A Series of Unfortunate Events

A Series of Unfortunate Events was a book series that played some role in very many children’s lives, mine included. While I never read every single book, I read a good portion of them and found a great deal of enjoyment for them. The aesthetic of this particular series is very memorable and distinct, and this show’s adaptation of this melancholic aesthetic perfectly captured that of the original series. With lighting, color schemes, and vocabulary that reeks of hard times, this adaptation successfully took me back to those autumn days in elementary school reading through this unfortunate series.

While watching this show, it’s hard not to get a the same vibes that can be had from watching Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd, or Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. In other words, the Tim Burton aesthetic. The darkness of the story in conjunction with the cinematic darkness of the show worked together very well to create the dreadful atmosphere of this show. The employed lighting techniques and color schemes had a profound effect on this show.

The filming strategy that I noticed most was the color scheme. Mostly every scene in the show is set against a dark, gray-washed, monochromatic color scheme to constantly reinforce the concept that everything is horrible and unfortunate. However, the children are always contrasted with their background because of their clothing. The children are are always dressed in bright pastel colors, which doesn’t seem to fit with the story. While reading the books, it always seemed that the children should fit in with their grim surroundings, wearing dark, colorless clothes. This considered, seeing them on screen with bright clothes was a bit of a shock, though an understandable costume decision. Having the children in bright colors makes the scenes more interesting to observe, almost substituting as a spotlight. Regardless, it is still a bit distracting, and I wonder if the color scheme of the children’s clothes will change as the series progresses.

Casting Neil Patrick Harris as Count Olaf was an interesting choice. Olaf is quite clearly meant to be an elderly man. I found NPH at times to be a bit more lively than I would expect from Olaf’s character. Perhaps the age of Olaf could have been altered for this particular adaptation or an older man could have been cast.

One thing to appreciate about this adaptation was it’s near agelessness. I could see myself enjoy it as a child as much as I enjoyed watching it now. The portrayal of adults in the show were very fitting of how a child would perceive adults, which gives the viewers a youthful perspective on the on-screen events. Simultaneously, some of the small jokes and concepts were sophisticated enough to gain the attention of more mature viewers. I definitely think that this adaptation was made not only for current children, but older millennials who feel like revisiting their childhood.

Despite the off putting casting of Olaf’s character, viewing the first episode of the series

was an interesting event. The mood of the story is very enjoyable, despite how unfortunate it is. I can definitely see myself going on to finish this series.

Why I hope you've kept up with Stranger Things

Hey Marrs, I hope all is well back at high school! It's been a while since we last communicated. I've been busy and I know you have been too, with the different applications to Grad school and what not. I'm doing well at college, even though it's easy to get a but bored at times. One thing to pass the time up here is to watch Netflix. I know you've got a Netflix, so I'll give you a little rundown on where I know you left off.

When we talked about the shows that made Netflix originals important, a big one that came up was Stranger Things. We talked about the first season and everything that had happened and how you were excited to watch the next season. However, I know that these next few years were supposed to be a bit stressful for you, so I just wanted to give you a remainder. Even if you have a tough time right now, I think you should still sit down and watch a little Stranger Things. The new season is fantastic! I won't spoil it, but I have already watched it. It's a great season, with a lot of twist and turns that you wouldn't expect! All the main actors are back, with a huge amount of growth. They're not just the kids from the first season. They've all grown in one way or another. There's also the addition of a few characters who I think you'll be interested in. They're good characters, and I think they compliment the show very well. The show still carries the same time period vibe that we enjoyed in the start. Overall, the whole show really grew to a good point this season, so I am excited.

While we're at it, I might as well recommend you something else. If you're looking to watch something 30 minutes or less, I recommend Bojack Horseman. Horseman has a good plot, and is rich in the jokes. It's a Netflix original, so there's no worry of it ever leaving, like a few of our other favorite shows. It's a 10/10, would recommend.

I really hope you're doing well, and I hope to see you soon!

