'Hugo' A Review

'Hugo' is film about an orphan boy, Hugo, who lives in a train station. Past that it's unclear what the movie is trying to be about. Is it about being alone, is it about toys/clock work, is it about growing up, is it about dreams, is it about movies? The movie is incredibly vague and meandering with respect to it's subject matter. Reviewers have said it's Scorsese's homage to silent films, it's unfortunate silent films aren't actually mentioned or referred to until 100 minutes in. And the silent movie content was unrolled in a 15 minute montage.

The acting is wooden, especially Ben Kingsly's as 'surly' shop owner. All the characters go through no change, no emotional arc, and it's not apparent that they are even real people. Certainly there are plot devises that 'change' the characters, but by the acting you would be unable to tell.

The film is frustratingly long and gives little to no context who the main character is or what his motivations are. We see, in a flashback, Jude Law as Hugo's dad for maybe two minutes. In this flashback Hugo and his dad are repairing a mechanical toy man who writes. The first part of the movie is all about repairing this toy man because Hugo believes whatever it writes will be some kind of message or closure from his father. Once repaired the story abandons Hugo and his dad and shifts to Ben Kingsly's character. It's nonsensical poor-storytelling.

There is also some terrible comedic relief by Sacha Baron Cohen as the station security that seems as if it's in the wrong movie.

The film is unclear, unstructured, and unsatisfying.

Don't See It.

Graffiti 42

Outside the Landmark. If there's a reference I'm missing it.

Steve's Guide To Family

For my sister Marta

1. Stay Connected- Keep in touch with your family. You don't have to be in contact all the time: not once a day, not once a week, but stay in contact. Let your loved ones know how you're doing and what you're up to. Email, text, call. Don't let there be a gap.

2. Talk And Listen- Talk to your family. Tell them what's going on in your life: how your job is, what you're into, and if you're in love. Share your pain with them too, they're the only people in the world you can unload on and not feel bad about it. Tell them as much as you can and listen even more. Be interested and engaged in your family members lives. Listen to the little stupid things that no one else will listen to because sometimes those small things are big things.

3. Argue- You only have to worry about a certain amount of politeness when it comes to your family. If they are doing something you don't agree with or don't like, tell them. Feel free to call bullshit on them or fight back if they are making you feel mad, sad, or embarrassed. Keep in mind they are your family and you love them. Don't be mean, be constructive. Don't be biting, be logical. But make your point. Stand up.

3a. Check Yourself- Your family are people too. You know them the best so you know how to cut deep if you want to. Don't. Don't hit below the belt. Make your point but don't hit the nerve even though you know exactly where it is.

4. Eat Together- Share meals together. You don't have to talk. But break bread together. You're a family. A unit. It's something you don't share with anyone else. Sometimes they're the only ones you can count on. Sometimes it's you against the world.

5. Sit Together- You don't need a reason or an activity to be together. Watch a movie or TV and simply sit together. Read or check your email or write. Simply sit in the same room. Share the space. Sometimes doing that brings you closer than chatting. Exist together.

"There's nothing like family you know." -Al Pacino Scent Of A Woman

Music

A poem about music for the Beanpole

walking alone
through the bleak unknown
with strings that shriek
and horns that moan

listen careful
to life's faint tone
when you feel meek
which we all are prone

take strength
you are always home
when music swells
which is your own

'The Skin I Live In' A Review

The second worst movie I've ever seen. The worst being 'Blindness'. The film is about a mad scientist- his tragic past and his questionable experiments. The film has no redeeming qualities, no plot that can be followed, and no reason for its graphic grotesqueries. I asked myself many times while watching 'why was this made?' I'm yet to find an answer.

The characters have no motivation. The perverse sexuality has no purpose. The plot makes no sense.

Avoid At All Cost.

Graffiti 41

Signs from the universe.

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.
-Emily Dickinson

"Man needs, for his happiness, not only the enjoyment of this or that, but hope and enterprise and change." -Bertrand Russell

The Devins: Revenge...?

Salute Jive has our last iO show tonight, 10pm. Come check us out!

Years later, the Devins get revenge. Or do they?

The Devins: Nerdsworth

The Devins go to the science lab.

'Immortals' A Review

Immortals is a visually intriguing but boring film. It has the same producers as '300' but not as much action, bad ass lines, or semblance of a plot. The movie takes a lot of liberties with the Greek mythology but not in an interesting or original way. Hyperion is waging wore on the country, Theseus sets out to save his people. The plot meanders, twists back on itself, but goes nowhere.

For an action movie, there was very little action. For a movie based in Greek mythology, there was very little magic or fantasy. For a movie that presumably had a large budget, it's unclear where the money went. Maybe to get Stephen Dorff.

