Brazil

This afternoon* I started humming along to Aquarela do Brasil. It's a catchy upbeat song, but I only really hum it when I'm frustrated at work. I blame Terry Gilliam. Well blame's the wrong word. I'm a Terry Gilliam fan but one of his movies ruined me. When I say that Brazil by Terry Gilliam is one of my favorite movies, it should tell you something about me. At least if you've seen the film. I'm actually surprised that I haven't mentioned it here before. It's such an odd film.

Brazil is a dystopian satire starring Jonathan Pryce as a mild mannered businessman in a horrible bureaucracy that becomes obsessed with a woman from his dreams. He's investigating the death of a man at the government's hands after a technical mix-up when he runs into the exact woman. And suddenly he's involved with an air-conditioning terrorist, his dream woman, a sadistic friend who tortures people for a living, his plastic surgery obsessed mother, and a government that will control people however they can. Did I mention it's an odd film?

The movie was made in 1985 so don't go watching it expecting the visuals to be amazing. In fact some of the dream sequences make me cringe a little. But the world that Gilliam creates is what makes the film so incredible for me. The look of the stores and restaurants. The winding corridors of the bureaucracy where Pryce works. The tiny cars and the billboarded roads. It was the first time that I saw real true world-building. Gilliam creates a world that seems far fetched but it also seems real. And he uses that world to paint some interesting pictures of our world.

I've always loved dystopian stories. I think I'm drawn to the darkness of them and the dreams of escape that the story normally tells. The government in this film is not some faceless organization like in many other dystopians. In this one, we see inside since Pryce's character works for the bureaucracy. And that makes it all the more creepy. Michael Palin manages to make torture seem both horrific and all in a days work, something that still stays with me.

I mentioned it was dark right?

This is a thinking man's acid trip of a movie. Brazil is one of those movies you have to watch to understand. It's quirky, disturbing, and very silly. Just what you expect from Gilliam. And it's still one of my favorite movies.

*{by this afternoon I mean a week ago when I started this post}

Here's Looking at You, Kid

It's one of the most famous lines from the classic movie Casablanca. Or at least the most famous line that people get right. "Play it again, Sam" was never uttered in the movie. But I digress. I don't know of any movie that has more classic lines than Casablanca. Most of which come in the last 10 minutes as Rick tells Ilsa that she needs to go with her husband.

My sister introduced me to Casablanca when I was in high school and I have loved the movie ever since. It's one of the first black and white films I ever owned. It's a story I rarely get tired of watching. The odd part is that the love story is wonderful but it's not my favorite part of the movie. This is film filled with characters, unique personalities who steal a couple scenes and are never seen again. It's a movie that seems alive beyond what the camera lens is focused on. Simpering Peter Lorre, Louis the police chief, Sam with the magical voice, and a mix of other noble characters and scoundrels. Rick and Ilsa is a sweet story, but it's the side characters that draw me to the film.

Last night I got to see the movie on the big screen. One of our local art theaters screened it for the whole week and my mom and aunt suggested that we go. Even though I hate the theaters I couldn't pass up the chance to see that famous cafe on the big screen. As an audience, we laughed at the subtle wonderful jokes. I nearly cheered at the playing of the Marseilles. And I lost myself in a movie I've seen well over two dozen times. It was magic.

Stranger Than Fiction

I watched Stranger Than Fiction again tonight. I'm not a huge Will Ferrell fan but I love him in this movie. I've seen it several dozen times now and every time I love it more. It's witty, funny, sweet, sad, and intelligent. It's the kind of movie I wish I had written. It not only breaks the fourth wall, it's all about the fourth wall.

What draws me to this movie is the characters and the characterizations. Jeff turned it on because he loves Maggie Gyllenhaal in this film. I can't blame him. She's beautiful in this movie. For me, I just want to be her character. I love the eclectic baker who fights the man and bakes goodies that make everyone drool. I love the kind-hearted character who gives away both her treats and her heart while still staying strong. I want to be her.

I also want to be Dustin Hoffman's character. I love the idea of the English professor who is enthralled with literature. His office is my dream office, filled with books, literature, discussion, and sunlight. I would love to have the time and intensity to read constantly and discuss books on a daily basis. I want to teach a class on "little did he know".

And I want to be Emma Thompson's character. I'm not sure I'd like the chain-smoking and ER stalking but I want that passion to write. To create. I have a card on my writing table that says "Passion is a form of madness." I've always craved that passion to write. Thompson plays the kind of eccentric writer I always wished I had become. Just more balanced.

I love this movie. I laugh, I cry, I dream. And in the end I finish the movie wanting to read and write and bake. But more than anything I want to live more fully. And that makes this movie special.

The Lost Thing Weekend

I've mentioned before how much I love the work of artist Shaun Tan. I was introduced to his illustration work years ago when looking for Adam Rex images (not sure I see the connection but hey). Since then I've been buying Shaun Tan's books regularly. I have Tales from Outer Suburbia. I have The Arrival. I even found an old copy of The Red Tree on ebay. Any other books that I haven't bought I've picked up from the libraries. I love this man's work.

