Dragon Age Origins: Journal: Day 2

Day 2

Duncan has taken me to the capital to become a Greywarden, he tells me that I am allowed to explore the city, so long as I remember to find the Greywarden Alister. When we made our way to the entrance we were created by the king himself, he seems kind, overambitious and unaware of the more unfortunate things in his kingdom, but kind nonetheless. 

…

After we left the king I found my way to Tir Loghain's tent. He seems like a good general. A lowborn who rose to high ranks in a single battle is a great achievement. His guards don't believe the king is heading his advice very much, but I hope the king is not without humility to accept help from all sides, and not just Duncan's Greywardens, who he seems to idolize. The king seems to be looking for an adventure, let us hope he finds it, and not just bloodshed.

…

I found out about a breed of dog that apparently can understand orders as well as a man can, quite a feet from what I've seen of dogs. Sadly the dog seems to have eaten the blood of a darkspawn. Duncan has yet to tell me the full stakes of the war, only that a Blight seems to be taking place. The King doesn't seem to think it's a full Blight though, I hope many lives aren't lost because of this war. The guard taking care of the dog has asked me to find a root that may heal the Dog's suffering. I pray i can help, i'd hate to see a beast put down because of this.

…

I met a mage soon enough it seems. She calls herself Wynne. She tells me about the Darkspawn, where they are said to have come from. They seem to be from Fade, city of Dream, born from the very darkness of men. She wonders if it is just a fable or if it is true. I wonder myself.

…

I meet a man named Daveth, he's another Greywarden recruit, like myself it seems. He tells me that the elders mean to send us in the Wilds, savage lands, perhaps while I'm there I can find that herb for the dog. Or maybe I can see for myself what a Darkspawn is like. A good battle might show me were I stand in this war.

…

After selling some of the leftover weapons and armor i took from the human's place, I met one of the Tranquil, an Enchanter who provides the income for the rest of the mages. He explained to me the profits and price of using Enchantment magic. He also explained what Tranquil means. It means to be stripped of emotion. This is done so that if a dark spirit tries to take over a mage, hungry for their power, they do not become a danger to others. He seems unaffected by this condition of his, and seems healthy, so I do not fear for him as much as I feel I should. Perhaps it is because I did not know of his character before this.

…

I then met a priestess who bestowed a blessing from her Lord upon me. I do not think the Maker would be angry if I accepted the help of other Gods besides him.

…

I met up with Allistair finally. He's an interesting fellow, cheeky, but not rude. He'll be accompanying me during my ritual to become a full greywarden. He tells me he used to be a templar, a Mage-hunter, before Duncan recruited him. But I trust that he won't pose too much of a problem.

…

After returning to Duncan I met up with Daveth and Jory, the two other recruits. we were given our tasks, collect a vial of darkspawn blood and retrieve some lost treaties, left behind when the region became too dangerous. I learn about the two's character and story. Jory was a knight who had only recently married a year ago, while Daveth was a thief who was conscripted by Duncan or else he faced the guards for his crimes. Learning about them both made me feel i had a better understanding of them, and that made me trust them more. Let us hope this trust isn't misplaced

…

After battling my way through some easily killable Darkspawn, we came across a witch of the wilds by the name of Morigan. MY comrades felt it necessary to treat her with hostility, but i felt treating her with hostility would only draw unneeded conflict. She took us to her mother, who in turn gave us the treaties. Morigan was nice enough to lead us out, with a coax from her mother. I hope they become allies in the future. Her mother tells us the threat is greater than we realize, which worries me. She does not look like one with nonsense flowing through her brain.

…

Upon our return, I gave the herb that was needed to save the dog and the treaties and blood to duncan. He warns us that the ritual could kill us, but he trusts our skill, so i will trust his trust in me. Jory is fearful, i don't blame him. 

Duncan tells us that the ritual entails drinking the blood of the darkspawn, gaining the ability to sense them and use this power against the more powerful archdemon. Sadly the ritual is not a safe one. Daveth drank first and was dead within moments, Jory got scared and drew his blade, forcing Duncan to draw his own. I was the only to survive. Hopefully I won't have to watch so many comrades die by comrade's hands. 

…

After the ritual Duncan told me that he had a meeting he wanted me to join, I accepted and he and Alistair left for the night.

…

After meeting with the King and Loghain, we discussed battle plans. Loghain was less than thrilled by the King's desire to fight alongside the Greywardens in the front lines, but he buckled down and discussed strategy. Alistair and I were then assigned to light a signal torch for Loghain's men to see when the time came for a flank from the rear. We only have an hour after Duncan's forces head out to reach the beacon, I pray for my Maker to give me the time.

