Poetry I Wrote - Probably Badly

Hey. So I write prose. I don't know if you've noticed from EVERY SINGLE OTHER post on this blog. Even the one I called a poem is really prose written in very short sentences. These two are actually poems. The first is a sort of modified sonnet and the second one is a prose poem. If they're really bad feel free to let me know and I won't post poetry up here again. This is kinda an experiment. Have fun. Also the first poem should really be read with this playing in the background.

A Rain Sonnet -

Drips echo up in to my ear

Washing clean my cares and my fear

See it’s not the feel nor the sound

Wherein stormy pleasure is found.

Rather tis the thought may that I

Prove the sadness brought by the rain

Fiction, Fant’sy, and Brittle Lie –

Lies of sorrow, sadness, and pain

“sad is happy for deep people”

Just to feel is proof of my life

Life is not found in home’r steeple

But in good hope after strife

How can sadness stay here and not

Flee if’t exposes what I’ve got?

The Source of Utopia -

For me there is no single utopia. I am enthralled by the serene life of the countryside. The slow moving people. The sweet smelling wind. The sounds of life in its purest form.

Yet I find an equal peace in the city – in the hustle and bustle of the city. The speeding of the always-cycling train. The rising stench of a thousand hot dog stands. The dull roar of a city that won’t sleep.

For me, utopia is the progression of life reminding me I’m alive. Utopia isn’t a sight. Or a smell. Or a sound. It is the amazing variety of sights in every place. And the ever changing scent of the world. And the sounds of the different folk, flora, and fauna found throughout the earth.

Beauty in Mundanity - A Review of MFA Poetry Readings in the Narrative Format

            The poetry reading started not with a bang or a murmur, but with well-maintained introductions. I arrived just as the first reader was introduced – Blake something – or something Blake. I had biked here and was in all likelihood not the best smelling human being in the room, so I was a little distracted when they announced his name. He is an established author who has been published a number of times. He is known for his humor, and he writes prose. Tonight, Blake will be reading his short story “The Best Man,” which he admits to the audience is about his brother. It is hilarious. Irreverent and mundane, the story details the narrator and his brother’s trip to a tailor to get their tuxedos fitted. The story seems to me to be an expose of the relationship dynamics between the narrator (who, under first impression, appears to be a pretty solid reflection of Blake) and his brother. The short piece details exactly how the narrator feels about his brother and life in general. The whole thing was a surprisingly realistic and uncensored (at one point the narrator ponders “rubbing one out” to a Victoria’s Secret catalogue) portrayal of what goes on inside a man’s head. I thought it was wonderful.

            Following the reading I take a look around the room. There is wine and cheese in the corner. Pretentious? Yes. Delicious looking? Of course. Do I want some? Most definitely. Unfortunately I can’t reach the wine and cheese due to the massive crowd guarding the concessions. That’s when I notice that the room is full of people from my class who, like me, had waited till the last possible reading to attend. It’s always nice to know you’re not alone. Yay for procrastination.  The next reader comes up, a man named Tommy who will be reading us a few of his poems. Now until three months ago I had never really appreciated poetry. And while this quarter has changed my impression quite a bit, I was still shocked at how much I liked this guy’s poetry. He writes about the most profound things – the imprisoning feeling of small towns or the ubiquity of love in all aspects of life – and the most commonplace – masturbation and the sadness of losing your favorite chicken and waffles restaurant. His work truly showcased the potential for story and poetry in every moment.

            Tommy was soon replaced by prose writer Kendra Fish. I definitely caught her name because I thought Tommy had said ‘Fitch’ in his introduction of her. He did not. He said Fish. She was also very impressive. She read excerpts from a story entitled “Both, Sister, mother, More.” The narrative was difficult to follow because of how much she jumped around during her reading, but from what I gathered, the story was about a gypsy woman and her daughter trying to live a normal life in Belgium. The story dealt with heavy issues like self-identity and sexuality extremely well, never trivializing or demonizing them. It is a story that I can see coming together to be a masterpiece examination of character growth and the mother-daughter relationship.

            At this point my back was beginning to get tired from standing in the same position for an hour. But luckily the last person, a woman named Megan, began reading her poetry just as I was becoming uncomfortable. I did not like Megan’s poetry. Perhaps my mind was tainted with the pain in my back and odd smells emanating from my dried sweat, but I found very little intriguing or strictly poetic about her writing. To be fair to Megan, she is a phenomenal writer; she handles imagery better than most I've read. However, I found her poetry to be lacking in any strictly poetic qualities beyond vivid description, which should be a quality of all good writing. I thought her descriptions were beautiful and well-conceived – I just wouldn't call them poetry.

            And thusly the night ended. My classmates and I ushered up to the front to get Tommy and Megan’s signatures and we were off for long bike rides home and whatever else awaited us in the night outside – now armed with the knowledge that beauty and more can be found in every second we are living. 

Prepping for 2012 - Best Films to Prominently Feature Bicycles

Before I get into this article, I’d like to apologize for my last 2012 post. Normally I would just take it down, but since it’s part of a series, I’ll leave it up. It was brought to my attention that the quality of writing was not up to my standards for this website and I hope you’ll forgive me and find this list to be more informative and inclusive of people who have not yet seen these movies.

This was the second most painful scene to
watch in a film that included  testicle whipping

I don’t know about everyone else, but one of my favorite things to see in films is a cool vehicle. I mean when I saw the classic Aston Martin DB5 in Skyfall this last weekend I had to change my pants afterward. And I still haven’t forgiven Bond for choosing Vesper over his DPS in what is one of the most painful scenes to watch in all of cinema, made all the more painful by the knowledge that in order to get the shot they needed, the filmmakers crashed three models of the car. That being said I think it’s pretty clear that at least I, and I think the human race in general, have a fixation on the ways we transport ourselves, particularly in films. So I decided to write an article about bicycles.

