These are the first promo pics of Survival of the Fabulous, the glorious documentary on which I've been working. Vote for your faves!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Bridge to Terabithia
Under the ideal direction, the adaptation of Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia could have been a surefire family classic. The bittersweet story about the powers of human imagination has its heart in the right place, but the execution is so poor it barely registers.Jesse Aarons is a meager fifth-grader and the constant victim of melodramatic bullying from peers who think he's weird, sisters who call him smelly and low-income parents who want him to do his chores instead of channel his perpetual depression into a sketchbook. Then a smart new girl named Leslie Burke, who doesn't watch TV, shows up to share the classroom bullying, moving next door to the Aarons.' Leslie shows Jesse how to escape the dull reality of their world and they discover a potent friendship along the way.
Jesse and Leslie create the magical Terabithia, a mythical made-up kingdom existing just past the swinging rope in the backyard forest, where they become king and queen of a ramshackle tree fort defending against the invading plagues of squirrels and trolls. The film does a neat job integrating this whimsical world, which begins as an ordinary forest clearing. As Jesse loosens his creative inhibitions, distant views of farmland become vibrant spectacles of untouched jungles and cascading waterfalls, and the mundane forest fauna become monstrously deformed assailants. Soon it grows difficult to discern the difference between the real and the imaginary, except when Csupo decides to employ rather lousy CGI.
The acting, however, is what kills Bridge to Terabithia. Sure nobody expects much from child thespians these days unless it's a Harry Potter film or the kid's last name is Fanning, Breslin or Highmore, but this film sets a new low for studio movies. Outside the adequate sullenness from Josh Hutcherson's down-on-his-luck Jesse, the acting ranges from awkward to grating, including the critical performance of AnnaSophia Robb as Leslie. Supposed to be a wise messenger of creative confidence, she comes across as if she's being fed her lines from just off camera.
Even many the adults have the stench of after-school special woodenness (with the exception of Zooey Deschanel as an inspiring music teacher), chipping away at the polish we expect from Disney family films. It doesn't help that the CGI visuals of the fantasy Terabithia are also sub par. I guess it's an appropriate thing this film is about the strength of imagination, because you'll be needing yours if you plan on surviving until the final credits.
It's a real shame too, because the story is so robust and essential, particularly for children. Many kids today have forgotten how to use their imaginations to escape the daily routines when videogames and web-browsing do such a good alternative job of it. At least encourage your kids to read the book.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Top Ten Films of 2006!!!
It's a little late to be posting my Best Films of 2006 List but I think I've finally seen everything that might actually qualify! Pan's Labyrinth, Notes on a Scandal, Babel and Letters from Iwo Jima are just a few of the recent gems I could've viciously shunned had I not waited til this point. Unfortunately, I must annouce that I did not see Date Movie or Little Man, so they were tragically and perhaps unfairly not considered.
Without further ado, here is the list in reverse order, of course:
Top Ten Films of the Year
10. (tie) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Johnny, Keira and Orlando return for another swashbuckling good time that starts slow but ends with a juicy cliffhanger and some of the niftiest swordfights, well, ever. Okay it's not a great movie, but if you aren't salivating for number 3 coming in May, you're full of shit.
10. (tie) United 93: Paul Greengrass' 9/11 interpretation of the hostage takeover of Flight 93 is about as gut-wrenching as movies get. The proceedings are courageously realist and situational, giving this film an added edge over its Hollywood cousin WTC.
9. Eight Below: You can't go wrong with a troop of adorable Huskies, apparently even with Paul Walker in the lead (luckily he takes off his shirt once). Eight Below is a spirited tearjerker about Arctic survival and contains a few of the best performances of the year. Too bad dogs can't win Oscars.
8. Notes on a Scandal: Oscar-bait has never been so deliciously sensational. When the ravishing new art teacher (Cate Blanchette) in a London school is tempted into a scandalous underage affair, witness and fellow Prof Judi Dench takes advantage like only a raging lesbian sociopath can. Watching these screen goddesses duke it out is a blast.
7. Babel: Definitely worthy of its praise, both as a timely examination of modern intolerance and a showcase of some rather haunting performances. I would've preferred if a few of the four inter-locked narratives ended on a more tragic note, but I guess concluding on a hopeful note can be a good thing too.
6. Pan's Labyrinth: A grim Fairy Tale set in post-WWII fascist Spain, Guillermo del Toro's fascinatingly creepy fable isn't for the wee ones. A little girl travels to live with her pregnant mom's cruel new hubby but decides rather to live in an imaginary world of twisting mazes, sentient mandrakes and sinister monsters with eyes in the palms of their hands. Why she prefers this bizarre nightmare is a mystery, but it makes for an uncanny narrative, both touching and disturbing.
