The Avengers, A Character Study

It's time I express my dire love for the Avengers movie, the best Marvel motion picture in my seeing

But I don't want to express it in a casual, lengthly review for others to digest

I want to do things differently and more exotic

I want to express what I think was the saving grace of the film

And what I think made the film more than just a film

Let's look at the characters, the diverse, individual characters, the icons, the donners of powers

Each with distinctive trademarks and sorcery

Each with their own spice

The main focal points of the film made the film for me

And let's look at why they are so darn unforgettable

Captain America

The patriotic leader of the squad

    

                                                                               

Decked out in smashing reds, blues and whites

He's the dignified commander of what goes on

But he struggles enviously to jump back into society

For he spent the last 7 decades in an ice cube

All his friends, family members of the time and allies are long gone

But he's pulling through and trying to make ends meet with other members of the group

In the end, he realizes, the whole team realizes that teamwork matters most

He has to cooperate, work together, trust the others of the pack if good things are to come

And his hand in the matter helps in the demise of evil......

For now

Captain America, slick, skillful, brave, and a little feisty. His confidence makes him as legendary now as he was then. If only he could get along with his old friend's son.

Iron Man



Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, genius

Skilled in making tin suits

Heavy on the drinking and an ankle biter when it comes to women

Always turning seriousness into a comedy hour

Delivering Groucho Marx style one liners

Has ideas way above the heads of the many

But deep within, his heart gleams gold

He cares greatly about what has happened, what's happening, and what will happen in coming days

He is willing to risk his life to stop an alien race with ships the shape of serpents

And when all concludes, when he is as beat as a rag, he goes right back to spewing humor

And making his teammates feel relief, great confidence, warmth and toastiness

Iron Man, comic relief in many ways. Easy on the arc reactors and the super duper lasers. But he makes the ultimate sacrifice no other Avenger had to make. He risks what he never thought he had to risk.

Thor



Overconfident and gallant, all in one

His mightiness, his charm, his love of coffee is legendary

But at times, his recklessness gets ahead of the race

And forces him to do bad deeds, regretful deeds in many ways

He loves his brother, his stepbrother, but he always finds himself twirling around with his cunningness

And he fools everyone with tricks and treachery

But Thor steps out of the rubble and makes an ultimate difference

Not killing his brother, instead sparing him

And putting him where he belongs so he will never spread reign throughout the land again

It's not easy bringing someone you love to justice

Thor's heart, like Iron Man's heart, is gleaming gold

And he has a personal, unimaginable, inner torment, peril with the enemy

Thor, mighty and truthful. Full of power, yet full of scattered knowledge. He deals with the enemy firsthand and knows things other Avengers don't know. He loves the enemy and has to decide whether to end his wrath or step aside and let dismal destruction ensue. It's a malevolent war when your own brother is ahead of an abominable task.

The Hulk


Outside is a man of norm

Inside is a raging, ravaging demon of emerald

When anger, excitement fills his blood, that demon possess the man of norm

And a beast, a bigot, a barbarian smashes the surface

A walking anger machine with little trace of his alter ego comes before his comrades

He's terrifying, hideous, with skin as green as grass, hair as dark as forest leaf

But he has potential, and funny mannerisms that make him sweep the surface

He has extreme anger, but knows how to bring it to order, knows how to rationalize it

He cares for what he does and makes sure not to leave that big of a mess behind

He grins, he smiles, just like the man of norm does

But the overwhelmingness pulverizes the dignified form and a massive, juggernaut sky rockets through the floor

He's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, only with the purple pants

The Hulk, a man with severe anger issues. Just one little spark can send him off the hinges. But in his thoracic cavity lies a controlling device that triggers the goodness, and he can use his powers to bring safety to endangered areas. He can look in many directions and still manage to make extremely exemplary occurences occur, he just needs to get the overwhelmingness back to it's proper level. The Hulk can be a complicated bug to step on at times.

