Entertainment Breakdown: July 2007

WARNING: If you haven't seen the theatrical movie, "Bridge to Terabithia" or the 1985 t.v. version, or even read the original 1977 novel by Katherine Paterson and you plan to, read no further; the following is a SPOILER ALERT!

I just saw the movie "Bridge to Terabithia" online for the first time last night. And just like many other people, because of the misleading trailors, I thought it was just going to be a "Chronicles of Narnia" rip-off. But, I thought I'd check it out just the same. It's a tale of the problems of pre-adolescence, wide-open imagination and endearing friendship. It stars Josh Hutcherson as Jesse Aarons and guaranteed future Oscar-winner, AnnaSophia Robb as Leslie Burke who portray pre-teen friends whom, to deal with bullies at school (especially the malicious Janice Avery) and in Jesse's case, problems at home, create their own magical world of goblins, trolls, and roaming land creatures in the woods behind their homes they name Terabithia. It is their world. A world in which they create the rules, and use their imagination to make the inhabitants come alive and they name themselves King and Queen. It is accessed only by an "enchanted" rope that they use to swing across a creek that flows by their homes and into the brush on the other side.

Jesse has to deal with his families financial woes, a somewhat distant mother, an abrasive father, and his three annoying and bratty sisters. The fourth, May Belle, played by the adorable Bailee Madison, admires Jesse to no end and is continually disappointed when she is not allowed to follow Jesse and Leslie into Terabithia and share in their magic. Jesse is an avid drawer and uses his craft to not only hide himself away from his domestic and scholastic problems, but to use his talents to be Leslie's ying to his yang.
Leslie is a grand story-teller and lover of fantasy stories with a vivid imagination. She is an only child to two writer parents who are footloose and fancy-free, as demonstrated when Leslie and her father dance together as they paint their living room while Jesse looks on in appreciation. She teaches Jesse with her open mind, cheerful personality and unbound determination about how to handle life's little roadblocks, including the bullies at school and to always do it with a smile. She is unwavering, unabashedly, kind and true.

The two meet at the first day of school at when she enters and wins a race that is supposed to be for "boys only". At first, Jesse is quite sour about this and wants nothing to do with Leslie, but Leslie's persistence in meeting him soon pays off, as the two become close friends.

Although some people say that the movie is slow at points and at times the plot may seem to be going nowhere, I disagree. At no time did I think it was boring or tedious. It is brought along more than adequately by the lead actors youth and charm. If you give it a chance, it will envelope you. The good thing about this movie is that although, as mentioned, people may have been led to believe that this was a CGI-laden fantasy movie about some far-off land, the creators keep most of the tale based in reality, with only a handful (or less) of scenes that dealt with special effects. As a throwback of sorts to Disney's live-action family films of the past, "Bridge to Terabithia" deals in contemporary settings and believable plots. It is with this believable plot that things go terribly awry and gut-wrenching tragedy ensues.

Now I didn't read the book or see the 1985 t.v. version of the film before I watched the theatrical version, but I almost wish I had. I say almost because then I would have been prepared for the stupid plot twist that will haunt you in the films closing 30 minutes, that is of course, unless you bleed ice cubes. I say stupid, simply because I didn't like the way it caught me by surprise (usually that's a cinematic plus) and drew me to tears. Yeah, I said it. I cried okay? Big whoop, wanna fight about it? Sorry for being human.
To what am I referring to? (last chance to avoid the spoiler)

Well, Jesse also has a crush on his music teacher, Ms. Edmunds, and at the last minute she has an extra ticket to the museum. With Jesse's undeclared admiration for Ms. Edmunds and his never being to a museum, he accepts, but wants to spend time with his teacher alone outside of school, so he doesn't invite Leslie. As he returns home later that evening, he is surprised to find his family waiting for him, worried about his disappearance; as his mother doesn't remember in her half-asleep state that he asked permission, and he senses more tension in the room from the result of more than his museum adventure.
Jesse's father then informs him that Leslie is dead. She decided to go to Terabithia without him and fell from the rope when it snapped, hitting her head on a rock and drowning in the creek. Jesse is mortified and doesn't believe his father, running from the room yelling,
"Leslie's not dead! She can't be dead! You're lying!"
He runs over to her house next door only to find the police in the driveway that confirms the horrific news.

There are a few other scenes that will shake your emotions (again, unless you're a total Grinch) like when soon after he sees the police cars, he dashes to the woods and starts calling for Leslie in hopes that the magic of Terabithia will bring her back to him. Upon calling out her name we hear a faint return of a voice calling his name and for a second one could be forgiven if they indeed expect to see a vision of Leslie there. Alas, it is only his little sister, May Belle that has almost fallen off a tree that has fallen across the creek that Jesse has used as an entrance to Terabithia in place of the rope, when she has decided to follow him in. It is this scene that is also sad because as he tells May Belle to "go home, this is OUR place!" she takes another step foward and he pushes her down hard. A look of hurt disappointment and sadness appears on her face that literally made me say out loud, "Aw, don't do that!"

