Duel

      When I was watching "Duel"(we watched this one a long time ago. It's the animated film where the kids are on the conveyor belt and at the end of the belt they all drop off as identical businessmen), the things I thought of were censorship and education. Did you notice that the main character was reading a book by a famous author (I cannot remember which one. I'm thinking Jules Verne, but I don't think that's the one), and the book was taken away from him? The kid in "Duel" was so curious. He wanted to read and learn, but somebody else kept coming along and telling him what he could or couldn't read. Some people seem to think that education=knowing what most other people know. Well, if most everybody else knows it, why does another person need to know it? What's education for, anyway?
      Also, of course, this film brings up the topic of censorship. I don't remember how much we've discussed in class about censorship, and of course I can't see inside your brains to see how much you know about censorship, so forgive me for discussing it if you already know all this stuff:
      I think censorship has always existed, and a lot of times it's coming from parents who just want the best for the kids, so they don't allow the kids to be exposed to things they don't agree is good for the kids. But what if the parent is wrong....
       You know, so many people today talk about toleration. "You should tolerate other points of view and other lifestyles." But those same people are in favor of censorship. They won't tolerate people who are intolerant of their toleration. They say, "Think for yourself," and then they insist that kids think the way they do. They insist on censoring from the kids' minds the idea that the kids can have different opinions on toleration.
       When everyone is raised in this mold of "This is what education is and there is no other way to be educated" and the mold of censorship, it becomes a cycle of generation after generation thinking in the same way and never questioning that thinking. It's a hard cycle to break, and it takes a person like the kid in "Duel" to realize that the conveyor belt is not the way to go. However, the kid in "Duel" is generally the kid who gets censored. The battle is ongoing, as "Duel" showed at the end of the film, when the censorer came back. There will always be people who want to censor ideas, and so there always needs to be people who recognize censorship for what it is and the danger it poses.
 
Not the greatest book in the world, but it might challenge your opinions a little bit.

Hurting

 

What hasn't this guy been through?

We watched a lot of music videos on Thursday, and all were exceptional. Each showed incredible amounts of creativity and dedication from both the musicians and the people behind the creation of the videos. From the light-hearted A Million Ways to be Free to the somber and provoking The Man Comes Around, I was impressed with everything we saw.

But I am never going to forget Hurt.

Not being that big a fan of music, I often hear tunes I like from video game and movie trailers. I heard Hurt for the first time in a trailer for Prototype 2 (which I really, really don’t think understood all of the emotion and story behind the song), and immediately looked for the song on Youtube. I was absolutely stunned.

I have trouble talking about Hurt; there is so much to it, both on the surface of the video and in Cash’s background. Whatever you interpret from the video, there is no denying the emotion in Cash’s performance or his surroundings. This man has seen terrible and experienced terrible things and has far too many skeletons in his closet. He’s at the end of his rope, and he’s ready for what’s coming. It’s a haunting vision, and it’s easily the most powerful cover of any song I’ve ever heard. Then again, very little Johnny Cash sings isn’t powerful, and this video and this song is the ultimate testament to his talent.

Circular Reasoning

Play, Pause, Restart

Last Wednesday in Signs and Wonders, we watched a film called "Poetry". To be honest, I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

One of the things I found different but EXTREMELY enjoyable was the way that the movie made full circle. Rather then being like most American movies of which travel in a "straight line"of events and end in a new place, this Korean film ended looking over the river, and had the little girl (who committed suicide at the beginning by jumping off of the bridge) looking back from atop the bridge.

Although it was not the happiest movie in the world, I do not think it could of ended more perfectly. It ended where it began, and for me, caused my mind to rethink the story. This is something that I miss in American film. I love the aspect "past event" b-roll with "current event" dialogue, and I felt it added a lot to the film. I do not want to say too much, because anyone reading this should see the movie. It was DEFINITELY worth the two hours of subtitles (and the technical difficulties) we experienced.

Cash & Music Videos

I think the Johnny Cash Project music video was the best, most beautiful piece of art that I have seen for a long time, if not my whole life. His character fits so well with the black and white, dark and light themes that every frame is made of. You get the sense that there is an amazing, powerful, even dark story behind Cash's song, but one with such hope that makes it all so beautiful. And this kind of spiritual power united everyone across the world in one song done by one man about his spiritual path in life. These artists got it - they really captured what the song was about, and who he as a person really was.

I feel as if this piece of art takes us one step further than a lot of other art out there; this music video lets you know that everyone around the world is united around their deepest and darkest struggles, and around a strong desire to be able to say with Johnny Cash, "Ain't no grave gonna hold my body down." If ever there was a true Christian piece of art, this is it.

I see so much potential in music videos. They combine two extremely powerful aspects of art (images and music) and if done right, it can have an exponentially greater effect than just a painting or a song by itself. The image gives us another world to live in, and the music gives emotion to the world, allowing us to experience a whole other aspect of life right in front of the screen. If a picture speaks 1000 words, a music video speaks 1000 pictures (quite literally). I feel like this is where I want to spend my time and energy.... because I see so much potential here, and I just love the medium.

