Review: Immortals (Film)

>SPOILERS AHEAD<
King Hyperion declares war on the Gods and seeks the Epirus Bow, the only weapon that can free the Titans from Mount Tartarus. Zeus, unable to interfere with humans as a God, chooses Theseus as the champion of the Gods. Theseus seeks vengeance on Hyperion for the murder of his mother and must stop him before he unleashes the Titans.

That's about as trimmed down of a plot as I can make it and really, that is all that happens. This, however, is not a criticism. The fact that you can take such a simple plot and make it so enjoyable makes this a rather interesting movie.

But let's back up for a minute. The film is directed by Tarsem Singh. Not a very well known director, he has three movies to his name, The Cell, The Fall and now Immortals. He is known, however, for being rather surreal and a very visual director, with The Fall, I'm told being "very beautiful." And that shows true in Immortals, where every shot in the film looks like it's a painting. With bright colors and slow motion ala Zack Snyder, every scene is a painting.

That said, Tarsem Singh is a surrealist and he is really in your face about it. A lot of the costumes are really bizarre, from Hyperion and his army's clothing, to the Oracles' funny headdresses. Singh lays his cards out on the table, however, because the first scene is the Titans biting down on a metal rod while trapped in a box. That's really what it is. Theseus even mentions it in the film, saying that the Priest has a "funny hat." This may put you off at first, but it's pretty sparse and you get used to it pretty early on.

Now, onto the story. It's as predictable as you can possible make it. Think Clash of the Titans than you'll know just what's going on, except picture it going very, very slowly. It's a good 30 minutes that feels like 45 minutes of exposition before Theseus' mother is killed and he is forced into action. This kind of dragging on serves a purpose of introducing Zeus, Theseus, Hyperion and the Oracle/love interest-who's-name-I-can't-recall. Lots of characters, lots of ground to cover, so I didn't mind. Mainly because I'm used to and even prefer long beginnings (I love Stanley Kubrick, the King of Slow). But to the main action audience that this is marketed towards, it can be offputting.

And now the action. Have you seen 300? Or any Zack Snyder movie after Dawn of the Dead? Yeah, you know what's coming next. BUT! The main difference is how it's handled. Sure there are moments that are slow, but Singh doesn't rely on it like Snyder does. Instead, he does this very interesting thing where a character will be killing people, and the people he kills move in slow motion. Lemme paint a picture: Ares comes down and kicks a guy over a company of men. This guy starts flying in slow motion over his men as Ares goes to each man and bashes their heads in, causing them to explode. These explosions, after Ares goes to the next guy, continue on in slow motion. So, you've got a room of people whose heads are slowly exploding, a guy flying through the air and Ares with his funny ass hat killing people. It's really cool visually.

And here is the main thing I had with the movie: I wanted to know more about the Gods. If this film was told specifically from the point of view of the Gods, that would have been more interesting. The interplay between the Gods was very interesting to watch and the action scenes were very cool stylistically. The last fight between the Titans and the Gods is so cool with the Titans being killed in slow motion as the Gods move at lightning speeds. In fact, I would say that the plot with Theseus was rather a way to move the side-plot of the Gods forward.

However, the plot with Theseus, though predictable, is still fun to watch. The action scenes are very interesting and unique. In one part of the a long fight down a hallway (in one shot without any cuts, btw), I'm pretty sure he stabs a spear through one guy, breaks the staff, stabs another guy with the broken staff, breaks that staff again, and then kills a third guy. It literally passes you buy and you don't notice it unless you're really watching. And that's what this movie demands: that you really watch it.

Still, it's not without it's faults. The Gods and Titans seem a little bit small compared to how their myths depict them. The Titans all look the same when they were all very different. The only Gods I recognized was Zeus, Athena, and Poseidon. The Ares guy I mentioned earlier killing people in fast/slow motion? Could have been Apollo for all I knew. He did have a funny headdress that looked like the rays of the sun. The romance is unnecessary only for the last scene to make sense. The comical thief character whose name I can't remember is...well, you know what I man.

But I enjoyed it. Even in 3D, it interesting and different. I kind of hope they make a sequel, which is alluded to, of course. I want to see more like this.

Nothing Else Matters

At night, my mind fills with strange thoughts. Thoughts that mainly revolve around what exactly am I doing with my life. Do I matter. Is it all worth it. And all and all, it comes down to the same answer.

No.

I want to matter to some people. I want people to actually enjoy being around me. I want to be invited to dinner with people who call me their friends, I want to actually hang out with the people who say they're my friends.

But they never do. They all just go about their lives and hang out with people who they are friendlier with than with me. The only way people actually invite me is if I tell them I would like to come, which is kind of rude, I think. Otherwise, I'm just a blip on the far corner of their radar screen.

I want people to actually like me. But they never will.

So fuck you all. I hate this. I hate it all. I hate the night but it's all I'm good for. I hate your alcohol but it's all anyone wants. I just hate this place.

