J-Pull's Poetry Corner: 10:47 PM

It's the return of J-Pull's Poetry Corner!
Today is DC's official Batman day, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Dark Knight. To do my part, I am posting a Batman related poem that I wrote during my junior year at EIU.
If you know the significance of the poem's title, mad props to you.

10:47 PM

A family of three walks out of the theater,
the boy ecstatic from seeing Zorro.
The father leads them to the back exit,
taking a shortcut through a dark alley.
The car isn’t that far, he says.
A chill fills the air, then he appears
his eyes focused on the mother’s pearls.
The father grabs him, and they struggle.
BANG! BANG! Echoes bounce off the walls.
Pearls and bodies drop to the ground,
spilling into the sewer.
He runs away, leaving the boy alone,
kneeling over his parents,
with nothing in his eyes.

Movie Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Damn Dirty Koba! (SPOILERS)

The 2011 release of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was a real game changer for the over thirty year franchise. With the advances in special effects, gone were the days of actors in make-up and costumes, replaced by actors in motion capture suits and then having their ape appearances created in post-production. As much as I enjoyed the original films, I really feel more immersed in the new series, because it's like I'm watching real apes. But besides that, there's real emotion being displayed in this series, thanks in part to Andy Serkis, the actor who portrays ape leader Caesar. Jump to 2014, we see the release of its sequel, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes". While I did worry how I would like the film because the first two trailers didn't really impress me, but the last one really sold me. Now that I've seen it, I can say that this film continues with what makes the first film great, as well as takes on identity of its own.

So let me set things up. It takes place ten years after the first film. Caesar has set up an ape society in the Red Woods outside of San Francisco, while a virus epidemic has nearly wiped out humanity, with a large group of survivors living in what's left of the city. The two societies have lived unbeknownst to each other. With power almost completely gone from the city, a group of humans enter the forest to find a dam that could generate more power for the city. This is when the conflict enters, as the two species finally encounter one another. Malcolm, the main human character, and Caesar, who does not want to start a war with the humans, make an uneasy pact where he would allow the humans to do their work and get power to the city. All the while though, fellow ape Koba wants nothing more than to be rid of the human threat, and is willing to do whatever it takes.

It's really hard to say whether I liked this film more or less than the last one. That's really due to the fact that they're almost like two different kinds of movies. With "Rise", it was more character driven, focusing on Caesar as he rises to power and leads his ape brethren to freedom, with the main action holding on until the climax as they escape to the Red Woods. "Dawn" is packed with a lot more action. However, that's not to say that it doesn't have retain the same emotional investment one would have with the characters, especially with Andy Serkis as Caesar. I really can't say anything about him that hasn't been already.
Of the new characters introduced, I really enjoyed the development of Caesar's son, Blue Eyes. As the son of the society's leader, it seems like he's trying to find his own identity while still living in his father's shadow, which puts them at odds for a good part of the movie. The real divider between them is their feelings towards humans. While Caesar has seen the potential for good in humans, Blue Eyes first experience is when he and Ash, Rocket's son, encounter a group of humans and Ash gets shot. With this experience, it would make sense why Blue Eyes would look more toward Koba for guidance, as Koba has had much harm done to him being a test animal, which is the seed of his hatred for humans.

One of the things that had me on the edge of this film was knowing that at some point, someone is going to do something to really screw things up, leading to war and death. It was just a matter of when the shoe would drop. For example, there's Carver, one of the humans. He kind of trigger happy and has a deep hatred and fear for the apes, blaming them for the epidemic that nearly wiped out humanity. He's actually the one who shot Ash, which makes me wonder why the hell Malcolm brought him along to work on the dam. Hell, he even took digs at both Malcolm and Ellie for loved ones they lost to the virus, and when they tell him to shut up, he responds with, and I paraphrase, "And I'm the asshole." Uh, yes dude. You ARE an asshole. You just insulted a man's dead wife and a woman's dead daughter. You are the personification of an asshole. Seriously, why the fuck did they bring him along? And if you can't hate this guy more enough, he even attacks Casear's new born son, who's just the cutest little thing (I know he's just CGI, but he's still adorable).

