I Love Virginia More: Gods and Generals

   Every war has more than one side. Each side has a cause. Every soldier in a war has a reason for supporting the side they're on. Gods and Generals is a Civil War film that looks at that in a certain way: For the sake of home. They say that home is where the heart is. Gods and Generals is a perfect example of that. The prequel to Gettysburg, (which was released in 1993,) Gods and Generals came to theaters in 2003. I'm warning you, this movie is hard to watch because of it's long running time of three hours and thirty nine minutes, but it can be worth it. We're going to look at reasons why...

  

From Left to Right: Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee

    Our story starts in 1861, at the start of the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee has been offered the role of Major General of the Union, or Northern, army. Because his home is in Virginia and it's a southern state, Lee declines saying, "And though I love the Union, I love Virginia more." Soon after Lee is chosen to lead the Confederate army of the South in which he accepts. Next we have Thomas Jonathan Jackson. He is a very religious man and will also be a strong general of the Confederates. During the war he'll gain the famous nickname of "Stonewall" Jackson, due to his poise in battle. Although most of the film is about the Confederacy, another side of the story is taking place within the Union. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain has left his wife and children to become a Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Maine Regiment of the Union. Who will this war be in favor of, and who will survive? 

    Gods and Generals is a film of pure emotion. All my life, I've thought of the Confederates as "the bad guys" because they wanted to keep slavery. But I have ancestors who were in the South or even fought in the war at that time, and the film showed that those with the Confederacy were not all bad people. The Civil War was a war that tore people apart. In a scene set in Fredericksburg, we see the American Irish fighting on both sides. One man starts to cry during battle. Why? He is Irish, and he realizes that he and his fellow Irishmen are killing their own.
    
       So why is it called Gods and Generals? A lot of the characters in the film are portrayed as very religious, specifically Christian. Stonewall Jackson demonstrates this the most. He is shown reading the bible with his wife, and there are scenes where he prays with emotion. It is Stonewall himself that says during the movie, "My religious faith teaches me that God has already fixed the time of my death; therefore, I think not of it. I am as calm in battle as I would be in my own parlor. God will come for me in his own time." Religion will offer many people strength over the course of the war. But why "Gods" instead of, "God" and Generals? Of course "Gods and Generals" does sound better than "God and Generals", but is there anything more to it than that? I'm really not sure, so please leave ETF a comment with your thoughts on this! 

      Tears, as well as blood, will be shed in the Civil War. So, so many tears. Tears for family, tears for fellow men, and tears for homes. From the first to the last ten minutes, Gods and Generals displays the beautiful theme of home and the identity that one's home gives to them. In the film Lee talks about how a place could be a mark on the map to one person but so much more to another. He says that, "But to us, my goodness, they're birthplaces and burial grounds. Places where you and I learned to walk, to talk, and to pray. Places where we made friendships and oh yes, fell in love." Lee emphasizes that where you grow up makes a part of who you are. Some of the men in the war are not fighting for slavery. Some are fighting to protect their families. Some are fighting for the state(s) and the country they call home. 
        A beautiful song by Mary Fahl entitled, "Going Home" is accompanied with the film and is heard in the opening credits. The lyrics are perfect for this film: I know in my bones that I've been here before. The ground feels the same, though the land's been torn. I've a long way to go; The stars tell me so, on this road that will take me home. 

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Alone and Tormented: Tim Burton's Vincent

    Anyone who knows Tim Burton well, might know that his first short film was his own poem adapted into a story called, Vincent. It's a stop-motion animated film that was made in black and white. Even though it is between five and six minutes, Vincent is a very entertaining short worthy of being watched over and over again. 

      Vincent Maloy is seven years old. He's always polite and does what he's told. For a boy his age he's considerate and nice. But he wants to be just like Vincent Price. There you have it. In his first short film comes Tim Burton's poem about a little boy named Vincent. This young man loves all things dark and spooky, including Edgar Allen Poe. But will his passion for things of that kind drive poor  Vincent out of his mind?

    Vincent is an interesting watch because it makes you try to put yourself in Vincent's shoes. You might try to imagine what it's like to feel Vincent's kind of madness and you wonder if he really was tormented by it. In the film his mother tells him that, "You're not possessed and you are not almost dead. These games that you play are all in your head." One opinion on Youtube that I heard suggested that Vincent is schizophrenic. I found this to be an excellent idea as far as mental illness goes, but Vincent doesn't quite show the symptoms of schizophrenia.  

