Still...Van Gogh, Cobain, Robert E. Howard...the list of creative types with battalions of inner demons is a long one. Which begs the question; is a healthy imagination bad for your health?
Monday, February 28, 2011
Art and madness
I read somewhere that people with artistic temperaments suffer from higher rates of depression and mental illness. At the moment I'm feeling rather blue myself (though that might have something to do with the gloomy weather that has descended over New York...)
Still...Van Gogh, Cobain, Robert E. Howard...the list of creative types with battalions of inner demons is a long one. Which begs the question; is a healthy imagination bad for your health?
Still...Van Gogh, Cobain, Robert E. Howard...the list of creative types with battalions of inner demons is a long one. Which begs the question; is a healthy imagination bad for your health?
Thursday, February 24, 2011
I am number 4...and chances are that's where you'll stay....
Over the long weekend I saw I AM NUMBER FOUR, a movie that practically was written following the Joseph Campbell Guide To Writing and starring the latest pretty boy of the month along with the generic bit of blond arm candy whose names I don't remember and honestly won't even make the attempt to try...
I won't go into a long discourse about the plot because it follows the templates of the past...if you're even marginally familiar with Greek mythology you can recite it blindfolded and backwards. Nor will I bother to complain about the movies lack of originality...a condition Hollywood cured itself of back in the 90's. No, my gripe with this deliberate pile of drek is the sheer lack of effort the makers put into being derivative...if you're gonna stamp out carbon copy hero flicks for the teen market, at least try to give the appearance of effort. Accusing the of insulting our intelligence would be a waste of time (given that it debuted at number two on opening weekend, theres precious little intelligence to insult...) But some sincere fakery would be nice. As it is, you guys aren't even trying at this point...
I won't go into a long discourse about the plot because it follows the templates of the past...if you're even marginally familiar with Greek mythology you can recite it blindfolded and backwards. Nor will I bother to complain about the movies lack of originality...a condition Hollywood cured itself of back in the 90's. No, my gripe with this deliberate pile of drek is the sheer lack of effort the makers put into being derivative...if you're gonna stamp out carbon copy hero flicks for the teen market, at least try to give the appearance of effort. Accusing the of insulting our intelligence would be a waste of time (given that it debuted at number two on opening weekend, theres precious little intelligence to insult...) But some sincere fakery would be nice. As it is, you guys aren't even trying at this point...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Back from the dead...
Three day weekend passing by in five seconds...
Four day week passing in in five centuries.
Work sucks!
Four day week passing in in five centuries.
Work sucks!
Friday, February 18, 2011
The unwisdom of age
They say age brings wisdom...but is it really just fear and old prejudice masquerading as knowledge?
Don't quit your job, be grateful you have a paycheck, let the negativity roll off your back, keep your head down, pay your dues, wait your turn, times are hard, no one gets what they want, much less what they deserve...
We are cogs waiting fir our disposal date, filling our lives with material goods bought on credit that we can't afford to fill the empty hole in our souls. Once there was a time for heroes, when men could the their date in their hands and make of it what they will, now is the time of the living dead pencil pushers drained all vitality by the soulless vampire that is modern life...god speaks but we're busy shopping for mirrors to notice, to numb to see the strings pulling our arms and legs...
I think Robert E. Howard was the first to see it...he live in a place ruined by greed and hypocrisy and escape of a sort in his mind, in s time and place that never was where there was still a place for adventure...but in the end even he couldn't escape the cruel chains of banality. His mind may have been free, but his body was still bound to this earth of tears and dust...
So much for the wisdom of age!
Don't quit your job, be grateful you have a paycheck, let the negativity roll off your back, keep your head down, pay your dues, wait your turn, times are hard, no one gets what they want, much less what they deserve...
We are cogs waiting fir our disposal date, filling our lives with material goods bought on credit that we can't afford to fill the empty hole in our souls. Once there was a time for heroes, when men could the their date in their hands and make of it what they will, now is the time of the living dead pencil pushers drained all vitality by the soulless vampire that is modern life...god speaks but we're busy shopping for mirrors to notice, to numb to see the strings pulling our arms and legs...
I think Robert E. Howard was the first to see it...he live in a place ruined by greed and hypocrisy and escape of a sort in his mind, in s time and place that never was where there was still a place for adventure...but in the end even he couldn't escape the cruel chains of banality. His mind may have been free, but his body was still bound to this earth of tears and dust...
So much for the wisdom of age!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Achilles Choice
Here's an interesting conundrum...the hero Achilles was given a choice; a long life of obscurity or a short one of glory. Be an interesting idea for a story, fantasy draws so much else from classical mythology...still, how would anyone respond to this? The answer a man gives might be the to understanding everything about him, and the society from which he comes...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
A better Dungeons and dragons movie?
Just for laughs, I took a look at the Dungeons & Dragons movie that cane out about ten years back to are if age has improved any. I can honestly say that in all fair honesty it has actually gotten worse. D&D the movie is a prime example of why the fantasy movie is so often an object of derision...not a so-bad-it's-good piece of camp, but a so bad it's a piece of drek that rightly deserves to he forgotten. I mean, a Wayans brother? Seriously? And how can Jeremy Irons sleep at night with such a hammy stinker of a performance? He's one of the best actors in the world, he could have at least tried to make an effort... It's one of the rare instances I can think of where the direct-to-DVD sequel is actually better...
That being said, if it could be done again, how should it be done so that it doesn't actually become a monumental embarrassment? Or even be, dare I say it, awesome?
Here's the trailer. Watch...and shudder at the memories...
That being said, if it could be done again, how should it be done so that it doesn't actually become a monumental embarrassment? Or even be, dare I say it, awesome?
Here's the trailer. Watch...and shudder at the memories...
Monday, February 14, 2011
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