Oscar Wilde uses his essay The Critic as Artist to discuss his view that a critique is the highest form of art. The form that he uses to put these ideas forth is a discussion between two men, Ernest and Gilbert. This style of writing works well for the essay because it allows Wilde (through Gilbert) to express his ideas and also address questions and problems that one might have with what he posits. I cannot say that I fully agreed with Gilbert's argument when I first began reading the essay, but as I moved through it Gilbert was very persuasive and I now agree that the critic is indeed an artist.
The sentence that really convinced me comes on page 904 and it comes right after Ernest asks, "But is Criticism really a creative art?" Gilbert responds, "Why should it not be? it works with materials, and puts them into a form that is at once new and delightful. What more can one say of poetry?"
Wilde's point that "Anybody can write a three-volumed novel. It merely requires a complete ignorance of both life and literature," can be held true of any art form. Anyone can paint a mural, draw a portrait, write a poem, or write a piece of music. This said, it takes a true genius to do any of these things well and the same goes for writing critiques. Because a critique is indeed an art form, it is true that anybody can write one, but a good critic will take it upon oneself to become familiar with the art they are critiquing and only then can their piece be considered a masterpiece.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Elements of Style
The part of Elements of Style that I found most helpful and that I would like to try to incorporate more in my writing is section 17 in Principles of Composition. It is entitled "Omit Needless Words" and I think that this is something I really need to work on. It gives several examples and ways of getting around unnecessary words. I often try to put in extra words because I think it makes my writing sound more educated or more poignant, but this is not the case, as it says in this section, "vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences..."
Hopefully now that I am conscious of this element I will be able to greatly improve my writing by cutting down on needless words and sentences and making my writing more concise.
Hopefully now that I am conscious of this element I will be able to greatly improve my writing by cutting down on needless words and sentences and making my writing more concise.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
WHILE TORTUROUS, “TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE” CONTAINS VALUABLE INFORMATION
Alex Gibney’s documentary, “Taxi to the Dark Side,” offers a depressing and one-sided look at the alleged torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay. The documents exposed and the interviews with soldiers in this film are very informative and interesting, but Gibney took it too far.
The documentary attempts to center around the story of Dilawar, a young Afghanistan taxi driver who was picked up and taken to Bagram Air Base, where he was found dead in his cell five days after his arrival. This heartbreaking story is unfortunately lost in the mass of horrifying pictures and video clips that Gibney puts into his movie. After beginning with a brief interview of Dilawar’s family, the film quickly moves on to the shocking torture techniques used at Bagram and then Abu Ghraib and eventually Guantanamo Bay.
The research that went into producing this movie had to have been a massive undertaking and, in that respect, “Taxi to the Dark Side” is well deserving of its many awards. The Oscar for Best Documentary, however, illustrates just how liberal the Hollywood society really is. “Taxi to the Dark Side” makes no attempt at defending any of the actions of soldiers or policy-makers in the post 9/11 world.
While “Taxi to the Dark Side” provides important information in a very convincing manner, these accusations should not be accepted or believed without any doubt or reservations. Gibney looks at only one side of these issues and, while no torture should ever be allowed by US policy-makers, certain techniques used and discussed in the movie are not typically considered to be torture and are lumped in with things like waterboarding and sexual assault.
The use of female interrogators, for instance, is not torture; it is simply using these detainees’ culture for our own benefit. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with allowing dogs to bark and growl at prisoners as long as no physical harm is done. The way that Gibney lumps things like these in with physical beating, sleep deprivation, and other terrifying torture tactics is uncalled for and poorly thought out on his part because it detracts from the horrors that are happening.
A disappointing part of this documentary is the ominous soundtrack that creeps into your senses throughout the movie and the use of lighting on the soldiers in their interviews. Despite the fact that these soldiers are undoubtedly being interviewed in what could be a well-lit room, they use only a single light and their faces seem to fade into the black background in what can only be read as an attempt to make them seem evil. Another trick that is utilized in the film is a negative filter on documents, making them mostly black and having white or gray type. All of these things combine to create an evil and menacing air throughout the film. If this is what Gibney set out to do, he did a extraordinary job.
“Taxi to the Dark Side” is a worthwhile documentary and Alex Gibney certainly deserves some of the awards he received for the film. It cannot be stressed enough though that this is one of those things where one should think back to their childhood and remember what was inevitably advised by a wise elder, “don’t believe everything you hear.”
