THE ONLY NARRATIVE FILM I WILL EVER BLOG ABOUT

Ladies and gentleman, as the title suggests this weeks blog post is treading into uncharted territory were none of my blog posts have dared to go before, yes I am talking about....

Also if you haven't seen the trailer yet, I am going to post it below this and then proceed to tell you why I am particularly excited for this film by using both examples from the soundtrack and visual that director, Mr. Rob Marshall has created. 

Below is the trailer....

 

This trailer is a prime example of the reason why I am so excited for this movie. If you study the visual style that Mr. Marshall employs throughout the film, it is meticulously and delicately articulate in such a way that might draw to comparisons to such masters of the visual world of film like Baz Lurhmann. Also, Mr. Marshall does something amazing as demonstrated in the clip below. I'll let you watch the clip before I tell you what it is.  

As you can see in the clip, Mr. Marshall is keenly aware that the action is stopped by Cinderella's song and that the song is functioning as an internal dialogue between what the character wants for herself. So what does Mr. Marshall do, he completely freezes the action around Cinderella in order to allow us to begin to get inside of what the character is thinking or feeling, something that the medium of film often eschews. It is this kind of genius thinking that has me hoping that this stage to screen adaption will be successful.  

Also, the soundtrack of the film is another appealing aspect of the movie. Above is the full version of On the Steps of the Palace as sung by the Anna Kendrick. The music and lyrics and film scoring are handled by one of arguably the most talented and beautiful composer for musical theatre Stephen Sondheim. And yet, even though not on the stage but rather the screen, the music still soars high, a true gem of any Sondheim musical if ever there was one. 

Because Mr. Marshall has adapted Chicago from the stage to the screen and done it very successfully I am beyond excited to see what he is going to do with Into the Woods. 

And so it is for these reasons that I say: INTO THE WOODS AND OUT OF THE WOODS AND HAPPY EVER AFTER!!!! 

Continue to Inspire

Thank God For Movies

For over more than a hundred years, film has taken a very prominent role in our society. It has brought millions of people together all for one thing: to learn a story of another. Each film that is made speaks to each and everyone of us in a different way. Whether it is because we relate to a character, or we are familiar with the story, or merely because it makes us feel a certain way. Film does this for everyone. It is what inspires us to continue onto our dreams. It is what makes us laugh to the point where abs start to grow. It is what makes us cry so hard that we have to bring tissues with us to the theater. It is what makes us mad and gives us drive to make a change in the world. Film does it all and it does it for everyone.

     Growing up, I was immediately drawn to film. Over the course of my life, I have watched several different movies, where not one character was the same. All these stories each had some kind of uniqueness. This uniqueness was brought out through many characters. Many that I wanted and still want to be. Somehow I want to incorporate all of the amazing qualities I have observed, into myself. These qualities are something that I ultimately want to possess for as long as I live. I want to be Ariel, from The Little Mermaid because she can sing. I want to be Cinderella because of the strength she had shown growing up with two evil step sisters. I want to be Rose, from the Titanic, because she would rather die with the one she loved, than to live alone.

I want to be Mrs. Smith because of her daring job, and how bad ass she was. I want to be Marty McFly and travel through time and experience a life changing moment. I want to be Edward Scissorhands because he is so compassionate and empathetic. I want to be Donnie Darko and be able to question certain occurrences in my life. I want to be them all.

 I think most of the time people tend to forget where they came from. My generation, our generation, has come from a time where we were taught it is okay to put yourself first. But in order to do that, you have to know what you want, and what you truly believe is right for you, for who you are. And it is these characters that have helped shaped us as people. And we cannot forget that. My point is that these movies, these characters, are what inspired us to grow up and do what we want to do. They taught us to reach for the moon and to never give up, nothing is impossible. In order to continue on with our dreams, we have to reach back into our past, so we can continue to make these
characters that help children, teens, adults, everywhere to aspire for more. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel learns that she for once has to put herself first, and by doing that she falls inlove with Prince Eric. In Mr. & Mrs. Smith, they both realize that their jobs aren't worth losing each other. All of these movies are teaching us key lessons in life. Without them, what guidance do we have to look up to? These are the ideas that will inspire future generations to come.