Wonder Woman and costumed heroines...briefly

So I just watched the animated cartoon Wonder Woman that came out on video last week. It was created by the same animators that created Superman: Doomsday, which was rather entertaining. As many know, I'm a huge fan of comics, though the Marvel Universe has my hearts many times more than DC Comics. Still, Wonder Woman was actually quite enjoyable, which makes her terrible costume all the more tragic. There's a reason no one has brought her story to the big screen (though Buffy creator Joss Whedon was actually begged for the job a couples years back), the outfit is dated and far too ridiculous. I was watching this cartoon and enjoying the mythology I was presented with: Amazon woman fight the god of war Aries, and after a great battle Zeus orders their queen to inprison Aries rather than slay him; years later, the Amazons live in isolation from the rest of the world until an Air Force pilot crashes on the island; Aries escapes and brings his warlust to the U.S., influencing all men towards their weaker and more violent sides; Wonder Woman, with an army of Amazon women, take on a god; Wonder Woman then finds her way back into society, finding a man to love--but he's the one waiting up for her, preparing dinner. But as I enjoyed this cartoon that had a generic feminist undertone, I couldn't help but laugh at how the costume undermines the point.

Are we really supposed to take the idea of "girl power" seriously in comics if the woman are still dressed like their dominatrix counterparts so many years ago? Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and so many more desperately need new looks. The latest trend in Hollywood has been to take their cues from the fanboy, an affectionate term for crazed fans who have dedicated years of their lives obsessing over cult phenomenons like Star Trek, Star Wars, and comics. And it should be easy to guess the sex of this cultural movement from the name and the general views of femininity often presented. I know the fanboy wouldn't want to see Wonder Womnan's costume change in any potential film versions of her, but it needs to happen. Sure, leave the red, white, and blue colours, but give her some pants and some bra support. It's been going on long enough, let the male gaze take on a different shape than it's usual sexism.

Since I'm talking about the female costume, it seems appropriate to bring up Watchmen as well. I recently turned in my review on Watchmen, in which I critiqued the film pretty intensely. The editor I send my articles in to at the newspaper emailed me back, telling me she agreed with my criticism of the film but also thought the worst thing about the film was its treatment of women. The treatment of women she's referring to is also in the graphic novel. There's a rape, an execution of a pregnant woman, and general distancing from seeing women as heroes (the Silk Spectre's number one strength in the story is her female role in relation to convincing Dr. Manhattan to save the world--something a man couldn't have done). I often don't know what to do with this part of the story, but I'll have a chance to really get into it when my Biola English class goes through the graphic novel. Writer Alan Moore is a very fatalistic man, and for these negative portrayals of women, he creates many more negative views of men. He's just fatalistic throughout the work (and, based on interviews with the man, his life seems to reflect his narrative negativity).

Comics were created for a male audience, but times are changing--though the demographic hasn't changed that much. But just because men are the primary consumers doesn't mean the adolescent bias should continue. Many are discussing how comics have been moving from low culture to pop culture to high culture. If the medium truly wants to make it to the top, it needs to cloth the females, get rid of the general stereotypes, and start to truly see things differently.

"Who Watches the Watchmen?" I did!

It's 3:30am and I just returned from watching Watchmen at a midnight showing in Red Bluff, CA. Going into the film I was plagued with several emotions. Critics really didn't care for the film, though Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars. Regardless, I had been excited for his film since I saw the first preview for it when The Dark Knight came out. After viewing it I find that I really want to see it again. It's 2hours and 43minutes long, so it's hard to remember it all. I find that I'm feeling the similar emotions as when I saw V for Vendetta (ironically, based on a graphic novel by the same writer/illustrator team as Watchmen). I liked it, though my original idea of what I thought it would look like is completely off.

I'm not going to give a long review as I will be writing one for the newspaper I submit articles to, so if you want to know my full thoughts just go to their website and download the PDF (or you could just ask me in real life). I will say that it was great to watch the movie after reading the graphic novel is based on. The director took greats pains to make this film the perfect adaptation, and it is...perhaps to a fault (more on that in the review). Still, I loved the graphic novel. It wasn't a superhero story about good and evil punching each other in the streets. It was a mystery story that ends in a very unexpected way. This isn't the left and right scenario most superheroes face. This is that gray area most superheroes don't seem to find themselves in. That's why Watchmen is such an important piece of superhero literature and an important piece of literature in general. TIME magazine has this one in their top 100 American literary works written since 1920. Imagine that, a major magazine has Watchmen on the same list as The Great Gatsby, Lolita, and A Clockwork Orange. Makes sense, it is that good.

