Ponyo Movie Review

Tonight, we went to the theater in Tamarac While Benny, Shira, and Danny saw "The Hangover", Adam, Bettina and I saw the movie "Ponyo".

"Ponyo" is a very sweet anime film that makes me think that it's the japanese version of the Little Mermaid story. It's about a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke (pronounced Sos-KAY) who finds a magical fish who he names Ponyo. During the course of the movie, Ponyo gradually turns into a human girl, and for Ponyo to stay a human forever, Sosuke needs to prove that he can love her no matter what form she's in. As usual in an anime film (especially one directed by Hayao Miyazaki), the animation is absolutely gorgeous! Smooth, realistic, colorful, capturing the mundane and turning it into beauty and grace, simple, yet incredibly intricate. These are just some of the many adjectives that may be used to describe the animation of Ponyo. It is an excellent example of a family film, and I'll bet, without a doubt, that if Pixar's "UP" doesn't win the Oscar for Best Animated Film, then "Ponyo" will.

"Tin Men"/"Citizen Kane" reviews + Day with Danny

I have done it! It was a close one, I almost didn't write a blog post today, but here it is, read it and don't weep (hey, it's not a bad blog)! I give to you two fine reviews of movies I have seen today, rather than 2 weeks ago, and a brief description of the days other highlights so I can go to bed with the knowledge that I'll never forget when I watched them and that I passed on my recommendations to you, my readers (are you still out there? Or am I talking to myself? ECHO! echo...echo...echo).

"Tin Men" is an enjoyable comedy that pins Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito against each other as rival aluminum-siding salesmen in the early '60s. That's right, nothing to do with the Land of OZ whatsoever, so sorry to all the Frank L. Baum fans out there, just a couple con-men practicing slick salesmanship. Sprinkled throughout with some catchy hit songs of the era, this flick was fun to watch, and I laughed a lot at Danny and Richards' antics, getting back at each other for some silly fender-bender accident.

This afternoon I have finally seen "Citizen Kane", and let me tell you, this movie isn't for the closed-minded. It's long, it's confusing at times, and it was made in 1941, an era that seems worlds apart from the modern-day flicks we see today. Still, I got a real kick out of finally seeing Orson Welles (who was the hero and inspiration for Maurice LaMarche, the voice of the Animaniacs lab mouse Brain), and I can safely say that I can now spot a "Citizen Kane" reference and understand which part it's from. My favorite part of the movie was this scene where Orson's character, Charles Foster Kane, completely destroys a room, until he comes upon the snow globe which he later drops in the beginning of the movie. (confused? o.O)

Now you might be thinking, what am I doing indulging myself in fictional people, places and events while my favorite uncle Danny is around and available to spend some time with? Well actually he and my parents were out most of the day scouting out some Florida real estate that he's looking to invest in, so he wasn't actually around, per se. However later this evening, after doing some night shopping at Target (got some hot sunny-glasses and sweet new tops using our birthday gift-cards), we did get to hang out with Danny while watching "This is Spinal Tap" and enjoying some homemade pumpkin-flavored ice-cream. ('Tis the season of autumn, god bless pumpkins!) That was some fun.

Goodnight everybody! (Nope, I never get tired of using that catchphrase. Never, never, never! Especially when it applies, it's past midnight now!)

"Honey, I'm home! Oh wait... I'm not married."

This post's title came directly from a quote from Michelle Pfieffer in the movie "Batman Returns" which I just finished watching with my bro and sis. I've been feeling very guilty about not getting around to blogging in around a fortnight, but "Batman Returns" was just so cool I am finally moved to action. However the focus of this post is not entirely Batman related, just be patient and let me get this out of my system, and then I'll let you in on some major developments on the home-front.

"Batman Returns" is a sequel to Tim Burton's successful "Batman" flick (which features Michael Keaton in the title role and Jack Nicholson as the Joker), and it's all about the character development of such Batman villains as The Penguin (Danny DeVito), and Catwoman (Michelle Pfieffer =^.^= Meow!!). There's also this corrupt businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walkin), who has plans to open a new power-plant in Gotham that will render the city powerless, and to get approval for building it, he needs permission from the mayor, so then in a Tim Burton twist, he attempts to help the Penguin run for mayor!

