Nocturnal Animals

Rated: R

Basically, this is a story about a rich museum coordinator (Amy Adams) who receives the manuscript of a book her considerably less wealthy ex-husband (Jake Gyllenhaal).

The story by her ex-husband:
A family is driving through West Texas when they have a scary run-in with a group of drunk sociopaths, which ends with the man (also Jake Gyllenhaal) stranded in the middle of Nowheresville, TX and his wife (Ilsa Fischer) and teenage daughter brutally murdered.

A year later, the man is working with a dying cop to hunt down the men who killed his wife and daughter and bring them to justice.

This movie is going to get nominated for something, either sound design or cinematography, or both.

The story was just...weird.  Lots of nudity. Lots of swearing. Not so much on-screen sex, though. There is a brief rape scene, but it's blurry and the camera moves a lot so you don't see anything graphic (which is ironic considering how much nudity there is in other sequences).  And don't even get me started on the opening sequence.

The movie goes out of its way to lump Christians, conservatives, and Republicans in with sexists and racists which I found rather discouraging (and offensive, if I dare use that already over-used word), but I would like to point out that it also shows the presumably liberal, Democratic, tolerant character choosing a rich, good-looking guy over the Middle Class guy she truly "loved" (as to why anyone would dump Jake Gyllenhaal is beyond me).

I do kinda feel like this movie was a waste of my time, but, hey!  There was a promotion at the theatre, so I did get a thousand bonus points out of it. 

I highly recommend skipping this one.

Denial

Rated: PG-13

Once upon a time, a historian writes a book which claims that the Holocaust never happened. 

Meanwhile, a university professor writes another book about the Holocaust and calls the historian out on his bias toward Hitler and the lack of evidence to support his no-Holocaust theory. 

So, that historian takes the professor to court, claiming she has defamed his name and reputation.

And thus the trial of the century, the trial to prove that the Holocaust really happened.

Seeing as we still learn about the Holocaust, and may of us have had the opportunity to meet survivors or visit the sites, it's a pretty safe bet what the outcome of the trial was even before sitting though a 2-hour movie, but it's totally worth your time to do so (watch the movie). For those of us who haven't yet been or may never be able to go to Auschwitz in Poland, this movie gives us a second-hand look at the camp as it stands today (or, at least, how it stood in the late 90's).  The scenes that take place in the camp are both stark and poignant. Seeing Auschwitz in this movie felt almost just as haunting as when I visited Mauthausen Concentration Camp (and, let's be honest, a movie ticket is much cheaper than roundtrip tickets to Poland).  

I will be completely honest, I'm not a huge fan of Rachel Weisz. That being said, I actually rather enjoyed her performance in this movie.  Cinematically, it's beautiful, especially the scenes filmed in Auschwitz! 

Do I recommend this movie?  YES! 

GO SEE IT!!!  You won't regret it!

Priceless - 2016

Rated: PG-13

In keeping with the Christian movie motif of one-word titles that basically give away the theme of the story, Priceless is about a guy named James who takes a shady job driving a truck across the country. He later discovers that he's hauling two girls, Antonia and her sister Maria, who are to become trafficking victims. Working with a conscientious citizen/mentor (another Christian movie motif), James works and fights to rescue the girls from their captor/pimp.

While this movie does fall victim to the standard Christian movie motifs, including characters stating the obvious and random mini-music video sequences, this movie was surprisingly intense. It's a great message portrayed by a great cast in a moving story. None of it felt forced or over-rehearsed. I was very impressed!

Cinematically, this movie is gorgeous! While it does default to scenic shots to fill space between scenes, these scenic shots are truly beautiful!

Seeing as this is a movie about human trafficking, there is a rather intense scene where a girl is coerced into having sex and we later see her lying in bed, covering herself with a sheet (implying that she's been raped). People fight, one guy is shot, and a few people are held at gun point.

This is a heart-thumping drama that everybody should see!

The Girl on the Train

Rated: R

3 women, 2 men, an odd spattering of shrinks, strangers, and police detectives, all brought together by a train and a murder.

Rachel (Emily Blunt) is a disparaging woman who has turned to alcohol to drown out her problems (not being able to have a baby, then losing her husband to an affair). Apathetic and directionless, Rachel rides a train to and from the neighboring city every day. From the train window, she can see a couple in a house near the tracks. They seem to be deeply in love, possessing everything Rachel herself has lost, and she daydreams about their lives.

Megan (Haley Bennett) is a sexually frustrated housewife who doesn't sure her husband, Scott's (Luke Evans), desire to have a baby. Shadowed by a past tragedy, Megan engages in shady affairs with everyone from her neighbors to her therapist, anyone she feels won't expect anything from her (baby-wise).

When Rachel witnesses Megan kissing another man, she gets off the train, intending to confront Megan about her infidelities. She wakes up the next morning covered in blood, with no memory of the night before, and to the news that Megan has gone missing. Now she must regain her memories in order to exonerate herself of Megan's murder while trying to help the police and Scott hunt down Megan's real killer.