…

After making our way past the bridge, we found the tower completely overrun with Darkspawn for some reason. We fought our way through the masses, even came across what appeared to be a giant, though he fell quickly to my bow and our Cleric's staff. Unfortunately, our task was no successful. We lit the beacon, yes. But were soon attacked again in hordes. I took a few arrows to the chest and feared for death to come so soon after taking my quest. 

Luckily, Morrigon's mother saved us. I did not recall the incident, i passed out from shock, but she claims to have plucked us from the sky while transformed as a giant bird. Only Alistair and i survived. Duncan and the King are dead. Morrigon tells me that Loghain betrayed our cause, why he did such a thing bewilders me.

Morrigon's mother reveals herself to be Flemeth, the true Witch of the Wilds as she, Allistair and I have formulated a strategy now that we have regained our footing. We shall use the treaty and the King's death to unite the Dwarves, Elves, Mages, and the king's Uncle to our cause so as to combat the Blight as well as put Longhain down in the dirt. The traitor deserves to die for his deeds. Flemeth then gives us Morrion as an extra pair of eyes and hands to help us on our journey. she was … less than thrilled by the prospect, but still grateful for this chance to leave

Dragon Age: Origins: Journal

I'll be starting a journal of my adventures as I play Dragon Age: Origins. I'd have tried to do this as a Let's Play, but for some reason I'm having technical difficulties. So here's a journal, from my character's perspective of course.

Dragon Age: Journal

Day 1

I wake up to Shianni, my sister, the smell of celebratory wine escapes her lips. She tells me my betrothed has finally come to my home. an Arranged Marriage, yes, but i do not fear my father's judgement. If the Maker were charitable they would have made me a man, but tradition and honor i follow, without complaint. I pray my mother looks down with a smile. I wished I could have fallen in her foot steps, become a warrior. I have the skill, but my place is not my choice, but the Maker's.

…

My cousin, Soris, and I have been agreed to a double marriage, my partner, Nelaros, is not ugly, to say the least, and he seems good in heart and mind. Perhaps we will travel enough that I will be content with a child or two. The idea does not disappoint me. 

…

a drunken human bothered my friends and family. Unfortunately the situation could not turn away peacefully. Shianni smashed a bottle over his head. Let us pray this does not lead to more problems.

…

another human, this one named Duncan, has shown up. He seems to know my father, which means he is a friend. It is good to know not all humans are like that drunk. He works for the Greywardens, an elite group of guards, he seems to have some private business but i trust my father's choice in friends. 

…

my wedding day is now at hand. I pray to the Maker for a happy marriage and a loving family. Sadly, this does not look the case. The Drunken human has returned, this time with guards. He wants us women to "entertain" him and his friends at a party. I try to calm the situation, tried to sacrifice my dignity for theirs, but it was no use, they take me with them, unconscious.

…

I awaken, surrounded by fellow elven girls, Shianni is one of them, as is my cousin's betrothed. They are worried, for good reason. A group of guards show up, when one girl questioned them, they struck her down with a blade to the neck. She is dead. The rest are taken. When two soldiers came for me, Soris shows up, throwing me a sword to use. He is smart, I am a better fighter than him, and it is I that they want.

We cut down our way through the guards, taking what we need to ensure the guards don't have anything we can't use against them. My betrothed was taken as well it seemed, he sadly was not as fortunate as I was with Soris's help, he dies in front of me. I take his wedding Ring, as a reminder of what was lost today. When we make it to the girls, my actions are made known by the blood and my weapons. 

The human behind this, the drunk, offers me a choice. He will give me money, and let me leave, and he will not let anyone hear of this, but only if i leave home. If I deny this offer of peace, he will probably die by my blade, but his father will also most likely try to seek vengeance. But if I agree, the girls will be taken advantage of. 

Their lives are not in danger, but their dignity is. Perhaps I could have let them endure this trouble, had Shianni not been in the room. But with her in my mind, I could not, in good conscience, let her be sullied by this oaf. I pray my actions will not endanger the life of my father.

…

A guard from the human region comes to find the perpetrator. I admit my actions, accepting blame and I leave Soris out of it. It was my hand that challenged the human, and took his life. My sacrifice is taken with good feelings by the Maker and my mother. the guard promises my family will not be hurt, but it seems Duncan is impressed with my skill as a warrior. he tells the guards that he will take me under his charge, so they depart. He gives me tonight to say my goodbyes. It is all I ask for.

Brick (2005)

This movie is something different.

The movie is a modern day revamp of the classic Film Noir genre. Instead of staring a jaded, but tough Private Investigator, we get a rather emotionally disturbed High school kid named Brandon who works as a sort of detective for his school, helping to crack down on drugs and dealing with gangs.

