AVATAR...2009...Cameron

I am a firm believer in the fact that filmmakers are storytellers.  In the case of this sci-fi lovers dreamworld, (taking place in a galaxy far away...), humans can step into the literal bodies of the aliens that they are studying via a personal "avatar." The word avatar, according to Princeton's world.net.web, means: embodiment: a new personification of a familiar idea; "the embodiment of hope"; "the incarnation of evil"; "the very avatar of cunning." It also means: the manifestation of a Hindu deity (especially Vishnu) in human or superhuman or animal form; "the Buddha is considered an avatar of the god Vishnu."  Hmmm...that's disturbing. RPG'ers will also lay claim to the word as they "live" their games...and get the snot beaten out of them at school in their real lives.  

I've asked myself if James Cameron,

 writer/director/producer of Avatar, is simply appealing to the masses or if somewhere deep within himself is a young sci-fi nerd living his other life on the big screen.  Leave it to Cameron to produce a sci-fi 3-D action thriller "for the whole family" with 500 million dollar budget (probably the highest on a film yet). Cameron farmed out to the best in the biz - Lucasfilms, Weta, Skywalker Sound.  The outcome was the 

astounding marriage of CGI

 and real life action, a believable story, and an empathetic tale of colonization that should hit pretty close to home.

I just taught the book Things Fall Apart - a tragic story about the British colonization of Nigeria in the early 1900's.  Its author, Chinua Achebe, claims to have written his book as a reminder to his people not to completely lose the old ways, and to the world to not repeat the wrongs of the past.  Achebe speaks of the "white men" coming into his native tribe in Africa - some who come peaceably to befriend and learn about the tribes, and others who come to take and force compliance. Native Americans will also relate to the moral of the Avatar story.  They know of forced compliance and the general disrespect of their gods.  As in Native American culture, the "Blue People" of this far away planet, have a pantheistic religious milieu that encompasses all that they do.  They are people of the trees, athletic and naturalistic.  It's an REI member's dream to get to live like they do.  The adventures are palpable, the landscape beautiful.  We, the theatergoers, see through the eyes of Sam Worthington, a truly solid character.  He is believable, and (like the hero "Jack" from the show Lost) he has a refreshing understanding of stillness.  He's the jarhead-made-Avatar. 

Now to the penny-drop: I was deeply disturbed by this film's blatant freedom to show nudity as justified by cultural differences and CGI affects, sexuality as justified by the idea that at least one party believed that they were "mating for life," and pagan rituals as truth justified once again by the difference in culture.  Our culture seems to demand tolerance and acceptance of differences while rejecting critical thinking.  In life's classroom, this is an unacceptable practice.  The family sitting behind me probably should have shielded their 5 & 6 year old's eyes during a number of scenes - or not brought them at all.  People are bringing their whole families into the bedrooms of random strangers and encouraging them to watch.  I am disgusted.

So, to end this rant, I believe this film to be an action-packed thrill-ride with a message much like Achebe's - go and learn of the cultures but never feel that you are better and can take what you want from them.  I also believe that this film is dangerously beautiful - attractive in a way that makes you say "oh, I guess it's ok. It's just a story." And later as you enjoy his Worthington's last few words, "Afterall, it's my birthday," you smile.  You may not realize that you've accidentally downed the entire bottle of poison - slowly, so it was barely noticeable.

THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX...ahhh....good old Wes Anderson

Miles of unrest have lead me to this moment in time when I should be asleep, but I've let my mind wander to the place of recent joy...

Who knew that a simple night at the theater would prove a visionary stroll into a realism personified to the degree of Watership Down and Animal Farm.  I love the characters in this film, as I love the characters in all Wes Anderson films.  They are intricate, broken - fractured by insecurities and confused relationships.  Father/son play the common dueling roles, as usual, and lines are delivered as dryly as possible.  Long camera shots show thoughtful parallels as characters grow and change through struggle and heroism.  Forgiveness is the bravest trait of all, it turns out.  

The voices of Clooney, Streep, Wilson, Schwartzman, Dafoe, and of course Mr. Murray provide anchors of zest and quirk to each character as personality sparks from puppets originally frozen in frames.  Sin, life callings, marriage, parenthood - Fox and friends grace these themes, find resolve, and dance!  Mr. Fox and his trademark whistle truly are fantastic!

2012...Cusak. No Joke.

