Monthly Archives: October 2016

“The fight aloud is very brave…” (138) by Emily Dickinson | Poetry Analysis

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This poem is about inner struggle. It’s compared to the struggle of a soldier fighting for one’s country – this is admirable but a person overcoming conflict within themselves can be just as great.

“To charge within the bosom” this line indicates an internal battle – one that the individual must fight by themselves. There is a lot to truth to this. Although help is nice there are some issues that a person must sort out from within and I think that’s essentially what the poem is saying.

Humans tend to crave approval. They want to be encouraged and told when they’re on the right track. However, as the poem shows with these lines like these: “Who win and nations do not see,” “Who Fall and none observe” they won’t always get recognition and they must accept that. Basically, if they’re only looking for outside approval then they cannot truly improve.

The poem can also apply to people who fought on the outside (like soldiers fighting for their country) and then must deal with the internal conflict it has caused them.

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Rob Zombie’s 31 | Movie Review

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31

31 follows a group of carnies who are forced to play a deadly game. They must survive for 12 hours as they’re pursued by the various clown-like “heads” that are trying to kill them in a hellish makeshift maze.

The desire I had to see this film was overwhelming. I like most of Rob Zombie’s movies (really, the only one I don’t like is Lords of Salem) Well I finally got to see it….and did it live up to my expectations?

Pretty much yes, although I didn’t think reached its full potential in some aspects, I wasn’t disappointed and I enjoyed the movie.

I think viewers that previously enjoyed House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects will like this movie – it has elements of both. However, for those that hate RZ films 31 certainly isn’t going to change their mind. You’ll find his typical tropes everywhere, and for those that like them this movie is for you.

I liked the idea and overall setting for the movie, I thought most of the characters were pretty cool. Sheri Moon Zombie’s look was great – I like the poofy hair.

Antagonist-wise, Doomhead was particularly awesome and I felt that he was the best part. It was exciting to everything unfold and see who the protagonists had to face next.

However, I did have my issues – most of the “heads” weren’t giving the protagonists much of a challenge. It seemed to me like they were taken out way too quickly. I don’t know, might have been editing issues. This was probably my only glaring problem with the movie.

Overall, I really liked 31. And the ending was so epic.

4/5

The Neon Demon (2016) | Movie Review

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The Neon Demon follows a young girl named Jesse as she tries to become a model. Despite not being in the modeling business long she quickly begins to show promise, much to the dismay of the models that have been in the business longer. As their jealousy grows it’s clear they might just end up doing something drastic.

My thoughts on The Neon Demon are a bit strange. I mean, I think I liked it but I’m having trouble forming an opinion. Well, I’ll do my best.

The movie is pretty slow, not just story wise but it seems like the conversations and many of the scenes just move at a snail’s pace.

If you heard about this movie and are expecting a gorefest I don’t think you’d like it… everything builds up to one weird, climatic moment. However, there Is a consistently creepy atmosphere throughout the film, and some scenes are downright amazing.

I also thought Elle Fanning’s performance was really good – it seemed like she was really into the character of Jesse. She’s this eerie tragic beauty, and I could see why certain characters in the movie became obsessed with her.

In the end, I think The Neon Demon is pretty good but the problem is that I feel like its missing something. It should have done more but I can’t really explain what. Still, it’s a solid movie.

3.5/5

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti | Poetry Analysis

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Goblin Market is probably one of the most interesting and strange poems I have read. I mean it terms of lyricism and prose it doesn’t wow me. But the little story the poem tells and how drips with erotic undertones does.

Come on it’s hard not to think of sexual innuendos when reading this poem. I mean look at this:

“She suck’d and suck’d and suck’d the more
Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;
She suck’d until her lips were sore;”

I’m not saying this is a bad thing I find it quite entertaining. I even wrote a paper on this poem for one of my classes. It was a psychoanalytic analysis, and wow this poem gave me a lot of material to work with. Now I’m going to write some of my thoughts here.

According to Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual development there are these stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital.  A person is supposed to pass by these stages normally, but sometimes if something goes wrong a person can become stuck in one of the early stages.

Now the oral is the first stage and starts in infancy. I bring this up because in Goblin Market there’s a lot of oral fixation going on. Laura, especially has not advanced past the oral stage of development and so her sexual fantasies fixate on it.

The image of Goblins and fruit is childlike imagery – both of the sisters in the poem are naïve and inexperienced. Therefore, their sexual temptations are taking the form of childhood fantasy creatures. Laura is the one who gives into the temptation and Lizzie has save her.

