like ghosts they disappear across the land.
I'm a sinner and my friend you'd best beware
Saturday 30 April 2016
I Am a Wizard
A friend of mine actually called me a wizard because I was able to get DVD copies of movies she had been looking for for years - yet it's all accidental coincidence or is it ;)?!
They cannot see the life that's in their hands,
like ghosts they disappear across the land.
I'm a sinner and my friend you'd best beware
like ghosts they disappear across the land.
I'm a sinner and my friend you'd best beware
Friday 29 April 2016
Thursday 28 April 2016
An Event or an Experience
Farce
the genre that most likely will disappear foremost. Who will bear its absurdity ;)?!
melancholy and laughter
melancholy and laughter
Visual Illiteracy
Some years ago when I was really into silent movies, there was this discussion on alt.movies.silent of how silent movies never actually had a successor and of how sound film was rather the successor of radioshows. People claimed that when watching a talkie it mostly would suffice to hear the dialogue to keep up with what was going on. No problem to get into the next room and fetch yourself some beverage and snacks if you turned the sound up. On the other hand, if you missed one tiny detail in a silent movie, the rest of the movie could become inexplicable. So you have to stay focused.
There has been a recent survey in Germany suggesting that students are no longer able to keep their attention focused for more than an hour. Thus a lecture that is lasting longer, should have a break. What would be the effect on storytelling either by dialogue or a more cinematic way? I fear that things will become worse, movies, which tend to get longer and longer btw, will go for the cheap sensation, simple conflicts that will get repeated in dialogue at any opportunity and regretfully visual illiteracy will grow even more, since the filmmakers can no longer trust their audience to look and perceive for themselves.
There has been a recent survey in Germany suggesting that students are no longer able to keep their attention focused for more than an hour. Thus a lecture that is lasting longer, should have a break. What would be the effect on storytelling either by dialogue or a more cinematic way? I fear that things will become worse, movies, which tend to get longer and longer btw, will go for the cheap sensation, simple conflicts that will get repeated in dialogue at any opportunity and regretfully visual illiteracy will grow even more, since the filmmakers can no longer trust their audience to look and perceive for themselves.
Wednesday 27 April 2016
Tuesday 26 April 2016
Something That Sort of Made Me Wonder
is the fact that Batman v Superman is so topical.
Of course there is this issue of xenophobia that is always and everywhere rearing its uggly head, but with the civil war in Syria and the subsequent refugee crisis it regretfully is becoming more prevailing. Just replace the word Superman each time he is referred to as an alien by muslim and see what happens. Regretfully some of my dearest friends on facebook have turned away from it because there is a lot of xenophobic hatred going on and they cannot bear it.
Then there were the bombings in Brussels and the first positive review I've come across was in a Belgian magazine. They called it an experience. Although their desire to escape from the dire reality outside was frustrated, for as they stated the same destruction was going on in the movie, they loved it. Their favourite scene was when Batman told Martha Kent that he was a friend of her son's. And I can see why: There is a need for redemption, possibly most urgently if one has experienced terrorist attacks and lives in fear of fear, and here it is fully accomplished.
And there was also a friend who would comment on the fact that a lot of people are campaigning to legalise torture to extract information from terrorists, who have been caught, in this case Salah Abdeslam. My friend, who is a lawyer, argued against it from a legal point of view stating the unconstitutionality of torture. My additional point was rather Alfred's comment that Bruce Wayne had 'interrogated' six and found out nothing - torture is not even a potent device to extract information.
Of course there is this issue of xenophobia that is always and everywhere rearing its uggly head, but with the civil war in Syria and the subsequent refugee crisis it regretfully is becoming more prevailing. Just replace the word Superman each time he is referred to as an alien by muslim and see what happens. Regretfully some of my dearest friends on facebook have turned away from it because there is a lot of xenophobic hatred going on and they cannot bear it.
Then there were the bombings in Brussels and the first positive review I've come across was in a Belgian magazine. They called it an experience. Although their desire to escape from the dire reality outside was frustrated, for as they stated the same destruction was going on in the movie, they loved it. Their favourite scene was when Batman told Martha Kent that he was a friend of her son's. And I can see why: There is a need for redemption, possibly most urgently if one has experienced terrorist attacks and lives in fear of fear, and here it is fully accomplished.
