FILM REVIEW: Evil Dead (2013) (may contain spoilers)

First of all, I FREAKING LOVED THIS MOVIE. This will always be a memorable movie to me for 3 HUGE reasons:
1. eto ang pinakauna kong R-18 movie na napanood sa big screen, kahit na I'm still 3 days away form my 18th birthday (medyo badass XD),
2. I have been reading so much promotional materials (kahit yung mismong script na ni-leak nila months ago) but I was still shocked and disgusted, and
3. this movie signifies a new saga of gore, a new series of Evil Dead na ngayon pa lang ay pinaplano na ang sequel.



On the movie itself naman, I was not expecting na ganun siya ka-hardcore. I tried to stay away from torrents and camrips kasi malakas ang pakiramdam ko na hindi talaga ako matutuwa kung sa bahay ko lang siya papanoorin. So I watched it in a theather with my Mom yesterday, at sinabi ko sa sarili ko na kahit magyaya nang lumabas ang Nanay, hindi talaga ako aalis. Hahaha. I thought I wouldn't flinch anymore, not even a little squirm. BUT NO.



Ang kuwento niya ay tungkol sa limang magkakaibigan na nagpunta sa childhood retreat nila, isang secluded cabin sa gitna ng kakahuyan, para magtulungan na ma-overcome ng main character na si Mia (Jane Levy) ang drug addiction niya, and possibly, ayusin ang gusot nila ng kapatid niya na si David (Shiloh Fernandez). Things quickly go to hell nung bumaba sila sa basement to investigate a god-awful smell (turns out na nagkalat pala ang sandamakmak na dead cats doon used for rituals) and the "smart guy" Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) finds a book called the Book of the Dead, or Naturan Demonto, bound in human flesh and inked in blood. 



So dahil nag-effort talaga yung huling gumamit na sulatan ng sandamukal na warnings yung libro bago niya balutin ng garbage bag at talian ng makapal na barbed wire bago itago sa basement, binuksan ni Eric yung book at kinapa yung mga naka-emboss na incantations, na talagang pinagkasipagan niyang ii-sketch at basahin nang malakas. Sa point na to, kinuwestyon ko talaga yung IQ ng character niya. Right after niyang basahin yun, isa-isa na silang sinapian ng demonyo galing sa libro, forcing them to inflict grisly mutilations and gruesome injuries to themselves and their friends.

As a remake, expect na hindi talaga siya carbon copy ng original 1981 cult classic. Kung familiar ka sa The Evil Dead of '81, hindi mo maiiwasang mag-compare and contrast, and if you do, you might even feel a little bit frustrated. Pero mostly dahil yun sa statement ng direktor na si Fede Alvarez na isa itong rebirth at hindi remake. Kung hindi ka naman familiar sa original, feel free to judge the movie on its own merit. Either way, wala kang choice kund i-enjoy ito. Hehehe.

I don't think it's even a spoiler anymore when I say people will die in this film brutally, and when I say brutal, I really do mean brutal. Immediately, Olivia (Jessica Lucas) brutally cuts her face off with broken glass and attacks Eric (shown in trailer). Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) brutally cuts her arm off with an electric knife (shown in trailer), but not before possessed Mia cuts her tongue in half with a box cutter and French-kisses Natalie, infecting her with the demon (shown in trailer). There's even a scene where Mia bathes herself in boiling water, and I immediately recall my own accident. Dun ako pinaka-napangiwi kasi it could happen to anyone (accidentally, of course).






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Kung susumahin mo ang amount ng dugo na lumabas sa screen for whole 90 minutes, kaya niyang punuin ng dugo ang isang buong blood bank, and stil have some more to give away to the needy. I'm not kidding, ganun talaga karaming dugo ang makikita mong tumulo, tumalsik, nalunok, nilunok, at lumabas sa kung saan-saang butas na ginawa man ng characters sa sarili nila o sa kaibigan nila, o galing mismo sa langit na reserved for that epic climactic battle in the end.



Siyempre, hindi naman puro gore ang Evil Dead. May genuine chemistry rin bilang magkapatid si Jane at si Shiloh, at mararamdaman mo yung sincerity nilang dalawa na magkaayos. Si Lou, nagampanan nang mabuti yung pagiging apparently-smart guy na hard to kill. Si Jessica, kahit maikli lang yung ganap, talagang maganda kasi nakakalungkot na namatay siya kaagad. As for Elizabeth, her character was in the wrong place in the wrong time, not being very close to the others pero napilitang tumulong as if mamamatay din siya if they do.





Isa pang napakalaking plus factor nitong remake na ito ay yung cinematography. Shot-for-shot, I dare say this the most beautiful horror movie to look at. landscapes feel like they're in front of you even in 2D. Trees feel far away and dangerously close, the rain creates a foreboding atmosphere, and even the blood looks as if you can go in front and wipe it off the screen. You really cannot fully appreciate this movie unless you see it in theaters.

So in closing, do I recommend this movie? HELL YEAH. In fact, see it two or more times if you can. It deserves a first viewing, a rewatch, and another rewatch, and another, and another. To quote Mia, "FEAST ON THIS, MOTHERFUCKER!"

(P.S. If you're a fan of the originals just like me, I strongly suggest to stay during the credits. Trust me.)

I'M GOING TO UPGRADE THIS BLOG.

Dati, nag-promise ako na kapag may grade na ang blog na ito, papalitan ko lahat ng reviews ko into gay lingo and conyo. Hahaha. Guess what, it's not happening anymore. LOL

Instead, I've decided na itutuloy ko na lang ang blog na ito under its new moniker "Afterburn: From The Files of Rogue Hunter" because I can. XD

So ayun.

NARRATOLOGY - Scream (1997)

The Theory:

Narratology refers to both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted.[citation needed] It is an anglicisation of French narratologie, coined by Tzvetan Todorov (Grammaire du Décaméron, 1969). Narratology is applied retrospectively as well to work predating its coinage. Its theoretical lineage is traceable to Aristotle (Poetics) but modern narratology is agreed to have begun with the Russian Formalists, particularly Vladimir Propp (Morphology of the Folktale, 1928).

