The Princess and the Frog

IN A novel twist on the frog-prince fable that is as morally driven as it is delightfully nutty, an ambitious young black woman in jazz-era New Orleans kisses a frog, expecting a rich, handsome prince to appear.

Tiana (voiced by Anika Noni Rose from Dreamgirls) hopes her faith in fairy tales will fast-track her dream of owning her own swanky restaurant. Things don't quite go as planned, however, when she turns into a frog.

In a refreshing re-embrace of colourful hand-drawn animation, directors Ron Clements and John Musker - the Disney duo who gave us.

The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Hercules (1997) and the unfairly trashed Treasure Planet (2002) - deliver a vibrant, funny, uplifting old-school musical cartoon.

If the film boasts any advantages over digital, it's in the pastel richness of its colours and the elasticity of its characters, who enjoy a degree of comic flexibility and range of expressions we still don't get from computers.

The story is anchored in the reassuring bedrock of homespun Disney values. Tiana's frog-kissing gamble goes against what her father taught her, making the film a neat parable about the importance of hard work and the perils of taking short cuts. There are even several well-handled backhanders to the racism of the time.

On this score, The Princess and the Frog also deserves kudos for featuring Disney animation's first African-American lead character, continuing a progressive tradition that includes a Native American in Pocahontas, a Pacific islander in Lilo and Stitch and an Asian in Mulan.

The film's success has been widely seen as a revival of the hand-drawn form, though the common belief that digital would supplant the appeal of hand-drawn animation has never really taken into account The Simpsons. Even Pixar's digital pioneer John Lasseter, who now heads Disney animation and produced this film, champions any style, so long as it brings a story to life. And it does so here. Splendidly.

Read Full Entry

Hollywood highs in Bollywood bazaar

Till a little over a year ago, Hollywood films contributed to merely four to five per cent of box office collections across India. But in 2009, business doubled. Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince, Hangover, X-Men Origins – Wolverine, 2012 and Avatar, to name a few have set the cash registers ringing.

In comparison, apna Bollywood is lagging behind with only Raaz – The Mystery Continues, New York, Love Aaj Kal, Wanted, All The Best, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, Paa and 3 Idiots getting the thumbs up at the ticket windows.

One reason for the turnaround could be the second season of the Indian Premiere League followed by the multiplex strike earlier this year, informs Vinod Mirani, managing editor, Box Office India, a weekly trade magazine.

He points out that with big films on hold, small budget Hindi movies and Hollywood films made merry at the ‘plexes. “The demand for English films, including those dubbed in Hindi, has gone up considerably,” he adds. “At one time, there would be only one print for Mumbai and one for Delhi. But recently, Avatar released with over 450 prints and grossed Rs 20 crore in the first week itself.”

Hemant Panchammiya, managing director, E-Square, attributes Hollywood’s success to big banners and marketing strategy. “Only a big film promoted well works,” he reasons. “2012 has done fantastic business all over. Avatar, in comparison, hasn’t cracked with a section of the audience and its business is restricted to 3D screens in the multiplexes. Many English films still don’t get a good chain of cinemas that still give precedence to Bollywood.” According to a trade source, Hollywood distributors aren’t half as aggressive as their Bollywood counterparts and go with whichever theatres and show timings they get. Panchammiya agrees, “Hollywood continues to have a niche audience in limited pockets. For it to extend its reach, it will have to go digital. That will also combat the menace of piracy.”

Devang Sampat, vice-president, Cinemax, argues that there’s no competition per se from Hollywood. “If a Hangover packed in full houses during the weekends, it was largely due to the lesser number of shows as compared to a Kambakkht Ishq that was playing as many as 28 shows at our multiplex daily. More occupancy doesn’t necessarily mean more numbers. Collections for such films are still largely under 10 per cent of the national gross figures,” he asserts. But Shyam Shroff of Shringar Films is optimistic that the future is bright for the western imports. “With good theatres are coming up across the country, there’s a growing market for such films. People in smaller towns have developed a taste for good action and a gripping storyline,” he says. Vishek Chauhan, owner of Roopbani theatre in Purnia, Bihar, endorses Shroff’s opinion: “Though it’s not doing as well as 2012, Avatar has found a market in territories like Bihar, UP and Bengal and is working better than some of our so-called Bollywood biggies. Five years ago, audiences here didn’t care for James Bond but the last Bond movie, Casino Royale, found plenty of takers. And Twilight drew full houses for the first three days even though people in Bihar don’t understand the concept of vampires and werewolves.” Mirani attributes the success of these Hollywood films to the hype it generated in the media. “Television has created more awareness of the world around us. Even parents in small towns want to send their children to English medium schools and somewhere, that has contributed to the growth of an audience for Hollywood movies,” he elaborates.

