Pic-centric (1)

First up is my favorite 10 year old pop star! Willow Smith. Doesn't she look exactly like like Will Smith in Baby Drag?

Trying to get into the slasher mood for Scream 4 (I'm not sure what I wanted out of it, my 14 year old self had high hopes, but it felt pretty meh to me) I recently watched the 1981 My Bloody Valentine for the first time. As I'm sitting there watching it I realize I not only have this exact same levi's denim jacket (really from the 80's too) but I also have the exact same cowboy shirt with the white trim and snaps! If you've seen the movie, it may make you wonder about my character. Apparently he is reprised by Kerr Smith in the remake whom you may remember from Dawson's Creek... not that I do. The movie is fun, a good classic slasher that I'd somehow never seen. Not the best slasher movie, but the Miner is pretty creepy. Bloody, campy, co-ed, murderous fun with creepy mine killing scenes on Netflix Streaming? Why suuuure!

This is a still from a commercial about cash back on a credit cared... I dunno, it seemed funny seeing this woman at a home supply store gleefully plucking money from the toaster she just purchased as the clerk just charmingly smiles and nods behind her.

Usually I hate Kiera Knightly and wouldn't see a movie she is in just because she bugs the HELL out of me. But I was really interested in Never Let Me Go, so much so that I was willing to put myself through 100 minutes of her. But the movie takes place over a large period of time, and she's only in about the third of the movie. And to my surprise, she didn't bother me in it. Despite all my misgivings with her, I really sympathized with her character, Ruth, even though she is kind of a bitch. Plus, I can't explain it, but somehow having bangs down to her eyelids make her more tolerable. I don't want to give away too much, because it really is worth seeing for a wide range of audiences. I always enjoy the kind of science fiction films that take a very realistic look at a simple but profound difference to an otherwise changed society and explore the possibilities. It is interesting as a science-fiction film because they make a point of telling us that there is a much darker side to the society, but we never see it. We still see darkness and sadness, but it is from a very unique perspective. There's no action sequences, no futuristic technology, and very little and purposeful blood and violence. The story is sad, and slow at times but the simultaneous somber and whimsical tones make it engaging from beginning to end.

These are stills from the 1928 French film The Passion of Joan of Arc. Without a doubt one of the best silent films and considered by some one of the best films of all time, it also features one of the best performances ever captured on film by Maria Falconetti as Joan of Arc (she only ever appeared in 2 films). I could go on and on about how marvelous this film is, but it really is one of those films you just must see. To say that praise for Falconetti as one of the greatest performances on film is deserved would be a gross understatement. The style of constant close up cinematography and direction was groundbreaking for its time and is still visually stimulating and beautiful throughout. It is based on the transcriptions from the actual trial, kept intact for centuries. I would be interested in seeing a stage adaptation of the film, I bet it could be really neat if done well, but it is also a treasure and perhaps shouldn't be trifled with.

And it's available on Netflix Streaming!

The Dark Crystal vs. Labrynth

vs.

Like most people born in the 1980's, I am saddened by today's lack of puppets in films. Computer animation has, allegedly, rendered puppeteering obsolete, but when you look back at the work done in films as recent as Jurassic Park, you can see the potential of puppets. But sometime in 90's puppets were forgotten and CGI replaced it as a cheaper, less labor intensive method of creating imaginary creatures. There's a tactile realness (and I don't mean felt) to puppets that cannot be reproduced in CGI, and in today's films we only get to see that in rare experiences like Where the Wild Things Are. Growing up in Los Angeles, my father was a puppeteer for many years working on everything from the McDonald's Chicken McNuggetts (I remember as a child being on set for a commercial and being confused as to how Grimace was actually a little person) to Johnny 5 in Short Circuit (apparently I was on set for this too, and Ally Sheedy held me as a baby!) to HBO's the Crypt Keeper. So puppets always held a special place for me, and it's sad that it's not utilized anymore. Imagine how fantastic today's puppets would be had the technology continued to progress?!

