Elliott C. Back: In Aere Aedificare

Directed by Sin City director Zack Snyder, 300 is a real treat. I had the pleasure of viewing it about two weeks ago, and I was visually impressed. The plot is quite simple, based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Xerces is coming from Persia to conquer Greece, and Sparta must stand against it. They attempt to drabble palace intrigue, prophecy, love, and betrayal onto the canvas of the plot, but it fails. 300’s true power isn’t in the story itself, but the brilliant saturated way it’s told.

In this massive picture post I’m going to try and tell some of the story of 300 in linear order. If you haven’t seen the movie go away now because it will spoil the glory of seeing its scenes for the first time!

There’s plenty of boyhood flashbacks and children in the movie, enough to make you wonder about the innocence of humanity.

But then the Persians come, make their demands, and are thrown into a well in this climactic, but expected scene. After all, they used it as a clip in their previews.

There are some initial skirmishes; of course the Greeks slaughter them. The imagery is mundane to prepare you for the next tumultuous scene:

GLORY!!!!!! This is maybe the best battle scene I’ve seen; it’s almost like a dance. The style is identical to the fight scenes in the Matrix, but less artificial and more visceral.

Here there be dragons. And other monsters. For some reason, having killed large numbers of Persian soldiers, 300 decides to throw nightmares at the Greek force.

300 also has a small tragedy. Father and son shouldn’t fight together; it’s a recipe for sorrow.

The emperor of Persia is evil, has a voice which is too low, and effeminate facial features. He can’t be more scary.

But he gets what he deserves…

Especially when 10,000 SPARTANS decide to join the fight!! GO!

I went to see Pan’s Labyrinth today. I didn’t have any expectations for the movie, and it blew me away. From the start the fact that it was a movie entirely in Spanish was almost unsettling, except that I speak Spanish. I had expected it to be in English, but somehow the pain and suffering in the movie was more poignant for the fact that it was foreign.

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro, of Hellboy fame, the movie has garnered an amazing 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, 8.5 on IMDB, and six academy award nominations. John Wirt for the Advocate wrote:

Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth brilliantly melds the realms of fairy tale and brutal 20th-century history. Beautiful, horrible and deeply affecting, it’s the 21st century’s first film masterpiece.

Here are a few of the movie posters, to pique your interest:

The plot, without giving too much away, is about a young girl who’s lost her father. Her mother has married a Spanish military officer to escape her loneliness, but they both hate him. The girl is swept up in magic and prophecy as the real world around her plunges into chaos and violence. At the end of it all, you’re struck with two options–to believe that what the young girl experienced is true, and redeem the story, or to deny it to her imagination, and realize the stark reality of the world. There’s no way to choose between the two because the story is told in such a way as to make both equally possible.

If you want to see more, Apple has a trailer you can download! While unsettling, the movie’s grandiose themes and visions overcome its horrors. I highly recommend watching it.

You could either go explore the official site (http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/spiderman3/site/), visit IMDB’s listing (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413300/), or come check out this post. Together, Spiderman I & II grossed $1,591,000,000 worldwide with a combined budget of $339,000,000. If that isn’t a sucessful franchise, what is? Spiderman III, coming out May 4th, 2007, will break the box office once again. Bet on it!

Here’s a little teaser photo from the official trailer:

If you’re interested in following more about the movie, people have been reporting commando-style from the shooting locations! I can definitely say that I’ll be watching it when it comes out.

Let me know what you think about the Spiderman franchise in the comments, please!

So, I’m going to see Superman Returns tomorrow with my sister, and I thought I’d check out the previews, which you can get in HD from Apple’s trailer site: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/supermanreturns/hd/. Starring Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth, the film grossed about $20,000,000 on opening day, neither hot nor cold. The trailer is great, though. Check out this screenshot:

The first trailer is glorified Superman, savior of the earth. A narrator (Kal-el’s father), tells him how good the people of the earth are, if only they had someone to guide them. The visual imagery shows Superman in the adoring gaze of the crowds, basking in the sun’s halo, and with his all-time favorite girl, Lois Lane.

This second photo is from the second trailer–which is more about Superman’s past than anything else. Watching both trailers will probably give you some major spoilers for the movie, but how can you resist?

I’d like to proudly introduce the newest member of the blog network, The Gossip Rag:

Logo created with CC Material from Flickr.

Julie, who’s been fascinated by celebrities and the gossip about them for a long time, has decided to pick up blogging on this topic. As you know, Americans are generally obsessed with their celebrity heros. While giants like Gawker and Defamer currently dominate the industry, there’s room for a smaller blog to come in, find its niche, and innovate in the market. Julie’s secret weapons are the wit and intelligence she brings to the gossip circle.

The Gossip Rag isn’t about reposting the tired, old news. Rather, it offers a fresh new look at the choices celebrities make. If you’re interested in leaving us a tip, head on over the tips and contributions page!