Faith and Proof of Life

So...I've not written over here in over nine months and over at ClicksFlix for over five months.  Why is it that these breaks come and go in such long periods of time?  And I'm reminded of everytime my mother wishes that I see a doctor or go for walks every afternoon after work.  My response to her pleas is, "Sure, I'll do it" and then I never do or plan to follow through with that lifeless shrugging response.  I mention to people that I meet in life that I'm a blogger and then, afterward, momentarily wonder if they actually check me out.  But the thought process stops there; I don't get lightning-struck with the fear that I'm not writing, I just know that I have written in the past and that I'm not writing now.

When I do exercise some fitness activity, it tends to be walking briskly for a half-hour in the afternoon in the park near my apartment.  So, if my mother asks me to get out and walk today, the excuse would be that it's too hot or humid, or that I have to do something else that needs doing or that I just don't feel like walking today because what good does it do me in the end.  And the same could be said of this blog: I don't feel like writing today because I share my home with someone else now, and they may or may not want to watch that film tonight, or because I'm afraid the review doesn't make sense or I don't know who reads them anyways or that the people I hope will read them may or may not read them and does my way of thinking matter and any other fears that come up.  And I know I don't have a writing problem, I have a faith problem.  And I have recently lost my faith.

Faith is defined as confidence or trust or belief in a person or a thing.  I've always loved the films or scenes that overwhelmingly swell with faith in something, someone or the mission at hand.  These always attach me emotionally to the film or scene and I'm inspired.  But life is harder and I'm reminded that the messages in the faith-full scenes and films that I love are messages meant to ring true in the lives of the audience members who are seeing them.  And I'm reminded of a few scenes regarding faith.  One being from an episode of CW's Supernatural called, appropriately, "Faith".  The episode deals with a faith-healer who heals one of our heroes and, in the end, loses his ability due to the loss of the creature doing the actual healing.  Our healed hero speaks with one of the congregation who failed to have her illness cured by the faith-healer, she tells him: "If you're gonna have faith, you can't just have it when the miracles happen, you have to have it when they don't."  So, the chips are down right now: I'm not being hired to be a critic for an entertainment magazine nor am I surrounded by people who sincerely want to hear what I think about the latest movie to come out and I still fail to reach out to parts of my family who aren't interested in stories the way that I am.  But I need to go on, for no other reason that I believe that my talents need to be used and that I still love fiction and I still do want to be a film theorist and critic.  I need to believe in myself and my talents and write because I want to, not because it'll make me famous or popular and that other people following are only the blessings that come as a surprise.  One of my favorite shows of all time, The West Wing, says it well in the episode "Two Cathedrals," when the ghost of Mrs. Landingham is discussing with President Bartlett the answer to the question of him running again: "You know, if you don't want to run again, I respect that.  But if you don't run 'cause you think it's gonna be too hard or you think you're gonna lose -- well, I don't even want to know you."

Vacation's over.  Time to get off the mat and write, because my skills need sharpening and I'm tired of being on the floor.  I begin next week with Wall Street.  See you soon and happy watching.

Running Scared

New post up at Clicksflix.com...come on over!!!

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Coming Soon: Blade: The Trilogy

Fast Five

Over at Clicksflix.com, we return to the fifth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise...join us!!

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Coming Soon: Running Scared

The Chronicles of Riddick

We end The Chronicles of Riddick over at Clicksflix.com...come on over!!

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Coming Soon: Fast Five

Pitch Black

I'm back and posting...starting with Pitck Black, over on ClicksFlix.com...come on over!!

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Coming Soon: The Chronicles of Riddick

Century Hotel

100 Years. 1 Murder, 3 love affairs, 4 lost souls, 7 stories...One Hotel Room. New post up over at Clicksflix.com.

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Coming Soon: Pitch Black: The Chronicles of Riddick

Alice

Join us for a trippy tale down the rabbit hole for Syfy's Alice at Clicksflix.com

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Coming Soon: Century Hotel

The Three Musketeers & The Man in the Iron Mask

All for one and One for All!!! New post, here at clicksflix.com.

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Coming Soon: Alice

Sense and Sensibility

So...I'm back in the saddle again!! There's a new post up at clicksflix.com for Sense and Sensibility

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In: Emma Thompson

Out: Hugh Laurie

Coming Soon: The Three Musketeers & The Man in the Iron Mask

Burnout, Respite and The Spice of Life

So, Click's Flick on a Stick has been up and operational for a whole year; and Clicksflix.com's been up for about six months. I just picked up my first new Texas Inspection sticker for Max, my Honda CRV: one of the reasons I'm writing this blog in the first place. In the past year, I've killed one of my credit cards and by this time next year the other will fall. The debt war will end in less than two years; hopefully the blog will keep up with the fight.


