On the screens of the whole world came out "The Dark Tower" - a film adaptation of the main work of the American science fiction writer Stephen King. A cycle of novels about Arrow Roland, looking for dark tower in the center of the universe, has become a cult for many fans of the works of the "king of horrors". And now - the long-awaited film adaptation of books that were considered, in principle, unsuitable for film adaptation.

The film is somewhat reminiscent of Harry Potter, "The Night Watch" and the novels of Vladislav Krapivin at the same time (family conflict in general causes a feeling of deja vu with Krapivin's story "Three from Carronade Square"). Unnecessary to parents, the boy Jake has the gift of clairvoyance and superpowers that the worthless tormentor of children - the man in black - wants to use to destroy the pillar of the universe. The villain uncomplicatedly bombards the Dark Tower with "tears of a child" placed on a conveyor belt. Fortunately, the boy gets in the way of the Archer Roland and together they arrange such a fight for peace that no stone is left unturned.

All this is touching, well-intentioned, very patriarchal - with family values and protection of the tower, as the center of the world's good, from the world's evil. There are completely New Testament scenes in the film - a raid by the villain's servants on the village in search of a boy who kills all the children they come across - pure water massacre of the innocents.

True to Hollywood racial correctness, Arrow, based on the character of Clint Eastwood in the films of Sergio Leone, is played by ... black actor Idris Alba. In New York, he looks, of course, not like a knight from an ancient order from another world dimension, but like a gopnik "from the district": that look, he will start rapping.

But the villain, of course, must certainly be white and with the manners of a true aristocrat. And so Matthew McConaughey, until recently considered as a candidate for the role of the Shooter himself, goes to a dark corner - evil, of course, must be white, with delicate features and exquisite refined irony.

Great movie, overall. For those who have not read the original - Stephen King novels, which are generally about something else. This is a story about the search for, if not God, then the secrets of the universe. And no more beaver vs donkey fight. The dark tower is an old Celtic symbol of the center of tradition. We can recall, for example, the famous poems of W.B. Yeats.

Heard: at the guards on the black tower
Sour wine and poor food,
But without dreaming of a better brush,
Warriors are always true to their oath,
They watch the tower:
Banners of enemies will not pass.

The dead stand in coffins full height,
The winds blow from the shores
Old bones creak.

Banners come, threaten, bribe,
They whisper: "Your king is long forgotten,
New to the throne now rise,
Do you care?"
But if it has decayed for a long time,
What is it that has overcome your fear?

In the coffins - the dim light of the moon and stars,
The winds blow from the shores
The oppression of their heavy wind roar,
Old bones creak.

Our old cook, what with the first dawn
Climbing up, catching birds in a snare,
He assures us, swears to us of this:
Like, the royal horn blew.
Everything would lie to the old!
The oath is observed by our army.

The darkness of night thickens in the coffins,
The winds blow from the shores
The oppression of their heavy wind roar,
Old bones creak.

(Translated by A. Serebrennikov)

But the tower as an image of tradition and knowledge is completely outside the ethical horizons. In King's novel, the Shooter, after talking with a man in black (who is not an enemy there, but, on the contrary, a guide), easily steps over the death of the boy Jake and rushes further for secret knowledge. A purely gnostic idea - knowledge (essentially - occult) is higher than goodness, conscience and life.

This Gnostic path ends rather badly. Having reached the end of the story, Roland discovers behind the last door ... the beginning of the story and falls with an erased memory into a new circle of running squirrels in a wheel. There is no higher Truth, no higher level, there is only an endless circle of the lost Ego.

Photo: www.globallookpress.com

King's hero repeats the shooters' catechism all the time:

"I'm not aiming with my hand,
He who aims with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
I aim with my eye.
I don't shoot with my hand
The one who shoots with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
I shoot mind.
I don't kill with weapons
He who kills with weapons has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart."

Our stupid film translators remade it into "disgrace his father", but, of course, this is not about patriarchal mores, but about the universe that has turned its back on its creator. Stephen King's saga is a story about worlds that have tradition and honor, but who have forgotten the face of their Father and are immersed in the hopelessness of eternal circulation.

Inconsistency with King's books and primitiveness went to the "Dark Tower" in favor. Craft with shooting, fireworks, and a beginner Harry Potter, much kinder, more humane, and closer to Christian values. If in modern Western culture somewhere else there is a citadel of simple and healthy Christian values, it is in the dark towers of Hollywood. However, from there they are successfully squeezed out.

