Flower surprise..

I like plants and flowers, mostly 'cause they are so organic. They're the most organic, really. You don't get anymore organic than that. I'm not that good at growing them but I keep a few around the apartment. (Lightens up the tech-osphere.) Anyway, I have this really dull plant, darkgreen wax-like leaves and no flowers. Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and the plant looked like this:

Not a good picture, I know. Used my mobile phone. The flower is about a decimeter in diameter. And there are a couple of more buds. Just felt I had to share it with someone. It felt like something other than me was alive in the apartment. It felt weird, but made me smile.

The genius of Joss...

... and an introduction to Firefly.


The book by Candace Havens and the DVD-release of Firefly.
In the last three post or so I've been jabbering on about movies, (as you might have noticed.) Todays rant is no exception, as I'm going to babble on about a guy named Joss Whedon. Joss-who you say? He's the creator of Buffy, the vampire slayer . Yup, that's right. I'm a Buffy-fan. Surprised?
Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion on the set of Serenity.
A couple of weeks ago I was wandering around Sciencefictionbokhandeln (The Science-fiction bookstore) in Stockholm, and came across this book about Whedon called "Joss Whedon- The Genius Behind Buffy" by Candace Havens. (ISBN 1-932100-00-8) After a small amount of consideration for my personal economy I bought it, went outside and started reading. I 'd just finished an essay on Buffy in my gender-studies-class, where in I discussed the potential feminist ideas that is represented in Buffy as a body and character. However I didn't know much about Whedon himself, and this would be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the creator of two of my favorite shows, Buffy and Firefly. I'm not going to give you the Joss-life-story here. Read the book. Anyway, impressed by the things I read, and mostly by Whedons attitude towards storytelling, I decided to watch Firefly again.
Serenity, a character by itself.
I'd watched when it was aired in 2002/2003, and I remember liking it very much. Since then I've mostly just forgotten about it, I guess. After watching it again though, I was convinced and still am that this is one of the most brilliantly written shows. Ever. To quote the description on the DVD-release: "Five hundred yeas in the future there's a whole new frontier, and the crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity is eager to stake a claim on the action. They'll take any job, legal or illegal, to keep fuel in the tanks and food on the table. But things get a bit more complicated after they take on a passenger wanted by the new totalitarian Alliance regime."
Think of it as a crossover between classic western and science-fiction, with a touch of mystery. The dialogue is just brilliant, the characters and story-arc likewise, set-design and effects are just great! And it's damn funny to. It's never about saving the universe, it's about surviving in it. It's ordinary people (some of them anyway) who are just trying to make a living, sometimes legal and sometimes illegal.
Serenity, in the episode Trainjob. Yes, it's a train-heist.
The crossover to western isn't as weird as it sounds. Space has just become another frontier. People are poor, and make their living on farming mostly. War has ravaged the galaxy. It's not a utopian future, and not really the opposite either. Science-fiction realism, perhaps. There's no blowing up the Death Star or overthrowing the evil Emperor. An ordinary group of people have more pressing matters to attend to. Food on the table, or finding some work. Another brilliant move is (just like the ol' Star Wars-movies did with the Millenium Falcon) to give the spaceship, Serenity, a personality. The ship is a character in itself.
The cast of Firefly.
The cast's very very good. A nine people ensemble. My favorite is River, I think. She's on the far right in the picture above. And the Captain's great also. Oh, oh and the pilot, Wash! He's the funny one. Like when he has an argument with his wife and says "Just tell me the truth. I'm a semi-muscular man. I can take it." And of course his first scene in the show when he's suppose to pilot to the ship, but plays with dinosaur-toys on the bridge instead. Very funny!
Fox Television canceled Firefly before the entire first season had aired. Stupid, gorram Fox. However, Firefly is being made into a movie, called Serenity and will premiere this september. Watch the trailer here.

Me, Myself and Star Wars...

The early Star Wars...

