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.