2014 in Movies (So Far)

There are few things in life that I get excited about. For whatever reason, movies are one of them. But the list of movies I'm really excited about is pretty small (I guess I'm quite persnickety). This year there have been several films I've been excited to see and recently I got to watch two of them.

"The Rover" starring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson looked exactly like something I need to see (since I'm always interested in the artistic portrayals of post apocalyptic societies). Set in a world after an economic collapse, it explores what's really important when you've lost so much. It also touches on how we lose our humanity and what things can bring it back (or destroy any trace of it). The film is slow and very much a character study (not so much an action film as the trailer might suggest), but interesting none-the-less.

"Snowpiercer" starring Chris Evans and Song Kang-ho also depicts a world after the society we know collapses. While more action based than The Rover, this film explores personal freedom, the decision to be a hero or not, and the strange concepts our society holds about the haves and the have-nots. This film is quite graphic at times, but the ideas it presents are interesting to discuss and mull over.

Neither film was exactly what I was expecting, but neither was a complete let down so I walked away satisfied. The acting was wonderful in each, and the questions they both bring up about our society and human struggles are very insightful and leave you thinking long after the credits roll. If you don't mind violence, and like movies that make you think (not just entertain) then you might want to check these two out.


Other films I'm looking forward to this year? Well there's too many to mention but a few highlights that stand out include:

"The Retrieval" starring Tishuan Scott:

"The Congress" starring Robin Wright:

"Birdman" starring Michael Keaton:

"The Zero Theorem" starring Christoph Waltz:

Five More Haiku

A couple of years ago (has it really been that long?) I was working on a story that was going to have some post-apocalyptic haiku featured in it. In case you weren't around back then I had a post with my own haiku here, and a post about how to haiku here. But the point of this post has to do with the fact that I've picked that story back up and come up with some new haiku. While I've written almost 30 haiku now, a lot of them are pretty awful. I went through and picked the five best of the most recent batch to share here. I know they need work, and I haven't mastered the use of punctuation within them yet, and my syllables might be off (because I can be awful about counting them. One minute a word sounds like it has two syllables, the next minute it sounds like it has three, or one, or four. My brain has problems). But all that being said I'm pretty happy with the end result. Enjoy!

Tall grasses wave like 

welcoming friends, hiding the

graves that sleep beneath.

Tiny blossoms grow

where warmth and love do meet; we

struggle in darkness.

The wind rattles dry

branches and sun bleached bones of

those long forgotten.

Hawks fly across the

sky with purpose; we too, move

with deadly intent.

Trees reach within the

dirt, exploring deep places

unsoiled by man.