Look at Tsargrad TV program "Cinema with Kholmogorov"

What are human energy centers and why do I disagree with the theory about chakras, and moreover, why do I think that without understanding the centers, no practice will work. This article is the basis, if you decide to try to practice my system, this is “Our Father”.

Amen, friends, and let's go :)

I don't aim with my hand
He who aims with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
I aim with my eye.
I don't shoot with my hand
The one who shoots with his hand has forgotten his father's face.
I shoot mind.
I don't kill with weapons
He who kills with weapons has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

In the recently released film The Dark Tower, I liked the “oath of the shooters” – the defenders of the foundations of the universe.

This is how it sounds in the original, in English. Russian adaptation above.

This reminds me very much of the mechanics of working with the upper (male) centers.

And I also immediately catch a clear association with another film - "Equilibrium", I seem to have already written that according to the plot, in the ideal future, they brought out a "shooter's kata", that is, an ideal sequence of war actions, when each action is clearly worked out and any a misfire or a mistake is worth a life.

This reminds me of the pattern of impact on reality - the key principle of all rituals of all faiths "hit-block-hit-action".

(Both films, if you have not seen them, are useful to watch - the more you will understand in more detail what I am writing about.)

Punch-block-punch-action

This is how most people relate to spiritual practices - through their own “magical worldview”. The term, by the way, is taken from marketing - there it means that a person believes that something "somehow" will improve his business, but does not understand in detail - how. Just an example is the popularity of the Instagram service, which suddenly began to be actively developed by everyone - from supermarket chains to coffee stalls. Develop without understanding the mechanics of the service, the rules of promotion and the target audience of this social network.

In contrast to the magical worldview, there is a realistic (or rational) one - when you have studied the principle of how something works and only after that you apply it to yourself. When you understand in detail the principle of operation.

Actually, if you wave your hands and say a pathetic spell in Esperatno, nothing will change, akhalai-mahalai, lyasiki-masyasiki!

And if you act according to the principle of “hit-block-hit-action”, while activating the process of proper breathing and understanding from which energy center the impact comes, then everything will work out.

Let's take a look first hit-block-hit-action, and then add the centers, and I'll explain.

So, most of the impacts on reality and people follow a simplified and fundamentally wrong “hit-action” scheme.

That is, we beat like a sheep at the new gates, plaster is poured on us and the gates open. But in addition there is an evil owner of the house with a gun, from which we have to flee in the guise of an infernal ram.

And we are like this right away: "this is karma."

What is karma, really? This is our openness after the blow, insecurity.

surprises me superstitious fear many practitioners "I'm afraid that I'll be hit back."

What are you afraid of, question? I wrote about the field, by the way. And I insist that you can’t defend situationally, you need to keep the field constantly. You have protection, which means that if there is a reverse action (and it will be), then it will hurt minimally. There you will break a nail, or a heel, or 100 UAH will fall out of your pocket.

But that's not a problem, is it?)

The second moment - with the correct setting of the action - is a block and provides you with a block immediately, while you are as open to the world as possible.

And four more actions are done with breathing. Breathing is generally a cool thing, with its help we activate vibrations.

So, blow (inhale) - block (exhale) - second blow (inhale-exhale) - action (repeated exhalation)

At the end of the article, we will connect this with the poetic "shooter's oath" centers. But first, let us understand the nature and location of the centers.

So, about the centers

Every second knows about chakras - these are points on the subtle body that have different areas of responsibility in the body, some of them are similar to centers in location.

So - the centers are literally "fastenings" of consciousness in the body. It just doesn't pop up like that.

And it is in the centers that the main force of consciousness gathers.

So, I distinguish three groups of centers.

Upper (or male), or rhombus.

These are generally the main centers, they are more used in men's training systems - these are will, intelligence and logic.

The first is between the eyes.

The second is the solar plexus

The third and fourth are the shoulders, there is a protruding bone.

The second group is the lower or female centers or Axis.

5 center - 5 cm from the solar plexus down.

6 center - 2 cm up from the navel.

7 center - the simplest "along the line of underpants", 5-6 cm from the navel.

8 center - in the pubic area.

All witchcraft is built on the Axis - therefore, female magic you yourself understand where it comes from, because the 8th center is the main one in the scheme.

If, for example, you feel negative from a witch, then your blow should not be on the forehead, but along the axis - from top to bottom.

The third group - centers of power, oval.

