Lowhrkeeper's Xanga

Cohenisms

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:26:00 GMT

From singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen:

"Prayer is translation. A man translates himself into a child asking for all there is in a language he has barely mastered."

Shyamalan

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:14:02 GMT

Manohla Dargis of the New York Times reviews Shyamalan's "The Happening."

Best lines:

"It’s a shame he doesn’t know what to do with [his story's premise] other than mow people down."

"Mr. Shyamalan’s bag of tricks is awfully familiar — the camera races forward, the characters stand locked in place, a child’s empty swing sways in the wind, eyes widen, mouths gape."

then to sum up Shyamalan's movies (the work, not the creator), she says they are all "manufactured sincerity and cornball messages."

http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/movies/13happ.html?ref=movies

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:15:08 GMT

Week of June 8, 2008.

Nothing good on DVD this week. That's okay. Season Four of "Rescue Me" from last week is plenty of entertainment.

Eastwood Tells Spike Lee to "shut his face" at The Guardian.
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2283921,00.html

M. Night talks about his Hollywood career.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/02/business/media/02night.html
I dread watching his new movie: The Happening, isn't it? No, "Global Warming Attacks!" Commence hiding immediately.

Scorsese's new film "Ashecliffe" is no longer titled "Shutter Island"?
http://www.cinematical.com/2008/01/29/scorseses-shutter-island-gets-a-name-change/

I'm long overdue for a website update. I'll have to change that.

www.viewandreview.com

Might As Well Be Me

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 12:48:15 GMT

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 04:50:30 GMT

"You wasted life, why don't you waste death?" ~ Modest Mouse, "Ocean Breathes Salty"

There's a double meaning in that. =)

[Photo of Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane in Sleepy Hollow]

"I have a lot of pudding that I can redeem in six to eight weeks and if you give me that much time I can get enough miles to fly with you wherever you have to go . . . can you please let me redeem the mileage?" ~ Barry Egan (Adam Sandler), Punch Drunk Love

"Insanity oozing through telephone cables, oozing into the ears of all those poor sane people, infecting them! Whackos everywhere! A plague of madness." ~ Jeffrey (Brad Pitt), Twelve Monkeys

"'I know I can do it,' Todd Downey said, helping himself to another ear of corn from the steaming bowl. 'I'm sure that in time, every bit of her will be gone and her death will be a mystery . . . even to me." ~ Mort Rainey [reading his story out loud] (Johnny Depp), Secret Window

"A storm is coming, Frank says / A storm that will swallow the children / And I will deliver them from the kingdom of pain / I will deliver the children back the their doorsteps / And send the monsters back to the underground / I'll send them back to a place where no-one else can see them / Except for me / Because I am Donnie Darko." ~ Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), Donnie Darko

Reviews, you ask? Soon. =D

God bless

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Wed, 07 Sep 2005 02:25:04 GMT

Sometimes you read something that some famous artist or icon says, and it amazes you. But every once in a while you read something by a famous artist or icon that astounds you, and is incredibly encouraging. In recent years, Bono, lead singer of U2, has never failed to surprise me with his impressive, unapologetic Christian beliefs and practices.

Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas is an incredibly encouraging read for Christians. As one of the most revered icons of our age, it's intriguing to read him speak about his life, his devotion to Christianity, and the like. The book is worthy buying, and while you're at it, be sure to purchase U2's latest "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."

Here is an excerpt of my favorite part; it's inexplicably invigorating to read Bono's responses, which are stimulating in that they provide a very real example of a Christian answering the fool.

Assayas: “Appalling things seem to happen when people become religious at too early an age or when their experience of life is nonexistent. Don't you think?”

Bono: “Zealots often have no love for the world. They're just getting through it to the next one. It's a favorite topic. It's the old cliché: "Eat shit now, pie in the sky when you die." But I take Christ at his word: "On Earth as it is in Heaven." As to the first part of your question, in my experience, the older you get, the less chance you have to transform your life, the less open you are to love in a challenging way. You tend towards love what's more comforting and safe.”

Assayas: “As I told you, I think I am beginning to understand religion because I have started acting and thinking like a father. What do you make of that? “

Bono: “Yes, I think that's normal. It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma.”

Assayas: “I haven't heard you talk about that.”

Bono: “I really believe we've moved out of the realm of Karma into one of Grace.”

Assayas: “Well, that doesn't make it clearer for me.”

Bono: “You see, at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the Universe.

I’m absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that “as you reap, so will you sow” stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.”

Assayas: “I’d be interested to hear that.”

Bono: “That’s between me and God. But I’d be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I’d be in deep shit. It doesn’t excuse my mistakes, but I’m holding out for Grace. I’m holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don’t have to depend on my own religiosity.”

Assayas: “The son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.”

