Let's Talk About Movies: Why I Love Them

Alo Party Peoples.

Well, it's September, and the only thing of note that came out this week was the 20th anniversary re-release of Forrest Gump. So I guess it's as good a time as any to say some things about why I love the movies. This was inspired by an article written by Film Critic Hulk in which he listed a bunch of reasons why he loves movies. This guy writes really long, really well thought out analysis of films, film making, and the film industry, while speaking in the voice of The Incredible Hulk, i.e. in the third person and in all caps. Anyways, let's get to the reasons, typed them in the order that they came to my mind.

Mr. Byrne, why do you love movies?

Well....

• Because a small suburban town can become a metaphorical Eden through the magic of Photoshop.
• Because of the joy of a well composed and put together musical score.
• Because of Andrew Niccol's ability to write real human drama in fantastical settings.
• Because visual effects have progressed to the point that they can depict the impossible in a way that feels possible.
• Because they have progressed to the point where the uncanny valley can be evoked unintentionally.
• Because Jim Carrey can do more than just be crazy.
• Because of Christopher Nolan's skill in blending sophisticated writing with exciting onscreen spectacle.
• Because we are Groot.
• Because of good times watching them with my father at the Studio Movie Grills on Royal and Spring Valley.
• Because Phil Lord and Chris Miller can make something as stupid sounding as a feature length Lego movie into something worthwhile.
• Because The Fault In Our Stars can come out of the same year as Divergent, The Giver, and If I Stay.



Because this shot from Pleasantville stood out in child me's mind, and inspired me to come back to the film years later, and I learned to see subtext and allegory.

• Because a talented enough assembly of people can make you care about the fates of a space raccoon and a tree man.
• Because of Joss Whedon's skill at managing ensemble casts and writing entertaining banter.
• Because of Andy Serkis' skill at filling digital makeup.
• Because a premise like "let's put Tom Cruise in a cross between Aliens and Groundhog Day that looks and sounds like Mass Effect" can actually result in a solid and entertaining movie.
• Because they can use the medium of video to do amazing and medium-specific things.
• Because of the visceral excitement of seeing Gravity on the big screen.
• Because of Scarlet Johansson's looks being just a fortunate bonus to her skill as an actress.
• Because of general movie magic.
• Because a studio was willing to take a risk on something as bat s*** insane as Lucy, even if it didn't quite work.
• Because they can entertain.
• Because they can educate.
• Because they can convey a message.
• Because all of that means they have great and influential power.

That's why. What sorts of reasons do you love movies? I'd love to know.

Food For Thought Again. On The Internet

Alo Party Peoples.

Here are some more thoughts.

Isn't it weird that, as much as the Internet and social media have wormed their way into all of our lives, relationships formed through that social media are considered not as important as "real" friends? I can see why it happens, the paradoxically vastly interconnected yet much less personal feeling nature of the Internet can make it very easy to forget that the words on the screen in front of you were typed by an actual human, and we should certainly remember that we are dealing with people, but it's still weird that people who make a living through the web are asked when they will get a "real" job.

On a related point, being emotionally invested in a work of fiction does not make one shallow, or crazy or odd. Whether it's nearly crying when River explains why she decides to leave with Juble Early, or being outraged by the actions of a reality TV starlet. Just because the source of the feeling is a fiction, doesn't make the emotion less real.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

More Things That I Have Thought.

Alo Party Peoples.

Here are some more thoughts.

Firefly was a damn good TV show, I even did a post on it, and had it gotten a proper run it probably would have been incredible. Serenity is certainly worthwhile, but you can tell that Joss had more planned that he wasn't able to fit into the movie. Fortunately, it is set to continue in comic form, and if I am able to acquire said comic, I will review it for you. For now here is a good mix of the shows soundtrack.

Another point in Welcome To Night Vale's favor, it is able to have a gay lead, and NOT make that the main focus of the podcast, it is at most a recurring detail that rarely has a major impact on the plot. Also, who bought Lot 37?

Related to that, I find that the term homophobia is slightly misleading. It is not fear of gay people so much as it is intense disgust and/or hatred of them. As I understand it.

Which of these would you enjoy me doing a piece on more? 47 Ronin, or Saving Mr. Banks?

Here is an announcement. When it comes back in August, I will be doing a review series for Series Eight of the revived Doctor Who.


I leave you with an image. If you can guess what company produced it, I will mention you in the next post. Here is a hint: the company is Canadian.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

On The Subject Of Greatness.

FIRST OFF A CORRECTION TO THE FIREFLY POST. FIREFLY WAS 98TH IN NIELSON RATINGS, NOT 125TH AS I HAD CLAIMED. I APOLOGIZE FOR THIS ERROR.

Alo Party Peoples.

I reserve the term "great" for the best of the best. For the truly remarkable or well executed. I don't hand it out lightly.

For example, Avengers was a good movie, many called it great, but it isn't quite the best in the superhero sub genre. The Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole on the other hand, was an achievement, bringing shared universe genre defying comic book continuity to the big screen (and small screen) successfully, and having eight out of eight films be good, and be profitable, that is great.

See also, the Harry Potter films. As individual films they can vary in quality, but the series as a whole is really good. It's impressive that all eight films were profitable, and that they were able to pull it off even though they started the films before the books were even finished. They didn't know if the books would  remain popular enough to justify films, or if they would even remain good. They kept the same cast together for a decade. Even when they lost Richard Harris, they continued on and found Michael Gambon to play Dumbledore. That they didn't even let mortality stop them in making these films, that is determination, and it resulted in something great. Not as great as the books, but still worthwhile on their own.

