When Jacob discussed his past "relationship" with Hank, the sadness of his life is exhumed and somewhat purifies his outer exterior. His crimes don't vanish and are not forgotten, but the viewer (at least I did) felt pity toward him and his persona. Hank, on the other hand, is a puppet gotten out of control thanks to his puppeteer, his wife. The combination of those two evil minds and callous souls just adds to the effect of corruption among the innocent simply from the presence of millions of evenly cut pieces of paper. Is paper worth a life? Never. We live for today and hope for tomorrow. Materialistic belongings are always a spectacular addition on top of the sundae, but is it the actual ice cream that is at the core? (Cheesy as that sounds.) I think not.
Eh, greed kills. Greed drives people insane. Human nature to want more, why are we never satisfied?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
A Simple Plan
I missed the second day of watching so I am not caught up in the events, but these were my thoughts from the first day.
1.) Fox and Chickens: fox diligently and menacingly watched over the chickens and finally attacked. This is definitely added into the movie to foreshadow the upcoming actions of greedy men feeding on the weak to collect the millions, especially Hank.
2.) "New" Year: you would usually connect a new year to a fresh start with new resolutions to do better the following year. In the movie, it is used to indicate a new path but not necessarily the correct one.
3.) Color "white": usually identified with purity and innocence, yet there is nothing innocent about committing murder to protect a huge bundle of cash from becoming public news. It is also ironic that in a town so peaceful and covered in white (snow, house, sky, church, trees) such an event can be occurring.
4.) Black bird: always watching. "Black" the color of death, a foreshadow for what is to come.
5.) Strong effects of greed on people: clearly visible among Jacob and Lou, and Hank and his wife. Ironically, both Hank and his wife were the first to declare it unruly to take the money but both become obsessed in the greed more than the other two men. This change in character is visible from the terror and shock on the dying farmer's face.
A few details to ponder over...
1.) Fox and Chickens: fox diligently and menacingly watched over the chickens and finally attacked. This is definitely added into the movie to foreshadow the upcoming actions of greedy men feeding on the weak to collect the millions, especially Hank.
2.) "New" Year: you would usually connect a new year to a fresh start with new resolutions to do better the following year. In the movie, it is used to indicate a new path but not necessarily the correct one.
3.) Color "white": usually identified with purity and innocence, yet there is nothing innocent about committing murder to protect a huge bundle of cash from becoming public news. It is also ironic that in a town so peaceful and covered in white (snow, house, sky, church, trees) such an event can be occurring.
4.) Black bird: always watching. "Black" the color of death, a foreshadow for what is to come.
5.) Strong effects of greed on people: clearly visible among Jacob and Lou, and Hank and his wife. Ironically, both Hank and his wife were the first to declare it unruly to take the money but both become obsessed in the greed more than the other two men. This change in character is visible from the terror and shock on the dying farmer's face.
A few details to ponder over...
Angels and Demons, ah, what a nice title.
This past Sunday night, I decided it was time for a trip to the movie theater off Richmond Ave. I checked the movie listings online and was unenthusiastic about the choices. Unfortunately, I was persuaded into watching Angels and Demons.
From the very beginning of the movie, I knew I didn't think anything of it and that it would not remain in my memory past a few weeks. To start off, Robert Langdon, a symbologist, is interrupted by an agent sent from the Vatican while completing laps around the pool at Harvard. He's given urgent news about the trouble at the holy city and decides to jump on a plane to the Vatican. Maybe it was the unrealistic qualities of this type of situation ever occurring to us normal folk or maybe it was simply the fact that this method of attracting the average viewer into a suspenseful mystery flick rubbed off a good five years ago with the DaVinci Code, nonetheless, whatever the reason was, that very scene left me with a bitter inclination toward the movie.
And my intuition was correct. From there, the movie took a stroll down memory lane or what Mr. Bennett would describe as "spitting out the same formula" that Hollywood loves to implement ever so often. Professor Landgon arrives to the scene of panic, is thrown into a mystery which he solves using a single piece of paper from Galileo's little booklet of truth about the universe and his support of the heliocentric theory and his fancy for following the pointing fingers of statues, meets leading lady figure Vittoria, the scientist behind the antimatter experiment, dodges bullets and fire to rescue the cardinals, saves the last (who becomes the Pope) and reveals the ploy of Camerlengo McKenno against the church. Phew, all in a day's work of course.
Unfortunately, the mystery lacked real depth. The most shocking part of the mystery was when the Camerlengo masterfully jumped out of a bomb-carrying helicopter seconds before tremendous explosion and managed to walk away with a few harmless scratches. (A priest that flies helicopters and knows how to professionally sky dive!) Otherwise, I have to say, the DaVinci Code had more plot and mystery. Angels and Demons was the perfect example of a Dan Brown novel discussing the relationship between religion and science plus the extra dose of action packed thriller.
