Saving Mr. Banks - Film Review

Intro

Disney's Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks came out in 2013. It tells the story of the making of Disney's transcendent classic: Mary Poppins. This film casts Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.

What I Will Not Talk About

• The Plot — You can look that up on IMDB. (I linked to it above) Here's a hint: In the end, Disney makes the movie Mary Poppins. Should I have said "spoiler alert"?
• Whether the movie's events actually happened in real life. Briefly: they didn't. That's not the point.
• How grumpy British people are. I don't know. I've met pleasant people. I've met grumpy people. Whatever.
• How great Emma Thompson is at playing a writer — please tell me you haven't forgotten Stranger Than Fiction...

Film Adaptions

What really fascinated me about this film is the process of translating the pages of a good book onto the silver screen. There are a lot of things that go into a movie adaption of a book — as one can easily imagine. A work of fantasy can be interpreted multiple ways. But a movie only shows one interpretation. This inevitably leads to disappointment.

As a librarian, people always seem to ask me what I think of this film adaption or that one. (The Hobbit, Narnia, Game of Thrones...) Each time, I respond the same way: film is an art form that stands alone and has its own merits. This is technically correct (remember Library School?) but when people ask that question, they seem to want to commiserate more than actually listen to a gracious opinion.

This particular film brings several aspects to the fore wich go beyond technical problems and generic filmmaker interpretations. These aspects are as follows:

1. The Author's Relationship with their work.

   P.L. Travers consistently refers to the characters in Mary Poppins as family. Consider the hardships of writing a piece of fiction and pouring yourself into character and plot development. Imagine how hard it must be to go through the process of having your creative work critiqued by friends, family and complete strangers. Then imagine success. Could anyone other than you really know those characters intimately?

2. The Author's Second chance to make things right.

   At one point, P.L. Travers made changes to the characters. One specific point that she tried (unsuccessfully) to change was Mr. Banks' facial hair. She (in the movie) mentioned that she pushed for Mr. Banks to be clean shaven in the books, but the publisher insisted on giving him a mustache. Could it be that an author might see a film adaptation as an opportunity to seize back some creative control that a publisher snatched from them? I am in no position to say how often this actually happens, but it does not seem like a far-fetched scenario.

3. The Filmmaker's passion.

   Finally, we are given a name, a face and a reason why the filmmaker pushed their interpretation onto the film. Specifically, Walt Disney insisting on Mr. Banks retaining his mustache and making the film into a musical (with animated penguins). Filmmakers (contrary to popular belief) probably do not make changes with the intent of ruining a story. Filmmakers are artists at heart. They want to use their creativity to tell stories and have reasons behind their decision-making. You have the right to disagree with their decisions, but they are people too.

Conclusion

I really liked Saving Mr. Banks a lot. It helped me to place a few of the thoughts that I have had concerning film adaptations and why they can still be good even if they don't adhere to the original books. I recommend this movie.

Pixar Rankings Revealed

The Wait is Over

See the gallery below for the final, authoritative Pixar Rankings List. Ok, ok, maybe not so final or authoritative. But I had fun collecting responses anyway. Thanks for humoring me. I've learned a few things. For instance, my wife's opinions are more right than mine. Shocker! LOL.

My comments/reactions are embedded in the gallery. I'll keep the survey up for a week or two if someone new wants to add their opinion to the mix. I might have to create an updated list.

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My Pixar Ranking

1A-1O

So, I am very generous when ranking these movies. All these movies are fun. I know this. I created and took my own survey to ensure that I answered as truthfully as possible. There were a few ties, I just picked the one I fancied that I liked better. I'm sure there's a scientific tie-breaker, but I didn't bother to look it up.

Remember, these are MY rankings. Though I tried my best to make it scientific, it's still just one guy's opinion. Enough methodology, here's the ranking!

...

I am surprised at my results. I didn't think either of the Monsters movies would rank as high as they did. Also, Ratatouille is outside of my top-ten! Crazy.

If you want to take my survey find it below. If I get enough responses, I'll post results right here! Thanks for reading.

Create your own user feedback survey

Ranking Pixar

Inspiration

If you follow me on Twitter, you will note that I have been forwarding every Pixar Ranking that I've read. If you don't believe me—or you don't follow my micro-blog&mdashhere's a sampling of these posts:

Such a good movie. #insideout http://t.co/3HjV69pU8c pic.twitter.com/zQC7VFSw63

— Christopher Jimenez (@cjmnz8) July 4, 2015

What criteria would you use to rank the Pixar Movies? I'm thinking Story, Characters, Feels & Originality. Thoughts?

— Christopher Jimenez (@cjmnz8) July 24, 2015

Best list I've read. Even if not totally in line with my own. Every Pixar movie, ranked from worst to best http://t.co/ePLQPjib2I #fb

— Christopher Jimenez (@cjmnz8) July 23, 2015

British take. Meh. Inside Out: All 14 Pixar movies ranked from worst to best… http://t.co/wutTVhDPGa #fb

— Christopher Jimenez (@cjmnz8) July 24, 2015

Criteria

Clearly, the release and popularity of Pixar's Inside Out spawned these rankings and suckers like me click on them. That's fine, I enjoy it. Further, my disagreement with these rankings caused me to think—how do I quantify my own feelings towards these movies? Clearly, I appreciate Pixar's work. The company is out of this world! Ranking these movies is an exercise in hair-splitting.

Yet, the idea has been planted in my head. I must pursue it.

