Romina’s Blog

“Molly Mahoney (Portman) is the awkward and insecure manager of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, the strangest, most fantastic, most wonderful toy store in the world. But when Mr. Magorium, the 243 year-old eccentric who owns the store (Hoffman), bequeaths the store to her, a dark and ominous change begins to take over the once remarkable Emporium.” -imdb.com

Where to begin… When I first saw the trailer for Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium I was not too fond of seeing it. Strangely enough, my father was. I am a great admirer of Natalie Portman’s work and Dustin Hoffman’s so I thought it would only be fair to give it a chance. I went to a screening for this last week followed by a Q & A with Zach Helm and only now have I gotten the chance to write about it.

If you don’t already know, this is Zach Helm’s first time directing. He has no prior experience in the field. Regardless, he has proven himself as a writer with Stranger Than Fiction. Although I personally enjoyed Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (MMWE), it’s difficult for me to determine whether others will feel the same. So I decided that I am going to merely explain how I felt about it and my thoughts toward the film and you can continue reading if you so desire.

Basically I thought it was good. I would give it probably 3.5 stars out of 5. I can tell that the screenplay was well written in the sense that it was very easy for the characters to come alive on screen. Not only is that because of the actors, but the characters where characters from the very beginning. Each person had his or her own trait that played a role in the greater scheme of things. Dustin Hoffman really did an excellent job here. He had such a clear sense of who his character was that at some points I forgot that I was watching Hoffman, not Mr. Magorium. Jason Bateman is also subtly placed in the film. I watched this film before I saw Juno and it was great to be able to compare him in both movies. He’s a very natural actor and I expect great things from him.

MMWE focuses primarily on the image and portrayal of death. As you read this, you must be wondering… But I thought this was a kids movie. It is, but there are deeper meanings within the story. It is not only about a crazy toy shop owner that leaves and his toys go berserk. It’s a study of death and how others view it including those that are dying. The scene where Mr. Magorium finally leaves is very philosophical and might be a little difficult for small children to understand because he doesn’t just leave. It’s done metaphorically.

As an audience member it’s important to be reminded that this is Zach Helm’s real first work as a writer/director. It is not an easy task and I really believe that for this movie he deserves the chance. So even if you think you will not like it you should still watch it because there might be something about it that will ignite a spark in you.

So my father discovered youTube. That’s all.

“Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual and bizarre decision regarding her unborn child.” -imdb.com

Tonight I saw an amazing film. I saw the trailer a couple times and wondered if I would be interested once I actually saw the film. I happened to be invited to a screening followed by a Q & A with Ellen Page, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, and Allison Janney. I decided to cooperate and just go… either way it was a movie I could see for free.

What a surprise. The film is called Juno and I recommend EVERYONE to see it. It’s so offbeat and simultaneously it manages to keep your attention throughout. It’s a beautiful film! The script was so wonderfully well written that every character has it’s own trait that belonged to just them. 

It’s a very unique film with a very unique cast. The acting is really special. Very natural. The relationships between the characters are so real and believable. I had my doubts about Jennifer Garner, but this film has completely changed my perspective about this woman. She did such a wonderful job with many subtle facial expressions. She said so much by saying so little. Jason Bateman had an incredibly strong sense of who his character was. Michael Cera was hilarious. 

There were a lot of little moments that were truly noteworthy. The soundtrack helped so much to carry along the story. Very well chosen songs that really depicted the scene and the emotions that were occurring at the time.

The best part about Juno is that the subject matter is such a serious one. It could have been so simple to turn this into a dark comedy or a really dramatic piece, but Diablo did a fantastic job of making it so light and heart warming. The over all colours of the film created harmony and Jason Reitman did a great job of carving this wonderful project out of such a simple concept.

Honestly… this movie needs to be seen.

I am sorry that I have not written over the past few days. I actually intended on doing so a couple days ago, but Wordpress said “Romina, I’m tired. Leave me alone.” So I fulfilled my blog’s wishes and left it alone. 

 The real reason is that Wordpress was being a pain and not paying attention to my html codes. The URLs were not being posted as I wished them to be. It was utterly annoying. So instead of taking out my rage and frustration upon my laptop, I left Wordpress as is and moved on with my life.

 I’m sorry for any of the inconvenience.

EDIT: It’s STILL not cooperating. I don’t know WHAT to do. I have to write stuff offline (on textedit) and then paste it into the Wordpress editor. I’m going to have to deal with it I guess. But really… I’d rather not.