One of my favorite stories is The Lost Thing. The picture book tells the story of a central narrator, who remembers when he found a lost thing on the beach one day. No one else seemed to pay any attention to it (they were all too busy for odd lost things), so he took it home. His parents were too busy to notice. But the boy knew he couldn't keep The Lost Thing. So the next day he went down to the Bureau of Odds and Ends to turn it in. While they were waiting to fill out the numerous forms in triplicate, an odd looking janitor handed the boy a card and said that if he really cared about the thing to take it to this address. The boy searched for a long time (the Bureau was dark and scary anyway) and found the address. It was a courtyard filled with lost things of every size and shape. And they all seemed happy. The Lost Thing was happy to go and the boy returned to his life. As an adult now he has noticed recently that he's seeing less and less lost things. But then again he's really busy.

I read the book years ago but hadn't found a copy to buy. This past year though Shaun Tan released a collection of three of his stories (The Red Tree, The Lost Thing, and The Rabbits) in one volume called Lost and Found. This weekend while at Barnes and Noble, I spotted a copy and had to buy it. Even with my limited cash I knew this was a book I would treasure. I hadn't read The Rabbits yet so that was a treat (well not treat. It was powerful). When Jeff asked what I'd bought I made him go through all the stories. I was so excited.

After I got the book home I was searching through an animation blog I read when I stumbled on information about Annecy, an animation festival held annually in France. The festival webpage mentioned that Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing (animated short) had won in 2010. I had seen the trailer years ago so I quickly tracked down the film. It was on iTunes. I was expecting a $10 movie so I was thrilled to see the basic version of the film available for $1.99. I couldn't click the buy button fast enough. The animated short was perfect. Exactly the way I would have imagined the story done. I was so excited to finally own the story and the movie. I've been wanting them for a long time.

By the way, Shaun Tan has the best interview answer I've ever read about drawing. He was sitting in an interview and being asked about his illustration. The interviewer of course asked "When did you start drawing?". Shaun just replied "When did you stop?" And he makes a great point. We all grow up drawing. We may be terrible but as a kid we draw. It is only as we get older that we stop. The artists we love, just never stopped. I remember that when I start to worry about how bad I'll be at something.

With Apologies to Alan Moore

Over the weekend, Jeff and I sat down to watch the movie Watchmen. The previous weekend it had been The Dark Knight so apparently we’re on a dark superhero/supervillian kick. I’d been hesitant to watch Watchmen. I’d loved the graphic novel and movie adaptations tend to disappoint. Plus I knew that Alan Moore had been unwilling to even have his name associated with the film. So I went in with lower expectations. And I have to apologize to Alan Moore. I enjoyed the film, quite a bit.

The movie had the same gritty feeling as the novel and that’s what I liked. The characters were perfect, particularly The Comedian and Rorschach. It is exactly how I imagined they would sound. In fact, I thought most of the characters were pitch perfect. The plot had some significant changes from the graphic novel including cutting out an entire storyline. But many people thought the novel was unfilmable so I know that they had to make some big choices on what to include and what to cut out. Like most action films of the current day, this was bloody and violent. But the graphic novel was as well and I think I can almost say that the film-makers downplayed some of the violence of the story by leaving out the secondary storyline. The ending was very different. But this is one of those rare, rare times when I will say that the movie might have improved on the book. The ending to the novel was a bit out there, a bit far-fetched. The ending to the film made total sense. It tied the entire Dr. Manhattan plotlines together.

The visuals were fantastic. Like many others have said before, the opening credits were just amazing. I don’t know how they shot those but I want to learn. The darkness and grime of the city was perfectly captured. The movie still kept a bit of a comic book feel to it though. The fight sequences were a bit over the top though. These are mortals who donned masks to play vigilantes, not superheroes. Some of the fight sequences would have been better served with a touch more realism. Over all I was really impressed by the film. I enjoyed the endings and the overall story. I enjoyed the characters and the visuals. It was a fun film that I was not disappointed with.

Plus it was nice to watch a movie that had more male nudity than female nudity. A rarity in Hollywood. J

How to Train Your Dragon

It's rare when Jeff buys a movie just so I can see it. He had gone to the theater on the cruise ship to see How To Train Your Dragon and I hadn't gone. So when it finally came out on DVD, Jeff practically ran to the store and bought it. He made me watch it the first night. Halfway through the movie, I loudly announced

"If anything happens to harm this dragon, you are so in trouble."

It took me less than forty minutes and I was already completely enchanted by the dragon. I'm an animal lover by nature and tend to anthropomorphize anyway but the way the animators imbued him with cat-like sweetness, put me over the edge. I loved Toothless. I worried about Toothless. While I loved Hiccup's character, it was Toothless that stole the show for me. I'm always amazed by what animators can do with just the movement of an ear. With just the movement of Toothless's ears, they could make him angry or curious or happy. Without saying a word the creature spoke volumes. I'm in awe of that.

