"Christopher Walken" reads "Where the WIld Things Are"

This sounds like it's just a really good impersonation.  If it is or isn't, it's funny either way.  Enjoy...

Subtitle Saturday: My Father's Glory

Since I watched this film and its companion piece ("My Mother's Castle") out of order, I felt I had a unique perspective on this movie.  It was a little like watching the "Star Wars" prequels, minus all of the computer animation.  I was able to see some of the background for the story that I had so much enjoyed, but I also was able to take in a self contained story.  One could watch either of these films independently, but seeing them both brings greater texture to the world.

    This movie shows us the arrival of the two movies' protagonist, Marcel.  We see him being born to this school teacher father and doting mother.  The family settles in the lovely town of Marseilles in the south of France, and they begin to build their life as a family.  A baby brother is born named Paul, and finally, a little sister.  As the movie goes along, it is clear that the mother (Augustine) has a sister who desires a husband, and she finds one in Jules.  Jules is a devout Catholic who does not hide his feelings toward his secular brother in law, Marcel's father Joseph.  Joseph is a bright eyed school teacher who is heavy on book smarts, and who beams with excitement as he teaches his students of the possibilities that await them in the 20th century.  Eventually, Jules and Joseph decide to treat their respective families to a holiday villa in the Provence, just outside of the town of Marseilles.

    The villa ends up being not only the primary setting for both this film and its companion film, but also something which symbolizes something greater.  More on that in a minute.  Suffice it to say, the family loves their holiday home.  As viewers, we can almost feel the lazy summer in the sir as we watch this film, even though I watched it in the middle of a Minnesota winter.  As the family settles into their summer home, the book smarts of Joseph begin to be outshone by the outdoor saavy of Marcel's Uncle Jules.  This is crushing for little Marcel, as he sees his father as perfect.  As his father and uncle go hunting, he begins to see how little his father knows about the outdoors.  While Marcel follows his uncle and father in their hunting, he befriends a country boy, and begins to scheme on how he can make the alluring desert of the Provence his permanent home.

    Marcel's desire to make the country his permanent home feeds into what I believe is the principle theme as these two films.  The theme is longing.  There in lies the genius of thee films.  One needn't ever visit the Provence to identify with the family.  The scene that drove this point home the most was one of the last scenes in the movie.  As the holidays draw to a close, school beckons both the teacher and the student back to their home.  As the adults contemplate leaving their summer retreat, they begin to point out some of the shortcomings of their villa.  They complain of the lack of indoor plumbing, and yearn for their modern appliances back in Marseilles.  Marcel listens to these musings with absolute disgust, as he views their comments as blasphemous.  To him, the Provence has become a paradise on earth.  It is a place with no shortcomings, and he is enraged by the adults and their worldly comforts.

All of us long for rest and repose.  We all have a place that acts as one.  All of us long for such a villa.  For my family, our "villa" has become a rental cabin in Brainerd, Minnesota.  When I was growing up, my family loved getting away to the mountains.  We visited the Sierras, the small town of Big Bear, and the great National Parks of the West.  I also always regarded my home in La Habra as a place of escape and repose.  What is important about all these places is that they act as a piece of heaven on earth.  They are places devoid of care.  They are places which elicit nostalgia.  I couldn't help but smile in recognition as this film ended.  For even though the nuts and bolts of the story are quite different than from my upbringing, the feelings are the same.  Great art does just that.  It gives us familiar feelings, even with characters with whom we have precious little in common.

Family Film Friday: The Great Muppet Caper

This was one of those movies I could watch endlessly as a kid.  My cousins and I would often watch it up at my aunt and uncle's house in Santa Barbara.  They had it on VHS, and I think we watched it at nearly every holiday family gathering.  It is a riot.  One of the things I always love about all of the Muppet movies is how self aware they are.  They always break down "the 4th wall", which means that the script is aware of the fact that a movie is being made, and the characters in the movie are able to wink at the audience (Blazing Saddles did this, as did Ferris Bueller).  Also, the way that Jim Henson treats his Muppets gives a certain anarchy to the comedy.  Take a look at how the Muppets are tossed from the passenger jet or how Gonzo hails a London cab, and you will see exactly what I am talking about.  Like with cartoons, since the main characters are not real people, they can do things that no human can do, and the comedy becomes even more uproarious.  Recently, I watched it with my kids for the first time, and then I asked them about it.

