Potpourri III

Cap’n Crunch is known infamously as the cereal that cuts up the roof of your mouth. But I cannot stop eating it tonight. It reminds me of the CD-ROM that came in boxes of the cereal for a few months in the 90s: Cap’n Crunch’s Crunchling Adventure. It was a surprisingly awesome promotional game in which you trained a creature called a Crunchling to defeat the evil Crunchium Theives. Crunchtastic! As a bonus, you could insert the CD into a CD player and listen to a story about the Crunchlings narrated by the good captain himself. It was probably the best prize to ever be included inside of a cereal box.

Another delicacy that I am sampling tonight is the “apple pear” which is apparently actually an Asian pear that has apple-like qualities. It is delicious.

I went into BigLots! looking to see if they had any wireless keyboards. They did, and I bought one, but a wireless Bluetooth speaker also caught my eye. This is somewhat frivolous as I already have wired speakers, but the allure of transmitting sound across the room proved too much. So far I really like it. I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that this Christmas season, I am spending an awful lot on myself. Pros: joy. Cons: it makes me more materialistic.

Speaking of materialism, I think I am finally okay with idea of receiving a tablet. We are donating to charities already, and I need to give myself a break. Not buying a Nexus 10 is not going to save someone’s life.

Tonight I plan on watching Another Earth. Brit Marling gave a sharp performance in Sound of My Voice, so I am expecting good things from her here.

Two of my friends have worn cardigans around me. I have jumped on the bandwagon.

Just like the Lochtepus.

I had a one dollar credit towards mp3 purchases at Amazon. I purchased My Head is an Animal by Of Monsters and Men, since it was on sale for $3.99. I am not crazy about the album, but I figure that if I can find three songs on it that I really enjoy, it will be worth the money. Their sound reminds me very much of The Head and the Heart and songs like “Little Talks” include sweeping soundscapes, but I have not found the lyrics to be anything to write home about.

Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal: Amazon | Google Play | iTunes

Has Children’s Entertainment become too Adult-Oriented?

Tonight, Cartoon Network airs the half-hour season premiere of Adventure Time. I love this show, especially in light of the crazy bananas they pulled a few weeks ago in the previous season’s finale. But I find myself wondering sometimes, how much do kids enjoy it?

I know it is a success, but I do not know how those numbers break down in terms of demographics—how much of its viewership is made up of teenagers and adults? I know in the case of Spongebob Squarepants, a significant chunk of viewers are adults—and not just parents watching with their children. The same was the case with Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel series, The Legend of Korra.

In fact, a quick perusal of the internet will reveal legions of children’s show fans who are able to vote. (Off the top of my head, TVTropes and Tumblr are hubs of fandom activity.)

Why do we, the older audience, love these shows? In the case of Adventure Time, I would argue the very adult elements are one of the key attractions. This leaves me wondering how much kids really get out of it. It is difficult for me to imagine anyone under the age of 14 or 15 finding Regular Show entertaining.

To an extent, I have to ignore a large component of most of children’s entertainment to ask these questions: the sense of fun and wonder. To watch Adventure Time is to be transported to a world of bright pallets and problems that at their worst can still often be dealt with by a little boy kicking and punching them. And this I think is universally enjoyable to all ages.

I also think that I should consider the appeal of layered entertainment. Pixar films and Harry Potter have demonstrated that it is possible to tell a story that is enjoyable on a base, surface level, while providing more thought-provoking entertainment upon closer inspection.

So the answer is no, then? I mean, the wonderment and the layers must invalidate my rhetorical, click-bait title, right? I do not know; I still cannot imagine children finding the episode of Regular Show revolving around a VHS tape humorous. For one, they might ask, what the hell is a VHS?

What do kids love more than hipster video store clerks?

I do not know exactly what I am trying to say in this post. Something about children’s entertainment no longer being entertaining for its intended audience as it caters ever more to grown-ups. Not that that is a bad thing.

A Sorry Excuse for an Entry

Ah! In such a good place for creative musings (The coffee shop I like)!

So here they are.

Or not.

I have been greatly neglecting this blog, and like a baby, it will wither and die of exposure if I do not act swiftly.

So yeah.

What’s up with you guys? Anything interesting?

I want to see Cloud Atlas, but since the town I am near sucks, I will have to travel forty minutes to do so.

I am sure more interesting things would come to mind if I only tried a little, but there is an assignment I really should get to.

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Sleepwalk with Me (2012)

I had the pleasure of seeing a screening of Mike Birgbiglia’s Sleepwalk with Me. I had to drive to Pittsburgh to see it, because independent cinema has no place in Indiana, PA, but it was worth it. The screening I attended was actually packed, and I wondered if I would get in when I saw that there was a line outside of the theater to buy tickets.

The film is the fourth incarnation of Birbiglia’s tales about his sleep disorder (the others being his appearances on This American Life (which produced the film), a one-man stage show/album, and a book). In each version, he chronicles his life after college as a struggling stand-up comedian, his relationship with his girlfriend, and his increasingly dangerous sleepwalking episodes.

The film certainly feels “indie,” but this is a good thing in my book. Birbiglia gives a solid performance as a version of himself, and the cast is rounded out by myriad comedians. Notable cameos include producer/co-writer Ira Glass as a wedding photographer, and Dr. William C. Dement as himself. The story is strong and the film weaves together the different plotlines deftly, unifying the thematic elements.