Much more my friends, much, much more to come

Keep in that Avengers state of mind

We shall proceed

HIT THE BOOKS

This is Zappy Rabbit, not Happy, Zappy

He's a character that BOOMED in my mind just a few short months ago

And he clinged ever since


Zappy lives in Cartoonia, a cartoon kingdom far beyond the barriers of our dimension

Cartoons live, exist and coexist as actual beings in Cartoonia

Zappy is one of these actual beings

He's a pickled fellow sprinkled with duel personas

One moment he can be wall leaping or chair spinning

One moment he can be as bold as a castle guard

One moment he can be a life saving lunatic

But he always knows how to HIT THE BOOKS

ANY KIND OF BOOKS

When Zappy has a book, he treats it like life support

He can't go without a book

Why, if Zappy didn't have a book, he would fly out a window like a fired cannon

He could read so much, his brain would implode from all the thought emerging elements and spectacles

He could read so much, his cartoon body, which was as flat as freshly cut wood, would melt like the Wicked With of the West in a river

He read everything, Dickins, Poe, Hemmingway, Shelley, Christie, Seuss, Wells, Rowling, Tolkiens, Grimm, Travers, Kipling, and even the whale hunting ravages of Melville

He read books with dull colors, bright colors, blinding colors, colors as rich as sunlight, colors with dryness, colors that reminded him of throw up, colors that reminded him of crisp autumn and rainy spring

Colors that reminded him of air conditioners, which he regretfully made for a living

Colors that reminded him of Susie Mouse, his previous flame

But I think the main reason he read, the main reason he escaped to paper adventures  was because he needed a vacation, a vacation he could take any day, any time he wanted, any moment he had the chance

He needed a break away from reality, a way in which to flee from the floors of touchable existence

He needed to escape into the imagination, the imagination of authors and visionaries who lived their lives telling stories of hideous creatures, prominent protagonists, and dragons with 700 heads

He needed a way of living life, going on outings he could only take through reading

He needed a way of going to places only thought to exist in dreams and fantasies

He needed a way to go to impossible locations

And when he read, he hit that ball straight out of the stadium

Reading transformed him. When he read, he lost his character and became a different embodiment entirely. He morphed, morphed into different pivotals whose names where eminent in the story telling. He was Peter Pan, he was Captain Hook, he was Captain Ahab, he was Tarzan, he was the Frankenstein Monster, he was John Harker, he was Count Dracula, he was the Wizard of Oz, he was Frodo, he was Gandalf, he was Atticus Finch, and he was even Charlie Bucket and that strange candymaker with the top hat.

Reading took him any place, anywhere he wanted to stroll

Reading allowed him to live a life span full of powerful suspense, thrill and thought provoking

Reading filled his heart with an indescribable feeling, a feeling words couldn't even identify


Reading let him believe in the inbelievable


Zappy the Rabbit is something isn't he.
You surely haven't heard the last from that magnificent critter.

Ninja Turtles: A Fan Speculation

Every turtle has a shell, and the shell of a Ninja Turtle is hard

I think it's quite interesting that Michael Bay is making the Ninja Turtles aliens in the next movie. So, in light of the recent "Mutant Alien Turtle Outburst" that has plagued the web like venom, here is my take on the classic TMNT story and what I think Bay's perspective of the turtles will be like. Remember, this is just a fan speculation and has nothing to do with the actual film.

I just thought it would be a blast to make my own tale on my all time favorite green teens.

Cowabunga

There was a far away planet called Eastmonlaird, a planet where turtle humanoid beings live in peace and quiet. Every few years, the turtle humanoids give birth to offspring which they cover in a slimy concoction called mutagen, invented by the acclaimed scientist Der'Vosk. The mutagen turns the offspring into anthropomorphic turtles, which they educate and teach knowledge. Some become scholars, some inventors, and some even join Eastmonlaird's supreme line of defense, the Jump Turtles, who defend the planet from any harm. Eastonmonlaird is ruled by a council of 7, the wisest, most experienced turtles in all the planet who rule the world with firm, yet steady hands. One evening, the council, who's members dwell in the prominent mountain castles, is visited by a fortune teller, a gypsy turtle named Zerix. She informs the council that a war is coming, for a group of alien rebels from Dimension X are on their way, and they plan on invading and destroying Eastmonlaird so they can retrieve vital minerals. The council and everyone on the planet work enviously to prepare for the battle, but the Dimension X aliens arrive unexpectedly and consume the planet with chaos. As everyone works to fight off the extra terrestrial invaders, Zerix tells the council that she predicts that Eastmonlaird will not survive the battle, and that there is not enough time to evacuate the turtles off the planet. With little time left, the council takes four infant turtles and places them in a small shuttle craft, loaded with a small containment of mutagen. As the council launches the shuttle into space, a large one eyed vessel emerges from Eastmonlaird's surface, delivering several shots of deadly torpedoes. The torpedoes desecrate everything in it's way and within seconds, Eastmonlaird explodes into a massive cloud of purple smoke. After retrieving what they needed from the planet's remains, the Dimension X invaders flee the turtle graveyard, searching for a new area in the universe to spread warfare and destruction.

