FURTHER JOURNEYS TO FARAWAY LANDS ON ESSIE SPEAKS!

Well, like any good blog-writer I check my stats regularly. My aim was never to be the biggest blog in the world but to sort of, you know, have a discussion with like-minded folk sort of thing. I was happy to see the upward jolt in stats this week, and they could only mean one thing - you guys love animated movies!
That's so cool, so do I!
And since I have more animated movies than I can shake a stick at knocking around the house I decided to scrap my previous schedule and take another trip to strange lands and talking beasts... There is an Oscar nominee in the line-up as well as one part of a series that is marked to go down in history as one of the most successfull animations ever!

Step right in and enjoy the show!
Essie

STRANGE YET EERILY FAMILIAR... PREPARE FOR ADVENTURES WITH CORALINE

As a general rule, it is safe to say that animations can be divided into three general categories. First, there are the ones that are strictly for kids. This is usually a matter of subject matter more than anything else. Although adults can – and do – watch them, chances are that they will be bored withf them. Secondly, there are the ones for the whole family. This, I find, is generally speaking the largest category. Nothing too bad happens in this lot, but the story is exciting, there are varying levels of jokes, some stuff that the kids may miss but adults will pick up on and laugh at, all in the context of the film of course (I’m thinking “Cloudy with a chance of meatballs” as a prime example). I put those age-old classics like Tom and Jerry into this category as well (be honest with yourself, if you come across a Tom and Jerry cartoon on TV over breakfast, you do NOT change the channel. Why? Because it’s good, old-fashioned slapstick comedy for all ages). And thirdly, there are the “adult” animations. And if by adult you think I mean smut, think again =) these are animated movies strictly for older children and adults. They can either be quite complicated as far as the storyline is concerned or slightly scary (for the kids at any rate). Modern technology ensures that there is a goodly dollop of all three on the markets these days. And one of the latest additions to the third category (well when I say latest it does go back a few years, but still…) is Coraline. Now, just checking out the creative credits gives one high hopes for this film. First and foremost, Coraline is the brainchild of Neil Gaiman, that weird and wonderful person responsible for the creation of so many different worlds… And the director is none other than Henry Selick. Don’t be fooled, you have actually heard of him. I mean, ok, you’ve heard of the Nightmare before Christmas, no? Ok, newsflash, Tim Burton DID NOT direct this. Henry Selick did. Tim Burton produced Nightmare Before Christmas but never directed it. Now, take the mind that created Jack Skellington and his weird world, mix it with Neil Gaiman and what do you get? That’s right, a winner…
Coraline Jones’s life has definitely NOT taken a turn for the better. She and her parents have moved out into the countryside; a sensible move seeing as they are both writers for garden magazines and Detroit is not the ideal place for a garden. But Coraline is lonely, she misses her friends, her parents barely have time to cook, much less to spend time with her and won’t (ironically) even let her go out into the garden to plant things as it makes too much of a mess later. Their only neighbors are two actresses who cannot stop dwelling on the good old days, Mr. Bobinski who is decidedly either mad or drunk (possibly both), their rather terse landlady and Wybie (short for Whyborn) her nephew. Thus, Coraline is seriously disgruntled with her lot until she discovers a mysterious door. The door leads to what seems to be an alternative universe. And as every single aspect of Coraline’s life “sucks” at that point, things over there seem to be nothing but good. Her parents have nothing but time for her, her favorite food constantly fills the house, the neighbors are charming and the alternative universe is filled with nothing but wonder… Coraline is sorely tempted to stay, but as she stays there, this trip to wonderland slowly reveals itself to be a real nightmare… A particularly terrifying one, as her “other mother” will stop at categorically nothing to keep her there… For ever…
First of all, I am a MASSIVE fan of this style of animation. This kind of animation is closer to old style drawing (and I strongly suspected it WAS drawing only some of the special effects in the film makes me think otherwise – if someone knows any better, please give me a nudge). I have categorically nothing against the completely computer simulated versions, but this is not, on any level, pretending to be real. You know, it is a wild, beautiful, completely imaginary world, it has a style to match, and it is NOT afraid to show it. I mean, put aside the subject matter, simply watching the film, and the things you watch on screen afford you pleasure.
As for the story, well, the subject matter is no different from any fantastic tale you can think of – I mean vague parallelisms could even be drawn with Odysseus, you remember the one where they stopped at the island of those sirens but the sirens were in fact monsters that killed the sailors who stopped? Something like that… Not only would the details of this one be completely lost on smaller children, the “bad guys” and what they threaten Coraline with would scare them witless. I mean, think Nightmare before Christmas and put your hand on your heart; didn’t some of the things that happened there give you the creeps on some level? In a good way though. Believe me, even the rather corny “there is no place like home” message buried not too deep in there somehow becomes palatable with this coating… I can quite see why it was up for an Oscar ®

AND NOW, A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE BACK TO THE "ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSOURS"