But with Carver, he's just an ignoramus. It's Koba who does the most damage, and does it intentionally, and it's what makes him a great villain for the film. You understand his motivations, and it makes you hate him and love to hate him at the same time. While Caesar doesn't want to start a war in fear of losing everything he built in the last ten years and risking apes' lives, Koba is to the other extreme. He just doesn't give a shit about how many apes die, as long as he has vengeance on humanity for all that was done to him. He's even willing to take apes lives that go against him. There's a real emotional part where he orders Ash to kill a defenseless human, but he refuses because it's not what Caesar would do, which leads to Koba throwing Ash off a balcony, killing him in the process.
It's the differences between Caesar and Koba that makes for a great climactic battle. Even while they're fighting, they have good dialogue as well, especially with Caesar's taunts, my favorite one being "Koba belongs in cage." It's those taunts that show Caesar's intelligence, knowing how to get under Koba's skin and make him act even more irrational than he was before. In my opinion, their fight is very similar to Anakin vs. Obi-War in "Revenge of the Sith" and Batman vs. the Mutant Leader in "The Dark Knight Returns."

Like the last film, it does make you feel for the characters, but in a few instances, it somewhat fails to.
The first one is Cornelia, Caesar's mate and Blue Eyes' mother. While Cornelia was introduced briefly in "Rise", she didn't get much attention as characters like Maurice and Rocket; based on the trailer, it looked like there was supposed to be a scene between her and Caesar, but it wasn't in the final cut for some reason. In this film, she is sick from giving birth to her and Caesar's second son. I know we're supposed to worry about her, but given what little we've seen of her, it's kind of hard to when the focus is put on others.
The other character that is hard to feel for is the leader of the human colony, Dreyfus, played by Gary Oldman. There's one scene where after they manage to get power back to the city, his iPad powers up and he looks at pictures of his family, who we're to assume he lost to the virus, moving him to tears. Again, we're supposed to sympathize with him, but we know very little about him. Compare that to a later scene where Caesar finds a camera in his old house and watches an old video of him as a baby with Will, the latter is more emotional because we know how close the two were. Besides that, earlier in the film, he threatens to kill all the apes if Malcolm fails in his mission. Though I guess it depends on who you sympathize more with, the apes or the humans. For me, it's the apes. Caesar said straight out that apes won't fight unless they have to. So when Dreyfuss still feels he'll need to fight after this, he's like Koba in that he's willing to risk lives.

Many have compared this film to "Empire Strikes Back", and it's true in some aspects. It really ups the ante from the last one, but where I think it really compares to "Empire" is that it ends knowing a sequel will happen. In comparison, you can watch "Rise" as a stand-alone film. True, a third film is already in the works, but it's partially a sin to end a film without a real conclusion. Sure, lay hints at something that's to come, but give us some closure on the meantime, and not a "To be continued...". I'm willing to bet that the next one will be called "War for the Planet of the Apes."
I will say though that the film's last moments aren't really original. In fact, there's parallels between that and the end of "Rise". You have the lead human character trying to convince Caesar to run from a coming threat, Caesar stands firm saying he will stay, with his fellow apes rallying to him for guidance. Again, nothing new. It's possible the next one may have a different, and maybe definitive conclusion (if the plan is to be a trilogy that is).

Considering this came out a few weeks after Transformer 4, a terrible film that's somehow making a lot of money, it's nice to watch something that reassures me that there's still quality story telling and worthwhile special effects going into cinema. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is a worthwhile experience. It retains the drama that made the first film great, but if you found that boring, there's plenty of action in this one to keep your attention.

RATING: 8.5/10

I end this with a few disclaimers though:
1. Be prepared to read. Not all the apes have learned to talk, so there's subtitles.
2. Unlike the last film, there's no mid or post credits scene. Found that out the hard way.

Ranking the Albums: Linkin Park

Those that have followed my blog would know that I haven't done any kind of music reviews. I've thought about it before, but I don't feel I have much merit to review music. I usually just like something or I don't, and some songs I don't care for at first usually grow on me on repeated listens. Still, I thought I would attempt a music related post.
Recently, alternative rock band Linkin Park released their sixth studio album, "The Hunting Party." I finally got around to listening to it this week between drives to and from work. It got me thinking where I would rank the album amongst the band's other work. As Linkin Park is my favorite band, I thought it would be fun to share my thoughts on the band's history. That said, I would like to call this the first edition of "Ranking the Albums." Ranking from worst to best, I'll explain my thoughts on each album, along with my favorite song from it. So let's get to it.

