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where faith and film are intertwined

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The Nightmare Before Christmas: Who We Really Are

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“I must save Christmas. But how? Sorry; wrong story.”
Rebecca Sharrer

Since my oldest daughter, a junior in high school, enjoys The Nightmare Before Christmas immensely, I thought it would be a nice change of pace to have her review the film. Here’s what Rebecca has to say:

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Tim Burton’s classic film The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a tale of love and discovery of who we are inside. Though Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon and Danny Elfman) longs to find a new way of life, he discovers that by trying to copy others and loses sight of who he truly is. In addition, he’s messing up Christmas. Throughout the film, director Henry Selick utilizes stop-motion animation to craft what I would deem the highlight of all Halloween movies.

The basic plotline is that Jack, ‘the Pumpkin King,’ is sick of Halloween. It’s the same each year, constantly repeating with absolutely no change. In his frustration, he goes walking through the graveyard and into the woods, where he stumbles upon a clearing of trees. Each tree has a door on it that leads to a land specifically catered to a certain holiday. The one that catches Jack’s interest is the tree-shaped door with garlands. When he opens it, he is swept inside into a world known as Christmas Town. While there, Jack discovers what Christmas is, and feels like he has found a new sense of purpose. He returns to Halloween Town and proceeds to explain to his friends exactly what Christmas is about. He then decides that Halloween Town is going to take over Christmas that year to give ‘Sandy Claws’ a break. He tasks the kids of Oogie Boogie (Ken Page) to kidnap jolly Ol’ Saint Nick.

Meanwhile, Sally (Catherine O’Hara), the creation of the weird Dr. Finklestein (William Hickey), has a vision of the outcome of the plan. She warns Jack that his version of Christmas will end in flames. But Jack doesn’t listen to her, as he is too caught up in seeing his own fantasies brought to life. (Aren’t we like this sometimes?) Meanwhile, the monsters of the town are changing things up, making Christmas more like Halloween. Oogie Boogie’s children return, bringing with them ‘Sandy Claws,’ and take him to their father. Once Christmas arrives, Jack rides off into the night to deliver the toys they built.

For the children of earth, what should have been a night of joy and happiness becomes a night of horrors and frights. The military gets involved, shooting Jack down from the sky. Ironically, he lands in a cemetery, in the arms of an angel. Jack then realizes that he was completely wrong about Christmas, that his job is to be the Pumpkin King instead. He quickly returns to the town to free Santa from Oogie Boogie so he can fix Jack’s mistake–and realize his love for Sally.

“What’s this?”

When watching the The Nightmare Before Christmas, I sang along to the catchy tunes especially (“What’s This?”).  The film has numerous iconic scenes, but I also picked up on a few biblical references: one was Jack falling into the arms of the angel before realizing that he wasn’t meant to be Santa.  Consider it his wake-up call.  A second was Jack’s consuming desire for Christmas–once he got a taste of it, he couldn’t think of anything else.  The same goes for certain types of sin we fall into–they can consume us to the point where we lose focus on everything around us.

I urge you to revisit The Nightmare Before Christmas sometime before December 25th. You won’t regret making the decision.

Cars 3 – We Need Each Other

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The film Cars opened with a blank screen as Lightning McQueen pumped himself up for the upcoming race: “Speed.  I am speed.”

The film Cars 3 opens with a blank screen as Lightning McQueen pumps himself up for the upcoming race: “Speed.  I am speed.”

If there’s nothing else you take from this review, know that the third installment of the Pixar animated series returns to its original roots, eschewing the 007-like escapades of the second film.

I’ve always been a fan of the anthropomorphic cars, but always felt cheated that the second film was more about the wisecracking sidekick Mater than Lightning and his role in the Cars universe.  Our Steve Norton felt the same way and recently posted a list of items that would make the new film a good one.  Happily, this version brings back the whimsy, excitement, and fun, along with a darker theme that will resonate with adults.  It’s pretty formulaic and sputters in places, but is still worth a theater viewing.  The kids, of course, will eat it up regardless of when and where they see it.

As I mentioned, the plot is reminiscent of the original film.  Lightning (voiced by Owen Wilson) is still quite successful on the Piston Cup tour and has even found a few friends along the way.  But he’s straight up blindsided in a race when Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer) comes out of nowhere and wins, setting up a seven-race winning streak.  Jackson is part of a new generation of cars that are able to drive faster and train better than Lightning, forcing the older generation to retire.  Of course, Lightning wants to win at all costs, so he pushes himself to the limits in the last race of the season—and violently crashes (this scene caused one kid in the viewing to scream “Oh, no!” in panic).

Lightning has to figure out what to do, and instead of doing something, he throws a pity party in Doc Hudson’s garage.  Hudson (the late Paul Newman) ‘died,’ so Lightning is left with the lovable cast of characters in Radiator Springs to encourage him to keep going.  A phone call from the owners of the Rust-eze team convince him to train at their new facility in Florida, so he heads out and finds a state-of-the-art facility, spearheaded by new owner, Sterling (Nathan Fillion). Sterling loves Lightning, but secretly believes his days are up, seeing him as a way to market all sorts of products.  However, Lightning wants to keep racing and is willing to use the fancy technology to get faster, including a fancy high speed simulator.  The trainer for all the cars is a shiny yellow speedster named Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo), who sees Lightning as her senior project.  When things don’t work out in training, Sterling gives Lightning one chance to win—or retire to the life of a marketer.

