Corpse Bride

Arranged to marry, Victoria (Emily Watson,) the daughter a penniless aristocrat and Victor (Johnny Depp) the son of a wealthy merchant are both nervous of their circumstance. When the wedding rehearsal is a disaster, Victor flees to the woods in order to practice his vows. He mistakenly concludes his vows placing the ring on the finger of the Corpse Bride, Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) becoming cursed to marry her and join her in the land of the dead. In his absence, Black Widower and Gold-Digger Lord Barkus (Richard E. Grant) makes a pass at Victoria and Victor must find a way around the curse in order to return to wed Victoria.

In typical Tim Burton fashion, this witty musical is chock-full of twisted humor and appropriate dark themes. The characters are well written and the story and themes are quite touching. The story is a touching romantic fling full of potent meaning about how marriage should be, being who you're supposed to be and loving the right person and finding true love.

Emily's heartbreak after her brutal murder by her former lover is well handled as is Victor's intended sacrifice as he's accepted his fate. And Emily also sacrifices her happiness with Victor in order to secure his happiness. And this speaks to what marriage is: sacrifice. And this one has it in spades.

And it's also very cute, I find.

***

In; Helena Bonham Carter

Out: Danny Elfman

Coming Soon: Nightmare Before Christmas

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore,) a poor and simple, but kind, boy whose imagination and love of chocolate alongside his loyalty to his family create enough wealth to sustain him, finds within a chance piece of chocolate a golden ticket and the chance to tour Willie Wonka's (Johnny Depp) Chocolate Factory. WIth the chance at a special reward, Charlie and his companions are tested as they tour the factory together. And, meanwhile, Willie Wonka recalls his childhood and finds he's missing something.

Usually Tim Burton is known for his uses of the many shades of the color black as evidenced in Sleepy Hollow, Nightmare Before Christmas and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He's known for his twisted sense of humor and for the brilliant tour he gives into the realm of darkness. But here, it's color that reigns richly from the costumes to the sets and each Oompa Loompa sequence. Most memorable for the set designers is the candy garden. And the characters are well fleshed out by their acting counterparts, so beautifully cast. Not to mention the complete joy that is the compilation of Johnny Depp, Tim Burton and Danny Elfman (architect of each of the Oompa Loompa musical numbers.) Their performances and story craftsmanship apply an agelessness which will stand as excellent for years to come. And this three-way marriage is so poetic and perfect that the other elements (especially the multi-facial Deep Roy as the Oompa Loompas) make for a great family inside this great family film.

I am impressed also by the social commentary as each child succumbs to their vices, reaping appropriate comeuppance as we travel through the Chocolate Factory. The stage for Agustus' gluttony is equally horrific and cartoonish allowing an audience of any age to understand completely. And each number, wickedly performed by Deep Roy's Oompa Loompas, speaks with a cautionary voice and strikes a chord entertaining us and teaching us at the same moment. And this is why the story will remain ageless.

****
In: Edward Fox

OUT: Helena Bonham Carter

Coming Soon: Corpse Bride

A Bridge Too Far

General Horrocks (Edward Fox) begins what may be my favorite pre-mission briefing, thus: "This is a story you will tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they'll be." The story is of a vast and multi-layered nature, it's the tale of Market-Garden, the largest airborne operation mounted. It is the operation designed to take and hold the bridges running from Holland into Germany across the Rhine River. It was big and ambitious and severely costly.

In true seventies fashion, in a story told by a British director (Academy Award Winner Richard Attenborough,) the story unfolds slowly and stiffly, but has its moments. The landscape is salted appropriately with humor and bad accents, but it remains something likened to one of today's four-hour epic tales, the kind you need to purchase the special edition to experience. Unfortunately humorous in tone, however littered with some of the best actors of the time including Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Michael Caine, James Caan, Elliot Gould, Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Olivier. Have I ever mentioned how much I love a great ensemble cast? Well, let me say again, then: I LOVE A GREAT ENSEMBLE CAST and this one is one of the best.

After having the rug pulled from beneath my feet by HBO's Band of Brothers, this one is a bit watery, but considering the time and the fact that the social climate was still recovering from Vietnam, this one is still very well written, charging forward until brutally stopped in Arnham, Holland, the tragedy slowly taking its toll on the men in front of the lens. And the layers, each individual plot line, grant the viewer a sort of episode by episode series of events which allow us to choose our favorites and be fans. I am fond of Robert Redford's charge across a part of the river, the line involving James Caan's character and the bit with Elliot Gould's 101st Airborne's rebuilding of the Son Bridge. They highlight beautifully what an ensemble piece is supposed to be, a blending.

My problem is that there is too much set dressing and not enough substance; during this viewing, either because of my fatigue after the events of this week at work or simply because of the length of this film, I fell asleep in the middle of the slump between hours one and two. And its not because a three hour film is incapable of keeping my attention (because it did for four consecutive Christmas Eve afternoons with films by Peter Jackson at the beginning of this decade,) I simply am able to better devote my attention during an epic-sized film when the pacing is quicker. A friend of mine is fond of perusing Jackson's epic trilogy by leaving out half of the plot, the one involving two hobbits and a parasite named Gollum. This film-watching tactic may be applicable here, as well. But in order to get the scope, I'm afraid I watch all of it all the time.

