← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · DakotaBlue
Thread ID: 15918 | Posts: 13 | Started: 2004-12-09
2004-12-09 02:16 | User Profile
I saw the movie this weekend...alone. I was in a kinda mood, so the kids were never invited. I guess I just like living dangerously.
It was a technical marvel. The almost human like animation was beyond anything I'd ever seen. It was visually captivating. The storyline was riveting and the message was uplifting, but..., and it's a big "but",...I came from that movie not feeling very happy. I tried to figure out why and here's what I've come up with.
It had a subtle dark side presented by a series of images that were unlike what I'm used to seeing when thinking of Santa and the North Pole.
The North Pole looked like a European version of Pittsburgh without the smoke. The buildings were huge, cavernous, inhospitable workplaces that churned things out not by hand but by assembly line precision and monotony. The elves looked like deranged little people who could have been spawned in Deliverance and Santa himself, who by the way, never smiled, looked elongated, unhappy, not jolly at all, and much too emasciated. This was a Santa who held no appeal for me, and had he been at Macy's when I was a kid, I would have run screaming from the store rather than sit on his lap. This was a far cry from what I used to imagine as a kid.
The North Pole was always a quaint village with lots of snow, smoke wafting from the chimneys with the elves both welcoming and mischievous. And Santa was portly, with a big belly and an open, honest face, rosy cheeks and a pipe, not some pinched, anorexic who came straight from Madame Tussaud's waxworks.
The North Pole scenes spoiled it for me. It was a strange movie with a disquieting aftertaste. Even angel looked menacing. You can't reinvent Santa and the North Pole. It wasn't broke so why the hell did they try to fix it.
2004-12-09 03:38 | User Profile
DakotaBlue, many movie reviewers share your observation that the movie is a little creepy or scary. Some said the eyes looked dead. But, I haven't see the movie.
The animation of people is live-action with computer characters drawn over the live actor. Reviewers observed that the characters seem to slide a little as they walked. That's a result of live acting with animated backgrounds.
One reason I haven't seen the movie is because I have no interest in movies that are designed to be show pieces for stars rather than simply entertainment for me. In other words, I don't like that Tom Hanks plays all the adults in the movie.
Some of the Christmas movies I've seen lately detract from the magical and warm quality of Christmas that older movies did such a good a job creating. I'm not even talking about Christmas movies aimed at adults which very openly and deliberatly trash Christmas.
2004-12-09 13:39 | User Profile
Hacker:
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the movie managed to put a black little girl in a lead role. I'm just surprised that it didn't make room for a Jose or a Consuela. I don't know anything about the book, if there was one, or who wrote the screenplay, but the "Head Elf", while reviewing some child's yearly infractions yelled out, "what is he, meshugah?", a yiddish word meaning "crazy". Maybe if this took place in Hollywood I could appreciate the comic element of that crack, but in this movie it was totally out of place, but again, it gave a modern-day edginess to the movie that was incongruous and disturbing. Now we have Jewish elves. What next. Santa's real name is Ginsberg?
2004-12-10 03:53 | User Profile
The book is pretty good as secular Christmas stories go; the illustrations are well-done if somewhat more interesting than the simple storyline. The movie was horrible indeed, and shouldn't be seen by adults or children. I had no idea that they could take a perfectly adequate book and destroy it so easily. Then again, we haven't seen many movies lately.
The author of the book, Chris van Allsburg, converted to Judaism thirty years ago after marrying his Jewish wife. One has to wonder how that played into getting the story onscreen. The director of the film, Robert Zemeckis, is also credited as the screenwriter. I think he deserves most of the blame for the product.
2004-12-10 04:12 | User Profile
[QUOTE=weisbrot]The author of the book, Chris van Allsburg, converted to Judaism thirty years ago after marrying his Jewish wife. One has to wonder how that played into getting the story onscreen. The director of the film, Robert Zemeckis, is also credited as the screenwriter. I think he deserves most of the blame for the product.[/QUOTE] I live in RI and the Providence Journal did a big piece on van Allsburg about a month ago, explaining how he was concerned that the emotions of the characters might not be accurately portayed through animation. Like his stupid little childrens book was important in any way. Weisbrot, my friend, I would wager you that his book would have never been printed if he did not "convert" to Judaism. You know that. All about being part of the CLAN. No talent required, just connections. Weisbrot, if you can comment, I think you will agree with I.. let me say that One cannot "convert" to Judaism. The fact that this sad excuse for a human being gave up his Germanic ( lesser Dutch ) heritage to " convert" to an abominable heresy and lie is abhorrent. But in real life I know one person who has done it. She's my mother's co-worker. What a joke, I say, you cannot convert to Judaism, it's simply impossible. You and I know that to be Jew truly is racial. Only the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah can be called Jews, and all the records thereof were totally annihilated in the year 70 when Jerusalem was laid to total waste. " Convert " to " Judaism " ...after all this.. talk about spitting on God. Fools. FOOLS !!!!!!!!!!!
