This is the podcast that I spend way more time working on then it looks like.
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Thursday, February 21, 2008
A Clinical Study on Glasses and The Level of Fullness/And or Emptiness They Thereby Contain
You may notice I haven't been blogging recently. And by you I mean me. I am well aware that I'm the only one who reads my blog, but it's so much easier to make yourself write if it is on the internet. I did write a long blog at three in the morning about Bush and his new budget proposal. I don't know why that of all things set me off. I try to constantly rethink how I feel about politics and step back from my own beliefs and try to feel what others feel but that is really hard to do. I don't like writing about politics because I don't want anyone to think I judge them because their beliefs are different then mine or whatever. It sounds so trite but it's true. Not just because I want other people to feel like they can be both honest and comfortable with me no matter what, but it's just way easier to get someone to listen to your beliefs and think about them if you actually listen and think about theirs.
That being said, you're an idiot if you don't like Obama. Jk, Jk. But honestly, isn't it hard not to like him? I'm of course the wrong guy to ask because I am practically in love with him. Actually I am in love with him. Not in the way I love Otis Redding or George Clooney (which is actually a few ways for him) and not love like I've had a few pitchers of dogg juice and I see some girl who is wearing a headband, but in the way you would love your teacher. The good teachers make you want to be good in class, and do well on tests, and never be late and they make you want to prove to them that you are learning. It's nice to feel inspiring, but it's just as good to feel truly inspired. I have a few months until I am out of school (if I get my thesis done) and I've noticed Ive had a change of feelings. I used to dread getting out of school, I thought I would have to find some job that I would hate and live for the weekends and Friends re-runs. By the wayI don't care what anyone says, Monica is and always has been way hotter than Rachael. Yeah, Rachael was cool for a few months because she got a good hair cut, but take her hair away and what do you have. Some skinny girl who looks like an older, better put together Olsen twin, and who wants that? But lately I feel like I will be able to do something useful, something I want. It's nice to see that millions of people don't like the way things are and want a change. It's good to feel hope and to believe in politics. It's nice to hear someone talking to you and coming up with ideas that you think are good ideas and to hear that other people think they are good ideas. Like giving students 5000 dollars to go to school if they do community service, that's just a good idea. I'm not stupid, I know he is campaigning and also what about the kids who have to work every day and can't afford school or living and don't have time to do school work, real work, and community service but it's a definite start.
Let's see what happens.
That being said, you're an idiot if you don't like Obama. Jk, Jk. But honestly, isn't it hard not to like him? I'm of course the wrong guy to ask because I am practically in love with him. Actually I am in love with him. Not in the way I love Otis Redding or George Clooney (which is actually a few ways for him) and not love like I've had a few pitchers of dogg juice and I see some girl who is wearing a headband, but in the way you would love your teacher. The good teachers make you want to be good in class, and do well on tests, and never be late and they make you want to prove to them that you are learning. It's nice to feel inspiring, but it's just as good to feel truly inspired. I have a few months until I am out of school (if I get my thesis done) and I've noticed Ive had a change of feelings. I used to dread getting out of school, I thought I would have to find some job that I would hate and live for the weekends and Friends re-runs. By the wayI don't care what anyone says, Monica is and always has been way hotter than Rachael. Yeah, Rachael was cool for a few months because she got a good hair cut, but take her hair away and what do you have. Some skinny girl who looks like an older, better put together Olsen twin, and who wants that? But lately I feel like I will be able to do something useful, something I want. It's nice to see that millions of people don't like the way things are and want a change. It's good to feel hope and to believe in politics. It's nice to hear someone talking to you and coming up with ideas that you think are good ideas and to hear that other people think they are good ideas. Like giving students 5000 dollars to go to school if they do community service, that's just a good idea. I'm not stupid, I know he is campaigning and also what about the kids who have to work every day and can't afford school or living and don't have time to do school work, real work, and community service but it's a definite start.
Let's see what happens.
