Best State of the Union

Why New York is better than any of the remaining 49 states:
1. Pizza.
2. Bagels.
3. Black & White Cookies.
4. Broadway.
5. Times Square.
6. Architecture: Chrysler Building/Empire State Building/Rockefeller Center, etc
7. Pret a Manger.
8. Honey-roasted Peanuts.
9. Pretzels.
10. Judaism.

perhaps a film critic.

This "blog" is a nice place for me to practice film criticism/analysis, which is one of my favorite things to do and what I hope to do for a living someday. Aside from following up on pretentious famous critics like Leonard Maltin or Roger Ebert, I also am hooked on Top 10 lists by EW or moviefone.com. It is in the spirit of them that I write this post.
Child actors fascinate me. Some are cute (Shirley Temple), some are scary (Dakota Fanning), and some are unbelievably talented actors, more than stars (see below!). I decided to comprise a list of 10 performances done by actors under the age of fifteen that I think are the greatest I have seen. There is one guilty pleasure on the list, but the others represent what I think are the best depictions of real children I've ever seen. That's why Shirley Temple isn't on here, or Judy Garland; though I love them both, there is a bit too much theatricality in their performances (which was just right for the movies they were making). Also Dakota Fanning isn't on here because she never seems to act like a kid in her movies (SNL writers agree).

10. Jordan Nagai as Russell, in "Up".
Even in cartoons, kids in movies can be too eager, which comes off as annoying. I didn't realize how often this occurs until I saw "Up," and I was beyond impressed with little Jordan Nagai's voice acting (and not just because I love Asians...) His inflections and delivery of the dialogue sounded just like a little kid, dragging his feet one minute and bouncing up and down at the discovery of something cool the next. Some people might have found his character a bit trying after a while, but he was by far my favorite character in this movie. Well done, Mr. Nagai. Well done.


9. Ann Carter as Amy, in "Curse of the Cat People."
In one of the most misleadingly titled movies ever made lies one of the most touching portrayals of childhood ever captured on celluloid. I don't know anything else Ann Carter has done, but in this movie, she gives a very believable performance as a friendless, lonely girl, the likes of which were very unusual for child actors of the 1940s. Her interactions with her "imaginary friend" (pictured here) are sort of magical in their own way, and she gives us something to relate to. At one point or another in our lives, I think we were like Amy.

8. James Bentley & Alakina Mann as Anne & Nicholas in "The Others"
I couldn't choose between these two--they're both SO good. If you have kids in a horror movie, whether or not you buy it depends on how good the actors are. Bentley's performance as the scaredy-cat younger brother is so believable that you actually feel embarrassed for him as he is teased by his older sister, played by Mann, who is so believable that you want to slap her across the face more than once. My favorite part of this movie is probably when Nicole Kidman and Mann discover the secret that gives the film its twist ending- Mann's look of comprehending horror is chilling. (The other thing I like about this movie is that although it's scary, it doesn't exploit the kids... like "Let the Right Ones In," which was pornographic in its exposing the child actors to gruesome gore...)

7. Margaret O'Brien as Beth March in "Little Women" (1949)
I cannot stress how much I want everyone in the world to see this movie, and about 50% of the reason I want them to is for O'Brien's performance. I saw this movie when I was 12, and I identified with Beth March like I'd never identified with a fictional character before. The reason for that is O'Brien, who more than perfectly captures the fear, shyness, and sweetness that makes up this character. She is so sincere in the scene when she thanks Mr. Lawrence for the piano (see photo) that it makes my mother and I tear up every time. And at her final monologue, forget it. I'm sobbing. In the age of Shirley Temple, she is sadly not remembered much anymore.

