The Watchmen

So, yesterday I went to see The Watchmen. I knew it was something I just needed to see, as a film person and also as a comic-book-hero person. Because I am both of those things, I made sure to look into the plot and characters before and I was really happy with what the film did with the comic material. First of all the comic itself was an extremely original work, from the characters to the plot, and also still incredibly relevant to the world today. This I believe as opposed to The Spirit, which (pardon me) sucked, and Sin City, which I liked and enjoyed, but Watchmen was still good without relying on excessive (though at times graphic) violence. Not to mention, I totally adore Zack Snyder for 300, which was a visual spectacle in itself. Watchmen was also visually and aesthetically pleasing. That’s what I love most about comic-to-movie makes because it’s all about the scenes, and not just how they are played out, but how they will look, how they will feel because of the look, like everything is arranged just so to give this over-all effect. I feel like not a lot of directors are concerned enough with the details anymore. (For example: In He’s Just Not That Into You, albeit this movie is not a cinematic gem, it bothered me to no end when there was a scene with Jennifer Aniston and she was talking to her sisters and then all the sudden it cut to her hemming her dress for about 2 seconds and then went back to her face. It was totally unnecessary, chopped up, and put together with very little thought. That BOTHERED me.)
So anyway, the plot is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of everyday society. They helped fight and win the war in Vietnam and now America is in a spoiled state of “immoral indulgences” (wait this is an alternate world?) and the Cold War is heating up. The superheroes have either retired or now work for the government. When The Comedian is murdered, the other Watchmen come out to retirement to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. They uncover a conspiracy with links to their shared past and horrible consequences for the future of humanity.
I think lots of the characters serve as satirical representations for the common American during this time in history, especially with the changes in history. There’s The Silk Spectre, who is the “every woman” of the 50’s; the Comedian, this world’s version of the American Cowboy; The Night Owl, the boy scout (and not in a Batman way) who still believes in truth and justice although the whole world around him is corrupt; and the genetically super-humanized Dr. Manhattan who serves as a God-like Jiminy Cricket with all the human sensitivities of a scientist with lab rats. There’s also Rorschach, the extremist of the group? He’s kind of like the outcast of the outcasts, just a little crazier than the average nut, and yet his craziness is what keeps him on the good side. He is like the Night Owl in that he believes in justice, but he’s more like an eye for an eye type of guy.
There was one part that stood out the most to me, maybe because I’m a girl and I like Love, but it really hit a personal chord. The world is about to be blown to nuclear hell and Laurie (The Silk Spectre) goes to Dr. Manhattan to ask him to save it (they’re on Mars…). Dr. Manhattan has kind of lost sight of humanity, and lost a big part of his own humanity because he is so God-like- all knowing, omnipresent, etc. Laurie is still trying to see the good in humanity and knows it’s worth saving, but she is still trying to fight her own demons and doubts about life and the world. Then there is this great part when Dr. Manhattan is describing the miracle of human coupling and child birth and how at odds with the universe the whole process is, and yet it happens, it’s possible. And then he goes on to infer that all that happens, has a purpose, every cellular change, changes for a reason, known or unknown. I guess I just like to hold onto the idea that good can come from bad, that everything has a reason and purpose, like in 13 Conversations About The Same Thing. Like diamonds, they're beautiful, more so than their obvious luster and value, but because they came from coal. I like it, is all I’m saying.
The Watchmen was good by me, gold star.

Soccer

I love soccer. I totally forgot about how much I really love soccer. I've played since I was five but quit after high school cause I just wasn't that good, but man is it fun. When I was little, if I wasn't good at something I'd just quit- I quit basketball, softball, tennis, painting, all sorts of things. But I loved soccer. I've been on several teams, had five different coaches, so many different teammates I forget some of their names, but the three years I played for Rod Scaff on the Dallas Texans (Red North [what a stinkin' long name.]) was the most fun I'd ever had. The girls were so much fun, I had some real friends, and Rod was great- a great coach and a great man.
Rod was English and there was a girl on my team named Vonnie, so whenever Rod would call our names they would get all jumbled up in his accent and we would have to do the whole "You? Me? You-Me... You!" it was always funny. He had all sorts of funny little sayings that were totally bizarre. He called us donuts or bungalows, cause donuts have no centers like we had no brain? and bungalows have no upstairs, again, like we had no brain.
He liked me, I liked him. He liked that I was real aggressive and that I forced the girls to "dig deep", and I liked how he didn't yell. Well that's a total lie, he yelled all the time, but not in an angry way. He yelled to be heard, but never in a negative or condescending way. He was a great coach in that way. He teased, we had fun, but we always knew when to lock it up. We were good for our division, we were the best of the worst! We won every game, worked hard, definitely had fun. I keep saying it was fun, it was! But it was the power that was fun. It was getting the ball and knowing you could knock down whoever came at you, that you could run faster than anyone trying to catch you, and if you got an open shot on goal, it was all over. I was a defender so that rarely happened, but the sheer brute force I had, it was immense. I miss that. There's nothing intimidating about me now. I used to be all muscle and power, I could run for days. I miss THAT.
I miss using my body as a tool, an instrument, finely tuned to do great work. It's fallen apart since then, gotten fat in places it won't go away. All my muscles are too tightly wound, my joints are shot, it's a sad decline and it will only get worse. That's the worst part, I know it's not over. I used to be an amazon, I used to be somebody. Something spectacular. I had real raw talent, but I wasted it. It's hard to hold on to the things you love. After a while you stop loving the thing, and you just want to be the best. I am never the best at anything, because I love too many things too much to let just one define me. I want it all, but it's impossible.

