lead inside him. He chose not to say another word.
Suzi walked out and kept her eyes to the ground as they went to the car. They drove to the restaurant in silence. When they arrived, Brad opened the door for Suzi. She mouthed, “Thank you” but all she could manage was a “kyu” sound. They approached the maitre d at his podium and Brad said, “Reservation for two. Martin.” There were other Martins at the restaurant tonight. The maitre d, seeking clarification asked, “Bradley and Susan?” Brad calmly picked up the pen at the podium and scribbled at the reservation list. The maitre d, alarmed, looked down at the paper and said, “My apologies, Bradley and Suzi. Right this way please.”
Her Name is Suzi
By Jordan Kenney
Her name was Suzi. Not Susan or Susie or even Siouxsie. Her name was Suzi. It was short for Suzette. So, naturally, it was just not right to spell her name any other way. It wasn’t just a misspelling. It was changing it to a completely different word.
Suzi lived with Brad. “Brad” wasn’t short for Bradley or Bradford or even Braddock. His given name at birth was Brad. It was a family name. At his high school graduation he was handed a diploma that read “Bradley S. Martin.” Brad winced when he first saw it and wrote a kind but firm letter to the district asking for a replacement. It came in three weeks. Seeing the corrected sheet was like coming up for breath out of the water.
Suzi moved into a simple one-bedroom apartment with Brad one month after their first date. The transition from her parents’ six-bedroom house in the palisades was sometimes difficult for her, but living with the man she loved was more than a fair trade for the lifestyle she’d left behind.
Brad had become much more confident in recent months. Early on in the relationship, he put a great deal of effort into fighting off his self-doubts. He feared he was a fraud who had tricked an upper-class girl into associating with him. It took a while for him to accept that she actually wanted to be with him for the reason that – in simplest terms – she liked him. Even loved him. He held to this knowledge like a warm blanket and was confident in himself, but still looked for chances like tonight to take her back to that world.
Tonight was their one-year anniversary, and he was taking her to Grace - the type of elegant, upscale restaurant that he wouldn’t set foot into otherwise. He made the reservations two months in advance. Afterwards he had first tier seating at the opera. He felt nothing but contempt for places like this, but he knew Suzi loved them, and that was what mattered. Tonight was about her and, in his typical neurotic fashion, Brad had planned out the occasion to every variable. Of course his best-laid plans were going to waste as he sat on the couch and waited. Suzi was still getting ready.
Suzi was very methodical in her preparation. Every item in her makeup bag had a specific and predetermined purpose. She had a carefully conceived blueprint in her mind of how she wanted to appear tonight. She knew exactly which shade of lipstick complimented which shade of eye shadow. She knew how to blend her foundation into her natural skin tone to keep it from looking like spackle scraped over her face. And, of course, she knew long before how all of it would blend with her dress.
She often prepared this way for such things, but no matter how well practiced she was, she always took her time. She adored nights out at fine dining and cultured society, and jumped at every opportunity to recapture that feeling of elegance and importance. She knew Brad went to a lot of trouble for it, and she wanted to look like royalty for him. The magic would be lost if she was careless enough to leave a hideous black clump in her mascara.
Brad had been ready and waiting for nearly an hour. He was nearly always ready and waiting for nearly an hour on nights like this. It frustrated him to no end, but he always waited and never complained - normally. But too much planning went into tonight, and his patience was gone. He leaned back on the couch and shouted towards the bathroom, “Would you PLEASE hurry the hell up?”
Suzi paused and breathed deeply before continuing with her mascara. She wished he would appreciate the effort she went to to look good for him. “I’ll only be a minute longer,” she said. He shot back, “That would’ve been great a half hour ago, but we have to leave now. So just dip your face in your makeup bag and see what happens because you always look like a damned mannequin anyway.” Brad felt the words he spoke as if they were directed at him. He knew exactly what it would mean to Suzi, and his stomach turned to lead inside him. He chose not to say another word.
Suzi walked out and kept her eyes to the ground as they went to the car. They drove to the restaurant in silence. When they arrived, Brad opened the door for Suzi. She mouthed, “Thank you” but all she could manage was a “kyu” sound. They approached the maitre d at his podium and Brad said, “Reservation for two. Martin.” There were other Martins at the restaurant tonight. The maitre d, seeking clarification asked, “Bradley and Susan?” Brad calmly picked up the pen at the podium and scribbled at the reservation list. The maitre d, alarmed, looked down at the paper and said, “My apologies, Bradley and Suzi. Right this way please.”
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