Whatever. No one reads this. Fuck off.

Why I don't like getting into long-term relationships

In good old times, remember my friend
Moon was so bright and so close to us, sometimes
We were still blind and deaf, what a bliss?
Painting the world of our own, for our own eyes, now?

"Can we ever have what we had then?
Friendship unbreakable
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I'd fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
If I had you beside me"

One cloudy day we both lost the game,
We drifted so far and away
Nothing is quite as cruel as a child
Sometimes we break the unbreakable, sometimes?

"And we'll never have what we had then
Friendship unbroken
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I'd fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
If I had you beside me now"

I was unable to cope with what you said
Sometimes we need to be cruel to be kind
Child that I was, could not see the reason
Feelings I had were but sham and a lie?

I have never forgotten your smile
Your eyes, oh, Shamandalie

Time went by, many memories died
I'm writing this down to ease my pain

You saw us always clearer than me
How we were never meant to be
Love denied meant the friendship would die
Now I have seen the light
These memories make me cry

"Can I ever have what I had then?
Friendship unbroken
Love means nothing to me
Without blinking an eye
I'd fade, if so needed,
All those moments with you
And see the world with my wide open eyes

Friendship got broken
There's no other for me
Like the one of my childhood days
Can you forgive me?
The love got better off me,
On that day back in old times"


It's not you, it's me. Really. Stay away.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you the following Special Bulletin...

Longitude: 74 degrees, 0 minutes, 23 seconds west.

Latitude: 40 degrees, 42 minutes, 51 seconds north.

Follow the sound of sirens...

...god...

Some things are beyond words. Beyond comprehension. Beyond forgiveness.

Where were you?!

How could you let this happen?

I --

How do you say we didn't know? We couldn't know. We couldn't imagine.

Only madmen could contain the thought, execute the act, fly the planes. The sane world will always be vulnerable to madmen, because we cannot go where they go to conceive of such things.

We could not see it coming. We could not be here before it happened. We could not stop it. But we are here now.

You cannot see us for the dust, but we are here. You cannot hear us for the cries, but we are here.

Even those we thought our enemies are here. Because some things surpass rivalries and borders. Because the story of humanity is written not in towers but in tears. In the common coin of blood and bone. In the voice that speaks within even the worst of us, and says this is not right. Because even the worst of us, however scarred, are still human. Still feel. Still mourn the random death of innocents.

We are here. But with our costumes and our powers are writ small by the true heroes. Those who face fire without fear or armor. Those who step into the darkness without assurances of ever walking out again, because they know there are others waiting in the dark. Awaiting salvation. Awaiting word. Awaiting justice.

Ordinary men. Ordinary women. Made extraordinary by acts of compassion. And courage. And sacrifice.

We've voted, and we're going to try to take the plane. It's the only way to stop them hitting washington. I love you.

I love you --

Ordinary men. Ordinary women. Refusing to surrender

Ordinary men. Ordinary women. Refusing to accept the self-serving proclamations of holy warriors of every stripe, who announce that somehow we had this coming.

...Probably what we deserve...All of them who have tried to secularize America...the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians and the ACLU...I point the finger in their face and I say "You helped this happen."

-- It is God's will that America should fall through their iniquity and their sin --

We reject them both in the knowledge that our tragedy is greater than our transgressions. Bodies in freefall on the evening news. Madness in mosques, shouting down fourteen centuries of earnest prayers, forgetting the lessons of crusades past...

...that the most harmed are the least deserving.

Hi...listen, you shouldn't be here. This isn't a good place for you to --

My...My dad went in there to get something, he said just a minute --

You shouldn't --

-- and if I wait and stay and don't leave he'll be okay, because I'll do what he told me, and -- and -- DADDYYYYY!

There are no words. There are no words. The death of innocents and the death of innocence. Rage compounded upon rage. Rage enough to blot out the sun.

And the air, filled with questions.

Is it going to happen again? What do I tell my children? Why did this happen?

They ask the question. Why? Why? My god, why? I have seen other worlds. Other spaces. I have walked with Gods and wept with angels. But to my shame I have no answers.

He's the only one who could know. Because he's been here before. I wish I had not lived to see it once. I can't imagine what it is to see this twice. I just can't imagine.

What do we tell the children? Do we tell them evil is a foreign face? No. The evil is the thought behind the face, and it can look just like yours. Do we tell them evil is tangible, with defined borders and names and geometries and destinies? No. They will have nightmares enough. Perhaps we tell them that we are sorry. Sorry that we were not able to deliver unto them the world we wished them to have. That our eagerness to shout is not the equal of our willingness to listen. That the burdens of distant people are the responsibility of all men and women of conscience, or their burdens will one day become our tragedy. Or perhaps we simply tell them that we love them, and that we will protect them. That we would give our lives for theirs and do it gladly, so great is the burden of our love. In a universe of Gameboys and VCRs, it is, perhaps, an insubstantial gift. But it is the only one that will wash away the tears and knit the wounds and make the world a sane place to live in.