6. AnnaSophia Robb as Opal in "Because of Winn-Dixie"
Not just any child actress could hold her own among stars like Jeff Daniels, Charlize Theron, Johnny Depp, or Hilary Swank. Robb not only does this, but makes their performances better. Though I adore her in "Bridge to Terabithia" (in a part that almost went to Dakota Fanning, WHAT?!), I have to say "Winn-Dixie" is probably my favorite performance of hers. The chemistry between her and the dog is unfakeable, and her emotions all come across as very true. The scene where Winn-Dixie goes missing and Robb calls out her father for wanting to give up is so powerful that I cry every time. Her pain and her tears are so real. This was before Hollywood got a grip on her, and she was more raw (now, at times, I can sort of see her "acting," which is unfortunate). I saw her in "Jumper," where she played the younger version of a character for the first 10 minutes, and I just have to say it's sort of sad when a child actor gives a better performance than the person playing her character for the rest of the movie. (I couldn't continue watching it after Robb was gone.)

5. Lindsay Lohan as Hallie & Annie in "The Parent Trap"
OKAY, Lohan's been going down sort of a downhill slope for the last few years with her alcoholism, drug abuse, family drama, and tabloid stories- but gosh dang it if this girl was not one of the most talented child actors around. Watching "The Parent Trap" again this summer, I was truly floored by how amazing she was. Much more so than Hayley Mills (no offense), Lohan made the twins seem like two totally different people, to the point that many lesser-informed viewers used to think the part was actually played by two actresses. Lohan not only nails Annie's refinement and snobbery, and Hallie's self-confident, laid-back personality, but also does an amazing job of playing each twin playing the other. So she really sort of plays four characters in this movie. I'll also add that Lohan gave two of the most believable teenage performances I've seen in "Freaky Friday" and more especially, "Mean Girls." Props to you, girl. I hope she comes back someday.

4. Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams in "Addams Family Values"
Someday I'd like to shake the hand of the genius who came up with the idea of sending the Addams children to summer camp. I'd also like to shake the hand of the casting agent who put Ricci in this role. And then I'd like to shake Ricci's hand. This is my guilty pleasure on the list, because of course Wednesday Addams is about as far from a "real" kid as you can get, although now that I think about it, she's sort of like a goth 10-year-old taken to the next level. Anyway, in this movie and its predecessor, Ricci showed a creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky (and hilarious) ability to more than grasp Wednesday's dark, dark, dark sense of humor. ("I'll buy your lemonade since they're made with real lemons, if you'll buy a box of my Girl Scout cookies." "Are they made from real girl scouts?") Priceless. Ricci's understanding and interpretation of the role is my favorite thing about these movies, more than making up for the lack of development the character had on the TV show. It takes an really smart kid to get a role like this. Watch Wednesday play Hamlet in "The Addams Family" and Pocahontas in "The Addams Family Values," and you get a good taste of what Ricci's about. Seriously, go out and rent these movies. Ricci will blow your mind.

3. Freddie Highmore as Peter in "Finding Neverland."



........just watch it.





2. Josh Hutcherson as Jess Aarons in "Bridge to Terabithia"
I don't think I could praise this kid enough. His part in this film was so difficult, and his talent in pulling it off puts many other adult actors to shame. Hutcherson infuses the character with equal measures of frustration, pride, cynacism, fear, love, and happiness that only someone bent on calling this movie horrible could say he fails to bring Jess to life. SPOILER ALERT!! Just when you thought he was just being cute and having fun, we reach the third act of the movie, and suddenly you're like, give this kid an Oscar already. The wrenching guilt the character feels after his best friend dies is painful to watch. His reactions with two of his teachers, a bully, his sister, and especially his father would make even the most hard-hearted person bawl like a baby. A BABY. Bawling. A lot.

1. Max Records as Max in "Where the Wild Things Are"
This is the performance that actually made me think of this list in the first place. I've never seen Max Records in anything else and don't know if he'll ever be able to make anything ever again, but regardless, this is without question the most realistic portrayal of a kid I have ever seen. The first 20 minutes of this movie are perfect, and they're actually the reason I wanted to see it in the first place. That part in the trailer where Max sees his mother (played excellently by Catherine Keener!) kiss her boyfriend, just the look on his face, gah. He knew how to be subtle, and other times, how to be loud and crazy. He just seemed so 100% unaware that he was being filmed, that he was in a movie, and that's what puts him apart from the other 9 kids I mentioned (and the ones I didn't. A-hem, Dakota). Seriously, everything he did and everything he said rang totally true. I felt like I was intruding on somebody'else's life, on somebody else's imagination. I can honestly say I've never seen a performance more powerful.