The movie stays true to the Paula Hawkins book on which it's based, even maintaining the book's non-linear storyline. The movie is trippy, but I thought it was much easier to follow than the book (maybe this is because I'm a visual learner?)  Emily Blunt is all-but-recognizable, but she really knocked her performance out of the ballpark with this character. Haley Bennett's performance is spotless.

Cinematically, this movie is beautiful! Camera angles, scenic shots, and the unique soundtrack all work together to build tension and enhance the already intricate story.

Problems: This movie is rated R for a reason. There's a lot of sex scenes, mostly naked women from behind, never anything full-frontal. There's also a fair amount of strong/bad language. Other than that, a few people get physically attacked (one person lethally so), and one guy gets stabbed in the throat.

Worth seeing? Yes!

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

So, last week my Psychology teacher had us watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in class, then for our homework we were supposed to write a short review.  But, by way of the Secret Arts of Procrastination, I find myself just now sitting down to write this review...

...only to find that my computer battery is dead and I didn't bring the charger with me today.

So, instead of leaving the glorious privacy of the empty classroom I'm currently situated in, I'm going to write my review here (since I can access Blogger from my phone).  Besides, it is media related, so why not share my thoughts with the rest of you as well.

So, here we go:

Psychology: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The story begins with an apathetic man who skips work and ends up running into an enthusiastic woman with blue hair.  They end up hitting it off and soon commit to some kind of a relationship.  But as the film progresses, we discover that they were both previously in a relationship, but broke up and decided to have their memories erased so as to avoid the painful memories.  As the man undergoes the memory wiping procedure, however, he realizes that the good memories of his former girlfriend are being attacked as well.  Panicked, he goes to extraordinary lengths to keep her (or the memory of her, anyway) from being completely erased. 

Fighting back from the outside are a doctor, his lab assistant and office clerk (who are secretly in love with each other and engage in sex over their patient's sleeping form).  Also there to complicate matters further is the lab assistant's assistant who has developed a crush on the main character's former girlfriend and is using the main character's memories to woo her.

Yup, quite the complicated storyline.

Since this is for a psychology class, I'm assuming I need to spend some time discussing the psychology interwoven into the movie as well as the psychological effects it had on me (or my response to it), so here we go.

It's interesting how much we wish we could forget sometimes, and I think the movie does a good job of comforting that desire head-on.  Yes, some memories can be painful and we may think that the only liberation we can get is if we rid ourselves of those memories.  But those bad memories contribute to our growth and maturity.  If we were to retrace our steps, we would find that those painful memories had just as much influence in making us who we are today as the good memories.

For example, my Mom dying of cancer is a bad memory of a difficult time in our family.  But as much as I wish it hadn't happened or that I could forget it, I know for a fact that I would not be the woman I am today.  I wouldn't be driving myself, I wouldn't know the meaning of the word "independent thought", I wouldn't be this close to publishing my book, I wouldn't be attending the Art Institute, and I probably wouldn't have started this blog.  And I definitely wouldn't have seen The Force Awakens seven times in the theatre  (my Mom was a bit controlling).  Because of her death, I'm more independent than I probably could have been if she was still alive.  Do I still get sad when I think about her?  Heck, yes!  I still break down whenever someone sings her favorite hymn.  Do I wish I could forget her?  No.

Back to the movie.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite movie.  Believe it or not, it was a little too weird for me (and that's saying something coming from the girl who loves Roald Dahl and The Series of Unfortunate Events).  But I did like how it touched on mankind's desire to be rid of pain.

As humans, we don't like to be in pain or discomfort.  It's our natural inclination to make pain go away (unless you're a sadist, but that's a whole different beast in and of itself).  If there's a cactus prickle in our feet, we're naturally inclined to want to pull it at as soon as possible.  I think it's the same with memories.  It's our natural inclination to make the pain stop by getting rid of the source, but we have to realize memories don't work that way.  Depending on the functionality of our minds, memories can be stuck with us for the rest of our lives.  If we could have them physically removed, I think we would.  I think Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind tackles that desire and says, "Yes, we all want to live a pain-free life, but if given the choice of losing all the memories of a person, place, or event, would we really choose to lose the good memories to?" 

It's certainly something worth pondering.

Okay, my cell phone is about to die, so I better go now.

Go watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind if you get a chance.  It's certainly very thought provoking and could start some interesting discussions.

Allegiant...In a Nutshell

There was something irony about today.

This time last year, my friend and I planned to go see Insurgent in the theatre on the Thursday before opening night.  Tuesday afternoon, however, my co-worker came up to me and asked if I could cover for him Thursday morning...even though I was already working an 8-hour shift that afternoon.

For whatever reason, I said yes...

...thus, I ended up working 11.5 hours straight, followed by a 2+ hour movie with my friend.

This experience is documented in my blog post: Insurgent_Count_Down

(I realize I promised to post my review within a few days of the showing but never did, and for that I apologize.)

