Here's the Second Clip!

Scenes that will Shape the Entertainment Industry

Here, my friends, are two scenes from the film Enchanted. Classy and delightful, they will be some of the trend setters for the next generation of movies. (I'll post the second clip right after this one)

Films Every Child Should Watch (Or, Films that Shaped My Childhood)

1. The Parent Trap - the original Disney
2. Pollyanna - also the original Disney
3. Swiss Family Robinson
4. The Sound of Music
5. Fiddler on the Roof
6. Sleeping Beauty
7. 101 Dalmations - animated version
8. Robin Hood - Ok, this title is counting for three films: the Errol Flynn, Richard Todd, and animated Disney version
9. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
10. The Music Man
11. Beauty and the Beast
12. Lady and the Tramp
13. The Jungle Book
14. Bambi
15. Dumbo
16. The Rescuers and the Rescuers Down Under
17. The Aristocats
18. Enchanted
19. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
20. Mary Poppins

And here are two series NO ONE should go without seeing:

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - the ORIGINAL ones

Veggie Tales

On Howard Shore's Fellowship of the Ring

Movie soundtracks have in the past 10 or 15 years come into their own. Frequently, the music is actually better than the film it accompanies. And though there are so many soundtracks I love, if there was only one score I could save, only one which I could preserve, it would be Howard Shore's Fellowship of the Ring.

This is a score set apart from others, a score truly unique. The listener doesn't need to know what's going on in the story, for the music itself expresses a story. It has a life of its own. And, what is most important, it is the most musically universal score I've ever heard. It combines vocal sounds with instrumental ones, and it splits instrumental sounds equally between strings and brass and wind. This universal quality enables Shore to play with his themes, and to keep the soundtrack from becoming limp and stale.

The CD begins with foreboding music, then moves into the sounds of chaos and darkness, with wisps of mysterious string melodies playing throughout. Then it slowly becomes light and cheery, with the sound of a well-tilled field and brightly colored fences, the sounds of joy and the familiar. Ah, the flute and the fiddle! The village tavern, Rip Van Winkle, such are the impressions on my mind.

Now, I could go on and describe each track and images it brings, to my mind at least. But it would be far, far better for you to get the soundtrack yourself and listen, really listen to it. What images does it bring to mind? What emotions stir in your breast? Listen to it repeatedly, let its tones become a part of your very being.



And you will forever be the better for it.

Smoldering Embers

Secrets hidden away. Races with time. Government conspiracies. These Hollywood cards, each worth so many dollars in the minds of screenwriters, are pulled out of the hat far too often. They’ve even begun to infiltrate children’s films, though, as usually happens when an adult theme is modified for kids’ stories, the result is generally less intriguing than the adult equivalent. No film expresses this pathetic trend better than the Walden Media release City of Ember.

Born and raised in the underground city of Ember, Lina Mayfleet wants nothing more in life than to fly over the broken cobbles of the streets with the speed of electricity. After trading her assigned job at the pipeworks with classmate Doon for his job as a messenger, she continues on in her humdrum existence. That is until the power of their underground city begins to fail, when Lina and Doon find themselves caught up in a whirling race with opposing forces to try to find the way out of their decaying city.

But it wasn’t merely the city that was decaying. The whole script was. For a story that is rather over-used to begin with, the screenplay needed to be exceptionally fine in order to succeed. But almost immediately, the script lost touch with the viewer, and it limped along its 90-minute span, progressing from crisis to crisis for lack of anything better to do. It was incredibly rushed, copying Lina’s desire for speed, and yet ironically, the continual barrage of crises made the film really begin to lag by midway. Towards the very end of the film, I found myself saying, “Another important moment. So exciting. How much longer is this thing gonna take?”

The few engaging scenes were due only to the good acting of Saoirse Ronan (Atonement star and rising actress) as Lina. She brought the little charm there is to be found in the film with her cheery face and energy. The rest of the actors, lacking anything substantial to work with, stood around waiting for a miracle. Even the great Bill Murray looked lost, confused, and helpless.

