Princess Tiana Attraction Opens at Disney

Characters from the upcoming animated feature film "The Princess and the Frog" are already greeting guests at Florida's Magic Kingdom.

The Walt Disney Co. says. Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen and other characters from the film will also star in "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee," described.

As a "rousing, colorful procession with a jazz-filled Mardi Gras theme," Disney World said in a news release Monday.

"The good times will roll as festively dressed, bead-tossing revelers lead Magic Kingdom guests to the Liberty Belle Riverboat dock," the company said. "The party moves onboard and the Liberty Belle paddlewheels her way along the river with singing and dancing to the sounds of a six-member jazz band. Nearly two dozen Disney dancers join 30 randomly chosen park guests to be part of each show. Original songs composed by Randy Newman for the film energize the production, which will be performed three times daily."

The show, which also features daytime pyrotechnics, is set to run through Jan. 3, 2010. "Tiana's Showboat Jubilee" will also be performed at Disneyland Park in California Nov. 6 through Jan. 3, the company said. "The Princess and the Frog" will open in limited release in New York and Los Angeles Nov. 25 before expanding nationwide Dec. 11.

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Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure Blu-ray and DVD Review

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has come out with a fantastic release for fans of Tinker Bell with Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure.

This latest release is a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack that includes the film on Blu-ray, the film on DVD, and much more,

This direct-to-video release is the second feature animation of its kind to feature none other than Tinker Bell in Pixie Hollow, in the same universe known for Peter Pan.

Tinker Bell is voiced here by Mae Whitman and the entire film is a lot of fun, with plenty of magic to go around for the younger fans.

This is a kids movie through and through and one that is going to really appeal to those who are aged 10-and-under.

Do not expect a great family film, but as a kids movie, it is quite strong.

The audio and video quality here are very strong, but to be honest, with this being an all-out-kids-movie, they wouldn’t care even if it did not look that impressive.

Still, as stated, this is great stuff in terms of the clarity of the video transfer and audio mix.

The extras here are a mixed bag, with many of them coming across as more of tack-ons than anything else.

Still, the music video by Demi Lovato, as well as the deleted scenes are sure to please fans.

On top of that, there are a few other featurettes that are on the shorter side and focus on Pixie Hollow. Tinker Bell and the Lost Treature is a very well-done kids movie, and as stated, girls under the age of 10 are going to love it. Anyone who doesn’t fit into that demographic though I would definitely say stay away.

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'Astro Boy' takes on too much

For an animated kid's movie "Astro Boy" sure is deep. The story of the pointy-headed, short pants-wearing boy robot takes on tolerance, environmentalism, love and corruption. Of course, in truth, the movie is another one of those kid's movies that really isn't for kids, at least not young ones. Still, even this grown-up, while appreciating the film's scope and aesthetic, found "Astro Boy" a little tedious.

The story takes place in Metro City, which floats above an abandoned Earth. Metro City's humans are served by robots created by Dr. Tenma (voiced by Nicolas Cage); Earth is a dumping ground for old robots.

Tenma has a son whose genius he nurtures. Unfortunately, that's all Tenma nurtures; robots show more softness than the doctor.

One tragic day, the boy's curiosity gets him killed when he's accidentally locked in a room where Dr Tenma's and Dr. Elefun's (Bill Nighy) experiments (a good blue power source and a bad red power source) are being corrupted by the sinister president of Metro City (Donald Sutherland).

Distraught and guilt-ridden, Tenma uses a strand of his son's hair and the blue power source to re-create the boy as a robot. The robot (Freddie Highmore) looks like his son, even has his memories. But Tenma soon comes to believe his act was foolish. He rejects the robot, casting him out and setting him on his journey to become a robot hero.

Astro ends up on the abandoned planet where he befriends other outcasts he thinks are human and gains a father figure in Hamegg (Nathan Lane); the evil president, consumed with being re-elected, wants to hunt down Astro.

Although the violence isn't explicit, there are scenes where the villains are trying to kill Astro Boy (and they go all out), and the son does die at the beginning. Even with scenes of levity, "Astro Boy" can be kind of dark. And, too, because it's a bit talky and complex, I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids.

Even in two dimensions the manga-style Metro City was nicely rendered. It had a cool retro feel, the future as imagined in the 1950s. "Astro Boy" has a lot on its mind and, in the end, is successful in sharing its thoughts. But a little editing would have helped.

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A Look At That WALMART Exclusive TRANSFORMERS: ROTF Blu-Ray & DVD With The IMAX Cut.

Who could have guessed Michael Bay would make what is perhaps the most controversial film of the year? Even though the 'Transformers' sequel is one of the highest grossing films in history, I really thought the general consensus was that most audiences hated it.

Boy was I wrong. Now I have nothing against anyone liking or disliking any film, that's their prerogative. But the vicious disagreements concerning this film have got way out of hand.

At the end of the day it is just a movie about giant robots fighting each other, I mean c'mon guys. Despite the fact that a small number of elements did work for me, as a fan of the franchise since childhood, I was personally disappointed in both films.

But I didn't lose any sleep over it and put it behind me as soon as I walked out the theater. Movies, good and bad can be so powerful that just about anyone can find themselves getting fanatical so I guess we can chalk it up to human nature.