As Jesse runs around in Terabithia in search of Leslie, his imagination gets the better of him, as he sees the "Dark Master" (the imaginary antagonist of Terabithia) looming closer and closer. When the shadow catches up with Jesse and begins to descend upon him, only then do we see that it is his father that came looking for him after May Belle runs home crying.
It is here that yet another tear-jerker scene presents itself as Jesse finally lets his emotions out and cries for Leslie. He reveals to his father his feelings of guilt and remorse about not being with Leslie when she died, feeling that if he had only invited her to the museum, her death could have been avoided. His father, in a sudden change of character consoles his son and ensures him that Leslie's death is not his fault. He also tries to make Jesse understand, when asked if Leslie is in Hell because she didn't read the Bible that "I don't know all that much about God, but I do know He's not going to send that little girl to Hell." He then tells Jesse to keep Leslie's memory and their intense friendship alive, to hold on to what they had, thus keeping her alive.
The question of Hell arises due to a scene earlier in the movie when Jesse, Leslie and May Belle are riding in the back of Jesse Sr's pick-up after Leslie accompanies Jesse's family to church and she comments that the story of the Bible and that of Jesus is "really interesting."
She says that although she never read the Bible, to which May Belle says she's going to be damned to Hell for, she doesn't have to believe its stories but "finds it beautiful" while Jesse "has to" believe it and "hates it". Leslie then answers May Belle's statement with "I seriously don't think God goes around damning people to Hell, he's to busy with all this" referring to the great outdoors.

There is one scene of redemtion of sorts for Jesse, as he punches one of his main adversaries, the bully, Scott Hoager, in the face that sends him flying against the back wall after Fulcher sickenly leans over Jesse's shoulder and says, "I guess you're the fastest runner in class now, huh?" This is in reference to Jesse losing the first annual "boys race" that I mentioned earlier. He had trained the whole summer before to be the fastest in the fifth grade and it was the main reason he was put off by Leslie at first.
The only problem I had with this is that it should have been written that Fulcher recieved a broken nose or jaw. Jesse is then sent into the hallway by the teacher, Mrs. Myers (Monster Mouth Myers as Jesse calls her) to where he thinks he will be admonished for his deed (and a good deed at that, I say)
But Mrs. Myers reveals to Jesse that she knows somewhat how he feels, as her husband had died some years ago and she also reveals her like of Leslie.
"The things that girl came up with. I don't get students like that too often," she says. "and then I think, if it's this hard for me, how much harder it must be for you." From that point on, there is no monster in Terabithia representing Mrs. Myers.

After Leslie's family moves, Jesse is allowed to take anything that' s left around the family's home. He decides to use some extra wood planks and build a safer passage, a bridge, to Terabithia (thus the name of the story) and erect a memorial to Leslie, his fallen queen.
After completing the bridge, he goes home and apologizes to May Belle and finally decides to take her with him to Terabithia in honor of Leslie. He gives her a "crown" and names her princess only after she promises to keep Terabithia a secret and to "close your eyes and keep your mind wide open," advice Leslie once said to Jesse and is a reoccurring theme in the film. We then see all of Terabithia, even grander in May Belle's eyes, illuminated as the credits role.

I can't say I didn't totally see Leslie's death coming. In one particular scene, the night before Jesse goes with Ms. Edmunds to the museum, the two are on their way home. The last we see of Leslie is when after discovering the rain has risen the level of the creek, she waves goodbye to Jesse that is in slow motion. There is then a shot of Jesse with a look of, dare I say love, on his face. He looks away for a moment before looking up one final time to see Leslie walking around the corner. This is Jesse's last memory of her. That is when I realized I wasn't going to like the end of this movie.

I can't explain why, but this movie hit me hard. I found myself with eyes full of tears in each of the sad scenes mentioned and believe it or not, it stayed with me about four hours until I was able to fall asleep. I can't tell you the last time that happened, if ever.
I guess it may have to do with the fact that I have a female friend who I care for greatly, is one one of my best friends (if not THE best) and is one of the greatest people I have ever known. And much like Leslie, she is always there to help me in any way fathomable. I guess I just drew some sort of parallel between the two relationships. Either that, or I'm just a big wuss. The only difference being, I didn't know her in my adolescence, I wish I had. Or maybe it was just the fact that Leslie was a very beautiful person and was taken away. It just wasn't right.
However, that's not to say that there isn't some comedic and/or light-hearted elements in the movie, there are, it's just that the most powerful parts of it are, obviously, after Leslie dies.

But even my friend (for some reason) said the movie wasn't very good, as other film critics have. My opinion is I totally disagree. I'm not impressed easily, and although I agree it wasn't the best film I have ever seen (maybe not even in the top five) it is one of very few films that had the emotional impact "Bridge to Terabithia" had. That says boatloads. That having been said, I don't know if I want to see it again. It's just that sad. But if you haven't seen it, you should. It's a great story. One of the greatest stories of true friendship you'll ever see.

