Super 8

Super 8

The much anticipated release, from Writer/Director JJ Abrams (Fringe, etc) and producer Stephen Spielberg, exceeded my personal expectations.

As normal fare for me, I'll try my best not to hint at anything that could potentially spoil this film.  That said, there is so much I want to talk about here, it may be a bit difficult to live up to the standards I try adhering to whenever I conduct a review.

This movie is richly layered.  It's really two stories in one.  Each dealing with the theme of displacement.

There is also a short film the characters in the film are putting together.  This film is about zombies.  The finished piece can be seen as the credits role, so be sure to stick around for that.  There's a few jokes in this short film, that take friendly shots at zombie films and their history; those affluent in Zombie lore should get a kick out of them.  The only thing I really want to say about the short film is how the film is a zombie or walking dead short.  This is symbolically important, as many of the characters in Super 8 have this almost zombie like feel to them.  They are just moving along, unsure what will come next, just waiting to either be saved or be taken out of "the equation."

The theme of displacement also extends to the kid's short film. A zombie is a soul-less being without a place of its own.  It lives in the shell of a former self.  It doesn't know where to go or what to do.  All it knows is to feed off the living, thus converting them into zombies, displacing them as well. Perhaps so the living can experience what they are going through.

The second plot in this film has to do with the creature.  Although some may argue that this is really the initial plot, I disagree and will explain my position further in just a few moments.  First though comes the creature's plot.  The creature is displaced from it's planet.  It has been here for sometime.  A prisoner aching to leave this world and return home.

In this storyline the creature is the Protagonist.  Nelec is the Antagonist. Dr. Woodward and then Alice and Joe, are the Helpers.  The Sheriff and the army soldiers are the Detractors as they, along with Nelec, try to recapture the creature and inhibit/prevent his escape plan.

The main storyline is the story of Joe Lamb, who is displaced by the loss of his mother and living with a father who doesn't understand him and is pretty much unwilling to learn to be a father. Joe needs to overcome his loss and move forward with his life.  This storyline begins before the film starts. This is where the inciting incident takes place, where an accident at Mrs. Lamb's place of work claims her life.  This act gives life to Joe's storyline.  Joe is obviously the Antagonist.  The ever looming memory of the accident, and all the nuances that lead into and out from it, becomes the Antagonist that Joe needs to overcome to advance, to free himself from the place he's at.  Deputy Jackson Lamb, Joe's father, and Louis Dainard, are the Detractors, assisting the Antagonist in its "plight' to keep Joe in a position of weakness.  Alice Dainard and Joe's friends(to an extent) are the main Helpers for Joe, yet Donny, a stoner kid, becomes an unwitting Helper and the Creature also becomes one as these two main plots entwine with one another.

I'd like to briefly detail some of the reasons I included the children as helpers to Joe's quest.  The act of the filmmaking is a welcome distraction for Joe, still dealing with the aftermath of his mother's accident.  They do, in there own way, provide a sense of a support system as well.  I just wanted to clarify that point a bit before moving on.

The amount of plotting in this film is remarkable.  I've already listed the three major plots, but there are numerous subplots in this film as well, probably including others I either didn't pick up on, or forgot.

1.  Will Charles Kaznyk complete his film
2.  Will Charles Kaznyk evolve as the film goes forward.  Charles is seen as a demanding, selfish boy throughout most of the film
3.  Will Martin get over his fears
4. Will Louis get a chance, become the father that Alice needs and wants
5. Love Triangle, Joe, Alice, Charles

Most of these subplots do get resolved in one way or another, not all positive, but I found it interesting how Abrams was able to tie in so many plots into the overall scope of the story at large.

Another interesting thing I found was the stories use of symbolism.  From the Super 8 camera to Dungeon( Dr. Woodward's self storage trailer) to the Locket that Joe's mother always wore, which gets passed on to Joe after her death.  Each of these symbols, and I'm sure I'm missing or forgetting others, play their role in moving the story forward and providing added depth to each of the plots.

So just to briefly recap:

Plots
1. Joe Lamb Vs Moving forward (Accident & its associations as Antag.)
2. Creature Vs Need to return home (Nelec as Antag.)


