Movie Review: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

aka What I Should Be Doing

aka In Which I Am Yet Again a Hopeless Romantic

I just watched (as I'm sure you can guess) Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. It was awesome.

I was a little bit hesitant about watching a movie that was about a toy store in which the toys come to life at night, which is what the back of the case said it was. This is not true at all. As far as I could tell, the toys were far more active during the day.

I'm at a loss for writing this review. It was just very good. Anything I say will not live up to it. It felt sort of like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Big Fish. Dustin Hoffman takes on an entirely unexpected role for him. He's eccentric, goofy, childlike, and utterly bizarre. Natalie Portman plays a very interesting character, too; a little silly and childlike herself until she's suddenly burdened with what she interprets as a tragedy and a hopeless situation. That guy who plays in Arrested Development and Hancock is also in it; he is quite excellent, as always. And the kid's pretty good, too, even if his role is a bit on the predictable side.

So let's give a synopsis a shot. Mr. Magorium, played by Dustin Hoffman, owns a magical toy shop called Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. He plans on leaving, and wishes to leave the shop to Mahoney, his manager, played by Natalie Portman. Mahoney, however, feels like her life is in a rut: for years she's been struggling with the ending to her first symphony and most of her college friends have gone on and built careers. Taking over the Emporium was not what she had in mind. Meanwhile, the store's most loyal customer, Eric, is having difficulty making friends, and the new accountant, Henry, is having trouble balancing the books, which haven't once been accounted for the hundred-odd years the store's been open. Mahoney, Eric, and Henry need to somehow deal with a toy store pining over its owner's imminent departure, and, for that matter, deal with the issues in their own lives as well.

As with pretty much any kid's movie, there's a whole lot about believing in magic and believing in yourself. But it doesn't come off as particularly trite in this movie, maybe because of the quirky, almost indie feel of the film and the superb acting on the parts of all the characters. Overall, good show indeed.

Now, as to the aka's...

Mr. Magorium said, "Your life is an occasion. Rise to it."

Jon Wong quotes, "When's the last time you've done something crazy?"

Kay said, "You're such a romantic." Well, it's getting late in the evening, so I guess it applies now. (I recognise you didn't mean it poorly, Kay.)

And I wonder, what have I done in the last few days that I will remember forever? I suppose getting published for the first time is a pretty big deal. But that's not enough, I think. That's personal, but it's also career. The question is, when I look back on this time, what will I remember? Will I remember anything at all?

Is waking up each morning and being very prosaic, thinking that all my idealism and romanticism the night before was just the silliness that usually accompanies the setting sun, is thinking that such a good thing after all? Balance is nice, but the day is when stuff gets done. Why is the prosaic dominant during my active phase?

Have I risen to the occasion?

I have a paper to write, which is looming a bit. But nonetheless, I must think of something wonderful to do. Something of which Mr. Magorium would approve.

A Fantastic Quest (But Maybe Not an Epic Journey)

For the last little while I have been craving doses of whimsy and epic fantasy.

They're a lot of overlap, but they aren't always the same thing.
I saw Eragon, and while not the greatest movie in the world--much of it was truly derivative, and in a bad way--it did itch that particular scratch. For whimsy, I'm thinking things like Big Fish and Spirited Away and Pan's Labyrinth and Stardust; for epic fantasy, I'm thinking things like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Golden Compass and Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean (which are not all of them truly epic, but you get the picture). Reading the Bone series has only fueled this particular fire. I want adventure, imagination, combat, surprise, magic, dispicable villians, and pretty girls with weapons. I want glamour and the exotic. I want fun.

This is the fantastic quest, then: to find something that suffices that I haven't already seen. That last part is the difficult part. The other day I tried The Golden Compass and Prince Caspian to no avail at all, and considered all of Spirited Away, Lord of the Rings, Pan's Labyrinth, and Pirates of the Caribbean, but none really appealed.

So I've rented some movies. Labyrinth was out, so I got Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Coppola's Dracula.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium I have not seen, but Jon says it's good and it certainly seems to supply the whimsy. It also has Dustin Hoffman in it. I could probably get through The Silmarilian if it was narrated by Dustin Hoffman. I could listen to his voice all day. And he's also an amazing actor, to boot. It also has Natalie Portman in it, who's one of my top five attractive actresses. Now, she'd have slipped a bit if there were many people to have replaced her, but there really aren't. But the cover is a bit bright, shall we say, and apparently it has toys coming to life? I dunno. I might not watch it tonight, at any rate.

The Spiderwick Chronicles I have seen. It is mediocre, but enjoyable. It is about kids and for kids, and so has certain limitations to it. It is also about fairies, and so obviously has limitations there, as well. However, it's also apparently in the genre 'elf punk,' which means that it has an edge to it. I recall this being somewhat true. Certainly it has no less edge than advertised, which is more than can be said for Peter Pan. This is a candidate for tonight. Basically, it comes to this. It has sword-fighting, but it has no pretty of-age actresses (unless you've got something for mother-type characters, which I really don't). EDIT [1:36 the following morning]: I had forgotten that the plot, while certainly not "good" by a modern art standard, is developed enough to impress me. As with most good kids' movies, it leans enough on character and inter-personal conflict to be engaging. Which is to say that, while plot-driven, the characters are real enough and react individually enough to the plot in question that I can be happy with it.