These centers "sprout" later; only developed consciousnesses have them.

9 center - the last vertebra

10 center - coccyx (protruding bone)

connected in an oval. The whole devouring theme also comes from these centers, it is from them that we connect with any egregore - and we start drinking.

A separate article will be the center of each group, the task for reading this article is to find each center in yourself and feel it. Understand how they are grouped.

So, a simple exercise to correct the imbalance. You need to sit in a comfortable position and “count” your centers from the first to the 10th. It is important to feel every point.

Consciousness is mobile, and if the centers are not balanced, this results in depression, uncertainty, absent-mindedness and whining. You feel reflection in yourself for no reason - you sat down, counted to 10 and done well.

And now I'll show you how to work with the upper centers + punch + block + punch + action.

So, kata arrow in our way:

I aim first center, I define the goal, the task and the result. (hit-breath)

I put block 3 and 4 in the center, I hold back the reverse wave and reverse it, protecting myself (block-exhalation)

I hit the first and second centers, I hit again and sincerely believe in my actions, in their correctness (hit - inhale-exhale)

“I break reality with my heart” - I connect all the points of the centers into a rhombus, more precisely, if volumetrically, it is a pyramid, the top of which is directed away from me, and the base is in front of me. (action - second exhalation)

We also “pull out” the rest of the centers on the second exhalation to the 2nd center, as if energy for a strike comes from each through a thin channel.

As you can see, everything is not easy, you can’t figure it out without half a liter, or rather, without constant practice. Only the correct performance of our divine kata gives a result. If you make a mistake, do not understand or are not sure, then it will not work out.

There is only gain here. Or do it right once, be motivated by the result and understand the principle.

I will write more about the centers, the topic is very voluminous.

By the way, for everyone who has questions - alas, I can’t always answer in social networks or in the mail, but I will try to go to the forum.

And I will definitely answer.

Ehh ... This heavy sigh was caused by watching the long-awaited film adaptation of "The Dark Tower" by Stephen, ours, King. I approached the viewing as someone who couldn't even get through the first book, because it's insanely boring, and even with such favorable conditions (and zero expectations), the film specifically disappointed me so much.

Our world is not the only one in existence. Sworn enemies Roland Deschain, the last of the order of shooters, and Walter O'Dimm, also known as the Man in Black, are waging an age-old struggle. At stake is the mythical Dark Tower, the last stronghold and hope of the universe, without which the world will be plunged into complete chaos and destruction. The forces of good and evil are destined to clash in the final battle, because Roland Deschain is the only one who can stop the Man in Black before he destroys the Dark Tower.

Yes, in relation to this film, I was too lazy to even briefly describe the plot in my own words. The plot itself is bad. And bad, not because “NOT AS IN THE BOOK!!!”, but because it is eerily banal and boring. Throughout the film, the Man in Black is looking for the kid to destroy the Tower, and the Gunslinger is looking for the Man in Black to get revenge. Everything. The film does not go beyond this. And it's fucking embarrassing. Even without much regard for the original source, one could come up with something more interesting. But I'll give it credit, there are some good jokes here.

The most controversial point: Actors and how they act. I will say right away that from the very beginning I was on the side of Idris Elba. He is a great actor, and he proved it at least with Luther, Beasts of No Roots and Long Road to Freedom, and since I haven’t read the books, I don’t care at all about his skin color, and after watching I declare with all responsibility : Idris Elba was perfect for the role of Strelka, at least in his cinematic incarnation. The shooter in the film version is a man who lost everything, and whom it broke, and now he is consumed by a thirst for revenge, and even the purpose of the shooters is, to put it mildly, on the drum. And Elba fit the role of such a shooter well. The Man in Black by everyone's favorite Matthew Macanagi turned out to be a little strange. Walter Padik here reminds me of Killgrave from Jessica Jones, but with some shades of Voldemort, although in a couple of moments he reminded me with his behavior ... Shaitanych from Hottabych with Tolokonnikov. But Makanagi drags with his charisma, there are no questions for him. But the second plan is not at all happy. Jake is no-nonsense and resembles Acre, his mom, played by Katheryn Winnick, quickly blends in, although Katherine herself is gorgeous. Jackie Earle Haley and Abbey Lee, both very talented actors, were shoved into the background, as was Dennis Haysbert, who only appeared in two scenes.