Stranger Things 2

    Hey teach! This week I had to write to a teacher for my blog post, and I began to think “do I know any teachers that enjoy Netflix?” and then I realized my Netflix teacher would be a perfect fit! So I hope you enjoy my blog post this week

    My focus this week has been on none other than Stranger Things 2. While I’ve done a post on Stranger Things previously, Stranger Things 2 is completely different. At this point, I’ve been able to watch through episode 4, at this point Eleven has discovered she has a mother, and Dustin doesn’t want to lose his “pet” Dart. We’ve also been met with the realization that there is a tunnel system below the pumpkin patch, created by someone-or something-from the Upside Down. I wanted to talk a little about some of my predictions, and I thought you might like to read about someone’s predictions, given that you’ve already seen it all. At this point, Hopper is in the tunnels, and Will appears to be possessed by something. I have a feeling Dart will somehow make its way into the tunnels, where a portal to the Upside Down will be. While the tunnels appear to be the Upside Down, as they have all the particles in the air, and it’s dark and spooky, it seems as though Hopper dug straight through a portal, but I think the Demogorgons managed to create their own “buffer zone” like the one at the lab, in which they use to cross over and get around the city without being seen. Will, having the sight, will be able to navigate the tunnels to figure out where the entrances are.

    Also, while I think she’s a good addition to the show, and Sadie Sink plays the character phenomenally, I gotta say, I’m kind of on Mike’s side when it comes to Max. I don’t really like her all that much. She seems like a cool girl, and I think she has brought in a weird dynamic to the group, but I just don’t think she truly belongs with them. I think through the whole experience of the Upside Down, the group became solidified, and they all belonged together. And they shouldn’t spread around the fact that the Upside Down does exist. Max can still be friends with them, and if she truly proved herself she could maybe, possibly be part of the group, but until then, I will always be on Elevens side. Seeing her become jealous of Max truly broke my heart, and got me to be a little bit protective of her. There’s another thing, and I know they did this on purpose, but why did the ONLY time Mike enjoyed Max’s company have to be the exact time Eleven found him. The fact that he couldn’t have just been a little bit more upset with her, or Eleven couldn’t have shown up two minutes before?

    I know how much you’ve enjoyed Stranger Things, so I really hope you’ve been able to take something away from this, or at least be entertained by watching me rant for a while. Thanks for reading through though, see ya in class!

American Vandal

    There's always a prankster at school that disrupt the learning process. Whether it's a school jock or someone that just enjoys the sensation of giving their teachers a difficult time. We see that same depiction of a student in American Vandal. While student, Dylan Maxwell is known for drawing obscene pictures at school, the recent vandal at school is not one of his doings.

   Dylan Maxwell is the type of student that nearly all of his teachers have trouble with. As stated in the show, he got sent to the office more than 10 times and constantly caused interruption in his classes. He's known for pranking his teachers by drawing obscene pictures on the whiteboard in class and pantsing strangers in the park. All these reasons led up to him being guilty before trial by the students and faculty members at Hanover High School.

   At the beginning of the episode, Dylan Maxwell was interviewed about the vandalism of 27 cars on the school parking lot. He was accused of the crime by his peers and faculty members with only his three friends and girlfriend defending him. Considering that they're his friends and assuming they'd be willing to lie for him, this prank is beyond him. Dylan and his friends claimed he was at Lucas’s house but his girlfriend had a different story. Dylan had a weird obsession with soft toilet seats and often leaves Lucas's house to go to Priceless Moments Antique store to use their restroom. Dylan told his friends that he was going there but really went to his girlfriend's house. He said that his friends would make fun of him if he told them he was going over there so he lied instead. Which doesn't help the story against him because the stories that were being told between his friends and girlfriend, are not consistent.

   There's also an honor student, Alex, plotting against him, claiming that he saw Dylan spray painting the cars. However, Alex is known for lying, specifically about a sexual encounter he had with a popular female named Sara on campus. How can we be so sure that he isn't lying about this situation as well? Either Alex has had it out for Dylan to begin with or he seen someone similar to Dylan spray painting the cars.