It’s sad, because I really did want to like the film. I support Walden Media and their message. I like to find movies to show to my brother and sister. And though its content really wasn’t too bad, City of Ember, with its weak story and much weaker script, didn’t pass muster. Don’t waste your time on this movie; imagine the underground darkness of the Mines of Moria with a weaker version of National Treasure, and several touches from the book The Giver, and you’ve got it. We’d better let the embers of this one burn out.

No Sunshine Here

There are hours when you spill coffee down your best shirt and then fall down the steps on your way to the washer. There are days when you wake up late for class and then find last night’s gum between your library books. And there are weeks when you watch first one, then another, phenomenally terrible movie.

A few weeks ago, I had one of those weeks.

Two films: Sunshine Cleaning and Little Miss Sunshine. The former tells of a struggling single mother, who balances her time between her married lover and attention-deficient son and sister. During the film, she works through her relationships, particularly that with her sister, which is complicated by their different responses to their mother’s suicide in their youth. Little Miss Sunshine speaks of the Hoover family, a group of six who define the term dysfunctional. When the potbellied little girl has a chance to become California’s “Little Miss Sunshine”, the whole family, from the Nietzche-reading teen with a vow of silence to an unspeakably foul grandpa, must pile into a broken down van in an attempt to get her there in time.

Besides the word “sunshine”, both movies share the same producer, Marc Turtletaub, but other than that, they seem to have nothing in common. But both films were terrible, and for ultimately the same reason. I’m afraid my exposition will be rather brief, as I do not wish to dwell long on these vulgarly odious films.

It was noted in a previous Nota Bene from Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man how careful an artist must be when creating an image of terror, for terror is a very real thing. When such terrors are created, but not resolved, a ravenous lion has been released onto an unsuspecting populace. In a very real sense, an unresolved thing of evil echoes through all eternity with malicious tones. This was the problem with both of these films. The characters had essentially the same disgusting lives they possessed at their story’s beginning. There was no real character progression. Thus viewers were and are left with the same terrifying image they commenced with. I came away from both films with a darkness that pervaded the soul, and I tremble to imagine what movies like these could do to a viewer who had no hope in life.

Be careful, filmmakers, what you create.

Tim Hawkins - Cletus Take the Reel

This is a delightful parody of the music video, an insipidly tasteless media form.

Protecting the Island

Dum, dum, duuuummm - the ominous-sounding notes commencing the live action Disney film Swiss Family Robinson, sounds forever engrained in my memory. That lone island with its fantastic houses was the playground of my childhood, and tropical animals and pirates populated my imagination. One of the most successful family films ever made, this film is the classic adventure tale and it embodies the honest type of movie children should grow up watching.

Now, picture this golden oldie with cruisers instead of pirates, and you have the movie Nim’s Island. It tells the story of young Nim (Abigail Breslin) who lives on an uncharted island with her father, Jack Rusoe (Gerard Butler, who captures the ‘Crusoe’ hidden in the character’s name). When Jack gets lost at sea and her island is “invaded”, Nim calls on her hero, Alex Rover. Unbeknowst to her, however, Alex Rover is not the swashbuckling adventurer she imagines, but reclusive and germophobic writer Alexandra Rover (a hilarious Jodie Foster) from San Francisco.

It’s difficult to believe that the popular “adventure tale” could be well-done after having been used by so many screenwriters and novelists, yet Nim’s Island manages to delight the viewer once more with filthy buccaneers and life-or-death journeys. At once engaging and familiar, the film charmed me with its vividly humorous presentation of this basic storyline.

Though the film ranges from flying geckos to airport checks, it had amazingly strong unity. After all, when the main characters have approximately 5 minutes of screen time all together, and the bulk of the film is spent watching them fight their struggles alone, it would have been easy for the script to fray around the edges. Instead, their individual struggles seem, in a strange way, to draw the characters closer together. We have here a pleasing reversal of Swiss Family Robinson; instead of people bonding by working in the same fight, they bond by fighting to get to each other.