Meanwhile, the small shuttle soars lightyears away into space, carrying the four baby turtles and the mutagen along with it. The shuttle crashes lands onto the streets of Manhattan as several civilians walk up to the crash site to observe it. After seeing the four turtles covered in the ooze, they suspect it's just a trick of some sort and they walk away from the scene as if nothing happened. Little do they know that the ooze has mixed into the turtles' DNA, mutating them into four bipedal turtle toddlers, who wonder the streets curiously.

As the turtles walk about the streets of Manhattan, citizens run away in fear as the turtles are taken away by a scientist, who wishes to observe them and find out where they came from. For 3 months, the four toddler turtles are subjected to several experiments, making them more human and more agile. As the scientist, Dr. Lao, declares that they are a failed experiment, he prepares to kill them, just as the four youngsters escape the doctor's facility. Unfortunately, Lao sends some of his henchmen after the turtles, and as the turtles try and fight them off, they are vastly outnumbered. Just then, a hooded entity emerges from the shadows and takes out the henchmen with a long stick. He then has the infant turtles follow him into his sewer lair where he reveals himself to be a giant rat. The giant rat, who calls himself Splinter, teaches the turtles how to read, write and how to fight like a ninja. As the turtles' training progresses, he gives each of them a signature weapon and colored bandanas so he will be able to identify them easier. He names them Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo and as the years go by, the grown up turtles learn to harnass different powers and abilites for the good of society and for the sake of the city's safety. Splinter tells them that a threat is emerging in New York, a terrorist organization calling themselves the Foot Clan. The Foot Clan is lead by a nefarious samurai like overlord simply known as Shredder.

For the first time, Splinter reveals his backstory to the turtles, that he was once an average ordinary sewer rat exploring the underground world. As he made his way to the surface, he was abducted by a mad scientist named Baxter Stockman, who took him to his lab and ran several ghastly experiments on him. Overtime, Splinter, like the turtles, transformed into a humanoid rat creature, and as Stockman vowed to terminate him, Splinter ran away, running into a famous ninja master, Hamato Yoshi. As the years progressed, Yoshi taught Splinter the ways of ninjutsu and gave him his famous staff weapon. He also took the young Splinter to a museum where he observed several works of art by renaissance painters. But the worst was yet to come, as the two found out that Stockman was holding Yoshi's brother, Oroku, hostage. As Hamato and Splinter fled to Stockman's lair, they found out it was all a trick to lure Hamato and Splinter into their grasp so they could kill them. Oroku was secretly working for Stockman, and he vowed to kill his brother and his student. As a battle ensured, Hamato took on Oroku and Splinter took on Stockman. During the battle, Splinter knocked a chemical into Stockman's face, transforming him into a half human half fly hybrid with wings. As Stockman flies away swearing revenge, Oroku kills Hamato by stabbing him in the heart, going to kill Splinter next. Just then, Splinter takes Hamato's flying sword and slashes Oroku several times in the face, driving him away. In Hamato's dying breaths, Splinter stays by his master's side until the very end.

