Getting into the funk of things!

Well looky here - I'm still alive!
Freshman year is over. But dear god, my last post was my crazy fanboy high Orphan review. Be at ease folks, that phase is over....for the most part anyway - I mean she's just so darn adorable.
Whatever happened to the "post everyday" routine I set for myself for, y'know, a freaking year ago. Alas, I have boiled down the reasons behind my failed experiments as the "montage syndrome" - I'll elaborate on that later (for now just take my word for it) - a cowardice behind quality - again, more explaining later - and penguins: those guys will be the death of us all. So just as a precursor for what's to come, I basically will make a post of utter crap (mainly this one) so that quality will follow. I believe by now the feces meter is off the charts, so I will be stopping this now!

Oh, I suppose this is the part where I should at least say one thing funny...um...gimme a sec....oh, I know! A joke:
What did the 5 fingers say to the face?!...
...
...
...
... Fingers can't talk. Dummy~

Be sure to come back, next post will be cool I promise! (And if you don't come back how will you ever know if I was lying to you?)

Movie Analysis (Review?): "Orphan"

    Okay friends and family, it's time for me to explain why I've been pushing all of you to watch "The Orphan". After watching the movie another time (it was totally worth it), I've neatly organized my thoughts for you all to see why I've been calling this "the movie that changed my life."
Of course, there will obviously be spoilers. Please forgive the giant wall of text, I'm still in English homework mode! I am NOT a critic, this is just my analysis. (For a quick "review", I'll bold the key points)

Brief Synopsis:
Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard) decide to adopt after the premature death of their third child. At a local orphanage they are enchanted by the sweet and charming Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), whom they take home as their own. However, what you see isn't always what you get. Trouble becomes almost synonymous with the seemingly angelic Esther, but no one besides Kate could see past her innocent facade. Kate desperately tries to protect her beloved children Max (Aryana Engineer) and Daniel (Jimmy Bennett), but "meets her match" in a battle of wits against "the orphan".



1. Amazingly Awesome Acting


I'll begin this review by stating the movie's characters were interesting, and the film's acting is incredible (especially by Isabelle Fuhrman).

• Kate/Vera: She played the role of the strong-willed, protective mother really well. She portrayed believable facial expressions and deftly expresses emotions of sorrow, disdain, pride, love, concern; etc. The audience can easily see the effects of Kate's struggle with her inner demons and psychological trauma through Vera's performance.





• John/Peter: The spitting image of an American Dad: a hardworking Family Guy with manly hair, lust and a belly! I liked how Peter used subtle expressions and varying tones of voice to portray his gentleman-like character. Also, his character was reserved and understanding but harbored deep pains from his wife's flaws and the troubles in his household. My favorite scene with him was when he suffered a mental meltdown and confided his true feelings to Esther.





• Max/Aryana: The pinnacle of adorableness and the epitome of sugar, spice, and everything nice. She was expressive, conveying her emotions in the best way possible. Flawless....enough said.





• Daniel/Jimmy: Perfectly captures the essence of a growing boy: slightly rebellious, wishing for approval (especially from daddy), easily peer pressured, a knack for playing video games, weak bladder control when having life threatened; etc
  

    Now it's time for my praise of one of our greatest actresses of the century, who is easily the best child actress since the days of Ancient Greece's theatre, Isabelle Fuhrman. There is NO word in our english dictionary which properly describes Isabelle's talent, so I'll go ahead and make up one; for the sake of this blog, I will refer to her as the"super special awesomely amazing stupefying wonderfully breathtaking incredibly prodigious marvelously magnificant" Isabelle. Her performance both figuratively and literally blew me away (yes literally, one scene scared me so badly that I nearly fell out of my seat). She achieves a perfect balance between sweet/innocent/angelic and malice/foreboding/devilish. There is this one scene where Esther is happily trodding down a corridor with an adorable smile on her face, then suddenly a figure walks pass the camera...as the shadow fades, her countenance quickly transitions into an ominous glare! Furthermore, she had an excellent accent which complimented her character: it served to both increase her charm and heighten her sinisterness. The "super special awesomely amazing stupefying wonderfully breathtaking incredibly prodigious marvelously magnificant" Isabelle perfectly portrayed all of Esther's emotions, expressions, actions; she WAS Esther. She stole the show, hands down....gah, I can go on and on (an unbelievably believable performance! I remember my friends and I left the theatres in awe, wondering if Isabelle was really like that...)