We could not see it coming. No one could. We could not stop it. No one could. But we are here. Now. With you. Today. Tomorrow. And the day after. We live in each blow you strike for infinite justice, but always in the hope for infinite wisdom. Because we live as well in the quiet turning of your considered conscience. The voice that says all wars have innocents. The voice that says you are a kind and a merciful people. The voice that says do not do as they do, or the war is lost before it is even begun. Do not let the knowledge be washed away in blood.

When you move, we will move with you. Where you go, we will go with you. Where you are, we are in you. Because the future belongs to ordinary men and ordinary women, and that future must be built free of such acts as these, must be fought for and renewed like fresh water. Because a message must be sent to those who mistake compassion for weakness. A message sent across six thousand years of recorded blood and struggle. And the message is this: whatever our history, whatever the root of our surnames, we remain a good and decent people, and we do not bow down and we do not give up. The fire of the human spirit cannot be quenched by bomb blasts or body counts. Cannot be intimidated forever into silence or drowned by tears. We have endured worse before; we will bear this burden and all that come hereafter, because that's what ordinary men and women do. No matter what. This has not weakened us. It has only made us stronger.

In recent years we as a people have been tribalized and factionalized by a thousand casual unkindnesses. But in this we are one. Flags sprout in uncommon places, the ground made fertile by tears and shared resolve. We have become our grief. We are now one in our determination. One as we recover. One as we rebuild. You wanted to send a message, and in so doing you awakened us from our self-involvement. Message received. Look for your reply in the thunder. In such days as these are heroes born. Not heroes such as ourselves. The true heroes of the twenty-first century. You, the human being singular. You, who are nobler than you know and stronger than you think. You, the heroes of this moment chosen out of history.

We stand blinded by the light of your unbroken will. Before that light, no darkness can prevail. They knocked down two tall towers. In their memory, draft a covenant with your conscience, that we will create a world in which such things need not occur. A world which will not require apologies to children, but also a world whose roads are not paved with the husks of their inalienable rights. They knocked down two tall towers. Graft now their echo onto your spine. Become girders and glass, stone and steel, so that when the world sees you, it sees them. And stand tall. Stand tall.

Stand tall.

- From The Amazing Spider-Man #36

About time I put something...meaningful?

Well, it's been a while since I've ever actually put anything on this thing besides the occasional depressing poem that I didn't even write. Going to North Carolina tomorrow so I might as well do something with this.

Anyways, I've spent a lot of time writing for a story I've had cooking up over the year. It's a sci-fi/fantasy mix. That's all I'll say but I like it. I think it has potential.

Also writing a samurai western story in the same vein as Lone Wolf and Cub. Still in the "beyond-beta" stage but I think it also has potential. Typical story about revenge but I think it has different things. For starters the main character wields two revolvers, a katana, and wears a large red hat as he walks across the desert and such. Just starting so it's in the works.

An idea keeps running through my head about an island that rises from the depths of the ocean filled with people that have been living there for years. They all wear masks that allows their minds to connect like the internet connects computers. Another idea is an idea of a psychic detective that battles the otherworldly as they try to encroach upon the realms of our world. Might add it to the other idea of a man who can control space and time, manipulate the course of time to his advantage and can see all possibilities of the world, all the while trying to pave the way to salvation much like God Emperor Leto tries to set humanity on the Golden Path in Dune. Except my guy is fighting Cthulhu demons, not machines (spoiler).

Anyways, that's all I've been up to. Doubt anyone reads this but there you go. My cry for attention.

Night.

To a Tomorrow That Never Comes

Kill one...we kill for today.
Kill two...we kill for tomorrow.
Kill three souls...the blood flows thick.
Hatred is heavy and blood is dark.

Though tears can be hidden, all hearts break.

Starlight seeps into the bone
Blood runs dry in frozen hearts
And night descends on tangled fields.

A homeless journey beyond dark fate.

Lament of wildflowers,
Moan of wind,
Blooming in shadow,
Hell's sweet blossoms.

Eyes fixed on phantoms,
We look to tomorrows that never come.

- Lone Wolf and Cub
Vol. 17: The Will of the Fang
The Eighty-Third: To a Tomorrow That Never Comes

Happy Valentine's Day

"My insides all turned to ash, so slow
And blew away as I collapsed, so cold
A black wind took them away, from sight
And held the darkness over day, that night

And the clouds above move closer
Looking so dissatisfied
But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing

I used to be my own protection, but not now
Cause my path had lost direction, somehow
A black wind took you away, from sight
And held the darkness over day, that night

And the clouds above move closer
Looking so dissatisfied
And the ground below grew colder
As they put you down inside
But the heartless wind kept blowing, blowing

So now you're gone, and I was wrong
I never knew what it was like, to be alone

On a Valentine's Day"

- "Valentine's Day" by Linkin Park

Have a glorious day!