Pende's Voyage

The Tour Guide that stol’th my Heart

With a face that compar’th to Art

He speak’th a Song

For you’th I Long

This is mine

This grotesque, unfailing caricature

I see you clear as day

When I close my eyes

I feel the sure, gripping weight

Of your fingers in the dark

So familiar they feel like mine

And gone with the break of the dawn

Your voice is the haziest

Piece of the puzzle

Snippets of sound I remember

But aren't mine

The whole world loves you

The symbol of you

I only love you

When I think of you

A whole picture of a man

Great, golden in glory

Will I ever see you

Every day

I see the world the way

It is

It was

It never will be

Fate doesn't see

The thin webs that link

The Oppressed to the Leavened

Just once in a while

I see a young girl smile

And I think

How do they fit 

In your hands so nice

Through oozing satin

With ease they slice

Shapes like the curves

Of a woman but none

A Picasso painting

The ladies of Avignon

My work can’t compare

To the wonder of yours

Still nip at your heels

I must endure

Talent sparks the tips

Of your fingers

Creativity flourishes

Through you and lingers

Each snip and cut

Only serves to extend

The legacy you leave

By your thieving hand

While I sit in your shadow

And stew

On the world 

Below his mouth in the encompassing warmth of our shared bed

A woman lays vulnerable to his will and his whims

Ready to please, to give, to love a man that is not her own.

Red

In my

Eyes as he wraps her up in his arms. I

IMDb.com

The much anticipated Elton John biopic directed by Dexter Fletcher and starring Taron Egerton hit the theatres with a bang. The trippy musical used John’s song not just as a soundtrack but as a medium to propel the story forward. The film takes a journey through Elton John’s life, the highs and the lows, and all along the way we are serenaded by the illustrious product of Bernie Taupin and Elton John’s collaborations. 

Egerton, who plays Elton John, took the role and made it more than a man in a movie. His Elton is angry and confused and so unlike the man the world came to know on stage. A new side of Elton is portrayed as Egerton spends a good portion of the movie in an AA meeting. It makes the film feel intimate and vulnerable, something which is in low supply in the world of rock and pop stars. 

NewYorker.com

The costume department put together a show of their own, stunning viewers with showstopping outfits that are proven to be true to form by pictures of the real Elton at the end of the film. If Rocketman doesn’t receive a nod for costume at next year’s Oscars, we should riot. 

Add in the massive boost the supporting cast, such as Jamie Bell and Bryce Dallas Howard, gave the film, and you’ve got a winner all around. Elton would not be the man he is today without his songwriting partner and his mum, and this film would not be the same without Bell and Howard, respectively. 

Verdict: See it in theatres!

Lost in dictation,

Warning: Spoilers!

The Russo brother’s Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of 11 years of truly revolutionary story-telling. The story arcs of not just the original six, or A6 as they’ve come to be called, but the film lives of countless characters have been weaved into one final film. That film took everything we’ve ever loved about the MCU and put it on clear display for all to witness.

The original six are left to pick up the pieces after the snap in varying shades of despair. Tony Stark, played by the illustrious Robert Downey Jr., is emaciated and despondent when we first see him, which triggers a deafening roar for the need to protect him from the fans in the audience. That energy flows through the entirety of the film, carrying the viewer through one cataclysmic hurtle after the other. We don’t give up and neither will they.

Each character knows this is it; each actor knows this is it. This movie concluded the current phase of Marvel films and this was the last time all of the actors we’ve come to love would be together on screen playing the characters we’ve come to live for. 

The nostalgia of each of the 22 films leading up to Endgame compounded into familiar one-liners and tear-jerking goodbyes. The directors used every reference they could from the other films to give the viewer a taste of the good times we’ve all shared in this journey.

The vibes were good but they would be nothing without the twist-and-turn story and top-notch artistry. We are ripped out of our comfort zones from the moment the movie begins, leaving us with gaping mouths and thoughts of, if that’s how it starts, imagine how it ends. 

The plot only thickens with each character that’s reintroduced. Just when we think we have a shot, not 20 minutes into a total run time of three hours, our hopes are dashed and we are taken back to the drawing board. That sort of push and pull tugs us along with the characters through the story of saving the ones we lost. 

And save we did, but not without cost. That, if nothing else, is the takeaway and the defining feature of this enterprise. Never before in the history of superhero films have the heroes lost. It was unexpected and jarring, but we knew we had hope because there was one last film. The innocent child in me, if I were to have one, was hoping without hope that this film would tie things up in a delightful little bow and we’d all walk out pumping our fists and patting ourselves on the back.

I should’ve known better.

Marvel was never one to hold to the cultural standards put in place for their genre. There was no way we were getting out of this unscathed. The losses we took in Endgame will forever be held as a perfect example of film imitating life. In real life, we don’t come out of impossible situations without losing something or someone and neither did the Avengers. 

Their loss is our loss and we will be forever grateful for what those six characters, and all of the amazing women and men of Marvel, have done for every fan and fanatic our there. We’ve stood with you, and now we fall with you. We love you 3000, Tony Stark.

Lost in dictation,

DC’s newest addition to its superhero movie catalog is David Sandberg’s Shazam! starring Zachery Levi (Chuck). Shazam! is an inventive and real take on the superhero genre that keeps you smiling hours after you see it. From the moment Billy Batson, played by Asher Angel, meets the wizard, we know this isn’t going to be your typical caped-crusader flick.

The film holds true to that broken mold through the introduction of the villain Doctor Sivana, brilliantly brought to life by the malefactor master Mark Strong. Shazam! takes every opportunity to make fun of itself, a surreal mockumentary of sorts, which brings a light-heartedness to a genre that tends to take itself too seriously.

Batson is a foster child with a pension for running away from home. When he’s put in a group home with former foster children for parents, we are introduced to a refreshing take on the family behind the hero. Batson’s foster parents are eccentric but would go to the ends of the earth for a boy they just met yet love deeply. They play a vital role in making Batson a real boy.

Shazam (Levi) is Billy Batson’s other half and is hilarious top to bottom. Levi has the heart of a child and it shows in his genuine portrayal of one of the funniest superheroes in comics. If not for Levi’s wit and honest way about him, Shazam! could have been the laughing stock of DC, in all the wrong ways. Lucky for us, that’s not the case.

The best parts of the film were when the cast and crew let loose and didn’t take themselves too seriously. The movie is, after all, about a young boy who finds a wizard that gives him magical powers when he says….“shazam.” There’s a lot to laugh about, and Shazam! doesn’t miss a beat.

Lost in dictation,