Senior Literary – Page 13 – Literary Arts Blogspace

letterboxd: the happiest place on earth

hello! this month, i’ll be talking about my favorite app–letterboxd. it’s a place where you can log, rate, and review every movie you’ve ever seen and even make lists of of movies you’d like to see. it combines my favorite things in the world–movies, analyzing, and list-making. in honor of my appreciation for the app, i’ll be listing some of my reviews to give y’all a sample of what letterboxd is like.

I Think We’re Alone Now 2008 ★★★★½

this, for me, is what documentary filmmaking (especially indie) is all about. a heartbreaking, raw, and sometimes hilarious picture of the lives of two very peculiar people. i love the low-budget look and quality. it’s provides an oddly comforting, fitting feel. every choice feels deliberate and perfect, right down to the title cards and closing credits. sean donnelly deserves way more credit for this. if you enjoyed this film, check out its website! it’s got cool bonus info and pictures.

Experimenter 2015 ★★★

i don’t completely remember watching this. i just remember enjoying it and thinking colin firth did a great job. imagine my surprise when i found that he is in no way, shape, or form in this movie. no clue where i got that from. good movie, though!

Practical Magic 1998 ★★★★★

never knew how badly i needed to see stockard channing and sandra bullock do witchcraft with stevie nicks in the background. perfect, warm, comforting. smilled so big my face hurts.

Cyberbully 2011 ★½

definition of camp. you had to be there.

The Way We Were 1973 ★★★★

heartbreaking in the very best way. something about them felt doomed from the start, but i rooted for them every step of the way. i absolutely love the dialogue in this film, to the point where i found myself typing notes as i watched. i’ll definitely be rewatching this movie as soon as i mop up all the tears from my floor.

Thelma & Louise 1991 ★★★★½

equal parts tragic and hilarious. a beautiful, messy story of two incredible women who thrive together. perhaps the best casting of a duo i’ve ever seen. God bless susan sarandon.

Halloween Ends 2022 ★★★★½

wow, people really hate this movie. personally, it might be my favorite in the franchise other than the original. i think that it managed to cut through the bullshit of the rest of the series and get back to the heart of what truly makes it so effective—the character-driven plot. halloween is so effective in making the audience fall in love with its characters—laurie, dr. loomis, even michael. and this movie, for me, is no exception. i definitely understand why many people didn’t like this film. most think that there wasn’t enough of michael, and that made it weak. i don’t feel that way. in my mind, halloween is and always was laurie’s story. and this was the perfect ending to it.

thanks for reading!

random keanu picture to sum up the past month of my life

Analysis of “Spillways” by Ghost.

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog! This week we’re moving on to one of my other favorite bands (out of the thousands). We’ll be analyzing the story beneath the lyrics of the song Spillways, which is one of my favorite tracks on the Impera album. I won’t be explaining the band Ghost to you all because that would take up all of my content, but I recommend figuring them out for yourself! Though I will say that they have a lot of religious imagery, but it’s not used in the way you think.

So, in an interview with Genius, Tobias Forge, the creative mind, composer, and lead singer behind Ghost, described the song as “an elegy for the darkness that most people have inside. When you have a dam, spillways are the run-offs so the dam won’t overflow. That darkness inside us needs to find its way out.” So, we’ll take that idea and run deeper with it. Let’s look at the lyrics and you can also click the link below to follow along!

“Through benedictionYou tried to rid your mind of maledictionBut through all this timeYou try to peel it off, and it is such a ride

This stanza begins the song with the words benediction and malediction, which are almost opposites. Benediction is defined as a bestowing of a blessing, and malediction is defined as a curse. So, in this story, the narrator is singing about someone who goes to church or any religious event to try and get clean or get rid of all their internal curses and evil urges.

All your faith, all your rageAll your pain, it ain’t over nowAnd I ain’t talking about forgivenessAll your faith, all your rageAll your pain, it ain’t over now

So, in the chorus here, it talks about rage, pain, and, most important of all, rage. He says that it isn’t over and that forgiveness isn’t even relevant in the conversation. It’s emphasizing the maleducative feelings from before that lead into the next stanza and referencing the forgiveness that is a big part of who god is amongst many religions.