Chauhan agrees, “Distributors were offering Minimum Guarantee for 2012 at a time when most Hindi movies didn’t get MG. I’ve already started getting enquiries for Spiderman 4 and the next Iron Man movie. In the coming years, I see Hollywood emerging as a strong competitor for Bollywood. Romances and arty films like Inglourious Basterds won’t pull in the crowds though. It’ll be the disaster and superhero flicks with exciting visual effects that will hit bukll’s eye. Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible series will, any day, work better than a Valkyrie.”

Read Full Entry

Cinema rolls big-budget dice on 3-D

After months of anticipation – and a rumoured $300-million (U.S.) – the lithe, glittering blue creatures of James Cameron's Avatar will finally take over the silver screen.

It took a director of Mr. Cameron's clout to raise the money to construct the lush world of his newest, most extravagant epic, which opens in theatres this weekend.

But the entertainment industry is also hoping he'll be able to deliver not just a box-office winner but a significant boost to a burgeoning movie trend: 3-D.

Avatar is not the first major release to bank on the growing popularity of 3-D technology. Releases like Up and Ice Age capitalized on its appeal with younger audiences. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chief executive officer of DreamWorks SKG, which made such kids' hits as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda , is so convinced of the marketability of 3-D for children's movies that he said last year his studio's future animation releases would all be in 3-D.

But with Avatar , Mr. Cameron hopes to elevate the technology beyond family fare and the occasional horror movie and bring it to the mainstream. The Canadian director has sent a message: 3-D is not a niche technology, it's the future of film.

Mr. Cameron and his backers have bet a lot on this claim. If the rumoured price tag is accurate, Avatar is the most expensive movie ever made. Theatres have been spending too, ramping up their capacity to show 3-D movies in preparation for Mr. Cameron's latest behemoth and in response to the growing number of releases the industry has already been rolling out. That's a major investment by the theatres, and a big bet on 3-D production as a way to counter increased competition from the Internet and other sources.

To show 3-D movies, those theatres need digital screens. Canada's dominant theatre chain, Cineplex, has installed 190 digital screens so far; 149 of those are equipped for 3-D showings. It's a small number compared to the 1,329 screens Cineplex owns across the country, but this year alone, the company has tripled the number of 3-D screens, and there is at least one 3-D screen at nearly 70 per cent of its locations.

There's also a major payout. This has been a record year for attendance, said Pat Marshall of Cineplex Entertainment LP. In the third quarter of 2009, box office revenue reached $155.9-million at parent Cineplex Galaxy Income Fund, (CGX.UN-T18.000.201.12%) the highest quarterly revenue since its inception.

The more customers Cineplex can draw into its 3-D theatres, the better. The chain charges $3 more per ticket over the regular two-dimensional offerings. A movie like Avatar, which is tailored specifically for 3-D, could be a big windfall for the chain if viewers are willing to pay more for the full experience.

“The reviews have all been very, very positive. This is the sort of movie that's just going to continue to build over time,” Ms. Marshall said. “So I think you'll see good numbers coming out of the opening, but you'll continue to see really good numbers over the next several weeks – which is a little more atypical for the way movies traditionally open.”

The TV industry is also trying to latch on to the momentum Avatar could generate for the industry. On Wednesday, just ahead of opening weekend, Sony Corp. announced an agreement to license some of the 3-D technology and equipment made by RealD, which provides the 3-D systems for Cineplex and in most other movie theatres.

It's easy to see why a 3-D expansion in theatres would trickle down to the TV business: a typical movie takes in only about 20 per cent of its revenue at the box office while consumers purchasing DVDs to bring that movie home can account for as much as 65 per cent.

Those revenues will give studios a compelling reason to push their 3-D releases on DVD. If consumers follow suit, TV manufacturers will need to make their products compatible with the trend, or be left behind. Sony had already announced it wanted to put 3-D systems on its popular PlayStation game console and the Bravia TV. This week's deal takes the company one step closer – with the possible bonus of enticing some consumers to upgrade their home theatre systems.

