Maybe I Should Stick to Prose: 9 – A Thousand Blackbirds

A Thousand Blackbirds

A thousand blackbirds
A thousand beating wings

A dream given a name for only a moment
as they’re passed in shadow
Wires cross the sky
wrapping ‘round the tallest towers
brushing against dust veiled breaths
of untouched souls reaching
for a stolen hand
Gilded feathers of sleekest ebony
softly plea upon no ear
but only the moon
who will not hear
Upon the bell of midnight sprung
a flash of red
entangled in a mighty clash
of golden streaks

screams befalling only the night
for the cold and weary stars
to whom burden lies most
The Imminent rises

For a thousand beating wings,
fallen.

Captain America: The First Avenger – Review!

I just want to start this out by saying that star Chris Evans has a very triangular nose.  The thing is like a perfect 45º angle off his face.  It’s really quite impressive.

Now, let’s get down to the actual movie: I liked it.  That, however, does not mean it does not have its problems.  In fact, there are a fair share of problems.  So, let’s start out with those first.

The most obvious for me was that there were way too many unnecessary explosions.  Don’t get me wrong, I do like the good ol’ fashion explosion, but this movie just had a lot of them.  Some of them looked real and others looked generated.  The ones that were real were pretty neat while the ones that were generated seemed excessive.  At a certain point, it just seemed like there were explosions just for the sake of having explosions.

Secondly, the parts of the movie meant for 3D (I really despise 3D films) were REALLY cheesy.  For instance, there is an obligatory “awh shit, someone is throwing something out of the screen!”  I definitely gave this one a chuckle.

Thirdly, some of their computer generated backgrounds were pretty bad.  You’d have Cap jumping over a low angle shot (looking up) with a moody cloud background behind him that just looked pretty bad.  In the end, it just seemed like there was too much of an emphasis on CGI (though, seeing people basically erased from existence by the Cosmic Cube powered guns was pretty neat).

Fourthly, by making the villains actually Hydra members rather than Nazis sort of detracted from the film.  They became faceless, evil stand-ins.  I believe it actually removed some of their ferocity by not showing their faces, and basically made them videogame villains: easily expendable and only a cosmetic threat.

Here’s a middle ground of something: I really liked how it was filmed with an extremely high depth of field.  Meaning that nearly everything was focused which sort of gave it a soap opera feel.  That was pretty neat.  This was, however, ruined when a CGI thing would come in and suddenly everything would go into a low depth of field.

*drool*

I enjoyed the first half of the movie far more than the second half.  I believe it was mostly because this was working on characterization rather than action.  You got to feel Steve Rogers’ determination and drive to fight in the war.  They effectively established his base humanity and allowed the audience to emphasize with him fairly well.

Exploring that even further, the acting in this film was actually really good – way better than I expected.  Sure, there was the cheesy moments between Steve and Peggy, but, other than that, the film actually rested more on the shoulders of the actors rather than the action.  Also, the death that was the driving force throughout the second half of the movie was not handled properly (it was forgotten pretty quickly), but the rest of the film held up.  Tommy Lee Jones eats the screen away from everyone else and Hugo Weaving makes a fairly dastardly villain despite his villainous plan being rather simplistic.  Also, for being a young actor Dominic Cooper as Howard Stark makes the role entirely his own and really should deserve a lot of the credit for the comedic aspect of the film.

There are also little treats like the costume we know of Captain America in the comics today is actually Steve Rogers’ War Bonds show costume.  I also enjoyed how the shield that he used for the stage show was also the one that he first appeared with in the original comic (which had to be changed due to copyright issues with The Shield, I believe).  There’s also an original Human Torch reference for the die hards… and Stan Lee’s cameo was spot on and funny for people who don’t even know who Stan Lee is.

Overall, the film wasn’t phenomenal.  But, it did what it had to do as a superhero film and supplied surprisingly good acting.  I haven’t seen any of the other superhero/comic book movies this summer (I know, for a comic geek that’s blasphemy), but I feel like they just would not compare to this rather delightful film.

Beginners – Review!

In many ways, I came into Beginners expecting a comedy.  Son finds out after his Mother’s death that his Father has been gay his entire life.  He learns from his Dad (Hal) about embracing life and relationships in the final four years of Hal’s life despite Hal not being there for his childhood.  Oliver becomes close to his Dad and is there for him in Hal’s declining health, but everyone can see that these are the best four years of Hal’s life.

