Doctor Strange. Need a great escape this week? On the one hand Marvel Studios’ fourteenth big screen Marvel entry is very much a product of the Marvel Comics of Stan Lee. Audiences just saw a similar origin story early this year in Deadpool, and we’ve seen similar stories from Daredevil, Spider-man, and Hulk, as well as in the DC Universe in Batman Begins and Green Lantern. Yet in its first act you realize Doctor Strange is a movie a tier above The Avengers and Justice League member films. It also competes meaningfully in the mashed-up sci-fi and fantasy realm alongside Guardians of the Galaxy. As to sci-fi in its opening act Doctor Strange makes any visual amazement found in the twisty cityscapes of The Matrix trilogy or Inception pretty much irrelevant by comparison. And when you take the best actors around and put them together you’ve upped the ante for not only the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but suddenly every forthcoming superhero genre effort has a new benchmark to aspire to.
Everything Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Hobbit, The Imitation Game, Star Trek Into Darkness) touches turns to gold. His Doctor Stephen Strange is all of Dr. House, M.D., and Sherlock Holmes. And he transforms into an Eastern mystic with a vibe and look that assures us future roles that years ago would have gone to Max Von Sydow or Vincent Price will continue to have a ready actor to fill their shoes.
This may be the best recent use of 3D in the theater since the last Transformers entry. Viewing it in 3D is a must, from Doctor Strange’s spell weapons to a world colliding with an amped up Spirograph meets Kaleidoscope-infused reality, conflicts on Salvador Dali paintings come to life and M.C. Escher and Labyrinth-inspired battlefields, and on to journeys through distant outer space and beyond time, crisp clarity and beautiful cinematography reveals modern effects at their best thanks to the production of Kevin Feige, who has coordinated everything Marvel for both Disney and Twentieth Century Fox, and director of photography Ben Davis (Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Kick-Ass, Stardust, Layer Cake).
Fans of Jim Henson are always waiting for the next pebble of gold about the beloved creator of the Muppets and other fantastical creations on the big and small screen. Whether via a retrospective image or a story from someone who worked with him, it’s as if we need to make up for the time stolen from us by his untimely death by seeking out every snippet of his life we can find. The latest treasure chest of Henson memorabilia is Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann’s beautiful hardcover, 30th anniversary celebration Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History, published by Insight Editions. Labyrinth, the 1986 fantasy classic that starred rock star David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly decades before she’d be awarded an Oscar, is in a small class of cult classic fantasies that came out of the 1980s that included The Princess Bride, Willow, and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal.
Like so many of those “vault” books published for big genre franchises, Labyrinth: The Ultimate Visual History is not simply a book of high quality photographs of behind-the-scenes views of the cast, creatures, and crew and images of concept art, it’s all that plus more. Like more than 20 inserts reproducing treasures from the Henson Archives, including a pull-out of the full-color, theatrical one-sheet movie poster created for the film by Ted CoConis. You’ll find classic style tipped-in concept art, draft script pages, and memos from Henson, with many items showing his hand-written notes.
I streamed the digital edition of Labyrinth (available here) to re-familiarize myself with the film before reading this new work, and was pleased to see every human character, every creature (all those goblins!), every scene, and every magical effect discussed in detail in this volume. Three key images came to mind from viewing the film years ago: Bowie walking the M.C. Escher room in the show’s climax with a crazy upward, almost Michael Jackson-inspired move (turns out a stuntman worked the scene), Bowie’s flawless contact juggling of crystal balls (we learnit was a professional juggler’s arm actually doing the trick), and the masked ball (a pre-Star Trek Gates McFadden helped coordinate the scene). Each of the scenes and production steps are described through contemporary or recent interviews with Jim Henson, Brian Henson and his siblings, Brian Froud (whose incredible concept art is sprinkled through the book and incorporated into its layout design), Toby (the striped baby) Froud, creature makers and players Kevin Clash and Dave Goelz, executive producer George Lucas, and actors Connelly and Bowie, among many others.
French director Christophe Gans is bringing his award-winning adaptation of Beauty and the Beast to the United States next month well in advance of the latest Disney adaptation starring Emma Watson that is slated for a March 2017 release. Both are live action versions, following the Academy Award-winning animated version that was nominated for Best Film of 1991. Originally released in France in 2014, Gans’ version swept the art design awards at that year’s Cesar awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars, for Best Production Design, Cinematography, and Costume Design.