2004-12-10 12:43 | User Profile
I can't imagine anyone wishing to see this film. While intellectually I know this isn't the case, the creepy imagery I've seen in commercials for it makes me suspect the movie is not really about Christmas at all, but rather about the glorification of human sacrifice and/or pedophilia. I feel dirty after merely viewing a commercial for this film, for crying out loud! Its just so....ugly.
2004-12-11 02:33 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Kevin_O'Keeffe]I can't imagine anyone wishing to see this film. While intellectually I know this isn't the case, the creepy imagery I've seen in commercials for it makes me suspect the movie is not really about Christmas at all, but rather about the glorification of human sacrifice and/or pedophilia. I feel dirty after merely viewing a commercial for this film, for crying out loud! Its just so....ugly.[/QUOTE]
While you're taking a shower, let me note that I didn't see any overt promotion of human sacrifice or pedophilia in this film. That said, I fully agree that the imagery of the film is creepy, as is the way it hijacked what was a simple book about the "magic" of (secular) Christmas, and turned it into the usual Hollywood social commentary etc. and beyond.
I'm actually okay with a bit of secular Christmas syrup a la Miracle on 34th Street. But this film goes way beyond mild Santa characterizations into industrialization, the "meshuggah" comment noted earlier, and various "issue" subplots that are sneakily introduced. I thought the film was subversive and offensive, and all the more so due to its overtly bland presentation laid on top of some radical and disturbing premises that to be fair were not even remotely present in Van Allsburg's book.
Reviews on MovieFone were overwhelmingly positive. I shoulda known.
2004-12-11 11:00 | User Profile
[QUOTE]The North Pole looked like a European version of Pittsburgh without the smoke. [/QUOTE]
Good line - it had me simultaneously chuckling and shivering.
[QUOTE]DakotaBlue, many movie reviewers share your observation that the movie is a little creepy or scary. Some said the eyes looked dead. But, I haven't see the movie.
The animation of people is live-action with computer characters drawn over the live actor. Reviewers observed that the characters seem to slide a little as they walked. That's a result of live acting with animated backgrounds.[/QUOTE]
Sounds to me like a glorified version of [I]rotoscoping[/I], a style of animation popularized in the 30s by the Fleisher Studios (GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, the SUPERMAN cartoons, and the occasional two-reel POPEYE all featured this process). Rotoscoping provided a distinct look that appeared both more lifelike, and yet robotic and artificial, at the same time...and this was back when all animation was done by the human hand. I would think that adding computer imaging into the mix would add a wealth of additional detail and complexity to the film image while still tripping over the same old stumbling block of looking ...well....not real. Manufactured, sterile and artificial.
Same thing goes for CGI effects in 'normal' movies. The verisimilitude of CGI went south once the novelty of them had faded; as audiences have gotten used to them, it has become easier and easier to spot the computer effects.
I hope my admitting this won't precipate a Walter Yannis attack but I've always loved Christmas movies and it pains me that they now arrive all tarted up with special effects - since all of the best ones need nothing more than honest sentiment, a sound script, a good cast and a 35mm camera capturing the preceding to work their magic on an audience. Just a few hours ago TCM ran GOING MY WAY - which technically isn't a Christmas movie, but will certainly hold the fort until the real ones get rolled out in another week or so. Hogwash and blarney it may be, but it's so well done, and so unashamed of its sentimentality that I find it as irresistable on my 20th viewing as I did on my first. The famous final scene - Barry Fitzgerald cradled like a boy in the arms of his aged mother while a boys' choir sings "Toora-Loora-Loora" - really cuts through the armor of cynicism and affects you in a way that all the store-bought opticals and computer effects on Earth could never hope to.
2004-12-11 14:33 | User Profile
[QUOTE=il ragno]I hope my admitting this won't precipate a Walter Yannis attack but I've always loved Christmas movies and it pains me that they now arrive all tarted up with special effects [snip] Hogwash and blarney it may be, but it's so well done, and so unashamed of its sentimentality that I find it as irresistable on my 20th viewing as I did on my first. The famous final scene - Barry Fitzgerald cradled like a boy in the arms of his aged mother while a boys' choir sings [B]"Toora-Loora-Loora" - really cuts through the armor of cynicism and affects you in a way that all the store-bought opticals and computer effects on Earth could never hope to[/B].[/QUOTE]
Attack? No way!
