With all of the fluff animated movies coming out lately with pointless storylines, I’m hoping that this one steps up to the plate. It’s so refreshing to see an animated movie that isn’t all just glossy “realism”. I LOVE the fact that this movie is using paint splatters, sketches and line art to convey a dark, albeit visually stunning, mood.
The Secret of Kells Movie
If you understood the title of this post, then you’ll understand the nerdiness/greatness of what I’m going to show you next.
This is an ACTUAL IM conversation between myself and a co-worker of my Chris Fullman.
Labrynth
I grew up with Alice in Wonderland. The movies, the books… I had them all. Being so obsessed with the story has probably shaped a lot of the way that I see the world in my current view. A little bit twisted, magical and cynical, not forgetting the white rabbit that I’m always trying to chase after.
Now, I was just talking to one of my best girlfriends, Berenice, the other day about how much the Harry Potter books get murdered in the movies. I told her that she needed to separate the two formats completely in her head, as they are different entities. If you want somewhat light entertainment, packaged in an hour-and-a-half box and tied up with a crimson and gold colored bow, you go and see the movies. If you want to sit in the great dining hall, fight against Draco Malfoy and breathe in the cold air while walking to Diagon Ally, you read the books. It’s that simple.
(I’ve digressed from the point a bit… you may be asking yourself what Alice in Wonderland has to do with Harry Potter, but I swear I have a point.)
With the above being said… I’m kind of ::gasp:: sad that I’ve seen the Harry Potter movies. Although they are beautiful in their own right, before there was a “Harry Potter Movie” to speak of, the images that I conjured in my brain from spending hours upon hours curled up in bed with the books were breathtaking. It breaks my heart to see some of the movie imagery seep into my thoughts, now, when I go back and revisit the Potter world.
However, do I think that Tim Burton will have a tough time with the movie version of the beloved classic? Not a chance in hell. I love Mr. Burton. I think that he’s probably one of the few people in the world who can improve, not take away from, Alice in Wonderland He’s like that crazy uncle that I can, on some small level, identify with. Tim can take on any insane imagery I come up with and blow it out of the water. He’s on a completely different level, creatively, than most. I can’t wait to see what kind of magic he whips up in the new “Alice”. I’m sure that it will be celebrated for many decades to come.
So, this blog post is going to unfold into two very different parts. This past Saturday night I had two very extreme revelations hit me at once, the first one being “Holy shit, I need my own private movie theatre box!” and the second being “OMG, I completely hate the American way of thinking about movies!” Now, I know that these are two very bold statements, so, let me elaborate on both.
Part 1: “Holy shit, I need my own private movie theater box!”
Okay, so, over the weekend I had the privilege of experiencing how the “other half” lives. One of those many (and when I say many I mean MANY) perks being a private movie theater box that sits over the regular movie theater. Not only do you not have to deal with crying babies (which, by the way, seems to have been getting worse in the past couple of years), sneezing/coughing sick people, cell phones and any other kind of movie theater nonsense that comes with mildly retarded movie-goers these days, you get your own full service bar. Oh, and, as Blake (the new Australian Deckhand on the boat that Scott works on) so eloquently put it; “Holy crap! You get your own blanket!” Yes, that’s right. Each seat comes with its very own chenille blanket. Now, anyone that knows me, knows that if the temperature even mildly dips below 76 degrees, I freeze immediately. The news that there were blankets on hand was especially thrilling for me. Maybe next time I go to a movie I’ll bring my own blanket from home. I wonder if anyone would say something to me…..
Moving on…
Part 2: “OMG, I completely hate the American way of thinking about movies!”
Walking into the private movie box, I was in an overall fantastic mood (the to-go cup of wine I had gotten from our excellent meal minutes before was definitely enhancing my general attitude), so I couldn’t help but think that my cinema experience would be no less than a stellar one. Unfortunately, one tiny little detail of the evening destroyed every ounce of happiness that was in my body at that particular period of time; The movie. If anyone saw Pride and Glory and actually enjoyed it…. I feel a deep, overwhelming concern for your black little heart. Every ounce of love and kindness that is in the world was stripped from this film, leaving an hour and some-odd minutes of complete violence…. blood, rage and death just for the sake of violence.
Let me take a moment to clarify, because although a lot of times I can me semi-sarcastic and a bit of an over exaggerator, this subject really does make me sad and angry.
I know that getting heated about the subject matter of a movie, for the most part, is a complete waste of energy. But, you know what? I just can’t help it. Why is it that the story about the love of two gay men is more controversial than the illicit slaughter of 20-30 men in a movie. Why is it that blood, torture, gore and death are more widely accepted in the movies and television than love, sex and the human body. Call me a tree hugging hippie but I think that there is something extremely wrong with this mentality. I think it’s completely ludicrous that in certain regions of the United States children are taught about guns and gun safety while sex education and human sexuality is completely banned. The sheer thought of it makes me want to vomit.
When the movie ended, all seven of us were completely disgusted (I should note that I was in the minority being American… the rest of the group were from South Africa, Ukraine, England and Australia, respectively). I had tears in my eyes, not because of the way the movie ended, but because it made me so completely horrified that somewhere out there, there are human beings who actually sat through and enjoyed this movie and the death that was glorified in it.
Wow. This post was definitely a heavy one, but I feel strongly enough about the subject that, for me, it had to be said. That being said, the next movie that I see will probably be the sappy Nicholas Sparks movie Nights in Rodanthe. He always turns out a good tear jerker. Go ahead and laugh at the “cheese” factor. I don’t care. I’d rather leave a theater with my heart filled with absolute love.
Oh, and, I’ve made up my mind. I’m bringing a blanket too.