Theme of Displacement
1. Joe Lamb is displaced because of the loss of his mother
2. The creature is displaced by being lost on a strange planet
3. The Zombie film is symbolic in itself of displacement
4. Dr. Woodward becomes displaced after being touched by the creature
5. Louis Dainard becomes displaced twice. The first is attached to Mrs. Lamb's accident.  The second is when Alice goes missing later in the film.
6. Charles is displaced in relation to the love triangle idea I mentioned earlier
7. The entire accident at the train tracks displaces all the children from the world they just knew. (For Joe though this train accident works towards pushing him along in a new direction, so for him it was a needed event)
8. Alice feels displaced living with a father who is just there, drunk most of the time.

Super 8 is a thinkers action film. There are, as you can tell from this review, many layers to Super 8.  Not all of them are integral to the overall structure of the film, but if you're not paying attention or missing them you're, in my opinion, missing out on the extra pieces Abram's and Spielberg included.

I thought the acting was very good and in stride with what the film was trying to accomplish.  Pretty tough to obtain when dealing with something with so many layers, shown and not seen.

At points I found myself thinking of  Stand By Me, probably because of the notion of childhood friends attempting to "do" something and their being near train tracks.  I'm not going to go further into detail about the two films similarities here, yet felt it prudent to mention that I do feel they exist.

Anyone a fan of supernatural, or to some degree Sci-Fi, stories will enjoy this film.  Anyone who likes Abram's previous work will enjoy this tale.  Anyone who likes films with well defined and unique characters should enjoy this film.

Like I've mentioned before in previous posts I was looking forward to this film for some time, and I was not disappointed.  This will be a film I pick up on Blu-Ray when it becomes available.

Abstract Tribute To Comic Book Characters

In this piece I started messing around.  My original intention was to have the faces of numerous comic book characters.  As I realized I'm not quite at that level yet, so I decided to blur various parts/pieces of characters together in one big chaotic jumble. See if you can find them all: Venom's easy, but their are six more.  The Phantom, The Spirit, Daredevil, Capt. America, Wolverine, Silver Surfer

Six Paintings And The Tale They Tell

The heart tears, as the body descends, into a most darkened place.

Eventually the heart will disappear, leaving only flames and tears.

Lost and abandoned, the mind shall roam within sandy, barren lands

Until a shoreline is found, where hope is seen, but not yet within reach

Patience has a price, yet it also contains rewards beyond thought & space

Eventually leading you back to the never ending web of jubilance and celebration.  For those who wander into a darkened realm; who have the resolve to endure the pain, voids and isolation contained with; who have the patience to wait for hope, will find hope within.  Once hope is found the celebration will follow.

Hope everyone enjoys these six paintings and the mini-tale I created from them.  More to come I promise.

Four new Paintings

A stained glass design.

A weekend cottage

The harp that bridges the mind and soul

An Abstract, Picasso inspired piece

X-Men: First Class

A great many of the people I speak with regarding film had been anxiously awaiting the release of X-Men:First Class.  Typically I'm all about comic books taking the leap to the silver screen, however, in this case, for whatever the reason, I really wasn't looking forward to this film.

Perhaps keeping up to date on the ins-and-outs of Filmdom spoiled this film a bit for me, at least regarding my anticipation level.  Cyclops, Wolverine and Colossus have always been my favorite characters.  I knew ahead of time Cyclops and Wolverine wouldn't be in the film, which was a bummer in and of itself.  I knew the plot centered around the cuban missile crisis with the Hellfire Club involved edging the USA and Russia against each other.  Seeing that I had a feeling perhaps they'd ink Colossus in their somehow, but because of character age I kind of doubted his inclusion, which turned out to be a valid assumption.

Anyhow, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.  The script was pretty good and Matthew Vaughn is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I thought Magneto's character pretty much carried the action, which somewhat made up for the lack of cyclops and Wolverine.  Havok and Banshee helped that loss a lot as they have some pretty wicked abilities.

Overall if you like the other X-Men flicks, you'll enjoy this one too.  Not much sense in rehashing the storyline, apart from what I've already said, seeing it is a prequel and all, and seemed from what I can remember pretty true to the origins from the book. So I figured for this review I'll list some of the high-points and low-points.

High Points

1.  January Jones-  Played an exceptional Emma Frost.  I look forward to more of her.

2. Banshee and Havok- As mentioned above, I've always liked their abilities, and while being supporting characters it was interesting to watch their development.

3.  Raven/Mystique-  I enjoyed the dynamics involved between the young Charles Xavier with her, representing a surrogate family ideal as well as the dynamic between herself and Magneto, who preaches truth to oneself.  Interesting how the line Charles used earlier in the film, Mutant and Proud, which she dismissed early on, empowered her as she made the decision to embrace what and who she is.