I won't give anything away, but I will say the film is completely worth the price of admission for those who want to see a superhero film expand the genre's scope. It's not as good as The Dark Knight but it's an enjoyable film. Actually though, I really wanted to write this post because the film got me thinking about my top 5 favourite superheroes again and I wanted to update my list with a little more detail.
5. Gambit: there's something about a southern dude who turns playing cards into kinetic energy and throws them at his enemies; also, his uncertain loyalties make him very interesting.
4. Green Lantern: a regular dude given the power of the gods in the form of a ring; it's like Lord of the Rings stuff but with more green and aliens.
3. Wolverine: I can't help it, he's just great; Hugh Jackman brought him to life and the different versions of him in the comics are cool; he's the ultimate assassin in the Ultimate X-Men and the Weapon X storyline is so intriguing.
2. Rorschach: You'll see him in Watchmen; the uncompromising anti-hero with a strict code of honor; he's methodical, crazy, and, in the film, the inkblots on his mask continually change--so cool.
1. Captain America: I know, why would I love a character that was created to motivate soldiers in WWII; yet there's something intriguing about him; a classic hero trying to survive in contemporary America; and he leads the rebellion against the government when it decides to force all superheroes to register; interesting how he reflects this country--especially when he's assassinated and his sidekick Bucky, who was once brainwashed into a super soldier for Russia and now uses excessive force when he pleases, becomes Cap.

Pop Culture from the Margins

Last semester I taught pop culture and had a few students that had some amazing papers that I thought they should share with the school and they got that chance on Wednesday with Common Day of Learning at APU. The students did a great job and had quite a crowd. I put together a panel of three students and myself and they were able to speak for a full room. All the seats were taken and many others were sitting against the back wall. Not bad for an event that took place at 9:30am. The title of the panel was "Pop Culture from the Margins." I was really proud of how the students did.

I started the talk by presenting a methodology that covered that basics of what the panel was about: issues like privilege, representation, hegemony, and postmodernism wrapped into 15 minutes. The students-Whitney, Kim, and Eric-then presented on different ideas under this flag idea. Whitney and Eric were in the pop culture class, and Kim is on the newspaper staff, along with Whitney. Whitney gave a great talk on the "self-tropicalizatioin" of J-Lo in her films. She provided some important details on the way J-Lo has used her Latin roots to create her image. Next, Kim discussed changing gender roles in science fiction, specifically focusing on the unique gender issues presented in Battlestar Galactica (I take a little pride in helping her come up with the idea). Eric then closed with a discussion of the comic book's transition from low culture to high culture.

The students seemed very receptive to what was discussed, and rightly so since the student speakers presented their information with great interest in their topic and appropriate detail. Not just bragging, but we had a great panel that covered the many different aspect of "pop culture from the margins." Common Day of Learning is often considered a joke or annoying obligation by some students, but if they attended our panel, they found some great information with a very timely application. Good times.

Top 10 update

This is the time of year where my taste in movies changes. I live with many people that don't share my enjoyment of foreign or obscure films, so the rest of the year I wait for said films to come out on video. But Oscar season allows me, and those around me, the excuse to check out the hype of any kind of film. On Saturday night I saw Slumdog Millionaire and I was blown away. It's up there as one of the best love stories I've seen since Moulin Rouge. Last week I saw Che. It won't get many nominations but it is easily Best Picture worthy...far more than the incredibly overrated and rather disappointing Benjamin Button. Anyways, I still have a few more films to go from 2008 before the Top 10 list can be official, but here is an updated version. As expected, Wanted and Quantum of Solace got pumped.

I know some may wonder how they were there to begin with and the answer is quite simple. First, Wanted is hysterical. It's A Purpose Driven Life with guns. It's quite telling to see the American rhetoric of destiny and individualism exposed for the bloody mess it is. The film was clever and a good shoot 'em up. Any good top 10 list will acknowledge that entertainment and escapism is important as well films with a critical edge. As for Quantum of Solace. I love what they're doing with James Bond. He's no longer a glamorized alcoholic womanizer. He's a flawed man. Post 9/11 tension finally made it's way to the Bond films and after decades of the same old thing, it's nice to see a one-dimensional character get some layers. Yes, there was far too much action but Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever (I'll argue anyone on that point) and the film gave me great hope for the future of the franchise.

Now there's also the issue of why Cloverfield is on my list. First off, I'm not alone as several other critics put this postmodern monster movie on their list as well. I loved this film. I took the ideas of The Blair Witch Project to the extreme. It was brave enough to tell a story people might not want from a blockbuster. And it had some great cinematography. I felt like I was on a 3D ride and I enjoyed it all. The characters were decent and the storyline was ambiguous. Sometimes closure is overrated.

Well, w/o further ado, here's the update list in order, pre The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, Rachel Getting Married, Doubt, Frost/Nixon, and The Reader (if any of the finalists make the cut, Wall-E will be the first to go).