Granted, Ice Age doesn’t really need any kind of introduction. None of the of the series films does. However, I just thought you might be interested in a review of it because, well… It IS the third in the series. And Ice Age or no Ice Age we all know what sequels are like. If the first is good, there is a good chance the second will also be good / ok but by the time you hit three and four, it starts getting a teensy bit “tired”. That is why I am always slightly dubious about third films, unless it is based on an actual book or something. Ice age however, is a definite exception to this rule. I never thought it were possible but even after all the gimmicks and excitement, the team STILL has a barrel full of belly-laughs in store for us…
So, the Ice Age is raging on. Our little herd has settled down into the domesticities of life; Manny and Ellie are expecting a baby (and Manny is even more excited than Ellie is, driving her insane), Diego is still his old sabre-toothed self, although he is rather afraid this settled life is causing him to “lose his edge” and he has begun thinking of leaving the herd for good. As for Sid… Well he is Sid. But apart from that he is mildly envious of Manny and Ellie; he wants to start a family too. The minor problem is that he is… Well, as we said, Sid. But his prayers finally seem to have been answered when he finds three seemingly deserted eggs in an old cavern. He takes over caring for them and they soon hatch revealing… Three baby T-rexs. Now, baby T-rexs are one thing, their mother, who naturally comes looking for them, is quite another. And when, in the kerfuffle Sid gets taken off with the mother along with the babies, it is up to the rest of the herd to save him… If they actually want him back that is…
It’s actually quite funny how successful this film has become. Technically all three films are “road movies” based around comedy caused by discordant characters; anyone who so much as owns a television set has seen films like this. However, as in a lot of films of this kind, it not so much what is said but the way it is said. The attention to detail, the way that pretty modern situations are transposed and made fun of in the film makes it a brilliant choice for adults, I actually laughed out loud in some sections. I’m not even mentioning the fun factor for the kids; I mean come on, what kid DOESN’T like Ice Age? My two personal favorites in this film are first and foremost Simon Pegg; he lends his voice to a rather deranged weasel named Buck who the herd encounters on the way. The character is hilarious as is Simon Pegg’s rendition of it, a rather “typical” character but still when so well executed who’s going to complain? The second is the inimitable and inevitable squirrel and his beloved acorn. Naturally the love affair continues full throttle all through the film, but this time, things have been “upped” a notch. There is a lady involved. And I don’t mean the acorn.
So, don’t let the “three” worry you. This film will definitely not change your life but it guarantees a good laugh and an hour and a half away from the day’s cares and that, methinks, is the most important thing of all sometimes…

WHEN YOU GO OUT TO THE WOODS TODAY... WATCH OUT! IT'S "OPEN SEASON" !

I just want to state one thing; in films, as in life how you say something is as important as what you say. In life, this is largely about attitude and good manners. In films, it is about the way you tell a story, about technique. You may not have the most original idea for a story in the world; however, if you use your head and a bit of imagination, you can come up with something fun or interesting, in short, something of value cinematically speaking. Now, in the film industry using one’s imagination can mean a number of things, but the medium that allows a filmmaker to make the best possible use of his / her imagination is without a doubt animation (by the way, it is important to note that animation is a medium not a genre. It is a tool like any other to tell any kind of story with. This is why considering all animations as children’s films is a rather unfortunate generalization…). Open Season’s story will no doubt feel familiar to all but true novices to cinephilia; however ,such good use has been made of animation, that I can tell you a hundred reasons to watch this one… Really…
Boog (who borrows the voice of Martin Lawrence) is a large grizzly bear. He lives in ranger Beth’s garage in the small woodland settlement in a national park. Beth rescued him when he was a tiny cub, of course she had every intention of releasing him back into the wild, but time went by, they started doing shows together and the visitors to the park love them, one thing led to another and there they are. Boog is now a huge, full grown bear with no idea how to cope in the wild. And he is perfectly happy with his lot until he meets a buck strapped to the front of a local hunter’s car. The buck, named Elliot (borrowing the voice of Ashton Kutcher)is, among other things, very averse to being mounted on someone’s wall. Boog doesn’t want to meddle at first, but then cuts him free. This seemingly simple act will start a snowball effect of events that will lead to Boog being “released into the wild” along with Elliot. Boog is not happy with this at all. The wild is cold, there is no blanket, no fish crackers, no chocolate and… It’s almost open season… Will Boog be able to adapt to the wild in time to save his bacon?
Ok so we all know the score. Road trip genre, with one sensible “normal” character (Boog) and one savy and slightly loopy character (Elliot) who talks a lot and gets them into trouble the whole time along the way with a smattering of side characters. And there are more and more comedies involving spoilt animals not knowing about real life being propelled into the wild – especially in animations – but this one is, I have to say, a good quality fella. Talking animals have been a premise of children’s entertainment since time immemorial, and this one is definitely a good one for the younger members of the family, but there is a lot in it for adults too. Some of the jokes are, in fact, aimed specifically at adults, Boog can’t, for example, go to the loo without an actual loo around, “doing it” in the bushes is nothing short of unthinkable (sounds familiar to me!) I found the side characters (reminds me slightly of “side dishes” as far as terminology goes, moving on however) especially good; my favorites being the skunks (two chicas who, judging from their accents were of latin origin) and the porcupine – and the reason for that can only be revealed when you actually watch it, it simply has to be seen to be believed. By the way, don’t let the fact that there is actual hunting in it worry you as far as the little ones are concerned, although they are a large part of the film, the hunters are nothing short of hilarious and not even the most sensitive of little ones will be distressed. A brilliant, upbeat little gem full of heart belly-laughs. No wonder it spouted sequels :)

FANCY A TRIP TO A LAND WHERE EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE?

