Thursday, January 21, 2016

Hipsy's View: Alan Rickman and David Bowie

       Like many, I felt deeply affected by the deaths of musician David Bowie and actor/director Alan Rickman earlier this month (January). The news about them has been discussed so much that I noticed that two other deaths of very well-known and beloved artists' deaths have almost been surpassed*. Both Rickman and Bowie were sixty-nine, and were taken from cancer.
1946-2016

1947-2016
     I was introduced to these two men's work when I was very young: I was four or five when I first saw the Labyrinth,  Kevin Costner's Robin Hood and Die Hard were constant favorites in my household. To tell the truth, I didn't like Alan Rickman at first because I only knew him as a bad guy. And probably like other girls that grew up watching Jennifer Connolly telling Jareth "you have no power over me", I had a small crush on David Bowie. This was the only way I knew them when I was a little girl: a really bad guy (Rickman) and the Goblin King (Bowie). But like many, as I got older and understood movies better and I learned more about these two amazing people, I could not help but admire them. Being a movie and music junkie, I learned all I could about my favorites. I was one of the few who knew who Ziggy Stardust was in my sixth grade class. Growing up (literally) with Harry Potter, I knew who Professor Severus Snape was, and thought Rickman portrayed him perfectly. The day I heard of David Bowie's death, I couldn't stop humming and singing "Space Oddity" to myself. I am still shocked to think I won't get to see Alan Rickman bring an amazing character to life. I don't know if I speak for anyone else, but both of these men will be truly missed and have certainly made an impact on my upbringing. My condolences to their families, friends, and fans.

*Brian Bedford, who voiced the popular outlaw hero in Disney's Robin Hood, and the Eagles Glenn Frey have also pasted away within the past few weeks. My condolences to their family and friends as well. Borrowing from Glenn Frey's and Don Henley's song "There's a hole in the world" with all of these great artists taken from us too soon.
1935-2016
1948-2016

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Hipsy's View: The Revenant

     This is the first movie I have watched in theaters for 2016. I know that it is a 2015 movie, but since it was released towards the end of the year, it technically falls under the 2016 movie register for me.

SPOILER ALERT: Though I may not be writing out the movie for you, there are some plot points that I will mention that you may not want to know about. If you have not seen the movie I am about to review, either stop reading now or proceed with caution, knowing that some sub-plots will be discussed.

     The Revenant for me was awe-inspiring. All I could say after seeing it was that it was an art film. Some may think I am strange for stating this, but once it is seen, it's hard not to notice how much work was put into it. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the main character, the story follows the journey frontiersman Hugh Glass must face after being mauled by a grizzly bear and left for dead in a partially-dug grave. The only thing that is pushing him forward throughout his journey is to seek his son's murderer and get his revenge. Interestingly, Glass's story is not the only one seen in the movie. The viewer, of course, follows Glass's journey (and sees his memories), but also follows the journeys of the group of tradesmen that he worked with, the man that left him for dead (Tom Hardy's character), a Pawnee who lost his tribe, and search party of revengeful Ree*. Though all different sub-plots, the stories all tie in together perfectly to show the difficulties of how to survive in the dead of winter in the wilderness - with or without a weapon - and the struggles one faced during the 1830s after the Louisiana Purchase.
      When watching the film, I was mesmerized by the imagery; the nature scenes are deeply rooted within this film. Think of a nature documentary's scenic views, and you will understand why I was awed by its beauty. But that's only part of what made this movie a piece of art. It was raw, in my opinion. The splatters of blood and water and snow and the fog from the actors' exhalations on the camera were used to express intensity in the fight scenes and lead into memory or vision scenes. There was not much dialect with DiCaprio's scenes - though there was a good reason for that, of course - and it wasn't needed. A good example for this was the snowflake-catching scene between Glass and the (last) Pawnee; no words were needed to understand this scene.
     Conflicts were also deeply rooted with the film, specifically Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, and Man vs. Self. Throughout the film, the viewer sees the struggle the frontiersmen face in order to make a living in the wild, including fighting off dangerous animals, fighting (or fleeing) from attackers, and the struggle to survive through winter storms. Glass is certainly the center of most of the stories and faces the most, but he also faces the journey to find himself now that all he had is gone.
     The final thing that made me think of this film as an art piece was sound; that's one of the things relied on throughout the movie. Like Glass, the viewer must only rely on what he has to survive: the sounds around him and his instincts. The film makes the viewer feel what the character feels. The only time I have felt this is when I am reading a book or I am looking at a piece of art (be it a painting, sculpture, or a photograph). How this film was not shown at the Cannes Festival baffles me.

     So, if you stayed and read through the review, you can probably tell that I liked this movie. It is very deep, and makes the viewer strongly emotional and somehow connected to the film. It leaves the viewer thinking, and is hard to erase from the memory. First movie of the year for me gets a five out of five and ten out of ten review from me. Hope you enjoyed the read. Until next time, keep watching, reading, and whatever else that you enjoy.

*Ree are a tribe of Native Americans from North Dakota.

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Something New

So, I am now in a new chapter in my life. Last semester here at ASU made me feel like my head was about to explode. It was so stressful that I actually kept a worry stone in my hand throughout almost the whole semester. But even though it was a tough semester, as you can tell, I survived it. In fact, some good things came out from it. I am now part of the English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta and I am a trainee for an online literary magazine (which will hopefully lead me into an internship and a future career). Though I cannot promise this, I am going to try to use this blog how I originally meant to, by giving my reviews on the arts and things that interest me, mostly on literacy. Some of the work I will review/critique will be the works I will be reading this semester and whatever I can read or attend during my free time.

So, hello again everyone; I'm back on my blog, and I hope to keep up on writing on this blog.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe Reading 2022

Hello everyone! I have not forgotten this blog; I have a legit reason for not posting in such a long time. Since my last post, my job as an ...