Splinter goes on to tell the turtles that Oroku went onto to become Shredder and Stockman went to work with him as his second in command. The turtles are inspired by the story and vow to stop Shredder and his forces, no matter what the cost. Meanwhile, the Foot Clan, at their secret hideout, plans to attack the Channel 6 News station for revealing their existence to the citizens of New York. Shredder sends his dim witted assistants, Bebop and Rocksteady to do the job, not knowing that the turtles will find out about the attack and come to stop them. As the members of the Foot Clan invade the television station, Rocksteady vows to kill the television reporter, April O'Neil, just as the turtles show up to send the rhino flying through the roof. After an intense battle, the turtles overpower the Foot Clan members and Bebop and Rocksteady are sent to prison. The television reporters are truly grateful for the turtles' rescue, especially April, who invites the turtles over to her place for pizza.

Splinter is pleased with the turtles' performance, and since he proved most gallant in the battle, Splinter declares Leonardo the leader of the team, deeply infuriating Raphael. Meanwhile, Shredder and his forces break Bebop and Rocksteady out of prison, Shredder punishing them and vowing to never let them lead a mission again. Shredder sends Stockman to lead the next mission, which is invading the Statue of Liberty and all those there to observe it. April comes to the turtles' aid and with Donatello's genius computer technology, they are able to pin down Shredder's next attack, heading there as soon as possible before they strike. Stockman and the Foot Clan soldiers set up several bombs throughout Liberty Island and as they go off, the turtles arrive to get everyone to safety and to fight off the evil responsible for the treachery. As the turtles engage in yet another fight with the Foot Clan, Leonardo fights Stockman, hand to hand, flying around with him as he tries to knock him unconscious. As it looks like Leonardo is going to win the brawl, Raphael, who is jealous that Leonardo gets all the good moments, interfers with the fight and Stockman gets away. Leo and Raph gets in quite a fight as Mikey and Donny try enviously to break up, but all fails as Raph goes off on his own, telling Leo and the others not to follow him.

Back in the sewers, the turtles and April think about going out to find Raph, but Splinter tells them not to, for he believes that in time, Raph will find out what is right and return to his brothers. As Raph wonders the streets in disguise, he runs into another crimefighter named Casey Jones, who is excited to have a "giant turtle" join him at his side. As the two work together to foil a bank robbery, they get their picture on the front page of the newspaper, deeply angering Leonardo and the other turtles, who vow to stop the Foot Clan and gain much more attention than Raph and Casey. Meanwhile, at the Foot Clan base, Shredder and his men vow to track down and invade the turtles' secret hideout, which Stockman immediately identifies as the sewers, for in his book, it's the only place where cold blooded reptiles and giant rats can live together, away from all the commotion of the city above them. Shredder and his forces prepare to invade the sewer as Shredder decides to come alone so he can "punish Splinter".

In an alleyway, Raph talks with Casey and how he was treated by his brothers and his master. Casey tells Raph that even though he was on ends with his siblings, deep down he loves them and wishes that he was right back with them, fighting by their side. There is nothing more important than family.

The turtles, April, and Splinter are caught off guard when the evil Foot Clan members invade their sewer fortress, and they immediately take on their adversaries and Shredder takes on Splinter. During the fight, Leonardo engages in battle once again with Baxter Stockman, who this time, is fit with a laser cannon like weapon, which he uses to swiftly knock Leonardo to his feet. As Baxter goes to kill Leonardo, Raphael rams both his blades into Baxter's back. killing him instantly. It turns out that Raphael did come back to his senses, returning to his home and bringing Casey with him to help in the fight. The two of them work with Mikey and Donny to stop Bebop and Rocksteady as Leonardo goes to help Splinter fight Shredder. As the fight rages on, Shredder hits Splinter and knocks him unconscious, leaving Leonardo to fight Shredder all on his own. As the two fight face to face, Leonardo cuts away part of Shredder's mask, revealing his scarred face, as he severs Shredder's right arm. Somehow or another, Shredder, who Mikey likes to call "Shred Head", continues to fight even with one hand, but he proves to be ultimately outnumbered as the other turtles, as well as April and Casey join in and beat Shredder to his defeat. Sending him flying into the sewer waters to drown, they turn Bebop, Rocksteady and the other Foot Clan members into the police as Raph apologizes to Leo for all he has done.

The recovering Splinter says that he is very proud of all his turtles for their apprehension of Shredder and says that even though Shredder is defeated, there is still evil and disarray present in the city. The turtles, putting their hands together, promise to be there when evil strikes again.

