Last Airbender at the Super Bowl

So I just watched the Super Bowl 30-second spot for The Last Airbender, otherwise known as Avatar, if it weren't for James Cameron's film nabbing the copyright before Viacom could with their Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. I find myself both intrigued and worried about this one. The initial film teaser looked interesting enough and the SB spot looks even better but one uncomfortable truth remains, M. Night Shyamalan is still the director. His films started out interesting enough peaking with Unbreakable, but Lady in the Water and The Happening proved his fallibility. The guy doesn't seem to like people telling him when he's got a bad film on his hands. In that way, he pulls a George Lucas, biting off far more than anyone wants to chew.

Regardless, the story of Avatar remains a rather fascinating one. It's rare for a children's cartoon to pull off a three-arch story like it did, providing an unexpected level of intelligence from the viewer. This one's good prove of Steven Johnson's thesis in his book Everything Bad is Good For You where he argues that popular culture is actually making its consumer smarter and reflecting that they're getting smarter as well. Johnson's optimism is both refreshing and uncomfortable at once. I find I want to believe him but the recent success such films as Transformers 2 don't bode well for such statements. Still, Avatar is proof that the fantasy genre remains an under tapped playground for real narrative engagement, as films such as El Laberinto del Fauno and Princess Mononoke proved. Avatar, whose creators have said they pulled much from Hayao Miyazaki's work, tells a fascinating story about the connection of the four tribes of the world all connected through the four elements. Certain members of each tribe can bend their designated element: earthbending, waterbending, firebending, and airbending. Over 100 years ago the fire nation attacked the rest of the world and have been trying to claim dominion ever since. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, can resolve this war. What's most interesting about this story is how the war comes to an end. I won't give it away, but it's quite unique and not what most would think or expect. Anyways, it's totally worth the viewing and it's my goal to get my nephew into the show.

Oscar Announcements

So they announced the Oscar nominees. Quite an odd list:

Best picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

I don't know what to do with this list. First off, I'm so apathetic to Inglourious Basterds. I imagine the competition's between Avatar and The Hurt Locker though Up in the Air and Precious are strong candidates as well. Personally, District 9 is my vote - an absolute delight that had me engaged the characters and the premise the entire way through, even with the bloody conclusion. Tarantino films lost it for me some time ago and this one just felt way to predictable. I don't know why I'm so stubborn about this but I have no desire to see The Blind Side. It just looks shallow, aiming for cheap emotions rather really addressing social change. Again I know I should see but there's so much more out there that I want to see and this isn't close. Anyways, I don't know if this was the best year for the Academy to switch to a 10-film Best Picture nomination but it should be interesting to see what happens.

Juxtaposing News

As I log onto my iGoogle account I find the headlines for my news sources fascinating, ranging from the Leno/O'Brien showdown and Carrie Underwood singing at the Super Bowl to dry spells easing global warming and the death of J.D. Salinger. For myself, this has been a unique couple of days in the news. Salinger's death alone was rather a shock though I must admit that I have not read his renowned The Cather in the Rye, thus his death, while shocking, does not hit me the same way the death of Madeleine L'Engle or Stud Terkel's did. Yesterday proved to be a rather odd news day. Since December, I've been waiting for Apple to announce the much-rumored tablet (basically an over-sized iPod) they've been working on and yesterday they finally did. I sat with my roommate and watched the 1.5 hours presentation on the new product and its features. I'm both intrigued and underwhelmed by it. I find it quite interesting that Mac found a place some years back in education programs, providing the computers for school use and lasting software programs, yet their latest inventions, save desk and laptops, are not really meant for educational purposes. Not yet anyways. With all the PDFs printed out in a regular CGU class, purchasing a digital reader would seem like a financially sound one considering the cost of going to Staples once or twice a week, yet no one has really created a program with annotation capabilities. Current eReaders have trouble with annotations, turning something like reading in the Kindle and Nook into a passive experience with little real ability to take notes as you read. Sadly, the iPad (a name one NPR host said was probably created without women in the room) does not change this pathetic standard. They'll get there but for now, this new Apple tech doesn't feel like a step forward for education but another way for people to half engage their digital surroundings.