Heavy Metal Review
Heavy Metal is what you get when you base a film off of ideas about collections of art, images, and music. There is no central theme to the film that is meaningful or at all important so far as plot or story. Heavy Metal is an amalgamation of different kinds of art and genres and that is where it offers worth as a film. However, it is also what stops it short from becoming a good film.
The same ideas that give Heavy Metal it's strength are the ones that causes all the weaknesses. Instead of doing a collection of completely separate stories, Heavy Metal tries to loosely connect them with an outer story of some green ball of evil that is just showing her all this stuff. The problem is, not all the stories are about evil. One story is about some aliens who pick up a secretary and then a robot sleeps with her. Then the robot makes masturbation and Jewish jokes and that is just about the entire film. Sure, the aliens do cocaine and go on a drug trip and see the Star Trek Enterprise but that isn't necessarily evil. And if it is, it isn't even the main part of the story. Other stories are more about good triumphing over evil than they are about the pure evil this green ball is talking about. Also, as the ball is telling the last story, in the story a woman defeats the ball. While the ball is telling this story, he blows up. It could be argued that the point was this new girl was the new guardian and she defeated the evil, but she just ran out of the house. How could the ball tell the story of him getting defeated if he had been defeated and how could him telling the story defeat him. There is really no excuse for this. My theory is, whenever someone wanted to put something into the film that they thought would be a cool idea they had to tie it to the green ball.
The only discussions for this film in the planning stages probably all began with, "wouldn't it be cool if..." That explains why a roto-scoped convertible with a guy in a space suit brings that ball of death home to his daughter. "Wouldn't it be cool if we had some guy in a space suit driving a convertible in space?" "Sure, but how do we tie it in?" "Ummm, the green ball. He is bringing the green ball home to his daughter." These "wouldn't it be cool if" ideas ruin any chance the film had for a plot or any cohesive moments. Even the music doesn't match. The music is a wide arrangement of "metal bands" and even classical music and less heavy metal bands. Even thought the film is entitled Heavy Metal, heavy metal is played just as often as non-heavy metal bands and music. They didn't get a Heavy Metal artist to do the music in the film, they got Elmer Bernstein. The music plays over talking, or begins in odd places or ends in equally odd places. Even though Bersteins music plays throughout the film, it is interrupted with metal songs and no theme or cohesiveness can be achieved. The music does not emphasize the mood or develop the theme. They are simply songs to listen to while you watch the images.
All of these things that make a bad film also make the film interesting. The "wouldn't it be cool if" mentality brings some visually interesting things to the screen. For instance, "wouldn't it be cool if we filmed a naked woman and then drew over the film?" From that we saw extensive artistic roto-scoping and technology advancements. Of course, this is again countered by choppy, child-like animation from non-rotoscoped animations. Again the lack of cohesiveness is evident even in the animation, some shots and segments are extremely artistic and intriguing while others are bland and more like a He-Man cartoon.
In the end, the film is a success for what it seemed to set out to do. It was a film to showcase art and story ideas from and for a specific demographic. It was a film that provided the question to a handful of people. "wouldn't it be cool if," and that handful of people who they were asking responded with "yes." The film wasn't a huge success, and isn't necessarily referred to as a legendary classic, but a notable one at least in the terms of animation. Though this film has no cohesiveness whatsoever and fails to maintain any theme or direction, it is a successful orgy of science fiction, heavy music, naked women, fantasy beliefs, and sometimes imaginative art.
The same ideas that give Heavy Metal it's strength are the ones that causes all the weaknesses. Instead of doing a collection of completely separate stories, Heavy Metal tries to loosely connect them with an outer story of some green ball of evil that is just showing her all this stuff. The problem is, not all the stories are about evil. One story is about some aliens who pick up a secretary and then a robot sleeps with her. Then the robot makes masturbation and Jewish jokes and that is just about the entire film. Sure, the aliens do cocaine and go on a drug trip and see the Star Trek Enterprise but that isn't necessarily evil. And if it is, it isn't even the main part of the story. Other stories are more about good triumphing over evil than they are about the pure evil this green ball is talking about. Also, as the ball is telling the last story, in the story a woman defeats the ball. While the ball is telling this story, he blows up. It could be argued that the point was this new girl was the new guardian and she defeated the evil, but she just ran out of the house. How could the ball tell the story of him getting defeated if he had been defeated and how could him telling the story defeat him. There is really no excuse for this. My theory is, whenever someone wanted to put something into the film that they thought would be a cool idea they had to tie it to the green ball.