1. The Dark Knight
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. Let the Right One In
4. Iron Man
5. Milk
6. Cloverfield
7. Che
8. Tropic Thunder
9. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
10. Wall-E

The End is Nigh

So it's almost the new year and I'm getting closer to deciding on my top 10 films of the year. I just saw Australia and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and, while I enjoyed both, neither will make the cut. I still need to see a few more key films to make my decision: Che, The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Reader. I say Revolutionary Road but, honestly, it's a Sam Mendes film (he did American Beauty, Road to Perdition, and Jarhead), so while one of those three films might be great, the others were mediocre. Thus, I don't care about his latest film--even if Leo and Kate are back together. Well, here's the list so far (in no particular order).

10. Wall-E
9. Wanted
8. Quantum of Solace
7. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
6. Tropic Thunder
5. Cloverfield
4. Milk.
3. Let the Right One In
2. Iron Man
1. The Dark Knight

While this list may change, I don't think the worst films of the year will. Granted this list is incomplete since I doubt I've seen all the worst films of the year.

10. Burn After Reading
9. The Punisher: War Zone
8. Max Payne
7. Mamma Mia
6. Blindness
5. 10,000 B.C.
4. Jumper
3. The Happening
2. Don't Mess with the Zohan
1. Miracle at St. Anna

Upcoming movies to be stoked about

So the summer is basically over and with it, all the big movies are done. But there's still a lot I'm looking forward to this year and in the coming years. So here's a list of what I'm most excited about.

2008
James Bong 007: Quantum of Solace
Casino Royale may not have been the best James Bond flick, but Daniel Craig proved to be possibly the best Bong yet. Finally we're seeing the character have a soul. No more sleeping around and cocktails for the hell of it. This Bond is all about the mission and does what he has to, which may mean blowing off the girl rather than sticking around. He's emotional and emotionless, and with Marc Forster, director of Stranger Than Fiction and Finding Neverland, this film should be great.

Burn After Reading
The Coen brothers are returning to comedy after their evil tangent with No Country for Old Men. Brad Pit, George Clooney, and Tilda Swinton together, awesome.

Twilight
Hey, vampires are always awesome.

The Punisher: War Zone
I actually liked the first Punisher film. Even though the sequel has a different actor in the lead, it still looks to be a good time, super dark. After the first trailer hit the big screen, director Lexi Anderson said she was surprised they found enough action footage without gore. Colour me intrigued.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
David Fincher directed Alien 3 before doing thrillers, serial killer stories, and Fight Club. His next film looks completely different. It's nice to see him returning to films that could never happen. It looks like a Tim Burton film, but twice as smart.

2009
Watchmen
The director of 300 is back with another graphic novel adaptation...actually, the graphic novel adaptation. It looks amazing. This film more than any other has me freaking out. It's the mid '80s. Richard Nixon is still the president. Superheroes, while common in culture, have been made illegal. A lot of people wanna hate on 300, but it was a faithful adaptation, thus I have faith in director Zack Snyder (he also did the Dawn of the Dead remake, which was pretty good).

Wolverine
I didn't know what to think of this one until I saw a bootleg trailer that premiered at Comic Con. Now I'm stoked. Wolverine is a great character and using the Weapon X storyline to introduce a grip of new characters is a great idea.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
This one should've come out this year, but they pushed it back eight months, so annoying. Especially since the preview is to good. I love these movies and The Order of the Phoenix was great. We''ll see if they can keep it up.

Terminator Salvation
Christian Bale is one of new favourite actors, and attaching him to one of the most interesting sci-fi concepts is brilliant. Ever since the first Terminator movie, I've wanted to see the human/robot war. Finally, it's happening, and John Connor is Bale. Sweet!

Star Trek
I grew up on the Star Trek movies and shows, so this one makes me all nostalgic. But reminiscing about my youth isn't the only reason I'm gonna see this one. Creator of Lost and Cloverfield, J.J. Abrams is helming this, so it'll be interesting to see what fresh eyes can do for a very old franchise.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
I enjoyed Transformers, but it definitely took way too long to introduce Optimus Prime, luckily all the characters are established, so the explosions can just begin. Here's to badassness.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
I grew up on this cartoon, so the idea of seeing Snakes Eyes in live action gives me nothing but good feelings all over. It's gonna be mindless and thoroughly entertaining.

Top 50 Villains

So a bunch of film sites have been posting their favorite cinematic villains, and I just had to chime in. This is my list, so film history takes a backseat to my personal preference. Don't hold me to the order after like 15. I've also got a top TV villains list here too.

