Thoughts on Portland

This last weekend my wife and I spent our free time in Portland, with our friends and our family. The entirety of the weekend was in some capacity spent under those grey, rainy skies; with disregard to Monday morning, of course.


My dear uncle and his family had the two of us over for dinner Friday evening, and we all shared pizza and hilarious conversation. We had the opportunity to share with them our future plans, as well. My beautiful cousins are all grown up, and Kelsey has really developed into quite a woman. I am very proud.



Side note: Kelsey's brother, Kory, is the drummer for a metal/hardcore outfit tucked away in the crevices of Beaverton. After dinner, he retired to the upstairs to practice, and I was amazed at what I heard. He seems to be a very talented drummer, from a family full of pianists.
Call Us Forgotten


kory | MySpace Video


The rest of the weekend was spent in joyful abundance with my friends in Portland. My good friends, Kyle and Kailey, showed us the ins-and-outs of the city, and let us stay with them while we were in town. To them we are so thankful.


Kyle, Greg and I shared some pretty entertaining moments together. I have them to thank for the trips around Portland, late into the evening. It was such fun.


Also, Whitney Walters was particularly lovely to talk to this past trip, as she always dictates the world to me in such style, and with such pursuit.


Thanks again, good friends and family, for our time spent in Portland. We love you all, and we are most anxious to be there soon.

"Dylan-kick"

You may be asking yourself what a "Dylan-kick" is. This would be especially true if you've read my latest blog entry, posted earlier this evening.



A Dylan-kick is when you start listening to the music of Bob Dylan, incessantly and without end. It's when you're at work, and you just can't get "Positively 4th Street" out of your head. It's when singing Bob Dylan songs becomes the most delightful thing you could possibly do with your time. It's when you find yourself dwelling upon the depth of Dylan's early work, considering its (more than) possibly, politically-charged themes. It's when you think about how cool it would have been to have liked Dylan when he went electric, even though everyone around you would have thought it was shite. (or shit, if you saw him in America) It's when you purchase two albums of his in less than a week. It's when you randomly ask the nice people at the record shop why there is a small box of Bob Dylan posters lying on the ground behind the counter, and they give you one for free because you bought a Bob Dylan record.



It's when you can't get enough of Bob Dylan. It's when you watch I'm Not There, and consider that perhaps Cate Blanchett plays Bob Dylan better than Bob Dylan plays Bob Dylan. It's when you start realizing you really, REALLY want to get your hands on Martin Scorsese's biopic of Dylan, No Direction Home. It's when you decide your wife rules, because two of the Dylan DVDs you do own, she bought for you, even though she can't stand him and his music. It's when you open your closet and consider putting on all black and wearing sunglasses indoors.

How does it feel? So good.

Faraway, So Close!

I just finished watching Faraway, So Close! (or in German: In weiter Ferne, so nah!). The 1993 film is directed and co-written by Wim Wenders, the man who gave us a number of movies, in and of his own unique, tasteful, and arguably, sometimes daft style. A few of his films include, The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, Hammett, The State of Things, Wings of Desire, and Paris, Texas.

In the opening credits of the film, we find the protagonist nested on top of the Berlin Victiory Column. He is an angel. Him and his divine kin traverse (more like waft) the earth. Their job is to guide human beings, whispering words of truth to them, carrying them through the darkness at the end of their lives, and above all, watching them. A striking statement comes out at the beginning of the movie:

"We are neither the light, nor the message. We are the messengers."

Another beautiful monologue in the film stood out to me, this time coming from an Italian man, working in his shop, as he lets his thoughts pour out of him. The angels after all, hear the thoughts of humans, thereby knowing the present conditions of their hearts. It is as follows:

"It still amazes me, that you don't have to think about what you do, once you've established a routine. You can think any thoughts, draw your conclusions, contradict them, just like an angel, but without the exclusivity.

Meanwhile you create something! Something to eat, a chair, a fur hat, a pizza. Lot's of necessary things, and plenty of them, so there'll be enough some day. At the same time, you must think about what isn't necessary and what's still missing. Otherwise you'd only have things that already exist. And you'd be bored."

Is DC Talk a Boy Band? I think so.

What exactly can we classify or genre-fy, in the most culturally specific of terms, DC Talk to be? Are they a Christian rock band? Boy band? Some kind of R'nB?

In an interview with Alarnet TV, a no longer aired Christian music entertainment talk show, Kevin Max is asked if he was in "some sort of boy band, back in the day." He responds with a simple yes, and gives a brief explanation:

"I've always been into rock 'n roll, but the other two guys were in such reverse musical patterns at that time, that I think we came out as this, this thing that nobody could really put their finger on, and go, is it Pop? Is it AC? Is it a boy band? Is it R'nB? Is it Hammer? You know, they couldn't figure it out."

