Tish Black is the author of the fairy tale-inspired short story collection Ebony, Blood, and Snow and a film programmer at IFFO where she hosts the screening series The Gaze.
Movie Marathon
This is what I call extreme science fiction. Hyper-drive, laser weapons, space ships, and terra-formed moons are all fun to watch, but obviously far from our current reality. But, a planet so close to Earth that we can see it in the sky? That's bringing some serious science fiction home.
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I think I make this resolution before every Winter here in Ottawa; I will make the most of Winter by doing fun Winter activities like skating, building snowmen, sledding or whatever. It never happens. I was a figure skater when I was younger, but I don't even own skates now. I never seem to want to play in the snow on days that the snow is the right consistency for building. And I have yet to even inquire about such festivities as
. Watching movies about other people having fun in the Winter is much more my style. I think we all know by now that I live vicariously through movies and have no life of my own to speak of.
Every kid's dream, right? No school today, go play in the snow instead. I mean, even as an adult, every day there's a big snow fall, I hope I'll get a call that my shift is cancelled. It happened once. I wish I could say I really made the most of it by getting outside in my snow pants and built an epic snow fort and army of snow zombies, but I probably spent it in my cozy bed. I do, every so often, get the urge to go play in the snow, but being a semi-grown-up living on her own at the opposite end of the city from her friends, I can't just forge a path through the snow drifts to my BFF's house down the street and ask her to come outside and play. This movie also reinforces my fear of snow plows. I mean, really, what if they didn't see you and just buried you in snow? I'm terrified.
Okay, I know this movie is sad. I know it doesn't take place entirely in the Winter. But, what I remember most of this movie is the two of them having fun in the snow. Playing football, rolling around kissing, being a cute couple walking together, watching him play hockey, and figuring skating outdoors. I even wrote a
just about all the fun things Love Story showed me to do in the Winter when you're in love. I truly believe it's actually a love story devoted to Winter. It is because of this movie that I am convinced that some year, I may actually not completely despise a cold & snowy Ottawa Winter, if only I had a special someone to be totally adorable with in the snow. I mean, maybe if it warms my heart, it will warm the rest of me? A Canadian girl can only dream...
It's that very special time of year, folks. But, before we get to the straight-up Halloween movies, let's ease into the theme of the holiday with some magical movies.
Now, I've had a thing for movies and TV shows to do with magic and witches since I was a wee youngin'. I suppose it was just one type of the wider fantasy genre that I latched onto. I was always dreaming about finding an ancient spellbook or amulet in the attic that would give me my magical powers. I think most of that comes from wanting to be special. (Woah, Tish. Calm down, this isn't therapy.) My friends and I even pretended to be witches for while and when I was older, my love of
led me to discovering
, and I was actually really into that for a while.
My witchy childhood aside, magic in movies is usually reserved for us girls. Once upon a time, we were just the evil witches ruining the Disney princesses' lives, but over the years, and particularly during the girl power revolution of the 90's, we started to see more female-starring movies, including magical movies. Witches no longer had to be old hags. They were beautiful young women- teenagers, even. And magic didn't have to be evil, it was used for good- even fun! Unfortunately, I'm long past those formative teenage years when girls get the "You're a witch!" notice. But, it's fun to watch some witchy movies and daydream that it's still not too late for me to discover some ancient token that will finally give me my powers...
(1998)
What movie could have been better for my young, impressionable mind but a witch-romance combo? Well, probably a lot of things, but I fell in love with Nicole Kidman's flowing orange hair and goth-boho style, Sandra Bullock's hair, too, actually, the sister-sister bond, the occult style, the beautiful Victorian house in the idyllic coastal town, and "midnight margaritas!" Although, I kind of hate Sally for rejecting her inner witch and going on and on about wanting to be "normal". Why would you want to be normal when you can be magical?! I think she just has really low self-esteem and the childhood taunts of "Witch! Witch! You're a bitch!" really broke her spirits. While some magical movies are focused on the magic, this movie really just uses it as a tool to tell a story of sisters, family, and tolerance.
(1996)
Now this one is definitely, maybe a movie that was not so good for my impressionable young mind. I became just slightly obsessed with it in grade 9. I started dressing in all black and white, pleated skirts, collared shirts like they do. (Ya, my somewhat-goth phase.) Nancy (Fairuza Balk) was of course my favorite. I mean, yes, she goes crazy and evil, but I identified with her so much. Not the evil crazy thing, but because she was way more into this stuff than the rest of them. She wanted to complete the circle, she taught them everything, she was the leader. And she looked so badass while doing it, amiright?
(1996)
Ah, 90's high school movies. There's nothing like 'em, right? I feel like this story is almost the opposite of another 90's high school movie,
Clueless
. Here, we are with the losers of the school, instead of the popular kids. Sabrina just wants to fit in at her school, and then suddenly she finds out she's even more of an outsider than she thought. (Who else was hoping for that news on your 16th birthday? Anyone?) Poor, naive teenagers always wanting to fit in. Again- Why be normal when you can be magical?! Fortunately, for all of us, Sabrina learns to appreciate and love being a witch. So much that she continues to use (or misuse) her magic for 7 seasons of the following TV series!
