Dawn of the Planet of the Apes aimed for spring 2014 release

Due for release in May of 2014, the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes will be directed by the very talented newcomer Matt Reeves who also directed Cloverfield (2008) and Let Me In (2010), which was a remake of the excellent Swedish teen vampire movie, Let the Right One In (2008).

Rise of the Planet of the Apes successfully rebooted the popular Planet of the Apes movies with an emotionally grounded story using the motion capture CG technology used in Avatar (2009), instead of people in costumes used in the original 1960s and 70s series. Director Rupert Wyatt was proud when he claimed that the filmmakers were dedicated to bringing a powerful and authentic emotional experience to the film.

With Matt Reeves now helming the new sequel, which is set fifteen years after the events of the previous film, it looks to be in good hands and anticipation is high for fans that are looking forward to another great Apes movie.

Even more encouraging is the news that Mark Bomback is rewriting the screenplay originally written by Scott Burns who also wrote Contagion (2011). Bomback is the screenwriter for such recent blockbuster films as Total Recall (2012), Unstoppable (2010) and Live Free or Die Hard (2007). He also wrote the upcoming X-Men film The Wolverine (2013).

Andy Serkis who has made a career out of playing CG characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001 – 2003), King Kong in Peter Jackson’s remake King Kong (2005) and Captain Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin (2011), will again reprise the title role of the simian rebel leader Ceasar. Also just signed on to star in the film as a human character, is Australian actor Jason Clarke who was recently seen in Zero Dark Thirty (2012) as an interrogator. 

With such high caliber talent working on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, I’ll be looking forward to a very exciting summer next year. But with the film only in pre-production and scheduled to start shooting this spring, Matt Reeves is now under the gun and has only a little over one year to do what most directors would need two or three years to do. Some people, including the original director Rupert Wyatt, have already voiced concerns that the tight schedule is just not enough time to produce the same standard of quality, especially with the large amount of CG effects work that these films require. Rupert left the project due to creative differences with the studio. 

Is 20^th Century Fox rushing this film out because they don’t want to compete with the likes of Star Wars: Episode VII and Avatar 2, both scheduled for release in the summer of 2015? If so, there will be a lot of pressure to complete this new installment in the hugely popular Planet of the Apes franchise by next year. Is this new prequel series living up to the legacy of its predecessors, which maximized profits with each sequel by being made with less and less time and money, resulting in the deterioration of each subsequent film?

Changing directors during pre-production is never a good sign and rushing to get this film out in half the time needed could hurt the film. Steven Soderbergh, who recently retired from making big feature films, and other directors like George Lucas have complained for years about the corporate Hollywood studio’s arrogance, interference and lack of respect for the creative process of artists. That somehow the studios know better when it comes to what audiences want to see with focus groups and statistics, and that there’s no more room for the creative vision of the director. We might well be seeing the result of that here.

JP

Enlightenment Guaranteed

Enlightenment Guaranteed (2000) is a light hearted but touching comedy by German director Doris Dörrie, known for such illuminating films as Men… (1985) and Cherry Blossoms (2008), also set in Japan. It's about two affluent middle aged brothers, Uwe and Gustav, who are going through a midlife crisis and end up roaming the streets of Tokyo together. 

A German couple with three children, who seem to have everything, are finding that in their pursuit of success and providing for their family, they have somehow lost touch with the important things in life that can make a big difference in achieving happiness. This is the place where Petra, the wife of Uwe, finds herself one day, when she decides she’s had enough and leaves her husband, taking their kids with her and leaving the house empty.  

Doris Dörrie is known for dealing with controversial and spiritual issues, and the stresses of modern day living with a light humorous touch.  She explores and questions our society and why people have become so miserable while showing us how we have abandoned or lost touch with many of the simple pleasures that we take for granted in exchange for an unrealistic and unsustainable life style that is at odds with our natural environment and our health. 