I was raised on fantasy films, I saw The Princess Bride more times than I can count, and the TV animated film The Flight of Dragons was always my favorite to watch as my mom cut my hair. And The Dark Crystal was always one of my favorites. It was scary, fantastic, mystical, sad, funny and sweet, all with a completely fabricated world (get it, FABRIC-ated?!?) But I never knew about Labrynth until I was in my teens and friends spoke to me of a musical adventure that integrated the fantastic puppet work of The Dark Crystal with live performers David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly (who I'd loved since she sang a super sultry cover of "Sway" in Dark City).  It seems like most people my age swear by Labrynth as though Bowie is a siren of puppetland, and The Dark Crystal often gets swept under the rug. When I see Labrynth I see a half-cocked Dark Crystal, that doesn't sucessfully deliver anything that The Dark Crystal feeds the audience in stride.

The biggest difference is that Labrynth has live actors and musical numbers, both of which come across as somewhat flat. I love both Connelly and Bowie, but Connelly is best when she's playing mororse, and doesn't quite have the snotty yet curious "Alice in Wonderland" attitude down. And while Bowie is clearly one of the undisputed musical masters of the 20th Century, the songs fall flat throwing around general references to magic to emphasize that he's the Goblin King. And of course, lots of "Baby"'s because what's a pop song without "Baby", BUT here we get the added useless double meaning because he's singing to a baby. The songs barely enhance the plot and come across almost as just time fillers. All in all  they almost sound like they would work better in a middle school musical version of "The Crucible-Light". To me the whole musical element is a valiant effort to create a new spectacle, but just doesn't match the masterful work that goes into the constructed sets and creatures. And as for Bowie's acting, he passes as being the cool Goblin King Jareth, and looks great in those male-modern dancer pants minus the codpiece. But he's more suited as the aloof alien in The Man Who Fell to Earth than a mystical villain. The puppets are, of course, very well made, Ludo is a loveable Cowardly Lion (always my favorite friend of Dorothy's) for the 80's and who could forget the Helping Hands. The story is a fairly standard fantasy nothing incredibly challenging or innovative for the viewer, but combined with the elaborate sets and well made puppets, it is worth seeing if you haven't already. However on a whole the film comes across as unfocused, and ends on a general note of "Be careful what you wish for."

The Dark Crystal on the other hand shines as a unique piece of filmmaking and puppetwork, creating a film that hasn't ever been matched on its own terms. This film takes you through a full range of emotions. The Skeksis, who look like  undead prehistoric terror-birds are truly the stuff of nightmares for kids. And even as an adult, I still want to cry as the Mystics peacefully simply fade away when one of their counterparts dies. It goes to much darker places than Labrynth, turning cute felt creatures into soul-less zombies, and linking the yogi-like Mystics to the evil Skeksis. This connection between the Mystics and Skeksis is a metaphor that, while complex, is fundamentally simple and resonates from childhood into adulthood. This is a uniqely crafted fantasy story that creates an allegory of good and evil being intrinsically intertwined through the power of the crystal, and the ultimate goal is the unification and therefore destruction of not only supreme evil (Skeksis) but also the representation of good (Mystics). Very complex ideology for a kids movie. All of this is surrounded by the beautifully crafted and tactile world and creatures that inhabit Labynth but with a heartbreaking and unique story molded around it. The only part of the film that drags is the main character Jen's repeated repeated musings about his inadquacy and hesitations in completing his destined mission. Which are pretty wellfounded, but lucky for him he meet's Kira, who can fly (apparenly female Gelflings are naturally more awesome than males) and talk to animals. Kira the fiercest girl power puppet this side of Miss Piggy. As a child, and today, I find the real power of the film lies in the allegory of the Skeksis and the Mystics. The Skeksis embody fear, their own fear of each other's lust for power, and the audiences fear of them. The Mystics embody peace, each one an accomplished scholar and Buddha-like zen-master. While they are different in nature, their destinies are the same, when a Skeksi dies due to his own corruption, a Mystic fades away into the ether. It is this duality and recognition of good and evil as springing from the same source makes  The Dark Crystal a unique and abstract study of the balance we can all hope to achieve.