Tag Archives: stories

Four-Story Friend

I have a friend that I can only hang out with once every couple of weeks. He’s a cool guy and he’s fun to hang out with, but he has the nasty habit of telling the same stories over and over again. And he only has four stories. He’s a four-story friend. There’s the time he got really drunk, there’s the time he boned the hottest chick in the world, there’s the time his car broke down on the freeway, and there’s the time he did that thing on vacation. He loves to be the center of attention and will tell his four stories at every opportunity he gets, but he doesn’t seem to realize that we’ve heard all heard them a thousand times before. We know his stories better than he does. What he needs to do is add more stories to his repertoire. He needs to experience new things and transform himself into a five-story friend.

Critically Rated at 10/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

storytelling

Leave a comment

Filed under Random Rants

Big Fish

Big Fish is a 2003 fantasy film and quite possibly Tim Burton’s masterpiece.  Billy Crudup stars as William Bloom, a writer who is trying to connect with his dying father. He feels like his relationship with his dad is like two strangers who happen to know each other extremely well. The problem is that William was never able to connect with his father. His father was a traveling salesman with a passion for telling tall tales and embellishing the truth, and he feels like he never knew the real person behind the stories.

The film is framed by an elderly Edward Bloom (played by Albert Finney) who is bedridden and slowly fading away. The story flashes back to a younger Edward (played by Ewan McGregor) doing fantastic things and having amazing adventures. He meets a giant, a werewolf, Siamese twins, a witch, and has a few encounters with a particularly big fish. On the surface this is a modern fairy tale. But it’s really about reconciliation. Edward and William have a broken relationship. Everything Edward ever told William was embellished and elaborated. William thinks that everything his father told him was a lie. They are bonded by blood but don’t have much in common.

This film is more sophisticated than Tim Burton’s other films. It’s more adult and decidedly less gothic. There is a great supporting cast including Jessica Lange, Danny DeVito, Steve Buscemi, and apparently a young Miley Cyrus. Helena Bonham Carter is in it too and Danny Elfman provides the score. Johnny Depp is the only Burton Regular who doesn’t show up.  I guess there wasn’t a part for a pale pedophile. This is the type of movie that you can watch with your parents and feel like you’ve bonded. Real art effects emotion. This film is art.

Critically Rated at 14/17

Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young

Leave a comment

Filed under Entertainment