This March, I planned to go see Allegiant at the dine-in theatre near campus as a treat for surviving Finals.  I bought my ticket for the 11:30am showing two days in advance, as this was the only showing that would get out before my 3pm shift at work (also on campus).  This morning (Thursday), I received a desperate message from my boss saying that the my co-worker had called in sick and she needed someone to cover at least for a little bit this morning (Finals Weeks isn't quite over yet).  And since the theatre was right next to school and I had to be out there at 11:30 anyway, I said I would come in from 9:30 to 11-ish, and hopefully after that my other co-worker would be able to come in a little early.

The irony in it all is that I was covering a Thursday morning shift for the same co-worker I'd covered for a year earlier, AND I was going to see a Divergent movie afterward.




Allegiant

Don't mind us.
We're just climbing a wall in style.

Where to begin?

Overall, I liked it.  I absolutely loved John Trapanese's original score from Insurgent, and I loved Allegiant's soundtrack just as much.

One of the biggest complaints I hear about Insurgent (other than all of the deviations from the book) is how bad the dialogue sounds.  And I'll admit, a good portion of it is a little clunky like whoever wrote it (Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback) just didn't know how to write believable dialogue.  Either that, or the actors weren't given very good direction from Robert Schwentke.  Or a combination thereof.

Whatever was going on in Insurgent seems to have been remedied in this latest installment, because the dialogue didn't seem quite as awkward to me.  Actually, it sounded pretty good.  Everyone seemed much more comfortable with their roles, so overall the performances were great.

Costume design was interesting as well.  I thought they utilized the costuming well to further separate Tris, who is considered pure, from the others, who are considered unpure, by dressing Tris in really bright whites to contrast blacks and the dark grays worn by everybody else.  Fantastically well-thought-out stuff!

Most of all, I loved the lighting!  I absolutely LOVED it!  It was a happy combination of softer high-key lighting (very light shadows) and the darker, heavier borderline chiaroscuro lighting I love so much.

So, overall, I enjoyed the movie...


Defiant 
(or why Allegiant should be excomminucated from the Divergent family)

Tris is sad because of how
inaccurate the movie was.

...but not as a member of the Divergent family.

A lot of liberties were taken with the storyline, especially after the first, like, half an hour or so.  Elements of the story remain the same --  Tori still dies during their escape, Tris finds out here mother used to work at the science facility, and David still tries to release a memory serum on the city of Chicago while the people are at war with each other.

I liked Allegiant as its own little stand-alone movie about a girl and her friends who seek to discover the trust about what lies beyond the wall that both protects and imprisons their dystopian city.

As its own little blob of movie, Allegiant is fantastic!

As a member of the Divergent family...it leaves something to be desired.




Arrogant 
(or how Tris is still alive and why I have a problem with that)

I should be dead.  What happened?

Now don't get me wrong, I actually like Shailene Woodley as an actress.  But the fact that Tris made it through this movies relatively unscathed just made me angry.

It's not that I want her to die.  Nobody truly wants one of their favorite characters to die at the end of a movie or a book (that's what makes their deaths so sad to us).  But, I understand that in order for the Divergent series to reach its full and complete end, Tris must die.  As a writer, I get that.  Sometimes you have to knock off your main character to solve the problem.  Sometimes your main character has to go down in order to take the antagonist down as well.  I get that.

I also [kinda] get why they split the movie into 2 parts: Allegiant being Part 1 and Ascendant being Part 2 (due next year).  On the one hand, it keeps the franchise going, and the longer the franchise lasts the more many media moguls in Hollywood can make.  See, the film industry is all about money and less about art in America, which is why movies like Son of Saul stand out to us so much (as the Hungarians are a bit more focused on the artful aspect of filmmaking than we are).  This is why I get really excited when I do see really artfully crafted movies or movie trailers.

Regardless, I have no problem with splitting a book into 2 movies, but only if it's done right.

Mockingjay Part 1 and Mockingjay Part 2 were done correctly in my opinion.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Breaking Dawn Part 2 were done correctly in my opinion.

Allegiant Part 1 was not done correctly in my opinion.

I defy them to make Allegiant Part 2 correctly at this point.

Splitting Allegiant into 2 movies wouldn't be a problem if the material was being equally distributed (or close to equally).  As it stands, the Allegiant movie covered so much of the book that they really should have just killed Tris off, ended the series, and called it good.

What makes me even more upset is that they set it up to kill Tris at least once during the climax, and yet she is still with us, and they're moving forward with Ascendant (which is technically Allegiant Part 2).  And I was prepared to forgive them for the rest of the inaccuracies if they just did this one little thing right and let Tris die at the end of the movie.  But no, it was not to be.

Considering how much of the book was covered by Allegiant, I defy them to make a full 2+ hour movie out of what's left of the book.  I defy them to do it!


Detergent
(or why I think Ascendant should be renamed Detergent and labeled as fanfiction)

The Final Chapter or the First Crossover?

I'm not saying they shouldn't make Ascendant.

