The Dream

The tinge of dark creeps through the field
Turning the world deep violet
And the sky depths of blue unimaginable

Peepers sing in harmonies complex and high
Accompanied by cricket strings
Echoing from pond through the field

The bats feast upon the airborne pests
And the fireflies dance
Clinging to fragments of the sunset

Deep beats from night owl wings
Scare the skulking mouse
Giving the symphony rhythm

Her hand reaches out for my leg
A gentle breeze twists her hair
And the the world creeps to a hold

Her breath, cool upon my skin
Carries whispered oaths of love
Promises for nights to come

Her eyes in dark, deep like ocean waves
Breaking on the shores of the Cape
Soothing and inviting

C'Mon Now!

Are you serious? We are burning books? Serious?

A church in Florida has decided to commemorate 9/11 this year by burning copies of the Koran. They are trying to show radical extremist groups that they are not welcome or going to be tolerated anymore. Or something like that.

BUT they want to make it very clear that this isn't aimed at moderate Muslims because they're cool.

In this day and age, with all the tension between non-Muslim Americans and Muslim Americans, why would one think that burning religious text is okay? Does it matter that they say it's aimed at extremist groups? Would it be okay, then, for a synagogue to go out and burn a bunch of bibles because they think the KKK is evil? If they did, do you think that little church in Florida would take offense, or would they be all right with it?

Right about now, an "inter-faith" committee is meeting to discuss to growing acts of aggression toward Muslim Americans since the "World Trade Center Mosque" hubbub. Maybe they should bring in that Pastor from that little Florida church and tell him he needs to cool it. Things like book burnings are not going to help relationships here.

I've got an idea and you all can let me know what you think, but maybe burning books (like Nazis) is not the best way to commemorate 9/11. Perhaps we should celebrate the lives of those we lost and not instigate more hate in the world, or did we all forget, it was hate which cause 9/11 in the first place.


I now step down from my soap box. Thank you.

Sirens

She lay in bed staring at the craggy wasteland that was her ceiling. It was desolate and barren and it consumed her. It ate her thoughts and kept her awake, ever since she heard the sirens. The only sound she could hear was the blood pumping and pressing past her ear. It's rushing engulfed her senses, ever since she heard the sirens.

Since she heard the sirens, her mind was aflutter. Nothing could stick; each thought skipping cruelly across her mind harassing her. All since she heard the wail of the sirens.

She got up, unable to deal anymore. She strode down the hall as if being chased, desperate. She opened the door, quietly, so she could she her baby. Through the feasting gloom she saw a slight twinkle from her daughter's eyes: desperate for her mother's confidence. She sent a hollow smile through the expanse to her daughter who reciprocated in kind.

Silently she closed the door and turned to head back to her room. She couldn't move. She was frozen, crippled by fear. She knew where it was from. She could feel it in her stomach and her chest. She was absolutely certain, more confident than she had ever been about anything before. No doubt dwelt inside her.

She was certain tonight she became a widow. Ever since she heard the sirens.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS!

Ah, Quentin Tarantino, how I have missed you.

Tarantino is easily my favorite director. He made Kill Bill which is probably my favorite movie of all time (I consider both parts as one movie) and hasn't made anything I really didn't like (something I can't say about any other director). Pulp Fiction was perfect and Reservoir Dogs was pretty damned awesome, too. I even liked Jackie Brown, though it wasn't his best.

This was new Tarantino, though. This was WWII Tarantino. So, how did it stack up?

Very well, thank you. You would think this movie would be super-duper gory. Think about it: the basic plot is about a troop of U.S. Jewish soldiers hunting Nazis through occupied France and killing them violently before scalping them. They let one guy go to spread the word, but they take the time to carve a swastika in his forehead so everyone will know he was a Nazi. But it wasn't overly violent. I mean, it's war so there is violence and blood, but nothing like Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction. In fact, it was mostly guys sitting at tables talking.

