Swine & The Harmonic Connection

Crack your knuckles and get out your popcorn, its snooty-review time! In this latest installment of my neo-con perspective on film, I'm about to tell you about two movies that have flown under the radar in the last year. While both films are considered flops and were not well reviewed, I'm going to tell you why I liked them regardless of the economics and raised pinkie-fingered people.

Let me first say that I think both movies could earn my Mother's rarely awarded rating of "W" - for Wholesome. She has not seen these movies, but doubtless would approve of my estimation of her opinion. This in no way means the films are dull or for kids, they just happen to appropriately be for everyone. Both films have odd-ball protagonists, trouble with parents and great soundtracks. So as the Monty Python people would say, "Just get on with it!!!"

AUGUST RUSH

This is a "fanciful" film about a boy who can hear music in everything and was separated from his parents at birth. He dreams of being reunited with them and can feel them in the music that he hears everywhere. Reality is suspended often in this movie during these musical sequences and I found this to be fresh and enjoyable from both visual and auditory perspectives. The plot and screenplay are relatively weak, but the musical sequences are brilliant. The boy who plays August Rush does a phenomenal job displaying the joy of music. I was also pleased that many forms of music such as classical, rock, blues and new-age were in the movie. There isn't much point in talking more about the plot, actors or the story itself. This is a movie to watch and HEAR. I reckon it will show up in music classes across the country on music appreciation day.

SDCMADdog says:

"If you can get past the fact that the protagonist is a bastard love child, created by the opening scene's one-night stand, this is a wholesome Dickensian tale. For musicians this is their top gun, the ultimate tribute to music overcoming all odds. If you are dating an aspiring musician take them to this movie you are guaranteed to get lucky.( although if they were smart you would have to be talented musically as well-- so the spawn created would be another Mozart) It's like Donny and Marie procreated to create the ubermusican, the ultimate child prodigy in classical and pop music, madana and yo-yo ma combined ( mo-do?), world domination is his next goal!"

PENELOPE

This is a movie has nothing to do with the chick that Ulysses fought for. Actually, its almost the opposite. The story revolves around a blue-blood girl cursed by a witch to have a pig nose due to some family indiscretion that occurred generations ago. In order to break the curse she has to get one of her own kind to marry her and she goes through just about every available suitor in the kingdom. The story appears to be set in a quasi London/New York and both accents are present. Often this works, but sometimes it can get somewhat confusing. This movie feels a lot like "Big Fish" from Tim Burton and Christina Ricci fits the melancholy fairytale protagonist role well.

One item in the plot gave me knots in my stomach. The suitor who agrees to marry Penelope will receive an outrageous dowry. That's right - DOWRY. It sounds cool to a young man and his folks, but horrible to a father with multiple daughters. The oppressed father in this movie not only got a pig-faced daughter, but has to shell out half his fortune to marry her off. OUCH. The cast were actually quite good, however the screen play muddles up the storyline a bit. Not a big deal. Perhaps I liked the score the most, which I think carried the movie in several sequences. All of the usual romantic comedy trappings are present in this film, but what's wrong with feel-good cinema? There was enough variety/fairy tale suspension of reality to get past all that. Overall, I was engaged most of the time and there were plenty of good laughs. It has a good moral for people of all ages and genders and should be an enjoyable way to waste some time.