No folks, I am tallking about the newest, coolest holliday destination nor do I mean Mr. Barrie's classic children's book Peter Pan with it's Never Never Land; although the latter comes pretty darn close... I am talking about the realms of your imaginations. Yes, we all love being taken to various wierd and wonderful places by filmmakers, but does it ever really compare to the lands you dreamt up when you were a kid? No, I thought not... And I agree, who has the time these days... Part of becoming an adult, obviously. So I reckon we are all very lucky that there are good people out there who have made it their job to dream up such lands and then show them to us. In animated movies.
Yes, mad inventors, talking beasts and good old fashioned magic make up the menu for this week. And don't worry folks, they all combine the necessities of an adult audience with the imagination of a child... Or pretty damn close...

Enjoy the show!
Essie

JUST TO PROVE THAT EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE : "CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS"

A goodly dollop of good, old-fashioned belly – laughs, lots of imagination and adventure. These are usually the essential ingredients of good animations (aimed for adults) these days. I was under the rather misguided impression that Cloudy with a chance of meatballs was rather mediocre. And Ok, it doesn’t exactly change film history. But it is also one of the funniest, sweetest and most imaginative films I have seen in a long while. This is why I thought it essential to put it in the blog, it has a bit of a tendency to get lost in a crowd of films “just like it” – and I wouldn’t want you guys to miss out.
Swallow Falls is a small island just off the US east coast – just under the A of Atlantic. It is home to Flnt Lockwood, an inventor by vocation and generally considered something cross between a hopeless nerd and a public menace by all who know him. His inventions tend to be slightly off the wall and to have “unexpected” results. Swallow falls is famous for sardines. The population fishes, and there is a massive sardine packing plant on the island too. Until it closes. The island is hit hard and all the islanders have left to eat are the sardines no one else wants. There are plenty of sardines, don’t get me wrong, but as we all know “sardines are gross” (I’m quoting the film here people, don’t get mad. Although I do tend to agree with the sentiment, it’s technically their words not mine! =) ) Then, Flint has an idea. He will invent a machine that will turn water into food, any kind of food, thus solving the food crisis on the island… As per usual however, his endeavors will have, well… Unexpected results…
Now, this is an ideal film for people with kids. The film is bright and colorful and the general tone means that younger audiences can actually follow and enjoy it. However there are subtler jokes aimed at older audiences (by older I mean properly older. I mean, I’m on the wrong side of 25 and I LAUGHED my head off). One of my favorite gimmicks is when our hero (aged mid to late 20’s I guess) tries to get his completely computer illiterate dad to e-mail him a file from his computer… Now, anyone who has gone through the process of introducing a parent to technology (and I guess that is most of people my age) will not only recognize some of the things that go wrong and laugh until tears are in their eyes, I can almost guarantee it. A second good part of the film is that it seems to take nothing too seriously. As you can imagine, Flint's invention will at some point “threaten world safety” , at which point the film takes on the air of a spoof (animated) disaster movie, but nothing, no convention of these movies that we know and sort of accept are safe from being poked and prodded. I guess what I’m saying is that the film doesn’t entirely rely on the endless possibilities on offer from technology and computers but it is also intelligent and witty. Something that I have come to miss in normal films, much less in animations… In short, a very, VERY pleasant surprise and a great way to spend a couple of hours…

A STEP BACK IN TIME - AND TO THE ANIMAL KINGDOM "FANTASTIC MR. FOX"