The movie uses many of the classic tropes of Film Noir: Quick-paced but vague dialect that keeps you interested in the banter, good use of lighting to express tone, and character tropes that fit right in with any classic Film Noir. There's the Lady in Red, the Kingpin, the sketchy woman who draws the hardened detective into it all, the informant. But it also uses modern elements, like setting the story with high schoolers as all the leads and using modern sets and clothes. I'm not sure if the mix is perfect or not, but it works well enough and the fast-paced 40's style talking works to replace the generic faux-hip-talk hollywood seems to think kids talk like.

The movie stars Joseph Gordon Levittas Brandon, who gets a call from his ex, asking for help. She gets killed off though and this sends Brandon searching for clues about the murder, getting involved with a local 20~ kingpin named "The Pin" and Tug, a muscle that is loyal to the Pin.

The whole point of the movie is the Film Noir motifs and the mystery, but it's a really good mystery that doesn't solved until the very end. The writing is really good though, with interesting characters all around. The editing is also really well put together, showing just what needs to be seen and what is going through Brandon's mind at the time.

I especially like the focus on reality. Often times movies try to make their character seem really smart by making him be some genius, or making him some martial arts expert who never looses expect to the boss's right hand man. But here, Brandon gets his teeth kicked in a lot, but he wins with proper movement and hitting the right point. He's smart, not because he knows all the answers and manipulates everyone, but rather he knows how the streets work and which people he needs to press for information, and how much he needs to press in order to get them to just give him the information on their own.

And the movie never makes you wait too long or keep you board trying to get an answer. It knows just when to add knew information, when to drop in a red heron, and the ending is just brilliant. A good movie and a really good time.

Thor: The Dark World (2013) An Adaptation Review

So, I finally got to go see the movie, and even though i decided not to actively update this blog, i still want to use this to post my opinions.

So, I loved Thor when it came out. Aliens, medieval knights, science, magic, hammers and axes. And above all, kings. But while Thor might have done a good job discussing what was needed to be a king, humility, perseverance, sacrifice, it was this movie that did even more. It really feels like just a sequel to Thor and nothing else, while Iron Man 3 was a sequel to both Iron Man 2 and the avengers, this movie, for the most part, ignores its team up for an action pact adventure in space.

Like with the original thor, Dark World's biggest plus is it's setting and environment. every location feels unique and magical. From the awe-inspiring land of Asgard, to the hidden home of the Dark Elves, everything is unique and different. Because of that, by the end of the movie when Thor battles the final boss through every world in less than ten minutes, we get a great feel of location, and comedy.

The humor in this movie is really good, avoiding tiresome puns and jokes that a lot of comedies do lately, it has one of the funniest gags involving nothing but a flying hammer trying to get back to Thor, only for Thor to teleport elsewhere all the time. And even Thor gets a few gags similar to that when he needs to take the subway to get back to his fight because he can't fly without his hammer.

Now, while the humor and fights in this movie are great, it all mostly ties in at the end. the first half is a bit slow, mostly just giving us exposition to explain why the big fight was going to happen the way it was. But it also served to give us some nice character growth for the leads in the movie.

The movie starts with Thor's love interest, Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman, trying to get over her feelings for Thor after he's been gone for 2 years trying to stop war from breaking out across the nine realms. Thor returns to her, but only after she vanishes and becomes infected with the Aether, a magical liquid of pure energy that the villain, Malekith, of this movie wants so that he can return the universe to the time before it was created.

After Malekith attacks Asgard and kills Thor's and Loki's mother, Loki had been put in jail after his crimes in Thor and the Avengers,  Thor teams up with Loki to take down Malekith on his own terms before he can attack Asgard again. Loki fakes his death after that and uses it to kill their father and use his magic to assume his appearance, becoming king while Thor takes on Malekith.

The cast is really good. Everyone really gets into their roles perfectly and there's plenty of action. The movie is great for lovers of the Thor comics and kids who wants to watch a funny action movie. As well as anyone else looking for a funny action movie.

Watchmen (2009) - an adaptation review

Ok, I am dreadfully sorry for taking forever to write this review. I recently got involved in making a video game and this need to pick only adaptations and animations, as well as the constant work load, has kind of screwed up my reviews. So for now, Watchmen will be my last Ani-Country review. I will still post my weekly movie reviews that I'm doing for homework, but these will be of anything and so, warning ended.

Watchmen is a really good movie, with great pacing, great editing, and great writing. I know that sounds redundant, but frankly, if you've seen this movie, you either love it, don't like all the gore, or hate the ending because you think adaptations should be perfect copies of the source material. Again, being a little over the edge, but let's cut to brass tax.