The French adaptation is simply stunning, evoking epic visual spectacles with lavish sets and costumes like the 2012 film Les Miserables and the 2004 film Phantom of the Opera, and fantasies like Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and even the original Labyrinth. It is also a follow-up star vehicle for SPECTRE lead Bond Girl Léa Seydoux, who portrays Belle. Seydoux also starred in Inglourious Basterds, the 2010 Robin Hood, Midnight in Paris, Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Vincent Cassell (Elizabeth, Shrek, Ocean’s Twelve, Black Swan) portrays the Prince.
Have a look at this stunning trailer for Beauty and the Beast:
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 1986 Jim Henson fantasy classic Labyrinth, Fathom Events has joined with Sony Pictures to bring the movie back to theaters for one night only. And a new book about the film is on its way from Paula Block and Terry Erdmann and we have some preview pages below. The fantasy-musical stars David Bowie and a young Jennifer Connelly.
Connelly plays Sarah, a 16-year-old who wishes her brother away, a wish granted by the Goblin King. In fine fairy tale style, Sarah must rescue her brother before midnight strikes, or he, too, will become a goblin.
The film was co-produced by The Jim Henson Company and Lucasfilm. You’ll see the work of plenty of legendary muppet performers, including Dave Goelz. You won’t see the work of several actors in make-up from the original Star Wars trilogy, including Warwick Davis, Kenny Baker, and Jack Purvis.
Loot Crate continues to be one of the best buys on the market in the monthly collectibles grab bag space at less than $20 per month. Across all boxes, whether it’s Nerd Block, Comic Con Box, or any other, the fantasy themed boxes only seem to come around once or so per year, but when they do it is easy to make the genre base happy. And that was no less true this month with the Quest themed box from Loot Crate.
One of the most untapped franchises for fan merchandise is History Channel’s Vikings series. We’ve talked about the comic books before here at borg.com, but have not stumbled across much for fans to buy. So we were ecstatic to not only find a Vikings item in the crate but a cosplay-worthy 1:2 scale replica of Floki’s drinking horn complete with wearing strap. Although you wouldn’t wear it if you’re after a full-sized large horn for your fantasy or historical costume, it will work fine for those who prefer carrying the smaller horns during Renaissance Faire season. And it looks great. Of course when you’re ready for the real thing, check out our friend’s shop, Wildman Drinking Horns, here. Randy has the best real drinking horns around.
With the passing of David Bowie and rejuvenated interest in the classic 1986 adventure film Labyrinth co-starring Jennifer Connelly, incorporating a clever labyrinthine box design and well-designed T-shirt was a good move for Loot Crate. See the shirt design above and fold-out box below.
It’s a phrase I heard over and over growing up, and is probably the best thing you can share with someone, especially someone who dreams big.
Kevin Clash is one of those kids that dreamed big. Kevin is the man, and the hand and voice (and heart and soul), behind Elmo, the ticklish red furry kid from Sesame Street that hit TVs and toy stores in a really big way more than a decade ago now. A Special Jury Prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival last year, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, is a thoughtful, inspiring and poignant look into the desire, preparation, planning, practice, and work, creating the magic of puppets, and specifically one of the most successful members of the most famous bands of puppets ever–the Muppets.
The healing power of make-believe is revealed in a way that viewers probably have never had access to before. Entertainment is often viewed by society as trivial. The enormity of the value of making people laugh and teaching basic principles of kindness is palpable, and the eyes of the young and old as they watch Elmo and his puppeteer is pretty incredible. Even with a man standing and obviously holding this red floppy fellow who is all smile and giggles, people ignore the man as if he is not there. It’s truly a magician in action, but more than that this documentary reveals a creator who is clearly kind himself, clearly thoughtful and cognizant of the importance of what he is doing. The gravity of this comes through with a visit from a young girl who is part of a Kids with a Wish experience.
What Clash does is make his work look so simple. As another puppeteer in the film says, Clash makes a piece of fabric with a human head, react like a human being would. Elmo became so big, yet only now do we learn all that went behind that fame, and that it was primarily the vision of one very busy man. And it resulted in the highest paid puppeteer ever.
