Anthony J. Merced

New York is about to get hit with some heavy rain over the next few days. While I acknowledge that it’s nowhere near as heavy as what some states have seen, it’s still enough to keep this cinefile indoors for the weekend. So here is my list of top five weather related films:

1. Twister (1996)

There is no way that there could be a list of Man vs. Weather films without including the one that sparked such terrible reality shows as Storm Chasers. This epic film about a group of scientists chasing an impenetrable wall of wind was written by the late Michael Crichton and starred such fantastic 90’s actors as Bill Paxton (not to be confused with Bill Pullman or Bruce Boxleitner) and Helen Hunt. The real storm isn’t in the skies but instead is in the relationship between the Hardings. With their marriage in shambles, Bill (the name of both the actor and character) shows up to serve his wife Joe divorce papers. The big question is whether or not the suffocating bonds of marriage will kill them before the insanely high velocity winds. Given the campy nature of the movie, I’ll let you guess how their relationship works out.

2. A Perfect Storm (2000)

The movie should be renamed The Perfect Cast or Really Expensive Cast for a movie with such a B-Horror feeling. George Clooney and “Marky” Mark Wahlburg are accompanied by Diane Lane, John C. Reilly and Cherry Jones on this rollercoaster ride based on true life events. The fishing boat Andrea Gail is stuck in the middle of a weather phenomenon that slams into the North Atlantic. How will they survive? Better yet: Will George Clooney wink at the camera as the wall of CG water approaches off of the port bow?

3. Top Hat (1935)

Get in your time machine and go back to a time when a lot of rain created romance instead of dread. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers engage in a bit of competition over who has the best choreography. As it does in most of these old musicals, that competitive natures becomes extreme romance. Considered one of Astaire’s best roles, it is a happy break from the doom and gloom in the rest of this collection.

4. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

I believe that Roland Emmerich must really hate major cities. Most of his films revolve around bringing down the most famous landmarks in cities like New York, Chicago and Washington DC. This time he employs the efforts of Mother Nature instead of space aliens. Dennis Quaid plays Dr. Hall, who is unaware of the consequences of Global Warming. His son, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, gets stuck in the middle of a cataclysmic climate shift while visiting New York. 80 feet of rain, tons of snow and ice storms of the least of their concerns as they await the passing storm. As long as you can survive the absurdity of the premise and not take it too seriously you’ll see just how Dennis Quaid saves the world, or just his son, once again.

5. The Karate Kid Part 2

You may be scratching your head as to why I would have chosen such an obscure sequel as The Karate Kid Part 2. The answer is simple: THE EPIC MONSOON THAT HITS OKINAWA! Daniel-san finds it hard to win over the tough rural Japanese crowd. Especially after he discovers the tension between Mr. Miyagi and his old love. Fortunately a heavy Monsoon comes forcing Daniel-san to be a true hero. After that all he’s got to do is win over Chozen in an epic battle that makes you wonder why any parent in their right mind would let their son go anywhere with Mr. Miyagi.

It’s been a little over a week since I sat down in a movie theater to end my personal Harry Potter journey and I’m finally getting around to putting my thoughts onto digital paper (otherwise known as the internet). Fans have been leaving theaters since then with a mix of emotions. Some are absolutely in love with the cinematic changes of J.K. Rowling’s epic story and others feel that somehow they were missing some of the more dramatic moments. Before we get too much into what those changes are, lets talk a bit about the movie itself.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is the last film (that we know of) in the Harry Potter Saga that started well over ten years ago. With this film, Warner Brothers was able to do something that very few film series have ever done before. That is locking in the same cast members for eight movies. Audiences have seen Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint literally grow from children to adults. Looking back at the films, its amazing to see just how small these people were back when Christopher Columbus was at the helm of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The longevity of the casting helped to automatically create an immediate connection each time the viewing experience began. For that, Warner Brothers should be heralded for not only keeping the course, but also allowing very creative artists to expand on a series of books that are beloved around the world.

If you’ve never seen a Harry Potter film the plot goes something like this: Harry Potter is a student in wizard school who holds the key to defeating the most dangerous evil wizard in the world. Over the course of the last seven films, we’ve seen a slow build to this finale, which is an epic climax between the powers of good and evil. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 starts exactly where the first part ended. Voldemort has the Elder Wand and Harry has no idea where the last few Horcruxes could be. From there the journey through Harry’s past begins. The audience returns to some very memorable place in the story’s lore. Each one holds a perilous sense of danger where before it had been a place of security. The vaults of Gringotts, once a place of safety for mystical items, turns into the scene of a magical theft and escape. Hogwarts School, once considered the safest place and only true home of Harry Potter, becomes a war zone for the final battle. Even characters that the audience thought they knew reveal themselves in a different light, specifically Serverus Snape.

Unlike many fantasy films, the Harry Potter franchise has never suffered from a lack of acting talent. Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, and Michael Gambon spent much of the earlier films carrying the dramatic weight. However, Radcliffe, Grint and Watson have come into their own, easily lifting the film to new heights for the genre. The much teased love between Hermione and Ron finally comes to a head just as Harry’s involvement with Ginny does as well. The roller coaster ride doesn’t stop with love and action. There is also a strong sense of realism in the consequences of character actions. Several key characters that fans have come to love over the years find themselves in mortal danger. Some of them make it and some of them perish. However it is this balance of fantasy and realism that lifts this climactic film above others that fell terribly flat, like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

When the film closed it felt strangely similar to exiting the theater after Star Wars Episode III. It is the end of a long cinematic journey that many fans have grown with. Whether you’re a fan who simply viewed the movies or read each book, this film adds a level of visual closure to one of the most successful movie franchises of all time.

Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Up, and Cars are just a few of the hits that help to make up the current viewing favorites of children across America. While Disney’s fantastic logo appears before the opening credits of every one of these movies, it is the less spectacular logo of the animation studio Pixar that is celebrated within the industry, and with great reason. The documentary The Pixar Story pulls back the curtain on the mysterious studio that has produced some of the most memorable animated characters since the early days of animation.

Thankfully, The Pixar Story is more than just a celebration of Pixar’s seemingly endless list of accomplishments. It is a chronicle of the long journey to success that almost didn’t happen. The story is told primarily by those who lived through it. People like Steve Jobs and John Lasseter provide the most input into what ends up being a very interesting story. Many times these types of documentaries fall flat simply because the story isn’t very interesting. Pixar’s story is one of risk, innovation and true entrepreneurship. All of these ingredients make for a story that is captivating, especially when its kept to under two hours.

The story of Pixar is one that starts, like many others, with a problem. The artistic visions of filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were limited by the technological means of their generation. This is why a subdivision of LucasFilm, The Graphics Group, was created to address these problems. However, after hard times hit LucasFilm, Steve Jobs came along to save the day. Even after pumping nearly 10 million dollars into the company, Pixar found itself as nothing more than a high end hardware company trying to pimp out its technology to anyone who would take it. It wasn’t until a huge deal to make the first computer generated feature film, with the help of Disney, that Pixar truly began to spread its wings.

The Pixar Story isn’t very specific. It doesn’t dive into any problem long enough to confuse or sometimes engage the audience. Instead, the documentary relies solely on the idea that dreams can come true, a very Disney mindset. We listen to Steve Jobs and John Lasseter explain how close they came to losing everything and how hard it is to maintain the empire. However, these problems are never drastic enough to bring real concern to the audience. Instead we are left with a dream-like image of what hard work and determination can accomplish. It may seem like mostly a fluff piece, but The Pixar Story is the type of documentary that would make anyone rethink whether or not their ideal job is possible.