The documentary attempts to center around the story of Dilawar, a young Afghanistan taxi driver who was picked up and taken to Bagram Air Base, where he was found dead in his cell five days after his arrival. This heartbreaking story is unfortunately lost in the mass of horrifying pictures and video clips that Gibney puts into his movie. After beginning with a brief interview of Dilawar’s family, the film quickly moves on to the shocking torture techniques used at Bagram and then Abu Ghraib and eventually Guantanamo Bay.
The research that went into producing this movie had to have been a massive undertaking and, in that respect, “Taxi to the Dark Side” is well deserving of its many awards. The Oscar for Best Documentary, however, illustrates just how liberal the Hollywood society really is. “Taxi to the Dark Side” makes no attempt at defending any of the actions of soldiers or policy-makers in the post 9/11 world.
While “Taxi to the Dark Side” provides important information in a very convincing manner, these accusations should not be accepted or believed without any doubt or reservations. Gibney looks at only one side of these issues and, while no torture should ever be allowed by US policy-makers, certain techniques used and discussed in the movie are not typically considered to be torture and are lumped in with things like waterboarding and sexual assault.
The use of female interrogators, for instance, is not torture; it is simply using these detainees’ culture for our own benefit. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with allowing dogs to bark and growl at prisoners as long as no physical harm is done. The way that Gibney lumps things like these in with physical beating, sleep deprivation, and other terrifying torture tactics is uncalled for and poorly thought out on his part because it detracts from the horrors that are happening.
A disappointing part of this documentary is the ominous soundtrack that creeps into your senses throughout the movie and the use of lighting on the soldiers in their interviews. Despite the fact that these soldiers are undoubtedly being interviewed in what could be a well-lit room, they use only a single light and their faces seem to fade into the black background in what can only be read as an attempt to make them seem evil. Another trick that is utilized in the film is a negative filter on documents, making them mostly black and having white or gray type. All of these things combine to create an evil and menacing air throughout the film. If this is what Gibney set out to do, he did a extraordinary job.
“Taxi to the Dark Side” is a worthwhile documentary and Alex Gibney certainly deserves some of the awards he received for the film. It cannot be stressed enough though that this is one of those things where one should think back to their childhood and remember what was inevitably advised by a wise elder, “don’t believe everything you hear.”
Monday, January 19, 2009
Spot-on Casting and Direction Make "Live From Baghdad" a Must See
The HBO film “Live From Baghdad” chronicles one of the most important moments of modern times, the advent of 24-hour news television. The story that started it all was the US attack on Baghdad in 1991 and the beginning of the Gulf War. The made-for-TV movie is well deserving of the three Golden Globe nominations it received as well as the seven other various awards it snagged, including three Emmys and a Director’s Guild of America award.
Right from the start, “Live From Baghdad” demands your undivided attention. The movie follows Robert Weiner, played by Michael Keaton, and his news team to Baghdad and Kuwait and through their many struggles to get interviews, powerful footage, and moving news stories. All of these trials and tribulations eventually culminate in “the journalistic equivalent to walking on the moon” – live coverage of the US airstrike on Baghdad.
Michael Keaton’s work as Robert Weiner is flawless, and he could not have asked for a better supporting cast consisting of Helena Bonham Carter, Joshua Leonard, Lili Taylor, David Suchet, and many more. John Papsidera won an Emmy for his casting and it is well deserved – the cast works well together and between the comedic jabs they toss around and the questionably romantic nature of the relationship between Robert Wiener and co-producer Ingrid Formanek they are a very convincing news crew. Another notable element of this movie is the score, which works immaculately with each and every scene.
Director Mick Jackson and writer Robert Wiener both deserve much credit for their impeccable use of real news footage from the time leading up to the Gulf War as part of their movie. For instance, when the crew manages to secure an interview with Saddam Hussein in the movie, rather than find an actor to play the part, they cut back and forth from Bernard Shaw, played by Robert Wisdom, and the actual news footage of the Saddam interview. Along with this interview there are many clips of President Bush’s speeches and even some real footage of Baghdad that are expertly intertwined into the movie plot.
What is most striking about “Live From Baghdad” is the relevance that it still holds today with the War on Terror. It gives an inside look at what reporters endure to deliver the news every day and also illustrates what a vital role the media has in political and diplomatic relations. Keaton repeats this phrase to David Suchet, playing Naji Al-Hadithi, many times throughout the movie, “People are going to die when the talking stops.” This phrase could not ring truer than in current times.
