Does Anyone Read This

I'm thinking of posting on here again. Probably just for my own good.

John Wayne

John Wayne is the most overrated and over appreciated actor ever. That's not to say he's not good. He does his thing well; his little walk, his bad boy hero attitude. Most of his movies though are him acting the same role. I enjoy actors such as Samuel L Jackson same roles for who they are and what they have done even though he repeats the same role, but I wouldn't place him as one of the greatest. The thing that bothers me most about John Wayne's appreciation is that he's a racist. America holds a racist as a hero and has an airport named after him. The only thing I can appreciate greatly about John Wayne is his role in progressing the Western genre, even though he's why depictions of Native American's are controversial in film. I think James Stewart, Randolph Scott, and Henry Fonda are way better than John Wayne. John Wayne has definitely been in some great movies, but to call him an American icon is wrong and stubborn. He's proof that a man with very staunch conservative beliefs and outspoken "patriotism" can be forgiven for everything wrong with him.

Or maybe John Wayne was just a fool. Maybe he was not aware of many issues, such as how blacks were treated at public schools and that they "couldn't" get equal schooling, and just how radical the anti-communist campaigns were. I hope he's just a fool. He has some good qualities to him. Any man though that's as racist as I think he is should not be so honored. DW Griffith did much for Cinema but you don't see anything named after him.

The Bar Exam and Recovery

"Ladies and Gentleman, we have Eli Porter on guitar!"

The first album I will talk about is not really an album. It's a mixtape, by one of the many rappers nowadays that feels more comfortable making a career out of mixtapes than of albums. Royce Da 5'9's "Bar Exam 3: The Most Interesting Man" is an entertaining affair that is more focused on making the listener laugh than any other previous mixtape by him. Making fun of skinny jeans, using viral video samples, and penis and vagina jokes are some of the funny reoccurring gags in the tape. Even after 10+ years in the game, Royce is a growing artist that improves with each of his outputs. His flow, lyrics and punchlines (for the most part) are on point. There's not really a skippable track, even the skits will be worth a repeat for how hilarious they are. The only complaint I have is that Royce talks about his gun and dick too much. It's like he's obsessed with both (I wouldn't be surprised if his dick was actually small). He needs to get off of that because it gets really repetitive and as talented of a lyricist he is he should get on other subjects.

Highlights:
Top of the World (Best track on the album)
Nobody Fucking With Us (Bun B KILLS this)
Vagina (Really silly but it never gets old)
Psycho

Low points:
Beamer, Benz, or Bentley (I hate this beat, it's been rapped on to death, and more gun and dick rap)

**** There is a DJ and no DJ version of Bar Exam. Do yourslef a favor and get the no DJ version.

The next album is by a former friend (or did they make up...) of Royce; Eminem's "Recovery". Interestingly enough, as the album starts we don't get Em. Some whiny, shitty singer takes over probably thinking he's doing a good job. Then he comes back again 4 tracks later, then almost every track after he's on. Who is this guy you may wonder? Well, it's credited to Eminem, but my theory is that it's some secret alter-ego. Couldn't be Slim Shady because Slim Shady actually knows better despite being a lunatic. Maybe it's Slim Eezy, thinking he's a cousin to Lil Weezy or Lil Yeezy and can too be a shitty singer-rapper. On Talkin 2 Myself, Em proclaims that he feels like he's back and that he apologizes for his last album. Relapse was no treasure, but at least it had tracks like Medicine Ball, Must Be the Ganja, and Undergound that were just sick. There's nothing on Refill that really stands out. He does a lot of things right such as going back to his flow that works, improving his lyrics (his lyrics are technical, using careful wordplay and syllable counts), and not using a random accent. But his punchlines can be really corny (shake that ass like a donkey with Parkinson...), the sample choices are terrible (What is Love, really? was that a joke, and then the cheesy choice of Changes by Black Sabbath), and the guest spots are extremely disappointing (we get Lil Wayne instead of the hopeful Slaughterhouse). And then there are too many metaphors about fucking the Earth, or sometimes it will be something else like the rap game. Those metaphors are not clever (that goes for the Royce album too). Also, I think the albums would have actually benefited from skits. Eminem is usually the only one that knows how to do them correctly and without them it doesn't feel like an Em album.

Highlights:
Talkin 2 Myself
On Fire
Untitled
Won't Back Down (Pink is surprisingly not bad on the hook, just the donkey line and one or two others are weak. But the verses may be the best on the album.)

Low Points:
You're Never Over
Space Bound
No Love

**1/2 Overall, lyrically he's very good, not at his best though, and everything else about Recovery is embarrassing.

The bonus tracks for the album came out today and they are better than anything on the album. One features Slaughterhouse and the other is a Dre beat!