First, let's ask ourselves what constitutes a band as a boy band.

1) Limited creativity and overall input in direction of music.
2) When said band members don't play any instruments.

According to Allmusic.com, the three members of DC Talk were not comfortable playing instruments on their recordings. Instead, they decided to contribute only vocals to their albums.

Because of this, I am skeptical as to the level of which each member contributed musically and creatively, to the creation and production of each piece of music. Is DC Talk just a moniker for *Boy Band?

I suppose it's a viable conclusion to come to, if such a conclusion can actually be made. After all, I don't know any of the members personally, and aside from pieces of data here and there, the question remains unanswered. However, this I know: I will never listen to DC Talk again. I MEAN, the same again.



*If you like Boy Bands, be sure to check out these groups:

Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Take That, Westlife, New Kids On the Block, New Edition, The Monkees, B2K, Boyzone, BoyzIIMen, 98 Degrees.

Max Payne: An analytical comparative piece

No matter which way you look at it, Max Payne is an awful movie. It's only slightly cheeky and watchable more than once. Those who have never played the video game, which is the film's predecessor, will not like this movie. And to those who are well aware of the game's nature, having played it in full, enjoying it or not, I say this to you: I guarantee you will not see this movie as anything more than a trite, weakened adaptation of the original.

The reason I come back to the subject of the Max Payne film, is because there is more to be said and uncovered.

Just this morning, I finished another complete game of Max Payne, and took it upon myself to rent the film, being slightly intrigued to pursue the "Director's Cut" qualities that prompted me. Among the obvious boastings, I had hoped to find some deleted scenes, perhaps some insightful featurettes, some actor interviews; I even hoped to find some sort of "From Game to Film" piece/thing/short.

Needless to say, I was let down once again.

There were no deleted scenes, no insightful featurettes, no actor interviews, and certainly no "From Game to Film" piece. All that the disc contained was a theatrical version and a director's cut version of the film, and an audio commentary with the director. But come on, do I really want to watch this movie again, this time with the sound stifled, and the director bragging about his multi-million dollar grossing movie?

Oh yeah, speaking of money, Max Payne earned $17 million+ in its first week at the Boxoffice.

Max Payne

For some reason, John Moore, the movie's unimpressive director, felt it was necessary to steer the film completely away from its predecessor's original storyline.

Some of the changes that were made:

• The role of Jack Lupino is hyped up, being more of a super-human on drugs than a madman affected by drugs, on drugs.
• The role of Norse mythology symbolism is at large in the game. However, the film takes the idea of Valkryes, Valhalla, etc, and turns it into a literal, insinuating reality, that these bad dudes really DO have wings, and really are waiting for the Valkryes to carry them off the battlefield. This is especially so with the character of Jack Lupino.
  
• The character of B.B. is revealed to be a counterpart in the whole of the Valkyr operation. However, he is not part of the drugged-outs who killed Max's family.
• Nicole Horne is killed in the final shoot out on top of the Aesir building. She does not live for a sequal.
  
• Vladimir, head of the Russian mafia never makes an appearance in the film. (unless he is the man, walking opposite Max on the street; this would in turn make sense, seeing as how that character was at the party in Mona's gang, as she attempted to strong-arm her sister Natasha)
• Natasha Sax, Mona's sister, is not a character from the storyline. In the game, she is Don Punchinello's wife. Punchinello is head of the Italian mob.
  
• The character of Mona Sax is a twin sister to Lisa, and not at all Russian (which is how she is portrayed in the movie). She is most certainly American.
• Alfred Woden, head of the Inner Circle (a secret society responsible for funding all sorts of things, from the shadows of course) is nowhere to be seen in the film.
• The scene that introduces the game, is of Max on top of the Aesir building, punctuating the end of his vendetta by claiming "They were all dead." This is the same scene in which the final scene exits as well. The film was consistent with mirroring a scene in the introduction, and further into the movie. Well done, film. HOWEVER, it is not of Max's final scene on top of the Aesir building. It is instead of him floating in the river, telling us about the criminals and such that hang out with him at the bottom of the Hudson River. A dizzying inclusion.
  
• The story behind Max's vendetta is made visually clear in the beginning of the game. We see him coming home to find his wife and baby murdered. However, in the film, the emotional response to the scene is not seen until nearly half way through the movie.

Scott Miller, CEO of 3D Realms (producer of the Max Payne games) put it best, when asked asked for his thoughts on this minor alteration:

"Saving this scene until mid-film is a narrative blunder, because the audience needs to empathize with Max in order to like him and understand what drives him."