One thing I must confess: I love the fact that cartoons are no longer only geared to kids. I think there are quite a few of us who are well over 18 and either openly or secretly enjoy watching animations of various forms, be it the Simpsons to Japanese Anime. I mean, it’s the best form of escapism if you think about it… Technology in the olden days only allowed so much but now… Entire worlds and universes can be created with the flick of a computer (so to speak). You can just kick back and vanish into the new world for 90 minutes (or however long the film is) and forget the cares of the day… Now, I love the works of firms like Pixar for instance. They are, no doubt, the absolute rulers of the computer animation world. But Disney, once the ruler supreme of the “imaginary” world, are not lagging far behind. And last year they came up with a film that filled me with warmth, excitement and nostalgia to the cockles of my heart, because it was the animation (finally!) of one of my favorite, FAVORITE books as a little girl: Fantastic Mr. Fox….
Mr. Fox (voice of George Clooney) is a typical fox. He is a professional chicken hunter and damn good at it too. He is married to Felicity Fox (voice of Meryl Streep) and have a happy and fulfilling marriage. Mr. Fox is good at his job, but Mrs. Fox has a piece of news that is going to push him to reconsider: She is pregnant. So, Mr. Fox stops his thieving ways and gets a safer job (columnist in the Animal Gazette). Their son is born, Mr. Fox is successful and they even move to a larger house (in a large birch tree). In short Mr. Fox has everything his heart could desire, except… Well, adrenalin. Temptation presents himself in the form of his human neighbors, the rich and unpleasant farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean. With the large farms so nearby, Mr. Fox simply can’t resist “one last job” to the farms, to get some juicy chickens, geese and cider among other things. However he has not factored in the endless greed of the farmers. To his horror, they will band together in their effort to sniff him out and kill him, putting the entire forest – all his friends and neighbors – Mr. Fox must use every ounce of his wits and cunning to save the forest – not to mention his marriage…
It is a rather rare occurrence that your tastes in reading when you were a child continue into adulthood (unless you are some sort of child prodigy and kick the whole thing off by reading Tolstoy in the first place). But in one particular instance, for me, this has been the case. Two words for you : Roald Dahl. If you have not heard of it I highly recommend his adult short stories, I guarantee you they are like nothing you have read before. But as we are all about animations this week I want to go a little further back on the age scale. From Charlie and the Chocolate factory to James and the Giant Peach, nearly all the “majors” by Roald Dahl have been dramatized (for good reason!) and Fantastic Mr. Fox is the latest. I am so, SO glad this was done now rather than later. Because this has definitely become an animation for adults (or rather, adults as well as children). There are, I have to admit, quite a few things that were not in the original children’s book, but Wes Anderson (the director) and Noah Baumbach (who helped him write the screenplay the credits inform us) have kept the spirit of Roald Dahl to a “t”. As a fan at any rate, I highly doubt he would have minded…

AND LASTLY, SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT : "PONYO ON THE CLIFFS BY THE SEA"

Well, we have covered a pretty large spectrum as far as animations are concerned this week. Computer animation, stop-motion animation, adaptations from a favorite story book and completely original stories… So I feel personally that skipping “anime”s would be something almost tantamount to a crime. I have mentioned on many previous occasions that I love animes. And since this is famous director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest work, well… You have to take a gander… Chances are you have heard of it already actually, this one has become rather famous, but anyway, here we go for the ones who haven’t…
This story is actually an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s story, The Little Mermaid. Ponyo is a little fish who lives under the sea with her father Fujimoto who is a sorcerer. Fujimoto doesn’t particularly like humans, an understandable predicament considering what we’ve done to the seas of the world but I digress. Ponyo is young, and she wants to see the world. Thus, she escapes and is captured by a five year old boy called Sosuke. Now, when I say young, I mean it, Ponyo is the same age as Sosuke. And the boy and fish become very attached to each other very quickly. Ponyo is adamant she will turn into a little girl and be Sosuke’s proper girlfriend. But there is a problem. By leaving the sea to live on the land Ponyo has upset the entire balance of the planet. Is there a way to save both the planet and Ponyo’s happiness? Or will Ponyo have to go back to being another “fish in the sea”? (Ho ho ho)
Ponyo is, in a word, adorable. Absolutely sweet. The DVD cover tells us “Welcome to a world where everything is possible”. I can’t think of any better way to describe the world of Miyazaki. But when we say magic, don’t go thinking Lord Of The Rings or something. No, here magic is, well, not less grand but less showy. The details of the film are wonderful and there is a story in every single detail. I don’t know, but it may be the fact that every frame is actually hand drawn that gives the film itself such a unique spirit. I love anime and Miyazaki but was not sure before I started this one. People around me have fallen in love with Ponyo to such a degree that I couldn’t help feeling as if she was some sort of fad. I don’t like fads. I appear to also be a person of very little faith. Ponyo is as sweet and as original as any Ghibli creation. I mean sure, there are some rather obvious messages about pollution. But fair is fair, the messages are correct, so I reckon the best thing to do is to grit one’s teeth and bare it with good grace.

ESSIE SPEAKS OF TRUE STORIES...

If we were to revert to a rather hackneyed old cliché for five minutes, life itself is potentially the greatest source of inspiration for art. We have all come across the rather tired old dialogue at least once, the young artist unsure of what to use as inspiration, the older, more experienced one telling him to just look around him as life itself is the biggest source of inspiration...
I have always been fascinated by films of true events (you may have noticed, hehe) because they tell amazing stories, stories that are no match for the imaginings of the most talented scriptwriter or director... Because in real life you can come back from a complete nervous breakdown and be famous... Or things may not go so well, and some of the nicest people you know may actually get debilitating diseases that trap them in their own bodies... You just don't know what comes next... I personally think that's what makes life so beautiful...