When Uwe arrives home to find an abandoned house and a note from his wife that she has left him, he is devastated and calls his older brother Gustav for support. Dissatisfied with his life, Gustav is preparing to go on a spiritual journey to a Zen monastery in Japan to get in touch with his inner spirit while coming to terms with his identity, when he gets the call from his distraught brother with the news of his wife’s departure. 

The movie is filmed in a home video style and sometimes recorded with Uwe’s video camera in reality show fashion, as both brothers talk into the camera to express their thoughts and feelings about each other and the strange experiences they encounter. The video footage fits well with the travel theme and shows another dimension to the characters.

When Uwe hears about his brother’s planned trip to Tokyo, he begs him not to leave during his time of need. His brother reluctantly relents and decides to take him along with him to get his mind off his misery and spend some time together. So starts a soul searching journey with two very different people who haven’t spent this much time together since childhood and must find a way to reconcile their differences and put up with each other’s criticisms while also navigating a foreign country. 

In the human maze that is Tokyo, Japan, lost in the tech gadget obsessed city, through a series of humorous mishaps, they soon lose their money, credit cards and hotel room, which are shown in a funny vignette that exposes their differing personality traits. After a night spent sleeping in a cemetery under cardboard boxes, they eventually find their way to the Buddhist temple where their journey of self-discovery begins.  

Life in an actual Japanese Buddhist monastery is shown in remarkable authentic detail through the daily rituals and chores that must be performed by all its residents. The monks all have specific duties and they help the two brothers, who don’t speak the language, to learn and adhere to the challenging spiritual routine. 

What’s fascinating about this film is the sense of contentment the two brothers and we the audience feel when they finally learn to accept their faults and enjoy life. Putting their differences aside, they learn to respect and help each other and forge a true bond of friendship while finding peace and acceptance. 

I found this film to be truly enlightening and full of surprises and humor.   

JP

The Pool

The Pool (2007) is an oasis of calm blue serenity, quietly reflecting the aspirations and yearnings of a young man in an otherwise harsh selfish world of grinding poverty. It’s a charming and sensitively observed, naturalistic, almost documentary like portrait of the coming of age experiences of a pair of young boys eking out a living on the streets of Goa, India. 

Directed and written by Chis Smith using a small American and Indian film crew on a shoestring budget, they went to Goa with a story outline and a couple of laptops. Inspired by the local environment and using actual street kids who they found working there, they improvised and created a sincere moral fable.

A curious observant young teen, Venkatesh from a nearby rural province, aimlessly dreams of making it big in the city, as he works cleaning rooms for a hotel in the capital of Goa, Panaji. When he’s not working, he admires the enticing tranquil sight of a clear blue glistening swimming pool, while sitting in a mango tree overlooking a summer home occupied by a wealthy man from Mumbai, and his young daughter. 

The dialogue is minimal but very organic, adding a level of documentary like realism. The movie slowly but steadily works its magic as we become drawn to and then mesmerized by the authentic characters, who we follow on their daily routine. Without realizing it, we’re subtly lured into their lives.

One day, Venkatesh follows the pool owner into town and offers his services to help prune the lush garden surrounding his pool. The man, Nana, played by the only well-known Bollywood actor in the film, Nana Patekar, having lost his son and wanting to impart his wisdom to someone, puts him to work in his garden.

The visuals are beautifully photographed with 35mm handheld cameras in the picturesque environments of this former Portuguese colonial beach city, adding to the realistic and immersive feel. We get to see the actual people who work and live in places as they really exist, making this film a fascinating glimpse into the Goan way of life. 

While working in the Garden, happy to finally be close to the pool he had admired from afar, Venkatesh meets the pool owner’s beautiful daughter and is immediately entranced by her impish nature. He slowly starts to engage her in conversation and introduces her to his best friend Jhangir, who also works in the city. The three of them eventually become friends while hanging out together and traveling to different parts of the city. 

