Film Review: Jiro Dreams of Sushi

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a lovely movie. It’s about an 85 year old sushi chef who owns the only 10 seat sushi restaurant in the world to be given 3 Michelin stars. More importantly though, the film is about a lifelong quest for perfection in this food art.

I don’t eat sushi, so when I saw all the food being prepared my thought wasn’t, oh that looks delicious, but more about how beautiful it looks.

Some of the very rare tuna (toro, in Japanese) is a gorgeous shade of transluscent ruby red, glistening with the veneer of soy sauce applied just before the patron consumes their meal. If it wasn’t food, you might think it was a precious jewel sitting atop a perfectly formed piece of rice to support it.

The movie also gives us a look into Jiro’s family, his relationship with his two sons, the younger of whom left to open his own restaurant years ago, and the elder son, now 50 years old and who has worked for his father since he was 19, and will inherit the business when Jiro retires or passes away.

This movie is incredibly zen. Jiro’s pursuit of sushi perfection has made him strict in his daily routine, and he never takes a day off (except national holidays.) He does the same things ever day, day after day, and has done so for 75 years.

I’d recommend anyone see this movie if they enjoy watching an artisan who has achieved a level of mastery very few, if any, have done.

Film Review: A Separation

A Separation won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film for the 2011 season. I saw the movie yesterday, and it was fascinating to watch, although perhaps a bit long as the film clocks in at a whopping two and a half hours. I’d recommend Americans watch the film because it provides some insight into Iranian culture.

The set up for the events is a wife decides she wants to separate from her husband because she has applied for travel visas (it is implied to leave the country and perhaps go to the United States – it’s never made clear) but the husband changed his mind and no longer wants to go. The wife goes to live with her parents while the husband stays at home and cares for his elderly father suffering from Alzheimers and the couple’s 11 or 12 year old daughter.

Once the wife leaves, the husband hires a woman to come in and care for the father during the day while the husband is at work. The woman that comes in is pregnant, and brings along a very young girl, maybe 5 years old.

After that the storyline gets very complicated, and if I say much more I’ll spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet.

I will say this, there are a lot of scenes in the movie where we see how “justice” is served in Iran. There is no such thing as a court room as we understand it in the United States, and no jury either. The magistrate (not a judge) overseeing the cases does some interviews with “witnesses” or people who might make character references for those being accused of crimes, but in the end the magistrate just decides whether or not he believes the person is guilty and then assigns the punishment. The scenes in the film showing these segments always show the magistrate sitting at a desk in a small office, and the parties being accused sit in chairs in front of the desk, along with their spouses (who often say stuff and interfere during the proceedings.)

I saw the movie with a friend, and her observation was that every character in the film (including both young girls, who are called upon to make their own observations about what happened) winds up withholding information from everyone else. (The exception is the elderly father who doesn’t speak.) Ironically, the characters in the film often try to tell the truth but on the way to telling the truth, things wind up getting very convoluted. Religious belief systems are implied as at least one of the reasons this happens.

In the end, we’re left with a deep impression of how challenging life in modern Iran can be, and the entanglements of families, religious beliefs and societal norms all have a deep affect on the quality of life available.

Potpourri Post: Metazen, Letters in the Mail, Zouch, The Artist and more

Today’s post is brought to you random topical inspiration.

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My story Baby Crazy will be published by Metazen on March 6th. That’s only 2 days away – yay! I’ll post the link on Tuesday.

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Do you subscribe to Stephen Elliot’s Letters in the Mail over at The Rumpus? I started getting them recently, and I like them. He sends one email a day and it has his personal observations about things going on in his literary circle, he talks about events he may have attended or promotional things he’s doing, and of course he talks about pieces on The Rumpus site. He uses a very casual style which is appropriate since the email is supposed to be like a personal letter. Anyway, if you haven’t checked out The Rumpus, you probably should.

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Zouch Magazine recently followed me on Twitter, so I followed them back. Then I went to their site because I wanted to find out more about them. Turns out two artistically inclined Canadian guys who are into music and literature decided it was time to put up their own site and do their own thing. I notice the site is very visually inclined, so some stories are represented by a picture and you have to click on the picture to get to the content. Also, they are very actively looking for people to submit content so if you’re looking for a new market to check out, they’re a place to look.