At the very end, Shredder, who is alive and fit with a robotic arm, arranges a deal with a brain like creature to work together and take over the city with retched robots and a device the brain likes to call the Technodrome.


Well, I certainly hope you enjoyed my little Ninja Turtle speculation and I hope that whatever Michael Bay has in store for the next TMNT motion picture, it's good to the last drop. And even if the turtles are extra terrestrials like ET and Spock, they can still carry that "zing" and "zang" that made the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles household names in the first place. The Ninja Turtles are a huge part of my fandom and I believe that the tradition of TMNT wholesomeness will thrive on, from generation to generation to generation......because who doesn't love tall turtles eating all the pizza?

Heroes in a half shell. Turtle Power.



Calm Your Mind, Relax In Your Own Imagination

Be like Rafiki, wise and full of wisdom, but in times of tension, he always knows how to enter a realm, a realm which takes him to a far away place









"Anyone can pilot a ship when the sea is calm"
-Navjot Singh Sidhu


Isn't it peculiar that we find ourselves angry for no apparent reason at times. I know firsthand how anger can build within a person and attempt to bite it's way out like a villainous insect. But if we put our minds in a different spot, we can calm ourselves, rid that villainous insect within our souls and be taken to a fantasy land, a land of quietness and peace. Try and put your mind at peace and it can really fight away the fury and make you feel a whole lot better, not only about yourself, but about the enviroment around you as well. Putting your mind in a great, nonvicious dimension can really expand the cranium as well as thoughts and emotions and at times, we can find the strength to conquer things we fear, find the ambition to do things we have been procrastinating upon and find ideas of springing imagination and creative. When you feel that madness, that evil urge emerging within you, don't smash things, don't hurt another verbally or physically, don't even say terrible things about yourself or take part in doing terrible deeds. Relax, sit down, meditate, enter that imaginative, peaceful place in your mind and put your mind in a state of stillness. Imagine, interpret, think only of pleasant things, things you cherish, things that fill you with sweetness. And remember....

A lion may prance with fierce, tough swiftness, but in his heart, there is goodness and the ability to chill out

You know what I mean?

The Art of Collecting, The Art of Gathering What We Enjoy

This picture was taken last Christmas. My collaboration of figures has grown considerably since then. It really is something, to look at this photo and see how much my collection has changed, it goes to show how much things can grow, expand and most of all, change shape.

At times, we find ourselves conjuring things that fascinate our brains

And what an interesting topic to tackle, the topic of collecting and gathering

We could find ourselves passionately collecting a morsel of everything

We could find ourselves passionately collecting three of the same thing

We could find ourselves passionately collecting things of bright red, deep purple, vivid blue

We could collect anything, anything under the grey clouds

The rocks, the grass, the buttons, the paper clips, the color riched paper, they can all find their ways into our homes, into our rooms of pondering

There are even those we collect ancient books, dust engulfed antique statues, action figures with paint chipping off them, and the most whimsical of photographs, photographs of strange fellows or fellow peers

The comic books, the dolls, the playful teasets, they can all be taken in, taken in and taken care of with love

Collecting brings in many divine categories under the umbrella, just about every category there is

When we collect, collect the things we wish to collect, they give us a pleasant state of mind and show us who we really are under or flesh

It shows us what we are made of, what lies in our hearts

It shows us what we love, what we love to do with our lives

It shows us what imagination can bring us to, if we let it soar from our craniums and reach reality

Collecting allows us to dig deeper into thoughts

Collecting helps us gain knowledge and gain new brainstorms

Collecting can lead us down a great road, a road full of risks, but at the same time, triumphs and large steps into the beyond

Collecting allows us to gain confidence to perform wonders, miracles, and life changing leaps

Collecting, in many ways, allows us to dig deeper into our souls, to reach the impossible

