The way I was going into this movie was with high hopes but also a tiny bit of worry that it wouldn't hold up to the hype.
That quickly faded with the first scene of the film, a scene that set a much different tone than any other X-Men movie. A tone that similar to a noir western that happens to have superheroes in it, but you will find no capes or costumes here. This is an R-rated superhero movie that uses its rating to help set the tone and build its characters instead of being R just to be R. The rest of the film is a journey no other superhero film. From the writing to the editing, everything either hits the mark spot on or gets super close. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart give their best performances of these characters with Dafne Keen who gives one of the best performances by a child actress or actor I have ever seen. The rest of the cast does an exceptional job in their roles. The cinematography is excellent, and the score is unique and creative! One scene did a great job of making you feel like you were enduring something that Logan was enduring as well, and once it was over, you felt a small bit of relief before jumping back in it. The action scenes are great, and the edits never get confusing as to what is happening. Though I personally would have liked to see some wider shots of the fight scenes, I believe the director was smart with keeping the camera close in on the fights as that is how the Wolverine fights. The writing is geniuses as it focuses more on the main characters than big set piece moments or how this movie fits into the messed up X-Men timeline. Speaking of the timeline, you may wonder how this movie fits with all the time travel and reboots the series has faced. The movie doesn't spend any time in trying to explain any of it and just stays on the characters and where they are. However, the best explanation for the timeline I've heard is from the smart guys on The Weekly Planet Podcast. They believe that the real X-Men cannon is Logan and the first X-Men film. The rest of the movies are just made up stories. This is stated by Logan as he finds a stash of X-Men comics and makes a comment how it didn't happen like that. That is another beauty of this film, you can go with this theory or another one of your own, and it still stands as a great movie. Because of its focus on a small cast of deep characters instead of a shallow sea of characters and a large plot that is becoming more popular than ever. If you can't tell by now, I loved Logan and would dare say it is my favorite comic book movie ever. That doesn't make it perfect as I am sure the next few times I see it I will see some mistakes. But it is definitely worth a watch at the theater and is a perfect send off for Professor X and the Wolverine! Logan and all rights are Copyrights of Marvel Comics and Fox Studios
0 Comments
The Oscars are this Sunday or a better title "How many Oscars will La La Land win?" I was thinking about writing a blog about how La La Land has a great chance to win a majority of their nominations and has a possibility of setting a record for most wins. All they need is twelve. But instead of talking about how La La Land will win most of them or the dark horse movies that could surprise everyone with a win like everyone else is talking about, I want to talk about something else that I hope will help you enjoy movies more. Cinematography. The cinematographer in the movie department is the person in charge of the scene. They will help the director decided every single shot of the movie and then make that happen as they direct the camera and light crews. When you're watching a movie and notice how pretty or cool it looks, a lot of that is because of the cinematographer. Now, you can have the best sets and best customs, but if you have an awful shot of what is happening or poor lighting, it's all worthless because the bad cinematography will draw you out of the movie. Good cinematography has the opposite effect as it only helps you draw into the film, into the story. Great films have great cinematographers and they sadly don't get the recognition they deserve. That is why I want to highlight one of the greats. Roger Deakins. He has been nominated for Best Cinematography thirteen times. Five of those have been during the past six years and twice in 2008. He did the cinematography for great films like Unbroken, True Grit(2012), O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Shawshank Redemption, and a host of other great films. He is, in my opinion, the greatest cinematographer of our time and one of the greats of all time! And he has yet to win a single Oscar. (Dumb) It was actually a film he did the cinematography for, Skyfall, that was the first time I started to really notice the beauty of the scenes he was crafting and the importance of the cinematographer. Many blockbuster films have shaky cameras close in on their actors during action scenes or just boring shots Deakins is setting up paintings. Now, he isn't perfect as I am sure he has done over the shoulder shots for conversations and shaky cams, but I don't remember those. I remember the scenes where he crafted a painting. The wide scenes where you could pause it and set it up as a picture in your home. Though you may not want to do that when it's the silhouettes of a sniper against a blue sign with a jellyfish(Skyfall), but it's still gorgeous. This year the nominations for Best Cinematography has a great line up that I think Linus Sandgren for La La Land will win but Rodrigo Prieto will give La La Land a run for their money for his work on Silence. Though we are missing Deakins this year I believe we will see him nominated again next year for Blade Runner 2049 (I'm calling it now.) And let's hope the 14th time is the charm! Thanks for reading, I hope this helps you enjoy movies a little more, maybe help you to notice good cinematography, or just makes you curious in seeing some of Rodger Deakins films, which I highly encourage! Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!! Image courtesy of indiewire.com All rights reserved.
