RDG: Red Data Girl

This is a short, anime, only one season of 12 episodes, but it has an interesting concept. The anime is based on a book series and a manga.

The story is about a very reserved girl who lives in a mountain shrine with her guardians and has been sheltered and protected for her entire life. She feels that there is nothing special about her, and indeed, the only thing we know about her to be different is that technology shorts out or even breaks when she touches it. She has been told however that she is a very important person, a princess, and must be protected at all costs. The story begins with her act of cutting her extremely long hair to make bangs for herself... a seeming act of rebellion as magical strength is sometimes linked to ones hair, and this act is the first step in her taking a very small step toward self actualization. Or at least affirming that she is able to do something by her own will. The next change is that an old childhood acquaintance re-enters her life, and she is told that this boy (who has never been nice to her and seems disgusted by the fact that he must do what he is told) is her servant and will be enrolling in her school to protect her.

The plot progresses, and these two interact with each other (reluctantly) and meet new people with magical ability, throughout all of which she discovers that her body is to house a very powerful spirit and grows in magical ability herself. She very slowly comes out of her shell and begins to make personal relationships, and more actively begins to interact with her magical abilities and with the spirit world.

This was an unsatisfying anime to watch. Not because it wasn't good, because it was; the characters, narrative, and take on the fantasy genre were all very compelling. It was just too short. The characters developed too slowly for the length of the show, as did the plot, and by the last episode I felt as though I was at the inciting moment of the plot... where the true story should now begin. The story ends before any of the characters resolve any personal tensions, before the relationship between the heroine and the spirit possessing her was explored and we understood the boundary between the two, or if in fact they were two people at all, and what would happen to the heroine's spirit if they aren't. We aren't even told in any great detail the significance of this 'very powerful' spirit, and the ramifications of her presence or lack there of in our world. It ended at the beginning basically. The book series might go into more detail, bu the anime is highly unsatisfying.

Not un-worth the watch though. In what they do show you, the character development is well done, and the interactions with the other world and with various magical abilities are well thought out and the basis for a very good show. If this show was one or two more seasons long, it has the potential to be one of the better animes... but it doesn't go far enough. So I would still recommend it to be watched in appreciation of the story, but prepare for the unsatisfying ending.

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

I was really skeptical about watching this movie. I always like watching a good fairy tale, but Kristen Stewart... not so much. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised, though not completely proven wrong on the Stewart front.

The story is pretty much your classic Snow White story. Girl grows up with loving parents, mom dies, dad remarries witch, witch tries to kill her, she escapes, etc. They didn't really change the essentials of the storyline much, but they did change the roles of the characters slightly.

Snow White was given a harder edge in this story. Instead of living a comfortable life until her attempted homicide, the queen locked her in the castle prison for years and the first visual we get of her after she grows into a young woman shows her to be an unwashed, grimy, sheltered creature. She doesn't stay that way for the duration of the film, but she does have more of an impulse to stand and fight when danger arrives than do some of the other Snow White renditions. She also rouses and leads an army to fight the queen in a Joan of Arc like charge.

There is also an increased sense of an everyday magical world. That magic is normalized in this world, still to be wary of, but a normal occurrence. The queen is a witch of sorts. She made a sacrifice in her youth and must suck the life force out of young women to stay beautiful and powerful. Despite her girl hunt however, it is not this fact that she wants Snow White... or I should say not the only reason. Snow White is said to have a purity and a strength that is the only thing that could stop the queen from achieving true power and is what makes her weak, so she wants to consume Snow White to ensure her power doesn't wane. Snow White's ability is not as manifested as the queens, but she seems more to have a oneness with nature, to be the physical representation of life, and this is demonstrated in her interactions with non-human life forms.

What is really enjoyed about the film was the visual landscape of the forest. It was very magical and lush at times, and held that latent expectation and light. I thought that overall the characters were well cast as well. The queen was glacial, but you could see how someone would submit to her. The huntsman was running from his own demons, but was strong enough to put them aside to do what needed to be done. The only character I didn't enjoy was Snow White herself. I wasn't bothered enough not to enjoy the movie, but her voice showed too little emotion and was almost flat at times when emotion needed to be shown. Also, she does not seem to be able to display more than a handful of facial expressions, which really limits the character development and believability.