To reach a gleaming trophy only we could retrieve


Collecting shows us what continues to blow us away, away into amazement

Collecting allows our minds to be a tad bit stretched

It's All One Story, From Phantom To Jedi

When I watch movies series, no matter what movie series they are, I have to admit, I sometimes watch them out of order or decide to completely skip over a film just for the sake of time. But sometimes, as convoluted as movie series can get at times with all these spin-offs, sequels, prequels, remakes and reimaginings, we have to take part in the entire story.....in complete order. Allow me to dissect this concept a little more in depth. In the Harry Potter film series, we have to start with the Sorcerer's Stone, because that's the first film of the series and the film which explains who Harry Potter is, where he came from and what he plans to do with himself, further setting the stonewall for the following films to walk beneath. It wouldn't make sense if we started with the Goblet of Fire, for we wouldn't understand a lot of the concepts and morals the film is trying to elaborate upon because we didn't see the first three films, we weren't getting the full picture.We wouldn't really know a lot about the characters and who they are and how they got to where they are now because a good chunk of the overall "storybook" was left unwatched.

The same thing applies to another famous series, this one from the sci-fi genre and it is one of my all time favorite stories that combines everything we know and love about motion pictures. From the lightsaber duels in the heart of old swashbuckling tales and swordfights, to the iconic battles between good and evil in the light of Joseph Campbell and Shakespeare, Star Wars has a lot to offer and has a very complex, yet linear way of telling a story. The Star Wars saga, like the Harry Potter series, is meant to be watched in order, and I don't mean in the order they were originally released (4,5,6-1,2,3), I mean the order of the episodes, from Phantom to Jedi as we will entitle it. A lot of people like to watch the original three films and avoid the newer three films all together, but I think that's splitting the story right in the middle and cutting out a lot of key elements, a lot of key elements that make the Star Wars story half full. The Star Wars saga is the story of Anakin Skywalker, from his podracing days to his days as a jedi, to his days as one of the most scary entities in the universe. It's the story of his ambition, his want for power, his might, and finally, his redemption. When we split the saga in half and ignore the newer three films, the films meant to explain why things are the way they are in the original three films, the hourglass is half full, but where's the other half? We are missing half of what George Lucas, a maverick of a storyteller, was trying to tell us. And imagine if we did that with the Harry Potter films. Things wouldn't make much sense if we were watching the series from the Order of the Phoenix to Deathly Hallows Part 2, would it?



The Star Wars saga, in order, embodies a form that no other stories in history take on. A common Star Wars fan would go as far to say that Star Wars is a modern myth or retelling of Christian tales as old as rock. But take away the first half and only witness the second half, we really can't understand a lot of the tensions and meanings the storyteller was trying to convey and we really can't interpret what some of the characters stand for. Take Anakin for example. If we didn't watch Phantom through Revenge, we wouldn't understand that Vader was a tragic, misunderstood creature who just wanted to do glorious things, gain power and save his wife, only to be manipulated and transformed into pure evil. In Hope through Jedi, he tries to fight off that evil and gain back what he once was. Another example is the Emperor. If we didn't watch Phantom through Revenge, we wouldn't understand that it was Palpatine who fooled the people of the republic, started the Clone Wars and used many good hearted people to gain maximum supremacy and take over the galaxy with a shadowy veil. In Hope through Jedi, we see his power decline as the Rebel Alliance steps in, starting a war that would eventually lead to Vader's tranformation back into Anakin Skywalker and Palpatine's overall demise. It's all part of an artistic way of telling tales. In most tales, there is a rise and a fall, although in Anakin's case, there is a rise and a fall and a rise again. Anakin symbolizes the republic in many ways. He rises just like the republic does at the end of The Phantom Menace, and he begins to fall just like the republic in Attack of the Clones, and finally in Revenge of the Sith, he ultimately falls and becomes a dark overlord, just like the republic falls and becomes a hideous empire. Throughout A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Anakin tries to fight off his evil persona and rise to his prime once more, just like the Rebel Alliance tries enviously to fight off the vicious forces of the Emperor's Empire. It's good versus evil at it's highest. Then in Return of the Jedi, we see Anakin rise from his dark pool of evilness and destroy the Emperor, just like the Rebels destroy the Empire by blowing away the second Death Star.The republic is restored, the jedi are reactivated, and Anakin Skywalker is finally set free. If we didn't watch Phantom through Revenge, we wouldn't fully understand that whole rise and fall and rise again concept, for we are only getting half of Anakin Skywalker's journey from good to evil to good again.



