Tale As Old As...

So I finally got a chance to sit down and enjoy my Blu-ray copy of Beauty and the Beast. It was so nice to see it presented this way. So odd to see how the new technologies (at the time) they had employed in the film come across in HD. It's very weird. White outlines over the black outlines of characters basically animated gobos over a none moving background. Though the "camera work" pulls in constantly like no animated film I've ever seen... how do they do that anyway? Yes, it's been a long time since I last watched the flick. The writing was far more impressive than I remember. They were brave enough to make characters like Maurice (Belle's Father) into little more than a plot device.

*And I'll take a stand on this right now. Plot is most important. I'm personally bored out of my mind if a film lacks plot and just tries to move forward with characters who have no reason to be doing the things they are doing. There must be drive, and that is the plot. I've heard so many times that Plot is the boring part of the script you have to deal with as quickly as possible so you can get to the interesting stuff. I supremely disagree. Plot IS the interesting stuff.*

Anyway, this HD presentation of Beauty and the Beast is very cool to watch if you can get around to it. But the main reason I started writing today was out of this gnawing little idea in my head that every character was so well drawn out here. Like when the townspeople sing they each have these very specific voices and you suddenly know exactly who that character is. It's impressive really. So the thought occurred to me, if every character was so specifically considered... then what is Lefou

to Gaston?

That idea got under my skin so much that I had to make a firm decision just for my own sanity. Lefou is Gaston's brother. He's, sadly, the boy that got all of the bad genes in the family. I mean, why else does Gaston (the strongest, most popular guy in town) spend all of his time with this little guy who can't even catch a falling, dead bird?

Cause they are related. Maybe even twins.

Gosh Disney films can be crazy. But I really enjoyed the re-watch. I suggest any diehard fan to give it a chance if you haven't already done so.

As The Dust Settles, So Do I

It's hard to be sure what a new year will bring. I for one am excited to see what new opportunities will present themselves in 2011. It feels like a good year already. I find myself wondering what the movies will be like, what new music will change my life just a little bit, what scientific discoveries will change the way I work, and what new people will collectively find a way to influence my future and make the world a different experience as seems to happen with every new year.

I recall a little statement, "It doesn't feel like 2010 yet." Well, I certainly felt the difference between 2010 and 2011 by December. But 2011 seems like a maturer year, it already has some idea of what it will become and it's trying to hold back its excitement before it bursts into the minor incidents that come together to make up the whole. I feel that by this time next year I will have gained so much more in life experiences.

What's to come in cinema this year? Cowboys & Aliens, Paul, Scream 4, Rango, The Adjustment Bureau, The Adventures Of Tin Tin: The Secret Of The Unicorn, The Beaver, Rio, Thor, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Hangover 2, The Tree Of Life, Super 8, Green Lantern, Cars 2, Rise Of The Apes, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows (Part 2), Captain America: The First Avenger, The Thing, The Rum Diary, The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made, War Horse, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy! Which of these will be good? Which will fail epically? And what will the surprises be along the way... the great films with smaller backings or those that haven't even begun pre-production yet... the ones that make up the bulk of my film-loving experience? I can't wait!

In music I'm looking forward to some few specifics... Rome the new Danger Mouse project looks amazing. Just hear this sample for yourself. Moby's got a new album in post, and I always love new Moby. Of course, I'm hoping for some new Radiohead and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but one can never be sure. It's gonna be a year of surprises for music.

After such a crazy Holiday Season, I'm just excited to settle back into my life and see where it all takes me.