Oddly, I didn't mean to write that much about the iPad. What I really want to discuss is something far more significant that occurred yesterday. When I opened iGoogle to check out the video on the iPad, I saw a headline from NPR that caught me off guard: "Leftist Historian Howard Zinn Dies At 87." My roommate, a high school history teacher in Montclair, and I spent some time reading about his recent death and reflecting on his works, not just his most popular book A People's History of the United States. I'm sad to think the most exposure some will have to Zinn's existence comes in the form of a brief reference in Good Will Hunting. I'm not a history buff, but I greatly appreciate Zinn's work for helping not "rewrite" history like some of the naive would say but provide a holistic account of this country's formation. As Ronald Takaki and others would do later, Zinn told the story of the U.S. without the tone and bias of imperialistism. He tells the story of the U.S. with unrepresented voices. We don't just understand what occurs within "popular" historical structures but in everything. He also reanalyzes major historic figures and looks at everything they did. For example, Columbus is not some wonderful visionary who found an unpopulated world but a conqueror who enslaved people in a new land and introduced the "New World" to genocide.

While many could've potentially learned about Zinn in history, sociology, or ethnic studies courses, I came across him in a very different way. While in seminary I took the course Advocating for Social Justice and, for the final paper, we were permitted to write something related to our fields of study. I decided to write on the use of narrative film in social justice formation. My roommate had the Zinn reader and I began to read his essays. I was so fascinated by what he had so say. Until then, I hadn't really thought much about socialist ideas (besides the a few pieces of Marx I enjoyed) and Zinn wrote with passion about the connection between civil rights and socialism. I didn't find anything directly addressing the use of film in the liberation struggle, but his theories and ideas guided my research. I don't care much for patriotism. I find the term's meaning too ambiguous and no established institution has earned my trust--though I do find some hope in ideas presented by those like the musicians in the former band Boysetsfire when they sing, "Who will stand up? Who will fight? If you love this country, take it back from those who would destroy it! Protest is patriotism." I find in Zinn, and others like him, a new face of this country that cares more about that often prooftexted "justice for all." Here's to his life and may his death become a time to reflect on what he stood for and where we can go. For those interested, here's click here to check out NPR's story on Howard Zinn.

Army of Darkness midnight screening at LB's Art Theatre

Sitting at home doing homework on Friday, I received a call from my friend Casey in Long Beach informing me of a midnight screening of Army of Darkness. This was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up, so I took the gf and we joined the LB people for a magical cinematic experience. For those who don't know about this film, it's one of my all-time favorites and definitely my favorite B-movie. It's the final chapter of the Evil Dead trilogy, directed by Sam Raimi, who would go on to direct the Spider-Man trilogy, Darkman, and Drag Me To Hell.

We went to the Art Theatre in Long Beach with about 50 other attendees. There's something so refreshing of viewing a film like this with people who share your enthusiasm. No need to justify this guilty pleasure that I feel absolutely no quilt about. I mean, what's so terrible about a department store worker who gets sent back in time to help Lord Arthur fight the Deadites with his boom-stick (double-barrel Remington), chainsaw (which takes the place of the possessed hand he had to lop off in the film prior), and remarkable ability to create enough gunpowder to take on a demon army. It's all just fantastic, with enough one-liners to make the world's top markers sad they didn't think of them first. This film is the accumulation of 50 years of western, action, and horror films. And the final product is just plane hysterical.

I will say, there are some rather humorous references that most people won't notice in the film; nods to The Day the Earth Stood Still, Gulliver's Travels, Tom & Jerry, and Tarzan, among others. Plus one character, the director's brother, has at least four bit parts, if you're paying attention. It's hard not the appreciate the detail in writing and the homage to film history. Plus, Evil Dead 2 was proved that film could be low-budget with a skeleton cast and still be a bloody good time. Like my friend Garret says, the first five minutes have dialogue and the rest of the film is AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!! Anyways, some B-movies have stood the test of time and this was clearly fits the bill...unlike Daybreakers, which I saw the other week and couldn't get away from soon enough. Vampires sell themselves so I find it rather confusing to understand how some films can be so bad...oh Twilight, you wretched mess. With that, here's a clip with some of the magical one-liners:

Rear Window in Boulder

I've been in Boulder, Colorado for the past week hanging with Gar and Aubs. It's been a pretty swell time, minus my sickness which is almost gone finally. I love coming out here, though the altitude messes with my breathing. The Shelsta clan is all good people. The funny thing is, I haven't done much. Just wake up (late) hang out with the Shelstas when they're back from work, maybe watch a movie, and see how they interact with those around them. I like vacations where I can just take in the surroundings.

