#master thoughts

Master Review: Black Panther

            I’ve seen my share of Marvel movies and at this point they’re ok. They’re not bad, but they do get a little gimmicky after a while. In general, a marvel film is light, fun to watch and experience but doesn’t hold up the 3rd or 4th time watching it.

            Black Panther does not suffer from this trend of Marvel films in the slightest. This movie has weight. It has an in-depth plot that has you at the edge of your seat for the majority of the film. I also have to note that the pacing of this film is incredible. Every moment is entertaining and I spent my time watching it either in wonder and awe or in suspense and curiosity.  

            This film tackles hard questions and ideas. Ideas that most films won’t go in 100 feet of. That’s what adds the weight of this film. Every moment feels important. Throughout the film I felt just as conflicted about what I personal wanted to see the character do. The film uses each character to shed a different perspective on the goals of the protagonist who is T'Challa the newly made king. T'Challa is faced with the decision of helping others around the world or remaining in isolation not just for himself but for his whole country of Wakanda. Every moment you feel with T'Challa as he wrestles with the idea saving the impoverished communities.

            This movie also has a good story line. Never seeming dull and repeated. As the film introduces you to the wonders of Wakanda it also explains the rules of the land as you go on this journey. This also adds to the suspense’s of several of their fight scenes which get more intense as the film goes on.

            After I finished watching this film, one of the most telling things was the conversation I had with the people with me. I said that this was a really good film, definitely one of the best Marvel films. Then the person sitting next to me said “oh yeah I forgot it was a Marvel film” meaning that this film was in a league of its own. Its definitely stands out for being great. The characters were dimensional and I felt that this film was one that I could enjoy and not force myself to suspend disbelief. The whole film felt credible and relatively realistic.

 Master Review: Lion

            Having seen my fair share of sad films. I went into the film Lion prepared for the assault on my heart and my emotions. This film did deliver on that front, but not in the way I expected. This film is a journey. It will have you at the edge of your seat for most of the way. From a photographer’s standpoint this film is gorgeous. Often times this film would take a pause in-between scenes or time changes and take the time to show off the beauty of the environment the story was in.

             While the cinematography did stand out it was not the only thing. This story takes you on the life journey of Sacroo. The Films begins with Sacroo helping his brother make money. Here we’re shown a window into rural India. This view will make you appreciate the comforts of life we take for granted. It’s this feeling despair for this children who have to grow up in a world where basic utilities are not provided. Naturally the comforts and opportunities that come from a proper infrastructure are not provided either. This causes a chain reaction of emotions to follow. First it puts your current life struggles in perspective. Then it makes you realize how fortunate you are just because of the location of birth. As I was watching this film I remember thinking of Anne Hathaway’s line in A Dark Knight Rises. “You’ll wonder how you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us”.

            This film gets darker when Sacroo accompanies his older brother for a night shift. The Older brother Guddu does not think it’s a good Idea but decides to bring the five-year-old along. Sacroo doesn’t even make it all the way to work he is so tired. So Guddu tell him to stay at the station. But after falling asleep on a parked train Sacroo wakes to find the doors locked and the Train hundreds of miles away from home.

Techno-lust

         First of let me start off with saying that “Techno-lust” is a huge problem. I think that part of the problem is generational and the result of the computational nature of our world and how that has entered into the realm of photography as it stands today.

         I have not defined Techno-lust yet, throughout this article I will endeavor to deliver examples of what I believe are symptoms of this term ‘Techno-lust’. For now, let me offer this simple definition of the word as: To want and wait for the newest technology, weather a reality or on the horizon of existence.

         Do I suffer from this Technological desire? I think so. But I find that as I grow older the exponential growth of technology is not impressive but expected. An example of Techno-lust is getting an IPhone 6 and after only two months of owner ship planning to get the IPhone 8. You Don’t even know what the features are of the IPhone 8, but you can expect it to be better. Instead of just enjoying your time with the IPhone 6 you spend most of your time fantasizing about what could or could not be in the IPhone 8.

         With Computers come upgrades, with upgrades comes performance increases and with gained performance come new features. So what does computers and their upgrade cycle have to do with art and photography. We’ll almost everything. Ever since we left film in favor of our computational friend the digital sensor. We handed control over to the computational power of the camera for quality increases. Their computational increases takes many forms in photography. The better the processor in the camera means the larger the files it can handle. Which means it can capture more pixels.  We see improvements in storage, Faster write times means the camera spends less time loading and saving images giving you more time to capture your subject. A feature sport photographers rely heavily on.

         There is still an art even if we let the computational models take over our workflow. Photographers still have to know the pitfalls of the digital sensor. The speed of their storage methods. The resolution for their target platform. Which brings the term Techno-lust back to focus. With any project workflow be it for Photographic stills or for the film media the desire for product upgrades is strong. So strong that I would not be surprised if other creatives had held off on creating projects while waiting for either new releases of camera gear or rumored updates for professional software.

         The other issue with techno-lust is the desire to get the latest and greatest. Going back to our IPhone example. You know IPhones are announced in September, but your IPhone 6 was just stolen and its July. You could replace it by getting an IPhone 6S but you also now if you wait just two more months there might be an even better phone. This is the Technology on the horizon. You know that something better is coming and it effects your current buying strategy.

