When I first saw previews of this film, I wasn't sure what to expect. It appeared to be a clash of genres from action, comedy, mystery, to drama... Judging by the trailers I had no anticipation to see the film, until I began to hear some positive reviews from others. Just last night I finally went to watch it at a very nice AMC theater in Castleton... Overall I was impressed by the movie and found it to be very entertaining. It has a very unique dark style to it, set in 1890 Britain. Sherlock Holmes and his trustworthy sidekick Dr. Watson find themselves engaged in an impeccable mystery of black magic. The film was action-packed and full of many twists and suprises. Robert Downy Jr did quite well as the British genius, who had a physical fury to match his incredibly sharp wit. Jude Law also prevailed as Dr. Watson... The two of them make an unstoppable team of fast-thinking clever detectives who really know how to pack a punch. It's almost ridiculous of how quick and smart the character of Sherlock Holmes is. I guess that's what makes the movie appealing though!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Current Film Reviews: Sherlock Holmes
When I first saw previews of this film, I wasn't sure what to expect. It appeared to be a clash of genres from action, comedy, mystery, to drama... Judging by the trailers I had no anticipation to see the film, until I began to hear some positive reviews from others. Just last night I finally went to watch it at a very nice AMC theater in Castleton... Overall I was impressed by the movie and found it to be very entertaining. It has a very unique dark style to it, set in 1890 Britain. Sherlock Holmes and his trustworthy sidekick Dr. Watson find themselves engaged in an impeccable mystery of black magic. The film was action-packed and full of many twists and suprises. Robert Downy Jr did quite well as the British genius, who had a physical fury to match his incredibly sharp wit. Jude Law also prevailed as Dr. Watson... The two of them make an unstoppable team of fast-thinking clever detectives who really know how to pack a punch. It's almost ridiculous of how quick and smart the character of Sherlock Holmes is. I guess that's what makes the movie appealing though!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Random Notes
As I said before blogs have become extremely less frequent, but I'll still try my best to keep it somewhat updated...
I'm beginning my fourth week here in Fishers, Indiana working at the BACA... I enjoy the town and for the most part have gotten pretty familiar with everything. Yet I still have a long way to go to get familiar with the work. There are some days that go very well, while others extremely terrible. I'm told the good-day/bad-day swing is pretty common in the field, and the only thing you can do is learn from it, keep your head up, and keep going!
I have no internet whatsoever at my apartment, and to make matters worse I think the wireless card on my labtop might be fried. This means the only access to the internet I can get is here at the library or the BACA...
I've been in a solid opera phase for more than a month now, but think it's finally about time to put it aside and get into some different music.
I've seen several good movies lately, perhaps with reviews to come:
I'm beginning my fourth week here in Fishers, Indiana working at the BACA... I enjoy the town and for the most part have gotten pretty familiar with everything. Yet I still have a long way to go to get familiar with the work. There are some days that go very well, while others extremely terrible. I'm told the good-day/bad-day swing is pretty common in the field, and the only thing you can do is learn from it, keep your head up, and keep going!
I have no internet whatsoever at my apartment, and to make matters worse I think the wireless card on my labtop might be fried. This means the only access to the internet I can get is here at the library or the BACA...
I've been in a solid opera phase for more than a month now, but think it's finally about time to put it aside and get into some different music.
I've seen several good movies lately, perhaps with reviews to come:
- Maria Antonnette
- The Other Boleynn Girl
- Maria Full of Grace
Saturday, January 9, 2010
New Job at the BACA
I must sadly confess that posts will not be as frequent for a while, since I am now extremely busy working at the BACA... (Behavior Analysis Center for Autism). I moved in this past Saturday to Fishers Indiana, and pretty much hit the ground running. Monday through Friday was some intense training sessions, learning how to be a therapist. I wont lie its been pretty stressful trying to understand this new field of autism, with so much information to it. So many terms; Antecedents, Stimuli, Reinforcements, Motivational Operations, Stims, Mands, Verbal Operants, etc!!! My initial goal is basically to teach these kids how to talk, and to create a program for them so that they can better their verbal skills. I still have a long way to go to get comfortable with the work. At least most of the co-workers are friendly and some are very attractive, yet I'm sure lots of them are snickering behind my back (Since Carl hooked the job up)... Nonetheless as hard and daunting as it may be, I must go on!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
New Appreciation for Opera
So I watched Phantom of the Opera the other day, and after thinking about it for some time, I actually really enjoyed it. It was directed by Joel Shumacher, and is an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber's 1986 Musical. It stars Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler, and Patrick Wilson who all light up the screen with some amazing musical scores. Emmy Rossum was downright gorgeous playing the part, and it makes me wonder why she hasn't had any other success recently. The story consists of a woman who gets caught up in a love triangle between a prince and the phantom of the opera and she must choose one. The movie is full of powerful music, sets, and choreography. I would put it in a category above typical musicals such as West Side Story or Chicago, and put it with the masterful likes of Amadeus.