Enjoy this week's updates :)

Essie

THE TRUE STORY OF SUSANNA KEYSEN : "GIRL, INTERRUPTED"

We owe this week’s theme to this little gem. James Mangold, director of many hits (you will remember him as the director of Walk The Line if nothing else) has done a wonderful job portraying an extraordinary true story… I think that people usually fight their most important battles with themselves. And sometimes, more than the battle itself, the hardest part is actually accepting there is a battle to be fought. This is the story of Susanna Keysen, the American writer and her 18 month stay in a mental institution. Now, mental institutions back in the 70’s were not what they are today. Sociopaths and people with eating disorders jostled together and tried their best to make sense of what was going on. It is highly questionable whether Keysen (diagnosed with “borderline personality disorder”) actually merited a stay here but as you will be able to see from the story there were definitely battles to be fought and the institution she was sent to provided an unlikely battleground to fight them upon.
Susanna Keysen (Winona Ryder) is a seemingly normal if rather unconventional young woman in the late ‘60s. She cuts her hair short, she wants to be a writer instead of going to college (much to the horror of her mother), she bucks just about every trend in her suburban neighborhood as she goes through life. She has some slightly strange “episodes” and hallucinations from time to time but nothing that seems too serious until she chases down a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. A discreet talk with a therapist – also a friend of the family – means there is only one way forward. Susanna must go to a mental institution and receive therapy. And although technically Susanna signs herself in, she can by no means sign herself out again. Pretty shortly she realizes that she is stuck there until the hospital deems her fit to leave – and that this could in fact take years. So there is nothing for her to do except settle in as best she can and get to know her fellow inmates. Her inmates are sweet (if not “all there”) and life would be pretty easy, unless Lisa (Angelina Jolie) just having being caught for the umpteenth time is returned to the ward. Lisa is (diagnostically anyway) a sociopath. She is charismatic, sassy, good at pressing anyone’s buttons and causing any kind of havoc she chooses to. Susanna and Lisa strike up an unlikely but very real friendship that will be life changing for both of them…
I watched this film only half knowing what it was about and was bowled over, like the previous film, for two reasons. First the acting. You remember Winona Ryder, right? She couldn’t handle fame once she got her hands on it by all accounts, so I feel it’s a proper shame she vanished from the scene, she was really good once… Whoopi Goldberg is also there as Val, the head nurse. I’m always happy to see her in films for some reason, she feels like this old friend you keep bumping into, do you know what I mean? There are also appearances by other familiar faces, Jared Leto (and yes he is yummy as ever!), Vanessa Redgrave and the late Brittany Murphy among other people. All brilliant actors to be sure. But none of the above the one who blew me away, oh no… It was, and I hardly believe I’m writing this, Angelina Jolie. She won an Oscar® the Oscar® for her performance as Lisa. I always thought she was one of those people who were just about the looks, madam I stand corrected. You can act, and how… I don’t quite get why you (in fact she, why am I addressing Angelina Jolie specifically all of a sudden?) stopped (I mean, she’ s doing a lot for a lot of important issues in the world and that is awesome and deserves a barrel load of respect) but she stopped actually acting in her movies a while back and has gone slightly, well… If I said “Clint Eastwood” would you know what I mean?… A bit like Brad Pitt except he sort of made a comeback (in my view) with Inglorious Bastards. In short I was bowled over by her performance and sincerely, SINCERELY hope that we will see her in a role that involves showcasing her considerable talents someday soon.
The second is the story. You will undoubtedly notice that at places in the story it reads slightly like an Enid Blyton story but the other places are so raw and real that I seriously doubt there is serious artistic license involved. It also brings up a lot of interesting questions. I mean, a person may be “broken” in some places but not necessarily all over. Things may be going seriously wrong but that doesn’t mean they have nothing to offer as friends. It can of course mean that the friendship has some rather strange effects and consequences but there you are you see. I mean be honest, what is “normal” anyway? In the immortal words of the Mad Hatter, “We’re all a little mad here.” This film may well be one of my favorites ever… I hope you enjoy it too!

THE TRUE STORY OF LEONARD LOWE AND DR. MALCOM SAYERS : "AWAKENINGS"