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratology)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_(film)

High school student Casey Becker receives a flirtatious phone call from an unknown person, asking her, "What's your favorite scary movie?" The situation quickly escalates out of control as the caller turns sadistic and threatens her life. He reveals that her boyfriend Steve is being held hostage. After failing to answer a question correctly about horror films, Steve is murdered. When Casey refuses to cooperate with the caller, she is attacked and murdered by a masked killer, and her body is hung from a tree.

The following day, the news media descend on the town and a police investigation begins. Meanwhile, Sidney Prescott struggles with the impending one-year anniversary of her mother's murder by Cotton Weary. While waiting at home for her friend Tatum Riley, Sidney receives a threatening phone call. After she hangs up, she is attacked by the killer. Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis arrives and offers support, but after he drops his cell phone Sidney suspects him of making the call. She flees. Billy is arrested and Tatum takes Sidney to her house.

Billy is released the next day. Suspicion has shifted to Sidney's father Neil Prescott, as the calls have been traced to his phone. School is suspended in the wake of the murders. After the students have left the school, Principal Himbry is stabbed to death in his office. Billy's friend Stu Macher throws a party to celebrate the school closure. The party is attended by Sidney, Tatum, their friend Randy Meeks, and several other students. Reporter Gale Weathers attends uninvited to cover the situation, as she expects the killer to strike. Deputy sheriff Dewey Riley also looks out for murder at the party. Tatum is killed during the party after having her head crushed by a garage door. Billy arrives to speak to Sidney privately, and the two ultimately consummate their relationship. Dewey and Gale investigate a nearby abandoned car. Many party attendees are drawn away after hearing news of Himbry's death; Randy, Sidney, Billy, Stu, and Gale's cameraman Kenny remain.

After having sex, Sidney and Billy are attacked by the killer, who seemingly murders Billy. Sidney escapes the killer and seeks help from Kenny, but he gets his throat slit by the killer. Sidney again flees. Gale and Dewey, having discovered the car belongs to Neil Prescott, return to the house. They believe Neil is the killer and has come to the party to continue his spree. Gale attempts to leave the scene in her van but drives off-road and crashes to avoid hitting Sidney. Meanwhile, Dewey is stabbed in the back while investigating in the house. Sidney takes Dewey's gun. Stu and Randy appear and accuse each other of being the killer. Sidney retreats into the house, where she finds Billy, wounded but still alive. She gives Billy the gun; he lets Randy into the house and then shoots him. Billy has feigned his injuries and is actually the killer; Stu is his accomplice.

Billy and Stu discuss their plan to kill Sidney and frame her father—whom they have taken hostage—for their murder spree. The pair admit to being the killers of her mother, Maureen. Billy says he was motivated to seek revenge on Maureen because of an affair she was having with Billy's father, Hank, which drove his mother away. Gale, thought dead by the killers, intervenes. Sidney takes advantage of this to turn the tables on her attackers, killing Stu. Randy is revealed to be wounded but alive. Billy attacks Sidney but she shoots him through the head, killing him. As the sun rises and police arrive, a badly injured Dewey is taken away by ambulance and Gale makes an impromptu news report about the night's events.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_(film))

The Criticism:

courtesy of: http://daveandhiscriticisms.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/scream.jpg

"Scream" follows a group of teens as they rally to uncover the killer behind the mask responsible for a string of murders in their town. "Scream" was declared revolutionary for its time by introducing a cast of characters that were self-aware and had sufficient knowledge about horror movies. Their knowledge, in the film, helps them determine the next move the killer might make, and this quickly turns a stereotypical slasher flick into a clever whodunit with thinking characters and a smart plot line. The movie was considered a major turning point in the horror genre for having big names and smart personalities. It broke free from the conventions and decided to make an entirely original product still grounded on the concept of slasher films and movie trivia. Generations of horror fans will always treat "Scream" as a game-changer, proof that a horror movie can be scary, gory, fun and intriguing, all at the same time.

LOGOCENTRISM - Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Hush

The Theory:

Logocentrism is a term coined by the German philosopher Ludwig Klages in the 1920s. It refers to the tradition of "Western" science and philosophy that situates the logos, ‘the word’ or the ‘act of speech’, as epistemologically superior in a system, or structure, in which we may only know, or be present in, the world by way of a logocentric metaphysics. For this structure to hold true it must be assumed that there is an original, irreducible object to which the logos is representative, and therefore, that our presence in the world is necessarily mediated. If there is a Platonic Ideal Form then there must be an ideal representation of such a form. This ideal representation is according to logocentrist thought, the logos.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logocentrism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090118185150/buffy/images/5/51/410_Hush.jpg