The whole film was both funny and sweet. I loved Craig Ferguson's character. So much of the dialogue and narration was clever. With lines like "This is Berk. It snows nine months out of the year, and hails the other three. What little food grows here is tough and tasteless. The people that grow here, even more so," you can't help but laugh. The relationship between Hiccup and pretty much everyone was interesting. I loved the banter between him and Astrid. But it was touching too. I'll even admit that when Stoick thanked Toothless for bringing Hiccup down to earth safely, I shed more than a few tears. But it was the animation that made me love the film. The emotion on one dragon's face made it all worth it. Such a great movie. I'm awfully glad that Jeff made me watch it.

Merry Christmas All!

I know it's a day late but I'm finally getting around to wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Heck, I'm finally getting around to actually posting something. It's been two and a half weeks since I said I was taking a break. I didn't expect it to go this long. But I forget how much I stress over the Christmas season. With Christmas cards and shopping and visiting and baking, I simply ran out of time...and/or brainpower. Yesterday was honestly the first day I've thought about posting. It was the first day where I felt like I had enough time.

Of course I have had time. It doesn't take long to post. I used to write up most of my posts during my lunch hour at work. So I know how quickly I can write something up. What stopped me this time was my new favorite distraction...Netflix. Jeff and I decided that our Christmas gift would be a subscription to Netflix. We signed up for it the day we got home from St. Louis (last Sunday). And since then I've spent most of my evenings in front of the TV. It's dangerous, I tell you.

A friend of ours got us started on a British comedy called Coupling so we've been working our way quickly through the episodes. Great writing, fun characters, and open and honest dialogue about relationships and sex. It's a wonderful series. I've also been watching the original Psych episodes that I'd missed. Jeff found the old Cartoon Network series Danny Phantom and we've been plowing our way through the seasons. It's incredibly addictive to be able to turn on the TV and see whatever programming we want. I've watched five movies this week, which is about five times more than I see in a typical week. And that doesn't even count the TV series viewing.

I'm going to work on finding a balance between the TV and...well the rest of my life. I have books that are waiting to be read, knitting projects that clearly aren't going to be done for Christmas, and stories that I should be writing. Plus keeping up with any of my blogs. So I think I'm going to start setting a limit on my TV, like parents do with kids. An hour a day should be enough. And with Netflix, that hour can go a long way.

My Neighbor Totoro

One of my big requests for my birthday was for Hayao Miyazaki films. It's hard to call myself a true animation fan with the knowledge that there are some Miyazaki films out there that I haven't seen. I've seen a few and I even own Spirited Away but there are plenty of his films that I don't own. So I asked my sister for Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (pronounced Toto-row) and I was thrilled when she bought me both that one and Castle in the Sky.

My Neighbor Totoro is enchanting. It is a small elegant film about two young girls and their father who settling in rural Japan during the 1950s. The girl's mother is in the hospital suffering from tuberculosis. The family move into a wonderful old farmhouse filled with soot sprites, nice neighbors, and a nearby grove of trees. The trees are guarded by Totoro, a cat/bear/owl creature who never speaks but takes the girls on the most amazing journeys. Totoro protects the girls and the living things around him. When Mei, the younger, runs away, it is Totoro who helps to find her with the help of his friend the cat-bus. If that sounds fantastical, it is. The movie is a mix of quiet gentle moments, and almost psychedelic fantasy. The cat-bus in particular is a bit out there. But what I remember about the film isn't really the fantastic elements, but the gentle moments of beauty. Totoro is a wonderful creature, gentle and sweet. He is silly and playful and nurturing.

Life is quiet out in the rural world and the people are polite and thankful. I was touched by the politeness and gentility. People thank the gods for simple things, like when the girls are trapped in a small roadside shrine by a rainstorm. They both turn and bow to the roadside god with the simple plea that they be allowed to stay. It's a touching moment, filled with a humility that we don't see much anymore. I'm not particularly religious but I loved the constant mention of spirits and gods in this film. The family thanks the trees for protecting them. They attempt to appease the soot sprites, in order to get them to leave. The characters seem to respect the things around them.

There was no central plot with this movie. In fact there was very little action. Instead it was a collection of simple scenes but they all added up for me. I felt at peace after watching the film. And more than anything, I felt renewed.

Montages

I've decided that my life would be so much better with montages. I got the idea from watching Kung Fu Panda of all things but I've noticed montages in tons of movies. And that gave me an idea. What if life was a little more like the movies? Want to lose weight, cue the exercise montage. Want to learn a skill, cue the practice montage. Want to get a promotion, cue the rise to power montage. Montages would solve all sorts of pesky issues where you have to practice and learn daily for long periods of time. Instead we could just cue up the music and it would be done in less than five minutes.

I'm only partially joking. I've been trying to lose weight for a while but the slowness of it drives me crazy. I'm not particularly good at being patient when I don't see any shred of improvement. So it's tempting to think that I could cue up my movie montage for exercise (set to Move Along by the All-American Rejects) and find myself slim and trim in only a couple minutes. Like Rocky in...well any of the Rocky movies.