Post Secret Sunshine

Since there are already several well-written blogs on the substance in Secret Sunshine, I want to focus in on the end. Lee Chang-Dong creates these really profound films and completes them with these endings that are open to interpretation.

While in Poetry Mija commits suicide, the ending is only implying that, and knowing the way everything else in Lee's movies work, that might not be the end of it (though I do believe that is in fact what Mija did). Secret Sunshine left off with Shin-ae cutting her hair while Kim held the mirror. After that last scene, the camera panned to sunshine across the dirt in the garden--secret sunshine, the kind of blessings or little graces that often get overlooked.

The ending of Secret Sunshine was, to me, hopeful. While Mija's ending wasn't so hopeful, but rather a plea to remind everyone not to overlook the little things, Shin-ae's ending was one that left room for the rebuilding of a new person in herself. After all, cutting hair is often used symbolically to represent a change in a character, I think the same went for Shin-ae.

As the movie ended, I couldn't stop from laughing because I love how Lee Chang-Dong always leaves the audience off. I like to compare it to being taken on this sinister but beautiful bus tour and then being dropped off a random stop and having the bus leave before you can turn around and get back on. It's funny, while at the same time not at all--and there's always something pretty special to learn along the way.

Virtual Voices

When perusing the internet, one may stumble across pictures of characters like these.

They seem like normal-looking anime characters, so it seems safe enough to ask 'Oh, what anime/manga/video game are those guys from?' HOWEVER think twice before doing that, because I know you might get your head bitten off. Believe me, I've seen it happen on youtube plenty of times.

The characters up above are only a sampling of the now thirty or forty-something Vocaloids. What is a Vocaloid, you might ask? They are computer programs. Voice synthesizers. You put in the lyrics and the musical notes into the program, and the voice will sing it back to you. They have all different kinds of Vocaloids, ones that sing in English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and they are even coming out with a Celtic one soon. It provides a way for songwriters to get their songs out without using a vocalist or singing it themselves.

Vocaloids are crazy popular in Japan, and the original seven or so even have concerts. That's right; concerts. Hatsune Miku, the blue-haired girl in the picture above, is currently touring in Hong Kong. How does that work, a concert for a singing program? Holograms, of course.

Miku and some other prominent Vocaloids have toured many parts of Asia, even coming to Los Angeles to perform at the Nokia theater, a sold out show. If you ever want to see something interesting, watch some videos from their concerts - its still a live band performing, but the vocals are pre-recorded, obviously, and the crowd is just as energetic as those that go to see "real" musicians. However, I'm not here to talk about their concerts (though they are pretty flippin' sweet). I want to talk about their music videos.

Since anyone who has 200 bucks can buy their own copy of whatever voice they want (and the selection is growing bigger every day it seems now), there are a multitude of songs on the internet, some even available for purchase on itunes. When the songs are released, they are always accompanied by a video of some sort, whether that just be a picture in the background to the song, or a full fledged animated spectacle. These illustrations and pvs (promotional video) are sometimes done by the writers of the songs if they are artistically talented as well, or they collaborate with others on the internet to do so. The results are often fantastic, and I hardly watch normal music videos anymore because these are so rich and beautiful.

I've provided a few prominent examples below, and I know, I know, you may not like them or understand them or anything, but maybe watch at least one anyways? I only used videos that had english subtitles so that you would know what's going on on.

 

First up is For Campanella by Sasakure.uk feat. Gumi. It goes hand-in-hand with our children and death conversation.



Rolling Girl by Wowaka feat. Hatsune Miku

 

Two Breaths Walking by Deco*27 feat. Hatsune Miku

Mozaik Role by Deco*27 feat. Gumi (those are supposed to be two side of a mirror image of a person, just fyi. I can see how the preview picture makes it look like the song is a little...different)

 

I've added some more down here, but just links. They are all pretty good and if you want to hear some good music and cool music videos, I say check them out ^__^ And this is only a small percentage of the many songs and videos out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp1SQgc6X98
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_BANzQccyo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JGaQ3g8WU4

Diving Bell

     I got put on the spot at the Signs and Wonders discussion tonight, and of course I couldn't think of anything to say. At the moment, I still can't think of much to say, except that for some reason, this movie (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) sticks out to me and says, "I am the best movie that has been shown at Signs and Wonders this semester". Idk why, that's just what it says.
      I guess it seems so good because it wasn't a heartwarming, happy film like Song of Sparrows, and it didn't have a mind-twisting ending like Boy A or Secret Sunshine, and it wasn't a comedy or super confusing.....it was just a NORMAL story for once. A normal story that still moved you.
       The effects were great, like everybody at the discussion was saying. Seeing so many things from Jean-Do's viewpoint, even when his vision blurred, and when they were sewing up his eye, AND WHEN THE DOCTOR WAS TALKING TO HIM IN THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE. The doc had his sweaty face so close to Jean-Do's eye, I was like, DUDE, BACK UP! It was so nasty.
       Anyways, another thing that really stuck out to me was the way that life is so fragile. You hear stories from the Bible about the rich man who died, and about not letting the sun go down upon your anger, and then you see this true story (yes, true story) about a man who was taking his son to spend a fun day with dad, and the dad, Jean-Do, had a stroke and they never got to have their outing. Jean-Do ended up living with all these regrets during the end of his life, and he couldn't fix them. He had had a stroke, and was suddenly totally paralyzed except for his left eye (thankfully his internal organs still functioned). He could never again pick up his kids and give them hugs. He couldn't talk to his own dad on the phone. You never know when you're going to die, or in some other way be robbed of the chance to do certain things that you enjoy doing in life. Eventually Jean-Do caught pneumonia and died. He had been working to regain speech, but didn't get very far with it before he died.