I'm just saying that they should have ended Allegiant in one happy 2-hour, 20-minute movie, then make Ascendant something else entirely.  Disconnected from the Divergent series altogether.

How, you ask?

First, it's time for us to face the reality that Hollywood has been talking about making a Divergent/Hunger Games crossover.  And while some of us may have been hoping and praying to avoid this detriment to great literature, I think it's time for us to face the fact we may be seeing these crossover movies sooner than we'd like to admit.

Second, considering how they ended the existing Allegiant movie, it is possible that they will just run off and take Ascendant down a whole different path that is completely different from the remaining portion of the Allegiant book it's supposed to be based on.  On top of the fact are rumors that Ascendant will contain "all new material".  How, exactly, can a movie based on a book contain "all new material"?  And how does Hollywood expect fans to be excited about this "all new material" when it means the defiling of a wonderful piece of dystopian literature?

Tris and Katniss: Partners in Crime?

So, will Ascendant be the first Divergent/Hunger Games crossover?  Will we be seeing Katniss or any other TGH references scattered throughout the last installment of the Divergent series?  Will President Snow rise to power and turn the experimental cities like Chicago into the 13 districts?  Will a five-year-old Mags make an appearance?  Will Tris end up leading the rebellion that leads to the destruction of District 13?

Truthfully, I have no idea.

I wish I could use my psychic mojo to read the minds of the Ascendant production team so I could tell you what they have in store for the movie...but sadly, I don't have any psychic mojo (which is probably a good thing in the long run).

My fangirl would love to get Jennifer Lawrence and Shailene Woodley in a movie together, maybe not as Katniss and Tris, but definitely with playing similar characters in some sort of dystopian future with a totalitarian government.

But, as an author and a fan of the books, I'm horribly offended by the idea of merging the Divergent and Hunger Games universes into a gigantic dystopian blob.  I think that would only serve to destroy the hopes and dreams and childhoods of so many fans.  Filmmakers should show authors more respect when adapting their works into movies.

We really need a washing
machine, Four!

If they must make a crossover movie, they should call it Detergent and make it about how the oppressed Districts of Panem join forces with the people of Chicago to overthrow the totalitarian government who has denied them the right to use washing machines to do their laundry.  They can make weapons out of empty detergent bottles and break into the BGW to steal their heavily protected and highly coveted washing machines.  Tris is killed while breaking into the washing machine vault and Katniss helps restore order to the whole country by smuggling the stolen washing machines to the impoverished Districts and experimental cities.  Because, you see, the world would just be a better place if everyone could just do their laundry in washing machines.

And yes, Hollywood, you may use that idea if you'd like.

Something to Ponder

My dear readers,

I have spent the last four or five blog posts talking about my thoughts on the Harry Potter series, and in every single one I have stated that, although I have made the decision to watch them myself, I still believe them to be dangerous. From what I've seen so far, they are fun stories about life, school, and growing up.  And, really, that's what they could have been; fun children's books and movies.

No, the danger comes from the references to real world paganism, Wicca, and occult practices that are interwoven into the Harry Potter universe.  And while I am not an expert on these topics, I have made sure to explain what I do know and what I've found out.

The Harry Potter universe makes these practices seem fun, like the children's stories they masquerade as.  But hidden deep beneath the surface is a much more insidious force, one of darkness and deception.  It is my belief that if parents and children saw paganism, Wicca, and the occult for what they truly are, they would run as fast as they could in the opposite direction.  But all we see in the Harry Potter books/movies are the fun, childish things like flying on a broomstick and using spells to turn ourselves into cats or other people.  All fun and games, right?

Today, I want you to see these practices for what they really are, brutal, deceptive, pure evil.  I found this article on Facebook this evening, and it immediately made me think about the Harry Potter controversy.

Article: http://christiannews.net/2016/03/13/mexican-satanists-kill-friend-in-ritual-to-turn-him-into-vampire/

Vampires are monsters that suck blood, run hotels, marry pretty girls, and eventually turn out to be some disgruntled business owner in a costume (depending on what you read or watched growing up).  I think we've all joked about them and dressed up like them at costume parties.  Much like Harry Potter, the media has gone to extraordinary lengths to make vampires look as fun as possible.  But underlying that are satanic rituals and customs we can't even begin to fathom.

How anyone could do something like this to a friend is unthinkable to me.  The sad thing is that, like the girls in the Slender Man case, these young men actually believed in what they were doing.  They honestly believed they weren't brutally murdering their friend.  They believed they were giving him unending life by "returning him to his former state as a vampire". 

And thus, a young man is dead, his body wrapped in plastic and discarded on the road.

He was just a little bit older than me when he was killed.

This is the darkness that exists in the real world.  It is disgusting, brutal, and deceptive.  This is the enemy that prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom it may destroy.  The lion masquerading as an innocent, adorable kitten to lure unsuspecting travelers into its lair.  It's real, and it's close to home.  Too close for comfort.

This is the insidious beast that hides behind the smokescreen of the Harry Potter universe.