I still remember the first time I saw Star Wars. I remember the exact scene, even. Born in 1982 I'm much to young to be able to say that I was there when Star Wars came ('cause I physically wasn't). Growing up in the eighties' and nineties however, the era of VHS, the three original Star Wars-movies was being played on repeat in our house. I actually remember my nine year older brother showing me them for the first time. I came into the living-room as he was watching the scene when Han Solo and Luke are posing as Stormtroopers and Chewbacca as their prisoner in order to rescue Princess Leia. And from there on it was a love-story. There's no other way to describe it. I must have watched those movies constantly for ten years straight. Somehow I've also come to define my maturity in terms of Star Wars.
Starting out with A New Hope as a favorite; pretty straightforward and an easy to grasp story, a theme well recognized (the young boy becomes a hero), it was very enjoyable for an eight year old kid.
Next in line was the Return of the Jedi. This is the most action-packed movie of the three, and perhaps the reason it became my new favorite at the age of twelve. Dealing with pretty complex moral issues, and questions of family, destiny and in some ways growing up- and mixing this with these amazing dogfights in space and the majestic final duel between Luke and Darth Vader- this movie is in every sense of the word mighty.
The last favorite: The Empire Strikes Back. I think it was around the age of fifteen or sixteen that I really started to appreciate this one. Before I had only mostly considered it a pause from the action of the other two movies (and thus boring). The beauty of this film dawned on me. I still like all the old movies very much, but when I say "I love Star Wars" it's the Empire Strikes Back that I mean. It's by far the most mature of the three films. To call it an action-film would be a overstatement. Action-drama perhaps. First of all it's visually genius. We are really talking movie-magic when it comes to the set-design of the swamps on Dagobah or the carbonfreeze-chamber in Cloud City. As for the brilliance of the story, it's now that Luke and his friends first for real comes in contact with the Evil. Yoda mentors Luke and teaches him the ways of the force, of good and evil. We learn how evil Darth Vader truly is when he tortures Han Solo, and then freezes him. And Luke confronts Vader for the first time and learns the awful truth, that Vader is his father- that he comes from this symbol of pure evil.
The story of Star Wars is one of the most famous contemporary father/son-stories. The journey of Luke, from hate to acceptance and forgiveness for his father, is brilliantly told using myth, legend and classic storytelling.

The second coming of Star Wars
As a fan of the movies it's impossible not to address the release of the Special Edition-versions of the films in 1997. Advertised as "Star Wars as it was meant to be", and my first chance to see them on the big screen I was of course very excited. It soon became apparent however, that myself and George Lucas had very different ideas of what "Star Wars as it was meant to be", (something that would later become crystal clear with the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999. )
I fell in love with the Star Wars-movies I saw, not with George Lucas' "vision I wanted to tell but couldn't at the time". How the adding of those crappy and visually out-of-place 3d animations in the old movies, made his vision become more true to what he had intended from the beginning is still a mystery to me. If these are the movies he wanted to tell all along, then should the movies I saw and fell in love with be viewed as a lucky mistake?

The third wave of Star Wars

Beginning in 1999 with the launch of the prequel-trilogy, the three films that would tell of Anakin Skywalkers fall from grace and his transformation into Darth Vader. I dare say, few films has had such high anticipations as the Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. A totally new Star Wars-movie. Fans across the 'verse were enthusiastic again, to put it mildly.
The disappointment was massive. Sentences as "George Lucas just raped my childhood" could be heard and read everywhere, from reviews to fans. The message was clear: This is not our Star Wars. Where are the themes, we asked, the great questions and the moral complexity? Where's that feeling of genuine that was always so present in the old trilogy? It was gone, and we got bad dialogue, Jar Jar Binks, a pod-race and a farting camel instead. The magic was gone.
The second episode, Attack of the Clones, released in 2002, was marginally better than the Phantom Menace. Introducing Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, we began to see some of his decent into darkness with the death of his mother. But again we asked us: the theme, Mr. Lucas, and the big questions, where are they? What has the podrace, Jar Jar Binks, Count Dooku, the cloners on Camino, Jango Fett, the trade federation and so on and so on to do with Anakins story?
It was always Luke that we felt with, we experienced with. As he began to understand and learn about the universe, so did we. His story was the centre, and everything else was told around it. But Anakins story... There is no intimacy there, and I couldn't care less about how the clones came into being. I'm interested in Anakins fall from grace. Just as Lukes ascent is central in the old trilogy, Anakins descent should be here. But it's not.
Yet, that is. For the third film has come, and I've not yet seen it. But I'm going to today and I must admit. I'm nervous. I've heard so many things. It's as good as the old ones, it's what we've been waiting for. And I've heard it's just the same as the other two prequels. I'll continue this post after I've seen it.