The Four Best Films to Prominently Feature Bicycles

4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

OK so it’s only one scene. But man is it an awesome scene. Paul Newman goes for a ride in the countryside to the song “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head,” does some cool tricks to impress his lady, makes faces at a bull, and flees the scene all on a bicycle. Paul Newman reminds us how manly bicycles can be by riding straight up to Robert Redford and letting him know he’s stealing his girl. The scene’s been taken off of youtube, so I can’t embed it here, but as of this writing it was available on dailymotion here.

3. Kiki’s Delivery Service

I'm sticking with bitchin as my adjective for this thing

So this one doesn’t really feature too much bicycle, with the exception of Jiji’s bicycle/bitchin flying machine, but since this article was originally about bicycle messengers and brooms are kind of like bikes for witches, I figured I’d include it anyway. Besides, I’m writing this article and this is my website. So there. Anyway, my love for Miyazaki films isn’t exactly secret and I particularly enjoyed this one because it’s just so cool. Not the witch thing, though that’s neat too. No the idea of just packing up, moving to a completely new place without any idea of what you’ll do there, getting taken in by a kind woman who needs help around the shop, and starting your own business (in Kiki’s case a delivery service) is such a cool idea to me that I started researching homesteads while I watched this film as “research” for this article. This is a gorgeous film and it so completely romanticizes the idea of the messenger service to me that I also looked for bike messenger positions in Orange County (there aren’t any).

2. Premium Rush

So sexy ... I mean boobs...yeah boobs

This JGL film is a crazy ride (pun totally intended) through New York. Making use of some crazy cool film techniques one normally wouldn’t associate with the chase movie genre (i.e. nonlinear storytelling, Next style multipath scenes, and a story dealing with something more complex than teen angst [although this film certainly has its share of that]), Premium Rush gives its viewers an impressive amount of suspenseful, action-packed bicycle chase scenes. On top of that there is some legitimate emotion and intriguing comic relief. To be fair, PR is not a perfect film, it suffers from some pacing issues, unbelievable scripting, and wooden acting. But the action, directing, and the parts of those three things that don’t have issues make up for the issues. And never has a film made bicycling so sexy. I mean I’m a totally straight guy and I found myself a little turned on by Joseph Gordon Levitt.

1. The Bicycle Thieves

To be fair to Kiki, I almost put her in this top spot since I love that movie so much, but I think The Bicycle Thieves edges her out just barely for the best bicycle-related film (Editor’s note: I didn’t see Premium Rush till after I wrote these descriptions, and it wound up beating out Kiki for the number two spot but couldn’t unseat this masterpiece.). This 1948 film about a father and his son’s developing relationship as they search for the father’s lost bike is just fantastic. It’s full of emotion and development and really says a lot about mid twentieth century Italy – both economically and socially. It’s difficult to describe this film without sounding even more pretentious than I’m sure you already think I am (and I am a film major so it’s not exactly an unsolicited opinion). So instead I’ll just trust that if you value my random internet lists at all (which, let’s face it, who doesn’t?), you’ll just go watch the film. It is with only a little doubt, the best film to prominently feature bicycles ever.

As always if you agree or disagree please comment below. If you have an idea for my next list please share, cause I'm running out of ideas and I'm only two lists in.

On Getting Drunk

So this is not the next installment in my 2012 series. I'm working on that. I'll get it to you guys. But I was working on a response paper for a poem by Charles Baudelaire called "Get Drunk." Well that's what the English translation is called. I can neither pronounce nor read French, so I won't include any of that here. Anyway I liked the poem and had fun responding to it, so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

This is the poem:

“Get Drunk”

You have to be always drunk. That's all there is to it--it's the only way. So as not to feel the horrible burden of time which breaks your back and bends you to the earth, you have to be continually drunk.

But on what?  On wine, on poetry or on virtue, whatever you wish. But get drunk.

And if sometimes, on the steps of a palace, on the green grass of a ditch, in the mournful solitude of your room, you wake up again, the drunkenness already diminished or gone, ask the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock, everything that is flying, everything that is groaning, everything that is rolling, everything that is singing, everything that is speaking. . .ask what time it is and the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock will answer you: “It is time to get drunk!  So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, get drunk, get continually drunk!  On wine, on poetry or on virtue, whatever you wish."  

And here is my response (sorry for the formal structure, it's for class):

In Charles Baudelaire’s poem “Enivrez-Vous” (“Get Drunk”), he makes the bold declaration that we as humans must always be drunk, so as not to be crushed by the oppressive weight of life. He follows this with the assertion that it doesn’t matter on what we get drunk, whether it be “on wine, on poetry, or on virtue,” as long as we get drunk. Now I thought this argument was interesting, as “drunk” can be defined in a general sense as being unable to make one’s own decisions, and thus Baudelaire is arguing that it is better to go through life a slave to something else than it is to make well-thought out decisions. However, what is more interesting to me, though not entirely mutually exclusive, is the likening of poetry and virtue to substances equally as capable of robbing a person of sobriety as wine and the ways these substances can lead to insobriety.

            First let’s examine poetry. Poetry is a creation. Poetry and writing in general provide the deepest reflections of a soul. Poetry serves as a canvas for those who write it and a mirror for those who read it. Poetry reveals far more about the person interpreting it than it does its subject. So if this is our definition and understanding of poetry, then how is it intoxicating? I think that the expression and reflection a poem provides often results in passion. We have a passion for knowing ourselves and an even greater passion for knowing others. And from passion, both scientifically and emotionally, comes an elation that robs us of our self-control. We whoop for joy. We weep great tears. We scream in agony. So it seems that poetry intoxicates by playing to our passions and freeing us from our inhibitions.