It grieves my heart to read about things like this.  How these people went from being innocent children to brutally murdering their friend in a satanic rituals is devastating.

And bringing this whole blog post back to movies and my thoughts on Harry Potter, it grieves me that this same darkness can disguise itself with such childish innocence. 

I think the Harry Potter series could have been a fun, innocent, relatively wholesome story to be enjoyed by kids and adults alike.   But the innocence of these stories is tarnished by the underlying darkness that makes them so dangerous.

Harry Potter #4

The audiobooks are clearly numbered.

All this time, I've had to keep looking up the chronology of the movies on Wikipedia, because the movies aren't that clearly numbered (it's in tiny little print at the top of the spine, and these numbers aren't included on the library listings).  And all this time, the audiobooks have been sitting on Audible with big, friendly numbers printed smack dab on the cover.  Wow.

Seriously, whose brilliant idea was it not to be big, friendly numbers on the DVD covers in big, user-friendly print?  Not everyone automatically knows the order of these books/movies, so putting numbers on the covers would be very helpful for the rest of us.


CAVEATS:
Just because I decided to watch these movies does not mean that I endorse them in any way.  I do still believe there is danger here.  I still believe there are references to real world paganism woven into the stories.  I decided to watch them purely as reference material, so that I can carry on intelligent conversations about the movies with actual Potter-fans.  My decision to watch them was mine, and mine alone.  I strongly caution the rest of you to think and pray really long and really hard before deciding to watch the movies yourselves.  In fact, I would strongly advise against watching them at all.  Yeah, I know, I'm not taking my own advice.

March 7, 2016: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

4 down.

4 to go.

I'm halfway done!

For the first time since 2001, the Dursleys are nowhere in sight!  

Which was both greatly encouraging and immensely disappointing to me...

...but anyway...

Considering the fact that the last three movies have contained at least one Quidditch game each, we shouldn't be at all surprised when the movie opens with Harry, Hermione, and the entire Weasley family going to the annual Quidditch World Cup Championship Game.

...They would have one of those, wouldn't they...

However, things turn nasty when Voldemort's evil band of Death Eaters (a title which is as weird as it is disturbing) swings through the camp where all of the wizards have gathered for the big game.  

All of this weird and disturbingness is countered by the news that Hogwarts has been selected to host the annual TwiWizard Tournament, in which one champion from each of three different schools will compete in a series of challenges (none of which, thank goodness, involve a game of Quidditch) to achieve victory.  Contestants must be seventeens years or older to apply for the position of champion of their school by placing their names in an oversized cup that spits blue flames everywhere (you guessed it, this is the goblet of fire).

However, things take another confusing and complicated turn when Harry's name gets drawn as a fourth participant in the game.  This has never happened before, as there should only be one participant from each school.  Nor should it have happened to begin with because Harry is only fourteen and didn't even try (though others did) to put his name in the goblet.  Regardless of this, the faculty of Hogwarts conclude that Harry must compete due to the ancient tradition which states that once you have been chosen by the goblet of fire, you can't back out of the Tournament.

Oh, and for those who were wondering, Edward Cullen dies in this movie.

Thoughts

I remember when this movie came out, there was a huge to-do about the bathtub scene.  Rumors floated about that made it sound like it was Harry and Hermione hanging out together in a rather suggestive situation...but these rumors were also generated by those who hadn't seen the movies themselves and misunderstood what other people told them.

First, the bathtube was much bigger than I imagined it would be from the days of the Great Bathtub Debacle Rumors.

Second, it's not Hermione.  It's Moaning Myrtle, the ghost who haunts the bathrooms at Hogwarts.  She's being flirty.  Harry's awkwardly trying to get away.

Not that having a ghostly girl hitting on Harry while he's soaking in a gigantic bathtub and pondering a mysterious egg that contains a riddle is a good thing to be showing our impressionable teenagers.  It's a funny sequence simply due to the awkwardness of the situation, but not one which teenagers should be exposed to.  I know the original Harry Potter audience was meant to "grow up" with Harry (which also explains why the movies get progressively darker and the characters start using more swear words), but this type of scene is just plan inappropraite for children and teenagers alike.  

This may also explain why this is the first of the eight movies to receive a PG-13 rating (I verified this).

Bathtub Debacle aside, I have to admit that I actually really enjoyed this installment of the Harry Potter saga more than the previous ones.  This could be, at least in part, due to the fact that this is the first Harry Potter movie to receive a PG-13 rating.  It could, perhaps, have something to do with the new director (but they've been changing directors every movie).  It could also, partiallcy, be because I got the satisfaction of watching Edward Cullen die (even though Robert Patterson did a much better job acting in this movie than he did in the Twilight movies, so I was a little sad).  Or maybe it's because the stories are beginning to "grow up" a bit, to match the maturity of it's every aging original audience.

But also, definitely, because they used the lovely chiaroscuro lighting and awesome Dutch angles again (these were somewhat absent from the 3rd movie).