Three hours later, and I've seen Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. Some of you will not agree with what I'm about to say, and that's alright. And if you are planning to see the film you might not want to read any further. Could be spoilers ahead.

The Revenge of the Sith is an allright movie, perhaps even good. This is the story I wanted to be told in 1999, and then again in 2002. No, it's not at all like the old movies, and it's not even close of being as good. You can't even begin to compare them. Whole different ballpark, whole different game. In Revenge of the Sith Anakins story is finally being told. Finally I say, 'cause in the other two prequels (even though, yes Anakin's very much in the middle) his story is not being told. This is one of the few things thats good.

The Darkness. Everyone has been buzzing about the darkness, saying that they're really going to Hell this time. And it's true. Anakin becomes one evil guy, let me tell you. I like that George Lucas hasn't compromised on this, that's how it feels anyway. Everyone dies. Anakin slaughters children, for example. I like it. (To be honest, a bit 'cause the kids creeped me out. What's so hard about finding decent acting children?) One of the weird thing is the Jedi Masters dying by a shot in the back. Why the hell don't the put up a fight? They are Jedi Masters!
In comparison to Episode 1 and 2 much has been improved. The dialog is better (even though there are many stinkers), acting is better (for some), the effects are better... Everything. The editing, the story. The arc of the story is much more coherent than before. I could actually keep up, unlike Ep1 and 2 where there's so much obscure politics going on and places to visit that in the end you're just like "whatever.. just kill the bad guy." In Episode 3 the story really got to me.

But, and this is a BIG but, it's still a failure. Even if I think it has improved from Ep1 and 2, it's still not the Star Wars I fell in love with. So many things have changed, and for the worse. Where is the genuine feeling? The magic has been lost. Even if it's very cool when Anakin and Obi-Wan finally get to fight, it still doesn't come close to the same weight as when Luke confronts Vader. Not even close. The new Yoda is cool, true. Him bouncing off the walls, and everything. Cool action, indeed. But it's not the wize old Yoda we got to know on Dagobah. Period. Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan. In some scenes McGregor really gives an outstanding performance. He really becomes Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan, almost all the way down to the weird old geezer. Almost I tell you, for it is not the same. Not even if he has the beard, and the accent. It's not the man who later in life utters the famous words "Who's the fool? The fool or the fool that follows him?" Not in my wildest imagination. R2D2. Why, oh why does he fly? Shouldn't it be the other way around, that R2D2 becomes more advanced over time? It would be a alot more accurate to treat these movies completely separate from the old ones.
I'm sorry to say that Natalie Portman was actually bad. Very bad sometimes. And who can blame her? It's a poorly written role. The only thing she does is gasping and crying, plus she gets the worst lines. A role that could have been another Leia, is sadly just a whimp. A pushover. Whatever you want to call it. In some scenes she looks like a schampooadvertisment from the nineties. Good God, Lucas, what were you thinking?
One final bad thing, before I end this rant. Sometimes Mr. Lucas is just too obvious, and that really annoys me. Watch for a scene near the end of the film, as Darth Vader "free" himself from table. Yes, Mr. Lucas, we know that Darth Vader in a lot of ways is a paraphrase for Frankenstein. You really don't have to SPELL IT OUT IN CAPITAL LETTERS FOR US.

Phew, I guess that's that then. There's lots more to say but it's a pretty long post as it is. Revenge of the Sith, an allright movie. Go and see it. It really belongs on the big screen. By far the best of the "new" movies. Stop thinking about the old ones, that chapter's long gone apparently. Try and forget them, otherwise this movie is gonna bug the hell out of ya'. It's still entertaining most of the time.

