While I'm not really interested in making any, I'm a sucker for a good list. One night, stumbling from movie blog to movie blog, I found a list of Eleven of the Best Movies You've Never Seen. Rarely do I see something that I don't know at least a little about, so instantly I was intrigued. I scanned the list and found that I had only seen one of the flicks mentioned, Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. Knowing that that movie kicks ass (for the Lord!, no less), the author had completely earned my trust. I bailed on the summaries and instantly began to add the titles to my queue.
About a week later, after watching director Dave McKean's MirrorMask, my first thought was, maybe there's a reason no one has ever seen this. For me, this movie turned out to be work. Of the rather arduous variety, no less. Maybe if I'd have seen the poster, I would've known to keep it moving. But I didn't. You? You still have time.
But, if you're still interested, here's the plot as far as I can decipher it. A young girl has grown tired of working in her parents circus, and in typical teenager fashion, says something offhandedly rotten to her mother. Sure enough, Mom ends up incredibly ill, and Helena, the aforementioned lass, descends into some imaginary dream world on a quest to help her ailing mom. Um, I think. Her quest lacked urgency, and perhaps even a little bit of coherence.
People who love this film will say the story is magical, and it's a visual masterpiece. Others, perhaps like me, who don't adore the movie, will say something to the effect of, not only did I not get/care what the Hell was going on, but it looked like a Cirque du Soleil version of The Matrix airing on French-Canadian Nick, Jr. I mean, obviously, right?
But, if you're still interested, here's the plot as far as I can decipher it. A young girl has grown tired of working in her parents circus, and in typical teenager fashion, says something offhandedly rotten to her mother. Sure enough, Mom ends up incredibly ill, and Helena, the aforementioned lass, descends into some imaginary dream world on a quest to help her ailing mom. Um, I think. Her quest lacked urgency, and perhaps even a little bit of coherence.
People who love this film will say the story is magical, and it's a visual masterpiece. Others, perhaps like me, who don't adore the movie, will say something to the effect of, not only did I not get/care what the Hell was going on, but it looked like a Cirque du Soleil version of The Matrix airing on French-Canadian Nick, Jr. I mean, obviously, right?
