Book Review: Anya's Ghost

Back in the day I used to do some writing for the website Suite101. That place is long gone now but my writing remains.

I mostly did book and film reviews and I'm still proud of a couple of them. Let's take a look:

Anya's Ghost - A Coming of Age Ghost Story

Growing up is hard to do, especially when someone feels like he or she doesn’t fit in. That’s the problem facing Anya Borzakovskaya in Vera Brosgol’s terrific debut graphic novel, "Anya’s Ghost." Brosgol, a talented comic and animation artist, skillfully blends a coming of age tale with a classic ghost story, creating a wonderful portrait of teenage life and the struggle for a sense of self identity.

Anya isn’t happy. She has trouble in school, can’t talk to a boy she has a crush on, and is slightly ashamed of her Russian heritage. But mostly she feels like an outsider with no one to call a true friend. After stumbling down an abandoned well one day, Anya discovers the skeletal remains of a person, and a ghost attached to those remains. The ghost, Emily, is delighted to find someone to talk to after years of isolation in the well, and takes a great interest in Anya. Anya is reluctant at first, but soon the two become friends, and Emily begins to devote her time to improving Anya’s social standing. Anya's grades improve, she’s more confident, and that cute boy Sean has taken a shine to her.

However, Anya soon learns there’s a price to be paid for her upward social mobility and assimilation, and Emily’s growing obsession with Anya’s life is a little bit creepy. The secret of Emily’s past is soon revealed, and Anya’s life will never be the same.

The Trials of Anya

The beauty of "Anya’s Ghost" is how well Brosgol captures the pain of growing up. Anya’s angst will feel all too familiar to many readers as she attempts to find her own sense of identity in high school. High school is in fact the perfect setting for a story such as this as it is a holding place for different kinds of people, all trying to create the best self-image for themselves. Some just do it better than others.

What helps Anya’s Ghost rise above the glut of young adult novels is its subtext of identity, particularly cultural identity. Initially Anya is ashamed of her Russian heritage, and insists her last name is the generic “Brown,” rather than Borzakovskaya, to a school administrator. She also tries to ignore the nerdy but kind Dima, a recent Russian immigrant and reminder of her own cultural heritage. Anya’s mom later laments that Anya hasn’t attended her Russian church in weeks.

Anya is a character who wants to ignore her background so she can assimilate into the popular crowd. Her goal throughout the novel in essence is to replace Sean’s girlfriend with herself. Emily gleefully abets Anya in her quest and constantly encourages Anya to push herself farther and farther. But near the story’s third act Anya realizes the consequences of her actions and what her denial could do to her life. She discovers Sean’s current girlfriend isn’t some dumb bimbo and Sean might not be the boy of her dreams.

 

Anya’s cultural anxiety is a great new spin on the tired “be yourself” maxim. She learns throughout the book that she can’t divorce herself from her background, as it informs so much of who she is. But she also comes to realize that she doesn’t have to be a slave to it either, and the book ends with Anya a little wiser and ready to move on with her life.

Ghostly Images

One definite highlight of the book is Brosgol’s art style. All the characters are drawn in a very round, appealing manner, with big expressive eyes and thick and thin lines. The characters both feel like classic cartoon characters (think 1940s comic strips), while still retaining a modern edge. Compared to the incredibly detailed designs of super hero comics and magna, Brosgol’s style is real breath of fresh air. Emily’s design in particular is very good as her swooping curves and pupil-less eyes create a nice ethereal look, as compared to Anya, who is more realistically drawn. The book’s limited purple-tone color palette is also quite striking and perfectly fits the story’s somber and reflective mood.

Brosgol served as a storyboard artist on the stop-motion feature, "Coraline," and the experience served her well as the staging in "Anya’s Ghost" is both very cinematic and very clear. At no point during the book will the reader ever be confused by the layout as Brosgol has a keen understanding of visual storytelling. Indeed there are a number of sequences in the book where Brosgol completely eschews dialogue, creating wordless scenes that accomplish an incredible amount of emotion and depth.

That depth is all the more remarkable considering "Anya’s Ghost" is Vera Brosgols’s first graphic novel, and hopefully not her last. Her story of teenage angst and cultural identity is a powerful one, and something any reader could appreciate and enjoy. While not every reader had a ghost as best friend during high school, the story’s emotional truth resonates well beyond the supernatural trappings.