 

6. A Thousand Suns

 



At this point in their career, Linkin Park had started to put some more political messages in their songs. While it's nice every now and then, a whole album of it just doesn't suit well for a band like Linkin Park. Described as a concept album, "A Thousand Suns" mostly had a theme of nuclear warfare, even including sound bites from political figures like J. Robert Oppenheimer and Martin Luther King Jr. While I have softened up on the album over the years, I can't forget my disappointment during the first listen-through of the album. Knowing that it had the overall theme of nuclear desolation, it was hard to find any personal connection in it. Besides that, among the 15 tracks, only 9 of them were actual songs, the others being instrumentals or political sound bites. But what I really puts this as my least favorite Linkin Park album is that there isn't a real good Chester scream-o song. You can argue we get that in "Blackout", but I really can't qualify it as one, considering that it feels like two different songs combined into one track between Chester's half and Mike's. Honestly, there just wasn't enough Chester on this album, and a little too much rapping from Mike. Don't get me wrong, the combination of Mike's rapping and Chester's rocking is one of the reasons I first got interested in Linkin Park, but there has to be a balance. I think I stand with a lot of LP fans when I say that we would like to think this album never happened. Essentially, "A Thousand Suns" is "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."
FAVORITE SONG: "Waiting for the End"
As it took awhile for me to find the personal connection in some of these song, it was "Waiting for the End" that hit me the most. Everyone's been through the end of a relationship and just not sure where to go, and even though you want to move on, part of you wants to hold on to what you lost. Besides that, it does have a classic Linkin Park feel to it, with Chester doing most of the vocals with Mike doing some intro and interlude raps.

 

5. The Hunting Party

 



Their latest release, I am still getting my fill of this album. But at this point, I can say that "The Hunting Party" goes the opposite extreme of "A Thousand Suns." I get the sense that it's a concept album, but it's not all in your face about it like "Suns." For this album, the band really wanted to go back to their roots and be a rock band. The cover with a makeshift bow and arrow and the name "The Hunting Party" really seems to show off its feeling of going back to, shall we say, less sophisticated times. I really get that sense out of it too, because some of the songs sound really raw, almost like they decided to keep it in the demo stage. Also in opposition to "A Thousand Suns", while that album started out with an instrumental, "Keys to the Kingdom" begins "Hunting Party" with Chester screaming his heart out with no music at all; it honestly scared the shit out of me when it started. Again, the band really focused on this being a rock album, as I kind of noticed they didn't rely too much on any techno/mixing like other LP albums have. In a way, it's like the band has reinvented itself. True, the band essentially does that with every album, but here, it's like they rebooted themselves. Some songs have stuck with me right away more than others, but I had a more enjoyable experience listening to this the first time than I did "A Thousand Suns."
FAVORITE SONG: "Final Masquerade"
While my other favorite songs from the album "Wastelands" and "Rebellion" had a good rock feel, they lacked the emotion present in "Final Masquerade." It deals with how something you had much hope for in the future suddenly leaves, and while there were signs it was happening, you ignored it because you were so focused on the hope. The "Final Masquerade" is when you finally realize it.

 

4. Hybrid Theory

 

I know there's probably some kind of taboo about ranking a band's first album so low amongst their other works. I'll admit, I may have ranked "Hybrid Theory" higher if I got into Linkin Park when they first started, but by the time I did, they just sounded so young and different on this album compared to listening to the same songs when the band's older and playing live. Still, I'm not saying that "Hybrid Theory" is bad in any way. It's a classic and it was the band's starting point, but I just feel that the band got better over time.

FAVORITE SONG: "In the End"



How many rock songs do you know that start off with a piano? That's part of the reason why "In the End" stands out to me. The melody is catchy and the lyrics are timeless. Who of us haven't attempted something only for it to fall away?