Continuing with the flaws of the case built against Dylan, the drawings were slightly different and were not pointed out by faculty or lawyers. The drawings that Dylan has drawn throughout his entire life, includes hair in every single drawing he has ever had. The drawings that were on the car, did not include a single strand of hair and were slightly neater than the drawings of Dylan's.

   Additionally, the camera footage was missing from the parking lot. Despite the fact that Dylan has access to the video footage, many people believed that Dylan was not intelligent enough to erase the footage from the video surveillance cameras. Dylan's pranks are typically amateur and he admits when he has committed a wrongdoing but not this timr. This prank was mapped out all too well whereas Dylan doesn't think about the prank he's doing. He doesn't plan for his pranks to happen, which is why he couldn't have vandalized the cars in the school parking lot.

   If there's a student that gives you a hard time and something suddenly happens to something personal of yours, stop and think, “Would this person be capable of doing such as thing?” Would they have even thought of anything like it? Even when the previous actions tell you they do it, think about who would really benefit from the troublesome student not being at school anymore. It may surprise you, it may very well be an honor student.

Imperial Dreams

Imperial Dreams is a 2014 Netflix Original film that was picked up and distributed by the company in 2017 following a three year span where the film unfortunately sat on a shelf looking for a home (the irony behind this will be explained later). The film is directed by first timer Malik Vithhal and stars John Boyega (one year before The Force Awakens) as Bambi, a down on his luck hoodlum that has recently been released from prison looking to start fresh. Living homeless in his old, beat up car (remember that irony statement?) with his young son, Bambi attempts to use writing as his way out of the filth while he has to go about his every day struggles.
The first thing I want to talk about with the film is that it is very well written. Vittahl, who co-wrote the film with Ismet Prcic, do a sensational job of taking a story that has been told ten times over and making it feel somewhat fresh. Additionally, the script feels very realistic, something similar films seem to forget to do. Instead of going down the formulaic route that many similar films tend to travel, Imperial Dreams is the kind of film that shows all of the downs (which significantly outweigh the ups) and ends on a hopeful yet not exactly happy note. It almost seemed as if throughout the course of the film, the writers had a checklist of generic tropes and cliches to avoid, going out of their way at times to make the film be different. This really is something I cannot praise enough as few films are able to feel fresh and new.
Much praise must be given to the cast as well, especially John Boyega, who was a complete showstopper in the film. With his role in the Star Wars franchise as well as his upcoming lead role in the Pacific Rim sequel, it's nice to see him get the attention he deserves as he is a very good actor. What is unfortunate though is that he could fall into the typecast trap. I love seeing him able to truly stretch his acting muscles in films such as this, Detroit, and Attack the Block, something he can't necessarily do as a franchise star (just ask Chris Evans). Regardless of his eventual fate, he will forever have this performance, which really is one that should have garnered some Oscar buzz for in 2014 after its appearance at Sundance. Additionally, twins Ethan and Justin Coach are both cute and heartbreaking as Day, Bambi's toddler son. This is that special kind of performance that yanks at your heart as we the audience see this child's innocence gradually be taken away from him at such a young age. The other actors in the film also do a good job, mainly Glenn Plummer as Uncle Shrimp, Bambi's no good thug uncle and Rotimi as Wayne, Bambi's brother.
Part of the reason that the film works so well and feels so real is that the characters are all fully developed and three dimensional. This is due to the excellent work from both the actors and the writers as even the most irredeemable characters are not simple cardboard cutouts there seemingly just to cause struggles with the protagonist. One of the most telling moments of this is Uncle Shrimp's chilling "We are what we are" speech towards the end of the film, which somehow feels similar to Roy Batty's "Tears in the rain" speech in Blade Runner (Albeit far less memorable or cool). Bambi is also a very well developed character. Even though he clearly has a good heart, we do see his ugly side as well as why he's turned out the way he has.
I think that the film does a great job of showing what hoodlum life is really like, displaying all of the negatives to it while also giving reason as to why it does entice young poor boys. In a way, it's like a modern day urban version of Goodfellas except far less romanticized. The dangers of the lifestyle are also on full show here, whether it's the destruction it has on a family or the coldness of seemingly random murder that can take place at any given time. The streets are clearly mean and the only way to survive is to play mean as well. On a side note, I think it's also interesting how the film shows that breaking this lifestyle is hard and almost impossible. It's a job that provides plenty of "benefits," things that Bambi needs but is unable to get as finding a job as a convicted felon is difficult. I always wonder why criminals return to prison so often (other than being institutionalized as Shawshank taught us). This is a film that explains part of why that is.
If you're looking for a happy film or at least one that end happy, then this isn't the movie for you. If you are looking for a well acted, well written film that clearly has more to stay about our way of life than most entertainment does, then this is the movie for you. If you're in the mood, I'd say check it out. If anything, it is at least short (about an hour and 25 minutes).

