All reviews - Movies (6) - TV Shows (1) - DVDs (1) - Books (5) - Music (7) - Games (2)

Poignant without becoming Preachy

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 7 November 2006 07:17 (A review of Bobby)

Last night, as a member of the Philadelphia Film Society, I was able to see this movie before it officially opened in the city. I knew nothing about it, other than it was about Robert F. Kennedy and his assassination. During the opening of the film I was constantly surprised at the barrage of instantly recognizable, by name celebrities. This made me a little leery, because of something my father always used to say, something to the effect trying to compensate for a bad movie. However, rest assured, that even though this movie isn't the greatest movie ever made, it is still a pretty good film. Estevez mixes official, historical clips of Bobby Kennedy into the film pretty seamlessly. Obviously there is a lack of quality in these clips, but he uses them sparingly enough, and only for the final sequences when Bobby is shot are the real clips mixed in with the staged ones; typically they are used as a transition from one major act to the next. The movie does a great job of talking about the political time and what people thought of Bobby without really using Bobby as a real character. I mean, he is represented by his own words in the clips, but mostly he is talked about or subtly referenced in the acts of others. This is kind of a feel good while feeling horrible movie, because the message is clear and uplifting, but at the same time, it is a very depressing story that ends badly when you think about what has happened in the last 38 years. Estevez manages his large ensemble cast well and no one character outshines the rest. Too many great performances to name, this is definitely a movie worth seeing, especially if your memory of that moment in our history is fuzzy.

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Great, Fun Movie

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 2 November 2006 09:13 (A review of The Nightmare Before Christmas)

After the annual watching of this movie on Halloween I felt the urge to write a quick review. First, the animation is amazing. The effort that went into the making of this movie is definitely felt. The plot is interesting because there is a subtle critique/exploration of how one culture experiences itself and how it views/experiences another foreign culture. Jack Skellington is a great character and the soundtrack is great. Gotta love Tim Burton.

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Masterful

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 2 November 2006 08:48 (A review of Three Sisters (Theatre Classics S.))

I recently went to a reading of this play by a theatre group here in Philadelphia that I really enjoy. Although I could write a very positive review of their reading, I'll try and focus on the writing itself. This play presents a masterful peek into societal life for three sisters living in a relatively small Russian city of 100,000 people. The theme of living in your memories or living in your hopes is a major theme that is magnificently played out across the play's long four acts. Each of the main characters has a catch phrase or speech that they deliver a variant of in each act, the first time full of hope and happiness and with each passing act with more and more despair and hopelessness. The three sister's arcs into unhappiness and depression weave together to create a very cohesive whole. I thought the contrast between the three sisters and their one brother played perfectly into the development of the sisters' characters. In fact, the contrast between the male characters and the female characters was very interesting all around. The transformation of Natasha's character was also an interesting shift. I found the character of Solyony to be one of the only male characters that compared to the three sisters, but I can't put my finger on why. Watching the town fall apart through the lives of the sisters made for a great play. If you can stand some slow plot development and lengthy dialog (ie, it is a Russian story), you should really check this play out!

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Frighteningly Spot-On

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 29 October 2006 09:04 (A review of Junebug)

As someone who grew up in a small town and then moved to a big city, I found this movie both very well made and at the same time almost intolerably unnerving. The direction and writing really captures with clear precision the setting and characters. This film is almost a documentary of life in a small rural town with its uneasy awkwardness and tense unhappiness that seems to underly everything. Each member of the family is almost like a mirror to members of my family or people I knew in my small town. The use of silence and long still shots of empty rooms helped flush out the mood of small town life. This is definitely a character piece, but the plot was kept at a good pace and Amy Adams' portrayal of Ashley was magnificent. Lots of visual metaphors and subtle reinforcements of the larger emotions throughout. For example, the story arc of Madeleine and Wark was such an interesting counter arc to Madeleine's initiation into the Johnsten family. A smaller, but nice touch, was the painting of Madeleine's nails, which stayed red until they were back on the highway and leaving it all behind. As I said, this film made me crawl in my skin it was so realistic, but it was an excellent watch.

