2x18: Fearful Symmetry & Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire (Part 2)
FIVE MORE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS
I realize I haven't talked about finals yet. Finals weren't great.
Professor Allen's The Cantebury Tales final was not too bad. I did not think I wrote spectacular essays, but they were acceptable, I think. Since taking Professor Allen's final on Tuesday, I studied full-throttle for Biochemistry. I had Biochemistry and Colonial Literature both on Thursday, and yet, I studied for Biochemistry for a full two days (with perhaps two hours of sleep), and ended up studying Colonial Literature for only about half an hour (after taking the Biochemistry final and before taking the Colonial Lit final). I think I did okay on Biochemistry, or at least, I had an idea of what was going on in each problem. I cannot venture to say I did positively "okay" until I get my grade back. Knowing how I am, I will not see my grade until I am forced to confront it sometime next year, after school begins anew.
Now, Colonial Literature is a whole different story. I don't think I did this poorly on a literature final, ever. There were 20 IDs out of 24 quotes. We had to write something of an analysis of the text based on each quote. I positively identified 15 quotes, and guessed at the remaining 5, and wrote B.S. analyses for nearly half of them. It was bad. I felt ashamed and disgusted because even though I hate literature, I hate being bested by Literature exams the most.
Even my essay was shabby. This is truly shameful.
After my final, I rushed back to my room to work on my Colonial Literature paper for the next 24 hours, no sleep. I have to say, to make up for the intolerable performance on the final, I wrote a pretty decent paper. I think, one of my better ones.
After my final, well, I think I was fairly productive. My goals this winter break and my winter break diary (part 1) will be posted in a few days, and I'm going to try to accomplish as many of the projects I have planned.
MOVIE REVIEWS
THE NATIVITY STORY
The weekend before 10th week, I went to the movies with my mom and gave her a quick synopsis of each movie I was interested in, with this movie ranking below THE FOUNTAIN and STRANGER THAN FICTION. My mom was interested in seeing THE NATIVITY STORY not because she knew what it was about or what the Nativity Story really is, but that it seemed less strange than the other two movies.
I was rather surprised by the character dynamic between Mary, Joseph, and her family. Afterall, this was what I was expecting. However, the emotional depth that developed between Mary and Joseph is real, satisfying, thought-provoking, and even inspirational. The tension that Mary's pregnancy created between her, her family, her village, and Joseph, made the story real to me. Keisha Castle Hughes' performance did not blow me away, persay, but her early confusion and later emotional and spiritual confidence was well-portrayed. She did not strike me as the "Mary" from Renaissance paintings, but her earthiness and youth was very appropriate for the humble beginnings of Jesus' parents.
On the other hand, Oscar Issac's performance as Joseph was incredible. He was a tender, loving, forgiving, and driven man, and his uncertainty, heartbreak, and inner strength is so well portrayed. What was most significant for me is that the movie did not only emphasis Mary's tension with her parents and village, but it also shows Joseph's perspective, as well.
For me, the village scenes were the high points of the movie, and not necessarily the journey to Bethlehem or the birth. The organic earthiness of the village life scenes was well done in terms of costuming, set design, atmosphere, and general look of rustic poverty. I disliked the way the three wise men were portrayed in the entire movie. There were numerous scenes of the three wise men consulting their astronomy instruments, and it seemed fake, B-movieish. There was an attempt to make humor with these three wise men, and again, that falls flat for me. In addition, the scenes with King Herod and his son seem contrived and superficial, like a television movie.
The birth scene was very religiously representational, iconic, and not unique. I had expected a slightly different interpretation of it, to make the effect of Jesus' birth more grounded, and less dependent on special effects. But there was the ray of light, the unnaturally lighted barn. I know the religious iconography of this scene is very important, but at the same time, I wished there was some artistic originality instead.
There was one point where Joseph was carrying the laboring Mary, screaming for shelter, and the Chistmas Carol song started playing. It was an odd choice, but it worked. It balanced Joseph's urgency with the inevitability of what was to happen and the joy of what is to come.