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A few days ago I got an email from an editor I’ve only submitted to twice (a third item had to be withdrawn when it was accepted elsewhere) but she was so nice, I want to share what she said to me:

I really enjoyed this story.  What did you send me last time? I know that I liked it as well.

I don’t think this is quite the story for [  ] either, but I have no doubt that one of your stories certainly will be.

I was like, what…me? You only read two stories and you liked them both? But what was funny is that she never told me that in the original rejection slips. Good lesson for me kids, behind those rejection slips people are forming opinions – even when they don’t share them.

And she was SO nice, she even offered to re-read the first piece and provide more detailed feedback. I need someone to love that story as much as I do, because I’ve been trying to get Family Picnic published for years. Nate Tower just accepted the only other story I had from that long ago, so The Paperboy found an adoptive dad, maybe if things go well Family Picnic will soon have an adoptive mom. Or at least, maybe it’ll have an adoptive aunt to provide feedback that leads me to the right editorial parent.

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I’ve noticed something funny is going on now with my rejection slips – most of them are getting personal responses now, and in some cases they’re saying things like “this is well written” “I like the crisp language” or “this flows well” (all comments I’ve gotten recently, by the way) even though the pieces aren’t getting accepted. Believe me, this is a significant development for me…I feel like some invisible tide is turning.

When I consider how important it is to be published in places like PANK, Metazen, Foundling Review, Spilling Ink, Bartleby Snopes (twice), Dogzplot, Right Hand Pointing, etc. I think these brand name journals are helping me tremendously as I make forward headway. Then again, I don’t put all those names on my submission cover letters but let’s be real, I always put a few.

That takes me back to something Jacob Appel said in that Tips article I mentioned in my last post… he said a twenty-something MFA student slushpile reader might dismiss you out of hand if you have no recognizable pub credits but they’ll think two or three times if you’ve got heavy hitter names, maybe a Pushcart nom, or something. Ahh, back to their hierarchy of talent, right?

I don’t know.

I’d like to believe, and I do believe, that my writing has improved over the past two years too. I’ve had so many great editors give productive feedback and I’m listening – I swear I’m listening very closely to those snippets of feedback – and maybe my nose to the proverbial grindstone, plus my successful story placements, plus the ongoing goodwill of new editors equals the promise of further placement.

Hmm. This set of observations could be influenced by the sun shining and it’s Sunday and I can go out and enjoy the day too.

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Finally, movies. Or, a movie. The Artist, in fact.

I recently made some very snide comments about how would it be possible for a French film to win over an American film for Best Picture. (By the way, j’adore Paris and Viva La France…) Then I went to see The Artist.

Yeah, it’s good. It deserved Best Picture over The Descendants.

Also, now I understand why Jean DuJardin (Mr. John Garden, for those of us who speaka de English) got selected for the lead role. He has a certain je ne c’est quoi about him that does strongly remind you of old Hollywood. He was able to use his face so wonderfully, and he must be dangeously charming in France, where he speaks the native language.

But… and there is a “but” here…

Movies just ain’t what they used to be, I lament to you, dear reader.

In two years from now, I’m not going to be talking about The Artist. I’ll still be talking about how phenomenal The Departed is, and it’s destined to be a classic. I’ll talk about the wonder of The Royal Tennenbaums, the razor-sharp and inspiring dialogue from David Mamet’s Heist (“Don’t you want to hear my last words?” “I just did.” BANG) and how far ahead of its time Close Encounters of the Third Kind was as a film, yes, these movies I will watch again and again along with my romantic favorites Good Will Hunting, The Piano and Groundhog Day.

But The Artist will, to me, be like Shakespeare in Love… it was a movie I saw, and liked, but I probably don’t need to see again and again and again.

My Oscar Predictions – Sort of

Here are my Oscar predictions for tonight. Oh yeah, I haven’t seen all the movies, but do you really think that’s gonna stop me? Also, this past year wasn’t exactly a series of knockout films either. But the show must go on!