For more of Vera Brosgol's artwork, check out her website Verabee.

Book Review: Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood

Back in the day I used to do some writing for the website Suite101. That place is long gone now but my writing remains.

I mostly did book and film reviews and I'm still proud of a couple of them. Let's take a look:

Pictures at a Revolution - How the New Hollywood Got Its Start

The 1970s is generally considered to be one golden eras of American filmmaking. During this decade a new generation of filmmakers, who would later be dubbed “The New Hollywood,” created hundreds of films that confronted the changing nature of America with brutal honesty and a love of cinema. However, filmmaking revolutions do not happen in a day, and author Mark Harris believes the late 1960s was the breeding ground for this filmic schism. "Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood" uses the five Best Picture Academy Award nominees from 1967 to paint a picture of the Hollywood studio system in its decline and to show us how it gave birth to the New Hollywood.

Opening Night

Pictures at a Revolution tells the stories of 1967’s five Best Picture nominees: "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," "In the Heat of the Night," "Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner," and "Dr. Doolittle." Harris tells the story each of film in a narrative fashion, beginning in 1963 with a look at the state of Hollywood at the time. As the decade wears on, the book intertwines between each film, documenting the films’ many production and personnel struggles. Harris ends the book at the 1967 Academy Awards held on April 10^th, 1968 and briefly mentions the future for many the films’ participants.

Mark Harris’s greatest strength is his skill as a historian, as the amount of information in this book is truly staggering. The author has interviewed many of the key figures from the five films and uncovered an endless amount of archival interviews and news articles. Simply publishing a book of facts with no attempt to create a narrative would still make "Pictures at a Revolution" a must own; the information contained in the book is of incredible value to any film buff.

Thankfully Harris is no slouch at analysis as the book is fascinating portrait of the Hollywood studio system at the end of the 1960s. He convincing argues that the five films discussed are indicative of both the Old Hollywood studio system and the emerging New Hollywood style. "Dr. Doolittle" and "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner" are representative of old-fashioned filmmaking techniques and dated cultural attitudes, according to Harris, while "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," and, to a lesser extent, "Into the Heat of the Night", embody the counter-cultural attitudes of a new generation of filmmakers. Harris sees the 1967 Oscars as the ultimate clash between the establishment and the rebels, and, not surprisingly, the least extreme of the New Hollywood’s films, "In the Heat of the Night," was the ultimate Best Picture winner.

Part of Harris’s strength is his ability to sympathize with and understand filmmakers he ultimately disagrees with. For example, Harris is no fan of "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner" but he sees it as a legitimately important film and thoroughly analyzes the attitudes of the film’s producer and director, Stanley Kramer. Much time is spent discussing Kramer and his philosophies; a man who saw himself as a political progressive but was hobbled by his compromising instincts, resulting in a director and producer who tackled difficult subjects matter but never wanted to offend anyone. Not surprisingly, he had trouble appealing to the counter-culture, and the book’s anecdotes of Kramer holding college campus screenings of "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner" are heartbreaking. Kramer so wants to fit in, but he can’t. He’s part of the Old Hollywood.

Closing Credits

If there’s one complaint to be had with "Pictures at a Revolution" it is that Harris skimps a bit at the end, and only provides mini-biographies for the book’s main participants that briefly discuss their careers post-1967. Unfortunately this does not cover the influence of the five films, particularly "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Graduate," very well. Much time is spent near the end of the book examining the two films’ incredible impact on audiences and Harris does an excellent job explaining how exciting and fresh the films were at the time. However, a discussion of the two film’s impact on other films and the New Hollywood of the 1970s in general would hammer Harris’s point home that they helped birth a filmmaking revolution.

That concern aside, "Pictures at a Revolution" is still an essential book, not only for film enthusiasts, but for anyone interested the changing landscape of film. Harris convincingly argues for the importance of the five films and how some reflected the attitudes of old-fashioned Hollywood values and others protested for counter-cultural change. By the book’s end the reader will have a deeper appreciation for not only the 1970s New Hollywood, but this time period as well. Hollywood was undergoing a massive number of growing pains, but it matured into something wonderful. Maybe it will happen again.

Book Review: Me, Myself and Bob

Back in the day I used to do some writing for the website Suite101. That place is long gone now but my writing remains.