Once in a lifetime

Now i have seen some pretty interesting films in my day, but this one definitely takes the cake. The music video for The Talking Head's song "Once in a Lifetime" is the weirdest thing i have ever seen; and for that reason it is one of my favorites. I'm not sure how people come up with this stuff, which i suppose makes it a unique form of art. I could never make something this random if i tried for months and months. Music video is the only genre of film where this unbridled creativity can shine at its brightest. Although i feel like modern day music videos are not taking advantage of this fact. They are mainly making like short films and playing their song in the background; personally i prefer the classics like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1wg1DNHbNU

Music Videos

Music videos can be an amazing storytelling tool. And they can be great even if they aren't telling a story. They have evolved so much, and since the democratizing of film production it seems almost anything can be created. Music videos can be silly, and they can also make a powerful impact. That's why I like the variety of filmmaking. It doesn't have to be one thing or the other.

I remember when that first Ok Go video came out. I saw it on TV at a Dave and Buster's over six years ago. It's funny to think that it seemed fresh back then. That was before YouTube had taken over the media. Now there's thousands of videos like that. But I really admire what Ok Go did. It was simple and they had nothing to lose. Now they're getting to do huge music video projects. I like the concept of a music video, because you can work off a simple idea that could not work as a TV show or movie.

Here's a classic music video that no one has probably seen. I like the fact that it doesn't tell a story. It has nothing to do with the lyrics. But it's awesome.

Music Videos

 

The music videos today were pretty entertaining. I really liked the first video "I want a girl". I liked it because I thought it was a neat idea of finding random people to listen to a new song, and give their honest input on it. It was a great idea for a music video, because it was cheap to produce, but you still got a taste of the music, while getting other people's feedback, and seeing how they responded to the music that was playing. I felt like that was a really unique way of going about a music video.

The other music video I really enjoyed was the Johnny Cash one, where a bunch of different people would draw in a frame, and they put them all together to create a video for the song. I thought that was another wonderful idea of creating a music video, and it is definitely not something you see everyday, I think if more people saw that, it would really get some attention. I think that is was cool to see different people's artwork in the video and how they portrayed their own ideas in the song.

Documentry

To be honest i never really understood the defination of documentary to say. When i here that word i think of national geo graphic and discovery channel shows of tornadoes, sharks, cheetahs, lions, africa and things like that. And maybe some on people. Now learning its alot more then just like those. I have better apreciation of documentary.

Life and Death...Truth

Life and death. We have been told probably that when people die they go to a happy place or something along those lines. I feel blessed that I still have my family and cousins and relatives. My grandfather only died when i was very young and I was not really close to him. But my dad told me he was going to a better place and a safer place. So I was like ok.

Understanding death and trying to tell a little kid is pretty tough. I would rather be honest then say the sugar coated stuff. I think that would strengthen them and understanding. I would show them that animation documentary thing on death. Or something along those lines.

But in the end I think if you had to i would keep it simple when young to tell them about death and go deeper once they understand everything and can say sentences and comprehend what you are telling them.

God bless to all of those who died we all know you are all in a better place then here

Documentaries

These last few classes about documentaries have really been very drawing in for me because I think it is  a part of something God has planned for my life and it's meaningful to me. I love watching documentaries and how certain ones just tell people's story. There is a lot of human interaction and relationships that you can see in these films and just personal intake on people and events. I loved the documentary we watched about the old dude who goes around and interacting with people and using pictures as a historic story. This was very inspirational seeing the relationships he has with these people and how he strived for his dream to be able to do this. What I hopefully do after college is travel the world and share peoples lives and story around the world that are in poverty and basically do missions work as well with it. This I'm going to be writing as my final paper too so yeah. I know that these are not a money maker doing documentaries but I feel God will provide.

