My Neighbor Totoro

"Totoro? Your name is Totoro?"


I have seen My Neighbor Totoro many, many times. It is one of my boys favorites. The first time I heard about it was from my fies cousin Nate who was going to school for film. He asked if I had ever seen any film by Hayao Miyazaki? I said I hadn't and he told me that I needed to check out My Neighbor Totoro. So we did and we loved it. We then started to see other films by him like Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, Nausicca and Castle in the sky, but Totoro always was number one for us.

Last week my wife found an insert in the paper from AFI (American Film Institute) and it was saying that for the next month or two they would be showing many of Miyazaki's films. So when we saw that they were showing My Neighbor Totoro on the big screen we were jumping at the chance.

So we sat in the theater with about 50 others(less than expected)it was great to see this classic on the big screen. After the film they had a lady talking about Miyazaki and the history of Totoro. It was great.

My Neighbor Totoro is about two girls named Mei(may) and Satsuki whoo move to the country with their father. Their mother is in the hospital and they move to the country to be closer to her. The first day they discover soot gremlins in their house and find that there is a magic to their new home. Soon after Satsuki goes back to school and Mei goes to explore the Forest. She discover a little totoro and follows it into the woods where she happens upon a very large Totoro. Totoro shows up at special times and helps when they need it.

I don't want to tell much more, but would rather you experience the magic of these films on your own. Miyazakis film are different in that there are many odd things going on and many odd characters. The best way to explain this is to think of his films as a dream. When you have weird dreams funny things happen in them, but they make sense in your dream. When you wake then you wonder "where did that come from?" But, it made sense at the time. His movies are the same way. They are magical and imaginative.

It is a great film and has opened the door to many other great films for me and my kids.

9.5 out of 10

Cropsey

"What if your Urban Legends were real?"






We all have heard them as kids. The stories you tell about the crazy man down the street. The man who killed the family while camping. The man who took those kids and was never seen again. What if there was a reality behind your tales. Well on Staten Island it was.

Copsey is a documentary about the missing children from Staten Island. In the 80's there were a bunch of handicapped kids who disappeared. The film is made by Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman. They grew up there and are familiar with the tales. A man named Andre Rand was the main suspect. Rand was a custodian at a large mental hospital called Willowbrook. It was a very large place that was severely understaffed, almost 50 kids to one staff member, and seemed more like Hell than a hospital. We see videos of naked kids running around, balled up in a corners in terrible, unimaginigable conditions. After a expose by Geraldo the state shut it down. Some of the kids were transferred to other places and some were left to fend for themselves. They made their home there and in the tunnels below the hospital. A city of it's own below that very large hospital.

This seems to be where the problems begin. The place became a place where kids would on a dare to scare others kids. The place kids go to on the weekends to graffiti and break stuff or more unmentionable deeds.
The urban legends began to pop up about a man named Cropsey who lived in the abandoned hospital and in it's tunnels below. It was all good fun until the first little girl, Jennifer, disappeared.

A very large manhunt began and it seemed that everyone began to look. Later a body was found in a shallow grave and the hunt for the killer really began. It the film you find out that the main suspect was Andre Rand who was around all the kids shortly before they went missing, but there was never really a lot of evidence to fully convict him.

The documentary is full of videos, interviews of Police officers, lawyers, locals and family members. Some of the videos are pretty amazing and it makes you wonder why they have found so little with so much. After watching this I feel that this film could have easily gone on for another hour or two. The scenes where they go into the tunnels below the hospital and the old photos of the original search party's were great. They gave me the creeps. I was very young when this took place so I was not to familiar with it, but I was glad that I was able to learn about it and will be interested to see if anymore evidence/bodies turn up in the next 20 years before Rand is up for parole in 2036.

6.5 out of 10

The Hunger Games

"I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could, I'd bet on you."




About 4 years ago my wife told my I should read a book called The Hunger Games. I asked her what it was and she said it was a young adult novel about a bunch of kids forced into an arena and they have to kill each other. I gave her a blank stare and she tried to explain it better and not not make it sound so messed up. It was a good book. I don't know how someone has not thrown up a flag since a much more violent version of this same premise has been done. The book Battle Royale by Koushun Takami is about a bunch of school kids who are taken to an island and forced to kill each other in a much more pulp/violent story. It was later made into a Japanese film.

So we now have a much more accessible version of a good story. I was very excited to hear that they were making the book into a film. As always, I'm a bit hesitant to see a film adapted from a book. There are a few things you must expect. There will be less character development and little details will come about differently. A positive is that the annoying parts of a book my be much shorter or left out.