The movie is about politics and how government should be run. That's not implicit or even a subtle symbolism. That's how it is. Ozymandais is a Socialist, Rorschach is an extreme Libertarian. Dr. Manhattan is an isolationist, and Night Owl and Silk Spectre are pretty comfortable with government their government however it is.

And at the top if it all is the Comedian, who seems to both despise and revel in his country's corruption.

The movie uses wonderful editing, making each shot feel like it was taken directly from a comic book page, which is saying something since the movie takes, scene for scene, every shot from the original source material. The only difference between the comic and the movie is what everyone who's a hardcore Alan Moore fan thinks is the ultimate sin in movies.

The movie's plot goes as such: The Comedian, a deranged sociopath and Anti-hero has been murdered and no one knows who did it. It turns out, in this universe, super heroes left the pages of comic books and real people started wearing costumes. These superheroes got involved in Wars a lot as well, including Vietnam.

The cold war is still going on and while Rorschach is trying to figure out who killed the Comedian, Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandais are trying to stop nuclear holocaust by stopping the energy crisis by creating infinite free enemy. Dr. Manhattan is slowly driven to exiling himself to Mars and Rorschach realizes that [spoilers]Ozymandais killed the Comedian and is planning to blow up hugely populated cities using bombs made from the energy that Dr. Manhattan is made of. This causes the Soviets and the U.S.A to stop fighting each other and unite under fear of Dr. Manhattan.

Now, in the comics, Moore wrote that Ozymandais used Manhattan's energy to teleport giant squids into cities to fake an alien invasion. Now, while this makes some sense, I find that the Manhattan ploy is the smarter outcome. With a fake Alien invasion, should humanity ever go into the stars, we would be very antagonistic towards aliens and probably be very hostile to new life. And should we ever find an alien race of giant squids, we would probably immediately go to war with them.

But with the Dr. Manhattan ploy, there's one specific target, who knows the sacrifice of what he's done. There won't be anything a human can do against Dr. Manhattan since he's pretty much Omnipotent, so the world is basically united under a banner of fear that will never be broken because they are basically uniting under the face of God.

Now, this is a personal opinion, many will say otherwise. Many will say that you should try recreating a perfect film version of something or not even bother, but then, why? Isn't it better to want to use new ideas and to explore alternate possibilities?

The characters are all wonderful and the acting is amazing. Dr. Manhattan especially, with all of his CGI, the man is basically giving a perfect performance with small facial twitches and expressions that are hardly noticeable, but clearly visible if you pay attention. And the argument between Libertarian and Socialism is very interesting, even if they just rule the inevitable answer as Socialism wins, "for now".

And the music. My god. The sound track is masterfully edited together and I really cannot think of a major problem the movie had.

Agents of SHIELD- Episode 13- An Adaptation review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE4h9650EGk

Made the first video blog entry, tell me in the comments what movie you want me to review for the special

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) - An Adaptation Review

This might be a my biggest and most biased review as of yet since I LOVE this movie. I grew up with this movie. This movie has framed many of my personal loves in fiction. From an Ensemble cast of public domain characters, to steampunk design, to the use of the red heron. Everything this movie has has influenced me in some way.

SO, to make sure that this review is fair, I will discuss everything that is bad or wrong with the film first.

First, the pacing: It's pretty bad a lot. scenes change really fast and it makes it hard to be invested in the situation. Like in the beginning, when the Phantom was trying to be menacing in Germany, he just walks in and blows a bunch of dirigibles. You need to show him more. The guy clearly isn't the hide in the shadows of the camera kind of guy, so why are you only showing glimpses of him. I understand the the movie has a lot happening, but it is only an hour and a half. There's plenty of time to show him. Linger more on him. They guy isn't a quite guy, but he only shows up to talk in three scenes. His attack in London, his attack on Germany, and his attack at Dorian's house.

Another problem I have is Dr. Jekyll. He shows up hardly ever at all. He seems to be in the background more often than not, which the opposite of the Phantom, but still equally treated as such. He seems to all of a sudden have a thing for Mrs. Mina Harker. I mean, i understand, it fits with his personality, but those who haven't read the original book, or the graphic novel, or watched the movie a hundred times, it's going to be really hard for a new audience to get it.

Like I said with the pacing, it's too short in a lot of the scenes. And my biggest complaint is in the introduction of alan Quartermain. It is way too short of a sequence. Events happen way too fast that end up making things feel whiplash now and then. I feel like we, the audience, need some breathing room.

