Title: Life of Pi.
Verdict: weird, interesting. Decently written. Violent.
Review: pending.
:-)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
King Kong Alert
This alert would be a level...oh, 7 or so? Except for a deep-voiced narrator, there are few modern movie flaws this trailer fails to deliver: CG monsters, cheesy taglines, an unconvincing love story, heathen temples, big messy battles--the lot. Experience the ice-age goofiness here.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Trailer!
A piercing violin note. The Universal Studios logo appears, then fades out. A drum. Cut to a ship of the line flying the Union Jack. Cut to the same ship laying alongside an American merchantman. Fade-out with another drum. Cut to a struggling American sailor, held by two marines.
American Sailor: Please, sir, I haven’t done no wrong!
British Lieutenant: Just come aboard, young man, be a good sport. You’re in the his majesty’s service now—and that means discipline!
Cut to the American sailor being whipped by a cat o’ nine tails. Scream. Fade out.
Cut to James Madison at his desk, a note in his hands.
Madison: These impressments must stop!
He slams the desk.
Narrator (As American soldiers run down a street): This summer, a fledgling nation…
Cut to cannons lined on a battlefield.
will pit itself against the greatest empire…
Cut to a CG shot, starting at the front of the line and then receding to reveal oncoming hordes of marching Redcoats kicking up dust.
the world had ever known.
Madison (pacing in front of a line of soldiers): At times like these, you have to ask yourself—is democracy worth fighting for? What will you give for your country? Are you ready—are you ready—to die for the cause? They may take our lives, but they will never take…OUR FREEDOM!
Cut to Lake Champlain, where a British and American ship exchange furious broadsides. Cue choral music. Cut to the burning of Washington, D.C. Cut to soldiers struggling through a swamp during the invasion of Canada. Cut to a scalping. Cut to cannon fire. Cut to a pioneer woman looking at her husband with an expression of emotional pain.
Cut to Andrew Jackson, standing on a hilltop.
Andrew Jackson: They want to test the mettle of Americans? Let ‘em try.
Cannon shells are falling around.
Aide: General Jackson, you should take cover, sir.
Jackson: Damn the cover! No American should take cover.
Cannon shot blasts the aide off the hill.
Second Aide: General Jackson, sir…
Jackson: He died for his country. That’s enough.
Choral music restarts. Cut to a ship turning in rough seas, sending up sheets of spray. Cut to an American soldier passionately making out with a pioneer woman, whose dress, just barely out of frame, seems to be coming off. Cut to a fusillade of shots. Cut to an exploding fruit cart. Cut to an Indian brandishing a bloody hatchet.
Jackson: This is your chance to show them the true mettle of a frontiersman!
Sudden silence. Cut to a British invasion fleet making an amphibious assault. Boatloads of men are rowing in dead silence toward the shore. With them is a detachment of trolls and several CG sharks, who appear to be on the British side. An American watchman sights the invasion force and stares, ashen-faced and wide-eyed.
Watchman: What the he—
Hands appear out of the darkness and muffle his scream. Cue serious cello theme, with bass drum accompaniment every first beat.
NO COMPROMISE
Jackson draws his saber.
NO RETREAT
Madison: By all the powers of Hades, I charge you men to stand your ground!
NO MERCY
Cut to a group of Indians in full war paint leering at a calm and peaceful frontier fort.
Indian: Heap big scalps.
Other Indians grin maliciously.
IT WAS A WAR LIKE NONE OTHER
Cut to Andrew Jackson and a British envoy, atop a fort wall in New Orleans looking over the Gulf of Mexico.
Envoy: General, you are outnumbered. The only gentlemanly option left to you is surrender.
Jackson: Surrender! By Jingo, if you so much as mention the word again…
Envoy: You refuse to…eh, capitulate?
Jackson: I think that’s a foregone conclusion. We fight!
Envoy: But—but this is bloody madness!
Pause. Jackson glares out of the side of his eyes.
Jackson: Madness? No. This – is – America!
Kick. Envoy takes a dive.
Screen goes black. One by one, with a thundering boom, each massive red letter appears:
1
8
1
2
Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Keifer Sutherland, Paris Hilton and Sir Ian Mckellan in: 1812: A War Like None Other. Coming to theaters nationwide on July 22nd.
American Sailor: Please, sir, I haven’t done no wrong!
British Lieutenant: Just come aboard, young man, be a good sport. You’re in the his majesty’s service now—and that means discipline!
Cut to the American sailor being whipped by a cat o’ nine tails. Scream. Fade out.
Cut to James Madison at his desk, a note in his hands.
Madison: These impressments must stop!
He slams the desk.
Narrator (As American soldiers run down a street): This summer, a fledgling nation…
Cut to cannons lined on a battlefield.
will pit itself against the greatest empire…
Cut to a CG shot, starting at the front of the line and then receding to reveal oncoming hordes of marching Redcoats kicking up dust.
the world had ever known.
Madison (pacing in front of a line of soldiers): At times like these, you have to ask yourself—is democracy worth fighting for? What will you give for your country? Are you ready—are you ready—to die for the cause? They may take our lives, but they will never take…OUR FREEDOM!