            Now let’s take a look at virtue. Where poetry was freeing, virtue is confining. Virtue limits one’s actions to a set moral compass. While virtue’s limits on actions set it apart from the freed action of poetry and wine, it can still get someone drunk. By removing a person’s options, virtue allows for a certain freedom of decision. Morals limit a decision to one option, thereby removing the moment of crisis that comes with making said decision. Virtue removes one’s ability to make one’s decision by removing all decisions in one’s life, thereby adhering to our definition of “drunk.”

            Finally I think it’s important to consider what effect this has on the poem. Our initial reading of the poem suggested that Baudelaire is arguing that we be slaves rather than thinking beings. However, poetry suggests just the opposite - that we need to be freed from our inhibitions in order to live life to its fullest and not be “slaves of time.” Thus the lack of control inherent in being drunk, whether off wine or the passion of poetry, frees us from the weight of the world. However, virtue suggests that this inebriation is also possible through enslavement to a master other than time, namely morals. Virtue frees us from time by freeing us from decision, making us drunk off of morals. After examining poetry and virtue as inebriants, our reading must then be adapted to encompass the freedoms they supply. I propose instead that Baudelaire is suggesting that in order to live life to its fullest we must have all the cares of everyday life lifted from our shoulders in any way we can.

Not included in original essay -
I'm not sure if I agree with this poem or not. On one hand, I think drunkeness provides us with one extremely valuable resource: the ability to just say or do something without regard for other people's opinions. On the other hand there are few things I value more than intelligent discourse, which can only come about with carefully weighted decision making. So I think if we go with the final reading of the poem I proposed and limit it to certain situations, then I'd agree. For example, its a lot easier to tell a girl you think she's beautiful if you have given up on all your inhibitions. But those same inhibitions help us debate things like politics, science, religion, morals, literature, and pretty much everything else. So I think in making decisions of the self, our hearts should be ruled by passion or morality, but in decisions regarding others and matters of intellect we  should let our brains do the talking. But that's just my opinion, what do you think?

Prepping for 2012: The Greatest Film Trilogies of Human History

So the end of the world is coming. Yep. The Mayans predicted it and a John Cusack movie confirmed it. See I saw this picture on the internet…. That I can’t find. So in the meant time enjoy this politically irrelevant picture in its stead. à

Anyway, the picture pointed out that in the film 2012 New York floods in October. And well. You know what happened.

So I’ve decided to restart the 2012 bandwagon and start a new series of posts that honor the time we as a human culture have been on this Earth with a highly biased series of lists of the best things ever. Today will be “5 Best Film Trilogies.” Which isn’t a particularly revolutionary list, but I want to write it anyway. So hah. If you don’t like it leave, I’ve already got your view.

For those of you remaining after my rude assertion of power, here’s the list.

5. Back to the Future

Robert Zemeckis’ trilogy of amazing time travel movies has become a pop culture staple. There’s a reason we love Michael J. Fox. 

And this isn't it.

See these movies are amazing for a couple of reasons. 1) Time travel. Time travel stuff is awesome, especially when it gets disturbing and involves weirdly nigh-incestuous encounters with your mother fifty years before. 2) Rock and Roll. Do we associate Michael J. Fox with playing the guitar? No. (Mostly because Parkinson’s doesn’t really allow for that sort of controlled activity.) Yet somehow this scene is not only in these movies, but is pretty freaking awesome. It’s been lampooned a thousand and four times. Seeing this song played thirty years too early makes for some great cinema. 3) Cliffhangers. Each movie ends with something that makes us pick up the next one. Every time we think, “Oh good, Marty is finally safe and back in his own time.” Something happens that throws all that off a crazy time cliff and we’re dragged back in for the next film. It’s almost impossible to sit through just one of these films. And of course 4) Hoverboards. This doesn’t even need an explanation. Just awesome.

4. Indiana Jones

This is a trilogy. Shia LeBouf does not exist. That being said, this series is amazing all over the place. He has sex with a bunch of different girls. He saves the world in every film. It even has Sean Connery in it! Harrison Ford is like James Bond but instead of killing Russians he kills Nazis. So actually he’s better than James Bond.

Shuck it Broshnan

These films embody the American action film. If you want to make an action film, just make another Indiana Jones film and call it something else.

That's what this guy did, or did I get that backwards...

But here’s why Indy is so good. We have a cocky action hero (see Harrison Ford), a grand adventure (see everything George Lucas writes), some clever dialogue and funny scenes (“very dangerous…you go first), well-developed characters, cool paranormal scenes, and you know what? I’m just gonna stop. Basically it’s a crazy action ride that makes other action heroes look like pussies.

3. The Dark Knight Trilogy

Who likes Batman – show of hands? Yeah that should be all of you. But why do you like Batman? You like the cartoons because they were awesome and because of this man:

And you like the live action films because of this man:

Here’s the low down: classic Batman is silly. He dodges exploding sharks and listens to his lame sidekick say stuff like “Holy homoerotic undertones Batman!” But modern Batman is gritty and dark. Christopher Nolan has changed Batman to cover dark themes and reflect a modern society in turmoil. And we love it. And what’s more (and really the only reason this trilogy is number three rather than number four) all three films form a cohesive story that thoroughly examines a number of parts of the human psyche (fear, chaos, death) while simultaneously showing us the character growth of an extremely complex Bruce Wayne. Now some people have argued that the third film wasn’t fantastic, that Nolan got too comfortable after The Dark Knight. That victory defeated him. But I disagree. I think that Nolan has improved with each film. That his passionate flame so to speak has grown with each new film. The fire rises. (I apologize for the last six sentences. I couldn’t write about this trilogy without quoting Bane. It would have felt dirty.) But anyway, it’s good. This part got a little out of my control. But yeah. Third best trilogy for lots of reasons.