I know you must be slightly sick of me telling you how I coincidentally picked something up and it turned out bowling me away. You must think I am incredibly scatty and/or rather easily impressed (the former is absolutely true, the latter is not incidentally). I came across this film in the bargain basket of a big chain store. I always haunt bargain baskets, you have no idea what you might find there, I probably told you this but I once found the collective works of Jim Jarmush in a bargain basket. This may be the thing that prompted me to keep on looking in them… Anyway, I read the sleeve and decided to take it home purely because I thought it would make a good evening’s entertainment for me, my mother and my grandmother (yes, we’ve sort of become a family of movie-buffs over the years although I have to admit that I spearheaded the movement =) ) . I expected something rather sentimental and of good quality, but never, ever this. It just reinforces what I have always said, life itself, real life, is full of the most incredible stories and lessons. As one doctor’s battle with a mystery illness demonstrates.
Dr. Sayers (Robin Williams – I do so love it when he does serious parts, honestly I don’t think he’s a good comedian!) arrives at the chronic hospital in the Bronx in 1969 and almost completely by accident. He is a researcher more than anything else; he is shy, awkward and has almost no experience of actual patients and diagnosis. However, the hospital is understaffed and he needs the job, so there he is. As he tries to find his feet in the chaos of the neurology department he makes a rather surprising discovery. A group of patients, ranked as “living statues”, who have been living on the ward for almost 30 years in what appears to be a catatonic state. That is what everyone has been assuming about them anyway. But Dr. Sayers has the sneaking suspicion that they aren’t catatonic at all but in fact that they are conscious on some level, just incapable of relating to the outside world… His experiments and persistence leads to a trial with a new drug on one patient: Leonard Lowe (Robert de Niro), who has been “unconscious” since the early ‘20s. Excitement in the ward quintuples when the drug actually works and Leonard “wakes up”. He is slightly dazed and cannot quite fathom that he just “went to sleep and woke up 40 odd years later”, but he is back. Dr. Sayers sets to work waking up the other families and finding long-lost relatives who have given up on them years ago. The patients have to adapt to this new life and the fact that they have missed decades of their lives, none of them easy feats. Will they be able to adapt? Is their ordeal finally over? Dr. Sayers, Leonard and the others are about to learn that there is no such thing as a simple miracle…
I cannot quite describe how this film made me feel. I can tell you one thing though, although I don’t know from firsthand experience, I suspect that on an emotional level it’s similar to being hit by a truck. Just imagine it, you were living a normal life, young, happy, in your 20’s, maybe even younger with your whole life ahead of you… Then one day you get ill and get swept “out of the world” and you wake up 40 years later… Your parents and loved ones are dead and gone, the world has changed so much you can’t recognize a thing, heck; you look in the mirror and can’t recognize yourself you’re middle aged… Of course things like that happen all the time in sci-fi, we tend to laugh at it; there are two problems here though, first of all, the people in this case are actual people. As opposed to, oh I don’t know, Marty McFly. So they have actually aged. And that means they have actually “missed” an entire chunk out of their lives. They are aging, and dying.
I will not give details about the second half of the film, apart from the fact that it is truly heart-rending. One word of warning though, this is a real real story. That means, unlike Hollywood films with nice and tidy ends where all the goodies get what they deserve, in this end, some good and deserving people get bad stuff they do not deserve. The story is definitely bitter-sweet. But it is a testament to the strength of the human soul. And, as Leonard would like us to remember (this will make more sense once you’ve watched the film) how important the simple things in life are. Family, work, play. Going for a walk on your own. Having an ice cream. Going to sleep at night and knowing it’s going to be tomorrow when you wake up, not God knows how many years later. All those things you tend to take for granted in life. Things you never even thought you could lose… Definitely makes you stop and think. And be grateful.

THE TRUE STORY OF DAVID HELFGOTT : "SHINE"

This was actually my second attempt at this film. The first time round was actually in the cinema. I didn’t get through it that time around though. Those of you who have watched it will know, the first half of the film is absolutely heart-rending. I was young (possibly too young) and my mother has always been of a sensitive nature especially if there are children or young people suffering in the movie. So we left thirty minutes into it. I was not looking forward to watching it again to be honest. And believe me when I tell you, it is as difficult to watch as I remember it. But it is also greatly rewarding. And it has a happy ending – well… No not sort of. It definitely has a happy ending… Which, considering that this is a true story, is a very comforting and uplifting thing to know.
David Helfgott was put on this earth to play the piano. This is very obvious to everyone around him from a very young age indeed. He wins competitions, distinctions and scholarships to famous music schools. There is however, a problem. David’s father is a strict , rather old fashioned man (to put it very mildly). He encourages David to play the piano, he is in fact his first piano teacher, but breaking up the family? Going to far away schools? Never. Mr. Rozen, David’s second piano teacher insists. David who is shy and quiet by nature puts up as much of a fight as he can, but to no avail. All seems lost, and David almost gives up until that is, the Royal Music College in London also gets in touch a few years later. David knows this chance will not come around again, and despite his father’s threats to cut all connections with him for good, goes out into the world. And he sores, becoming one of the most famous concert pianists of his time, until… Mounting pressure leads to a mental breakdown, leaving him with schizoid personality disorder and completely unable to even complete the most mundane daily chores, let alone play the piano professionally. Until, quite by chance, an old fan discovers him in the mental institution his family have put him in back in Australia. This well meaning lady will be the unwitting beginning of a chain of events that will lead David further and higher than he could have ever, ever dreamt of…
There are two things I particularly want to talk about concerning this film. The first is Geoffry Rush, starring as the adult David Helfgott. You probably know that he won an Oscar ® for this part. We all know that the Oscars® aren’t always exactly fair representations of an actor’s performance in a film, a lot of the time other factors come into play. But in this instance, rarely have I seen anyone present such quality acting that is more deserving of any distinction it can get its hands on. David Helfgott’s disorder means that he talks almost non-stop at a great speed making the role incredibly hard to interpret for anyone. I mean, it’s just so incredible that Shine is worth watching for Rush’s performance alone.
But then there is Helfgott himself. And his story. And as we all know every film begins with a good story. This story is about knowing what you were made for and pushing on. Helfgott never quite lets go of the piano. He play nonstop – and brilliantly to the point of obsession whenever he comes into contact with one after his break down. His determination and will to carry on gets him noticed. I strongly believe, that no matter what obstacles life throws at you, if you know what you want to do is, you can do it. A way can be found. Life will throw you obstacles, but if you stick at the game, life will also throw you allies. It is all about believing. And working at something, never minding the odds. This is what Helfgott has done and for his troubles, is touring the world giving concerts to this day, a thing his doctors once told him he would never, ever be able to do again…
An interesting footnote is that Helfgott’s siblings raised a number of objections to the film, notably the treatment of their father. In the film, Mr. Helfgott is a complete and utter tyrant; it was his treatment of David as a child that drove me and Mom out of the cinema 30 minutes into the film. I guess it is fair to say there may well be some artistic license in there somewhere. But that doesn’t make the film any less worthy of praise or Helfgott’s story any less worth watching and taking a lesson from. Worth watching at least once, if not more I say..