Coppola's Dracula, which I refuse to call Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is what the cover apparently calls it, is the other possibility for tonight. I have heard that it is one of the closest to the original text, so I'm intrigued. It also has Anthony Hopkins in it. Unfortunately, it also has Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves in it. My understanding is that this was made before either began acting. So we'll see.

But if I'm actually going to watch these, I'd better get on it. Even as is, it'll take me past midnight...

Movie Review: Blood and Chocolate

I saw Blood and Chocolate last night. It's your basic forbidden love and werewolves movie. A girl is a reluctant member of her pack; she runs into an artist who won't stop trying to romance her, but she's called for the leader of her pack and can't really tell anybody she's a werewolf; if her pack finds out about artist dude, they'll kill him; if the artist guy finds out there are werewolves, they're afraid the humans will kill the whole pack. You can likely figure it out from there. It's pretty standard.

What's also standard--especially coming from the producers of Underworld--is that it's not actually a horror movie, as it's billed, but an action movie. There's the odd horror element thrown in, but most action movies have some suspense anyway. It's not a Die Hard action movie, because there aren't enough fight scenes for that. But anyway, I think you get the point; it lacks the sheer creepiness and the building suspense that are characteristic of real horror, and instead employs fight scenes, chase scenes, and more 'situational suspense,' in that you know that they're bound to be found out and people will then start dying. The only reason it's in the horror section of Classic Video is that it has werewolves in it.

And about those werewolves... these aren't bizarre rubbery mostrosities like in Ginger Snaps or savage CG Lycans as in Underworld. They used actual wolves. When someone turns, they glow all funny and you can't really even see the transformation. Similarly, you don't actually see any of the lycanthropes (in the move, "loup-garou," the French term) get shot or stabbed or otherwise hurt in wolf form. In general, I did not find that this detracted from the overall effect of the movie.

Plot, dialogue, pacing, and cinematography were fine. Not stellar, by any sense, but not as bad as one can expect of a genre-indecisive movie. There were some elements that I liked--I was actually quite surprised by the artist guy's backstory. Some people might find it silly, but I was actually taken in by it. Props to them for that. What was silly was that, apparently, loup-garou like to jump around a lot. It was kind of funny, actually, watching all of these people just jumping around on objects for kicks.

In retrospect, I am impressed with the lack of gratuitous sexualization of violence. I mean, it's there--in one scene particularly so--but it's not like Snakes on a Plane or Silent Hill, both of which I must write about at some point.

I think I've seen the protagonist girl before. She was attractive, but very serious looking. Very serious looking.

A Realization

I came to a realization during Praise and Power today, and that is this:

By the end of the month, I will be saying to goodbye to a network of friends that I have by now built to a size larger than I've ever had before. Some of them I actually won't say goodbye to; some of them I've likely already seen the last of. And many of them I will never, ever see again in my entire life.

Now, I'll make a point to go out of my way to see certain people, but I cannot, just by the numbers, go out of my way to see everyone. I know a lot of people. It just can't be done. And the thing is, for some of them, they'll be far enough away that, even though I do feel quite close to them, I still won't be able to see them. Again, this might become more than just, "I don't know when I'll see them again." It's, "I don't know if I'll see them again. As in ever."

For instance, Navs is now over. Unless we make a point to get together again, I have seen a group of people who have come to mean a lot--and I mean a lot--to mean for the last time. Now, I'm going to make a point to try to get together with them, but I should make it clear that, as always with these things, there's no reason to suppose that every person will show. More than likely, I've said, "See you later," to more than one person to whom I should have said, "Goodbye."

I shouldn't dwell on this, but I guess I am anyway. I don't have class tomorrow. I can be as depressed as I want to be. My alarm clock will be turned off.

Which means one thing to me: any opportunity I have to be social, I will take. Any opportunity I have period, I will take. If there was a moment at which you can say, "At this point I have no time to waste," then I'm there.

Now, who knows how I'll feel in the morning, but...

Jon sometimes quotes, "When's the last time you've done something crazy?"
My answer is, "I can't remember."

By the time university is over, I intend to change that.

My Undergraduate Career, City of Ember, Bone, and More About Life

I have not written a substantial post in some time. Now I will. I hope I have time to discuss all that I would like.

