How to Train Your Dragon

Posted on October 11, 2010 at 8:03 am

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grades
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for sequences of intense action and some scary images, and brief mild language
Profanity:	Brief schoolyard language, reference to "breastplates"
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Fantasy action and violence, characters in peril, scary monsters with lots of teeth, fire-breathing dragons
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters and a strength of the film is the portrayal of three strong, capable, brave, disabled characters
Date Released to Theaters:	March 26, 2010
Date Released to DVD:	October 12, 2010
Amazon.com ASIN:	B002ZG97YM

The sheer exhilaration of flying along with our hero on the back of his new best friend, a dragon, is exceeded only by the exhilaration of top-notch film-making with a witty and heartwarming script, endearing characters, dazzling visuals, and a story worth cheering for. The movie is in stunning 3D but it is the 4th dimension — heart — where it truly excels.

Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruschel) is a puny misfit in his Viking village of Burke located “north of freezing to death,” where burly warriors battle dragons. His father, Stoick (voice of Gerard Butler), a mountain of a man and the leader of the village, is confused and embarrassed by his son. Because he thinks Hiccup is not strong and brave enough to battle with fire-breathing dragons, Stoick has asked his closest friend Gobber (voice of Craig Ferguson) to take him as an apprentice. Gobber, who lost a hand and a leg to dragons in battle, is now in charge of forging weapons and training the next generation of dragon-fighters.

Hiccup is something of an inventor and when a catapult he designs hits the fiercest and most terrifying breed of dragon, the Night Fury, he cautiously tracks it down. He discovers that it has been wounded and cannot fly. And he discovers that it is not fierce or violent but as scared of him as he is of it. He names the dragon “Toothless” and creates a prosthetic flap for its tail. As they get to know one another, they learn that Toothless can only fly with Hiccup’s help. Meanwhile, Hiccup is accepted into Gobber’s training program. So his days are spent learning to fight many different dragons and his nights are spent learning to tame — and be tamed — by one.

The screenplay by directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders and others is exceptionally literate and witty (Night Furies are described as “the unholy offspring of lightning and death”) and the visuals are intricate and imaginative. The stirring score by John Powell and first-rate voice work by an outstanding cast bring energy and spirit to the story. DeBlois and Sanders make excellent use of the 3D, not just in the soaring and vertiginous flying scenes and the battles but in the use of space and ability to make us feel included in the quietest moments. Those moments have a delicacy, a tenderness, even a grace that gives this film a power that resonates as only the best movies can.

‘Babies’ Contest Winners!

Posted on October 9, 2010 at 2:20 pm

Everyone loves “Babies!” I got tones of entries — many thanks to all who tried to win the Blu-Ray or carseat. The winners are:
Car Seat: Amanda J., Phenix City, AL
Blu-Ray: Connie R., Bethesda, MD; Shawn G., Sherman Oaks, CA; Carrie V., Wayland, MO
To those who did not win — keep checking, as I have more giveaways coming soon!

