Pixar Does It Again

Yes, there are a few spoilers below. If you don't care, read on. If you do, what are you doing online? Go see the movie already, then come on back. 

Brave is almost like a "Greatest Hits" movie for Pixar. Everything we've come to expect from some of the finest storytellers and animators in the business is here, along with some new elements to spice things up and raise the bar just a little higher for next time. 

It's the story of Merida (a Scottish princess) and her family. This is Pixar's first female heroine, and they do a fine job of spinning a new and exciting sort of story around her. Merida's father is a formidable warrior, the King of four allied Scottish clans, and her mother a loyal, loving, and very stubborn wife. She's intent on teaching Merida how to be a proper Scottish princess, and we quickly learn why. The time has come for the four clans to gather together in the service of finding a suitable husband for the princess, and the princess needs to be ready herself. Merida, a fiery redhead with a personality to match and the growing spirit of a warrior, is less than keen on the idea. That's where the real story begins. 

At its heart, Brave is the story of a girl and her mother. Through the magic of storytelling, it's also a story that's accessible to anyone and everyone. Being a 21-year old college guy, you might think this is the last movie I'd enjoy - but you'd be wrong. The relationship between Merida and her mother is one that anyone can identify with, because it's all about the nature of growing up, trying to form your own identity and making choices with consequences you can't always fully foresee. Granted, most stories of growing up don't see the parental figure in question turned into a bear, but still.

Brave's strength as a film stems from the fact that it's a personal movie. For all the action, adventure, and outlandish happenings, the true focus of the story is never forgotten or set aside for anything. Everything matters. For a discerning viewer, the message and direction of the film may be fairly obvious, but that doesn't make the ride any less enjoyable or touching. 

In the end, Merida doesn't find her prince and ride off with him into the sunset. She doesn't need to. And I think that's a wonderful thing. I'm not a young woman, so I'm not going to pretend I can fit in one's shoes (the heels would hurt my ankles, probably), but I can say this. Sending a message that you can be your own strength, that everyone is capable of being strong in their own way, and that perhaps one of the greatest strengths you can have is to understand and accept the strengths of others, is something to be truly admired.  It's a rare thing to find in this age of rom-coms and Twilight movies, but that doesn't make it any less true.  

Brave is a new sort of Pixar movie - in the best way possible. Sure, it may not objectively be the most brilliant, mind-blowingly wonderful movie they've ever produced. But somewhere (or maybe in a lot of different somewhere's) in the world is a person, or a family, or especially in this case, a mother and daughter, who watched this movie and felt things change for them. When you get down to it, isn't that what movies should be all about?

Bonus Prize: As a reward for reading all the way to the end of my review, here's a link to some of Pixar's "Story Rules" to live by. It's a great read! 

http://www.pixartouchbook.com/blog/2011/5/15/pixar-story-rules-one-version.html

DVD Review: 21 Jump Street

In recent years, Hollywood seems to have been running short on original ideas. The glut of cash-cow remakes and "re-imaginings" of old properties, more often than not, is an excuse to make a lazy movie with name recognition and nothing else going for it. I thought that 21 Jump Street would be one of those movies. I was wrong.

Most people today only know of the television show 21 Jump Street as the starting point for a young Johnny Depp's career. I'm one of them. I've never seen an episode of the original series, but honestly, the conceit is exceptionally simple. Jump Street was (and is) about cops who are relegated to a small division whose job it is to go undercover as high school students. In the film, Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill play two young, inexperienced cops who were anything but friends in high school - Tatum's character was a cool jock, while Hill was a nerd. 

The film plays well both as a spin on the traditional buddy-cop comedy and as a sly commentary on everything it portrays. The really great thing about Jump Street, besides the smart, tight script, is how self-aware and self-deprecating it can be. When the main characters are reassigned to Jump Street after bungling their first arrest, their captain describes the place as having been dreamt up by a bunch of people who have no original ideas and so have resorted to dusting off old programs from the 80's. Thinly veiled commentary? Sure. But it works. And it is funny. 

This movie stands on its own two legs in all respects. Is it perfect? No, but it sure is hilarious. I fully admit, I tend to shy away from a lot of contemporary Hollywood comedies, because I usually find them needlessly crass and painfully unfunny. That's just a personal feeling, and its one of the things that kept me from paying to see this movie in theaters. Jump Street subverted my expectations entirely in that regard. 

Watching the main characters return to high school and be totally blindsided by how the definition of 'cool' has changed in just a few years (Hill's character becomes 'cool', while Tatum's jock is suddenly 'lame'), is fantastic. The role reversal makes for some genuinely interesting (if slightly shallow) character development. The rest of the movie is purely knock-down, drag-out fun. Realistic? Absolutely not. Most of the things these guys do in service of solving their case are so illegal it shouldn't even be funny. But it is. I kind of want to make my college roommate (who is majoring in Criminal Justice and wants to become a cop) watch this so I can see his head explode over just how out there it is. Still, it works on all kinds of levels. 

