Manic Monday: Review of Brave, by Disney/Pixar

Merida, star of the Disney/Pixar film "Brave," released June, 2012

Meet Merida, a Celtic princess fighting for the right to choose her own fate. She's handy with a bow and arrow. She's got a mane of flaming red hair that matches her fiery temperament. The tradition of her land states that she'll marry the man who wins the skill challenge.

Only problem is, Merida doesn't want to get married - at least not yet. And she wants to be in control of her own fate. She's not inclined to marry someone just because they won the challenge.

In Brave, Disney has created a princess story unlike any other that they've made before. First, the mother is alive. Snow White? Dead mother. Cinderella? Dead mother. Beauty and the Beast? Dead mother. Finding Nemo? Okay it's not a princess story, but still, dead mother.

Merida's mother is alive and well and trying her best to forge Merida into queen material. While her mother coaches her on the the ways of a princess, Merida is more interested in riding her horse, shooting her arrows at targets, and generally doing the opposite of what her mother wishes her to do.

While Brave is about a Celtic princess in ancient times, the relationship between Merida and her mother is timeless. I think Disney got this just right. I could almost hear the shadows of my own arguments with my mother when I was a teen, and I could almost hear the foreshadowing of arguments I'll have with my own daughter in just a few years. It's rare to see a movie, animated or live-action, that portrays a mother-daughter relationship in any depth and without pandering to emotional manipulation tactics. I truly enjoyed this aspect of Brave and applaud Disney/Pixar for making a female centered movie that got it right.

The second thing that Disney did here - that they haven't done before - is to create a story that draws heavily on the magic and mysticism of a Celtic tradition. The story is set in the Scottish Highlands and the story prominently features a circle of stones in the plot as well as wisps and other features of Scottish myth and legend.

Given that I have read a lot about Celtic myth and legend as research for my book Emily's House (much of which takes place in Ireland), I really enjoyed seeing this take on Celtic myth on the big screen.

Merida being led by a wisp

And the movie is BEAUTIFUL. Merida's fiery, red hair is the perfect contrast to the lush greens used to paint the Scottish countryside. The rendering is lush and just plain gorgeous.

I've seen some reviews saying that this movie rates up there with Finding Nemo. As much as I loved Brave and applaud Disney for stepping out of their comfort zone with this story, I disagree that this movie will have the wide appeal of Finding Nemo.

Why? Mainly because this movie will not appeal to the youngest viewers. In fact, I think this movie is probably an 8 and up movie. It does not have the fast-paced feel of Finding Nemo, nor is it full of jokes and goofiness. While it has plenty of laughs, overall it is a more serious, relationship centered story. It reminds me more of Up, but without the ridiculous dog stuff that, in my opinion, was a let down in that movie to the opening scenes, but that added the goofy humor that smaller kids might appreciate.

As much as I liked this movie, I also think it is not as tight in the storytelling as it could have been - should have been. Without giving away the surprise in the plot, the story borrowed heavily from a prior Disney film, Brother Bear (which, in turn, "borrowed" heavily from native myths and legends). There is a "been there, seen that" quality to the film which is not present in some of Disney's most popular films.

Additionally, there are moments when the story builds to a dramatic moment, making a big point, but a point which was never returned to later - just dumped out and left hanging. Now this is not likely something that a young viewer will notice, but it bothered me.

For example, there is a scene early on when the clans are meeting in the great hall and a fight erupts. The queen is exasperated. Her husband, the King, cannot seem to wrest control and ends up (joyfully) joining the brawl. The queen clears her throat and merely walks into the throng, standing tall and with poise, and the men stop their fight and listen to her.

The point of this scene is that before it, the queen was trying to teach Merida how to be a queen - how to exude her female power. And then the queen has an opportunity to demonstrate all of the skills she was trying to teach Merida. The scene shows Merida's face and she is in awe of her mother's power in that moment. It is the queen who takes control of the scene, not her king.

This is a great scene. It creates the idea, that you assume will connect up later, that Merida may have a thing or two to learn from her mother after all. That maybe a woman, though not armed with sword or a bow, can exude great power too, through her poise and intelligence. Wouldn't it be great if later in the story, Merida is able to recognize this lesson and see that her mother has a thing or two to teach her?