Really.

It starts with two guys talking at a table. Then Brad Pitt talking to some guys. Then some Nazis talking to a woman at a table. Then the Basterds (The Jewish troops) talking to a traitor at a table at a bar. Then a bunch of Nazis watching a movie. But it wasn't slow and it wasn't boring. Tarantino's skill with dialogue is uncanny. He can make all these people sitting at a table talking suspenseful and tense.

And man, was this movie funny. So many of the characters were characatures or blatant stereotypes. The absurdity of it all was fantastically funny.

Brad Pitt was absolutely hilarious with his stereotypical portrayal of a grizzled mid-western war vet. Eli Roth as a Bostonian with some sociopathic tendencies was great. They guys who played Hitler and Groebbel were both excellent with their blatantly over-the-top-evil portrayals of those historical figures. Hell, Mike Myers even made a goofy little cameo!

The woman who played the Jewish cinema owner really was relatable and made you feel her anger and frustration putting the humanity in the film.

The man who played Landa, the "Jew Hunter", stole the show. He was funny, creepy, terrifying, subtle, over-the-top all in equal measure. You always knew where he was and wanted to keep an eye out for him because you always felt his evil. He always seemed to know more than anyone else on screen and was ready to use that knowledge to push forward his agenda. All the while, he is talking to everyone like he's their best buddy or like he's just a normal guy out there doing his job, no matter how unpleasant that may be. Excellent depiction of a character that will go down in film history as one of nastiest.

Inglourious Basterds is long. Like 3 hours long. It's not slow or anything, but by the end your butt's a little sore. When I saw it, we had an inadvertent intermission, which in retrospect was very nice.

Go see this film. Seriously, it's a fun fable with some of the most interesting characters you are going to see in a movie this summer!

Oh, yeah, Grindhouse was freakin' great, too!!!

District 9 and The Time Traveler's Wife

District 9

District 9 is science fiction at it's best. It's an allegory for modern racial tension across the world. It is intelligent. And it has a lot of exploding bodies. How cool is that?

District 9's story is pretty straight forward. It's about a group of aliens stuck on earth who live in a refugee camp. They aren't popular with the natives so they are being moved, chaos ensues. It's a very well told story framed as a documentary, although it seems to lose the documentary structure in the middle for awhile before returning to it at the end. The characters are all relatable, each with their own clear motivations which really help propel the story along.

The actors are all very good, especially the actor who played Wikes (? I think that's how you spell it, and I'm not going to try the last names). He makes a pretty unappealing guy relatable and really pulls some sympathy out of the viewer.

I recommend this to any true science fiction fan.

The Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife is the story of the love between a man who is frequently displaced in time and the woman who has loved him since she was a child.

The story is really nice and sweet. At times it is hard to follow because it really bounces all around and isn't told in a linear fashion, but overall it's pretty clearly told. I liked it because it was a sweet love story that never became sappy like many chick flicks do.

Eric Bana isn't that great of an actor, but I thought he was fine here. Rachel McAdams is beautiful. Oh yeah, and she made a woman in an unbelievable situation relatable, which was not an insignificant accomplishment.

I recommend this for couples who like movies.

YO!

Real American heroes! G.I. Joe is the-e-ere!!!

Now, the first time I saw the trailer for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra one word came to mind: crap. I was not a fan of the cartoon or the toys as a kid; my parents did not allow us to play with them because they glorified war and violence, something which never upset me. Because I was never a fan as a kid, I never knew much about G.I. Joe or C.O.B.R.A. so I really wasn't too excited for this movie. Then I found out that the director was the guy who directed The Mummy movies, which I hated, so that didn't help. Then, when the trailer played and I saw two freaks jumping around in those "football suits" it did not pique my interest.

BUT....

Sienna Miller was looking real good. I decided to give it a try.