 

 

3. Living Things

 

If "The Hunting Party" can be seen as a reboot for the band, then "Living Things" can be described as the culmination of everything that came before it. What I enjoyed about this album is that it mixes everything that worked in the four previous albums into one. You have the emotion and sound from "Hybrid Theory" and "Meteora" and the political aspects from "Minutes to Midnight" and "A Thousand Suns." And after the disappointment I had with "A Thousand Suns", when I heard the first single, "Burn it Down", it made me feel that this was the Linkin Park I remember. It was like after I was so disappointed in "Power Rangers: Operation Overdrive", which I consider to be the worst season of the franchise, then "Jungle Fury" came along and gave me hope for the Rangers again.



FAVORITE SONG: "Powerless"

While not a concept album, I feel like each LP album has an overall theme to them. "Living Things" dealt with how we as people must deal with how we are treated by others, especially the ones we love. While other songs deal with that, I feel that the album's final track, "Powerless" is ironically the most powerful of them all. If you really want to get a full experience with this song, you should really listen to the instrumental track before it, "Tinfoil", as it's essentially an intro into "Powerless."

 

 

2. Minutes to Midnight

 

To me, this is when Linkin Park really got serious. Before, I enjoyed them for their rock, but like Green Day before them, I now also listened for the messages within the songs. This album was able to keep a mix of the emotional songs, like "Given Up" and "Shadow of the Day", and the political songs, like "Hands Held High" and "The Little Things Give You Away." The other thing that made me saw LP getting more serious with this album was because this is the first time they actually use stronger language, like "fuck", and actually getting a Parental Advisory label. I know that may not be a big deal to some, but as a teenager in school where swear words were such a taboo, I thought it was cool to hear my favorite band actually use them.

FAVORITE SONG: "No More Sorrow"

I mentioned before how Linkin Park got more political in this album. Well, I think it's best personified with "No More Sorrow." While Mike was rapping in a more melodic tune in "Hands Held High", his first solo vocals song in the band I might add, Chester went the opposite direction with a rock fueled political protest song in "No More Sorrow." Hell, it's probably the ultimate rock fueled protest song. Listening to this the first time, I immediately got that the message was to Bush for all the shit he pulled, like lying to the American people. But aside from ripping on Bush, what also makes this song kick ass is the music itself. The guitar and drums play off each other well, especially in the opening, not to mention it's just something you can bang your head or start a mosh pit to.

 

 

1. Meteora



 

I'll admit, I may have a bias here. "Meteora" was the album that just came out when I first heard of Linkin Park. While it's argumentative that the album is similar to "Hybrid Theory" in some ways, I think that what puts "Meteora" above it is the sound. I sensed the band started to embrace the mix of techno and rock in this album. Besides that, I connected more with the lyrics of the songs in "Meteora" compared to "Hybrid Theory", especially with songs like "Somewhere I Belong" and "Numb."

FAVORITE SONG: "Faint"

This song is where it started it all for me. Imagine. You're listening to the radio. This song starts with a strange violin, the drums start in, all of a sudden it totally rocks out, there are two guys singing, one raps and the other is screaming like you never heard another singer scream before. When I first heard "Faint", it was just so different from anything else I heard before. Besides from the musical structure of the song, the lyrics spoke to me as well. I always felt unnoticed and not taken seriously, and I just wanted to matter. Hell, I still feel that way sometimes. The song itself actually presents itself in a way that you just have to notice. You may like it or not, but it'll definitely get your attention.

 

So this is how I rank Linkin Park's albums. Others may have a different opinion, and that's understandable. With each album, Linkin Park attempts to reinvent themselves and try to create a different feel. It may be to some people's tastes, while others may be turned off. I've always seen people say they wish they had the "old" Linkin Park back, but if they just did the same thing over and over, they would probably complain about that as well. Hell, even within their own songs, they reference those kinds of fans. My favorite instance was in "When They Come For Me" from "A Thousand Suns". They may not be able to please everyone all of the time, but I applaud Linkin Park for consistently treading new ground and not worrying about what anyone thinks. Even I may have my ups and downs with them, but I'll stick with them as long as they keep putting out the music they want to, and hopefully I enjoy it as much as they do making it.





Comics Review: "Amazing X-Men: The Quest for Nightcrawler" - Demons and Pirates and Elves, OH MY!