Aside from that however, I enjoyed this film. It was a pleasure visually and the storyline was gripping, as well as were the rest of the cast.

 

Dungeons and Dragons

I bought this show for a dollar on a whim, thinking it would be the worst thing I've ever seen. It was however shockingly close to par in terms of 80's cartoon goodness.

The premiss of the show is that six kids go on a Dungeons and Dragons ride at an amusement park and get magically transported to the dungeons and dragons world. When they get there they are in immediate danger, facing a huge five-headed dragon, and then the evil villain of the series, Venger. Then this little man (the dungeon master) appears out of no where and gives them all magical items that grant them special powers. The items all coincide with types of characters are in the dungeons and dragons game, so there is a ranger, acrobat, cavalier, thief, barbarian, and magician. In each episode,  the dungeon master gives the gang a hint, telling them which way they should go to get home. They meet a lot of people on the way and each character is explored a bit.

It's not an amazing show by any means, but I have to say, it's a lot better than I thought it would be. And it might not be the best show of it's era, but I would watch it if it was on tv.

Gifts by Ursula LeGuin

This is the first book of three in a series called The Annals of the Western Shore. The story takes place in a world where magic exists, but only to those who live in the northern territory called the Uplands. To those who live elsewhere, magic is little more than bumpkin superstition. Magic isn't as we traditionally know it in fantastical literature either. In the Uplands, a person is limited to a certain ability they inherit from their ancestors, and the strength of the ability depends on the purity of the bloodline, amongst other things. These abilities are called gifts.

The story is about a boy named Orrec. We begin by learning that Orrec is blindfolded because of the strength of his gift. His is the gift of unmaking, which basically means he has the power to destroy anything he looks at if he wishes it. Orrec's gift was too powerful however and he had no control over it, which is why his father blinded him. The plot basically leads up the that first scene and paints Orrec's life and his struggles with this gift.

More than a fantasy, this is a coming of age story. Orrec is given a powerful 'gift' but has absolutely no control over it, making himself a deadly threat as a result. He tries to match himself to historical figures and satisfy his father's wishes, but no matter how hard he tries, or how seemingly powerful his gift may be, he feels weak and powerless and completely out-of-place. His gift is ironically more of a burden. It's only when he realizes that he must take his power into his own hands and makes it what he wants to be that it truly becomes a gift. We all have 'gifts' or abilities or skills, and they can either be a burden or they can enrich your life. This is the story of Orrec's journey learning how to make his gift be a gift.

Voices by Ursula le Guin

This is the story about an adolescent girl named Memer. She lives in a city that was conquered by the Alds when she was born and has only known living in an occupied country. Her people were known by other places as a great place for learning and for the world's most comprehensive library, but the Alds feared the written word and believed that it held demons. They also feared the many gods Memer's people worshiped and called them all demons. The Alds had one god they obsessively worshiped, and were fearful of anything else. Ever since she was a girl, Memer often escaped to a secret room in the large house she lived in. Her mother took her there when the city was first being attacked to protect her, as the room was hidden and could only be open by a series of hand movements. The Waylord, the elected leader of their people, found her there and taught her to read. He also shares a house with Memer and becomes a sort of surrogate father for her (Her mother died in the attacks when she was small and she never knew her father as he was an Ald, and though it is very vaguely hinted at, Memer's mother was raped, but chances are most people whom the book is targeted for will miss this fact).

Then one day a storyteller (called a maker in the story) and his companion come to the city. Memer feels an instant draw to these people and, after an incident in the town square, invite them to stay as guests in the Waylords house. The Alds value the spoken word as it turns out and have the maker come to them to tell stories and sing songs. It is with the arrival of these two people that the situation slowly begins to shift. Through Memer, the reader gets to see a little bit more of the Alds, but not too much as Memer's anger toward them is so strong. There are whispers of a revolution, and Memer finds out that there is more to the secret room and the books there than she first thought. Will Memer and her people ever be free of the Alds?