Johnny Depp does have a cameo in this movie, and let me say, it is fantastic. It fits perfectly with the story and doesn't feel shoehorned in. Plus, its the most badass (and funny) Depp has been in years. I would pay to see an entire movie featuring his character in this film if it was done right. 

If you haven't seen it yet, this movie is well-worth the price of a rental. Fun, engaging, and plain old enjoyable. Check it out. 

Happy Birthday Joss Whedon!

If you read this blog with any regularity (or just know me personally) you know it's no secret that I love the works of Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Serenity, Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and Dollhouse, among others. Most recently, he's been recognized for his work on Cabin in the Woods and a self-described "little art-house film" called The Avengers. 


Whedon is a huge inspiration to me as a writer, creator, and director. There are others, of course, but he ranks at the top of my list for sheer dedication and creative energy. I mean, the guy tried to take a two-week vacation, and wound up making a movie version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing in his backyard. Dedication to his craft? For sure. But more importantly, I think that 'vacation story' sums up what makes Joss such an admired figure for people like me. He didn't shoot Much Ado because he was hoping to make money off it. He shot it because telling stories is what he loves to do. You can be dedicated to something without truly loving it, but that's not Joss. The man loves what he does as much as the fans of his work do - and that's truly admirable.

So in appreciation of Joss' 48th birthday, let us all do THE DANCE OF JOY AND HONOR.

Or, if you're not much of a dancer, show your support of Whedon by going out and purchasing one of his works - for example, the DVD of Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, featuring Neil Patrick Harris...

or the many works about him, the most recent of which is Joss Whedon: The Complete Companion, featuring an essay by yours truly. 

Happy Birthday, Joss. And thank you. 

Where's the Rock?

I wanted to love Rock of Ages. I really, genuinely did. I am an unabashed lover of rock'n'roll music, and for me, theater is a way of life. To see the two combined onscreen was a dream come true - at least in concept. In delivery, not so much. What really disappoints about Rock of Ages is that in the maelstrom of misfires, there are some genuine rock'n'roll moments, some flashes of what the whole film could and should have been all about.

There's a saying that'll be familiar to anyone who works in and/or enjoys musical theater: when you have something to say, you speak. When you can't speak, you sing. Musicals are all about that chance to express things that we can't find the words to otherwise. In Rock of Ages, the vast majority of the characters have little or nothing to say, which makes their singing, in a word...pointless. Because many of these characters are so shallowly drawn (and frankly, unlikable caricatures), their singing lacks the raw, explosive emotional power that sits at the center of any good musical. Musicals are built around just that - the music, as extension of character and story. When both of these elements are as flimsy as they are here, it undercuts the music. 

Like me, you may have heard or read that the real reason to see this movie is Tom Cruise's turn as the Axl Rose-inspired rocker Stacee Jaxx. That's genuinely true. Jaxx has an odd obsession with feeling other people's heartbeats (these people are almost exclusively women), but what's interesting is that he alone is the heartbeat of this film. Why? Simple. Stacee Jaxx is the only real piece of genuine rock'n'roll in the entire movie. Every time he's onscreen, a wild energy comes with him that invigorates an otherwise furiously dull film.

Other performers in the film can sing and dance perfectly well, for sure. One thing this movie isn't short on is talented, pretty people. Julianne Hough in particular gives a game performance and supplies great vocals. 

Unfortunately there's not all that much here for the performers to work with. The movie is set in 1987, and for some counter-intuitive reason, it seems more interested in chronicling the decline of rock'n'roll than celebrating the fact that it will never die. Watching Rock of Ages will just make you want to come home and blast your favorite vinyl record on the turntable. But that's really not so bad, is it? 

The Majesty of the Doctor

I don’t know why I keep watching this clip. It makes me cry like a baby every single time. The brilliance of Murray Gold’s score combined with the regeneration scenes of every Doctor are unbelievably powerful.

But what hits me the most about this clip is the roars that go up from the crowd as each Doctor’s face appears on the screen. You can tell how much people really love The Doctor and how important he’s been to them - in all 11 incarnations, to millions of people over nearly half a century, in so many different ways.

As a writer, as a creator, I find myself wishing that someday, I might be able to create even just one thing - one story, one character, one anything - that has an impact on even just one person the way that the Doctor has mattered to so many people. 

At first this idea seemed selfish to me…but then I realized, it isn’t. I don’t need the fame, the glory, the money that might come from it. I just need to create something that matters to someone else the way that the Doctor matters to me. He is a hero of mine and I look up to him, and I’ll never apologize for that. Maybe someday, if I’m lucky, someone will look, even just for a moment, to someone I’ve written the way I look to the Doctor now.  

Allonsy, everyone. 

Shameless Plugs (An Addendum)

In the spirit of my last post, and because I think they deserve it, I thought it would be a good idea to post links to some of the dedicated writers and artists I mentioned when writing about GraniteCon. If you have a chance, check out their sites and show them some love - metaphorically (or literally in the form of purchasing their work).