Best Oscar Host: Billy Crystal, who else? Yes, I want to watch him dance around and hear his cheesy “It’s a Wonderful Night for Oscar” song about the best picture flicks, so sue me.

Best Actor – George Clooney for The Descendants. Yes, I think he’s going to beat that French guy no one has heard of for The Artist. In my opinion, George Clooney did a much better job in Out of Sight than The Descendants, but I think he’s a favorite to win for sentimental reasons.

Best Actress – Viola Davis for The Help. I haven’t seen the movie, so this is a guess based on everybody saying Viola Davis. Everyone keeps saying -as usual- it was Meryl’s to lose for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, but apparently The Iron Lady wasn’t that good so Meryl gets another rubber chicken dinner and she can smile at the camera and shrug, as if to say, oh well…I’ll do it again next year, so don’t worry about little ol’ me.

Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role – Who cares? I haven’t seen any of these movies, although I really wish I had had a chance to see Bridesmaids, damn it. Maybe Melissa McCarthy will win, but I doubt it since she is up against 2 supporting noms for The Help. Also, have you noticed how nobody has been talking about these categories at all. If Jonah Hill wins for Moneyball, I’ll laugh my butt off. It’ll probably be sentimental favs either Christopher Plummer or Max von Sydow.

Best Director – it’ll be a little sad to see that in a category this year with both Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen that neither of them will win. Maybe the director of The Artist (again who no one has ever heard of and by no one I mean me) will take this one, then again, it could go to Alexander Payne for The Decendants, but it’ll definitely be one of the two of them.

Best Picture – The Descendants. I actually saw this movie, and I didn’t think it was all that great. It was “okay” with decent plot twists. It’s really a reflection of a not-that-great year in movies. I need to go see The Artist. You know The Artist has The Weinstein’s behind it, and we all know what Bob and Harvey can do for a movie (Shakespeare in Love, anybody?) so I guess it’s possible The Artist could pull it away from The Descendants, but I don’t know… a silent, black and white movie starring French people? Nah… come on.

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Post Oscar re-cant – so clearly it’s a bad idea to not watch movies and then try to predict what’s going to happen. Here’s who actually won:

Best Actor – Jean DuJardin, The Artist

Best Actress – Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady (Yay!)

Best Director – the French Director from The Artist

Best Picture – The Artist

What movie do I need to go out and see immediately? The Artist.

Thank you and good night!

Meet Short Film Maker Derin Kivaner

Derin Kivaner is very talented.

I don’t mean that casually as in, oh, she directs short films and she’s talented. I mean Derin is Turkish and speaks several foreign languages including English, writes English fluently, sings like a songbird, has her own band, and THEN she directs short films, and produces them, writes the scripts, does the lighting, puts together the soundtrack, and gathers all the actors for her works and does the casting.

Yeah. Talented like that.

Did I mention she’s 23?

Oh, I’ll throw that out here as if all of us could do half the things she does passionately at 23.

If you want to get a tiny glimpse of how talented she is, you will immediately CLICK HERE www.vimeo.com/derininvimeosu and watch some of her Vimeo clips of her short films. Some are charming and funny like I Love Me, and others are more serious and lovesick like Lighter. Her “show reel” is a great montage of many of her works in one sitting.

Derin and I have begun our adventure together by chatting yesterday via the internet. We worked over script concepts and how to adapt the settings in my short story to settings she has available in Istanbul. Of course it is fascinating to see pictures of neighborhoods in Istanbul that can “stand in” for the types of locations I was talking about in my story, set in NYC. Of course it won’t be a direct translation, but you know, I love the idea that my little story can be stretched and made universal to adapt to a different cultural context.

We discussed actors and who might be best for the parts. Of course, she knows oodles of talented actors, and has an impressively keen eye to know who will do well in particular roles.

It’s hard to describe how exciting it is to be working on this right now, but trust me, it is extremely satisfying.

More to come…

A funny thing happened on the way to Istanbul

Sometimes you have to love life’s serendipity. In this age of the internet, in the 21st Century, people from all over the world are being brought together in ways we never could have imagined perhaps even a decade ago.