I've been absent from this page for quite some time, in fact I've not written for a little over a month. After Christmas, following my post on Corpse Bride, I reflected on the need to have the proper setting and physical conditions to be properly critical during a film watching. And, before that, to prepare purposefully for the effect that art has on the soul. This one is about endurance, the capacity of something to last or to withstand wear and tear. And so, in May, I decided to take a break in order to take a rest and run this race as a distance sport. This project is a marathon, not a sprint; therefore, I've got to pace myself.


Burnout is the reduction of a fuel or substance to nothing through use or combustion. It's also a physical or mental collapse caused by overwork or stress. This is something I've experienced before. Before the inception of the project, and before Max and I got together, I used to attend three movies a week, in the theater (both in the dollar theater and the prime theater,) becoming insensitive to the power of what I watched. At some point, a few summers ago, my interest in one my loves had dwindled and I felt numb. I actually said to one of my friends, "I'm not that interested in movies right now," a major shock to all!!


My advice, if you're like me at all: change it up. I'm a Netflix member. My queue is jam-packed with movies and television serials, like everyone else's. My parents have more content on their lists than I do on mine. They only get two discs at a time; I receive four, one from the movie list and three from the TV list. I do this to fend off burnout and to change it up, making my viewing less tedious. I also own several different TV shows, to fill the gaps between Netflix deliveries. "Variety is the spice of life," someone said and I agree full heartedly. If you are in danger of burnout: spice it up and shock yourself back into the game. Also, don't be afraid to rest: read a book, knit a scarf, build a house with Habitat for Humanity, learn an instrument. Just get out of your lab and unplug. There's a reason our bodies shut down every day, the critical mind is no different.


I'm starting up again next week...be seeing you!!


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Coming Soon: Sense and Sensibility

Love Actually

Love is in the air at Clicksflix.com: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=337

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Coming Soon: Sense and Sensibility

Underworld: A Classic Rivalry

Join us at Clicksflix.com for a new post on Underworld: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=334

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Coming Soon: Love Actually

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Alice is back!! New Post at Clicksflix.com: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=331

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Coming Soon: Underworld: Vampires vs. Werewolves, a classic rivalry

The Fifth Element

I've posted the response to The Fifth Element over at ClicksFlix.com: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=327

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Coming Soon: Resident Evil: Afterlife

Die Hard: A One Man Fight in Four Parts

John McClane's alive and well over at Clicksflix.com...join us: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=324

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Coming Soon: The Fifth Element

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Join me at Clicksflix.com for the latest review: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=318

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Coming Soon: Die Hard: A One-Man Fight in Four Parts

Sleepy Hollow

Come on over to Clicksflix.com for a new post: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=274

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Coming Soon: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Penelope

A response to one of my favorite romance stories; come on over: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=271

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Coming Soon: Sleepy Hollow

Find Me Guilty

New movie response up at Clicksflix.com: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=269

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Coming Soon: Penelope

Fast & Furious: The Series

We've got a new post up at Clicksflix.com, come on over: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=267

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Coming Soon: Find Me Guilty

Death Race

We've got a new post on ClicksFlix.com: http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=263

See you over there!!

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Coming Soon: Fast and Furious: The Series

The Contender

Available at our new home here http://www.clicksflix.com/?p=257

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Coming Soon: Death Race

Click's Flick on a Stick is Moving!!

Due to several factors, the most important being that I've been blessed by the thoughtfulness of a good friend and have my own domain name now, Click's Flick on a Stick is moving!! One of my friends gave me an extremely thoughtful gift for my birthday, a new place to hang my hat for Click's Flick on a Stick. And I've been very pleased with the way it looks and behaves (I've been posting there for about eight weeks now) and how easy it is to use, so I've decided to start posting there exclusively, beginning next week. However, I'll post a link over there for a while on Blogger so that readers can easily find the posts they've been looking for...everything is the same over there as it is here, except a few asthetic differences. There is an RSS you can subscribe to so that you can see when a new post is up. I look forward to seeing you there. Click's Flick on a Stick will now be at: http://www.clicksflix.com/ See you soon with The Contender!! ~Heidi Michelle Click