Top 50 Film Villains
Jack the Ripper, Iam Holmes, From Hell
Dracula, Gary Oldman, Dracula
Lady Deathstrike, Kelly Hu, X2
The crawlers, The Descent
Alonzo, Denzel Washington, Training Day
Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund, A Nightmare on Elm Street
Samara Morgan, Daveigh Chase, The Ring
The shark, Jaws
Zero Wolf, Raoul Trujillo, Apocalypto
Queen Bavmorda, Jean Marsh, Willow
The Joker, Jack Nicholson, Batman
Hans Gruber, Alan Rickman, Die Hard
The Fratellis, Anne Ramsey, Joe Pantoliano and Robert Davi, The Goonies
Jigsaw, Tobin Bell, Saw
Jennifer Carpenter, Emily Rose (when possessed), The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Hayley Stark, Ellen Page, Hard Candy
The Operative, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Serenity
Prince Nuada/Nomak, Luke Goss, Hellboy II/Blade II
Zorg, Gary Oldman, The Fifth Element
Lord Voldemort, Ralph Fiennes, Harry Potter
Ursula, Pat Carroll (voice), The Little Mermaid
Hannibal Lector, Silence of the Lambs
The Cloverfield monster, Cloverfield
Woo-jin, Yu ji-Tae, Oldboy
The Wicked Witch of the West, Margaret Hamilton, The Wizard of Oz
The Witch, Lucille La Verne, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Satan, Rosalinda Celentano, The Passion of the Christ
Ommadon, James Earl Jones, The Flight of the Dragons
Mr. White, Harvey Keitel, Reservoir Dogs
Kevin, Elijah Wood, Sin City
Mr. Glass, Samuel L. Jackson, Unbreakable
Agent Smith, Hugo Weaving, The Matrix
The Emperor, Ian McDiarmid, Star Wars
Roy Batty, Rutger Hauer, Blade Runner
T-1000, Robert Patrick, Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Evil Ash, Bruce Campbell, Army of Darkness
The Predator, Kevin Peter Hall, Predator
The alien, Alien
The White Witch, Tilda Swinton, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
Captain Hook, Dustin Hoffman, Hook
Anton Chigurh, Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
'Verbal' Kint, Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects
Ringwraiths, The Lord of the Rings
Doc Ock, Alfred Molina, Spider-Man 2
G'mork, Alan Oppenheimer (voice), The Neverending Story
Darth Vader, David Prowse & James Earl Jones (voice), Star Wars
The infected, 28 Days Later
Captain Vidal, Sergi Lopez, Pan's Labyrinth
The Joker, Heath Leger, The Dark Knight

Top 10 TV Villains
Captain Aizen, Kyle Hebert (voice), Bleach
Lucy Butler, Sarah-Jane Redmond, Millennium
Cancer Man, William B. Davis, The X-Files
Princess Azula, Grey DeLisle (voice), Avatar: The Last Airbender
Benjamen Linus, Michael Emerson, Lost
Sylar, Zachery Quinto, Heroes
The cylons, Battlestar Galactica
Caleb, Nathan Fillion, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angeles, David Boreanaz, Angel
The Shredder, James Avery (voice), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The Mutant Chronicles...don't expect much

While I was at Comic Con this past weekend, I attended a world preview of the film The Mutant Chronicles, starring Thomas Jane and Ron Perlman. I thought it would be fun to once again write about a film that hasn't come out in theatres yet, and be one of the first people in the world to review it.

It's a sci fi film about a world in chaos that becomes infected by mutants that want to turn everyone else into mutants as well. This is one of the projects Jane chose to take instead of doing The Punisher sequel, which is scheduled to come out in December with a different actor in the leading role of Frank Castle. On that note, Perlman played Hellboy in the recent film Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which was fantastic. But back to Jane. I can't believed he passed on reprising a role on the superhero communities favouriate anti-hero-especially when the sequel looked to have more funding and a potentially deeper storyline. Instead, the promising actor did once again another terrible film. Following the Stephen King adaptation The Mist, Jane has proven that he does not know how to pick acting roles. He had the potential to follow in the footsteps of such actors as Clive Owens but instead chose to pull a Jason Statham, taking any action role to pay the rent and not worrying about the quality of the script.

Perlman has been known for starring in many B movies, from Alien: Resurrection to In the Name of the King, but Jane always seemed to be different until now. The Mutant Chronicles is ridiculously bad. It's a British B movie with the patronizing dialogue and story to prove it. I imagine my audience of three will not be inclined to see such a film anyways, but alas it's fun to write about something no one can refute-unless the other viewers just happen to stumble on this. Anyways, the film felt like a high-budget Sci Fi Channel original film. Meaning, it had more than a TV budget but less than a quality feature film one. Tom Jane gave a disclaimer at the beginning of the film that it was still a work in progress. Some edits were rough and certain effects just needed to be fine tuned, but the foundation of the film was shit. The storyline could've been engaging, but the acting was poor and the dialogue was as chiche as it gets. It was also surprising how gory it was. I've never seen that many stabs in the neck in one film. Initially it had a mild visceral effect, but became repetitious. And boy, the dramatic moments of the film were more unbelievable than George W. Bush trying to tell the American public that he really does want peace (okay, cheap shot). About five minutes in the film, the dramatic film cued up for the first major death of the film. Sorry, five minutes isn't enough time in a low-budget film for an emotional connection worth using dramatic music for.

