Monster’s University ★★★★

Excelling in A-Grade Entertainment 

Opens in Australia: 20th June

Other Countries: Release Information

Disney Pixar’s 'Monsters Inc' set the standard back in the early days of animation.  Our eldest watched it all through his baby and childhood and so did we, over and over. When we saw the re-release this year of a 3D version of the twelve-year-old film we still marveled at the freshness and wit.

Over the past year Disney has taunted us with trailers for the prequel ‘Monsters University’ (MU), so by the time we snuggled down into our seats we were absolutely ready to attend school with our pals, Sulley (John  Goodman) and Mike (Billy Crystal).  
Robert L. Baird who wrote the screenplay for 'MU' and the original, along with ‘Cars’ and ‘Tangled’ has the real ability to infuse true life into his characters.  He writes a script with depth and heart. Add to this the voice talent of John Goodman and Billy Crystal and magic happens making you totally forget you are watching animated characters. 

Pixar rarely misses with their animations and it was a wise move bringing these beloved characters back to the screen with a prequel, allowing us insight into the friendship between the leads and the conflict with rival scarer Randall (Steve Buscemi). 

It’s not many films where we enjoy clichéd characters but they work here played for laughs; the retrenched salesman returning to University as a mature age student; the pudgy kid nobody wants on their team; the stern Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) who takes no prisoners; the sport’s jocks who rule the campus; and the nerd kids.

We attend Monster’s University with Mike before he and Sulley became best friends; in fact, when they don’t even like each other.  Mike is the not-so-scary wannabe desperate for a career in the craft of scaring children, whose captured screams power the city of Monstropolis.  He spends all his spare time studying.  Sulley, son of a great scarer, doesn’t bother to study believing his fantastic roar and pedigree guarantees him an automatic pass.

After a mishap, which finds them both expelled, the pair is forced to team up, not just with each other, but the misfit O.K. (Oozma Kappa) fraternity to compete in the annual Scare Games which involve a series of inventive tests.  If they win, the entire team will gain admission into the Scarer programme. 

There are sub-plots galore and the Monster world is expanded imaginatively. Watch for fabulous cameos of Monster Inc. characters.

Since the original ‘Monster’s Inc’, animation fans expectations have grown and been dashed many a time.  Pixar led in the beginning and with the delivery of 'MU' they are still winning.   Perhaps we need a Pixar University for other studios to study the art of making films with heart.

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Oz the Great and Powerful ★★★½

WE'RE OFF TO SEE THE PREQUEL


Australia: 7th March 2013; USA 8th March UK 8th March

Other Countries:  Release Information 
 

 

 

Decades ago my Mother leaned into my room and, with a twinkle in her eye, declared her favourite childhood movie was showing that Saturday night on TV.  This is before DVD players and the ability to record a programme, so at the appointed time our family gathered around our wood-cabineted box and marvelled at the wonderful 1939 ‘Wizard of Oz’.  It became my favourite movie too.

Then came the numerous incarnations of Oz, including the Muppets, Ice Capades, animated versions and even Michael Jackson with his own unique take.  Now Disney presents the prequel, "Oz the Great and Powerful" produced by Joe Roth (“Snow White and the Huntsman,” “Alice in Wonderland”) and directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman Trilogy). 

L. Frank Baum wrote fourteen novels, from 1900-1920, set in the Land of Oz but he never fully portrayed the wizard character’s background in any of his books. Roth found that fact fascinating. “I love origin stories and I liked the idea of how the wizard came to be.  So, going back to Baum’s books to research and imagine his beginnings seemed like a great idea.”
 

 

Oscar Diggs (James Franco), his friends call him OZ, begins his journey (in black and white) as a vaudeville circus magician.  He’s a part-seducer, part-conman and a selfish chap.  As in the original, a freak storm lands him in Oz where the film opens to wide screen and our view erupts into vibrant color.  Before he crash-lands we are treated to a 3D roller-coast ride of thrills as we travel through gorgeous CGI landscapes, over massive waterfalls, through stunning forests, to land in a grove infested with nasty river fairies. Very few films warrant the extra expense of 3D but do hand over your money this time. It’s worth it.
Enter leather-pants-wearing witch Theodora (Mila Kunis). Theodora (who is a truly poor judge of character) mistakenly believes Oz is the legendary great wizard come to save Oz from the devastations wrought by the wicked witch.  Who actually is the wicked witch remains to be seen. 