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All of my ratings are out of 5 stars.
*****=Classic
****=Very Good
***=Good
**=Sub-par
*=KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

Another Story Idea

I have another idea for a story that may be less ambitious and thus easier and shorter to write. It's about a man that goes on a drug trip and has his perception of reality permanently warped, even after the trip. I'm going for a sort of horror edge to it, although I don't want it categorized as a horror story or same base bull shit like that. After his trip, people become completely honest with each other in their intentions. His family reveals themselves for who they really are, and don't feel guilty about it. In fact, it's completely normal and real. I'm not going to post anymore information on my stories. I'll post my finished works one day, eventually.

Civilization V

Civ V is coming soon and I can't wait. I feel like a kid anticipating Christmas. Civilization has always been my favorite game series and the new features like a hexagonal grid and no unit stacks will make the annoyances from the previous series gone. Also, religion used to annoy me because countries would attack you even if you tried all other diplomacy options to make them like you just because your religion was different, which I thought was cheap. And of course, improved presentation, sound, and graphics, this game will be awesome! =D

Roger Ebert Spoke to Me

No, I don't mean literally. What I mean is that I read an article where he gave his top ten list of the decade and found his choices interesting. It wasn't chosen based on Academy Award best picture wins or the ambitions of well known directors. It was a very personal list of films that not everybody loves. The end of his article is what spoke to me the most:

"And this reflection: All of these films are on this list for the same reason: The direct emotional impact they made on me. They have many other qualities, of course. But these evoked the emotion of Elevation, which I wrote about a year or so ago. Elevation is, scientists say, an actual emotion, not a woo-woo theory. I believe that, because some films over the years have evoked from me a physical as well as an intellectual or emotional response.

In choosing the list, I decided to bypass films that may have qualified for their historical, artistic, popular or "objective" importance. No lists have deep significance, but even less lists composed to satisfy an imaginary jury of fellow critics. My jury resides within. I know how I feel.

Almost the first day I started writing reviews, I found a sentence in a book by Robert Warshow that I pinned on the wall above my desk. I have quoted it so frequently that some readers must be weary of it, but it helps me stay grounded. It says:

A man goes to the movies. A critic must be honest enough to admit he is that man.

That doesn't make one person right and another wrong. All it means is that you know how they really felt, not how they thought they should feel."

So now that brings me to my list of my favorite movies of the decade.
1.Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2.Synecdoche, New York-The film is ambitious but not pretentious. For a first time directing Charlie Kaufman does a fantastic job. This is one of those movies loaded with motifs and symbolism and after each watch you figure something new out. Very sad, but at the same time it makes one celebrate life. Possibly the saddest ending to a movie I've ever seen.
3.Letters From Iwo Jima
4.You, The Living
5.Adaptation
6.The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou-Everybody celebrates Wes Anderson's Royal Tenenbaums, but this film goes unappreciated. This film is very similar to the Tenenbaums; dealing with estranged families and heroes dwelling on their past glory now stuck in a midlife crisis. However, The Life Aquatic does everything better, and Bill Murray plays one of his best roles in his career. And how could you not love the scene where Bill stops a whole pirate fleet with a handgun while Search and Destroy by the Stooges is playing in the background?
7.Amelie
8.Neil Young: Heart of Gold-Neil is in his 5th decade playing music and most of the songs he plays are not his well known classics. So why is this movie so good? It's because he plays the hell out of the tunes. This was supposed to be his last concert, diagnosed with a deadly disease that was likely to kill him. Great backing band, great venue to bring out the acoustics of the instruments, and so much emotion by Neil, this is one of the best concert films of all time.
9.Mulholland Drive
10.World's Greatest Dad- This film is rude, depressing, and awesome. One of the funniest films of the decade, I don't see why it's not appreciated more. Robin Williams is fantastic and the movie is the true essence of a dark comedy. Life isn't how we fantasies it to be, which is why we shouldn't overlook the happiness that stares right at us because it's socially frowned upon to do so.
11.The Pianist
12.Memento
13.A Serious Man-Another awesome dark comedy. The ending was brilliant and just makes the rest of the movie so much more funny when watched again.
14.The Departed
15.Inland Empire
16.Traffic
17.The Hurt Locker
18.Road to Perdition
19.The Twilight Samurai
20.Werckmeister Harmonies
21.Sideways
22.Persepolis
23.The King of Kong-The Twin Galaxies community may seem trivial and making a movie based on a man spending months memorizing patterns in a 20 year old game to achieve a high score may seem uniteresting, but as the movie progresses it becomes incredably gripping. I was cheering for the underdog Steve Weibe through out as he attempted to take on the hot head Billy Mitchell. The documentary does a great job of telling both men's stories and following the events.
24.Mary and Max
25.Moon
26.City of God
27.Oldboy
28.Elling-The premise is a bit cheesy, but what makes the movie so great is how feel-good it is. By the end of the movie, as if I actually knew the two men, I was cheering for both and hopeful of their future, and then went through the rest of my day with a smile.
29.Milk
30.Battle Royale
31.Pans Labyrinth
32.American Splendor
33.Munich
34.Hotel Rwanda
35.Kill Bills
36.In Bruges
37.Ghost World
38.The Royal Tenenbaums
39.The Dark Knight
40.Ichi the Kiler-What a violent movie. How could you not like it?
41.Street Fight
42.Fantastic Mr. Fox
43.Donnie Darko
44.Up
45.Turtles Can Fly
46.Sin City
47.Suan of the Dead
48.Cinderella Man
49.Thank You For Smoking
50.Mystic River
51.The Garden
52.Million Dollar Baby
53.Hotel Rwanda
54.Man on Wire
55.Little Otik
56.Bigger, Stronger, Faster
57.Bad Santa
58.Palindrome
59.Gangs of New York
60.Lord of the Rings Trilogy