Cut to Lake Champlain, where a British and American ship exchange furious broadsides. Cue choral music. Cut to the burning of Washington, D.C. Cut to soldiers struggling through a swamp during the invasion of Canada. Cut to a scalping. Cut to cannon fire. Cut to a pioneer woman looking at her husband with an expression of emotional pain.
Cut to Andrew Jackson, standing on a hilltop.
Andrew Jackson: They want to test the mettle of Americans? Let ‘em try.
Cannon shells are falling around.
Aide: General Jackson, you should take cover, sir.
Jackson: Damn the cover! No American should take cover.
Cannon shot blasts the aide off the hill.
Second Aide: General Jackson, sir…
Jackson: He died for his country. That’s enough.
Choral music restarts. Cut to a ship turning in rough seas, sending up sheets of spray. Cut to an American soldier passionately making out with a pioneer woman, whose dress, just barely out of frame, seems to be coming off. Cut to a fusillade of shots. Cut to an exploding fruit cart. Cut to an Indian brandishing a bloody hatchet.
Jackson: This is your chance to show them the true mettle of a frontiersman!
Sudden silence. Cut to a British invasion fleet making an amphibious assault. Boatloads of men are rowing in dead silence toward the shore. With them is a detachment of trolls and several CG sharks, who appear to be on the British side. An American watchman sights the invasion force and stares, ashen-faced and wide-eyed.
Watchman: What the he—
Hands appear out of the darkness and muffle his scream. Cue serious cello theme, with bass drum accompaniment every first beat.
NO COMPROMISE
Jackson draws his saber.
NO RETREAT
Madison: By all the powers of Hades, I charge you men to stand your ground!
NO MERCY
Cut to a group of Indians in full war paint leering at a calm and peaceful frontier fort.
Indian: Heap big scalps.
Other Indians grin maliciously.
IT WAS A WAR LIKE NONE OTHER
Cut to Andrew Jackson and a British envoy, atop a fort wall in New Orleans looking over the Gulf of Mexico.
Envoy: General, you are outnumbered. The only gentlemanly option left to you is surrender.
Jackson: Surrender! By Jingo, if you so much as mention the word again…
Envoy: You refuse to…eh, capitulate?
Jackson: I think that’s a foregone conclusion. We fight!
Envoy: But—but this is bloody madness!
Pause. Jackson glares out of the side of his eyes.
Jackson: Madness? No. This – is – America!
Kick. Envoy takes a dive.
Screen goes black. One by one, with a thundering boom, each massive red letter appears:
1
8
1
2
Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas, Keifer Sutherland, Paris Hilton and Sir Ian Mckellan in: 1812: A War Like None Other. Coming to theaters nationwide on July 22nd.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Farewell, Mr. Ledger
Actor Heath Ledger died today, likely from a drug overdose. He was 28. He left a young daughter behind. I never even came close to knowing him, never saw him in real life, but I feel pity for the man. One of the main things I know him for is portraying a homosexual character in Brokeback Mountain. From what I have heard of him, he did not profess Christ. I hope, some time before he died, that he was drawn to the only way of salvation.
Death comes to us all. I pray it did not come upon Mr. Ledger unawares.
Death comes to us all. I pray it did not come upon Mr. Ledger unawares.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
I have a piano student!
That student being the six year-old son of our neighbors across the street. :-) I am a little nervous, but it should be very exciting to guide someone through what I myself was learning seven or eight years ago. It also pays, which never hurts.
I have also added Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, and A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finish Winter War of 1939-1940 by William R. Trotter, to my reading--the former for school and the latter for pleasure/research.
I have also added Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, and A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finish Winter War of 1939-1940 by William R. Trotter, to my reading--the former for school and the latter for pleasure/research.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
I find it curious that, just about when I switched over to Blogger, I can now think of little to post that would actually be worth the ATPs of energy burnt by typing the keys. :-) Maybe it's the fact that posting trivial things on Blogger seems somehow more incongruous than on Xanga, likely because of its more formal format. That is likely a good thing.
I suppose the chief news of any kind that may be of interest is two-fold: one, that I am re-reading Huckleberry Finn for my English class, having once read it on my own, and the interesting-looking Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose; and two, that after next week I will no longer be taking any classes with the Star Torrey Academy. After a generally excellent experience last year, this year has taken a turn for the worse--I now feel like the writing assignments are below my level, the administration is disorganized and inflexible, the discussion is not very profitable, and the general course of learning lacks sufficient depth.
I'm also loving Latin and piano, and writing is going very well. Adieu!
I suppose the chief news of any kind that may be of interest is two-fold: one, that I am re-reading Huckleberry Finn for my English class, having once read it on my own, and the interesting-looking Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose; and two, that after next week I will no longer be taking any classes with the Star Torrey Academy. After a generally excellent experience last year, this year has taken a turn for the worse--I now feel like the writing assignments are below my level, the administration is disorganized and inflexible, the discussion is not very profitable, and the general course of learning lacks sufficient depth.
I'm also loving Latin and piano, and writing is going very well. Adieu!
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