cinema reviews
On the 2nd Day of (The Nightmare Before) Christmas…
December 24th, 2011
…my true love gave to me: DISCOVERY!
What’s this? What’s this? There’s something very wrong
What’s this? There’s people singing songs
As we continue unwrapping The Nightmare before Christmas, we find a hearty recipe for sad Jack Skellington. Mix one part aimless wandering, a dash of sehnsucht wondering, stir with a skeleton-snatching snow flurry and you’ve got the ingredients for Jack’s journey through a doorway to a world of light and laughter, peace and love. Transported from the grey, mundane streets and cemeteries of Halloweentown, the story’s unsatisfied protagonist finds himself in a miraculous and life-altering change of address. Jack sings ecstatically:
Read More...On the 1st Day of (The Nightmare Before) Christmas…
December 23rd, 2011
…my true love gave to me: DISCONTENT?
“Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones
An emptiness began to grow
There’s something out there, far from my home
A longing that I’ve never known…”
Jack Skellington is sad. So sad. In The Nightmare Before Christmas, our skeletal main character is found depressed and lamenting, and why wouldn’t he be? He’s only… uh… the best he is at what he does, loved by all his peers and co-workers, adored by patchwork women, and almost everybody recognizes him as the guy in charge. Wait a minute: he’s the Pumpkin KING, he’s a rock star, he’s the king of the world, head-liner at what seems to have been their very best Halloween ever: so what’s wrong with this picture?
Read More...Unwrapping The Nightmare Before Christmas…
December 22nd, 2011
‘Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems in a place perhaps you’ve seen in your dreams. For the story you’re about to be told began with the holiday worlds of auld. Now you’ve probably wondered where holidays come from. If you haven’t I’d say it’s time you begun…
In addition to one of the endless versions of A Christmas Carol, and endless showings of A Christmas Story, a tradition I and many other freaks and geeks (and otherwise normal people) keep each year is watching Disney’s enchantingly odd story, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. This quirky tale of Halloween characters trying to take over the Yuletide has built up quite a following since it first sang out in 1993, with everything from music boxes to pajamas to Jack Skellington action figures rolling out each year as decorations and presents, sparking that now-frequent debate: is this a Halloween or a Christmas movie?
(hint: the answer is in the title).
Read More...Before Breaking Dawn…
November 18th, 2011
Let’s check the list:
- Pouty lips (is it Blue steel, or Magnum?)
- Mouth Breathers.
- Elongated stares more torturous than a Hostel movie.
- Abs that send washboards back to the gym in shame.
- Teen Wolf’s extended family (P.S. – we forgive you too, Jason Bateman)
- Sparkly vampires that make Count Chocula cry in his milk.
These are just a few of the ideas that come to mind when thinking about the overextended Twilight series that adds “Breaking Dawn – Part 1” to it’s cinematic entries in Potter-mimicking fashion.
Read More...Sibling Rivalry and Daddy issues in Thor
November 9th, 2011
Two archetypal sons are examined in this 2011 summer blockbuster, hammering home deep truths about jealousy and pride that have existed long before even Jacob and Esau in the Bible. Marvel’s film adaptation of Thor examines how we relate to ourselves, others, and our father – both earthly and heavenly.
Adjusting our view of God
September 12th, 2011
“All I have are the choices I make.” – David Norris, The Adjustment Bureau Really? Is this a truism about humanity, or a truth we really want to live with? I left this film with an acrid taste in my mouth, though not for the reasons one might expect. True, I was in the minority that [...]
Read More...Gritty Reality Hints at True Hope
August 21st, 2011
“You must pay for everything in this world, one way or another… there is nothing free except the grace of God.” Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer and hires Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn, the toughest U.S. marshal she can find, known [...]
Read More...A Final Bit about TRON: Legacy
June 7th, 2011
Greetings, programs! As we’re steeling ourselves for a summer of mind-bending blockbusters that will take us from Ohio to Oa, I took one last visit to The Grid with several hundred attendees at a viewing of TRON: Legacy where I was asked to provide an exploration of the film’s narrative themes in greater detail than [...]
Read More...Let’s bring up a THOR subject
May 25th, 2011
Thor continues the string of connected MARVEL comics films that began with Iron Man. Although different in tone, it soars to similar heights thanks to director Kenneth Branagh and the cast. The film deals with some core issues of sin, (particularly arrogance and jealousy) and emphasizes the need for strong discipline from a loving father that [...]
Read More...One last BIG kick from INCEPTION
February 2nd, 2011
Well, Christopher Nolan’s film has received it’s Oscar nod, and yet I have a feeling the Academy will wind up giving our “Best Picture” to something overinflated, overwrought, and overadulated like Black Swan. While I’m still not convinced the 10-movie nominations are for anything except ratings, I’m happy to see some of the movies get [...]
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