Oh yeah...and this guy

2. Star Wars Episodes IV-VI

Star Wars is amazing. If you haven’t seen Star Wars yet you probably aren’t reading this blog. And if you are, cut it out and go watch them. That being said, there’s not a whole lot I need to say to convince you that these films are awesome. So I won’t.

1. The Lord of the Rings

Three films of about three hours each telling a story containing multiple complex characters and exploring a number of important humanistic themes, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the best film trilogy of all time (please note I haven’t seen all three The Godfather films and thus could not place it here in good conscience.) LotR launched the careers of several actors, making Viggo Mortenson and Elijah Wood household names (and probably making the wonderful show Wilfred a possibility). 

This photo isn't really necessary to share but...actually
yes it is.

The series is extremely well-written and directed. It deals with evil and temptation, despite a probably offensive depiction of midgets turning into “humans.” But the whole series is amazing. Return of the King is tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic for most Oscar wins. LotR did for the fantasy genre what Star Wars did for science fiction. Suddenly, it became a viable genre for well-made entertainment (like Game of Thrones). Oh yeah, and of course this guy:

So yep. Those are the best film trilogies. I'm going to be doing this series till the world ends on December 21. If you have a recommendation for a list of "best _____ of all time" please comment below and let me know. Or if you want to comment about anything else please comment below. Yup.

Why Disney Buying Star Wars is Awesome

So you may or may not have heard today that Disney purchased Lucasfilm, and all of its various subcompanies and intellectual properties, from George Lucas for the paltry (at least to Disney) sum of 4.05 Billion Dollars. And by “intellectual properties,” I mean Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. What’s most important about this news is that Disney has also announced plans to release Star Wars Episode VII in 2015.

Now this will undoubtedly polarize the Star Wars community more than any other bit of Star Wars related news since Jar-Jar reared his ugly and more-than-a-little-racist face in our beloved series. People are going to be scared Disney will stray from the canon, which they might. People are going to be afraid that Disney won’t take this series seriously, which I doubt. I am here to tell you that this is the best thing to happen to Star Wars since Return of the Jedi’s release.

May I present to you Exhibit A:

Marvel

See a long time ago Marvel was a much smaller studio. It made lower (not small, just…lower) budget super hero movies like Blade, Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four, Hulk, and Man-Thing. You know, bad movies. And while they did occasionally have gems (namely Spiderman 2 and X-2), both those trilogies ended in god-awful conclusions. Then, in 2008, Disney bought Marvel. Since then we’ve had what’s referred to as “Marvel Phase 1,” that is those films leading up to The Avengers. In that sequence not a single one of those movies was certified rotten on Rotten Tomatoes (which isn’t my favorite critic site, but it is good for a summary of reviews). Compare that to before the buyout, where the vast majority of their films were rotten (the only exception in my list above, excluding Spiderman and X-Men of course is Hulk, which still scores lower than all Phase 1 films). Disney worked wonders with Marvel and turned them into a legitimate studio. Imagine what they could do with a studio that has a rich past and only recently fell out of glory.

And now Exhibit B:

George Lucas

Stop laughing. Seriously. Look, now George may have screwed up Star Wars recently, letting Greeto shoot first, creating Jar-Jar, casting Hayden Christensen as Anakin, killing Padme with a broken heart. I’ll stop there and save us the pain. But let’s not forget that George did create Star Wars.

But why he’ll be another reason why Star Wars will be good is that he’ll be a creative consultant. That means he’ll influence the world, but he won’t write or direct the films. We’ll have true Star Wars, but as seen through the lens of someone with actual talen- I mean someone who has a fresh perspective. So unless they hire Michael Bay (which would induce mass suicide I think and would probably cause Joss Whedon to sabotage The Avengers like J.D. sabotages his relationships [sorry I’ve been watching a lot of scrubs lately]), we won’t have scenes like this:

Or characters like this:

Either of them

In conclusion, this is good. Don’t freak out. Rejoice, cause we have more Star Wars coming. 

Candid Questions

So first this is mostly a self indulgent post, I need to talk about these things and if I've learned anything about myself it's that writing is my best way to talk about something. So if you're looking for a minorly witty or angry article feel free to skip this post. I've got something cooking for later this week. This post isn't for you guys, sorry, it's for me.

Have you ever had one of those nights where you can feel change coming?
I've heard wives' tales (I apologize for the misogyny, it's a phrase) that animals can sense danger or fear. You know, things that shouldn't be sensible. And I think as humans we have a similar, if more rarely occurrent, ability to sense when something is about to change, since we're sort of apprehensive of such things. But I've had one of those nights.
It came about after a weekend of thought. See I've been in college for four years now. Well, three and a sixth. And while I've learned a lot about what I came here to study, what I've learned most about is something I've never had single class on: me. I've learned who I am and how I operate. I learned a lot of why I am the way I am. I've learned what I fear, why I fear it. I've learned what I love and why I love it. But what I've also learned about is what I lack. And I don't know really how to describe it, whether it's drive, or desire, or passion. I believe those are all wrong words, cause I have those things. For lack of a better, more culturally current word, the only term I can think of is what it is that makes me a man rather than a boy.
Now this term "man" can be used to refer to men, women, transgendered, asexuals, or people who don't know who they are yet. It sounds a little sexist, and I suppose the term is, but basically what I mean by "man" is that thing that makes you solidly you. It's that thing that makes you stand up for your beliefs or defend your friends. It's that thing that makes you take a girl in your arms and kiss her without any warning. It's that thing that makes you say "I want that, and I will do anything within my power to get it." The thing that makes you help a person in need rather than watching and think about the sadness of the image. The thing that makes you a companion and a leader rather than a bandwagoner.