As The Dust Settles, So Do I:

1. This World - Zero 7
2. Will There Be Stars - Blonde Redhead
3. Soul To Love - Moby
4. Tender - blur
5. Under The Milky Way - Sia
6. Sun It Rises - Fleet Foxes
7. It's What I'm Thinking - Badly Drawn Boy
8. My Little Red Book - The Last Shadow Puppets
9. Antonia - Stefano Bollani
10. Talking Bird - Death Cab for Cutie
11. Rodeo Clowns - Jack Johnson
12. O Sailor - Fiona Apple
13. Genius Next Door - Regina Spektor
14. Now That I'm Older - Sufjan Stevens
15. That's Life, That's Hollywood - Rebecca Pidgeon
16. Do It Again - Steely Dan
17. I Want You - The Kooks
18. Glory Box - Portishead

Favorite Films: Labyrinth

Labyrinth came out in 1986. I was born in 1988. I first saw Labyrinth in 1997, more than a decade after the original release. I've loved it as an intimate reminder of my childhood since that time. It's now 2011, the film is 25 years old... and I've had a breakthrough.

When David Bowie comes on the screen as Jareth, The Goblin King we instantly know we're gonna enjoy the journey we're about to go on... and that score is 80s perfect oh yeah. Throughout the film we glimpse magnified versions of Sarah's (Jennifer Connelly) favorite things. Her imagination takes some incredible twists and turns... and while usually I'd fight the urge to deconstruct or even consider that an entire film is just occurring within somebody's mind, I have to tip my hat to Terry Jones and Jim Henson for not making me hate their way of doing this.

If you could follow that last section, I'm saying that everything in the movie is within Sarah's mind... but some of her imagination is trying to break free

"I can't live within you," Jareth sings at the end of the film. He says the most ridiculous line during the final confrontation, "Let me rule you and I will be your slave." But it makes sense when we recognize that he is just a part of her. Thus, in the final scene when she has made it back home at last, she can still enjoy the good parts of her imagination just with a newfound understanding that she has to control it or one day she'll become one of those horrifying hoarder creatures from the junk yard.

Because if all we do all the time is dream, we'll never make friends (this thought is evidenced by her mother's statement in the second scene about going on dates with boys) and never develop those relationships that can actually make our dreams come to light. So Sarah makes a difficult choice when she states, "You have no power over me." She is taking control of things. If she has, in the past, been afraid of forming meaningful relationships with real people, then she will now have to take that step into the unknown and become a real person herself.

I love Labyrinth. It has always brought me joy to see such wonderful Henson creations brought to life in a film with David Bowie. And I will never forget the first time I saw it at 11 o'clock on a weekday. I should have been in bed, but my parents were still out and I was too inthralled in the story telling. At that time I didn't realize who David Bowie was, or Terry Jones of Monty Python fame, and I only had the slightest of ideas as to who Jim Henson was. It's incredible to realize how important all of these people have been in my life since then. That I would one day own all of David Bowie's music and all of Monty Python's films (and television series)... and that Jim Henson, even in death, has played such a heavy role in my enjoyment and understanding of what makes a good film, is without equal in my life.

*When I mention Jim Henson I think about the importance of keeping practical puppetry alive in film. I am of the opinion that the large majority of CG is still in need of further work. It just looks too fake, even in Hollywood's biggest budget films I find myself pulled out of the movie by something that just looks weakly designed or weakly portrayed. And when you see an actor working with a puppet at his side, it just feels better, I know it's the actor's job to imagine anything could be there... but it doesn't hurt to have a little help from time to time. Anyway, this is a massive digression.*

If any one film has had the greatest impact on how I see the world, I'd go so far as to say Labyrinth is that film. Because it has stuck with me for so long and never become boring, never lost that magic touch, and even when I think of this new understanding something just feels right, like I was meant to grow up one day and see what the film is truly trying to say, just as Sarah sees her own imagination and what her life could be without allowing her own personal growth... We all have to grow up one day. We just have to figure out what that means.