With numerous puppeteers and entertainers commenting on Clash’s work and personal traits, and narration by Whoopi Goldberg, a real-life “wizard behind the curtain” emerges. We get to walk along with someone’s journey of discovery of a field we might not all have thought about, yet maybe secretly wish we know more about, and learn how you can grow up on Sesame Street, and dream about becoming a part of it, and making that dream come true.
Several themes permeate this documentary–the importance of shows like Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo and public television to education and younger learning and personal growth for more than one generation, the value of mentoring and apprentice-type relationships, especially in ensuring the survival of more obscure forms of art, identifying the creative spark in someone and helping to encourage creative abilities, and the “blood, sweat, and tears” required to fulfill a dream.
Look also for Clash’s link to Jim Henson and The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth before he was 25 years old, and the iconic presence and impact of Jim Henson on him and others. Not covered are the other things Clash has done, like serve as the voice of Splinter in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie series, as well as several public appearances and puppet work.
I’ve heard of several friends who are struggling with their Netflix subscriptions because they are running out of things–it’s the old story of having 300 channels on cable with nothing to watch. Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey is an example of something you might otherwise miss while trolling for something to watch, and it’s well worth your time. Note that it’s not a documentary for kids–little ones should probably wait a bit before seeing that their furry TV friends are made with rods and have hands up their backs.
Fantasy movies have been around since the beginning of cinema itself. The earliest filmmakers themselves were magicians of sorts, and what better way to dazzle an audience than show them something amazing and… unbelievable. But it’s not until the last ten or so years that fantasy was fully realized, rich and realistic, with classic stories finally matching the imaginations of decades of readers. There are of course exceptions. Big ones even. Like The Wizard of Oz. Only The Lord of the Rings trilogy gives The Wizard of Oz a run for its money, but does any single LOTR film compare to the one, classic Oz? I think that film still holds up today against any other film made since.
This is the first of four articles where each of the borg.com writers discusses their “ten favorite fantasy films” as we did with our favorite Halloween films last fall. Note this is a favorites vs. a “best of” list. We may have to do a “best of” list later, but “best of” lists are everywhere and often look exactly alike. When you’re discussing “favorite fantasy films” as opposed to “the best” you are bound to see some of the best films straddle both lists. But “favorites” lists allows you to fold in guilty pleasures, and maybe those films that, as quality is concerned, don’t hold their own to today’s audiences, considered from a more objective standard. Hopefully you can pick up a fantasy film or two you either haven’t heard of or haven’t seen yet.
What is fantasy? Our criteria was that there should be some element of magic in the film, and that the film wouldn’t better fit in another genre list like sci-fi or horror, etc.
Exclusions
My list excludes several genre films that could arguably fall into a fantasy list. I’ll save holiday fantasies like Elf and Miracle on 34th Street for another day. I also did not include superhero movies or action/adventure films, which I see as their own separate genres, or historical fiction, like Braveheart, despite that film often topping fantasy genre lists. Finally, I have not included movies that are also predominantly science fiction, otherwise the “greatest space fantasy of all time”–Star Wars, would be on the list. So my goal is including only “plain old classic fantasy movies.”
Honorable Mentions that made nobody’s Top 10
Because you can’t just list your top ten (why leave it at that?) I want to mention a few films that would have made the list before the advent of modern big fantasy films. Jim Henson’s Dark Crystal stood by itself for a time as real, incredible fantasy, with strange creatures and places. This film, and the strange Labyrinth, were the kind of romping fantasy that seemed to skip by an entire generation of baby boomers. Goonies is sure to make a favorites list for me but I am not sure there is any magic there to technically merit placing on a fantasy list. Great acting by Dennis Quaid and a great dragon voiced by Sean Connery made Dragonhearta solid fantasy film that was easy to watch over and over, and City of Ember and the better than average Disney film The Sorceror’s Apprentice with Nicholas Cage are newer fantasy films that I liked a lot but haven’t re-watched enough to have it make my list–yet. I’d watch any of those films again today. It’s the “over and over again watching” that I looked toward to finally nail down the order of my top ten. So here it is, from 10 to my current favorite at the number one spot:
10. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. What defines fantasy as a genre is the presence of the magical or supernatural. Captain Jack Sparrow is a dead pirate captain, like the ghost pirate we loved in Scooby Doo, and what Lord of the Rings: Return of the King revealed to be that production’s coolest creation, the brilliantly executed army of the dead. From a completely over-the-top but cool performance by Johnny Depp to a fun voyage, a great ship, and a whole stew of solid actors, Pirates is fun fantasy in a historical setting, with a rousing soundtrack by Klaus Badelt that will stick in your head long after the credits have rolled.