But aside from the pacing, that's kids stuff. You want me to touch on the big issues. You want me to touch on the source material.

Now, I actually read the first volume of the series. I made sure to read it before I did any of these reviews in case I ever tried to make a Review blog like this and end up reviewing this movie. Now, this movie take a LOT of liberties with the cast. Quartermain is portrayed as a sort of aging Idiana jones instead of a drug-addicted louse. Mina Harker is a Vampire. Skinner isn't a unlikeable rapist. And frankly, everything that was changed, I felt it was for the best. People went on about how so many of the Silk Specter's lines and deeds were cut from the Watchmen, but Mina Harker was actually upgraded from flimsy Damsel to a bloodthirsty killer. They made it clear that this was a different Invisible Man, not the same one from the comics, and I LOVED the portrayal of Hyde in this. Still my favorite character in the story.

The thing is with League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is, none of these characters are original. Alan Moore never really uses original characters. V is the closest I've seen to an original Moore character. He either straight up takes character from public domain like Lost girls or League, or he adapts characters, like in Watchmen. And Since he didn't create these characters, this really doesn't deserve Moore's name on it. I know ... I know Moore refused to put his name on it, but really, the guy I feel is being way too arrogant to assume that this story is some great original work deserving of his name. The movie would have been fine with or without the graphic novel. I didn't even know there was a graphic novel until five years after seeing the movie.

Now, let's look at the story. Very different from the original source. I'll be sure to keep spoilers at the end since I want to discuss the Phantom some more. The original graphic Novel had the League being formed together as a sort of Black Ops team to shut down the Fu Manchu, an Opium selling Chinese Drug Lord in London. They get enlisted by M to take him out, only for it to be revealed to all be a trap set by Moriarty to kill both the League and Fu Manchu.

Now, the movie does a very different approach. The plot is, a mysterious man known as the Phantom is threatening to start World War 1 so that he can profit by selling munitions and machines to both sides. The man known only as M, enlists Captain Nemo from 10,000 Leagues under the Sea, Alan Quartermain, from some English adventure novels I'm not aware of, Nina Harker, from the Dracula story, and Rodney Skinner, a Gentleman thief who stole the Invisible Man's invisible formula. They go to enlist dorian Grey to their cause, meet the Phantom, and get Tom Sawyer, who works as a Secret Agent for the US in this story. Then they capture and enlist Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and they travel to stop the Phantom from blowing up a secret conference in Venice to needed to stop the world War from happening.

Now, here comes the spoilers, so instead, go watch the movie before I reveal the big spoiler, it's a great movie, but in order to discuss the film's themes and techniques I need to bring him up. Throughout the film, dissension is spred even through the audience. So many characters are hinted at being spies or bad guys. Skinner plays the Red Heron for the longest bit until it is finally revealed that Dorian Grey is the traitor and M is the Phantom who is really Moriarty.

The movie does excellent foreshadow as well, with Quartermain using a double to keep the rabid fanboys away from him. M being accused of "theatrics" upon first meeting him. And the idea of giving the Phantom a very pronounced speaking voice, not often given to characters who are meant to later be revealed as disguises. If this were any other film, the Phantom would lurk in the shadows and M would appear sneaky and deceptive and ultimately reveal his betrayal, but here it is a genuine shock.

Trust is a huge theme in the story. We have a large cast of people who barely know each other, everyone has a dark secret or a troubling personality flaw and everyone is at everyone's throat. Jekyll can't trust his mind, Quartmain can't trust his experience, Skinner can't be trusted at all, Dorian betrays everyone's trust, and Ishmal's undying trust in his captain up to his untimely execution.

Another huge theme of the movie is the Future. With the lead hero being a grizzly old war hero/hunter while the villain being a young capitalist. The advancements in technology constantly being used by both the heroes and villains.

In my honest opinion, the movie is a beautiful piece of art. It might not have aged perfectly, but it is still a wonderful film to watch.

V for Vendetta (2005) - An Adaptation review

Now, before I write this review, I have an announcement. On Friday, January 5th to be exact for those who read this another day, I went to my first class of "Introduction to Film" at my college. Now, this would really be insignificant, had my professor not said that we would be required to write a weekly review and record it in our college blog. Now, this blog is separate from this one, but I felt that since I already write reviews on this blog, I see no reason not to give more reviews instead of less. Now, this will not hinder my normal schedule, in fact many of my existing reviews may in turn be used on the other blog BUT because my class is on Film and not Animation, I will be reviewing movies now and then that do not fit in my existing parameters. Please note that when this happens, these reviews will not count for my regular weekly reviews, but will rather fit as a secondary review, which I will post Saturday nights, as opposed to the regular ones I post Sunday nights.