So when a Turkish short film maker from Istanbul contacted me via my blog contact page a few days ago to ask me if it would be okay for her to potentially use one of my short stories as the basis for one of her short films, well…

I read her email. Then I read it again, to make sure I was really understanding it. Then I read it a third time, thinking I probably still wasn’t following what she meant. But yes, there it was – would I let her use my story as the basis for a short film?

The funny thing is … the story she is interested is about characters and settings in New York City, but it was published in a journal in Europe, and then she read the story in Turkey. How is that for a modern-day connection? Kind of funny, right? I thought so, anyway.

And my answer was, this is such an interesting idea, I want to see where it goes. So she and I have agreed to discuss this more (via the internet, of course – or maybe we’ll Skype some day when I figure out how to do that) and see how we can make it all work.

So I’ll keep you all posted on the progress that we make in our new international artistic collaboration. Maybe it won’t go anywhere, or maybe we’ll collaborate on a really fun short film that will amuse audiences all over the world. Maybe I’ll be writing my first story-adapted-as-a-screenplay for this endeavor, or maybe I’ll watch from the sidelines as this thing evolves and be available to provide artistic input. Who knows?

What I do know is I’m excited about the possibilities. I love the idea that my little story, a vignette snapshot of an interaction between two people, may come to life with a director and actors who may not even be speaking English when the story is filmed, but there it’ll be. Something that came to life off the page and onto a screen. Or screens.

Maybe it’s not a coincidence that I’ve seen short film programs at the Tribeca Film Festival for the past five years running. Maybe it’s also not a coincidence that friends have said some of my stories are very visual for them and they can see the story from a camera’s eye view.

And maybe it’s no coincidence that artists from all over the globe can come together and choose to collaborate and see where it takes them. I know I’m looking forward to where the journey leads.

Why I love Warren Miller

Warren Miller is the godfather of extreme skiers everywhere, and his groundbreaking ski films – which he’s been making EVERY YEAR since the 1950′s – are amazing. Since I don’t ski or snowboard, it took me a lot longer to come across a Warren Miller film than ski-folk in the know, but after seeing a few of his films, I was hooked.

If you’ve never heard of Warren Miller or seen one of his films, you are missing out on some of the most dynamic, action packed extreme skiing and snowboarding on the entire planet. Literally, not figuratively.

The film crew criss-crosses the globe, tagging along with the most advanced extreme skiiers in the world. You know, the ones that jump out of helicopters to get to the top of mountains that have no humans on them. Then they ski down the mountain with an avalanche of snow behind them, or they jump of a cliff mid-ski run and parachute to the bottom of the mountain, or they run up snow ramps and get 60 feet of air while doing a triple flip or whatever other tricks are the coolest that year. Yeah, easy peasy.

Actual skiing and snowboarding aren’t the only focal points for Warren Miller films, they also celebrate the ski-bum lifestyle. A perpetual-youth culture, with kids in the forefront of the shots, doing what they do best: being young, athletic and energetic.

Part of the enthusiasm in the films is fueled by phenomenal, up to the second soundtracks. I recently perused the Warren Miller Entertainment site (NO LONGER affiliated with Warren Miller, more on that in a moment) and found a listing of the tracks to a handful of the most recent Warren Miller Entertainment films. Think of these soundtracks as a mix of electronica mixed with reggae mixed with rap and hip hop mixed with alternative rock and DJ club music and you get the idea. (I really wish I could find a sountrack list for the older films from the 1980′s and 1990′s…!)

I wouldn’t pretend that I’ve ever heard of Slang or The Crystal Method but both of them appear on the soundtrack lists and I enjoyed tracks like Slang’s ‘When the Blood Burns’ or Crystal Method’s rhythmic electronica ‘Keep Hope Alive’ enough to buy them on iTunes.