2. Expect the Unexpected

    Predictablility is one of the main reasons I tend to avoid watching the Horror genre: you watch the film EXPTECTING to be frightened, allowing you to see some things coming from a mile away. It's usually the same predictable plot structure, with forseeable deaths by some disturbed individual who likes playing with sharp objects, accompanied by an overabundance of blood and gore, with the occassional manifestation of the supernatural. (Of course, this is not the case with all horror stories)
   However, "The Orphan" is not the average Horror film; I consider it a cleverly written Psychological thriller (maybe even a tragedy and mystery, more on that later). One of the beauties of this film is how it satires the predictability of the horror genre by using it as a tool to maximize the thrill for the audience. That aspect of the movie truly contributes to its brilliance as a whole. Just think about it, the movie's slogan is "There's something wrong with Esther." Before even watching the movie, we know to expect that Esther is the film's "villian" and frequent movie goers can immediately associate her with the "bad seed" type of character. In the story's exposition we are introduced to an incredibly sweet and charming Esther, but because of the movie's slogan we carry this uneasy anticipation which pins us to our seats; we wonder what exactly is "wrong" with Esther and our imaginations run wild as the story progresses until the final twist. (this gave the film a mystery genre vibe, which I thoroughly enjoyed)
    The movie playfully teases our expectations in several scenes with ingenius manipulation of sound and music. (Sound/music is such a powerful thing, it sets the tone and "tells" our brains what to "think".) In one of my favorite scenes of the movie, the camera follows John Coleman as he treks a foreboding corridor of the orphanage. There is a soft undertone of ominous music as he slowly creeps up the cliche' creaking staircase. The audience anxiously waits for something to happen: will the bad guy pop out of nowhere, will he stumble on a gruesome scene? Then BAM...a group of harmless little girls unexpectedly run across the screen giggling in high volume. Each time I've scene the movie, the entire theatre jumped and then laughed at hilarious fright. This is especially enjoyable if you have a friend who's particularly obnoxious during movies and likes to announce what he thinks, like my friend Andrew. For example there was this one scene where Kate is rummaging through the fridge and loud, ominous music plays as the camera zooms on the door. Andrew smuggly exclaimed,"She's gonna be behind the door..." The fridge is then shut...and...psyche! Nothing there~ IN YOUR FACE ANDREW! These "IN YOUR FACE" scenes occur quite often and mix in with scenes where something actually does happen, ultimately achieving respectable balance between the teasers and the predictable. This is especially true during both the playground and final scenes. (No spoilers~)

3. It's even better the second time around (especially with a different group of friends!)

    (In my opinion) Even though you've seen it before and know all the twists and turns, a true lover of story and plot would most definitely appreciate watching it a second time. From my experience, I was amazed by the numerous foreshadowings that highlight the twists which come at the end. You would see that the initially simple sayings (that probably didn't make you bat an eyelash at first) actually carry much significance: Like Esther's saying "I'm just a little different" and "I've had a lot of time on my hands", or Esther's refusal to go to the dentist, or Esther's song. Also, it's always fun to see your friends jump or cringe in fear during scenes where you once did, right? Or it's always funny to have your obnoxious movie watching friend be proved wrong after pompously stating a prediction, right?

4. "There's something wrong with ____."

    Another aspect I particularly enjoyed about the movie was how everything ties in so well with the movie's slogan. We're first introduced to an ideal family, with loving parents, two adorable daughters and a rambuctious son. However, as the movie progresses, it becomes ostensibly clear that not only is there "something wrong with Esther", but with generally everything else. The characters each carry some flaw or vice which painfully burdens them or the family as a whole, making each of them dynamic and compelling. (Example: Kate has her drinking problem and past mistakes, which leads people to doubt her) There is symbolism in Esther's paintings in regards to everything in the movie: at first glance they look beautiful, innocent and heartwarming, but once "looked at in a different light" and observed closely...a much more gruesome picture is revealed.