Extra Credit- I Could Talk About This All Day

Couldn’t wait for the Oscars, drove for seven hours just to get home on time, and I am happy to say I wasn’t disappointed. What a show, what a spectacle- in a good way of course. I love Hugh Jackman, who was hosting, and he was amazing as usual. He has such charisma and is such a great showman. All the “acts” had musical numbers and were just extremely well done, all the performers were so good. During the show it said the president or whoever is usually in charge of the event was retiring and I just couldn’t help but think whoever is in charge now really started off well, it was one of the best award shows I’ve seen in a long, long time. Even the new way they gave out the awards was really interesting, but more than that, nostalgic. It really gave the actors more credit, more recognition, to have their peers say something about their work. That way their talent is recognized even if they don’t get the award. It was nice. I was also incredibly happy and incredibly excited that all the people I wanted to win, won! I like to think I have good taste in movies and can spot talent, and so on, when I see it- but literally every nominee that I would have picked won! It was just wonderful. And of course I went crazy when Slumdog Millionaire cleaned up, definitely one of my all time favorite movies of all time. Way up high on the list with A Philadelphia Story and Peter Pan.
Can I just talk about this movie a little more, I just can’t say enough good things about it. I know I already talked about it a little before, but seriously, SERIOUSLY! I just haven’t felt that connection from a movie in so long. Who hasn’t felt let down, who hasn’t felt the burden was too hard to bear, but he does it! Jamal never gives up, I think everyone needs to hear that from time to time, from a believable source, from a higher power, a sign, “Don’t give up, it will turn out alright, there is a plan, everything happens for a reason.” And not that I believe totally in Christianity and all it’s dogma’s, but I do believe there is meaning, things to learn, in our everyday experiences. Certain things have meaning, when we look out for others, it will reward us in the end. And I’m not saying I know everything about Muslim-ism (…?) but the ideas, the themes, the archetypes, THE MESSAGE! It was wonderful, fantastic, stupendous. I just can’t stop. I bought the CD, I bought the movie poster, it hangs over my bed, I am a fan.
Some other really greats works were nominated and the best ones won- Heath Ledger for best supporting male actor was a gimmie. I mean, come on, I was so morally confused while watching The Dark Knight. I wanted Batman to win, but I just couldn’t wait to see what the joker did next, he made me laugh while scaring the piss out of me, “The Devil and God were raging inside me.” And I love internal conflict. I don’t think there is a better plot/climax/drama/ anything like a character trying to choose between their desires, fears, wants, needs, responsibilities- because those are real, those are the things that connect each and everyone of us- and distinguish us.
Another movie that I feel like gets made fun of a lot more than really is tasteful and didn't get the attention it deserved (until it won the Oscar for best animated feature film) was Wall -E. Seriously, that little robot was the cutest thing since... stinkin' E.T. I don't even know. I just know that the only movie that could pull off first 30 minutes with no talking and Hello Dolly as the theme music is incredible.