And in the end, it was neither. It barely went in depth into the religious history and connections that Dan Brown lives on and in numerous scenes repeated the same information. Yet, it wasn't "daredevil" enough for a twenty first century action movie with nonstop shooting and blood and chaos absolutely everywhere.
Well, at least at the end of the day, it was $11 and 2 hour 17 minutes spent not worthwhile.
Side note: I am not commenting on the actor's competence, simply the movie plot.
From the very beginning of the movie, I knew I didn't think anything of it and that it would not remain in my memory past a few weeks. To start off, Robert Langdon, a symbologist, is interrupted by an agent sent from the Vatican while completing laps around the pool at Harvard. He's given urgent news about the trouble at the holy city and decides to jump on a plane to the Vatican. Maybe it was the unrealistic qualities of this type of situation ever occurring to us normal folk or maybe it was simply the fact that this method of attracting the average viewer into a suspenseful mystery flick rubbed off a good five years ago with the DaVinci Code, nonetheless, whatever the reason was, that very scene left me with a bitter inclination toward the movie.
And my intuition was correct. From there, the movie took a stroll down memory lane or what Mr. Bennett would describe as "spitting out the same formula" that Hollywood loves to implement ever so often. Professor Landgon arrives to the scene of panic, is thrown into a mystery which he solves using a single piece of paper from Galileo's little booklet of truth about the universe and his support of the heliocentric theory and his fancy for following the pointing fingers of statues, meets leading lady figure Vittoria, the scientist behind the antimatter experiment, dodges bullets and fire to rescue the cardinals, saves the last (who becomes the Pope) and reveals the ploy of Camerlengo McKenno against the church. Phew, all in a day's work of course.
Unfortunately, the mystery lacked real depth. The most shocking part of the mystery was when the Camerlengo masterfully jumped out of a bomb-carrying helicopter seconds before tremendous explosion and managed to walk away with a few harmless scratches. (A priest that flies helicopters and knows how to professionally sky dive!) Otherwise, I have to say, the DaVinci Code had more plot and mystery. Angels and Demons was the perfect example of a Dan Brown novel discussing the relationship between religion and science plus the extra dose of action packed thriller.
And in the end, it was neither. It barely went in depth into the religious history and connections that Dan Brown lives on and in numerous scenes repeated the same information. Yet, it wasn't "daredevil" enough for a twenty first century action movie with nonstop shooting and blood and chaos absolutely everywhere.
Well, at least at the end of the day, it was $11 and 2 hour 17 minutes spent not worthwhile.
Side note: I am not commenting on the actor's competence, simply the movie plot.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Yes, hmm, Freedom and Happiness
What is happiness? What is freedom? And are they interconnected? Can you have one but not the other... Can you have happiness as a lab mouse trapped in an endless maze? Can you be free to roam the world and do anything your heart desires, but not content?
To me, the two are a team. An unbreakable bond. Impossible, I say, impossible.. to be completely self-satisfied in this world without freedom. The people that can be ruled under strict laws and obey them without a second thought, I feel numerous emotions towards them. First of all, admiration... for they are capable of living under the law oblivious to the taste of freedom and independence. Second of all, pity... for the same exact reason. And third of all, confusion... because in my short existence, I have come to realize that without the capability of being an individual, your own person... there is no point to life.
Similarly, how delicious can freedom be if it leaves a bitter aftertaste? Independence without happiness... is the same as happiness without independence. But, alas, isn't that what Manny proved to himself? To be locked up in a cell like an animal with no rights and no liberal freedoms was not worth living, thus he took the opportunity - no matter how dangerous- to runaway. To run far from the power of the warden, the "власть" of the prison and the tight grip of the government in search of this feeling... a feeling of sovereignty, of self-power, something we all secretly search for throughout life. And he finds it. On a fast moving train heading straight for collision, on a path to his inevitable death... he finds "свобода." Because, in reality, his freedom is ephemeral and he understands this... because in reality, he has tasted the sweetness of autonomy and he knows turning back and "living" would only force him into the bitterness of captivation in a tiny dark cell.
Runaway Train, an absolutely wonderful film, thank you Mr. Bennett. Jon Voight, as an actor, is phenomenal. His craft of acting is exactly what I discussed in a previous post, extremely diverse and profitiently well-played.
To me, the two are a team. An unbreakable bond. Impossible, I say, impossible.. to be completely self-satisfied in this world without freedom. The people that can be ruled under strict laws and obey them without a second thought, I feel numerous emotions towards them. First of all, admiration... for they are capable of living under the law oblivious to the taste of freedom and independence. Second of all, pity... for the same exact reason. And third of all, confusion... because in my short existence, I have come to realize that without the capability of being an individual, your own person... there is no point to life.