I bet you're wondering why I have this picture of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film. Well, Gar and Co. do this thing on Tuesdays where they all get together and watch a summer movie and, you guessed it, Rear Window was the choice tonight. I don't know why I get shocked when I find that I enjoy a film more than 50 years old. It's Hitchcock, of course I'll love it. Vertigo anyone? This one is incredibly unique. It all takes place from main character Jame Stewart's point of view as he watches what his neighbours do from his apartment, as he nurses a broken leg. The suspense builds as he witnesses a neighbour doing something odd. He's been watching these people live their monotonous lives for six weeks and he knows that something's wrong when a guy starts acting odd. The events unfold and we're there with Stewart to the end to find out if his neighbour is just trying to break to mold or is a stone cold killer. Cue awesome '50s dramatic music here.

Sidenote, isn't it sad that something is wrong when people start acting different. People suck don't they. Anyways, in Colorado until next week. Good times. Tim out.

IT'S HERE! IT'S FLIPPIN' HERE!

WELCOME. WELCOME. WELCOME. I would like to formally welcome you all to the new blog. I've had some fun and grief getting it to look like this. HTML code sucks. Whoever invented the internet clearly did not have an artistic eye (frikkin' math majors). Anyway, expect some major changes. I'll be adding a lost more articles I've written in the past (edited to blog format) and I'll be updating this puppy a lot more. I wanted to use the url name "Meaningless" but it was taken, so I chose to add "magazine" to the end since the end goal is to create one. Here's my trial effort.

A few things about all the...things. The three rotating pictures at the top aren't just for show, they're links to stories and I plan to change them whenever I write something new that's worthy of being hightlighted. Everything should work, from the search engine to the "recent" and "popular" sections. I've created generic links at the top for different topics I've written about. They're labels linked to the old blog (it's all a work in process). I'm open to suggestions and if anything doesn't work, lemme know. And for all you Twitter people, I'm thinking about it--maybe I can link it to this somehow. Welp, enjoy the new dew. I've really missed posting on this thing. I keep having ideas but felt paralyzed since I wanted to update the layout. It was really annoying. In the next few weeks, expect some rants on the superhero films of 2007, why I no longer like Roger Ebert, and how excited I am about this summer and fall. Peace.

P.S. I posted this old picture for a few reasons: a) I needed to test placing an image on the new post, b) it's a great picture that embodies my hopes and dreams (ya know, being a rockstar), and c) when you fling a guitar like that it scrapes your neck, and since a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this thing the image of me getting scraped in the neck fits...kind of.

Battlestar Galactica: Rest in Frakkin' Peace

I just watched the series finale of Battlestar Galactica tonight. Now, to some of my friends, this comes as a relief as it won't be on as much in the house, making way for potentially less nerdy things. To them, I will simply smile and hear their latest complaints when they begin to notice the new shows, like Dr. Who or my latest rediscovery of Babylon 5. The nerd will live on. On that note, I've also been collecting a large amount of comic books lately. I have most of the Civil War story arc from the Marvel Universe, along with several trades from The New Avengers storyline. Anyways, back to BSG.

I know many people will discuss the finale with a very critical edge. My roommates didn't particularly care for the end, and I must admit I think it could have been better. But besides the nit picky, I was very satisfied. It answered many of the questions and ended with just enough ambiguity. I appreciated the finale's pace. It didn't end with a battle, but almost created a very lengthy afterward. Sure, Return of the King did this and everyone got annoyed, wondering when the credits were coming. But BSG had a lot to close off and it didn't feel the need to do that when the explosions very coming. Instead, it just revealed them naturally. To hell with the 3rd act from the screenwriter's playbook. Without giving any details away, the ending was what I expected and wanted.

I'm gonna miss this show. I know people think I'm crazy when I say this, to which my only response is you don't know, but BSG is the best show on TV right now. Its end only marks the continued downfall of television dramas. Sitcoms are doing fine, but dramas are getting thrown off TV quicker than Garfield can eat a lasagna. BSG's end means I'll have a greater reason to turn off the TV and return to my DVD collection. It deserves the Emmy for best drama. Season 4 was sensational, as were the other seasons, and it did things shows have never tried. Its brilliance lies in its ability to be remain true to itself.

It's a sci-fi show that addresses terrorism, love, God, genetics, robotics, Greek mythology, cloning, class struggle, military culture, ethics, and prophecy.

And all the while, a Bob Dylan song is playing in the background.

I'll greatly miss this show. I'm looking forward to the made-for-TV BSG film that'll premiere later this year (though it's a stand alone). And I'm also curious about the spin-off series Caprica, coming out next year. I don't know if the concept of the show will last, but I'm committed to giving it a try. The golden era of television has long been over, and BSG's exodus marks the outro of a diamond in the rough. BSG, RIP. And for that matter, TV in general, RIP.