Raye's The Brothers Grimm Review

I wrote this review for my own site but I rather like it so I thought I would share it with the family. Also, since I thought this flick might but up the alley of Mom, Uncle Rod and Auntie Allison, I thought I'd share my thoughts.
Cheers,
Raye :)

Once upon a time Mom chose the movies that Rob and I got to enjoy. Since that time, she has occassionally questioned her movie-selection abilities in my youth ("maybe Raiders was a little scary for a 10-year-old") but I can only thank her for her sound judgement. I grew up with a healthy dose of creative film-making placed before me. It was, afterall, a time when adventurous story-telling and spectacular visuals were in their prime. It was the age of early Spielberg and Lucas adventure yarns (Star Wars, Indiana Jones). It was the era of Jim Henson (Muppets, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal). And, it was when I was introduced to Terry Gilliam through a film called Time Bandits.

Gilliam is most noted for his work with Monty Python. Monty Python films are the celluloid equivalent of music groups like Meatloaf, Cream, and Steve Miller. I became aware of the them in highschool and they have held a nostalgia-fueled entertainment quality ever since. Luckily, MP is actually REALLY funny in a random and absurd way that is now only found in animated TV shows like Futurama and Family Guy. The fact that Gilliam was a Monty Python writer should give you some indication as to where his narrative direction lies. However, his humour is only part of the package as his interest in fairy-tale stories is most relevant to his recent endeavour - The Brothers Grimm - and brings us back to the aforementioned Bandits.

Time Bandits was released in 1981 and told the tale of a young boy who is swept away into a fight against "pure evil". The film weaves together myth (Theseus' battle with the Minotaur) and history (the Titanic's demise) as the boy travels through space and time. The film is also a sly comment on the necessity of wonderment and the treachery of modern convenience. In 1988, Gilliam brought us the bizarre Adventures of Baron Munchuasen and is primarily remembered for giving the world Uma Thurman (as Venus) but was based on the tales of a European folk hero. The Brothers Grimm falls somewhere between these two. It will never hold up as a classic like Bandits due to poor construction; but it surpasses Baron in wit and concept.


The film begins with a snapshot of the young Grimms and through the introduction of some "magic beans" lets us know who will be the believer and who will be the cynic. Jump 15 years to the future and the older Grimms - smooth-talking Will (Matt Damon) and quiet scholar Jacob (Heath Ledger) - are working the confidence game around French-occupied Germany. But it's when the Grimms are forced to solve the mystery of Marbeden's vanishing daughters that things really get interesting.

The film's early scenes feel like over-worked contrivances. However, they are carried by the pairing of Damon and Ledger who inject the right mix of winking-eye and character sincerity to keep you intrigued. The laboured set-up begins to pay-off once the story truly locates to the enchanted forest. The script was written by Ehren Kruger and he offers the same skill for tickling the audience's knowledge of the source material here as he did in Scream 3. Much of the film revolves around the incorporation of fairy-tale images, names, and motives. Kruger does a passable job of interweaving the stories into a single quest from which the Grimm's could have later distilled independent tales. In much the same way that last year's Van Helsing connected the big three horror villians, TBG brings elements of Little Red Riding Hood, Rumplestitlskin, Rapunzel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Frog Prince, The Gingerbread Man, Hansel & Gretel and more into the show. And, like Helsing, you will either enjoy the experience or cry foul at its liberties. I chose to enjoy it.

Much of the joy is sustained by the visuals. Once again, Gilliam has used his penchant for the fantastic to strong effect in painting a children's book world. His use of colour and slow motion are particularly helpful. There is an old world charm that is presented that reminds you of the illustrations you used to see before Disney co-opted all the fairy tale characters. As well, Gilliam's dark side is firmly in place and the look is solidly designed with adults in mind. His twist on the typical female message of beauty beats all is striking. In this version, the quest of life-long beauty is exposed as a parlour trick that must be shattered - literally. The film's mixture of decadent details and menacing motives is a wonderful presentation of our beloved stories' genesis - especially since we all know that fairy tales were pretty nasty in their early days.