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Contests and Giveaways

An Unusual Role for a Black Man in 1940

Posted on October 8, 2010 at 3:02 pm

I love catching up with old films on Turner Classic Movies, so when I saw one called “Third Finger Left Hand” starring two of my favorites, Myrna Loy and Melvyn Douglas, released in 1940, I set my DVR. It turned out to be a delightful romantic comedy characteristic of the era. Loy plays a very successful woman executive who made up a fake husband to avoid distracting questions about her romantic life. She tells everyone he is traveling in South America. Douglas finds out what she has done and pretends to be the husband, back from his travels. The expected complications ensue.
But what is not expected is a scene near the end as Loy, Douglas, and the lawyer who hopes to marry Loy are on a train where what at first appear to be typical black porter is waiting on them. And then it turns out that Sam (played by Ernest Whitman) is not a typical porter; he has a law degree, and he knows more about the law than the lawyer he is waiting on. For 1940, in an era where movies often cut out the scenes featuring African-American performers for distribution in the South, this was remarkably progressive. Even though there was never a suggestion that perhaps Sam might want to leave his job as a porter and go to work in the firm of the white lawyer he outsmarted.
Whitman didn’t make many other films. In those he was listed in the final credits as “Nubian Slave” or “Black Man on Train” or not listed at all. In “Gone With the Wind,” he is listed on the Internet Movie Database as “Carpetbagger’s friend (uncredited). In this movie, even with a significant speaking part, he was not listed in the credits at all, which says more about the racial attitudes at the time than the character he played. In the 1930’s and 40’s, black characters were often the ones in the movie who told the truth or otherwise explained what was going on. This was not a political statement; it was a narrative convenience to put the writer’s voice in a marginalized character who could freely be ignored by the white characters. In a sense, Sam is such a narrative convenience; he shows up to help bring the couple together. But still, Sam and the man who portrayed him, Ernest Whitman, deserve some credit for a brief movie moment where a black man got to show a little bit of what he was capable of.

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Great Movie Moments Neglected gem

Ebert on O’Hehir’s ‘Conspiracy Theory’ About the Christian Director of ‘Secretariat’

Posted on October 8, 2010 at 7:36 am

Roger Ebert has a superb rebuttal to Andrew O’Hehir’s review of “Secretariat” in Salon. Ebert is careful to say that he respects O’Hehir but that this review goes far beyond the usual disagreements about taste and aesthetics. O’Hehir read into the film a political and religious agenda that cannot be supported, simply because the director is a Christian.

Andrew O’Hehir of Salon is a critic I admire, but he has nevertheless written a review of “Secretariat” so bizarre I cannot allow it to pass unnoticed. I don’t find anywhere in “Secretariat” the ideology he discovers there. In its reasoning, his review resembles a fevered conspiracy theory.

O’Hehir criticizes the film for omitting other events of the era though an important plot element concerns the main character’s support for her daughter’s protest of the Vietnam War and a theme of the film is her struggle against the sexism of the time. He actually calls the film “a work of creepy, half-hilarious master-race propaganda almost worthy of Leni Riefenstahl” and brings in references not just to Nazis but to the Klu Klux Klan and to the Tea Party and Glenn Beck.
It’s bad enough to criticize a movie for failing to address every single issue of its era (even if that were possible in a two-hour time slot, it would bury the narrative). It is preposterous to criticize the movie for giving an “evil” name to the rival horse when that was the actual horse’s name. It is offensive to attribute malevolent intentions to a film because the director is Christian. And it is even more offensive to claim that values like dedication and the pursuit of excellence are exclusive to any one religion or political party.
Ebert writes:

O’Hehir mentions that Randall Wallace, who directed the film, “is one of mainstream Hollywood’s few prominent Christians, and has spoken openly about his faith and his desire to make movies that appeal to ‘people with middle-American values’.” To which I respond: I am a person with middle-American values, and the film appealed to me. This news just in: There are probably more liberals with middle-American values than conservatives, especially if your idea of middle-American values overlaps with the Beatitudes, as mine does.

NOTE: O’Hehir has responded to Ebert, saying that “my review of the film was willfully hyperbolic, even outrageous, in hopes of getting people to look at a formulaic Disney sports movie through fresh eyes.” Because there is no easy way to link to his response directly and I believe he makes some good points, I am going to include the full text of his post and Ebert’s reply here:

(more…)

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Critics

Interview: Tracy Trost of ‘A Christmas Snow’

Posted on October 6, 2010 at 8:00 am

A Christmas Snow is a touching film set at Christmas time. Catherine Mary Stewart plays a woman still in deep pain over her father’s abandonment of the family one Christmas when she was a little girl. She ends up snowed in with a motherless young girl and a homeless man with a secret (Muse Watson). Tracy Trost, the film’s writer/director, answered my questions about the movie’s themes and the importance of inspiring stories for families.

What is the hardest part of forgiveness?