I must also note that it was genius to have Gerard Butler play the adventurer Alex Rover in addition to Nim’s father. Thus viewers see that the two women of the tale are united by the same image of a person, and though they are not conscious of it, that person actually exists in Nim’s dad. So it’s not quite so hard to believe that Nim can accept that her hero wasn’t what she expected and that Alexandra falls for Jack pretty quickly. After all, Nim’s hero didn’t really die, he showed up again when her dad returned. In the same way Alexandra can cope without her story and easily come to love Jack because, in a wonderfully unrealistic way, she already knows him.

As I sat on my couch downstairs and listened to my younger siblings giggle and roar with laughter, I felt that deeply satisfying feeling that arises when those you love watch something decent, something basically good. Their laughs were the hearty kind, brought on by sheer enjoyment of a classic tale, not the shallow ones brought on by the cheap tricks of most filmmakers today. Nim's Island preserved not only the integrity of the classic adventure tale but also the ideas about life which that story stands for and the innocent joy of the children who watch it. So for a night of family relaxation and togetherness, keeping the necessary guns and provisions close, I highly recommend Nim’s Island.

Sherlock Holmes

After watching the trailer for the new Sherlock Holmes, I had decided not to go see it. It looked like a waste of time, a “filler” movie (my term for something released when nothing else big is coming to theaters). But after hearing positive reviews from everyone, I relented. I went to go see Sherlock Holmes a while ago, and was pleasantly surprised. Although there were a few disappointing parts, I saw several elements in it that were very rewarding.

My favorite part of the story was the character development. Although the Holmes, Watson, Adler of the film are emphatically not those of Conan Doyle’s making (yes, I've read many selections of the short stories), they still are complex and insightful. Robert Downey Jr.’s Holmes was, to be frank, quite a brilliant character. Presented to us is a person who has incredible mental faculties, who can see things invisible to others and then put them together with lightning speed, but who at the same time cannot fully handle his own mental prowess. Scenes such as those at the dinner table one evening offer a deep insight into Holmes’s psyche. He is so distracted by all the information which comes to his attention (and everything comes to his attention) that he finds it all difficult to process. Indeed, he finds himself so out of balance at times that it is only when a savior arrives in the person of Watson that he can comes to terms with everything. Jude Law’s Watson acts as a balancing effect in Holmes’s life, and thus the despair with which Holmes meets Watson’s departure from their partnership is movingly earnest. I found the relationship between the two characters magnificent, owning in great part to the great teamwork of Downey, Jr. and Law. They give us a pair who work excellently, in their own unorthodox way.

In addition to this, we see that Holmes’ intellectual superiority is complicated by his awkwardness in every social situation. Any time Holmes has any communication with a human being, he struggles to adapt himself to the rules of decency. He knows others do not understand his mind and its workings, its constant shiftings and movements, and he finds it well nigh impossible to adjust to their ways of thinking and acting. At times, it almost seems as though he is so preoccupied with controlling his skills that he is oblivious to the rules of decorum. And we see that it is this which attracts him to Irene Adler. She alone, of all the people he has met, can match his intellect and wits. In fact, I found the relationship between these two quite interesting. Instead of being based sheerly on physical attraction, their continuous battle of the minds was intriguing.

My final praise is that Sherlock Holmes had several scenes which were brilliantly executed. The acting was quite good throughout, and in a few particular spots the construction of the scenes was extremely expressive. The best example is that in Holmes’s room, where he is grappling with everything that has occurred in the tale so far. He stares into the distance, plucking his violin (a trait which was carried out magnificently, as it was not overdone nor underdone). The look in his eyes is piercing as he wonders if the thing he excels at has ultimately failed. Will he too, like everyone else, be insufficient for the complexities of the case? The confusion in his mind is emphasized by the voices we hear playing out in his mind and the scribbled words on the wall behind him. The chaos he feels is brilliantly portrayed in this masterful scene.