In any Tim Burton movie, I've come to expect the weird and wonderful as well as the creepy and crazy, and I wasn't disappointed with "Batman Returns". My only comments on the less-than-excellent aspects of the film is that Michael Keaton didn't get nearly enough screen-time for it to fully qualify as a Batman movie; his enemies got plenty of lines and backstory and almost all the Bat had to do was swoop in to save the day whenever the Circus gang attacked. Also, even though it's what I loved most about it, "Batman Returns" is full of nightmare-fuel (a wraparound term meaning creepy parts from the Penguin biting some guy's nose to a guy who actually has the guts and lacks the remorse for pushing someone out of a window to their death), and innuendos that made it past the radar, which might make it unsuitable to watch for children who are squeamish at the sight of blood and still haven't heard about the "birds and the bees".

Overall, I loved watching this movie and it only solidifies my respect for Tim Burton as a filmmaker. The acting was great, the story was great (although the ending could've gone better), the costumes and special effects were top-notch, and the score by Danny Elfman is, as always, incomparable. Check this out at your local library if you have a card, or watch it online, or just buy it on DVD, sheesh, only trying to save you some money!

ANYWAY......(a familiar phrase back from my old sock-puppet show days)

I've had so much cool stuff happen to me and I've been too lazy to write it all down that most of my memories I fear have gone to some sort of "happy-memory-limbo", so I'll just type up what's been going on recently. For one thing me and my family had a happy and mostly uneventful Yom Kippur (seeing as it's a Jewish holiday for atoning for the past year's moral backsliding and not for having a good time doing it), my mom Shira had a birthday yesterday, and my family had pancakes for breakfast, and me and Bettina made cards for her, and we got her an awesome earring making craft book from Borders (she was so totally surprised that we got her anything at all!). Also, my dad's brother, my uncle Danny from Israel came over to our house for a week-long visit, so we're playing hotel here and having a good time. I haven't seen Uncle Danny in 2 years, so it was really wonderful to see him again.

Finally, I would hate to forget to write about these other awesome films that I've happened upon and so I'll just give away the titles and when I watched them, as well as a 10-word review on each one:

"Casablanca" Sept. 22 2009 ~ "Here's looking at you kid" is the best quote ever!

"Transformers" Sept. 25 (or something) 2009 ~ Giant robots fighting, pseudo-science, very awkward teenage-parent relations.

"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" Oct. 1 2009 ~ Pee-Wee's bike gets stolen, road trip with a Tim Burton flair.

Wow, that was a neat exercise there, reviewing a movie in only 10 words! Of course I could go on and on about what an American treasure "Casablanca" is, how interesting it was to finally see "Transformers" after hearing what a bad rap the sequel got, and getting introduced to the wit and child-like wonder of "Pee-Wee Herman", but I don't think I would do a good job going all out about movies no matter how much of a film-geek I am. I'll end this post by saying I intend to write at least one post every day that Uncle Danny stays at our house, and if I don't deliver, why then I'll...I'll...

I'll enter NaNoWriMo along with my sister and try to write a 50,000 word novel from the beginning to the end of the month of November. If I do write one post a day for seven days, then I am excused from this unusual method of making up for lost time. I swear, Girl-Scout Honor! (I was a girl scout for only a few months as a 10-year-old, and I never sold a box of cookies, just to dispel any assumptions.) Bye now!

Into the Woods

This post is about the Stephen Sondheim musical play called "Into The Woods" which me and my brother and sister watched last night. At first, Adam didn't feel like seeing it, but when me and Bettina started laaaaughing, we had to talk him into sitting down with us to watch. "Into The Woods" is a modern fairy-tale blend with a comedic twist, merging together such childhood classics as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and by a lesser degree, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, plus introducing brand new characters: a baker and his wife who desperately wish for a child (notice that when someone thinks of "baker" in the fairy-tale sense, it's always a man, isn't it? Food for thought, huh? And not the baked kind).

It is a play in 2 acts. Act 1 is there to get you reacquainted with the characters you knew as a little boy or girl, and find out what actually happened in the stories, all the while listening to Stephen Sondheim's fast-paced lyrics set to wonderful music. The witch in the story (who comes from the Rapunzel part of the show) is played by Bernadette Peters, who has such a marvelous vocal range, I had no idea! When she does a witches cackle, she can reach those high, high notes like no one I've ever seen! Plus the character she got to play is so funny; who would think that a witch could have some real depth of character? (Unless of course you read books or watch musicals like "Wicked", to those of you who have, I say never mind.)

By the beginning of Act 2, Jack has killed the giant, Little Red Riding Hood survives being eaten by the wolf, the baker and his wife have a baby boy, both Cinderella and Rapunzel get their princes (there are 2 Prince Charmings in this story, and they're brothers! Who knew?), and the witch has changed from an ugly old crone to a young and youthful beauty, but her witchy powers are lost in the bargain. Everybody thinks that it's happily ever after for them, but to be continued... Actually the 2nd Act is a lot better as a surprise. I don't want to spoil it for you. Just know that it's got a lot more drama than in Act 1.