This movie is very well made and the cast is talented. Because of the subject matter, it is definitely worth seeing in the context of today’s political climate. Michael Keaton gives a memorable performance in “Live From Baghdad” and it is a movie that should not be missed.
Right from the start, “Live From Baghdad” demands your undivided attention. The movie follows Robert Weiner, played by Michael Keaton, and his news team to Baghdad and Kuwait and through their many struggles to get interviews, powerful footage, and moving news stories. All of these trials and tribulations eventually culminate in “the journalistic equivalent to walking on the moon” – live coverage of the US airstrike on Baghdad.
Michael Keaton’s work as Robert Weiner is flawless, and he could not have asked for a better supporting cast consisting of Helena Bonham Carter, Joshua Leonard, Lili Taylor, David Suchet, and many more. John Papsidera won an Emmy for his casting and it is well deserved – the cast works well together and between the comedic jabs they toss around and the questionably romantic nature of the relationship between Robert Wiener and co-producer Ingrid Formanek they are a very convincing news crew. Another notable element of this movie is the score, which works immaculately with each and every scene.
Director Mick Jackson and writer Robert Wiener both deserve much credit for their impeccable use of real news footage from the time leading up to the Gulf War as part of their movie. For instance, when the crew manages to secure an interview with Saddam Hussein in the movie, rather than find an actor to play the part, they cut back and forth from Bernard Shaw, played by Robert Wisdom, and the actual news footage of the Saddam interview. Along with this interview there are many clips of President Bush’s speeches and even some real footage of Baghdad that are expertly intertwined into the movie plot.
What is most striking about “Live From Baghdad” is the relevance that it still holds today with the War on Terror. It gives an inside look at what reporters endure to deliver the news every day and also illustrates what a vital role the media has in political and diplomatic relations. Keaton repeats this phrase to David Suchet, playing Naji Al-Hadithi, many times throughout the movie, “People are going to die when the talking stops.” This phrase could not ring truer than in current times.
This movie is very well made and the cast is talented. Because of the subject matter, it is definitely worth seeing in the context of today’s political climate. Michael Keaton gives a memorable performance in “Live From Baghdad” and it is a movie that should not be missed.
The "but" in my Gran Torino review shows up much later than it should. It is the first sentence in the 4th paragraph: "Clint Eastwood's supposed 'final performance as an actor' did not quite reach the incredibly high standards that have been set for Eastwood with his legendary performances as Dirty Harry." I think that it comes this late because the structure of my review was off a little bit, I spent too much time summarizing the plot and I should have had my but before such a long summary.
I think I would give myself a B- or so for this review. Given the chance to rewrite it I would definitely not summarize so much and would try to do a little more research so that I could write a more informed review. Also I would not use "I" and "you."
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1205489/
This link helped me a lot with writing my review. Besides allowing me to check names of various actors and actresses, there were a variety of links from this site to other reviews. Reading some of these reviews before writing mine gave me an idea of what kind of things to include as well as the accepted format for certain aspects of the review. I think that IMDB will be a very valuable tool for most of my movie reviews because it has so much information, you can virtually find anything you want to know about any actor or movie on the site.
Monday, January 12, 2009
"Gran Torino" Review
Despite Masterful Direction, Eastwood
Fails to Impress with “Gran Torino.”
“Gran Torino” is the relatively predictable and somewhat obvious story of Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) becoming a reluctant hero to his neighborhood, which has been invaded (as Walt might say) by “gooks,” and “chinks.”
Walt, a brash and outspoken Korean War veteran is mourning the loss of his wife when we first meet him. Walt mourns like you would expect any war-hardened veteran to, by drinking in excess and spouting off so many upsetting things that just about everyone leaves his house disgusted. Walt’s neighborhood has become a Hmong community over several years and Walt is the only white person still living in the neighborhood. Walt’s neighbors, a Hmong family, consists of an adolescent boy named Thao (Bee Vang), his older sister Sue (Ahney Her), their mother, and ill-tempered grandmother who spits and grunts almost as much as Walt. Along with the mass of Hmong families coming to the neighborhood, Hmong gangs begin to become prevalent in Walt’s neighborhood. Thao’s older cousin is the leader of a gang and pesters Thao until he gives in to an initiation task, which is to steal Walt’s car.