The only discussions for this film in the planning stages probably all began with, "wouldn't it be cool if..." That explains why a roto-scoped convertible with a guy in a space suit brings that ball of death home to his daughter. "Wouldn't it be cool if we had some guy in a space suit driving a convertible in space?" "Sure, but how do we tie it in?" "Ummm, the green ball. He is bringing the green ball home to his daughter." These "wouldn't it be cool if" ideas ruin any chance the film had for a plot or any cohesive moments. Even the music doesn't match. The music is a wide arrangement of "metal bands" and even classical music and less heavy metal bands. Even thought the film is entitled Heavy Metal, heavy metal is played just as often as non-heavy metal bands and music. They didn't get a Heavy Metal artist to do the music in the film, they got Elmer Bernstein. The music plays over talking, or begins in odd places or ends in equally odd places. Even though Bersteins music plays throughout the film, it is interrupted with metal songs and no theme or cohesiveness can be achieved. The music does not emphasize the mood or develop the theme. They are simply songs to listen to while you watch the images.
All of these things that make a bad film also make the film interesting. The "wouldn't it be cool if" mentality brings some visually interesting things to the screen. For instance, "wouldn't it be cool if we filmed a naked woman and then drew over the film?" From that we saw extensive artistic roto-scoping and technology advancements. Of course, this is again countered by choppy, child-like animation from non-rotoscoped animations. Again the lack of cohesiveness is evident even in the animation, some shots and segments are extremely artistic and intriguing while others are bland and more like a He-Man cartoon.
In the end, the film is a success for what it seemed to set out to do. It was a film to showcase art and story ideas from and for a specific demographic. It was a film that provided the question to a handful of people. "wouldn't it be cool if," and that handful of people who they were asking responded with "yes." The film wasn't a huge success, and isn't necessarily referred to as a legendary classic, but a notable one at least in the terms of animation. Though this film has no cohesiveness whatsoever and fails to maintain any theme or direction, it is a successful orgy of science fiction, heavy music, naked women, fantasy beliefs, and sometimes imaginative art.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Tron Review
Tron is not a timeless film. The reason for this is Tron relied heavily on ground breaking special effects and cutting edge, rarely before seen technological advancements in modern film. The outer story is stale and slowly moves navigates through one generic twist after another. Since the time has long since passed where Tron can be claimed to be "visually stunning" without the words "for it's time" quickly said thereafter, one would have to discuss why the visual elements of the film were so important "for its time." Unless one could pull something out of the story that was also rarely seen for it's time. Deep within the storyline of Tron is a hidden plot, a hidden struggle. Another piece of innovative film making. Tron is one of the first main stream media films to deal with the issue of bisexuality in a main character.
The evidence for this is rampant throughout the film. In the beginning of the film we see that two of the main characters are together. Kevin is dating Lora and they both work at the local computer company/warehouse/laser refinery. We also see Kevin who is making a program to look through the company's database for some evidence, which turns out to be a printed piece of paper, that says he came up with the idea for some computer game, or program or something not really relevant to the plot except that it pits the three heroes against Sark/Dillinger. The program is represented by a humanoid computer program named Tron. Tron is played by the same character that plays Kevin. So in essence, Alan is at home watching Kevin on the computer. When he loses the computer program/Tron he is violently upset, he uses the emotions commonly saved for real life people.
