MindsBase

You probably know that I don’t have TV service at my home, preferring to use Netflix. However, there are two current shows I’ve been keeping up on through Hulu that I want to review before Summer Break*.

Once Upon a Time

Seriously, this show shouldn’t be good. Retellings of fairy tales are often old or too weird and in my experience, they never break new ground that follows any kind of believable logic. At best, they are parodies (though sometimes good ones — like Shrek).

But Once Upon a Time keeps me coming back week after week. Sure, I already know the story of Pinocchio and Little Red Riding Hood and all the others; I know the platitudes embedded within, to warn youngsters about various vices and evils. But as OUaT explores these characters both in their fairy tale origins and in our own modern world, a new depth emerges! Pinocchio has finally learned to be a good boy, but tragically late. Red has more fire in her (or shall we say, wolf?) than we ever saw in the original story, making her a worthy descendant of spry old Granny (in both the traditional tales and OUaT. The Huntsman is colorful, Jimminy Cricket is sympathetic, and every week surprised me with the interesting backstories of this character drama. I was pleasantly surprised for the Mad Hatter week that they expanded outward from strict Grimm’s stock characters.

It’s Mr. Gold (Rumpelstiltskin), though, that I have my eye on. The wicked stepmother has some interesting backstory but her acting is a bit flat. I can take or leave obtuse Emma. Henry, the boy, enh. Snow White does better in the fairy world than in the modern one, and don’t get me started on Prince Charming. Blech. But really, who reads fairy tales for the heros? They’re always bland white hat characters. But these writers have built Rumpelstiltskin into a twisting shapeshifter that keeps my attention every scene he’s in. I love the actor, I love the character, I love the dialogue and I wonder where they’ll go with him in Season Two. I loved the moment when he thought August was his long-lost son.

Overall, OUaT has some stilted dialogue, some bland acting, but the storytelling is excellent. TV is made for these kinds of deep character studies.

Legend of Korra

And that brings me to the other great new character series by Mike and Brian, who brought us Avatar: The Last Airbender, the best family TV series in… I don’t know, maybe since Cosby? Everyone in my family could sit down to watch Airbender together: laugh, cheer and thoroughly enjoy the characters and story without any uncomfortable situations or language. Entertainment should always aim for such heights!

(Please note I'm talking about Nickelodeon's anime series, not the ATROCIOUS Hollywood movie of Airbender.)

Enough about Airbender. We anxiously anticipated the opening episode of Korra, and were enticed by the new type of story it represented. The setting is urban rather than a rural quest, and that is a fundamental difference. Korra and the other characters are also older, which changes the game a bit, as well. I worried that my seven-year-old would find it too mature and lose interest, but he hasn’t. There are just enough hybrid animals and silly Flinstoney jokes and animation to keep him interested. After each episode, we’re having great family discussions about the story elements: the tension between Benders and Non-Benders, the heavy-handed Metal Benders, the goals of the villian Eman, how Korra is going to develop and learn Airbending, and so on. Clearly Mike and Brian, et al, had more stories up their sleeves and I have every confidence we’ll see a steady build of great storylines for three “books” (as they call the seasons). One question: since Book one is titled “Air”, and Korra already knows the other elements, what will Books two and three be? Hmm. Let’s all keep watching to find out!

Enjoy!

*Our fam, in order to enjoy the pleasures of the outdoors more this season, is taking a break from our internet connection, effective immediately! So don’t go away, stay tuned, and I’ll be back in September for more reviews of books, film, TV and whatever else strikes my fancy. Have a great summer!

Book 7 Part 2, the series that brought us life, come to life on screen

So, you’ve all picked up your fancy copies of the final Harry Potter movie by now, right? I won’t be spoiling anything by getting into the nitty and the gritty of it, because you saw it at least twice in the theater (once with kids/friends and once with a bewildered significant other) and once or more on your lovely home theater system. Unfortunately for me, the movie shows nearly black on my mediocre screen, and I was too lazy to adjust, so it wasn’t the visual spectacle at home that it was at the movies. Still, the story is why we’re all here, right?

The Story

Let’s be honest. There were criticisms about the meandering length of book 7. I hear that, but for those of us who were really invested, we didn’t mind wading through some dead ends and emotional flip-flops along with our beloved characters. We knew it meant we could spend a little more time with them before saying goodbye. But that would have been disaster in a film. They had to cut, cut, cut and focus the story into two satisfying arcs, and what they chose to do was to make the first arc character-driven, and the second, epic (world-driven). This was a smart choice, in my view.