The LCD panel on Sony's Bravia television “will work in sync with new 3-D eyewear based on RealD's technology,” said Sony executive Hiroshi Yoshioka in a statement. “We are excited to work with RealD in bringing 3-D to the home.”

It will be a while before viewers can bring Avatar home. Industry executives are hoping for a long run in theatres. How long the excitement lasts will help to show how big the audience is for 3-D movies among teens and adults. It will most likely also determine if studios invest more in making films that use the technology to tell stories – or if it's a novelty that works for animated romps and slasher flicks, and not much else.

If the conversations that Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob has been having with the players in Hollywood are any indication, the pocketbooks are already out, Ms. Marshall said. “There are a lot of industry folks looking at this film and looking to see what they should be doing in the 3-D genre moving forward. I would imagine it will only continue to grow.”

Read Full Entry

Bambi meets Alien in a failure of nerve

AMONG its vast ambitions, Avatar is partly about colour. It is James Cameron's first movie since Titanic went down 12 years ago, so you can bet he has a lot to say, but the primary directive might be to make a film so beautiful in its use of colour that it restores our faith in movies.

He wants us all to emerge thinking ''I've never seen that before''. He's trying both to invent new technologies and tame them as he goes - avoiding the George Lucas syndrome, where the technology swamped the stories in the later Star Wars movies.

Cameron has made Avatar in 3D because he wants to show the future of action cinema. Along with colour, he wants depth, so that the experience is enveloping. Fifty years ago, 3D was a new way to achieve cheesy thrills - the spear was coming right at you. Avatar has few of these directional gags. It is now possible to make movies that feel as if you have a virtual-reality module on your head. Sound and vision come from all around - almost (even in 3D, the screen still has a limit).

That does mean that Avatar is an overwhelming sensory experience. The colours are extraordinary, the depth breathtaking. More important, the range of emotions in the CG characters is more subtle and surprising than has been possible. The only limit is Cameron's imagination, which is fertile but finite. He seems incapable of really challenging the audience, in case they won't part with their 20 bucks. He wants to be Kubrick but he hasn't the cojones.

Sam Worthington gives a strong performance - unlike some of his co-stars - as Jake Sully, an ex-marine. He is sent to the verdant planet Pandora with a mining team from Earth, almost 150 years in the future. The trees here can reach a kilometre into the sky; the landscape is like a Chinese painting - all mountains and rivers, mist and pinnacles. Beneath are deposits of ''unobtainium'', that old sci-fi term for some fabulous material we don't have.

The problem is the forest is inhabited by stubborn indigenes, the Na'vi. They are twice our size, lithe and gorgeous with blue skin, a tail and ears that twitch as they talk. They don't like us knocking down their forests. The mining trucks return with arrows in their tyres. Pandora's atmosphere is poisonous to humans, so the miners have developed a hybrid life form to try to pacify the Na'vi.
These avatars - grown from a mixture of human and Na'vi DNA - must be ''driven'' by a human in a state of deep sleep. Sigourney Weaver plays Dr Augustine, the chain-smoking scientist running the avatar program, and Sully is her newest driver.

Secretly, he is also reporting to Colonel Quaritch (Stephen Lang) the military head, who wants to know about the Na'vi's weaknesses, so he can blast them out like they used to do with the ''gooks''.

Jake's early scenes in the forest are magical. In the body of his avatar, he marvels at the giant orange-glowing spiral ferns, the iridescent blue plants, the purple birds that look like flamingoes with teeth. He has a face-off with a hammerhead elephant that has two sets of eyes, and is chased by the ravening dogs of night. He is rescued by a beautiful Na'vi woman warrior, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who introduces him to the tribe. Visiting this 3D Garden of Eden is lovely; it's like a forest painted by Van Gogh or Gauguin, or the bastard child of Salvador Dali. But is it fascinating surrealism or just overblown design - a big technicolour yawn?

The key point in any science-fiction story is not to cross the line of ridiculousness, which is to say it must retain a hold on our emotions. That point is different for everyone, but some people reached it early at the preview screening. Some will go with the film's overall message about conserving our forests; others will collapse into giggles at the sometimes strained and campy world of forest nymphs battling a military commander straight from a GI Joe comic. If the first part is all idyllic and Amazonian, the second half is all army and Armageddon.

