‘The Little Prince’ Finally Lands
In terms of its impact on cinema, The Little Prince may well have been named The Little Engine That Could. From “The Aviator” to “The Lego Movie” and “The English Patient,” this children’s book about the interplanetary travels of a solitary boy on a solitary asteroid has been influencing films since its release in 1943 – the year before its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, disappeared in a fighter plane. Inspired by his crash in the Sahara Desert during an international flight race, the story was always tinged with melancholy about the collateral damage of growing up.
But the writer and aviator may not have anticipated how this collateral damage could extend to the adaptation of his book, which has been butchered in such far-ranging forms as an anime series and a 1974 Hollywood musical. (To be fair, that latter project is at least a fascinating disaster, listing no less than Bob Fosse in its credits.) While a new, computer stop-motion animation adaptation by Mark Osborne (“Kung Fu Panda”) is actually good, even its trajectory has been fraught. Premiering at the 2015 Cannes Festival, it was delayed for U.S. release and dropped by a distributor before finally landing in the happy home of Netflix Studios, which is releasing it on a streaming platform as well as in theaters this month. Something about the purity of this story – of the prince’s clear little voice and features – has seemed to confound Hollywood, which, though itself founded on no shortage of childlike imagination, has a hard time embracing simplicity, let alone sidestepping bombast. But Osbourne and his team have devised a take that’s quite ingenious. Continue Reading →
New Sea Rising
Yesterday was all about the moon.
I woke at 3:40 am, which is when my highest self tugs me out of slumber when it has no other way of making contact. Lately, I’ve been waking at that time a lot. Seismic changes are afoot and because I keep my head down during the day, my guides have no other time to download information. No longer night, not yet day: 3:40 is soul time.
When I woke, I was awash in menstrual blood. It wasn’t an enormous surprise—my period was three days late—but nonetheless I felt a cold shock. Waking on fresh white sheets pooled with your blood will do that to you, I don’t care how many years you’ve been getting your period.
I should say at this point that menstruation is on the shortlist of topics that I—and most people—never discuss on page. Also on that list: shitting habits (which is too bad; the Crapicorn in me absolutely adores discussing shit) and the quality of sex with your partner. (People disclose quantity but never quality, which is a land from which you cannot return.) But it is a new moon, and mentioning the unmentionable is necessary in order to achieve my month’s goals. Continue Reading →
‘Into the Forest,’ Into a Utopia?
About a pair of sisters struggling after the breakdown of the national grid, “Into the Forest” may get lost in the glut of post-apocalyptic films we’ve seen since 2001. If that’s the case, it’ll be a shame, for this adaptation of Jean Hegland’s gently sci-fi novel is a more intimate film than many of those zombie-busters and doomsday thrillers. It also is more finely hewn, which makes sense as it’s the latest offering from Patricia Rozema, who has directed such thoughtful fare as “Mansfield Park” (1999) and the oft-overlooked “I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing” (1987). (If you’ve not seen that sweetly oddball coming-out film, do yourself a favor and track it down.)
Eva (Evan Rachel Wood) and Nell (Ellen Page) live with their widower father (Callum Keith Rennie) in a North California mountain home that’s a study in lovely isolation. Nell is studying for university admission examinations; Eva is dead-set on acing a national dance audition; and both rely on the nearest town, many miles away, as well as their slightly futuristic technology for community and training. In this way, the family is even more dependent on screens and gadgets than most Americans. But when a seemingly permanent blackout grips the country, they seem better prepared than most because they’re well-acquainted with power outages up there in the woods. After a visit to town reveals abandoned stores, empty stations, and townspeople dangerously adrift, they retreat to their quarters, which are well stocked with canned organics, live chickens, and back-up generators galore. Then their father is killed in a fluke accident, and the bubble bursts for good; after burying their remaining parent, the girls must figure out how to ration their supplies, defend themselves from invaders, and maintain their sanity. Continue Reading →