So I've began to see Opera in a new light and have come to really appreciate it over the past few days. I've always enjoyed Classical music, yet Opera is a whole different thing where dialouge is sung in extremely dramatic fashion. It is sung in duets, trios, quartets, and so forth all in the backdrop of beautiful classical music. I remember the first time I really experienced an opera was while watching Amadeus. It's beautiful music yet at the same time it can drag on back and forth, up and down, overly dramatic. This is one thing that comes with the Opera. It's a story through music, yet far more sophisticated than those noisy Broadway musicals. It's music at it's highest potential, vocalization at it's ultimate peak, and I think for this reason it should be appreciated. It's probably safe to say that your best singers in the world are Opera singers. Consider the list of masterful composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Stravinsky, all of which were operatic geniuses. I would definetely like to one day experience a show perhaps maybe in Vienna or Prague. Here are some pieces I would want to see:- Mozart: "The Marriage of Figaro", "Don Giovanni", "The Magic Flute"
- Richard Wagner: "The Rhinegold", "The Valkyrie", "Siegfried", "The Twilight of the Gods"
- Georges Bizet: "Carmen"
- Leo Delibes: "Lakme Flower Duet"
- Giacomo Puccini: "Turandot: Nessun dorma", "Madame Butterfly"
- Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman: "Con te Partio"
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Looking Back at History: The Ruins of Warsaw
During World War II there was no city in Europe hit harder than Warsaw, Poland. It all started in September 1, 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland so to have more land and resources. Under the rule of Fascist leader Adolf Hitler, a new system of totalitarianism and conquest was put into order so that Germans could be the superior race. This meant squashing those whom they considered inferior, most notably the Jews. The invasion itself was very fast moving and the Polish could hardly put up much resistance against both the Nazis and the Soviets. By October 6, 1939 Germany had annexed Poland. It wasn't long after until the terrible persecution of Jews began.
Following the invasion of Poland, the Jews were first branded so that the soldiers could tell them apart from others. They were then sent to ghettos, a tightly condensed area that was walled off from the rest of the city. Here they were forced to live with one another, secluded from the rest of society. It was only a matter of time before they begun to die of starvation and disease. The Warsaw Ghetto was by far the biggest in all of Poland, with over 400,000 Jews living in this tight area. To put things into perspective the area took up 2% of Warsaw, while it had over 30% of Warsaw's population. So basically what you had here was Jews living on top of one another.
By 1942 Hitler came up with his Final Solution, which was to totally exterminate all the Jews. Trains began loading Jews by the thousands, and sending them off to these far off secluded camps away from civilization. Most of the Warsaw Jews were sent to Treblinka, the largest of extermination camps, where over 850,000 were killed. There were many other camps throughout Poland, such as Auschwitz, Belzec, Sobibor, and Sajmiste that either forced the Jews to labor or sent them to total genocide. It was by far the darkest period of the Holocaust, and perhaps the darkest time of humanity.
Of course it was only natural that the Jews would revolt and uprise against their oppressors, the most famous of these being the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. I saw this battle recently portrayed in the Polanski film, The Pianist and was inspired by the Jew's courage. First was the actual coordinating of the uprising, which surely was no easy task for these harshly treated Jews. The Jewish workers managed to smuggle weapons into the ghetto, and create an underground resistance. On April 19th of 1943 they began their attack from the rooftops and windows of buildings firing handguns and gasoline bottles. These first few days of insurgency proved to be most damaging to the Nazis, who eventually had commander Jurgen Stroop take over the situation. Stroop neutralized the fighting by burning buildings down, and by May 16, 1943 the uprising was terminated. The conspirators were all executed, and in the end the total numbers were estimated at about 17 dead Nazis and 13,000 dead Jewish insurgents. And to top things off, Hitler had the entire ghetto razed to the ground following this uprising.