(2005)
Yes, I'm going to talk about the recent movie, not the original series. This is Movie Marathon, okay? Also, I haven't seen the series. I'm sure I caught bits of episodes here and there, but I'm no expert. Each witch movie has its own witch rules. In
Charmed
they fight demons, Sabrina points her finger, some witches are old school with spells and potions, but in
Bewitched
world, it's a nose twitch (or an ear tug). It also appears that witches live in their own world where they use their magic freely and only a crazy witch would want to live in the mortal world where she has to hide her magic and do crazy stuff like get a job. (Does she really, though? I mean, she just magicked up herself a house, a car, home furnishings, and anything else she needed first.) This is definitely a magic-lite movie. None of the negative aspects of a magical life. It's all sunshine and lollipops and Will Ferrell.
(1986)
This is one of the rare times that I will include a movie in a Movie Marathon that is actually just bad.
The Worst Witch
is one of the worst movies. But in a delightful, 80's, bad special effects, Tim Curry kind of way. Which means it's actually worth a watch. See, bad movies can be bad in a boring, forgetful way or a "This is so bad! Look at that! That's so awful! And now they're doing what?! Oh my god, I can't believe someone was allowed to make this movie!" way. At the very least you have to check out the best worst part of the movie. Tim Curry aka The Grand Wizard is introduced to the students in this horrifying, trippy
. It's also clearly where J.K. Rowling got her idea of a school of witchcraft and wizardry. While I didn't discover the movie until much later, I watched the TV show growing up. And consequently dreamed of a witchcraft boarding school with cute uniforms, broomstick riding lessons, and mandatory pet cats.
(1989)
I only discovered Hayao Miyazaki's movies a few years ago, so I'm always jealous when someone says they grew up watching his movies, including this magical delight. I can only imagine how seeing this movie as a child would have led to even more daydreams about being sent off at age thirteen to begin my witch training. I mean, I was already in love with the idea of black cats, spellbooks, and secret worlds. This story of a young witch somehow manages to be magical and yet mundane in that she uses her magical powers, not for fun as any 13 girl would be expected to, but to start her own business. I mean, when I was thirteen I wanted to start my own occult shop online, but it never happened. Maybe if I had a talking cat and a broomstick, my entrepreneurial dreams would have come true a lot sooner.
I used to love the pre-back-to-school time of year. Shopping for cute new school supplies?! Yay! Everything seems great. You've got your new wardrobe, new hair-do, new stuff, new you! Until you actually get back to school and you realize it's going to be the same shit with the same people all over again. Right?
Well, that part I definitely don't miss about school. But the excitement of a new school year? Yes! Or even more exciting/terrifying- Being new to a school. You get to try to completely reinvent yourself, make new friends, create a reputation, be the center of attention or the mysterious new kid... Oh, the possibilities.
I think, as with most situations in life, the best idea is to just be yourself. Otherwise, you might end up in sticky situations like all these characters who were new to school and tried to be something they're not. Luckily for us, it makes movies a lot more fun, though.
The Musical:
(1978)
You know what makes watching this movie even more fun? Watching this movie with two guys who admit to having been in a performance of Grease in school and can't help but sing along with every song (even the girl parts). Remember that the moral of this story is that you can get a guy to like you if you dress in an all-black spandex outfit. With really big hair. At a school carnival. And sing at him.
The Sandler:
(1995)
I still get quotes from this movie stuck in my head involuntarily. Every time I say something is "so hot", it turns into "Soooo hot! Want to touch the hiney!" in my head. And every time
I'll Tumble for You
by Boy George comes up in my iTunes shuffle I do Billy's little jig on the stairs. Writing all this "back to school" stuff for the blog means that "Back to school. Back to school. To prove to my Dad I'm not a fool." was sung in my head very often. I don't always like Adam Sandler movies, but Adam Sandler in the 90's? Yes, please.
The 90's Classic:
(1995)
This movie had a big influence on me as kid. (I'm sure every girl alive in the 90's can relate.) I remember wanting to coordinate outfits with my best friend. She would wear her pink dress and I would wear my blue dress. With matching shoes, of course. Fortunately, my young mind just ignored all of the not-so-PG moments of the movie. When I watched the movie later as a teenager, I noticed all the drug references and was amazed that I had no recollection of those scenes as a kid. (And it wasn't because they took them out for TV, either. I can remember the bong donation scene, I just didn't know what it was.)
The SNL:
(2004)
A movie about high school girls came out the year I was in ninth grade. The school organized a trip to take all the girls in school to see this movie. They thought it would teach us a lesson about cliques and bullying. We thought it was hilarious and discussed who were "The Plastics" of our school on the bus ride home. I'm pretty sure this is one of the most-quoted movies of the past decade. Thank you, Tina Fey. I'm not the only one who has seen this movie more times than I can remember, but still finds it funny, right? And sometimes we need a nice reminder of what Lindsay Lohan used to be. Sigh...