Don't See It.

The Devins: Bunting

The Devins in high school.

'Into The Abyss' A Review

"I don't have to like you but I respect you as a human being." Herzog says toward the beginning of the documentary. Initially the film reminds me somewhat of 'Thin Blue Line' the Errol Morris documentary about a homicide. Quickly I realized the movie is about something entirely different. Herzog states at the beginning of the film he opposes the death penalty but his views are not overt within the film. It's not a political film its a frank portrayal of a situation. A glimpse at a moment in the lives of a few.

In 2001 three people were murdered for a car. Two 19 year old boys were found guilty and one is awaiting execution. Herzog briefly details the crime but is not concerned with the guilt of the men or in what exactly happened. He's concerned with how people cope with life and death.

The film is intricate, beautiful, heartrending, and briefly hopeful. The characters are fascinating and Herzog leaves us to draw our own conclusions. The most powerful character in the film is a former death row guard who participated in over 125 executions. He participated in the first execution of a female in the early 90's. After the execution he was haunted by her and all the other inmates he had executed and quit shortly after. His whole interview is moving but at the end of it he says something that sums up the whole movie. He says his friends have quoted a phrase to him 'live the dash' which he didn't understand. On your tombstone, he explains, you have your birth date and your death date with a dash in between. He decided he would live his life, as should we all.

Live The Dash.

Don't Miss It.

The Devins

The opening scene from Salute Jive last night. The Devins talk juicing.

Graffiti 40

"I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve." -Xavier Cugat

"My belief about acting is: one foot on a banana peel and the other one in the grave." -Mark Ruffalo

Cavendish bananas, which make up 99 percent of the bananas on the market today, are now facing extinction from a fungus called Tropical Race Four.

Food for thought.

Dino Life

Pants and I in a scene from last nights Rick show. Pants is a young brontosaurus and I'm a grizzled brontosaurus trying to teach him the ropes.

Reflections On The IOP

I finished the Out-Patient program yesterday. It was an interesting journey, I went in tired and blue and I came out awake and sharp. One part group therapy, one part lecture, and one part popery. It was a rolling admissions group so people could start at anytime with a wide range of addictions(from crack cocaine to alcohol) and sober time(1-50 days). I met some interesting people who I felt a kinship with. That is what made it so helpful. Getting in touch with people who understand where you're coming from and are going through similar experiences. You realize you're not alone. Three times a week I knew I could go somewhere and talk about my addiction and cravings and anxiety to a group of people with no overt connection to my life and they would understand.

People shared all kinds of things which at times I wasn't prepared to hear. Or which made my issues so shallow by comparison it made it much easier to deal with. Failed marriages, loved ones with cancer, relapses, dead-end jobs, despair. When I first went in I was the youngest person by ten years, half way through it was a group of young people, by my last night I was the youngest by a wide margin again. I found I identified with and got more out of the people around my age. People with two decades or more of addiction have a much different perspective, are in a much different place, which towards the end of my tenure I found virtually unrelatable. And if I'm being honest, irritating.

The problem I had was some of my fellow patients talking on and on without really saying anything, going into such minute detail about the minutia of their day, or spouting out unsolicited advise about the right way to do this or that. Most of the time those were the older patients which I guess I can excuse because they were older but more importantly their addiction was older.

For the most part everyone was great and from time to time someone would say something that totally resonated with me and made me feel like 'that's me, they're saying exactly what I'm feeling, they're saying exactly what I need to hear.'

I feel much better now: clear, well rested, stable. And I feel much better equipped to move on.

I'm grateful for the sun, the moon, and the cool cool night breeze.

Day 32

'Martha Marcy May Marlene' A Review

MMMM is about a girl in a cult. Martha escapes at the beginning and stays with her sister to recover. The movie is a series of flashbacks to her time with the cult from the present. I don't know why this movie was made. It's not entertaining or enjoyable to watch. The acting is superb but the subject matter is virtually unwatchable. The cult life is insidiously manipulative and disturbing. Martha's sister is remarkably obtuse. Elizabeth Olson gives an amazing performance but I don't know why. The movie doesn't tell a new story or say anything. The film is simply presented, this is.

Other than the subject matter I had two other issues with the film. I didn't believe that Martha would be brainwashed and indoctrinated into the cult as deeply as she was within two years. I didn't believe she would be so closed off about it while living with her sister. She doesn't mention or acknowledge her time there in anyway. She acts very strangely and it takes a nervous breakdown for her sister to get her psychiatric help. Her sister would have known way earlier that something was wrong psychology with her sister. There's a scene where Martha climbs into bed with her sister while she's having sex with her husband. Duh.

