Hanorah Words

Which lives in Epicdom. Epicly! So, before I ever started this Magical Realism kick, I heard about this movie from my then-boyfriend. Anyhow, I heard of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World  from him around the time Kick-Ass  came out. Why? They were movies based on comic books/graphic novels that heavily used nerdy tropes. Kick-Ass  deconstructed and then reconstructed the whole idea of superheroes while Scott Pilgrim  combined dating and baggage with video games. I never got around to reading the Scott Pilgrim  graphic novel series. I always want to read it, but I end up distracting myself.  And then complicated relationship stuff happened where my reason for wanting  to read the graphic novels kind of went away.  I did end up seeing the movie at one point, but I still haven't picked up any of the material that actually tells the story "properly". Not that it matters. So, this is the second in my Magical Realism series that I am familiar with be...

Suddenly, I feel surreal... So, the other movie I saw on Top 10 Magic Realism movies was Pleasantville , a 1998 dramedy starring Toby Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, Jeff Daniels, William H. Macy and Joan Allen.  When I was looking at these lists and saw Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and Groundhog Day  listed with this film and some others, my brain sort of had to do a double-take because that's one heck of a comparison. One movie ( Life Aquatic ) has very little that is false and characters that don't act in realistic ways. Groundhog Day  is holiday themed with a magical bit that isn't explained about a change of character. The other... well, it's about people in our world who go into a TV Show like Brady Bunch  or Leave It to Beaver  and turn everything upside-down. Both have themes that you can take away about life and reflect a sort of truth about the world at large, but otherwise they are two entirely different movies with two entirely different au...

From the author of Practical Magic ... The Story Sisters  is the first book of the Magical Realism genre I found at the Dayton Public Library. I was looking by Practical Magic  by the same author because it's the only book by her that I've read and feel like I personally know . What I mean by that is that I've read the book, listened to it on tape, watched the movie, compared the novel and the movie, decided I liked both even though the stories are entirely different, and brought them out to remember them separately with a fondness people usually reserve for friends they haven't seen in years. However, the library didn't have Practical Magic , I couldn't find the audiobook anywhere online, and I know where to look.  I know someone who owns the book, but she lives out of state and just moved to a new apartment. I'm not about to drive two hours to her house, demand a book, and then go off and read. That would be rude, crude, and socially unacceptable. T...

So, I was looking through the Magical Realism Movie List I made for myself and #17 Groundhog Day , a 1993 film starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell and directed by Harold Ramis. This was back when Bill Murray was "young" and considered romantic love interest material.  Now, he's FDR which is still pretty awesome. I can't wait to see that movie. Now, this movie is what I initially thought about when I considered the description of Magical Realism. Which is funny because I saw it when I was in Freshmen Religion at Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School. Why would a movie about a tradition steeped in pagan beliefs be shown in a Catholic school? Simple, because it is the typical Bill Murray movie about conversion of character. It even follows the format: A guy is a jerk, asshole, son of a bitch, greedy, whatever. Something inexplicable happens. It's usually funny and he makes a lot of funny faces. Jerk is forced to change his way or rethink his life...

We're coming through you're computer screen and you can't stop us! So, when I first looked up Magical Realism film-wise, one of the first movies listed in a couple of "Top ___ Magical Realism Movies" lists that I looked at. It's a 2004 film written and directed by Wes Anderson and starring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Angelica Houston, and Cate Blanchett.  I just watched it for the first time and I think I may have to look at the definition of Magical Realism again because I'm not exactly sure how this film... fits. I'll just say it now, it's a weird movie, but most We Anderson films are a little strange to most people. The story is pretty simple: After a shark attacks and kills his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou decides to get revenge. So, he rallies his crew, his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man that may be his son to hunt down said shark. The most magical thing in the film, besides all the people inexplicably interested in oc...

By   Julie de Waroquie r One of my favorite things in books and movies and TV shows and anything is when you're left with a sort of mystery. Was it magic or wasn't it? Could the psychic really predict what was going to happen or was she just a really good fraud? Are there little hints of the supernatural that I overlook, or am I just overly imaginative? It leaves things open-ended, room for more imagination to get it. I love it! So, when I was living in Connecticut, I went to a writing conference .  I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot about writing and publishing. While I was there, I stumbled upon something called "Magical Realism".   I wasn't sure what it was. It was in a list of Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror books and along with some other strange and wacky things (Steam Punk and Diesel Punk anyone?), but it caught my eye a bit more.  I mean, I like to write my stories in what people like to think of as "The Real World", but I always like ...

The alternate title was "Pot Destroys Humanity. We Deserve It". So, my friend Cyn has been harassing me for a while now to watch the movie The Cabin in the Woods .  I actually didn't mind because I wanted  to see it, but I either didn't have a chance or I'd start to watch the movie and I'd get confused. This is mostly because of my usual movie-watching habit. See, I don't just watch a movie. I watch a movie, play on my IPod, make lunch, dance around my bedroom naked and read the plot of the movie covertly so that I know what's going to happen ahead of time. However, I didn't want to do that with The Cabin in the Woods . It's a Joss Whedon film and I would prefer to watch it while doing nothing  else with no knowledge whatsoever of what's going to happen in the movie ahead of time. I do this for certain movies and TV shows only. I also do the same things with anime and manga depending on what other people have told me.  I like to spoi...