I thought this was a very well written book with an intriguing story line. It is a story about overcoming hatred, fear, and ignorance to find knowledge and truth. I found Memer to be a likeable character, though she was often held back by anger or fear. The role of books and reading was also interesting. They were forbidden and seen as being evil magic by the Alds, and while this seems like make-believe, there are some people who believe books are bad, not because reading is an evil magic ability, but because of the ideas they can give you. I  like Ursula le Guin but it took me a really long time to pick this book up because the cover looks kind of cheesy. However, just another lesson in not judging books by their covers, it was a good parable for finding strength in truth and knowledge.

Dragon's Milk by Susan Fletcher

Dragon's Milk (the first book in The Dragon Chronicles) is the story of a girl named Kaeldra who goes in search of dragon's milk to save her sister from a life threatening illness.

Kaeldra was something of a social outcast, even within her own home. She was adopted into the family and is of a race at war with the race of the family that took her in. She was different both in appearance and mannerisms from the other women in her village and family and because of her 'foreignness' was sometimes blamed behind her back for unfortunate events. Kaeldra was also the owner of green flecked eyes, and it was rumoured that people with green eyes could communicate with dragons, troublesome monsters that stole livestock and killed people.

Kaeldra's young sister Lyf comes down with a life threatening fever, and Grandmyr, the matriarch of the family, tells her that the only hope of a chance they have at saving her life would be to get her some dragon's milk. Grandmyr informs her that one of her own ancestors was also deathly ill and was left for dead at a cave, but after a dragon took pity on her and nursed her, she fully recovered, and received a pair of vibrant green eyes. So Kaeldra goes up the mountain near her home and in exchange for the milk, watches the dragon's children while she goes out to hunt. On one of these outings the mother gets killed by a dragon hunting party and the draclings are left in Kaeldra's care. She then goes on a quest to ensure that they are put into the care of another dragon before they too are slain.

This was a really good read. The writing was surprisingly intellectual for the age group (pre to early teen) and was truly a pleasure to get through. I thought that even though Kaeldra was a very unwilling heroine, she undertook her quest with bravery and strength and thankfully didn't whine her troubles away. This is the first book of a trilogy with a fourth novel soon coming out, and I have to say that this is one of the best dragon books I've read. All who love fantasy and adventure will surely fall in love with this book.

I Dream Dragon

I have loved dragons all my life. Here are some fictional books that have enhanced my love and have helped to paint the world in which they live.

Harper Hall of Pern Trilogy - Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, Dragondrums- great trilogy about a young girl who lives in a place where music is forbidden to girls and dragons are only for dragon riders, until one day she runs away from home and stumbles upon a clutch of small dragons that bond with her.

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles- Dealing with Dragons, Seaching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, Talking to Dragons- amazing series about a princess who was captured by a dragon... and doesn't want to be rescued. Instead she befriends the dragon and they go off on adventures. The old covers look so much better than the new ones.

The Dragons Chronicles- Dragon's Milk, Flight of the Dragons Kyn, Sign of the Dove - a collection of books about girls who can speak with dragons in a time when dragons are being hunted down and killed. These girls try to save the dragons.

Song in the Silence - story about a young woman who falls in love with a dragon. Not as cheesy as it sounds.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader- chronicles of Narnia. book 5. One of the selfish children gets turned into a dragon.

The Ice Dragon- story about a girl who loves the cold and because of her inhuman tolerance and love of it, creates a bond with the legendary ice dragon.

The Book of Dragons- great collection of short stories by E. Nesbit, a classic children's author.

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher- a young boy escapes some bullies by running into a magic shop and comes out with a dragon egg.

How to Train Your Dragon- story about a viking boy who isn't very good at being a viking, but his strange dragon training techniques may just save his town.

Kira (Shadow of the Dragon)- after the capture of their family, two sisters befriend a dragons and go about fulfilling a prophecy about bring down an unwelcome kingdom.

Dragon Slippers- Taking a few notes from Wrede's Enchanted Forest Chronicles, this is a story about a girl whose aunt offers her to the local dragon so that a prince will come to save and marry her. When the prince comes she blows him off and goes her own way, but takes a pair of shoes from the dragon's cave. She meets with another dragon later on and befriends it.

Dragon's Blood- boy tries to train a dragon

Dragonhaven- boy takes care of a dragon. Not as good as her other books, but not horrible.