At the time this film was released, I blamed acclaimed screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci for it's rather lacking story, till I realized they were probably following Michael Bay's lead (even though rumor has it Bay wrote most of the story himself due to last year's writer's strike). Shia LaBeouf is a talented actor who has been able to hold his own with the likes of Harrison Ford, Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Voight (who wisely opted out for this one), but at times his performances can be erratic.

He was rather terrible in the first film, because he took the term “hormonal teenager” to the extreme. The film made the mistake of devoting screen time to him rather than focusing on the Transformers, who became guest stars in their own movie. His performance this time 'round is a lot worse along with Meagan Fox, who has become a teen idol merely by showing her cleavage and wearing lip gloss.

For a kids cartoon, there was actually a bit of depth and humanity within the original animated series and you forgot these characters were fictional robots. This is a kids movie and its been dumbed down to the extreme. Much of this sequel is a chase film. The Decepticons chase Sam and the Autobots protect and defend him. He runs from college to New York, New Jersey, the Smithsonian and finally the pyramids in Egypt. Sounds like a smooth scenic trip when in actuality its a bumpy ride. It's like run, run, run, explosion followed by run, run, run, explosion, with boring exposition in between.

A lot of work went into the design of the robots, their photo-realism as well as the personalities given to them by the animators and voice actors. At times my heart warmed to the thoughts of seeing different versions of beloved characters from my childhood and at others, I sat there wondering what the f**k is this? Just when there's something to appreciate or dare I say, “awe inspiring” within this film, either something really dumb happens or things get blown up. You could almost set your watch to it or make a drinking game out of it. Apparently the dumber the better. Fight sequences you thought looked cool in the trailer turn out not to be as epic as you hoped and are rather brief.



Only two battle scenes are presented in the high resolution IMAX format and they are choreographed and edited badly. Christopher Nolan proved he is a greater master of the medium with 'The Dark Knight' last year, because those IMAX sequences looked intricately planned and served as a storytelling device. Bay's work in the format feels like a last minute afterthought (which it was) and brings out the flaws in the CGI animation. I will admit, that certain elements made me smile, such as voice actor Peter Cullen's iconic characterization of my childhood hero Optimus Prime, as well as his and Bumblebee's heroism and ability to kick some serious ass. I wanted to see giant robots beat the crap out of each other and there's more of that here than in the first film. But all of it feels like nothing without some substance to back it up.

This film made a killing at the box office and will no doubt make a killing on home video. It's biggest draw are no doubt adolescents and even though some haters of this film may think parents who buy the video for their kids are irresponsible or insane, it's rather harmless entertainment. Several of the big chains like Best Buy and Target have their own exclusive versions of the video release, which entail some form of special collectable packaging. Walmart went one further and paid Paramount to give them the exclusive rights to sell Bay's IMAX cut of the film on DVD and blu-ray. Most audiences didn't see this version because not every city has IMAX theaters. You would think that after Paramount and Bay took a note from director Chris Nolan and partially shot 'Transformers' in IMAX they would make that version easily available on blu-ray just as Warner Bros. did for 'The Dark Knight'. It's a scam, a gimmick – they want fans to buy every special packaging or version of the film available and may actually get their way. What's funny is that even though the IMAX version is 60 seconds longer and features sequences that fill the entire 16:9 HDTV frame, it's still the same damn movie.



IMAX and I'm talking the real IMAX, is presented in a 1.44 to 1 aspect ratio. 'The Dark Knight' had plenty of sequences where the aspect ratio would shift from 2.40 to 1 scope to IMAX full frame. There's also IMAX Digital, which involves digital projectors using a standard 1.85 screen in a regular ole' theater. This is the version Walmart's got. Just like 'The Dark Knight', a 1.44 to 1 image would not make an impact in the HDTV ratio because it would be pillar-boxed with black bars on the sides. Then when the film would shift to standard lettter-box with bars on the top and bottom it would really be distracting, so the original IMAX image has been cropped a bit. The problem is that 'The Dark Knight' has about six major sequences shot in IMAX where as 'Transformers' has two and they don't last that long. The Optimus Prime brawl is perhaps the most exciting action sequence in the film and watching the scene shift from scope to IMAX or 16:9 is slightly dramatic. The only other time we see this are shots of the colossal Decepticon Devastator and we know just how controversial that character and his steel “scrotum” was. Well maybe not as controversial as those Autobot twins a buddy of mine called “Sambots” but you get the idea. I can really say what the sixty second difference is between both the standard cut and this one, but I imagine it consists of additional shots instead of more plot. (As if this movie had a real plot.)



The thing is, if you want the blu-ray, Walmart did something smart. They're selling it this week for only 13 bucks. Not $13.99, 13 bucks even. Forget Best Buy's doorbuster deal of 21 dollars or any other sale price Target is promoting, I can't think of any major blu-ray release of a new film hitting stores for that cheap. I mean it's cheaper than any of the DVD versions. (Update: I've been told that this low price is an unadvertised special availale in only some Walmart locations. Most stores are selling it for $19.96 which is still pretty low, but you might get lucky.) Now I'm sure some of you are already saying “I don't care, I'll never buy that crappy movie” (I didn't either, I got mine for free from a friend) but there are many that wish to purchase 'Transformers' and I have to admit Walmart has the best deal. The thing is, everyone doesn't have a Walmart in their area (including me) so some can either get a friend who does to pick one up or just cut their losses. It is 'Transformers' afterall, not 'The Godfather'.



