July 7th - July 13th
Independence Day - Another one DVR’ed over the weekend. It’s still a bunch of fun. Watching the White House get blown up is worth all of the bad dialogue. It’s still a little weird whenever the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers show up in a movie…especially a disaster movie. Especially when the tops of the buildings get blown away. Too soon!!! Er, too early!!!
Summercamp! - Had to watch this one because it was co-directed by Brad Beesley (Okie Noodling, Fearless Freaks). And I see that Beesley was one of the directors of the short lived “Rollergirls” A&E series. Interesting. Anyways…I thought I was going to have a tough time with this one. When I was that age, the thought of summer camp wasn’t all that appealing to me. Now that I’m a childless adult, the thought of watching a whole bunch of kids at summer camp doesn’t appeal all that much to me either. And in the beginning of the documentary I was on the verge of becoming annoyed. But as the film let us get to know these kids a little more, I have to say I was really drawn in. A lot of these kids weren’t just children, they were interesting and complex people. Of course, I’m sure there were a big share of little shits and bores that didn’t make the final cut. And the chickadee girl just broke my heart. I wanted to break through the TV and give her a big hug.
Alan D. Wilson, www.naturespicsonline.com, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 retrieved at Wikimedia Commons
Space Camp/War Games - These two came together in one of those cheap double-feature DVD packages. I had to have it. I’m fond of both of those movies. The space and computer stuff fascinated me as a kid. Now, the space stuff doesn’t seem terribly outdated while the computer stuff seems downright nostalgic. They’re both still a bunch of fun. And, I heard on Filmspotting the other week that War Games was getting a limited theatrical re-release, for its 25th anniversary, on July 24th. And, apparently a “sequel” is to be released directly to DVD on July 29th.
Be Kind Rewind - Michel Gondry’s visual and special effects prowess are second to none. He can make beautiful and awe inspiring things happen before your eyes. And most of the time, he doesn’t use CG as a crutch. His effects are more like magic. You may know that nothing supernatural is happening…but you still can’t quite believe your eyes. That being said, this movie lacked the kind of story that could keep up with the visual feast. It’s still well worth watching.
Persepolis - I so, so love the idea of animation and/or graphic novels that tell personal and dramatic stories. They can be such a great media for these kinds of stories. A graphic novel doesn’t have to be a comic book and an animated feature doesn’t have to be dumbed down for the kids. They don’t have to be about talking animals and superheroes. There is so much that you can do with them…they shouldn’t be wasted. And they don’t have to be six-year Pixar projects either. They can be lo-fi. All you need is a good story and a drawing. I know there is plenty of good stuff out there…they just don’t always make for a good transition to the big screen.