Where The Brothers Grimm fails is in the final execution. Flow is hampered by hatchet editing that appears to have deleted entire transition scenes. The use of digital effects is inconsistent and almost laughable at times. Because of these things the plot thickens but does not pleasantly congele. Instead it wiggles around and tries to hide some of its flaws with obvious sprinkles. A further disappointment is Peter Stormare, as Cavalli, who chews so much scenery it is surprising his scenes survive. Although Stormare is often the entertaining oddity in a film he goes too far here when Gilliam should have reined him in.

By the end, the happily ever after of TBG is not as sweet as it could have been. Although Gilliam has brought his signature to the piece it is shakily presented. Thus, this tale will never be beloved, but it reminds you of an age when creativity and colour had not withered from movie-making. It attempts to re-assert the power of wonder over the lure of the dollar and, if anything, may push some of us back to the library.

Interview

So I had an interview for a Temp Team Lead Job at work. Didn't get the job but I certainly appreciated the experience of going through the process. Now I know what they will be asking.. and can better prepare for the next opportunity. I was nervous.. thats my first interview since I got hired on at the blood services. Definatly need more practice ;) Oh and have my first tour at the Gallery as a docent. So far I've only just been sitting there pretty well just to answer questions.. I have taken a bit of a break tho. But there are some tours booked the last three weekends of the Franklin Carmichael exhibit before it leaves on the 4th of September.. good way for me to get over my shyness of speaking in front of a crowd! EEP! .. Well might as well jump in and just do it.. hope everyone is doing well! :)
Allison

From the Road

Today it's REALLY hot in Halifax so I'm hiding inside. I thought I would take a moment to share some pictures from the trip out to Halifax. This is what a family blog is for afterall! So a selection of moments from the journey and the destination. I'm sure there will be more to share in the future.

Here is Mom and Tom in Montreal. We stayed at Natalie's place downtown and this is on her deck in the back. It actually overlooks St. Joseph's Oratory but you can't see it because of the tree. This trip could not have been done without the support of my amazing parents - they give so much. This pic was taken on the beginning of Day 2 - so we weren't TOO burnt out yet.

Mom and Me at the entrance to the village of St. Louis de Ha! Ha! We had decided to stop in this place - located half-way between Riviere-de-Loup and the New Brunswick border because Grandad had mentioned its existence. So this picture is really for him, to show that we got there.

Finally reaching the Nova Scotia border on Day Three. This was probably the toughest day of driving. It started with a bumpy tour down a random highway via Plaster Rock, N.B. The route was going to take 1.5 hours off the journey to Moncton, but the road was in terrible shape and the van took a beating. Then it started to pour and did so for the rest of the day. But we still had to stop for this pic cause the sign was just too nice!

Me in front of the university - ain't it pretty. It's quite the change from the 1960s/70s look of Laurentian. This is the main building behind me but the rest of the campus is quite new. The university opened in 1802 but didn't move to this location until the 1950s. The land for the campus was originally an estate and golf club that was bought when the school grew too big for its digs downtown. It's located in the south corner of Halifax which is one of the nicest, leafiest, and wealthiest areas of the city.

Mom and Tom on the coast. This was taken at Peggy's Cove, a sea-side town about 45 minutes from Halifax. It has become one of the most famous tourist spots in the area. Mom was hoping for sandy beach and driftwood, but instead we got these amazing rock formations. The wate was a fantastic turquoise and the air was filled with the smell of sea. It was windy, and sunny, and wonderful.

Cheers,
Raye

The Brampton chapter doing well

Hi all! We are all doing well down here in Brampton. Taggart is able to sit up when he supports himself with his arms, laughs at just about everything and has started dragging himself along the floor. We're wondering how long it'll take him before he realises that crawling involves less rugburns...
Rob has a big trial (the biggest yet) tomorrow, so he's been working really hard lately and he has his first jury trial coming up soon too. He's been telling me about the process of choosing a jury, I think he's excited :) Tag and I have been out and about doing lots of swimming, driving and visiting. Had several nice visits with the Missisauga chapter, and recently visited the Sudbury chapter too. If you haven't checked the website recently, it's all very well documented in new-parent fashion.
Hope everyone is well and we'll be coming up to Sudbury at the begining of September, so hope to see you all soon!
Kat, Tag and Rob