         Bringing this thought process to the creative side of production. You currently own an older cinema camera. It was state of the art when you purchased it. You’ve already shot several productions with it. But it’s highest recording resolution is 2K. You know with the arrival of 4K TV’s that your previous productions will not be Native 4K. This is a problem. Nobody wants to create content that is native to a legacy format. This problem is complicated even further because since you purchased your 2K cinema camera the company you trust has released a 4K Cinema Camera of your choice. But It’s already been out for two years, so you know that a Newer is about to be released. Now the problem emerges. Do you wait an unknown amount of time for the chance of a newer technologically better solution? And continue creating productions at the non-native 2K.  Do you upgrade to the current Solution? Even though you know and upgrade version of your solution is on the horizon.

X-Men: Apocalypse

            The Nerds have won. Being a self-proclaimed Nerd and Geek that phrase brings me nothing but pleasure. That and the phrase “We’re taking it over” referring to the rise of geek culture not only reaching the level of pop culture, but also becoming the dominate culture. Today has never been a better time for science fiction. It has never been a better time for the comic book movie. Some said it wouldn’t last but it’s already lasted longer than some had predicted. We now live in an age where we can expect multiple marvel movies a year. We live in an age where we can expect a Star Wars film every year. It truly is the best of times in the world of cinema and Nerd life.

            I would have loved to be a child now to see all these films as my younger self. I would have eaten them all up with joy. Now It’s fashionable to get into arguments over DC and Marvel, and I smile when I hear these take place in the most unusual places. But that’s not the real point of this post. The real point of this post is a review of X-Men Apocalypse.

            Going into this movie I heard a-lot of negative things. I heard through the grape vine that this was a franchise ending film. With the connotation that it was so bad it would literally end the franchise. So I went into this film with a heavy heart. Hoping against all hope that this would be a film worthy of the X-Men Franchise.

            There is another side of me that also held out hope for a different reason. I’m not going to lie I like DC Comics a lot. And for one reason. Batman and the Batman universe (Gotham city Sirens). The Christopher Nolan will forever hold a special place in my heart and in my Blu-ray collection. The jury is still out on this Batman Vs Superman. So now that I have admitted my Favoritism you have to know this. Marvel Under Paramount i.e. the entire X-men series is a very very close second. And X-Men Apocalypse does nothing to taint the image of Marvel/Paramount.

            Following the reboot from X-Men: Days of Future Past, this film starts of the introduction of the main villain who we’d be dealing with for the rest of the film. Throughout the film we are re-introduced to the younger versions of X-Men Characters that we knew and loved from the Original X-men Films. In no way do these younger characters seem awkward. In fact, seeing their younger self a now knowing the alternate future that was the Original X-Men has you rooting and waiting in anticipation for these characters to “Discover their full potential”.

            So how do I feel amount this film now that I have had some time to reflect on it? I think it was a top notch film. This film has a wide range on emotion that it will evoke on its viewers. There are definite scenes that will have your eyes water up. I found myself thinking in the voice of Sean Bean from the Fellowship of the Ring, “Can’t you just let him rest? Can this character get any normalcy in life, which he clearly desires?” When you watch this movie you’ll feel deeply for this character, from beginning to end.

So to answer the unasked question would I see it again? The answer is Yes. I’d see it again in theaters in fact. The First time I saw it I watched it in 3D and it was great, I’d be happy to see it again in 3D. The 3D in this film never felt annoying and always felt as though it added a little extra. In fact, the 3D fluctuated from being an interesting window into the X-Men world to a really epic experience.

Alice Through the Looking Glass

            I’ve seen some mixed reviews for this movie and I just wanted to set the record straight. This is a movie you need to see in theaters. This is a movie you need to see in 3D. If you’re going to take anything away from this review that was it, see the movie.

            Alice has come back for her second installation simply called Alice through the looking glass. This movie has come back even better the the first. This movies style of hyper fantasy yet somehow very grounded in reality has really come into form. And a good form at that. This movie really ignites the imagination and throughout the movie you’ll feel as though these are real places.  99.99 % of this movie is CG. Not only is it almost all CG (computer generated) a lot of the characters are either animated or have CGI enhancements. By no means are these bad enhancements either. This movie was the most pleasant 3D experience I have had in a long time. Even since avatar.

            This is very much a movie you should not only see in the theaters but also spend a little extra to see in 3D. I’d even say go see it in IMAX if you have the chance. The 3D was clearly very much a center point of the making of this film allowing the audience to see deeper into this world of fantasy and adventure. You will find yourself looking beyond the characters and into the environments. Which are breath taking. About 3/4th of the way through watching this film I was saddened that it was coming to a close. Because I was really enjoying the world and the pure digital artistry that was on display.

            The story however was okay. I feel that those who have siblings will Identify with this movie more. For they know the real struggle of growing up with rivalry. And this movie plays on that. If I had to give a score to the story I’d say it was a 7.5 out of 10. It was unique and entertaining but not very deep. However very enjoyable.

            What this movie clearly lacks in story however it makes up for in visual fidelity. This was a film of such high quality cinematography that there were times when I saw almost no imperfections of lens or whatever media whether film or digital. This is very much a film I would love to see on Blu-ray in 4k and in 3D.  In fact I can tell you this. Through the Looking glass was such a good film that I have a spot waiting for it on my shelf once it come out on Blu-ray. Because I will be able to point to it a say there was the time that 3D was nailed perfectly, There was the time 4k was perfect.

Bashar – Become the Master of Your Thoughts

Below is an exercise to assist you in gaining control of your thoughts by remaining in neutrality and in the now moment. These instructions are given by Bashar as channeled through Darryl Anka.

“Let it happen, stop trying, give up, surrender, stop and when you do that, you will find that you stop thinking so much. You will find yourself looking at things and all of a sudden realize that that’s…