Finding Dory

For the past thirteen years Dory (voiced by the wonderful Ellen DeGeneres) has been the world favorite forgetful fish.  Between speaking whale, befriending sharks and forgetting the whole thing, she stole the show in Finding Nemo.  And let’s face it, Marlin wouldn’t have gotten far without her.  It makes perfect sense for the magic makers at Pixar to tell her story.  

In Finding Dory, we see flashbacks and fragments of Dory’s childhood (and Baby Dory so stinkin’ cute!).  Dory starts to remember bits about herself, including her parents.  With Nemo (voiced by Hayden Rolence)  and Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), she sets off across the ocean to find them in California.  They are led to an aquarium, The Marine Life Institute, and find their way inside.  Dory gets some help from a runaway octopus named Hank (voiced by Ed O’Neill) who has some great camouflage tricks while Marlin and Nemo meet Becky… I love Becky too much to spoil.  Dory also meets old friends, finds her old home, faces heartbreaking revelations and shows off her amazing strengths.  By the end everyone will be asking, “What would Dory do?”

One of my favorite scenes was when Dory and Hank are in the Touch Pool.  Those are those shallow, kid height aquariums full of starfish and sea sponges that kids put their grubby hands in to touch the fish.  They looked cute and harmless when I let my kid check it out at the aquarium.  In Finding Dory, it’s a bottom dweller’s nightmare.  My kid jumped a mile on my lap when the first hand dove into the water.  He gripped my arm during this scene and I just felt bad for all the creatures trying to hide.  Maybe next time we’ll skip the touch pool.

What I think Finding Nemo does best is remind us that Dory  is not just our favorite forgetful fish but an amazing, resilient, resourceful and daring leading fish.  Her important memories are not forgotten, just buried deep inside her and are awakened one by one.  Many flashbacks show that Dory’s parents taught her the best they could with her memory loss issue and parents, especially with challenging children, should take note to their resilience as well.  Never count anyone out, it’s amazing what even the most challenged beings can do.

I suspect Finding Dory will be the front-runner for best animated feature, as Pixar films usually are.  Visually, it is superb taking us from familiar oceans to the inner workings of the aquarium.  And Hank’s camouflage antics are a huge hit.  The story springboards off of Finding Nemo, but with it’s zanier antics and quick pace builds it’s own unique tone.  However, like Nemo, it still has it’s heart in the right place with the parent-child dynamic flipped around as Dory searches for her parents.  It will make you cry just a bit and laugh a whole lot.  I think I laughed the most at the use of Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World during some perfect slow motion.  

“My friend, Sigourney, once said: rescue, rehabilitate, release!”

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo is one of my favorite animated films.  It has an ocean full of colorful characters bursting with personality, witty dialogue and an adventurous story perfect for bringing parents and children together.  I didn’t get the chance to see it during its original release.  In fact, the first time I saw it was on a tiny TV on a bus trip with my high school band.  So last week, I bought into the 3D re-release gimmick, got some funky orange glasses, laughed and cried more than the few kids and parents in the theater.

The film tells the story of father and son clown fish.  Marlin (Albert Brooks) lost his wife and all but one egg in a heartbreaking barracuda attack.  Nemo (Alexander Gould) is the only surviving egg, but suffered a crack, which resulted in an underdeveloped fin.  Now Nemo is a growing kid, excited for his first day of school, and Marlin worries so much that he becomes an overbearing parent.  When he hears that Nemo’s class is headed to “the drop off” he follows.  Imagine poor Nemo’s embarrassment when his dad pops out behind the coral and makes a scene, about to take him home in front of the whole class!  So Nemo decides to prove to his dad and everyone that he is a strong swimmer, but his bold defiance (he touched the butt!) gets him captured by a scuba diving dentist from Sydney.  Now Marlin must search for his son, but there’s no way he can find him alone.

Both Marlin and Nemo are in for life changing adventures.  Marlin’s involve befriending Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a blue fish with severe short term memory loss.  Together they encounter a trio of sharks in a fish-aholics anonymous club, fight off a vicious angler fish, bounce through a dangerous field of jellyfish, and travel with laid back sea turtles.  Word spreads through the waters of Marlin’s quest to find Nemo.  Meanwhile, Nemo becomes the newest member of an aquarium, with an official initiation at the top of Mt. Wanna-hock-a-loogie.  He finds a new role model, Gil (Willem Dafoe), who also has a bad fin.  When they hear that the dentist is going to give Nemo to his niece as a gift, they hatch a plan to escape, and Nemo plays a big role.