5. Apocalypto: Mel Gibson may be a crazy anti-Semite, but he sure knows how to shoot an engrossing foreign-language action gore-fest. The Mayan vistas are breathtaking, but the thundering pace leaves little room to savour them.
4. The Descent: The slickest, scariest, smartest horror flick to hit theatres since The Ring, this dark subterranean saga teaches us there's only one thing scarier than a claustrophobic cave-in: devolved humanoid killing machines.
3. Letters From Iwo Jima: Clint Eastwood's Japanese companion to Flags of our Fathers is the much stronger film of the two. Letters not only manages to give a haunting historical depiction of desperate measures and forced honor, as the severely short-handed Japanese futilely defend Iwo Jima, but it also allows us the chance to see war from a decidedly new perspective, giving it contemporary relevance during the attacks on the Middle East. Letters may be shot in another language, but the humanity and strength of courage at its heart are not lost in translation.
2. Children of Men: Set in a future where women are inexplicably infertile, this demoralizing dystopia is an absolute rush. Sure it leaves many questions unanswered, but that only makes the backdrop of chaos more harsh and engaging, as we follow the exploits of a few heroes frantically leading one bafflingly pregnant woman to survival.
1. The Departed: The potboiling race between the Boston mafia and police force to discover their respective undercover moles (Leo DiCaprio and Matt Damon) is total popcorn fun and the writing and performances are pure delight.
Without further ado, here is the list in reverse order, of course:
Top Ten Films of the Year
10. (tie) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: Johnny, Keira and Orlando return for another swashbuckling good time that starts slow but ends with a juicy cliffhanger and some of the niftiest swordfights, well, ever. Okay it's not a great movie, but if you aren't salivating for number 3 coming in May, you're full of shit.
10. (tie) United 93: Paul Greengrass' 9/11 interpretation of the hostage takeover of Flight 93 is about as gut-wrenching as movies get. The proceedings are courageously realist and situational, giving this film an added edge over its Hollywood cousin WTC.
9. Eight Below: You can't go wrong with a troop of adorable Huskies, apparently even with Paul Walker in the lead (luckily he takes off his shirt once). Eight Below is a spirited tearjerker about Arctic survival and contains a few of the best performances of the year. Too bad dogs can't win Oscars.
8. Notes on a Scandal: Oscar-bait has never been so deliciously sensational. When the ravishing new art teacher (Cate Blanchette) in a London school is tempted into a scandalous underage affair, witness and fellow Prof Judi Dench takes advantage like only a raging lesbian sociopath can. Watching these screen goddesses duke it out is a blast.
7. Babel: Definitely worthy of its praise, both as a timely examination of modern intolerance and a showcase of some rather haunting performances. I would've preferred if a few of the four inter-locked narratives ended on a more tragic note, but I guess concluding on a hopeful note can be a good thing too.
6. Pan's Labyrinth: A grim Fairy Tale set in post-WWII fascist Spain, Guillermo del Toro's fascinatingly creepy fable isn't for the wee ones. A little girl travels to live with her pregnant mom's cruel new hubby but decides rather to live in an imaginary world of twisting mazes, sentient mandrakes and sinister monsters with eyes in the palms of their hands. Why she prefers this bizarre nightmare is a mystery, but it makes for an uncanny narrative, both touching and disturbing.
5. Apocalypto: Mel Gibson may be a crazy anti-Semite, but he sure knows how to shoot an engrossing foreign-language action gore-fest. The Mayan vistas are breathtaking, but the thundering pace leaves little room to savour them.
4. The Descent: The slickest, scariest, smartest horror flick to hit theatres since The Ring, this dark subterranean saga teaches us there's only one thing scarier than a claustrophobic cave-in: devolved humanoid killing machines.
3. Letters From Iwo Jima: Clint Eastwood's Japanese companion to Flags of our Fathers is the much stronger film of the two. Letters not only manages to give a haunting historical depiction of desperate measures and forced honor, as the severely short-handed Japanese futilely defend Iwo Jima, but it also allows us the chance to see war from a decidedly new perspective, giving it contemporary relevance during the attacks on the Middle East. Letters may be shot in another language, but the humanity and strength of courage at its heart are not lost in translation.
2. Children of Men: Set in a future where women are inexplicably infertile, this demoralizing dystopia is an absolute rush. Sure it leaves many questions unanswered, but that only makes the backdrop of chaos more harsh and engaging, as we follow the exploits of a few heroes frantically leading one bafflingly pregnant woman to survival.
1. The Departed: The potboiling race between the Boston mafia and police force to discover their respective undercover moles (Leo DiCaprio and Matt Damon) is total popcorn fun and the writing and performances are pure delight.
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