1) City of Ember: This is a kid's movie, and there's no avoiding it. The pacing, the characters, the conflicts involved...these are all limited by the audience this movie was made for. And, as is often the case, the special effects do not live up to my expectations (that's a post in itself--how things like The Lord of the Rings and other masterpieces have made my expectations too high for your average movie to meet).
Nonetheless, I found it enjoyable. There's a sort of fierce desperation in the premise, the likes of which you don't often see in any fiction today. They community lives in a city deep underground, powered by a generator which will last for only two hundred years. Those years have now elapsed, and the city--the only world the citizens of Ember have ever known, and the only world the believe was even inhabitable--is falling apart. The terror this causes is creates one of the strongest tensions in the movie (or at least so I thought). It reminds me of the quiet nervousness of The Pied Piper (a novel that takes place during WWII).
As with all kid's movies, there's bound to be a discussion of the morals it suggests. In this case, I'd have to say: bravery, family loyalty, critical thinking, perseverence, and perhaps following cryptic instructions. There's also the necessary condemnations of selfishness, gluttony, and blindness.
Also, I have to say that the girl's red cape is pretty cool and that the construction of the setting is admirable.

2) I have now taken the last classes at this university and of my undergraduate career. It hasn't fully sunk it yet. My final class was with Professor Gwynn Dujardin. It works for me. I suppose the most fitting would be if it were Professor Ware (my first English prof ever), but that would be unlikely, as I haven't had him since. Gwynn is a professor who've I known fairly well since second year, though, so it's still quite appropriate.
Now, the morning of my final day of classes was spent performing a part of the play Mankind (c. 1500) in Middle English--that is, both in the class Middle English and in the language Middle English. Yeah, that's right. I can read in Middle English. Well, sort of.
What else is noteworthy? I had my grad photos taken. I wore a white shirt and tie and everything. I like my new tie. I bought it for formal.
I have one essay left, and three exams. And then I'm gone. It feels so weird. I'm not really thinking about it. The future--without Queen's, without this same house, without a real plan for my life--looks unreal and uncertain. The move from highschool to university was a step from a world I was familiar with to one that I wasn't familiar with. The move from undergraduate to... wherever is a step from a world that is structured and defined to one that has no edges or paths at all. I hope to get into a school for February--applying will be a good start--so then I'll get that definition again, but I will have no real direction... Well, we'll see how it goes.
More personally, a friend I've known since the first week of Queen's told me this past Monday that she's liked me since first year. I was sad about that for a few days: I felt bad for her, that she "lost" a whole undergraduate career to liking someone who would never reciprocate. Not that I'm much better--I lost two years being utterly numb to romantic relationships at all, which was perhaps more depressing for me than pining over an unrequited crush. I still felt a little bad about it. I hope she goes off into the world and finds someone to make up for it all.

3) As a grad present, my folks have said they will give me some spending money. Now, I'm putting most of it toward a roadtrip, but I spent a little yesterday on Books 5 & 6 of the Bone graphic novel series, by Jeff Smith. Oh, man, is that a cool series. It starts off small and fun, but it's like Lord of the Rings in epicness by Book 6. Oh man oh man. We're talking dragons and secret orders of royal mystic warriors and a hidden bloodline and hooded rogue seers who weild awesome scythes and a mountain guardian named Roque Ja and talking bugs and baby 'possums and cow races and stubborn Grandma Ben and a pretty girl named Thorn. It's just so cool, but it's also fun, with goofiness and personality quirks and funny pictures. I want to write something like this when I grow up.

4) On which note, I also recently realized that my Creative Writing classes are now done. With my portfolio sumbitted, the anthology published, and no workshopping in the foreseeable future, I realize that for the first time in three years I am thrown upon my own motivation to produce any writing. There is nothing to look forward to that might prod me into writing, except for getting a novel or collection of shorts published. It's a little scary, since I've never done well at self-motivation for this sort of thing. Hopefully I manage, right?

5) I swear there was more that I was going to write about, but I can't remember. Nuts.
Well, OK, I've just rented three movies: Elektra, Blood & Chocolate, and Eragon. I'll let you know when I finish.

6) Oo! I remember! The launch!
It went well. I got there early and we prepared the Gallery, and then we milled nervously, waiting for it to start. The publisher began, and then my prof, Carolyn Smart, opened it up--sarcastic and antiauthoritarian as ever--and introduced the first reader (we went alphabetically), and then introduced me, the second reader. Now, the introductions were coded, so that only the class really knows what each intro meant--but if you understood half of them, you'd realize how embarassing it would be for the reader. There were some exceptions--Alec was said to have "perverse dyslexia" and Anna had a very sexual introduction, including a refrence to her attraction to gay men and her desire to receive the fetish chart on a poster for her birthday. Mine were not too clean, either, but were at least coded well. Unless you know what "suitcasing" means, I don't suppose you'd see what was so odd about it.
Anyway, I read "fort mcmurray weather report," "Frontier," and "My Lady Mandeville." The first two have appeared in much earlier incarnations on this blog, but the version I read--significantly edited--were from the anthology. "My Lady Mandeville" was relatively new. Sometime I may post it here. Until then, know it's based on the voyages of Sir John Mandeville.
I was quite nervous, but I was fine once I started reading. Apparently I read quite well--at least, that's what everyone told me.
I didn't make anyone cry, though. That honour was reserved for Angela's memorial to her grandfather.

And now for real that's all.

I'll see you later, then.

Political Cartoons

And look at the Tycho's commentary: http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/4/1/. Observe the hyperlinking...what a work of art. I could go on, but instead I'll put my laundry in the dryer and edit Jon's paper.