I mostly did book and film reviews and I'm still proud of a couple of them. Let's take a look:

Me, Myself, and Bob - The Rise and Fall of Big Idea

Starting a successful business is a dream for many Americans and countless numbers have worked tirelessly day and night to one day become CEOs of respected companies. For Phil Vischer, that dream came true with the his popular computer animated video series, VeggieTales, and the creation of his company, Big Idea. But nobody told Vischer how hard it would be to maintain that success, and in his fascinating, candid book, "Me, Myself, & Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables," he details the incredible rise of Big Idea and its spectacular fall. For Vischer it was hard watching his dream die, but he believes this book will help his fellow dreamers understand the perils of success.

"Me, Myself, & Bob" begins by charting the early of life of Phil Vischer, including his home life in Muscatine, Iowa, his strong Christian upbringing and his early fascination with movies. That interest in film, particularly special effects, led him take a career in computers and computer animation. From his deep belief in the importance of religious morality and love of filmmaking came VeggieTales, an animated video series teaching children religious lessons in an entertaining and meaningful way.

The early sections of the book are some of Vischer’s best as he does a terrific job documenting the trials and tribulations of an independent animator struggling not only to find work, but to support his wife and child as well. Of particular interest is the story of the first VeggieTales episode, which Vischer and his tiny crew slaved away over despite the primitiveness of early 1990s computer animation. At the time Pixar Animation Studios was only producing short films, making Big Idea an unheralded trailblazer in long-form animated production.

From here Vischer discusses the growth of VeggieTales as a franchise and the blossoming of Big Idea into a huge company dominated by infighting and instability. "Me, Myself, & Bob" is at its most compelling in these sections as Vischer exposes nearly every problem that plagued Big Idea, from executives who refused to discuss business plans with Vischer, to animators arguing over religious beliefs, and to a swelling of bureaucracy despite no noticeable increase in profits. Vischer’s candidness is astonishing as he is more than willing to lay the blame on himself for many of the company’s problems. The end of the book is particularly tragic as Vischer lays off his former friends and employees, and watches the company he built die a slow death through lawsuits and bankruptcy sales. How can one dream go so wrong?

Without a doubt the behind-the-scenes stories Vischer tells are the highlight of the book and any aspiring artist or business person will find Vischer’s stories informative and valuable. A later chapter even includes what Vischer considers the most important lessons he learned from the experience, which should be pasted in the office of any small-business owner. Vischer’s spirit is also quite a thing to witness as he suffers many hardships but always manages to pick himself up. For anyone who has struggled in his or her career Vischer is a model of stick-to-itiveness.

This review should mention that Vischer himself is a committed Christain, and the book itself is targeted towards a Christian audience, but "Me, Myself, and Bob" transcends its origins as a study in faith and becomes in essence a story about ambition and ego. Vischer expands the company as much as he did because he wanted to become the Christian Disney. The concept of a global company creating trusted religious entertainment was the driving force for many of Vischer’s decisions, but he lacked the knowhow to actually do it. So Vischer hired a number of executives who seemed unclear of his mission and did not have experience in the entertainment industry. Those actions laid the seeds for Big Idea’s eventual destruction.

Vischer believed he had a calling from God to create a media empire, but the religious aspect was incidental. What Vischer wanted to be was the next Walt Disney, but Disney himself never set out to become an industry giant. Disney was driven by a passion for new ideas and innovation in entertainment, while Vischer, in the later years of Big Idea, seemed more interested in the corporate aspect. Big Idea could have become as a big a force as the Walt Disney Company, but as the book demonstrates, it needed a leader who wanted to follow his own path, not follow in another’s footsteps. When Big Idea decided to expand beyond its ability to manage the company began to die. Vischer may have had a dream, and a noble one at that, but his ambitions exceeded his ability and knowledge. A tragic tale most certainly, but a valuable one as well, and Vischer has told it the best way he can.

Movie Review: Bye Bye Birdie

Back in the day I used to do some writing for the website Suite101. That place is long gone now but my writing remains.