See this weekend has been an important one for me. I've been thinking. A lot. I watched a fantastic film about fear and how it drives us to courage. Cause how can you have courage (defined by the always phenomenal Mark Twain as "resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear") without fear? Then I spent a day with an absolutely amazing girl, reminding me that I've always let fear force me into submission rather than taking command of my fear and using it as a drive. Then today I thought pretty much constantly of this idea of death and fear as driving forces. And then I watched the San Francisco Giants sweep the world series. And I thought about how terrifying it must have been to be Romo: everyone relying on you to not give a run. To take the game. To give the Giants another championship. And how that could be crippling, yet he still took that time to calmly strike out that last batter and take the victory.

So I've been thinking a lot about risk and who I am as a nonrisky person. How I just allow myself to coast through school and through my relationships. And all I ever really put any effort into is my writing and filmmaking (coincidentally the only two times where I have complete mastery of my fear). And how I hate that. I'm on this earth for less than a century to appreciate all creation has to offer. Why not experience it? All of it? Joy, fear, courage, fun, nature, people, a kiss in the moonlight, a song sung in public, a dance through the park, a visit to a foreign nation. Besides, what do I really fear anyway? Failure? What's wrong with failure? Is it that it brings about sadness? My favorite description of sadness was in the episode of Doctor Who entitled "Blink." It's written by Steven Moffat and the line is delivered by Carey Mulligan. When asked what is good about sadness she says "Sad is happy for deep people."
And don't we all want to be deep? I want to - deeply sad, deeply happy, deeply lost, deeply in love. I know this is kind of a trite topic, but it's still something Im learning. It seems the most basic to living lessons are the most difficult to master.
I've kind of run out of steam for this post, but to sum up, I can feel change coming. I've felt it bubbling up for a long time and now that I'm in the eye of the storm I can see it coming. And I must say I'm terribly excited. Terrified. But I think that's what's so exiting. I'm so scared that life's happening, but I can't help but feel like it will be wonderful. Life is many things and I want to feel it all. That's what we're meant to do. If not, then why were we given this amazing world? I'm scared pantless (heh that autocorrected to panthers in my phone) of what's about to happen. Of my plans this week. Of my graduation. Of my career path. Of my life beyond this city. But that's why it's exciting, without fear how can I be courageous? How can I be a man? I can't. And that's terrifyingly exciting.

Memorable Performances at The Lyceum Theatre by Angelina Lawson

There have been numerous performances at the Lyceum theatre London, which will forever be etched on the minds of those who attended these shows. The theatre has had its share of controversy since its establishment. In fact, there were a couple of times that the theatre itself was destroyed. However, the performances that have been carried out in the theatre have definitely been classic ones and lived on well past the building in which they were performed. The theatre helped to establish many professionals in the performing arts category.

One astounding performance that has been performed in the Lyceum theatre was “The Bells”, which was performed in 1871. Henry Irving played the role of a ghost haunted burgomaster and his performance was more than incredible. The audience was left star struck by his acting. Because of this, the play ran for a good 150 nights and the theatre reached its full capacity every night that the play was showcased.

His next play, “Charles I”, received even greater attention than “The Bells”. He and other well known artists performed the play in 1872. The show ran for 180 nights to an overcrowded theatre. Certainly, the audience could not get enough of Irving and his acting skills. However, his greatest performance of all time was in the play “Hamlet”. This play is a timeless classic and Irving’s performance was more than mind blowing.

There were other memorable performances that propelled the theatre to fame. The “Cosi Fan Tutti” is one such high profile production which was produced by Mozart. The opera was and still is seen as a masterpiece throughout the world. At first, it seems like a hilarious comedy, but hopeless romantics will tell you that the play is much deeper than just a comic tale. The play remains relevant today because of the opera’s main lesson that the depth of our feelings remains hidden because of our clumsy statements and the predictability of our actions.

More recently, “The Lion King”, which is currently playing in the Lyceum theatre London has been able to gross over £300 million. This is one of the highest earnings brought in by a single show in the West End theatre. The musical has been running at the theatre for ten years now and the producers do not seem like they want to close it any time soon. This classic story of a young lion cub named Simba will tug on your heartstrings and provide some laughs. What’s more, with hidden adult humour it is suitable for all the family.

Angelina Lawson is a content writer whose interests include film, travel and technology, and eco living. Check out her article theater superstitions here or her website here.

The Dangers of Patriotism

First off, this article is titled “The Dangers of Patriotism” because we are currently in the context of an upcoming election, but it could just as easily be titled “The Dangers of Narcissism” or “The Dangers of Overconfidence” or a similar extra-contextual synonym. Secondly, if you’ve watched Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom, you’ve probably seen a monologue with a similar message to the one in this article. That’s because my article is highly influenced by that monologue. In order to save you some time I’ve embedded the video at the bottom of the page so you may watch that video instead of read the article if you’d like. I won’t be offended. Thirdly, this article get's a little ranty because I'm passionate about this and I wanted my thoughts to be mostly unfiltered. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s explore this idea.