4.  Kevin Bacon- Not my favorite actor but he had a good role playing Shaw.

5.  Nathan Lane-  Probably not worth mentioning here, but I'm a Nathan Lane fan and albeit a small part it was nice to see him involved.

6.  Wolverine Cameo- Classic Logan

Low Points

1. Kind of a Snafu of script I picked up on.  Toward the climax, Mystique changes into Shaw, with the "Magneto helmet" on, to save banshee and Havok.  The problem is that there was no way she could have known that Shaw had the Helmet on.  A. She's not a telepath B. Professor X, at the time was trying to figure out what was blocking his connection to Shaw, which was the helmet.  Very minor detail but nevertheless something to mention.

2.  I'm sure they could have found a couple other character's besides "Darwin"  and the girl "Angel".  The Hellfire club had other interesting characters as did the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Blob would've been nice seeing the relationship between he and the Professor.

Anyhow worth seeing and much, much better than I had originally thought it would be.  Perhaps there's hope for Captain America, another film I'm not that excited for.

Next couple films I happen to be very excited for are Super 8, Green Lantern and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Nightmare Invading Dream

I've been visiting a lot of Art blogs and sites influenced greatly by Artwork.  All of this inspired me to buy ArtRage3.  This was the first painting I composed.  I'm very raw, but find it not only fun, but a great outlet for frustration and negative energy, as well as a cathartic realm to wander from time to time.  I am working on advancing my skill, so each consequent piece, I'm hoping, will get better and better.  Until then, I hope any who visit will let me know what they think, and if you have any tips or tricks, or places I should probably reference, by all means please leave a comment.  Thanks ahead of time, and hope you all enjoy.

Kung Fu Panda 2

Each week it seems that more and more films are either sequels or remakes. This trend is not new, and quite honestly makes a ton of sense.  A film does well, so it only makes sense to cash in with another chapter in a tale, or to take a film that younger audiences may not have seen, add fresh faces and modernize the setting.  I really don't like remakes, but I get why they are made.  I don't mind sequels, in fact the only time I don't particularly like them are when the original ended in perfect manner.  The film for this review is Jack Black's Kung Fu Panda 2, starring Jack Black, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie and Gary Oldman as Lord Shen.

KFP2 picks up where the animated original left off.  Po, the panda and Dragon Warrior, joins his friends the furious five for another adventure.  The antagonist here is a peacock named Lord Shen, who is seeking revenge, but a revenge steeped in an approval seeking manner, an approval he did not get years before, when he was outcast and exiled.

Po is still the bungling, lovable, larger than life, ever hungry panda bear he was in the first film.  At times he is confused, even dumbfounded.  This film is really about Po's search for identity.  It also has messages to send regarding family, friendship and the balancing of your inner being.

The idea that the extraordinary can be found within all of us is apparent from start to finish, just as it was in the original.  This notion is a good message to send to children, as well as for adults.  Some people find their greatness early, some have to experience pain and suffering to find theirs, while others will wait many many years before they find theirs.

Another positive message displayed here is that just because someone may appear cold emotionally, doesn't mean that there isn't a warm heart within them.

In the first film the furious five were pretty efficiently displayed as business all the time.  In this version the Po effect can be clearly seen as it relates to the five.  They are seen much more loose and open to experiencing the fun things in life.  This is portrayed wonderfully in an early scene, where Po is stuffing rolls into his mouth and the five can be seen laughing and cheering him on as he continuously stuffs more and more rolls in his mouth.  

The idea of friendship is seen all throughout the film, but a good example is a scene where genuine concern for Po's well-being is shown by Tigress as she forbids him from joining in the upcoming attack on Lord Chen.

The idea of family is integral to the storyline.  Therefore, that's all I will say about this theme.  Just be aware it's there, and as you watch the film see how the story uses this notion to expand the plot and storyline.

Inner peace, as Master Chifu calls it, is the sense that through balancing out your being, understanding yourself, through reflection, and gaining focus in the most cluttered environments, will unlock the greatness inside of you.  

While there is some animated violence in this film, I wouldn't say there's enough to send out warning flags to parents.  In my opinion this film is suitable for all ages.  It's another of the animated features that, for a while now, adults will also enjoy greatly.

Personally this film stands up well as it's own film.  However, I don't think it comes close to what the first film accomplished. So, go see this film over the long weekend.  Take your kids.  You'll all enjoy it, but don't  expect it to be as good as the original.