When I watch all six Star Wars films in order, I realize that they not only follow the philosophy of Joseph Campbell spot on, but also the ethics and principals present in many Shakespeare plays, particularly the prequel trilogy. The prequel trilogy is something ghastly in the eyes of many Star Wars purists nowadays, but I like to think of it as a way of telling a Shakespeare tragedy with as many spaceships, laser swords and tongue wobbling gungans as possible. Anakin Skywalker's story is tragic and with the prequels, we see how that tragedy kicked off. He starts out as a junk slave living on the sands of Tatooine, a junk slave with dreams as big as moons. He is ambitious and wants to do great things like free all the slaves and become a jedi. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn sees potentional in this boy and after winning a pod race, Anakin travels with Qui-Gon and his party to the planet Coruscant, the heart of the republic and home of the jedi temple. Although the jedi disapprove of training the boy in the ways of the force, Qui-Gon vows to train the boy and teach him everything there is to know. He is the Chosen One, he is the one who will bring the force back to its proper level as the jedi prophecy once stated. Then, untimely, Qui Gon is killed by Darth Maul, and Qui-Gon's student, Obi-Wan Kenobi assumes the role of Anakin's master at Qui-Gon's request. At the end of the Phantom Menace, we see Anakin in his jedi attire for the first time, ready to face the challenges and "hard life" of being a jedi knight. His dreams have come true.

10 years later, as we see in Attack of the Clones, Anakin is in a pickle. He is constantly torn apart because of his dream, because of his love for Padme, and most importantly, because of his lust for dominance and power. He is willing to do everything, and after the death of his mother at the hands of the tusken raiders, we see that downfall emerge in Anakin's soul. He's not Vader yet, but he has started down that path that will conclude by the end of Revenge of the Sith. He takes that lightsaber and runs it through the necks of many sand people, and he even takes out the children as well. As his emotions go haywire, he reveals to his lover what he has done, vowing to become the most powerful jedi ever and vowing to find a way to stop people from dying. It was at this moment in the film that Anakin is much like a character of Shakespeare as well as a character of tearjerking Greek literature. He's angry, he's power hungry, he's lustful and he's arrogant, just like Achilles from the Iliad.

This ultimately proves his undoing by Revenge of the Sith, where Anakin falls into temptation as well as fear. He wants power and he wants to use that power to save his wife from dying in childbirth. Along comes the sinister, cunning Palpatine who acts much like the serpant in the garden of Eden. He offers Anakin a chance to harness these abilities and become an ultimate weapon of power, and giving into his offer, Anakin falls and becomes Darth Vader, a consuming envelope of evil. Vader eats Anakin alive and fills his inners with hatred and obedience, obedience to one controlling demon, the newly rising Emperor. So Anakin goes on a jedi killing spree throughout the jedi temple and goes onto slaughter his master's previous associates. But as Anakin reveals to his wife that he has the power to save her and the power to conquer the galaxy with might, she doesn't believe him and says that he's changed. In fury, Anakin chokes his wife which eventually leads to her death. All that hard work, the turn to the dark side, the slaughtering of many innocent, the burning by the lava river which puts him in the life support suit, it was all for nothing, he killed his wife anyway because he couldn't control what he turned to the dark side to control. And when he burns by that lava river, his humanity, his previous state, his potential of becoming the most powerful jedi ever is wasted away. He later becomes a cyborg, robotic menace of the empire, fighting throughout the original films to gain back what was lost all those years ago. He wants to be Anakin Skywalker again. It harkens back to old tales of Shakespeare like Macbeth, showing how one man's thirst for dominance ultimately leads him to become a monster and an inhuman psychopath.

