Pleasantville Revisit

Surprisingly I haven’t previously watched Pleasantville when it came out in 1998. The television, or the idiot box as Pierre Delacroix from Bamboozled would say, wasn’t a frequent babysitter as I was growing up, in result, I lack movie cultural significantly. Pleasantville was a very enjoyable movie; the soundtrack for the film is excellent. Masterpieces such as “At Last” by Etta James and “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck Quartet, are a few of my all time favorite songs. The way the music score complimented the flow of the movie is brilliant. For example, “Take Five” fits so perfectly during the scene when Tobey Maguire’s character frantically enters the local soda fountain owned by Mr. Johnson to finds everyone to be dead silent looking at him. They all had curious questions of what exists outside of Pleasantville. Tobey’s character attempts to describe the customs of the 1990s, what the true occupation of a firefighter is and roads outside of Pleasantville don’t continue in an infinite circle. He continues to tell stories of classic novels such as The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn to his strongly captivated audience. The soundtrack, “Take Five,” is so fitting for this moment because the distinctly different yet catch tune emphasized what the citizens of Pleasantville were experiencing.

The idea of color in this movie reminds me of the concept of color in the novel Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Where black, white and grey represents dull living in contrast to colorful life. There is a social reference in the film about segregation, a shot of a shop or restaurant with a sign stating No Colors. The literally and figurative meaning of this sign is priceless. The impact of color in all these forms of medias helped me realize that I too can utilize color more to invoke an emotion and to relay a deeper meaning in my art. Overall I love this movie, for more than just my love for vintage 1950s lifestyle, but for the historical revisit, the satirical elements and the underlying message of there is no right way to live life. Yes we might live in a dysfunctional world, but the beauty of life is moving and passionate.

Mythic Fiction and Contemporary Urban Fantasy

Big Fish directed by Tim Burton was such a delight to watch. The film was a nice break from the very extreme movies I have been watching lately. Even though the movie contains fantasy like details, its still light hearted. The story revolves around the main character Edward Bloom and his son who struggles to understand his father. Will, Edward's son, doesn't believe any of his father's stories and finds it annoying his father can't states a simply true fact about his life. Edward Bloom argues that he has been stating fact all this time and says to his son that he can't accept him for who he is, a storyteller. Will wants to understand his father because he is soon to have a son and doesn't want the same problem occur to him. When Edward is in the hospital on the brink of death, he ask his son to tell a story about how it all ends. Once so, Edward passes away with happiness that his son finally understands him and his passion for storytelling. Edward Bloom continues to live on through his stories. This is just the underlying story line. The southern gothic fantasy stories Edward Bloom lives is like a dream. The town he comes across by going through a treacherous road has a familiar eeriness of the underground town in the film The Boy and His Dog. But much more pleasant and no killer robot Michael. The town, Spectre, has the delightful and whimsical qualities of Rivendell in the novel the Hobbit. Another detail of the film I like is the idea of a monogamous relationship. Edward Bloom encounters the love of his life and does everything possible to get the chance to see her again. The daffodils part is so pretty but also creepy. When Edward rebuilds Spectre after bankruptcy, Jenny makes an advance onto Edward which he turns down because he is only in love with one woman and wishes to remain faithful to her. As fluffy and dreamy Edward's love for Sandra, it is a pity monogamy is such a frivolous idea in modern culture.  

Being John Malkovich

Incredibly strange movie, I wasn’t quiet sure what to expect from this film directed by Spike Jones, but I was definitely not expecting this. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I liked how the movie was going but towards the end as things got crazy, I found myself laughing. I dislike Craig’s personality; he is very selfish and unfaithful towards his wife, actively persuing Maxine at the work place. The whole story is out of this world, people working on Floor 7 ½, people jumping through a portal to be John Malkovich and a married couple in love with the same person. Everyman for himself is portrayed frequently in the movie. Charlie Sheen cameo in the film is a laughable element. There is a replacement theme within the movie. Lotte replacing her want of children with pets, Craig replacing his puppets with actual people, and eventually people replacing people. Being John Malkovich is a major overload on content, the deteriorating marriage between Craig and Lotte is already a conflict, now throw in the challenges of prolong life. The character development of Maxine is a little bit surprising; she is portrayed to be a manipulative diva and grows to feel love with Lotte essentially softening her character. The ending was satisfying. Maxine and Lotte together raising their indirect child with Craig trapped in the little girl’s conscious.  One pondering thought about the outcome of the film was why was the ending unfavorable to Craig only? Being John Malkovich was one of those movies that left me saying, what did I just watch? but in a positive way.

Black&White to Color

Surprisingly I haven’t previously watched Pleasantville when it came out in 1998. I lack movie cultural significantly, the television wasn’t a frequent babysitter in my childhood. Pleasantville was a very enjoyable movie; the soundtrack for the film is excellent. Like “At Last” by Etta James and “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck Quartet, one of my all time favorite songs. This song fits so perfectly during one of my favorite parts of the film when Tobey Maguire’s character enters his work place, the local soda fountain owned by Mr. Johnson, and finds everyone to be dead silent looking at him. They all have curious questions of what exist outside Pleasantville. Tobey’s character attempts to describe the customs of the 1990s, what firefighters occupation actually is and begins to tell stories of classic novels such as The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn to his strongly captivated audience. The jazz piece “Take Five” is so fitting for this moment is because the distinctly different yet catch sound emphasized what the citizens of Pleasantville were experiencing.