Batman: A Series Analysis

As a series, this one's very inconsistent. Installment to installment, besides the Nolan Era, each differ in production design, in editing and story pacing, acting, music that this series can hardly be defined as a series. A series is, a number of things, events or people of a similar kind or related nature coming one after another. In the fact that Batman, Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon and the Bat Signal are in each installment make it one, but the differences and continuity are so choppy due to the writing, production styles and the fact that four differing actors play Batman and Bruce Wayne, to varying effects. As a base, Tim Burton's Batman, really was a poor start. His focus on The Joker rather than the tortured soul of our protagonist Bruce Wayne and his fractured self Batman, was a poor choice to begin with. We're supposed to emotionally connect with Batman and with Bruce Wayne, but his story was glanced over in favor of the insane and really flatly written, but richly played, Joker. As I've said, the defining characteristics of the Burton Era is it's Noir Properties. But the story runs slow, as Noir stories do, but this one is slower than the likes of great modern Noir, such as LA Confidential, who's vice and vestigial virtues were beautifully constructed and the pacing plotted the story's journey so smoothly my soul ached with the sadness that accompanies such films. But God's in the details, someone said at some point, and this one's got all the noir properties. And this time around, the third journey through this so-called series, I noticed that the sets are particularly detailed that the film might've been part of the classic His Girl Friday or It Happened One Night. Especially the newsroom set where Vicki Vale and her colleague Knox are researching Bruce Wayne and Batman. It's a classic newsroom set and we're comfortable believing in the agelessness that it Gotham City, something that is surprisingly consistent in each installment until the Nolan Era. Whereas Tim Burton drags in his first installment, he doesn't disappoint in his second. We still don't focus on the troubled man that is our hero, but we get to see more as we see the life that is Oswald Cobblepotts and the parallel that he seems to have with Wayne's. But the beautiful part is the dark romance and commiseration between the duality in Catwoman and Batman. Michelle Pfieffer's work on this character is the reason I love this particular installment. Catwoman has everything a completely brassed off woman who's just been empowered with new confidence but homicidal tendencies. However, all she wants is some peace, and the head of her boss and murderer on a platter. So her fractured personality is what Bruce understands and their passion is as feral as the cats that turned her. It truly fits with the Noir properties of the Burton era, and Pfieffer's completely smoking. She completely commands the climax, with such power that it's impossible not to be in awe. She is the perfect femme fatale. Schumacher's Batman Forever is nothing but action and the pacing is quick and operatic with musical performances by all involved. Also, we finally engage the emotional connection we've been wanting in regards to the troubled past of our dark avenger. And passing it off with great finesse is the absolutely fabulous, Val Kilmer. He has a calm with can only be read as haunted and, because he is, he's able to get through to a hot-headed Robin. The partnership of Two Face and The Riddler is appropriately entertaining and just as colorful. This one reminds me that the series is based on a comic book, due to the color and quick pacing. The action never seems to end and the emotion seems as out of control, making for a good balance. Performances are all top notch, allowing us to enjoy the experience. Honestly, until the Nolan era, this one was my favorite. I'm such a fan of everyone involved in front of the camera and I don't mind all the colors, chaos and flatness from Two Face, I enjoy the multiple angles of story lines and the focus on the blossoming partnership between Batman and Robin. Its pacing allows for my brain to calm and for my senses to just take over; it's very capably done and does what it means to. So, in the end, it really is all right. Suiting up for the "red-headed stepchild" of the first four installments, George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell hit back as Batman and Robin against Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman's Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy. Suiting up, Batman and Robin are up against bad cliches and forced emotional content when Schumacher's era comes to a close. With competent performances turned in from Alicia Silverstone (who, I think, should have sported a British Accent) and O'Donnell, rock solid ones from Thurman and Clooney and unfortunately, a spot on performance from Schwarzenegger, why, then, does this one turn me off? Besides the addition of Batgirl to the Bat Cave (which is, in itself, a weak plot point) the series' momentum, emotionally and literarily, goes nowhere. The plot reads as a "creature of the week" episode with little work done on the mythology. In previous opinions, I've only thought that Clooney is good as Batman alone, but now I'm convinced he