It is the cruel beast that you feedIt is your burning yearning need to bleedThrough the spillways

The term cruel beast could be speaking about the beast inside the person’s mind, or if we take the religious route, it would be speaking in terms of the devil. Either way, the “burning yearning need to bleed” speaks of the person’s dire need to purge themselves of those evil and negative thoughts that metaphorically feed the beast through the spillways, which are devices used to ensure that dams don’t overflow and cause detrimental damage.

You keep a casket buried deep withinYou try to mask it, but fall back in sinYou want to shake it off, but you are stuck inside

The casket spoken of here is the darkness or sins mentioned prior. It’s an inescapable and unforgivable condition. They bury it deep within and try their best to mask those dark or sinful urges, yet they always go back to those old ways no matter how hard they try.

Through the spillways of your soul

The chorus repeats itself at the end a few times, but I noticed that this line had been added. The spillways of your soul would be the darkness that flows out in small portions to keep the big stuff from overflowing. The spillways of this person’s soul keep them from committing bigger and more evil sins by allowing them to spill out more minor sins despite the guilt that the person feels for “feeding the beast.”

That’s the end folks! Thank you for reading this month, and keep an eye out for next month’s blog. <3

Stranger Things with Jilli

Since this is the week that we are coming back from Thanksgiving for this week’s blog all want to interview somebody on what they are thankful for this week, I have Jilli Grace here to talk about how much she loves Stranger Things.

So Jilli, what made you want to watch stranger things?

“I wanted to watch Stranger Things because all my friends were watching it 1 and 2 because I saw like the growing popularity of it, especially over this summer and I wanted to see what this is about and so yeah that’s pretty much why also because I saw Joe Keery and Joseph Quinn and I thought they were fine.”

What is your favorite thing about Stranger Things?

“I just really like the vibe of Stranger Things. I like the 80s feel. I like listening to music that I grew up with; it makes me feel nostalgic. I also like the men, mainly Joseph Quinn. Yeah, he’s adorable. He’s my man, and I want to marry him. You know when I first liked the promo picture I thought he was ugly and then I started watching it and realized how charismatic he was and that’s why I fell in love because he’s so cute but yeah just because of the 80s vibe, the music, and the men.”

Who is your favorite character from Stranger Things?

“I have multiple favorite characters in stranger things. The first one is Nancy wheeler I just resonate with her a lot. My next one is Eddie love him so much even though he’s dead I still love him and you know he plays that guitar so well like oh my God Master of Puppets thing was so good did you know that Joseph Quinn played that live on set? I just think that’s so cool. My next favorite character is Eleven I know that’s basic but I just love Eleven. Plus Millie Bobby Brown’s my age .”

Would you recommend that people watch Stranger Things?

“I guess I really just depends on the person. If you want to watch kids running around, doing stuff, and going on adventures, then yeah. If you want the 80s vibe about it, yeah, but if that’s not for you, it’s not for you, and you know what, that’s okay. It’s okay that you don’t want to watch Stranger Things, but some of the crazies in the fandom will get you but I won’t get you because I’m cool like that .”

First Impressions: Where the Crawdads Sing

Image result for where the crawdads sing

Recently, I watched a movie with a friend of mine. Totally captivated by the plot, of course I sought out a book to match. Something about the coming-of-age murder-mystery had me intrigued, and as a true Literary artist does, I wanted to find the written text to match the piece of media I had been so interested in.

So of course, I went to my mother, the librarian, knowing that she had either read the book, or knew where to find it. And of course, she had one I could borrow.

Now, one may ask, Adele how can you write a first impressions blog about a plot you have already seen? Now, that. That is a wonderful question, and in response to that wonderful question I want to mention the infinite ways that movies and the books that they are based on are different. In reality, It is incredibly hard to bring all of the beautiful aspects that make up an original text into a two-hour rendition of the same plot.