Somehow, John Cusack can even make the end of the world seem like a glib 80's party. I actually enjoyed the effects without having any kind of emotional response. The scenes in LA were a Disney ride. The characters were lackluster enough for me to care little if they were swallowed up in the mass inundation of the planet.    I felt like they could have titled this film "The 2nd Flooding" or "Cusack Builds an Ark" or "John Almighty." The intertwining love stories forced a happy ending despite the virtual destruction of the planet.  Love blossoms between the president's daughter (The president was played by none other than the ever-amiable Danny Glover.) and the scientist who becomes a hero when he stands on his moral convictions to save the final few hundred people in the last lemming-like sequences.  

I left my seat in the theater feeling like I had just sat through Titanic 2.  Reminiscent.  Minus the stark empathy and sadness  - an even sadder truth in light of an apocalyptic obliteration.  John and his ex-wife Amanda Peet rekindle their original fire and potty-train their daughter who announces the final line of the movie, "No more pull-ups." Glib. 2012.

THE BROTHERS BLOOM...Brody, Ruffalo, Weisz

Weiss. Weiss is quirky and unforgettable as the epileptic photographer.
Brody plays the perfect brooding brother.
Ruffalo, the wild, true con artist.
All is well with the Brothers Bloom, all except their lives. Bloom, after playing scripted characters for his brother’s approval and the family survival for as long as he can remember, now longs for an unwritten life. Steven Bloom plans and plays it all out professionally – a flawless performance as the paralleling Icharus character. Bloom agrees to play one last character and meets the most “real” girl he’s ever met.
I’m still pondering whether Weiss’s character is created or simply lived. A girl called “Bang Bang” also adds quirk and intrique. This film is a must-watch. It must be watched at least a few times. The details are brilliant. Please beware the silly scenes, the few unnecessary phrases. Do recognize the artwork, the scenery, the poetry. Dwell in the moments delivered to you via Rian Johnson’s Directorial masterwork.

Where the Wild Things Are...MAX & the MONSTERS!

Adventures with Max are phenomenal, well-written, well-played, well-dreamed, and well-filmed. Ordinarily, book-to-film adaptations lack depth and intrigue. This film, having no more than 10 pages to work with, however surpassed my every reading of this book before. Little Max gave an astounding performance. I could feel his pain, understand his loneliness, sense his sorrow, and at the same time, he made me more resilient with his every battle cry!
Henson’s monsters ala Sendak spoke candidly, played violently, felt intensely. Each highlighting and honing in on an aspect of the boy’s internal sensibility, became a kalidescope of kid-sized reactions and thoughts. The new “family” made him their king and asked if he in his power could take away the sadness and loneliness. His response became the backbone of the film, “I have a sadness shield and I take loneliness and do this…kapkooo!” King Max grew up over his short season as king of the Wild Things, learning how to deal with his inner termoil and how to love his family again. Saying goodbye, Max sailed back across the sea to the perfect sound track by Karen O and the Kids.
So, let the wild rumpus begin!

17 AGAIN...Ephron

Sometimes first impressions are tainted by circumstance.  Upon first viewing, this film felt so Ephron-centric, so Wonderful Life-remake, so Lord of the Rings-mocking, so dunce-cap enducing, so Ashton-Demi, and so role-generalizing that I could barely stomach it.  All I could think was that I was a teacher and that “15’ll get cha 20.” (Years-old to years in prison).
I wondered if another perspective in a different theater with a different audience could redeem it – or at least give me new eyes…it was also the only one at the cheaps that I felt I could go see at the time…so I went.  Sure enough; the row of 12-14 somethings behind me who googly-goggled at Zach Ephron’s every phrase released me of my initial trepidations, and I watched with learned gaze as Ephron actually delivered a decent, even inspiring performance getting some of Matthew Perry’s mannerisms down pat. 
Today I saw it again with my roommates who wanted to rent it.  I hesitated but decided to try one more time.  To my delight, I realized that the messages presented are lovely – promoting abstinence until marriage, supporting the idea that “girls should respect themselves enough to expect men to treat them with respect, and raising the level of importance, endurance, courage, selflessness, and love involved in preserving and stabilizing  a quality marriage and family. Zach’s character pursued his wife, unlike my first impressions presumed.  My hope would be that students would see and remember these valuable lessons rather than Zach’s perfect body and Ned’s nerd-seduces-princess success.  