The Hunger games is about a girl named Katniss Everdeen who lives in a place called District 12. The movie is set in the future after a large civil war in which the capitol has divided the country into 13 Districts (12 really, we are told one was destroyed.)Each year as a reminder of the wars each district is required to send two tributes to the capital to participate in the Hunger Games in which they are forced to kill each other. A boy and a girl, ages 12-18, are chosen from a drawing in each district and sent off. They battle to the death and like the Highlander there can be only one survivor.

Katniss is played by Jennifer Lawrence(X-men:First Class, Winters Bone<.)
She is the main character in all three books. She is a rough and tough girl who is a great hunter with a bow. Her sister is selected to be a tribute and Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and another boy, Peeta(Josh Hutcherson), are sent to participate. They are accompanied by their Mentor a drunk man named Haymitch, played by Woddy Harrelson, who was a past games victor.

When they arrive at the Capitol they begin training for the 74th games. They have two weeks to prepare and then the madness begins. The tension in the theater was great. I went to the midnight opening with my wife and some of here friends. Luckily there was my friend, Jon, there to keep me company. It was much like a twilight crowd, but much less annoying. Unfortunately they did show a trailer for the new Twilight film, but anyway... The tension was great as they entered the arena. They place all 24 tributes around the Cornucopia, which is filled with weapons, food and supplies, and they wait for a bell and then they run for it. some go for weapons some go for food and some just start killing whoever is around. I was most curious about this scene than any other. I wanted to know how they were going to get all that violence into a PG-13 movie. they did a good job. Some of it was implied and some was shown (a little.) I would be interested to see a Coen's brothers version of this scene as well.

The rest of the film is about the survival of Katniss and Peeta. Thankfully some of the scenes were much shorter than in the book (I'm talking about you Cave Scene.) Many of the scene were cut short, but that is to be expected when you adapt from a book. I liked the characters and the scenery was just as I pictured it in my head. It was fun to see my friend at his first midnight movie.

I like this film a lot and would be willing to go see it again, if not just for the tension before the cornucopia scene.

"May the odds be ever in your favor."

8 out of 10

Hugo

" If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from, you look around... this is where they're made."


I was not prepared for Hugo as I planned to be. I was expecting to see a movie about a boy who works on clocks, but what I got was so much more.

I had planned to take my oldest boy, Tade, to go see Hugo, but time never allowed. With all the other movies that came out over the Holidays we did not make it to Hugo. For my birthday my wife got me a pass to the Oscar Showcase. A Saturday full of some of the Best Picture Oscar nominees. So I spent 10 hours with some of the years best films. First up on the List was Hugo...in 3D. My love affair with 3D has ended a while ago. I was very happy with this film though. Since it was made for 3D it was good. No cheap tricks with annoying things flying off the screen at you. I did like the snow and/or dust that you did see in almost every scene. Some people said it was too much, but it worked for me. The colors were bright, not as bright with the glasses on,but not too much.

Hugo is a story based on a children's book called The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Hugo is played by Asa Butterfield (Boy in the striped Pajamas, Nanny Mcphee Returns). He is a boy who after some rough life events ends up living in a train station where his job is to maintain the clocks. He works on a project that he began with his father a while before. The events following stem from his desire to finish the project hoping it will bring him a message from his father. There are many stars in the film: Ben Kingsley, Grace Chloe-Moritz Sacha Baron Cohen and Christopher lee to name a few. The best part is I never felt that the kids were trying to keep up with the veterans. The comic relief by Baron Cohen was just enough.

What I did not expect was the film lesson at the end. I had just read about the events at the end of the film, so I was very excited to see it unfold before me. If you are a film buff and like the history of film you will love this. It is no wonder that it was given such good marks by critics. I must say that this is the second best film I've seen from this past year right behind The Artist. I can't wait to see this film again.

8 out of 10

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

Why do these kids need Elmo? Because Elmo needs them. Elmo is Love.



Being Elmo was a big hit this year at Sundance. It has won many awards for various documentary categories. Having heard the buzz about it I was excited to see it. It did not have a wide release. It was mostly in in dependant theaters. I did not get a chance to head into DC to go see it, so I was very happy to see it pop up so soon on Netflix.

Being Elmo is a documentary about Kevin Clash. A young man who lives just outside of Baltimore. As a kid he became fascinated with puppets and any TV show that had them. He became hooked on Muppets later and began to make his own. He put on show for the local kids, played at schools and spent time at hospitals bringing a little joy into children's lives.