I have to say the presentation on this IMAX or “Big Screen” edition as they are calling it is superb. You can notice the image quality slightly improve during the shift to the IMAX scenes even though there are barely any. The DTS HD Master Audio track is also outstanding and will probably be a popular demo in homes during the years to come.



If you pick up the standard blu-ray, all of the extras and A/V quality are the same. It's just that the IMAX shots are cropped to 2.40 to 1 as they were for 35mm showings in theaters. I know that there's an equal number of supporters of this film as there are haters and wanted just to inform the fans that there are additional options. And no, Walmart didn't pay me to write this article (though with my salary, I could use the money). For those who haven't upgraded to blu-ray, the “Big Screen” version is available as a Special Edition DVD at Walmart as well.

Extras: The Human Factor: Exacting 'Revenge of the Fallen' (HD, 2:14:31), a seven-part making-of documentary: Seeds of Vengeance (30:03 mins), Domestic Destruction (24:27 mins), Joint Operations (9:59), Wonders of the World (13:19 mins), Start Making Sense (9:24),Under the Gun (29:00 mins) and Running the Gauntlet (16:36 mins).

A Day with Bay: Tokyo (HD, 13:23 mins) Bay prepares for the stressful Tokyo film premiere. Big deal! 25 Years of Transformers (HD, 10:44), NEST: Transformer Data-Hub (HD), The Allspark Experiment: gives you the option to customize a selection of vehicles

Deconstructing Visual Bayhem (HD, 22:46 mins) 15 pre-visualization available by themselves or side-by-side with the finished product. Deleted and alternate scenes: Sam and Alice at the Dorms (HD, 2:10 mins), The Witwickys in Paris (HD, 2:54 mins), and Leo Refuses to Go to Egypt (HD, 0:56 secs). Giant Effing Movie (HD, 24:03 mins) a montage of moments from the set. Linkin Park - New Divide (HD, 4:40 mins) your basic music video. The Matrix of Marketing features two theatrical trailers (HD, 2:18 & 2:32), six TV spots (HD, 2:12mins total), and still galleries, one each for theatrical posters and promo/marketing. I tried the "unlock an exclusive augmented reality experience" by placing the Blu-ray packaging in front of my webcam but couldn't get it to work so if you do, let me know how it is.

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The Princess And The Frog Song Never Knew I Needed

It has been reported that the credit song for Disney’s upcoming animated film “The Princess and the Frog” was both written and performed by singer Ne-Yo, and that Ne-Yo will also be appearing in the upcoming music video for the song.

The song is titled “Never Knew I Needed” and the video is said to be a medley of clips from the Disney movie meshed with clips of Ne-Yo singing. The soundtrack for “The Princess and the Frog” is set to hit stores at the end of November while the movie will hit theaters on December 11th.

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Top 5 - Trippy kids movies

Spike Jonze the director of "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" has dipped into the world of children's literature to deliver a delightfully trippy version of "Where the Wild Things Are." Which other odd directors have set foot in the world of children's books?

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Leave it to Tim Burton to one-up an already trippy children's movie; his take on Roald Dahl's classic novel is even more acid-infused bad acid, some would say than the 1971 version starring Gene Wilder.

Mr. Burton's next film, "Alice in Wonderland," also dips into classic kiddie territory and promises to be just as odd. 2. The Witches — There's something about Mr. Dahl's work that lends itself to absurd — and frightening — adaptations, and Nicolas Roeg's version of "The Witches" is no exception, calling to mind the director's previous works, such as "The Man Who Fell to Earth," starring David Bowie.

3. Coraline — Based on a book by Neil Gaiman, Henry Selick's stop-motion extravaganza is a 10 on the creepy scale: There's nothing like trading eyeballs for buttons to make the skin crawl. Mr. Selick — whose work includes "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Monkeybone" — was the perfect choice to helm this oddball kid's flick.

4. Fantastic Mr. Fox — One more entry from Mr. Dahl's oeuvre; Wes Anderson, the uber-twee filmmaker behind "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," recently debuted this stop-motion animated picture about a talking fox to much applause at the London Film Festival.

5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — In this first entry in the Harry Potter film series to take a seriously dark turn, Alfonso Cuaron — the virtuoso behind "Children of Men" — brought a delightfully dark look to the evil Dementors haunting Harry.

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A Christmas Carol Japanese Trailer

Disney has released a Japanese trailer for the upcoming 3-D animated feature, A Christmas Carol. The film stars Jim Carrey as the voice and likeness of the infamous Ebenezer Scrooge. The film has all the traditional imagery that you would expect from the Charles Dickens’ classic, but with a layer of 3-D graphics.

There are a couple new scenes in this trailer that haven’t been shown in the previous domestic spots. The intro is completely different, but for the most part those are the only visible changes that have been made. The film is directed by r Robert Zemeckis and of course produced by Disney Studios.