Back in the day, there used to be "Juvenile Oscars" for child actors, sort of like Special or Honorary Awards. Shirley Temple got one, as did Mickey Rooney, and Judy Garland rightfully received one for "The Wizard of Oz." I don't know when they stopped giving these out, nor do I know why. I really wish they would bring it back, because I feel like at least 3 or 4 of the kids on this list would have gotten one. We don't want 10 Best Picture Nominations, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, we want awards to recognize child actors!
...or I do, anyway.

life lessons

Patriotism

Oh, my beautiful New York skyline. I hardly knew it before it was changed forever.

Five days into my first year as a middle school student, my Spanish class was interrupted by an announcement from the P.A. systems. Our principal told us all to go to a certain area of the school to hear something important. We were divided up by Social Studies teacher; all those who had Mrs. Savage were told to go to the cafeteria, so that's where I went. Once I got there, I tried to find some of my friends to sit down with, but after scanning the room, the only available seat I saw was by some popular kids I didn't really know. It turned out not to matter... once Mr. Chiang, my guidance counselor, had gotten everyone's attention, he told us: "Kids, this morning two planes hit the Twin Towers."

Immediately, the mood shifted. Everyone stopped chatting to their neighbors, boys stopped trading baseball cards under the table. We just stared at him. Instantly, kids shot their hands into the air, wanting to know how close the Towers were to this building or this office in the city where their parents worked. Neither of my parents worked in the city, so I knew they were safe, but I did think of Helen Belilovsky right away. Her son, Eugene, was my brother's best friend, and I knew she worked in one of the Towers.

For the next couple of days, we heard stories about people who were supposedly lost, gone forever, but then showed up, or were found. I kept hoping that would be the case with Helen. She would be found. She would come home. But she never did. Helen died that day, years after she and her husband immigrated from Russia after the Chernobyl incident, hoping to find a better life in America.

I always think of the Belilovskys on this day, but the other name that always comes to mind is Sarah Swaine. She was the last name on the roster of my first period class. On September 12, 2001, when Mrs. Savage was taking attendance... "Sarah Swaine. Sarah? Is Sarah here?" No one said anything, until a girl named Chloe Deem (Sarah's best friend) slowly raised her hand. "Sarah's not here. Her dad and her uncle worked in the Towers." Sarah should have been in three of my other classes that day, and each time her name was called, Chloe was now ready with her response- "Her dad died from September 11th." Like Helen, Mr. Swaine was never found. Sarah's birthday was on October 22nd. In middle school, girls liked to decorate each other's lockers for their birthdays before classes started, but most of the time after they did this, they ran away so that their friend would be surprised when she got to her locker. My locker was near Sarah's, and on her birthday, I could not get near it because half the girls in my class had showed up to decorate it to the hilt and sing to her. After sixth grade, I didn't have a class with Sarah again until I was a junior. She probably doesn't remember me at all. But I'm never going to be able to forget her.

I'm jumping around here a bit, sorry. But every 4th of July, when we sing "The Star Spangled Banner" in church, I always cry. My family thinks it's because I'm just sentimental and moved by the words and proud to be an American or whatever, but that's not exactly it. It's the memory of the end of 9/11/01, when my last class in school was band. Mr. Jordan lead us in playing The Star Spangled Banner. We could barely get through it for crying; we were just kids. Some of us were still only ten years old.

In 2002 and 2003, we held a school-wide assembly on September 11th to commemorate those who had died. By the time I reached high school in 2004, that was whittled down to a minute of silence. Nobody, nobody dared break that silence, not the rudest troublemaker, the meanest prankster, or the most disrespectful student would dishonor those moments of absolute silence. That is why it was so hard for me to come here, to Utah, and not be in New York on the eleventh of September. Last year, none of my teachers acknowledged it. None of the kids in my classes or girls on my floor seemed to realize what day it was (maybe they did; I don't know, I just know that I didn't hear anything about it). There was no moment of silence. No quiet plea from our principal asking us to remember those who had fallen. I thought of Sarah Swaine, starting college, and I wondered if she told her classmates about the losses she'd sustained. I just wanted someone to care.