On their journey to the Emerald Castle, they meet Finley (Zach Braff), a delightful, talking, flying monkey who becomes Oz's assistant of sorts.  The trouble starts when Theodora introduces Oz to her sister Evanora, played malevolently-well by Rachel Weisz.  Oz is offered a fortune in gold if he will destroy the wand of the supposedly evil witch Glinda (Michelle Williams).  Oz sets off down the yellow brick road, on the way picking up, literally, the gorgeous China Doll Girl (Joey King), who, undoubtedly has the best lines in the film.  The rest of the film and the liberation of Oz involves smoke and mirrors and good use of imagination.

Franco was the third choice to play Oz, behind Robert Downey Jnr and Johnny Depp (both declining due to other commitments) and he loved his character. No doubt, the $7 million pay-check proved endearing too.  
 

 “In some ways he touches on many aspects of Americana, while being a cross between Charlie Chaplin and Clark Gable," says Franco.  He also enjoyed another aspect of playing the magician character: he had to learn to perform magic tricks. He explains, “I actually came out two weeks early to work with the great Las Vegas magician Lance Burton. We worked every day. I learned dove tricks and fire tricks as well as pulling things out of hats and making things levitate. And I think I got pretty good!”

Oz is Disney's $200 million dollar bet that they can pull off another “Alice in Wonderland” success (with international grosses of $1 billion).  Whilst I don’t think Disney’s version of Oz will go on to become a favourite childhood movie of many, it still has enough of the right magic to warrant a visit to the cinema.  Whether it was the great idea Joe Roth imagined will be shortly judged at the box office.

 

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Disney's Frankenweenie ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

IT’S THE HEART THAT BREATHES LIFE

Australia:  25th October, 2012; USA 5th October, 2012; UK17th October 2012
Other Countries: Release Dates




 

Just when you thought you had seen everything fantastical at the cinema, Tim Burton takes us to another level of superb in Disney's 'Frankenweenie'.  This film is so beautifully crafted I will be seeing it again as I missed so much due to the constant superlatives that spun in my head during my first viewing.

Why is it so good?  It’s foremost an engaging story (screenplay by John August), with incredible stop-motion 3D animation visuals that will have you truly wondering ‘How?’, and the music by Academy Award®–nominated Danny Elfman that is almost a character in itself.  Despite the technology, it still feels like you are watching one of those gorgeous old favourites that had you covering your eyes as the monster lurched after its victims. 

Tim Burton, arguably one of the most creative and eccentric Directors sometimes misses the mark, thanks to his penchant for extreme.  But in 'Frankenweenie' he has not just nailed it (excuse the pun) he has quite possibly created a classic as unique as the original ‘Frankenstein’.

Due to budget constraints the film began its life in 1984 as a live-action short for Disney.    The drawings Burton used in imagining his original characters have been used for this feature-length film alongside new characters.  Film buffs will recognize classic characters as many of the film’s leads are modelled on the look and traits of the memorable 1930 horror characters.  
 

'Frankenweenie' is the moving tale of a young science prodigy, Victor Frankenstein(Charlie Tahan) and his beloved dog Sparky.  Victor attends New Holland Elementary School where he is mentored by the misunderstood Mr Rzykruski (Martin Landau) who teaches him that “science can do both good and bad things and that if a scientist does not put his heart into his experiment, there could be disastrous consequences.” The first sign of trouble is heralded by the class ‘Weird Girl’ (Catherine O'Hara) when she delivers to Victor a prediction that something ‘big’ will happen to him because Mr Whiskers, her cat, has dreamt about him.  How does she know what the cat dreams?  Well, it’s quite imaginative and amusing.  The signs come from the kitty litter.