After being caught attempting to steal Walt’s prized 1972 Gran Torino fast back from his garage as part of a gang initiation, Thao becomes an unexpected force of change for Walt. In an effort to repay Walt for saving Thao from his cousin’s gang, Thao’s mother forces him to work for Walt for a week. It is at this point that we begin to see that there is a lovable and nice side to Walt. Rather than make Thao do work in his own house, Walt has Thao fix up the house across the street because “I’m tired of looking at this shithole all the time.” As Walt and Thao continue working with each other they build a relationship and Walt becomes a mentor for Thao. Thao’s older sister Sue, a sassy and confident young lady becomes a friend of Walt and the Hmong neighbors all begin to open up and accept Walt into their lives just as Walt allows them into his.
Clint Eastwood’s supposed “final performance as an actor” did not quite reach the incredibly high standards that have been set for Eastwood with his legendary performance as Dirty Harry. While his technical direction proves once again that he is indeed a master of the trade, using simple shots to capture subtleties like only a true movie maverick could, the story is lacking. I found myself predicting every “twist” and “turn” of the plot and the story seemed to be in dire need of more subtleties and provoking dialogue rather than the grunts and racial slurs that became comedic by the end of the movie. Her’s poor performance as Sue had me wondering if I was watching a low-budget student movie or an actual big screen movie. Her history lessons and unconvincing emotion took away from the stellar performance of Bee Vang and also stole attention away from the lead, Clint Eastwood. Rather than focus on the story and plot I caught myself intent on Her’s misgivings as an actor and wondering when the next history lesson would come. Between the predictable plot and deficient supporting actors, Gran Torino was a poor way for a legend to go out.
Fails to Impress with “Gran Torino.”
“Gran Torino” is the relatively predictable and somewhat obvious story of Walt Kowalski (Eastwood) becoming a reluctant hero to his neighborhood, which has been invaded (as Walt might say) by “gooks,” and “chinks.”
Walt, a brash and outspoken Korean War veteran is mourning the loss of his wife when we first meet him. Walt mourns like you would expect any war-hardened veteran to, by drinking in excess and spouting off so many upsetting things that just about everyone leaves his house disgusted. Walt’s neighborhood has become a Hmong community over several years and Walt is the only white person still living in the neighborhood. Walt’s neighbors, a Hmong family, consists of an adolescent boy named Thao (Bee Vang), his older sister Sue (Ahney Her), their mother, and ill-tempered grandmother who spits and grunts almost as much as Walt. Along with the mass of Hmong families coming to the neighborhood, Hmong gangs begin to become prevalent in Walt’s neighborhood. Thao’s older cousin is the leader of a gang and pesters Thao until he gives in to an initiation task, which is to steal Walt’s car.
After being caught attempting to steal Walt’s prized 1972 Gran Torino fast back from his garage as part of a gang initiation, Thao becomes an unexpected force of change for Walt. In an effort to repay Walt for saving Thao from his cousin’s gang, Thao’s mother forces him to work for Walt for a week. It is at this point that we begin to see that there is a lovable and nice side to Walt. Rather than make Thao do work in his own house, Walt has Thao fix up the house across the street because “I’m tired of looking at this shithole all the time.” As Walt and Thao continue working with each other they build a relationship and Walt becomes a mentor for Thao. Thao’s older sister Sue, a sassy and confident young lady becomes a friend of Walt and the Hmong neighbors all begin to open up and accept Walt into their lives just as Walt allows them into his.
Clint Eastwood’s supposed “final performance as an actor” did not quite reach the incredibly high standards that have been set for Eastwood with his legendary performance as Dirty Harry. While his technical direction proves once again that he is indeed a master of the trade, using simple shots to capture subtleties like only a true movie maverick could, the story is lacking. I found myself predicting every “twist” and “turn” of the plot and the story seemed to be in dire need of more subtleties and provoking dialogue rather than the grunts and racial slurs that became comedic by the end of the movie. Her’s poor performance as Sue had me wondering if I was watching a low-budget student movie or an actual big screen movie. Her history lessons and unconvincing emotion took away from the stellar performance of Bee Vang and also stole attention away from the lead, Clint Eastwood. Rather than focus on the story and plot I caught myself intent on Her’s misgivings as an actor and wondering when the next history lesson would come. Between the predictable plot and deficient supporting actors, Gran Torino was a poor way for a legend to go out.
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