This year, the school paper had one sentence in their bulletin about what day it was. I must admit, I felt really upset about that. I don't want this to sound like bragging or woe-is-me, but my classmates out here don't get it. They weren't there, which I know is why this day doesn't hold as much significance for them as it does for me. But I can't just forget it. I can't forget what that terror was like, leaving my childhood far behind me.

In retrospect, I think it was 9/11 that made me proud to be an American. I saw it pull our country together. I saw it make people want to help each other. My friends and I had a bake sale on the corner of our street, with signs declaring that all proceeds would go to helping the families of victims of the terrorist attacks. Normally a bake sale like this, with a bunch of kids, might make $8 at best. We raised $362.

I guess this post is for New York, then. For Eugene, for Sarah, and for Ryan McErlean, another boy in my grade who lost his father on September 11th (I had no classes with him, and didn't know of his loss until two years after the fact).

Lastly, though the cynic in me is struggling to contain these words, I just want to say, God bless you, America, and New York. Home of the brave.

Wait...summer's OVER?!

Though there were times I felt that these summer days were crawling sluggishly by, and that it'd be nice to have some structure (like classes) again, now I seriously can't believe that summer has already sailed by. Those familiar tremors of fear are starting to set in again: fear of setting up a new place, living with new people, going to a new ward, starting new classes, having to make new friends all over again... sigh. It can be fun, but troublesome as well.
I may not have had a steady job this summer, and I may not have gone to Europe like four of my friends did, but these past few months have been so great, that I do wish there were 500 days of summer....
I got to re-introduce one of my best friends to my favorite city!


We walked the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time.


I went to 2 Broadway shows, which is very unusual for me...but it was SO exciting to see Lauren Graham in "Guys & Dolls," and then Rupert Everett and Angela Lansbury in "Blithe Spirit" the next month. :)


I reconnected with old friends, such as this one, who moved to Britain when we were 13!


I got to hang out with New Rochelle II, undoubtedly the coolest ward that exists!


We were visited by my mom's siblings, Patty and Michael, for Uncle Mike's 60th birthday. As always, it was so much fun to hang out with them- and see their hippie side released when they went to see "Hair" on Broadway!


After having read about him and seen him in countless documentaries, I got to meet one of my favorite film historians, John Culhane!!!


My family went on a trip to Newport, RI for the first time, so I could see a Norman Rockwell exhibit at the American Museum of Illustration. It's so beautiful up there.


And then of course, there was our epic pilgrimage to see the Corn Dance in New Mexico. Graham and I hadn't been to the southwestern part of the United States in about ten years, so going back there was a really fun experience.


Shortly after our return from the barren, wide-open-spaces area of the Southwest, we rocked it up at the 40th-anniversary concert (or "music festival," rather) at Woodstock with thousands of other fans.


Then of course, it was an epic summer for movies: the (very, very, very highly anticipated) Harry Potter, which yes, I saw 3.5 times (the .5 being our first thwarted attempt to see the movie at midnight). Also, Public Enemies, Ponyo, and Julie & Julia.


But mostly what I did this summer was what I do best: which is to say, hang out with my amazing friends. They are what made this season fly right on by. I already can't wait to see them again at Thanksgiving or Christmas, and thankfully, friends are also what help me get by when I'm at BYU. I'm sure this semester will be just as action-packed and full of fun/stress/college life in general as the last, so here's to it! (But this was just one last "hurrah" for my summer.)

I noticed 95% of my posts have been about movies...

Princess Mononoke.(above)
Howl's Moving Castle (below), which actually was shown at International Cinema last semester.)