does Bruce Wayne justice as well. But Thurman's work on Poison Ivy is beyond brilliant, she steals (whatever is there to steal) the show from her Gotham City entrance (at the costume gala) to her final fight with Batman, Robin and Batgirl. It's a shame, really, that this cast wasn't given more to work with so that the audience feels less robbed. Wisely, Christopher Nolan chose in Batman Begins to reboot the series beginning with Bruce Wayne's childhood tragedy to his rise as The Dark Knight with his defeat of Ra's al Guhl and The League of Shadows. Nolan and David S Goyer's carefully sculpted starting point for the career of Batman and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne teems with an emotional plot that drives forward ensnaring the audience from the start. Production design shifted in the exact polar direction from Batman Forever and Batman & Robin which hardens the edges and gives an air of realism to the Batman Universe allowing the audience to connect to that world, because Batman is feasible, having no super powers of his own. Christian Bale's casting also gives an air of The Everyman, along with the royalty that is Bruce Wayne, giving the audience a relatable protagonist; we hurt when he does, we can feel cocky with him, and relate to his desperation and despair. And Bale's physicality grants him the "street cred" necessary to prove Batman's feasibility. Adding to the realism is a job well-done by the prop department in that all the gadgets and vehicles are designed from current technology. Not only is Batman's casting supreme, but the others are brilliantly done, as well. Michael Caine's Alfred offers a wise and physically capable presence to the series which is slightly more credible than long-standing Michael Gough's. Cilian Murphy, Tom Wilkenson, and Liam Neeson offer very human performances, without overdoing their presence allowing us to connect and showing us the danger of human corruption. Katie Holmes offers a positive and duty-driven presence, which wisely shows Wayne the way toward Batman in Rachel Dawes. Morgan Freeman shows us, in Lucius Fox, a wise and technically and scientifically savvy man who's been waiting for Batman and Bruce Wayne to come to Gotham in order for him to fulfill his destiny. And then, Gary Olman, whose presence adds hope, humility and honesty showing that not all in Gotham is rotten and that good people need Batman's help. The brilliance of the duality of James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer's battling scores presents an emotional support as well as the adrenaline rush driving the fighting spirit behind Batman, battling for dominance over which persona the man will choose. And it's beautiful. Realism drove Batman Begins, but it's hysterical tension that drives The Dark Knight. From the opening scene with The Joker's bank robbery, which the mechanics of the filmmaker's craft is so brilliantly executed, the tension is assisted with absolute class, toward the final monologue delivered with inspiring feeling by Oldman, this film is excellent and outstrips all five predecessors without effort. Dull sorrow which is unending from the final crisis, Rachel Dawes' death and the scarring of Harvey Dent, through the final fight leading to the end aids the audience to realize the real conflict beneath all the action, through to what is really at stake both for Batman and Bruce Wayne. And the agent of that conflict explains himself in what we're made to believe is the climax, but the real climax is yet to come and the face off between the architects comes to the conclusion which gives me goosebumps and stops my breath every time the film concludes without fail. The performer behind the tension is The Dark Knight's crowning jewel, in a performance conspiracy theorists name as the contributing factor leading to his death: Heath Ledger's brilliant, disturbing, honest and completely human take on Batman's arch-rival, The Joker. Unlike the ballistic nature of Nicholson's performance, and the complete lack of a backstory, Ledger's Joker is never out of control. He is Iago; twisting, seducing in manipulation toward an end that turns the foundations of decency topsy-turvey. No one leaves the story untouched by The Joker's reign of terror; in the end, Batman sacrifices his reputation in order to begin the slow climb back to balance the scales, and Bruce Wayne loses the love of his life. But sacrifice is what superheroes do: for their protectants, their cause and for the greater good. This series, along with most superhero stories, inspires its audience to not be complacent with the suffering of a bleak society and to help the helpless. The dangerous man is an indifferent man, and so the role models some look to are superheroes. Superman is dedicated to "truth, justice and the American way." The Boondock Saints destroy all that which is evil, so that which is good may flourish. Daredevil seeks to achieve justice for those whom conventional justice has failed. Superheroes sacrifice their own desires, needs, comforts and, sometimes, their lives to prowl the night helping others. May we be as bold in the daylight, even as "mere" humans, because even if The Nolan Era's Batman is feasible, he's still fictitious and we are alive, here and now. **** IN: Michael Caine Out: Gary Oldman Coming Soon: The Contender

