Paranorman: Chris Butler's Latest

First of all, hello dear readers. Hope you all are well and that you still are maybe reading this when your tv is broken and it's raining outside. Glad to hear that you're still loyal. You keep on keepin' on.

I realize that I haven't written in a month (how embarrassing...) but I hope you will accept my sincerest apologies when I tell you that the reason that I didn't write anything for a full month was because my little brother got his arm caught in the microwave, and my grandmother dropped acid and she freaked out and hijacked a bus full of penguins so it was kind of a family crisis (whoever can name that quote gets a free coupon for Luna Protein bars. Seriously.).

Anyway.

The other night I had the extreme pleasure of getting to see Paranorman in theaters. Now, I should also toss in there that in addition to this rather unusual family crisis I didn't really watch anything new this past month. So I was really excited to get my butt back in the theater to chow down on some popcorn and sip on a mammoth-sized "medium" Diet Coke. So Nick (ooooOOOOoooohhh new bf whaaat) and I decided to see Paranorman. When we were in college we had seen Chris Butler's fascinating take on the hit children's novel Coraline and were both eager to see what Butler was bringin' to the table this round.

Rabid child.

Paranorman is the story of a young boy who can speak to ghosts and, as a result, forms strong bonds with them. But Norman isn't very popular among the living. Taking a daily beating from the school bully every day and regarded as a freak by his peers, he finds solace in zombie movies and talking to his apparitional buddies. At the time the story begins, Norman's hometown is about to celebrate its 300th anniversary with a huge nod to a witch trial which happened at the time of its founding. The witch's curse, legendary in this sleepy town, is said to be set for this very year and with its carrying out, the dead will walk among the townspeople. As Norman discovers the truth of the curse and sets out to stop it, he realizes that maybe zombies and witches aren't always what they seem.

I know, I know. I was shocked too.

If you've seen Coraline, Paranorman isn't worlds apart from it in terms of fantastical theme. Butler seems to have a dark side similar to Tim Burton (Who I thought for about two years was Coraline's creator. Oops.) but somehow a little more accessible to children. Whereas Burton seems obsessed with the macabre, Butler seems more interested in the creepy and the scary but also the turmoil of children (such as alienation and bullying). Paranorman and Coraline both revolve around children being able to sense and interact with apparitions that grownups can't see right away. This special connection between the young audience and the films' focus on children helps make for good child entertainment. But don't be so quick to haul your seven-year-old to this zombie movie. Butler's films seem to hold an interesting edge for anyone 13 and older (i'm surprised they didn't get a PG-13 rating for disturbing images) or else seem to answer to today's seemingly desensitized children. My boyfriend and I, 22 and 23 respectively, were sincerely creeped out and even scared towards the end of the film and gawked at the PG rating. But I guess that's better than scoffing at lame effects and boring zombies.

With humorous elbow-nudge-type jokes and nods to campy horror flicks, Paranorman also really tries to honor old horror films while simultaneously critiquing them and making them more accessible to kids. This keeps the movie accessible to adults as well, and of course to your average horror buff.

In terms of stop-motion, the film is a masterpiece. Between the difficult close-ups and the amazing effects towards the end, it's incredible to see what some people can do with clay. The effort definitely pays off, much like it did with Coraline, and Paranorman is fun to watch even if it's just to look for all the little details of each scene. Instead of creating simplistic characters a la Wallace and Gromit flicks, Butler makes Paranorman caricatured but still realistic enough to include minutia of the people's everyday lives, like Norman's sister's nail polish, the litter in the streets, and even things like Norman's zombie wallpaper. So cool.

Amazing animation and great characters.

I would give this movie an 8 and a half out of 10 (especially if you're over 13).

Jeff, Who Believes in Signs: An Uplifting Indie Movie What?

When I first got this from my local Redbox the other day, it wasn't really at the top of my list.  I was more excited to see We Need to Talk About Kevin (I was in a crappy mood, shush) and Casa de mi Padre (which I still haven't watched because my remote-less DVD player won't automatically put on subtitles). But having a few hours to kill on Sunday, I turned it on to clean my room and I was so mesmerized that I ended up sitting down and watching the entire thing while my dust bunnies held their breath. What an uplifting movie.

The story starts with Jeff (Jason Segel) talking about one of his favorite movies, Signs, and saying how inspired he is by the fact that the little girl has always had a problem drinking water and that that is what ends up killing the hostile aliens (oops, spoiler alert?). So sets the stage for the rest of the movie, which is balanced between Jeff's almost childlike belief in signs and his pessimistic brother (Ed Helms) Pat's problematic marriage.

"Hey, this is Fate. What's up?"