And there was also a friend who would comment on the fact that a lot of people are campaigning to legalise torture to extract information from terrorists, who have been caught, in this case Salah Abdeslam. My friend, who is a lawyer, argued against it from a legal point of view stating the unconstitutionality of torture. My additional point was rather Alfred's comment that Bruce Wayne had 'interrogated' six and found out nothing - torture is not even a potent device to extract information.
Monday 25 April 2016
Batman's Tenderness
Actually copied from my post on imdb.com ;)
Having watched the movie for the second time and having not been very fond of the Doomsday subplot I must admit that there is this one scene that makes the whole Doomsday battle more than worthwhile for me. It was an absolute surprise to see Batman this hardened man, the very first glimpse of whom apart from the fear in people's faces and the terrifying screams by his victim is that of a nightmarish demon lurking in a corner coming straight out of one of Füssli's paintings , this very man tenderly putting Superman’s hand on his chest and gently lifting his body down into Lois Lane’s lap. What a change in personality - and one that to me certainly is comprehensible in the light of his most recent expierences. Furthermore this most probably promises that the next movie has to present a much lighter version of the Dark Knight.
or even better this version ;) - cause hey, it's Noel Gallagher ;) And Paul Weller drumming ;)!
Having watched the movie for the second time and having not been very fond of the Doomsday subplot I must admit that there is this one scene that makes the whole Doomsday battle more than worthwhile for me. It was an absolute surprise to see Batman this hardened man, the very first glimpse of whom apart from the fear in people's faces and the terrifying screams by his victim is that of a nightmarish demon lurking in a corner coming straight out of one of Füssli's paintings , this very man tenderly putting Superman’s hand on his chest and gently lifting his body down into Lois Lane’s lap. What a change in personality - and one that to me certainly is comprehensible in the light of his most recent expierences. Furthermore this most probably promises that the next movie has to present a much lighter version of the Dark Knight.
or even better this version ;) - cause hey, it's Noel Gallagher ;) And Paul Weller drumming ;)!
The One Percent Solution
or "You let your family die"
Batman's motivation
Apart from his nightmares there are other features explaining why Batman is aiming to build himself this terrible monument killing Superman.
There is of course the fact that Superman actually threatens him telling him to stop unless he will kill him.
Alfred pronounces it and when I was watching it for the second time in the Netherlands at least one child was repeating it "powerlessness". The feeling of powerlessness lets some people resort to cruelty in order to protect their community, their family. And this sentence "You let your family die" written on the returned cheque and the destruction of the Capitol Hill is what finally is bound to drive Bruce Wayne over the edge - Lex Luthor really is cleverly pulling the strings and he needs to know a hell of a lot. Having witnessed Superman's powers - mainly the destructive ones - and being traumatised by this experience Bruce Wayne is not willing to watch his family die once again - his family here being not only his relatives or his employees, but his nation or humanity as a whole, even if there was only a one percent possibility that this might happen. His motives are noble and the fact that he is putting his life on the line is also, yet I got the idea that he also realises that this monument he is about to errect isn't a happy or joyous one. Maybe one that more suits the criminal he perceives himself to have turned into.
Batman's motivation
Apart from his nightmares there are other features explaining why Batman is aiming to build himself this terrible monument killing Superman.
There is of course the fact that Superman actually threatens him telling him to stop unless he will kill him.
Alfred pronounces it and when I was watching it for the second time in the Netherlands at least one child was repeating it "powerlessness". The feeling of powerlessness lets some people resort to cruelty in order to protect their community, their family. And this sentence "You let your family die" written on the returned cheque and the destruction of the Capitol Hill is what finally is bound to drive Bruce Wayne over the edge - Lex Luthor really is cleverly pulling the strings and he needs to know a hell of a lot. Having witnessed Superman's powers - mainly the destructive ones - and being traumatised by this experience Bruce Wayne is not willing to watch his family die once again - his family here being not only his relatives or his employees, but his nation or humanity as a whole, even if there was only a one percent possibility that this might happen. His motives are noble and the fact that he is putting his life on the line is also, yet I got the idea that he also realises that this monument he is about to errect isn't a happy or joyous one. Maybe one that more suits the criminal he perceives himself to have turned into.
Sunday 24 April 2016
Lois is the Key
or why the main female characters are so much more than the damsels in distress.