During a college lecture where Dr. Walsh is discussing the difference between language and communication, Buffy has a dream in which Riley kisses her. They are interrupted by a young girl holding a distinctive box, singing a cryptic rhyme about "The Gentlemen". Riley and Buffy speak after class and they almost kiss, but are unable to stop talking. They leave when it becomes awkward. Buffy calls Giles to tell him of her dream and the details of the little girl's rhyme.
At Giles' apartment Xander and Anya argue, as Anya is trying to get Xander to tell her what she means to him. He is unable to answer her. Willow attends a meeting of the campus Wicca group, hoping to meet others who share her interest in studying witchcraft, but is disappointed when they only talk about bake sales. Willow raises the subject of spells but is chastised for pandering to the stereotype about witches performing magic. A shy woman in the group named Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) starts to speak up to support Willow's suggestion, but falls silent when the attention turns to her.
That night, as Sunnydale sleeps, white wisps float from each person's mouth to a belfry, where they settle in the box from Buffy's dream as ghoulish skeletal figures with metallic-toothed grimaces and impeccable black suits look on. In the morning, Buffy and Willow discover they are unable to speak and become visibly distressed; they soon discover that everybody is unable to speak. The group gathers at Giles' where they see that the news is reporting that Sunnydale is suffering from an epidemic of laryngitis. Buffy and Riley, each concerned that chaos will ensue, find each other attempting to keep order on the streets. They exchange a look and then have their first kiss before parting to continue their efforts.
The next night, the ghouls leave the belfry and float into town accompanied by their straitjacketed, deformed minions. They knock on the door of a student. When he opens it, aroused from sleeping, they hold him down and carve out his heart while he tries in vain to scream. At Giles' apartment his visiting girlfriend, Olivia, is frightened by one of The Gentlemen outside Giles' window. The following morning in a campus classroom, Giles uses a series of overhead transparencies to explain to the others that The Gentlemen steal the townspeople's voices so no one can scream as they gather the hearts they need, and that folklore indicates that they have been vanquished before when a princess screamed—the only thing that will kill them is a live human voice.
That evening, Anya falls asleep on Giles' sofa while Spike takes a mugful of blood from the refrigerator. Xander enters Giles' apartment as Spike, his mouth wet with blood, bends down to pick up something that he dropped in front of the sofa where Anya sleeps. Inferring that Spike bit and drank from Anya, Xander pummels him ferociously until Anya wakes and stops him; excited that he fought to defend her, Anya gestures that they go home for sex.
On her own Tara finds a spell to help the town get its voices back, and goes out to show it to Willow. On the way to Willow's dorm she trips, turns around and sees The Gentlemen floating toward her. In Willow's dorm she frantically knocks on doors which no one will open; The Gentlemen steadily pursue her. Willow hears Tara's panicked knocking down the hall and exits her room as Tara sprints into her, sending them both tumbling. They lock themselves into a laundry room and try to barricade the door with a vending machine, but it is too heavy for them to move. Willow, injured, sits and concentrates on moving the machine with telekinesis; she fails, but Tara sees what she is doing. They clasp hands and the machine moves swiftly across the room, blocking the door.
On patrol, Riley notices shadows in the belfry and goes to investigate. Buffy finds two of The Gentlemen's minions, kills one and runs after the other. Riley fights his way into the belfry and while he's embattled, Buffy crashes through a window, fighting. He turns to attack and finds himself face to face with Buffy. She fights while he stares, unmoving. When a minion pins her down she sees and recognizes the box from her dream and gesticulates wildly for Riley to destroy it. When he does so, the stolen voices escape. Buffy screams until the heads of The Gentlemen and their minions explode.
The next day, Tara tells Willow she is special and has significant power. Riley comes to visit Buffy in her dorm room and they sit facing each other, saying nothing.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush_(Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer))



The Criticism:

courtesy of: http://hardinthecity.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/buffy-hush-the-gentlemen.jpg

"Hush" explores issues relating to the limits and benefits of language and communication. During the first act of the episode, the characters are presented as being overwhelmed by language that is misused, used as white noise, and employed as a means of avoiding truth. This depicts an abuse in the usage of language, and the misuse of it is contrasted with striking silence once the second act commences. The characters are shown to be very vulnerable and helpless without a solid means of communication, and throughout the episode, they are shown to attempt various ways to establish dialogue and understanding among themselves. This scenario further emphasizes the importance of language as a communication device and its indispensability in today's society.

DARWINISM - King Kong (2005)

The Theory:

Darwinian Literary Studies (aka Literary Darwinism) is a branch of literary criticism that studies literature in the context of evolution by means of natural selection, including gene-culture coevolution. It represents an emerging trend of neo-Darwinian thought in intellectual disciplines beyond those traditionally considered as evolutionary biology: evolutionary psychology, evolutionary anthropology, behavioral ecology, evolutionary developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, affective neuroscience, behavioural genetics, evolutionary epistemology, and other such disciplines.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinian_literary_studies)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6a/Kingkong_bigfinal1.jpg

In the autumn of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression in New York City, Ann Darrow has lost her job as a vaudeville actress but is hired by troubled filmmaker Carl Denham to act in his new film. Ann signs on when she learns her favorite playwright, Jack Driscoll, is the screenwriter. As their tramp steamer SS Venture sails to the mysterious Skull Island, Ann and Jack fall in love. Captain Englehorn begins to have second thoughts following the fears of his crew about Skull Island and its strange creatures that have evolved apart from the outside world. Deep in the southern seas the Venture receives a radio message from its owners informing Englehorn about an arrest warrant for Carl and instructing him to divert to Rangoon. Despite his attempt to turn around, the ship is lost in fog and runs aground on rocks encircling Skull Island.
Carl and his crew explore the island to film and are attacked by vicious natives. The sound technician and one of the sailors are killed, and Jack is knocked unconscious. Ann screams as she is captured, and a roar beyond the wall responds. The matriarch of the tribe vows to sacrifice her to "Kong", a 25 ft. (8 m) tall gorilla. Englehorn and his crew break up the attack and return to the stranded ship. They lighten their load to float off the rocks and carry out repairs to the hull, but Jack discovers Ann has been kidnapped. On the island, Ann is hung from a primitive drawbridge on the side of the wall. The crew comes armed, but is too late as Kong takes Ann into the jungle. As time passes in her captivity, Ann wins over Kong with juggling and dancing, and begins to grasp Kong's intelligence and capacity for emotion.
Englehorn organizes a rescue party led by Hayes. The rescue party is caught up in a Venatosaurus saevidicus pack's hunt of Brontosaurus baxteri, and the cameraman is killed along with three sailors. The rest of the rescue party come across a swamp where Bruce Baxter and two others leave the group. While making their way across a giant fallen log, Kong arrives and attacks the rescue party. Hayes is killed and the rest of the crew are shaken off the log into a ravine. Kong returns to Ann and rescues her from three Vastatosaurus rex, then takes her to his mountain lair. Englehorn and the rest of the crew save what is left of the rescue party from a pit of giant insects, and as Jack continues searching for Ann, Carl decides to capture Kong. Jack goes to Kong's lair, inadvertently waking him. As Kong fights a swarm of flying Terapusmordax, Ann and Jack escape by grabbing the wing of one of the bat-like rodents and then jumping into a river. They arrive at the village wall with the angry Kong following them, and Ann becomes distraught by what Carl plans to do. Kong bursts through the gate and struggles to get her back, but is knocked out by chloroform.
In New York, in the late winter of 1933, Carl presents a chained Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World on Broadway, starring Baxter and an imprisoned Kong. Ann has become an anonymous chorus girl. Camera flashes from photographers enrage the gorilla. Kong breaks free from his chrome-steel chains and chases Jack across town, where Kong encounters Ann again. Kong and Ann share a quiet moment on a frozen lake in Central Park before the army attacks. Kong climbs with Ann onto the dome of the Empire State Building, where he fights off a flight of six Curtiss Falcon fighter planes sent to attack him, downing three. Kong is hit by several bursts of gunfire, and gazes at Ann for the last time before dying and falling from the building. Ann is greeted by Jack as reporters gather around Kong's carcass. Carl takes a last look and says, "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_(2005_film))



