2 movie weekend
June 25, 2012
Brave
**spoilers**
So, this is a movie about a teenage girl doing horrible things to her mother without meaning to, which means it hit a little close to home. There was a stretch of time when I was about 13-14, where if an old witch had come to me and said, “I have a spell that will turn your mother into a bear and you’ll never have to deal with her again,” I would have said, “Okay!” (Though it’s been my experience that most teenage girls have a stretch of time like this, and if they and their mothers are careful, they’ll get through it without permanently damaging the relationship. If they’re not, well… Mom stays a bear forever.)
It was really, really nice to see a movie that was not explicitly a “chick flick” that dealt with a girl and her mother, had them going through an adventure, and coming out the stronger for it. More like this, please. That said, there were some plot hiccups — Merida’s stated quest, “To change my fate,” and what she asked for, “To change my mother,” didn’t match up, which made the following story kinda weird. There was a maiden/mother/crone thing going on with Merida, Elinor, and the witch, but nothing ever came of it. Overall, it felt a little lighter and simpler than I wanted it to be — like a half hour TV episode rather than a feature length film.
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Good over the top fun, really. How could it be anything but over the top? It embraced its absurdity, and that made for a fine, fun film. But my favorite bits were probably the historical cameos: Jefferson Davis, Mathew Brady, Harriet Tubman, and *Alan Tudyk as Stephen Douglas*! I know, right?! Plus, Mary Todd Lincoln was made of pure awesome.
What I really want now more is more over-the-top action movies set in the 19th century. Fortunately, Quentin Tarantino’s next film is a western. HUZZAH!
Now excuse me, I must go sew a frock coat.
June 25, 2012 at 9:24 am
The story in Brave definitely lacked subtlety, but I liked that Merida created her own crisis and was the one responsible for resolving it without anyone rescuing her.
June 25, 2012 at 9:55 am
I thought the middle 30-40 minutes of Brave was just … bland. (And wholely predictable, which was worse.)
I had been afraid, from some mini-reviews I’d seen, that the story would have been about how children should obey their parents; instead, it ended up being about how everyone should listen to each other, and that was much better.
June 25, 2012 at 10:15 am
You’re right. That mother/daughter thing isn’t explored enough… I’m looking forward to both of these.
June 25, 2012 at 11:15 am
I totally agree about the mother/daughter dynamic not being explored much in these sorts of movies; usually it’s male heroes with daddy issues.
I don’t know if I’ll see Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but I quite liked Brave — definitely this summer’s best movie since The Avengers (so far, anyway).
June 25, 2012 at 11:17 am
*Also, enjoy “The Song of Mor’du.”
June 25, 2012 at 12:26 pm
The thing I’ve heard a lot of diehard Pixar fans saying about Brave was that they were disappointed at how ‘inside the box’ it was, that it didn’t feel like anything new. My argument back has been that’s where Pixar’s true success with this film lies. Because this IS a film we’ve all seen dozens of times before. Except in the past, its always been between a father and son. The fact that Brave is that same archetypal movie but featuring a mother and daughter, and no one’s blinking twice just shows how successfully it subverted tropes without calling attention to itself, and THAT is the innovation and ingenuity Pixar’s known for.
As for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, I think the trailers for it were really counterproductive. Because as much as the film embraces its absurdity, the trailers take themselves far too seriously, leading to much eye rolling and a lot of people not bothering to check it out and learning otherwise.
June 25, 2012 at 1:53 pm
For Carrie
In my personal life, my friends consider me a professional bad influence.
Your are more than likely aware of this place all ready. Mens and Womens with steampunk section.
http://www.gentlemansemporium.com/mens_victorian_clothing.php
June 26, 2012 at 3:49 am
I saw a review of Brave (or some form of trailer) a while ago. This one’s by an Archery Coach pointing out that all of the wrong in the archery is correctly wrong:
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/02/new-brave-trailer-gets-it-right/
He also had a number of things to say about Hunger Games and Avengers. Lot of archery in film now for some reason.
June 26, 2012 at 7:23 am
“Merida’s stated quest, “To change my fate,” and what she asked for, “To change my mother,” didn’t match up, which made the following story kinda weird.”
Maybe the idea is that she perceives them as identical: her mother’s will is her fate. The real problem is that she herself over-estimates the amount of control her mother has over her life. Proper resolution of the conflict thus requires her to acknowledge and internalize her own control over her destiny.
I should probably see this film. I wanted to, but something smelled off about the trailers; I got the feeling they were hiding something about the plot.
June 26, 2012 at 8:53 am
I indeed know about Gentleman’s Emporium. Porn for costumers…
There is a lot of archery, isn’t there? Hm…
Brave is worth seeing. I think it’s important to support girl-centric adventure. Yeah, they’re hiding something — the actual story, which is fine, because far too many trailers give away the whole game.
July 2, 2012 at 8:00 am
After watching Abe this weekend all I can think about is how many terrible/wonderful American History essays that will come out of it.