GREAT DIRECTORS MEDLY ON ESSIE SPEAKS!

I just had a flash of inspiration. Just now. You see, for the longest time, this week was planned out as a "mixed bag". Even says so in my diary (yes, I make notes of upcoming blog themes in my diary - strange but true =) ). But the thing was that as I was posting them or rather getting ready to post them, I realized that they DID have something in common. All three were works of really great, famous directors. Mixed they were, I mean they have almost nothing else in common; Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard is about charity, patience and hospitals in the middle ages, Roman Polanski's The Tenant is a psychological thriller and as we all pretty much know, Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby is a boxing epic. Hence the term medly. Well, some things are best left uncategorized anyway... They are also, I can't help feeling, films that wouldn't exactly jump out at you to watch, so maybe I will succeed in pushing them up a bit on your "to watch" list...

This is good quality stuff folks, I hope you enjoy!

Essie

GREAT DIRECTORS MEDLY : CLINT EASTWOOD - "MILLION DOLLAR BABY"

Ok, I guess we all remember this one. Back in 2004 it wiped the floor with at the Oscars® and a lot of other reputed awards shows as well. We all heard of it. Some of us were vaguely surprised at the fact that Clint Eastwood (acting, producing and directing this one!) was still churning out winners. Some of us watched it. Others (me included) reckoned they had seen a few boxing films too many and decided to give it a miss. I was rather disappointed today, on watching it, to realize that my first judgment could also have worked. Million Dollar Baby is an excellent example of its genre, but not original. By a LONG shot.
The interesting one about this film is that it kinda mixes too films into one. It starts off as your typical common or garden sporting movie. Clint Eastwood is Frankie Dunn (heck, who am I kidding, he’s Clint Eastwood like in every single one of his films but that’s what he is called here anyway) and he is one of the best trainers for boxing in the US of A. He is a tough old fella, and has old-school principals. He runs a boxing gym along with his old friend Scrap (Morgan Freeman) and his life has been going on as it always has been until Maggie (Hilary Swank) enters his life. She is 31 (i.e. waaay too old to begin boxing) yet a complete beginner and yet she will NOT rest until Frank agrees to train her. Frank does not train girls. End of story. However Maggie persists. She persists and Scrap kinda gets on side and persists a bit with her and in the end (surprise surprise) Frank takes her on. She is as good as she claims to be. She works hard, develops a killer left hook and shoots up to the stars, match after match, round after round, win after win… Until the title match. The result of which will turn both her and Frank’s lives upside down – and I don’t mean in a good way…
Here the film breaks off and turns into a class A tear-jerker. A good tear-jerker but none the less, that’s what it is. By this time we have found out that Frank is estranged with his own daughter and that Maggie’s father is dead leaving her alone with her “hillbilly” family so Maggie and Frank are in fact a kind of surrogate father – daughter now. Frank is going to have to face is demons and both are going to have to make very, VERY tough choices.
I am in two minds about this one. There is nothing wrong with it. There are some brilliant “raaah” moments in it (you know the kind I mean don’t look all blank like that!). True, the fact that Maggie tends to knock her opponents out cold in the first round is a little well… Unbelievable AND annoying but Hilary Swank is so endearing as Maggie you tend to forgive her for that. Eastwood then takes every single tear-jerking storyline and sideline and stuffs it into the movie. I concede the fact that the film is an adaptation and I have not read the story it was adapted from but still… I mean, I reckon it could have been toned down a bit. The interesting thing is though, is that it works somehow. What I mean to say is if a mediocre filmmaker had tried to cram all the stuff Eastwood does into the film it would just be comical. Here it works after a fashion. You watch it to the end – and get excited about it – even though you can pretty much guess every single plot twist to the end. Not my kinda thing that, I like to be surprised (hence my love of Tarantino – I can never EVER guess where the guy is going to pop up from next if you see what I mean). It’s a good film, deserves the pat on the back that it got, and you should watch it. Do it in your spare time or something though, there is no rush.