     So Vincent is interesting, but is that what makes it entertaining? There are a few factors. First of all, you have the great narration of Vincent Price himself. Price along with his voice was well suited to this kind of story and told it like no one could have. His voice had feeling and created some of the foreboding extremely well. Secondly, the part that seems to be the most engaging and exciting is the ending scene. Truthfully, it's very intense in which Vincent becomes overwhelmed by "every horror in his life." "Overwhelmed" might be an understatement. That word is one way to put it, but for Vincent it appeared to be a nightmare that he could not survive.

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The TV People: Poltergeist (1982)

 

    Halloween has ended here in America, and I didn't really get around to posting anything for the season. I suppose now is as good a time as any, so the Halloween flick we're going to look at right now is none other than Steven Spielberg's Poltergeist from 1982. I'm not going to lie, this movie freaked me out a little bit when I was younger. But I watched it again about a year or two ago, and it became one of my favorites.  Last year in 2015, a remake also entitled Poltergeist was released. From what I've seen of the remake, I like Steven Spielberg's better. Let's consider reasons reasons why:

      Once upon a time, there lived the Freeling Family in a community in California known as Questa Verde. They appear to be a very happy and loving family. There's Stephen, a real estate man, his wife Diane, their teenage daughter Dana, their young son named Robert, and their youngest daughter, 5-year-old Carol Anne. One night, the family finds Carol Anne loudly talking to the TV. In the few days that follow, the Freeling Family experience what seem to be supernatural occurrences, such as furniture moving by itself and strange behavior from the pets. Before they know it, Carol Anne has mysteriously disappeared. Will they be able to find her, or have they lost their home and their little girl to a poltergeist?

       The thing about Poltergeist is that is really is creepy. It only starts to get creepy at the part of the film when things go wrong. Before Carol Anne disappeared, the family wasn't all that concerned. Now they're scared out of their wits. One thing that can be noticed is that once the terrors begin to unfold, the film is able to let you know when something really evil is present. This changes the atmosphere to give even an innocent childrens' room a unsafe feeling. In one scene when the closet is sucking up everything in the kids' room, you can hear small bits of laughter. I found that as you hear that laughter and see toys flying into the closet at the same time, the joyful aura that the toys are supposed to have felt exaggerated, and therefore creepy as well. 

        
     Poltergeist has great special effects, and there was no use of CGI when making the film. With all of the scary things that go on in the movie, none of it looks cartoonish. Most of the time, the horrors of the film are separated from the outside world. This is because all of it is taking place inside the Freeling home. When there are scenes that aren't happening in the house, the whole story still looks real, making it all the more suspenseful and frightening. It may even be better than the remake. Regardless, Steven Spielberg's Poltergeist will always be a spooky classic.

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Rags Cannot Hide Grace: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

    As far as Disney's concerned, this film has been given the title of "The one that started it all." Although it technically wasn't the beginning of Walt Disney's career, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was Disney's first full-length animated feature. Today, it is still one of Disney's most beloved classics despite not having quite the popularity of Disney films today such as Frozen or Finding Nemo. Besides the technical quality that is impressive for its time, why else is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs such a masterpiece? 

     Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful and very young princess by the name of Snow White, so called for her black hair and pale skin. Her stepmother, the queen, was horribly jealous of Snow White's beauty, and thus forced her to dress in rags and work in the castle as a scullery maid. The queen was afraid that Snow White would become more beautiful than herself. In the  possession of a magic mirror, the queen would ask said mirror every day, "Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?" Every day the mirror would inform the queen that she was fairest of them all. But one day the mirror's answer changed: "Lips red as the rose, hair black as ebony, skin white as snow..." Snow White was now the fairest! Not only that, Snow White had just met a prince while drawing water from the well and now they were in love. To the Evil Queen, there was only one solution: Snow White must die. The queen orders her huntsman to murder Snow White and to bring back her heart as proof that she was dead. 
      The huntsman takes Snow White to a place where she can pick flowers as the queen has ordered. While Snow White gathers flowers, the huntsman looks around to make sure they're alone. Snow White turns to see the huntsman with his dagger raised to kill her. But the huntsman simply can't get himself to do it. He tells Snow White of the queen's plot and fearfully instructs her to run away and hide. After running through a frightful forest, Snow White makes some animal friends and they take her to the cottage of the seven dwarfs. Will she be safe there? Or will the Evil Queen become the fairest in the land?

      Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was different at its time because it was a FULL LENGTH animated feature film.  Not only that, it was also the first "cell" animated feature. "Cell animation," is a method of animation in which every frame is drawn by hand. CGI wouldn't be around for another forty or fifty  years! It did, however, spark the worldwide fame of Disney. Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' release in 1937, Walt Disney's career was basically comprised of many short animated films, including Alice Comedies, (a series of short films following a live girl in a world of animation,) Steamboat Willie, and the first colored Silly Symphony: Flowers and Trees.

