The Fantastic Mr. Fox

I have not read the original book, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, by Roald Dahl, and I'm not sure how this one had escaped me.  I must have read the plot summary before, but it probably seemed slight compared to other books in the Roald Dahl canon.  Roald Dahl, for his part, was always the ideal writer for frightening the crap out of me.  I first became familiar with Mr. Dahl's work in the first grade, when a substitute teacher read The Twits.  She must have been surprised when I needed to be removed for weeping so hysterically midway through the novel, as she couldn't possibly have known that I had never been exposed to a story like that before.  Disney kind of took the edge out of the Brother Grimm, and Hans Christian Andersen made me weep, but The Twits were unmistakably mean-spirited and cruel.  As I grew older my distaste and fear gradually turned into a fascination and admiration with almost all of the works of Roald Dahl.  While this fox story isn't as terrifying as the other ones it survives in the same cruel universe where animals can lose their tails if they step out of line.  The psychoanalyst in me wonders if this interest is somehow connected to a story relayed in Dahls autobiography Boy, where he nearly loses his nose, but I digress.  The world is the same in all the stories, cruel and with monsters or horrible people, and one has to fight  to survive.  In other words, it's a lot like the real world.

So the fox is hung up on keeping up with the Jonse's. He was a former criminal, I must admit I adore kids' books that where hero is a criminal. But again, he is just trying to survive, if he gets a little greedy it's because his ego gets a little carried away, but he is not a bad fox.  He probably should have kept his promise to his wife when she announced that she was pregnant but he steals chickens from the three farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean.  The farmers are so mean the schoolchildren have made a song about them, and they are vindictive as they try to catch the fox, blowing up a hill in the process and dislocating a bunch a animals that also are trying to survive.

Dahl's sensibility lends itself well to Anderson's sensitivity.  The fox's son is extremely jealous of his very like-able cousin, whose comes to live their after losing his father.  In a beautiful scene that the director describes here, he chastises his cousin, turn off the lights and hears him crying, then he get's up and turns on a train.  In a modern age where actors begin to resemble virtual video-game humanoid-type things, it's remarkable how Anderson can infuse his animal dolls with such humanity and life.  The characters talk, have interests, complain, weep, and dance.  There's an almost unsettling realness to them. 

This film is peculiarly politically incorrect for a kids movie.   First of all, let's just say we must accept that we root for other animals than we do in the great film Chicken Run, or otherwise be driven mad by the moral quandaries.  Also, some of the bad guys smoke, and booze, and a rat addicted to booze becomes integral to the part.  A fantastic line concludes the rat's appearance.    There's some other great touches like the badger eyes, and I liked how only the humans had English accents. Also, the film is rated PG for some 'slang-humor' a term that sounds less funny than it plays in the film.

The movie is as enjoyable as anything.  If you've seen any other Wes Anderson movies you know his style is perfect for this type of animation.  He like to set up scenes like a child playing with toys while listening to cool music.  The camera often-times stays on a two-dimensional plain, with the characters truly inhabiting their settings.  The effect is like watching a series of intricate dioramas in motion.  But this would just be attractive portraits if the characters weren't so compelling.  The characters feel authentic, they aren't perfect, but who is?  As one character notes: there's something kind of wonderful about that. 

Star Trek

  Ok, look, I will admit that I don't consider myself a "Trekki" or whatever, but I did enjoy the original Star Trek series as well as Star Trek; The Next Generation (tho, I'll admit, I probably never saw all the shows from either series). So, keep that in mind as you read this review. Also, if you haven't seen the film and you don't want to read anything about the storyline before seeing the film, stop reading this now.

So, I thought this film had a lot of great action. I also thought that most of the Actors did an outstanding job (tho, I wasn't all that thrilled with the Actor playing Kirk. He wasn't bad, just, um, ok...)

Now, having said all the positive things I can think of about this film, let’s get to the problems.

