Wistful Sigh...

At Wyrd tonight, we watched two very good movies. One, Clash of the Titans, is an interesting spin on the Perseus/Andromeda myth, borrowing from several stories at once, but the spirit's there, and it's an honest one.

But Labyrinth, the other one... my, my. It's one of my favorites, and I'm trying to pinpoint the reasons why.

The first reason is that it's the first movie I saw at Wyrd. I went there one Thursday evening freshman year... I sat in the back and listened as a few loudmouths made sometimes funny comments throughout the movie, and other people chatted happily together. One person (Becky) tried chatting to me. I answered politely, but was shy enough that I left before the second movie. I'd be back at the start of next semester, but that'd be another 3 months. But even then, I liked the movie, and it was a good experience, always carrying the positive connotations of Wyrd... an easygoing, geeky social place.

But there's more to it. This is the third time I've seen the movie in four years, and I like it more every time.

You can probably go to Wikipedia for a more clear summary, but it basically starts with this teenager, probably about 15 or 16, who is fond of acting out her favorite fairy tales and pretending. She comes home to find out her parents are going out again (they do so once a week) and leaving her in charge of her baby brother. She is understandably distraught at her parents thrusting things on her when she could have other plans, and so when the baby starts crying, she tells him a story about the goblin-town and the goblin-king. She ends up wishing the baby away forever. And so the goblin-king comes, takes the baby, and challenges her to find her way through a labyrinth in 13 hours... or her brother is his forever.

She doesn't like the baby, but she didn't really mean what she said, and so she starts out. She'll meet a variety of strange people, some helpful, some obscure, some utterly mad. She will make many friends... and a lot of things will be said and will happen that can only be called... imaginative. It's a wildly creative journey... one for which the phrase "wildly creative" seems tame in comparison. In the process, she learns how to grow up some, and the goblin-king... well, he plays with shiny crystal balls and has musical numbers. (He's David Bowie.)

But I feel no shame saying that I experience great emotions for the main muppets. Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus the fox, and Ambrosius his sheepdog steed. I could just sit here and smile all night.

And the lead, Sarah... she's real. Tangible. I really feel for her. I like her fantasies. There's a part of me, the one back in high school, who would've liked to live in the 80s, if only because I might've known an interesting person like her. (I did the same thing with Bridge to Terabithia.) Of course the idea is silly that I'd have to go back to that time, and going back to that time is no guarantee of finding anyone... I've been lucky to find people here and now that I can enjoy for the quirks and who love fairy tales and such... but there is a part of me that wants to be her friend. It's that real for me. That over half of the movie is muppetry doesn't matter.

And there aren't that many movies like that. Entertain, yes. But they don't engage as much. They aren't true enough. They are fabricated for our humor... but the fabrication isn't quite right.

If Labyrinth were made today, they would've probably used CG. And it seems like it wouldn't have worked as well... MirrorMask, its closest analogue with CG, used it to good effect. But it's not the same. Not quite. And other movies don't come close.

And if Clash of the Titans were made today, there'd be a lot more ab. And a lot more blood and action. And some sex. But, strangely enough, less nudity.