So what makes one a better critic than the average movie goer? There definitely is a considerable technical knowledge to be known when critiquing a movie. There is also experience of watching movies needed, so one can compare to others and not make ridiculous assumptions of how a movie is great based on inexperience of watching great movies. Then there is prose; one has to also be a good writer. Any numskull can acquire these skills though, and what makes those such as Ebert one of the best is because they review a movie as a human would who has preference and soul despite skill and prestige.

Violence is Fun

***I wasn't happy with my first draft because it sounded rushed and didn't fully explain what I wanted to say. I edited it and this is the second draft I'm more happy with.

While most people have a certain limit to what they can watch before it starts to either gross them out or offend them, I seem to be missing that trigger. I think those sensitive to fictionalized violence should be like me and forgo their tendencies to react to explicit content from a very critically moral perspective. What I find interesting is that many liberal minded people I've witnessed watch something taboo in a movie will react to it like it's psychopathic. Shock, realism, and other uses of explicit content are utilized to further the film art form. A directors purpose is to give the audience a certain perspective they want them to live in and explicit content many times is the means to achieve this.

An example of a situation that represents this is when at school I watched the movie Happiness with some friends in my room. The movie, while not visually graphic, deals with a lot of taboos. One person in the movie is a lonely chronic masturbator, another is a pedophile that lives a normal suburban life, and another is a stalker with a few deep secrets. Some really perverted scenes take place, such as where the pedophile drugs his son's friend with roofies or when he finally confesses to his son that he's a siko. The movie is a comedy too, so everything is done with such a tone that if you understand the direction and accept it, it's a very hilarious movie. One of my friends thought the movie was funny, another was kind of apathetic, and another thought it was disgusting and that I needed to be psychologically checked.

If a movie is directed well, I think the inclusion of graphic violence, taboos, and sex, as opposed to just suggesting it, can really enhance the experience and I see no limit to what a director should be allowed. That is of course, it's all acting and no one really gets harmed, and these elements are used artistically and not exploitative. The one example of a bad exploitative movie that comes to mind is Audition. The beginning and middle of the movie is rather run of the mill, with nothing warranting an unrated rating, or even a PG-13 for that matter. Toward the end however, there is a torture scene where a man gets his foot amputated as well as pins stuck slowly through his body. I see this as exploitation because the movie was popular through word of mouth for its violence, and it's only toward the end that you see any violence, which is more than enough to make up for the rest of the movie. I felt like the anticipation of the violence is what the movie was based on, because underneath the violence is a mundane movie. Without that shallow anticipation, the movie is not thrilling and actually rather boring. Nevertheless, Audition is looked on as a cult classic, which I don't understand why.

But when a movie is well directed and violence or other taboo elements are used to make the world seem more realistic, or even surrealistic, then I welcome it. Some well done movies I like with these elements include Man Bites Dog (violence is necessary to explore the character studies), Ichi the Killer (directed by the same person that did Audition but this time he did a good job), A Clockwork Orange, Battle Royal, Milk (I know people that found the gay love scenes too disturbing to watch), World's Greatest Dad, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, and Clerks (for its language). I even enjoyed Cannibal Holocaust. While it may be one of the most graphic movies ever and has spotty acting and production, it has a great concept and the violence added very much to the message of media exploitation.

As if they're scared to accept the world they live in, the average person is easily offended by violent movies. I will separate this from being squeamish because that is a different situation. Squeamish does not necessarily relate to offended. Nor does being critical of this content from an artistic argument have anything to do with my argument, for I'm referring to being blind to statements made by explicit content just because it's explicit and not seeing it from the directors perspective. Explicit content does not always work and can often become self indulgent to the plot.

If anything I'm offended by in movies, it's the nonartistic crappy mainstream directors like Michael Bay who stereotype hoping for cheap laughs (I cant' help myself, so I'm also going to point my finger straight at Seth MacFarlane. American Dad and The Cleveland show are two of the sorriest excuses for popular broadcast TV ever). I could write another article on stereotyping, how sometimes its portrayed wittily and raises questions or is just realistic and funny, and other times it's like a minstrel mockery. There is so much more offensive out there that goes under the radar because it's given the support of loud voices, and when the loud voices oppose it then there is trouble. Even a movie such as Audition I wouldn't go and boycott as much as I dislike it. There is freedom of speech, a cliched expression but very forgetting in how true it is. The media, religion, and other watchdog groups, as well as many ordinary people, can't seem to distinguish an artistic expression from an insult.