During the Oscar season, Finding Nemo was nominated for three awards.  It was up for best original screenplay, original music score, sound editing and animated feature.  The only win was for animated feature, Pixar’s first win in the newly formed category.  I often wonder when directors of animated films will break through and find nomination at the Oscars.  Finding Nemo’s director, Andrew Stanton, has certainly made some strides for all animation directors.

While seeing Finding Nemo in theaters was an experience I wanted, I could have done without the 3D.  All the times I’ve seen the film on a tv, the colors were so vivid and bright.  Sadly, the colors in the theater seemed murky, I imagined their ocean had been polluted over the years.  This was only made worse because the short before the film, PartySaurus Rex featuring Toy Story characters, made great use of the dimming effects of 3D and amped up the neon-dark contrasts.  Still, I got the immersive effect I was hoping for and as always enjoyed the film.

I believe Finding Nemo is a great film for kids and parents to understand one another a little better.  Like other overprotective parents, Marlin needs to learn to let Nemo go a little at a time.  He learns that Nemo is a perfectly capable child, regardless of his fin, and has grown into a smart kid.  And Nemo finds a lot more love and respect for his dad.  Hopefully every kid that has seen Finding Nemo comes away knowing that their parents would brave an entire ocean for them too.

“Oh, it’s awesome, Jellyman.  The little dudes are just eggs, we leave ’em on a beach to hatch, and then, coo-coo-cachoo, they find their way back to the big ol’ blue.”

Broadcast News

Today, our news shows can be comprised of stories that aren’t news at all, depending on the events of the day.  Just look at the Today show.  The local news usually gets the big stories out first.  A crash on the highway, a building on fire, a robbery, then a segment about the local YouTube star or someones pet raccoon.  This trend in news becoming cheap entertainment, rather than facts on important events, is exactly what the serious reporters in Broadcast News had feared.

We first meet your three main characters as young teens.  Jane is obsessively writing at her typewriter and freaks out at her father when interrupted.  Aaron is the fifteen year old valedictorian high school graduate who just keeps getting beat up for being smart.  And Tom is the good looking boy who tries hard, but just isn’t good at school.  “What can you do with yourself if all you can do is look good?”  They all end up working together in a television news program and form a love triangle.

From their teenage introductions, we understand where each of them will end up.  Jane (Holly Hunter) is the workaholic writer and producer who loves it when everything is in her control.  Aaron (Albert Brooks) is the dedicated, educated corespondent who doesn’t have the looks to hold the world’s attention on TV.  And Tom (William Hurt) just keeps moving up the ladder because he is handsome and a voice that can sell the news.  Tom knows he’s unqualified for his job, sometimes he doesn’t even understand the news he’s reading.  He openly admits these faults, but still runs stories that aren’t real news and gets promoted, leaving Jane and Aaron perplexed and unhappy.  And when the station has to cut the budget, it’s surprising who gets the ax and who is promoted.

On a personal level, Tom is a good guy, and wants to do better at his job, so he tries to learn from Jane and Aaron.  The more Jane and Tom work together, the closer they become.  But Aaron has always had feelings for Jane, yet the two are just very good friends.  As the film progresses, Jane is pulled more and more between the two men and the stress of her job.

The most memorable scene from this film has to be when Aaron gets the chance to anchor the Saturday evening news.  After gaining some confidence using some tips from Tom on how to look good and sounds good, there is one thing Aaron didn’t see coming.  Sweat.  Once the camera goes live, he begins sweating in huge thick drips from his curly haired head.  What’s more hilarious is that every moment the camera is cut away from Aaron, a swarm of people run in to dab his head and have to run off before the camera is back on Aaron.  With all the mayhem, someone bumps into the big hanging map behind the desk, and it’s swinging in the background on live TV.  The whole scene is perfectly hilarious, one of the best moments in the entire film.

You may find Broadcast News under the romantic comedy genera, but it doesn’t feel like one.  It is a surprisingly intelligent film full of witty dialogue and complex characters.  The performances from all three leads are wonderful and worthy of their Oscar nominations, even though Albert Brooks was nominated under supporting actor.  There’s even Jack Nicholson who has a small role as the station’s head anchor who won’t reduce his salary, where in the film he requested not to be paid for the role.  This is the last film James L. Brooks made before The Simpsons started up and it feels like a smart springboard straight into his animated franchise.  At the least, this film was some fuel behind the character, Kent Brockman.

“A lot of alliteration from anxious anchors placed in powerful posts!”