The problem is, even after all that Merida goes through and lessons she learns, they storytellers never connect up this scene in any way. In fact, it ends up feeling that it is her mother, more than Merida, who learns that Merida has something to teach. Now that's not a bad thing, and it fits with the storyline. But they created this wonderful scene so rich with promise - but the promise was never delivered.

This movie has such great potential with the storytelling - much greater potential than probably any other Disney movie before it. But as a storyteller myself, I felt that they did not deliver on the story's promise. It was like there was no editor telling them to tighten it up and leave no dangling threads.

Isn't this just beautiful? Merida led to the ring of stones by the wisps.

But this is a nit-picky complaint. Overall, the movie is fun, beautiful and tells an engaging story. The backside shot of the men without their kilts is probably worth the price of admission. ;-)

Bottom line: Go see it. It is lush, beautiful and almost perfect. Leave your tiny ones at home - they'll be bored and detract from your enjoyment of the art of this movie. Do take your daughters because it's about time we had a Disney movie with a princess that can actually serve as a role model for strong, capable girls.

Manic Monday: "Dark Shadows" on Mother's Day

"Dark Shadows," courtesy Warner Brothers

I'm a huge of both Tim Burton fan and Johnny Depp. I've been known to enjoy me some vampire fiction (more Anne  Rice than Twilight, thank you.). So when I heard that Tim and Johnny teamed up to create a campy vampire flick, I said, "Yes, please."

Mother's Day afternoon in the hot desert climate of Tucson means movies with the family. My husband dropped my daughter and I off at the curb with the mission to buy tickets to The Avengers while he parked.

While hubby circled, I bought tickets to Dark Shadows instead. Hey, it was Mother's Day after all. Why shouldn't I get some eye candy on my day?!

The previews had led me to believe that I'd get a funny romp making lots of fun jokes about the 1970's. It looked fast and fun.

It was not fast. And it wasn't that fun either. Just about all the jokes were shown in the trailers. Once that bit was used up, there was hardly a '70s reference after the first third of the movie. The movie also plodded a bit. The first twenty minutes seemed particularly slow.

But the fashion of the movie was fun. Johnny's clothing, hair and makeup are fabulous. And those false eyelashes - it made me want to go buy some. Michelle Pfeiffer is the bomb and she looked every bit the 1970's beauty. And Helena Bonham Carter too looked great. They were outstanding at their roles.

But I hate to say it, the movie fell short. I wanted so much for it to succeed. It never felt much like a Tim Burton film. It seemed to lack a clear vision. It is funny? It seemed that Johnny's influence cast the campy, fun light on the film.

Or is it dark? There is a scene with a young girl being hauled off to an insane asylum, screaming for her parents not to send her away as they just stoically watch as she's carted away. This scene was perhaps the only one that said "Tim Burton" to me. And it was haunting and memorable. There were other bits where one got the "dark" of "Dark Shadows," but mostly Johnny as a vampire is more comical than dark and it just didn't work for me.

Bottom line: If you are a huge Johnny Depp fan, go. You'll enjoy watching Johnny be Johnny. Seeing him decked out in his wrap around glasses (see picture above), and his modern-retro vampire look is worth the price of admission.

But if you are going to see a Tim Burton movie, you may be disappointed. It just didn't feel Tim Burtonish to me.

If you go or have seen it, leave me a comment and let me know if you agree or had a different take.

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I had a wonderful Mother's Day, spent in the way I wanted - quality time with my dear daughter. She's nine now and we're still tight. I hope it lasts but I remember how the teen years saw me drift away from my own mother. Can you relate?

I recently penned a short story in honor of Mother's Day. It appeared as a guest post on another blog but I thought I'd share it here with my readers. Comments are always welcome.

You Are a Mother

You open your eyes and the first thing you see is her face. You love nothing more than looking at that face. You don’t yet have the words to define what you see. Al you know is that you feel happier when she casts her eyes on yours; that when her lips curl up at the sides it makes your lips curl up too – and that feels nice.