1. The entire story is given to you in a “mind-meld” between Spock and Kirk. I didn’t like this. It took about five minutes and it told you everything you needed to know. I think this is, essentially, a parlor trick. Why not use the film to tell the story? Or, you could do one of those Star Wars thing and tell the story at the beginning of the film in written form. At any rate, I thought it was silly and just gave the producers an excuse to bring back the old Spock.

2. What was up with the two wild animals on the planet Kirk was sent to? Here he finds himself on this planet where, for miles, you see virtually nothing but snow and ice. Out of the blue, bam, there’s a wild animal chasing him! What’s up with that? And, as if that’s not bad enough, bam, another, bigger animal eats the one chasing him and then starts chasing Kirk! The whole thing lasts about two minutes with Spock saving him. Where the hell did the animals come from???

3. Back to the “mind-meld” thing. I think the whole movie is ruined by the story that Spock shares with Kirk. In this story, Spock is asked to save a planet from an exploding star that is on a collision course with the planet. Spock says he can save the planet and sets out to do so. After Spock sets out in his spaceship to shoot the exploding star with some material that will turn it into a black hole, the star suddenly hits the planet! What?? Can no one do math in the future? I mean, can’t you mathematically figure out the trajectory of the exploding star? Spock heads out on his spaceship to intersect the star and seems surprised when the thing hits the planet. This is Spock!!! He should have known before he took off in his little spaceship that he wouldn’t have time. I mean, what the f…?? 
4.  
5. That, not being able to calculate the time to impact thing, really ticks me off, but there were a couple    of  nit-picky things I didn’t like as well. For instance, Captain Pike is too old in this film (if your point of reference is the Star Trek tv series, as it should be. And, what’s up with Pike ending up in a wheelchair?? I mean, obviously, Pike ends up in a wheelchair at some point, but not as a result of a bug getting in his head. How does a bug crawling around your brain cause you to be in a wheelchair?? Also, when Kirk tricks the system to overcome the the Kobayashi Maru, I couldn’t believe how lame it was. I mean, this should have been a big deal! It was treated like a fraternity prank. Lame..lame…lame. Finally, what was up with that miner’s ship? I’m not even going to complain about the fact that a miner was able to destroy an entire Klingon battalion, or that he was able to destroy an entire Federation battalion RIGHT AFTER he destroy’s the Klingon battalion, or how stupid the miner’s ship looks, my question is, what happened to the part of the ship that was in the black hole when Kirk shoots at the ship at the end of the movie. Does the part Kirk hit get destroyed and the part in the black hole ends up just fine? If so, is it now a half a ship? What the hell happens to a ship being fired on when part of the thing no longer exists in that current time?
   

All right, that’s it. There’s a few other, minor, annoyances, but I’m letting it go for now. This is the first time I’ve had my own blog, so this was pretty much a test. If this works, my future posts will be, mostly, political. 

http://tomsbloggingthing.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-star-trek-movie-isjust-ok.html

Sacha Baron Cohen And Larry Charles Talk 'Bruno'

Insights from the Daring.

Click here for the interview.

"CORALINE"

Now I know what you're thinking. This movie has been in the video store for months now. First of all why do they still call it a video store? With the many format changes over the years I suppose they should call them DVD stores, or Blu Ray stores... Secondly I have kids, a job, and a busy life so get off my back!

So "CORALINE" is animated stop-motion 3-D fantasy film based on Neil Gaiman's 2002 novel of the same name. Visually it's good, Not great! I enjoyed the stop motion animation very much. I could see Tim Burton's touch on it which I did like. I have to say this is where my good time ended. The 3D was sub par, and fell victim to the usual 3D gimmicks and honestly half way through the movie (While bored) I forgot that it was even a 3D film.

