Come and see the real thing

A few years ago, I was babysitting for a friend's niece while her sister was visiting. They went out for a night on the town and I stayed at the hotel with Sophie, a precocious and adorable 2-year old with a penchant for telling people what to do. We had a rocky start. I had not yet proven my worth and she had to put me through the tests. Would I scold her if she misbehaved? Would I obey her if she gave me a command? Would I entertain her if she was bored?

When I got there, she was watching The Incredibles. I hadn't seen it since its release and had forgotten how much I liked it, and what a genius Brad Bird is as Edna Mode (and for writing and directing it). When it was over, Sophie wanted me to scroll through the menu to find another movie. I must have been reading the titles because she's only two, and yet I can't think why I would have read Shrek out loud because she pointed her little finger at the screen and commanded, "Shrek!" I wanted to make her happy, I wanted to pass the tests but there was no way I was to sit through that Dreamworks crap. Ugly animation, obvious storylines, fart jokes? No. I turned to her and enthusiastically suggested "Let's watch The Incredibles again!" I don't know what thoughts went through that mind of hers, insubordination, troublemaker, but after a long pause she finally squealed, "okay!"

We watched The Incredibles two more times before I was able to put her to bed. I passed all the tests and the next day, I was her new best friend. But I was still wondering, how many movies are enjoyable three times in a row? I could have watched it again. There's something magical about Pixar. They're everything that Dreamworks isn't: beautiful, intelligent, clever, real, unexpected.

I saw Ratatouille last night and was blown away. I haven't disliked a Pixar film but some are definitely stronger than others; Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc. being among my favorites. Ratatouille might be the best of all. Pixar movies take me back to my childhood, watching the old Disney animated films. By picking up where Walt Disney left off, Pixar has saved Disney from being a meaningless media conglomerate, a relic of the past.


Unapologetically smart, richly layered, stunningly beautiful and with heart, Ratatouille is the real thing. Ocean's 13 may as well be George and Brad having a conversation about what big box office draws they are, it's that boring and pretentious. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 is like one of those building facades. It looks like a movie, it has all the characteristics, and yet it isn't. It's hollow and meaningless and there's nothing there. As soon you stop looking at it, it evaporates.

The Pixar films take years to make and it shows. They are a labor of love. How often do you we get to witness the product of so much talent, creativity, passion and joy? It made me laugh and cry and at times I wanted to cheer at the audacity of Pixar to make something so AUTHENTIC. There are six major characters with arcs and conflict and related storylines. It has a fantastic message and is worth seeing just for the a monologue delivered by Peter O'Toole at the end. It boldly challenges our perceptions and throughout the film, you feel them falling away, making room for something new. It's the best movie I've seen in a year, maybe two.

Driving home after watching it, I distinctly remember feeling different. I FELT happier, more grateful, more human. I thought, god, life is wonderful. A movie made me feel that, which is the reason I got into this business in the first place. If you don't see this movie in the theater, you'll be depriving yourself of, in my opinion, the joy for living. (Hey, look! I didn't give the whole movie away.)

Wisps of magic

Something that's been rattling around in my brain lately is magic. Here's an abridged definition from Dictionary.com:

mag·ic [maj-ik] – noun
1. producing illusions by sleight of hand or deceptive devices for entertainment.
2. supposed human control of supernatural agencies through the use of incantation.
3. any extraordinary or mystical influence, charm, power, etc.
4. mysteriously enchanting.

THIS is what I think magic is:
An idea, vision or experience that defies explanation by and/or alters our experience of our earth-bound reality.

A lot of people have experienced this recently through "The Secret" or "What The Bleep Do We Know?" Some people find magic in God. Music is magical to me, the way it can lift me right out of the physical hell of driving. A good movie can work magic, utterly transforming my reality temporarily or permanently. And some dreams are certainly magic. No one really understands dreams.

We find magic in coincidences. Maybe they're just our brain sorting through our world in a way that shows us what we want or need - what Malcolm Gladwell refers to as "messages from behind the locked door" - but how do you explain this?

I was making banana muffins the other day and momentarily forgot while watching a show. Right at the time I should have been taking them out of the oven, one of the characters said to another "want to get a banana muffin?" I mean, are you kidding?

Mostly, though, I find magic in the wind, ocean, moonlight, trees and clouds:
Two hundred seventy thousand feet above the ground, higher than 99.9 percent of the earth’s air, clouds still float around — thin, iridescent wisps of electric blue.


The New York Times reported:
NASA is launching a small satellite to take a closer look at these clouds at the edge of outer space and to try to understand why, in recent years, they are appearing more often over more parts of the world. They are also becoming brighter.

The clouds are called noctilucent or “night shining,” because from the ground they can be seen only at night as they float about 50 miles above the surface, illuminated by light from a Sun that has already set below the horizon. (That is essentially the same effect that makes moonlight.)

Even scientists who spend their days studying the atmosphere are amazed:
“They’re beautiful,” said James M. Russell III, co-director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Hampton University in Virginia and principal investigator of the NASA mission. “The pictures do a good job, but it’s not like seeing them.”

There's so much in this world that I don't understand: hip-hop/rap music, horror films, rollercoasters, hunting, football. I hear that people like these things because "they need an escape" but with so much magic in the world, why do people seek escape through violence?