I love sci fi films, but I'm getting sick of so many bad screenplays being approved. I don't understand how it happens, but it's way too common. Even blockbusters like Transformers are prone to these problems. Anyways, The Mutant Chronicles sucked. Go see something better than that piece of shit when it hits like two theatres nationwide. From the look of it, Death Race will probably be better, but that's more comparing two types of shit.

To All You Runners Out There (You know who you are)

So Saturday was sports day. The idea was simple. Wake up early, play football, ultimate frisbee,
softball, basketball and run around the track. We were all rather exhausted after football but we kept going. Come lunch, after frisbee, I felt awful. Three hotdogs and then softball ain't a great idea. PS, neither is sliding during softball. The side of my leg looks a burned piece of chicken. At this point, I was done for the day. As much as I wanted to keep going (no I didn't) I went home to shower and recover. The rest of the day went well but when I wake up the next morning for church. (That's right, I went to church. My roommate's pastor was speaking on homosexuality and I couldn't resist. And for an added bonus, the congregation sang "God Bless America" and "I'm Proud to Be an American." Gotta love twisted views of religion and patriotism.) Waking up was awful. Every move hurt and sneezing hurt every muscle in my stomach. The rest of that day went by in a similar mood.

And now we're to today and to the title of this post. I woke up and decided to go for a run. Thought it might help out the soreness that is my entire body. So I tried running. I made a substantial way for someone who hasn't really run since junior high. I had two things going against me: running hurts like hell and so does the blister on the back of my ankle. I eventually took my shoes off and finished running because the damn blister hurt so much. When I got back, I was still in a lot of pain.

I know that I can't avoid this forever, but I hate running. If I'm gonna get my hurt going and feel energized, I need a different activity. All running reminds me of is how much I hate running. I did a review on the film "Run Fatboy Run" a while ago. One of the best parts of the film occurs when the main character finds out his ex's jerk boyfriend runs. He simply replies, "Why?" I laughed so hard because that's exactly my response. In the same way that I don't understand how people like drinking coffee or watching sports, I don't understand how running can be fun. I did tell my roommates that we should do more sports and, come August, I'll probably get a gym membership, but I absolutely hate running. It feels like such a hopeless endeavor as the end is almost impossible to see. So that's my rant for the day.

Wanted, or What does the NRA think about Assassins

I watched Wanted last night. I knew I was in for something different, since director Timur Bekmambetov isn't known for creating a sober film. His Russian fantasy films, Night Watch and Day Watch, are a crazy mix between an acid trip and a few episodes of Sponge Bob Square Pants. This makes complete sense when creating a comic book film, though I do wonder if the general public will be ready for this one. Wanted definitely has its own style. The voiceover narration, by James Mcavoy, makes the film more than just a sheer superhero film, though it's technically a supervillain film. Newby Mcavoy is asked to join the Fraternity of Assassins, designed to create order around the world. He is one of a few people in the world with a rare gift; he can slow down time and respond quicker to his surroundings. This makes him more agile and an amazing gunman. But the point of the joining the Fraternity isn't for the sake of humanity's survival. No, Mcavoy's character joins up because he doesn't know who he is and feels that this group of killers can help him find his destiny (a commonly used word in the film), or purpose.

The entire film actually felt like a fucked up version of Rick Warren's A Purpose Driven Life. He wasn't doing what he should've been with his life when he had the 9-5 job. Now, he was livin' the dream. Getting the much-needed rush to calm his anxiety and help him find clarity...you know, amidst all the killing. The way "purpose" is addressed in this film is almost satiric. This is "Fight Club" for gun lovers. While bullets fly through people's skulls, Mcavoy says, in voiceover, "this is me taking control of my life, my destiny, what the fuck have you done lately." I wanted to cheer and laugh at the same time. Obviously, the film was shooting for badassness, but it sure was telling at the same time.

On a different note, I really think the film would've been better if it had followed the graphic novels it was based on more. The premise is amazing. In 1986, the Fraternity decide to kill all the superheroes of the world and decided to quietly control it through their organization. The series picks up with an uprising in the Frat, where some members are tired of remaining on the sidelines of society. There are no good guys-not ridiculous idea that assassins are a necessity for peace. In Wanted, assassins are just people trying to take over the world. Also, the Wanted series also has magicians and people with other types of powers besides awesome gun slinging, but perhaps concepts like curving the bullet were enough for one film to handle. It wasn't perfect but it sure was entertaining. And James Mcavoy is an amazing actor. He definitely pulled off the action hero role. Props.

Top 10 Fantasy Films

So I saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian last night, and I quite enjoyed it. Way better than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Darker and even had a rather bleak ending. They added some stuff that wasn't in the book and it worked really well. Funny, dark, and epic battles. It's inspired me to create my new fantasy top 10 list.