-Edge Online

This is exactly what the game, or should I say, the original storyline accomplished. Its portrayal of Max's unspoken plight was indeed made clear, and his taste for revenge (to an extent) did seem justified. But most importantly, from the very beginning (and this is where the movie lost points) we could understand his anger. There was never any confusion as to why you were Max Payne, and why Max Payne had nothing to lose.

Another fact about the film:

Rotten Tomatoes gives it 18% on the Tomatometer. Out of 123 reviews, 22 were fresh and 101 were rotten. An average of 3.8/10

As for reviews of the film, here are a number of them that stood out to me. Click for a link to the full review:

-"Honestly, you find yourself rooting against Payne's survival, even with a good actor in the hollow role. There's nothing inside the film's sour, slovenly spirit of vengeance." Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

-"Simply terrible. An insult to gamers and action fans. Frankly, it doesn't even deserve notoriety as one of the year's worst; it deserves to be forgotten." Russ Breimeier, Christianity Today

-"A profound feeling of laziness hovers over the entire picture, suggesting that it was as joyless to make as it is to watch." Ethan Alter, Film Journal International

-"Max just drags on as it drags you down. If you stay and watch the endless end credits, there's a short scene that hints a sequel is coming. That's what I call real pain." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

-"Max Payne is content to be an efficient vehicle for the delivery of a familiar range of sensations, some of which almost rise to the level of feelings." A.O. Scott, New York Times

-"A movie that cares much more for poetic choreography in explosive gunfights than gaping lapses of logic in a flimsy crime narrative." Ted Fry, Seattle Times

-"Maybe somebody decided the movie was already so convoluted and leaden that throwing in a few swooping, screeching valkyries could only help. They do not." Rob Salem, Toronto Star

-"The willfully absurd action sequences help the movie slog along, but slog it does, right through to the obligatory after-credits scene to establish the possibility of a franchise." Jeffrey Bloomer, Paste Magazine

-"Every shot, every edit is well thought out. But in the end, I didn't care about anyone." Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine

As you can see, many reviewers share my thoughts on Max Payne.

A reviewer at the Internet Movie Database put it best when he said,

"I wanted this to be good. I kept lying to myself and saying it would get better any minute.

People who say I am disappointed because it isn't the video game need to understand I didn't want the video game I wanted an action film that captured the essence of the game.

We are left with no reason to care for Max Payne. If I was the writer I would have been ashamed to have my name attached.

Max Payne got the Indy treatment.

I really want my money back on this one. I felt insulted that they thought this script was a passable story"

Check out if interested:
Graphic Novel
A good run down on the basics of Norse mythology
Script of Max Payne video game

How to DO, giving in, and the hour of creativity.

Why do we give in to our unrest?

It's as if, whilst the hour of creation approaches, we become aware of a prevailing sense of angst, a wall in which we are too short to climb over. Every possible excuse becomes ONE, as fatigue, and unrest, and misdirection, and vagueness fight against us.

As I am feverishly creating, sculpting, reading, writing, understanding, devouring; it is then, that I find myself, fighting myself for all control of my being. I cannot help but feel overcome by something and ravished by another.

Take last night, for example. Last night possessed the ideal framework for a perfect evening of thought and discovery. I had a number of hours all to myself in which I could read, write, think, and/or create anything. ANYTHING. Time was of no concern. I had legs that could run any distance, and I seemed to possess the endurance of a cheetah. Time was of no concern.

Multiple pistons were firing off, simultaneously in my mind. I was ready to engage my Creator.

But this is where the purpose of me writing this comes out: Even in my well-placed circumstances, I fell to idleness, to laziness. In my most (potentially) creative hour, I gave in to, that which seems to constrict everything I wish to be, everything I wish to pursue, everything I wish to do.

I failed.

Max Payne piece: failed attempt

A few months back, I was working hard on an analytical comparative piece, on the similarities and distinctions between Max Payne the movie and Max Payne the video game.
Obviously, I never finished it. And I don't think I will. It was long-winded, and I think I intentionally did not finish it for this reason. I had substantial connections between Norse mythology and characters within the movie/game, however those connections were merely well-placed. There was no symbolism, no powerful caricatures to speak of. It was fascinating, (especially learning what I did of the mythology) however, it led to nowhere.

But the worst part about it all, was the fact that the movie failed MISERABLY to stand up to its predecessor. Big surprise. I was hoping that the film might obliterate the common missteps that, more often than not, video game-based movies tend to make. However, it was a huge letdown.

But hey, nothing is as bad as Street Fighter.