Cogito Ergo Sum Piscum

This is the semi-official, but also hopefully humorous...(err...dare I hope for intelligent?), blog of a Composition instructor.

 

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Posted by: Maardvark at September 27, 2004 10:34 | link | comments |

Random Thoughts on Films etc

Clearly I did not continue to blog the next morning.  Har har har.

Recently, while taking a break between grading papers and not completing my Ph.D. program applications, I had the opportunity to see Resident Evil: Apocalypse.  It was not a pleasant experience.  I actually, ahem, sort of liked the first Resident Evil film.  I, however, was rather unhappy to see that the producers of the sequel opted to put Jill Valentine, not in her S.T.A.R.S. uniform, but rather in the hooker-gear that is so popular for female video game characters. (Ahhh...at least men...er boys?.... can still gawk at computer-generated women.) I would not be upset about this if there was even the faintest attempt to justify it--beyond of course the desire to please the game fans. Milla J.'s character, Alice I believe, is more than 50% nude frequently, but usually for a slightly justifiable reason. For example, when the mad scientists of the Umbrella Corporation collect her body from the helicopter crash site, and they want to clone and/or revivify her, they put her in something that I assume was supposed to be a man-made womb (ahhh the irony); of course, she's nude. I don't have a real problem with that. I do, however, take issue with Jill Valentine shooting up everything in sight while in her hooker-gear, when she clearly would have the equipment to dress more for the occasion (i.e. zombie infestation/outbreak).  I suppose these rants are unneccessary because the thin plot and horrible characterization are enough of a reason to trash the film, and they have nothing to do with the wardrobe, or lack thereof.

If you find yourself cheering along with me, however, and are also a feminist horror film fan (antithetical though the two things may be), you might want to check out Ginger Snaps and its sequel. For those of you who enjoy lycanthrope films, this pair will be a treat.  The special effects are not the best in the world because the original film was produced by a small (Canadian?) company, though the sequel was picked up by Lions Gate, I think. The sequel has a shinier, prettier feel, but ultimately has a much darker ending than the original. The little girl in the film is excellent--and she provides some humor if you are a comic book fan.

You can read about the original at the Internet Movie Database, which has a forum for people to post reviews about specific movies.  The sequel has reviews located here.

Posted by: Maardvark at September 21, 2004 10:59 | link | comments |

This is my first time blogging on motime.com, so I will have to get used to the features here.

Well, on to business. The first entries that I will be asking my students to make in their blogs will discuss a recent piece of writing that they have undertaken. The text that we are using this semester has a basically good message I think: the call to write is an important call and something that we should not shy away from. So I am asking my students to try to think about what has made them write in the past.

Well, I can ask them to do that after I have shared with them some of the things that have made me want to write.  How horrible is it to admit that my fascination with literature did not begin with some well established and respectable author, but rather with the popular author Stephen King?  Well, I guess I am admitting it.  I have had a love for words since I found myself deeply attracted to King's worlds as a young child; the dark, the mysterious, the brooding monster just outside my range of vision in the bedroom. I suppose I recognized at that young age that words have real power; how else could they make me feel so scared?

So, flashforward all these years into the future. Now when I look at myself as a writer, I see someone who is vastly different than the kid who found King on her mother's bookshelf.  I don't want to be a creative writer anymore, at least not in any sort of realistic sense. I'd love to be a great poet, but I think part of growing up is realizing one's weaknesses and strengths. I've realized creative writing is not mine.

The most recent thing that I have written that has been of scholarly import, to me anyway, is my thesis.  More on such tomorrow morning hopefully. . .

Posted by: Maardvark at September 01, 2004 02:53 | link | comments (2) |