To back up to part one briefly, to explore the character arcs: I enjoyed the friction and frustration between Harry, Ron and Hermione, and the gelling of their relationships, especially Harry/Hermione as friends and Ron/Hermione as a couple. I loved the moment, after Ron has stormed away and Harry and Hermione are finally forced to leave camp without him, that they apparate to a new area and Hermione begins to cry, while Harry must carry on and cast the protective spells that Hermione usually does.

I wrote in just one extra line in the first movie, as I’m prone to do, and it was this: when Hermione is sad about Ron, Harry takes her hand and dances with her. They laugh a bit and the mood lightens, but then it settles again into sadness. No dialogue is there, and so you could get the impression that Harry is sad romantically for Hermione, that he was making a play for her and it was rebuffed. Well, maybe they wanted that ambiguity, but I think it cheapens the beautiful friendship between them. I would have added a clarifying line from Harry. Simple, clear, eloquent: “I miss him, too.”

As for other emotional arcs, I thought it was important that they kept a bit about Harry’s struggle to keep faith in Dumbledore even as information about him changed. This was one of the strongest themes in book 7. Faith is what you do when doubts come into question. It’s easy to have faith when things are going well, so the fact that Harry decides to have faith in Dumbledore when things get hard… that is what counts. That is what transforms him from a boy to a man.

Oh, and I have to applaud whoever invented the wonderful interlude animation of the Deathly Hallows tale. LOVED IT.

On to part deux. In my opinion, Harry has matured. He’s grown up. He acts as an adult. In part one, he makes that transformation, so when part two opens and we see him interview the goblin and hold his own, then be unafraid to gently accuse Olivander for his weakness, we know we are dealing with a strong hero in this movie. Not the scared boy from book one, not the lucky bumbler from book two. Harry is a man.

So I knew this story would be the best one yet. I like men.

Since this movie was epic (not just action), I was glad they made a point to check in on all of our favorite characters for a bit of closure, and even threw in tons of details and nods from the other books (portraits on the walls, pixies in the room of requirement) for a full-circle feel. Even doing so, it was so lightly sprinkled, the details didn’t slow down the action at all, and I felt increasingly invested in every minute of this film. My kids, too, who were a bit young the the books first came out (read: unborn) found a fresh interest in the series as a result of this movie.

Changes (from the book) that worked well:

• Harry (and Voldemort) can feel the horcruxes. There is a little snakey sound as Harry approaches, even. They are both affected when one is destroyed. This worked well for the film.
• The gold in Bellatrix’s vault did not blister our heroes. Thank goodness… would have been gross. Also they don’t Crucio Harry’s body at the end, which was also a good idea.
• Snape assembles the students into the great hall and Harry appears — this worked great! I loved the dialogue about “somebody grab him!” and then the friends step in. But I most loved the McGonagall / Snape duel. I actually loved every millisecond of McGonagall in this movie. I love her character anyway and Maggie Smith plays her exactly as I imagine.
• Voldemort’s voice: in the book it is loud and booming, but in the movie it is an intimate whisper, which I think is really terrifying. I love the look of disgust on Harry’s face when they first experience the voice.
• They show the Elder wand begin to crack under Voldemort’s hand. This was interesting, and justified his heightened fury. Like.
• And can I just say that I loved the degeneration of Voldemort. His physical movements, wow! By the end, he’s hobbling around like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• A few things are simplified with regards to the snake, all of which I thought were useful changes. Fortunately, they still had Neville kill the snake (though he didn’t know it was a horcrux) which I felt was important, since Neville was the Harry-alternate, had Voldemort decided to “mark” him instead.
• The epilogue was fantastic, and somehow it made the idea more clear even than in the book that Harry achieved immortality, not by horcruxes or even hallows, but through progeny. That was beautiful.

Things that could have been better:

• Ron and Hermione’s kiss. Need I say more? I know, it’s true to the book, but ewwww.
• The pensieve trip into Snape’s memories: this was flowing and beautiful but totally incomprehensible if you’re not a many-time-reader of the books.
• When Harry realizes he has to die, the book speaks beautifully of his awareness of his own healthy heart. In the movie, all he does is clutch his chest, which is a little lackluster. I actually think a little CG could have been artfully done to illustrate his feelings better. Just a little.
• Harry, after his death, asks Dumbledore, “What should I do?” and calls after him as he disappears. Naw. I didn’t buy that. Harry knows what to do. He’s a man now, remember? He doesn’t ask that boyish question. Least favorite line in the movie.
• Voldemort hugs Draco. Whaaaa? Nuff sed.
• The wrap-up: Harry doesn’t get applauded by the portraits!! This is my favorite scene in the book, and I missed seeing it come to life. Harry also doesn’t repair his own wand, which I thought had such wonderful symbolism. In the end scene (before the epilogue), they look off into the distance, which was a little cliche.

Music:

WOW! Even as the DVD menu started, with that tinny music-box reprise of the theme, I knew this score was special. It was lovely throughout. I’m going to own this one. The full-blown original theme plays when Harry first steps back into Hogwarts’ room of requirement, which was fitting. The score is awesome when the stone soldiers awaken, when the attack begins (percussion sounds), and in the pensieve — so sad there.

Cinematography:

Some beautiful work here as well. Our view shifts from under to outside the invisibility cloak in the Gringotts Bank scene — awesome. The dragon was realistic enough not to detract. The shield around Hogwarts and all the attack graphics were very cool. The Death Eater flying-in-smoke thing was again well done. I liked the fiend fire, how it turned into V’s face at the last second. Sweet. But the best part was the pure white of Harry’s death. After such a dark movie, this contrast is brilliant. Literally.

A few great lines:

Harry, to parents and “uncles” Sirius and Remus: “Why are you here?” Answer: “We never left.”

Dumbledore, in the white King’s Cross: “You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man.”

Also from Dumbledore: “Words are our most invaluable source of magic.”

Let’s also note that JK Rowling had producer credit on both parts of HP7, so extra credit to her for an awesome wrap-up of an unequaled series. This one, of course, gets five nods from me. * * * * *

 Enjoy!

Have you read The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffeneger? Me neither. But I did flip through it and read several passages. I was intrigued by the premise, being a sucker for both (light) science fiction and (some) romance.

I also liked the way the book was told in alternate first-person, sort of as a series of journal entries… but more like word snapshots. My son’s first-grade teacher would call them “small moment” scenes. Short but detailed. It was a great way to keep us invested in what would otherwise be a rather confusing, tangled story.

If you are the sort of person that just can’t get past the paradoxes that the whole premise of time travel deals with, then this story isn’t for you. If you can, you’ll enjoy either the book or the 2009 movie, or both.

Hey, that’s funny. I just realized that the movie’s main actor, Eric Bana, his last movie was about time travel, too — the new Star Trek.

I’ve had a hard time liking Bana since he played in the 2003 screen version of The Hulk, a movie I absolutely hated. I wanted to like it, because I liked the TV show and think the Bruce/Hulk is one of the most interesting super heroes. He’s not simply Jekyll and Hyde — good and bad. I like to think of Hulk as misunderstood. And that there are times for the use of anger and physical power, like to protect the weak and innocent, not to be a victim of a vilified military. The 2008 version looked exactly the same — Hulk vs. the military and I think that’s really boring.

(I also wanted to like the 2003 Hulk movie because of my long-time love of the movie Labyrinth in which Jennifer Connelly also starred. But I digress.)

But, in The Time Traveler’s Wife, Bana is really good, as of course is Rachel McAdams, who I liked in this performance better than in The Notebook.

Back to time travel.

It is nearly impossible to create a good story that centers around time travel, because first you have to deal with what happens when you change something in the past or future. This movie didn’t attempt to grapple with it, which makes it a little unusual. It laid out, very early and very clearly, that Henry, the time traveler, didn’t have the power to change anything significant in the past or future. Of course, the things he does throughout the movie change things as far as his relationship to his wife, but still… I could accept these boundaries and enjoy the movie within them.

This made the movie really a story about a man’s relationship with his wife.

Their relationship reminded me a bit of Lois and Clark (Superman), where she is the stability that anchors him, domesticates and humanizes him. Poor Henry, though, instead of having super-powers, has a super curse, in that he cannot control when or where he travels in time. There are some redeeming factors, though, and I enjoyed how these things made room in the story for other elements. After all, a guy that time travels at random can hardly hold down a job, so it’s very helpful that he can win the lottery so as not to be worried about money on top of his other issues.

I found it particularly interesting that the story took on infertility as a main issue. It made the otherwise rather perfect Clare more real, that she had serious issues of her own to grapple with.

So, Henry and Clare ended up being, for me, one of the more relatable couples I’ve seen onscreen. They are experiencing a great love, but not an ideal life, and I get that. Awesome love doesn’t equal perfect life. Not until we’re all behind the pearly gates, I guess.

The screenplay writer is Bruce Joel Rubin, who also wrote Ghost and several others. I liked this screenplay well enough that I’m tempted to check out his lesser-known films like My Life and even Stewart Little 2! Well, we’ll see, since he also wrote the Last Mimzy which I found rather silly.

On a more visual design note, the movie had a lovely look. You get a feel for it in the movie poster, isn’t that image beautalicious?

This movie gets four and a half nods from me!

enjoy!

I came across this post at the Seattle Library blog, about how cover (and interior) art has changed over time for some tried-and-true favorites. The blog-writer lays in to such drastic changes as Arthur, who had a very long nose in the ’70′s but is not even discernible as an aardvark on today’s covers:

Extreme Makeover: Picture Book Characters Edition | Shelf Talk >>

‘Tis sad, for those of us who pair a memory of lilting prose with the mood of particular illustrations. I was elated a few years ago to find that one of my childhood favorites was still in print, and I ordered several copies (online, not noticing the pictures much). When the box came, I was surprised to learn that my favorite little witch (and her ghost friend) looked nothing like I remembered. Here she is, then and now, The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches:

This is an awesome little picture book, in either form. Get it now for Halloween reading!

This one gets five nods from me!

Fortunately, Ira Sleeps Over has remained true. Interestingly, my favorite illustration in this book turned out to be the same one my daughter loves. There’s nothing special about the page, just Ira and his sister setting the table for dinner. The power of great images… and paired with great words, nothing better!

This one also gets five nods from me!

Sometimes, the changes are fun, though. My sister bought me, for Christmas, my number one favorite (early) childhood story, which had traditionally been one of the “other stories” in The Sneeches. It is now a standalone with glow-in-the-dark ink, no less: What was I Scared of? which is perhaps better known as “Pale Green Pants with Nobody Inside Them”. I can still recite this from memory. Thankfully, no well-meaning moneyperson has decided that the strange Dr. Seuss animals need a makeover for modern readers!

Five nods from me!

What are your childhood favorites?? Are they still around?

Or Visitors — whichever meaning you espouse for ABC television series “V”. I had high hopes, but just haven’t felt the need to keep up with it. Yes, it makes for an interesting allegory of terrorism and guerrilla warfare, but the individual stories feel a little lackluster and the characters seem cardboard.

So I want to point you toward two other shows I’m just starting on DVD.

Jericho

This CBS show only made it through a partial second season, and I’m just a few episodes in on season one, but this is a show that is tugging at my emotions already.

But let’s back up. Here’s what CBS says Jericho is about:

Returning for a second season as a result of one of the most unprecedented and impassioned displays of fan support on behalf of a television program, JERICHO is a drama about what happens in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion in the once peaceful town of Jericho.

In other words, it is near-future post-apolcolypse sci-fi. This could have gone very grandiose and epic (kind of what V is doing) but instead, the episodes have featured small, immediate problems, like a little girl with a bruised windpipe and a stranded woman getting picked up by escaping ex-cons. How people deal with these immediate problems — rather than the obvious one of the apocolypse itself — is great storytelling!

Also, it has a rather charming small-town-pulling-together-in-crisis thing going on. It’s a great exploration of how a town would have to transition from denial (people still trying to go to work) to survival (everyone pooling resources and sharing tasks).

Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles

Another show that has already hit the skids — (when will the networks learn?) — is Fox’s Terminator series. This one is more small-cast and personal, dealing with Sarah and her teenaged future-leader-of-the-resistance son some years before the world is taken over by machines. An artificial intelligence called Skynet, to be precise.

Same brand of fun as the movies — hand-to-hand action, some explosions, some suspense. It does aim a little higher, though, with some thought-provoking tie-ins through Sarah Connor’s voice-over narration. Perhaps it must dig a little deeper to compensate for the TV budget, but I think this is a good thing. Sarah wrestles with whether she should kill one man to help save humanity, or how to protect a son who is destined to risk it all to save the world, and so forth. Keeps it interesting.

I also enjoy strong female leads, and Sarah is good, but Summer Glau as the girl terminator is perfect. They have fun playing off the idea that people would underestimate small-statured women. Not unlike Sydney of Alias, now I think on it. By the way, this is one complaint I have with Jericho, at least in the few episodes I’ve watched. There is a fair amount of “help the poor girl” going on. In the early episodes that featured young women, both heroines were ultimately saved by Jake, the hero. Ah well, can’t have it all. There may never be another Alias.

What, you haven’t watched Alias? Okay, before you try Jericho or Terminator, GO WATCH ALIAS. If you can get past the occasional fake blood and torturous screaming now and again, you’ll find a smart, exciting mystery/romance with one of the strongest lead women characters ever on TV. Sydney Bristow.*

* And I don’t mean strong as in physical, because that would probably be the terminator girl. Sydney can handle herself physically, but her real strength lies in her quick thinking and her caring and humanity that shine through even the toughest situations. She’s the kind of woman you want your daughter to be as she faces her own demons in life.