Joel: "We had a good movie night tonight...Wessie, come on over.  Tonight, we watched a movie that Daddy first saw when he was Corrie or Jack's age, and that's 'The Great Muppet Caper'.  Now, you've seen other Muppet movies, right?  What was special about this one?  What did you like about it that some of the other movies don't have?"
Corrie:  "New friends."
Joel:  "Like who?"
Corrie:  "The head of the Happiness Hotel."
Jack:  "I know a really good one."
Joel:  "What?"
Jack:  "That man who keeps driving...who didn't have a driver's license...the brown guy."
Joel:  "His name is Bauregaard.  What was the funniest part of the movie?  Jack?"
Jack:  "When I saw...I thought the police was taking Animal, but then I saw the robbers..."
Joel:  "What about you Corrie?
Corrie:  "There was a time when Kermit was going to see Miss Piggy, and he was dancing.  But when he stopped, his shadow kept dancing!  You were out of the room!"
Joel:  "Oh I remember that part.  You know the part I always really liked?  I like when Gonzo throws himself in front of the taxi cab to stop it."
Wes: "I like how the bed just...ffffpth..."
Joel: "How the bed goes fffpth?  What does it do, does it keep folding up Wes?"
Wes: "Yeah, it keeps folding up!"
Joel:  "And what always happens right after the bed folds up to the light?"

Corrie and Wes make an exploding sound...

Jack:  "The light bulb falls down when they leave the room, when they fold up in the bed..."
Joel: "The light bulb just keeps falling out, doesn't it?"
Corrie: "My other laugh is when the crates fell down in the pond, and the guy looks out and says (Corrie with a British accent) 'Oh...they said it was going to rain cats and dogs!"
Joel: "Yeah, that was funny...what did you think of the man who plays the brother...the jewel thief?"
Corrie: "Weirdo!"
Joel: "What did you think Jack?"
Jack: "I think that he's a bad guy and he's not very good at watching out for the Muppets."
Joel:  "Another thing that I always really liked about the movie, is, how do they always get off the plane?"
Corrie: "He throws them off the plane!  DAAAHHHHH!!!"
Joel: "There was also one kind of...do you kiddos know what the word cameo means?"
Corrie: "No."
Joel: "A cameo is something where a very famous person makes a short appearance in the movie.  There were some cameos in this movie by some famous British actors that you don't know, but there was also a cameo by a very famous Muppet...that isn't usually in the Muppet movies, who was it?"
Corrie:  "Oscar!?!"
Joel: "Oscar!  That's what's called a cameo...when a person who is very famous is in a movie for a very very small amount of time.  There are some other people in the movie who are very famous that you will find out about some other time...the man who is at dinner with his wife when Miss Piggy is trying to get into his house?  Remember that guy?  He's a very famous actor...a very famous funny man.  I always loved how fast it was and how crazy it was when I was a kid.  How does Bauregaard drop off Kermit, Fozzy and Gonzo at the hotel?"
Corrie: "He busts through the door with the car!"
Joel: "You guys have given me some fun things to talk about...is there anything else you want to say about the movie?"
Wes:  "I like how the light bulbs keep falling out!"
Joel: "Yes Corrie?"
Corrie:  "I like Miss Piggy's karate moves."
Joel: What about you Jack?"
Corrie: "HIYAH"
JACK: "You know what I really love?"
Joel: "What?"
Jack: "I really like how the light bulb keeps falling out every time they run out of the room."
Joel:  "Alright...thanks kiddos!"

Robert De Niro Impression Lesson...

Movie Line's 100 Greatest Foreign Films

Here's another great list.  It is from 1996, so a lot of newer films are not included.  I have only seen 13 of these films...I have some work to do!

http://www.movieline.com/1996/07/01/the-100-greatest-foreign-films/

Subtitle Saturday: My Mother's Castle

I realized after I watched this movie that I should have watched its companion film ("My Father's Glory") first...oh well.  I look forward to watching the other film, because this movie was very enjoyable.  It's one of those kinds of movies that truly evokes a certain feeling.  It doesn't tell a profound story, and it doesn't have a grand message.  Instead, it tells a simple story, tells it well, and elicits great nostalgia for the viewer. 

The story gives us that emotion by depicting a family's longing.  The family yearns for simplicity and rest in its holiday home.  It tells the story of a boy named Marcel and his family.  They live the French city of Marseilles, but they pine for more time at their country home in the hills of Provence.  The movie takes great care to show us why the family loves their holiday home so much.  There are wonderful encounters with gregarious family members depicted.  There are days in which Marcel simply live to wander "his hills", exploring his holiday home, and taking great joy in having new adventures and making friends at his holiday home.   There is also a traditional French Christmas feast depicted which evokes a lot.  It made me hungry as I watched.