As you could see from my tweet, I ranked the 14 Pixar movies based on based on Story, Characters, Feels and Originality. What does that mean? I tell you:

• Story
  How was the plot? Did it leave the viewer satisfied? Is it a movie you could watch over and over again?
• Characters
  Did you get to know the characters? Did you feel love, admiration, symathy?
• Feels
  I laughed, I cried, it was wonderful! (Or maybe you didn't...)
• Originality
  Is this just another story? Did this movie revolutionize the industry?

Conclusion

Will I agree with my own personal rankings? I have a feeling I won't. I'll try to post my results tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll ask you to take my survey! If enough people respond, I'll post those results too!

Create your own user feedback survey

Book Review: The Sorcerer's Stone

The Book

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
J. K. Rowling

I nabbed this title on audiobook from overdrive. Score! I have, admittedly already seen the movies. But I wanted to experience the book as written by J. K. Rowling, even if by listening to the audiobook it technically means I still have not read the novel. Shocker I've never read a single Harry Potter book. Shame on me, I know. But now I have read it. And here is my review.

Side Note: In my Children's Literature class, I had to read a bunch of books and write reviews (which I published on this blog because, well, why not?). Students were allowed to read and review the Harry Potter books, but the professor discouraged it, alleging that the chances were slim that we have not been influenced one way or another regarding the text. She made a great point, as this book has been hotly debated as long as I can remember.

The Review

Technically speaking, this was not the most poetic or ingenious piece of writing. Honestly, it was formulaic. However, the formula works for the genre and drives the action along nicely. I found myself enjoying the flow of the story. It was masterfully told and really lends itself to the spoken word.

The story is about a young wizard (Harry Potter), an orphan raised by non-magical people (muggles). Once he becomes of age, he receives an invitation to wizarding school at Hogwarts. As one can imagine, this comes as a shock to the lad. The pressure on Harry escalates as he realizes that he is already a famous wizard who has somehow defeated a powerful wizard (Voldemort) as an infant.

Harry Potter balances friendships, enemies, schoolwork, sports, and evil wizards during his first year at Hogwarts.

The Conclusion

This is an entertaining book and the beginning of a long series of adventures. I recommend this adventure classic (yes, it's a modern classic) to fans of adventure/fantasy books. The movies are pretty good, too.

Book (Movie/Material) Review - Smoke Signals

** I just completed a Young Adult literature course and have read and reviewed several materials using a new format. This review follows a template given to me by my professor.**

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Name: Christopher M. Jimenez	Media Format: Video
Title: Smoke Signals	Genre: Ethnic/Multicultural, Realistic Fiction, Humor
Author: Sherman Alexie	Selection Source: N/A (Textbook, pg. 208)
Publisher: Miramax	Recommended Audience Age: 13 - Adult
-	Reading Recommendation: 4
-	Curriculum Connections: History, Civics, Culture, Health

Review

In the vein of other Sherman Alexie works, this movie deals with Native American culture and identity. Young Victor’s family is torn apart by alcohol abuse. He is forced to face his past when he learns of his father’s death and is summoned to collect his father’s ashes. Thomas, a childhood friend offers to pay for the trip under the condition that he be allowed to come along. Thomas helps Victor through the mourning process and helps him connect with his Native American roots.

Evaluation

This is an excellent companion to the Sherman Alexie novels. It illustrates some of the key points that the novels revolve around, like alcoholism, life on the rez, and the significance of long hair. This particular movie also discusses divorce and forgiveness of missing fathers, a potentially psychologically loaded issue for YAs.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Movie Review

** I am currently taking a Young Adult literature course and I will be reading and reviewing several materials using a new format. This review follows a template given to me by my professor.**

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Publication Information

Name: Christopher Jimenez	Media Format: Video
Title: What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Genre: Realistic fiction
Author: Peter Hedges	Selection Source: Publishers Weekly
Publisher: Paramount / Simon & Schuster	Recommended Audience Age: 12-Adult
	Reading Recommendation: 3 out of 5
	Curriculum Connections: Health and Personal Fitness, Psychology

Review

Gilbert Grape is bothered by everything in his life; his town, his family and his friends. He is brother to a special needs child, son to a morbidly obese, lethargic mother and fatherless due to suicide. He and his sisters try to hold the family together despite their own internal turmoil.

When a visitor's car breaks down in the small, rural town of Endora, IA. (population 1,091) Gilbert is forced to inspect his own feelings and come to grips with the complexity of his emotions. His relationship with Becky, the visitor, serves as a catalyst for Gilbert's personality transformation. As this relationship blossoms, his interaction with figures in the town also evolves.

Evaluation

This title, though written as a grotesque southern tragedy, connects well with the Young Adult audience. Gilbert is trying to sort out his emotions and find his own voice. At one point in the movie, Becky asks Gilbert "What do you want?" The transition from Chilhood to full Adulthood is exactly where YA readers find themselves. The emotions that course through their psyches are similar to what Gilbert Grape experiences. He experiences family shame, the burden of responsibility and sexual tensions.

Self expression as it relates to grief is another theme in this movie. Gilbert is dealing with his father's suicide, his brother's handicap and his mother's depression. These are things that happen in life and must be dealt with before they contribute to a psychological disorder. Discussions may spring up in the classroom setting that revolve around handling these and other issues in a healthy, productive manner.

Male Librarian FTW

A little something for the Disney Lover slash Lit Nerd.