Before we talk about what is wrong with patriotism, we first need to define patriotism. Patriotism is defined as the devoted love, support and defense of one’s country; national loyalty. For the sake of this article I will extend that definition to mean unwavering support of one’s country. Now I am not about to argue that having pride in one’s country is a bad thing. I think there is a place for that kind of pride, and indeed it is necessary for improving one’s country. The word patriotism might be a little misleading, as it carries too positive a connotation; nationalism may be a better word. Whatever you choose to call it, this idea of unwavering support in one's country results in an over-inflated impression of that country.

You know what? I’m gonna drop this objective not-naming-names strategy people normally use for thoughtful posts, cause it’s counterproductive to my point. When our forefathers (sorry Russian readers, I know there’s a couple of you. This is written with US readers as the main audience, but feel free to continue reading and let me know if you agree from an international standpoint) first started the United States it was the greatest country in the world. We were the first major country to explore civil freedoms. We brought democracy back as a government structure after the Greeks developed it. We competed with our peers to lead the world in education and scientific advancement. And while our country has had some (i.e. many) dark times (slavery, civil inequality, witch hunts, Hollywood blacklisting, the list goes on for a while), we had for two centuries sought to improve ourselves so that we were the greatest country. The rest of the world looked to us as the leading power in the world. Our president was considered the most powerful man in the world. And yet, here we are.

Rather than repeat the statistics in the video or list my own I’ll link you to this website. Basically, what that website will tell you is the United States is not number one in pretty much any of the categories that count. I hope that is sufficient evidence for you that our country may have been the greatest country but certainly is not now.

This brings me to my point on patriotism/nationalism. We became the greatest country in the world, and then we said, “Holy crap! We’re the best. We did it guys, we won the human race.” And we never moved on. We kept this state of mind that we were the best country in the world. We have no competition and thus have no reason to improve. And because of this idea that we implanted in all our minds and the minds of our children that we are the best, we stopped improving. We got too comfortable and we got greedy. We tanked our economy. Now we’re trillions of dollars in debt. We are constantly cutting programs in our education. One of our presidential candidates is contemplating cutting funding to the only democratic television network our country has. Other countries laugh at our health care system. Our middle class is rapidly disintegrating. And we've pretty much cut all funding to NASA.

I’m going to cut off my rant there, because I want this article to maintain some sort of cohesiveness. But we allowed ourselves to become comfortable with the idea of being the greatest and stopped doing what it is that makes a people great: striving for greatness. Thus this idea of patriotism, this unwavering devotion to our country, in which recognizing the accomplishment of another country is an unforgivable sin, forces us to ignore progress other countries make, effectively crippling our ability to compete with our global peers.

We should strive for greatness. As a species, we humans have a constant desire to be the best, to be bettering ourselves. And we should, for only through that can our world improve. And by extension our countries should be competing to be the best, because through that competition we can improve ourselves, our peers will improve themselves and the whole world will slowly improve. But if we refuse to acknowledge the achievements of our peers we allow ourselves to fall into cycles of constantly patting ourselves on the back for being the best despite a complete lack of evidence to support that claim. We must put aside our pride, our nationalism, our patriotism in order to improve ourselves.

Note: One way you can work towards improving your country is by voting in the upcoming election. I don’t care who you vote for, just vote. Because that very act of being involved is an improvement over inaction. So yeah. Vote. Participate in the world around you, including your government. If you aren't registered to vote go here and register. It seriously takes two minutes. I did it the other day. You have till the 22 to register. Please do.

A Post, but not a Good One

Hello everybody! I just wanted to add this post in for a couple of reasons. One to thank you all a whole freaking bunch again because Ramblings of a Cinephile has just passed 2000 views. Thank you guys so much. It means a lot to me that you keep coming back and reading my posts and that you guys actually like them. I literally cried in a corner today out of happiness. Literally? No not literally, that's pathetic, jeez. (I'm saving all my corner cries for when Amy and Rory leave Doctor Who midseason. that will be a truly sad day.) But anyway thank you guys so much. Anyway to reward you I'm going to warn you about Resident Evil: Retribution. Pretty soon my review will show up on SidewalkOnline and I'll link over to it when that happens (it's happened), but in the meantime, just take my brief word for it, don't see it. it's not worth it, no matter your expectations, it will not meet them.
Ok. That's it. Thank you for your patronage. I'm gonna go play Borderlands 2 now.

Movies That Will Probably be Good but Have Yet to Come Out - Part 3, or The Final Installment

The Hobbit – December 14

This film should not require an explanation as to why I am excited or think it will be good. But I’ll give one anyway. Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy was one of the most impressive projects creatively, narratologically, and technically that Hollywood has produced in recent memory. It was not only an extremely entertaining example of the epic Hollywood blockbuster that our society so craves, but also an exceedingly well-told story across three films. The most recent installment in the franchise, Return of the King, is tied with Titanic and Ben-Hur for the most Oscar wins of any film. I can’t help but expect Jackson to produce (and write and direct) something amazing for Tolkein’s prequel to Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit. Additionally, this is the first major studio film to be shot in 48 fps and I am curious to see what sort of effect that will have on the medium. Also Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) plays a dragon and Watson (Martin Freeman) plays Bilbo. Should be a fun ride.

Les Miserables – December 14

If you haven’t seen the Liam Neeson adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel yet, stop reading this and go watch it.

I’ll wait.

Done? It was pretty awesome right? Well that same story has also been adapted into a Broadway Musical that is widely regarded as one of the best musicals ever made. And that musical has been adapted into this film. It has a crazy cast, many with Broadway musical backgrounds: Hugh Jackman as the ex-criminal Jean Valjean, Russel Crowe as Inspector Javert, Amanda Seyfried as Cosette, Helena Bonham Carter as Madame Thenardier, Sacha Baron Cohen as Thernardier, and Anne Hathaway as Fantine. Ho. Ly. Crap. And then, on top of all of that, Tom Hooper directed it. You may know him as the director of 2010 best picture/best director winner The King’s Speech. If you don’t, stop reading this and go watch it. The rest of this list will still be here when you get back. (Quick bit of trivia regarding this movie, all of the musical numbers are recorded on set, not in a studio.)