The names Bond, James Bond

This past weekend I went to go see the new Bond with a couple of the guys. Talk about an amazing film. I don't want to talk about it too much or else I'll just give it away to those who haven't seen it, if you are WARNING FOR SPOIL ALERT, but It was legit. The beginning of the film was really good, it begins with hardcore action like Bond movies typically do until they show Bond get shot and "die" and fall a super distance into water. I think there's only been one other Bond film where he "dies". The falling part was a little misleading because there's no way anyone would survive it, but oh well its a movie. Then you know how all the Bond films begin with a theme song and some type of artistic beginning. Well this one is the best one I've seen, just everything is art about it, wait and see it, you'll know what I mean. The main story of the film tho isn't a typical Bond story line, there is no central mission. It's all a series of events of MI6 getting attacked and the circumstanced about it. Typical trying to find out who did it and how they are after "M". It's more of a "movie, movie" not just a central typical mission. The scene at the end I though was pretty sweet, it's basically home alone on steroids, check it out. Then after that the very ending I think was sweet because it sets up as a prequel, pretty legit. I won't give any more away if you haven't seen it. So yeah, it was brilliantly filmed and amazing cinematography. GO WATCH IT

Quiz 2

I realized I didn't get a quiz 2 posted.. so here it is. Throughout these last few weeks we've been focusing on animation. The distinguishing between Pixar and low budget films. I like them all, but I just feel that these low budget films are amazing. From Pfffirate to Clik Clak and all the other ones we watched, I'm really impressed how people can create such greatness. Personally I really liked Clik Clak the best out of all of them. What I liked most about it was the story and the creativeness behind it. The series of sounds, movement, and "puzzle" I guess you could say is really sweet and very well animated.  Even though the whole thing is in french, I don't think that matters one bit. It really just adds to the effect of the awesomness. The sound was just amazing, and part of the story and meaning behind it, each one of them sounded perfect along with using language with sound is a great idea. The ending caught me off guard when the robot killed himself after an accident, but anyways, I loved the film and it was pure art. Having the white background is low budget and I think using it adds to the story presented as well. Overall, I just think these low budget films are amazing.

Life. Death. Children. Family.

Yesterday's topic really drew me into the conversation. Life. Death. And Children. It really made me realize that as we get older we are going to be parents, and this is something we are going to have to tell our own kids. I got to thinking that when I'm a dad, I'm going to have to tell my children and explain what happens after people die. It is a sad subject but it's something all of us go through. The thing that I feel that would be hard to tell my children is explaining hell in general. That definitely would be tough for me to learn at a young age. Explaining heaven I would feel that they would understand through how I would raise my children. I can't really remember when I learned about life after death but I know I could understand it on the way my parents raised and taught me. I most likely didn't learn about it too much because we never really experienced much death in our family and friends. Anyways, I really think it's all about being a parent and how we will raise our kids. Hopefully someday I get to raise my kids the way my parents raised me because of how they did it. I can't explain how thankful and blessed I feel to have those two amazingly wonderful people. Same with how blessed I feel to have a wonderful brother and sister who I would do anything for. 

Psalms 139:13-16 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

halloweens over lets bring out the crhristmas tree?

yes im bringing this up lol why does every year no one think of thanksgiving its the celebration of our country being found it should be the most important for this month but instead i see light up Santana and reindeer i don't see a light-up turkey outside do you? it seems like money is everything nowadays they could make an iPad mini commercial with a turkey on the iPad but instead we see gifts lets just wait put you red and green lights down and pull out the old plastic cornucopia from the attic

 

documentaries

talking about documentaries reminds me of a great film i recommend its called "craigslist joe" it about a man who hired a camera guy on craigslist and they both set out.the main plot is about a guy named joe amd he sets out to the world with an iphone,laptop,and a tooth brush and he sets out only relying on the good of people to support him its really inspiring film if you want a copy just comment or shoot me an email just as a warning this movie i would rate as a pg-13 there are some swearing and other things so i wouldnt recommend showing it to you 8 year old brother lol

Tale of How

     What a wacky film. I felt like my brain was being poisoned while I watched that. However, at the same time, I was interested in it.
      The music was pretty, though creepy, and it was all this long story-song. I kinda liked it.
      The story itself, though, I'm unsure of. I couldn't always understand what the singers were singing, so I didn't get the whole story, but what I did understand was original, atleast. Birds that lived on an island? or were they living on the monster? and then the mouse came and saved them from the monster. It was a true fairytale, for sure. "True fairytale" is my family's term for a story that reminds you of one of those old fairytales in which things happened without a rational motive or explanation. "The Princess and the Pea" is like, the ultimate true fairytale. So, I appreciate the true fairytale aspect of The Tale of How.
      BUT, what's the point of making a story like this? Pure entertainment, I guess. I also think the Blackheart Gang just likes to make their audience say, "What the heck?" So, if you're willing to spend your time and money giving little kids nightmares and making adults say "What the heck?" then this film should inspire you. If you like unusual but good quality music, then this film should inspire you. If you don't like three-headed birds, run away.   
      Interestingly, The Tale of How is the second in the Dodo Trilogy. There is also The Tale of Then and The Tale of When. I'm not sure if the whole trilogy has been released yet.