Overall, it would be a nice movie to watch on DVD near Christmastime.
LAND OF THE BLIND
I watched this on DVD with S. It took two tries to watch it (the first time, we were interrupted with a party). We picked it up from Hollywood Video (where I also found a brand new copy of HARRY POTTER: THE SORCERER'S STONE for only $9.99!) I had first heard about this movie because I follow Ralph Fiennes' career.
Here is a brief synopsis from Yahoo!Movies:
"A prisoner recounts his life as a soldier-turned-dissident and his role in the overthrow of his country's totalitarian government."
It's not very descriptive, but then, this movie is hard to describe without spoilature. The script is by Robert S. Edwards who won the Nickle Award for Best Screenplay by a first time writer, and this movie ended up going to Cannes Film Festival where it was one of the features.
The screenplay is witty, surreal, and pulls off the exaggerations that only a totalitarian ruler could get away with. The art direction of this movie is noteworthy for its eclectic mixture of designs and fashions. There are 18th century costumes and furniture, mixed with 20th century fixtures and 21st century influences. One cannot be sure exactly what era it is, but would be absolutely sure that everything is emulative. It is appropriate because it visually aligns with the superficiality and pomp of Junior's government. The editing is superb, and the colors are often acidically bright, and reflects the dark humor of the screenplay. The music is as darkly humorous as the editing. The classical, symphonic quality of the music is a nostalgia that is superficialized in the movie, but makes the false traditions and heritage of Junior's reign even more stark.
As usual, Ralph Fiennes' performance is stellar. His character is sensitive, intelligent, mired in pathos. Despite being often compared to V FOR VENDETTA, this movie and his character's dilemma is just the opposite of your usual government rebellion film. Ultimately, this movie is about the flaws and downturns of idealism, and I found it an interesting allegory for today's political climate.
APOCALYPTO
I went into this movie with my mom without knowing much about it, except a Los Angeles Times article on Mel Gibson's extraordinary movie-making coup. I respect Mel Gibson, and even though I have not yet seen PASSION OF THE CHRIST, I knew that APOCALYPTO would be a movie worth watching. In the Los Angeles Times article, it mentioned Mel Gibson's strategy in personally inviting Latino and Native American community leaders to screenings and Q&As. And the result is a phenomenally positive and enthusiastic response about the movie.
In the same article, there was a brief mention about the unapologetic and historically-accurate depictions of human sacrifice and bloodsport. However, somehow, I had forgotten about this aspect of the movie when I decided it would make a good Saturday afternoon movie for my mom and I.
This bears repeating: this movie is not for the faint of heart. I am very accustomed to and comfortable with bloody violent movies, and this one made me cringe. However, the violence is not gratuitous, and stays as close as possible to what anthropologists and historians know about the Mayan civilization. Having studied the Mayan creation story, I was very pleased the myths and folklore repeated in the movie. Despite being grounded in historical representation, this movie also has a mystical dimension of the mysterious and supernatural forces that govern nature.
The mystification of Jaguar Paw, however, is beyond that of Nature, but rather, that of the extraordinary human drive to save his family. Despite being a brutally raw depiction of death and the desperation to appease the gods, the core of the movie is about one man's dedication to his family. In this way, this story is not that far from what is relatable to us, and it is not difficult to imagine ourselves within these characters.
From the beginning, the way the characters interact together, within their cultural expectations and understandings, are not alien to us. And that is what I found very appealing about this movie: it is not about how different their civilization is, but rather how similar the people are to us. In the first opening scenes, the character dynamics are deeply established, and later on, these same dynamics are revisited in a completely different set of circumstances and expectations.
This movie is also a nonstop thriller from beginning to end. Even though I possess some knowledge of the Mayan culture and expected some kind of sacrificial scene, the audience is as clueless as those of the captives. We follow the story through Jaguar Paw's eyes, and we are hoping against hope for his survival. The chase scenes are unending, unnerving, and adrenaline-pumping. This movie does not stop until the end, and you are literally finding it hard to breathe for the whole two or three hours you are sitting there.