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Steve Jobs to help Disney turn stores into mini theme parks

The Apple computer tycoon Steve Jobs is lending a hand to Walt Disney to sprinkle a little technological stardust onto the entertainment empire's chain of high street stores in an ambitious effort to transform merchandising outlets into miniature theme parks for children.

In an overhaul lasting five years, Disney intends to spend an estimated $1m on each of its 340 stores in the US and Europe. The retail chain sells a huge variety of toys, games, videos and costumes tied to characters ranging from Tinkerbell to High Street Musical stars.

The Apple boss, who is a member of Disney's board of directors, has reportedly pushed the company towards a radical re-shaping of the outlets and is sharing some of the techniques that have turned Apple's high-street sites into highly profitable retail landmarks. Jobs has provided access to proprietary information at Apple and Disney intends to use some of the technology company's ideas, such as giving handheld checkout devices to employees and creating an emphasis on interactivity.

Created in 1987, the Disney Stores have been mixed performers for the Californian media conglomerate. Initially a hit among shoppers, the chain at one point expanded to 600 outlets but lost its sparkle and slipped into the red by 2002. Disney sold the business in 2004 to a third-party operator, Children's Place, before buying back a scaled-down version of the chain last year. Disney's consumer products division, which includes the chain, generated revenue of $1.7bn in the nine months to June.

Jim Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide, told the New York Times that it was "time to take risks" and admitted that the stores had, at times, been a poor reflection of Disney's brand.

"Let's face facts," he said. "Some of these stores looked like a dog's breakfast."

The revamp will involve an emphasis on recreational activities rather than simply filling stores with aisles displaying Disney's packaged wares. Children will be encouraged to watch film clips, press buttons to operate displays, chat with animated characters and even take part in karaoke contests. The new look will go on display in May at stores in California, Long Island and Madrid.

Jobs has been on Disney's board since 2006. He joined when Disney bought Pixar, the animated film studio he formerly owned. The 54-year-old entrepreneur, responsible for the popularity of devices such as the iPod, the MacBook and the iPhone, recently returned to work after undergoing a liver transplant.

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Pixars 3-D leaps off screen

From the plastic Buzz Lightyear in my toddler’s toy box to the "You’ve Got a Friend in Me” ringtone on my cell phone, my family and I are fervent Disney/Pixar fans in any dimension. So when the animation geniuses reissued their brilliant first feature, 1995’s "Toy Story,” and the superb sequel, 1999’s "Toy Story 2,” as a 3-D double feature, my boys and I spent an entertaining Saturday out at the movies.

The double feature is showing through Thursday and is intended to prime fans for next summer’s "Toy Story 3” in 3-D. But it offers an eye-popping and soul-satisfying cinematic experience. Sure, my sons — Chris, who turns 15 this month, and Gabe, who will be 3 in November have watched the adventures of Sheriff Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) dozens of times at home on DVD.

With Gabe’s recent "Toy Story” phase in which he demanded nonstop Woody and Buzz, those DVDs actually may be reaching triple-digit spin levels. But neither had viewed the first film on the big screen, and Chris couldn’t even remember whether he had seen the sequel during its original theatrical run last decade.

With the movies’ 3-D transformation, the toy characters and their human counterparts seem more genuine than ever, and when Woody and Buzz take their rocket ride, they seem headed for the seats next to us rather than "to infinity and beyond.” Since they were computer animated in virtual three-dimensional environments, the films converted naturally to 3-D.

Though Gabe refused to don his ill-fitting 3-D glasses why don’t theaters offer child-size 3-D specs, anyway? — for "Toy Story 2,” he still loved seeing his heroes in the theater. On the huge cinema screen, Chris and I could appreciate the bumpy texture of Rex the dinosaur’s plastic skin and spy the Binford logo on a battered tool box.

A sly reference to Allen’s old TV show "Home Improvement.” More importantly, the wonderful stories — from the clever puns to the memorable characters popped off the screen, getting us pumped for our long-awaited trip into Woody and Buzz’s world.

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Where the Wild Things Are

While the book Where the Wild Things Are conveys a certain magic for readers of all ages, the story is especially enchanting for young children. I can remember when my oldest daughter was just two years old we read that book all the time, and she began to memorize it. I will never forget the day she stated, "the ceiling hung with vines, and the walls became the world all around."

To hear such a sophisticated and poetic phrase come out of such a tiny girl who was still in the midst of learning to talk was a huge moment for me, and I remember thinking that Where the Wild Things Are was a very special book. Now we will have the chance to see the profound little story adapted to the big screen, but the movie may not hit home to quite the same audience as the book does.

"I didn't set out to make a children's movie; I set out to make a movie about childhood," relates director Spike Jonze in the production notes of the film. His declaration brings to mind other films like Bridge to Terabithia or Imagine That -- both decent films about children and childhood, but which confused many parents who ended up regretting their decision to take their kids -- and I have to wonder if I should take my kids to Where the Wild Things Are without previewing it first.

It seems strange to think that the movie might be too grown up for my little 6-year-old who loves the story so much and had it memorized years ago. I am going to chance it with this one and take the kids anyway. I'll definitely be posting an update on how that turns out.

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Zac Efron's High School boredom

Zac Efron doesn't like his own films. The 'High School Musical' heartthrob insists the early movies he starred don't measure up to his latest, more adult orientated work, 'Me and Orson Wells'.