Now, with that out of the way, V for Vendetta.

This movie is definitely one worth watching, one way or another. I have always enjoyed an Adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novels, sometimes more than his original works (which I will get to more in my review of Extraordinary Gentlemen). The movie was intended to be a debate between Fascism and Anarchism, the two greatest political extremes, though according to Moore himself, the movie has more or less become a lukewarm debate over liberalism and Neo-Conservatism.

I don't know about Moore, but when I think Liberalism I think Biological experimentation and Political Parodies of Fascist dictators. All jokes aside, I really feel Moore overreacted in his opinion of the film, though as the creator, he has every write to voice his opinion.

The movie is about two people: V and Evey. V is a Political Terrorist who has, in my honest opinion, the greatest opening monologue ever, saying what could be the longest Alliteration ever done seriously (he uses the letter V). Evey is an employee at the major local news network of Great Britain, called BTN.

The story is very Narratively driven and I really don't like it when I end up spoiling parts of the film, but seeing as how successful it was and how it is nine years old now, I feel no fear in doing so. However, I will try to put my spoilers at the end.

V, himself, is not a 100% complex character. It is the mystery, the government, the politics being mentioned that are the biggest that are the story's depths and I feel that the movie does an incredible achievement in bringing those ideals to light. In fact, not only does this film discuss so many interesting things about the dangers of a Fascist government, it has also been praised for its overwhelming support of Gay rights. Neither of the characters are made a caricature of what most film and media use to represent Homosexuals, and this was 2005, nearly a decade ago, which really says something about how controversial this movie must have been when it came out.

V is a political terrorist who wears a Guy Fawkes, which may have inspired the Anonymous group's use of it today. He was a victim of inhumane experimentation set in a concentration camp run by Adam Stanler, who for the entire film, kept sounding like I heard Adam Sandler, making it a bit comical to imagine Adam Sandler as the leader of Fascist England.

V has survived an explosion at the camp only to have his entire body burned to a cinder. He now seeks to overthrow the corrupt government of England and start an anarchistic revolution. He is quite clever in many of his attacks, using misdirection to avoid the cops as he escapes from using the local news to give his manifesto.

The movie is very good, using many different symbols and allegories to provide a compelling, if one-sided, story. One cannot harsh the film too much for painting the villains as very one-dimensional, since almost the entire film was done to tell the mystery of V and the growth of Evey. I hear that Moore had written the original V for Vendetta with much more balance and wrote the government as very complex individuals, but V for Vendetta went and did what it was made to do, and I greatly enjoyed all the turns made in it.

The Polar Express (2004) - An Animation Review

The theme of this movie is NOT subtle. often you will get this in movies that symbolize religion, but if you were over twelve and knew about christianity, you'd easily see the symbolism between believing in Santa and believing in God.

For one thing, the movie is 100% about believing in something you have no proof of believing in. And if that weren't all, that thing the kid doesn't believe in is Santa, a being who is omniscient ("knows when you are bad or good"), omnipresent (can go to every house in the world), and omnipotent (Can make any present in the world).

the plot of the movie is very weird and chaotic. rather than there being a quest of some kind, the movie is about a kid, who's name is never revealed, voiced by Daryl Sabara and motion captured by Tom Hanks, who gets invited, on christmas eve no less, to take a ride on the Polar Express to go to the North Pole. At first he is hesitant, but he gets on luckily before he misses the train. He becomes acquainted with the conductor, voiced by tom hanks, a young girl, a know-it-all, and a young boy who's name is Billy. Billy is the only one who's name is ever revealed and he is very interesting.

The movie, rather than have a traditional story, is more an enchanted road trip, set on a train. Like any road trip, the story is about a bunch of tiny stops along the trip that shows the main character that there is more out there. Typically this is done in comedies for the result of doing skits in different regions, but sometimes a road trip can work for symbolic introspection as well.

Apparently, when on the train, the conductor gives each passenger a ticket where he fancifully punches holes to write letters on them. it is unknown about what happens if you loose your ticket, but the young girl does due to the fault of the main character. He finds it though and tries to give it back. Finding the girl being taken onto the roof of the train, he fears she's going to be thrown off, so he goes on top to find her, only instead, he finds the Hobo.

The Hobo is my favorite character in this movie. He seems to be a ghost due to his constant disappearing and reappearing and his ability to dissolve into the snow. He only seems to come around to question the main character's faith, though he also seems to be looking out for the kid. His mannerisms and performance is very fascinating.

Anyway, after a seen that would make for an interesting roller coaster sequence, he end up in the engine room where he finds the girl, operating the controls while the engineer and fireman try to fix a light. They get it done, and after a sequence involving some character exploration for the little girl, they both stop the train and get it running again.

