2009 saw an unusual change in the status quo. What were once edgy indie filmmakers soon turned to directors aiming for children’s entertainment that was raucous and quite unusual. First Wes Anderson and then Spike Jonze. That’s no caveat though as Jonze takes his knack for the surreal and the unusual and makes a family film that’s quite edgy. Never shying away from mild violence and scary images, Jonze adapts a famous children’s book in to one of the most fantastic piece of family filmmaking ever made. Displaying hints of danger, Jonze’s film is about unbridled childhood fun and the innocence that’s lost once confronted with the prospect of growing up. Do we all have to lose our imagination from a world that demands even children to leave childish things behind?
Tag Archives: Family
Liberty's Kids: The Complete Series (DVD)
Like every bit of American history, it’s good to know that “Liberty’s Kids” tells its core audience only one part of the story and never the full details on what, when, and why. For one thing, the series focuses on only a quarter of American history with a sometimes artful dodging of aspects like slavery, illness, and the bloody events that were the wars. However there is a considerable acknowledging of slavery as one of our main characters, an African American, battles on the forefront of the Civil War in order to escape slavery. Sadly, the episode that focuses on the Native American experience only depicts us as inadvertent dominators of the land, not the evil villainous barons who strong armed a race out of their motherland.
The Wizard of Oz (1939) (70th Anniversary Two-Disc Special Edition) (DVD)
“The Wizard of Oz” remained a favorite of mine all through my childhood and after so much advancement in special effects, it’s still a marvel to watch. Fleming and Warner’s partnering was a match made in heaven as Fleming took the L. Frank Baum beloved novel and gave us a fantasy epic that’s been mimicked and beloved since its initial release. Years after wearing down my old VHS copy I’ve managed to view the Victor Fleming masterpiece as one of the weirdest films ever made. Watching it from the view of a child differs from when you see it as an adult and watching it on the restored 70th Anniversary edition has brought to mind some images that seemed normal then that are surprisingly surreal today.
Shorts: The Adventures of the Wishing Rock (2009)
So this is what it’s come to for Rodriguez. Trading all his indie cred for a movie that plays like a messy sloppy concoction of ideas that never even bother to sort out its stories and characters for the audience. Instead, per Robert’s usual bad habit, we’re given a bunch of supporting characters, main characters, and side characters, all of whom are barely emphasized in the wide scope of this ADD enhanced stink pile. Rodriguez’s style of making the cheapest movie with his quick fix CGI has become something of a really bad habit where the man doesn’t even seem to want to try his hand at complicated filmmaking anymore.
Marley & Me (2008)
What director David Frankel accomplishes with “Marley and Me” is what was basically a winning formula with “My Dog Skip,” a dog lovers movie about the life that revolves around man’s best friend, that life long companion who disappears much too early to allow unconditional love. “Marley and Me” is a genuine dog lovers movie, one of many that takes the life of a dog owner and plants it on screen with as much realism as writers Scott Frank and Don Roos would allow. And I think what connected audiences to this is that most of what main characters John and Jennifer go through is what we have been through with man’s best friend at one time or another.
Up (2009)
I hope you understand when I say that I’m utterly speechless, but it’s true. Pixar always manages to surprise with their imaginative adventures and character focus that they come dangerously close to Studio Ghibli territory at times. Take “Up” a movie very reliant on mid air travel and vivid landscapes and (sometimes literally) dog fights that are conducted in the open air. “Up” is a sweet and funny film about Carl Fredrickson, an old man whose spent most of his life selling balloons and devoting his love to his wife Ellie. After a somber note where Carl is left behind widowed, he decides to fulfill his life long dream of traveling to South America and he has a stowaway on board in the form of a chunky hero named Russell.
Everwood: The Complete Second Season (DVD)
I loved Everwood and I think it was a show that was a rare family outing that didn’t rely on the religious overtones “Seventh Heaven” did and didn’t sink down to teen sleaze like “The OC.” Instead it was a firmly balanced family dramedy that took the Midwest tundra and showed off a cast of character who, with the narration of Everwood’s kindly bus driver/observer, brought to us genuine emotions and dramatic momentum that stuck with the series until the very end. Take the opening of the long awaited “Everwood” Season Two DVD where our love interest Amy envisions an Everwood that’s picturesque and filled with simplistic complications that revolve around an outing with the core characters of the series celebrating a nice summer day.