Interspersed through these touching moments with his father, we are brought into the present as Oliver begins an odd but lively new relationship.  Hal takes what he learned from his father and finally applies them to his life.  Of course, he must take the big risk which he has already shown in his previous relationships to be too much to handle.

Throughout this whole film I was smiling.  Sure, there were a lot of sad moments, but I suppose I knew everything would work out in the end.  In many instances, that’s what you need in a film: something that surprises you but still follows down a path well-traveled.  Every character has their own flourishes and clearly show that Mike Mills, the writer and director, had a great grasp of the material considering that it is based off of his real life experiences with his own father.  Also, I couldn’t help but to see some of the unique characteristics in Anna as are in Mills’ wife, the ever wonderful Miranda July.

Ewan McGregor has always been hit or miss for me, but he surprised me in creating an easily identifiable character that you follow.  Oliver thinks big and you want to will him into succeeding.  He doesn’t always manage it, but he takes it and moves on.  Christopher Plummer also provides a unique Character in Hal.  For someone so distant throughout his son’s entire life, he suddenly explodes into life and community once he begins living his gay life.  Mélanie Laurent provides a character that is beautifully weird, and I couldn’t help but to identify with her.  She has a thing about nibbling on people for no real reason… and I totally do that.

Another way I identified with the film was with a character named Elliot because, well, that’s my name (plus a t).  At one point, Elliot takes Oliver out to spray paint the town with graffiti (Oliver using hilariously social conscious messages).  He tags a place with “LEIT”.  This was of course before you found out his name was Elliot, and he spells it out as L-E-it which I’ve totally done.  My favorite is El-E-Yacht.

The film does reuse some of the same footage as somewhat of a flashback which I sort of have a problem with.  Plus, a dog talks which works and doesn’t work at certain points.  We also get peeks into Hal’s work-life which I would have liked to get a bit deeper of an insight into.

Overall, this is a feelgood film.  It has all of the right quirks.  And, appropriately enough, I came out of the theater to a double rainbow in the sky.  It made my evening, and I’m continuing to think about it.

Kiwi Conduct: Part I

As you may have noticed from my previous posts I’m currently in New Zealand.  Things here aren’t too different to make you completely and utterly confused, but there are many cultural differences.

First off, I’m from the West Coast.  On the West Coast whenever you walk by someone you generally say hello and/or smile at them as a pleasant greeting and then continue on your way.  Kiwi’s don’t do that!  Yes, they are, in general, much nicer than Americans but they’re also reserved.  To even smile at someone, especially if you’re a girl, means something completely different.  It’s almost like a come-hither.

Therefore, I have to put away my pleasant smile for a more grumpy kind of look – it’s way less approachable.   However, it waves off all of those unwanted approaches you get from random people on the street.

The second comment I have on Kiwi conduct is actually more about Kiwi fashion.

What’s in: boots, leggings/ tights, and the color black!  Seriously, everywhere I look all I see is black.  We are in winter so black is generally more common but it’s a bit ridiculous in Wellington. Kiwi’s wear black tights with black shoes, a black skirt, a black shirt, a black coat, and a black scarf.  So much black.  And if it’s not black it’s red!

I’m a girl who loves a ton of color in her wardrobe so this all black thing is slightly bothering – I don’t want to blatantly stick out as an American.  O’well, it’s just the kiwi lifestyle.

 

Secret Pleasures # 20: The Hongi

Americans tend to like their personal bubble; no one ever gets too close.  Our handshakes, themselves, force people to stay at least arms length away.  Therefore, when I came to New Zealand and entered a marae (a Maori sacred place) I was a little off put with doing a hongi.

A hongi is a traditional Maori greeting where you place the nose and forehead together.  The basic idea is that you are sharing the same breath of life.  Once done you aren’t a visitor anymore: you are apart (though usually temporarily) of the tribe.

 

The submersion into Maori culture was, least I say it, breathtaking.  I probably did the hongi nearly 50 times within 24 hours and while a bit awkward I feel like you are immersed and warmly welcomed into the tribe. So, say farwell to American reservations and haphephobia and hello to New Zealand’s warm and relaxed culture.  I think I might finally become a touchy-feely person.

My Secret Pleasure: Being immersed and feeling connected to a culture.