Batman: Superheroes, Sidekicks and Their Friends

Batman, Iron Man, Superman, The Punisher, The Fantastic Four, Spiderman and Buffy The Vampire Slayer all share the same thing: they fight evil, either alone or in a group. Sky High's Coach Boomer divides his freshman class of super-people into two groups, heroes or side-kicks. Of course, each hero has his choice of who he tells about his hero identity and the private war fought against the seedy underbelly of their city. Some superheroes fight with a tight knit group of "non-super" people who know their secret, keep it, and put their own touch on the hero's operation. I'm going to divide them into five separate groups: superhero, sidekick, secret-keeper, oblivious accomplice and weapons-master. The first group is the easy one: The Superhero. This person is a benevolent fictional character with superhuman abilities. This is the leader of our team, it's his persona that "the bad guy" fears. He sets the tone for the style of the operation and chooses who to fight and how to live outside his superhero personae. It's his choice to include others in the fight and which level his private and public worlds are made aware of the man behind the mask. Some choose to be publicly known, such as Iron Man and The Fantastic Four, while others choose to hide themselves from the public and their family and friends. Most choose the latter to safeguard those who they love, while others keep their public face secret and let a small group know. For instance, initially only one person knows that sixteen-year-old Buffy is The Slayer, her watcher, Giles. Batman is initially this model, too. Alfred is the only one who knows initially knows that Batman's public face is Bruce Wayne, but he eventually lets others into his confidence, building a network of people who are hip to his real mask. Working alongside the superhero is his close associate, but sometimes equally skilled friend and partner, or, as Coach Boomer would call him: "SIDEKICK!!!" This person has different skills to the superhero, but is dedicated to the same goal. His origins have an initially dark past linked with the superhero. Most often, it's someone who's younger and inexperienced, suffering a loss that is caused by a chosen inaction by the hero which devastates their world. They discover, on their own, the public identity of the hero and demand to join the team. Sometimes, however, as is the case with Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it's one of the hero's friends who's gained a skill, leveling the risk taken fighting "the bad guy." Or sometimes, the hero is just incapable of taking on his opposition by himself, such as is the case with War Machine in Iron Man 2. Robin comes from the dark past angle, as his parents and brother are killed by Two Face Harvey Dent because they are trying to stop a terrorist attack by Two Face who's trying to call out Batman. Batgirl, on the other hand, is a skilled fighter and daredevil, who discovers the Batcave on her own and chooses to help Batman and Robin fight Poison Ivy, Bane and Mr. Freeze. She later proposes joining them, to which Batman agrees. Borrowing the term from the Harry Potter Series, The Secret-Keeper is self-defined. These are people who are aware of both sides of a Super-Hero's schizoid personality and choose, sometimes to their peril, to seriously keep the public identity confidential. Whereas sidekicks and weapons-masters can also be secret-keepers, secret-keepers are not always on the front lines. Pepper Potts, Mary-Jane, Lois Lane and Xander Harris are prime examples of those who sometimes are on the front lines but sometimes are made to stay behind while the battle rages. Alfred Pennyworth, Vicki Vale, Chase Meridian and Rachel Dawes are Batman's Secret Keepers who don't fight on the front lines. Richard Grayson, Barbara and Lucius Fox are secret-keepers who are either sidekicks or weapons masters. Although it can also be said that Alfred is a weapons-master also, due to the fact that he is responsible for the kit that Batman, Robin and Batgirl use for four of the six films. Speaking of weapons-masters: this is the person responsible for the weapons, armor and vehicles that the superhero and his sidekick use. JARVIS, with instructions from Tony Stark, is Iron Man's weapons-master. Rupert Giles is Buffy's. Reed Richards does the kit for the Fantastic Four, which mostly consists of their uniforms, but there is a vehicle involved. For the Burton and Schumacher eras, Alfred is Batman's weapons-master, as he fixes, designs and suggests possible armor, vehicles and weapons for Batman, Robin and Batgirl to use. The position is shared in the Nolan Era by Alfred and Lucius Fox, who in The Dark Knight, helps out with Batman's fight against the Joker in the final showdown. Leaving the last one, the oblivious accomplice. This is someone who is aware of, and helps, the superhero but doesn't know his public face as the one behind the mask. This is best exemplified by Jim Gordon of Gotham's Police Force during the Nolan Era. Gordon, during the Nolan Era, is the only clean cop on the force and Batman assists him in bringing in the mob boss of the city. However, he's not aware of who Bruce Wayne plays during his off hours. This is clearly portrayed during the Joker's hospital hostage situation when Bruce saves the Joker's intended target and plays dumb when Gordon checks on him. Superman's Lois Lane personifies this character in Superman, although she eventually figures out that Clark Kent is Superman. As I've said, I like a diverse cast; but, in order for a great cast to happen, good characters must be present. And I'm not just attracted to the bad side of the story, I like seeing well-done "good guys," too. And the Batman series is full of wonderfully fleshed out "good guys." **** Coming Soon: Batman: A Series Analysis