But mostly because I didn't feel like the pagan references were as noticeable in this movie.  The trials Harry must go through in the TriWizard Tournament could literally be any trials faced by any teenage boy in any fantasy world.  It doesn't feel like a Harry Potter movie.  The previous movies actually kinda made me physically uncomfortable.  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire did not...


Concerns

...until Harry and Cedric get pulled into the graveyard and Wormtail brings Voldemort back from...

...well, he's not exactly "dead", per se...

...back from formlessness.  

That was just...uncomfortable to watch.  The whole "bone of the ancestor, flesh of the servent, blood of the enemy" thing made me physically uncomfortable.

And again, I'm not overly knowledgable on Wicca and paganism, but I have a feeling this recipe has some basis in a Wicca/pagan practice or tradition somewhere.  I will have to look this up someday.

That was really the only hint of pagan influence I detected in this movie.  

This either means that J.K. Rowlings was focusing more on the intricacy of the Tournament than the interweaving of the pagan references, or that I have become a bit descenitized to them.

Both of which are quite possible.


More Thoughts

However, Harry himself does have some redeeming qualities.  In severals of the Tournament challenges, he forgoes winning the game to help other people (teammates and enchanted drowning friends).  It was good to see that his otherwise friendly, generous character wasn't sacrificed in the name of victory (even though he, inevidably, ends up winning the Tournament).  

Perhaps these character traits are a foreshadowing of the end of the series?

(And, yes, I know what happens at the end of the series...more of less...) 

Harry Potter #2

I just realized that I published my thoughts on the 3rd movie before my thoughts on the 2nd movie.

Oops.


CAVEATS:
Just because I decided to watch these movies does not mean that I endorse them in any way.  I do still believe there is danger here.  I still believe there are references to real world paganism woven into the stories.  I decided to watch them purely as reference material, so that I can carry on intelligent conversations about the movies with actual Potter-fans.  My decision to watch them was mine, and mine alone.  I strongly caution the rest of you to think and pray really long and really hard before deciding to watch the movies yourselves.  In fact, I would strongly advise against watching them at all.  Yeah, I know, I'm not taking my own advice.


March 5, 2016: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Conditions have improved a bit in the Dursley household.  But not much.  Harry, still the neglected outcast, has finally been moved out of the cupboard under the stairs (probably because he outgrew that tiny space -- boys tend to experience growth spurts at that age).  But that's about it.  As long as Harry keeps his head down and stays out of the way, he gets by.

This becomes difficult when a house elf named Dobby suddenly shows up, intent of preventing Harry from going back to Hogwarts because something insidious is being planned to cause his demise.  The disturbance results in Harry getting in trouble and the Dursleys putting bars on his bedroom window to keep him from going anyway...

...which you'd think the neighbors would have noticed, which might have prompted someone to call England's Child Protective Services, who then could have come out and seen how poorly Harry was treated and removed him from the Dursleys' custody.  And maybe, just maybe, the Weasleys could have adopted him, and he'd actually have a family that cared about him and all that.

I'm just saying.

But this is not an ideal world, and so Harry remains with the Dursleys with bars nailed to his bedroom window.

Rant aside, Harry is rescued [kind of] by Ron and his older twin brothers by means of a flying car (because there are flying cars in the Harry Potter universe).  And thus they all head off to Hogwarts, where danger lurks in the form of a basilisk that is freezing people left, right, and center.  This can only mean one thing: the distant relation of a very bad guy has come to the school and opened the infamous Chamber of Secrets (roll credits...oh, wait).


Thoughts

The kids are definitely growing up because their performances have greatly improved since the 1st movie.  Special effects are still a bit on the cheesy side, but it's not quite as painful to watch.  I really did like the cinematography, specifically the lighting and use of Dutch angles to indicate when things are about to get hinky.

Recently, I had to play Hermione in a scene from the 1st movie for an acting class (my teammates' idea, not mine), and as part of the assignment I was required to critically analyze my character's thoughts and actions.  Having never seen the movies at that point, I observed that Hermione was definitely a bit of a show-off, which could have been an indication of insecurity.  Finally watching the #2 movie confirmed my suspicions.

We learn that Hermione's parents are both regular people, which leads to lots of teasing and becomes an important plot point later in the story.  This may explain why Hermione is such a know-it-all.  In order to counter the insecurity of not being a "pure blood" witch (not that it's a good thing to be a witch in the first place, but for purposes of this story...), Hermione has applied herself to the study of magic and accumulated as much knowledge as possible to prove that she's just as qualified to be at Hogwarts as anyone else.  She's trying to prove that she belongs with this crowd, that she is one of the cool kids, and she goes to extraordinary lengths to do so.