VALKYRIE...Cruise...2009

Have you ever heard of the term "Wooden Ducked?" My family says this whenever someone tells us to do what we were about to do already, or when we are made to feel like idiots.  The term comes from a film called Every Girl Should Be Married (1948)with Cary Grant in which Betsy Drake throws a wooden duck at her boss when he makes her feel small in this way. Oddly, Watching Valkyrie felt a lot like being wooden ducked. The director allowed us to feel twinges of something, then would subsequently give a close up to remind us of what we were supposed to be feeling.  In a beautiful scene, a woman is crying in the corner of the screen.  She is not the focal point (Cruise no doubt saw to that...sorry Tommy.), but we observant types know and see that she is crying.  We may even know why.  Then the drop. The pan in to the tear itself and the lines that tell us why... 

Why? Mr. Singer, after a lovely first 2 xmen movies, would you choose Superman Returns over redeeming the 3rd X. Be the hero you are hoping to revive and make X3 already. Sorry. Rant. And, now Mr. Singer, with money and phenomenal actors at your disposal (hmm...disposal...hmm), why would you choose to create an emotionless holocaust piece?

Sadly, I was never allowed to forget that Tom Cruise was Tom Cruise.  Despite his loppy, curly top, this sad and true story, and his piercing glass eye (which he treats as souvenier /calling card), I always thought "hmm...Tom".  

The cast as a whole is brilliant, including the indelible Kenneth Branagh ("that guy who does a bunch of Shakespeare" - as I've heard him called).  This is why I must choose to blame Cruise and Singer for the emotionless plea throughout this lamentable film / story. We kept feeling like we were supposed to care...then... we'd see Tom.  Perhaps it was Cruise's singular, stoic, stone-faced expression.  Perhaps we knew the inevitable outcome.  Perhaps it was the unabashed blend of non-German accents used by the actors who were supposed to be playing Germans.  

This film did challenge my perceptions in one way, however.  I have always naively considered all WWII German soldiers to be brainwashed Nazis. Valkyrie (pronounced Wal-ku-ree in the literal German) reminded me that this was not the case - that even at the highest ranks of the greatest evils, leaders do think for themselves and die for truth.

JULIE & JULIA... Amy & Meryl... 2009

I love seeing movies with my siblings.   They can discuss films intelligently almost immediately after viewing them.  They are the ones who reminded me that though funny in parts, this movie ran a bit slowly.  True, it felt almost documentary in the pacing. My brother felt that 2 more months of planning would have made this a better movie.  He also said, however, that the film was worth seeing if only to listen to his sisters laugh and giggle out loud every time they heard the tones of Meryl's melodic and convincing Julia Child impression.  Meryl is as believable as Amy is lovely.  They are an excellent team.  

Perhaps this is why Julie & Julia felt to me, in true Nora Ephron fashion, very Sleepless-esque.  Two characters lives, shown in tandem - one whose obsession leads her on a journey to find herself within the discovery of the other.  We kept waiting for Meg Ryan to appear in Amy Adam's apartment in Queens as she blogged.  You could almost hear Meg saying, "Don't you just love New York in the fall?" Missing pieces in the story, however, created disappointment as the plot lagged.  Characters met and mentioned were never followed up on, and unlike Sleepless, the finale feels inconclusive.  

Despite the pacing and plot holes, I will say that foodies and non can appreciate the joy in each slab of melting butter and whisk of egg whites.  They can also appreciate partaking in Meryl's sumptuous caricature. Delicious!

STAR TREK...J.J., Pine, & Crew 2009

J.J. Abrams revives the tribute of my lifetime.  I had no idea that years of choosing to spend time with my dad in front of what he just affectionately categorized as "Sci-Fi" would turn me into a Trekkie.  Sure, I've heard of Tribbles, Jean-Luc Picard is my personal Gandalf-esque mentor, and Janeway reminded me of my more feminist professors in my more mind-shaping classes. What of it? It was about the phasers set to stun and the Vulcan mind meld and the hyccup phrasing of Captain Kirk.  

Now, however, the crew members of the Starship Enterprise are my age, Starfleet Academy is accepting applications, Bones is attractive, Romulans have a nasty streak, and I want Chris Pine to father my children. 

