Monday, June 22, 2009
SurReel
Hmm... The title of this entry could make a nice title for a story too... I'm a sucker for corny puns.
Anyway, I just came across some promo pictures for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland slated for release in March 5th 2010.
I love how starkly surreal the images look, especially of The Mad Hatter and The Red Queen. I haven't yet read Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, though I should pick it up some time. The first Alice iteration I ever came across was Fushigi no kuni no Alice or Alice in Wunderland, an animated TV series. I'd catch it every day after school when I was in kindergarten. I found it really strange and surreal, and liked it a whole lot. I haven't seen it since, but it's probably nowhere near as great as I remember it to be. I saw the Disney animated classic a bit later on and wasn't as thrilled as I was with the series. Then a few years ago I saw the fuck fest Neco z Alenky or Alice, very warped, insane visuals, and the very definition of surreal. Yet, I still don't know what to make of it. Then I played the computer game American McGee's Alice, which, I mean, had fantastic visuals, and a gothic soundtrack that I listen to even up to now, but suffered from an anemic plot. It also lacked the humour and whimsy which is supposed to come with Alice's Wonderland. There was a lot of room for some pitch black humour in a dysfunctional wonderland that American McGee, (a one hit wonder who needs to put his name before ever game he produces) absolutely missed out on.
Burton's is to be a sequel to the story, and will be part CG using mo-cap. I just hope it doesn't look as stiff, wooden, and uncanny valley as Beowulf and Monster House.
Most movies by Tim Burton, I've enjoyed, whether it's a lot or just mildly, I admit that a lot of it has to do with the visuals. But then there's also the childlike whimsy and black humour-lite that he incorporates.
He's far from perfect. Some of the flaws stick out like sore thumbs, like the singing, Freudian mumbo jumbo, and corny jokes thrown into Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Sometimes the imperfections make the movies better, at least to me, like the quirkiness, humour, and the over-the-top performance of Danny Devito as the Penguin in Batman Returns. However, he's put out a few steaming turds as well, such as Mars Attacks, Planet of The Apes, and Corpse Bride. As for Alice, it's too early to tell, but at least my eyes will be pleased.
I generally hate movie going because most movies are manufactured. There's explosive summer blockbuster, romantic comedy, broad comedy, mediocre horror sequel/clone/remake. Every once in a while, they'll throw out the Oscar contenders, which in most (but not all) cases bore me to tears, and normally surface around the end of the year, then it's rinse and repeat. Of course there are movies that come out and get wide enough release that actually catch my attention. This year's offered me nothing.
I've gone to see Observe and Report, or as I call it, The Dark Mall Cop. It's a painfully funny movie in more ways than one. Painful in the physical sense because I laughed pretty hard throughout it, and painful psychologically because of how disturbing it gets at times, at some of the dark places it goes to, and the discomfort felt in certain situations. I can't call it great, I mean, it couldn't be called an intellectual movie, visually it's just above average, and most of the characters are 2-Dimensional. But it's unmistakeably dark, featuring a bi-polar protagonist, a dirty cop, a disturbing damsel in distress, hardcore violence, and something bordering on date-rape. It seems like it was a polarizing movie, with people either loving or hating it. I admire it for its sheer gumption, and the fact that it turns genial funny man Seth Rogen into an unsympathetic headcase. People who went in expecting it to be another Knocked Up were in for a brutal surprise.
I went to see Coraline which was better than I expected to be. It had some nightmarish visuals, and was mostly faithful to the plot. The added character of Wybie, who seems to just be there because they needed someone for little boys to root for, was actually very likeable. Coraline, however, was made to be an obnoxious brat, something she wasn't in the novel. I almost wish her eyes did get sewn over with buttons, along with her larynx. It also didn't go too far with the 3D gimmick, which I'm thankful for.
I was dragged to watch The Watchmen. Which, content wise was faithful to the graphic novel, even if it was abridged. Yet a lot more seemed to be missing. I also believe that Zack Snyder was the wrong person to direct it. He made it more about being a super hero film with a socio-political backdrop rather than it being the other way around. The unsubtle choices of music pertaining to certain eras made me cringe, I hated the speed ramp effects and over choreographed fight scenes, and the acting by some of the characters was piss poor. Also certain elements which were substantial to the plot were tiptoed over or not properly conveyed.
I also saw Crank 2 which was mindless schlock, but something I enjoyed thoroughly. I hate Jason Statham movies because they reek of machismo, and he's the same guy in everything he stars in. But in this case, it was just an over-the-top comedy, an expensive Troma movie filmed on cameras from Wal-Mart.
I saw Drag Me To Hell which was supposed to be Sam Raimi's return to horror comedy, but which I found to be pretty forgettable.
That's all I've gone to see for the year, which is more than I initially thought. I would still like to see Up and The Brothers Bloom some time.
I look forward to seeing 9, the film of The Road, Pandorum , and Zombieland. As well, there are other gems in the more obscure market that will be coming out some time too, such as Hisss, and Surveillance by David Lynch offspring Jennifer Chambers Lynch. Admittedly, it looks like she's a Lynch imitating Lynch, but I'll give her movies a fair chance. They certainly seem like they can be unnerving. Cold Souls looks pretty interesting, even though it seems like they're trying to imitate Charlie Kaufman. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Micmacs a tire-larigot is supposed to come out some time this year, though probably only in France/Europe. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, Michel Gondry, and David Lynch are the top surreal film directors of this time. Oh, and speaking of Terry Gilliam, he has The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I feel a little lukewarm about that one. Terry Gilliam has been off his game lately with The Brothers Grimm and Tideland. As well, I don't respect much of Heath Ledger's acting. He hasn't starred in one movie or like or given one performance I thought to be remarkable. I will still give it a chance.