The music score is another wonderful element in the film; an Indo-Portuguese melancholic mix of mandolins and violins. The Fado inspired music gives a feeling of longing and loss that fits perfectly with the classic story of people living with their past in an environment evocative of an ancient lost civilization. 

As Nana, the pool owner, mentors Venkatesh, he eventually offers to give him a real education if he will come to Mumbai with him. Venkatesh must now make a life changing decision. Will he leave his friends and family and his peaceful life in Goa, or will he stay and pass up a big opportunity to study in the exciting city of Bombay? 

Like a free spirit from an Arabian Nights fable, Venkatesh, by quietly observing life from the branches of his mango tree and because of his generous nature, makes some simple deductions that lead serendipitously to him making his modest dreams come true while helping those around him. Don’t miss this unexpected genuine gem of a film that deserves all the attention it can get.

JP

My annual review of 2012 film year

It’s that time of year again when critics give us their top ten film lists. Zero Dark Thirty, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, Amour, Argo, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook and Holy Motors were some of 2012’s top rated films by North American film critics. 

My top rated films of 2012; the films that made me want to run out and read the book, the script or listen to the soundtrack album, the ones that surprised me with something new and unusual, were Prometheus, Kahaani, Mumbai’s King, Bernie, End of Watch, Moonrise Kingdom, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, Samsara, Wreck-It Ralph and Comic-con: A Fan’s Hope.

It was not a particularly favorable year for Sci-fi/Fantasy films as several high profile projects fell to disappointing reviews and box office. Among the casualties were; John Carter, Wrath of the Titans, Battleship, Snow White and the Huntsman, Total Recall and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Although, I found that some of these films did not deserve the misfortune they were handed. I quite enjoyed watching Wrath of the Titans, Snow White and the Huntsman, Total Recall and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I think these are all worthwhile films that deserve a second look. 

On the other hand, Sci-fi films that did well this year and were very well received are as follows: The Avengers, Men in Black 3, Prometheus, The Amazing Spider-man, The Dark Knight Rises, The Cabin in the Woods, and Looper. Although frankly, regardless of the critical acclaim, I personally did not care for The Dark Knight Rises or The Cabin in the Woods as much as other people did.

As far as the Action/Adventure/Thriller genre goes, I saw a few good films that included, The Raid: Redemption, The Bourne Legacy, Easy Money, and Django Unchained. Skyfall, the new Bond film, was a disappointment for me and didn’t impress me as much as it did the critics. But then I was never a big Bond fan anyways.

The Drama category had some excellent touching and heartfelt movies represented this year. Among my favorites were; A Separation, Miss Bala, Kahaani, The Intouchables, Mumbai’s King, End of Watch, Midnight’s Children, Life of Pi, and Zero Dark Thirty. Honorable mentions go to commendable films like Monsieur Lazhar, In Darkness, The Kid with a Bike, The Master, Argo and Lincoln.

It was an excellent year for the romantic comedy section, which had some particularly exemplary films released. The following are the ones I enjoyed most; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Bernie, Moonrise Kingdom, To Rome with Love, Hope Springs, OMG: Oh My God!, and Silver Linings Playbook.

There were plenty of good animated films again in 2012. I enjoyed all of the following excellent films, Wreck-It Ralph, Brave, The Secret World of Arrietty, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted, Ice Age: Continental Drift, The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and ParaNorman.

Some notable documentaries that I have seen so far, although I should stress that there were many great documentaries which I have not yet seen, include Comic-con: Episode IV – A Fan’s Hope, Chasing Ice, Bully, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, The Queen of Versailles, Samsara and The Imposter.

JP

Total Recall

Len Wiseman’s remake of the Paul Verhoeven film Total Recall (1990) with Colin Farrell replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role of Doug Quaid, based on the Philip K. Dick short story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1966) is a worthy kinetic Sci-Fi Action Adventure film. 

A factory worker, Quaid, living in the underworld of a worker colony, commutes to work every day in the United Federation of Britain (UFB) on the other side of the planet by way of a global magnetic elevator transport vehicle that travels through the earth’s core. 