Thematically, this movie is frought with concepts that run diagonally throughout. While you emphathize with the victims' and applaud Jaguar Paw's extraordinary will to survive and save his family, you also realize that the oppressors' have the same motivations: to protect and avenge their families. The mystical quality of Jaguar Paw is contrasted with his very real human weaknesses. In the end, the movie is less real than it is mythical and conceptual. It is epic, unforgetful, and has you panting with exhaustion at the end.
Wow, I can go on to talk about the costumining, the landscapes, the juxtaposition of Nature over Civilization, etc. Or the mere fact that I found myself extremely appealed to Jaguar Paw. Who wouldn't? He is intelligent, good-looking, strong, sensitive, loving, tender, sympathetic, and loyal. If you think you can handle historically accurate violence, please, go watch this movie. This is among the best, if not the best, movie I have seen this year.
ABOUT THE ICONS THIS WEEK
I had a hell of a time trying to post today. Mozilla refused to cooperate with the new LJ updates for some reason.
Icon-wise, I found myself experimenting with and finding new designs with one of the most boring episodes. FEARFUL SYMMETRY not just features a very fake-looking gorilla, but also beautiful M/S and UST. I took advantage of the fact that there were not as many caps to work with to experiment with new designs and styles. I am quite pleased with the end-result.
The HARRY POTTER set is the long-delayed GOBLET OF FIRE (PART 2), and my favorite HP batch to date. There is a furtive quality and wonderful innocent fear about Harry in the Death Eaters scenes. I am planning an up-for-grabs HP layout using caps from this scene.
My goal for this winter break (in terms of iconing) is to get at least one icon batch for standby (that is, to be ahead by at least one icon batch) so that I can stop working on icons and work on my other projects.
Icon Preview
2x18: Fearful Symmetry
Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire (Part 2)
2x18: FEARFUL SYMMETRY
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I realize I haven't talked about finals yet. Finals weren't great.
Professor Allen's The Cantebury Tales final was not too bad. I did not think I wrote spectacular essays, but they were acceptable, I think. Since taking Professor Allen's final on Tuesday, I studied full-throttle for Biochemistry. I had Biochemistry and Colonial Literature both on Thursday, and yet, I studied for Biochemistry for a full two days (with perhaps two hours of sleep), and ended up studying Colonial Literature for only about half an hour (after taking the Biochemistry final and before taking the Colonial Lit final). I think I did okay on Biochemistry, or at least, I had an idea of what was going on in each problem. I cannot venture to say I did positively "okay" until I get my grade back. Knowing how I am, I will not see my grade until I am forced to confront it sometime next year, after school begins anew.
Now, Colonial Literature is a whole different story. I don't think I did this poorly on a literature final, ever. There were 20 IDs out of 24 quotes. We had to write something of an analysis of the text based on each quote. I positively identified 15 quotes, and guessed at the remaining 5, and wrote B.S. analyses for nearly half of them. It was bad. I felt ashamed and disgusted because even though I hate literature, I hate being bested by Literature exams the most.
Even my essay was shabby. This is truly shameful.
After my final, I rushed back to my room to work on my Colonial Literature paper for the next 24 hours, no sleep. I have to say, to make up for the intolerable performance on the final, I wrote a pretty decent paper. I think, one of my better ones.
After my final, well, I think I was fairly productive. My goals this winter break and my winter break diary (part 1) will be posted in a few days, and I'm going to try to accomplish as many of the projects I have planned.
MOVIE REVIEWS
THE NATIVITY STORY
The weekend before 10th week, I went to the movies with my mom and gave her a quick synopsis of each movie I was interested in, with this movie ranking below THE FOUNTAIN and STRANGER THAN FICTION. My mom was interested in seeing THE NATIVITY STORY not because she knew what it was about or what the Nativity Story really is, but that it seemed less strange than the other two movies.