The story goes: Coraline Jones voiced by Dakota Fanning and her parents, Mel and Charlie Jones voiced by Teri Hatcher and John Hogdman leave their nice lives in Michigan and move into the Pink Palace Apartments in Ashland, Oregon. I have to say I didn't realize this while watching the film. Except for the constant rain this was my only clue. Until Wikipedia told me I had no idea!

Coraline and her family shares residence with retired actresses Miss Spink and Miss Forcible (Who are funny I must admit), and retired Russian circus performer Mr. Bobinsky. Making the domicile a who's who of retired boring people.

Now the story, the director, and the visuals had so much potential. I honestly do not, and can not figure out why I didn't like it. I think the thing that bugged me the most was I didn't care what happened to any of the people living in the story. Without sympathy, empathy, love, or hate for any of the people on the screen I found myself thinking about my shopping list, my house and what I need to do next, and God forbid even what I needed to get done at work the next day! Apathy sucks!

Now this is very sad for me, because I love Tim Burton and Henry Selick. I loved "THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS" and was super excited to see this film. Just ask my wife! She thought I was a little touched in my noodle as I kept a countdown on when it was released on video (There's that antiquated format term again). Like I said before, I have a busy life so we didn't see it on the big screen. Sadly I have to say I am glad I didn't...

After reading other reviews, and even seeing that it received an 88% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes I thought myself crazy. After watching it a second time and wasting another $3.79 I am convinced I just did not like it. Rotten Tomatoes, Leonard Maltin, the Dallas Morning News, the New York Times, Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star can suck it! Best 3D movie ever? Pffffffftttt, I think not! If you want to see a great 3D film go see "A CHRISTMAS CAROL"

Pirate Radio

In scanners recently, I caught some commentary about a recent book about Robert Altman.  It's one of those tawdry and superficial pieces about how Robert Altman is overrated because, apparently, the man liked to party.  Not liking that such a groundbreaking filmmaker could have smoked weed, the critic is willing to dismiss the entire canon, though it is far easier to dismiss the critic.  Packed in a loose, organic, and improvised style...Altman's films create warm ensembles, unforgettable characters, and vivid environments.

Director Richard Curtis said, with his new film Pirate Radio, that he wanted to make a 'rock and roll MASH.'  The problem with that is MASH, set in Korea with an old-timey soundtrack, is considerably more rock and roll than Pirate Radio.

Pirate Radio is occasionally cute, and even fun.  In a very quick setup, the film explains that the British airwaves only allow for a very brief period of rock music per day, so offshore stations in international waters would fill the void and give the Brits some heavy riffs to rock out to.  Then a young protagonist enters the ship to meet his godfather, who seems nice and classy.  Then we meet the rest of the party, a dimwit roommate whose personal trait is he never makes sense, a ladies man that I found really annoying...and the rest, silent pretty boy, token lesbian, and the ringleader played by Philip Seymour Hoffman who seems along for the beer.

While the director was going for MASH, and I was hoping for Pump Up the Volume, the  result comes off more like a period version of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zessou without the underlying pathos.  We witness the 'dark side of rock and roll,' which basically amounts to 'pretty girls go for famous guys' even if they're older and less attractive, apparently.  The groupies here leave one yearning for the intelligence of Penny Lane in Almost Famous.  They aren't particularly interesting or nice, though many have nice entrance scenes approaching the boat with an appropriate song blaring.  Even Emma Thompson gets one of these entrances in a brief role as the kids unlikable mother.  At least the lesbian (I can't remember her name) character is nice, and she gets laid too, so, that's good, and the first of the scenes of women approaching the boat is cute, in a Benny Hill sexy party kind of way.  If I make this movie sound naughty, it isn't.  The sex is of a mostly proper juvenile nature. 

So, the British government epitomized by one particularly pompous prig, Kenneth Branagh, and his assistant Twatt tries to shut them down with mixed results.  I wonder if it's weird to be in the same film as your ex-wife?  It would be nice to see them act together again.  Anyways, the party goes on, the kids play chicken, charades, 'I have never...', and drink a lot, though strangely, not when playing 'I have never...'.  When the main kids paramour runs astray his buds comfort him with milk and cookies.  Really. You'd think they'd be pumping the stomach of an od'ing roadie by now, but no.