9. Alice in Wonderland. I’ve never been much of a fan of Tim Burton’s unique style, until I was blown away by his take on this classic story. Burton was born to create Wonderland for movie audiences. Johnny Depp is completely mad as the Hatter, Anne Hathaway perfectly cast as the White Queen, and Helena Bonham Carter vile and insane as the Red Queen. They also went all out with voice work for the digital characters with Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Imelda Staunton, Christopher Lee, and Michael Gough all supplying great characterization. Beyond stunning visuals and sets, the story masterfully blends Alice in Wonderland with other works of Lewis Carroll as if they always belonged together. Burton’s audacity pays off and Alice can be watched again and again, each time finding incredible nuances. Burton joined Peter Jackson and Victor Fleming in an exclusive club of masters of the most classic of fantasy books to make it to screen.
8. Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. This movie was written and created to get it into theaters as quickly as possible, in only a matter of literally weeks. So how can such a thrown-together film stand the test of time? I give a lot of credit to Kevin Costner as a believably viable, yet oafish and sincere Robin. His merry men are all well cast. And we got to see Alan Rickman as the most classic of villains, playing the role of the Sheriff of Nottingham. One of the best surprise endings gives us Sean Connery as we’d like to see him in an entire feature-length role (The achingly, poorly cast First Knight didn’t cut it, unfortunately). Who cares if the cast isn’t British and their costumes don’t make much sense? OK, this wouldn’t make any “best of” list, but I love watching it whenever it is on TV so it belongs right here. And it also has a great soundtrack by Michael Kamen.
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In one sense, taking away the last three Harry Potter films, which to me are lesser works, the first five all sort of merge together–except for the story of Azkaban. Professor Lupin is probably the best of Harry’s professors, and his greatest role model is Sirius Black. Of all the Harry Potter films this is the only one I will stop and watch again. It’s a standout film in the biggest mega-fantasy franchise ever. Here you have cool tools of fantasy like the Marauder’s Map and Hermione’s time-turner. And the Dementors are rivaled in their quiet dark creepiness only by the Nazgul from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. And although there are some minor story problems involving the time-turner and the killing of an innocent with little commentary, the digital realization of a Hippogriff named Buckbeak becomes one of the best executed fantasy animals ever. John Williams was able to make a throughly creepy mood with his darkest (and final) Harry Potter soundtrack here.
6. Field of Dreams. “If you build it, he will come.” “It’s not heaven, it’s Iowa.” Not only did Field of Dreams give us some of the best catch phrases ever, it got people who don’t like baseball to like baseball (me included). Of all the ten movies on my list, Field of Dreams may be the most transformatively magical, and possibly the most unique because it is so off-the-wall. How did anyone sell this as a movie? Ghostly baseball players coming out of a cornfield to get in another game of baseball? The one-two punch of Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones (and Burt Lancaster!) put this film up with Jaws as a film that you can’t walk away from once you start watching it, even for the 100th time.
