Stephen King's Wizard and Glass - The Dark Tower Book 4 - Continuing

Wizard and Glass has proven so far to be interesting. Far from the gritty Clint Eastwood-level manliness of The Gunslinger, book 4 of the series involves witches and oddly handled teenage romance. This part of Wizard and Glass deals with Roland's first mission outside of Gilead. He is accompanied by his friends Cuthbert and Alain, and they pose as members of some government order from New Canaan. Roland meets Susan Delgado, a girl in a strange situation (she's bound by her word to become the mayor of her town's babymama) who he apparently falls in love with.
The action in Wizard and Glass so far has circled around a man named Depape. He is an outcast gunslinger who never gained the title. I haven't finished the book, but there's got to be an interesting showdown at some point.

McDonalds Advertisement

Name of Ad: McDonalds Advertisement
Target: Potential customers
Purpose: To go to and eat at McDonalds
Emotions: Fun through the use of a clown.
Connect: Shows happy children enjoying food.
Improvement: Less scary clown.
Memorable: Yes. The clown is frightening.

Pathos Blog

McDonalds Adbuster.
Target: McDonalds fans.
Purpose/Communication: McDonalds is bad for you.
Emotions: There are injections and radioactive symbols. It means gross. Yes, it is effective.
Connect: Yes, because it shows food you eat.
Improvement: None.
Memorable: No, because EVERYONE knows McDonalds is bad for you.

Dedrabbit Manifesto

Manifesto is a small, blank-covered book that I bought in a comic shop a few years ago for $5 -- and my favorite book of all time. It lists no author, linking only to a dedrabbit website which, in turn, has nothing but a list of people who sell the book. What I bought is an incredible journey through the human condition. It has no story, no plot, no setting, no characters. It is, simply, a piece of art; even without all of those things, it still gives the same feeling as Catcher in the Rye, or A Clockwork Orange -- it feels like a product of the punk movement, the hipster movement, the "jock" crowd, the emotional crowd, feminists, male chauvinists, etc. The book is infinitely immersive in its content. Finding a copy would be difficult, but if you can, go for it.

Stephen King's Wizard and Glass -- Part 1

Wizard and Glass is pretty exciting. It begins with a highly stressful riddle contest against Blaine the Mono, a psychotic train. It ruins nothing to tell you that the group (Roland's Ka-Tet) wins this contest. Once they beat Blaine, they find themselves, oddly enough, in Kansas; but it's not their Kansas. The Dark Tower series seems to be incorporating many different alternate universes, melded together into one. Everything is still very interesting, and the book really does make you wonder how Roland's world moved on.

Stephen King's The Waste Lands

Stephen King's The Waste Lands is the third book in the famous Dark Tower series, of which a new book just came out (oddly enough, it is a mid-quel, taking place between the fourth and fifth books), and yes, it does take its name from that famous T.S. Elliot poem. Having Roland, Eddie, and the new idea of Odetta, named Susannah, our characters are firmly developed -- or are they? The Waste Lands reintroduces Jake, a character prominently featured in The Gunslinger and who made a small appearance in The Drawing of The Three. It's got much more going on than The Drawing of the Three, though probably not as much as The Gunslinger.
Here, our characters face many challenges that range from jumping from world to world to fending off tribal freaks of nature in a city like New York called Lud. The ending is a very extreme cliffhanger, starring Blaine the Mono, a psychotic train obsessed with riddles and wordplay. It's a more entertaining book than The Drawing of The Three, I think, but with less intellectual content. Go check it out if you've got the time.

Picasso's Guernica

The tortured faces of those in pain make themselves prevalent in the painting, their attention focused on the light overhead, as if looking for some salvation that would not come. It is a colorless mass, dominated by greys, blacks, and whites, with large-open spaces covered by jungles of figures, a claustrophobic nightmarish depression of no-space and dull color. From the dead, few survivors reach up to the light, asking for a moment of peaceful lack of worry, but this is not granted to them. The light shining covers only a small space; the rest is left for the demons.