1922

Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, 1922 is a new released American horror-drama film. 1922 is the sixth film adapted from Stephen King’s novels in this year. Stephen King is a well known author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. My blog post Gerald’s Game is another horror film based on King’s novel of the same name. Both Gerald’s Game and 1922 were based on the protagonist psychological activity.

1922 is about how a selfish father destroyed his own family. The main protagonist in this movie is a farmer, Wilfred who killed his wife, Arlette, with aid from his son Henry in order to keep their land. Wilfred and Henry murdered Arlette and throw the corpse into a dry well. Arlette's body was bitten by thousand of rats. Their son Henry became quiet and soon started to hate the murder, which made his girlfriend Shannon concerned. Henry and Shannon ran away after Shannon was discovered to be pregnant and was required to stay in a religious institution and then give away the children.

In the winter, Wilfred’s house became infected with rats, and he has his hand amputated due to the infection caused by rats. In the other scenes, Shannon was shot when they robbing people, and she died in the next morning, followed the suicide of Henry. Coincidentally or deliberately,  their bodies were tore by rats like Arlette’s body. Wilfred finally decided to move into city, however his rest of life was accompanied by rats. The whole movie was composed of scenes of rats: rats were biting the corpse, rats were standing on the bed, which makes the audience sick.  

This movie  can be considered as a reflection of the urbanization in the United States. With the process of industrialization, the urbanization rate increased dramatically in 1920s. Due to the industrialization, which made a great impact on the traditional agriculture, many farmers moved to cities to seek for the opportunity. However there always some old fashion people like Wilfred chose to stay in his land and protect their lands. There is nothing wrong to keep their land, but the protagonist in this movie should never protect his land by murdering his wife, and according to the movie, the land should belong to his wife. Wilfred’s way to teach children is totally unacceptable. How could a father tell his son to murder their beloved family.

I feel Stephen King likes to teach people something in his works. In 1922, the protagonist wrote down his confession and kept saying there always ways to solve problems. However, it was too late for Wilfred to realized that he could solve the conflict between selling the land and keep it.

In conclusion, 1922 has a good story reflecting the history and telling people there always more than one way to solve the problem. With the compact but flat storyline, film 1922 is neither a good nor a bad movie.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Hey, Mr. Schroeder. Remember me? I was in your music class and band in middle school. I was always very good at that game with the class where we guess the song played, or at least my mom tells me that you're still impressed with me about that. Well, suffice to say, I may have gotten even more musically inclined (in that I've listened to so much more music than I've ever blinked), but that's a story for a different time. For now, I've been assigned a writing assignment (this blog post) in which I have to write to you and you have to respond back. So, being a music teacher and musically inclined, and my class pertaining to Netflix, I decided to watch something musical and educational, so a documentary was the obvious answer. That led me to What Happened, Miss Simone?

