Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Expulsion. Moon and Firelight, by Thomas Cole (circa 1828):


Edgar Allan Poe House:


Visiting this historic building, where Poe lived during the 1830s, felt like a pilgrimage to one of my favorite authors. If you love his work, and you’re in Baltimore, then it’s worth the time to make this trip. Stepping into this house is like taking a step back in time.
The house is now a museum, run non-profit, so please donate whatever you can to help keep it going for future generations who discover and love his work.

I will be posting two of my favorite pieces by Poe at a later date: The Raven and The Black Cat.

Edgar Allan Poe House
203 North Amity Street
Baltimore
Maryland
21223 


Below are photos of my visit:


In memory of Edgar Allan Poe.
 

January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Ghost in the Shell (2017):


I’m a harsh critic when it comes to remakes, especially when I love the original work.
Unless the remake/reimagining has something that adds to it, making it exceptional, I’m a purist to the source material.


I’ve been a fan of Mamoru Oshii’s original Ghost in the Shell ever since I saw it on its release in 1995.


In 2008, he revamped and improved upon the movie with new CGI and released it again as Ghost in the Shell 2.0.
I recommend anyone who appreciates intelligent science fiction stories, especially those, like Blade Runner, that focus on the clash between humans and A.I., to watch Ghost in the Shell 2.0.


For me, the bar was set very high with Rupert Sanders’ live-action version of Ghost in the Shell.
I was pleasantly surprised: I love it!
The original story has been tweaked and characters have been expanded upon, but it’s a minor difference.
This is a faithful retelling, with improvements to character and plot development, an excellent soundtrack, and brilliant effects.
Many of the visuals were shot-for-shot for the original Manga version.


I’ll happily add this one to my movie collection.
I’ll be posting a more in-depth blog on both the anime and live-action versions of Ghost in the Shell at a later date.