I was rather surprised by the character dynamic between Mary, Joseph, and her family. Afterall, this was what I was expecting. However, the emotional depth that developed between Mary and Joseph is real, satisfying, thought-provoking, and even inspirational. The tension that Mary's pregnancy created between her, her family, her village, and Joseph, made the story real to me. Keisha Castle Hughes' performance did not blow me away, persay, but her early confusion and later emotional and spiritual confidence was well-portrayed. She did not strike me as the "Mary" from Renaissance paintings, but her earthiness and youth was very appropriate for the humble beginnings of Jesus' parents.
On the other hand, Oscar Issac's performance as Joseph was incredible. He was a tender, loving, forgiving, and driven man, and his uncertainty, heartbreak, and inner strength is so well portrayed. What was most significant for me is that the movie did not only emphasis Mary's tension with her parents and village, but it also shows Joseph's perspective, as well.
For me, the village scenes were the high points of the movie, and not necessarily the journey to Bethlehem or the birth. The organic earthiness of the village life scenes was well done in terms of costuming, set design, atmosphere, and general look of rustic poverty. I disliked the way the three wise men were portrayed in the entire movie. There were numerous scenes of the three wise men consulting their astronomy instruments, and it seemed fake, B-movieish. There was an attempt to make humor with these three wise men, and again, that falls flat for me. In addition, the scenes with King Herod and his son seem contrived and superficial, like a television movie.
The birth scene was very religiously representational, iconic, and not unique. I had expected a slightly different interpretation of it, to make the effect of Jesus' birth more grounded, and less dependent on special effects. But there was the ray of light, the unnaturally lighted barn. I know the religious iconography of this scene is very important, but at the same time, I wished there was some artistic originality instead.
There was one point where Joseph was carrying the laboring Mary, screaming for shelter, and the Chistmas Carol song started playing. It was an odd choice, but it worked. It balanced Joseph's urgency with the inevitability of what was to happen and the joy of what is to come.
Overall, it would be a nice movie to watch on DVD near Christmastime.
LAND OF THE BLIND
I watched this on DVD with S. It took two tries to watch it (the first time, we were interrupted with a party). We picked it up from Hollywood Video (where I also found a brand new copy of HARRY POTTER: THE SORCERER'S STONE for only $9.99!) I had first heard about this movie because I follow Ralph Fiennes' career.
Here is a brief synopsis from Yahoo!Movies:
"A prisoner recounts his life as a soldier-turned-dissident and his role in the overthrow of his country's totalitarian government."
It's not very descriptive, but then, this movie is hard to describe without spoilature. The script is by Robert S. Edwards who won the Nickle Award for Best Screenplay by a first time writer, and this movie ended up going to Cannes Film Festival where it was one of the features.
The screenplay is witty, surreal, and pulls off the exaggerations that only a totalitarian ruler could get away with. The art direction of this movie is noteworthy for its eclectic mixture of designs and fashions. There are 18th century costumes and furniture, mixed with 20th century fixtures and 21st century influences. One cannot be sure exactly what era it is, but would be absolutely sure that everything is emulative. It is appropriate because it visually aligns with the superficiality and pomp of Junior's government. The editing is superb, and the colors are often acidically bright, and reflects the dark humor of the screenplay. The music is as darkly humorous as the editing. The classical, symphonic quality of the music is a nostalgia that is superficialized in the movie, but makes the false traditions and heritage of Junior's reign even more stark.
As usual, Ralph Fiennes' performance is stellar. His character is sensitive, intelligent, mired in pathos. Despite being often compared to V FOR VENDETTA, this movie and his character's dilemma is just the opposite of your usual government rebellion film. Ultimately, this movie is about the flaws and downturns of idealism, and I found it an interesting allegory for today's political climate.
