Blankets- Blog Post

This was the first time that I had seen a trailer for a book.  I actually didn't know that book trailers existed...but I guess they do.  I thought the trailer was incredibly well done, although very simple, it managed to go over all the main themes, plots and characters.  The graphic novel starts out going through Craig's childhood and teenage years,  and goes over how he and his brother would share secrets under the blankets and how he had to overcome many "demons" and difficult things in his life.  Another main theme that arises in this novel is faith and the devotion to God/Jesus.  I for one grew up questioning my parents (who were never very religious) about God and church and why the Bible says certain things.  Because they could never give a good answer I disregarded the idea one "correct" or "proper" religion.  Craig also questions his faith and is very unsure of everything, even more unsure once Raina comes into play.  Craig's relationship with Raina is the most important and by far most interesting aspect of the novel.  I usually don't go for lovey-dovey bullplop, but this was strangely intriguing. I would probably do the trailer the same way if I had the option to, I didn't see anything wrong with it.  It was straightforward enough for me to understand what the novel is about, but ambiguous enough to leave me wanting more.  All in all, great trailer, great book.  

The Incredibles is not just a family movie about superheroes fighting bad guys, it goes much deeper than that.  The Incredibles deals with fame, being shunned and hated, living in the past and going through a midlife crisis.  The movie opens up with a scene from the past when Mr. Incredible was in his glory days and how the world loved him, fast forward a decade and things are very different.  His family is shown as being very dysfunctional just like in your typical 2000's sitcom, the siblings hate each other, the baby is too much to handle and the wife stays home and takes care of everything and she doesn't like it.  Dad comes home from work angry and proceeds to sneak around.  Ahhh the American Dream.  Going back to the family, one member in particular is very symbolic.  Violet, the daughter has the ability to turn invisible and the ability to create force fields this is her way of hiding from the cruel world and all of her insecurities.  Even when not using her powers she tries to behind her hair.  Most of the other characters aren't very symbolic.  However they do things that are symbolic.  For example when Mr. Incredible wears his old suit instead of the new one it shows that he stuck in his glory days and that he isn't ready to move on.  When he fights the giant robot while wearing the old suit he realizes how weak and out of shape he is.  After this he starts working out along with bonding with his children and when that montage is over, he finally dons the vibrant red suit.  He and the family all wearing red suits which represent strength defeat the villain, Syndrome in the end.

Kill Bill

I don't know if I have one favorite movie, but I do have a favorite director:  Quention Tarantino.  I love Tarantino movies they always have great dialogue, good action, fantastic soundtracks and loads of  super stylized violence.  All these elements make for a pretty damn good film and in Kill Bill, I feel like these elements blend together perfectly.  The first time I saw anything by Tarantino, I was very young.  I snuck out of bed into the living room and hid behind the couch while my dad was watching Pulp Fiction.  When he noticed me he told me I was too young to watch the movie with him (I was 8).  But I knew that one day I would watch it when I was older.  I have since seen the movie and it is one of my favorites but not as good as Kill Bill.  Kill Bill is number one because the story is told out of oder across two fantastic films and the watcher has to piece together what is happening throughout.  The film is essentially about a deadly assassin killing other deadly assassins that already "killed" her.  Her final fight with the boss, Bill, isn't much of a fight at all.  It's the two of them having a civil conversation and then her doing some weird five finger pressure plate touch thing (you know what I mean).  Bill is very peaceful and once he accepts that he is going to die a dramatic burst of music sounds and a beautiful song illustrating redemption, closure, pain, victory, loss, sadness, and joy all at once beings to play.  This was the perfect way to end the perfect film.