Though Lex Luthor abuses Lois Lane as a decoy to set up Superman by making him save her twice, this should not remain the impression she leaves. First of all she is the tough journalist she claims to be and Lex Luthor should well beware of her. She is pretty close on his heels. She knows and even has the proof that he is responsible for the massacre in Africa. And if she had but had the time to investigate who knows what else she might have dug up. But even more, like The Flash states, she is the key. It's her and nobody else who unravels the truth about Martha and saves more than just this one day.
Then there is Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, who is a warrior in her own rights and certainly doesn't need anybody to save her.
Last but not least there is Holly Hunter's Senator Finch, the only character who directly confronts Lex Luthor and would not give in to him. More than this she openly tells him that she believes that he is manipulating people.
These women have one thing in common they are far less susceptible to manipulations than the male characters or like Douglas Adams put it: "It won't affect me. I'm already a woman."
Though Lex Luthor abuses Lois Lane as a decoy to set up Superman by making him save her twice, this should not remain the impression she leaves. First of all she is the tough journalist she claims to be and Lex Luthor should well beware of her. She is pretty close on his heels. She knows and even has the proof that he is responsible for the massacre in Africa. And if she had but had the time to investigate who knows what else she might have dug up. But even more, like The Flash states, she is the key. It's her and nobody else who unravels the truth about Martha and saves more than just this one day.
Then there is Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, who is a warrior in her own rights and certainly doesn't need anybody to save her.
Last but not least there is Holly Hunter's Senator Finch, the only character who directly confronts Lex Luthor and would not give in to him. More than this she openly tells him that she believes that he is manipulating people.
These women have one thing in common they are far less susceptible to manipulations than the male characters or like Douglas Adams put it: "It won't affect me. I'm already a woman."
Saturday 23 April 2016
I'm Gonna Eat You Alive II
Apparently a lot of people did not like the dream sequences, it is often suggested that they are only there to serve as teasers for some future movies or some allusion for the initiated, the true comic fan who knows every single storyline ever. This might be true but to me these dreams made a lot of sense within the narrative of the movie.
These dreams or nightmares were rather an important device to me, similar to the soliloquy or the monologue in theatre these nightmares told me a lot about Bruce Wayne's/Batman's motivation or state of mind - and I'm really glad that screenwriter and director chose such a cinematic way to convey it.
The first vision, dream or memory of young Bruce Wayne being lifted up by bats already sets the tone. What should be a happy vision of bearing the child back to the light is called a lie in voice-over. Thus the genesis of Batman becomes a fall rather than an ascend.
The next nightmare was in my experience during two screenings a quite shocking one, a lot of people like Bruce Wayne gasped, some even screamed because they did not see it coming: There is, in Martha's grave, a demon and one that is shockingly alive and frightening. Bruce Wayne's initial trauma. The fact that he witnessed his parents' death.
Finally the third nightmare told me two things. First of all Bruce Wayne's fears concerning Superman. There is this devastated wasteland, a desert that once might have been a thriving city. Ergo Superman definitely has the physical might to bring about such destruction. And then there are these Fascist troopers kneeling to Superman and worshipping him like a god. These are two threats that if Bruce Wayne takes them for real or possible he needs to address now, for as his nightmare shows him, at some point it might be too late. These are Bruce Wayne's concerns and yet there is still this look that intrigued me so much. This unconquerable look of hatred, disregard and contempt is his attitude to Superman. In this state of mind he would never ever listen to anything Superman says even if it cost him his very life, he would absolutely stop at nothing. Oh boy, he's got his mind set on the kill. Being long past the possibility to talk or listen, he would not respond to Superman's accusations. So all in all Batman will and must seek the confrontation and he will kill.
Friday 22 April 2016
I'm Gonna Eat You Alive I
Usually I'm not a fan of movies based on comic books and even moreso if they feature something like A vs B. It always feels like people drawing from several established franchises urging all fans to find out who will win. I'd rather say "win" than "kill" because no franchise ever wants to terminate its existence by being killed.
And then there was this look and it caught my imagination: What the hell is happening there? Why this relentless look of "I'm gonna eat you alive", especially in this situation?! Kudos to Ben Affleck for this depiction. I definitely wanted to find out, though the first part of the the teaser also suggested to me that it must be unreal, nightmarish because I could not figure out Superman turning into a kind of fascist semi-god worshipped unconditionally by those kneeling when he passes. Something I admit that turned me down a little bit because firstly: How would this fit in? and secondly: Is the emotion depicted by this look for real? Will there be a legit explanation or is it just some goodlooking aberration serving nothing but its own purpose? Mmmhh I took a chance and followed my first impression and it turned out more than fine.