The Criticism:

courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Andy_Serkis_-_King_Kong.jpg

"King Kong" is mainly set on Skull Island, a fictitious island somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Skull Island is an island wherein the wildlife is comprised mainly of prehistoric creatures such as fierce dinosaurs, grotesque gigantic worms, and enormous insects, among many others. The setting was supposed to depict an island that was so isolated from civilization that the wildlife evolved in the 65 million years they were separated from the rest of the world. As a result, the T-rexes don't resemble their common counterparts, the insects have grown to disturbingly large sizes, the worms have developed a taste for flesh, and Kong grew over 25 feet tall. These are results of an evolutionary process that allowed them to survive their weak ancestors and adapt to their surroundings as the creatures constantly face an eat-or-be-eaten situation.

ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM - A Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne

The Theory:

Archetypal literary criticism is a type of critical theory that interprets a text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes (from the Greek archē, or beginning, and typos, or imprint) in the narrative, symbols, images, and character types in a literary work. As a form of literary criticism, it dates back to 1934 when Maud Bodkin published Archetypal Patterns in Poetry.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetypal_literary_criticism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/A_Journey_to_the_Centre_of_the_Earth-1874.jpg

The story involves a German professor (Otto Lidenbrock in the original French, Professor Von Hardwigg in the most common English translation) who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the centre of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel (Harry), and their guide Hans descend into an extinct Icelandic volcano, encountering many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, before eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Journey_to_the_Centre_of_the_Earth)



The Criticism:

"A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" falls under Archetypal Criticism because it observes many science-fiction archetypes. A person who believes in an assumption previously disregarded and helmed as a fallacy tries to prove its authenticity, usually with a partner or a friend, and ends up discovering the truth and embarking on an adventure to return home or survive. In this case, the adventure is spiced up by increasingly astounding discoveries and exceedingly alarming dangers that they encounter every step of the way to return to the surface.

MORAL CRITICISM: Losing Isaiah by Seth Margolis

The Theory:

Literary critics who use the school of Moral Criticism (known in contemporary critical circles as Christian Humanism) as their "lens" from which to view and examine the worthiness or quality of literature do the following:

1. Judge the value of the literature on its moral lesson or ethical teaching

A. Literature that that is ethically sound and encourages virtue is praised
B. Literature that misguides and/or corrupts is condemned

2. Works that are moral (or literature that attempts to teach and instruct as well as entertain) are often seen in contemporary criticism as didactic. 

3. Plato argues that literature (and art) is capable of corrupting or influencing people to act or behave in various ways. Sometimes these themes, subject matter, or the actions of literary characters undermine religion or ethics, he warns. Aristotle and Horace both believed that literature can instruct as well as corrupt. So care must be taken when writing or reading. This idea is picked up later by Samuel Johnson and Matthew Arnold who see literature as a good way to teach morality and probe philosophical ideas. The underlying principle then is whether or not the text can be seen as A) moral, and B) practical or useful.

(courtesy of: http://aplitsota.blogspot.com/2010/11/moral-criticism.html)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://www.tcit.com.au/parkleabooks/2628.JPG

Margaret Lewin loves her adoptive son, Isaiah, even more passionately than she does her natural daughter, Hannah, probably because of the unique, magical way Isaiah joined the family. A volunteer baby-holder in a Manhattan hospital, whose job was to lavish physical affection on abandoned, drug-addicted infants, Margaret fell in love with tiny Isaiah's determination to get what he needed--first through unceasing screaming, and now, at nearly three, through tantrums that could cause Attila the Hun to cower. Leaving Isaiah to the care of a children's center and an au pair while she pursues her career as a photographer's representative (and her husband, Charles, pursues a leggy female employee at his own graphic-arts company), Margaret alternately worries over possible lingering aftereffects from Isaiah's prenatal drug addiction and swoons in relief at having rescued the little boy from life with a crack-addicted, illiterate, utterly negligent mother. Little does Margaret know that over the past two years Isaiah's mother, Selma Richards, has found religion, weaned herself from drugs, and obtained a job as a nanny on the Upper East Side in the fierce hope of reclaiming her lost son. When Selma files suit for custody, the lives of all concerned begin to crumble in the cruel light of media coverage, while the best interests of Isaiah himself are nearly forgotten in the clash of emotions.

(courtesy of: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/seth-margolis/losing-isaiah/)



The Criticism:

"Losing Isaiah" centers on two women who are both fighting for the custody over a child named Isaiah. One mother can raise him up but is hesitant, while the other wants to raise him up but can't. The women have their personal issues but are both willing to raise Isaiah as their own son, but it is their fight over him that's causing damage.
The novel pays attention to a dilemma no parent wants to face: the fear of losing your child. The novel has a very strong resounding message of acceptance and change. It is not all time that things will go your way; sometimes, it is you yourself who has to get in the way of things.

GENRE CRITICISM: Grave Encounters (2011)

The Theory:

Genre criticism is a method within rhetorical criticism for analysing speeches and writing according to the symbolic artifacts they contain. In rhetoric, the theory of genre provides a means to classify and compare artifacts of communication and to assess their effectiveness and/or contribution to a community. By grouping artifacts with others of similar formal features or rhetorical exigencies, rhetorical critics can shed light on how authors use or flout conventions in order to meet their needs. Genre criticism has thus become one of the main methodologies within rhetorical criticism.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_criticism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/grave-encounters-Smaller.jpg

The film begins with the producer of Grave Encounters explaining to the public as to why "Grave Encounters", a famous tv show, suddenly got cancelled, via found video footage. The footage shows the crew of Grave Encounters — composed of Lance Preston, occult specialist Sasha Parker, technical expert Matt White, cameraman T. C. Gibson, and guest-starring psychic medium Houston Grey - preparing to investigate the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital where unexplained phenomena has been reported for years. They receive a tour of Collingwood and its underground tunnels and also learn about Collingwood's history, including a physician named Arthur Friedkin, who performed unethical experiments and lobotomies on the hospital patients before being killed by escaped patients; Friedkin was never arrested for his actions due to lack of evidence of the accusations. The crew voluntarily lock themselves inside Collingwood for the night (The caretaker chains the main entrance from the outside) and begin their investigation, setting up camp in the hospital lobby near the entrance. Lance and his crew try to establish contact with the unseen entities responsible, and although they are initially unsuccessful, they are eventually tormented by hauntings, which become increasingly hostile.