We also get another "bred in captivity" scene thanks to Dobby.  House elves are technically slaves, sworn to serve a house or family, and they can only be freed when their masters present them with new clothes (as to why this is, we will have to ask J. K. Rowlings).  Toward the end of the movie, Harry sees how Dobby is treated by the family he serves (ironically Draco Malfoy's equally blonde and nasty father).  And while Harry (and myself, to be honest) has been quite annoyed by the little rascal's various antics throughout the movie, Harry takes pity on him and tricks Mr. Malfoy into presenting Dobby with his (Harry's) sock, thus freeing the little guy from his servitude.  I could go off on a tangent about the trickery aspect and the disrespect for those in authority (this is prevalent throughout the series), but for now I'm just going to focus on Harry's character.  Just like with the snake at the zoo in Movie #1, Harry feels a connection with Dobby because of the way they've both been treated.  Dobby is shoved around and verbally abused.  Harry is neglected, starved, and also verbally abused.  They're both poorly dressed (seriously, compare Harry's clothing to Dudley's sometime).  Dobby is a servant, and Harry is certainly treated like one.  So, in the end, Harry shows compassion for Dobby by freeing him from his servitude...

...which is probably something Harry wishes someone would do for him...

...why hasn't anyone called England's Child Protective Services, again?


Concerns

You know, it just occurred to me as I was writing about how terrible the Dursleys are that the powers that be are using Harry's less-than-ideal family situation to pull readers in and make the whole magic thing look more attractive.

Think about it.  A neglected, abused orphan rises above his captors by way being a powerful wizard.  Being able to overcome those who bully us is attractive in any circumstance.  I think, in one way or another, we all struggle with this desire, whether it be to overcome to incessant pestering of a bully or the injustice of a strict taskmaster (our parents, our bosses, etc.).  If could be nothing, a pleasant coincidence that makes Harry's personal life more interesting.  Or it could be a ploy be which to reel us in deeper, make us more interested, keep us watching.  After all, if Harry can overcoming his abusers, why can't we?  And if he uses magic to do it, why can't we?

Now, those of us who are old enough to differentiate between the real world and the fantasy world know that we can't actually fly on broomsticks and turn people into cats with a spell or potion.  Granted, spells and potions are present in real-world paganism, but I have yet to see anyone fly around on a broomstick.  However, younger children may have trouble making the very important differentiation between what is real and plausible and what is fantasy in a fantasy world.  I had this problem so bad that I couldn't' go to movie theatres for several years because everything was just too real for me to handle and it freaked me out.  To this day, I consider myself the 10th member of the Fellowship of the Ring.

Kids generally have trouble telling the difference between the real world and the fantasy world.  This explains why my friend and I both experienced real memories we confused for dreams (until recently) and dreams we mistook for real memories.  Once I had a dream that my grandmother's cheek exploded and all kinds of yellow goop oozed out of it.  I wouldn't kiss her cheek for weeks after that.  My mom didn't understand why I was being so mean to my grandmother until I told her about the dream years later.

The trouble with Harry Potter is that the magical world and the real world aren't that much separated. The stories take place in places that children can physically touch and find on a map (King's Crossing Station in London, for example), and imply that there's another dimension -- a magical realm withing the real world that can only be accessed by witches and wizards and people like that.  This is where the smokescreen starts to turn into a spider's web.  The lines between reality and fantasy are blurred and the disregard for authority and the desire to overpower the bullies pull us in deeper.

This is why we must tread carefully, even around something that seems so fun and innocent.

Okay, I feel like I'm rambling a bit, and I have to get up in 4.5 hours, so I better go now.

Harry Potter #3

Three movies in, and I'm convinced that either J. K. Rowlings was just trying to see how much absurd craziness she could get away with in a magical world.  I'm just saying.  People can knit, clean, and stir their tea with magic, and their textbooks are literally vicious monsters that attack anything that moves and spits paper everywhere.  What kind of world is this magical realm, anyway?  I once complained that the parameters of magic in the Eragon books was too loose because everything and anything could be fixed with a spell or enough mind probing.  I, however, would argue that the Harry Potter universe takes the cake in its absurd overuse of magic.

Or maybe it's just that these movies are still geared for children?  And the juvenile nature of it is beginning to get on my nerves.

And yet...I'm still here.  Watching yet another of these darn movies.

Three movies in, I was actually looking forward to watching them.  This could be a good, meaning that the overall quality of the stories and the acting and the filmmaking are improving with each new film.  This could also be a really bad thing, meaning that I've actually started to...like them (goodness forbid!).  While this is not necessarily "bad", I'm more concerned that I will be sucked in by this deceptively innocent series.

It could also be that I'm eager to get the series over with as quickly as possible.

Or, I just want to see what kind of horrible things the Dursleys will inflict upon their charge.  This is, admittedly, a large part of why I willingly suffer through these movies, their overuse of magic, and those ridiculous Quidditch games (I don't like sports on a good day in the real world -- having to watch one or two per movie is getting a bit tiresome).  And a large factor in my final decision to watch them...

...but anyway...