Because of the childishness in association with sex – this is why there is so many references to the mouth within the poem such as the quote above. Here’s some more examples from different parts of the poem:

“Stamp’d upon her tender feet,
Held her hands and squeez’d their fruits
Against her mouth to make her eat.”
–
“Lizzie utter’d not a word;
Would not open lip from lip
Lest they should cram a mouthful in:”
–
“Shaking with aguish fear, and pain,
She kiss’d and kiss’d her with a hungry mouth.”
–
“Her lips began to scorch,
That juice was wormwood to her tongue,”

And so on. After Laura had given into the goblin’s temptation she begins to rot away – this gives reference to the societal idea that a woman is “used” up after she has given into temptation.

Lizzie has to win back her sister’s virtue – she faces the goblins and is able to refuse their advances. But Lizzie is also a woman in control of her sexuality. She takes what she wants from the goblins and is able to return to her sister.

In the end, sisterhood beats the goblins.

My Top 15 Favorite Horror Movies

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I have pretty big passion for horror movies, and since Halloween is coming up I decided to make a little list. Some of these are common choices while others are not. I have plenty of other horror movies I like but these are undeniably the ones near the top. The list is in no particular order though. Enjoy.

House of 1000 Corpses (2003)house-of-1000-corpses-dvd-41921f

 

A lot of people seem to dislike this movie (although, it does have a following), but I love it more than words can describe. Sure it’s a mishmash of homages and doesn’t have perfect storytelling or anything. But it’s fun. I love the characters of Otis, Baby and Spaulding. Rob Zombie basically made a fun film that only seems to vibe with certain people and that’s ok. And the funny thing is, I wasn’t a Zombie fan before seeing this movie so there was no bias. In fact, I started listening to his music after seeing this awesome film.

The Devil’s Rejects (2005) devils-rejects

Despite technically being a sequel, The Devil’s Rejects stands on its own. This film is close to a masterpiece. It’s less cartoonish than House of 1000 corpses but with Otis, Capt. Spaulding and Baby it still keeps that fun element. But “Rejects” is also amazingly brutal. In the end, with this film Zombie showed just how great a filmmaker he can be.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968) large_zvjvnrks5eyxrvhppurovjnliml

 

It has two of my favorite subjects in horror (they occasionally go hand-in-hand)—witches and Satan! Rosemary’s Baby is a great slow-burning movie that builds up to one of the best conclusions in movie history.

Halloween (1978) halloween_1978_theatrical_poster

Halloween is a movie that fills me with intrigue. I mean, I just want to analyze the heck out of it. (and I already have a few times) Halloween is just one of the horror movies ever, undeniably so. Michael Myers masked face is forever engrained in my brain. It is a shame most of the sequels were terrible, though.

Martyrs (2008) martyrs_tp01

Martyrs is the kind of movie that chews you up then spits you out, it’s such a beautiful and compelling film. This movie knows pain and suffering, and it’s portrayed on the screen perfectly. Martyrs is almost perfect and simply unforgettable. This movie deserves way more recognition and respect than it gets.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980) cannibal_holocaust_movie

Cannibals are one of my favorite horror subjects…so how could I not like one of the greatest cannibal movies. This is a film that makes you think about humanity and it does it right (certainly better than say, Heart of Darkness.) “I wonder who the real cannibals are?”

Child’s Play (1988) childs-play

Basically, I just love Chucky. I wouldn’t say he’s scary, but he’s funny as hell. I collect dolls and I love the whole killer doll concept. I think it’s cool that Child’s Play took the theme to the next level by making a unique and awesome character like Chucky.

May (2002)  may_movie_poster

May functions as a great horror movie due to the shear weirdness of the title character. Watching her is enthralling. This is probably one of the best “character-driven” horror movies out there.  The ending is pretty controversial – in my opinion, I didn’t hate it but thought it was unnecessary.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) a_nightmare_on_elm_street_1984_theatrical_poster

Freddy is one of the greatest villains ever. He’s basically a manifestation of everything I like in a villain. Fun, charismatic, creative and sadistic. And Nancy sets the standard for what a scream queen should be like.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)texas-chainsaw

Now this movie means a lot to me. It has everything I love in a movie and more. I would plaster Leatherface’s image all over my house if I could. I’d say this is one of the movies that has inspired me the most.

The Human Centipede (2009) human-centipede

Many people give me funny looks for putting this on my list, but oh well. Despite its flaws I think The Human Centipede is pretty good movie. First of all, it does have a horrifically creative idea to work with. Second of all, Dr. Heiter is just plain awesome. The scene where the human centipede first awakens with Heiter standing over them is one of my favorite among other things. In the end, I feel Human Centipede just holds a special place in horror movie history.

Starry Eyes (2014)starry-eyes

This is one of my more recent favorite horror movies. Starry Eyes is a criminally underrated film. This is one of the best films I have seen in a long time. I guess it moves a little slow, but there’s plenty of tension built up to make up for that fact. It really is amazing how far some people will go to be famous…and Starry Eyes showcases that perfectly!