I would probably do the same thing with writing. Cue up the writing music (something like This Is the Day by The The) and have that novel written by the time the song is done. Of course I'd do the same thing for painting and learning to cook and...everything. I'd be brilliant in only minutes a day. My life would be so much better with montages. Sigh, if only they were an option.

Children's Movie Weekend

I've been trying to write this post since Sunday. Not sure why I'm having problems with it.

I spent the weekend reading and watching movies and doing very little else. It was blissful. I read three books this weekend, including a new Christopher Moore novel. I spent all day yesterday curled up on the couch. I drank numerous pots of coffee and wasted my days with words and moving pictures. It was a great weekend.

My movie taste lately has run to the juvenile. If it's not animated or geared towards the 10 and under set, I'm not interested. So this weekend I plugged in my earphones, curled up with my laptop, and watched three different kids movies. One animated, one children's classic, and one new classic.

The animated film was Flushed Away, a collaboration between Dreamworks and Aardman Studios. I'm a huge fan of Aardman, so I'd been excited to get a chance to watch it. The film follows a snobby spoiled fancy rat (played by Hugh Jackman) who gets flushed down the toilet and ends up in the rat world below. There he must help a ship's captain retrieve a jewel of hers that he helped hand over to the frog overlord of the Sewers. When the jewel proves to be a fake, the two rats set off to return Hugh Jackman's character home and replace it with a real one. All while being pursued by the frog and his henchmen. I've seen plenty of Aardman films and own my fair share. Sadly this one won't be joining my shelves. It was a decent movie with a couple good scenes but nothing that stood out for me. The animation was fun (it always is with Aardman) but it missed the sophistication of Wallace and Gromit or the witty writing of a Chicken Run. Not my favorite.

The second film was one I haven't seen in well over a decade. When I was a kid I loved Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the movie based on the Ian Fleming novel about a car with a mind of its own. I love Dick Van Dyke's performance, I loved the crazy inventions, I loved the silly story, and I loved the car. I remember being terrified by the Child Catcher, although I don't remember understanding the Vulgarian society. I didn't understand how much of a tyrant the Baron was. Watching the film again this weekend I notice how many songs the film had. I hadn't remembered all of them. Although the ones I did remember are the ones I'm still humming today. I was just as impressed with how sweet the film was. There was a lot of humor but a lot of tenderness as well. A fun film that I'd somehow managed to ignore for almost 20 years.

But the winner for the weekend was a new film that will quickly become a favorite. I watched Nanny McPhee on Saturday and was instantly charmed by the film. The story focuses on seven incredibly naughty children who finally meet their match when Nanny McPhee shows up to whip them into shape. She's hideous, she's unconventional, and she's magic. She teaches the kids lessons by giving them exactly what they want, only more than they want. Emma Thompson plays Nanny McPhee perfectly. She starts the role hideous and strict, and slowly grows more beautiful and more likable as the children become more well behaved. But the best part for me was watching the children grow. They start out as selfish uncontrollable brats with a distant father; and gradually the family becomes more caring and loving, both the kids and the father. The movie had magic, had humor, and had heart. One of my new favorite kid's movies. Well worth a watch.

Don't Care How, I Want it Now

I've actually been trying to post this blog post for most of the day now. Blogger has decided that it didn't want to let me in. Not sure why. Perhaps it doesn't like my topic. Or maybe it just isn't happy that I'm been taking my weekends off from logging on. For those of you who are wondering I've been unplugging on my weekends for the last couple weeks. I don't read comics. I don't check email. I don't look at the news. And I certainly haven't been blogging. That will probably stay the same for the next couple of weekends if not permanently. I spend too much time online the rest of the week. Weekends are to recharge.

I sat down last night to do a Chocolate Factory marathon. I just finished reading Mel Stuart's Pure Imagination about the making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and realized that it's been almost a year since I last watched the film. I'm completely mad for the 1971 version with Gene Wilder playing Willy Wonka. Pure Brilliance. So I figured if I was going to watch one version of Roald Dahl's immortal classic, then I might as well watch both. I own both of them. I enjoyed both for their very different takes on the story. They offer two very different Willy Wonka's which originally I was okay with. But I made a discovery last night. And it has more to do with the music than anything else.

Mel Stuart wrote in Pure Imagination that he didn't want to make the 1971 version into a musical. He didn't really want music. He felt that it would detract from the reality he was trying to create. After all very few of us randomly burst into song as we go about our daily lives. He relented after his producer convinced him that music would only enhance the film. And it has. I spent all yesterday singing "Pure Imagination", the wonderful song that Gene Wilder sings in the Chocolate Room. This morning I've been singing Veruca Salt's bratty anthem, "I Want it Now". And that's when I realized that there are no good songs from the new movie. In fact many of the Oompa Loompa songs made me want to fast forward through them. They are simply too over the top. In a film as flamboyant as Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that is saying a lot.