Ryan and Street Musique

     That last film we watched was crazy. I didn't get all of it, and I'd like to see it another time or two so I could get more out of it.
    It was so cool how the animator made the people's physical bodies reflect who they were on the inside. That was an awesome idea.
     I looked up Ryan's films "Walking" and "Street Musique" on youtube. They were both pretty good, but I personally liked "Street Musique" better. It was more interesting than "Walking", I guess. Plus "Street Musique" had a really cool part in it where one realistically drawn person is split into two, and then those become people who are facing away from each other with their hands and feet touching, and then they get farther apart, but their hands and feet are still touching, and eventually the people dissolve into pointalism. It's very pretty.
      I wonder what made Ryan think of making "Street Musique". The film doesn't seem to me to have a central theme except that there's music playing in the background. The pictures don't always seem to illustrate or follow along with the music the way the pictures do in Fantasia. So what, he just decided to have music playing, and then draw whatever he wanted, and put the two together? And yet people like this film.
 

Drawn Together

I know someone else did this already, but I can't resist. Also...I was really dying to draw these characters and this gave me an excuse ^__^;
So this weekend I went to see Wreck-It Ralph. I went to see it AGAIN yesterday because I loved it so much. I felt like it was an affectionate love letter to gamers everywhere, and I being an outspoken gamer girl myself thoroughly enjoyed it. I think even non-gamers should enjoy it, but I've been reading a lot of stinky reviews from people who are OBVIOUSLY not gamers and they totally dismissed the movie. I thought it was brilliant. Maybe not 'the best animated film ever made' brilliant, but definitely one of my favorite mainstream Disney animated movies, if not my absolute favorite (yes. That's right. DISNEY. Not Pixar. Oi...how many times I have to correct that...my head hurts...)
However, I would have paid my ticket price again just to see another gem of a movie that was attached to it.
That's right.
Paperman.

I had already been stoked for Paperman a long time ago, when I heard it was going to be screening with Wreck-It Ralph. Then AniMag covered it in one of their issues, and I wanted to see it just as bad as I wanted to see Wreck-it Ralph...maybe even more. I can gladly say that it did not disappoint. It was charming and nostalgic, and of course completely Glen Keane-y, which is a style I absolutely adore. And of course it is pioneering a whole new style of animation. Basically, they animated the whole thing twice, from what I can tell. They started with the CG animation, then they went over it with lines, giving it the 2D look. It really paid off in the end, I thought it was drop dead gorgeous. The story was cute too, and I especially loved George (the guy) and his expressions. He had the best expressions.

I am glad to announce that Paperman is up for an Oscar, and I really hope it wins it. Because I think it deserves it.

 

If you want to watch a cool video on how they animated it, lookie here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKl9mpGMCiA

Wreck-It Ralph

This weekend I went to go see Wreck-It Ralph in theaters. Before going I looked at the ratings it has gotten and it seemed to be rated pretty well, which made me excited to see. I can honestly say I loved it! I thought that everything was very clever and well thought out, and I love animations from that put other things into prospective so that as an audience we feel what it's like to be them for a couple hours. Other movies that are examples of this are Toy Story, A Bug's Life, etc. This film was well done and I thought it was very funny and entertaining. The humor was clever as well which made me happy at the fact that the film is enjoyable for both children and adults.

This is just my personal opinion, and I respect those of you who may not have found the film as enjoyable as I did. In all honesty I am huge sucker for the movies that are the point of view of things such as toys, bugs, etc. Films like that remind me of my childhood which makes me  happy and smile from ear to ear.

Children and Heaven

In our discussion today, I was glad to listen to all of the different opinions about how parents should tell their children, if they should tell them, about death and what happens afterwards.
Personally, I feel as though you should inform the child if and when they ask "what happens to people when they die?" By telling them that they go to heaven, they will have that idea in their heads, but as the kids grow older they may or may not start to believe in something else. Every child is different, but I feel as if a parent should let them know that haven does exist and that people go there when they die, but a child's imagination will go off from there which is the interesting and beautiful part. Like the film, many children believe in many different things. As the child grows faithfully, they will believe what they feel, but in the end, I feel like parents cannot force their kids into believing something at such a young age because sometimes they simply cannot wrap their heads around it, being so young still. As the kids grow into their teen years they will believe what they feel more so than what they hear. As a person grows emotionally and physically God works with you by letting you feel him in your heart, body, mind, and soul. 

When Life Departs Class Discussion Response

In response to the discussion in class today about the film "When Life Departs", I would have to say that I feel like this film is perfectly fine for children to watch. I think that it allows young viewers to form ideas of their own on how they think death works, and even though that may not be the Christian idea of death that many of us grew up learning in Sunday School, it is still important for them to hear others thoughts on how death works in order for them to decide what they believe to be the truth. Even if someone thinks that not showing their child this film will make these ideas that aren't considered to be Christian go away, they are wrong. Going to school, they will be presented with these ideas from their peers and the same questions that the movie causes children to ask, will eventually come up anyway. I think that if children are living in a Christian home, they should be able to watch this film and the parents should be comfortable with it, and be able to explain to their child what is the truth, and the fact that not everyone believes the same things.

Remakes

So I recently read an article about a famous Spanish painting of Christ that was restored, but the restoration was done by an inexperienced woman who was a member of the church, and she ruined the painting. Here is a before and after of the paintings:

Some things should be left alone. They shouldn't be improved, or altered, or updated.