The Paper Bag Princess - classic story book about a princess who goes off to save her prince from a dragon. After she outwits the dragon and saves him however, she realizes that he's not worth the trouble and leaves him in the dust. All of his stories are better when you hear him read them, so look up the audio... it might be on his website.

Tell Me A Dragon- This book doesn't really have a plot, it is more a collection of different people saying what kind of dragon they have, and by dragon I would assume they mean imagination. It goes through many different kinds of dragons, fire breathers, ice dragons, big dragons, etc. and is more a kind of book to inspire you to take pride in your own imagination than it is taking you through someone else's.

Eragon- farm boy finds a dragon egg and forms a bond with the dragon when it hatches, they go on adventures.

Dragonheart- Great movie about a dragon who gives his heart to save the life of a prince.. and it backfires. Two words. Sean Connery.

Pete's Dragon- An orphan and his dragon friend, who is invisible unless he so chooses, meets a nice lighthouse keeper and his daughter.

Faeries (1999)

Faeries is an animated film about a sister and a brother, Nellie and George, who are sent to live at a relative's farm for a time. They are somewhat unhappy about this, Nellie in particular. Once they're settled in, the children go out to play. George wants to play hide and seek and scampers off to hide from Nellie, and while she isn't looking, disappears into a tree. While looking for George, a creepy looking man (Jeremy Irons!) appears and tells her of a prophecy. She is a little shaken by this stranger and runs back to the house (not seeing him turn into a crow and fly away). She gets back to the house and continues her search for her brother and comes across a hobgoblin in her cupboard. It appears as though her brother has gone into the fairy realm, and Nellie must hurry and bring him back before he eats something and is unable to return. The goblin takes her to the faery tree and she goes in to find her brother. When she does get to him though, he has already eaten faery food and cannot return to the human realm ever. Nellie calls the faery king and pleads for the release of her brother. The king contents to give them three quests, and if they complete these quests, George will be able to leave fairy land. The nature of the quests change after the prince see's the farm hand Brigit (Kate Winslet). There is also the matter of the shape shifter, who is after the fairy king's throne. It is of course up to Nellie and George to save the day.

This film has a mix of both classic 2D animation as well as an early 3D animation style. For the most part the classic cartoon animation is used for the characters and the background, but several movement shots are done in 3D. Fairy land might have been real life foam fauna as well.

 

Heir To Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier

In this book we return to the world Marillier created with her Sevenwaters Trilogy, an ancient Celtic world where we see heroines undergo some sort of quest involving supernatural beings, otherwise known as faeries. The heroines come from within the same family and in the actual trilogy itself a generation separates each story. Heir to Sevenwaters takes place within the same generation as the last book in the trilogy and the heroine of this novel is the cousin of the heroine in the last book. I really enjoyed the trilogy, and while I do not think this book is as good as the first book, it still brings forth the author's talented story telling.

Clodagh is the third of six daughters born to Sean and Aisling, the current residents of a household buried deep within the forests of Ireland. She has a twin who she can communicate with telepathically (as all twins could in the original trilogy). Clodagh is the practical sister, the 'boring' sister. Of all of her sisters, Clodagh would be the most likely to stay at home and look after household affairs, and she does exactly this when her elderly mother becomes pregnant with a seventh child. This child is very important to the family because he will become the heir to Sevenwaters, a boy who will be able to take his father's place and inherit the land. The child is finally born and many people come to celebrate the birth. Characters from previous novels, such as Conner and Johnny make an appearance at this time, along with some new characters like Cathal, one of Johnny's men. All seems to be going smoothly until one night when the baby is stolen away in the night, when Clodagh is with him of course, and in its place dirt, leaves and twigs are left. The pile acts just as a human baby would, it cries and eats, but only Clodagh can hear it and see it move. She feels guilt for being there when her brother was taken, and her family seems to be blaming her for it. Also, her twin sister is getting married to a foreigner and is cutting herself off from Clodagh, leaving her feeling more alone than she's ever been. Clodagh believes that the child is a changeling and her brother was taken away by the good people. Fearing that her own family will kill the faery baby and fearing that her brother is already far beyond her reach, Clodagh takes the changeling child and takes it upon herself to find her brother's kidnappers and bring him back on her own.