TRANSFORMERS 2...Shia 2009

Theory: Michael Bay is 10 years old, 14 at best. I've seen his public self before, but I believe that man to be his decoy. At least I know this movie's target audience: pubescent boys. Why else would they have asked monosyllabic valley-girl Megan Fox back for the second. Oh, and the idiot parents - "Let's get the mom high in this one" says the jr. high cheer squad slash billion dollar action film consultants. Shia gets better at his job while the rest of the world slips into action-induced comas. Drunk on visual-stimulus as robot warriors change back and forth from vehicles to heroes, I'll admit I appreciated the visuals and even the story. I like action, so perhaps if they had removed everyone except the robots, Shia, (and I suppose the very pretty Josh D.) I would be speaking more highly of this sequel.

Shia, you've got a good thing going here. Don't blow it. I like your

Cusackisms.

PS. A word on sequels: Don't bother, unless you consider them the necessary transition period between the original and the usually more appealing 3rd. Sad, but true.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE...2009

I weep. My heart breaks for the children of India. This film scouts through the slums of Mumbai and Bombay as two orphaned boys flee from terror to seek home, peace, safety, shelter, food, and family only to find slavery, torture, danger, and death. This journey grows them up, and tears them apart. I ache for these children, and the millions like them. Slumdogs. So few escape. Our hero is the moral brother, the Christ-like, the hopeful, the dreamer.  He is Jamal.  

Jamal's story is told, ironically, through each individual question of the show Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  Each answer reveals a piece of his mystery, of his heart, and of his pain.  And his heart, we come to find out, belongs to a girl named Latika. 

Dumas' Three Musketeers provides an interesting literary underlayer as the "dogs" become the heroes and three children become the freedom fighters of their own destinies. Poverty, pursuits, and passions forge the journeys of the musketeers who become sword wielding peace-keepers as well as for the children who fight for survival .  As we follow our little musketeers through India, we meet Jamal's Aramis, called Latika. Dumas' wrote his 3rd musketeer, Aramis, as the true best friend of the three - the one who holds friendship in sacred high regard and who speaks the truth. It is foolish to believe that scriptwriters choose these parallels by mistake. I believe that filmmakers Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan, as well as writer Simon Beaufoy create a shocking visual venue for truth through this film by showing the real lives of dump-dwellers, impoverished youth, and corrupt and immoral society members.  This film shows real life for many broken people in our broken world.

This film is precious.  It speaks for the children who cannot. It lives for the children who have not. It fights for the children who will not.  It is for me and for you now to speak, to live, and to fight.

THE FALL...Lee Pace

For film lovers. For art lovers. For those of you who have ever loved a storyteller.

The Fall speaks in color and beauty - transcending traditional filmmaking. This is an art film. Each scene a painting in itself, this film is a Salvador Dali come to life.

The motif of "falling" is the resplendent repetitive notion of lives in motion, making mistakes, sinning, falling from our pedistals of chance and fate and grace. It's a question. It's a fear. It's a risk that, once taken, affects the entire rest of your life. It's about life and living it. It's about family and fathers. It's about loving someone enough to stick around for the rest of the story. It's the retelling of a silent picture as seen in the mind of a little girl. The teller becomes her hero and her friend. The percieved quest is one of external healing; the actual is internal as the listener becomes the unexpected hero to save her dear friend.

For Andrew: Don't worry. It ends well.

AUSTRALIA...Jackman, Kidman

Thank you, Baz Lurhmann. I love you.

INKHEART... Fraser, Mirren, Bettany, Serkis

INKHEART. According to the two third-grade girls chatting it up with me after the movie:

blonde braids-"This was a good one."

brunette BFF- "Really good."

blonde braids- "Did you know that the producer was Cornelia Funke?"

me-"Funky."

braids - (smiling) "I know. Funky. (small giggle) I have two of her books. Did you know that she hand-writes a copy and they're worth like a thousand dollars. I don't think I could ever write all that. I have one, but it's the regular kind."

me- "Who was your favorite character? Did you like the dad? (Brendan Fraser)"

BFF - "umm. I don't know."

braids - (after a 'you're crazy' glance at bff) "The dad was okay. He was sort of ...

me- "poorly cast? ready to find his new calling in hotel management?"

braids- "He was okay. Dustfinger was the best. Did you see him blow fire?"

me- (Did I ever. Since when did he start working out - he was body-beautiful in this.) "Yup."

(Dustfinger was played by the scene-redeeming Paul Bettany. Great casting choice, says I. I love him. He's walked a long road since his naked role in A Knight's Tale with the late Heath Ledger. I also enjoyed the camio by his lovely wife Jennifer Connelly.)

me- "He was so cute."

braids - (shoots me the 'now you're crazy' look and corrects me.) "He was good."

me- "I liked the old lady (that's kid-speak for the illustriously prominent Helen Mirren.)

braids- "Yeah, she was so funny."

me- "She was hilarious. When she rode on the little scooter... and the unicorn!"

bff- "...or when she.."

braids- "That shadow guy was SOOO scary."

bff- "yeah."