Unfortunately though, if you’ve never heard of Warren Miller before, I have some news. Mr. Miller (now in his 80′s) is no longer involved with Warren Miller Entertainment, which he first sold to his son (in 1989 I think,) and some years later it was sold, then sold again. So any of the Warren Miller Entertainment (WME) films since the 2000′s and certainly since 2005 have had no involvement from Mr. Miller. (In fact, there have even been some legal kerfuffles between Mr. Miller and WME.)

As a result, I’d recommend if you want to see and hear Warren Miller at his funniest and most charming in his role as narrator for his films, I’d stick to the movies prior to 2004.

But whatever Warren Miller film you see, you can’t help but be entertained, amused and blown away by the athletic talent on display. You might find yourself tapping your foot along to the soundtrack while you’re at it.

Top 50 Movies, Directors, Actors List

Here is my Top 50 “movie industry” list. These 50+ items represent a broad cross-section of talented actors, screen writers and directors I love and/or admire tremendously.

I’m sure I could have kept going, and I know the second I post this I’ll remember 25 more that could have made this list…

This is NOT in priority order because that wouldn’t be possible….I tried to mix it up to keep it interesting. That said, if an individual movie is listed, it means I’ve seen it more than once – and in some cases – many more than that.

1. The Piano
2. Groundhog Day
3. The Ten Commandments
4. Good Will Hunting
5. His Girl Friday
6. The Shining
7. The Harry Potter series
8. Fried Green Tomatoes
9. Blue Sky
10. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
11. Some Like It Hot
12. Tombstone
13. Blade Runner
14. Glory
15. American Beauty
16. Rounders
17. Misery
18. Rain Man
19. Addicted to Love
20. The Red Violin
21. An American in Paris
22. Raise the Red Lantern (Chinese)
23. Only the Lonely
24. Sling Blade
25. The Crying Game
26. The Wizard of Oz
27. Platoon
28. Sea of Love
29. Out of Sight
30. 12 Monkeys
31. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
32. The Hunt for Red October
33. Star Wars (the first 3 movies released)
34. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (but I saw every single ST movie ever released and loved them)
35. Steven Spielberg, including but not limited to: uh, a LOT. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindler’s List, ET, Empire of the Sun, Jurrasic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, Munich, etc.
36. Charlie Kaufman, including but not limited to: Adaptation; Synecdoche, New York; Being John Malkovich, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
37. The Coen Brothers, including but not limited to: Fargo, No Country for Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, etc.
38. Mel Brooks, including but not limited to: Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, The 2000 year old man (not a movie, so sue me), Spaceballs, The Producers, History of the World Pt I, etc.
39. David Mamet, including but not limited to: Heist, The Spanish Prisoner, Ronin, The Edge, Glengarry Glen Ross, etc.
40. Woody Allen, including but not limited to: Bananas, Hannah and Her Sisters, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Match Point, etc.
41. Albert Brooks, including but not limited to: Defending Your Life, Lost in America, Mother, Broadcast News, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, etc.
42. Martin Scorsese, including but not limited to: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Age of Innocence, Casino, The Departed, Kundun, etc.
43. Quentin Tarantino, including but not limited to: Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Inglorious Basterds
44. Wes Anderson, including but not limited to: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
45. Jim Jarmusch, including but not limited to: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Broken Flowers, Down By Law, Dead Man
46. John Hughes, including but not limited to: Uncle Buck; Planes, Trains and Automobiles; Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Home Alone; The Breakfast Club;
47. Meryl Streep, including but not limited to: The French Lieutenant’s Woman, Sophie’s Choice, The Bridges of Madison County, Silkwood, Out of Africa, Defending Your Life, Death Becomes Her, Adaptation, The Devil Wears Prada, A Prarie Home Companion, Julie and Julia, Fantastic Mr. Fox, It’s Complicated, etc.
48. Tom Hanks, including but not limited to: Big, The Money Pit, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, Catch Me If You Can, The Green Mile, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, etc.
49. Robert Redford, including but not limited to: (Directing) The Milagro Beanfield War, A River Runs Through It, The Horse Whisperer, The Legend of Bagger Vance, etc. AND (Acting) Out of Africa, Indecent Proposal, The Horse Whisperer, The Sting
50. Gene Hackman, including but not limited to: The French Connection, Hoosiers, Mississippi Burning, Unforgiven, The Firm, Get Shorty, The Birdcage, Enemy of the State, Heist, The Royal Tennenbaums
51. Robert Duval, including but not limited to: Get Low, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Colors, A Family Thing, etc.
52. Edward Norton, including but not limited to: Primal Fear, Rounders, American History X, Fight Club, The Illusionist, 25th Hour, Keeping the Faith (directed & acted), etc.
53. Michael Keaton, including but not limited to: The Dream Team, Clean and Sober, Multiplicity, Jackie Brown, Batman Returns, etc.