About a year later, with Germany beginning to lose their advantage in the war, the Polish Underground also decided to coordinate an uprising. They knew the Russians were closing in on the Nazis from the east, and felt that they had to win back their government before the Russians took over it. And so on the 1st of August 1944, a scattered uprising took place all throughout Warsaw where the Polish insurgents caught the Nazis by surprise. They fought in the streets, dugouts, and trenches using a wide variety of weapons. The uprising was intended to only last a few days, so to coincide with the arrival of the Russians. However it is believed that Soviet leader, Josef Stalin, did not want to enter Warsaw during this conflict and instead preferred to defeat the Nazis himself. And so after a month of fighting the Polish resistance was defeated by the Nazis, and once again much of the city was razed to the ground. Following the end of the uprising nearly 85% of Warsaw was in shambles.
By late September of 1944 the Soviets had defeated the Nazis on the eastern borders of Warsaw, and had control of the city of Warsaw. It is clear in my opinion that the Soviets chose not to aid the Polish resistance, so that they themselves could take over the country. Following the end of the war, Warsaw began its reconstruction as a Communist regime. Although much of its historical buildings had been destroyed it once again became the center of political and economic life in Poland. By 1979 Pope John Paul II helped liberate his native country to a democratic society. And so to this day Warsaw has moved forward from this terrible destruction brought upon them, and are now experiencing it's greatest economic boom. Yet it will always remain a significant historical sight. After reading up on the role Warsaw played in WWII, I myself am very interested in visiting the city.
Following the invasion of Poland, the Jews were first branded so that the soldiers could tell them apart from others. They were then sent to ghettos, a tightly condensed area that was walled off from the rest of the city. Here they were forced to live with one another, secluded from the rest of society. It was only a matter of time before they begun to die of starvation and disease. The Warsaw Ghetto was by far the biggest in all of Poland, with over 400,000 Jews living in this tight area. To put things into perspective the area took up 2% of Warsaw, while it had over 30% of Warsaw's population. So basically what you had here was Jews living on top of one another.By 1942 Hitler came up with his Final Solution, which was to totally exterminate all the Jews. Trains began loading Jews by the thousands, and sending them off to these far off secluded camps away from civilization. Most of the Warsaw Jews were sent to Treblinka, the largest of extermination camps, where over 850,000 were killed. There were many other camps throughout Poland, such as Auschwitz, Belzec, Sobibor, and Sajmiste that either forced the Jews to labor or sent them to total genocide. It was by far the darkest period of the Holocaust, and perhaps the darkest time of humanity.
Of course it was only natural that the Jews would revolt and uprise against their oppressors, the most famous of these being the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. I saw this battle recently portrayed in the Polanski film, The Pianist and was inspired by the Jew's courage. First was the actual coordinating of the uprising, which surely was no easy task for these harshly treated Jews. The Jewish workers managed to smuggle weapons into the ghetto, and create an underground resistance. On April 19th of 1943 they began their attack from the rooftops and windows of buildings firing handguns and gasoline bottles. These first few days of insurgency proved to be most damaging to the Nazis, who eventually had commander Jurgen Stroop take over the situation. Stroop neutralized the fighting by burning buildings down, and by May 16, 1943 the uprising was terminated. The conspirators were all executed, and in the end the total numbers were estimated at about 17 dead Nazis and 13,000 dead Jewish insurgents. And to top things off, Hitler had the entire ghetto razed to the ground following this uprising.
About a year later, with Germany beginning to lose their advantage in the war, the Polish Underground also decided to coordinate an uprising. They knew the Russians were closing in on the Nazis from the east, and felt that they had to win back their government before the Russians took over it. And so on the 1st of August 1944, a scattered uprising took place all throughout Warsaw where the Polish insurgents caught the Nazis by surprise. They fought in the streets, dugouts, and trenches using a wide variety of weapons. The uprising was intended to only last a few days, so to coincide with the arrival of the Russians. However it is believed that Soviet leader, Josef Stalin, did not want to enter Warsaw during this conflict and instead preferred to defeat the Nazis himself. And so after a month of fighting the Polish resistance was defeated by the Nazis, and once again much of the city was razed to the ground. Following the end of the uprising nearly 85% of Warsaw was in shambles.By late September of 1944 the Soviets had defeated the Nazis on the eastern borders of Warsaw, and had control of the city of Warsaw. It is clear in my opinion that the Soviets chose not to aid the Polish resistance, so that they themselves could take over the country. Following the end of the war, Warsaw began its reconstruction as a Communist regime. Although much of its historical buildings had been destroyed it once again became the center of political and economic life in Poland. By 1979 Pope John Paul II helped liberate his native country to a democratic society. And so to this day Warsaw has moved forward from this terrible destruction brought upon them, and are now experiencing it's greatest economic boom. Yet it will always remain a significant historical sight. After reading up on the role Warsaw played in WWII, I myself am very interested in visiting the city.
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