The technical side of the film is also, to put it mildly, not very good. All this could be written off on the budget, but there are two things in the film that simply do not allow it:

The first is that there are no special effects or scenery in the film, for which it was necessary to spend a lot of money. There are few unusual locations in the film, and the rest of the action takes place in New York. Of the special effects, only a couple of explosions, a couple of monsters, and other light music;

The second is darkness. Almost all the Action takes place at night or in semi-darkness, and it's just hard for you to even see who is shooting at whom. It seems to me that this was done on purpose to hide a certain wretchedness of the graphics, and it infuriates.

Also, the music was very disappointing, and this is just a blow from the most unexpected side, because Tom Holkenborg, aka Junkie XL, was responsible for the music. The soundtrack is not a bit expressive, and not memorable, which is strange, because I listened to the soundtrack of the last Mad Max to the holes. That's really a stab in the back.

And, probably, the main disadvantage that killed the film for me is boredom. Crazy boredom of everything that happens. Four of us went to the film, as a result, one slept through half the film, the second also fell asleep from time to time, and with the third we just chatted for the rest of the film, commented on what was shown on the screen and climbed on the phone. And for a film positioned as a blockbuster, it seems to me that this is a death sentence. Basically, there is nothing more to say. Disgusting and boring film with shitty potential, little blockbuster, all the action of which is tied to the use of auto-aim revolvers. And in the end, I’ll probably still point out that I don’t want to blame the film’s director, Nikolai Arcel, for anything, because in terms of the director’s work, the film is not so bad. He just got a terrible script, which at the time of filming looked like Frankenstein's monster, and Nikolai himself, as a newcomer to Hollywood, did not have much opportunity to influence the situation. In general, go better to the Atomic Blonde.

P.S.
I still don't understand why Horror is listed in the genres? Horror from the quality of the film, perhaps.

P.P.S.
By the way, before the screening of The Dark Tower, the trailer for The Dark Tower was suddenly shown!!! Probably, as the last frontier, they say, “Boy, you don’t understand what movie you came to? Get out of here before it's too late!!!

P.P.P.S.
And by the way, our dubbing again excelled, and remade the cult "Forgot the face of his father" in "Dishonors his father."

“I do not aim with my hand, for he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye. I do not shoot with my hand, for he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot my mind...
"Enough already, huh."

When it comes to Stephen King adaptations, I'm overwhelmed with curiosity. No, paradoxically after the above, I am not a fan or connoisseur of his work, and certainly not someone who can be called a well-read person. But understanding that Stephen is one of greatest writers of our time and acquaintance with his film adaptations, which give this very understanding, formed in my head a simple fact about the work of the “king of horrors”: King is the guarantor of a high-quality and well-developed world of the work, the plot of the film. What is it this time?

"Dark Tower" - the most the main thing the work of King's life according to him. I've been waiting for this picture for a long time. The first information about the intentions to make a film, no, a series of films based on the Dark Tower universe appeared in 2008. However, after an unpleasant cascade of changes in directors and main performers, Sony decided on both the actors and the vision for the project. Filming began in 2015, and fans' asses started to burn.

There were no dissatisfied with the casting of Matthew McConaughey for the role of the Man in Black, but for another black The guy had a lot of complaints. Idris Elba looked a little like Clint Eastwood, who served as the prototype for the shooter Roland. King's words on Twitter that the events of the film will be different from the book series were not encouraging either. But that worried the fans. And what about ordinary viewers?

Not only creative problems awaited them, but also production ones: a high turnover of personnel, a small budget for a similar scale in $60 million-at the same "Fellowship of the Ring" he was almost 100 . The advertising company of the film was launched at all more than three months before the premiere, which is disastrously late in the world of modern film distribution, when the viewer should start “dribbling on the brains” half a year in advance, or better even earlier, from some Comic Con-s.

All this did not inspire confidence in the quality of the future picture. Were the fears correct? Yes. "Dark tower" fell even before its construction.

“You can't change the future. Death is inevitable, and the Tower will fall…” © Walter Padik (HIY, PADIK)

Nikolai Arcel, director of the film, together with the studio and Stephen King, decided to give the viewer short story, practically a "sketch" from the world of the book, only having common "reference points" with its original, but not repeating it. This did not work. If the "Tower" came out in the 80s or at least the 90s, it would have been a success with great probability.

Old films shown huge by today's standards, the amount of information to the viewer, spending modest time to reveal the "lore" or completely ignoring it. How much did you know about the T-800, Alien or Something? No, they were just the bad guys, and the mystery made them even better. But now it’s not 1938 or even 1984, no one reads newspapers (look for a reference) and is not ready to watch the tape without a detailed look at what is happening, requiring “thinking out”, which is The Dark Tower.

