The Daily News
1 The other day I saw a commercial come on the teevee about a new movie called Paranorman.
2 It looked like any other Pixar thing, except for the plot.
3 With a concept clearly stolen from The Sixth Sense, it seems to be about a kid who sees dead people.
4 At first I thought it was a great concept, and even something I could add to the Heidi Chronicles, my ghost unit I do each year in late October.
5 I watched about ten seconds of the commercial and thought to myself, "This is a HORRIBLE thing to show small children!"
6 When I looked further into it, I saw that it wasn't a Pixar feature, but a relatively new company from Oregon called Laika.
7 All I could think of was, "Who PITCHED this concept? Millions of people would love to be the creator of an animated film concept. Who would even THINK that grotesque, scarily absurdist films would ever succeed? Who would ever think to pitch cartoons aimed at adults?"
8 Hmm.
9 Uh, Disney? Darby O' Gill? Warner Brothers? Hannah/Barbara?
10 I calmed down, but was still a bit confused as to the person who pitched it, and to the person who said, "Let's go with it!"
11 Laika put out the quirky and weird Coraline in 2009, another film that seemed to reach younger adults rather than small tykes.
12 When I first saw the commercial, I screamed at my teevee, "I can't BELIEVE how irresponsible these filmmakers are! Irresponsible parents will take their kids to see this garbage, and they will grow up to be heathens and miscreants!"
13 This morning I walked out to my driveway and picked up the Merc News.
14 At the top of the front page was an article about Paranorman.
15 I had to assume that any responsible journalist would pan this idiotic concept. Just imagine how many parents would not only take their children to see such garbage, but who would eventually have it downloaded or DVD'd permanently in their homes.
16 Gettin' old, man.
17 It turned out that the reviewer, Randy Myers, gave a good review to the film, not only for its technological attention to detail, but about its writing as well. I put my prejudicial rantings aside and decided to read further into it.
18 Myers reported that "it delivers a potent, multipronged fable that touches on meaty themes, from bullying to dealing with death. It also delivers an especially resonant message about not succumbing to a cult of fear."
19 Steady words.
20 I remember when I was younger listening to adults berating the violence of the Three Stooges, and how it teaches small children a message about sawing somebody's head, or putting someone's head in a vice and turning the screws.
21 As a kid, it never occurred to me to saw someone's head. I just thought the Stooges were hilarious. I still do.
22 Call me crazy.
23 Moving on, Part 1: Somehow I got through this week.
24 I had to shift from Google to Xanga to Chrome to Mozilla to Internet Explorer to get all of these wonderful news pieces to you, but I somehow did.
25 Fonts continue to jump, letters wind up in the middle of other sentences, and the entire thing seems haunted this year, but to me, it just makes for a ghostly challenge.
26 Maybe Paranorman arrived at just the right time.
27 Seems early to me. The weirdness in my life usually begins in mid-October.
28 I guess that's the nature of schools in 2012. Our schedules are so strange and different that it's almost as though the cosmos are reacting.
29 So it goes.
30 Nothing I haven't been through before, and there are certainly worse things.
31 But I'm pretty sure I'm going to cut this one short.
32 I could write it off to Friday light, or maybe the residuals of a writer's block that hit me in the pan last night.
33 Whatevs.
34 I have a weekend to re-group, and then start all this nonsense again next week.
35 So I'm gonna cut away here.
36 I've had all the fun I could stand for one week.
37 I think I'm going to pull up Coraline on Netflix, and maybe even grab some popcorn and go see Paranorman this weekend.
38 I might even top it off with a Stooges festival.
39 There are worse things I could do.
40 Okay then.
41 We'll talk to you later.
42 Have a rockin' weekend.
43 See you again.
44 Peace.
~H~
www.xanga/bharrington.com
23 Moving on, Part 1: Somehow I got through this week.24 I had to shift from Google to Xanga to Chrome to Mozilla to Internet Explorer to get all of these wonderful news pieces to you, but I somehow did.25 Fonts continue to jump, letters wind up in the middle of other sentences, and the entire thing seems haunted this year, but to me, it just makes for a ghostly challenge.26 Maybe Paranorman arrived at just the right time.27 Seems early to me. The weirdness in my life usually begins in mid-October.28 I guess that's the nature of schools in 2012. Our schedules are so strange and different that it's almost as though the cosmos are reacting.29 So it goes.30 Nothing I haven't been through before, and there are certainly worse things.31 But I'm pretty sure I'm going to cut this one short.32 I could write it off to Friday light, or maybe the residuals of a writer's block that hit me in the pan last night.33 Whatevs.34 I have a weekend to re-group, and then start all this nonsense again next week.35 So I'm gonna cut away here.36 I've had all the fun I could stand for one week.37 I think I'm going to pull up Coraline on Netflix, and maybe even grab some popcorn and go see Paranorman this weekend.38 I might even top it off with a Stooges festival.39 There are worse things I could do.40 Okay then.41 We'll talk to you later.42 Have a rockin' weekend.43 See you again.44 Peace.~H~
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