Clodagh, like all of heroines in this series, is reserved and practical. She's surrounded by whimsy and fantasy but she herself is always firmly planted on the ground. Despite this she shows courage and bravery and undergoes her quest with perseverance. Well written, as one will come to expect with this author, and a fast paced plot.

Sugar: A Little Snow Fairy

I have seen this anime around but my impression of it was that it would be one of those vacuous 'cute for the sake of cute' animes about nothing in particular and the most the creator wanted me to take away from it was that 'OMG THAT WAS THE CUTEST EVER WASN'T THAT SO CUTE'. So naturally I stayed away. Despite what I thought initially however, this was actually a good story and yes, it is cute, but not cute for the sake of cuteness.

The story begins with an industrious young girl named Saga. Saga lives with her grandmother and has her life planned down to the minute. She doesn't like disorganization and even makes plans and decisions for her friends. This all starts to unravel, however, when Saga comes across a tiny fairy who almost passes out from hunger. Saga gives her a waffle to eat and the fairy follows her home. At first Saga dislikes the attention and is constantly trying to ignore or get away from Sugar, the fairy. Eventually though, the two become good friends and Saga becomes important to Sugar's mission.

Sugar is a snow fairy. Fairies control to weather, there are fairies who control wind, rain, sun, the clouds, etc. and Sugar controls snow, or will after her training period. Sugar is an apprentice fairy and she, along with other apprentice fairies, must spend time on earth to find 'twinkles'. Each fairy must find a 'twinkle' to make their own magic flower bloom, and only then can they become a full-fledged season fairy. Many of the episodes focus on the fairies trying to find these twinkles.

This show is not only for fairy lovers, there is also a a very strong musical theme. The fairies control their weather specialization with a musical instrument, and Saga herself loves the piano and plays often throughout the series. Music itself doesn't play as big a role as the love of instruments and the hold they may have on our memories.

The characters grow immensely in this series. Saga is not the up-tight girl who clung to a schedule. After she meets Sugar, Saga slowly is forced to loosen up a bit. Normally, people can't see season fairies so they fly out in the open and are invisible to people, but Saga is an exception and can see them. This poses a problem for her because not only do her schedules come under attack, but she is talking to and interacting with things no one but her can see. Over time though, Saga makes room for life to happen and doesn't cling so tightly to her schedule. Both Saga and Sugar experience trials, both individually and together and both grow a little bit from each hardship they face. It's kind of like fruits basket in that it's a sweet story on the surface, but it has a hidden depth to it, it's not as deep or intricate as fruits basket but it does have that double layer of surprising substance even though the characters are so cute.

The Sea Prince and the Fire Child (1981)

I love faeries, and anime, and this is the perfect combination of both. Alright, there are definitely some flaws in the movie. The colours are kind of faded, the bad guy is cheesy, and as is typical of 80's cartoons the girl just whines instead of doing something, among other things. My mind was telling me this as I was watching... but a stronger voice drowned that one out and was wishing I'd seen this movie when I was five years old. I would have loved it then. I still appreciate it now, but there's something about a child's perception that makes magic come alive and this story is full of magic.

It's about the son of the sea king and the daughter of the fire queen. As legend has it, the king and queen are siblings and were very close and always together. The wind saw this, became jealous of their happiness and told lies to each of them making them distrust the other. They quarreled and the fire queen went to live in the sky and the sea god the sea, and the wind was banished to the depths of the sea and his eye was removed. One day the prince of the sea goes to a forbidden place and sees the fire child watching over the eternal flame. He comes back the next day and they fall in love, and from there they try to find a way to make their impossible love work.

One of the things I love about anime is that it's not disnified. Obviously. What I mean by that is that a romanticized ideal is achieved, but not without cost. There isn't a false message that you can have your cake and eat it too. You should strive to achieve your desires, but you have to know that there may be a price to pay. This isn't ominous by any means, don't take it the wrong way, the movie isn't sinister and won't worry a child. The moral isn't that bad will always come from getting something you want, but more that sometimes you have to choose between two things you might like and if you choose one you might mourn the loss of the other, even though the choice you made was the best one and is what will make you the happiest. This isn't always the message in main stream films. Most of the time the idea expressed is that you go through a tough phase, but then by making the right choices all goes well in your life, happily ever after, without regret or pain or thoughts of what if. The story end with the idea that the couple will always be happy in their paradise, but in real life situations life isn't so black and white, and it's refreshing to see films reflect this every now and again, especially films for children.