MICeniors of JJ Pearce

This is the story of how I met my ex-boyfriend, Happy Valentine's Day.
In high school, I was a rockin' party chick. I had been going to parties since I was a freshman and had never been caught, cheerleaders had been kicked out the squad, athletes had bee cut from their teams, kids were getting suspended, but not me. I was at the top of my game, until one fateful night in October. The ironic thing is, I wasn't even going to go out that night, I was planning on going to see a movie, but was so bummed out that I had gotten the release date confused, I was going to spend a quiet night at home. But my best friend called and she was asking for favors, one of her old goody-goody friends was throwing a party while her parents were out of town and she needed our help to make it a hit. I agreed, my friend picked me up and I left my house with my phone and a 20 dollar bill.
It was about an hour into the party when we walked in the door, a tiny girl who probably weighed about 90 pounds walked up to me and puked all over my jeans. At first I was livid, but then I just felt bad for her. The girl was throwing up all over the place and none of her friends were helping her. Either they really didn't like her, or all these prudes who only recently started drinking didn't know alcohol poisoning when they saw it. I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom so she could vomit in a toilet and not all over the house. Another thing I was helping her with was her drinks. She somehow was still getting them, so to keep her from drinking them, I would drink them. After a while she finally fell asleep so I went out to find all hell had broken loose. The poor girl who was hosting the party came up to me and asked me to help her kick people out. It was getting late and more and more people were showing up and some of them she didn't even know. There were people out on the lawn making it look very suspicious so I told her I'd go out and talk to them, I said, 'Lock the door behind me.'
There were about four angry guys on the lawn telling me they wanted in and little old me saying beat it, when a cop walked right up to me with his flashlight in my face and asked me for my ID. You cannot imagine the amount of adrenline running through my system as this happens. My face was hot, my muscles were tight, and I was ready to cry. I knew I had little to no chance of getting out of this, so I tried to turn his attention away from me. I said, 'Officer, can you please make them leave? I don't know them and they are threatening me.' The cop told his partner to get rid of them and asked me again for my ID. I emptied my pockets to show him all I had was my phone and some money, he said for me to let him in the house. I jiggled the knob and said, sorry it's locked! He told me to call my friends and get him in the house. I flipped open my phone and pretended to call someone, as I did I slowly started walking away. I turned to see if the cop was following me and saw the front door open. Two guys were walking out of the hous with beer cans in their hands. The cop grabbed one guy, he tried to get away and the cop wrestled him to the ground. I took off so fast I lost my shoes.
It was so dark I could barely see where I was going. I had no shoes, I was covered in throw-up, and I had no idea where I was. I ran down an alley then cut into someone's front lawn. My heart was pounding and I thought, I can't believe I'm getting away! Then I tripped on a drive-way, rolled my ankle and cut my bare feet.
Right way, my ankle swelled til I coulnd't bend it, it was impossible to walk. Bleeding, vomity, and drunk, I crawled on my hands and knees to a side yard. I took my phone and called my friends, told them the cops were there and asked them to come pick me up. 'Where are you?' they asked. I had no clue and I couldn't walk or find a street sign. Just then I saw someone creeping in the middle of the street. I could tell right away he had run from the party too.
'Hey!' I said, 'Hey Buddy!' The guy looked over in my general direction and crept into the lawn. 'If you can go look and see what street this is, I can give you a ride out of here!' I promised. He took off and came back to sit with me while we waited. We made some small talk for a while, he looked at my ankle, we laughed about the situation. He said his name was Gibson and we actually went to the same school but had never actually met til that night, then my friends finally showed up. Without a car.
There were seven of us chilling in some random side yard, waiting for one girl to get a car and pick us up. But the cops showed up first. Apparently I hadn't run far enough and we were only about 4 houses away from the house that got busted. They gave us all MIC's and the worst part was, the cop from the house was with the cops that found us in the side yard, he took me aside and asked, 'Why did you run?' Cause I thought he was gonna arrest me! Duh!
After that night me and Gibson started to see more and more of each other at school, not to mention we had to take AA classes together, and I helped him with his community service (part of the ticket) by letting him work with me at my mom's church. A month later we started dating and stopped drinking. A year later he dumped me for no good reason. Happy Valentine's Day.

Hamlet is my Homeboy

So we've been reading Hamlet in class and watching the different film versions of it and I have to say, I guess I totally forgot what a genius Shakespeare was, and I genuinely like Hamlet. (and Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, etc., etc.) I think, in classes at least, if you dissect the work so much and hammer out as much meaning as you can and you just forget you're reading a totally legitimate, interesting piece of work. Hamlet is such an interesting character, especially for the period in which Shakespeare wrote it. I didn't watch the modern version with my class, but I did watch the Kenneth Branagh version (my favorite). He does a lot of the Shakespeare films and I think he's just a genuinely good theatrical actor. Also, Kate Winslet does an amazing job as Ophelia and doesn't get as much credit as I think is due. I really love the difference between Kate Ophelia and Julia Styles Ophelia, one crazy and the other depressed. Both versions are believable, both are sad. I also love the Branagh version for all it's beautiful archetypes. While Hamlet has the best lines in the play (by far), my favorite character is Ophelia, or at least, I pity her the most. Nothing is really her fault and yet she gets the shittiest end of the stick. Shakespeare seems to do that a lot, the good girl always finishes last it seems (Titus). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern I've watched and read before, and while it was witty and amusing, it's not something I wish to revisit.
In other culture, I saw Slumdog Millionaire and I think my life is complete. Usually, I don't like movies with unrealistic endings, but it was so believable, I mean, after all the hardships and getting let down, finally, FINALLY! the good boy got the girl, the money, happily ever after. It definitely deserves the Oscar for all categories. And the Bollywood dance at the end! I cried I was so happy. I haven't done that since I saw Peter Pan five years ago, and never before that. The film was shot wonderfully, the child actors were scary realistic, (plus they all seemed to actually look alike [I hate it when family doesn't look similar or young versions look nothing like the older characters, etc.]) the plot was only predictable in one instance, the soundtrack was wonderful, everything- I just loved everything.
I also saw (my high school's) production of Footloose, the musical. It was good enough to sit through, although the main character Ren (despite the actors best efforts) had spunk at best, and while he could dance probably better than other high school boys his age, was outshone vocally by the whole cast. The best performance would have to go to the man who played the father/Reverend. He played his part convincingly and with passion, which is a big deal for someone who's 16 playing a man with a dead and rebellious child, and in charge of a town's religious morale.
I saw two other movies, Push and He's Just Not That Into You. Push had respectable special effects, though the plot was poorly executed. He's Just Not That Into You was too much back and forth between sappy and dramatic, as life can be. All in all, good week, lots of culture. Woo!