I mostly did book and film reviews and I'm still proud of a couple of them. Let's take a look:

Bye Bye Birdie- Teenage Angst, Ann-Margret Style

There's no doubt about it, "Bye Bye Birdie (1963)" is a very dated movie. The script is corny, the jokes are labored and it expects us to believe that Paul Lynde could ever father a child. But "Bye Bye Birdie" has still managed to remain a classic, and that is because of Ann-Margret's remarkable performance as a teenage girl desperate to become a woman.

"Bye Bye Birdie," an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical of the same name, begins with the drafting of Conrad Birdie (Jesse Pearson), an Elvis Presley type, into the army. A struggling songwriter, Albert Patterson (Dick Van Dye), and his girlfriend, Rosie Deleon (Janet Leigh), cook up a scheme to have Birdie appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show" just before he leaves and perform a song Albert wrote, "One Last Kiss," while kissing a randomly-selected, adoring fan. Perfect! What could go wrong?

Albert, Rosie, and Birdie's entourage arrive in the town of Sweet Apple, Ohio to meet the lucky fan, Kim McAfee (Ann-Margret), who is thrilled beyond words to receive a kiss from Birdie, and her boyfriend, Hugo (Bobby Rydell), who isn't as thrilled as she is. Later, at a rehearsal for the show, Birdie kisses Kim, causing her to faint, and igniting Hugo's anger. Kim insists the staged kiss means nothing, but does it? Will Birdie come between the two high school sweethearts?

Bye Bye Childhood

As you can see from the brief synopsis, "Bye Bye Birdie" has a ridiculous premise. And that's not even taking into account Janet Leigh's dance number with the Shriners, or the painfully unfunny jabs at Soviet-era Russians. But despite all of that, "Bye Bye Birdie" is still a fondly remembered movie, and its constant revivals on Broadway indicate that its appeal hasn't waned. This enduring popularity can be traced back to Ann-Margret's character, Kim, whose arc, or character growth throughout the story, is the real center of the film.

In her opening musical number, “How Lovely to be a Woman,” Kim sings about her blossoming from an awkward fifteen-year-old girl to a mature and confident sixteen-year-old woman. Throughout the song she continually celebrates what's changed about her and all the things she can't wait to do. The song, and indeed her character arc in the film, is about one teenager's eager sexual maturity from a child to an adult. Kim begins the film ready to take the plunge into womanhood. The arrival of Conrad Birdie into town, and the jealousy of her boyfriend, gives her license to test out her new-found sexual desires.

Kim and Hugo's spat is essentially about this issue; Hugo can't accept Kim's burgeoning womanhood, and she's not going to wait for him to get it. The song "A Lot of Livin’ to Do" is a perfect example. Kim's section in the number is drenched with pure, sexual longing, as she so wants to be perceived as a woman by her boyfriend and by everyone at the club, and her flirtation with the men demonstrates what she perceives to be sexual maturity.

 Growing Up is Hard to Do

Unfortunately for Kim, Birdie is something with a cad, and she later reunites with Hugo, wiser and with a new sense of real maturity. The best evidence of this are the film's opening book ends. In the opening, Kim sings "'Bye Bye Birdie" in a shrill, excitable manner. She is all energy and passion, and desperately wishes she could help Birdie say goodbye. But in the ending reprise, Kim gladly says goodbye and good riddance, and her voice is much more confident and mature. Birdie's no longer important to her identity as a young woman.

This character arc, Kim's growth from an eager girl to a mature young adult, is why the film version of "Bye Bye Birdie" still resonates after all these years. Ann-Margret plays Kim with such sincerity and honesty that it genuinely takes the viewer by surprise. All the corny show-biz jokes and cliches are almost a perfect counterpoint to Kim's story. That's not to say Kim's arc is a shockingly realistic take on teenage sexual development (most people aren't lucky enough to meet a pop star when they're young) but it feels right. Ann-Margret's performance captures that confusion that marks young teenagers’ lives, (they’re not children but not quite adults yet, either), and skillfully plays it for both laughs and drama.

There are many other elements to Bye Bye Birdie, from the music, to the script, to the choreography, but Ann-Margret’s character and performance remain the film’s heart and soul, and the reason why the film still remains a classic.

More Comics I Created Just For You, My Friend

Hey folks. I'm still doing comics for Grey Unicorn and I'm still having a great time. Here are some more!

Modern Conversation

Read it here

A Sacred Duty

Read it here

What's The Score?

Read it here

Never Mind the Mind

Read it here