Things are great when they overcome the odds and become greater than the sum of their parts. Here are some works I consider great.

- The Marvel Cinematic Universe

- Harry Potter (films as a whole and the books)

- Lord Of The Rings* (films)

- Batman Begins and The Dark Knight

- Puella Magi Madoka Magica

- Doctor Who

- The Slender Man Mythos**

- Firefly and Serenity

- Pleasantville

- Life of Pi (book and film)

- The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

- Across The Universe by Beth Revis

 

Have a nice day.

Greg.B



*They teach college classes on Tolkien's work. That doesn't happen unless you've made something worthwhile.

**I don't like it, but I respect it.

This Post Is Dedicated To Nelson Mandela. 1918-2013 May He Rest In Peace.

More Random Thoughts

Alo Party Peoples.


More thoughts from my mind.

The behavior of River on Firefly is eerily similar to autism. I recognize the wandering your home at night and the odd statements that don't make sense without the context of their thought process.

Speaking of Firefly, perhaps I should cover that, what do you think?

I've been rolling the idea of a Q&A post around in my head for a while, but I don't think my readership is large enough for that to be viable.

Inequality will always exist to some extent because we are not identical.

Pleasantville is an underrated gem and it's message is still relevant today. It still holds up fifteen years later.

Having now seen the video, What The Fox Say is clearly a comedy song. It's still a bit obnoxious, half of it feels like it was meant to teach small children animal noises, and the other half is jibberish, but I recognize what they were going for.

Lastly, an announcement. My film reviews are taking Thanksgiving weekend off. If it is any compromise, I hear Frozen is great.

Have a nice day.

Greg.B

More Thoughts.

Alo Party Peoples.

Here are some more statements from my mind.

People need to beleive in something greater than themselves. Otherwise they will go insane. I don't care what you choose for that belief.

The fox dings incessantly. That is what it says.

Words have tremendous power, a good bomb can kill people, but a good speech can make them do what you wish.

On the subject of words, Justin Lookadoo's rederic had no buisness being in a public school. Students are already stressed without worrying about fitting into one guys idea of "datable" and I am proud of the students of Richardson High School for not buying it. You go Eagles! (:

That's all for today. 

Greg.B

Random Thoughts

Alo Party Peoples.

Money is tight again. To hold you over until the next movie, here are some musings.

Welcome To Night Vale is horror lite. I usually can't stand horror and I love it.

Did you know that Enders Game is required reading for US military personelle? Because it is.

The Davies Era of Doctor Who had a lot of campy villans. The only ones I can think of that weren't are the Empty Child, and the Weeping Angels. Both of which were created by Steven Moffat. Okay Satan and his Ood were intimidating. There is an exception to every rule.

The problem with recent DC movies is that they think gritty will work for everybody just because it worked for Batman. One Bob Chipman called it "Robin-phobia" that sums it up well.

If you don't move past your problems, you only crumble when they confront you again.

The mark of art is that it is open to interpretation. That it can spark discussion of more than just the superficial. 

Under that definition, anything can be art, like a speech, or a piece of legislation.

Law And Order is a perfect show to rerun. Each episode is a self contained story and there is little connection between episodes.

Other shows are better either rerun in a in order marathon, or watch it via Netflix and wait for the current seasons DVD release.

My Biases That Shape Opinion

Alo Party Peoples


When writing, I try to be as objective as I possibly can about a subject. This does not always work. As exemplified by the Zimmerman post (which I still have not put back up, I am waiting for a time in which it would be relevant to do so.) No matter how hard people try. Nobody is completely unshaped by their opinions, beliefs, morals, culture, upbringing, and preferences.


Today, I would like to bring up some things that inform and shape my world view. If you don't like it. You don't have to agree with me

Let's roll.

1. I was born in, grew up in, and currently live in the United States. In particular Texas.

And considering things that have happened there over the past few months, and the resulting stereotypes about the state. I sometimes feel embarrassed to admit that.

2. My political affiliation, Anti-Republican.

That's all I can say without rambling in an infuriated fashion. 

3. I have ADHD and I am on the high functioning end of the Autisim spectrum. Specifically Asperger's syndrome.

That actually explains a lot. For example I tend to feel like the world is a bit slow. Like everybody else is that one guy in the drive thru line that can't decide on a topping. And I just want to scream "MOVE!!!!!" at the top of my lungs.

Another example? Autisim allows those who have it to perform a little trick called "hyper focus". What it does is allow you to pour all your attention into a topic (if its interesting enough) to the exclusion of everything and everyone else. Sounds awesome right? Wrong. 

So whats the catch? 

Once you hyper focus, its quite difficult to stop. And you tend to latch onto stray thoughts and hyper focus on them. So try sleeping when you can't stop thinking about the report you wrote three hours ago. Or take a test when you just can not stop your mind from drifting to the subject of..... the heat death of the universe! 

It's kind of an awesome curse.

It's depressing at times. But maybe that's just me. Maybe it's just me that feels alone in the world. Like I'm constantly surrounded by screeching idiots. That just don't get how serious it is, when I ask for assistance coping. And kindred spirits, if they exist at all, are few and far between. But I'm getting off topic.

4. I only speak English. But I am taking a Latin class.

Which is why you won't see talking about anime any time soon. I know that subtitles and fan dubs exist. But I'm nowhere near familiar enough with it. Culturally, linguistically, or otherwise to discuss it.

5. 

You know what? Writing this is making me sad. So I'm going to end it here before I start to cry.

Hats off to all, have a nice day, and let's keep the Web weird. Shall we?

Greg.B