Synopsis:

Where the Crawdads Sing is a coming-of-age murder mystery about a young outcast that lives in the southern marshes, aptly nicknamed Marsh Girl, who is accused of the murder of a local handsome, young man. The intertwining story lines take the reader on a journey that has the audience questioning everything they know.

First Impressions:

From the first chapter, the most striking part of the text is the beautiful imagery the author uses to describe the southern marsh, which many people would not view as such. Owens opens on a jolting scene that really sticks with the reader. The scene where the main character, Kya, watches her mother walk down the dirt road away from their humble home on the marsh, never to be seen by the family again. The only indication that she has left for good being her alligator skin shoes and the carpet bag in her hand.

In this chapter, the time jumps to heartwarming memories between her mother and herself, and eventually back to a memory of her and her siblings. The chapter really does a good job of showing what her core values are and how the family unit Kya was born into is damaged.

She is the youngest of five siblings, and her father is a horrid, neglectful man. This fact made the impact of her mother leaving her earlier in the chapter even more heartbreaking.

Overall, I really enjoyed the emotion put into this first chapter, and I definitely am excited to keep reading.

Assumptions:

Okay, since I have already watched the movie I am going to skip out on this part of our regularly scheduled programming.

I am so excited to get into this novel, especially since it merges two of my favorite genres, and a setting that has so much depth. There are hundreds of ways that this book will definitely be different than the movie that I watched, so I am not going in with any expectations as to how they will be the same.

What makes a scary movie… scary?

Hello everyone and welcome back to this month’s blog! By the time this is put up it should be October! If you know me then you definitely have heard of my love for horror movies! So, in honor of this month, I will be going through a few different techniques used in horror movies that really amp up the fear factor! I will also be putting examples from different movies linked in the list! Enjoy.

Story

The story is one of, if not the most, important aspects of creating a horror movie environment. It can either make or break a horror movie in my opinion. For example, The Conjuring does an amazing job of creating a truly terrifying story, especially since it’s based on true events. Their story had me engaged, invested, and practically hypnotized into the film. They created bonds between characters that felt so real and so strong, so that when the threat came you were almost falling out of your seat to make sure each person is safe and sound. On the other hand, the Saw franchise is an example of how a lousy story can break a movie. In the first movie, things were okay. It was intense and all, but I felt nothing towards those characters except for sympathy pains, which are caused by the overuse of body horror (my least favorite kind of film). It relies on gore and gruesome bodily harm to scare the watchers instead of creating depth and real deeper fear.

Locations

Location is another aspect of horror cinematography that I think also decides the type of fear that the watchers feel during a film. It can create a wide fear or a narrow fear. For example, Scream takes place in Woodsburrow, a quiet suburban town where nothing really happens. This creates a wide fear of unsafety within somewhere you would have already perceived as being safe. You could even go as far as saying that Texas Chainsaw Massacre could create a fear of backroads and hitchhikers. An example of a location that seems to create less fear for me, is in the movie Old, where they end up on a beach that makes them age super quickly. I find this particularly un-scary because of the very low possibility of this ever happening to me or anyone I love.

Sound

Sound is by far my favorite aspect to talk about. I can sit through a horror movie and afterward talk about how scary or how impactful the soundtrack was. Sounds within a movie can also become a cult-classic detail that thrives within the horror community, like the Halloween theme that I learned how to play on the piano. While that soundtrack has become less terrifying over the years of popularity, the original impact has stuck with horror movie fans for years. On the other hand, one of James Wans’ newer films Malignant had a magnificent soundtrack, and in some scenes, the lack of sound was what made it amazing. My first time watching it, the sounds made me sit up straight, and I have terrible posture. I will link those two songs used in scenes from those movies below.

Halloween: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPSXZxia23k

Malignant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2J2Gr65tp8

Lighting

In many newer films and some of the old ones, light has been used in creative ways to create a sense of dread. As humans, we always wonder about what we cannot see, whether it be under the bed or the dark end of the hallway that we can’t quite see. The idea of the dark and what may lie beneath has inspired so many great films that are great because of the use of lighting. Like, Lights Out, outright tells you what they’re going to use to scare you, and it worked. The scene I linked below is the one that stuck with me the most.