The fire people are all faeries, and all except for the fire queen have a sprite-like appearance. The prince is human looking, but very lanky, and all of his subjects are fish (so both boys and girls will watch). It was a great film full of fantasy, adventure, whimsy, and romance. Great film.

Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey

This is a great book about a girl with passion for music. The story takes place in a fictional land called Pern. McCaffrey has fully developed this world in a whole series of books, this is only one series of many that take place in this land, but a lot of them are adult novels as opposed to this one which is meant for kids. The book focuses on this girl named Menolly, who lives in a very conservative fishing village; in a time before modern technology and in a world where dragons exist. Menolly loves music, but it is frowned upon for women to participate in music in any significant way, AKA singing in a chorus is OK, but it is unheard of for a woman to play instruments or compose music. To be a 'harper' which is a person treated almost like a scholar or a priest. Men with talent go off to study in a harper school and to be a harper is a very prestigious position. Every little town is sent their own harper to teach the children songs and to preside over the music at ceremonies and events.

So this girl Menolly is very talented and loves music, but because of the society she lives in, she can't enjoy her gift. The old harper in her village recognized her talent and fostered her gift, and because she was a child her parents allowed this, but as the story opens we find that this old harper is dead and the town (of which her father is the chief) has requested for a new harper. Before the old harper died, he had sent off some songs Menolly had written to the master harper, who is the most important harper of all. He really liked these and told the new harper to find this (thought to be male) prodigy. and this is where we walk into the story.

Menolly then goes through some trials, one of which is cutting her hand while gutting fish. This is particularly tragic because she is told that she can no longer play music. She already feels useless because she's taller and stronger than 'a girl should be' and she has no interest in what she should be doing. Her parents, especially her father, are against her playing music. Her father even beats her when he finds her absentmindedly strumming a guitar after he forbid her to make any music, as he doesn't want her to shame their village when the new harper comes. Because of this she makes herself scarce and eventually runs away to live on a cliff with these little dragons called fire lizards. Will she ever play music again?

This is the first in a trilogy and is a great story for both budding fantasy lovers as well as for veterans. It's a quick read, but has memorable characters and a fast-paced plot. Fun for all ages.

Tell Me a Dragon by Jackie Morris

This book didn’t really have a plot, but was more of a celebration of imagination. The illustrations are very colourful and magical and I really enjoyed the overall concept of the book. Each page has an illustration of a person and his or her dragon. One person’s dragon is very large, another’s is very small, another’s breathes fire, another ice, etc.

The objective of the story was more to impress on a kid that it is OK to have an imagination and it’s also OK if that imagination is different from everyone else’s. Ursula Le Guin wrote an essay called 'Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons’ and it talks about how people are afraid to admit he or she plays with their imagination or has moments of make believe or are too embarrassed to admit to liking fantasy or make believe. For a kid, or even an adult, I think this is a nice little book to say just the opposite. That you should embrace your ‘dragon’ because it’s as unique as you are.

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

I never really saw the attraction of this book when I was a child so was a bit hesitant about seeing this movie, but it was pretty good, better than the book in my opinion.

The story loosely follows the book but only structurally. It leaves a lot of room for interpretation, which I think was a necessary choice to make this a feature film longer than ten minutes. Luckily, the interpretation was well done and really drew upon feelings people have about their childhood, but I'd like to say that this is not a movie for children. First of all, the characters on the island's heads are disproportionate to their bodies, which makes the facial features larger. While I enjoy this now in an artistic sense, when I was young the exaggerated facial features creeped me out a bit, and I could fore-see it intimidating small children, especially if there are large teeth and threats of being eaten. The overall tone of the movie has a threatening, uncertain sort of atmosphere, almost as if the viewer feeling like there isn't peace or that the peace won't last long. Also, I don't think this is a children's film because the mess Max created doesn't get resolved, he just leaves. There is unrest both when he arrives and when he leaves, but tough he tries he doesn't solve it or even clean up the mess he makes. Before he leaves one of the monsters says that Max is sort of insignificant, that he's too small to effect change. There's also a weird part where Max climbs into KW's mouth to hide.. and these kinds of things aren't usually what you'd see in your typical children's film.