As with most stories, there is an eventual crisis.  The family finds a way to spend every weekend at their holiday home, but the walk to their home is a long and winding road.  They are offered a short cut by a public official, but it involves trespassing on private properties.  The family loves their country home so much, but they have to decide whether they should risk breaking the law so that a 2 hour trip could turn into a mere 30 minute stroll.  The decision takes on a different tone when it is revealed that Marcel's mother is of weak constitution.

Once again, the plot of the movie is not as much the point as the feelings the movie evokes.  As I watched, I thought about how much my kids have grown to love our family escapes to Northern Minnesota.  The last couple of years, we have been able to have multi day escapes to Brainerd, Minnesota.  The kids love swimming in the lake, and Steph and I can revel in watching them and in enjoying utter peace.  I thought of those times while I watched this movie.  All of us have an idyllic place that feels like a paradise on earth.  The place is often difficult to get to, and usually, the time spent there is short.  But we all feel rejuvenated by the experience of going to our special place of rest.  For the characters in this movie, that place is the hills of Provence.  What is special about this movie is its ability to evoke the longing for our own place.  It certainly makes Provence look idyllic, but I think even more, it makes us long for our place.

Family Film Friday: Hugo

As the closing frames of this film danced across our little home movie theater, my daughter jumped to her feet and burst into applause.  This movie had excited her, entertained her, and moved her.  My son was so interested in every part of the film that he asked us questions throughout the film.  I had to try to both encourage and discourage him.  I had to encourage him because he was asking great questions.  I had to discourage him because I was missing the dialogue on the screen.  What a wonderful gift Martin Scorsese has given to children and to families with this movie.  He has already given us so many memorable films, but to be able to sit with my family and see his cinematic wizardry on display is something I will never forget. 

The movie follows the adventures of Hugo Cabret.  He is a young boy who lives in a clock above a Parisian train station.  He has fallen into the duty of operating the clocks in the station, but regularly has to steal from the business owners in the train station in order to eat.  He also is enamored with machines.  He is an orphan, and his late father was a clock maker.  His father finds an old automaton in a museum and takes it home.  He and his son make it a hobby to fix it.  The automaton is so complex that when it works it actually will be able to write a message.  After the death of Hugo's father, Hugo becomes obsessed with fixing the automaton, thinking that the writing may be some kind of "message" from his father.  While Hugo is working on this automaton in his perch above the train station, Hugo comes under fire from Georges, a shopkeeper from whom Hugo has stolen.  Georges' daughter Isabelle befriends Hugo.  As to where the plot goes after that, there is simply too much wonder to give it away.  You must watch the movie and see for yourself.

The opening 10 minutes of the film is classic Scorsese work.  The camera is active and moves with utter grace through beautiful sights and sounds.  The visual impact of the first 10 minutes is enormous.  It shows us so much, and yet we know the story is only beginning.  As I watched, I explained some of these artistic devices to my daughter, and she was fascinated by it.  This movie can be a starting point for serious film watching for two reasons.  First, on its own it is wonderful film making.  But second, it has so many homages to silent era movies that one could start watching the films to which this movie refers and have quite an education in film history.

Any of you who have read my entries on this blog know I love movies.   As I watched "Hugo", I thought of other movies.  I couldn't help but think of Hitchcock's "Rear Window" in the first moments, as Hugo watches the lives of others from his vantage point in the clock.  My daughter observed that the music reminded her of the tone of the music in the Pixar film "Ratatoullie."   The flower girl played by Emily Mortimer reminded me of the heroine in Chaplin's "City Lights."  This movie is made not only by a movie making expert, but by a movie lover.  Scorsese is both of those things, and his ability to capture his love on film is what gives this movie its soul. He believes in the power of movies to change people's lives.  He is enchanted by the possibilities of the art form.  How magnificent to have such a wonderful film in its own right be able to be about the love, and to give the audience a taste of that.

The movie was great for all 3 of my kids.  My little guy Wes (4) strayed off to his room at one point, but watched at least 3/4 of the movie.  My other two kids loved it.  This is a movie with enough hints of danger and adventure to make it exciting for children, all the while being muted enough in its content to make it watchable for them.  This is a movie to watch with your kids, but is such a great story that anyone would enjoy it.  For those of you with children, I would recommend it.  It is imaginative and touching.  For everyone else, it is a wonder of cinema and simply shouldn't be missed.