Book: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke

My biggest criticism of my other recent walk through sci-fi territory was a lack of intimacy between characters. The characters in Nemesis by Asimov were missing a sense of humanness that would've made them more believable, more conducive to provoking various levels of sympathy and kinship in the reader. This novel suffers form the same weakness, but I can't remember a single moment where I cared at all.

The only character of any importance in Rendezvous with Rama is Rama itself. The cylinder of metal spinning through the solar system stole every ounce of spotlight, leaving the characters tasked with exploring the object and discussing it from afar mostly ignored. Sure, attempts were made to explain the futuristic culture and some textures of emotion, but Clarke did such a great job building suspense, peppering small details in at very strategic moments. It was as if I was exploring the alien terrarium that is Rama with my own eyes rather than through the eyes of the crew. And Rama itself was infinitely interesting to explore. I rarely blast through books so quickly, but I needed to see everything, I needed to know the purpose, to investigate why Rama had flown into our plot of space instead of any other.

But Rama didn't care at all, which was obviously my favorite part of the book. All of the characters assumed Rama had come with the purpose of making contact with the human race, for reasons of enlightenment or destruction or resources. But, all Rama needed was to recharge it's batteries by way of the sun, then it sped off without the slightest interest in anything human. Rama's mission was obviously infinitely more complex than our selfish, monkey brains could wrap around. It was a humbling moment that was infinitely appreciated. So even though my perception of sci-fi as less human hasn't changed, the brilliant unfolding of events in this novel makes it essential reading for anyone who digs an adventure.

5/5

Movie: To the Wonder

You know... I'm too uptight. I take life too seriously. Everything has to mean something. All art needs to be innovative and boundary transcending. And the only good film is the indie film about longing and loss, invariably ending badly because that is the only true reflection of our short meaningless existence. Sometimes I wish I weren't like this. Sometimes I wish I could sit back and enjoy fluff engineered to make you smile and feel better about yourself. Silver Linings Playbook shouldn't be met with derision, it should be met with a mutual laugh among friends, it should be seen as an entertaining romp to interrupt the tedious daily demands of the middle class american. But that's not who I am. I demand film to be artful, to push boundaries, to make me feel something I wouldn't normally feel and Terrence Malick is doing a great job meeting my expectations.

Malick has been honing his craft for a couple decades. To look back on his previous works is to watch an artist first find his favorite techniques and then master them. The Thin Red Line was a little messy, it wandered a bit, it felt unrestrained and slightly unfocused, but there was brilliance and beauty throughout. The Tree of Life was a natural evolution being a film of massive scope, but with a sharper focus and it displayed a mastery of his shooting style which can only be described as an angel's perspective. The camera flies through the air in graceful arcs reacting to the humanness of the characters on screen while capturing the environment, the natural lighting, the grass underfoot. The Tree of Life was an absurdly beautiful film even though it explored some very challenging and painful themes.

To the Wonder is Malick showing further mastery of his unique shooting style while experimenting with the narrative in a very innovative way. There are very few vocal exchanges between characters. Most of the script is inner monologue, poetic observations, internal conflict, quiet thoughts the characters never share with anyone. Whenever there are two characters on the screen they are silent, they are shown reacting to each other in a very instinctual, very physical way. This was the biggest complaint from critics. The lack of dialog between characters made it a challenge to follow the story. But I love a challenge and the story seemed clear enough to me. Although, and this is the beauty of art in general, it's up to interpretation. This is what makes good songs great, this is what makes good literature timeless, so I'm not sure why critics would be unwilling to consider the merit of poetic delivery in film. Poetic delivery ensures the audience will take in the presentation and interpret it in very personal ways giving them all unique perspectives, unique ideas to share and pass on.

To the Wonder explores love in this poetic fashion, how it flows, sometimes beginning with fire and urgency, sometimes drifting away or slowly eroding, sometimes evolving into something truly transcendent. We invariably seek it with fervent anticipation, but oftentimes what we seek is unrealistic causing much anguish. And just as I expected from a film about real life, it ends badly. I have no doubt that Malick will keep giving us examples of brilliant artistic expression as long as he's able, making films that will stand the test of time, films that will be a normal part of film school curriculum and I look forward to each and every one.

5/5

Movie: Silver Linings Playbook

I'm hesitant to write this review. It might very well turn out to be a colorful display of my close-mindedness, but so be it. I had an emotional reaction to the film and it might be worth writing about so the future me can look back on how much of an asshole I was and have a good laugh.

This film was awful. Let me explain. I loved how it started out. Bradley Cooper is a wonderful actor and watching him suffer the symptoms of bi-polar disorder was striking. The flashes of violence, the spontaneous destruction that surrounded him, the constant tension I felt every second he was delivering dialog was really a joy to experience for someone who appreciates the intricacies of human dysfunction. But, every other detail in the film was pure romantic comedy fodder.

His father is a bookie who regularly puts the family's life savings on the line over football games, but in a perpetually endearing way. His mother is possibly the most cliched and forgetful character in film history. He has a wife with a restraining order against him, which could have been a wonderful source of conflict, but devolved into a silly subplot of him not being able to write her a letter. He has a new love interest who manipulates him into a dance competition who is devoid of the slightest ounce of charisma outside of her bouncing bust. The love interest has her own psychological issues but they're never explored beyond a few awkward situations and a few unexpected lines of dialog. There's a more successful brother who holds his life's accomplishments over Cooper's head, but this isn't even the slightest bit realistic because the bitter sentiment is covered with one dialog exchange in the most heavy-handed way possible.

I think this is what hurts my perception of the film the most, the heavy-handedness. It's as if the writer had the intention of covering as many human quirks as possible without actually exploring any of them enough to make them feel real. And to top it off the major conflict of the film is a football game and a dance competition... So you end the film exactly the way it began. None of the characters grew at all, they just celebrated over an arbitrary victory. Cooper professed his love to his new love interest and the credits rolled. I get that it wouldn't have been pretty to mention that two psychologically unstable people might not have the smoothest chemistry down the line, but to not even hint at it is unforgivable.

This is a fairy tale where everything works out in the end, just like everyone had hoped. Love, money, success, and everyone is happy. This is not a reflection of the human condition. This movie is fluff, popcorn drama, meaningless, and it'll be forgotten. Cooper earns a point for his performance, but this was damn close to being my first 0.

1/5