5. The Jungle Book. Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 book of stories called The Jungle Book included the story of Mowgli, and that story comes alive in a very wonderful way in 1967’s Disney animated movie. Mowgli’s life is the ultimate in escapes from reality for young viewers. Who wouldn’t want to be raised by wolves? Who wouldn’t want a giant friend who was a bear, and a wise advisor who is a black panther? The music made the simply detailed animation more frolicking and fun. And even the sinister villain, the tiger Shere Khan, need not meet his end in this film in order to round out a well told story of friendship, manipulation, and trust. And the hypnotic Kaa remains unmatched as the clever manipulator until we meet Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. What’s the best of the three movies of Middle Earth? My hope is one of the two movies being made right now into The Hobbit series. I have issues with both Fellowship of the Ring and even more issues with The Return of the King, but it all amounts to nitpicking. As a series, it is the best fantasy series ever. As stand alone film, The Two Towers makes my list for the same reason The Empire Strikes Back would trump the other Star Wars films. Introductions of incredible places, like Rohan. And where my eyebrows wrinkled at killing off Gandalf the White in Fellowship of the Ring to only bring him back with a different name, Gandalf the Grey knows how to lead an army into battle at Helm’s Deep. My favorite character of the series gets a full story arc here–the classically regal and noble yet flawed Theoden King, leader of Rohan. The brother of the frustrating Boromir is introduced as David Wenham’s Faramir, who both kidnaps and then frees the traveling Hobbits. Merry and Pippin recruit the help of the awesome Ents–talking, walking trees that march into battle to protect what is theirs (also seen in The Wizard of Oz). Although the main journey of Frodo and Sam and Gollum finds them moving from point B to point C in this installment, the real adventure is what happens to the other six remaining members of the Fellowship. Whereas at the end of Return of the King the several denouements had me cheering for Gollum, in The Two Towers the excitement and pacing was just right, leaving audiences hungry for more at the end.
3. The Muppet Movie. A perfectly magical film. Jim Henson can’t be overstated as sitting among the kings of creating the fantastical. The Muppets had already been known to us through The Muppet Show, yet this movie brought laugh out loud humor to a fully realized classic hero’s journey–a drive from the East Coast to Hollywood. With a frog and a pig and a bear and a dog and what the heck are all those other guys like Beaker and Animal and …? Not since It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World had Hollywood comic actors united behind a single important film with too many cameos to count, and all brilliantly funny. I like all the Muppet movies but this remains my favorite. We don’t analyze it but Henson did the unimaginable by making fabric characters as real as any human in any film and without the realism required by all other fantasy films of make-believe characters. Instead it just has a lot of honesty and heart, to make this movie beloved by audiences for generations to come.
2. The Wizard of Oz. I have likely seen only Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, the Star Trek films, and Jaws more times than The Wizard of Oz over the years. Before video tape and DVDs I remember watching once a year on a Sunday night when The Wizard of Oz was re-broadcast, waiting to watch closely again to see how they changed from a black and white Kansas farm to the technicolor land of Oz. Along with The Jungle Book, I watched this film as a young kid (unlike 8 other films on this list that came much later) and saw first-hand what magic in fantasy was all about. So many elements make this movie work, many from the source story by L. Frank Baum, like the long journey leading back home. A giant village of extras with the Munchkins. Crazy scary flying monkeys and arguably the best villain ever filmed in both the Wicked Witch of the West and the equally evil Miss Gulch. Good costumes from 1939 meant we didn’t need CGI or animation–the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion are all believable and real. And of course the soundtrack and songs are unmatched and memorable, led by a perfect performance by the young Judy Garland. The Wizard of Oz is the Citizen Kane of the fantasy genre.
1. The Golden Compass. A perfect, elaborate fantasy story in an incredible, new parallel universe of Earth. A perfect cast. Beautiful, unreal sets. Historically inspired costumes that span different worlds. Special effects that merge reality and fantasy seamlessly. An often overlooked brilliant fantasy masterwork. When I first saw this I instantly thought this was the finest, most enjoyable fantasy film I’d ever seen. If all steampunk was this good I would be a true believer. Look at the cast: A stately Daniel Craig’s Lord Asriel, a beautifully striking but sinister Nicole Kidman’s Ms. Coulter, the perfect helpers along the voyage in Sam Elliot’s Lee Scoresby and Eva Green’s Serafina, smaller roles with gravitas by Derek Jacobi and Christopher Lee, and stellar voiceovers by Kathy Bates, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ian McKellen. The design work is lavish with a textbook fantasy component talisman in the magical alethiometer, animals that share your journey and wear armor into battle with you. Gyptians! Flying witches with bows and arrows. A cool airship. A big, exciting ride. What more could anyone want?
One big element I see across my list? Talking animals (and other things that don’t normally talk like trees and cornfields and dead people) are in 9 of my picks. Also, I must like Christopher Lee and Alan Rickman who show up in three films, and Johnny Depp, Ian McKellen, and Kevin Costner show up in two films. Tomorrow… come back for day two of our favorite fantasy films and click on the Comments to let us know your favorites.
