Toy Story 3

This is a comment I posted on awardsdaily.com on this newspost.

"I need to see this again. I was too emotionally crazed to really be able to tolerate anyone saying it was less than perfection. But I was in tears from the beginning, when we saw how many toys had disappeared over the years (not unlike my own storage units in the family garage, which are missing most of my old childhood toys), and barely held it together in the end when Andy played with his toys one last time with Bonnie. I was afraid I was going to audibly sob I couldn't stop crying.

Toy Story 3 may not be the best storytelling of some of the other films, but it is also clearly an installment in a franchise, which makes it different from most of the films. It is, indeed, its most emotional though. I have never been more touched by a movie in my life, but that's something my generation, who were kids when Toy Story first came out, and Toy Story 2, and now are coming back for thirds having been in Andy's exact place, is bound to experience. But I think it's something all adults can relate to and all kids will dread relating to (if I were young enough to still have toys in my room, you know I'd have gone home to instantly play with them for hours). Watching Woody, Buzz, and the gang go through all their trials is like watching what happens to your childhood, hoping that it doesn't get destroyed, but knowing it will never be the same as it was before, which is just as heart-breaking.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to rationally discuss Toy Story 3 because it just touched a place in me I'd forgotten I had. The first two feel so quaint and sweet these days, but this movie just feels too real, almost too personal, though I was never as cool a kid as Andy was, and I didn't love my toys quite the same way he did. But I think that just proves all the more what a fantastic movie it is, that it strikes a cord so strong that everything else beyond the tears and laughter is creates, doesn't really matter. It reminds me of Ego's review in Ratatouille, like all brilliant things do, and how technicalities and hard-hearts and reality aside, beauty is beauty and there are some things that are simply beyond proper criticism."

It'll be a long time before I can sum up my feelings on Toy Story 3 (I only left the theater about two hours ago), but I think the first reaction matters almost as much as the last. And, boy oh boy, have I got a first reaction. I know it's still soon after, but this was just one of those movie-going experiences where I feel like I'm a different person on the other side and I have no idea how I've changed, but I just feel it, but it could also be the emotional overload from the past few hours... it's too confusing.

But I do know that I dug my stuffed animals out of a trash bag in my brother's room, gave them a talking to about how much I love them, and set several of them around my room, including my poor, mistreated American Girl dolls.

I saw it. Avatar.

I'm not going to blab on particularly long about Avatar because, well, I don't have that much to say. It was, to be frank, quite awesome. I really enjoyed it. Some people complained beforehand about the story being trite and thin and the dialogue being rather meh, but it hardly distracted me. It was hardly Shakespeare, but when it comes to sci-fi epics, I mean, how simple are the Star Wars lines that are endlessly quoted?

"May the Force be with you."
"My name is Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you."
"I love you." "I know."
"No, I am your father."

None of these are exactly poetry either, but they are all incredibly awesome lines, particularly Harrison Ford's improvised ESB line pre-carbon freeze. So I see nothing to complain about with Avatar. Beside that, it is an EPIC. And by epic, I mean that the plot is going to be somewhat traditional in many ways, and that's nothing to guffaw at. Storytelling-wise, there's nothing revolutionary about the movie. The special effects are fucking amazing, of course, but the story itself is what it is supposed to be - strong, powerful, striking, and good. But not revolutionary.

But on the special effects, can I say how fucking amazing they are again? And it's not just the Na'vi, which were done very well, but also simply all alien life on Pandora. Every creature, all the flora, the whole thing was just so beautiful and, for lack of better word, exotic. It felt like I was truly transported to this location, which is what the best sci-fi and fantasy epics do. I have the same feeling with Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and to bring in video games, the sci-fi epic I am partial to: Mass Effect. These are spectacular worlds that tell amazing but traditionally-based stories. I am happy to see Avatar and look at it as a new classic. Although the special effects will soon enough be commonplace and not long after become outdated, the epic nature of the beast will keep it around for a long time.

It's not the special effects that made Star Wars or Lord of the Rings as awesome as they are, and it's not that they told a wildly original story - they simply brought us into this new world and captivated us with a beautiful story and a well-thought out and captivating world.

In fact, I want to return to Pandora really soon, and I hope that, if good sequels can be imagined, that there will be sequels. But only if they can be good (take a cue from Pixar; even though Toy Story 3 is eleven years after Toy Story 2, it's because they were waiting for a good story and I have few doubts that Toy Story 3 won't deliver the goods. Toy Story 2 did). We have enough bad sequels in the world. Other than that, I look forward to seeing Avatar again. I might dare to do it again in theatres if I find time between all the other movies, but probably not. I will see it again. And hopefully love it just as much. Because it truly is a GREAT film in both content and era. While maybe not the best film I've seen of this year or my favorite (and I am still lacking several, so we'll see what happens), I have a feeling that this movie will last.

I think I read somewhere that James Cameron doesn't see this film to be as timeless as Titanic, but I have a feeling it'll prove otherwise. For example, over thirty years later, everyone still knows what Star Wars is. Even if the damned fools haven't seen it.

Don't worry, I'm fixing that. Bard Film Committee is doing a Star Wars weekend next semester. A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. I am FORCING all my WEIRD friends who haven't seen Star Wars to come. I just don't understand. It's such an amazing classic.

One of my favourite things about future!motherhood (y'know, in ten years or so is what I'm aiming for) is going to be sharing my childhood experiences with my kids. The Pixar films, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. And you know what? They're seeing Avatar too. And a shitload of other movies. 'Cause, well, if you know anything about me, I effing love movies. My kids better too.


PS: Let me make this very clear. Yes, I think Sam Worthington is a hunk. Yes, I think he was amazing in Terminator Salvation (as was Anton Yelchin. Sorry, Christian Bale, you're normally great but you really blew in that movie). Yes, I am going to start seeing movies probably explicitly because he is in them. No, Anton Yelchin is still my future husband.

PPS: I am attempting to do a double feature tomorrow of Fantastic Mr. Fox and An Education. Wish me luck! Hope it doesn't snow TOO much.

Stealing From My Livejournal Part XXXIV

As I use my livejournal for little else except for movie rants and decided to switch over here, I thought I'd recruit some older posts so as to show a history. I'll bother with new ones as they come to me.




From July 8, 2009:

"Okay, so, I don't watch a lot of TV (shows I view regularly are: House, Heroes, Mad Men, Chuck, and, yes, I'm not ashamed to admit it, Gossip Girl) but let me interject here once again by reminding the world that Battlestar Galactica is one of the best frakkin television shows ever, and definitely one of the best dramas. Now I have never really cared about the Emmys in the past because I don't watch much television, but let me reiterate a call Michael Slezak made on EW.com - frakkin nominate Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnel, and while we're at it, the entire show for some Emmys! Honestly, I'd also make a push for Tricia Helfer; I am always impressed by her ability to play all the Sixes and each of them with their own similar but distinct and fully rounded personalities. And if it was any season but the fourth, I'd also push for James Callis (Baltar was pretty lame in season 4, but astonishing in season 2, for instance - between the parts where he was stranded on Kobol to the Pegasus arc and all the way to his presidency bid, his character was fully realized in season 2).

But all in all, BSG is the best piece of television I've devoted myself to in a while. I don't get into a lot of TV shows because most of them are boring, repetitive, or only have so many good qualities. BSG, however, is excellently-written with a wonderful cast, not only with the leading members, but also with the secondary characters, from Laura Roslin herself all the way down to Doc Coddle, and everyone in-between, like Gaeta, the little favourite-character-turned-LEAST-favourite, but all done with such character... But where was I? Oh yes, and with the most original plot on television, even if it is based off of a previous series and shares similarities with every other space epic. But the way it twists and turns, always making sense, evolving and changing not to fit the writers' whims, but to fit what seems natural, that is in itself a characteristic too few television shows these days do.

Too many shows are afraid of change and stick to their formulatic tendencies. To an extent, that's enjoyable. House operates with its Patient Of The Week, Chuck has his Mission Of The Week, even BSG has its "oh we're out of food/air/water/sleep/fuel/etc. so we've got to find it ASAP" episodes. But each of these series also admirably took big risks, shaking up the formula. House just sent its main character off to rehab, for real. Now THAT is epic. Chuck lost the intersect... got it back... and learned kung-fu. WTF of AWESOME! BSG... gradually eliminated all the ways in which Cylons were inhuman, from turning them into humanoid form to making the girls get pregnant to destroying resurrection! Now isn't it cool when your enemy is suddenly not so different? (This is something I have to constantly remind my mother when she says that the Cylons are "evil.")

Anyway, without getting too plot heavy, my point is that BSG needs some frakkin love, Emmys/rest of the world. Watch it, love it, experience some of the best television ever.

But then again, what kind of hack am I? I watch Gossip Girl and cheer internally everytime Chuck and Blair share a scene. And I totally don't disagree with the random chick on EW.com who said Leighton Meester deserves some recognition (Blair is definitely the most interesting and fully realized character on the show. Also the wittiest. Scenes without her or Chuck suffer from being dreadfully boring at times).

Ahem. As I was saying, check out Battlestar Galactica, you frakkin morons, and understand why the frak I keep saying frak."

Stealing From My Livejournal Part XXX

As I use my livejournal for little else except for movie rants and decided to switch over here, I thought I'd recruit some older posts so as to show a history. I'll bother with new ones as they come to me.




From April 28, 2009:

"It's over. I'm done. I FINISHED IT.

I don't think that I'm ever going to watch something like Battlestar Galactica ever again. I also don't think I've ever seen a better television show. And, Spoiler Alert!, I'm also incredibly upset that Lee and Kara never got the happy ending they deserved so much. I mean, seriously, despite everything else, there was always them. Even when they had their separate spouses, there was still something there. And once they didn't anymore, they deserved to be together. They deserved it so much. On the bright side, Gaius and Six got back together and Helo survived to be with Athena and Hera. Yes, I am so lame that I care so much about these pairings. But considering the need for the survival of the human race and the character bonds that formed over the show, this was necessarily deserved. I so totally cried when Roslin died, when Kara just vanished in mid-air. Kara's goodbye to Sam. Sam as the hybrid... it was unexpected but so fitting, really. But I'm not sure how I felt about the last ending so much. I mean, the first part "omg, the original Eve" and "omg, it's us!" was cool, but the robotics was a bit much...

Well, overall, this was the best viewing experience I've ever had, I think. I'm so sad to be done, to have nothing left to experience, nothing that's quite the same at least. There's The Plan and Caprica and Razor, but it's not the same. It's not exactly what I fell in love with during the past several weeks, just remnants that will allow me to feel closer to this experience. There was many imperfections, but so much that just worked, and in its entirety, BSG is very near-perfect.

I need to sleep because I'm feeling sick, but I just wanted to make clear what an experience it was to watch that television series. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it, and to those that have, you can understand my strong feelings towards it. I am so glad I watched that series, so glad to have spent my time on it, and I look forward to rewatching it in the future. But it'll be like Cowboy Bebop, in a way. Also an amazing series... but knowing how it ends, and knowing that there are loose, unhappy ends involved, makes rewatching very hard despite the pleasure. Part of me never wants to watch it again, to just savour the experience.

We'll see when I actually have the time. I'll probably change my mind. But for now... I'm going to revel in the experience I've had. I'll worry about revisiting it later."