There are several things, however, which I found disappointing in the new Sherlock Holmes. To begin with, the jolting camera and many action scenes were a little jarring on my nerves. I can normally take a little excessive action (the Bourne series being a perfect example). I cannot, however, take such gratuitous CGI than is absolutely necessary. The CGI effects were completely overdone in many scenes, which were painful to watch. Ironically, those scenes which employed the most CGI seemed the least realistic to me.

The most disappointing thing for me, however, was the overall plot-line. Although the character development was magnificent, I was let down by the **background** plot, which was simply another lame version of Hollywood’s current favorite plot. Let’s be real, now. How many times have we seen a movie that centers around a secret society and its doings? The first few times were okay; I’m a fan of National Treasure. But at this point, the idea behind such a plot is so feeble and flimsy that everyone in the audience knows all the inner workings that might and will occur. These screenwriters did not even attempt to change a few details of the plot, leaving no vestige or even illusion of originality about it. It’s sad, I thought leaving the theater, the good acting and characters deserved better.

To conclude, then, Sherlock Holmes did have its failings. Excessive CGI and an extremely poor plot made it a movie which I do not believe I shall greatly desire to see again. Yet these failings did not completely ruin the film, which was quite artistic at times. Fine actors, impressive character development, and astutely depicted scenes made much of the film quite enjoyable, and I must say that with a little work, Sherlock Holmes had much potential for greatness.

To My Followers

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Ghost Town

I don't have time to do a full-length review at the moment, but because it's been a while since I've posted on my own thoughts, I think it only right to put in something, albeit a rather small something.

This post’s subject: Ghost Town. This comedy starring Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni, and Greg Kinnear was quite good at times. Most of the humor was delightfully funny, and the satire of health care was excellently well-done. And I found the romance story presented, one between two very awkward people, rather charming. At the same time, however, I must greatly emphasize that quite a bit of the content in the movie is less than appealing. The sexual jokes, etc..., were very gratuitous and made this movie, which I found otherwise quite delightful, much less than it could have been.

If you have any specific questions, please comment and let me know.

Thoughts on the Music of Rachel Portman

I'm sitting here at my computer listening to the soundtracks I have which are composed by Rachel Portman. She really is magnificent. Like other big composers, such as Hans Zimmer and Thomas Newman, her style is quite distinct and easy to pick out. It is dominated in the background by soft violins, while some single instrument, such as a flute or piano, plays the main theme. Her music is like a quiet spring day or the small doings of a country town. At times it is reminiscent of blowing leaves and the crisp smell of moving air, and at others the hustle of a gossiping housewife and the mediocre urgency of her news. Her style is not heroic, like Zimmer's, nor American, like Newman's. It is very European in tone, but not to such an extent that it does not fit situations outside a European sphere. Rather, it captures the image of simple things, which can adapt to any situation. (It reminds me very much of the song "Simple Gifts".)

I have three scores by Portman: Emma, Chocolat, and The Lake House. Emma, her Oscar winner, is an instant classic, and it oozes with the charm of Austen's story. I can only describe the sound of this soundtrack as a musical portrayal of light. It floats, and embodies the ethereality of a woodland fairy. Next in order, chronologically, is Chocolat. Here the music has much of the same lightness, and yet we hear the first hints of gravity. The two different tones in the music seem to be struggling to discover which will be the victor. But in The Lake House, Portman outdoes herself. She combines the two ideas of joy and gravity. The result is a score that is both thought provoking and delightful.

These CDs are a good sampling of this British composer's work. Please, get them out of the library and listen to them. They are an ode to simple things. With Rachel Portman's music playing, your windows open and the birds singing in harmony, you cannot help but rejoice at the beauty of life.