Along the same lines as this art restoration is the subject of movie remakes. I don't know if I've ever seen a movie remake that I have liked. Over the years Hollywood has remade some of the greatest movies and absolutely destroyed them.

My favorite example of a bad remake is the new "Karate Kid". The old one is a great movie that was a classic. I loved it and I was even okay with the less than amazing sequels. The new Karate Kid, however, was on its own a terrible movie, but it was an even worse remake. What they did with the movie was a travesty. They changed the setting, the name of the characters, even the style of Martial arts. There is no reason to have changed those things. There wasn't even reason to remake the movie.

The movie "The Wolfman" was a reasonable remake because they had the opportunity to improve the graphics. I didn't like "The Wolfman", but I did at least understand the reason for making it though. Karate Kid was not like that. They didn't improve on it. They changed it and claimed "artistic license".

My problem with remakes is that there is no originality or creativity in it. I feel like they are only done to make money off of something that was once successful. It is a poor excuse for filmmaking.

Once in a rare while you get a good remake. I believe King Kong is the only remake that I have ever enjoyed. It was well made, and it was not touted as a remake of the original, but a new movie about the same character.

For the most part I think that remakes are a bad idea and should be avoided. You should let a good thing be, even if it is outdated or irrelevant. Once in a while you get a good movie like King Kong, but usually you end up with a ruined painting of Jesus.

The Power Of Documentaries

I believe that documentaries can be one of the most powerful types of filmmaking out there. They show stories that are powerful and  real. Most address problems with the world, and inspire change. When people see these films in inspires them to help out with the cause even if it’s only in a small way.

For example, just look at the reaction from Invisible Children and Lost Boys of Sudan. The Invisible Children Organization has made great strides to capture the war criminal Joseph Koney. He has captured and forced children to fight in his rebel army, and has done many other horrible things.  Their films have brought attention to the world about what this man has done.

The filmmakers of the Lost Boys of Sudan—Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk, have also done significant things in order to help the people in their films. They have organized over 1000 community events, and other types of fundraisers. There goal is to replace immigrant children into proper homes.

I think all these things just show how powerful a documentary could be. They show the world things that they would never ordinarily be able to see. Documentaries can show problems in the world and also in people’s lives. They can play an important part in showing issues and eventually improving them.  

Concerning Death and Childhood

I was not always one to think about death, an in the moments that it showed up in my life, I tended to stuff it more than anything else. The family friends and grandparents who died didn't have a profound enough impact on my life to really shake up my world...and so I think the easiest thing to do was just get on with life and not think about it too much. I know that a lot of people have had much worse experiences with death than I have, and so this blog is really an attempt to look at the world from their eyes.

A child who grows up with death is a very delicate thing. Children see things in extremely subjective and imaginative ways, and so their concept of death will probably be much different from that of an adult. Seeing the animated documentary that consisted of children talking about death made me appreciate just how special the mind of a child is. The struggle to understand something as mysterious as death lasts our entire lifetime, and the later stages are not any simpler than the first moments of curiosity. Death is the pinnacle of human concern, since it is so inevitable and unrelenting, and yet the attitude of the typical adult is to act as if life lasts for as long as we want it to. We tend to move on with our trivial concerns, placing the utmost significance into things that fail to match our deeper longing for the eternal and the supreme. Children seem to get it a lot better than a lot of us a lot of the time... Their persistent questions of "why?" might drive us crazy, but at the end of the day we ask those same questions with just as much curiosity, and the added desperation of a life lived too long without answers.

But maybe the reason for why we don't get some of the answers we want is because we have stopped asking the questions. Maybe instead of trying to get the children to shut up and accept our point of view, we should be wondering along with them; we should be philosophers, discussing things like death with children, our fellow philosophers, and continuously searching for the answers. And maybe, just maybe, we will eventually see a little bit of the truth, just enough to get us infatuated with life and its mysteries so that we have even more reason to continue on our quest for the ultimate. I think that this path is the one that will eventually, inevitably lead the seeker to the arms of God. So let's not silence those who see what we often fail to recognize; children are on to something, and we should join them in their pursuit for truth.

parenting

one thing I got out of class today was that children need to decide for themselves what they believe in, instead of being force fed the truth at a young age.  This will help them develop their beliefs earlier, like in high school, rather than later, like sometime in college.

I feel like though some parents would allow their children to decide for themselves, the majority of parents wouldn’t take that chance.  I feel like Christian parents especially are under the pressure of raising their children up in the Christian way. This involves explaining their beliefs early on, and making sure that their children do not stray from Christianity.  And I feel like this is the way a child should be raised: under the Christian roof of the family, following the beliefs of the family.  Whether or not you let them decide for themselves, the outcome of the child will ultimately be the same; either the child will reject or accept Christianity as a teenager or as a more mature college student.  Either way of raising the child, you run the risk that he will at some point reject the Christian view.  So I feel like as long as the child is in the family’s house, parents are instructed by God to lead the children towards Christ; then, when the kid becomes of age and leaves his family, its up to him to decide the direction he wants to go with it.  I feel like personally, if I was a father, I would rather my kid fall away from faith because he couldn’t accept the belief I was giving him , than having him fall away from faith because of the lack instruction and stability that I had in his life. 