The Collector (2009) collector

A lot of people may think The Collector is typical torture porn, but I’d have to disagree. This movie is good torture porn as well as being one of the few great home invasion horror films (I hate most home invasion movies so this is saying a lot) The Collector knows how to hit the right buttons – the torture/gore scenes are great and I actually felt sorry for the protagonist (a rare thing in horror.)

The Exorcist (1973)the-exorcist-poster

Does The Exorcist really need explaining? I mean it’s one of the greatest horror films for a reason. Demonic possession is another of my favorite subjects in horror – I love seeing possessed people freaking out and going nuts…and this movie will forever be the one who did it best.

Carrie (1976) carrie-1976-movie-poster

Telekinetic powers aside…I think the scariest thing about Carrie is the savage bullying by her peers as well as the abuse by her mother. This shows just how terrible regular people can be. I think portraying that so well is why Carrie is such a great movie.

 

So that’s my list!

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad | Book Review

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Hating Heart of Darkness is almost cliché at this point. Sure it’s a classic and all, but many people hate the book. Reasons range from it not being a fun read to the racism found within the text.

Well I guess I’m a cliché when it comes to this.

Heart of Darkness was not fun to read, and recently I’ve read it for the third time.  But this isn’t a good enough reason to disparage it – plenty of books are not “fun” but should still be respected. However, Conrad’s book isn’t one of them.

Another thing, I’m not writing off this book because it’s racist either. Coming from a black girl:  when it comes to classic works, even racism can be forgiven the work is good enough.

My issue is that Heart of Darkness gets its point across very poorly. First of all, it’s too brief. Conrad doesn’t make his themes into anything meaningful in the short amount of time.

I got the impression that Conrad simply didn’t know how to portray his overall meaning, and so it resulted in a brief novella that doesn’t reach its full potential.

And what is he saying? That colonizers will become “savages” themselves by interacting with the Africans? Offensive or not, this idea is not presented in any masterful way.

Like a lot of colonial writers, Conrad also doesn’t grasp the African setting he writes about – to him it’s some dark abyss that he doesn’t know how portray or understand.

In the end, the truth is we don’t have to forgive Heart of Darkness for its racism since it isn’t very good.

2.5/5

Batman v. Superman: a defense or something

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I’ve been wanting to write about this for a long time but it’s taken me a while to get around to it. Oh well, better late than never.  And anyways, I guess it’s given me more time to absorb the film fully since I have watched it several times by now. I know a lot of people hate it, but I like plenty of movies that everyone else hates so that isn’t a problem. Now, I’m just going to ramble on about why I liked Batman v. Superman.

I like the tense atmosphere – Bvs leaks a strong amount tension from the beginning. It’s like you can feel coming right out of the screen.  I feel this was needed in order to get Batman and Superman to fight each other, all of it builds up into one great fight. The movie apparently gets criticized for lack of humor among other things – I don’t think it really needs that much humor. It would have personally ruined the film for me since I’d rather not have Batman and Superman throwing quirky lighthearted insults at each other the whole time. The two main heros need to be good and stressed out before the fight, and that’s what the movie does with all the political issues and such.

There’s plenty of really awesome imagery but this doesn’t need explaining much. Any scene with superman doing superman things was great. The movie does have a tendency to jump around but I don’t think it’s really hard to follow. Maybe it’s just one way that BVS makes the viewer think, and that’s another thing I love.

The actual fight between the two heros was beautiful. Many hate that it didn’t it last long enough but not me. Plenty of films take a while to build up to a major moment or event that only takes up a small portion of the movie. And, like I said before, tensions between Batman and Superman were built up throughout the film.

I also didn’t really believe the whole “Martha” thing that stops the fighting was stupid, as many think. It was really just a trigger to get Batman to view his “enemy” in a different light. So it’s not like they literally just became bros because their moms have the same name.

Overall, with the cool imagery, the tension, the philosophizing here and there. I say BVS is an experience. And for me, it’s a good experience.

But don’t get me wrong I acknowledge that BVS has some flaws. The issues I have with it are as followed: Doomsday looked kind of stupid, Gal Gadot wasn’t that good as wonder woman (the theme music when she shows up to fight doomsday was pretty cool though), Lois was being weirdly incompetent.

Then there’s Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor…he was good and bad part of the movie. Bad because he wasn’t like Lex Luthor is supposed to be. But he’d be decent if he was some villain by another name. I do like the scene when he introduces doomsday, though.

So, I just like the movie but I know it’s not for everyone. It’s the type of film that’s bond to divide people. Now I’m done rambling…and since I always give movies ratings, BVS is a solid 4.5/5 for me 🙂