A few weeks ago, I went with my boss and co-worker to lunch. We usually don't know where to go when we get in the car and spend at least five minutes trying to figure it out. This one day, we all were in the mood for a food truck. Earlier we had tried but it was on Monday that all the food trucks in Fort Smith decided to take a day off. We quickly decided on Truckin Delicious because of the rave reviews and praise it had received. It was parked next to Valet Cleaners behind Central Mall on that cold day. The wind blew quickly past us as we walked up and looked at the chalkboard menu. My colleagues both got a burrito that sounded good, but something else caught my eye. "The Cuban." The slow roasted pulled pork was the main meat of the sandwich but it wasn't alone as it was topped with melted Swiss cheese and a slice of grilled ham above that. The ham acted as the wall between the pork and the coleslaw. I'm personally never impressed by coleslaw but this was the exception. It was fresh and was lightly coated in a jalapeño lime honey dressing. Homemade pickles laid on the bottom while the mustard was on top. This was all contained in a jalapeño cheddar bun that, to me, was the star of the meal. The bun was fresh and soft but never got soggy or broke apart on me. The meat was top notch and the mustard wasn't overpowering. The coleslaw did a great job in balancing the flavors while the pickles were always a surprise. The home made chips were light which balanced the sandwich and the weight it brought. The Cuban wasn't the only thing that caught my eye, as they had some side dishes but also desserts. Simply put, I followed my Cuban with an Oreo Cheesecake Egg roll. No, you didn't miss read that. It looks just like an egg roll with chocolate sauce on it and inside is a delight. It was a dessert that ended my meal perfectly as it wasn't too rich since it was following a somewhat heavy sandwich. This was the only time I've been there so far, but it won't be my last. Definitely a place you should check out! Photo taken from Truckin Delicious Facebook page
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!If you haven't seen the teaser watch it!!
I know! You got really excited and then saw we still have eight months till the release and disappointment washed over you. Instead of thinking how long we have to wait just think about how awesome the gang looked in their ghost busters outfits and how genius they were for not showing us Eleven, which raises the question what Chapter will they bring her back? Chapter 11 or the last chapter? I doubt that since they showed with the first season to wrap major things up but to leave a lot of little questions for us. I'M SO PUMPED!!!! Oh yeah, update. Well, first, sorry about the enormous absence of blogs for the past several months. I have been occupied with a lot of work, school, work, and work. I am now a licensed real estate agent after several months of studying and I am enjoying it so far. I will go into further detail about all that in a later blog. Besides that, I have made progress in The Dragon and the Lumberjack I'm in the final edit BEFORE sending it to the beta readers. After that, I will fix the grammatical mistakes, character inconcinnities, and plot holes they pointed out and then, the editor! While it goes through those edits away from me I will be working on my next book that won't be the conclusion to the Thornhill trilogy but the start of a whole new series not of this world. ;) Also, if you are interested in becoming a beta reader for The Dragon and the Lumberjack please contact me through my website or any social media. Thanks for reading! GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW!!!!
Like Really! If you have Netflix and enjoy great stories with great plots, amazing characters, suspense that keeps you on your toes, and a soundtrack that is one of the most original and innovative soundtracks to come out in years, then this is the show for you!
If that didn't convince you to drop everything you are doing and to start watching the eight-episode series right now, then let me try to convince you further. The best way I can describe Stranger Things in a couple of words is, "Stranger Things is a love letter to E.T." The story takes a lot of beats from E.T. but is still original. It always feels fresh and new with a hint of nostalgia. Here's the thing, though, if you haven't seen E.T. you will still love it! And if you have, when you do get to those moments the creators use your preconceived notions to surprise you every time. Stranger Things also does a great job at slowly introducing you to the world. Not thrusting you into it all at once but easing you in so when they do throw some stuff your way near the end you believe it and it doesn't break the story, the world they created, or the characters. If you are still unconvinced, just give it a try for my sake. It isn't that much commitment, only eight wonderful episodes, all of them meaningful and helping the story. Once you do, let me know in the comments or on social media so we can talk! Thanks for reading and you are welcome to those going to go and watch it now! You won't regret it! I haven't really gotten the one blog a month thing down yet, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on that. With this blog going up on the last day of August, I will try and get the next blog up in mid-September. Anyways, on with the update.
So, Kickstarter. I can now say I have done a Kickstarter. Yes, it wasn't successful but that doesn't mean I'm putting on the brakes for The Dragon and the Lumberjack, I'm just slowing it down. The late 2016 release date will be pushed back to more of an early 2017 release. I've also started looking at other financial options to help with the book publication but none of them have grabbed my attention yet. However, I am thinking about fiddling with a preorder idea. Haven't thought through all the logistics parts of it yet but I will let you know if I decide to go that route. It may not fully fund the book but it does have the potential to make it a little easier financially for me. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section or social media if you would be interested in me trying again with a different Kickstarter-like site, if the preorder thing is up your alley, or you just don't care either way haha! The book itself is going well, I haven't been able to write that much recently but that should soon change. I am almost done with the second draft and typing up the entire book from my handwritten draft. Once that is done I will be able to see how it all stands as a whole and be able to edit it like there is no tomorrow. Not going to lie, I can't wait to get this book into your hands when it's done! I don't want to give anything away as in story but I will tell you its longer with a lot more action and characters compared to the first book! Gosh, I'm so excited I want to leave work and edit the book right now! *Calms down* Anyways, that's about it. Over this long weekend, I'll try and think of some ideas for blogs that aren't update related. Like before let me know if you want to hear my thoughts on a certain topic, review something or some more personal blogs in the comments or on any social media platform. Thanks for reading and Happy early Labor day Weekend! "And now God bends to my will" Those words spoken by Lex Luthor nearing the climax of the film, Batman V Superman, is one of my favorite lines during one of my favorite scenes of the entire film.
The scene: Lex is on a helicopter pad with Superman, he talks about how Superman will do his bidding because of a 'special lady' that is in danger. Superman thinks he is talking about Lois, who he just saved when he is truly talking about his mother. Lex doesn't know where she is but says she will not die if he brings him the head of the bat. Lex does this in hopes of Superman being killed by Batman because Lex hates even the idea Superman brings. The idea of God. This speaks so true of man's deepest want. To have control. To be there own god. To be God. This want can be traced back to the Fall of man(Genesis 3). When Adam and Eve took a piece of fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In a perfect garden full of many other fruits that they were allowed to eat from, they were told not to eat from this one tree, but they ate from it. Why? Because the serpent, the most crafty beast told them a lie. "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:4-5. Then Adam and Eve bit (pun intended) and fell. Why would they fall for this lie? Because they couldn't resist the idea of being on the same field as God. They wanted to be God. With that in mind, with the beginning of this want found, we can start following it and see a pinch of it in every wrong done (sin). Now, back to Lex. Unlike many of the past films, Lex Luthor in this film is the only one who doesn't go after land or real estate. Though, at the core of those wants, you can say it is because of a sense of control, of being God. The Batman V Superman Lex, however, goes straight to the core of it, which is the perfect way to go at it as Superman has such heavy tones of a messianic figure and needs a villain with that strong anti-god motives. "See, what we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Joe, 'cause God is tribal; God takes sides! No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from daddy's fist and abominations. I figured out way back if God is all-powerful, He cannot be all good. And if He is all good, then He cannot be all-powerful. And neither can you be." - Lex Luthor. Just from that simple line, we can see that the point of Lex's belief was because of his abusive father. He experienced an evil that sadly far too many people know and for many brings them to his same conclusion that people usually ask "Why does a loving God allow bad things to happen?" This question asked time and time again throughout history only to receive too many times the answer of silence. Lex here voices what all the people asking this question feel but can't describe or don't want to say. "I want to be God." This want though is the answer to the question. It is because of the fall, of that want Adam and Eve had, that want of being God that brought sin and all the evil into the world. Any bad thing you can think of happening is because of sin. Yet, in His loving nature, even when we decided to rebel against Him. He still gave us a way back towards Him, using all our sinful mistakes to save us so we can glorify Him. Now, with that answer we reach a much deeper question. "What is your god?" We all have one and will always have one. It may be obvious, money, power, sex, or more secretive, technology, friends, family, or like Lex for most of the film, yourself. However, until we give up ourselves and our fake gods and declare the one true God of the Bible our God, we will always be moving from one god to another, just like Lex who at the end of the film found himself a new god to glorify on the polar opposite of Superman, Darkseid. So, we should learn from Lex's faults and pains as to not fall into a similar road and find ourselves at the end of life with nothing but proclaiming evil with a senseless mind and hoping we had picked the right side when deep down we know we didn't. "The bell's already been rung. They heard it; the creatures among the stars. They'll come... He'll come. He's angry... Ding-dong... Ding-dong... Ding-dong..." Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and the image above are the creative properties of Warner Brothers and DC Comics. I know, I missed March. Sorry about that I've been a little preoccupied with this little thing called graduating. 33 days.
Once I graduate and am completely done with college I will be able to dedicate a lot more of my time to keeping on track with a blog post a month, if not more, and with finishing the second book in the Thornhill series. Still aiming for a late third quarter release. That is one reason I hate college. The time it takes me away from writing. Not that college has been bad to me, I've met a lot of my best friends in college and reunited with some old ones too but the homework, group projects, cases over steel or restaurants. Sometimes I think I should have gotten a major in English with a minor in writing but here's the thing, I don't like writing papers for school. That was one thing that kept me from getting that degree even though I am a writer. I'm going to stop myself there and get back on topic because I can go on for a while about my dislike of college but I don't want to complain. Been trying to cut back on that. Anyways, back on topic. The most common question asked a graduate is "what are you going to do next?" It shouldn't be a surprise that my answer for that question is writing. The details on a job to support this passion, for now, is a little unclear. Luckily, already having a good job doesn't put me in a tight spot of frantically looking for a job but helps give me time to look wisely for my next job that will give me enough free time to write. I look forward to the day my writing fully supports me but that is several steps ahead and I may not enjoy it when I get there. I could be one of those writers that need a part time job or something that helps their writing by interacting with people or something. Working at a bookstore has crossed my mind a lot. I can say from experience that I do enjoy working at a church and wouldn't be opposed to that. I've spent so much time at the Coffee Cup that being a barista has occurred to me once. The future is foggy but not bleak or dark. It just causes me to look at the lighthouse as my hope for the future. With all that said I am excited about the future! That all being said here is an update on everything else. The Kickstarter is ready to go, just waiting now till I finish the first draft of the book then I will pull the trigger. I can still see it being done before the end of this year. I also saw Batman V Superman and Loved it! So, don't be surprised when the next few posts are about that movie. The first will most likely be about Lex Luthor and his character. I will also have some of my intelligent friends writing a guest blog on the movie but on different parts of it. Those should be coming out in May. I am also thinking about getting a tattoo this week. I will post pictures if I do it. Thanks for reading! you're neat! I love movies! so it shouldn't be a surprise that I also love watching the Oscars when I get a chance. Making predictions of winners from a list of movies that, most of the time, I've only seen one or two when the Oscars start is fun to me, though it's never on the ability of the movie alone. usually, my father and I will take into account who has won recently or hasn't gotten a nod in a while. However, when you are judging not just movies but all types of art, should these external factors be considered?
You may be thinking, though, "But wait? Why are we judging art? Can't we just appreciate it and be done with it?" That's a good question and let me answer it with a question. Is there art you don't like? Whenever we face a new movie, song, book, or painting we are judging it. We observe and judge, whether we like it or not, if we like that art or not. This depends on a whole lot of little things that I may do a blog on itself because it would make this blog way too long. Anyways, back to the main question, should we think of external factors of the art when judging it? Should we consider what was happening in Leonardo Da Vinci life when he painted The Last Supper when we observe it? Or the best-selling books C. S. Lewis earlier in his life when we read The Chronicles of Narnia? No, you don't. Now, am I saying we should shut our ears and eyes to any information about our favorite writers, painters, musicians, and all the other artist we find talented? Of course Not! But what was it that first brought you to that artist? The art itself. Now, some of you will answer the artist themselves was the first to introduce us to their art but even then, you will still judge it. In the end, the art has to first stand on its own two feet by itself. Even when it's your best friend that has given you the art, you can be a bias of course but the art still has to stand on its own. And once the art can stand on its own then we can start having a greater appreciation of it when we discover more about the creator of the art and how many aspects of their life from opinions and beliefs to hopes and fears are integrated into it. But it all had to start with the art standing on its own two legs alone. Does it have to stand up for ever one, though? Well, that is a talk for another time. Thanks for reading! So, where to begin? For half of November and all of December, I spent writing a screenplay and helping with the production of it. The screenplay was for two dear friends of mine who, as media majors, wanted to film a short film or two over Christmas break for their resumes and film festivals. When we were talking about it, I half-joked about how I could write a screenplay and they could produce it. They said yes and I got really giddy about it. I later found out we would all get IMDB credit for it so, yes, I freaked out. The entire process was pretty amazing and hard. I was still putting final touches on the script while we were casting for it, which was stressful but fun. My producers scheduled it where we only needed three days of filming to complete it all, which we did. As of right now the film is still being edited but I will keep you all updated on it as well.
Because of all that I had to put the book on the back burner till recently, which felt weird coming back to after such a long break. I definitely looked back over a few chapters to help myself get a running start at it again. Since going back to writing The Dragon and the Lumberjack, I’ve been able to be better disciplined about my writing, only missing a few days here and there. Off the top of my head, I’ve been averaging about six-hundred words with each writing session. That’s nothing when you look at some other author giants like Stephen King who writes, at least, a thousand words every day. Not there yet but definitely making steps. I am also kicking around the idea of doing a Kickstarter for The Dragon and the Lumberjack. Yes, the pun was cheap but I couldn’t resist. Anyways, I’m still doing the numbers to see if it is a smart move. I do want to say though that if I do choose to do a Kickstarter, I will still plan to have a launch party for The Dragon and the Lumberjack where you can buy a copy or just come and hang out. That’s basically it for now; I will have more topical blogs coming up in the weeks to come and a possible email sign-up service so you can get notified about new blogs or books coming out. Anyways thanks for reading! I couldn’t have done this without you all! |
Categories
All
Archives
February 2023
|
© 2015 S. W. Ellenwood. All rights Reserved.
|