‘Big’ happens when Sparky is hit by a car and dies.  An inconsolable Victor hatches a plan to patch Sparky together and he then successfully brings him back to life, hiding him away in his attic.  Sparky’s resurrection does not stay a secret for long though and once the school creepy guy Edgar “E” Gore (Atticus Shaffer) discovers the truth, it isn’t long before word spreads amongst the other kids with monstrous results.  Along the way you will be captivated by the myriad of quirky characters voiced by other major talents like Martin Short, Robert Capron, Christopher Lee and Conchata Ferrell.
 

 

It took two years and 33 animators to film the stop-animation for ‘Frankenweenie’.  There are 24 frames per second in the stop motion for the film.  An animator, working usually alone, must stop and reposition the puppet 24 times to get one second of filmed action.  At its 82 minutes that’s 295,200 seconds and 7,084,800 movements.  That’s a study in patience right there.
 

The typical week for a stop-motion animator begins with being assigned a shot. He is then responsible for all the characters in that shot.  An animator must spend hours working with the puppets, tightening screws in their limbs and then placing them to get all of the movement that is required.  On average, one animator can only produce 5 seconds of animation per week.  So when you pay your theatre entrance you are certainly getting your money’s worth.

'Frankenweenie' is filmed in black and white and that choice only adds to the experience.  Parents may have to convince their retina-enhanced iPad children that watching a black and white animated film will be fun. However, from the opening sequence all complaints will be silenced as Burton’s ‘Frankenweenie’ takes parents on a trip down memory lane and introduces the young ones to what we mean when we say, ‘there was something special about those old black ‘n whites’. Just like Mr Rzykruski’s science, it’s not the special effects but the heart that’s put into it that makes all the difference.

 

See this one at the Cinema in 3D or you are really missing out on something special.

 

 

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Men in Black 3 ★ ★ ★★

BACK IN BLACK AND LOOKING GOOD

Release Dates
Australia 24th May, 2012 UK 25th May, 2012 USA 25th May, 2012

Other Countries Release Dates

                As the song goes, ‘Here Comes the Men in Black…’ I wondered before the preview why they went back again, when they had pretty much done everything they could do with one and two. Yet, as I proudly wore my ‘Men in Black 3’ T-shirt on a Grade Six school excursion the next day, it all became clear to me as all the kids asked, “What is ‘Men in Black’”?

               It’s been fifteen years folks since the first one—yep, fifteen years, and ten since the second. So, there is a whole generation just waiting to be charmed by the idea that aliens live amongst us and the Men in Black (MIB) organization are Earth’s secret protectors. So why would they go back? Because there was one secret never revealed: Who really is Agent K?

                 “The Men in Black movies are about the relationship between Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones)?”says Will Smith. “This movie brings that home – it’s about the power and origin of their relationship. It’s actually an idea we’ve had for years – we had the concept before the second movie – but it needed time to mature. What we had to do was elevate the story, and the only way to do that is to go deeper, deeper into the characters, deeper into the revelations that the movie would reveal.

               In Men In Black™ 3, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are still together but ten years on J is still puzzling over his partner’s irascible and secretive personality. Suddenly after the death of MIB commander, replaced by O (Emma Thompson), K disappears and nobody at MIB remembers him. Time has been altered and K now murdered in 1969 by Boris The Animal. K and J deduce that Boris must have time jumped back and killed K, before Boris loses his arm in a fight with K, and then installs an Earth protection system to stop Boris’s race, the Boglodites from invading.

               J time jumps back to 1969, where he meets a younger version of K (Josh Brolin) and thus begins the fun and games of rediscovering a very different K to the 2012 version. Although, he is still an unruffled character, gone is the cranky, worn exterior revealing a more open and sanguine K. “What happened to you?”asks young J constantly.