I think for most people the thought of forgiving another can many times make them feel like they are lost. It’s almost as if there is a standoff and if you extend forgiveness, the person you are forgiving will win and you will lose. The truth of the matter is that forgiveness leads to peace in one’s life. If you carry around unforgiveness and hold in bitterness it becomes a way of life and you start to look for the bad in any situation and you close yourself off from others. In doing so you really limit who you could be, or who you should be. For me the hardest part of forgiveness is taking the chance that you might get hurt again. But without taking those chances you never really learn how to live life to its fullest.

Why was the story of Simeon so important to Sam?

Simeon did not see the Christ child until his last days. His faith carried him up until that point and once he saw the child his life was complete and he was willing to leave this Earth and be with his Creator. In many ways Sam was the same. He went through life not knowing the truth and in his last days he saw his Savior. At that point he came to a sense of Peace. Being able to share this story with his daughter was the same as looking into the babies eyes. Once he did that he was ready to go.

How did having to return to the pleasures of a simpler time affect the characters in the movie?

In today’s world we have filled our lives with so many things that we do not have a moment to reflect. As a child I only had 5 TV channels to choose from and we did not have the internet or cell phones. Life was much simpler then and you spent more time together as a family. Just being together and working on crafts or talking. When the snow storm hits they are forced into a situation where they do not have all of the gadgets to take up their time and occupy their thoughts. They are forced to communicate as people and in doing so they are able to work through some issues that they were dealing with. Without going back to the simpler way of life they would have abided their time together and then split up and gone on with their lives. I think it is a good practice for all of us to turn off all of the electronics and communicate on a regular basis.

Were s’mores and “Break the Ice” taken from your own childhood memories? Do they have symbolic value in the story?

Yes, both were a part of my childhood. I wouldn’t say they were symbolic other than triggers to memories of the past for our characters.

How did you find Cameron ten Napel and what was it that made you realize she was right for the part?

We did casting calls in several cities and online. The Casting Directors had set up a session in Dallas for me. Over all through the entire process I think I saw about 200 kids. When we did the session in Dallas on a Saturday I think we saw about 40 kids. Cameron was the 5th or 6th kid I saw. I knew there was something special about her from the moment I met her. She could pop in and out of character with little effort. She took direction and applied it without blinking an eye. After my session with her I found myself comparing every other actor to her. She is an extreme talent and I know she will be a household name in no time. I consider myself a better person knowing her and her family.

Why is it important to have spiritual themes in movies?

I think movies are the most influential form of communication in today’s world. People love movies. They love to escape reality for a while and get lost in a story. I have no issues with those who make movies for the sake of entertainment only. For me, there has to be more to it. I believe if I have your attention for an hour and a half I have a responsibility to leave you with something that is of value. Something that you can apply to your life and hopefully learn and grow from. My movies have a purpose to them other than entertainment. It is the purpose to affect those who watch them in a positive way. My goal would be that those who watch one of my movies would see life just a little bit differently afterwards. That they might want to make a change in their life that would bring a positive outcome. I love telling stories. I love touching people’s hearts. I love introducing people to a different way of thinking.

What are the stories that have most inspired you?

For me I love to read about people who overcome. People that have had something happen to them where others would write them off and then they invent something or do something that changes the world around them. Seeing the human spirit rise above circumstances and overcoming obstacles is what it is all about for me. I love to read about history and see how the small acts of everyday people can change the world. We all have the ability within us to make a difference. The question is will we do it.

What do you want families to know about this movie?

At Trost Moving Pictures we take family seriously, which is why we say we are, “Putting the Family Back In Family Movies.” This movie will entertain and inspire people of all ages. I have gotten letters from 6 year olds as well as 80 year olds. “A Christmas Snow” is one of those stories that people can relate to and enjoy watching. It also inspires you to be more than you are and be willing to take a chance on letting go of a past hurt and forgiving. Forgiveness is the key to peace in life. “A Christmas Snow” shows how this is true. If you are open, it can show you how to change your life for the better.

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Directors Interview Spiritual films