The ending, much like the entire film, says nothing. Leaves us with nothing. No explanation. No reason. No hope.

Don't See It.

Sci-Fi / Fantasy Books

I just finished 'The Magician King' and went to Barnes & Nobel to get another book. It's always difficult to find good Sci-Fi/Fantasy books because there's so many cheesy or bad ones. Here's a list of books I've enjoyed for my genre nerd friends.

Great:
Shadow/Claw, Sword/Citadel, Latro In The Mist, Soldier of Sidon, The Knight, The Wizard, Pirate Freedom, The Sorcerer's House -Gene Wolfe
Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth Stone, The Power That Perserves -Stephen R. Donaldson
Dune -Frank Herbert
A Song Of Ice And Fire -George R.R. Martin.
American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverwhere, Stardust, The Graveyard Book -Neil Gaiman
The Name Of The Wind, The Wise Man's Fear -Patrick Ruthfuss
The Stand, The Dark Tower Series -Stephen King
Snow Crash -Neal Stephenson
The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress -Robert A. Heinlein
The Space Trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia -C.S. Lewis
The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, Last Argument For Kings -Joe Abercrombie
The Earthsea Series -Ursala K. LeGuin
Harry Potter Series -J.K. Rowling
Gun, With Occasional Music -Jonathan Letham

Good:
World War Z -Max Brooks
Jonathan Strange And Mr. Norrell -Susanna Clarke
The Riftwar Saga -Raymond E. Feist
The Shannara Series, Word & Void Series -Terry Brooks
Time Travelers Wife -Audrey Niffenegger
A Clockwork Orange -Anthony Burgess
A Brave New World -Aldous Huxley
The Xanth Series, The Incarnations Of Immortality Series, Apprentice Adept Series, Killobyte -Piers Anthony
A Canticle For Lebowitz -Walter M. Miller
The Repairman Jack Series -F. Paul Wilson

The Change Series -S.M. Stirling
The Hunger Games Trilogy- Suzanne Collins
Battle Royale -Koushun Takami
The Prestige -Christopher Priest
Blue Light -Walter Mosley
The Other End Of Time -Frank Pohl
The Magician, The Magician King -Lev Grossman
His Dark Materials -Philip Pullman
A Wrinkle In Time -Madeline L'Engle
Frankenstein -Mary Shelley
The Death Gate Cycle -Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Dragonriders of Pern Series -Anne McCaffrey

This is a work-in-progress comprehensive list, I'll be updating it periodically.

'In Time' A Review

'In Time' is a great idea for a movie but is incapable of capitalizing on it. The casting is off balance. The best actors are in the smallest parts and the worst actors are the leads. Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, and Matt Bomer all do great turns but they are in the movie so briefly they can't save it. Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried pollute the screen with their terrible line readings and mugging. I will never buy Justin Timberlake as an action hero because of his high-pitched creaky voice, he has no presence, no gravitas.

Like a lot of movies 'In Time' doesn't really know what to do with it's great idea. The world's economy is now run on time, if you run out of time you die. The rich can live forever, while the poor live day to day. A big problem is that there is no explanation as to why this happened or what time period were talking about, if it is even in fact earth. A rich guy gives Timberlake 100 years so he goes into the rich peoples timezone. He's quickly caught and the time is taken away which inspires him to go on a crime time spree.

I would have liked to see what he would actually have done with the time, integrating himself in to the rich peoples society. Instead the movie degenerates into a blatant rip off of a combination of 'Bonnie and Clyde', 'Robin Hood', and 'Badlands'. All originality is lost and a great supporting cast can't save Timberlake and Seyfried's wide-eyed shallowness and unwatchability.


Don't See It.

Dream Art

Beanpole has been working on a series of pieces where he has someone describe a dream they've had, he asks some questions, and then he creates an interpretation. I described a dream to him back in the summer which I can only vaguely recall. This was the end result. The title is "Steven J. Nelson: Live And In Person".

I've been dreaming a lot more recently. It's good to dream.

Day 24

Fall

Seasons change and so do we
anything you'd like to be
become whatever brings you glee
I would like to be a tree.

Roots dig deep and branches wide
the wind grows cold as the trees sigh
change they must but right on time
seasons bind them all in line.

Why can't I be a tree?
O' the things that I would see.

Graffiti 39

I'm not sure what the intention of this is suppose to be. I'm also not sure how I feel about it.

"I have come to cast fire upon the Earth; and how I wish it were already kindled!" -Gospel of Luke

"I don't even call it violence when it's in self defense; I call it intelligence" -Malcolm X