Juli Mayers (Wicked Little Studio): Not only is Juli a genuine, friendly person, she's also a great artist. I have a print of hers (the 9th Doctor and Rose) hanging in my room right now. You can find her at: http://www.wickedlittlestudio.com/

Charles Soule: Writer of 27 and Strongman, as well as the upcoming Strange Attractors, Charles is based in New York. I'm reading the first volume of Strongman right now, and it's very, very good. And I'm not saying that just because I met the guy. Give his work a read - you can find him at: http://charlessoule.wordpress.com/

Peter Vinton Jr. : This guy is an artist and illustrator, and his work ranges from covers to sequential art to portraits. Check him out at: http://petervintonjr.com/index.html

Joe Hill: Of all the folks on this list, he's probably the one least in need of what (little) help might come from a mention on this blog. The son of writer Stephen King, Mr. Hill is the author of the Locke and Key comic book series, which is ongoing, as well as the novels Horns and Heart Shaped Box. He is also the author of the superb short story collection 20th Century Ghosts. If you don't have a copy, do yourself a favor and get one as soon as you can. You'll be glad you did.
You can find him at: http://joehillfiction.com/

GraniteCon, Comics Writing, and the Creative Community

Yesterday, I went to GraniteCon in New Hampshire for the first time. It was the first major con I've been to, and I couldn't have asked for a better time. Not only did I go with my two best friends, I got to meet writers, artists, and plenty of other folks who love the same things I do. There's not much out there that's more inspiring (or just plain cool) than that.

I got to reconnect with a few new friends and fellow geeks, including the talented Juli Mayers of Wicked Little Studio, who I first met on Free Comic Book Day and who puts out some really great work. I collected some great new prints and a commissioned sketch as well.

In addition to that, I attended a comic book writers panel featuring several writers, including:

- Joe Hill, author of Locke and Key in the comicsverse, as well as the novel Heart Shaped Box and the phenomenal short story collection 20th Century Ghosts. 
- Jason Ciaramella, writer of Joe Hill's The Cape and the upcoming The Cape: 1969
- Charles Soule, writer of 27 and Strongman, among other titles.
- Mike Raicht, creator and writer, The Stuff of Legend

The panel itself was great and the guys gave some nice insights about the comics world, especially the oft-asked question of how to break in to the business. The simple answer (if you're curious): you don't. The Big 2 (Marvel and DC) don't take solicitations, resumes, or anything like that anymore. According to these guys, the only way to really get yourself out there is to do just that - get yourself out there, in any way you can. Comics companies often look for writers from other fields to pen stories for them, so don't limit yourself or dismiss an opportunity because its not the perfect job you were looking for. Also worth noting is their admonition to start small. As one of the writers put it, everyone has their big epic, their story they want to be the next Sandman or Walking Dead, but there's no way that script is going to get printed right off the bat. It takes years and years of hard work and success to even be in a position where that is a possibility. As always, the bottom line was, you have to love what you do. If you don't, you'll be surrounded by people who do, and not only will they "smell you out" incredibly quickly, they'll also be producing work that's better than yours - because they love doing it.

Of course, if you'd rather, you could ignore all that and just go with Joe Hill's idea, which was: get a giant Deadpool tattoo on your chest, then go to a con where you can meet Jim Lee, then rip your shirt open and demand a job from him. Of course, as Ciaramella said, Lee and the other folks over at DC would probably not take kindly to that - for more than one reason.

Because Deadpool, as we all know,
is a flagship DC Comics character.
Along with Spiderman and The Avengers.

What stuck with me most about the day, though, was a conversation I had with Charles Soule at his table after the panel. I stopped by to talk to him and get a look at some of his work, but decided to take a last spin around the other tables before I bought one of his books.
When I came back, he said, "Hey, you made it back. You're a man of your word." All I could think to say was, well, the truth: I hope that someone would do the same thing if I was in his position. That hope was only strengthened by what he told me next. He said, at every con, there were people who did that -said they were coming back and then never did. He said it was "heartbreaking", every time. You might not think it would be, but it is.

Thinking about that exchange today, I've come to a better understanding than ever before of how important it is for us creative types to support each other. I mean, living the creative life is hard enough anyway, so why not try to make it a little easier on each other? That's part of what events like GraniteCon are for, to take the opportunity, as writers and artists of all stripes, to come together and buoy each other up a bit. Money might not be the easiest thing in the world to come by, but where can it be better spent than in helping another artist out?

Now I know I'm no authority on the subject of money being tight, and I don't have the metaphorical soapbox of a starving artist to be writing this post from. I'm still a college student, lucky enough to be comfortable and have the support of his parents. But someday, all that comfort might not be there. Successful or not, well-known or not, I still think that the thing I as a writer will value the most is the appreciation and honesty of an audience, large or small. So to the writers and artists and everyone else reading this, take that chance. Buy a book by an up-and-coming writer. Pay the $10 for a commission sketch at a con. Instead of a mass-produced poster for your wall, buy a large print from an artist you know. And when someone asks you where it came from, tell them. Spread the word, and help each other out. Who knows, maybe someone will do the same for you.