Speaking about the new film, Zac said: "It's the first time I've ever watched a movie I'm in and at the end I'm like, 'OK! I didn't check my watch once!' "

The 21-year-old actor also revealed he annoyed his parents when he was growing up by singing all the time. He added to Nylon Guys magazine:

"I was constantly singing. I would hear things on the radio and just be about to spit them out instantly, with perfect memorisation and tone. My parents were like, 'Shut up. Please stop singing. It's annoying.' "

Zac admits he is too embarrassed to discuss his success as a Disney actor with any of his friends. He said: "I try not to look at all of it. You can't enjoy or celebrate it - it's not a real thing. The face on the lunchbox and sh*t - you can't share that with your friends."

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UP - British photographer inspiration for Disney Pixar movie

When Mr Warren made a documentary film about the rainforest mountains of Venezuela, he never imagined it would be turned into the Disney movie. Then, in 2005, he got a call from the movie's director Pete Docter, who had seen his documentary and wanted the mystical mountains he saw in it to be the setting for UP, a 3D epic about an old man named Carl, who ties thousands of balloons to his house and floats away to a mystical land of beauty and adventure.

Warren, 60, an Indiana Jones type character who has been back and forth to Venezuela since the sixties, had unwittingly found the real-life setting for Carl to land his balloon house. He took UP's production team on a ten-day adventure to the luxuriant rainforest of Venezuela to see the highest waterfall in the world, ride endless rapids and climb towering summits in a hidden world of cloud islands.

"Where I took them, more people had landed on the moon than had been to this place," Warren said, referring to a place on Kukenan, a remote 7421ft (2622m) high summit he took the film-makers to. "It's one of the last pristine unexplored areas of the world, in fact the plants and the animals are known no-where else. It's a real living laboratory as far as natural history is concerned."

Director Pete Docter was amazed by what he saw, first in Warren's film, 'The Lost World', and then first hand with Warren as his guide. This was the land where Conan Doyle set his 1912 novel about prehistoric animals, also called 'The Lost World'.

"As soon as I popped in the DVD [of Warren's film] my hair stood on end because I knew this was where we should set the movie," Docter said in the production notes.

"One of the biggest challenges on this film was to design a place that looked otherworldly and yet was still believable enough that audiences would feel like the characters are actually there. We knew we had to go there because there's something fundamentally different about experiencing a place versus just seeing pictures or film." The result of this 2006 adventure with Warren was the stunning landscapes in UP, the highest grossing 3D film of all time, based on the thousands of pictures, sketches and movies its creators took on their ten day expedition.

Their first major trip was to Mount Roraima, the highest and best known of the 115 plateaux, full of the kind of weird and wonderful sculptured rock formations that were the inspiration for two of the film's main characters: Dug, a loveable Dog with a special collar allowing him to talk to humans; and Kevin, a 13-foot tall flightless bird with bright feathers and a penchant for sweet things. Unlike the explorers of the 19h century, who took months to get to Roraima by canoe and foot, weighed down by heavy food packs and being bitten by poisonous snakes, the film makers went by helicopter from Santa Elena, a nearby town on the border of Venezuela and Brazil.

But rather than flying them straight to the top of the towering rock mountain, Warren dropped them at the bottom and made them trek all the way up.

"I wanted them to have the experience of climbing up these cliffs to reach the plateau to give them a true adventurous feeling and a sense of achievement." He admits this was not a popular decision at the time but says they thanked him for it later.

"It was like your worst nightmare," Bob Peterson, Co-director/screenwriter for the film, said, in the production notes. "It was about a six or seven hour climb to the top and I had on way too much gear...In the morning, when we awoke, literally 50ft from where we were camping was a drop one mile straight down."

After three days of trekking across the summit plateau to places like the rock filled Crystal Valley and Triple Point, where Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana meet, Warren took them to one of the most remote places on Earth, the towering summit of Kukenan, which very few people have ever stepped foot on. It is known as the 'place of the dead' by the local Pemon Indians.

"It was so pure, and had more aggressive shaped rocks," Ricky Nierva, UP's production designer, said, in the production notes. "It felt very eerie. You expected to turn a corner and see a dinosaur roaming around."

The team almost got stranded on this remote sky island, which is only reachable by helicopter or by experienced climbers.

"We were dropped there by the helicopter in this very remote spot and we very nearly didn't get off," said Warren. "A storm came in and the helicopter had a real struggle getting back to pick us up. I thought we were going to be faced with a very uncomfortable cold night." They were finally lifted off just before dark to fly back to the Amerindian village of Paraitepui, before making their way by jeep, boat and aircraft to Angel Falls, which plummets 3,212ft from the summit of Auyantepui.

Angel Falls is the real life inspiration for UP's 9,700ft Paradise Falls, which in the film is placed right next to a towering rock called Tewasen Pinnacle, also used in Conan Doyle's novel, but is in reality over 124 miles (200km) away.

Despite such intentional differences, the film remains remarkably close to reality, according to Warren, who is writing a book on the region called 'Islands in the Clouds', and is one of the world's authorities on the area.

"They captured not only the essence of the place but they got the rock shapes and they got the plants in wonderful detail," he said. "They got the atmospherics, the changing weather, the mists coming in. The whole thing was very much brought to life and very three dimensional thanks to that trip that they made."