GREAT DIRECTORS MEDLY : ROMAN POLANSKI - "LE LOCATAIRE / THE TENANT"

Now, we have been trudging along together for a while now. This is why I assume you know some of my pet hates when it comes to film. And the pettest of my pet hates, as you well know, is the director and the leading actor/actress of a film being one and the same. It seems to me the absolute height of conceit; I also feel it rarely works out. Humans will be humans and once you are the director, the temptation to give yourself a favorable light thus tipping the balance is rather too great. Usually. But of course to every rule there are exceptions. Roman Polanski appears to be one of them. This is not the first film I have seen by mister Polanski; it’s just that I am very sadly behind on my write-ups. I am glad however, that this is the one I start talking about Mr. Polanski in. The first one I watched was impressive – it will make the blog as soon as I catch up with my writing! – but this is… Well… In a word, superb.
Mr. Trelkovsky (Roman Polanski) is a French citizen. He lives in Paris – but this, as you may know, is easier said than done. I am talking on a purely practical level; rents and house prices there were at the time (and still are as a matter of fact) exorbitant to say the very least. But he feels he has finally found a suitable place when he views a little attic room at the top of an old apartment. There is one snag though. The previous tenant has thrown herself out of the window and is now agonizing in hospital. The owner of the flat is understandably reticent to let the flat until she actually passes away. The young woman will pass away by the by, but in the meanwhile Trelkovsky will get to know a bit more about her from her lover, her friends and when she actually passes away her things. However as Trelkovsky settles in to the apartment he appears to be filling the previous tenants shoes in more senses than one… Either he is just being over sensitive… Or there is an actual plot going on, aiming to drive him insane…
The Tenant is, and this is purely my personal opinion, what might be called an “old master”. Now, you know what an old master is as far as pictures are concerned, right? It’s when a painter uses one of his old paintings as a canvass and paints over them. Thus when you x-ray the second painting (or apply another similar method) you are actually able to discover the second picture underneath. Now, on the surface (and ladies and gentlemen, what a surface!) The Tenant is a superb psychological thriller. Polanski establishes the general sense of unease and mystery within ten minutes of the opening. It’s really brilliant, when you think back, there is nothing that has actually happened and yet you are on pins and needles. If nothing else you will be gripping the arms of your seat (unless you have eaten all your fingernails away by this point) until the end.
But underneath all that, I can’t help but feel Mr. Polanski is giving French society a not so gentle poke. Well, maybe not French society in general but the right wing side of it. The people who bung “foreigners”, homosexuals, single parents, the disabled all into one big mass. “The others”. They are expected to act in a certain way, the pressure is turned on from the first minute, pushing the poor object of the negative attention, no matter their strength or character, into a state of abject paranoia and breaking down communication entirely.
The Tenant is the second film of a trilogy – lose trilogy - by Roman Polanski. The third is the famous /infamous “Rosemary’s Baby” and the first is Répulsion starring Catherine Deneuve. The trilogy is that of three films based around flats and houses that makes the tenants… Well… Uneasy… Mr. Polanski, no matter what you think of him as a person, proves in this film that he is not only a master of suspense but also a damn shrewd director… Check out this blog in the coming weeks for my opinions on Répulsion… =)

GREAT DIRECTORS MEDLY : AKIRA KUROSAWA - "RED BEARD"

Ok, last Kurosawa for a while, I promise. This, I have to observe, is for the more discerning viewer. Point one, it is three hours long – and that in itself puts off some people. Point two; this three hour film is rather slow moving. But as with most Kurosawa films, it provides us with an unexpected and informative view of Medieval Japan, delicate emotions and simply wonderful photography. You just have to be prepared to patiently watch the film, look for and be delighted by the little gems you find scattered around in it. If you feel you’re able to do this, you’re definitely on to the right film.
A young doctor arrives at a out of the way clinic in Medieval Japan. The young doctor is an ambitious young man, full of hopes of becoming the Shogun’s personal doctor one day. He is versed in the latest western developments in medicine. The clinic on the other hand, is desperately under-funded. It relies chiefly on Japanese medicine, is understaffed and the patients themselves are often desperately poor. Thus the young doctor feels, and in fact is, most exceedingly out of place there. Upon arrival the young man thinks he is just paying a courtesy visit for his father. Red Beard, the surly head doctor of the clinic quickly puts him right. He is there to work, indefinitely. The young doctor revolts. He first is sure there is some kind of mistake, but he is quickly set right. Then he has another idea, he will make himself such a nuisance that Red Beard will fire him. He sets about this, but after a while, his doctors’ instincts get the better of him. Little by little, and almost despite himself he gets immersed in day to day life in the clinic. Who knows, maybe Red Beard has more to teach him than he initially thought.
This is, of course, a typical “maturing youngster” movie. But don’t sneer at it because it is typical. You see the way I see it, a film is a classic mainly if its topic is still relevant today. And although Medieval Japan is quite far away from my personal here and now, the main topic is actually pretty damn relevant. Think about when you first started work. You were fresh out of school, young, arrogant… You reckoned you knew it all, you reckoned you deserved to run the bleeping company. You hated your “first rung of the ladder” job, it was under you. Heck, I even know people who went down the “fine, I’ll get myself fired” route. But then? You saw the value of experience. You learnt. Important things happened to you, you developed… The sky’s the limit as to how the story continues, but you know what I mean… You see the parallelisms, right? Of course, the beauty of staging this in a hospital is (apart from it being a very original setting) is the profusion of people there. It is a clinic for poor people, so the stories are sad, striking, laced with death sometimes, recovery and happiness other times, the possibilities are endless. In short a very striking and intelligent film that you may well find something you sympathize with in… And of course brilliant photography, so beautiful and so clever. If you do watch the film, please note the sequence where the mad woman approaches the intern reclining in the hospital… My personal favorite…