Following his dream he gets a chance to meet Kermit. Jim Hensen's close friend. Kevin spends the day with him and learns how to build a proper puppet. Later Kevin has the chance to audition to be on one of his hero's TV show. Captain Kangaroo.
From there things get better.

This film is a great look into Jim Hensen's world. It is fun and emotional. It is great to see how Elmo was developed and where he started. You find yourself cheering for Kevin and smiling at many scenes. I would put this on my list as one of the best documentaries that I have seen. Definitely in the top ten. It is a fun hour and a half to spend time with these characters. This a good way to introduce documentaries to younger kids. I would like to show this to my 7yr old. I would imagine he would find this as magical as I did.

8.75 out of 10

The Secret World of Arriety

"Why is it that whenever your father is late I always think he was eaten by the cat."


I must say that I am a pretty bug fan of Studio Ghibli films. I was never a fan of Anime and still am not, but I love these movies. I usually follow the Miyazaki films, but all of them are good. We saw the preview for this film last summer and began counting down the days. So tonight I grabbed my two boys some popcorn and settled in.

The Secret of Arriety is based off the children's book The Borrowers. It is about a family of tiny, tiny people who live below a house. They live off the little things that full size people (beings)wouldn't notice: a cube of sugar, a pin a button here or there. They do all they can to be invisible. One day a boy, Shawn, come to stay at the house and sees Arriety on her first "borrowing."

The rest of the movie is them trying to keep away from the nosey maid and the big cat. The friendship between Shawn and Arriety grow. He does all he can to help the family and keep them safe from all the harms that would befall little people.

The colors in the film are on par with other Ghibli films. They are bright and full. The story is simple compared to the other Ghibli films I've seen like Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and such. I guess that is since it is based on a book not an original story. This is a great movie to show your daughters. Like most of the Ghibli films it has a strong female lead. I admire that about these films. Disney, who is the US distributor, is catching on to that spirit thanks to the friendship of John Lassater and Mr. Miyazaki. You will see it in this summers "Brave" by Pixar. I can't wait for my daughter to be old enough so I can share treasures like this with her.

8.65 out of 10

The Artist

"_______________"

(hard to find a good quote on a silent film)


Who would have thought that one of the best films of 2011 would be a silent black and white film. Well, it was. I listened to an interview of a famous director and he was asked what he thought about The Artist. He said that the writer/director Michel Hazanavicious, has done what all directors wish they could do and that is be brave enough to make a silent film.

OK before I get started I just want to point out a few things about seeing a silent film. If you go to see one do NOT bring in a bag of chips that you can't open. If after five minutes said bag is still not open... let it go. Do not follow it up with a loud granola bar and some hard candy. It is a silent film that means it will be pretty quiet in the theater. That's all. Thanks for letting me whine.

I wanted to see this film after hearing all the buzz and praise that everyone had given it. I decided to go see it one night on my own since no one else want to go with me. so I walked into the theater three minutes before the start time and I'm the only person in it. Then one more showed up the one more. So there we are three guys all flying solo. pretty close to a private showing.

The Artist is about a man named George Valentin, played by Jean Dujardin, who is a silent film star in the late 20's. At the peak of his career the talkies show up. He resist the movie with sound and is left behind. during the transition he runs into a young lady, Peppy Miller, played by Berenice Bejo(A Nights Tale) who wants to be in the pictures. She end up with her picture on the front page of the papers with George and puts his movie debut on the fifth. George gets her a part in one of his films and she works hard and her career takes off. As he is resisting the talking films she is embracing it. He is left behind and she her career is taking off. All this as the depression hits. His life goes down hill fast as he watches her doing great. There paths cross several times and cross again.

The rest of the film is George's struggle with his pride. It is a beautiful film. I caught myself smiling a lot and was trying not to laugh at a few scenes (it was a very quiet theater afterall.) The movie had a Singing in the Rain feel to it. There two great scenes that stuck with me. The first it a scene where the two dance together with a screen between them. The other is a scene with Peppy in Georges dressing room alone with his tuxedo jacket. Both wwre brilliant. I would love to take my Mother-in Law to this film. She would love it.

I highly recommend this film. If you have not seen a silent film before this is a great cross-over. It is a great date film. The reading is pretty minimal so if you hate subtitles you would have no problem with this film. If you have not seen grandma in a while pick her up and take her out to the movies. She would love it. Just don't tell her how much movie tickets cost these days.

9 out of 10