Ragman, dude, that really breaks me up.
It gets me right here, you know?
I'm gonna cry. :crybaby:
C'mere ya big lug!
Walter
2004-12-12 01:42 | User Profile
weisbrot,
Did the book have Afros in it? Or were they added for the film?
2004-12-13 02:22 | User Profile
I've become seriously cynical these days about movies coming out of tinseltown, so much so, that I fear I'm beginning to turn off some friends with my surgical reviews. One friend called me "paranoid" but I prefer to think I'm just highly evolved. That usually gets a good laugh and we head for the nearest watering hole.
Anyway, this alleged Christmas movie has gotten me thinking about this holiday and the transformation, or should I say the devastation that has befallen Christmas in the last 4 or 5 decades. And I'll be very specific about my beliefs.
I believe the Jews with their handmaidens are engaged in an orchestrated assault on this holiday in particular, and Christianity in general, and the reluctance and outright failure of anyone on the right to tell it like it is is pissing me off, mightily. It's no coincidence that Christmas came under assault at the same time Jews rose to dominance and prominance in this country.
A few years ago I was startled to see a TV program devoted to the needs/concerns of Jews during the Christmas season and I remember being shocked that such a program would dare to so honestly address this deeply held hatred, because the message laid it out, warts and all. Jews throughout the country were so disturbed by the overt signs of this celebration that they literally required counseling for themselves and their children. It was clearly turning into a psychiatric problem for their families, but that was just the warning shot fired across the bow of this Christian nation. It put us on notice... but few noticed, preferring instead to capitulate and diffuse the alleged problem by allowing a menorah to sit side-by-side with a Christmas tree in village squares throughout the country. But, just like the homosexuals whose shrouded agenda was never about respect but destruction, so it is with the Jew, whose real objective is the obliteration of Christmas, then Christ and God from this nation's vocabulary. And you're mistaken if you think it can't happen.
They're willing to bide their time. And why not? They seem to be winning. How many signs do you see today compared to 20 years ago that actually proclaim Merry Christmas as opposed to Seasons Greetings or Happy Holidays. This new manifesto has already taken hold and if you don't believe me, just check the newspapers for the latest school casualties that no longer allow anything associated with Christmas to pass the lips of its students.
Without going into a litany, I'll talk about what I heard more recently, in fact, just a few weeks ago. A caller to the Mike Savage show admitted she was "very uncomfortable" with the way the president wore his Christian beliefs on-his-sleeve. She found him untrustworthy because of it and as a leader of the country had no business talking about his own religion when he represented ALL the people. Savage nailed her with some very tough questions and she finally admitted she was a Jew who felt threatened by Christianity and the whole "Christmas thing". How widespread is this Jewish prejudice toward Christians and why don't we hear more about it...as if I didn't know. This Christophobia finds its way, unvetted, into our consciousness on a daily basis now and make no mistake about it, it chips at the outer edges of our society with a slow, eroding effect. Two major news magazines have felt safe enough to lead off with cover stories questioning the 3 Wise Men and the Virgin Birth, the mythology of Christianity, all in time for Christmas. Fifty years ago this would have been unthinkable but today we're so neutered, and rudderless that we would rather commit suicide than prejudge a Jew's motives.
Last year, a few Jewish families in a town whose name I should remember but don't, demanded that the time honored tradition of Santa riding through town on a fire truck be eliminated immediately because it offended 3 Jewish families. The town's reaction was quick and unapologetic. Men who otherwise would have been content to be bystanders donned Santa Claus outfits and convened at the Town Square. Instead of one Santa, the town had more than fifty. The message to the Jews of the town was clear...get lost...this is our holiday and if you don't like it, shut up. The antidote was refreshingingly American. My question is, why don't we see that more often. Why aren't we more outraged about this amputation of our religion from public displays and our lives? What kind of a people have we become? And knowing Jews the way I do, they will push until someone starts seriously pushing back.
2004-12-13 14:07 | User Profile
[QUOTE=DakotaBlue]Hacker:
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the movie managed to put a black little girl in a lead role. [/QUOTE]
That's all I need to know.
2004-12-14 01:35 | User Profile
arkady,
You are right these sick marxist always attack Euro-folk in everything they do.