2012, the day that the world as we know it, will come to an end. At least, that’s what director Roland Emmerich fantasizes about in his new movie Properly titled “2012.” Emmerich takes us on an intense journey across the United States, and even China as he utterly destroys the world. This movie leads for and intense, white- knuckle thrill ride that’s sure to knock the socks right off of you. At least there’s somewhat of a story behind it, but the story is so complex and all over the place that it leaves a small wound in this cinematic giant.

The movie begins in 2009, when two scientists discover that a massive solar flare has caused Earth’s core to superheat at rapid temperatures. One of them, Adrian, rushes to tell the White House officials that the Earth has an expiration date. 2012.

Now the date is 2012. Curtis, a writer and part time limo driver for Russian billionaire, Yuri, takes his kids out camping. While there, Curtis finds that his favorite camping spot is sealed off by the government. He and his children decide to hop the fence, and are caught by U.S. military. Curtis later meets Adrian, who lets them go, and meets an underground radio broadcaster Charlie. Charlie tells Curtis about the apocalypse, and a secret government plan called the Ark project, which is three vessels to take a certain chosen people from around the world through the chaos.

Later, Curtis returns home to rescue his family, including divorced wife, Kate and her new boyfriend, Gordon. Curtis rents a plane and Gordon flies them out of Los Angeles as it is destroyed. They land in Yellowstone, collect the map that Charlie had of the Ark vessels. Then they land in Las Vegas. The collect Yuri, his two sons, and his girlfriend. They board Yuri’s plane with his pilot, Sasha and make their escape to China.

They crash land in China due to no fuel, Sasha dies, and the rest are discovered by Chinese soldiers. Yuri waves his green passes to get on the Ark for his kids and himself, and leave the rest behind. The group is discovered by a monk, who takes them with his family to sneak in the Ark.

!!!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!

The group get on the Ark through a passage way. The gates are lowered to let people on, and Gordon is killed when he is crushed in between the gears. They also get a big drill caught in the gears, which, disable the vessel from closing the gate just as a tsunami is about to hit.

Adrian, who is also on the vessel contact the trapped group, and they are able to get the drill free. Later, the tsunami waters have receded and they discover that Africa is above sea level. The Ark vessels then head for Africa.

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Overall, the movie was pretty good. It featured some spectacular special effects, and the acting was pretty good. Roland Emmerich just has a way of killing off 5/6 of the world’s population in spectacular ways. There were, however, a few problems with the film.

First off, The entire story was all over the place (as seen above.) There were too many stories that they were trying to follow, and it lead to some confusion, especially when they left  a certain group alone for an extended period. Instead of one major plot, it seemed like they were trying to follow three or four major plots at once. Somehow, though, they were able to kill off or bring their major characters together for a great ending.

Second, I thought that there was too much comic relief in the film. Of course comic relief is good in intense thriller disaster movies such as this one, but there was too much, which broke the story quite a bit. Much if the comic relief was right in the middle of an intense scene, which really broke it. I did not like it at all. Too much of a good thing is certainly bad for this movie.

Also, I felt that some of the movie was dragged out too far, and it got a little long. However, I felt that for every bad thing, there was a great thing that countered it.

The movie was an absolute thrill ride. It had me on the edge of my seat (sometimes literally) the entire time. With disaster and danger at every turn, the cataclysmic events almost double in size with each new chapter of this film. From completely annihilating California to turning Yellowstone into a super Volcano to the destruction of the Washington Monument and not only crushing D.C. with the Air Force 1, but then sinking it into the ocean. This film proves that Mother nature is a ticking time bomb and that Roland Emmerich is a very twisted, yet intelligent and talented director that likes destroying important things.

The special effects were quite stunning. Most of it was probably done with Green Screen, but it was very believable and spectacular. The acting was a plus, with Cusak as one of the main characters.

In conclusion, 2012 was a thrill ride that echoed Emmerich’s work. This movie, yet flawed, is a masterpiece of visual art that will thrill generations to come, even after 2012.  4 out of 5 stars.

I recently came across an atricle in the New York Times entitled “Students Arrested for Middle- School Food Fight (by Susan Saulny.)” The food fight started just like every other one. An apple turned into a cannonball, a cookie turns into a throwing star, and so on… Within minutes, dozens of students joined in the culinary chaos, and teachers were ducking and diving for cover.

An in- school officer called for back up while trying to stop the food fight, which led to 25 of the students, ages 11-15 being arrested and put in jail. THe charges are reckless conduct… a misdemeanor.

Parents are questioning what seems like the criminalization of an age- old school tradition, also the lasting psychological and legal impacts of being arrested.  “My Children have to appear in court,” says Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth grade girls that spent 8 hours in jail. “They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and were treated like real criminals…” “They’re all scared,” You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn’t had a food fight?” These words hit me like slamming a car into a wall. The students were also suspended for two days.

Criminal justice experts say that if the charges are not thrown out when the students go before a judge this month, the accused will most likely be sentenced to community service or probation. Their records would remain confidential until adulthood. –17 under Illinois law– at which point the arrests would be cleared.