People kept saying I was setting myself up for disappointment, that the movie was going to suck. But I didn't care! I was going to be the one guy out there keeping my hopes up for this movie, even if secretly it was just because I wanted to see Sienna Miller in a tight, black, pleather bodysuit. Or two. Or three.

Then I read a couple reviews which basically said, "It's not awful." That didn't instill any hope for me. Then I read that the producers weren't going to let any other critics review the movie out of fear that it would get bad reviews like Transformers 2. That gave me even less hope. I was nervous.

Well, today I went and saw it and must tell you, I was NOT disappointed.

BANG! CRASH! BOOM!

There was SO much action! I mean seriously, this is the movie: Action, action, action, BOOM! take a breath. Ready? BANG!! BOOM!! CRASH!! FIGHT!! Breathe. GO! FIGHT! WIN! Nope, LOSE (SUCKERS)!!! Aww, flashback in a meadow. BBOOOOMMMM!!!!! FIGHT! NINJA KIDS!!! BOOMMM!! CRASH!! MELTING DUDE!!!! BLAM!!!! TWIST!! TURN!!!! BOOM!!! Done. PSYCHE!!!!! Done now.

And...AND...there was a STORY! Sort of! More so than many summer blockbuster action popcorn flicks (Transformers). And what was nice about the story is that it took the time to tell the backstories of most of the main players which helped make these fantastic characters more human. It was rather nicely done.

The acting was pretty typical for these types of movies: fairly cliched and over-the-top. Channing Tatum really isn't a good actor, I'm sorry. Chris Eccleston is great: loved him as The Doctor, loved him on Heroes, loved him here. The biggest surprise was Marlon Wayons. It was a surprise because he was pretty good! He was, like, normal. It was weird to see, but pretty refreshing.

From the few episodes of the G.I. Joe cartoon I've seen, I'd say this movie was pretty much in line with that in regard to the amount of campiness and characterization. Just in case you were a fan of the cartoon and were wondering about that.

I only had a couple real problems with the movie. First, I thought the deaths and character relationships portrayed in this movie will end up hurting future sequels. Two major players won't be around for their respective teams anymore and that will really take away from future installments. Secondly, I thought some of the big twists and reveals were anti-climactic and should have occurred earlier in the movie. When they did occur, it seemed rushed and then nothing happened as a result of the twists so they seemed pretty pointless.

Ok, so I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to have some fun at the movie theater this summer. Lots of action, lots of fun! Go SEE IT!!!

I DO NOT recommend this for young kids. Too violent and scary.

P.S.--Sienna Miller is SUPER HOT! I know some of you out there think Megan Fox is the shit, but I'm saying this right now: Ms. Fox is a child next to Sienna. A child. Thank you and good night!

The Hughes Effect

I was introduced to the films of John Hughes by Kevin Smith. His obsession with the filmmaker made Mr. Hughes seem cool, like where cool came from.

This mildly piqued my interest in the brat pack films, but I never actually went out of my way to watch any. I told a friend this and she almost attacked me. She threw several DVDs at me including Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles and ordered me to watch them immediately. So I did.

Well, I instantly fell in love with Molly Ringwald. Then I sat back and started to think about the films. In them, Hughes was able to convey the confusion and insecurities of teenagers in a way I hadn't really seen before: with brutal honesty. Hughes had a way to cut out the fat and the grey-areas and get right to the crux of teenage emotion like few filmmakers could.

Upon further research I learned that Hughes also wrote the National Lampoon: Vacation movies and also the Home Alone movies. Obviously--beyond his ability to tap into the teenage psyche--he had the ability to tickle the funny bone.

To me, though, his greatest masterwork had the be Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This is one of the funniest, most inspiring movies I've ever seen. It was about freedom, and bravado, and doing the things we are wish we could do. Like Catcher in the Rye, Ferris Bueller made me want to stick my middle finger up to society and do things my way. And all this while making me laugh riotously. It takes a gifted man to make a film like that.

Thank you Mr. Hughes, you will be missed.