               But 1969 is not about reunions or solving personal secrets, as J announces to a stony faced K, “We’re running out of time, we’re running out of clues and there’s an invasion coming. So, we need to go right now.” And go they do, following a trail of murders hoping they will lead to Boris. Along the way, there is much alien and secret-uncovering fun and you will spend this part of the movie, wondering how Josh Brolin pulled off the young K character so convincingly.

                “I’ve seen the first film 45 or 50 times – I’m not exaggerating,” says Brolin. “I’m a huge fan of the chemistry between Tommy and Will. Tommy’s voice has a cadence to it that’s very specific to Men In Black – it’s very different from the way he speaks in life. I just listened to it and listened to it until I started dreaming about it. My friends would tell me that I sounded like him. I’d go out to dinner, and I’d hear, ‘You’re ordering like Tommy.’”

               Comments Director of all three MIB’s, Barry Sonnenfeld, “We shot the acts sequentially – we had Tommy playing K in the first act, then Josh came in playing K for the second act and almost all of the third act, and then in the last week of shooting we got Tommy back,” “What I found amazing was that I kept thinking I was directing one actor; the performances were so consistent that it was hard for me to tell where Tommy Lee Jones ended and Josh Brolin began. For me, it’s not about Tommy playing K or Josh playing K. It’s just K.”

               The 1969 story line answers all questions and in the closing scenes is a satisfying reveal of the real secret of the black suited partners’ relationship. Along the way, there is much sliming, much slick banter, a fabulous scene with Andy Warhol, and a truly fascinating, sweet alien, Griffin (Michael Stuhlbarg) who sees all timeline possibilities (and could be, in fact, a 1969 version of Robin Williams).

               There is sincere homage paid here to the MIB franchise and fans will not be disappointed with what truly feels like a fitting final chapter to a very cool idea. So many times when studios mine an empty franchise, filmgoers walk away knowing they’ve just been had for a quick buck. Even though some of the jokes are repeats from the previous two, and we miss Frank the Pug, do take the kids and prepare for some fun, because this time “They do make this look good”.

JUST FOR FUN

Here are the trailers for the first two Men in Black films.  Will Smith has not aged. Perhaps he is an alien?

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JOURNEY TWO: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ★★ ★

Release Dates: Australia 19^th January,  USA  10^th February,  UK 3^rd February

Other Countries

IT’S A JOURNEY FOR LITTLE PEOPLE

All aboard folks, it’s another journey film.  Don those 3D glasses and we are off and running from huge lizards, flying through storms, falling through gigantic eggs, and diving into oceans to escape lava.

This time around, after unlocking a secret code transmitted by his missing grandfather, Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) of the predecessor Journey to the Center of the Earth, and his step-father, Hank (Dwayne Johnson) decode a puzzle hidden within three books—Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island, Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Robinson Crusoe. The code reveals the position of The Mysterious Island, and they set off for the Pacific to look for Sean’s adventuring Grandfather (Michael Caine).

Along the way they gather Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) and her Father, Gabato (Luis Guzmán) who fly them to the Island, only accessed, they discover, through the eye of a storm.

Once on the island, they encounter the result of the ‘Island Rule’, a genuine evolutionary theory which imagines that, over the course of evolution in an isolated environment, large things can become small and small things become large.  

Thus, we have on The Mysterious Island, dog-sized elephants and bees large enough to ride.  How you steer a bee is not explained but the characters certainly seemed as adept as Star Wars Tie Fighter pilots.

This is one for the children and whilst the quite ridiculous dialogue and behaviour of the characters is redeemed somewhat by Michael Caine and the comic talent of Guzmán, most adults will be thinking, sink the island and please take Dwayne Johnson with you. But the kiddies will probably love it.  My eleven year old critic commented, ‘It’s better than the first one by miles.’ The nine-year old laughed uproariously at Gabato’s antics.

It’s a bit of fun, with intriguing use of Verne’s imaginative literary creations, and special effects that will keep most children between the ages of eight and fourteen very happy. Adults please note, whilst visiting the island, keep your brain switched to low and just enjoy the ride.  Don’t analyse the plot holes or you will certainly fall off.  And before you see the film, do explain to your children first, “No, you are not getting an elephant.  Yes, they are cute, but they get big.”