The real story begins when Kevin and Lora come over to Alan's video arcade. Alan is surrounded by hot, sweaty teenage girls and boys who are watching him play a video game. This technological world is shown to the viewer and from this point until the end of the film as a visual representation as an inner struggle in Kevin, Lora, and Alan's inner psyche and sexuality. A shot is shown of the object Alan is struggling to beat in the game. It is a large thing starship that looks nothing like any starship ever seen. It really looks like a pair of legs and a waist. In between the legs is an indistinguishable bump. What is the name of this oddly shaped star craft? Is it the destroyer, the eliminator, or the terminator? No. It is called the Recognizer.
Every day Alan struggles with this recognizer in a quest to determine his sexuality. None of the characters no whom they are attracted to. When they go upstairs to discus things, Alan feels the need to change his shirt. I play video games often, and have never felt the need to change shirts after a long hard day of gaming. Not only does he for no reason take off his shirt, he puts on a shirt that says exactly the same thing. All of these elements are not accidental or silly, they are to show give you the hint that there is no reason for Alan to take off his shirt in front of Kevin and Lora plot wise. It is to show you that Kevin feels comfortable undressed in front of both Alan and Lora and they in turn feel comfortable with him undressed all in the same room.
We later find that Kevin and Lora did have a sexual relationship with comments about it from Alan. We also saw that Kevin has thought about Alan and even created a moving working image of him in his computer/mind. It is not until Kevin is digitized that we see the depth of this struggle to find out to whom he is attracted to. Once he is inside the computer/his own mind, he is put in situations, all to bring about his discovery of his own sexuality. He is in-prisoned by the flying legs and jailed next to Tron/Alan. This is the start of his prison fantasy. Tron is everything Kevin wants Alan to be in the real world. He is a strong, athletic champion who most importantly stands up to Sark/Dillinger who is the father figure of the film. The father figure oppresses all the characters in real life, and in Kevin's subconscious world represented again by the actor playing both roles. Kevin does macho things with Tron like escaping prison, riding motorcycles and climbing mountains. However, they are being chased the hole time by the flying legs, so obviously the struggle continues and being with Tron is not the final answer. In his subconscious mind he meets Lora and begins his sexy secretary fantasy. She is some kind of computer secretary and she and Kevin have a moment of sexual tension. Later her and Tron have a moment and again, even Tron and Kevin have a close up shot of the two of their faces. Kevin holds tenderly a man who is dying in his arms. This man's name was Ram. Finally, as they are working together to defeat Sark/Dillinger Sark for some reason becomes huge. Like a giant. His height makes all the other characters seem as though they are children. When they finally beat him, it is symbolic of them finally outgrowing their fear of what their father would think about them. They all come together and are set free of their struggle. Through their computer representations, Kevin realizes that he loves both Alan and Lora and is equally attracted to them and that it is okay to feel like that. Lora realizes that she may want to be promiscues and be with two men and once and feels that this is okay as well. Finally, Alan too realizes that he likes both Lora and Kevin and this works for him. For the final shot of the film, Kevin comes down out of a helicopter and the three embrace each other for the first time. They have defeated their fathers and struggle through the mazes of sexuality and now they can live happily and freely and truly begin their lives.
These themes had to be hidden in Tron because it was a mainstream film and the mainstream was not thought to be able to handle these themes in the main storyline. The eighties were a strong time for sexuality explorations and evidence can be seen in music videos and other films of the time. However, no film portrays the struggle of realizing you are a bisexual as creatively as Tron. Tron should not only be remembered as a technologically groundbreaking film, but as a film that was also groundbreaking in exploring the sexualities of people who may not coincide with the socially accepted ideas of love and relationships at that current time in history and the struggles and obstacles they would have to overcome to truly be free.
The evidence for this is rampant throughout the film. In the beginning of the film we see that two of the main characters are together. Kevin is dating Lora and they both work at the local computer company/warehouse/laser refinery. We also see Kevin who is making a program to look through the company's database for some evidence, which turns out to be a printed piece of paper, that says he came up with the idea for some computer game, or program or something not really relevant to the plot except that it pits the three heroes against Sark/Dillinger. The program is represented by a humanoid computer program named Tron. Tron is played by the same character that plays Kevin. So in essence, Alan is at home watching Kevin on the computer. When he loses the computer program/Tron he is violently upset, he uses the emotions commonly saved for real life people.