This is 40 – December 21

Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up was one of the most surprising movies I’ve ever seen. Not because it was particularly plot twisty, but because it wasn’t just a raunchy sex comedy like I expected. I mean, it was a raunchy sex comedy, but there was a lot more to it, such as realistic, sympathetic characters dealing with life’s harsh realities and learning to accept responsibility for one’s actions. This is 40 follows the lives of a few of the characters from Knocked Up, Pete (Paul Rudd), Debbie (Leslie Mann), and Jason (Jason Segel) in particular. Since Knocked Up, Apatow has proven himself a talented modern story teller time and time again and I look forward to his return these character’s lives in what will hopefully be an equally touching and hilarious film as Knocked Up was.

Django Unchained – December 28

I like Quentin Tarantino. A lot. He’s clever, intelligent, hilarious, and knows how to direct actors in such a way as to get a completely unnatural and yet totally believable performance every time he steps behind the camera. Django Unchained features some of Tarntino’s favorite actors returning, both Samuel LMF Jackson and Christoph Waltz are back, and some exciting new comers, Jamie Foxx is premiering in the Tarantinoverse in this film and, whom I personally am most excited for performance-wise in this film, Leonardo DiCaprio who, based on some of his previous roles, seems to me to have been born to be directed by Tarantino and should have been introduced to the verse a long time ago. This film looks like it’ll be a killer good time and I will definitely have a review of it over on SidewalkOnline come this December.

BONUS! Seven Psychopaths - October 12

Ok not really a “bonus” so much as I missed this one in an earlier post so I figured I’d tag it on here. But this movie looks hilarious and has, again, a stellar cast: Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, and Woody Harrelson. It’s the first project writer/director Martin McDonagh has worked on since 2008’s In Bruges, which was brilliantly and sadistically hilarious. If you haven’t seen In Bruges you should. Seven Psychopaths revolves around the accidental kidnapping of a gangster’s Shih Tzu, and every aspect of it looks hilarious. Just watch the trailer.

Do you agree? Disagree? Did I miss anything? There aren't anymore installments. This is it. If there is anything I missed or you just have something to say, whether pertaining to this post or not, please comment in the comment section right below this. Seriously. It's right down there. I need your comments. I'm so lonely in my apartment with five other people...

Movies that Will Probably be Good but Have Yet to Come Out this Year Part 2

Hello again internet friends! Sorry I’ve taken so long with the second installment to MTWPbGbHYtCOTY (Movies that will probably be good but have yet to come out this year), I’ve been on vacation in Seattle for PAX this last week and chose not to post because video games. I’ll probably share my experience with you on this blog or in a video to my sister (you can get to our channel through the side projects tab) including my impressions of upcoming games (or maybe I’ll share that on 1up, I haven’t decided yet) like which my favorite game at PAX was (hint: it’s The Last of Us). Wow, that sentence was a grammar disaster: way too many asides.  Also Ice cream is good. I share that with you because I’m eating some right now…as in while I’m writing this. Probably not while you’re reading this. Ok. Back to the post at hand. Here is the second installment of MTWPbGbHYtCOTY. Oh and if you didn't read the first installment here it is.

The Man with the Iron Fists – November 2

Why, you ask, would I include in this list a movie directed by RZA (of… some sort of fame. I don’t have time to research every hip hop musician turned filmmaker, here’s his Wikipedia page you go read up on him) and written by RZA and Eli Roth (of Hostel and Inglourious Basterds fame, him I know off the top of my head)? Because it will be awesome. Ok to be fair it probably won’t be good, but it will have crazy bloody action violence, cause that’s what we’ve come to expect from any movie Eli Roth is even remotely involved with. And this one stars Russel Crowe (Gladiator), Lucy Liu (Kill Bill), and Pam Grier (way too many blaxploitation films to count) and is about martial arts. This will probably not be good. For all the reasons I just listed I want to see it. But it will be a damn fun ride.

Skyfall – November 9

Ok, so Quantum of Solace wasn’t great. But Casino Royale certainly was. And the director attached to Skyfall is fantastic (Sam Mendes). And while he hasn’t worked on the sort of action fair we normally attribute to the 007 series, his previous work suggests that he will inject some emotional development into Craig’s new Bond, which is a believable character wracked by previous issues that necessitate some sort of emotional difficulty that I believe Sam Mendes will be able to give this series. Also the Bond movies are cool and I want to see how BenWishaw does as Q.

Lincoln – November -16

This film chronicles the life of one of our most interesting president during one of the most interesting periods during his term: the period when Lincoln fought for the abolishment of slavery. And while this period of time is in all probability not as romantic as we make it out to be, it should still be interesting to see how the masters of historical and biographical films handle this story. With Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List) directing, DanielDay-Lewis (My Left Foot) starring as Lincoln (its supporting cast features Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy lee Jones, and Sally Field the supporting cast isn’t anything to sneeze at either), and Tony Kushner (Munich) writing, the film promises to be another biographical gem.

(Note: for some reason this movie doesn't have a trailer yet. If you find one can you please put it in the comments? I'd really like to see it)

Edit: I just added the trailer. More evidence of awesome.

Rise of the Guardians – November 21

I like the cast of this movie (Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Isla Fisher, Chris Pine, and Jude Law). The director has never directed a feature length film, animated or otherwise, and the writer has never written a…erm..what I would call a good film. But I like the premise of this film and I like the cast. And in general I like Dreamworks animations. So yeah. But the premise is basically that Earth gets attacked and all the Holiday mascots have to protect the earth. And Hugh Jackman plays the Easter Bunny. So that should be entertaining.