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'Where The Wild Things Are' a less than magical world

On Tuesday night the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor hosted a special pre-release screening of “Where the Wild Things Are,” with all proceeds going to the non-profit writing and tutoring organization 826 Michigan. Before the screening there was a Q&A with the film’s screenwriter Dave Eggers, best known.

As the editor of “The Best American Nonrequired Reading” series. Eggers founded 826 National in San Francisco in 2002. Since then, the organization has expanded to six other chapters with a location on Liberty Street in Ann Arbor.

The group is “dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.”“The amount of stuff that 826 Michigan does here and in Ypsilanti is astonishing given they only have two paid staffers,” Eggers said.

The group has close to 900 volunteers, many of which work one-on-one with children both during and after school to help them with homework and their own writing. Several books written by 826 students were on sale in the lobby.

Before the lights went down Eggers briefly discussed his experience working on the film.
“I never had intended to write a screenplay, when Spike Jonze called and asked if I would co-write it with him,” Eggers said.

Jonze had been chosen to make the film by author Maurice Sendak, who wrote “Where the Wild Things Are” in 1965. According to Eggers, Sendak had turned down numerous ideas other directors had to turn the book into a film, but was confident in Jonze.

“[Spike Jonze] is the perfect guy to do this because he has a lot of kid in him still,” added Eggers.

At first, Jonze might seem like an odd choice to direct a kid’s movie, considering his last two films were Charlie Kaufman’s “Adaptation” and “Being John Malkovich.” But really, “Where the Wild Things Are” isn’t the kid-friendly film many people will be expecting.

The beginning of the movie sets the tone for the rest of the film, and it’s surprisingly emotional.
Jonze is not subtle with his depiction of main character Max’s tumultuous relationship with his family.

This is clearly a young boy who has receded into the depths of his imagination because reality is too difficult to deal with. Most kid’s movies would downplay this aspect or pad it with humor. Jonze puts it right upfront.

“Where the Wild Things Are” is really a film about innocence and the complexity of being a child in a world of grown-ups. After seeing the film I almost wish Jonze had written an original story instead of using such an iconic source.

Most book-to-film adaptations face the challenge of having to pick and choose which parts of the book to include in the film version. Jonze and Eggers had the unique problem of expanding a ten sentence book into a ninety-minute movie.

This ultimately proved to be the film’s biggest obstacle. Given how short the source material is, it’s understandable that Jonze and Eggers were more or less on their own to fill in most of the details, but what they add almost seems to overshadow the original book’s charms.

One of the main reasons people have fallen in love with Sendak’s book over the last four decades is because of the sense of wonderment and adventure captured in every page. It’s this crucial element the film is sorely lacking.

Once Max sails to the land of the Wild Things what he discovers feels surprisingly bland. The Wild Things themselves are more eccentric than wild, with the same emotional baggage and character flaws we have—the only difference is they are seven feet tall and have horns.

With help from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop the film-makers did a great job of bringing the Wild Things to life with animatronics and puppetry, but unfortunately the film only captures the aesthetic qualities of the monsters, not the heart and soul they were so clearly trying to depict.

Even the scenes of dancing and howling feel less than compelling, and despite some elaborate set-designs and exotic locales the Wild Thing’s world never felt magical.

It almost feels as if, in their attempts to make an emotionally-driven film, Jonze and Eggers forgot to make a movie that is actually fun. After the screening people weren’t flooding out of the theater with grins on their faces having watched an entertaining fantasy adventure. “Where the Wild Things Are” is actually kind of a downer.

But ultimately I have to give Jonze and Eggers credit for getting this film made at all, considering they adapted a classic children’s picture book into an emotional character-driven drama. It definitely wasn’t an easy sell to the studio, and you have to applaud Jonze for staying true to his vision even when the studio was forcing him to do re-cut after re-cut.

Despite all of the film’s problems I still managed to have a good time, but I just couldn’t help but think Jonze and Eggers had missed the point of the original story. My fondest memory of the book is spending hours absorbing every tiny detail of Sendak’s illustrations and dreaming that I was Max, living in the incredible world of the Wild Things—and I really hoped this film would give me that same feeling. Unfortunately, I never once had this reaction.

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Catching Up With... Zombieland's Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg: Oh, I did children’s theater when I was younger with my older sister, and then I basically continued, I guess to avoid school mostly.

And to have an excuse to not have to make friends at school, cause I’d always have to go somewhere or be somewhere, so it was mainly that.

Then I got into the first movie I did in my senior year of high school. I was going to a performance arts high school in New York and decided to pursue it more professionally after that.

Paste: You mentioned how your sister helped you get into that—is acting a large part of your family?
Eisenberg: Not really. My dad is a teacher; my mom was a professional birthday-party clown, just in the local New Jersey neighborhoods and stuff. So she was a performer, but not like, in movies or theater or anything.

