The Oscars are this weekend, and like every year, I've barely seen any of the films nominated. (I did see The Help at least.) Entertainment Weekly has some great features on the nominees including Martin Scorsese's HUGO. HUGO isn't about mermaids; it's about a boy, an automaton, and the first motion pictures ever made. One of those pictures was Georges Melies' underwater adventure, Fairyland: Kingdom of the Fairies. Martin Scorsese recreated that set for HUGO and it is breathtaking. Could you imagine being on that set? I need to see HUGO stat!
So there's a little indie film hitting theatres today, 11-11-11, based on Greek mythology called Immortals. It's a thinking man's film, which means I have no desire to see it. But upon viewing pictures of the actor who plays Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea, I am reconsidering my position on this matter. A good looking lad in barely nothing but a gold trident is worth a thorough examination, even if said lad is normally seen in that movie about sparkly vampires and the pasty humans who love them. More on Immortals' Poseidon here.
If you haven’t heard of Winter the dolphin than pull up a chair and a box of Kleenex because her story is a real tearjerker.
In 2005, Winter was only 3 months old when a fisherman found her entangled in a crab trap near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Her poor tail suffered the most trauma particularly the fluke, and part of her peduncle which works like a joint to move the fluke. Both of these key pieces of her anatomy eventually fell off putting Winter in grave danger. As her health improved, remarkably, Winter learned how to swim without her tail by utilizing her flippers and altering her swimming style. However this was putting a lot of stress on her body. Researchers at Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics heard her story and took on the challenge of making Winter a one-of-a-kind prosthetic fish tail. They succeeded, and Winter took to the prosthetic better than expected. Today, Winter lives and swims happily at the Clearwater Florida Marine Aquarium, and the gel created for the sleeve of her tail is now used in human prosthetics to help amputees maneuver more comfortably.
Dolphin Tale, a movie inspired by Winter’s story, will hit movie theatres next month. It stars big name actors like Morgan Freeman, (whom I love) along with Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr. From the looks of the trailer, I am pretty sure tears will be falling in my popcorn bucket. Opens September 23rd nationwide.
Teaser trailer for The Little Mermaid, a short film by Nicholas Humphries. From what I can gather, it's about a captured mermaid and her battle with the evil ringmaster of a circus. I'm intrigued. (Even if the name lacks the originality the piece will certainly deserve.) Keep watch for this one...
Several things happened in the last month or so that got me thinking about Hans Christian Andersen and the life of a writer in general. First was the atrocious J.K. Rowling movie produced by Lifetime. I don’t know why I subjected myself to it. Maybe it was for the laughs, or maybe I wanted to believe that candles really did levitate while she was writing The Sorcerer’s Stone. Sure, Lifetime took creative licensing on all of it parts, and at least they explored her abusive relationship, but mostly, as a writer, I just found myself laughing and thinking "God, what a steaming pile of flotsam and jetsam!" But in all reality, if there were a movie about my writing life, it would be hella boring. Who wants to watch someone sitting in a coffee shop for hours on end drinking 600-calorie lattes and occasionally conversing with the creepy guy who’s reading over her shoulder? (I don’t even write at Starbucks, people! No animated montages of mermaids swimming over the baristas’ heads in my movie y’all...)
I suppose the good thing is that there probably won’t be a movie about my life, therefore I don’t have to get one any time soon. Where was I again? Oh, Hans and J.K. and the writer’s life. Well, Rowling’s biopic got be me thinking about Hans Christian Andersen and how little I know about him, and the little that I do know has always made me terribly sad. Facts or embellishments made over the years, it is said that Hans was a shrewd, sexually repressed gay virgin who loved to travel and mingle with aristocrats who often shunned him. Never married, he may or may not have had relationships with some of his friends and associates. The Little Mermaid was supposedly written after his dear friend, who was also the unrequited love of his life, got married. Now, the being gay and socializing with aristocrats parts don’t bring the waterworks for me, but the repression, the desperate search for self-worth in others, and the unrequited love stuff just kills. On their own, these lowlights can seem like a life of misery, but I want to believe that there was so much more to him, that his love of nature and observation of others brought him a great deal of joy and happiness in his life. I have always viewed Hans as a Seed Sower; one of those brave souls sent to plant the seeds of knowledge and creativity the world will reap for hundreds of years to come.
These contemplations led to a hunt for quality Hans Christian Andersen biographies. I certainly found some, and there’s even one by fairy tale aficionado Jack Zipes.
Now, there are movies out there about Hans Christian Andersen, some in Dutch and other languages. There are a couple American productions. One is a musical from 1952 starring Danny Kaye of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. It has very little to do with the real Hans Christian Andersen. Thanks to the magic of the internets you can watch the whole thing on YouTube.
Also, thanks to Flippin Your Fins, apparently the Hallmark Channel produced a movie called Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairy Tale in 2003. The trailer reminds of the 1952 musical a little bit, as many of his stories are recreated in life-action sequences. The Little Mermaid looks awesome. If anyone else has seen this t.v. movie let me know your thoughts...
To conclude this post, I offer this open letter...
Dear Hollywood powers that be, people with money who make movies, please consider an honest, dramatic, motion picture about Hans Christian Andersen. Oh, and make sure that there are mermaids in it. Thank you in advance.
Thank you Jerry Bruckheimer. Seriously, you just made my day. Watch behind-the-scenes footage of the mermaids from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides—more concept art, interviews, and some sychronized swimming.
You knew this was coming, the inevitable Esther Williams post. She is, after all, a Bathing Beauty and a Million Dollar Mermaid. With her pin-up looks and extraordinary swimming abilities, Esther Williams was one of the most popular film stars of the 1940s and 50s. Her aquatic-themed musicals, glittering productions of Hollywood glamour and athletic artistry, were her most popular work. These movie posters from around the world are pretty awesome. My favorite is the Le Premiere Sirene. Magnifique! Esther may have been the Million Dollar Mermaid, but I think we can all agree that she is priceless.
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