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We Bought A Zoo ★ ★★ ★

DVD Release Date: April 3, 2012.

Release Date Australia :  26^th December 2011  Other countries



YOU WILL LOVE THE HUMANS

The trailer for We Bought a Zoo does not do this film justice. 

There should be a disclaimer after it, which reads: ‘This montage of one liners does not truly portray this film. We acknowledge we have made it seem ridiculously over-the-top schmaltzy.  In reality it is a well-crafted, beautifully acted and delivered piece of cinema.  You may suddenly find tears rolling down your cheeks when you least expect it. In fact, more than a few tears, a few times.  We hope our poor effort at promotion will not put you off a family movie you would really enjoy.’  Now that I have got that off my chest, on with the review.

What I like most about movies like this, is that they remind me of what is important in life.  Even if the wonderful idea, that family is everything, only stays with me for the five minutes it takes to get to the car—before the arguing starts about who sits where—then I say ‘good job’.

Okay, I am going to admit it—as a mother of two boys, nine and eleven, I sometimes hide from them.  The fighting, the whining, the constants demands are something that makes my brain fizzle and my temper rise quicker than the volcano in Journey to the Centre of the Earth. 

So, I’ll take anything that caps that feeling for a little while.

And when I attend a screening—especially in December where there is a preview every second day— expecting to experience a yawn fest of schmaltz I’m usually not in the mood to receive great messages of wisdom.  A side note, my husband and kids were also not excited to see this one either.

So, when We Bought A Zoo, which at first appears to be just another Hollywood formulaic movie, begins to weave its tale, I was surprised to find that none of our family were yawning.  We were surprisingly engaged.   Even in the first thirty minutes, it was clear this movie was turning into something special.  And I should have known because Cameron Crowe, the writer director, has managed this surprise before.

 If you asked me did I want to see movies on the following subjects, high school kid follows rock band to score an interview for Rolling Stone magazine (Almost Famous); sports agent develops a soul and falls in love (Jerry Maguire); selfish publisher goes on weird adventure after an accident (Vanilla Sky), I would have said, ‘Sounds OK but I don’t care if I miss them’.   Yet, they were all surprisingly enjoyable and I would have to say memorable, because I can still recall their plots years later.

We Bought A Zoo sounds average as far as plots go but the way it is told is anything but average.  Freelance adventure journalist, Benjamin Mee, a recently widowed Father to an obstinate and non-communicative teenager Dylan (Colin Ford) and adorable six year old Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) has had enough.  He decides they need to make a new start away from life’s stresses.

Whilst looking for houses, they come upon the perfect home with plenty of land and a large house.  But there’s a catch.  It also comes with a private zoo, run by a close knit and eclectic group of people led by head zoo keeper, Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson). 

Benjamin follows his own repetitive advice which will all make sense by the end of the movie—‘All you need is twenty seconds of insane courage’—and buys the zoo.  Looming over their heads, before they can reopen the zoo, is the zoo inspection by Walter Ferris (John Michael Higgins), a tough cookie who seems dead set against green lighting the place, as he happily hands out expensive renovation lists.

Amongst the inside look at the chaos of running a private zoo there is a drama with a sick tiger, teenage angst amidst first love, money worries, and wonderful lines delivered perfectly from little Maggie Elizabeth Jones. She is so adorable, that if asked I may have traded one of my own kids for her.

Probably one of the best lines in the film, delivered by Duncan Mee (Thomas Haden Church), Benjamin’s brother, is also the best way to describe why this film works so well.  ‘I like the animals but I love the humans,’ says Duncan.

We can all understand struggling with parenthood, friendship, loss and love and wanting something better for our family—it’s part of being human.   I love it when we hopeless humans are given a beautiful glimmer of hope. Even if it is only for the 124 minutes duration of a movie which inspires us enough, that we turn to our kids and say, ‘You drive me nuts but I love you.’

I promise you, if despite the bad trailer, you decide to brave seeing this movie something amazing will happen, you just might love the humans too.

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