Paste: Adventureland came out earlier this year and now your’re starring in Zombieland. You’re also rumored to have about a dozen other projects on the way from IMDb. I’m curious why this sudden burst in production, since before you’d be in a movie and then it’d be a couple years before we saw you again.
Eisenberg: Well that’s not my choice, but I also I think the website is a bit of a liar—I dunno who controls it, but I had to do interviews yesterday for something and people were listing movies I was not involved in. I did two movies that are coming out—one is the zombie movie and I did a movie about this Hasidic Jewish ecstasy mule, and yeah, I guess some of the other movies are not happening.

Paste: Ecstasy mule?
Eisenberg: Oh, yeah, that’s my role. It’s called Holy Rollers ‘cause they’re Hasidic Jews and …ecstasy. And that’s a smaller movie, I don’t know when it’ll come out.

Paste: In your past roles you’ve kinda played a similar sort of character— they’re comedic, like Adventureland, but not comedies per se. Zombieland looks like it’s more outright, broad comedy. Is that the sort of role you’re playing?
Eisenberg: The movie’s actually more dramatic than they’re presenting it. I think I have more dramatic scenes in that movie than in Adventureland. My sense is that they’ll cut the drama down because it’s a zombie comedy and I don’t think the movie can sustain that much heavy drama without boring the young kids who are seeing it. But the movie is primarily very funny and it’s a little more heightened than Adventureland, which was supposed to be much more naturalistic comedy, and subtle tone, like you don’t have to expect a laugh, and can go without something funny for ten minutes. But Zombieland is much more theatrical, I would say.

Paste: Do you have any ultimate aspirations for film that you haven’t reached yet?
Eisenberg: No, I’m so shocked that they put me in movies; every time I get a part in something I can’t believe it, and then afterwards I feel like I ruined the thing. I’m just so fortunate to be able to do the things I’ve already done. I can’t ask for more or even consider it.


Paste: You’ve also worked pretty heavily as an actor on the stage. Do you have a preference between that and film?
Eisenberg: Yeah, I ultimately want to write plays and not even act in them. I’ve written plays and a musical that’s starting to get off the ground right now. I would prefer to do that, but it’s so hard, and even when you’re successful as a playwright you don’t make any money—it’s such a hard part of the industry. I love [movie] acting, but the theater seems to produce more consistently creative works.



Paste: What’s the stuff you’ve written like?
Eisenberg: I wrote a musical that’s just starting to get to the early stages of production, which is called Me Time, about modern self-indulgence. It’s a musical satire. And then I have a play that’s actually being turned into a movie script, but that’s also in the early stages…maybe I shouldn’t say anything about it because not everything is dotted, I guess.

Paste: Has working so much in the theater affected the way that you act onscreen, or vice versa? A lot of actors stop doing theater when they start working in film. Eisenberg: I really don’t do that many plays, actually, mostly because they don’t cast me in them. But like you said, most people stop.

I think it’s harder to make a living just doing off-Broadway theater in New York. I mean it really is almost impossible, things close so quickly, often. Whereas with a movie, whatever they’re paying you is guaranteed, whereas some plays could close—I have some friends who get on Broadway finally or are having a consistent paycheck finally, then the New York Times doesn’t like it and it closes in a week and they’re out of work. Happens all the time. But nothing is better practice than being in a play eight times a week for acting, so then when you’re on a movie set and you have to act for fourteen hours a day and it’s really grueling, you have some kind of basis of experience.

Paste: How selective have you been able to be with either theater or film, now that you’re a bit more well-known? Eisenberg: I’ve been lucky to get into good movies, but I audition for really shitty movies all the time (not all the time but sometimes), and then I just got lucky to get in good ones, so then people assume you’re more selective. But really all the same people are trying for the same things and some people get in good movies, some people get in bad movies, and from an outsider it looks like those people are smarter or more selective or have higher taste, but really everybody knows what movies are really good and what movies are not so good, but you have to work, so you do both.

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Movie review: Whip It

Movies about teenagers who have been repressed by their fuddy duddy, conservative parents/guardians/authority figures are too numerous to list.

The formula is always the same – “good” kid latches on to some sort of activity that the parents would find objectionable, so he/she sneaks away to participate in said activity until the parents inevitably find out about it.

But in the end, the parents see that their kid has found something they love, something that’s not really that bad anyway, and the parents find a way to support the kid's new life.

Like any kind of formulaic film, Whip It, Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, shouldn’t be judged on originality (because it has next to none) but on how well it executes its well-worn story. Things are promising at first as the action centers around a relatively unfamiliar movie topic – roller derby.

Bliss (Ellen Page, continuing her quirky movie name tour), lives in the fictional Bodeen, Texas, which is supposedly just outside of Austin. She has a beauty pageant-obsessed mother (Marcia Gay Harden), a football-lovin’ father (Daniel Stern), and a crappy job at a low-rent BBQ joint alongside her best friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development fame).

On a shopping trip to Austin, Bliss finds out about a forthcoming roller derby match and convinces Pash to sneak away with her. One glimpse of the violent girl-on-girl action and Bliss is hooked. Soon she’s finding ways to make the trek to the big city to try and compete against people like Smashley Simpson (Barrymore), Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig), and Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis), despite being a good four years younger than the required age of participation, 21. For the rest of the story, see the first paragraph.

