The difference of ‘was here’ and ‘is here’, Henry Poole style
Over the weekend I finally got to watch a few movies I was excited to see. The one I will speak of at this point? ‘Henry Poole Is Here’. What a fantastic movie! It was (what I believe at least) a wonderful exploration of how we choose to see life and the effect it can have on the lives of everyone around us. It tells the story of Mr. Poole, a thirties-something man who moves into a California neighborhood. On one side a nosey Latino woman who just won’t leave poor Henry alone, on the other a divorced single mom whose young daughter doesn’t speak, but enjoys taping peoples conversations with an old cassette player. Upon moving into his new house, he finds his realtor went against his wishes and had the home re-stuccoed. And on one side of his house, a water stain that everyone insists on being in the likeness of God appears, thus bringing much attention to Henry and his new home. Unfortunately for Henry, he wants to wallow in his depression and memories amongst this crowd of intruders. On this stage does our mind begin to be pulled into the mystery that is our protagonists’ world. Why is this man so bitter? For what reasons did he move into this unassuming and unimportant neighborhood? In good fashion and storytelling we don’t have to wait too long to figure out what’s happening. In fact, in my humble opinion, this movie does an amazing job at giving the right information at the right time, allowing us, the audience, to become attached to these characters with whom we can identify. The most amazing character trait, which I believe reflects reality, is played very well by Luke Wilson (aka Henry). Throughout the movie, he sticks true to the ideals he began with in the movie. Small changes occur, but not even at the end did I believe he was that different from the man I met at the beginning. The theme behind the title is powerful and is easily identified, even without the blatant illustrations within the movie. Yet those illustrations only heighten the sense of change that not only Henry should make, but we as individuals as well. All in all I feel this movie (rated PG), is something that should make it onto everyone’s ‘must watch’ list. So go out, grab some friends, and enjoy a wonderful movie. Oh, it looks amazing in Blu-Ray as well.
I’ll Be Watching the Watchmen
Watchmen. A piece of not-celebrated-enough American literature, will be hitting the silver screen in a few weeks. Hopefully this will revitalize interest in this 1980’s graphic novel that not only won a Hugo Award, but is also on Time Magazine’s top 100 novels. I’ve known of this wonderful slice since I was introduced to V for Vendetta several years ago, first to the movie, then the graphic novel (also from the era of bad music and worse hair). I remember when I first saw the Watchmen trailer, but I don’t remember which movie I was watching. Chills ran down my frame as Muses’ ‘Take A Bow’ played with Dr. Manhattan taking Silk Spectre up in his Martian palace made of glass. I knew at this point that I had to read the book before I saw the movie, and I felt highly disappointed due to the fact I had to be a bandwagoner and wait for the movie to do it.
The rundown on Watchmen is this; set in 1985, Nixon is still President, amending the constitution allowing him to run for a third term. Due to an accident involving some pretty heavy science, in 1960 Jon Osterman is transformed into Dr. Manhattan who has power over, well, everything (Think Jean Grey as Phoenix in the third X-Men, but WAY cooler) and because of his powers science has advanced far beyond what we experience even now. Superheroes were outlawed in 1977 due to the Keene Act, and that was during the down swing of the SECOND generation of super heroes meddling in world affairs. Back in 1985, The Comedian (a dark, brooding still active hero working for the government is murdered). Rorschach, another hero still walkin the beat believes it’s a conspiracy to knock off any masked heroes still left. Visiting his tights wearing peers he warns them and stirs the old pot of super heroism. Meanwhile accusations of giving cancer to everyone around him, Dr. Manhattan exiles himself to Mars. Thus removing the American advantage in the arms buildup with USSR, sparking events that could very well lead to WWIII. Fear and panic begin to grip the world, and our literal heroes find themselves once again putting on their retired costumes and trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on.
It’s an amazing take on super heroes and gladly it was something very different. I read Watchmen in a matter of two days and still find myself thinking about it. It isn’t for everyone, not much is, but for a breath of fresh air, it’s worth dropping twenty bones on a couple hundred pages of well illustrated storytelling. Or if you must, just $5.75 for a matinee of the movie, which from all I’ve been able to gather, will be a fairly decent adaptation of the original. Although writer Alan Moore has been quoted to say, “I’ll never watch that f****** thing.” Either way, I’ll be there opening night, anticipating what might be another redemptive Hollywood movie, and if Zack Snyder delivers as well as his last movie, I won’t be disappointed.
My Sci-Fi 