Right now, I just want to say something for the record: I. Love. Animation. I have so much respect for the artistry and wizardry involved in making animated films. In particular, I go crazy for traditional, hand-drawn animation and stop-motion animation (Coraline, Wallce & Gromit, or the upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox ..which yes, I totally plan on seeing). There is something about seeing the direct work of human hands where no computer was involved or intervened to fix an error. If Disney's next cartoon (The Princess and the Frog, a return to traditional animation) is a hit, I really hope its style sets a new trend.
If not, at least I know I can always count on Hayao Miyazaki.
YES, that's a Japanese name, so YES, that technically means it's "anime." If you're one of those people who wrinkles their noses and raises their eyebrows and snickers every time this word is mentioned, I ask you to swallow that snicker, unwrinkle your nose, and return your eyebrows to their normal position. Do yourself and/or your kids a huge favor by renting a few Miyazaki movies to show them- even the worst of them are better than the tripe being shown to them by other studios these days (with the sole exception of Pixar.)
But the animation is weird, you say. Their eyes are big and round, their mouths move inordinately with speech, and the dubbing is bad. Whatever. Disney has released nearly all of Miyazaki's movies here, and each one is exceptional, especially the casts:
Ponyo (now in theaters): Tina Fey, Liam Neeson, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, BETTY WHITE
Howl's Moving Castle: Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Emily Mortimer, Josh Hutcherson, Blythe Danner, Lauren Bacall
Spirited Away: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleashette, Susan Egan, David Ogden Stiers
Princess Mononoke: Claire Danes, Billy Crudup, Billy-Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith
Castle in the Sky: Anna Paquin, Mandy Patinkin, James van der Beek, Mark Hamill, Cloris Leachman
Kiki's Delivery Service: Kirsten Dunst, Debbie Reynolds, Matthew Lawrence
Porco Rosso: Michael Keaton, Cary Elwes, Susan Egan, Brad Garrett
Naussica of the Valley of the Wind: Shia LeBeouf, Uma Therman, Mark Hamill, Tony Joy, Patrick Stewart
My Neighbor Totoro: recently re-dubbed by Dakota Fanning and her little sister

These are all amazing movies and don't deserve to be overlooked the way they are, simply because they happen to be animated and happen to be from Japan. Anyone of any age can enjoy them (except maybe Princess Mononoke, which deserves its PG-13 rating). I will say that Ponyo, the one currently in release, is not my favorite, so I'd actually suggest going out and renting one of the others, because they're all so great. The best for younger kids would probably be Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro, which are all as good as the old Disney movies and draw kids in because the main characters are children as well. Most of the others I mentioned require a bit more of an attention span...
...wow, listen to me. I could just rant about movies all day long.

I am the uber nerd

This week I had one of the most exciting experiences of my life.
I'm still geeking out.
Allow me to explain:
When I was little (and really awesome), I would obsessively watch Disney movies, and then obsessively watch the little making-of features about them. My obsession was so deep that when I was ten, my parents got me a beautiful book written by two of Disney's greatest animators, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, and later a documentary about them. Quoted extensively in their book and interviewed repeatedly in this documentary was a man named John Culhane. He was, in fact, I noticed, present in nearly every Disney-related documentary I watched.
Then I learnd Mr. Culhane had been the visual inspiration from Medusa's sidekick Mr. Snoops in "The Rescuers" (the character being so named because of Mr. Culhane's tendancy to "snoop" around the studio). A caricature of him also appeared in Fantasia 2000 for the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment.
I got the chance to meet with Mr. Culhane and talk to him about his Disney-related experiences. When he was 20 years old, he drove from Illinois to California with the sole purpose of meeting Walt Disney, which he accomplished. He and Mr. Disney spent five and a half hours talking together, which is about an hour longer than the time I spent obsessing over movies with Mr. Culhane. It just felt really magical to me in a way... I was shaking the hand of a man who'd been on first-name terms with Walt Disney.
But not just Walt Disney. Every single time I referenced a movie or a person, Mr. Culhane would light up and tell me a story: "I was at the premiere of A Room With A View and saw Jackie Kennedy- I thought she was trying to set up her son with Helena Bonham Carter..." "Did I tell you about the time Isabella Rossellinni kept me from going to Russia?" or the time he got to salute the German officer who refused Hitler's order to burn Paris. This man was just an encyclopedia of information- I have to admit I got really excited when I'd be able to finish his sentences. He would be struggling to remember the name of a movie or an actor, and I couldn't keep myself from helping him out. He was such a cute old man.
Also, he is one of the very few people who knew who I meant when I said I could do a Sheldon Leonard impersonation. Gotta love him for that!