Beautifully designed by director Wiseman, known for the Underworld movies, with a blend of futuristic and classical architecture, it shows an over populated dreary world of multi-layered cities connected with industrial landing platforms and super highways used by an array of hovering and flying vehicles. 

Suffering from strange dreams of being a secret agent, he decides to go on a virtual vacation by way of a machine that implants artificial memories of being somewhere you’ve always wanted to go. As part of this mind altering vacation you also get to give yourself a new identity.  

The visual design of the film looks much more impressive than the original Paul Verhoeven film, which was a tongue-in-cheek humorous look at the future. This new film creates a more immersive and realistic mix of sleek futuristic technology, Victorian inspired architecture and grungy cube shaped slum dwellings with retro style neon lights. There is a definite visual homage to previous films based on Philip Dick’s books like Blade Runner (1982) and Minority Report (2002), and I got a similar feeling of a dark oppressive future world that you get from those films. 

What Quaid is not aware of, is that his mind has already been tampered with and that his dreams of being a secret agent are actually real memories left over from another life he lived as, Carl Hauser, a defected UFB spy. 

There is sort of a Logan’s Run (1976) feeling you get from the story of a special agent who has been tricked into taking a mission because of his unique talents making him the only one suited for the job.  He is partnered with a female insider who can help him navigate the underworld of the resistance as they travel through a maze of unique environments eventually leading the authoritarian forces to the secret hideout of the rebels.

There are quite a number of exciting, fun sequences that give the film its relentless drive and keeps the viewer engaged in the story. There’s a suspenseful chase in a labyrinth of elevators that move in multiple directions, a floating car chase through a multi-leveled cityscape that’s visually breath taking, a rooftop chase through the slums of a worker colony that looks like a future Hong Kong, and a climactic supersonic magnetic transport vehicle, called ‘The Fall’, that runs through the earth’s core from one end to the other in just 17 minutes.

If you’re a fan of Philip Dick’s mind altering, conspiracy fueled, surreal future world stories, then you won’t be disappointed with this film, which stays true to the spirit of Dick’s ideas. If however you were a fan of Paul Verhoeven’s lighter hearted take on the story, you may not enjoy this film as much. The whole trip to Mars element has been eliminated and although there are some fun nods to the original film, the humor is definitely lacking in this more serious but engaging updated remake. 

JP

Looper

Finally an intelligent, thought provoking Sci-fi movie along the same lines as The Adjustment Bureau (2011) and Source Code (2011). A time travel brain teaser set in a dark dystopian near future world that looks like a mix of Blade Runner (1982) and 12 Monkeys (1995), which also starred Bruce Willis. 

Gun totting assassins called ‘Loopers’ are well paid to kill people sent back in time from 30 years in the future by a criminal syndicate who need to dispose of people without leaving a trace.  An unusual fate awaits these hit-men once they have outlived their usefulness. Their future self will get sent back in time to be killed by their younger self in the past; this is called closing the loop. They then have only 30 years to live out the remainder of their life.

In the time honored time travel tradition of Back to the Future (1985), Looper plays on the connection of how the past shapes our future, but with an interesting twist. Taking the premise from the fascinating Michael Apted documentary The 7Up Series (1964 - 2012), which asserts that our personalities are already set by events that shape our lives at age seven, Looper uses this intriguing idea surrounding a mysterious six year old boy who is born with a special ability that he uses in his later adult life for evil purposes.

A young looper, Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, recently seen in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), 50/50 (2011) and Inception (2010), living a life of excess with the loads of money he makes from the mob, is addicted to drugs and prostitutes, to take the edge off all the killing. Eventually he realizes that in order to prevent his future from coming back to haunt him, he must stop the vicious cycle in the present.

This is a Sci-Fi film that looks more like a futuristic action gangster film and will appeal to people who are not necessarily into Science Fiction but enjoy a suspenseful action thriller. There’s a bleak apocalyptic feel to it as the future looks more like a nightmare. Clearly our selfish obsession with money and consumerism will continue to have a devastating impact on our future population and world as it does today.