Thursday 21 April 2016
Sometimes the Truth is Painful
This will mark the beginning of a whole series of posts where I will deal with different aspects of why I admire Batman v Superman. Please do not read any further if you haven't yet watched it, there are some major spoilers ahead.
Since I was alreeady thinking about Scrooged and the ghost of Christmas present and accidentally somebody on facebook commenting on a totally different issue also mentioned the ghost, my first post will deal with what most people see as one of the major flaws and why I love it - "Martha".
The whole trouble is that at this point things are happening so fast that some people do not get all of them. The initial situation is clear: Batman has struck down Superman and is about to kill him, when Superman tells him that Martha needs to be saved. Of course this name resonates in Batman/ Bruce Wayne - we even get a flashback for those who might have forgotten that this name featured at least twice in the movie already, with the nightmare scene really shocking a lot of people when I watched the movie - and it helps to sober him a little bit from the blind rage against Superman into which he had been talking himself all the time during their fight, like Superman doesn't know any fear or comparing his miserable childhood to Superman's supposedly better one. Yet since Superman is not fit to explain what Martha means to him, Batman rage returns even more violently. I imagined at that point that Batman thinks that Superman knows something about his personal trauma and might be taunting him. So who really saves the day is rather Lois Lane who finally solves the riddle and tells Batman that Martha is Superman's mother. And here comes the moment I love the most about this movie, the - like somebody called it - "what-the-fuck"- moment, and it must be painful to Batman, probably as painful as the Ghost of Christmas Present has been to Bill Murray's Frank Cross and on the inside it sort of made me laugh as hard. He has to realise what a damned fool he was because here is somebody who is crying out to his mortal enemy to save his mother. This person never ever would pose any threat to humanity, this person may not know fear, but it also knows no malice, this person believes in his, Batman's, inherent goodness.
And still yet this is not even the end of what is happening because undeservedly the blessings Batman gets out of it are even more. Finally he gets the chance to address his trauma, to make it good, this time Martha will not die. The least he should feel is enormously grateful to Superman and yes, he is his friend.
Since I was alreeady thinking about Scrooged and the ghost of Christmas present and accidentally somebody on facebook commenting on a totally different issue also mentioned the ghost, my first post will deal with what most people see as one of the major flaws and why I love it - "Martha".
The whole trouble is that at this point things are happening so fast that some people do not get all of them. The initial situation is clear: Batman has struck down Superman and is about to kill him, when Superman tells him that Martha needs to be saved. Of course this name resonates in Batman/ Bruce Wayne - we even get a flashback for those who might have forgotten that this name featured at least twice in the movie already, with the nightmare scene really shocking a lot of people when I watched the movie - and it helps to sober him a little bit from the blind rage against Superman into which he had been talking himself all the time during their fight, like Superman doesn't know any fear or comparing his miserable childhood to Superman's supposedly better one. Yet since Superman is not fit to explain what Martha means to him, Batman rage returns even more violently. I imagined at that point that Batman thinks that Superman knows something about his personal trauma and might be taunting him. So who really saves the day is rather Lois Lane who finally solves the riddle and tells Batman that Martha is Superman's mother. And here comes the moment I love the most about this movie, the - like somebody called it - "what-the-fuck"- moment, and it must be painful to Batman, probably as painful as the Ghost of Christmas Present has been to Bill Murray's Frank Cross and on the inside it sort of made me laugh as hard. He has to realise what a damned fool he was because here is somebody who is crying out to his mortal enemy to save his mother. This person never ever would pose any threat to humanity, this person may not know fear, but it also knows no malice, this person believes in his, Batman's, inherent goodness.
And still yet this is not even the end of what is happening because undeservedly the blessings Batman gets out of it are even more. Finally he gets the chance to address his trauma, to make it good, this time Martha will not die. The least he should feel is enormously grateful to Superman and yes, he is his friend.
Wednesday 20 April 2016
Why I Love Going to My Children's Music School
Yesterday we were climbing upstairs while some heavenly flute concert was floating down the staircase.
Tuesday 19 April 2016
Coming To Think Of It...