For all his command of the dynamics of action, Cameron has a conventional sense of story, a desire to keep us comfortable. His script is numbingly derivative. Its execution may be glorious, taking us no place we've ever been, but the story takes us every place we've ever been. The sources include the adventure stories of H. Rider Haggard and James Fenimore Cooper, particularly The Last of The Mohicans; the Disney cartoon utopias of Pocahontas and Bambi; the dystopian space worlds of the Aliens series that Cameron helped to create; the internal narrative intimacy of films such as Apocalypse Now and Dances with Wolves, where the narrator is a lonely soldier far from home. If Cameron were more prepared to challenge our expectations, Avatar might have been what he intended. Instead, it's a beautiful folly, a technical wonder that represents a failure of nerve.

Read Full Entry

Family movie review - The Princess and the Frog

Took the kids to see Disney’s latest release, "The Princess and the Frog," this weekend and all of us — Dad, Mom, the kindergartner and the toddler — gave it two webbed thumbs up.

The story, of course, is a retelling of the fairy tale in which a prince is turned into a frog and can’t be released from the enchantment until he is kissed by a princess. Disney cranks up the fun factor by setting the story in 1920s New Orleans watch for references to Packard cars, flapper fashion, Art Deco and, of course, to jazz. (Randy Newman composed the music.)

While the prince is genuine, our heroine, Tiana — who makes history as Disney’s first black princess — is not royalty at all but the daughter of a laborer and a seamstress. She grows into a waitress who cheerfully takes on two jobs to save money toward her dream of opening a restaurant. At a costume ball, she’s mistaken for a princess, a plot twist that becomes key to the ending.

Here’s how our family rated the film: Dad: He joked afterward, “Is Disney doing what FEMA couldn’t?” At times, the film could be an ad for the New Orleans visitors bureau. My husband particularly enjoyed the voodoo subplot. But he noted that Disney just seems unable to wean itself completely off cultural stereotypes the caricaturing was especially notable in the Cajun bayou characters.

Mom: I was thrilled to see that, unlike so many other Disney moms, Tiana’s mother not only survives the plot but also gets to savor her daughter’s happy ending. (To which my husband countered, “Yeah, they killed off the dad instead.”)

There’s some violent slapstick involving the Cajun bayou characters, but it’s over pretty quickly. The film’s probably a bit young for anyone who’s already a fan of Hannah Montana or “High School Musical.” Kindergartner: He's sensitive to scary scenes and characters, but he loved the voodoo doctor known as Shadow Man and the sinister spirit sidekicks. He laughed out loud at the Cajuns’ slapstick.

Toddler: He got restless in the last 10 minutes the film runs 97 minutes but otherwise sat raptly. When asked what his favorite part was, he replied, “The pirates,” meaning the Cajuns.
If you’ve seen “The Princess and the Frog,” what did your family think?

Read Full Entry

Best classic Christmas movies ever!

Much like my update on best Christmas albums and songs, here's a revamp of my annual take on the best classic Christmas movies. I say "classic" Christmas movies because there's no "Elf" on there and no "Polar Express" or tons of other more modern entries that might, in time, make this list.

I'm not really concerned about them since the primary function of this list is nostalgia. Say what you will, but most people who love Christmas are trying to re-enact or reconnect with a feeling they had at some time in their life about Christmas. People with kids are often trying to start new traditions - particularly if they didn't have them when they were younger or if those, uh, "traditions" were lame or painful.

There's nothing wrong with seeking happiness in the holidays. Here's hoping you find it. And here's the revamped post: I'm a sucker for Christmas. And not a Cranky Christmas, either, though I do love Grinch as much as Rudolph. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I have no interest whatsoever in anyone's rant about the merchandising of Christmas or the War on Christmas or who's birthday it is or how expensive the trees are, the greed, the loneliness, the religion or the sorrowful parts of it. Not interested.