Barrymore and screenwriter Shauna Cross (who also wrote the novel upon which the film is based) have an obvious affinity for roller derby, but their combined lack of behind-the-camera experience shows in a big way. Much of the film is poorly paced and edited – some scenes linger when they need to move on, while some are cut off before their natural conclusion. The film clocks in at a robust 115 minutes, which is about 20 minutes too long. Consequently, events that might be considered interesting become excruciating to watch.

The film is full of odd little filmmaking curiosities that more experienced people would have excised. For example, several times throughout the movie, a character says something while walking off screen, a fading audio technique that frustrates because what the character says is more often than not a punchline the scene could have used. Then there’s the casting of real-life singer Landon Pigg as Bliss’ indie rocker love interest, Oliver. While Pigg may be a talented musician, he is, to put it lightly, not a looker (the role needed someone more attractive to be believable), and his acting is even worse – his reaction to a slap is so off-the-mark, it’s comical, and not in a good way.

What should be the film’s selling point – the roller derby action – is also botched. With such a fast-paced game, it works better visually to shoot it mostly from a wide angle. But Barrymore often takes the camera right into the scrum, and what is obviously an attempt to give the film more intensity has more of a detrimental effect. There are a few good moments of collision, but most of the matches are staged in such a way as to make them feel like little more than an open skating session (although it should be said that all of the stars appear to be pretty good skaters). They take the time to overtly explain the rules of the game not once but twice, but since the matches are filmed so poorly, understanding how and why one team wins is like trying to catch air.

Page is nowhere near Juno-esque as Bliss, but not for a lack of trying (Bliss has an ironic love for a t-shirt of the ‘80s Christian metal band Stryper). There’s a temptation to blame her performance on Barrymore and Cross, but their respective directing and writing flubs can’t fully account for her seemingly phoning it in.

Harden and Stern are in Texas accent overdrive, which would be fine if they weren’t the only ones doing it. Wiig and Shawkat acquit themselves well, but they’re balanced out by the shockingly inept showings of Lewis and Barrymore herself.

And that's not to mention the inane ramblings of Jimmy Fallon as the MC for the matches – not one of his supposed jokes hits the mark, making his constant chatter all the more irritating. What should have been a fun movie about a girl discovering her true passion in life becomes bogged down in filmmaking ineptitude. Whip It? No good.

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Watch Toy Story series in 3D!

As Walt Disney Studios releases the 3D versions of its megahit films Toy Story and Toy Story 2 as a single show on October 2 in North America, Hollywood is sending yet another signal that the 3D movie phenomenon has long legs. The double package will show the trailer of Toy Story 3 as well, which will also have a 3D version.

The 3D version of another huge Disney hit, Beauty And The Beast, is going to be released on February 12, 2010, the studio announced recently. Meanwhile, Joe Dante's The Hole, which received good reviews at the Toronto International and Venice film festivals, is awaiting release.

The coming-of-age horror film is also a psychological thriller. Its box-office success could lead to more 3D versions of the films aimed at teenagers and adults. Coraline, a dark and psychological film, grossed over $125 million worldwide, a bigger success than expected. Nearly 25 percent of its grosses came from 3D theatres. Its success proves that 3D films are not the monopoly of children.

The 3D movies will get a huge boost when Avatar, from Titanic director James Cameron, releases in December. At least half a dozen 3D films including a horror movie, My Bloody Valentine, have been released in the last six months (along with 2D versions), and they have brought the studios quite some profits. The most successful among them are Fox's Ice Age 3 and Disney's Up.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, the number one film in America for two weeks grossing $70 million, is also in 3D. A comical film with a moral, Cloudy is about a scientist's attempt to solve world hunger going awry, leading hotdogs and spaghetti to pour from the sky. It has also opened well abroad.

'It's almost shocking to have a film hold that well after opening that big," said Paul Dergarabedian, a analyst, in an interview. The movie lost about 20 percent of its box office in its second week in North America; movies normally come down by about 40 percent in their second week. The power of the 3-D film cannot be overstated.

Although only about 2,700 screens (representing less than 6 percent of all screens in North America) show 3D movies, the business from them is great because they charge an extra $3 per ticket. In New York, for instance, a 3D ticket costs $15.

'Studios are producing more 3-D movies, which command higher ticket prices, as sales of DVDs decline. DVD sales dropped during the first half of 2009, according to the industry-sponsored Digital Entertainment Group,'.

'Year-to-date box office receipts total $7.82 billion, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier,'said, adding that 3D admissions boosted the total. Attendance is up 3.9 percent this year. The number of 3D screens is expected to grow by 4,000 by the end of 2009 in North America, according to the trade publication, Variety.

At least 50 films under production will be released in 3D versions in the next two years. One reason for the 3D surge is because the 3-D movies tend to sell more seats per showing, trade analysts say. If the Toy Story movies grab sizable millions on 3D screens, there will be an impetus for other studios to re-release some of their best family movies in 3D versions.

'This fantastic double feature will let moviegoers see two of their all-time favourite films from Pixar Animation Studios in a way that they've never seen them before, and all for the price of one movie ticket,' Zoradi said in a statement. 'John Lasseter and the animation team have truly created a spectacular 3D experience with Buzz, Woody, and all the toy characters in a whole new eye-popping dimension. We're also excited that audiences will soon see a whole new chapter when Toy Story 3 in 3D, directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director of Toy Story 2) comes to theatres.'

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