Hyde Park on Hudson – December 7

To be honest, when I went through my list of exciting upcoming films the second time through I realized I only had fourteen films in the list and so I needed to add one. I picked this one. Mostly cause BillMurray’s in it. And I really like Bill Murray. And since he picks his own scripts without the influence of an agent he tends to pick good scriptsand it looks like he's giving the performance of his life in this film. Additionally, the director has previously worked on Morning Glory and Notting Hill, which was the first chick flik I legitimately enjoyed. Anyway, I don’t really know if this will be good, but I like and respect Bill Murray enough to give it a chance.

Do you agree? Disagree? Did I forget anything? Am I a complete moron for expecting Rise of the Guardians to be good? Probably. But if you have anything to add please do so in the comments. I'd love to hear from you guys!

Movies That Will Probably Be Good But Have Yet to Come Out This Year Part 1

So I’ve been taking a look at all my recent posts and realized that despite being a cinephile, see this blog’s name, I haven’t written a post about a film that wasn’t a link to a movie review I wrote for SidewalkOnline Magazine (my latest, Dark Knight Rises, here) in like…hella days. I’ve been doing some pretty thought provoking and deep stuff lately and, while that’s nice, I thought I’d like to post something else. Something about movies. And since summer’s coming to a close and the blockbuster season with it, I thought I’d give you guys a couple examples of movies that are still coming that I think will be worth watching. So without further ado (which I really say too often, if you know of anything else I can say that means pretty much the same thing let me know in the comments, it’d be much appreciated. [Also when I say “without further ado” it’s almost always followed by more ado. Maybe I should try and work around that. But I digress]), welcome to my three installment article Movies That’ll Probably be Good That Have Yet to Come Out This Year (MTPbGTHYtCOTY-rolls right off the tongue doesn’t it?).

Lawless – August 29

This film about a depression-era bootlegging gang (moonshine, not pirated movies) who runs into trouble with a corrupt deputy (Guy Pearce) who wants a cut of the profits in return for his ‘ignorance’ of their operation stars Shia Lebouf and Tom Hardy as the brothers leading the gang and features Gary Oldman as the leader of a rival gang. With a round of such phenomenal actors and relatively new talents John Hillcoat and Nick Cave directing and writing respectively this movie promises to be at least an entertaining film if not one that will skillfully combine the thought-provoking quality of an independent film with the good-old fashioned gang warfare violence characteristic of older studio films, though this is a Weinstein Company film so very much in the indie realm. That image on the left is the poster and below is the redband trailer: please be aware the trailer does contain violence and nudity.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – September 21

Point 1: This film is written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote the novel the film is based on. So if ever a film could be adapted into a book well, this is the way to do it. Point 2: This is Emma Watson’s second performance since the conclusion of the Harry Potter franchise. That in and of itself is enough to make it worth considering. Plus Paul Rudd is in it. Who doesn’t love Paul Rudd and his adorably-too-short-for-his-body arms? After the primary inclusion of point 1 combined with point 2 and Paul Rudd, the film adaptation of this beloved novel should be considered worth a viewing.

Looper – September 28

Honestly I can’t tell if this is an indie film or a studio pic so I’m just not gonna categorize it like that. Regardless, its stellar cast and intriguing plot make this film one to look forward to. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an assassin who kills targets sent back in time to his location in order to effectively make the assassination untraceable. Until one day future JGL (played in this film by Bruce Willis) drops out of space as JGL’s next target, after which, for lack of a better term, shit goes down. The film looks like an interesting exploration of the sci-fi/action genre combo, and while it doesn’t appear like it will address much in the way of time travel conceptually, it should still prove an interesting and fun flick. It’s written and directed by Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed Brick, which, though I haven’t gotten to it myself, is supposed to be a phenomenal film.

Taken 2 – October 5

And now we come to the first studio film on the list (or possibly second again I’m really not sure about Looper). Taken 2 follows Taken’s plot pretty obviously. Liam Neeson killed tons of Albanian’s in order to save his daughter, and now the father of one the guys Neeson killed wants revenge. Now Liam Neeson and his wife Jean Grey (or Famke Jannsen, however you want to look at her) have been taken and Neeson has to enlist his daughter’s help in order to escape. Here’s what it boils down to: Neeson killed a bunch of people pretty awesomely in Taken. In Taken 2 that promises to happen again. Also the script is written By Luc Besson, who you probably know as the guy who wrote The Fifth Element and Leon:The Professional. I would mention the director, but it made me not want to see the movie when I looked him up. So see it for Liam Neeson being an old Irish badass.

Cloud Atlas – October 26

I can’t explain this film. The plot is way too confusing based on the trailer to glean anything. But regardless it looks cool. It has a stellar cast with so many famous actors in it that I’m just going to recommend you click the link in the subheading so that you can see them rather than me listing them and linking to each of their imdb profiles individually. Also it’s a Wachowskis film. And I love the Wachowskis. The Matrix, V for Vendetta, I even like Speed Racer pretty well. This movie looks neat. And if you watch any of the trailers in this installment, watch this one, because without it you won’t be able to comprehend why this movie looks so good. Though I’ve seen it twice now and I’m not sure I understand.

Do you agree with me? Do you disagree? Do you have movies you think I missed (keep in mind there's two more installments coming)? Am I completely moronic for including one of these? Do you have anyrequests for articles? Or movie reviews? Please tell me in the comments below so we can discuss it. I'd like to hear from my readers.