Bono: “But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions.

The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled… It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven.”

Assayas: “That’s a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it’s close to lunacy , in my view. Christ has his rank among the world’s
great thinkers. But Son of God, isn’t that farfetched?”

Bono: “No, it’s not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off that hook.

Christ says, No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t call me teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet. I’m saying: “I’m the Messiah.” I’m saying: “I am God incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet we can take. You’re a bit eccentric. We’ve had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don’t mention the “M” word! Because, you know, we’re gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no, I know you’re expecting me to come back with an army and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah.

At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. I mean, we’re talking nutcase on the level of Charles Manson. This man was like some of the people we’ve been talking about earlier. This man was strapping himself to a bomb, and had King of the Jews” on his head, and was they were putting him up on the Cross, was going: OK, martyrdom, here we go. Bring on the pain! I can take it.

I’m not joking here. The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that’s farfetched.”

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 03:14:28 GMT

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Sun, 08 May 2005 04:09:32 GMT

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” fits the mold of a Gothic tale of horror because it maintains a mood of melancholy, accentuates the presence of evil, and offers no hope of redemption. Throughout the narrative, Poe’s choice of setting and many descriptions set a particular mood of melancholy. The melancholy or hopelessness originates from a presence of evil, which oppresses the reader to help the reader relate with the story’s characters. Not only does evil pervade the story, but also evil overwhelms the denouement as death seizes the House without redemption.

To fit the mood of melancholy that afflicts Roderick Usher and his House, Poe effectively creates a literary mood of melancholy to draw the reader into the story. In the beginning of the story, Poe describes the setting (the House of Usher) as “bleak,” such that “insufferable gloom” dominated the narrator’s mind. Poe explains the “insufferable gloom” further, “for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible” [emphasis added]. Immediately, Poe wants the reader to realize the melancholy, which upsets the House of Usher is atypical and even supernatural. Moreover, even the vocabulary Poe employs has melancholic connotations, which wrestle the reader’s feelings to relate to the characters. Just as Madeline assaults her twin Roderick in the end, melancholy symbolically becomes a storm of wind and “exceeding density” that assaults and finally “[enshrouds] the mansion,” an almost living manifestation of melancholy.

When the narrator informs us of Roderick’s thoughts on the despondent atmosphere of the mansion, the reader learns of Roderick’s theory of an evil “sentience.” Furthermore, this “sentience” “[moulds]” the destiny of Roderick, and in Poe’s mind, this influence must be nothing other than evil due to its decaying, “phantasmagoric” appearance. However, evil’s presence reveals itself in Roderick’s own personage as well. After burying Lady Madeline, Roderick began a deathly descent into the “inexplicable vagaries of madness” which assailed his mind. During the last moments of Roderick’s life, the narrator noticed his seemingly mad behavior, his murmuring, and his “sickly smile [quivering] about his lips.” The mansion and Roderick represent Fate and human action respectively. Thus the reader can relate to the story’s subtle theme of free will vs. fate, but the evil sentience directs its inhabitants to terrible ends and the evil within Roderick commands his mind to murder and madness. Moreover, to highlight the similar nature of the mansion and Roderick, Poe tells the reader the title “House of Usher” included “both the family and the family mansion.” Therefore, Poe does not see fate and free will as opposed, but as complementary levels of action, which in the story, promulgate the presence of evil.

Evil irreversibly mars the mind of Roderick “from which darkness, as if an inherent positive quality, poured forth upon all objects of the moral and physical universe, in one unceasing radiation of gloom.” The narrator “perceives the futility” of attempting to redeem Roderick’s mind because an “unceasing radiation of gloom” directs his life. The narrator related one significant story of one of Roderick’s “conceptions,” which revealed a tunnel of light. However, the narrator noticed no “light at the end of the tunnel” or from any other “outlet,” leaving the tunnel to seem as an underground Hades. In the end, the hellish Lady Madeline seeks revenge and murders her mad twin brother, while the house, which they live in, crumbles to the ground. Even the narrator runs madly away from the “singularly dreary tract of country.” Accordingly, any hope for heaven or of any sort of redemption for the characters is buried with them or scattered to the wind.

In “Fall of the House of Usher,” Poe crafted a well-written Gothic tale, despite its depressing melancholy, oppressive presence of evil, and lack of redemption. The tale remains a thought-provoking story that efficiently draws the reader in and arouses them with feelings of horror.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 17:16:47 GMT

Coldplay's lead single, "Speed of Sound," from their new album X&Y was released today. You can listen to it through the Coldplayer at www.coldplay.com.

"And there was much rejoicing."

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 01:41:30 GMT

I'm cleaning up the site again.

I found this while cleaning up some stuff on my computer, thought I'd share it for laughs.