I will freely admit that I loved Johnny Depp's socially awkward (and slightly misanthropic) Willy Wonka and Burton cast Charlie perfectly. The visuals for Burton's film were incredible. I actually liked that over the top look. But nothing quite rivals the maniacal elegance of Gene Wilder in his top hat and purple coat. How one man could come off as suave and insane and sweet and devilish at the same time is beyond me. It was an incredible performance and I still claim Gene Wilder as the better Wonka. I liked the supporting cast for both films equally with the exception of the Oompa Loompas who hands down go to the 1971 cast, rather than the one guy who had to do the 2005 version. The 1971 visuals are dated but there is still a bit more charm there. The chocolate room in the 1971 version makes my mouth water. The 2005 version scares me a little bit.

I'm curious to see what the rest of you think. Have you seen the films? Which do you think was better? Who makes a better Wonka? I originally went into last night thinking I liked them equally. But this morning I woke up with a clear favorite. Now if only I could get this song out of my head.

The Con is On

Billboard on the way to work this morning that I've somehow not noticed: Remember green grass? Opening Day April 8th. Of course that is just for a our little minor league team. The big boys start a little earlier. Most of you guys may not know this but I'm a huge baseball fan. I love going to the games. I love watching them on TV. I love the fields and the atmosphere and more than anything, the Series. Heck I got engaged at a baseball game. It was how Jeff and I spent most of our dating years. The only sport that I love more is cricket and that's a bit tougher to catch. So I'm so excited for the season to start. Not much longer now. I just loved the billboard and had to share it.


My real post is not about baseball although it does touch on a different sport. I'll leave the baseball post until opening day. Instead this is about my favorite con movie ever produced. No, it's not The Sting although that comes close. Or The Usual Suspects although that's another fantastic one. This one is about an much more unlikely topic: boxing.



I had dinner last night with a friend I hadn't seen in a while and it turned into a 3 1/2 hour talkfest. I didn't get home until almost 10. We had a great time. When I got home I went upstairs where Jeff was hiding out. He has a bad cold so he's spending more time in bed. As I started up the stairs he called for me to hurry. Diggstown was on. Now I love a good con film but in my mind this one trumps them all. James Woods and Oliver Platt play a pair of con men who come into a small town with the plan to con some money from the corrupt town millionare (Bruce Dern). He happens to own the entire town after betting the townspeople's money on a boxing match that he fixed. The con is simple, their boxer (played by Louis Gossett Jr.) can fight and beat any 10 men in the city of Diggstown in one day.



There is small town intrigue, side bets, and some pretty fantastic boxing. Bruce Dern is perfect as the slimy millionaire that you love to hate. Oliver Platt plays his role of bumbling doofus well and Louis Gossett Jr. is both inspiring and comical. But it's James Woods who steals the show in this movie. Alternating between smooth and witty and caring his character is played pitch perfect. The fight dialogue between him and Gossett is hilarious but the movie never loses its grittiness and tension. And then of course there is the ending which will leave you shocked and laughing. One of the absolute best con movies out there. Even if you're not a boxing fan, this movie still deserves a watching for the great dialogue and incredible heart.

A Strange Disconnect

I'm not sure if I'm feeling proud or a bit ashamed when I say that I went the entire weekend without spending any real time on my computer. I read comics each morning but that was it. I never once checked email. I didn't read any of my blogs. I didn't even check Facebook. I was almost completely disconnected. And I have to admit that it was wonderful.

My in-laws arrived at 6ish on Friday night and we quickly went out to dinner. I had some amazing vegetarian sushi while everyone else had fish. Jeff's parents are Catholic so they were avoiding meat because of Lent (since when are fish not meat?). Then we just headed back to their hotel to watch UNI lose to Michigan State. :-( Oh well, can't win them all.

The next day we grabbed an earlyish breakfast and then drove them around the city a bit. They had been predicting rain all day so we stayed in for most of the afternoon. Jeff had two movies that he had to watch for his Reproductive Law class so we ended up watching one of those Saturday afternoon. We watched Waitress which wasn't a fantastic movie but did make me want to learn how to bake pies. That night we met my parents downtown for dinner and then went back to my parents house for an evening of cards and pie and talking. It was a nice night.

Sunday was an incredibly lazy day. After brunch Jeff's parents headed off and we went home. Jeff watched the second of his movies (Knocked Up) and I tried to ignore it. I think I got stupider just watching that film. I absolutely hated it. So I immersed myself in a book. I just started Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and could not put it down. It was one of those books where I walked to the kitchen to make dinner while still reading. I lay on the sofa for the rest of the day, just devouring the book. It was amazingly well written. I left it at home this morning so I wouldn't be tempted to read at work. It's that good.

So today I'm back at work after a late physical therapy session and am feeling a bit disconnected. I know that I'm addicted to my computer but it was nice to take some time to step away this weekend. I feel incredibly refreshed and even though I didn't get a ton done, I feel like a I didn't waste as much time this weekend. A fantastic weekend, relaxing and long. Now I just have to catch up.