Stephen King's The Drawing of the Three

The second book in the Dark Tower series, The Drawing of the Three, is thought of by some as "the best" in the series. It, after all, introduces the main characters for the story (besides the gunslinger, Roland Deschain, star of the first book), and does so in an interesting fashion. If nothing else, this second book serves as a good study of human behavior, as it introduces Eddie Dean, a heroin addict, and Odetta/Detta Walker, a handicapped schizophrenic civil rights activist. Nothing in the book is expressively poorly done, but I wish that some of the fluff had been cut down. Entire short chapters in the book can be summed up as "they wandered along the beach trying to find something." While it's well done, there's not much action to be had until the middle of the book -- after the opening chapter, of course, where Roland has a bad encounter with a strange crab creature.
Overall, it's a good book and a good addition to the series. I preferred The Gunslinger, if only because I enjoyed getting to know Roland more than I enjoyed getting to know Eddie and Odetta. Stay tuned for the next book, The Waste Lands, next week.

How to Review a Film, good and proper

A good review will always contain the following three elements:

1. A brief overview of the characters and story, without going to the point of spoiling.
Characters are, usually, the driving force of the film. Without a protagonist or antagonist, it's hard for a story to go much of anywhere. Most of the time in a review can be spent going over the characters.

2. Realistic rating of the actor's ability to act.
No one wants to watch a movie with bad acting, lest they be a masochist. This isn't the black comedy "The Room," so leave the bad acting out of it.

3. A description of the general atmosphere, or mood, of the film.
Is it a melodramatic, slow-paced film -- or a fast-paced, empty-minded action flick? This is important. A movie about a warrior isn't necessarily an action film.


I will now review a film by doing what I just said.

Project X (2012) is not a very well-shot, well made, or interesting film; it is, however, a fairly standard modern comedy. Our film stars three teenagers who are throwing a party, trying to be cool: the main character, a nerdy kid who never really gained any popularity, and who didn't want to throw a party in the first place (coincidentally, it's his birthday), a wannabee-gangsta who's friends with the main character and is throwing the party for him, and the obligatory fat kid. Together, they throw "the party of the century," which ends up as a cesspool of teenage filth, apparently making it good.
The acting isn't bad, but it's not good either. None of the actors in this film are the next Morgan Freeman, or even William Shatner. Frankly, they are college-aged kids acting like college kids. There's not much "acting" to be had! For what it's worth, it's not absolutely horrible acting, but it's just not spectacular.
The film is shot in a shaky "mockumentary" style. It's supposed to be a home movie of the main character's birthday party. In that sense, it's successful, as that's what it feels like. The camera style and the scenes shot give off a very "party-like" feeling, a feeling that I don't care much for. Frankly, it's tiring to watch.
If you enjoy seeing women portrayed purely as sexual objects, films with a lot of shiny things in them and very little character development, loud and obnoxious hip hop music, and generally seeing how far we've fallen as far as culture is concerned, you might like Project X. However, if you enjoy being intellectually challenged at any level, if you enjoy good storytelling, if you like character development -- DON'T SEE THIS MOVIE.

Rating:
Writing: 1/10
Acting: 2/10
Filming: 2/10
Overall: 2.5/10

Stephen King's "The Gunslinger"

The first book in the Dark Tower series. It's obviously one of King's earlier pieces -- the writing is not very professional in style, and he makes a few rookie mistakes. However, The Gunslinger is a very entertaining book. It tells the tale of Roland, the last gunslinger, making his way through what seems to be a post-apocalyptic spaghetti western in an alternate dimension. Of course, that idea sounds pretty dumb, but the execution is very well done. What we end up getting is a solid story which can be described as "Clint Eastwood meets Tolkien," and that's something I enjoy. If you like action stories with adventurous antiheroes as the protagonist, you'll love The Gunslinger.

On Censorship, Twitter, and a Capitalist World

            The issue of censorship is a difficult one to address, and even moreso when we realize that the question (should things be censored?) holds a very complex answer. Of course, these are all matters of opinion; a definite answer can never be reached. Popular opinions are what the “true” answer is based on, but I must argue that even if something is of a popular opinion, it is not necessarily true or right in any way. We’ve seen this before at various points in time: Columbus proved that the world is round, or at least made it apparent to the masses, leaders who have been voted in have been impeached due to their inability, etc. In the case of censorship, my opinion is similar to the Capitalist (or free market) economic system: the government (public) should have less power, while the individuals (private) can have more power.

            Censorship in media is already shaky, and I intend to shake its foundations more. Let us assume that something like, say, a snuff film is illegal. Our government has said that it is illegal to own, produce, or even view such material. I must argue that films like those in the Saw franchise, which depicts scenes such as a man being chained down and drowned in the sludge of ground-up pigs, are just as disturbing if not more disturbing than a film that depicts the actual death of a human being. The difference between the two is that we understand that those Saw films are fictional, while a snuff film is not. I, however, do not believe that the difference presented there is enough of a reason to have snuff films legally banned while the Saw films are shown in popular theaters worldwide.