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Compelling and Entertaining

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 29 October 2006 09:20 (A review of Battlestar Galactica (Miniseries))

Although I only have vague memories of the original series, I remember thinking that it was pretty cheesy and bland in comparison to other similar shows at the time. However, after watching this miniseries last night I'm very excited to see the rest of the series. I feel like there was a pretty decent plot, the cast was engaging and they've set up quite a predicament with the Cylons. I think all of the changes I've heard about from the original series were good decisions and that the series has greatly been improved because of them. I like how low-tech and 80s feeling a lot of the technology is and I like how they explain that away. There were only a few truly groanable moments during the miniseries, and for a science-fiction series, that's not bad. Don't be frightened off because it is in space and they use a few words that sound made up. As much as it is hard to believe, about 10 minutes in you forgive all of that and won't even notice it. I know this is hard to believe and I wouldn't say that about most science fiction, but they really do a good job of not making it too far-fetched. Give it a shot.

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More Interesting than You'd Think

Posted : 1 year, 9 months ago on 27 October 2006 05:50 (A review of Housekeeping: A Novel)

I just finished reading one of the only novels I had started and not finished. I was supposed to read it for a Philosophy of Literature course I took during my undergraduate studies and during this failed effort I found this to be the most boring book in the world and couldn't get past the first 20 pages (of only 219 pages!) At the time I confessed to this in class and found that I wasn't alone. However, the interesting thing was that it was all the males in the room that found it so boring and all the females who found it so intriguing.

Now, let me immediately say I don't think this has anything to do with the fact that it is titled housekeeping. However, at the time we talked in class a great deal about the difference between a novel with such a feminine perspective and voice and the more numerous novels with a decidedly masculine voice and tone, regardless of the author's gender. I think the most distinctive difference between this novel and most novels I've read is the pace. It is very, very slow and methodical. The cover heralds the praise it received from the New York Times Book Review: "so precise, so distilled, so beautiful that one doesn't want to miss any pleasure that it might yield." I would agree. What I mistook in my first stalled out attempt to read this novel as clunky, boring details were in fact the careful groundwork of great storytelling.

Nearly every dislike I had for this book was disproved during my second read. This book accomplishes an integral task of a successful novel, which is that the form of the storytelling reflects the world of the characters and causes the reader to experience the character's world in the same way. Years ago I criticized the book for doling out details in a stutter-stop fashion, but as I reread it now I realized that this is exactly how the characters matured and learned about these same things. Another gripe I had initially was of the pace, but this I think in reality just drives home how dull and slow the narrator's childhood and path into adulthood was. The act of housekeeping has so many meanings throughout the text that I don't want to spoil any of them, but I found it to be a useful touchstone as I followed the young sisters through adolescence in a small, boring, little town years ago.

Overall, the story is very compelling and chapter after chapter the plight of the women whose lives this novel revolves around delve ever deeper into sadness and loneliness. However, it is in this complete isolation that the protagonist finds some semblance of happiness and peace. I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who has an open mind and enjoys a well-crafted novel.

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Still a Great Play

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 22 October 2006 07:01 (A review of The Ultimate Doom)

As I mentioned in my review of DOOM 3, I recently got the video game bug and I set out to play some classics. First on my list was the DOOM series. So I sat down and in a couple of hours had played through DOOM. To me, this game married a couple of fun elements (although I don't know if it was the first, Wolfenstein might have done this), the first-person shooter and the collection games like Metroid. At the end of each level you're presented with your stats, and I don't know about you, but I play levels over and over until I've found 100% of all kills, items, and secrets. Although I don't know of any bonus for doing this, I'm just a little obsessive about details. In terms of game play, I was happy at how well this game holds up. It is simple but still challenging, especially if you play some of the more difficult skill levels and there is loads of replay value as you try and collect all the items or shave time or use less ammo or play with a higher difficultly level, etc. I've always found the plot to be intriguing, this was why I was so happy with DOOM 3. Even though it only took a few hours to play through the whole thing, I found it very exciting none-the-less, and it reminded me of the several days it took me the first time, when I was a youngin'.

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I can't believe you're still alive!