CAVEATS:
Just because I decided to watch these movies does not mean that I endorse them in any way.  I do still believe there is danger here.  I still believe there are references to real world paganism woven into the stories.  I decided to watch them purely as reference material, so that I can carry on intelligent conversations about the movies with actual Potter-fans.  My decision to watch them was mine, and mine alone.  I strongly caution the rest of you to think and pray really long and really hard before deciding to watch the movies yourselves.  In fact, I would strongly advise against watching them at all.  Yeah, I know, I'm not taking my own advice.


March 6, 2016: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The Dursleys are back and just as nasty as ever.  But joining them is another relative, who is just about as nasty as they are.  Except that she takes things a bit further by openly insulting Harry's biological [and long dead] parents...

...in front of Harry...

We really can't blame him for his...outburst.  After all, who wouldn't ardently defend the honor of our parents?...unless they were manipulative, abusive dirtbags...and even then.  Thing is that Harry's outburst comes in the form of inflating the aforementioned nasty relative like a balloon and causing her to float off into the sky.  Then, as he probably should have done two movies ago, Harry packs up and runs away.

Please note that I do not condone hormonal teenagers running away from home, but neither do I condone child abuse in any shape or form.  In an ideal world, Harry should have been transferred into the protective custody of the Weasleys.  They've always been rather welcoming toward him, even going so far as to break him out of the house in the previous movie.  I may not be familiar with custody laws in England, but I see no reason why the Weasleys can't just take over protective custody of Harry.  Then he would be among his own people, people who actually care about him and all that...

But I digress.

I guess Hogwarts makes exceptions to their strict "no magic outside of school" laws for instances of self-defense or disposing of verbally abusive distant relations who were in the process of bashing one's long dead parents, because Harry isn't expelled from school as he should have been.  Instead, he heads off to school where he encounters the dementors of Azkaban, the maximum security prison of the magical realm...I guess.  Anyway, Sirius Black, a very dangerous follower of Voldemort's, has escaped from prison and may be trying to kill Harry...but, then again, who isn't?  So, the dementors have stationed themselves around Hogwarts to recapture him, whereby preventing him from getting in to kill Harry.  Problem is that whenever Harry gets within a couple feet of the dementors, they try to suck out his soul and Harry passes out.


Thoughts

This school has absolutely terrible luck with its Defenses Against the Dark Arts instructors.  It's getting rather predictable.  Whoever is coming on staff to fill the position is probably, in some way or another, related to the bad guy.  This time, it's just a werewolf who's friends with the guy who is trying to kill Harry, who are both friends of the were...rat who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort.

These people seriously need to run better background checks on their faculty.  Just saying.

Special effects and acting have greatly improved as our three main characters enter their teens.  And I liked the story up until the whole time travel thing came into play.  Maybe I got lost because I've been writing this review while I watch the movie in real time, and therefore probably missed something important along the way.  But--

Oh, don't do this!  What's the deal with the end credits shifting from side to side?  Don't do this to me, please!  It hurts the human brain.

Anyway, time travel.  I liked the story up until Harry and Hermione go back in time and do all that stuff.  I understand it shows how Harry and Sirius were saved from the dementors, and gives us a whole thing where Harry thinks his dad which gets our hopes up too, but then it turns out to be future-Harry himself, but honestly I lost interest in the story around the time Lupin turned into a were--

Oh crap...they're doing the moving credits thing again.  I know they thought it was a cool effect to go along with the meandering footprints on the map, but it's making my head hurt.

I'll be right back, folks.

Ah, NCIS!  Much better!  No meandering end credits!

Now, where was I?

Maybe I just lost interest half-way through because I was trying to watch and review simultaneously, but the fact that I felt unengaged enough to multitask says something.  But although I was distracted, I have no desire to go back and watch it again...whatsoever.


Concerns

Reading tea leaves.  While we shouldn't be surprised that students at Hogwarts would study the fine art of reading their tea leaves, it is a reference to a real-world psychic practice.  Similar to palm reading and tarot cards, tea leaf reading is the practice of fortune telling by way of the shapes made by tea leaves in the bottom of a teacup.  Theoretically, the tea leaves will take on certain symbols that have different meanings, such as good fortune, bad luck, or imminent peril.  While the movie makes this practice look like a fun little fortune telling trick, palm reading, tea leaf reading, and tarot cards are all practices of divination, which is the occultic practice of seeking insight into the future.  And the occult is the practice of seeking knowledge of the paranormal.  In many ways, not much different than Paganism or Wicca.   


Divination also happens to be one of those things God said His people shouldn't mess with, saying, "There shall not be found among you...anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens.” (Deuteronomy 18:10), and referred to as a sin in 1 Samuel 15:10.  It has been my experience that if God says not to mess with something, it's probably a good idea to avoid it.  Because, think about it, if the power isn't coming from God (the all-powerful Creator of the universe), there's really only one other place it could be coming from (the Devil)...and since the Devil is trying so very hard to turn us away from God, he uses what power to mascarade as all-knowing, thus misleading and deceiving any who will stop to listen to him.  That is what makes divination and the occult inherently dangerous.  

It breaks my heart that such insidious darkness has been woven into what could have been a fun series.  It really does.