The LOL:
(2006)
Amanda Bynes is her own special brand of comedy. I never watched her TV show, but I find this movie (particularly her)
so
hilarious. The plot is based on the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, which involves a lot of cross-dressing and mistaken identities. For the majority of the movie, Bynes' character is pretending to be a boy. Which means she is hilariously awkward in scenes with a delicious shirtless Channing Tatum. Hilariously awkward. Yup, that pretty much sums up the movie.
The Teen Dream:
(2007)
When Bratz dolls came out, I was too old to be playing with dolls. But that didn't stop me. I played with them, made up stories with them, dressed them up, ruined their hair trying to style it. I loved Bratz. For my fifteenth birthday, the Bratz movie (not this one, the first little animated DVD) was on my wishlist and I got it. And I loved it. I'm pretty sure I made a friend come with me to see this Bratz movie in the theatre and then anxiously awaited the DVD release.
I love Bratz, okay?!
This movie has everything. High school drama, friendship, cliques, fashion, a Super Sweet Sixteen party, love stories, musical performances! But seriously, like,
which Bratz are you?
(I'm Jade. Obvy. She wears a lot of black, is really into fashion, but is also a big geek.)
Summary (from IMDb.com): A young boy stumbles into a mysterious girl who floats down from the sky. The girl, Sheet, was chased by pirates, army and government secret agents. In saving her life, they begin a high flying adventure that goes through all sorts of flying machine, eventually searching for Sheet's identity in a floating castle of a lost civilization.
Summary (from IMDb.com): Two young girls, Satsuke and her younger sister Mei, move into a house in the country with their father to be closer to their hospitalized mother. Satsuke and Mei discover that the nearby forest is inhabited by magical creatures called Totoros (pronounced toe-toe-ro). They soon befriend these Totoros, and have several magical adventures.
Summary (from IMDb.com): Kiki, a young witch-in-training, has reached the age of 13. According to tradition, all witches of that age must leave home for one year, so that they can learn how to live on their own. Kiki, along with her talking cat Gigi, fly away to live in the seaside town of Korico. After starting her own delivery service (using her broom as the delivery vehicle), Kiki must learn how to deal with her new life, especially after she loses the power to fly.
Summary (from IMDb.com): While protecting his village from rampaging bore-god/demon, a confident young warrior, Ashitaka, is stricken by a deadly curse. To save his life, he must journey to the forests of the west. Once there, he's embroiled in a fierce campaign that humans were waging on the forest. The ambitious Lady Eboshi and her loyal clan use their guns against the gods of the forest and a brave young woman, Princess Mononoke, who was raised by a wolf-god. Ashitaka sees the good in both sides and tries to stem the flood of blood. This is met be animosity by both sides as they each see him as supporting the enemy.
Summary (from IMDb.com): The story begins as Chihiro and her parents take a wrong turn down a dirt path while traveling to their new home in the country side. They discover a tunnel at the bottom of the path which leads them into an old abandoned theme park. While Chihiro and and her parents explore the place they come across a place full of restraunts filled with all different kinds of delicious foods. Chihiro's parents then start helping themselves to some food. As Chihiro leaves her parents and starts exploring the place herself she comes upon a bridge only to be found by a boy named Haku. The boy then tells Chihiro that she must leave before nightfall. She then runs off to find her parents only to find them as pigs. Chihiro gets scared and runs off to the river only to find it full of water. She then runs off and hides, Haku then comes looking for Chihiro promising her that he will help her save her parents but the only way was for Chihiro to get a job in the bathhouse for the Gods and spirits of Japan.
Summary (from IMDb.com): A young woman named Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, turns into an old woman, and is unable to tell anyone of her plight. Unable to continue her job at her mother's hat shop, she goes to the ambulatory castle of the notorious wizard Howl and insinuates herself into his household. Sophie befriends Calcifer, the fire demon who powers the castle and who is bound to Howl by a contract, the terms of which Calcifer cannot reveal. They promise to help each other with their problems. Like Calcifer, Howl can also see through the Witch's spell, and he and Sophie fall in love. Sophie helps Howl confront his former teacher, and the Witch of the Waste.
Summary (from IMDb.com): The son of a sailor, 5-year old Sosuke lives a quiet life on an oceanside cliff with his mother Lisa. One fateful day, he finds a beautiful goldfish trapped in a bottle on the beach and upon rescuing her, names her Ponyo. But she is no ordinary goldfish. The daughter of a masterful wizard and a sea goddess, Ponyo uses her father's magic to transform herself into a young girl and quickly falls in love with Sosuke, but the use of such powerful sorcery causes a dangerous imbalance in the world. As the moon steadily draws nearer to the earth and Ponyo's father sends the ocean's mighty waves to find his daughter, the two children embark on an adventure of a lifetime to save the world and fulfill Ponyo's dreams of becoming human.