With half an hour left before the hospital caretaker comes to unlock the front doors, the crew starts packing. Matt goes to retrieve the cameras, but disappears. The others spend the next several hours looking for Matt, with the caretaker not arriving. Desperate, they knock down the front doors to escape, only to discover it leads to another corridor, as do several other "exit" doors they find. They notice that it is still night outside when it should be daylight. They spend the day sleeping, and find that their food is infested with fully grown maggots. After searching for more exits and trying to escape to the roof, the stairwell mysteriously ends with a solid wall blocking the entrance to the top floor. They hear screaming and run towards it, thinking it is Matt. They enter a room with a metal bed frame, which moves and then levitates. Soon after, they document Sasha's back, which now has a disturbing message carved into it saying "hello." The crew continues searching for both Matt and an exit when they encounter a girl whose face contorts demonically. The crew flees in fear, but Houston is separated from the others and later violently assaulted by an unseen force, killing him. While resting, the others find hospital tags bearing their names on their wrists. They eventually find Matt, who is wearing a hospital gown and has been driven insane, mumbling nonsense about his apparent psychological disorder, and explaining that the only way for them to escape is for them to "get better" at the hands of the hospital's unseen residents.

The crew continues to be chased through the hospital by several apparitions. T. C. is pulled into a bathtub filled with blood by a ghost while trying to save Matt and disappears, while Matt kills himself by jumping off an elevator shaft to his death as Lance and Sasha are attacked by a tongueless demon. Lance and Sasha enter the tunnels in search of another exit where Sasha, who has become violently ill, disappears in a mist that appears while she and Lance sleep. Terrified and insane, Lance continues through the tunnels alone, surviving by killing and eating rats, until he finds a door leading to Friedkin's operating room that contains an altar and pentagram for a demonic ritual, showing that Friedkin had used black magic for medical practice. He turns to see the apparitions of Friedkin and several nurses, who drag a screaming Lance onto their operating table. The camera blanks out for a moment before showing a lobotomized Lance, who says he is now "better" and allowed to go home, and gives a few parting words to the audience before the screen cuts to blue.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_Encounters)

The Criticism:

"Grave Encouters" can be classified as a horror movie if we are going to review it based on the definition of a horror movie and the definition of genre criticism. A horror movie needs to be scary and atmospheric, and must induce negative reactions of fear and disgust among its audience, For these reasons, "Grave Encounters" can be classified as a horror movie because the setting is superb, the atmosphere is very heavy, scares both suspenseful and startling are aplenty, and fearful reactions are definitely induced. In cases like this, genre criticism is very useful in determining the effectiveness of pieces to watch or books to read depending on what genre they are categorized.

MODERNISM - Identity Thief (2013)

The Theory:

Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement in the arts, its set of cultural tendencies and associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In particular the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by the horror of World War I, were among the factors that shaped Modernism. Related terms are modern, modernist, contemporary, and postmodern.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernism)



The Story:

courtesy of: http://www.movieguide.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/identity-thief-uk-one-sheet-poster.jpg

Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) gets a call from a woman saying someone attempted to steal his identity. She tells him about an identity protection service and asks him for his name, date of birth, and social security number. Little does he know that his identity is actually about to be stolen.
We meet Diana (Melissa McCarthy), printing out credit cards with Sandy's money and going out to a bar, buying drinks for everybody.
At work, Sandy gets called in by his boss, Harold Cornish (Jon Favreau), and he asks him to make cuts on bonuses, despite the fact that he is getting a bonus himself. As Sandy goes to do so, he gets a call saying he has an appointment at a salon on Friday in Florida. He's confused, but he gets called over by his co-worker Daniel Casey (John Cho). In the parking lot, he and a few other co-workers meet to discuss starting their own firm since their boss is not the greatest person. Daniel asks Sandy if he'll join them, to which he agrees.
A little while later, Sandy tries to get gas, but his card is declined for insufficient funds and the gas station clerk cuts it up. He calls the credit card company and he's told he's spent a lot of money in Florida. As this happens, he gets arrested. At the same time in Florida, Diana continues splurging with Sandy's money.
At a police station, Detective Reilly (Morris Chestnut) tells Sandy that he missed a court date in Florida for assault. They pull up a mug shot of Diana and determine she's stolen Sandy's identity. It gets worse at work when Daniel (now his boss) says cops are asking about him possessing drugs. Reilly and other cops show up and say a card with Sandy's name was used to buy drugs from a man named Paolo. When told they can't do anything unless the identity thief was standing there in Denver with them, Sandy (knowing where he can find her) offers to go on his own and bring her there and get her to talk to Daniel to clear his name and that he won't press charges.
Trish (Amanda Peet), Sandy's wife, finds out about the situation and knows Sandy's taking a risk, but he assures her he'll get the job done. He ends up in Florida and finds Diana at the salon where she made an appointment and follows her. After confronting her on the road she manages to steal his rental car. He obtains her address through registration in her abandoned car and goes to Diana's house, which is full of merchandise and other stolen credit cards. The pair scuffle and Sandy attempts to handcuff her. Before he can cuff her, two people named Marisol (Genesis Rodriguez) and Julian (T.I.) are pounding at the door, telling Diana she gave Paolo some bad credit cards. They shoot the door open, but Sandy and Diana escape.
Sandy tells Diana about his plan to redeem his name and Diana agrees to go along with him. Meanwhile a bounty hunter known as Skiptracer (Robert Patrick) is dispatched to track down Diana to obtain a substantial bounty. On the road, Diana reminds Sandy that the people at the airport would have an issue with both of their ID's reading "Sandy Bigelow Patterson", so flying back is out of the question and they must return to Denver by driving.
After traveling through several states, Skiptracer catches up to the pair and captures Diana. A chase ensues and she knocks him unconscious, and Sandy rams his van off the road. When he gets out to check on Diana, a truck plows into his rental car, totaling it. They take Skiptracer's van with him tied to the back, but it overheats on the road. They end up walking and almost stop to rest in the woods, but they encounter several snakes, one of which ends up in Sandy's pants, which he takes off and throws away. Another snake bites Sandy's neck and Diana accidentally knocks him unconscious while trying to beat the snake.
Sandy wakes up at a bus station in new pants with no money and no phone. He asks how they got there, and Diana says she carried him half a mile until she flagged down a truck to take them there. Unfortunately, the next bus to Denver doesn't come for another three days. Sandy finds some money in his socks and is told by a guy who works at the station about a place to find a cheap car. When they stop for gas and realize they need more money, Diana asks if there's anyone Sandy would like to get back at, and he thinks of one person - Harold Cornish.
Knowing that there is someone who handles his finances, the two of them sneak into an accounting firm and coax an accounts processor into giving them access into restricted files, and they steal Cornish's identity to create new credit cards. The accounts processor realizes this too late as they are fleeing.
Meanwhile, Skiptracer goes to the bus station and threatens the employee unless he tells him where to find Diana. He then gets shot by Marisol who, along with Julian has been tracking the pair throughout their journey. Having overheard Skiptracer's conversation they continue to pursue Sandy and Diane.
Sandy and Diana finally arrive in St. Louis and stop at a hotel and Diana spends more money than necessary. She gets a makeover and has dinner with Sandy. Things get heated when he asks Diana what her real name is, but she admits she doesn't know it. She cries as she tells him that nobody cared about her when she grew up, so she doesn't even have her own identity. She then says she lied about that just as the accounts processor comes in with cops, who arrest both Sandy and Diana. As they're being escorted, they run into Marisol and Julian. Marisol calls Paolo, who tells her to follow Diana and kill her. That's when Skiptracer arrives and shoots the two thugs in the legs and throws them in the trunk of their car.
Diana manages to uncuff herself as she's in the back of the police car, and then breaks the back windshield and escapes, just as Skiptracer hits the police car. Sandy gets out as well and Skiptracer nearly hits him, but Diana pushes him out of the way and gets rammed by the car, which causes Skiptracer to swerve off. As Sandy and Diana run away, Skiptracer is arrested along with Marisol and Julian.
Diana is not injured from being hit by a car, and she and Sandy eventually make it home, where they are greeted by Trish and their daughters. Diana has dinner with Sandy's family and reconciles with them.
The next morning, Sandy is prepared to tell Diana that he'll go in alone to the station, but she's gone. She left a note saying sorry. He goes into work, preparing to quit, but Daniel shows him that Diana is meeting with the police in an office. Detective Reilly tells Sandy he is no longer part of the investigation and Diana is taken away in cuffs. Before she leaves, Sandy has a moment with her and asks her why, and she says she knew he wouldn't turn her in, but it was the right thing to do for her to do it herself.
One year later, Sandy is celebrating another birthday, this time with his third kid joining them. The family goes to visit Diana in prison, where she's doing well taking some exams. As Trish takes the girls outside, Sandy presents Diana with a birth certificate of hers that he was able to find and it's revealed that Diana's true name is Dawn Budgie, which she thinks is not an appealing name. They laugh and Diana goes back in as Sandy leaves.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_Thief)



The Criticism:

"Identity Thief" portrays the conundrum that ensues when a man has his identity stolen by another person, a woman posing as him. A scene like this represents the modern thought of humans who will do everything to survive. The fake Sandy Patterson uses her newly-acquired identity to splurge and indulge as she pleases. The real Sandy Patterson desperately tries to take back his identity from her. This shows a modern world that contains modern characters with modern mindsets and beliefs.

CULTURAL STUDIES: District 9 (2009)

The Theory:

Cultural studies is an academic field of critical theory and literary criticism initially introduced by British academics in 1964 and subsequently adopted by allied academics throughout the world. Characteristically interdisciplinary, cultural studies is an academic discipline aiding cultural researchers who theorize about the forces from which the whole of humankind construct their daily lives. Cultural Studies is not a unified theory, but a diverse field of study encompassing many different approaches, methods and academic perspectives. Distinct from the breadth, objective and methodology of cultural anthropology and ethnic studies, cultural studies is focused upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture and its historical foundations, conflicts and defining traits. Researchers concentrate on how a particular medium or message relates to ideology, social class, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality and/or gender, rather than providing an encyclopedic identification, categorization or definition of a particular culture or area of the world.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_studies)


The Story:

courtesy of: http://www.impawards.com/2009/posters/district_nine_ver13_xlg.jpg

In 1982, a large alien spacecraft stops directly above Johannesburg in South Africa. An investigation team enters the ship, discovering a population of sick and malnourished extraterrestrials. The aliens, derogatorily referred to as "prawns", are confined to District 9, a government camp just outside Johannesburg. Periodic unrest then occurs between the aliens and the locals and subsequently the South African government hires Multinational United (MNU), a private military company, to relocate the aliens to a new internment camp.
In August 2010, Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an Afrikaner bureaucrat, is appointed by Piet Smit (Louis Minnaar), an MNU executive and his father-in-law, to lead the camp relocation by serving the aliens with eviction notices. Meanwhile, three aliens — Christopher Johnson (Jason Cope), his son, and a friend — search for alien technology, from which they distill a mysterious fluid, storing it in a small canister. While raiding the shack of Christopher's friend, Wikus discovers and seizes the canister, which sprays the fluid onto his face. Christopher's friend is subsequently killed by Koobus Venter (David James), a xenophobic soldier leading the military side of the operation.
The fluid slowly begins mutating Wikus into a prawn, beginning with his arm. MNU forces Wikus to test various alien weapons which only function when alien DNA is present. The MNU scientists then decide to vivisect Wikus, but Wikus overpowers his captors and escapes. Smit orders Venter and his men to hunt down Wikus, while a story is released to the media stating that Wikus is infected with an alien STD.
Wikus finds refuge in District 9 and stumbles into Christopher's shack. A lost command module from the ship is revealed underneath the shack, and Christopher discloses that the fluid in the canister is fuel which would allow him to reactivate the dormant mothership and reverse Wikus' mutation. The canister is held at MNU headquarters, so Wikus and Christopher agree on a plan to get it back by first obtaining weapons from superstitious Nigerian arms-dealer Obesandjo and his gang.
After acquiring the weapons, Wikus and Christopher attack the MNU offices, retrieve the canister, and flee back to District 9 with MNU forces in pursuit. Appalled by the illegal experiments on his fellow aliens at MNU headquarters, Christopher says he must use all the fuel to get help before curing Wikus, but the trip to the alien planet and back will take three years. Wikus becomes enraged and attacks Christopher, then hijacks the command module which is almost immediately shot down. Venter and his men seize Wikus and Christopher, but Obesandjo's gang ambushes the MNU convoy and captures Wikus, as Obesandjo believes that eating Wikus' mutated arm will give him the ability to use alien weaponry. Obesandjo's base is then surrounded by MNU and a firefight ensues.
In the downed command module, Christopher's son activates the mothership and an alien mechanized battle suit which saves Wikus by killing Obesandjo and his men. Wikus takes control of the battle suit and rescues Christopher, shielding him as they run to the command module. Wikus aids Christopher's escape by staying behind and holding off the MNU troops. Christopher promises to return in three years before making his way to the command module. Wikus kills all the troops except Venter, who cripples his suit and forces it to eject him. As Wikus is cornered by Venter, a group of aliens ambush Venter, tearing him to pieces. Christopher leaves in the mothership with his son as Johannesburg's residents celebrate its departure.
A series of interviews and news broadcasts are shown, with people theorizing about Wikus' whereabouts and the potential return of the mothership, and what it could entail. MNU's illegal experiments on the aliens are uncovered and exposed. District 9 is completely demolished, with all the aliens having been moved to the new larger District 10 farther from the city. Wikus' wife Tania finds a metal flower on her doorstep, giving her hope that Wikus is still alive. The final scene shows what appears to be a fully transformed Wikus crafting a similar flower in a scrapyard.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_9)



The Criticism:


"District 9" depicts an imaginary scenario wherein aliens who have made Earth their home are subjected to racial discrimination and abusive behavior by the dominating human forces. The political view of the human population (or rather, the majority of it) towards the alien settlers mirrors the view of the Americans on the African population during the apartheid. The "prawns", as they are called, are subjected to much humiliation from the media, are separated from the humans and located on a village not unlike  the familiar slums, and are used as guinea pigs by the government in their search to learn the aliens' advanced technology and weaponry which often result to their deaths. "District 9" presents an alternate view of reality and creates an air of sympathy and disgust for both the human characters as well as the alien settlers.

ECO-CRITICISM - Piranha 3D (2010)

The Theory:

Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation. Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminal works, both published in the mid-1990s: The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, and The Environmental Imagination, by Lawrence Buell.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eco-criticism)


The Story:

courtesy of: http://terrordaves.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/piranha-3d-poster.jpg

Fisherman Matt Boyd (Richard Dreyfuss) is fishing in Lake Victoria, Arizona when a small earthquake hits, splitting the lake floor and causing a whirlpool. Boyd falls in and is ripped apart by a school of piranhas that emerge from the chasm and ascend the vortex.

Jake Forester (Steven R. McQueen) is admiring attractive tourists as spring break begins. He reunites with his old crush, Kelly (Jessica Szohr) and meets Derrick Jones (Jerry O'Connell), an eccentric pornographer, as well as Danni Arslow (Kelly Brook), one of his actresses. Derrick convinces Jake to show him good spots on the lake for filming a pornographic movie. That night, Jake's mother, Sheriff Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue), searches for the missing Matt Boyd with Deputy Fallon (Ving Rhames). They find his mutilated body and contemplate closing the lake, however, this is made difficult by two thousand partying college students on spring break who are important for bringing revenue to the small town. The next morning, a lone cliff diver is attacked and consumed by the marauding fish.

Jake bribes his sister and brother, Laura (Brooklynn Proulx) and Zane (Sage Ryan), to stay home alone so that he can show Derrick around the lake. After Jake leaves, Zane drafts Laura to go fishing on a small sandbar island. They forget to tie the boat down and are stranded in the middle of the lake. Meanwhile, Jake goes to meet with Derrick and runs into Kelly, who invites herself onto Derrick’s boat, The Barracuda. Jake meets Crystal Shepard (Riley Steele), another of Derrick’s actresses, and cameraman Andrew Cunningham (Paul Scheer).

Julie takes a team of seismologist divers — Novak (Adam Scott), Sam (Ricardo Chavira), and Paula (Dina Meyer) — to the fissure. Novak speculates that the rift leads to a buried prehistoric lake. Paula and Sam scuba dive to the bottom and discover a large cavern filled with large piranha egg stocks. Both are killed by the piranhas before they can alert the others to the discovery. Novak and Julie find Paula's corpse and pull it onto the boat, capturing a lone piranha, which they take to Carl Goodman (Christopher Lloyd), a marine biologist who works as a pet store owner. He explains that it is a super-aggressive prehistoric species, long believed to be extinct.

Julie, Novak, Fallon, and Deputy Taylor Roberts (Jason Spisak) try to evacuate the lake, but their warnings are ignored until the piranhas begin to attack the tourists. Novak boards a jet-ski with a shotgun to help while Fallon drags people to shore and Julie and Taylor try to get swimmers into the police boat. A floating stage capsizes from the weight of the panicking guests, pulling a electric wire which mutilates few tourists. Almost everyone in the lake is either wounded or killed by the piranhas or panicking guests who were recklessly driving their speed boats.

Meanwhile, Jake spots Laura and Zane on the island, and forces Derrick to rescue them. Derrick crashes the boat into some rocks, flooding the rooms below deck. Kelly is trapped in the kitchen while Derrick, Crystal and Drew fall overboard from to the impact of the collision. Crystal is devoured and Drew is presumambly killed. Meanwhile, Danni manages to get a partially eaten Derrick back on board.