Lights out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw84SFLxC_o

Angles

Finally, we have come to the last aspect that always stands out to me when I watch horror movies. Angles, paired with lighting and sound create the most fear-inducing combination. There are so many different ways to use angles in movies as well. For example, The Blair Witch Project and As Above So Below are two found footage films that use the found footage format to their advantage, by being able to hide parts of the set while also being able to do quick turns to lead the watcher right into the scare. Another way to use angles is what I call a predatory angle. It’s most well described as the perspective of the predator. It makes you worry for the prey, mentally begging them to turn around and catch their stalker but it also gives you insight into the stalker’s motives or patience. Jaws and He’s Out There have really good examples of this that I will link below.

As Above So Below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekqjBZdbYJU (Graphic imagery warning)

Jaws: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrEvK-tv5OI (around 1min in)

Thank you all for reading this month! Have a very scary Halloween. See you next time! <3

World Building Project pt. 14

…there is one tragic event that can further explain the stigma against aliens, even centuries after the Great Tunnel War. Of course, I use the term “Aliens” as a rather broad word, but I only mean to define differing sentient species which share no common planet, culture, or ancestor, in an unbiased fashion. In order to understand the modern world and its ongoing conflicts one must understand how they were first rooted, and to say that this event did not inspire the ever-present vitriol of today’s society would be foolish at best, and a lie at worst.

Anyway, it began with the celebration of flowers; ironically, an annual festival dedicated to the unity of different peoples through nature, which lasts for five days. While the holiday is celebrated everywhere, it is especially prominent in the Postaton planet of Flux, where (due to the planet’s rotation) the days are longer, thus, the celebration is as well.

Though, as the fifth day turned to night mobs began to form at the Postaton capital of Mirrelm. This could have only been the result of a controversial bill that was passed during the celebration, in an attempt to avoid hostilities on the Postatons part. Specifically, the bill had to do with the conservation of sentient species, through the capture of a few dozen randomly chosen citizens. That may not sound so terrible, but the manner of containment is widely considered… unethical. The captured citizens are put under a medically induced coma and are essentially dissected in order to store genetic samples and such, should the species ever go extinct. These captured citizens range from Lilarianads, Sterges, to even many nomadic peoples like the Buboes, Erucians, or Nule.

As the night went on, the mobs turned into riots and even a few vigilantes broke into the Postatons storage facility to free the captured citizens. This is the falling domino that spurred off the Postaton’s next drastic move.

The Postatons, who had long warned against any mass upheaval in their lands, had finally kept their word. With their complex knowledge of metallurgy and electronics, they set their Titan Enforcers loose on the crowds and the whole city of Mirrelm. While said vigilantes were killed, so too were the captured citizens and 207 rioters. The carnage made in the midst of the festival of flowers would earn the notorious name “Night of Red Petals”

In the following years, this event was used as an arrow in the quiver of many isolationist groups, denouncing the holiday of unity as a demonstration of how different sentient species should never be intertwined.

let’s talk spooky movies!

hey, blog! for this post, i wanna talk about one of my favorite genres of film–spooky. not necessarily horror movies, just films that have a fantastical, scary, or autumnal vibe. (a legit horror movie list will likely arrive later). i’ve been rewatching lots of my halloween favorites lately, and i figured this was the perfect place to recommend some of them! so, without further ado, (and in no particular order) here are some great spooky movies!

practical magic (1998)

NEW PRACTICAL MAGIC | Perry O'Toole A&D

this is a movie that i watched for the first time recently, and i fell totally in love with it (thanks, locklyn)! it’s got the perfect blend of romance, nostalgia, and fantasy. plus, sandy bullock, stockard channing, and nicole kidman–how can it get any better? the soundtrack, too, is truly a beauty to behold. stevie nicks, joni mitchell, elvis–all my favorites in one place. another thing i love about this movie is that the dynamic of the family reminds me so much of my own. i could see glimpses of my mom, aunts, cousins, and myself in the characters. 10/10 spooky girl power comfort movie for sure.