In Praise of Geeky Men

Jeff bought the new Star Trek film over the weekend and we sat down to watch it Saturday night. I'd never seen it but Jeff had gone when it was in the theaters. He had come home raving about how much he'd enjoyed it and although there were some inconsistencies he had thought it was a ton of fun. I've seen all the other Trek films so I figured I should probably see this one. I hadn't really be excited about it.

I have to admit that this was a very enjoyable movie. Not a great movie but a very enjoyable one. The plot was pretty decent (for a Trek film) but it was the characters that really made this movie fun. The script played with the well known characters. We all know what Kirk is like but other than an initial fling with a green skinned alien girl (what is it about the green skin?) he kept his hands to himself. It was Spock who ended up with the girl. We finally find out the origin of the name "Bones". Sulu isn't quite the master pilot we all remember him as. And Scotty...well anytime Simon Pegg takes a role, you know it's going to be fun. Needless to say I laughed, I worried, I enjoyed the film.

And about halfway through the film Jeff and I had this conversation:
Me: Wow, Spock is seriously hot
Jeff: Young Spock or old Spock?
Me: Young Spock of course
Jeff: What about Kirk?
Me: He's okay.
Jeff: What is it with you and the geeky guys?

Okay he may not have said that last line but it was what I was thinking. I've noticed a trend in myself. Some of the guys I find hot are not the ones most women are interested in. And vice versa. Brad Pitt does nothing for me. Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson (even before they went insane) aren't on my list of attractive me. Tobey McGuire though makes me weak in the knees (particularly in those nerdy Peter Parker glasses).

I've always found geek men attractive. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds the guys on "The Big Bang Theory" attractive although it feels like it sometimes. When watching NCIS, one of my favorite shows, it's McGee that I find hot. Even decades ago I found Clark Kent much hotter than Superman. A pair of glasses, a strange fascination with D&D, and a huge intellect are apparently big turn-ons for me. Not sure why.

So in this recent Trek installment it was Spock who played that role. I loved the conflicted serious character who was just on the wrong side of cool. I loved the (mostly) stoic nature and the arrogant intellect. I even loved the ears. Just another attraction in a long line of men who few others consider hot. Other women may not want a geek but they are apparently right up my alley.

Picture Book To....Picture

A friend of mine just mentioned recently on Facebook that they were making a film out of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. If I had to list my absolute favorite picture book from when I was growing up, it would be this book. I never got tired of reading it or looking at those great pictures of a town buried in food. (Apparently I was a hungry child.) Sony Pictures is making the film and I normally have high-regard for what they do. I watched the trailer and I'm a bit...well...concerned. Add that to the already dubious Where the Wild Things Are that is coming out from Warner Bros this year. The visuals look amazing for this film but somehow I know they'll get the tone wrong.

For those who know me I'm normally incredibly harsh to films based on books I've loved. The movies are just never as good. I am reminded of my Grandmother who saw Gone With the Wind for the first time and declared it was terrible. If anyone brought up the film she would scowl and say it was rubbish compared to the book. I'm guessing that's where I get my attitude. The trailer for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs focuses on a young inventor who creates a food making machine that goes wrong. Of course this character never appeared in the book. There were really no characters in the book, other than the grandfather and the kids. The book was wonderful because it was so sedate. It told the story of the town in a documentary style. The town itself became the main character. The movie looks to be zany in a way that makes me nervous. I know it's tough to stretch a 32 page book into a film but the question remains, why try? Just read the book.


I have to give credit where credit is due though. There have been a couple movies that have lived up to the picture books they were based on. The one I'm thinking of in particular is Meet the Robinsons by Disney. The film is based on the book A Day With Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce and matches the zany bizarre world that Joyce creates. Perhaps the film is so good because Joyce was involved in the design and screenplay. The book and screenplay are very different (with many added characters) but it is done while staying true to the tone of the book. The dialogue is hilarious, particularly the newly created Bowler-Hat Man. Its a very quotable film that somehow manages to be touching at the end. I've even talked to people who've cried at the end of the movie, a rarity for an animated film. So I have to admit, there was a film that actually compared well to the book. Now I'll just have to hold out hope for the others.

Quotability

Quoting movies is practically an Olympic event in my house. My brothers and sisters and I are constantly throwing out a movie quote, following up on someone else's quote, or challenging each other to name the movie. When you get all five of us together (a rare but wonderful occurrence) you can bet that every third sentence will be some sort of quote. We can happily recite entire movies building one on the other. We joke that it's our only way to communicate with each other but it's not far off base. We tend to talk in quotes.

I mention this because in Naxx on Monday, the guild was quoting Ghostbusters (that was your whole plan Ray, Get Her?). At knitting last night someone threw out a Godfather quote. And later on last night, one of my guildies and I went through a good chunk of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (Go away or I shall taunt you a second time). I am surrounded by movie quotes.

And this got me thinking. I would say that Holy Grail is one of the most quotable movies of all time. I would rank Ghostbusters right up there. For my family Tommy Boy and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels comes in as close finishers. And Anchorman (which I haven't seen) is quickly becoming a favorite. And we are constantly finding new movies to quote and new ways to incorporate them into a conversation. The same way a friend of mine uses puns, we use movie quotes. But I'm curious. What does everyone out there think of as some of the most quotable movies?