5. This movie is wonderfully balanced

Being constantly scared out of your mind can become tiring or even boring, right? Another awesome aspect of this movie was how it blends elements of horror, thriller, comedy, and drama; I laughed, I cried, I said "awwww", and I peed myself out of fear. Aside from the "IN OUR FACE" scenes, there are several scenes which made me laugh out loud; I was surprised at the number of times I laughed. There were also numerous heartwarming scenes and several tearjerkers. (I won't give any these away! They're definitely worth it to see it for yourself)

6. The Tragedy of Esther

    This'll be the hardest to explain without spoilers...but here we go. My English teacher best described a tragedy as a "loss of human potential"; anyone who has watched the movie can easily see that A LOT was lost. Esther is a beautiful, complex and complicated character: she is highly intelligent (being able to learn sign language during a single car ride!), an incredibly skilled painter, a master pianist, and is cuter than a Pikachu. Like the rest of her adoptive family, she harbors a dark secret...the darkest of them all. Esther is definitely flawed, dangerous and malicious...not because of some demonic possession, but because she had been denied a human necessity for all of her life: acceptance/companionship/love. She makes several extreme acts in her pursuit of love, including breaking her own arm in order to spend time with "daddy". In a like manner, Esther endeavors to eliminate every obstacle which hindered her actions, resorting to manipulation and violence. Esther's tragedy is best described by the symbolic song which she sings throughout the movie: "The Glory of Love" (Jimmy Durante)

"You’ve got to give a little, take a little

And let your poor heart break a little

That’s the story of, hat’s the glory of love

You’ve got to laugh a little, cry a little

Before the clouds roll by a little

That’s the story of, that’s the glory of love

^As long as there’s the two of you

You’ve got the world and all its charms

And when the world is through with you

You’ve got each other’s arms

You’ve got to win a little, Lose a little

And always have the blues a little

That’s the story of, that’s the glory of love."

Esther had everything to give, but nothing to take, but a heart most definitely broken; she had no one to laugh with, but definitely cried; she lost everything but won nothing...She had no one to to share the world's charms with, nor did Esther have anyone's arms to confide in even though the "world" has been through with her since she was born...

5.Conclusion

   With that, I'd like to conclude my analysis. There are one or two oddities in the plot that MUST be accepted as truth, but these are minor flaws which are lightly explained (I won't go into it too much, it's a big spoiler...but it does involve the weakness in our country's official records...) This might not be the "horrifying" experience that frequent horror genre watcher would expect, but it is still very scary; it's a brilliant thriller. The balance of these elements along with comedy, mystery, and drama makes it an excellently amazing movie over all. I give it a 4.9999/5!

Favorite Lines:
(Kate)"It's okay to be different."
(Esther)"I like to think that people can take all the bad things that happen to them and turn them into good things." (not word for word/verbatim but close enough :P)
(Esther) "If I find out you're lying, I'll cut off your hairless little prick before you figure out what to do with it."

I'd like to give you my humble appreciation for reading my analysis of one of my most favorite movies ever (especially if you read it all)! If you have any more opinions or criticisms, you are more than welcome to comment! I didn't really describe how this was the "movie that changed my life", did I? This actually leads me to my next blog post...Inspirations~ I'll be sure to finish it soon!

Word of the Day August 13, 2009

Furtive:

Word of the Day, August 12 2009

Hello, all! Isn't the concept of "language" wonderful? It gives us all a means of communication, allowing each and every one of us to interact with each other in a sociable manner. Like Art, language provides us with a way to express ourselves through spoken word, literary works; etc. I believe that enhanced vocabulary is an extremely important asset to language: it is added detail which makes it all the more pleasing, like color to a picture or spices to a meal.

However, improving one's vocabulary seems like a dull and grueling task. A fun way to increasing your "word bank" is by learning a couple of words a day (it really adds up in the long run!).

But what's the point of reading a word, then forgetting it the next day? The key to absorbing new words is practice, practice, practice! I personally like to use the word in everyday life, draw a comic out of it, and/or write a sentance with it!



Today's word of the day...

Travail!