After some action sequences, they return to their bunks, but before then, the Hobo has one last scare at the main character, attacking him with a scrooge marionette and calling him a non-believer.

The movie then settles down and the make their way to the North Pole. Now, not much exciting happens, but instead of going with the group, the girl, billy, and the main character get lost and end up in the inner workings of the factory. They see how everything works and how the elves operate. There's even some interesting karma to be done to the know-it-all who tries to open his presents early an gets nothing by underwear. I like to believe that there's an enchantment that makes anyone who does this get underwear, as a sort of punishment for impatience and greed.

All in all, they make it to the festival and Santa appears. but due to some strange magic and some great writing, the main character can't see Santa or hear the bells of his sleigh. He finds a loose bells and after finally choosing the believe in everything, he can hear the bell and sees Santa right in front of him. Santa then chooses to offer the first gift of christmas to the main character and asks what he wants. he only whispers it to him, so we can't hear, but Santa gives him the bell he picked up, most likely to make sure he will always remember.

Unfortunately, he looses the bell right away and fears he will never believe in this again. The conductor finishes punching the stamps and reveals word words that impart great meaning and lessons to the kids. The girl getting Lead, the know-it-all getting Learn, the main character getting Believe, and billy getting a cool one that switches from Depend, Rely, and Count On. After which they all return home, bid farewell, and the main character wakes up the next day, unsure if everything was true or not.

But low and behold, Santa found the bell and left it under his tree, his parents unable to hear it, though he could. The bell served as a constant reminder of the existence of Santa, since whenever he stopped being able to hear it, he knew he was loosing faith.

The movie is really good. the subplots surrounding the girl getting confidence in her decisions, billy learning to trust and make friends, and the know-it-all learning humility are all nice subplots, but they also serve as good analogies for those in religious faith.

Billy, a poor kid with no friends, finds it impossible to enjoy christmas due to his poverty, something the well off girl doesn't seem to understand, and it is never really explained to her. Billy, being poor, probably saw christmas as nothing but a disappointment since he never got what he wanted or anything.

The girl in return, represented the everyday believer. Someone who's had no reason not to believe and has found more joy in believing than not believing.

And the know-it-all, who represents those who believe they are perfect because they believe and have no faults. Even though he never outright admits the being perfect, his refusal to wait for christmas to open his presents, his hostility at times, and his general arrogance are clear indicators that he case a very high ego created because of his intellect.

And the main character represents the target audience: those that don't believe for one reason or another and feel empty because of it. Now, this movie is not an attack on atheists, or agnostics, or anyone who follows another religion, but rather those that loose faith in something key and important in their life.

The movie is certainly an art piece, and those that tend to get angry at religious symbolism in general ought not to watch it since the whole core theme of it is faith, but if you want to see a good movie, then this is one.

Also, just a last minute detail, the movie's animation and art quality is incredibly detailed and beautiful. it is lagging a bit due to advancements int technology, but they still have some great bits there. So if you want to see it for a purely artistic merit, go for it.

Arthur Christmas (2011) - An Animation Review

First, an apology for the early review of this movie. This movie is very good and such a short review is such a stupid thing to do, but without further delay, the real review.

Second, I meant what I said before though about the realism factor. Throughout the film, there's always the feeling that there's something bigger at work here. Whether it is the apparent accident with Grandpa back in the day that almost started World War 3, or it is that really weird event where Santa was discovered in the 1800s and Christmas was shut down for so many years and led to the Elves going crazy. It really paints a picture of just how important Santa really is to the elves.

When the elves begin to panic, it begins to be seen that these Elves need the human Santas to take charge, otherwise they would just run christmas without the Santas if they feared they would leave. With the exception of that really annoying yes-man elf that follows Arthur's older brother and that really motivated packing elf, who seems to end up becoming one of 2011s best animated characters.

Unfortunately, I recently saw the Nostalgia Critic episode of Arthur Christmas over christmas and it sadly means many of my thoughts about it are related to that video. I will try to keep this review original since I started writing these reviews to start saying what others don't always say, but if I sadly do, remember the quote by Rolan Barthes, "A writer can only imitate a gesture forever anterior, never original: his only power is to combine different kinds of writing". And yes, I stole that quote from OanCitizen's review of Cloud Atlas. The irony.

Now, to continue.

In the movie, Arthur is the mail reader who reads and responds to every letter written by a child to Santa. This clearly is used to show just how connected Arthur is to all the children, more so than anyone else, even his father, Santa himself.