As an adult film however, this movie was great. I thought that the way the movie was set up expressed an impression a person would have of their childhood when they were reminiscing about it. Max is childhood personified. He has an amazing imagination and lives his life from the perspective of this imagination. Everything is taken to the extreme, like when a child wants something but doesn't get it, it's the end of the world, or if a child is excited about something a whole new world is possible. The story was almost dystopian because of the fact that Max can't make the monsters happy. After a while he just stopped trying and went home to his mom so that he didn't have to deal with it anymore. It's almost like in Peter Pan where the lost boys need a mother, but there's no Wendy here. Max just sort of used the monsters to realize that he needed a mother, because he was as lost and as afraid as they were. The film finishes with a feel good moment as Max eats dinner with his mom after he comes home. There's a sense that everything worked out and he has love, which was the problem with the monsters, they didn't have anyone loving them.

Though I'd be hesitant to take someone under 6 or 7 to see it, it was a good movie about a child's imagination and search for love

Wolf Moon by Charles de Lint

This novel was well put together, I quite enjoy this author. So far everything I've read by him (to date probably 3 books including this one... but still) has been well written. He seems to know what words to use to best capture a feeling or mood or set the tone. Characterization is also very well done.

This book is about a werewolf who comes across an inn and falls in love with a woman there and her family and tries to set up something of a life with them, but he has this evil magician on his tail who wants to kill him. The time in which the book took place has a kind of a solemn almost medieval mood too it, not with the knights n' such, but the way in which the characters speak and the setting, it all has a 'back then' feel to it. So he tries to set up this life and it gets to be near perfect, which he longs for because in his past he hasn't been accepted by neither humans nor wolves because of what he is. But here he has finally found a place where people accept him. Then he goes to this party where the evil magician/ harper is and the harper moves in on his new found happiness.

I wish the author would have went into a bit more detail when concerning the actions of people not narrating, because I guess it's too much like real life where we have to assume inner turmoil and motivation behind their actions, but besides this criticism, this book was pretty good. Even as I noted this I still very much enjoyed the story, only after I've finished do criticisms pop into my head, when I'm no longer under the author's spell :P

A decent read on werewolves. There is a bit of romance, but it isn't the focus of the story. It's more about the werewolf himself and his struggle to find a place for himself in the world. It's a pretty good one.

Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr

Well, the first book, Wicked Lovely, was a decent read, so I was expecting I guess more of the same in this book. Instead the author attempted to take on darker subject matter and instead of fleshing this out to the full, she skirted around the issues and didn't really address them, Kind of making the story/ characters fall flat. Basically a PG book took on R rated issues but kept them PG, relying on suggestion to get a point across rather than just addressing the issues. Because of this the plot had a kind of cardboard feel to it. I kind of felt like she kind of skimmed through the plot as well. Events took place, but there was no conviction to anything and the author didn't really follow through and finish an event. I thought the ending was kind of rushed.

Overall decent set-up but poor execution.

Od Magic by Patricia Mckillip

Not my favourite by her, but decent enough in it's own right. The story follows a guy who likes plants (as well as a wizard and a princess, three perspectives to tell the same story, from different angles) who is asked by the founder of a magic school to be a school gardener. He accepts and goes off, finding out that he has magical abilities himself.

Brenden, the guy, isn't the typical protagonist. He's extremely introverted and nearing the end of the novel he runs away from someone who is chasing him, which runs contrary to the usual heroes we get who 'face their fears' so to speak. And yet, though he is so timid, the author plays this off as almost a good thing. It isn't stated as such in the novel, but parallels are drawn and statements are made that commend this type of personality. We find out that Brendan is actually very powerful, and for no other reason than he takes the time to listen.

If looking at this book symbolically, magic can be associated with thought, or free will. The king keeps tight control over what magic is acceptable and what is not, and all magic must be used for the benefit of the kingdom or it is not allowed. Kind of like 1984, but not as intense.

I found the wrapping up of the story to be a bit rushed information- wise, it could have been fleshed out a bit more. But this author is one of the better ones I've come across and knows how to do what she does well, so while the information moves... quickly... the story itself is not rushed and there is a pleasant flow making the amount of information she gives acceptable from the readers perspective.