Similarly, how delicious can freedom be if it leaves a bitter aftertaste? Independence without happiness... is the same as happiness without independence. But, alas, isn't that what Manny proved to himself? To be locked up in a cell like an animal with no rights and no liberal freedoms was not worth living, thus he took the opportunity - no matter how dangerous- to runaway. To run far from the power of the warden, the "власть" of the prison and the tight grip of the government in search of this feeling... a feeling of sovereignty, of self-power, something we all secretly search for throughout life. And he finds it. On a fast moving train heading straight for collision, on a path to his inevitable death... he finds "свобода." Because, in reality, his freedom is ephemeral and he understands this... because in reality, he has tasted the sweetness of autonomy and he knows turning back and "living" would only force him into the bitterness of captivation in a tiny dark cell.
Runaway Train, an absolutely wonderful film, thank you Mr. Bennett. Jon Voight, as an actor, is phenomenal. His craft of acting is exactly what I discussed in a previous post, extremely diverse and profitiently well-played.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Reality vs. the Dream World
As we continue to watch Midnight Cowboy, the same reoccurring and somewhat disappointing thought keeps refreshing itself in my head. Here is a somewhat naive young man who runs away to the city of lights with big dreams and hopes for his life, only to be cruelly taken advantage of and reduced to poverty. And so I thought.. is this what is in store for the rest of us? The mystical fantasy of Hollywood and the lavish lifestyle celebrities lead creates a fallacious illusion from the start of an early age. We are brought up by our surrounding population to allow our dreams to grow with no limit and are constantly persuaded that the impossible is not unreachable. But what happens when we are old enough to understand that our visions of reality are far from the truth and that our longtime dreams can be as faraway as infinity? Living under such conditions during childhood brainwashes the truth of life in the eyes of an anxious child, excited to get out into the "real" world. So, when is it correct to stop supporting exaggerated hopes and goals and to start considering the logical? Now, I'm not trying to be a dream crusher or a hope eliminator, I'm just analyzing from personal experience and observations. I love getting absorbed in the conflicts of fictional characters to simply run away from my personal problems or dilemma's at the moment, but when is it pushing the envelop to run away to an overly unrealistic dreamworld and then convince yourself that maybe one day it will all come true? The greater the imagination, the more difficult it is to depart from the world created by our thoughts and the world established by powerful individuals before our time. Do movies help promote that type of thinking?
Monday, March 2, 2009
James Franco: Destined for Greatness as an Actor?
As I was watching "Pineapple Express" this weekend, I realized how much potential James Franco has as an actor. Twelve years ago, this NYU Tisch student was merely a minor background character in the movie "Never Been Kissed." Then, in 2006, he came out as the leading male role in "Tristan and Isolde," a mix between "Troy" and "Romeo and Juliette." He was no longer a naive teenager following the crowd mindlessly, but a long lost hero who blindly falls in love with his rescuer who he later on won as a wife for his non-biological father, the King. Slightly coming out of his shell, he proved to the audience that he could pull off the entire warrier role. In "Annapolis," he played the persistant soldier who came from a difficult childhood who was capable of overcoming obstacles and pushing aside all the negativity around him in order to graduate. Even as New Goblin in "Spiderman 3," Franco played the role of the villian in a not memorable performance but still maintained to convince the watching population that there was some competence. From what I saw in "Pineapple Express," Franco not only developed his character down to the core, but also took chances. Oh, if only more actors did this! I understand the complexity of sitting down with a script and creating a character out of scratch with such distinct personality traits and habits that the character grows very realistic. It's crazy. Deciding whether to make a character have an inner dilemma that ultimately destructs the characters sanity and how to portray this breaking down... nail biting, nervous glances above the shoulder, a twitch, etc. His character, Saul the drug dealer who secretly dreamed of becoming an engineer and benefiting society, had the perfect amount of humor, creativity and friendliness that by the end of the movie, not only was I laughing at his obvious stupidity, but I was also suddenly caring for his feelings. The feelings of a drug dealer. And that, in itself, is what makes a good actor. Franco reached out beyond his comfort zone and was capable of convincing the crowd of his character. If only more actors could be as diverse and take as many chances. I see a young Heath Ledger (may he rest in peace) coming out and I'm waiting to be pleasantly surprised.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I once read a quote discussing the longevity of literature versus the evanescent existence of drama/ film. It boldy stated that the realistic classic characters of literature greatly outlive the modern famous characters of movies in the long run. But as I sat there and thought about my short acquaintance with movies, I was caught in the middle. Yes, it is true that the lifelike characters and stories from childhood books and timeless novels such as Anna Karenina and Vronsky and Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy constantly remain in the back of our minds, popular movie icons from the Sound of Music or Titanic also touch our hearts. Although many movie characters do slowly trickle away, similarly as many characters from novels, the individuals from film that do survive the sands of time bring more life and vigor to that persona. Movie roles are as equally long lived as famous story characters, if not sometimes more timeless. And movie characters are capable of coming to life on screen and are capable of reaching out to a larger population. So the question is, what audience will be doing the remembering?
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