Thrown together by fate, they spend the day trying to decipher what it is that fate is trying to tell them about their respective lives. A cute side story (which becomes surprisingly more relevant as the film moves along) is also Jeff's mom (Susan Sarandon) Carol's day at the office, which is lightened by the hope of a secret crush.

The camera work in this movie is surprisingly innovative. Instead of dead-pan camera typical to indie films that I've been seeing lately, the camera moves more similarly to reality TV shots, with abrupt zooms and pans aimed at characters' facial expressions and reactions. The camera doesn't stop moving the entire film and it keeps you on your toes.

The real reason to watch this movie, though, is for its resounding theme of hope. In current times where there is so much focus set on getting jobs, making money, paying bills, and societal image as a way of normalcy, Jeff sheds some light on the fact that maybe that's not all there is to it right now. This movie dares you to believe in a higher power, and not just because it's cute, but because it means something. And not in a crazy Jehovah's Witness version of a higher power either, but something without a name, or maybe an old name like "fate" or "destiny" before those words got watered down by bad pop songs.

Ah, or soft porn romance novels...

A really inspirational movie, especially for a generation such as ours that, for the time being, just has to keep on chugging along. This movie's message helps us remember important things that can sometimes get swept aside by the pettier and materialistic things in life. So good job, Ray and Mark Duplass, you created a gem that had me bawling my eyes out with happy tears by the ending. (Seriously, the ending is one of the best that I've seen in a really long time.)

Thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of victims injured and killed in the recent Aurora shooting.

We Need to Talk (or Else Severely Repress Memories) About Kevin

We Need to Talk About Kevin? We need to talk about how I never want children after seeing this movie.

Seriously, man. Nothing funny to say about this movie. It's so upsetting and disturbing and sad and creepy. Beautifully and thoughtfully constructed but...damn.

Kevin is the son of Eva (Tilda Swinton) and Franklin (John C. Reilly) and he has been a sadistic son of a bitch since the day that he was born. Crying from morning until night while with his mother and then calm with his father, Kevin constructs a behavioral pattern that sticks with he and his family throughout the rest of the movie. Acting like a normal teenager in front of his father, Kevin seems to live to mess with his mother, testing her every reaction with some sort of violent or emotionally abusive act. The film follows the relationship that Kevin has with his mother his entire life before holding his high school hostage and killing several students inside and eclipses this story with Eva's life after the tragedy.

That description should iron out a bit of the sadness and the tangible tragedy of Eva's entire life after Kevin. Punishing herself throughout her post-shooting experience, Eva does things such as purposefully eating scrambled eggs with the shells in them, and letting people get away with slapping her in public for the things that her son did.

It would be too much to take if it weren't, at times, for the bizarre up-beat soundtrack that follows her around as she goes through her day. It plays as almost a manic denial to the reality which is her life; as if she turns her brain to happy music just to get through a day. And the cinematography in this is actually very poetic and well done also, very stark and blunt when showing the details of Kevin and Eva's past and yet very cerebral and trippy at times when we see Eva's current life. Ugh. Heartbreaking.

This ending will be stuck in your head for days, as it has been in mine.

If you're looking for a true horror movie that won't be leaving you looking for the boogie man or listening for ghosts, this is your film. Kevin gets under your skin with an uncomfortability that suggests that it is sometimes simply the nature of human beings to be evil and sadistic and that it could happen to anyone. All within the framework of an artful and well thought-out film. Interesting mixing of genres.

Someone give me a Disney movie--quick!

7 outa 10 stars.

Anyone Ever Just Feel Like...

Currently watching Hamlet 2 and getting a kick out of Steve Coogan as a down-and-out drama teacher creating an absolutely terrible play.

Babycakes: "I Just Keep Thinking About the Dinosaurs..."

Oh my god. Ok. To preface this movie, let me tell you all a story.

Once upon a time, my sister was in 10th grade, having an awesome day, and happened to watch a movie on Lifetime called Babycakes. She enjoyed it and promptly got on with her life. Several years later she happened upon it on Amazon or some such site and decided "What the hey? I'll buy it!" After receiving said movie, she popped it into our DVD player and she, my mother, and I all began to watch it. After about half an hour, we were all splitting our sides at this absolutely awful "feel-good movie". Babycakes has lived on in my family (and probably my family only) as a hilarious and hammy classic.

"Love means never having to say--"

Oh, my bad, "Love doesn't come in sizes"

The plot revolves around Grace (Ricki Lake pre-weight-loss): a shy, obese cosmetician for a mortuary. (Yup.) Her life seems to kind of just move along until, after enduring some verbal abuse at her father's wedding reception, she spots her dream guy (Craig Sheffer of One Tree Hill) at a local skating rink. Afterwards, acting like a complete normal person, she stalks the absolute shit out of him. Invades his work place to get his schedule, gets a new bed with satin sheets, gives herself a complete makeover, and steals his skates in order to meet him.