10. Hook
9. Spirited Away
8. The Neverending Story
7. CON: Prince Caspian
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix
5. LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring
4. Princess Mononoke
3. Pan's Labyrinth
2. LOTR: The Return of the King
1. LOTR: Two Tower

Teeth: When “It” Fights Back

A film was recently released on DVD called Teeth, and you’ll never guess where they’re located. I’ll give you a hint…vagina. I saw the premiere of this film at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The film description said little more than a synopsis about a high schooler who runs a purity campaign begins going through some changes. No shit. It then concludes saying that if you don’t know what the vagina dentata myth is, then you will. It’s true. So the premise is pretty simple. A girl is born different. She gets a crush on a guy. They kiss. He wants to go farther and she doesn’t. Unfortunately, when he forces himself on her, those sneaky teeth kick in and kick out his little guy. Some idiots still believe that most women had it coming when they get raped. Welp, this guy definitely had it coming. Use your penis for evil and you lose it. The girl then learns to control her newfound power. When she’s happy, it doesn’t bite. But if you piss her off, get ready for something really, really fucked up.

I remember watching this film with a large group of people that cringed, shouted, and laughed in unison. The film was definitely a mix between comedy and horror. Also, it really wasn’t that good. Bad acting. Ridiculous music. Superficial plotline. It really only had shock value. But that’s more than most horror films have these days. I remain convinced that this film, while trying to become a girl-power film, actually doesn’t do anything new. It simply allows women to enter male-dominated film with the same aggression and bloodlust as men. This isn’t something new, but the old reversed. With that said, the vagina dentata myth still speaks loudly to Western culture—and world culture for that matter. Culture truly forms around the dominating ideology of penetration as the ultimate form of power. What is a knife if not an extension of the penis, spreading its power to whatever victim, male or female, it seeks out. There’s a reason most serial killers in movies use knives and go after women. Teeth serves as an alternative to penetration as power. The vagina becomes a weapon that can engulf the penis. The foreign object is at a disadvantage on the home turf.

There’s part of me that wants to buy this film even though I may never watch it again. Though I am curious to see the rated-R version as I saw an unrated one. Three castrations will stick with you. The subject matter is intense and easily ignorable to many, but when I left that many, there were a lot of 45-year-old female viewers talking about how the chick flick was just redefined. There’s something powerful in this crappy movie. Just imagine the possibilities of such a concept or similar ones, thematically, maybe not just conceptually, in the hands of a film master

Top 10 Comic Book Movies

So I've been inspired to create my top 10 superhero movies list, since I just looked at one that was ridiculously stupid. Sorry, this ain't an opinion, the guy was a dumbass for his list. Oh well, not everyone can be right. (keep in mind, there's a lot of superhero movies coming out, so this list could easily change)

10. Batman
9. Superman
8. The Incredibles
7. Blade II
6. Unbreakable
5. V for Vendetta
4. Batman Begins
3. Iron Man
2. X2
1. Spider-Man 2

Pop Culture for the Soul

I officially have all the classes set up to teach at APU this fall. I will be teaching Freshmen Writing Seminar, Intro to Journalism, and Studies in Popular Culture. I'm so incredibly thrilled. For FWS, movies will be my theme. I'm planning to have the students write critically about such films as Princess Mononoke, Pan's Labyrinth, Moulin Rouge, and Enchanted. They'll do reviews, a film journal, and a major paper about a specific film. I think it'll be a great way to teach writing. Intro to Journalism should be a blast. It'll be part writing and part critical understanding of the journalistic media. I'm planning to have the students read a book called The Rise of the Image, the Fall of the Word, which addresses the changing cultural environment that cares more about visual rather than textual mediums. I'm also going to address current journalistic trends through such books as Nickel and Dimed, Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop, Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, and When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost. The students will learn to write like a journalist and appreciate and critique the different styles of media coverage of contemporary society. I think Pop Culture might be my baby. I've already begun compiling a reader, which will have certain chapters from different books, along with three other books the students will read in their entirety. The class should be a lot of fun.
This and other things have really made me optimistic about my future. It's weird how paranoid I've been, and how things have really started coming together. It's all been rather surreal lately. I owe a lot to my old teacher Karen Sorensen. She plugged me for The Clause job and continued to plug me for other positions, which I now have. So, I've never written a syllabus or run a class in this kind of a setting. I have quest lectured before and spoken at conferences. This is going to be a very unique experience and should give me a good clue as to what I'll be doing in the future and how I should go about. I can't wait until fall...though summer should be interesting as well.