APOCALYPTO
I went into this movie with my mom without knowing much about it, except a Los Angeles Times article on Mel Gibson's extraordinary movie-making coup. I respect Mel Gibson, and even though I have not yet seen PASSION OF THE CHRIST, I knew that APOCALYPTO would be a movie worth watching. In the Los Angeles Times article, it mentioned Mel Gibson's strategy in personally inviting Latino and Native American community leaders to screenings and Q&As. And the result is a phenomenally positive and enthusiastic response about the movie.
In the same article, there was a brief mention about the unapologetic and historically-accurate depictions of human sacrifice and bloodsport. However, somehow, I had forgotten about this aspect of the movie when I decided it would make a good Saturday afternoon movie for my mom and I.
This bears repeating: this movie is not for the faint of heart. I am very accustomed to and comfortable with bloody violent movies, and this one made me cringe. However, the violence is not gratuitous, and stays as close as possible to what anthropologists and historians know about the Mayan civilization. Having studied the Mayan creation story, I was very pleased the myths and folklore repeated in the movie. Despite being grounded in historical representation, this movie also has a mystical dimension of the mysterious and supernatural forces that govern nature.
The mystification of Jaguar Paw, however, is beyond that of Nature, but rather, that of the extraordinary human drive to save his family. Despite being a brutally raw depiction of death and the desperation to appease the gods, the core of the movie is about one man's dedication to his family. In this way, this story is not that far from what is relatable to us, and it is not difficult to imagine ourselves within these characters.
From the beginning, the way the characters interact together, within their cultural expectations and understandings, are not alien to us. And that is what I found very appealing about this movie: it is not about how different their civilization is, but rather how similar the people are to us. In the first opening scenes, the character dynamics are deeply established, and later on, these same dynamics are revisited in a completely different set of circumstances and expectations.
This movie is also a nonstop thriller from beginning to end. Even though I possess some knowledge of the Mayan culture and expected some kind of sacrificial scene, the audience is as clueless as those of the captives. We follow the story through Jaguar Paw's eyes, and we are hoping against hope for his survival. The chase scenes are unending, unnerving, and adrenaline-pumping. This movie does not stop until the end, and you are literally finding it hard to breathe for the whole two or three hours you are sitting there.
Thematically, this movie is frought with concepts that run diagonally throughout. While you emphathize with the victims' and applaud Jaguar Paw's extraordinary will to survive and save his family, you also realize that the oppressors' have the same motivations: to protect and avenge their families. The mystical quality of Jaguar Paw is contrasted with his very real human weaknesses. In the end, the movie is less real than it is mythical and conceptual. It is epic, unforgetful, and has you panting with exhaustion at the end.
Wow, I can go on to talk about the costumining, the landscapes, the juxtaposition of Nature over Civilization, etc. Or the mere fact that I found myself extremely appealed to Jaguar Paw. Who wouldn't? He is intelligent, good-looking, strong, sensitive, loving, tender, sympathetic, and loyal. If you think you can handle historically accurate violence, please, go watch this movie. This is among the best, if not the best, movie I have seen this year.
ABOUT THE ICONS THIS WEEK
I had a hell of a time trying to post today. Mozilla refused to cooperate with the new LJ updates for some reason.
Icon-wise, I found myself experimenting with and finding new designs with one of the most boring episodes. FEARFUL SYMMETRY not just features a very fake-looking gorilla, but also beautiful M/S and UST. I took advantage of the fact that there were not as many caps to work with to experiment with new designs and styles. I am quite pleased with the end-result.
The HARRY POTTER set is the long-delayed GOBLET OF FIRE (PART 2), and my favorite HP batch to date. There is a furtive quality and wonderful innocent fear about Harry in the Death Eaters scenes. I am planning an up-for-grabs HP layout using caps from this scene.
My goal for this winter break (in terms of iconing) is to get at least one icon batch for standby (that is, to be ahead by at least one icon batch) so that I can stop working on icons and work on my other projects.
Icon Preview
2x18: Fearful Symmetry
Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire (Part 2)
2x18: FEARFUL SYMMETRY
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