Just like parents punish their kids for doing something they think is wrong and in doing so form the child’s perception of good and bad, they should also nurture and instruct the child in their believes to make sure that what they believe is true and sound

Animated documentary on death

Until this class i have never heard of an animated documentary. I've always had a mental connotation of documentaries being boring so why would anyone make an animated one! But after watching a few documentaries in class i now know that documentaries can be very entertaining and informative at the same time; i've just been watching the wrong ones my whole life i suppose. After seeing the animated documentary we watched in class about death i was very impressed with how it was able to raise questions for all religions. Would i show my kids this someday, probably. Although i do not agree with some of the things portrayed in the doc. it can be a great learning experience because it raises questions. Fittingly, i just learned in my psychology class about some different parenting styles One option of parenting is being authoritarian which means you tell your kids exactly what to do; my way or the highway. I don't think that's how i'll do it when i have my chance. I want my kids to come to their own decisions on things and not be forced believe things, especially in there faith. So a film like this one would be great to raise the questions and give me a chance to talk to them about what i believe and why and let them work through in their own minds whether they agree or not.

The Man Who Planted Trees

I'm really glad we focused mostly on animation for the last few weeks, as I think independent animation is something I don't personally get to see enough of. The Man Who Planted Trees was one of my favorite films that we watched, even though I truly enjoyed almost all of them.

What I liked so much about The Man Who Planted Trees was that it was told like someone reading a story. The entire film was a narrative, and I liked how I felt this connection to the reader/narrator. I thought that was a fantastic way of telling the story which was initially told as a narrative. Rather than giving the the characters a dialogue, the creator's of the film kept true to the initial narrative of the story.

The art was also beautiful. The film itself was gorgeous and set the mood of the film. The art made the film feel like a fantasy, but the film itself was told in such a way that I wanted to believe it was true. Which brings me to the story itself, and the message I got from it. One man's diligent work can impact and change many lives. I thought the film brought together that message in all areas of medium: story, visuals, and sound. 

I definitely found The Man Who Planted Trees to be one of the best films we watched during the animation unit.

-R.

A child's view

It’s a very peculiar thing, watching a video that I know is going against my beliefs and views and not caring if the video is right or wrong, but just enjoying it.  When else would this be possible.  When life departs for me is a rare moment when we lay aside our beliefs to try and accept the ways of a kid and what he has come to believe.  Would I really question someone at such a small age who has such an innocent mind?  ‘When life departs’ makes me step back and just enjoy something special, kids trying to grasp the concept of death.  And I love the cartoon style of it to make it even more of this kid type thing were it would seem like the kids themselves are drawing these pictures of what death is in their heads.

But then again just because a child has an idea doesn’t mean that that idea isnt just as true as an adults idea of what death could be like.  I feel like when watching this movie I knew that I couldn’t change the way these kids viewed death, but if I could, I guess I would try to steer them in the right direction.  Of course its not an easy thing, but children eventually do need to be told the truth just like eventually they need to be told that Santa is not really.  

I enjoyed watching this film for what it was, a film trying to get in the unaltered minds of kids.  Though I must say I felt the need to help correct.

Secret Sunshine

What I loved about two films that we've watched in Signs and Wonders is that they left me humble.

There is a constant tendency of us as Christians to think that we know all the answers of the tragedy, because we know Jesus, who dies on the cross to carry our burden. Making Jesus as the "first kit" of any problems.

I do think that God is our helper, comforter, and able. I do believe in God, who is real in our lives that mends broken things and feeds us everyday. However, the problem is not in God, but in us.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." is like the favorite Bible verse that we refer to when we see people in difficulties or when we find ourselves in the middle of the storm and weariness.

However, we forget the verse after it: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls".

Yes, "take my yoke upon you."

It is very evident that God has his own way of working things out. In the case of this movie, where it is very easy to be skeptical about God, because of the main character's attitude, but it is clear that Ms. Lee is the closest person to God in the movie.

It is true that all the things that happened to Ms. Lee is the consequence for acting in front of people like she has things that she does not, which provoked jealousy. Ultimately, leading to the kidnapping of her son demanding ransom. Despite all the anger toward God, ironically, at the same time, she seemed to be most intimate with God, know more about Him than anybody else.

God's grace doesn't come easy. Before Peter was able to catch 153 fishes, he had fish all day and night. I think that is the mystery of relationship between God's sovereignty and our will. When we hit the limit, that is when God intervenes.

Sometimes, our prideful knowledge of Jesus limits us to really encounter him. It makes us lazy and oblivious about what it is to live a life of questioning and searching for answers.

Truth must set us free, but I am realizing more and more that the truth that I believe in bounded and restricted me. I guess what I held as a truth was not a truth, but a self righteous belief. Yes, there is a big difference between "truth" and mere "belief".

I thought that this movie was a tug of war between "truth" and "belief".

One thing that makes truth distinct from belief is that it cannot be comprehended, but it is always there just like that sunlight shining Ms. Lee's dark room.