Deputy Fallon makes a last stand, taking a boat motor and using its propellor to shred and kill many piranhas. After the chaos settles, Julie receives a call from Jake pleading for help. Julie and Novak steal a speed boat and head off towards the kids. Julie and Novak reach Jake and attach a rope to his boat. Julie, Danni, Laura, and Zane start crossing the rope, but the piranhas latch onto Danni's hair and ultimately devour her. The others make it to safety, but the rope comes loose. Using Derrick's corpse as a distraction, Jake ties the line to himself and goes to save Kelly. He ties Kelly to him and lights a flare after releasing the gas in a pair of stored propane tanks. Novak starts the boat and speeds away just as the piranhas surround Kelly and Jake. They are dragged to safety and the propane tanks explode, destroying the boat and killing most of the piranhas.

Mr. Goodman calls Julie on the radio, and Julie tells him that they seem to have killed the majority of the piranhas. Terrified, Goodman tells her that the reproductive glands on the piranha they obtained were not mature, which means that the fish they were fighting were only the babies. As Novak wonders aloud where the parents are, a human sized piranha leaps out and knocks him into the water.

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piranha_3d)


The Criticism:

courtesy of: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJOychc5IRl8mZJprdXCsQkSzUWafR04FEIvX-_4oy9WA_0lc0HWtGv3VJPe3WplnrrhOYzZ2EkErL2UQJ5n8fnsmhUSgPK2f74r8drfQDUjcH9RjrxstG5Sq7ZXpTkrkAOOcXSiRBxh6G/s1600/Piranha+3D.jpg

"Piranha 3D" centers on a massive piranha attack on Lake Victoria, Arizona, and Sheriff Julie and Novak's efforts to control the situation and survive the bloodshed. The film depicts a situation wherein the characters need to stop the invading species before they do further damage.

courtesy of: http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/arts/photos/2010/08/19/arts-3-d-top-584.jpg

The film falls under eco-criticism because it depicts the conventional man versus nature situation. An invading species, usually a threat to the entire population of the are being attacked, must be stopped by the main characters in order to save the people in that place. In "Piranha 3D", main characters Sheriff Julie Forrester and Novak discover a subterranean lake after an underwater earthquake reveals it. The troubling matter is that thousands of prehistoric piranhas, hungry for flesh, are also released from being imprisoned inside the cave. What's even more troubling is that it is the spring break season, wherein thousands of young students are having wild and wet fun in the lake. Together with her son Jake, Sheriff Forrester and Novak attempt to stop the piranhas from a full-on attack on the students celebrating in the lake. Whether or not they stop the attack is what the viewer needs to find out, however, by watching the movie and seeing whether man finally triumphs over nature.

NEO-CLASSICISM - Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance

The Theory:

Neoclassicism is a revival of the styles and spirit of classic antiquity inspired directly from the classical period, which coincided and reflected the developments in philosophy and other areas of the Age of Enlightenment, and was initially a reaction against the excesses of the preceding Rococo style. While the movement is often described as the opposed counterpart of Romanticism, this is a great over-simplification that tends not to be sustainable when specific artists or works are considered, the case of the supposed main champion of late Neoclassicism, Ingres, demonstrating this especially well. The revival can be traced to the establishment of formal archaeology. The writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann were important in shaping this movement in both architecture and the visual arts. His books, Thoughts on the Imitation of Greek Works in Painting and Sculpture (1750) and Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums ("History of Ancient Art", 1764) were the first to distinguish sharply between Ancient Greek and Roman art, and define periods within Greek art, tracing a trajectory from growth to maturity and then imitation or decadence that continues to have influence to the present day. Winckelmann believed that art should aim at "noble simplicity and calm grandeur", and praised the idealism of Greek art, in which he said we find: "not only nature at its most beautiful but also something beyond nature, namely certain ideal forms of its beauty, which, as an ancient interpreter of Plato teaches us, come from images created by the mind alone." The theory was very far from new in Western art, but his emphasis on close copying of Greek models was: "The only way for us to become great or, if this be possible, inimitable, is to imitate the ancients".

(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassicism#Overview)


The Lyrics:

courtesy of: http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/178/210/178210154_640.jpg

(listen to the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRKJiM9Njr8)

When I was a young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said, "Son, when you grow up
Would you be the savior of the broken
The beaten and the damned?”

He said, "Will you defeat them
Your demons and all the non-believers
The plans that they have made?
Because one day, I'll leave you
A phantom to lead you in the summer
To join the Black Parade"

Sometimes I get the feeling
She's watching over me
And other times I feel like I should go
And through it all, the rise and fall
The bodies in the streets
And when you're gone we want you all to know

We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on, we'll carry on
And in my heart, I can't contain it
The anthem won't explain it

A world that sends you reeling
From decimated dreams
Your misery and hate will kill us all
So paint it black and take it back
Let's shout out loud and clear
Defiant to the end

We hear the call to carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches

On and on we carry through the fears
Disappointed faces of your peers
Take a look at me
'Cause I could not care at all

Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Though you try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part

Won't explain or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar
Give a cheer for all the broken
Listen here, because it's who we are

I'm just a man, I'm not a hero
Just a boy who wanna sing his song
Just a man, I'm not a hero
I don't care!

We'll carry on, we'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on, you'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
You're weary widow marches on

Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Though you try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part
(We'll carry on)

Do or die, you'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Though you try, you'll never break me
We want it all, we wanna play this part
(We'll carry on)

(courtesy of: http://www.elyrics.net/read/m/my-chemical-romance-lyrics/welcome-to-the-black-parade-lyrics.html)


The Criticism:

courtesy of: http://www.blog-city.info/en/img3/3882_Welcome%20to%20the%20black%20parade.jpg

“Welcome to the Black Parade” centers around the main character The Patient’s passage out of life and the memories he has of his life. The Patient dies and death comes for him in the form of a parade. This is based upon My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way's belief that death comes for a person in the form of his or her fondest memory, in this case seeing a parade as a child.

courtesy of: http://cgnews.com/files/2011/uploads/black_parade_article.jpg

The song and the album as well, signify the return to the eras of glam rock and punk rock. It also signifies the return of utilizing operatic themes and classical musical references as an application to present rock concepts. This perfectly falls under the neo-classicist theory because the song’s musical style attempts to revitalize the period of classical music and opera by incorporating it with rock, a modern musical style currently seen as one definition of the present generation. The resulting song is the offspring of two very different genres masterfully blended together to create a seamless opus magnum that will not only appeal to the average music fan but also for the person who wants to find new ways in enjoying the things of the past.