Thursday, January 15, 2015
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
"Let The Right One In" Film Review
So I finally got around to watching the Swedish version of one of my favorite movies, Let Me In. It seems like everyone who saw Let The Right One In was praising it as being one of the best films ever made, and therefore I was excited to finally sit down and watch it. And what did I think of it?
To put it bluntly, I have mixed feelings.
Now, before everyone sends out the film critic lynch mob, let me start off with what the movie does well. The cinematography is interesting, and unlike Let Me In, it comes off as being more artistic than average misè-en-scene. You can tell that the director was willing to take risks with regards to framing his shots, and this did make the movie stand out. The placement of different elements within the shots provide for some pretty unique sequences, which is why the cinematography in this film is superior to Let Me In. Also, the pacing in this film was well done and it flowed pretty seamlessly, except for only a few parts here and there. In terms of the onscreen chemistry between the two leads, I believe it was decently established and was interesting enough to give the movie some context.
But of course, I did have a few minor problems with this film. The biggest one was the absence of the film's tone. While I understand that the bleak and quiet atmosphere was intentional, nothing about it really said "horror film" and I had a hard time seeing Eli as scary. The chemistry between her and Oskar is acceptable, but sometimes it's also overshadowed too greatly by the minor characters who are given a good, yet mostly unnecessary, amount of screentime. Another issue I had was that there was literally no soundtrack in this film except for maybe one or two parts in the whole movie. I mean, it's a horror movie, so music is kind of required for establishing the emotional context. The film seemed to have problems with deciding what exactly it was, and it kind of shows. Even with that aside, some of the lighting was kind of innapropriate in some areas (like, someone is really going to slit someone else's throat in the middle of a brightly-lit area? C'mon…). I did think that it would have helped the cinematography if some of the lighting lent itself to be believable, but luckily the cinematography usually covers up these mistakes and is still able to maintain consistency.
In terms of whether or not I prefer this version over Let Me In, I'll have to say that I am still sticking with the American version (yes, I know. Sue me). My reasoning is that the chemistry was more maturely developed, the lighting was consistent with the tone, and the soundtrack helped give the film a coherent identity.
All in all, I was slightly disappointed in this film, but it did prove interesting enough to be satisfying in its own way.
Overall rating: 7/10
Friday, January 9, 2015
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Why I Decided To Become A Pagan
I was raised Roman Catholic, and the majority of my family is Roman Catholic (attend church every Sunday, participate in the Midnight Run, attend the local church Youth Group--the whole nine yards). However, even though I was baptized and put through 9 years of Catholic school (which was an unfavorable experience and something I will discuss in a minute), I realized from an early age that the things I was experiencing went beyond Christianity. As a kid, I felt different types of energy moving around me as I would walk through my house or especially near the forest, where I spent a lot of my time making houses for wood spirits or feeling the Earth in motion beneath me. It wasn't long before I began to conceive the concept of "God" as really, for me, being a spirit concerned with universal balance, and this could come in many different forms, from the elements to living creatures to the figures of gods and goddesses. This was, of course, in contrast with the fatherly male figure that Christianity tends to center itself on. My dreams, especially as a young child, were also incredibly intense, and a lot of it reflected things I would actually experience later. But since the Church tends to be a little superstitious about out-of-body experiences, different types of energy (especially when referred to as "magic"), or psychic phenomena, I didn't know what to think.
Now, when I entered Catholic school, it was, of course, very small. A lot of my classmates were not exactly nice people, since some of them belonged to families that were quite "well off", to put it gently. Everyone was expected to be kept in line, and any weird questions would be atomatically met with something related to God's Word or, "You shouldn't be reading stuff like that," and that settled it. (I particularly recall how my school threw a fit over "The Golden Compass" and wanted to ban it because it somehow promoted anti-Christian views).
The turning point came when one of my friends committed suicide. Since Catholics consider suicide to be a mortal sin, I heard the term "selfish" or "immature" to describe my friend's actions. This really made me reconsider my faith, since I began to wonder: "What if that had been me? Would the Church just completely ignore whether or not I was in pain, and instead only focus on the apparent sin?" Also, when I got into high school, I began to develop certain feelings towards other girls in my class, but when I brought it up to my family, they waved it off and refused to discuss it.
I was seven when I first heard the term Wicca and realized that witches still existed. When I read more into it (privately, of course), I found it to be a positive, nature-based religion that coincided with a lot of what I had perceived and believed ever since I was young. It was only a few years ago that I decided that I had now found my path. I noticed that whenever I read about Wicca, or did simple meditation or raised energy, I no longer had the urge to cut (yes, at the time I was cutting, which was a result of school pressures, lack of interest in my faith, and the culmination of carrying the bad memories from Catholic school.)
Wicca and paganism has since become a new source of light in my life. I look forward to continuing down this positive path as I learn and practice all that I can. While I am not yet officially a "witch", my goal for this year is to be initiated by next January. Until then, I will keep everyone updated as often as possible.
Merry meet and merry part, dear friends! The circle is closed but never broken.
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