When a new crime boss called ‘The Rainmaker’ decides to close the loop on all the loopers in the future by sending them back in time to be executed, Joe is forced to kill his future self and lives out the rest of his thirty year life. But when they finally come for him and murder his wife, he uses the time machine to travel back to his younger self with the intention of changing a few things. Believing that his future wife can be saved if he eliminates The Rainmaker, who is taking over the crime syndicates, he plans to find him in the past where he is still only a six year old boy. 

What if we could go back in time and eliminate the young Hitler before he formed all his hateful ideas and influenced so many people to follow him, thus sparing history the Second World War. Knowing what we know of the past we would not hesitate to kill him, sparing the lives of millions of people. But what if the young boy Hitler was only 6 years old and could not be killed? At this age, according to the Jesuit motto; ‘Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man’, all it would take to change the future is the love and influence of a caring adult.

As young Joe and old Joe meet, they battle each other over the boy’s destiny and that of their own. 

JP

Zero Dark Thirty

Osama Bin Laden was brought down by a woman!  One woman working for the CIA, who lost many friends and did everything in her power to keep the hunt for the most wanted man alive going, managed to find his hideout even though there was no conclusive evidence that he was there. 

Directed by the first woman in history to win a Best Director Oscar for the movie The Hurt Locker (2009), Kathryn Bigelow’s new film is a detailed account of how Bin Laden’s hideout was finally discovered after ten years of gathering intelligence. 

Are you curious about why it took so long to find the most wanted man on earth, the man responsible for the 911 terrorist attacks that claimed thousands of innocent lives? Or how he was ultimately found? This movie answers those questions. It’s not quite as exciting as the bomb defusing squad movie The Hurt Locker, but the last forty minutes of Zero Dark Thirty that shows the secret operation going into Pakistan to raid Bin Laden’s compound is mesmerizing. 

The movie depicts our self-assured heroine, Maya, in conflicts and rivalries with various department heads and colleagues within the CIA organization. She has extensive knowledge of the enemy and is an expert in Al-Qaeda’s tactics. But when a false lead turns tragic, she becomes even more determined to see Bin Laden brought to justice. Jessica Chastain is well cast as the confident but vulnerable CIA agent who will stop at nothing to get what she needs, and has been nominated for an Oscar for her role in this movie. 

Filmed in a documentary style, we are immersed in the high security world of CIA agents in the field and their interrogation tactics at ‘black sites’, or unknown locations around the world, punctuated by terrorist bombings in public locations and the real threat that Al Qaeda poses as fanatical suicide bombers quickly adapt and take advantage of lapses in security. 

We all know how this story ends but what’s interesting is how it gets there and how after years of interrogations and bad leads due to human error, it finally comes down to some lucky breaks, a hunch, and one woman’s determination.  The story is in the details. 

We have all read and heard about the Special Forces team that flew into hostile territory with helicopters in the dead of night and quickly broke into a highly secured walled compound, identifying and extracting the body of Osama Bin Laden while everyone slept. This film shows us in detail how that operation actually went down and the courageous woman who was behind it. 

Don’t miss this inspiring film about one of the most important events in recent history by one of our most exciting film makers. 

JP

Silver Linings Playbook

This is a hilarious romantic comedy that’s also a smart family drama by the director of The Fighter (2010). As the winner of the People’s Choice Award at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), it’s a huge crowd pleaser and continues to win awards. In fact, at the packed house theater where I saw it recently it was very enthusiastically received. 

A young married man struggling with bipolar disorder, Pat Solatano, from a loud family of Philadelphia Eagles fans, spends eight months in a psychiatric facility following a violent attack on his wife’s lover when he walked in on them having sex in their home. When the film starts he’s just being released and determined to be more positive and repair his relationship with his wife by proving that he’s a new person, except that everyone in town now think he’s crazy and he can’t go near his wife due to a restraining order. 

