MOVIES!

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I think I'm back now. There's a lot of ground to cover, so let's get started. I'll begin with movies.

I finally got to see The Incredibles. I got scared that I might miss a Pixar film in the theaters, but I made it! I was originally scared by this movie because it's the first Pixar film to get a PG rating, and it's directed by Brad Bird, who, while I admire him greatly for his fabulous film from 1999, The Iron Giant, is not a Pixar stable director. (Side note: that may be the longest sentence I've ever written!) I've always felt proud of Pixar. I was familiar with their work back in the late 80's. They pushed the bounderies of computer animation with short films before Toy Story in 1995. I've always felt a little protective of them. Like, when you discover a band and then they become popular and you watch them suspiciously for the slightest screwup? Pixar has never disappointed me. I watched in awe as these "children's" movies were infused with real emotion and loving artisitic care. To be honest, it wasn't until my son started to watch them over and over again that I thought of them as movies for kids.
Anyway, did I mention I saw The Incredibles? I did? Oh...well, it was really really good! The trailers were all for animated pieces of crap and Star Wars 3. Star Wars 3 looks like it might be only slightly gag-worthy. I reserve judgement. Pixar traditionally opens with a short cartoon. In the past, the short films have been ways of experimenting with new technologies that are used in future films, like water or hair, or realistic human expressions. Boundin' was pretty lame. It wasn't actually BAD, but it slid right off my brain. It felt completely uninspired. The actual movie, however, was gorgeously rendered and well acted. The hair animation was eye-popping! The complete creation of this world was done to absolute perfection. I didn't feel like they were TRYING to make this a PG movie. The story just called for a little more action violence than, say, Finding Nemo (which features a mother dying, by the way). But the story was just so wonderful and classic. I could easily spawn a TV series or a slew of sequels, but I hope like hell they do NOT do with The Incredibles what they did with Buzz Lightyear, i.e. create a really really bad cartoon series. I kept hearing that this was a mature movie and had a lot of depth to it. Let's not get nuts, here. It was really good and had some light metaphors, but it was simply a really well made movie. In these times, that is considered something astounding. How sad.

In other news, I finally saw the poster and the trailer for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's remake of CHARLIE (WILLY WONKA) AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. This is cause for much celebration with a healthy amount of skepticism. The original was pretty much perfect. Why remake it? Well, the trailer got me very excited. Check it out HERE

Also, the movie is finally being made for THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY! Brief history: It was a radio show in England. Then it was made into a record. Then a book and then a British TV show and it spawned 6 sequels. It's about a man from Earth who travels through time and space and it's really funny (well, the first 2 books are). Anyway, the trailer is now on the web, along with lots of updates on the production! Like Lord of the Rings before them, the Hitchhiker's directors are well aware that there is a rabid fanbase for these books and will tear the film to shreds if they get it wrong. From what I've seen so far, they haven't gotten ANYTHING wrong! It's not what I envisioned, exactly, but DAMN does it look good! Click the logo for the website.