One of the few problems I had was with some of the main character’s dialog. It might be because I am familiar with his material, but some lines felt like a comedy routine shoehorned in instead of naturalistic dialog. Then again, the character interactions between fellow comedians just hanging out rang very true to me (based on hearing many stand-ups shoot the shit on podcasts).

I especially enjoyed the dream sequences. Glass said in an interview on Fresh Air that he normally despises dream sequences in film as cheap, and you can tell that special attention was paid to ensure that the scenes were uncanny but realistic.

I will admit that this review is heavily biased in favor of the movie. As I have noted before, I enjoy seeing people I admire get exposure. I was a fan before the film was even released. It was great (and sometimes a little surreal) to see comedic bits I know portrayed in cinematic form, like the stilted confessions of love featured on Wedding Story Tales, or the dismal lip-syncing contest.

Me, being biased.

I would certainly recommend this film to anyone with a sense of humor—or anyone who is a little weird. Fans of Birbiglia will get exactly what they expect, and new viewers may find themselves introduced to a wonderful world of awkward moments and strange conversations comparing abstract concepts to pizza, tinged by a healthy dose of self-deprecation.

Project ADD

I think I have it. I made it a chapter and a half into something and now another story I have worked on pleads for attention. Is this a pattern of behavior that will doom me to never complete anything? Or am I utilizing my time wisely?: I am stuck in one story so I work on another.

The story that begs my involvement again is sort of a retelling of the King Arthur mythos, except not. But it borrows enough elements and characters that I think saying it references Arthurian legend is not strong enough. Perhaps “inspired by” is the term I seek.

A Shins song is playing in the coffee house as I write this. This is the perfect writing environment, yet I choose to spend my time worrying about writing instead of writing. Except for now. Now, I’m writing about worrying about writing.

I meant to write a review of Sherlock Holmes (2009), but this blog has morphed from its intended review format to something else. I enjoyed it, for the record.

The Review That Wasn't

The Last Airbender is a travesty of filmmaking. I saw this cinematic disaster in the theater, to much regret, as a loyal fan of the TV series. I downloaded it recently (I do not normally download things illegally, but I make an exception for special circumstances, such as when something is a piece of shit that deserves no money) with the intention of watching it again because I’ve been on an Avatar kick since The Legend of Korra and I thought it would be fun to re-watch the movie. I thought at worst it would be as bad as I remembered, but fun to laugh at. I thought it would be entertaining on some level.

I was wrong.

I could not watch more than five minutes of this movie without skipping ahead to another part. Most of the time, I watched for less than a minute before being disgusted and scrubbing ahead in VLC.

There are so many things wrong with this film that it is foolish to think I could list them all. Off the top of my head: the plot is muddled, the visuals are dark and muted (and not in an aesthetically pleasing way), the character’s names are pronounced incorrectly, Zuko’s scar is barely visible, it took a minute of movement to bend anything (as opposed to the swift, kinetic martial arts portrayed in the series)…

Then there is the whole “racebending” controversy. I was actually okay with the characters’ races changing, so long as 1.) everyone was not white and 2.) it was consistent in the casting. The problem is that while most of our heroes are now alabaster-skinned, the extras that make up their culture are not. Therefore, it would make more sense for the Katara and Sokka to have Inuit features like the rest of their tribe, but then, as I can imagine some bone-headed executive extolling, “white audiences would not be able to relate.” Only with the Air Nomads, who were supposed to be a multiracial culture in the film, does it make sense to have multiple ethnicities. (The Earth Kingdom, in the cartoon, has a number of ethnic groups, but for simplicity’s sake, I am assuming a movie with such a poor attention to detail would gloss over that.)

There is also no excuse for the bungled plot and character development—the show is set up in three seasons that function like a trilogy of books or movies. It literally writes itself. M. Night Shyamalan was in contact with show runners Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, who probably had some ideas ready on how to condense the story.

I hold Shyamalan accountable for many of these… let us call them oversights. He did a shitty job, plain and simple. I say this as someone who does not automatically hate everything the man touches—The Village may actually be one of my favorite movies (but that warrants its own review).

If you have not witnessed this abomination, do not waste time on it, even ironically. Life is too short for The Last Airbender.

The Descendants (2011)

Make no mistake, this film takes its time, but the pace is a strength rather than a weakness. It is understated and cathartic. I did have some issues with the way the plot seemed to stall a bit at the end.

The performances of the actors form the real core. George Clooney is, as always, likable and could easily carry the movie by himself. However the most impressive performance comes from Shailene Woodley. According to my sister, this is amazing as she stars in the melodramatic The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which has brought us such lines as "Now we're in trouble, we're gonna be suspended, all because of oral sex gone bad!" Based on her acting in The Descendants, she has some real talent, so it is comforting to think that she will have more opportunities to develop her craft as a result of the film’s success. I suspect she is overjoyed to be freed from the ghetto of ABC Family. I certainly would be. She might continue her work on Secret Life, but a whole world of possibilities has opened up for her.

The Descendants won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was kind of cool to see Dean Pelton accept an Oscar.

This review is kind of lame. I'm aware of that. If I thought my writing was great, I would not need to write this blog. The important thing is that I'm writing something--I'm not the most disciplined writer.

4/5 stars