What Happened, Miss Simone? is, as you could probably tell from the title, a documentary on the life and legend of acclaimed jazz musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone. It details her life from childhood, where she learned to play piano, to her stardom and activism in civil rights in the 60's, to her downfall and resurgence, and all in between. ALL in between. A great chunk of this documentary about Nina's battles with her personal demons and their effect on her family, friends, and career. Things like been stressed out with having to perform, being away from home from her daughter, and some other reasons I don't want to spoil because A. it's shocking and a bigger gut punch if you don't previously know about it, and B. it's quite depressing and I really don't wanna type it out. In fact, a lot of this documentary will have you feeling melancholic because, as I said, it showcases her personal demons. Granted, there are happy moments and even a (relatively) happy ending, but a lot of it is very hard to stomach emotionally. Another fair warning, halfway into it it starts getting quite political in an extreme sense (as she was heavily influenced by people like Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael), so depending on where you stand with the issues of nonviolent vs. violent protests, it may be a bit uncomfortable to watch.

On the whole though, this was one of the most emotionally moving films I've ever seen, let alone documentaries. I had previously listened to Miss Simone's music in the past, but I never knew about her backstory and her life and her struggles. But now that I do know, I think her music is gonna be VERY different the next time I listen to it. Now, I don't know if you've listened to Nina Simone before (though I wouldn't doubt that you have), but I may recommend listening to some of her songs BEFORE watching the film. When you get the meaning behind them from the film, the songs become much more (and if it helps, the film also splices in some live performances too, albeit with commentary over it). So, in summary, this was a very great and very emotional film, and being the music guy you are, I'd suggest watching this as soon as possible.

Abstract: The Art of Design and Why I Miss My High School English Teacher

Murray,

In no means is the point of this to be sappy. I respect your resistance to warm hugs and butterflies, but I have to tell you, after graduating and leaving your English class behind, I really do miss it. You taught me how to see things in a new light and, most importantly, how to turn that into a form of expression. For my current writing class, I watched this neat documentary entitled Abstract: The Art of Design. The documentary told the story of a talented illustrator, Christoph Niemann, and every so often I caught a line or two from him that reminded me of some of the best lessons you taught me.

1. "Is it about me or is it by me?"
In your sophomore English class I quickly learned that there were so many more important things than myself as an individual. There's no better example to pull from than the one you never let me forget: the group project with Sean and Lili that went up in flames. It was in that moment that you made Sean and I lead a sinking ship that I realized my part of the project was not the only part that mattered. The project was not about me. It sounds so silly, but that was my first realization that truly working with people to come up with a concept as a whole group is so much more valuable than only doing your part and hoping they do theirs too, because that doesn't work out as often as I'd like. From that point on, I've never forgotten that group projects, and projects in general, are not about me, but simply by me.

2. "Abstraction is getting rid of everything that's not essential to making a point."
This one was a tough concept to grasp. I genuinely enjoy adding lots of detail in my writings, so getting straight to the point was an interesting shift, but you helped me get through it. This point is fairly straight forward, so I'll just say thank you for forcing me to take out all the unnecessary fluff.

3. "The highest compliment you could hope for is 'well, I don't really have a problem with that."
I'm really not sure if it's possible to impress you. That being said, in your class I continued to try and get that sort of response in everything I submitted. 9/10 days of the week one is likely to hear you utter something like "these papers are going to be horrible," which is scary all on its own, yet invites a sort of challenge too. You helped me get accustomed to the criticism and brutal honesty of the real world which is 110% better than sugar coating it, so thank you for that.

This blog post really is not how I envisioned it going, nor is it how it's supposed to go. Normally, I explain a little about the show I watched, discuss some features of the film dynamic and then form some sort of concluding idea, however I've done quite a few of these blog posts and really wanted a change in the flow. The moral of this story is, thank you for making me more of a fearless writer, Murray.

All good things,

Kayla

Dystopia?

Dystopia. The opposite of a utopia. What makes those frightening for me at this point in my life is that a lot of those stories have a chance to happen depending on what choices we as people cause. Having had experiences that I don’t usually share with people, and maybe you don’t even know, gives me a kind of glass half empty outlook on life. What happened to Monday? Is a movie with that kind of outlook. This movie was premiered on Netflix in August in France.