Throughout the original films, Vader struggles enviously to find his previous self, giving into his master's wishes and doing many ghastly things like blowing up planets, choking captains and cutting his own jedi master down. Then, along comes his long lost son, Luke Skywalker, the one he thought died along with his mother nearly 20 years earlier. Luke is given options. He could kill his father and end his reign or join his father and continue to rule the galaxy with poison. Luke chooses neither of these options and instead creates a new option entirely. He senses his father's struggle to break free from the chains. He senses Anakin Skywalker's struggle to break free from Vader's grasp. He senses the good trying to overpower the evil. So he decides to try and redeem his father, and when he is shocked by the Emperor's prudent lightning bolts, Anakin wards off Vader's envelope once and for all and he is able to desecrate the Emperor, putting the force back into balance like the jedi prophecy said and saving the galaxy from a terrible decline. Anakin Skywalker rose to power as a jedi, fell as a sith and rose again as the powers of his jedi might resurfaced. He was able to find himself, although he died shortly after, but he found what he was trying to find throughout the entire original trilogy. His journey was complete and he was restored as a young ghost through the force. He was back to the way things were beforehand.

And when we avoid Episodes 1-3, we can't complete the circle of Anakin's journey, we can't understand the meaning of what his character is trying to get out to the audience. Star Wars has to be watched in order to be understood, just like the Harry Potter series, the Lord of the Rings series, even the Godfather films should be watched in order if the full story is to be brought forward. The series, in my opinion, is a perfect example of how storytellers try and make their tales worth wild for the audience and when we watch it in the order it's supposed to be watched in, all the meanings, all the morals and values and rhythms are enhanced. They mean so much more, the characters, the settings, and the overall feelings, they all feel so much more important and symbolic in so many refined ways.
There should be no splitting of the trilogies, there should be no prequel or original trilogy. It's one series, one story, it's one Star Wars, and we can enjoy it so much more when we watch it in chronological order, for things are straightened out, aligned and layed out flat so all people, even the younglings can understand it.

May the force be with all Star Wars....and with you! All stories come in different shapes and sizes, and if we look into them with a different view, we can see many glorious things we have never layed eyes on before.

In The Beginning....

"This will be a day long remembered"
-Darth Vader

It's time I begin my journey with this blog, and I'm not talking about a casual journey where I breeze through things and don't learn a few things along the path. I am talking about an adventurous, an exciting, an innovative and vivid journey full of newly sprouting ideas and unexpected surprises. I've been a blogger for a few years now and too be honest, I wasn't sure what kind of a blogger I was. Was I a eloquent reviewer of films and video games? Was I a hard butted critic with an iron fist of bashing things? Was I a poet, a modern day Dickinson or Poe? Was I a diary writer who everyday spewed thoughts, emotions and fury. The more I ponder on these erratic elements, the more I begin to think I was a bit of each. It's been a fascinating ride through the world of the internet, and as an artist, a filmmaker and an overall storyteller, I often like to show perspective and point of view and share it with the eyes of all the people dwelling on this rock. There is nothing that satisfies me more than when I can share what really goes on in my brain with the world, with all those who are intrigued, for I don't do it all for myself, I do what I love for others so they can enjoy it and savor it.

I hope one day to become a famous storyteller and change the world with the next innovative imagery, but for now, I think I will stick with this memoir, a very special, super duper memoir where all my ideas will surface and clinge to life. You might find a bit of everything with this blog, from movie reviews, to perspective essays, to excellent analysis of certain matters that interest my agile figure. But for the most part, this blog will carry on stories which I wish to tell, and each story will have certain trademarks, flows, and balances that really make them stick out like a green smurf. I've been a storyteller pretty much all my life, pretty much since the very beginning when I first put fingers upon a pencil. The art of storytelling is something that continues to thrive in my blood even as I go on and try different things. It's something I enjoy dearly. It's something that will never leave, even as I wither with age.

Sit back, relax, grab a soda or two, and dive into this wondrous world with me and I hope you have just as much of a ball as I do, for even the simplest things in life can be the most exciting and memorable. Even a trip to old Grandmother Ethel's can be one of the greatest treks of your life. Even a trip to the local ice cream parlor can turn into a cutting edge, nail biting thriller which you can tell your children about many years from now. Hop into my special magical enchanted-mobile and we will have a swell time. Who knows what will happen next? We could run into space pirates with laserbeams attached to their heads or vampire ninjas from Mars or even a cyclops with an eye that shoots mystic rays of doom.


Welcome. You are free to enter. Enjoy. Become captivated and inspired. Believe. Go for the impossible.