The real story begins when Kevin and Lora come over to Alan's video arcade. Alan is surrounded by hot, sweaty teenage girls and boys who are watching him play a video game. This technological world is shown to the viewer and from this point until the end of the film as a visual representation as an inner struggle in Kevin, Lora, and Alan's inner psyche and sexuality. A shot is shown of the object Alan is struggling to beat in the game. It is a large thing starship that looks nothing like any starship ever seen. It really looks like a pair of legs and a waist. In between the legs is an indistinguishable bump. What is the name of this oddly shaped star craft? Is it the destroyer, the eliminator, or the terminator? No. It is called the Recognizer.
Every day Alan struggles with this recognizer in a quest to determine his sexuality. None of the characters no whom they are attracted to. When they go upstairs to discus things, Alan feels the need to change his shirt. I play video games often, and have never felt the need to change shirts after a long hard day of gaming. Not only does he for no reason take off his shirt, he puts on a shirt that says exactly the same thing. All of these elements are not accidental or silly, they are to show give you the hint that there is no reason for Alan to take off his shirt in front of Kevin and Lora plot wise. It is to show you that Kevin feels comfortable undressed in front of both Alan and Lora and they in turn feel comfortable with him undressed all in the same room.
We later find that Kevin and Lora did have a sexual relationship with comments about it from Alan. We also saw that Kevin has thought about Alan and even created a moving working image of him in his computer/mind. It is not until Kevin is digitized that we see the depth of this struggle to find out to whom he is attracted to. Once he is inside the computer/his own mind, he is put in situations, all to bring about his discovery of his own sexuality. He is in-prisoned by the flying legs and jailed next to Tron/Alan. This is the start of his prison fantasy. Tron is everything Kevin wants Alan to be in the real world. He is a strong, athletic champion who most importantly stands up to Sark/Dillinger who is the father figure of the film. The father figure oppresses all the characters in real life, and in Kevin's subconscious world represented again by the actor playing both roles. Kevin does macho things with Tron like escaping prison, riding motorcycles and climbing mountains. However, they are being chased the hole time by the flying legs, so obviously the struggle continues and being with Tron is not the final answer. In his subconscious mind he meets Lora and begins his sexy secretary fantasy. She is some kind of computer secretary and she and Kevin have a moment of sexual tension. Later her and Tron have a moment and again, even Tron and Kevin have a close up shot of the two of their faces. Kevin holds tenderly a man who is dying in his arms. This man's name was Ram. Finally, as they are working together to defeat Sark/Dillinger Sark for some reason becomes huge. Like a giant. His height makes all the other characters seem as though they are children. When they finally beat him, it is symbolic of them finally outgrowing their fear of what their father would think about them. They all come together and are set free of their struggle. Through their computer representations, Kevin realizes that he loves both Alan and Lora and is equally attracted to them and that it is okay to feel like that. Lora realizes that she may want to be promiscues and be with two men and once and feels that this is okay as well. Finally, Alan too realizes that he likes both Lora and Kevin and this works for him. For the final shot of the film, Kevin comes down out of a helicopter and the three embrace each other for the first time. They have defeated their fathers and struggle through the mazes of sexuality and now they can live happily and freely and truly begin their lives.
These themes had to be hidden in Tron because it was a mainstream film and the mainstream was not thought to be able to handle these themes in the main storyline. The eighties were a strong time for sexuality explorations and evidence can be seen in music videos and other films of the time. However, no film portrays the struggle of realizing you are a bisexual as creatively as Tron. Tron should not only be remembered as a technologically groundbreaking film, but as a film that was also groundbreaking in exploring the sexualities of people who may not coincide with the socially accepted ideas of love and relationships at that current time in history and the struggles and obstacles they would have to overcome to truly be free.
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