Those are your issues. If it makes you feel any better (and I live on the Berkeley border, so I know this all too well), then yes, there is charitable giving involved. Sometimes even candle lighting and chats with The God (or Eastern Religious Figure) Of My Choice regarding the less fortunate. But I grew up with a crappy fake Christmas tree with not a whole lot under it so you'll just have to get off the cross (we need the wood) over the fact that I like 9-foot Christmas trees and an unholy amount of presents. Beyond all of that, it wouldn't be Christmas in my house without watching, almost endlessly, a ton of Christmas movies and specials (on DVD of course - who wants to watch commercials about what to buy for Christmas? As a consumer, I have an updated list of Things I Want on my iPhone at all times. I don't need ads to guide me.) Those DVDs get watched and rewatched right up until Christmas Day, then they are restocked on the shelf, never to be seen again until Dec. 1.

Hit the link for more::

1. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." It's what I loved as a kid. It's always the leadoff hitter for me come December. Once you get past the nostalgia, however, there's some pretty funny elements. Like the fact that Santa and Donner are total jerks. And every time Santa talks, he sounds - to my mind - like Bill Walton. Still, there's more than enough here to enthrall, from Yukon Cornelius to Hermey and the Abominable Snowman's crazy eyes.

2. "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." Brilliant. You've got the Boris Karloff element, the great songs, the weirdly enchanting Dr. Suess rhymes - the roast beast. And unlike "Rudolph" it comes in a tidy half hour package that promotes repeated viewings.

3. "It's A Wonderful Life." Yeah, I know. And I don't care. It's a killer for me. Even though the emotional manipulation is transparent, it fells me every time. That said, one of my favorite parts is when George loses his mind with anger. The house, the kids, the incessant piano playing. Too funny.

4. "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Note perfect. Charles Schulz sold the country some real melancholia here. And it's delicious. Charlie Brown being bummed about the commercialization of Christmas. Linus understanding the real meaning. Snoopy going insane with the lights and glitter. Sally's classic letter to Santa that includes the line "just send tens and twenties...All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share." Add in the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack and this is a gem never to be topped.

5. "The Year Without A Santa Claus." Heat Miser. That's all you need to know. Snow Miser, too. Oh, and a bunch of other weird Rankin/Bass stuff.

6. "A Christmas Story." It's so hard to make a modern classic - it needs to stand up through time and overcome our youthful memories to even secure a place. This 1983 film did just that. Jean Shepherd knew how to place modern snark and the onrush of oddball families and their failures (hey, Christmas is hard) against hope, joy and true belief. Break out the Red Ryder and take a shot at happiness.

7. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." One word: Sombertown. OK, two words: "Burgermeister Meisterburger." Let's burn some toys in Sombertown!

8. "Olive, the Other Reindeer." Huge fan of San Francisco's own J. Otto Siebold. And when this came out in 1999, it had a twisted sense of humor to back up the cool graphics and more than enough sweetness (via Drew Barrymore - making up for the meanness of Old Man Potter, no doubt) to make it Christmasy. Gotta like a character named Martini, too. (Martini: "How'd you get away?" Olive: "It's kind of hard to explain. Have you heard of deus ex machina?")

9. "Robbie the Reindeer" (Hooves of Fire/Legend of the Lost Tribe). Deliciously weird and modern. Along with "Olive, the Other Reindeer" it contends as a contemporary classic (emphasis on strange, of course).

I'm going to leave the 10th spot open so I can change my mind, make additions, etc. I will say that I'm quite fond of the Penguins from "Madagascar" and their little Christmas ditty that comes with the movie. Same goes for the brilliant "Creature Comforts: Merry Christmas, Everybody" from Nick Park and Aardman studios. (Love how "The Great British Public" is listed as the stars...).

The rest? Well, let's just say that Rankin/Bass never let an opportunity to cash in on the next potential "classic" evade them and there's a lot of dreck out there. I know my daughter once liked "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey" but it never gets me. And I loathe the stupidity (but admire the kitchen-sink greed) of "Rudolph's Shiny New Year," which may be the single worst Christmastime movie ever.

I'm told that at some point I may have liked "Frosty the Snowman," but no more (I prefer the stop-motion animation), and certainly not "Frosty Returns." I keep avoiding "The Little Drummer Boy" though it's on the DVDs I've got. What I've learned from sorting through the dreck is that classics are still classic and spin-offs, revisions, updates and sequels of any kind are woeful. Having said that, I can't remember much about "It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown," so I'll have to pop that in for an update.

And yes I love the cable marathon of "A Christmas Story" and the legacy of the televised yule log. Any number (or all) of these will guide me into the New Year.

Read Full Entry