Quite a few interesting, dark and/or surreal pictures are coming out, though most will probably not be the easiest to get to. I will just have to make sure I get access somehow.
See everyone in hell!
Monday, June 15, 2009
What the hell am I doing?
It's been summer break for me for nearly two months now. This is the time of the year that I usually come up with plans of all of the goals I would love to achieve while the sun blazes over this region of the world. Some plans go unfulfilled, but I've since then learned that I can't end world hunger and bring about world peace in a few measly months... When I think about it, why would I even want to?
This summer is no exception. It will be a pretty introverted one, but hopefully, very prolific. I'm taking a step back to re-educate myself on writing. I've accepted the fact that writing is perpetually a learning process, and that perfect writing - especially in a writer's eyes - is nonexistent. When writing a novel, writing a short story, writing whatever, you are only learning how to write that particular work. It's back to school with the next story. Sometimes, what's attained from writing the previous work translates into a prerequisite for the next, but in many cases, it's like going back for another degree taking on a new major in another faculty.
I decided that I'm going to read Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer, and take a few tips from her on what to look for when I read from other authors. While doing that, I've been reading some other novels. Last week I read The Love Curse of The Rumbaughs, a Gothic tale of taxidermy, eugenics, and incest written for young adults. For a children's book, it's rather unrelentingly disturbing and depressing. It makes me want to have a child just to force the brat to read it. I'm currently reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It's a dreary affair. I am enjoying it so far, and will more than likely finish it off tonight. I've already studied certain techniques and elements from both books which I can apply to [The Obscure Opus]. This doesn't mean I'm going to pull a Tarantino or Viswanathan and lift scenes, characters, and everything else then call it my own. It's strictly about method and not material.
The campaign will end in August or maybe September with me reading the sprawling epic recommended to me by [D. Cranium]. I'll start with the late Roberto Bolano's Lynchian 2666 then make my way through the late David Foster Wallace's depressingly hilarious tome Inifinite Jest.
I also want to see a lot of movies, though probably not any in theatres this summer since summer movies are mostly super hero movies and/or movies big on explosions, big on special effects, big on embarrassing dialogue, and big on everything else except for story and character development. I've been in search of movies obscure and not-so-obscure which can disturb me beyond bounds. I haven't found too many, except for Taxidermia which slapped me silly and called me stupid. It's pretty much a beautiful movie about ugliness.
I'll dig down in the darkness for more things to disturb me, maybe by the end, I'll be catatonic.
I will continue writing short stories from now until August. I should be able to crank out three, maybe four more. Then by August, I will be performing surgery on [The Obscure Opus].
If I have time along the way, and if I work up the nerve, I may suit up and go to the heart and nerve centre of Gallowmere and give this place an entire redesign. People who travel through this site using Firefox 3, or certain versions of Internet Explorer, or Opera may notice certain things out of place on here, or a gap between the menu and the text portions. Not even The Prince of Darkness, knows what to do about this problem, so I might take a crack at it. Hopefully it doesn't crack me. Time will tell.
See everyone in hell!
Monday, June 01, 2009
Et tu, 1Q?
I almost missed the fact that 1Q84 hit the shelves in Japan last Friday. No, 1Q84 is not [The Obscure Opus], the novel that I wrote and have been yammering about on here. It is Haruki Murakami's latest novel.
The Guardian says this:
Murakami, whom many consider one of the greatest living novelists, had refused to reveal the plot of the two-volume work after criticism that leaked details about his 2002 bestseller, Kafka on the Shore, spoiled its novelty value.The strategy worked and tens of thousands of his Japanese fans were happy to put their faith in the title and author alone. The book's publisher, Shinchosha, said it was forced to increase its first print run by 100,000 to 480,000 copies amid a flood of advance orders.
"The secrecy surrounding the work has made customers desperate to get hold of this book," Toshiaki Uchida, assistant manager of a bookshop in central Tokyo, told the Associated Press.
Judging by the agency's brief review - one of the first to appear - 1Q84 is classic Murakami, It is described as a "complex and surreal narrative" that "shifts back and forth between tales of two characters, a man and a woman, who are searching for each other".
The novel "explores social and emotional issues such as cult religions, violence, family ties and love."
It definitely sounds like vintage Murakami material. I admit, similar in style to books he's written before, but no book of his has been a carbon copy of any of his others, so I can expect something new. If the publication history of his other translations is any indicator of what to expect in terms of release date, we'll be looking at a two to three year wait in English speaking countries. That will require a lot of patience on my part. There are things I can do, however. I haven't read his more mundane novels such as Norwegian Wood, or his nonfiction such as Underground.
What is best about his books, besides the way he effortlessly blends outlandish and surreal events with the mundane is that they are possibly the only books which have characters who I can identify with. His protagonists are usually detached young men happy in a small world of their own that they carved out of a larger world which doesn't make the most sense to them. Along the way, they tend to attract the strangest people and strangest encounters.
I really hope that 1Q84 will not be as disappointing as After Dark. Most of his novels, especially The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and Kafka on the Shore have been smorgasbords of surrealism, philosophical musings, absurd humour, and dreamlike logic. After Dark was only a crumb of low fat rice cake.
I will not spoil the details for myself on what it could be about, but I will keep an eye out for the release date.
See everyone in hell!
