So I saw Big Fish today. The powers that be finally deemed Belgium worthy enough to see this film. And it was marvelous. Easily my favourite Tim Burton film (replacing Beetlejuice).

I got to thinking afterwards what was it that I loved so much about it, that certain element that some films have and others don't, that makes the difference between really liking them and loving them.

And I concluded that it was tenderness. Now that's not exactly the right word, but I can't think of a better one so it'll have to do. What makes me fall in love with stories is the tenderness from the storyteller towards his characters. Big Fish has it, so does Donnie Darko, Almost Famous, Magnolia, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. They all have it. Lord of the Rings, Fight Club, the Matrix, they don't have it. And while I really dig them, I don't love them. Am I making any sense here? It also works the other way, movies that I know aren't spectacular but have that tenderness in spades, can still find a place in my heart, the recent Love Actually for instance.

The same way with written stories. Ian R. MacLeod's New Light on the Drake Equation is probably my favourite story and it has that tenderness (I so need to find a new word for this). Jenn Reese did it in less than 2 pages with Spidergirl in Flytrap #1 and I absolutely loved that one.

So, well, tenderness, there you go.