Lemony Snickets and the amazing...

There are a few stories that can be called amazing, a few books and a few films. These stories treat the amazing seriously, and they take (what some people would call) childrens tales seriously. I love these stories, I simply love them.

One of my favorite stories is Peter Pan, the 19th century novel by sir James Barrie. As you know it's a very famous story, and has been adapted countless times. Very few adaptations are good, though. I'd say that the most recent adaptation, the 2003 P.J. Hogan film, is one of the few that's true to the story. (Forget Disneys version, 'cause it's no good.) Anyway, the film. It really treats the amazing as it should be- it treats it seriously. If you haven't seen it, rent it today.

Another film that really treats the amazing as it should be treated is Lemony Snickets and a serious of unfortunate events. I missed it when it came out, and just saw it. I must say, I'm happily surprised of how good it was. It tells the story of the Baudelaire children and their journey through a series of very unfortunate events. I haven't read the books it's based on, so I can't say anything about the adaptation. However, the film brings up a very important theme (a reaccurring theme in most good childrens stories, and adult stories to for that matter): the darkness.

Stories like Peter Pan, Harry Potter, the Astrid Lindgren-books all deal with it. In my experience most childrens stories don't deal with darkness at all- due to a misconception that children are innocent little creatures that should be spared that sort of thing. I do believe however that children dwell on these issues far more than the rest of us, and that it's important to tell their stories and not the stories we as adults wished were the childrens. I hope that this ideal notion of childhood would come to an end, and that we'd come to realise that children also dwell on the big questions of life; death, love, meaning of life, sexuality, loneliness and so on.

I suppose I could write forever about this, since it's a subject very dear to me. So expect future posts to deal with this aswell. For now, just watch Lemony Snickets and Peter Pan and remember being a child again.

Welcome back...

... and what's the deal with 'The 4400'?

First, let me just welcome all of you (and me) back. As you might have noticed MOLN has been pretty dead since February and the Oscars. Why, you ask? Well, it's pretty simple. I got tired of it. I felt I had nothing to write about. And now I feel that I do. I hope.

I'm going to rant a bit about the tv-show "The 4400". The Swedish channel TV3 started showing it a couple of days ago, I missed it and just caught the rerun. Some people I've been speaking to have been saying how good it is. I also heard it really wasn't all that good.
So, my first impression of the "The 4400". It's crap! And I'm going to tell you why. First all those plot-holes. And the logic! (There isn't any logic at all.) For all you who haven't seen it or know the plot, it's about 4400 people who have been lost, or abducted or whatever. They all return one night in a ball of light in the middle of a lake, and they remember nothing of what happened. Some of them have been lost for 60 years, and some for just 3-4. The first weird thing that hit me was that none of the people seem to mind. They're calm, and not very worried. They're just.. normal. Hell, if someone told me that I've been lost for 60 years and that I'm now in what I 'd believe was the future- I would go crazy! Or at least get a little shocked or even upset! But these people, they were just like "Oh, allright. I've been lost for 60 years and haven't aged a day. Allright then, sounds good to me!"
The second big thing that bugged the hell out of me was how easy it was. Everything was just easy. It felt like all the 4400 were identified in a couple of hours. No offence to the FBI or anything, but I just don't buy it. Were are the complications? Were are those who can't comprehend what's happening? And the ordinary people, the people on the beach watching 'the 4400' land, they were also just like.. "Oh allright.. A ball of light. Nothing weird there."
I'm all for weird, and lightballs and space and mystery. But there has to be logic, a firm ground where the plot can rest upon. A framework for everything else. I don't see that in 'the 4400', I just don't. That's to bad, 'cause the basic plot aint to bad. All the people we have ever heard of being abducted, or lost and missing- they are returning to Earth. What does this mean? Too bad they just blew it with this show. Maybe it picks up later on. I'm gonna give it a couple of episodes and keep you all posted.