Catching up on films

As I have been out of grad school for a few months, now I have found that the number killer is boredom. The avoid this, I have tried to keep busy with three jobs, attempts at a social life, and viewing far too many movies with a Blockbuster queue. My adventures have taken me through foreign and classic films, anime, and several TV series (By the war, Prison Break is my new addiction, check it out). I recently tried to catch up on all the Oscar films in order to do an "Oscars in Review" piece for the newspaper I write for. In my research, as I like to call it, I finally came around to a film that was not nominated for anything, Lust, Caution.
This was director Ang Lee's follow up film to Brokeback Mountain. There was a large amount of controversy surrounding the film as it was rate NC-17 for some rather graphic sex scenes. Comically, an R-rated version was released for rental in the states. Lee is not the kind of director to bask in such scenes for the sake of pornography. As he has done in other films, he taps into sexuality in its most violent and graceful. It's a very jarring experience. Actress Wei Tang was truly robbed of an Oscar nomination for this role. I didn't really think Marion Cotillard deserved Best Actress for her role as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. Tang deserved a nod and possible win, but an NC-17 film would never be up for the prestigious Oscars, known for avoiding real controversy.
The film's plot was pretty simple. Tang becomes an unlikely spy in China during World War II trying to infiltrate the life of a major leader. But her lust takes over and dissolves her caution against an evil man who is both her love and hatred. SPOILER ALERT: I gotta say, Ang Lee needs to have a happy ending in one of his films. It's become too predictable (like a Martin Scorsese film) to expect everything to south his films. SPOILER END.
If you're okay with the R-rated sex scenes (I know it goes against the principles of art, but I fast forwarded through them), the film is pretty amazing and is the most plot-driven thing Lee has ever done.

Top 10 Films of 2007

I've finally caught up on all the films I wanted to see from 2007, with the exception of Into the Wild, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Persepolis, and Lars and the Real Girl. So my top 10 list may change, but here it is as of now.
1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2. Once
3. The Orphanage
4. Across the Universe
5. Ratatouille
6. The Savages
7. 28 Weeks Later
8. What Would Jesus Buy?
9. Superbad
10. 300
Honorable Mention:
Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Knocked Up, Lust, Caution, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 30 Days of Night, and Sicko.

Thanksgiving and Anime

So my Thanksgiving break is coming to an end. I've been in Florida since last Wednesday hanging with my family. I come back to SoCal tomorrow and literally have to go straight to work from the airport. Thanksgiving is always fun because turkey, stuffing, and mashies are my favourite foods. Most of the holidays with my parents are spent hanging around doing nothing. We did even less this holiday because we didn't even leave the house that much since we had so many leftovers from Thursday-thus we only ate out twice the entire week. So we chilled and watched a punch of movies: Beowulf, Lord of War, Battlestar Galactica: Razor (it was pretty sweet and tied into the show rather well), Wild Hogs, and whatever else was on. It's always fun to do nothing and talk with my parents and pet the dogs, Shaq and Falkor, and cat, Thor (I know, our animal names are inspired by sports figures, an '80s fantasy film, and Greek mythology). I was able to be a little productive during the week. I began working on my movie "Top 10s" for the years 1999-2007. I also finished my review on the Beowulf for my job.

I did something else of interest as well. As I've said before, I've been getting into anime and I have a new favourite, and I've been watching it every night after my parents fall asleep. It's called Bleach. The concept is simple enough:
A high schooler named Ichigo, who can see spirits, comes in contact with Rukia, a Soul Reaper from the Soul Society. She is insured when fighting a Hollow, souls become demons terrorizing the real world. She temporarily gives her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo to fight the Hollow but his spirit energy absorbs most of her powers. She is then stuck in the real world and Ichigo becomes a substitute Soul Reaper. The storyline becomes more complex with the addition of around 30 characters. Rukia is eventually arrested for doing this and will be executed in the Soul Society, thus Ichigo and his several of his classmates, who have received spiritual powers because of their invovlement with Rukia and Ichigo, go to the Soul Society to break her out. What follows are crazy fantasy battles, rather enjoyable characters, and very odd Japanese humour. I'm very hooked on this show as I've seen 80 episodes and there are still 70 more to go. I love ninjas and fantasy, and this show has it all. Right now, Ichigo and the gang are fighting these creatures called Bountou, which are basically vampires-hell fucking yes! In conclusion, post-colleged nerdom reigns supreme and I'm very okay with that.

Forget blessing America...God bless horror movies

I just watched The Descent again with one of my room ates and his girlfriend. Some people hated this film, but true movie lovers and fans of horror saw that it was an important contemporary film that gives hope to the future of horror. With Halloween coming up, more films are showing their colours (which are normally red 'cause, ya know...blood). I am so excited about two in particular: 30 Days of Night and Saw IV. 30 Days of Night is about a small community in Alaska that must survive the 30 days of night when the last remaining vampires in the world have come out to feed. I love vampires. Blade, Dracula, and Buffy are just a few of the blood-thirsty friends I've made over the many years of this fascination...and, I dare say, fetish. 30 Days of Night is also created by the same writer/director team that created the disturbing and uncomfortable film Hard Candy. Such genius team of arthouse filmmakers are the perfect editions to the vampire metanarrative.