"Into The Woods" is a wonderful story with some lessons to learn from, and even if it's based on fairy tales, adults can appreciate the wry humor and intelligent lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. Check it out at your nearest library if it's got it, and you'll be happy you did, I promise.

Movie Review: "The Notebook"

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of watching, with my mom and sibs, one of the most wonderful romances of our time, "The Notebook". Based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks, this story has it all; phenomanal acting (Rachel McAdams plays as the fantastic female lead, Allie), a nicely paced plot, a riveting story, and true-to-life characters. I love well-done romance stories, because they make me believe that anything is possible. Even if you love someone who is in a different social class, and you don't see them again for years and years, you can still pick up where you left off if the love is strong enough. The guy, Noah, as an older man, had to live with his wife suffering from dementia, she couldn't remember who he was, but he still loved her, and she him. This movie had such beautiful moments too; in one part Noah and Allie are just dancing at night in the middle of a street, and in another part, the couple is rowing on a lake covered with white geese, and the birds don't fly away. This movie was also a very sad story, because Allie's parents, especially her mother, did not approve of the relationship, and she kept the 365 letters that Noah wrote away from her daughter. How mean! There were other parts that made my mom cry. Strangely, I didn't cry, because I usually do if the story's really good and it makes me feel for the characters. In any case, if you like epic romances, then you should see "The Notebook", unless of course you've seen it already, in which case you know what I'm talking about.

Movie Review: Strangers on a Train

I just finished watching this excellent movie! If you've never seen any of Alfred Hitchcock's movies, don't watch The Birds, don't watch Psycho, watch Strangers on a Train!

I remember seeing only a few snippets of the movie from another great film called Throw Mamma Off the Train, with Danny Devito and Billy Crystal, only I never knew that they were watching Strangers on a Train. Anyway, the plot in a nutshell is that two complete strangers, one a tennis player and the other an unsuspicious-looking guy who in actuality is a psychopath, meet each other on a train, and before they part ways, they have a very interesting conversation about the perfect murder: two strangers who each had someone they wanted done away with could hypothetically commit the other one's murder, and neither one would have motives for doing so, thereby leaving both killers to get away with the crimes. Mr. Tennis thinks it's all a strange, harmless joke, but the other guy is dead serious. Later on, he kills the tennis player's nasty wife thinking that he's keeping up his end of the "bargain", and that the tennis guy should repay the favor by killing his mean old father, who rightly says that his son should be locked up somewhere. I mean this guy, Bruno, he's completely creepy, and crazy! Of course you wouldn't tell just by looking at him, but take it from me, don't let him give you a neck-rub under any circumstances!

One of my favorite parts was when the tennis player goes to Bruno's house to warn the father, but Bruno is in the bedroom, and then they argue, and Mr. Tennis says that he wants no part of this scheme, and he walks out, and then Bruno takes a gun and follows him out the door. It was so thrillingly suspenseful with both of them walking down the stairs! When the tennis guy turns around and sees Bruno with the gun, Bruno says "Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot you. Wouldn't want to disturb mother. I've got a much better idea anyway." And then a cut to the next scene. It was so suspenseful I felt absolutely tickled! Do you know I wasn't scared at all about this movie, but it's just like the feeling you get on a rollercoaster ride; it's not entirely scary, but it certainly is a thrill! 

Speaking of rollercoasters, the climax actually took place at an amusement park, and the Merry-Go-Round is spinning out of control, and both main men are fighting and holding on for dear life at the same time. Innocent bystanders are on the ride! I was smiling and thinking to myself, "Oh how scary...for them!" My imagination was captured, and my funny bone was nudged at (it's the dramatic irony that did it). I'm so grateful that my little brother, Adam, consented to watch this movie, and I believe that even he enjoyed watching it. It's a wonderful movie, please, watch it!

Movie Review "Singing in the Rain"

Just last night Adam, Bettina and I watched this classic musical, and we loved it. I adore old-time musicals; whenever I watch them, I think to myself, "Why didn't I see this sooner? I'm watching film history!" What a Glorious Feeling! I love Donald O'Conner's character in the movie, Cosmo, and his number "Make 'Em Laugh." He sure made me clutch my sides! xD

Having watched this movie, I finally understand what "doing Singin' in the Rain" means in theatre terms. (When someone sings behind the curtain while someone else, who doesn't have a good singing voice, lip synchs the song and takes credit for the performance). Great movie, great music, and great dancing! What fancy footwork! My goodness gracious, if people danced like that all the time, they wouldn't need to go to the gym!