Modern cinema has not turned into a conveyor belt, no, it has made a conveyor belt out of us, accustoming viewers to cliched submission. In classic theatrical art, from which the cinema originated, the development of characters, their apogee and rich exposition are really necessary, but remember simple thing: theater is always art, cinema is often entertainment. Many viewers cannot hear and notice the most obvious notes and references, and many do not want to. The concept of “bad and good”, where they “put a bolt” on the disclosure of characters, is ubiquitous and, scary to say, loved. I do not support this, I advocate the opposite approach, but sometimes it does not interfere with viewing. In the case of The Dark Tower, much clear without words and requires no explanation. But not all.

But no matter how much I want to defend or seek indulgence for the picture, it is still bad. Let's analyze it in more detail:

11-year-old boy Jake suffers from nightmares. In visions, he sees the Dark Tower, the Arrow, the Man in Black, monsters, and more. The stepfather is jealous of his wife to the adopted son and wants to get rid of him. However, Jake is not crazy, on the contrary- gifted"shine". When the monsters from his dreams come after him disguised as employees of a teenage mental hospital, he runs away from home and finds a portal to another world.

The teenager meets in him Roland the Arrow, the last person capable of destroying evil in this post-apocalyptic world. The main characters go to the last battle with evil wizard in the face of the character Matthew McConaughey. Simple and very fast delivery looks great and pleases everyone. first half movie. However, with every minute of the second part of the questions, more and more questions arise, and the impression worsens. And How it's a shame becomes from the thought of how easy it was to fix it.

The Dark Tower was created with the franchise in mind, which partly explains the lack of content. But after such a poor start, an R-rated sequel may not even come up. Even though the ending doesn't help...

The script does not consider it necessary to tell us at least in the form of a flashback about why this world has turned into a wasteland. The past of the villain is also not mentioned: why is Walter such a bad guy and wants to rule not people, but demons. Nothing is clear about the rat-headed minions of evil either. And most importantly: why does the Tower collapse from children's cries? Who is the Scarlet King? Who created the tower?! There is no exposure. Viewer not required to read novel to receive final viewing experience. And if he reads it, he will hate the film for being "flat". The vicious circle of cinema-suffering.

Dialogues are monotonous and boring. Roland speaks either pathetic speeches, or jokes, there is no other way. But at least jokes well. Walter's lines look much more natural. The characters are not developed and superficial, although I explained above why this is tolerable. But the development of heroes is not worth waiting for, except that from Jake, he was a success: a multifaceted teenage hero without a shadow of a feat and features in the style of "Divergent".

The picture literally lacks a 10-15 minute addition in the form of a couple of flashbacks showing the beginning of time, the world of demons and the formation of the Man in Black, and everything would become wonderful. We would get a clear, coherent and absolutely snot-free fantasy action movie. But instead, it was decided to re-shoot some of the scenes in order to make the film less gloomy, and then completely cut the remaining tape. In the first trailer you can easily find far more than one scene that was not included in the film.

Actor play

If we discard the fact that the characters are simple and do not develop, then they excellent. Both black guys are cool and charismatic. But you don't expect anything else from actors of this level. Pleases Tom Taylor, who played Jake: the young actor shows a full palette of emotions, from ahu and fear to courage and back. And this is his first film work... It will go far.

Also in supporting roles. famous artists such as Jackie "Rorschach" Earl Haley and "Thor fan" Claudia Kim.

The graphics are pleasing to the eye, the picture is varied with a palette of colors and locations. The shootout scenes look good. However, the ending is much ridiculous and chaotic, enemy bots are dropping like flies, and the abilities of the Man in Black sometimes do not look impressive enough, dissonant with a cool start.

Tense sound from Tom Holkenborg.

Extremely contradictory a film with a weak study of everything and an advantage in the negative. It looks good until the middle, at the end it can cause multiple facepalms. But I absolutely disagree with the film's devastating 18/100 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, a passing film with a carload of joints, but it does not cause significant hostility at the session, the humor is pleasant, teenage snot is absent as a class, good action. 5/10 .

If you read the original and for some unknown reason ignored the facts that it would not an adaptation in the normal sense, and a step to transfer to the screen new history The Arrow and the Man in Black - only pain awaits you © Master Yoda.