After all of my crying and moaning, it looks like someone finally got the message and started bringing some true sci-fi back to the movie theaters. They weren't all successful, or even always good, but at least we're opening ourselves up to new possibilities again.
2013 looks just as bright
Not to mention Neill Blomkamp's follow-up to "District 9", "Elysium", and Alfonso Cauron's "Gravity", it should be an awesome year in the cineplex.
December 31, 2012
Review: Lincoln
One of the best things I've seen in the last year was Ken Burns' excellent Civil War documentary, but I was always fascinated as to the way all of the combatants referred to each major battle as, simply, "a fight".
Which is why the opening scene of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is so effective: it is, essentially, a fist fight between hundreds of Confederate soldiers and Black Union soldiers in the middle of a muddy, blood-soaked field.
More than anything else, I was moved by the intimacy of this film.
The war wasn't masses of nameless, faceless regiments moving along a chess board. It was a back breaking street fight to the death, fought among millions. The debate in the congress over these lofty issues like personhood and citizenship immediately descends into a raucous shouting match full of insults and clever name-calling. Average citizens come to the office hours of The President of the United States to settle a land dispute.
I was also particularly impressed by the rawness of the politics. For something so lofty and noble as the abolition of slavery, Lincoln and his cohorts employed every conceivable trick in the book - brides, coercion, misdirection. I'm reminded of a line from "The Kingdom of Heaven": "maybe one day you'll do a little evil to do a great good."
Reminder, again, that all politics are not just local. They're personal.
I have some issues with the end of the film. Frankly, I think the last five minutes are totally unnecessary and hurt the tone and style of the film. But it's still exquisite.
Which is why the opening scene of Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is so effective: it is, essentially, a fist fight between hundreds of Confederate soldiers and Black Union soldiers in the middle of a muddy, blood-soaked field.
More than anything else, I was moved by the intimacy of this film.
The war wasn't masses of nameless, faceless regiments moving along a chess board. It was a back breaking street fight to the death, fought among millions. The debate in the congress over these lofty issues like personhood and citizenship immediately descends into a raucous shouting match full of insults and clever name-calling. Average citizens come to the office hours of The President of the United States to settle a land dispute.
I was also particularly impressed by the rawness of the politics. For something so lofty and noble as the abolition of slavery, Lincoln and his cohorts employed every conceivable trick in the book - brides, coercion, misdirection. I'm reminded of a line from "The Kingdom of Heaven": "maybe one day you'll do a little evil to do a great good."
Reminder, again, that all politics are not just local. They're personal.
I have some issues with the end of the film. Frankly, I think the last five minutes are totally unnecessary and hurt the tone and style of the film. But it's still exquisite.
December 14, 2012
Thinking about Newtown, and Portland, and College Station, and Oak Creek, and Aurora, and Tuscon...
Across this country, there were 16 mass shootings in the past year. And, yes, while there is definitely a conversation to be had about gun control laws, I think there's also something else here.
What is going on inside of these men (and they are ALWAYS men) that they feel that the only solution is to go out and kill a bunch of complete strangers before killing themselves? Yes, some of these guys are clinically unbalanced, and a handful are involved with hate groups, but it seems like the majority of them are just frustrated and upset with the circumstances in their lives.
How did being frustrated and upset become an acceptable justification in, apparently, a growing number of young men's minds for mass murder? How is it that so many young American men are identifying with Patrick Bateman's final confession.
What is going on here in our country that this feeling is becoming increasingly common?
What is going on inside of these men (and they are ALWAYS men) that they feel that the only solution is to go out and kill a bunch of complete strangers before killing themselves? Yes, some of these guys are clinically unbalanced, and a handful are involved with hate groups, but it seems like the majority of them are just frustrated and upset with the circumstances in their lives.
How did being frustrated and upset become an acceptable justification in, apparently, a growing number of young men's minds for mass murder? How is it that so many young American men are identifying with Patrick Bateman's final confession.
What is going on here in our country that this feeling is becoming increasingly common?
December 10, 2012
Fanning the Flames
Another plug: if you've been enjoying the odd dropoffs to Amazon's Kindle store from my crooked imagination, take a moment to like and share my new Fan Page at http://www.facebook.com/damonyoungwriting. As always, your support is appreciated beyond words.
Thanks!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)