Don't play with it

Recently, I've found myself watching a bunch of movies (considering there's not much else to do) and found myself getting into animations.

The first that made me fall in love with animations was "How to train your dragon." I saw mixed reviews on it, some people thought it was slow, others confusing, etc etc the typical movie complaints. I thought it was brilliant. The colours, the storyline, the scenery. It was about a young boy in a city of Vikings who wanted to be a Viking dragon slayer like his dad......However his size was quite petite and his whole being just seemed opposed to it. As the film continues, he encounters a dragon and starts to learn various life lessons... leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling inside... And... oh my gosh.... the graphics is delicious!!




The next was "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs." This one was about another boy seeking approval from his dad and wants to be an inventor. His inventions were previously all failed attempts except for one. But that one proved to be just as much a calamity as the rest. It was a cute movie. Cute ending, tied up nicely.




Then last night I watched "Fantastic Mr. Fox." This is the only one that falls into the kid category yet seems more appealing for adults. It's about a fox who once was a chicken stealer, but changed his life around upon his wife's request to become a newspaper columnist after a near-death experience. He decides much later that he wants to pull off one last steal and ends up endangering everyone's lives. Why do I say it's more appealing for adults? While it is fast paced enough to keep children interested, it carries a lot more adult themes and the dry humor/ironies would appeal more to the 20-30 something age bracket. The fox is having a mid-life crisis, his son feels neglected, there's a murder. There's a great deal of selfishness and arrogance throughout with very little remorse. Also, there is a lovely play with words throughout - there's no cursing instead of saying the f-bomb they use "cuss" like.... are you cussing with me??? Who the cuss am I? Don't cuss with me! Who the cuss is this? Overall, there's laughs throughout though.



I just finished watching "Where the wild things are." Another movie about a young boy who feels neglected, runs away from home and creates his own kingdom with monsters.

I'm not sure if it's purely coincidence or perhaps I just never focused that in depth on movies before.... but a theme of neglect seems to carry all the way through. I also realized that none of these movies were meant to be grasped and understood in one sitting. 'How to train your dragon' came the closest, in my opinion, to feeling complete the first viewing. Ok, so I'm speaking as if I watched any of them more than once, which I haven't, and have the intent to watch it over again, which I don't. But... I feel as if I did watch it over again I'd pick up a lot of stuff that I missed. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" had soooo much going on at the same time, it felt like you had to pick one thing to work with and carry you through the movie in the midst of awareness of the other stuff. That wasn't a bad thing per se, but it was like a Margaret Atwood novel were every word is laced with innuendo and if you don't take your time to re-read every line then you miss something epic. Funnily enough, the animations were all kid books translated into film. The only one that left me feeling kinda sad was "Where the wild things are." I mean... bad, sad things happened in all of the films... but that one was just all round depressing. The ending was quiet yet poignant and yet....confusing at the same time. The movie ends unresolved as far as I'm concerned. He fails at making the monsters happy, rather he just highlights his own insecurities whilst playing with their own - BUT he's just a child himself. His mother still fails at being a parent in some ways... No one really recognizes their character flaws, not even the boy. The viewer understands the rationale behind the selfishness behind each character, but there's no resolution presented. Perhaps, that is the point - in the real world, answers are not always present and acknowledgment of error is as good as it is going to get. A very real ... realistic movie. HA! Sher, if you're reading this.... It's like 'Waiting for Godot' where everything is somewhat as it was, and you're left seeing pieces of yourself in the film yet slightly depressed and amused at the same time.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..... which shall I watch next?

Shelli out.