the rocky horror picture show (1975)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show Very Rare Vintage Original ST Promotional Poster | eBay

fellas, this is one of my absolute favorite musicals, and the 70s movie is my favorite adaptation of it. rhps is hands-down one of the most creative, odd stories ever told, and this movie is the definition of a campy glam rock masterpiece. susan sarandon and tim curry (as always) are phenomenal and make this wacky, low-budget movie stand the test of time. the songs are bangers from start to finish, and the script is endlessly quotable.

p.s. msa students are putting on a production of it on halloween night, and i may or may not be playing janet weiss!

the addams family (1991)

The Addams Family (1991) - IMDb

let’s get one thing straight–when i reference the addams family, i am always, always referring to the 1991 version! what a fun, campy, macabre masterpiece. when i was little, i got so excited when this movie came on tv because i was always compared to wednesday–and maybe, in hindsight, that was meant as an insult to my pessimistic nature or rbf, but i took it as the highest compliment because in my eyes, wednesday was the coolest ever. to this day, i want what morticia and gomez have. talk about a family who minds their business, keeps their circle small, and looks out for their own. the american dream, if you ask me. the cast is a delight, as well–houston, ricci, and julia deserve nothing less than three academy awards apiece. the perfect comfort movie for little girls who have dark humor and can’t seem to fit in anywhere.

well, that’s all for now. ’til next time, have a happy halloween!

(and come see msa’s production of rocky horror!)

First Impressions: A World Without You

As a literary artist, I often times get burnt out on writing which in turn also seems to discourage me from reading. Too many words in such a short span of time makes my head spin, but as I am in my senior year, I have been working on many things that could make my writing process more productive and less destructive.

One of those things being a steady writing and reading schedule. So as I started this journey, I thought to myself – What could hold me to reading new books every month? And the conclusion I have come to? Blog.

In this series of blogs, I am going to review the first chapter of every book I read, and hopefully, remember to do a final recap of my thoughts towards the end of the year. There is so much to get from an initial chapter of a book, but I can only assume that my first impressions will be far different from what I leave the book with.

For the first blog in this series, I am going to be giving my initial thoughts based off of the first chapter of “A World Without You” by Beth Revis. Before I give my thoughts on it, I do want to give a warning for slight mentions of death, nothing specific, but the first chapter does involve a funeral.

The book opens up from the point of view of Bo, a seventeen-year-old boy at Berkshire Acadamy, a school on a small island off of Massachusetts. He describes the island as a gloomy place that barely ever sees sun, and from what he says about it, I imagine it to be almost like the island in “Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children” which I love.

In the chapter, Bo is heading towards some kind of ceremony, but it isn’t really clear that he is heading to a funeral until the second page when he comments on all the food in the kitchen. “Why do all old people cook when there is a tragedy?” So true.

After that, Bo is lead to a ceremony in the courtyard of the school by “Doctor” who is introduced as a teacher of sorts. This is where the reader finds out that Bo’s dearest friend, Sofia, has passed away – although it isn’t clear how. At the ceremony Bo and a few other people are asked to say a few words and release a lantern in honor of Sofia, but Bo’s distaste for the whole situation leads him to opt out of speaking much.

After, Bo manages to slip away and the chapter leaves off on him saying he is going back to the last place he saw her.

Okay, now that we are through with the synopsis, here are my first impressions of the book.

1. Something is off…

So from the first chapter, I was able to gather that the untimely death of Sofia had some suspicion surrounding it, or so I believe. Just the way Bo describes how uncomfortable he is with the whole situation leads me to think that there is something more to just a young girl who passed away.

2. Bo has family issues?

At the ceremony, Bo sees his family seated and glares at his father. It seemed to me that there were some underlying issues that may be the reason Bo is now at a boarding school

3. Bo was very in love with Sofia.

This one is the assumption I am most sure about. Just the way Bo describes his mourning over Sofia is different to that of a friend. I am really interested in the relationship between the two… even though I know this book will likely leave me sobbing.

So far this book already has me hooked on the concept and I am really excited to see what the plot develops into.