You’ve just hit the ground after stepping off the bus and you feel rotten inside. There’s never been a worse day.

It started in the morning when you unpacked your backpack and realized you’d forgotten to pack your math homework. Then at lunch your so-called best friend didn’t save you a seat and you had to sit alone. Things went downhill after that. Josh’s usual teasing in art class made you want to punch him or cry, but you don’t do either.

She’s there, waiting for you. Some days you wish she wouldn’t hover. You’re a big kid now, not three. But that day, it feels kinda nice to know that she knows you’ve had a miserable day before you even say anything. She hugs you tight and lets you tell her all about it. By dinner she has somehow managed to make you forget it was the worst day ever in the history of days.

You’re in your room with the door closed, but she’s knocking on it. Can’t she see you don’t want to talk? Doesn’t she get that door closed means “leave me alone?” you’re not in third grade anymore. Maybe she used to be able to make it all better with a hug, but this isn’t something that gets better with a hug and a cookie. She wouldn’t understand anyway.

“Go away!” you scream. “I just want to be alone.”

She stops knocking and you hear her footsteps retreat down the hall. “Thank God!” you think as you cry out your heartache into your pillow. You don’t know that she is in her room, crying her heartache out into her pillow.

You’re not sure why you’re so mad at her one day, then curling into her lap to watch T.V. with her the next. It’s like sometimes looking at that face that used to make everything feel right just reminds you of everything that’s wrong. It feels like that more and more.

But some days, you don’t know why, you see her face and her eyes look like they could melt you like sugar in the rain. And on those days, you want nothing more than to have her hug you and stroke your hair and tell you it will be okay. And some days you let her.

She’s bringing another box up the stairs and so help you, if she cries one more tear you’re going to lock her out! You see her biting her lip and sucking in a breath. She’s fighting back tears. Good! This is supposed to be a happy day. You’ve earned your freedom. You’re taking your first big step to independence. Doesn’t she want you to be independent? Isn’t that a good thing? Why is she crying all the time? Probably hormones. “Shoot me if I’m ever a mess like that,” you think.

You’re holding your diploma in your hand and posing for pictures with your friends. She’s snapping the camera and smiling a lot. You can see in her eyes that she’s proud of you. Knowing she’s proud and happy for you makes you feel warm inside. You wouldn’t admit it to anybody, but you’re glad she’s proud. She’s not blubbering today like the day she dropped you off on campus the first time, but you see her mist up a few times. You notice a few more grey hairs at her temples. Are there more lines around her eyes than the last time you saw her? She comes over and hugs you and you let her. You even hug her back, real tight.

It’s so hot outside the pavement feels like black lava licking right up through your shoes. Your husband holds your hand (too tight for your liking) as you waddle through the doors of the hospital to check in.

“Did you call my mom?” you ask.

“Yeah. She’s on her way.”

Your pain feels a bit less biting when you see her head poke into the room. In that moment, you can’t imagine why you ever pushed her away. Even the man you adore with all your heart can’t take her place today. She puts her warm, soft hand on your forehead and you feel an immediate calm come over you.

“You can do this,” she says. She smiles down at you and you look up into her twinkling eyes. There’s something there – almost a memory. You look in her eyes and you believe her. “I can do this,” you say.

It’s the middle of the night. Everyone’s gone now. It’s just you and your little one. She lays in your arms sleeping. So small. So fragile.

She’s got her tiny fingers wrapped around your pinkie in a grip that feels too strong for such a tiny creature. You look down at the angelic face cradled in your arms and even though you just met her, you love her more than you knew you could love. It’s a love so powerful and so deep that it hurts.

And you know that someday you’re going to cry like an idiot when you’re moving boxes to her new place. You see it all like a movie going fast motion in your head. You’ll want to wail and hold onto her but you know you won’t. You’ll let her go, just like your mama let you go. And you know in that instant it will hurt more than any hurt you’ve ever known.

You take back what you’d said. When the tears fall, you don’t want anyone to shoot you for it. You’re a mother now. Tears come naturally.

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