Now, due to an accident (that he technically caused) a package is left undelivered to a child and he is terrified of what kind of heartbreak will soon follow the next day. His brother, who basically runs the whole operation nowadays, doesn't seem to have grasped the importance of the situation and shoves Arthur off. He has been fighting for his father to finally retire and give him the role of Santa and it has become very clear that in trying to prove his superiority, he has lost sight of what it means to be Santa.

The same can be said for the Grandfather, who used to be Santa but lost his position to his son and has forever been feeling inadequate around the house, just sitting with his old dog(reindeer), so he tricks Arthur into taking him and the deer-drawn sleigh out to hand-deliver the present themselves. Hitching a ride is the previously mentioned hyper-motivated packing elf and they travel, trying to find the little girl who was missed.

Mayhem ensues when the government catches wind of Arthur's adventures and the world believes that Aliens are invading. Ironic how the government is more willing to predict aliens instead of Santa.

Arthur's father and brother also catch wind of this and chase after them and the whole adventure ties to an end with all four of them banding together to deliver the present.

The movie is really good, with all sorts of little details going around that makes the whole movie feel more real than anything else. The use of the Aurora Borealis to magically power the engines makes sense for why they live in the north pole besides the seclusion. And the advancements in technology makes sense in a time progression. I'm sure back in the day, Santa only delivered presents to kids around him, then he expanded his reach the more villages he found, and as time went on and more villages were discovered, he had to get it done in one night so he had to advance his technology more and more.

A brilliant movie and I look forward to Sony's next animate film.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Episode 11

Ok people, I'm back, and I have unlimited internet again, which means i don't need to wait until 2am to watch a movie and review it. Sadly because I had to watch it online and I can't get access to the twelfth, I will be a sitting duck for the 13th this week. Ah number 13, you have scorned me again. But let's discuss this episode for now, since I have 2 old movies to re-write a review for and the newest episode of Once Upon a Time to watch. No, sorry, I won't be reviewing Once Upon a Time: 1. because really, i never read the original source material for all the fables they use, and 2. The show is in its 3rd season and i don't plan on doing a recap of 2 whole seasons first, especially since the show is so complex.

Now, the new(er newer) episode. This is a GREAT episode. we have character growth for everyone (not so much Simmons or Fitz, but the mystery behind their growth is enough that I count it. I'm really interested in what is going to happen with Fitz since he's gotten so serious). Melinda has showed that she acknowledges Skye's usefulness and I think accepts her as one of the team, everyone has done their part to go against Agent Hand's orders of focusing on Centipede first and Coulson second.

Agent Ward still hasn't gotten much in terms of growth, but i don't think it really matters by now. He's sort of been established as who he is and I'm pleased with where he stands. He's loosened, learned to rely on others more, and the chemistry between him and May is intriguing and makes me want to know more about where it's going to go.

But this episode really shines with Skye, who is sent rouge by Melinda and she successfully tracks down Coulson pretty much by herself. She even proves she can take care of herself when things go south and they even go in her favor.

I'm not going to drone on about what she does since you should just watch the episode, but let's just say, you know how spies and detectives are portrayed like they apparently are super creative and intelligent, when really they just get played against idiots and get really lucky? Well, maybe it's because we've spent so long watching her grow as a person, but Skye has kicked all of them to the curb and demonstrated just how good an agent she really is.

And she is rewarded with her security access bracelet removed and has been turned back into a member of the team again.

Oh, and we don't exactly learn WHAT SHIELD did to Coulson, but we did find out that it was incredibly painful and unethical and that Coulson never went to tahiti.

up next, re-writes

A notice of Apology

I'm sorry everyone. Not to make excuses, but combining late drives and the ridiculous fact that when I'm at my parents house for vacations the internet is so full of crap that I can't even watch Youtube without throwing it down the toilet, I end up having to wait until 2 in the morning to watch any of my movies to review. And because I had to wait that late, and I have been moving around so often, I realized quite quickly, that my last two, maybe even three reviews, were so terrible, I am going to have to re-write them. Now, I'm not going to be an idiot and replace a burnt out engine with one just as likely to burn out, so I will be going on hiatus until College starts up again. Once I'm back on Campus, I will be able to put my reviews on full time. 

Also, for all of you who will be waiting patiently, once I get my bearings back again, and all my terrible reviews have been cleaned up, I will be reviewing all the Alan Moore adapted movies, from League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, to V for Vendetta, to even Watchmen and any others that I didn't know about.

And After that, I will be testing to see how much my fan-base is actually interested in this review, by holding a contest. It's my love letter to you all, I will review whatever Animated or adapted movie you people want me to review. More info will come when the event gets closer.

Happy Holidays everyone