            In comes Twitter, censoring the posts that users make on their website. Should it be the website’s decision whether or not to show that content or allow it to exist? Yes – it is the website’s decision. Should it be the government’s right to say what should and what should not be said on Twitter? No, I don’t believe it should. What is the difference here? Well, for one thing, no one is forcing you to go to Twitter; you are not born into Twitter, many refuse to use Twitter (like myself), and there are alternatives to Twitter. For another thing, Twitter is privately owned. It should be the Twitter staff’s choice whether or not to allow something on their website, as it is, frankly, their website.

            Some argue that a complete lack of censorship in all forms of media would lead to the corruption of the population. Yes, this is true! If child pornography were easily accessible, and people were seeing it on a daily basis, it would become more acceptable, which is corrupt (some might even say “evil”). That, however, is not the proposition I am making. I believe that the movie theater should be able to choose whether or not to show snuff films, just as theaters now don’t show every movie that comes out. Specialty theaters would exist for such things. The horrors of the world wouldn’t be forced into our lives, but made available. People could go their entire lives without ever seeing any of the now-banned material, without reading the now-banned books, etc. For those who wished to see or read it, however, it would be made available.

            In conclusion, the private decision to show content should be the only factor in censorship. Any government involvement is unnecessary. We live in a world where there are people interested in the things that are legally banned, and where there are people who couldn’t be less interested in those things. Ultimately, it should be the company’s choice to show it – and the viewer’s choice to watch. This, I think, is perfectly fair, and would end the issue of censorship forever.

Dante's Inferno Canto IV

This details the first layer, or circle, of Hell. It's mostly just namedropping people he sees there, most notably among them Homer. I'm not complaining, but nothing really seemed to happen here. Hopefully it picks up next Canto.

Dante's Inferno, Canto II and Canto III

There is not very much action in Canto II of Dante's Inferno. It seems unnecessary to me to include this in the piece, as all that is conveyed is Dante's hesitation. That's a given, in my opinion; who wouldn't have second thoughts about descending into Hell? After some chatter between him and his travel guide, we enter Canto III.

THROUGH ME THE WAY IS TO THE CITY OF WOE:
      THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE ETERNAL PAIN;
      THROUGH ME THE WAY AMONG THE LOST BELOW.
RIGHTEOUSNESS DID MY MAKER ON HIGH CONSTRAIN.
      ME DID DIVINE AUTHORITY APPEAR;
      ME SUPREME WISDOM AND PRIMAL LOVE SUSTAIN.
BEFORE I WAS, NO THINGS CREATED WERE
      SAVE THE ETERNAL, AND I ETERNAL ABIDE.
      RELINQUISH ALL HOPE, YE WHO ENTER HERE.

Canto III is very exciting, as you can see from the piece above. Dante enters Hell and encounters people going through a very painful and gruesome time. Some have swarms of wasps all over their faces, others are just screaming; it's not a fun time.
The most intense moment in Canto III is when Charon appears. Charon, one of my favorite figures in mythology, is the ferryman of the river Styx (in some myths he ferries other rivers), responsible for taking damned souls across the river and into Hell. He's an angry old demon who beats his passengers with an oar. His presence leaves an impression on the reader.

So far I'm enjoying Inferno. I've quickly gotten used to the style of writing. Hopefully it gets even more exciting in the later parts.

Dante's Inferno, Canto I

One of the most well-known works of all time is Dante's Divine Comedy, beginning with Inferno. Written as a poem, Inferno details Dante's journey through Hell with a great deal of symbolism. Skipping the editor's introduction (why would I read through Paolo Milano's XXXIX pages when I bought a book called The Portable Dante?), I found the first piece in my book, The Portable Dante, to be Inferno.
As far as story goes, there's not one more iconic than Inferno. Canto I is like any first chapter; Dante is not in Hell yet. After all, what fun would Lord of the Rings be if we began Fellowship with Frodo in Mt. Doom? None at all! (Though, I must say that it would've been quite easy for the eagles to simply fly over the volcano and drop the ring in the lava.) Dante finds himself in his middle years, in an oppressive forest. While walking through it, he encounters many strange, even threatening creatures, and the ghost of a poet.
"Not man; man once I was."
The poet is an old ghost from a pre-Christian time who was denied passage into heaven. Dante goes with him, and Canto I ends.

Inferno is a bit hard to read, due to its format, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless.