Babe (1995)

When I was in primary school, my mother would take me to a local library on the way home from school.  It was a modest library, but with beautiful grounds overlooking the water, soft manicured lawns for skipping around in bare feet, ponds, fish, dragonflies, weeping willows and a sundial that fascinated me due to its being placed in the shade and therefore completely lacking in functionality.  The slope of the library's location meant that it spread over two levels.  The upper level was the main, adult library, and the lower level, to my delight, was purely for kids and completely separate from the (what I then considered to be) boring, adult section.
So I would roam the children's library without complaint, choosing books to add to my regular rotation for reading.  If a book became a favourite, it would be borrowed pretty much whenever I had the opportunity, and at times I would take it as a personal affront if someone else had the nerve to borrow it before me.
My criteria for being interested enough to read a book for the first time was pretty simple: if there was an animal on the cover, I was likely to be interested.  That is how I found "The Sheep-Pig" by Dick King-Smith.  I can still remember picking it up and reading the blurb on the back for the first time.  I was particularly drawn to this one as it mentioned sheep dog trials, and it quickly became one of my regular reads.

Having grown up with the book, I was naturally intrigued but tentative when I heard a film was being made.  I felt protective of the narrative, and the fact that they'd changed the title did not sit well with me.  If they were going to change that, for no reason that I could tell, what else would they change?  As it turned out, the sheep password, which I had memorised from the book (Just in case.  I hoped one day to be able to talk to animals like Doctor Doolittle), was also completely wrong.  Unfortunately I can no long remember what the original was, but I still maintain my outrage from my childhood over that one. 

Despite my hesitancy, this film is a pleasure.  James Cromwell is perfect.  So absolutely perfect, it makes me joyful.  I quickly forgave the changes mentioned above, and reveled in the other little touches throughout the film (Singing field mice!).  It's a beautiful, simple film and it will never lose its charm.

Final Thought:  Were the opportunity ever to arise, I would snap up a chance to work with the animal trainers for this movie.  It's really quite amazing what they did.  Hint hint, Universe.

Up Next:  Back To The Future (1985) 

The Avengers (2012)

Not to be too much of a fangirl about it, but Joss Whedon's work is pretty great.  I remember watching the original Buffy movie any time I had a sleepover with my friends as a teenager.  Then when I heard that there was going to be a TV show, years later, I counted down the minutes until the first episode.  I faithfully watched and recorded every show (I still have the collection of VHS) and, as it was moved to later and later timeslots, I enlisted my father to carry on the taping for me (though once I got a TV of my own, I'd sneakily watch it anyway in the middle of the night).
This loyalty carried on to Angel when it started.  Then Firefly came, and I was skeptical, plus it screened at 1am on a school night in Australia, so I only got around to seeing that on DVD before going to see Serenity, and I wished I'd seen it sooner.  Dollhouse took a few episodes to convince me, but convince me it did.  And don't get me started on The Cabin In The Woods...  I'll talk about that when I get to it in this project (which I am planning to time precisely to coincide with the DVD release so I can include it).

Anyone who is a fan of Joss Whedon has absolute trust in any project he takes on, occasionally blindly so.  But in our defense, we're yet to be given a reason why we shouldn't.
Thankfully, The Avengers continued his trend of quality products.
It's oh so fun.  
There was a lot of pressure, poor guy, because they've been setting up for this film for a long time, what with all the individual hero movies to introduce us to the characters.

I don't really feel qualified enough to comment much on the characters themselves, not having read the comic books.  But I will say two things:
The last two incarnations of the Hulk have been so tortured - it's really nice to see the character romp around and have (violent) fun.  I'm not an authority on the Hulk, but for me think that's why it works.
And, as an Aussie, I love how good Chris Hemsworth is as Thor.

Final Thought:  Stan Lee's cameos just get better and better.

Up Next: Babe (1995)

August Rush (2007)

This film is a bit melodramatic for what it is.  There's a great deal of gazing in to the middle distance, much dialogue delivered in an is-he-about-to-cry-oh-I-guess-not fashion, lots of longing.  That could be part of why I watch it with a degree of cynicism, because it takes itself a bit seriously.  It presents itself with the sort of gravity you'd see in a film about cancer.  The characters seem perpetually overwhelmed by something they're not quite explaining to us.

It's always frustrating for me watching a film where at least one protagonist is meant to be an accomplished musician, because the actors are rarely cast with that in mind.  I've already ranted about this in my post about The Artist, though in that case it was related to dancing.  But the same applies here.  Musicians can tell when a performer is faking it, and it's sometimes insulting that filmmakers don't think we'll notice.
For instance, in this film, there's a moment when August encounters a piano for the first time, and in his fascination he plays three notes.  The three notes we see him play ascend the scale.  The three notes we hear descend the scale.  
...Really??  Come on!
Prior to that moment, I was thinking that the actors did a decent job at playing their instruments.  Keri Russell has something of a cellist vibe about her, and I would hardly be surprised if Jonathan Rhys Meyers strummed out songs on guitar occasionally.  They seemed really mindful of trying to make it realistic, so I almost forgave whichever sound guy it was who on numerous occasions apparently thought it unimportant to sync up what we hear with what we see played*. 

Despite his being the title character, I think I would enjoy this film more if the focus was more on August's parents.  So why is it in my collection?  I got it out of curiosity, because I liked some of the actors, who coincidentally happen to be the ones playing August's parents.

Final thought:  Robin Williams' bitter Bono-inspired cowboy is not my favourite thing about this movie.

Up Next:  The Avengers (2012)

*Call me crazy, but I would have thought that if you're making a movie about people playing music, you'd make note of how it's meant to look when music is played.  

The Artist (2011)

The Artist is a gorgeous film.  A work of art.  I was excited enough by the trailer for this that I marked the date of cinema release in my diary.  It manages to embody much of what I love about pre-1960 films.  I do love this film. 


Honestly, if you think about, and you don't even have to think very hard... the plot is essentially the same as that of Singin' In The Rain.  But with less cheeriness, more angst and just as much grace.

I found the line about audiences being tired of actors "mugging for the camera" to be an interesting one in this context, because one of my favourite things about this movie is how expressive the performers are.  It seems these days that it takes skill to be expressive performer without resorting to mugging, and my preferred actors are those who are capable of it.

The actors in this film are spot on.  He is marvellously charismatic, in true screen idol style, and she is captivating.  Cromwell can break your heart while barely moving a muscle, and Goodman has such a recognisable voice that it's fascinating to see him working without it.

All that said, I do have a major issue with this film.
If your actors aren't dancers, please don't pretend that they are.  Please.  Don't give them a dance number.  It shatters the illusion for any dancer in the audience, because the lack of skill is blatantly obvious and we just won't be convinced.  Fred and Ginger they are not.  For a film set in the 1920s, the lack of a convincing charleston step is depressing.
I appreciate that they worked on that final dance number for 5 months, that's commendable.  But that's exactly how it looks; it looks like people who learned some dance steps for the first time in their lives 5 months ago.  It made such an elegant film end like someone clumsily tripping over their evening gown as they leave a party.


Final Thought:  Bring back the days of clever animal sidekicks!!

Up Next:  August Rush (2007)