The Moral of the Story – An Amusing Interpretation

So often in today’s modern society, readers are seeking out entertainments with the highest moral aims in mind. One thinks of classic films like Citizen Kane or Home Alone along with serious books such as Of Mice and Men, or The Little Engine That Could.

And so, dear reader, I am here to offer up some titles you could put on your must-view or must-read lists, with a handy plot summary to use as your guide.

The Boys From Brazil, film – A man decides to conduct a scientific experiment and start his own soccer team with boys from Brazil, where they play some pretty mean soccer

The Godfather, film - a heartwarming family film about a pater familia who ensures the success of his sons for future generations

The Road, novel – a father and son go on a road trip together. The father teaches the son how to be a good camper.

Empire Falls, novel – how to book on running a diner in a small town

His Girl Friday, film – a murderer is on the loose but Cary Grant is more interested in stealing someone else’s fiance

Marathon Man, film - Dustin Hoffman as the jogger who gets his teeth cleaned by an older German gentleman

Middlesex, novel – living in Detroit isn’t all its cracked up to be, especially if you are Greek and have a big secret

Groundhog Day – film, freakish popular resurgence of Sonny and Cher permeates this film, although Bill Murray is spectacular as the charming, weatherman who plays the piano

The Royal Tennenbaums – film, Gene Hackman plays a man who tries to convince his family he has cancer by substituting tic tacs for real pain medication. They fall for it, then they don’t.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – film (the original) – a tale about why it could actually be good to drop acid and write children’s books

What Every Movie Needs – A Few Good Men

While I enjoy movies with the top stars: Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt, why does Hollywood always have to go back to the same pool everytime? And even if they do decide to have these men in the lead roles, why can’t they mix it up on the supporting actor roles?

What would have happened if Clint Eastwood who worked with Morgan Freeman on Unforgiven, had selected Keith David for Million Dollar Baby?  We’ll never know.

Why isn’t Don Cheadle, who gives his heart in roles like Hotel Rwanda, tapped for serious lead roles? He should be. Maybe it should go without saying that black male actors don’t get lead roles nearly as often as they could, or should. That said, I’ll watch Don Cheadle in Crash and Ocean’s Eleven anytime.

And where is Paul Giamatti these days?  He was amazing in the John Adams mini-series, Sideways and The Illusionist but then he also took a role in Fred Claus which is a waste of his talent in my opinion. Why couldn’t he be in a movie like Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr.? I think they’d play off one other very well.

Daniel Day Lewis was unbelievable in There Will Be Blood but he has had long stretches in his career when we don’t see him.  I don’t know if that is his personal choice, and if we look at this filmography he picks winning roles for himself whether In The Name of the Father or My Left Foot but I for one would like to see more of him.

And although he has a very long career behind him, Gene Hackman adds depth to any film he is in from Enemy of the State, and The Royal Tennenbaums to his absolutely stunning performance in David Mamet’s Heist. I’m not as big a fan of all the second-rate bad guy roles he takes on, but when he is given a character with depth and great lines, he will deliver every time.

I could go on and on… Christian Slater has done some great work like Interview with a Vampire, and Untamed Heart but then got sucked into movies like Broken Arrow and unfortunately it looks like he’s been doing a lot of television roles and smaller parts since.

So, take a longer look at all the massive talent sitting on the shelf out there and support films that might be a little further off the beaten Hollywood path.

Who do YOU want to see more of in Hollywood (or Indie) films?  What fantasy movie match ups would you create?  Please comment!