Movie Comparisons

A while ago I reviewed the graphic novel V for Vendetta on this blog. I had just finished reading it and had been blown away by the depth and power of it. It is a striking novel about some incredibly tough subjects. It is violent, dark, inspiring, and thought provoking. And I absolutely loved it. I loved the imagery and the dialogue. I loved the setting and the main characters. I even loved the darkness of it.

So last night I was a little nervous when I sat down to watch the film. It is very rare that I enjoy a film based on a book I've loved. The movies are just never as good. But last night I was blown away by this film. I will not say that it was better than the book but it definitely stood its own. The movie was downright wonderful. I was enthralled from the opening recitation of the Guy Fawkes rhyme up until the final moments.

Perhaps the reason I loved the film so much was that it stayed relatively true to the book. There were some sections that were changed but the majority of the film followed the images in the book. And even if the scenes were not totally true (the raid on the TV station was changed to include Evie), they stayed true to the spirit of the novel. The scene at the end of the film where everyone arrives in their own Guy Fawkes masks was not in the book but it was an immensely powerful scene and I felt stayed true to the spirit of the book.

I was surprised to see that Alan Moore was not involved in the making of the film. I will have to do some digging to see what he thought of it. I thought Natalie Portman did beautifully going from helpless victim to heroine. Her transformation, although horrific, was done well and you can see the character develop. V (portrayed by Hugo Weaving) was wonderful. His verbosity and grandour made the role that much more powerful. The character of V has to be one of the more powerful heroes/anti-heroes of these last couple decades. I found myself crying at the last scene and I don't normally weep tears of joy for treasonous or seditious acts. :-)

The rest of the cast was very good and the film maintained the dark atmosphere of the book nicely. I was not particularly impressed with the character Stephen Fry played. The problem was not his acting but the character himself. He seemed to add almost too much light to a very dark political film. This character simply doesn't exist in the book. The violence was done well and was not simply for shock value. It, like in the book, always had a purpose. In fact, one of the best things about the book and the film is that it reminded me of the power of fear and wisdom and violence. Particularly in the last decade as we have seen fear be used as a tactic of control and I'm reminded how close we are to V's society. As V says, "The people should not be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of its people."

I was very nervous going into the film but I'm happy to say that I loved it. It can happily sit on my shelves right next to the graphic novel that bears the same name. One of the few times that a film lives up to the book.

Hellboy 2

For those of you who've been reading for a while I did a post many months ago about my desire to see Hellboy 2 in the theaters. I wrote a post here about Guillermo del Toro. I love his work. I'm always blown away by his imagery, and captured by the stories he tells. So when my blockbuster movies came due Jeff turned them into the store and picked up both Hellboy 2 and Wall-E for me. Both of which I have wanted to see for a long time.

Hellboy was hilarious. It was campy and fun and riotous. It was beautiful and action packed and filled with just enough one liners to not feel cheesy. Ron Perlman was downright funny and the interactions between him and the agent John Myers was engaging. Hellboy 2 was still visually beautiful but...well...something was missing. Not just the character of Myers who brought that wide-eyed amazement, combined with naive banter. What seemed to be missing was the humor.

Hellboy 2 tackles issues of relationship stress, blood feuds, and fatherhood, all of which are too heavy a subject for this type of film. Even simple scenes like a battle between Hellboy and an elemental turns into a serious environmental message. The scenes with Hellboy and Liz are well done and there appears to be a connection between the two. Doug Jones as Abe is his standard amazing self. But the new administrator (an ectoplasmic steam punk creation with a German accent) is simply bizarre and not in a good way. He lacks any real chemistry with any of the characters and seems inconsistent. Jeff and I kept expecting him to turn out to be a bad guy.

The visuals for this film are amazing, like any good Guillermo film. They are a fantastic mix of light and dark and color and depth. I am so in love with his images. But once it comes to dialogue this movie falls flat. The first one was incredible because of the humor. The one liners, and incredibly campy scenes. The only scene that I found hilarious in this whole film was a locker room scene between Hellboy and the administrator. Other than that the movie tried to hard to make me think. Which is fine with a drama, but not fine with a character named Hellboy.

And Knowing is Half the Battle

Okay, I'm going to sound old and crotchety for a moment but....leave my childhood alone!!!! I grumbled a little when Care Bears returned to the stores. I outright laughed when I saw Strawberry Shortcake toys. I even cast aspersions on the Transformer movie with its new merchandise (Hello Bumblebee is a Beetle). But this has now gone too far. They are making a live action film of G.I. Joe. Why can't you leave my childhood in peace????

