The very first movie that I ever saw in a theater was E.T. The Extraterrestrial. I still remember the feeling, the exhilaration, when the bike carrying Elliot and E.T. took flight. I was a child, and there for the grace of god, went my imagination. Very few movies today, take flight, or joy in their creation, and it seemed to me that for years film-makers were taking themselves entirely too seriously or too violently, but never with creative abandon.
Movies, the grand movies, that made one giddy seemed to be gone, replaced by Oscar targeted epics of serious tone, and no fun whatsoever.
Peter Jackson's trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" re-introduced "wonder" to my movie going experience. but Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow went right for the child inside me. The plot is thin, YES. I daresay, it's almost non-existent, but OHHHH, the sights and sounds, the play, the sheer joy of watching Gwyneth Paltrow beautifully photographed against grand backgrounds, that existed only in the director's imagination.(Let's make no mistake, the movie may be called Sky Captain, but it belongs to Paltrow's character all the way.)And why not, Gwyneth was born to play period films. Her beauty is often un-real. A perfect fit for the film.
Then there's the New York City of the 1930's re-imagined as a city steeped in both the past and its own future. The ocean maps that Sky Captain's plane flew over. Angelina Jolie's squadron of under water fighter planes. It was all eye -candy, and I couldn't get enough. Yes, Yes, I know, the story is not something to rave about. But, I am gonna rave about this. Magic in films is making a comeback, and I can't wait to see where imagination takes us next.
Movies, the grand movies, that made one giddy seemed to be gone, replaced by Oscar targeted epics of serious tone, and no fun whatsoever.
Peter Jackson's trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" re-introduced "wonder" to my movie going experience. but Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow went right for the child inside me. The plot is thin, YES. I daresay, it's almost non-existent, but OHHHH, the sights and sounds, the play, the sheer joy of watching Gwyneth Paltrow beautifully photographed against grand backgrounds, that existed only in the director's imagination.(Let's make no mistake, the movie may be called Sky Captain, but it belongs to Paltrow's character all the way.)And why not, Gwyneth was born to play period films. Her beauty is often un-real. A perfect fit for the film.
Then there's the New York City of the 1930's re-imagined as a city steeped in both the past and its own future. The ocean maps that Sky Captain's plane flew over. Angelina Jolie's squadron of under water fighter planes. It was all eye -candy, and I couldn't get enough. Yes, Yes, I know, the story is not something to rave about. But, I am gonna rave about this. Magic in films is making a comeback, and I can't wait to see where imagination takes us next.