The opening narration breaks down the hope of the operation as "so many plans in so many wars." And, like some of the best laid plans, this one fails to the cost of thousands of lives. The desperation is keenly felt in each place, but none as severe as the razing of Arnham. Mr. Attenborough presents a very realistic level of cost of life, not glorifying nor criticizing war and war efforts, but simply presenting the facts, almost to the level of a documentarian. The film is cut and dry and simply honest; a bit long, but true to its nature. A fine example of a well-constructed film presentation.

****

In: Gene Hackman

Out: Edward Fox

Coming Soon: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Superman II

Before the destruction of Krypton, Genreal Zod (Terrence Stamp) and his followers were caught in an act of sedition and sentenced to imprisonment for eternity in the Phantom Zone, an alternate reality floating in space. When Superman (Christopher Reeve) detonates a terrorist group's hydrogen warhead in space far from earth, the shock-wave causing the portal to shatter releasing Zod who comes to Earth seeking revenge against Kal-El's family for condemning him to the Zone. Meanwhile, the romance between Clark Kent and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is heating up and Clark wants to reveal his secret to Lois, who is torn between her love of Superman and starting a life with Clark. And Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) has discovered The Fortress of Solitude.

Superheroes' lives hinge on choice. Every possible path is measured and weighed: whether to expose or hide the extraordinary abilities granted by chance or design, to walk away from the fight surrounding them, to fold themselves completely in the arms of the person they've chosen to love or to live in solitude and fight the fight alone. And these are the choices a warrior must make in order to succeed in the task placed before them. As a result, the life of most superheroes is littered with loss, as well as a gaping hole they can never fill, they can never have what they desire most: a normal life.

This film is a prime example of this motif. Here, Kal-El choses to be with Lois and choses a mortal life in order to be with her, giving up on his calling and being unable to fight the good fight when called out. And, so he has the choice to run and be normal with her or to give up his chance at a normal life, reopening the hole in his being and embracing the task placed before him. And it has been so for most of this archetype. For instance, Buffy (of Vampire Slaying fame) is unable to be a normal high school (and later college) girl: to be homecoming queen, go to parties and date the quarterback. She can't, because she's a hero with a great work to do, something she dies for twice. For Superman, Clark Kent and Kal-El, the defense of Earth is a great work which requires an even greater sacrifice which he willingly gives in the fact that he'll never settle down because he's needed to not look back and never to back down. And so that normal life superheroes desire is not possible and the hole is what drives them. and that sacrifice is what makes us love them so much.

****

IN: Terrence Stamp

OUT: Gene Hackman

Coming Soon: A Bridge Too Far

Superman

On a small red planet in the distant blackness of space, a family prepares for the destruction of the world they called home. And from the eruptions from the planet core, a small escape pod is launched against the orders of the high council carrying the son of Jor-El (Marlon Brando) of Krypton, Kal-El (Christopher Reeve,) toward Earth in order save him. Crash-landing in Smallville, Kansas, he is raised by a childless and compassionate couple as Clark Kent. Discovering as a young man when he is called by the power of a crystal Jor-El packed in the pod which contains the building materials for The Fortress of Solitude, he begins his education into his true nature. Returning to civilization, he takes a job at the Daily Planet, Metropolis' long-running newspaper. Partnered with tenacious reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder,) he discovers who he's meant to be as he saves lives and rights the injustices and terrors of criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman.)

I must say this: they don't make superhero movies like this anymore. The closest anybody came recently was Iron Man a few years back. Audiences lack the patience involved with engaging with a genuinely great superhero backstory and first adventures. These classic films either tend to cause us to digest the story slowly and get to know the package intimately, including all of their charms or they bore us, we who are used to instant gratification in a world where the news is uploaded to the internet on the fly and we can send videos of our activities by text, email and post them to YouTube. Superman never bores me, it's charms, wit and the strange way it allows us to time-travel back to the polyester era. And I really don't mind the strange geek bravado because of its quality emotional sculpture. With John Williams' iconic score and Christopher Reeves' brilliant dual performance both as the stuttering Clark Kent and the suave and (without needing to say it, but I will anyways) heart-stoppingly gorgeous Superman, everything is presented with finesse and class. I can't say that for most of the superhero movies today.

And I must mention Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor, he's charming enough to soothe the edges of his malice. But he is nowhere close to my favorite for the role. I am quite attracted to Michael Rosenbaum's performance as Luthor on the CW's Smallville. His presentation is seductive, conflicted and brazenly blunt and as I am fond of saying: 49% good, 51% evil, the perfect villain. Hackman's Luthor fails to toe the line; his malice overcomes his charm making him less of an antagonist and more akin to furniture for the plot. The real antagonist is Jor-El's principle of meddling with history, because there is a finite amount of time for Kal-El to save the girl and the rest of the lives in jeopardy. And, while I understand the romantic reason for saving the girl, despite breaking that principle, the violation also makes Superman a bit soiled in the annals of superheroes, as the persona of the hero must remain spotless. But it also makes him one of us: human in every way, with all our flaws. Therefore, it does make him relatable to the audience, allowing us to love him for all he is, as is required for an enduring devotion to any character.

This film is in my top twenty favorite films of all time, if for nothing more than it makes me fall in love, giving me hope that mankind is better than the news presents. That we have a "capacity for good" and we're worth the fight for justice and truth. And this film touches that spot in my soul that makes me wish that superheroes existed during my lifetime and that, by some lucky coincidence, one of my childhood daydreams became true and I am one of them.

****

Coming Soon: Superman II