Differing Opinions

I was sitting in one of my last classes on the History of the USSR and were just wrapping up the post-Soviet era. Out of the blue, my Professor starts to talk about Kazakhstan and when he asks for the name of the President, I was the only person to actually answer him (which I personally thought was hilarious). Yet, when he starts talking about Nazarbayev, his opinions seemed to stretch more towards the things that he hasn't done then those that he has. The only opinions that he had on Nazarbayev and some of the rest of the Central Asian leaders are former Soviet leaders that are just "dictators for life". I just found it interesting that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can never get over a image that you had to project earlier to survive. And sometimes, people will only see the bad rather then any of the good that you do.

Little Angel, Make Me Happy

Interesting film to say the least. Compared to our other WWII movie You are Not an Orphan, this film shows the harsh realities of a period that would later be called the Great Patriotic War by the USSR. Both of these films deal with orphans but in very different ways.

In Orphan, we are treated to a storybook version of the war, at least what we see. It is assumed that the Germans are the enemies but never really brought out as an issue. People in the villages never torment any of the children. One man even joins in briefly with the game of hide and seek the children are playing.

The orphans in Little Angel are German children left behind, while their parents are sent to Siberia. They are innocent victims of circumstance and none of them have ever done anything wrong. Yet they are treated like Hitler incarnate by the Communist officials and left to die of starvation and disease. Anyone that helps the children are imprisoned. These children are forced into conditions that you wouldn't hope on your worst enemies. And they have done nothing wrong.

The differing views on orphans within the Soviet Union changed mainly due to time passing. Orphans was made during the Khrushchev Thaw and was allowed some artistic flow but still had to remain within a certain boundary. You can even see examples of propaganda within the film every so often, especially with the police women that allows the orphans to go home at the end. Little Angel was made in 1994, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and had to respect no boundaries. It's unique because it shows that not all Germans are evil; the "bad guy" could be anybody, even the Russians. It showed that things are not black and white, that World War II didn't have all Germans ready to fight. Some are just trying to survive.

Little Angel allows viewers to see a different side of the war, that of the Germans, which is not often portrayed in a good light. However, this picture of innocence being tortured just because of its ethnicity is utterly horrifying but shows that when dealing with war, nobody is just as you think they are.

Epiphany

Every once and a while, usually in the most random occasions, I get a good idea. While I was watching Little Angel, Make Me Happy, this semester's last film, I finally figured out what I want to write my final paper on (better late then never lol). Being a history major, I wanted to write on something I'm particulary knowledgable about. Noticing the many similarities between Little Angel and You are Not an Orphan, I've decided to write about the before and after of World War II. Namely, I will be writing about the style and messages conveyed by the two films, botht he similarities and differences. I am going to show the effect of Soviet propagada on Orphan, and show how Little Angel is so much different, despite them both dealing with the same period. I know may not sound interesting but that's only because I can never contain my ideas down into such a short format (i.e. this blog). Can't wait to get this thing started! Thank God for Epiphanys!!!

Kazakhstan's New Capital?

I went to go looking for Kazakh news today and I saw something rather humorous. Apparently someone in the Kazakh parliament wanted to rename the capital of Kazakhstan, which is currently Astanta, to Nursultan, in honor of President Nazarbayev (it's his first name). This was met with overwhelming support within the parliament but was turned down by Nazarbayev, who felt that the decision whould wait until another generation can deal with it.

What I saw as more humorous was the total negative stance the newspaper took against it. It was blatantly obvious that the article was against Nazarbayev and the party. They show his presidency as almost a dictatorship rather then a democracy, with him dealin with the wrong problems. It seems that no matter where you go, there is always going to be criticism no matter how popular you are.

Kosh Ba Kosh

Last week's movie was called Kosh Ba Kosh. It was a story of love and death, of beauty and destruction. Two distinct environments existed throughout the film. They were the city, with a civil war ragin all around. Gambling is rampant and everything seems to be dark and seedy. The mountain location is seen as a peaceful place where it seems nothing can go wrong.

The bridge between these two locations is the lift between the two. The lift itself reminds me of Greek mythology, of the story of Charon, the ferryman of Hades. When people died, they would have a coin placed in their mouth to pay toll for the ferry in Hades. They would then be allowed to cross the river in Hades to join the land of the dead properly.

The lift often seems to be a bridge where anything can happen and both environments often blend. Love and hatred exist in harmony within the lift like life and death mix until the destination is met. This is the rule used throughout the film, keeping both sides separate, until the end, when the gatekeeper, Daler, allows gambling to corrupt the mountain paradise, killing the love between Daler and Mira.

Essentially, the lift is the gap between the two very different worlds, with Daler as a Charon of sorts, ferrying people back and forth, sometimes at a price.

"The Wave of the Future"

In Scorsese's The Aviator, we watch as Howard Hugh (Leo Decaprio) degrades, going from being a fantatic movie director, to playboy, to grand designer, and finally losing everything, falling into a stupor of repeating the same phrase over and over: "The wave of the future". At the time, he was speaking about the advent of jet engines in airplanes but it also can refer to any type of techonolgy nowadays. Hughs' is one of those people that contributed significantly to different areas at huge personal risk and danger to his well being and character. If you haven't seen The Aviator, it should be one of the next movies on your list, its great.

But I digress, I replied earlier to someone's discussion on technology and the unification of the world. Playing devil's advocate, I still believe that technology can be a bad thing. Facebook has started to ruin people's job oppurtunities and with a more unified world we run the risk of losing our national and cultural identities.