Yes, yes, candy is the way to his heart...

After an incredibly bizarre introduction over some banana splits, she gives him her address and tells him the elaborate dinner that she's going to cook for him. After suddenly getting creeped out that she's asking him over (or perhaps hesitant because his fiancee is away?), he leaves and says he might show up (after she presses his answer like twelve times). Ah and then the fateful dinner. He stays at a bar with some friends and gets totally smashed and shows up at her house five hours late, after she has eaten all the food and totally trashed her own apartment as a result of her disappointment. Rob (yep, his name's Rob) then proceeds to pass out and thus begins their attraction and impending romance (don't worry, I'm not going to spoil all the details for you).

Ah, love at first pancake.

If that description doesn't make you want to see this abysmal riot of a movie, I frankly do not know what will. If what I just summarized makes you think that the movie ends with her being a psychopathic killer, you are thinking of the wrong kind of Lifetime movie. In fact, despite all of her creepiness (ah, the days before Facebook), the movie seems to make her endeavors seem totally and completely normal. And I cannot possibly count the weird tangents in this film, which include an extended metaphor to the dinosaurs being extinct, a "crawling eye", an incredibly catchy keyboard theme song, the excess of pastels, and the interesting ten-thousand-layer outfits that Grace wears.  Not to mention the completely inexplicable 180 that Rob's character seems to suffer. In fact, Rob goes from being a totally normal-seeming fellow into a grown 5-year-old with ADHD. Is this what love does to people? Is this attractive? Apparently.

As a side note, I'm glad that Lifetime's producers were pioneers in making movies about guys who don't mind a little extra weight on their girls. But holy crap, couldn't they have run into each other on the street without her using binoculars and crazy to win him over?

So good and so funny, please see this movie. It'll warm your heart and make you both hungry and paranoid. How many movies can you say that about? Precisely.

(Also, Grace's scrunchies and hair accessories should've gotten their own credit in this movie. There are a ton of them.)

Wish there was a color photo of this pink sweater. 

And no, that's not a wedding veil on her head.

...Or is it....

Couldn't find a trailer but (LUCKY FOR YOU) the entire movie is on YouTube! Enjoy!

Alright, additionally, I have been looking all night for this DVD and it only exists on Amazon for upwards of a hundred dollars. True story. So if you've seen this movie on youtube and you wanna own it as badly as I do, write to Hen's Tooth Video (on their website at henstoothvideo.com) and make em re-release it!

Shopgirl: Rom-Dram?

When I first saw Shopgirl on the shelf at Blockbuster a few years ago (wow I'm old), I thought it would be a hilarious romantic comedy with my favorite Steve Martin character, Jason Schartzman as the awkward goofy guy, and Claire Daines as a cool love interest.

Then I read the book last month. Little did I know that I had the complete layout a little skewed.

Shopgirl isn't really a funny movie. It's actually sad for a good portion of the novella and Steve Martin, you can tell, took pains to see that the movie closely followed his original work.

Observe, the original work.

Claire Daines plays Mirabelle, a shopgirl working at a glove counter in the couture department of Saks Fifth Avenue in LA. Yes, glove counter. And no, Mirabelle hardly ever sells any. Her life is dominated by tedium and her shy demeanor doesn't really give her much wiggle room in terms of making new friends.

Boring.

While things look up for a brief time when she goes out with a man named Jeremy (Schwartzman), Mirabelle's future looks a little bleak. But Mirabelle's life gets turned on its side after she receives gloves from a stranger named Ray Porter (Martin) and the rest of the movie follows a map of human complexities and romantic interpretations.

Love stinks. Yeah yeah.

The movie is actually very beautiful. While seeing Steve Martin as this new complex character is a little throwing at first, he carries the role gracefully. The chemistry between Mirabelle and Ray Porter is a little stiff, but not unbelievable when compared to their characters, and their comfortability at some points in this film is almost heartbreaking when compared with their labeling of their relationship. The fragility of Mirabelle's poor little self is also a little sad. This is a sad love story for the majority of its duration. Mirabelle and Ray are both hopelessly flawed without any real idea of how to fix each other and without any real depth of understanding as to the other's entire personality.

Ah, l'amour.

But fear not, dear friends, because this movie ends on a high note (I won't ruin how). A very moody, poetic film typical almost of French cinema, Shopgirl keeps you pensive, breaks your heart, and renews your hope in love all in one sitting. Good job, Steve.

Six and a half stars.