Cruz comes along for the ride and endures the life of a car in a demolition derby where Miss Fritter (Lea DeLaria), a school bus on performance-enhancing-fuel (okay, not really), runs the show—and even steals the spotlight from Lightning and Cruz. Soon, Lightning realizes that Doc Hudson had to have a mentor, so he and Cruz travel to Thomasville GA to find Smokey (Chris Cooper), an old truck reminiscent of Mater (Larry the Cable Guy).  Once there, Lightning makes a discovery that may change his life.  Perhaps the race in Florida means more than anyone thought possible . . .

As always, Pixar continues to push the limits of technology with their animation, which is jaw-droppingly photorealistic throughout. While Cars 3 returns to the ways of the first film, it doesn’t quite reach its level of fun.  Laughs aren’t as prevalent and the subject matter is darker (the crash, for example).  You’re not going to hear Lightning yell “Ka-chow!,” but at least the tractors make a return.  Cruz is a fantastic addition to the ecosystem and little girls will gravitate to her character.  I also appreciated the nods to the first film—especially the loving tributes to Doc Hudson.  Chick Hicks (Bob Peterson) is still obnoxious and smacks Lightning down every chance he gets.  Thankfully, Mater is relegated to a minor character, as he’s best in small doses. But Sally (Bonnie Hunt), Lightning’s romantic interest, is basically a throwaway character for the second consecutive film.  This was an opportunity wasted.

Director Brian Fee provides a story replete with themes of overcoming obstacles, thinking outside the box, the need for others, and empowerment.  Regarding the need for others, it’s important to have people in your life who can laugh with you, cry with you, cheer you up, and push you to be the best you can be. The Bible has something to say about this topic in the book of Ecclesiastes: “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 NASB).  In the case of Lightning and Cruz, the two create a symbiotic relationship that pays dividends for each before the film’s credits roll. Without each other, the two fail in their individual pursuits and goals.  It’s a great reminder for us in our fast-paced, hectic lives.

There is an animated short before the film entitled Lou that will bring back memories of the schoolyard bully.  It’s well done (as the shorts tend to be). And don’t forget to stay through the credits!

 

The Peanuts Movie: You Are Not a Failure Charlie Brown

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peanutsWhether it’s the comic strips or the classic movies, Peanuts has spanned generations with its classic characters like Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Lucy, and more. It doesn’t matter your age: at some point in your life, you’ve come in contact with these characters and immediately fell in love. It is the emodiment of great storytelling with a positive message!

If you are like me however, you had your reservations going into this film. I mean, we are living in the time of Hollywood taking childhood favorites and butchering them. Whether it is horrible storytelling, character change, or pushing a political agenda, it seems that many of our childhood favorites get changed in some unforgivable way. On top of that, how would the public react to the new animation? Although The Peanuts Movie didn’t break any box office records, it did very well this opening weekend for a November film and, frankly, the film is very well done. The new style animation is vibrant and fresh while the story still carries the essence of the characters. Hollywood got it right this time!

Charlie Brown can’t seem to get anything right. We all know this, but when a new kid moves into town, he feels that this is the opportunity for him to start fresh. Forget all that he’s done, and set a good impression, simple enough. That is until the new student happens to be the prettiest girl he has ever seen and he can’t even muster the nerves to talk to her. Of all people to ask for advice, he asks Lucy! She naturally tells him that girls love a winner and that he is not a winner. He spends the entire school year attempting to do everything he can to impress this girl while avoiding her like the plague.

In typical Charlie Brown fashion, nothing works out the way he envisions. Even when it appeared that finally his luck had changed (to the shock and awe of Lucy), reality comes back to him (to the relief of Lucy). In between, you have the classic storytelling of Snoopy and his imagination which serves as wonderful and hilarious interludes between scenes. In the end, Charlie finds out that in a school year that he thought was marred with failure, it was more successful than he could have dreamed of.

The Peanuts Movie is a perfectly told story that teaches kids and adults that we are more harsh on ourselves then we ought to be. We can get so lost in the opinions of our critics and our perceived failures that we lose sight of what we really are. Charlie thought he was an “insecure, wishy-washy failure” only to find out that everything he thought he failed at, he actually succeeded. He thought the measure of success was found in winning an award, a contest, a game, or anything else that resulted in a prize. However, success is not measured in that. You can lose every event you participate in and still come out a winner.

Charlie Brown found out that his mess does not define him. It took one person to do something that no one else would do. It took one person to see what no one else could see, not even Charlie himself. I can’t help but look at that and be reminded about how Jesus sees us. When we see nothing but our mess that others remind us of, we ask Him, why did you choose me? It’s because He sees past all of the mess, and actually sees us. It’s then, that we are left the same way Charie was left, with a smile on our face and that feeling that we are actually winners.

The Peanuts Movie is a great film to watch. It is sweet, hilarious, sad, compassionate, and overall, a wonderful story. It honors Schulz and his legacy perfectly. And as Linus says near the end of the film, “It must feel pretty great being Charlie Brown right about now.”