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This is a prime example of how the justice system works… horribly. Those children should not have been arrested or had criminal charges drawn against them. Yet the officers wanted to detain the situation, and did a horrible job at it. The school officer should loose their job for starting this whole mess. He did not have to call for police back up. Those children are going to be scarred for life, being thrown in jail with drunkards, murderers, rapists, and other criminals. That is no place to hold a middle schooler. The principal’s office is bad enough. I only hope that either the charges get dropped or someone gives them a pardon.

How things Have Ended

–

I hate how things have ended,

And how we were torn apart,

The healing should have mended,

But the healing never started,

And now the day might as well be night,

And the sun may as well be black,

For I have lost all in sight,

And now I need you back,

Warm hands are cold,

And all time stands still,

I can not die or grow old,

Until this dark I kill,

And now I will look for you,

Under the light grown dim,

And I will tell you true,

Alone is a life lived grim,

I do not want to be alone,

I would rather die,

In a world where no light is shown,

Every moment, in grief, I cry,

Things that once were,

Are now dead and gone,

And I wish I could see her,

And what I did wrong,

Things have finally began,

And to keep her, I will do all that I can.

Dark Dexter

–

All his emotions betrayed,

He was never afraid,

Of the dark passenger that thrives inside,

The human side in him has died,

So now he kills to feed,

Haunted by a darkened deed,

By his foster father was found,

Harry gave Dexter ground,

A code to keep him alive,

So the dark passenger can thrive,

He kills those who need be killed,

Another night, more blood is spilled,

A wolf in sheep’s clothing, his mask is tight,

As Darkly Dreaming Dexter hides in plain sight,

He stalks his prey with cunning and guile,

While faking a normal life all the while,

But at night the Dark passenger takes hold,

The warm flesh meets stainless steel cold,

He cleans up the scene and leaves not a trace,

Of the twisted hobby that once took place,

When the Dark Passenger is hungry, he lets an evil laugh,

And another killer will feel Dark Dexter’s wrath.

A Little thing called Joy

–

I walk into the valley of the shadow of death,

Alone and cold, I can see my breath,

Everyone is dead, and I am the last,

My horse, my only friend, long past,

My only friends are now are shield and blade,

I ride to undo what Satan has made,

Lurking in the shadows, I see the demons,

But I press forth; I will not run,

I will not win, they are too many,

But I must summon some courage, if any,

They attack, but I block them off,

And push them into a deep trough,

I seal them away, and leave them to die,

Mine is not to reason why,

But the demons break free,

They find and attack me,

And I can never win,

As they attack again and again,

They get inside and break me,

Affect who I am and who I’ll be,

They remind me of how many times I fell,

And how many times I’ve rung the death bell,

But an unexplained side- effect takes hold,

And of their games I grow old,

Because they remind me of how many times I got up,

When I learned to shoot my mouth off and when to shut up,

They remind me of the joys in my life,

And it cuts the demons like a knife,

I regain power of my own will,

They want to take me again and go for the kill,

They use my own past as their tool,

To make me meet an ending cruel,

But they did not count on a thing called joy,

Which took me over and all of their power destroy,

So I walk into the valley of the shadow of death,

Alone and cold, I can see my breath,

Lurking in the shadows, I see the demons,

But I press forth, I will not run,

Because I have something that can all of them destroy,

And that is a little thing called joy.

A Story of Courage

–

Shamsia was walking with her sister,

A man on a motorcycle pulled abreast,

Are you going to school?

She was,

The man sprayed her face with acid,

Left with jagged scars,

Her vision was damaged,

And there the tale might rest,

Girls and teachers maimed,

The school closed, dark and sad,

The Headmaster held a meeting,

And begged the parents to let them return,

And the girls came back,

My parents told me to keep coming,

Even if I am killed,

And each day,

The school bustles.

A Message of Hope

–

Here I am,

Wondering,

What will happen to my walls,

Now we are dying,

Dying from the inside out,

And if we don’t act quick,

We will quickly exhale,

Our last breath,

Don’t let the strength,

Of their words,

Penetrate your innocence,

Mark my words,

They will fall,

You will not greave any longer,

For we will prevail,

We will ignite the flame,

That burns them down,

This is our liberation,

When will they learn?

That we can not be silenced,

Now give me your arms, brothers,

This fight is ours,

We will win our freedom,

And take back what is ours,

Breathe new life,

For you are not alone,

In your suffering,

My blood is cold as ice,

And my heart is stone,

We will suffer,

But not in vain,

When we win freedom,

The trumpet sounds,

As we ride,

On the attack,

My conviction,

Has consumed my soul,

And my hands,

Are stained with blood,

The battle is long,

And is still going,

As long as I am alive,

I will fight this war,

In hope of reaching the end,

Someday.

(I Fear) The Future

–

If I fear anything,

It is the future,

The uncertainty,

The unknown,

Where will I be,

10 years from now?

Every step I take,

Every breath I breathe,
could be my last,

Could it all end,

My work not yet done?

Where will I go,

When the soul leaves the body?

Does the soul die?

If life is a road,

Then I’m driving blind,

Without control of the steering wheel,

Will I make it out?

Or will I crash and burn?

Will someday all of me revealed,

And by all betrayed?

If I fear anything,

It is the future,