The second time I went in through the cellar at my parents' house. They weren't home for the whole day and my siblings and me had forgotten the key inside. The open window was actually in the room where the furnace was situated and there was only a door half up the wall that could be locked to the next room. Thank God, it wasn't locked that day because there would have been no way for me to climb back outside again and there were quite obviously spiders in this room. An afternoon spent in a cellar and in the company of spiders would have been less than wonderful ;).
Accidentally...
I passed a place where a woman was trying to climb outside through a window yesterday. Why shouldn't we just take the window every once in a while?! Taking concepts like doors too much for granted, can stop one see the possibilities ;).
Babadaba
Babadaba
Monday 18 April 2016
Wie neu die Neue Welt war - How new the New World was
"Wenn heute eine Neue Welt entdeckt würde, wären wir dann wohl imstande, sie zu sehen? Wären wir fähig, all die Bilder aus unserem Kopf zu verbannen, die wir gewöhnlich mit der Erwartung einer anderen Welt (zum Beispiel aus der Science-fiction) verbinden, um die wirkliche Andersartigkeit zu erfassen, die sich unseren Augen darböte?" - aus Gesammelter Sand von Italo Calvino
Dies ist eine Frage, die mich im Moment sehr berührt: Wie offen sind wir dem Anderen gegenüber? Wie sehr lieben wir das Leben, in dem jeder Moment uns Welten unglaublichen Ausmaßes öffnen kann, Dinge, von denen wir nicht einmal zu träumen wagten? Ich liebe aus genau diesem Grunde das Leben unendlich: Für mich ist alles, aber auch alles mit einem Sinn erfüllt, hinter den wir aber noch nicht gekommen sind, der zu entdecken wäre.
"If we were to discover a New World today, would we be able to see (perceive) it? Would we be able to ban from our minds all those pictures that we usually connect with an expectation of an other world (e. g. in science fiction), in order to perceive its real otherness that is before our eyes?" - my translation from an excerpt from "Gesammelter Sand" by Italo Calvino
This is a question very close to my heart at the moment: How open are we towards the other? How much do we love a life that may present us with worlds of unbelievable dimensions at any given moment, things we wouldn't dare dreaming of? This is the very reason why I love life so very much: To me everything makes sense, but sometimes we haven't yet figured it out, we still have to discover it.
Dies ist eine Frage, die mich im Moment sehr berührt: Wie offen sind wir dem Anderen gegenüber? Wie sehr lieben wir das Leben, in dem jeder Moment uns Welten unglaublichen Ausmaßes öffnen kann, Dinge, von denen wir nicht einmal zu träumen wagten? Ich liebe aus genau diesem Grunde das Leben unendlich: Für mich ist alles, aber auch alles mit einem Sinn erfüllt, hinter den wir aber noch nicht gekommen sind, der zu entdecken wäre.
"If we were to discover a New World today, would we be able to see (perceive) it? Would we be able to ban from our minds all those pictures that we usually connect with an expectation of an other world (e. g. in science fiction), in order to perceive its real otherness that is before our eyes?" - my translation from an excerpt from "Gesammelter Sand" by Italo Calvino
This is a question very close to my heart at the moment: How open are we towards the other? How much do we love a life that may present us with worlds of unbelievable dimensions at any given moment, things we wouldn't dare dreaming of? This is the very reason why I love life so very much: To me everything makes sense, but sometimes we haven't yet figured it out, we still have to discover it.
Friday 15 April 2016
Respect - Reflect
Respectare - Reflectere
It always involves you, yourself. Look again, look back, see yourself in the mirror. Nowadays there are even more media to confront yourself.
It always involves you, yourself. Look again, look back, see yourself in the mirror. Nowadays there are even more media to confront yourself.
Thursday 14 April 2016
Find of the Day
It's been quite a while - yet.
Today I discovered this photo - apparently me in 1985.
What really surprised me and almost gave me a shock is that I am now pondering about resemblances - firstly in a familial sense like those eyes reminding me of my father's and my younger daughter's. Yet it went beyond this, making me question if it is sometimes myself that I see in people that catch my attention.
Today I discovered this photo - apparently me in 1985.
What really surprised me and almost gave me a shock is that I am now pondering about resemblances - firstly in a familial sense like those eyes reminding me of my father's and my younger daughter's. Yet it went beyond this, making me question if it is sometimes myself that I see in people that catch my attention.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)