I want to look at the plot and how it fits a dystopian outlook. Dystopian novels are classified as, “a genre of fiction writing used to explore social and political structures in a dark, nightmare world.” (Booker, “Dystopian Literature: A Theory and Research Guide”) When explained in high school my teacher used the most widely used definition: the opposite of a utopia. So instead of finding a story with shoed everything we wanted out of this world, instead of finding the American dream, I found a movie about despair and what could happen based on poor decisions or better yet on decisions made for me, not by me.

In What happened to Monday? the world’s population has grown and is continuing to grow exponentially, weaning the world of our resources. The more people on the earth meant more mouths to feed, but the amount of crops weren’t growing. So they genetically engineered them. That enhancement also affected the people eating them though; whatever they did to the crops made it so nearly every woman only got pregnant with multiple births. Doesn’t help their cause right? So how they continue to deal with the overpopulation is to do what China has had from 1979 to today and according to them will continue in the future: a one child law. You had to choose which of your children you would keep because you could only have one, and the families were told that their other children are being cryogenically frozen until a time comes when they can live freely on their world.

Spoiler. They lied. The main characters’ grandfather decides to keep all seven of his identical granddaughters and name them each after a day of the week, and that is the only day they are allowed out of the house, unless they want to be killed. They all live one life, with one name on their day. Only in their home could they be themselves, and as assumed by the title one day Monday doesn’t come back.

Just from that description I would say that this movie classifies as a dystopian film. This film explores a political and social construct currently in use in one part of the world. It takes this idea and shows what could happen if we continue in that route, but in a dark and almost sinister light. The morals shown in this movie are what make dystopian novels so compelling. No one who would watch What happened to Monday?  Would think that this movie ends like a fairytale romance.  This type of movie or book is made to make you think about humanity and where we are headed. Is that world somewhere I would want to live? How would we go about fixing that kind of world? I personally liked What happened to Monday?, but if you know me, you know I love dystopian things.

Narcos

Dear Mrs. Stanley,

Narcos is Set and filmed in Colombia, and tell the story of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine, while also focusing on Escobar's interactions with drug lords, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, and various opposition entities.  It is told through the perspective of Steve Murphy, an American DEA agent working in Colombia. The series depicts how Escobar first became involved in the cocaine trade in Colombia. He was an moving trucks worth of illegal goods (alcohol, cigarettes, and household appliances) into Colombia during a time when this was strictly forbidden, when introduced to "Cockroach” who made cocaine he pitched the idea that they go into business together, with “Cockroach” producing and Escobar distributing the new, profitable drug.

I believe that this is a show that you would absolutely fall in love with if you watched it. In high school I had you for so many different classes including Criminal Justice and Spanish, through these classes and various other times spent with you I learned a lot about you and both of these subjects. I know that you have visited South America many times and absolutely loved it, I feel like the aspect of the show being shot down there and portraying It well you would really enjoy. Along with the fact we’ve had Criminal Justice together and even talked about Pablo Escobar and how he ran the drug trade, he was easily the best drug trafficker of his time. I know that you really enjoy talking and learning about drug trade and things of that nature and really think you would enjoy watching it and hearing the story from a perspective instead of reading about it. It is a unique opportunity to feel like you are right there front and center with the action.

I think that both of these aspects of this show are things that are very important to you and you really enjoy. Together they sit well and make it an even better fit for you. I really enjoy the show because even though it is not real a lot of the facts and general substance of the show and information on Pablo Escobar is extremely accurate. They used mostly correct information and because of this you can see yourself In a way how all of this went down including how Escobar got around and how he profited all the way to how cocaine is made and distributed. For me I feel like this was really interesting and a lot more enjoyable to watch and learn that way rather than reading it and trying to make an image in my head.

Overall I think you would really enjoy this show and you should definitely watch it sometime and see if you like it just as much as I do.