Hopefully, I will keep up with this blog series… If I do I’ll update when I am done lol.

my top 5 monster high characters

In the spirit of Halloween, what is more fitting than monster high? So for this blog I will be listing my top 5 monster high characters. Whether it be for looks, personality, or the movie they are in these are the ones that have always stuck with me. Monster High was a big part of my childhood. Even my little brother (who was obsessed with the power rangers) enjoyed the movies as well. I feel honored to have grown up and been able to experience the magic of Monster High in real time. There was always a rush of excitement whenever a new movie would be announced. I always looked forward to seeing what new character designs we would get to see. Now currently Monster High is being rebooted, and while I’m happy, nothing will ever beat the original. Lets get started.

Starting with number five:

C.A Cupid

I have just always loved Cupid so much. Cupid was introduced in “Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love?”. I was obsessed with her character design. I love her pink hair, and her heart shaped lips so much. I also loved her role in the movie. (I’ll try to include a picture, but it might not work)

At number four we have:

Elle Eedee

I was OBSESSED with her doll so much. I just remember being in love with her color pallet and design. Her hair was a combination of purple and blue, and it was just the most beautiful thing to look at. Elle is a robot who appeared in the Boo York movie. Her name is a pun and I thought that it was so clever. (L.E.D)

For number three we have:

Honey Swamp

Honey was introduced in the “Frights Camera Action!” movie. Her character design is just flawless to me. I love her color pallet, but her hair is definitely my favorite. Also her name is so cute. I wish I could have gotten her doll.

At number two we have:

Lagoona Blue

Lagoona was the first monster high doll that I ever owned, and she is also a part of the main cast. I love everything about Lagoona. I love her Australian accent, and her personality as well. Her hair is gorgeous as well. One thing about monster high is they’re going to make sure that the hair is perfect. There is no telling where my Lagoona doll is now, but wherever she is may she rest in peace.

And now for number one:

Operreta

Operreta has just always stuck with me for some reason. Her character design is absolutely gorgeous, and I love the fact that she has a southern accent. Operreta is the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera, and she loves music. She will always have a special place in my heart.

Honorable mention:

Ghoulia Yelps

Ghoulia is just so cute to me. I love how she’s a zombie, but shes probably the smartest character in the entire series. I love everything about her!

On an Unsociable Family… and a relatable poem.

Recently, I one of my favorite hobbies is to hit “generate” on a random poetry generator. More times than not, I find myself liking a poem, but not really relating to them. But the other day I found this poem that I became obsessed with.

Some of my favorite poems are the ones that portray mundanity in a way that carries over to almost anyone who reads it. This poem is slightly a different variation of a portrayal of mundanity. In this poem, Elizabeth Hands tackles explaining her family dynamic in a way that many can relate to. Throughout the poem, she shows the reader how even in her own family, she often feels as if there is no real connection.

One of the lines that really stuck with me was when Hand states,

“O what a strange parcel of creatures are we,
Scarce ever to quarrel, or even agree;
We all are alone, though at home altogether”

Through these words Hand perfectly sums up the feeling of monotony that comes with her family’s perfectly “fine” relationship. She shows how the in between that her family’s interactions reside in is often lonely, because it results in the unintentional distancing from each other.

I think this poem really speaks to the time we are in. Especially with the way technology consumes us today, many times you can feel alone while in a room full of people. Elizabeth Hand really connected this feeling in a later portion of poem too.

“Like social companions we never fall out,
Nor ever care what one another’s about;
To comfort each other is never our plan,
For to please ourselves, truly, is more than we can.”

This line ends the poem on such a relatable note. At first I only thought about the poem on surface level and didn’t think I could relate to it. I have a wonderful family, and most of the time, I feel like we are all very connected to one another. But as a reread this poem I realized that it speaks to so much more than what it was intentionally written to mean.

This poem really captures the energy of how many of Gen Z feel when surrounded by our older family members. We, as a highly technological generation, have formed a sort of disconnect with the older generations unintentionally. Because we are so enraptured by the technology and all the information we have at the tip of our fingers, many times we forget to connect with our families and friends physically. We forget the importance of human connection.

I think this really speaks to the reach of art and how even after decades, art can speak to anyone.