(By this time we'd reached the outside doors.)

me- Thanks for chatting about the movie with me.

bff- "It was nice...to meet you."

braids- "I hope we see you again. Here. Sometime. Hope again."

me- Thanks. I hope so too!

BENJAMIN BUTTON,The Curious Case of...Pitt...2009

F. Scott Fitzgerald, author who created the infamous Gatsby, also wrote this charmingly odd tale of Benjamin Button. The screenplay is a very loose retelling taking merely the notion of a man living his life backwards.

www.readbookonline.net/read/690/10628

It's beautifully filmed in a progression of sepia tones which build into vibrant colors as time passes. Time plays an interesting character, possibly the antagonist, as the clock builder loses his son "too young" in the war and eventually takes his own life. He intentionally builds his clock to run backwards as a memento to his dream that time would allow him to have his son back. The clock's life mirror's our hero's, running backward making a statement, which was??... How very Merlin.

Filmmakers did a nice job of providing visual reminders of the age Benjamin would be at each stage, usually with his excellent counterpart, played in large part by Cate Blanchett.

Her performance is astounding - she's ageless. It's shocking, really. My favorite scene comes in an odd sequence showing that Blanchett is doomed by a set of events, which would have changed had one element veered. This is displayed in scenario so beautifully by the director. It felt a bit Amelie. I loved it. I didn't love the outcome of this desperate sequence. (Spoiler...)

How could he leave?

Even if he didn't. She was stubborn, in pain, alone...what a horrid recovery time that would have been. Hopeless. Sad.

Another disappointing element in this film was that love is yet again portrayed as merely physical. The film was FAR too sexual. Old in body/ young in mind doesn't equal frequent brothel visits. Developing a friendship between two lonely people doesn't have to end up in a raucous affair with a married woman. Relationships do not have to be throw-away. Over all, Button's relationships leave all parties unsatisfied and terribly lonely, including the illusive one created through letters he leaves to his own daughter. Blanchett's character is lovely until she throws herself into the wild, wilful, and very permiscuous life behind the stage. Suddenly, she doesn't seem the prize she once was. They are only able to share a short time when their lives "meet in the middle."

Wait. Admittedly, The Way We Were is a guilty pleasure film and, yes, I own it. It's brilliant. So, I absolutely appreciated the overly obvious nods to that film - the Redford-esque sailing scenes, the life on a mattress - costumes, era, etc. Beautiful. Noteworthy. However, again too sexual. Need we constantly be reminded that Hollywood thinks that sex is love. Is there no deeper thought in the minds of screenwriters? I need to know.

Julia Ormond, perfect choice for the daughter of this odd pair, flawlessly emotes on her single set within the hospital room. There we catch the last moments of the woman who grew with and loved Benjamin. An aged Cate Blanchett tells the sad story reluctantly as her last act. So much sorrow blends with depth of secret remembrance in these scenes. They are precious, though rough to watch. Grief plays into the curiosity that they are attempting to build throughout the framed narrative.

I'm grateful for the intermittent "storm" reminders. Storms also provide metaphoric markers as they consistently follow Benjamin Button through his life.So, this film creates this very "curious" tale which leaves us pondering life, yes. It's also beautifully filmed and intriguing. I appreciated the times with the elderly in the home - great twist on Fitzgerald's tale. Each person adding a glimpse at how to appreciate life and the people in it as it's lived. Comic relief comes throughout from the guy who was struck by lightning 7 times - each time captured in black and white like a silent film. Death is a sad reality of life. Interesting theme to capitalize on. Religious themes are touched on, but not positively as Button's life continues.Benjamin Button lives a full life. He certainly experiences life, but he regretfully doesn't seem to learn anything from his experiences. He just has them. In this way, he's childlike, and selfish. I don't know. Maybe I was expecting more. I wanted him to learn and grow from his unique life. The film emphasizes sameness in life - beginning to end. We end as we begin - in diapers. I missed the hope, the joy of learning from experience. In Button, I saw a life lived in selfishness and loneliness. I'm left with nothing to hold onto, except that frivolous hint of academy nods. Sad.