The idea of color in this movie reminds me of the concept of color in the novel Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Where black, white and grey represents dull living in contrast to colorful life. There is a social reference in the film about segregation, a shot of a shop or restaurant with a sign stating No Colors. The literally and figurative meaning of this sign is priceless. Overall I love this movie, for more than just my love for vintage 1950s lifestyle, but for the historical revisit, the satirical elements and the underlying message of there is no right way to live life. Yes we might live in a dysfunctional world, but the beauty of life is moving and passionate.

Happy Halloween

With Halloween spirits in the air, I decided to be festive and read Ray Bradbury's novel, The Halloween Tree. The film adaptation of The Halloween Tree aired frequently on Cartoon Network used to be one of my favorite films I watched as a child. I thought it would be nice to re visit to the past and read the book that was the back bone of my limited television exposure. The story beginnings with a group of friends gathering to go trick or treating on a Halloween night and discover one friend, Pip the greatest boy who ever lived, to be missing. They find Pip still at home not in costume and noticed something is horribly wrong. Pip sends them ahead trick or treating, “ready set go,” to a very spook mansion of Mr. Moundshroud. Standing next to the home is a massive Halloween tree filled with lit pumpkins, each with a different face. The boys encounter the cunning Carapace Clavicle Mounndshroud and take his offer to go on an adventure to solve two mysteries, the history of Halloween and to find and save Pip.

After reading this novel, I was very motivated to do further research of the origins of Halloween, Day of the Dead, and All Saint's Day. Modern American culture lacks the back bone to Halloween. We forgot why we dress up the way we do or the reasons we celebrate. Ray Bradbury illustrated very important historical events and customs that shaped Halloween to what it is today. In America, Halloween is about dressing up, watching a bunch of slasher movies and eating copious amounts of junk food. Tradition and values are forgotten in America when it comes to Halloween. Ray Bradbury takes the reader into ancient times, as far back as to the caveman and showing the experience and meaning of Halloween, the turning of seasons and the struggle of survival. He continues through Egypt, Ancient Greek, Mexico and much more. All of these civilizations celebrated and showed appreciation through recognition to the dead. One would assume since America is a cultivation of all cultures and nationalities, traditions of Halloween would carry over. Sadly enough they are lost.

The film adaptation of The Halloween Tree is a little bit different from the novel. Instead of eight boys, the group is changed to three boys and one girl. In the novel, the eight boys behaved rather barbaric and rowdy. The addition of Jenny was a peculiar decision, she introduced a different element into the story. Mr. Moundshroud is more likable in the novel, he is more of a trickster than a business man. The film shows how time has changed since the 1970's.

Howl's Moving Castle

The book was a little difficult to get into at first, but then I found my self not being able to put the book down. My favorite part of the book was at the end when the twist of Miss Lily Angorian was revealed to be the Wicked Witch of the Waste fire demon by Howl. The book has so many intertwined relationships, I wish that quality carried more over to the movie, which I watched afterwards. I vaguely remember the movie which made reading the book much easier without the pre context. The different worlds Diana Wynne Jones describe are all distinct and different. She takes you across this world filled with different environments, the quaint bustling town which Sophie was raised in, the vast luxuriousness and promptness of Kingsbury, and the oven hot harsh wilderness of the Waste. In the book, I missed the development of Sophie's feelings for Howl and vice versa. I did see the two bonding and the relationship growing stronger but I missed those feelings evolving into something more romantic. Sophie did reject the idea of Howl having feelings for her multiple times telling herself she wasn't pretty enough. In the book Diana Wynne Jones has Howl chasing after multiple pretty girls, making it appearing Sophie was the last thing on Howl's mind. In the film, Hayao Miyazaki choose to eliminate the active roles of these girls and focused on the interaction between Howl and Sophie.

I enjoy Diana Wynne Jones creation of her story. Hayao Miyazaki recreation Howl's Moving Castle is very different from the novel; the story has evolved to be more of his own. The film's plot is heavily influenced by World War I with battleships and aircrafts elements. Miyazaki represent Howl to be the anti war hero and all about make love not war. He incorporates different problems in the plot, shifting the conflict between man verse man, to man verses war. There are also a lot of character changes and shift of roles, but the general idea of the relationships are still present. Both Howl and Sophie broke their curses with the power of love.

Warbreaker

I found myself not being able to put Brandon Sander's Warbreak down. So many interesting twists and character relationships being developed. I felt the story dragged here and there. The author definitely took advantage of grabbing your attention then letting you wait around to hear more. Between the two main characters, Siri, the youngest sister, is more fascinating, for she had more spunk and character where her older sister Vivenna was dull and boring like her country, Idris. She eventually developed a personality towards the end of the book, when she no longer views herself as Princess Vivenna, but Vivenna the Awakener. I was taken by complete surprise about how the two sisters switched roles in the novel. Both were raised entirely differently, yet developed to be totally opposite people. Siri is such a lovable character, genuine and true. How she rebels without having an intention to hurt people and passion for life makes the reader love her like an energetic child running around. The relationship that develops between the God King and Siri is absolutely heart touching, especially when the God King motions Siri to read a children book to him. The culture depicts the god to be ruthless and menacing when in actuality he is an innocent man with a pure heart. Siri matures as an individual being the God King's wife. She learns to be on her own and important. Most of all she learns to feel needed by the God King, something she lacked when she was a princess of Idris.

Brandon Sander's depiction of color is very intriguing. A country lacking color and another full of saturated colors. He shows life without color is dull, boring and lacks life its self and shows the complete opposite where color makes life. He creates a world where color can be intensified by breath and the multiple heightening. Also color can be taken away by extreme means. This piece of literature provoked me to think about color influence on people's life and how powerful it can be. As an artist I have to use color to my advantage and impact people. Brandon Sanders also integrates themes of politics and religious conflict which is nice to read taken out of the context of reality and learned about in a different perspective.