So that's about it until the government finally succeeds, and the boat defies them further, risking their own lives.  Strangely, the more serious things got, the funnier the film was.  There's a nice seen juxtaposing the crew of the ship having a Christmas, and the conservative establishment dude having a very dull one with his family and assistant.  Contrasted with the such coldness, the warmth of the crew becomes apparent.  You how the director is citing Altman here, assembling not so much a cast, as a party and surrogate family.  He follows them, catches side conversations and intimate moments.  The film shares the episodic format of MASH, the trick is to get a plethora of natural footage and then hone it down into a narrative.  Apparently the American version of this film was edited by 20 minutes from the original British release The Boat that Rocked.

One wonders if that cut was better, because this one is terribly edited.  MASH was meandering, but increasingly involving.  This is just a series of cut-together montages.  We hear very brief clips of excellent songs, but they don't last long enough to ever enthrall the viewer.  It's all too choppy, and at the same time overly slick.  It doesn't have the patience to let it's ideas ring, it's all streamlined and fabricated like Oceans 13.  One gets the impression that it's trying to be cool, and the director gets in his own way.  The camera blinks and spasms in a hyper fashion, when it should kick back and take a long slow look, and while Altman used a hand-held camera he was a least kind enough to pick an object and focus on it instead of shaking the damn thing.

Alas, the film is not completely unpleasant.  It is cute at times, and a good heart and a healthy disrespect for authority.    It reminds one of listening to their favorite radio DJs in the times before podcasts.  I always like to listen to the Kinks, or Cat Stevens, and watching 60s period actors cavorting to them is whimsical.   The actors are all believable, and the costumes they wear are great.  Still, one gets the impression that the true story that inspired this must be a lot more interesting than the film.  It makes one feel good, but it's charm wears off the more one thinks about it.  Perhaps Richard Curtis was ripped off by his dealer.

Disney's Christmas Carol"

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810049009/info

This Friday morning my wife and I took our kids to see Disney's "Christmas Carol". Word of caution there are scary scenes.

As you may know having talked or conversed with me on various topics that this "story" is one that I like very much. I always have.

I want to first talk about the sheer beauty of this film.Some 3D movies are only in it for the cheap 3D gimmick. You know, the random excuse for something to jump out or fall into the audience. Of course having nothing to do with the plot. This film uses the 3D format to make the audience say to themselves, with mouths opened and eyes wide, "Wow", "Ohh", "Ahh".

There are the dirty London street scenes, snowy countryside scenes, and the three ghosts each with their own unique image and personality. Without giving too much away I was impressed on how there could be something done within the bounds of these very well know, and beloved characters which are somehow different yet not off putting. At no point during this film did I think to myself, yeah, yeah on to the next ghost. I was looking forward to the next, while not wanting the current ghost to go off screen.

Jim Carrey lends his voice to: Scrooge/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Past/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Present/ Voice of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Gary Oldman lends his voice to Bob Cratchit / Marley / Tiny Tim

While Bob Haskins of ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit") fame lends his voice to Mr. Fezziwig / Old Joe

Without getting into the social, political, or religious implications of this story (too much) I turn my attention to the story. I like how this version sticks pretty close to the book. I found myself thinking about the less fortunate, orphans, and people I work with and for. At the films end I left feeling uplifted, spirit renewed, and ready for Christmas! I know, I know it's only November 7th. I do have to say 99.1 FM will soon start playing Christmas music 24-7...

Bottom line for me was; if you like the story go see this movie. If for no other reason for the 3D beauty, and unique story telling methods used. If you don't care for the story; go anyway simply for the 3D experience. Trust me you'll love it.