A Fangirl is Born
Dec 04For the longest time, I thought I made it up.
I remembered a superheroine telling her origin story to a gang of attentive old friends. I remembered that said origin story somehow involved high school and people being big mean meanies. I remembered the moment when she realized she could fly.
It all sounds so generic when I say it like that. But this was all I could remember, a series of vague images rendered in bad ‘80s animation — the kind where “running†is represented by a repetitive sequence of mechanical lurches.
It wasn’t until recently that the pieces came together. I was describing my collection of hazy half-memories to my husband, and he was like, “Wait, that’s a thing. A thing that actually exists.†And then we realized it was “A Firestar is Born.â€
Fantastic, Mr. Fox (Alert Nerd Family Show)
Dec 02I left Fantastic Mr. Fox a bit nonplussed by the whole affair. I realize that’s a serious asshole move when you’ve just viewed a stop-motion animated film, perhaps the most difficult style of filmmaking available to today’s auteurs, with the possible exception of hopping in one of Jimmy Cameron’s super-submarines to stage a Titanic sequel amid the wreckage of the actual boat. It’s sort of like eating a home-cooked meal and then declaring, “Meh! The salt in the mashed potatoes was unforgivable!” You can say it, sure, but you’re assuring your douchebaghood.
But then, mild pleasure and confusion are common reactions for me when it comes to Wes Anderson’s films. And yet, he’s probably my favorite filmmaker working today.
He makes the kind of movies that linger in my brain and slowly unpack themselves over days, months, even years. Other than big dumb event movies, the only films I can say I rewatch with any regularity are Wes Anderson’s movies. I went on a BIG Rushmore kick in my mid-twenties, and The Royal Tennenbaums is one I’ve returned to as well.
When it comes out on DVD, I have a feeling I’ll be returning to Fox. In fact, I hope I can hook my kids on it so we have to watch it over and over. I’m betting it’s a grower.
My Little Superheroine (Alert Nerd Family Show)
Nov 30I’ve missed a lot of the Christopher Butcher-launched kids comics discussion (though the original post is fantastic as always), but what hooked me into it this morning was Noah Bertlasky’s post on his own experiences with his son & superhero comics:
I’m always willing to sneer at superhero fans, as most folks know. But I think this maybe misses or downplays a fairly major point – kids really, really, really like superheroes. A lot. It’s not me who was foisting my old Spidey Super Stories and Super-friends comics on my kid because I desperately wanted him to read them for the sake of my overwhelming nostalgia. On the contrary, I pulled those out of the long boxes because my son was obsessed, and I figured it would be cheaper than buying new reading material. And let me tell you, by the time I’d read them fifty or sixty times out loud, any lingering nostalgia I felt for the material was killed well nigh dead.
This got me to thinking about my own experiences. As it happens, my three-year-old also loves superheroes. And she’s a girl.
Stuff We Like This Week: November 20 Edition
Nov 20
In an effort to combat our occasional…okay, okay, near-constant negativity, we give you a regular feature full of nothing but love — Stuff We Like This Week. Appearing every Friday, SWLTW will recap the things that have set our little nerdly hearts aflame within the past seven days.
This week:
Matt lurves Star Trek!
Sarah falls in love with geeky TV ladies!
Chris digs a couple of new comics!
Putting the “Glad” in “Gladiator” (Alert Nerd Family Show)
Nov 19One of the many joys associated with parenting a toddler is the opportunity to watch the same TV show, movie, or holiday special over, and over, and over.
This is frequently torture. If the US government really wanted good intel down at Gitmo, they should have screened episodes of Dora the Explorer on an infinite loop for prisoners.
In the case of Disney’s animated output, I can’t help but turn it into critical analysis. I’ve watched a lot of these movies on my own, throughout my life, at least one time; like most kids I loved my Disney flicks, and as an adult, I’ve become a fan of animation as an art form and storytelling vehicle. So suddenly, watching Peter Pan for the 9,475th time isn’t just boring; I’m finding myself dissecting these flicks, appreciating some of them anew, and finding others a bit more lacking.
Which is a long roundabout way of saying that I kinda think Hercules kicks ass.