As I say, not my favourite by her, but worth the read never the less.

Pan’s Labyrinth

This movie is a masterpiece! Quite honestly I don't know how anyone could watch it and not get sucked in. This movie was told with the air of a classic fairy tale, the real ones, not the watered down versions we give our children today. There is an atmosphere of danger and suspense that constantly surrounds the girl, and in response to that there is a persistent arousal of hope, or fantasy. The girl's environment is not the best, to say the least. She is in some camp under the jurisdiction of some heartless man who has married her mother, and who only cares about producing an heir. Everything around her is militaristic and hard and cold, and yet she continuously bumps into this other world of wonder and mystery, of fairies and fauns and the like. It's like the metaphor of the flower that grows out of concrete. finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.

It's debatable whether she is actually interacting with this other world and that it exists, or if she's creating this world to escape her less than ideal reality. I suppose your answer would come from what kind of person you are and how you perceive the world. I enjoy the experience of believing it is real with a constant skeptic in the back of my mind nay saying everything the believer says, so I guess my view would change depending on what day you chanced upon asking me. The bottom line is that story is very well put together and whether or not you believe the world the girl is interacting with to be real, you'll enjoy it either way. 

A common criticism I hear circling this movie is that it isn't for children. To these people, I don't really know what to say. I'm not sure how it was advertised to you, but from the advertisements I saw I was well aware that the movie was rated R and was a 'fairy tale for grown ups', so to speak. I did still take my younger sibling, but that's something else. If a parent or guardian is not willing to take the time to research a movie or heed the ratings, they shouldn't be allowed to complain about what their children see, as this unwanted event could have been prevented with a little effort on their part.

This movie is wonderful. I tear up at the end every time. For me it really stands out as a work of art against the back drop of the standard of movies we have come to expect will be playing in theaters every Friday night. I'd even go so far as to say that it's a classic in it's own time, or is at least something to be aware of. But it's definitely awesome.

Changeling Sea by Patricia Mckillip

 This was a great story. I love this author, she just has a certain style that brings whatever she says to another level. This said, the story isn't perfect. The major relationships between the main character and those around her aren't very strong, not strong enough anyways. At the end, not to spoil it, but she asks someone to come back for her, but the relationship between them wasn't strong enough for her to ask that of him... or at least we the readers weren't privy to it. They don't have to be ridiculously close or anything, the perceived distance between the characters is fine, but the draw between characters must make sense to the reader. If the author spent more time fleshing out relationships I think the story would've been better, because the relationships are very compelling, we just know too little of them. Peri says she enjoyed certain people's company because they needed her. Unless she is so weak and needy that someone recognizing her existence would make her go crazy, which I don't think she was, there is a part of the story the readers don't know about, or have to fabricate for themselves. So in a way it felt like she was grasping at straws, and the introductions of some characters, namely the workers at the inn, were kind of awkward.
 
Criticism aside, it was a wonderful story. The plot was well thought out and kept me interested. I thought the author did a great job of characterizing the sea. Kir was a great emphasis for this because he was half of the sea himself, so we had the sea both as itself and humanized in Kir. Periwinkle was ok, not the strongest heroine but compelling in her own way. I liked her name though, Periwinkle, you get few characters with such whimsical names. 

It was a great story though. It was short, I read it in a couple of hours, and it left me feeling kind of whimsical .

Peter Pan (2004)

I have loved Peter Pan ever since I was a child. It is a wonderful story about magic and freedom and the wonder of childhood, and I believe that this movie did an excellent job of capturing those themes and bringing them alive. 

For those who are unfamiliar, Peter Pan is the story about three children, Wendy, John, and Micheal (but especially Wendy), and their adventures in a magical place called Neverland, with a magical boy who seems to have given up his humanity and can never grow up. 

There was the added love interest in the movie, that was kind of suggested in the book, but never stated. Many times when movies deviate from the original plot in anyway its usually a major disappointment for those who fell in love with the original, but in this case the deviation was very well done and added greatly to the over all effect of the film. This movie is an enchanting retelling of a beloved classic and a must own for all lovers of Peter Pan!!!