When the X-Men split into two teams led separately by Cyclops and Wolverine, it was my jumping on point to read the main books starring each side. Unlike Cyclops' "Uncanny X-Men", I was consistently entertained reading "Wolverine and the X-Men". While "Uncanny" was hit and miss with story that ranged from okay to boring, the school setting of Wolverine's team, with both the faculty and students, brought about a lot of fun. While I can usually handle serious storylines, "Wolverine and the X-Men" brought back an old school feeling in a way. It was set in a school and we got to see how the future of the team was being groomed by veteran characters, many of whom were fan favorites like Beast, Iceman, and Kitty Pryde. "Uncanny", while serious, just didn't hold my interest. But honestly, I have to give credit to my allegiance to Team Wolverine to the book's writer, Jason Aaron. So when I found out that his run on the title was ending and a new creative team would be taking over, I was a little lost. But at the same time, Aaron had already launched another X-Men book starting Wolverine's team, "Amazing X-Men." So I figured if I was going to add a new X-book to my reading habits, it would be by someone I know I would enjoy. I also decided to trade-wait for the new series, partly because it would save me money on my monthly pulllist. So without further ado, let's jump right in.

The first issue does a good job of setting up the tone of the series. After a prologue of Nightcrawler in heaven, we are introduced to Firestar, who many would recognize from the "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" cartoon, as she is joining the Jean Grey School's academy. As she enters the school, she's introduced to many aspects of the school that were testaments to Aaron's other book, such as surprise Danger Room exams, surprised by the kinds of students there are, the busy life of the faculty that include conversations you would never expect at a normal school, and of course, the little BAMFS, which are basically chibi versions of Nightcrawler, who have a taste for both chaos and whiskey, which they constantly steal from Wolverine. Through Firestar's introduction, new readers get an idea of what they're in for with this book. Not only that, but there seems to be a hint at a potential relationship between her and Iceman. Considering they were co-stars on the Spider-Man cartoon, it's a nice nod. Besides that, after Kitty selfishly left Wolverine's team to join Cyclops', Firestar would be a good fit for Bobby.

Of course as the title points out, Nightcrawler is the main focus of the book's first story. Years earlier, Nightcrawler had been killed during the "Second Coming" story arc, and has since resided in Heaven. At some point, Nightcrawler's father, Azazel, the demon many people would recognize from his appearance in the "X-Men: First Class" film, attacks Heaven, as part of a plan to steal souls and take over both Heaven and Hell, and even recruited evil souls hinted to be Billy the Kid and Jack the Ripper. To help stop his father, Nightcrawler is able to use recruit his former teammates and bring them to the afterlife, and leads them as only he could.

A good way this book has been described is that it's more about the characters than anything. I believe that holds up true with this story, as it shows how important Nightcrawler was to his teammates, including flashbacks of his interactions with Wolverine, Beast, and Storm. These moments were nice breaks in the action and help give you an investment in the characters, showing you that they're a real family, and not just superheroes.

Unlike a lot of reviews I do, this isn't really one of those big events that requires a spoiler-heavy analysis or makes you ponder what will happen next. Aside from Nightcrawler coming back to life (be honest, you know that's not a real spoiler; they promoted the start of the book that he returns), nothing really happens that shocks the foundation. It's just good old fashioned fun with the X-Men being heroes and fighting bad guys. It's what you'd want and expect from a comic book.

This story is bittersweet, however, because just as Jason Aaron gets things started, he would end up leaving the book after the first arc to work on other projects. Past X-writers Chris Yost and Craig Kyle would take over writing duties. Now, with Aaron gone, will I drop it like I did "Wolverine and the X-Men"? I'm actually going to stick around. When it comes to Jason LaTour, the new "Wolverine and the X-Men" writer, I was unfamiliar with his work, which made me hesitant to re-add the title. With Yost and Craig on the other hand, while I am only slightly familiar with Craig, I enjoy many things that Chris Yost has done. In addition to writing comic series like "Scarlet Spider", he has also worked on Marvel animated series like "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" as well as the script for "Thor: The Dark World." So while I haven't read their previous X-works, I have confidence that Yost and Craig will continue to deliver a fun X-Men book to enjoy.

Along with good character interaction and an overall sense of fun, I would also highly recommend the inaugural collection of this new series to Nightcrawler fans. Even without the blue elf, amongst all the comics with an "X" in the title, this is the X-Men book to be reading if you want some excitement and to see superheroes being superheroes.

STORY RATING: 8/10
RECOMMENDATION RATING 9/10