The List So Far:

1927 - Metropolis - Fritz Lang

1928 - Steamboat Willie - Ub Iwerks

1931 - M - Fritz Lang

1932 - Tarzan, The Ape Man - W. S. Van Dyke

1933 - King Kong - Merian C. Cooper +

1934 - It Happened One Night - Frank Capra

1957 - Funny Face - Stanley Donen

1986 - Labyrinth - Jim Henson

2010 Is Up And Still No Aliens... What's The Deal??

My childhood was a lie. I was brought up on movies with a firm expectation that at least by the year 2010 we'd know of other life beyond our world. Perhaps they'd be our friends, or we their masters. Or perhaps they would rule us -after all they did travel millions of lightyears through heavy meteor showers, temperature shifts, gravity jumps, and Rosche Limits (for all of you extradimensional enthusiasts) just to visit us- with the simple thought of a new home to find us inhabiting that new home like a bunch of natives who still haven't figured out that Hydrogen, when infused with Zinc and ionized to the second particle, can in fact create a sustainable warp drive for any nonchalant space voyage to the local Ralph's, thus forcing us to take cover as a resistance sect with a promised squad of fighters hidden just behind the sun to save us in the nick of time........ but I digress.

I guess all I can really talk about right now is 2010 as it has been. And what it has been is... well, reality. I don't think I knew reality before this year. I've been known to oversimplify and idealize things. This year I found myself actually working. And still managing to do what I love to do when I'm allowed to do it, because it's damn hard to get an acting gig but when they come along you gotta catch 'em. I'm an actor. It's nice to know that is still progressing. I've only lived my whole life with that intention, so I think 2011 will be an interesting year.

But back to 2010. The focus here is movies... and where were the good alien movies this year? Hm? Anyway,  I'm gonna make a list... or rather three lists: Favorites, Honorable Mentions, and Most Disappointing. I'll start with the later.

Most Disappointing Films of 2010:

The Tempest

It hurt my heart so bad to hate... hate's too strong... to meh this movie. Nothing happens. It's not the Tempest I know nor is it interesting. I was sadly ashamed to be in that theatre by the end.

Machete

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable either. When I walk into a Robert Rodriguez film I expect to enjoy the hell out of that thing, and instead I found myself nodding off... which I never ever do when a movie's on.

Splice

Why did I have expectations for this? All of the trailers looked awful. So how did the reviews sway me into stepping foot into that theatre? And how were all of those reviewers so confused into saying it was worthy of my time? That is the true mystery.

Alice In Wonderland

Because this movie just sucked. Would it have been so hard to adapt the story we know and love into a big budget extravaganza? Shame on you Tim Burton.

Robin Hood

See above (Replace Tim Burton with Ridley Scott).

The Last Airbender

This was a wonderful TV show that needed only to be copied and pasted to the big screen... but instead we got M. Night... Thanks.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Could've been fun. Wasn't.

The Other Guys

It didn't suck, but it's not rewatchable.

Okay, on to the good.

Honorable Mentions:

Favorite Documentary: Waiting For Superman

Favorite Adaptation-Of-A-Favorite Film: Let Me In

Favorite Kid's-Flick-That'll-Scare-A-Kid: The Legend Of The Guardians

Favorite 3D: Piranha

Favorite Old-Guy-Takes-Out-The-Trash Film: Harry Brown

Favorite Films of 2010 (in some strange order):

8. The Social Network

Because Aaron Sorkin can do no wrong (ignore police records).

2. The King’s Speech

Colin Firth... and so much more.

7. Inception

Basically exactly how I feel about The Dark Knight. Totally rewatchable despite its flaws.

10. Buried

Surprisingly entertaining. How did they make this a movie??

1. Black Swan

A film I will have both Fantasies and Nightmares about. Now that's amazing.

4. 127 Hours

So... Awesome...  I still can't believe how much this movie took out of me, in a good way.

6. How To Train Your Dragon

Because it had the balls to be good. And it's the first time I've ever seen Dreamworks attempt to make something of quality. Weird.

5. True Grit

I still love the Coen Bros. This movie moved so well and was tonally right on target. I prefer it to the original, minus the Saving Private Ryan ending. But c'est la vie.

9. Tangled

Took me from my seat and placed me back into my childhood. Made me feel emotions I haven't felt since I first tasted a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Yum.

3. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

For me, the most entertaining movie of the year, without any doubt. I loved the whole ride.

Thanks for reading and have an awesome New Years!