I've always been a big believer in new stories and new ideas so this premise is pretty repulsive to me on that level. Why can't movie makers come up with their own ideas rather then raid old 80s cartoons? But beyond that, why must every cartoon or toy I ever loved be recycled into some variation of itself and sold to today's kids. I know what will happen. This movie will come out amid a flurry of merchandising. All the kids toys will be huge, hulking, muscle bound figures, completely unlike the more lifelike and honestly more fun figures that I collected as a child. Oh fear not, my parent's basement still holds Snakeyes and Duke figures. With their little attachable guns and backpacks. (Strange that I loved this show, even as a pacifist all the way back then).

To add insult to injury I have found that Brendan Fraser will be in the film. Now I love Brendan. I think he can have amazing depth as an actor (See School Ties or Gods and Monsters) But everything he does lately becomes something of a joke. He is brilliant at campy material. And it looks like G.I. Joe will be a cross between the Mummy and X-Men (both fun movies in their own right). I'm just not sure I'm going to be willing to sit through it with another of my favorite childhood memories.

I'm dreading the fact that eventually I will find out that they are making some odd Smurfs movie or be walking through the toy store to find Thundercats figures (of course this time the Twins will look like they've been doing steroids for years). And again I know I sound old and a little cranky but why can't they leave my favorite shows alone. Transformers was great fun as a cartoon. We had all the original METAL characters. I grew up with those characters. And now a new generation has claimed them as their own. Perhaps the one good thing out of this new movie is that they will release all the old cartoons on DVD. Then I can relive bits of my childhood.

Getting Animated About It

I'm a huge fan of animated films. If given a choice, I'll almost always pick an animated movie over any other. Stop-motion, digital, hand-drawn, it doesn't matter. I am in awe of the movie making process for animation. There are some many different styles of animation and each is interesting and artistic. When each movie is over, then I have to watch the special features. All of them. I spent two and a half hours watching the making of Chicken Run after I bought that film. That's longer than the movie. 

This past year we signed up for Blockbuster delivery and since then I have been steadily requesting any animated film I can get my hands on. Lately I've been focusing on the more modern movies that have come out. And the results have been interesting. Tonight I watched the last of them for a while and figured I would do some quick reviews of the ones I have seen. I'll stay away from talking about the Pixar films which are consistently wonderful or the straight to video Disney ones that I can't bring myself to watch.  

Tonight we watched Hoodwinked. I had seen the previews when the movie first came out and thought it looked funny. First it had Patrick Warburton. The man is a comedy genius. I will gladly watch every animated film he does voice work for. And I was right. This fairy tale gone wrong had all the makings of a Jon Scieszka children's book. I won't tell you too much about the plot because that is one of the best things about this story. The movie follows Little Red Riding Hood's visit to grandma's house but the characters are not the ones you have met before. Each character, Red, wolf, grandma, and woodsman, tell their own story of the events of the night. And hilarity ensues. This was one of the most inventive and well written of the animated movies we have seen recently. 

The previous one we had rented was The Wild. This movie came out about the same time as Madagascar and seemed to tell the exact same story. I have to wonder if the stories had originally been sent around the studios and everyone sampled from the same thing. Both stories tell of zoo animals that have to make it out there in the wilds of Africa. Both of them have main lion characters and giraffes. We watched both of these. And while each movie was similar in plot there was a very different tone. And because of that, I loved one and hated the other. The Wild was quirky, lead by Eddie Izzard as the koala. There was a zaniness to the movie but it was not a grating zaniness. There seemed to be a heart behind the madness. Madagascar on the other hand focused mostly on the arguments between the characters. After thirty minutes I debated turning the movie off. It was a little like going to dinner with a couple filing for divorce. The sniping at each other was grating. The penguins were the saving grace of the film, perhaps the reason that the new film promised 30% more penguins. 

Open Season was one of those films that I enjoyed and forgot the moment it ended. I had to ask Jeff what the title was in order to write this and couldn't even remember any of the voice talents. Not a good sign. Normally I can tell you who did the principal voices, what the title was, and who directed it. I can tell you who directed the Pixar animated shorts. The story was cute, the characters were silly and slightly over the top, and the jokes were good. I just didn't find it incredibly memorable. Perhaps I should go back to the classic "Wabbit Season, Duck Season" Warner Brothers cartoon as a substitute. At least that one I can quote. 

But the jewel of the ones we have seen recently was Over the Hedge. If I had to pick an animated film that surprised me with its heart and warmth it would be this film. Now I have not yet seen Wall-E but I hear that one will possibly replace it. (I don't see things in the theater so that one has had to wait) First, the movie has a message. It is not a subtle message but one that is not dripping from every word. And it is a message I can wholeheartedly get behind. The sprawling of the suburbs has driven animals into smaller and smaller areas. (but this is not the post for that discussion). What I loved about this movie was the voices. Gary Shandling, Bruce Willis, and Steve Carell were hilarious. How can you not love a film that gives William Shatner a possum role? The movie is funny and touching and silly. Everything a good animated film should be. The scene at the end with Steve Carell was so hilarious my husband had to stop the movie to wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes. Too wonderful. 

I have to love that there are so many animated films for me to enjoy. And so many different forms. I'm eager to see Coraline when it comes out. Stop motion has a special place in my heart. But until then I have many more in my queue.