I believe in full "freedom". Not only the freedom of my soul as we long for heaven, but also of my body and mind.

But there is a yoke that I have to carry, tears that I have to shed, the pains that I have to observe. In order to learn how endure  for the truth that I long for and to be freed from my beliefs.

If anything made sense in this blog...

Poetry

Throughout the entire movie Poetry Mija is searching for what to write her poem about and a beautiful way to say it. As she is doing this she is running into many obstacles like facing the fact that her grandson was raping a girl who committed suicide and just being diagnosed with Alzheimer. After starting her poetry class she decides to take notes over everything she sees that translates into something poetic. After hearing the poem at the end of the movie that threw all of her ideas and thoughts together I wonder if she was searching for a poem, or answers to what was going on in her life. Whenever she was faced with those issues she seemed to have a breakdown and lose it. Like when she went into her grandsons room and started yelling at him or the few times she would just start crying out of nowhere. It wasn't until her poem was done that she found an inner peace and came to a conclusion that she wanted to end her life (At least thats how I like to think this movie ended). I believe she was confused about so many things in her life, she subconsciously answered them with her scattered thoughts put together, and decided how to end her struggles.

Secret Sunshine: Defying Expectations

He's not the hero Shin-ae deserves, but the one Shin-ae needs.

 

Lee Chang-dong must really love playing with people’s expectations, because both Poetry and Secret Sunshine utterly trampled mine. Both start with normal characters with some issues that we expect to see resolved simply and easily by the end of the film, and then Lee utterly crushes them within the first half hour of their respective films.

I honestly didn’t think Secret Sunshine could be more shocking than Poetry, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. At least poor Mija was able to continue on with her life as normally as possible while coping with her monster of a grandson; Shin-ae never catches a single break. Everything good and wholesome that she comes into contact with is ripped from her with all the finesse of a jet plane in a death spiral, with the only exception being Kim, and she just walks all over him. Mija, no matter how desperately she acts out in her anguish, never becomes annoying nor too cartoonish; she is genuinely sympathetic throughout the movie as the audience experiences the same shocks she does thanks to Lee’s excellent direction.

But if there’s one character that really stands out to me, it is Kim. Like we discussed after the movie, Kim is pretty easily interpreted as a stand-in for God; always present, always caring, and always wanting love in return for his actions. The character never reaches the level of creepiness that I thought he would (again, Lee’s ability to derail our expectations), and instead remains a likeable and very important opposite to Shin-ae. He became my favorite character by the end of the film, an incredible feat considering that his character and personality remain completely unchanged throughout the film. He is a knight in shining armor, even if he doesn’t look the part. Despite his longing for Shin-ae, the one time she actually comes to him for sex he turns her down, refusing to take advantage of her.

And yet, Shin-ae still suffers despite his presence. The longer the film runs, the darker and more twisted her mind becomes as her tragedies just keep compiling on top of her. Suddenly, whatever hopeful expectations I had for her vanished, and then I was expecting the worst from every new scenario she experienced. I was actually expecting the scene in the barbershop at the end to turn violent, as the girl wanted revenge for Shin-ae abandoning her in the alleyway with those boys. I was expecting Shin-ae to try to commit suicide again while cutting her own hair.

Blast you, Lee Chang-dong, you and your brilliantly sadistic directing abilities. Only a master filmmaker could take a combination of chick-flick and generic Christian film ideas, turn them upside down, and still keep us watching despite the horrors you showed us. No matter what I do, I doubt I’ll be able to watch another film of yours without having my expectations mangled and maimed by the end.

Secret Sunshine

The film last night was quite a surprise. I expected something much more uplifting than Poetry, yet instead I was shown a film that seemed to almost constantly trick you about what it was about! I'm not complaining, because it was still a very brilliant form of storytelling. I suppose it was simply the cultural difference that I'm not used to; this filmmaker got all the logistics out of the way so that he could tell a different kind of story. We're so accustomed to stories that may focus on only one type of thing, but Secret Sunshine ran them all together to show a larger picture.

Theological ideas brought up in this story truly provide something to wrestle with. We discussed the symbolism of Mr. Kim representing God in the story, and there are plenty of great instances in the story where that is an amazing symbolistic idea that even makes sense, but struggle with it. I'm sure that I'm just imagining it in the wrong way, but for some reason I can't accept the idea that Mr. Kim's character especially is supposed to represent God in a human form for her to more closely relate to Him. Isn't that supposed to be Jesus?

I understand that we, as Christians, can represent Jesus by being loving and compassionate especially to those who are hurting, but Mr. Kim never acted in that way. He only began pursuing her for romantic reasons, and at the end simply becomes the really good friend who can hold a mirror for those who have a problem getting their hair cut in salons.

Overall, I appreciated the idea of sunshine, which I can more closely relate to the way God seems to operate. The sunshine provides light (which leads to a whole other symbolistic road I won't travel now) and power for plants to grow. It is persistent in the way that it comes everyday to awaken the world, and we generally believe that it still exists, even when we can't see it through rainy days.