I know that Saw IV is a different story. I am constantly given shit for my love for these gore-graphic films. But I am drawn to them. There is something going on in them that hasn't happened in the horror films of the past. Racial and gender stereotypes are being questioned. Moral issues are being updated. And predictability is becoming less obvious (though, obviously, not gone). But even more than that, the Saw franchise has done something all other franchises have not. They are a continuing story. Author Steven Johnson discusses how TV is proof that people are getting smarter. Shows like Battlestar Galactica, 24, Lost, and Heroes require people to continually tune in. More is required of the viewer than an inconsistent commitment. To get the story you have see it from the beginning. The Saw films are doing that. Of course they are not perfect films, but they are the first series of films to expect more from their viewers. Characters return and ambiguous moments from other films are explained. They are first horror films, but they forcing the genre to become smarter. I say "forcing" because the Saw franchises' success cannot be ignored. Gory movies making over $100 million each is not normal. They are soon to become the most profitable franchise passing up Freddy, Jason, Michael, Leatherface, and, the most profitable before Saw, Scream.

If horror movies are getting smarter, what does that say about the rest of pop culture. I am rather excited to see where things go. Granted reality TV is still mind-fucking the intelligence out of everyone and MTV is truly doing their best to make the most money at their worst, but the power of the cultural underdog just might overtake some of the giants.

Resident Evil 3, now there's a bad movie

I know I shouldn't be a surprise, but Resident Evil 3: Extinction was a terrible film. I saw it with Casey on Saturday and we were physically in pain. I hate watching films where the premise seems easy enough to create something entertaining and they just fuck it up. The previews for Resident Evil 3 looked pretty good and its predecessors were minutely good. But the third was just not good. I was watching wondering how this film went through its writer of origin, re-drafts, read-throughs from producers, actors, and execs and finally, brought to life by a director-all the while being viewed by sound engineers, graphic designers, cinematographers, and who else had to suffer through this film's creation.

Let's begin with the plot...and we're done. The plot came about 30 minutes too late, and it wasn't strong enough. Oh yeah, and that part in the preview where Milla Jovovich is standing in the middle of an apocalyptic Las Vagas...that's only one seen. The rest of the film feels more like a bad remake of Mad Max with a quarter of the intelligence and even less of the entertainment. The characters were everywhere and most just died in one scene. The other's were written off. The big boss battle at the end was so anticlimactic. And on top of everything else, our leading lady who started as a super soldier turned genetically enhanced super soldier could, all of a sudden, move things with her mind. And they never explain why she can do that.

The Resident Evil franchise has become one of, if the most, popular video game movie series. That's a little sad. I actually like Jovovich as an actor. She was amazing in The Fifth Element and does decent in her other films, but like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, she just picks bad roles. In the end, what a piece of shit.

The ultimate Shoot 'em Up film

I caught an afternoon film. Guy films have always been their own breed of gore, sex, and "guy" stuff. Shoot 'em Up takes everything cliche about shoot 'em up films and makes us laugh at the entire genre. I'm a slave to Clive Owen's films. Paul Giamatti is always great. And the amazing Monica Bellucci is incredibly hot (plus she was born in Perugia, Italy, the city I studied in for five weeks). This is truly the ultimate shoot 'em up film. Everything about the was too cliche and predictable to be unintentional. Owens plays Mr. Smith, the unlikely and resourceful hero who often states what he "hates" about America. Giamatti is the hitman we never thought he could be. And Bellucci is the caring prostitute. You know you're in for a histerical movie when the first gun fight features several hitman trying to shoot at Mr. Smith while he tries to deliver a baby. A major climax in the film occurs during Owens and Bellucci's sexual climax with another gun battle-but they don't stop having sex but, as one of Owens' oneliners states, redefine blowing your load.

Resourcefulness has always been a major element of shoot 'em up films. In a scene in a gun factory, Mr. Smith sets up the ultimate booby trapped guns that just require the pull of a rope to take out 10 guys with one tug. Another great scene occurs when Owen holds four bullets in his knuckles and sticks his hand into a fire, shooting the bullets into the man that should have killed him rather than taunted him.

The movie is half gun battles, half oneliners. Everything is intentionally rediculous. People either saw it as cliche or brilliant. Film critic Richard Roeper hated the film, but that's to be expected from a critic that has no taste. When the intro is simply Clive Owen sitting on a bench eating a carrot and then muttering "fuck" before getting into a gun battle, ya know that this is not a film that needs character development, plot, or abstract symbolism. The medium is the message. A british dude bitchin' about society while killing everyone around him is the perfect way to critique violent American culture.

Shoot 'em Up is quite the awesome movie. It felt like Crank and Planet Terror with the tribute feel of Kill Bill. Thanks to Army of Darkness, farce films became a more confusing phenomana. Farce could still be enteraining. Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead are histerical, but they functions as films even you don't get the joke. The canon of Sam Raimi has reached its climax through Shoot 'em Up. It's still a good action film, though if you don't get the joke it's more insulting than The Transporter 2 and Bad Boys 2.