If you would like to read an online version of the novel go here. It is on a very good website dedicated to the book. It is designed and maintained by Eric Petersen.

FYI: Here's the true background story of the original novel. Yep, unfortunately, the original book is based on a true story.

And in case your interested, here's an interview with "bridge" author, Katherine Paterson and one of the executive producers of the movie, as well as co-screenwriter, Katerine's son, David.

If I ruined the story for you, sorry about that. But, I warned you...twice.

I was just randomly surfing the net when I came across this article, or something, that directed me to YouTube and to clips from one of my favourite shows when I was a kid. "You Can't Do That On Television" which originally aired in 1979 as a local Ottawa kids entertainment show. I didn't catch it until around 1981 or 82. But man, when you're 9 or 10, this stuff was funny. Everything from "Barthy's Burgery" sketches to the water or slime that would drop on the unsuspecting (and REALLY cute) Christine "Moose" McGlade by uttering the word(s) "water" or "I don't know". I also found the infamous "opposite" and "firing squad" sketches to be quite humorous.

But looking back, I think the real reason I tuned in religiously every Saturday

morning was to glimpse upon the beauty of Christine. Man. I really had a thing for her, which I suppose every guy my age did that was a fan of the show. I had a friend back then who was almost into her as much as I was. I say almost because he called her Moose, I refused to do so.
"Her name is Christine", I would correct him, to which he would rightfully roll his eyes at.

Lisa Ruddy was another regular in the cast that was pretty cute too. But, she was just too good at her job, because I found her utterly annoying. They didn't call her "Motor-Mouth" for nothing. But she was still a sweetie, all the same.

You may find this really weird, but I want to remember these girls (and the show as a whole) just as it was. So what happens? What do I do to ruin the precious memories of my childhood? I watch a reunion of the cast members on YouTube (it was actually at a convention of sorts, called Slimecon-in homage to said slime prop) and see what they're up to now. Now, normally you would think that a fan of any show would love to see what their favourite celebrities or character-players are up to. Are they in good health? Are they successful in their personal lives? Did they get fat?
Well, the answer to those questions is YES, except for the fat thing.
Christine is now 43 years old and is still a babe. She is a producer for children's programming, is married and has three children (damn that man who married her) Lisa is 40, is married with two children and runs a funeral home. For some reason when I was watching it, she looked unrecognizable at first, but is still pretty and stills smiles a lot. But boy, was Christine ever nice. Slim, healthy and still a beauty. Did I say that already?
This is also where pop sensation, Alanis Morrisette got her performing arts start. Yeah, I had no idea either. I must have seen her in at least 10 sketches and had no idea who she would become. But, how would I, right?

Another cast member that was very funny was that of Les Lye, the only adult cast member until Abby Hagyard came around in 1982. If you ask me, this guy was, and continues to be really under-rated. Rowen & Martin's "Laugh-In" alumni, Ruth Buzzi also was a late addition to the cast. Lye played the unforgettable Barth (along with many other characters) who was the propeitor of Barthy Burgery, the kids local hang-out. The place where they complained about the burgers (from which they'd try to guess what -or who-went into the burgers that week, usually end up barfing at the end of the sketch) but always came back for more.

Anyways, through listening to Christine's podcasts (which she hasn't updated since Feb. 24 of last year, I'm sorry to say) on her website, christinemcglade.com I found out that Nickelodeon (who bought the rights to the show after the first two seasons) has released the show in a 3-DVD, 100+ episode box-set. WOO-HOO! Now I can see Christine in all her young, cuteness and (slimey) glory. I know, this is getting unhealthy. Speaking of unhealthy, check out Barth's Burgery for more YCDTOTV memories.

I don't really know what distinguishes this show from any other shows of the era, or of my adolescence for that matter. I mean it never did have all that great of production values, but it touched me in ways not too many other shows, or even movies-past or present, have done. I mean, I just simply look at those pictures above and I'm in an instant time-warp, back in my living room in Winnipeg when I was 10. And for some reason I thought Christine and Lisa were my age. Apparently their about 9-10 years older. Like I care. I just want to stay there with the Saturday-morning sun shining through our living room picture-window and Christine on the t.v.
This show, including watching old clips (I still can't believe they're OLD clips) and pictures just puts me where I want to be. I can't explain it, it just puts me instantly back to my childhood.

Would you like to see Christine and Lisa today? Here ya go...

See, I told you Christine was still a babe. Here's an interview with her from 2004. Hey, I know she's getting all the attention, but I really dug this chick.

But, should you ever find yourself lucky enough to be in the land of YCDTOTV, you'll know it when you see this:

Here's an example of Christine at her best along with the many faces of Les Lye and a general way of how the show flowed on t.v.
Lisa is especially cute in some of these sketches as well.

I sure do miss it.

Entertainment Breakdown

Sunday, July 15, 2007

1978 STAR WARS Holiday Special

Friday, July 13, 2007

Zack Kim and The Simpson's Theme

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Bridge to Terabithia

Monday, July 2, 2007

You Can't Do That On Television

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