     At first glance, Snow White may appear as a character that only represents innocence and beauty. Although both of these attributes are indeed about her, it's felt by some that she should also be recognized for her smiles and kindness. When the Magic Mirror is telling the queen that she is no longer the fairest, he mentions that, "Rags cannot hide her gentle grace. Alas, she is more fair than thee." I read a comment that pointed out that throughout the entire film and all of her troubles, Snow White was seldom negative and was always kind to the world around her. She wasn't able to do that just because she was physically beautiful. Now mind you it is hard to be just like Snow White, but it's more than ok not to be. Don't be ashamed if you're not positive in this way all the time, but try to be.

     I think it's safe to say that Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is way more than just a technological breakthrough. Disney has never told a story quite like the way they did with Snow White. I'd consider it to be Disney's first telling of a well known fairy tale. Much of its uniqueness is contributed by the touch it gets from the retro feeling of the 1930's, such as the music and the cinematography. This will keep Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs a Disney classic now and forever. The best way to understand all of that would be to watch the film for yourself.

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Do not go through little Door: Coraline

    Before I start I'm going to tell you right now that the film we're about to discuss is NOT a Tim Burton film. Yes, it is made in the black, or dark, stop-motion animation style of Tim Burton but it's not a production of Tim Burton himself. The film that ETF is about to look at is none other than Coraline. Based on the novella by author Neil Gaiman, Coraline arrived to the theaters in 2009 as a stop-motion animated film adaptation by Henry Selick, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Years later, a great number of the people I've talked to about this film have described it as "creepy". I don't blame them, but maybe there's more to Coraline than just a creepy film. 

     Once upon a time, a girl named Coraline Jones and her family move into a large house in Oregon known as The Pink Palace. It's been divided, so that means that there are neighbors in the house. Apart from making friends with the owner's grandson, Wybie Lovat, Coraline is generally unhappy. Her parents are busy writing a garden catalog, the food her father makes is unappetizing, and she misses her friends in Michigan. One day, Wybie gives Coraline a doll he claims to have found in his Grandma's trunk. The strange thing is that the doll looks exactly like Coraline. Of course she finds it weird, but isn't too bothered by it. That night, she sees jumping mice in her room and follows them to a small door in the living. Earlier, Coraline and her mother opened the door only to find a wall of bricks. But now there's a passageway. She crawls through and comes to a room identical to the one she just left. Not only that, it turns out that she's come into a complete replica of the Pink Palace. Moments later she runs into a woman she thinks to be her mother. This woman looks pretty similar to Coraline's mother, except for one thing: She has buttons for eyes. The woman tells Coraline that she's her "other mother." By the end of the night she's also met her "other father" and finds this new world to be better than the one she has left behind. But soon Coraline receives different warnings from the people in the real world which say that the other world is dangerous. Is it the best thing that's ever happened to Coraline? Or is she walking into something she may not be able to escape from?

    Let's talk about color. Like most, if not many, Tim Burton-style films, the fantasy parts of the film are the most colorful. With Coraline, this concept is similarly applied. In the real world, much of the world seems gray, even her parents. Coraline stands out with her blue hair, orange shirt, and yellow raincoat. And yes, Coraline dyed her hair blue. In the photo she has by her bed of her and her parents in Michigan, her hair is brown. If you look at some comic books, people who have black hair tend to be illustrated with blue highlights in their hair, which indicates the color black. 

     Other than the concept of  "Be careful what you wish for," Coraline also shows the importance of appreciating one's family. Bad times within the family don't last forever. Efforts can be made to make things better. Even if your dad's food isn't that great, even if your mom isn't always cheerful, and even if your own child has a mind of their own. When moving to a new place, someone you may look at as "weird" can turn out to be your new best friend, including a new neighbor. Look for the great things that are already around you. STRIVE to do that, and avoid the little doors in the wall that can lead to awful things. 

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Don't Mess with Gods: Clash of the Titans

    Most people familiar with Greek mythology know that the Greek gods were said to be easily offended. No woman in Ancient Greek would dare compare her beauty to a Goddess, for fear of major punishment. Right now we're going to look at one of the most popular Greek Myths, the story of Perseus, as portrayed by the film entitled, Clash of the Titans.

