Ladyhawke (1985)

This movie was recommended to me as something on par with The Princess Bride and Legend, and I like both of those movies so I checked it out... but it's an unknown for a reason.

The story is about a pickpocket who breaks out of an inescapable prison. When he's a good distance away, he brags of his escape at a local inn, not noticing the prison guards also stopping for a drink. Before they kill him, he is saved by a mysterious cloaked stranger, who later forces the boy to accompany him in hopes of being lead into the city the pickpocket just escaped from. The cloaked stranger always has this hawk with him, and every night the stranger disappears as does the hawk, and a strange woman appears, sometimes in the company of a wolf. The pickpocket discovers that he has stumbled upon a tragic love story... and it is eventually up to him to set things in motion to reunite the estranged lovers.

Matthew Broderick plays the pickpocket, and he really wasn't that good in this role. I've only ever really liked him in Ferris Beuller.. and maybe he just lucked out with that role. I felt that he was too superficial, trying to hard to portray some happy-go-lucky ne'er do well. Not that all of the actors in this film were amazing, but if they had chosen someone else the film might have been better.

The plot had potential, who doesn't like a good tragic romance? But I felt like they could have done so much more with the plot than they did. They could have gone into more detail about the lover's past. The male lover's motivations could have been clarified. I understand the angle they were trying to get, but he came off as a selfish, almost petulant individual, and they could have definitely gone into Michelle Pfeiffer's character in greater detail. They seemed to more note her beauty or tell stories about her, but we aren't able to get to know her as well as we do some of the other characters... which is unfortunate as she's central to the plot. When the time came for the curse to be lifted, I didn't feel enough of a connection with the pair to care whether or not they were free or doomed.

Another thing that dates the movie a bit is the main character's ongoing dialogue with God. I don't really mind this personally, but I don't think something like, bring God into the everyday, would be likely to show up in theaters today. Society isn't as accepting of religion as it used to be. It's tolerant, most of the time, but leans more toward the absence of religion than it's presence.

Life in a Day (2010)

This documentary is a sweet little time capsule of the day July 24, 2010. The creators asked YouTube users to submit a video of what their life was like on that specific day. They were also to answer a few questions, like what do you love, what are you afraid of, etc. In response, they received 4,500 hours of video from 192 countries. This movie really is a product of the times, and it's actually pretty good.

The director organized the videos chronologically, beginning with videos taken in the early morning and ending with videos taken late at night. Participants either vlogged various activities or parts on their day in response to the various questions asked. Other than the ideological progression of the questions, there is no real plot to this film. There are no main characters, no objective, no statement to prove. It's simply a day in the life of the people who participated across the world. Some of the participants are focused on more than others. A handful of people from several different countries are given more than the couple of minutes of time it would take to answer a question, and through this we get some insight into these people's lives. The majority though is a series of short clips edited together.

For those who aren't familiar with  vlogging, it's basically the act of creating an online journal via film. Some people actually do this for a living and make daily vlogs of their everyday lives, unfortunately, not very many people are good at this. When I first heard of this film I thought it would be rather slow, maybe even boring, simply because of the fact that there are really only a handful of people who are good at this, enough so to make a full-time job out of it. A majority of the people who try to do this aren't very interesting to watch or listen to. For the first five minutes of this film I thought I was right.

However, the editing and organization of the clips that went into this film were really well done. One of the things that makes this form of film so effective is that it's real. Documentaries by nature deal in non-fiction, but this is something different. As I said in the beginning of this little blurb, it's more of a time capsule than it is a film. There's a real sense of connection with the people featured here and they're just trying to preserve the state their lives were in on July 24, 2010. They aren't actors, they're not trying to prove or discredit anything, there's no story here, no story other than the story of their day- to- day, run of the mill lives. They want so much to share these events with you that you can almost feel a connection with these people. Their laughter is real, as is their pain, as are their tears, and because of that you can empathize with them more easily than you could watching a story you know is false. You can actually watch this on YouTube for free. If you choose to do so, read some of the comments other viewers have made. Many of them were really touched by the stories these people wanted to share, and for me that's one of the best indicators of the reception this movie. Yes critics and film buffs can give their perspectives on it, but this movie was made by the people of YouTube, for the people of YouTube, and if the viewers there liked it, you can be sure it was a success.

That being said, it does transcend a YouTube audience. The wonderful everyday is celebrated in this film. You can truly appreciate how wonderful life is, and how heart-wrenching it can be. The humanity is glaringly apparent, and who doesn't like a little humanity every now and again?

Hana-Kimi: For You In Full Blossom by Hisaya Nakajo

 This was an awesome manga. True it's 21 volumes or some such amount, but it never gets boring and when it ends you get that bitter sweet feeling where you really want it to continue, but are happy that it ended happily. The relationships were well done, and quite honestly, never in my life have I expected to read, and enjoy, a romance story about long jump... but there it is I guess. For me it's one of those that gets better every time you read it (because yes I've read it more than once). Its really sweet, I recommend.

               

Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

 This has to be on my all time favourites list. I tear up every time I read it. It's a beautiful story about unconditional love, I'd say between a mother and a child. It's great to see stories like this in today's society where what you 'really need to worry about' is people cheating you, someone ripping you off, not getting your fair share, etc.. Society's so focused on the individual and selfishness is so celebrated that stories like this are refreshing to read and much needed in my opinion. To be honest I was surprised to see the negative reviews, but I guess that has to happen with widely read books, there's always a critic, and this is a good thing. But I would like to say in response that, yes the boy is taking from the tree and the tree never asks for anything, just offers everything, this is true. But, the reader takes on the perspective of the tree, the giver, and they experience this giving as something joyous, as an expression of love. When you love someone don't you want to do something to make them happy? And when someone gives you something you want or need, sometimes unexpectedly, sometimes not, isn't that a great feeling? To know that they care, sometimes enough to go out of their way, just for you? The boy never demands anything from the tree, the tree offers to make the boy happy, like a parent (or even a grandparent, anyone who cares really). Parents do everything for their children, sometimes this goes unnoticed, but they continue to do it because they love their children with all that they are. You can definitely pick out abuse if you look for it, but only if you look for it, not if you take the story as it is. It is a story about loving no matter what, and it kind of makes me sad that some people take that as abuse, especially when the boy did nothing offensive or abusive. He just took what was offered.
 
It's a beautiful story, and I think everyone should read it at least once in their lives.