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 22 October 2006 06:44 (A review of DOOM 3)

And neither could I. I got the video game bug recently and so I set out to play some of my old favorites, as I usually prefer classics to the overly complicated new video games. So I started playing DOOM because it is rather quick to play and you can play for small periods of time without getting too sucked in. However, then I heard that during all the years of ignoring video games a new game in the DOOM series, DOOM 3, had been released. So, I got this and became completely engrossed! For the next several days it was just hours and hours and hours of non-stop, terrifying action. They've perfected something that I enjoyed about the Resident Evil series, which was that sense of terror that builds as lights go out or you hear guttural noises behind you, etc. If played in the dark, it is easy to get a little spooked! I liked that you're given a flashlight, I think this not only provided for better game play, but also enhanced the scariness, because you can't attack with your flashlight out, but without it, sometimes you can't see where the enemies are, so you're constantly switching between them. At first I was disappointed that there wasn't automatic vertical targeting, as I was playing this on my laptop and not a controller; but, I finally got to where I was able to fire and aim rather successfully. The story line is a sort-of reworking of the original DOOM story, but way more in-depth. I liked how this seemingly normal mission that you set out on just keeps spiraling and spiraling bigger and bigger. The monsters just keep getting tougher and tougher, and something I liked about this that the old games never had was that you need to use certain weapons to defeat certain enemies more easily. In the old games, I just always used what I had, and maybe saved some big stuff for episode ending bosses. However, in this game, there is more strategy in spray patterns, fire rate, etc. and the speed/size/strength of the enemy you're taking on. Also, the addition of the PDA was a nice touch, allowing you to delve deeper into characters and search for clues. So, check this one out, pretty great game!

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Decent Study Guide

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 14 October 2006 04:46 (A review of CliffsTestPrep Praxis II: English Subject Area Assessments (0041, 0042, 0043, 0048, 0049) (Cliffstes)

So, finding myself needing to pass the Praxis II exam for English (Test 10041), I set out to Barnes and Noble in search of a test prep/study guide. I found this one and it has proven to be fairly useful. It focuses first on what is involved in a standardized multiple choice test and what types of multiple choice questions the Praxis II in English offers. Then it goes through strategies for each type. The next section of the book is a series of outlines and definitions for concepts, terms, novels, poems, etc. that you should know to pass the test. They don't go into too much detail on each item but it is meant to serve as a heads-up for things you should study more on your own. Lastly there are full-length practice tests for each of the Praxis II English tests. My only major gripe is that this book covers all four English Praxis II tests instead of focusing on just one test (10041). However, they do a good job of trying to make the each section about all four tests and each test-specific section still relevant to the other tests. If I pass the test (which I should) I might put up my score as a testament to how useful this was. :-)

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Judas Iscariot is a Cool Guy Afterall

Posted : 1 year, 10 months ago on 14 October 2006 11:05 (A review of Jesus Christ Superstar (1974 Film Soundtrack))

I love this soundtrack. Carl Anderson's amazing performance as Judas is the driving force behind this recording. Ted Neeley provides a good voice and plays Jesus Christ well and I especially enjoy Barry Dennen's Pilate. Although most of the tracks are great, standouts include "Heaven on Their Minds," "Simon Zealotes," "Damned for All Time / Blood Money," "Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)," "King Herod's Song," and "Superstar."

I also reviewed the film that accompanies this soundtrack and in that review I avoided talking about the storytelling but promised to focus on it in this review of the soundtrack. The first reason I fell in love with this retelling of the Jesus Christ mythology was the dramatic shift in focus and interpretation. As I mentioned in my review of the film I love how the Jewish priests are given more of a voice and that there is some significance placed on the Roman occupation of the Jewish people. I feel like too often Christians don't consider the historical context of their mythology and that there is avoidance of the social and political climate during the period that Jesus was said to have lived.

The other major departure from Christian cannon that I appreciated was the deliberate un-vilifying of Judas Iscariot. Although less convenient for zealous fanatics, this version of the myth is much more compelling. Even though the Gospel of Judas was not in the public mind at the time and it is unlikely that Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber had it in mind its recently published translation helps prop up some of the sentiment between Jesus and Judas in this retelling. However, that is where the similarities end between the ancient Gnostic text and this pseudo-psychedelic reshaping of Christian mythology. I do think that this interpretation attempts to make the story more compelling rather than relying on a hodge-podging of standard hero stories as the original does. Carl Anderson performs beautifully under this difficult task—he presents a Judas that is not a sinning thief who sells Jesus out for money but a devout right-hand man who is forced (after much soul-searching) to turn in his mentor to save the cause and to attempt to prevent harm to Jesus. After he sees what his actions have caused for Jesus he is tormented and takes his own life in the midst of feelings of being used and betrayed by God and Jesus himself.

This is definitely a soundtrack that is tied to the time period in which it was released but I find that to be one of its charms. As an example of this, a friend of mine who recently saw this wondered if they had to give back the Batman theme song. I find the music and the energy that it infuses into this very political version of the Jesus myth very enjoyable. Definitely worth many many listens.

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