     Once upon a time, King Acrisius of Argos has locked his daughter Danae and her infant son Perseus inside a chest and has thrown it into the sea. Why? Acrisius locked Danae away in a tower to prevent the prophecy which says that if Danae were to have a son, he would be the cause of Acrisius's death. Hidden only from the eyes of mortal men, the King of the Greek Gods, Zeus, visits Danae. Soon after, Danae bears the son of Zeus, Perseus. Now a furious Acrisius has thrown Danae and Perseus into the sea. But with Poseidon's help, they survive. Now Zeus' anger has risen against Acrisius, thus a horrible monster known as the Krakken is released and destroys Argos.  
       Perseus has grown into a young man. Zeus is proud and brags about him. But Zeus frowns upon the son of Thetis, goddess of the sea. Thetis's son, Calibos, is a handsome but ignorant man spoiled by his mother. He has hunted countless creatures for sport, even Zeus's herd of flying horses, leaving only the winged horse, Pegasus. As punishment, Zeus curses him with deformity, changing him into what looks like a monster. Now Thetis is angry, for Calibos was engaged to the Princess Andromeda of Joppa. If Calibos can't marry Andromeda, says Thetis, then no one will. Being jealous of Perseus, Thetis uses her powers to transport him to the city of Joppa, saying it's time for him to experience the real world. With the help of some new friends, Perseus is able to win the hand of Andromeda. Of course, Thetis is not at all happy about this. In the middle of their wedding ceremony, Andromeda's mother compares her to Thetis. Angry, Thetis shows herself, demanding the life of Andromeda. If the people don't obey, the Krakken will be set lose on Joppa. Can Perseus defeat the Krakken and save Andromeda, or will she be lost to sacrifice? 

      Rather than the actors and like other Greek myths, Clash of the Titans is known for its monsters. In this film viewers will see a bunch of horrifying creatures brought to life by the one and only Ray Harryhausen. It may not be your typical CGI, but it still works and looks realistic enough when combined on film with the actors such as the fight with the two-headed dog, Cerberus. Without the monsters, Clash of the Titans would significantly have less action scenes. 

     During a particular scene with Andromeda, I noticed something regarding the colors. In the scene she is preparing with her ladies-in-waiting to face the Krakken. While Andromeda is blond-haired, her ladies all have dark hair, which makes her stand out from the people around her. This may be so because the film makers want you to notice her. There are many lovely women in this scene as well as the film, but in that moment Andromeda is the main character to focus on. 

       There are a bunch of noticeable aspects in Clash of the Titans. If you've seen Clash of the Titans from 2010, you should definitely see the original as well; since the two are similar but quite different at the same time. 

Do you agree with this? Feel free to check out my Easter post on Ben-Hur! Also be sure to like, comment, share, and follow to come back for more on ETF!    

     

      

   

From the guy that gave you Labyrinths and Skekses: Jim Henson's The StoryTeller

    In the past months or so I have discovered a mini series that I have been watching for weeks on end on youtube. (This isn't why I haven't posted anything in a while though.) It's called Jim Henson's The Storyteller. From the guy that brought you the Muppets comes a wonderful mini series, (starring John Hurt as the Storyteller and Brian Henson as the dog,) that uses puppets from Jim Henson's Creature Shop that may enchant every fantasy lover. 

     Once upon a time, there was a storyteller and his dog. In each of nine episodes, the storyteller tells the audience and his dog a different story. Some are about fear, some about love, and some about destiny. Will all the stories he has in store include a happy ending?

      The stories that the Storyteller gives us are delightful for a number of reasons. The first thing I noticed is that they have the elements of your classic fairy tales. This can be shown in Sapsorrow, and The Soldier and Death. The story of Sapsorrow shares characteristics with that of Cinderella; such as a lost slipper and changing from ugly to beautiful for a ball. The Soldier and Death is different because it involves Heaven and Hell. But it's still like a fairy tale given the fact that this story also has to do with acquiring magical objects and boldly doing things that everyone else would think impossible. 

     It takes great skill to tell a great story, and no one could've played the Storyteller the way John Hurt did. With his fabulous performance, I ended up enjoying the Storyteller himself just as well as his stories. The character of the Storyteller brings forth charm, wit, and emotion. He's such a pleasant old man that he could definitely be like a grandfather to someone. The Storyteller even appears in some of the stories he is telling, making those tales as, (if not more,) marvelous than the others. 

 Along with everything else in Jim Henson's The Storyteller, we have music that sounds simply magical. Done by Rachel Portman, the music that's heard in The Storyteller sets the mood and creates some of the atmosphere for each story in the series.  

Do you agree with this? Feel free to check out my Easter post on Ben-Hur! Be sure to like, comment, share, and follow to always come back for more on ETF!