Now, I go into the territory of fantasy (or is it?) One of my favorite movies of all times is James Cameron's The Terminator (T2 comes close but I love Michael Biehn, he is the man). With the advent of technology, Skynet, an autonomous computer with the power of artificial intelligence is created. And everything just goes into the crapper. It gains "self-awareness" and ends up killing 5 billion people with nuclear weapons and an aresenal of dead mechanical robots including the Hunter-Killers (HK) and the T-series cyborgs. Some movies have a tendency of foretelling future events and a weird way. Could The Terminator be foretelling are fates with our dependance on the overbundence of technology?

Old Bad Movies May Actually Be Good

I just bought Howard the Duck the other day on DVD. As a kid, I loved to watch this film, even though I didn't realize half of the sexual innuedos among other lewd material shown in the film. Despite what every critic has said about this movie, I still like watching it. It's funny to see Jeffrey Jones in his duel portrayal of a scientist and of a Dark Overlord (and then read about his sordid past...yikes!) Another thing that people might not realize or remember is that this movie has a young Tim Robbins in it (even though he seems crazy as hell in it). My whole point for this blog is to try and show that not all movies should be written off immediately after release. Wait 20-30 years and maybe even Gigli might be good (or not...nvm lol). Some movies are seen in a better light years after they come out and it proves that sometimes time does age films for the better.

Blade Runner Obsession

Probably one of the best sci-fi movies ever, and that's to say the least. This is one of those movies that you can watch ten times over and still find somthing new. And that's if your only watching one version of this classic. In 2007, director Ridley Scott was finally able to complete the revisions to his make his masterpiece complete; hence the "Final Cut" was released. Along with that, Warner Bros. released a 4 or 5 disc collection that contained all or most of the versions of Blade Runner. Being a fan, I definetly had to get this collection. And then I ended watching all 5 cuts of the film. The Original Version, the International Cut, the Workprint Cut, the Director's Cut, and the Final Cut. What was is most humorous is that I just bought it for Blu-Ray and have begun to rewatch the collection. I can never really understand why, but Blade Runner is one of those movies that you should watch multiple times.

What depresses me the most is that it is becoming a film many of my friends have never seen. To me, it seems like a crime to humanity. It's like missing Schindler's List or Silence of the Lambs. It's one of those movies that define a genre, that change an industry. Despite the negative reviews that it intially received during its theatrical release, this movie has become one of the greatest movies of all time. It's themes and setting are oppresive and depressing but say something about human beings future' s unless change is made.

Undramatic Deaths for Important Characters

I was watching tv last night and Sarah Connor Chronicles was on. At the very beginning of the show that end up killing one of the most important characters and don't even stop the action. No change in music, nothing, just a panned down shot of him with a bullet hole in his head. For me it was a tradegy, it was like reading when Sirius Black died in Harry Potter. It was something that the mind can't really comprehend until after it has occured. These tragic heroes turned icons are gone and without even a final goodbye or dramatic death. It's as if they never really mattered. Watching the death of this character was tragic not only because I liked what he was about and what he did, but he held emotional value for me. But the way he was taken was just awful and tragic, a hero unworthy of his character.

Anyone else become angered by these tv or movie deaths that are so sudden and unpredicatable?

Wrestlemania XXV

For anyone that has ever watched wrestling, Wrestlemania is the biggest wrestling event of the year. Some dream matches are fought and some really bad gimmicks are performed. WWE (formerly WWF) started Wrestlemania in 1985 but it never really caught on until 1987 with Wrestlemania III with the headlining of Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant. The massive superstar vs. Goliath has become the epitome of Wrestlemania with many attempts to recreate this feeling. With Wrestlemania XXV, Vince McMahon (owner of WWE) has shown that to at least some degree has created a successful product, that despite its fall in popularity is still fun to watch.

I, myself, follow wrestling to a small degree. I don't really have the time to watch matches anymore but with the advent of modern technology, I can follow storylines through the website and through other sites. Despite my waning interest in wrestling, I still get excited by the prospect of Wrestlemania. There always seems to one standout match that gains my attention and I just have to watch, trying to relive my childhood, watching with eyes and mouth wide open in excitement and awe. With the heafty price tag of $55 for the pay-per-view, my childhood dreams always seem to cost a fortune. Yet sometimes you have to satiate that inner child. Otherwise, what's life living for.

ER Finale

One of the only tv shows that I've been watching for the longest time is ending tonight after 15 seasons. For a while I stopped watching but it wasn't anything against the show. It just seems rather difficult to pay attention to a show every week, especially 22 episodes long! So in preparation, I just watched seasons 10-15 and think I'm ready (imagine watching over 100 episodes at over 42 minutes a piece ugh!) The funny thing was that it still had the same emotional content for me that it had before, especially after the entire original cast had already left. It still caused the same laughs and cries as it did before. And with the final season, the ante was upped. Angela Bassett was brought on and it seems that that anyone that was on the show over the last 15 years made a cameo...and it didn't seem overworked. Getting to see all the old gang was refreshing, even to see George Clooney, who has moved on to become a huge star. And with tonight, the end has finally come. Many have said that this show has gone on long past its time. To those, I say maybe but sometimes good things die hard. And with ER being one of the most watched dramas on television once, I think this shining star earned this moment which should be treasured by all, old and new fans of the show.