Although the movie does have some formulaic story elements, what makes this particular comedy unique is that it brings together the passionate world of fanatical football fans, and the graceful world of ballroom dancing, which somehow collide in a spectacularly funny but emotional climax. This clash of masculine and feminine sports makes this movie appealing to both men and women, and there are not many films you can say that about. 

Having lost his job and house, Pat must move back in with his parents who are disappointed but supportive and try to make every effort to help him with his anger issues while he sorts out his life. Much of the humor comes out of the family dynamic as Pat adjusts to living with his eccentric parents while trying to stay positive. 

There is quite a bit of manipulation going on in the film that we the audience are not aware of until close to the end, which makes the climax even more of a surprise and has you wondering what just happened but we are having so much fun that we don’t feel cheated. It’s a bit like The Sixth Sense (1999) in the sense that part of the fun is the sudden discovery of who has been manipulating who. 

When he meets a beautiful young woman, Tiffany, with problems of her own dealing with the death of her husband, they have an immediate connection as far as their experiences overcoming a recent tragedy.  She offers to help him get a message to his wife if he agrees to help her get into a dance contest. 

There are many family dysfunctional issues touched upon that all ring very true to life and the same can also be said of the terrific performances by the ensemble cast. The chemistry between Pat and Tiffany, played by Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, in situations that many of us can relate to, makes us care and cheer for them throughout the film. 

With the hope of communicating with his wife, Pat agrees to help Tiffany and ends up spending a lot of time getting to know intimate details about her and vice versa, but when his demanding family gets in the way of his commitment to helping Tiffany, things come to a head with surprising revelations that set the stage for the suspenseful climax. 

This film also reminded me a bit of Lars and the Real Girl (2007), which I highly recommend, where with the help of a psychiatrist and the small community he lives in, a young man eventually overcomes deep psychological issues. Similarly, Silver Linings Playbook is a wonderful feel-good film you won’t regret seeing. 

JP

Django Unchained

Set in 1858, two years before the US Civil War, the story deals with the brutal treatment of slaves in the American Deep South, much the same way that Inglourious Basterds (2009), dealt with the treatment of Jews in Nazi occupied France. In this alternate Tarantino universe every white person working or living on cotton plantations is tainted by the legacy of slavery and can therefore justifiably be disposed of as part of the evil oppression gripping this part of the nation. 

Be prepared for another bloody splatter fest from Quentin Tarantino. In his love for violent revenge fantasies, Tarantino unleashes more than his usual amount of blood and dynamite with over-the-top explosions and buckets of blood every time someone gets shot. The movie is mesmerizing with its detailed account of two fictional characters struggling through a not so fictional ugly period in American history.

Using the Spaghetti Western style, we follow a recently purchased slave, Django, as he encounters and becomes the protégé of a fast talking German bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz.  Similar to the way that Tarantino starts his movies with his signature shoot first and ask questions later graphic killing scene followed by a long explanation or flashback of what had occurred before to justify this violent action, bounty hunter Schultz also shoots first and explains his actions in detail after the dust settles. 

Posing as a dentist, Dr. Schultz requires the help of a slave to identify a gang of brothers he is hunting for the bounty on their heads. Django, who comes from the plantation they work on, agrees to help Dr. Schultz, who abhors slavery and offers to give him his freedom if he cooperates. Django naturally becomes a little over zealous with his new position as a defender and avenger of slaves as he hones his skill with a gun and is quick to dispatch the cruel white men who we learn have tortured him and his wife on the plantation. 

It’s a long movie but you hardly notice the time go by as the epic story unfolds with plenty of suspense, humor and action. Like most of Tarantino’s films there are long tense sequences of people talking with punchy and sometimes hilarious dialogue detailing the fascinating but horrific aspects of life in the American Deep South and always making sure that the characters are behaving logically, given their situation, punctuated by sudden explosive scenes of graphic bloodletting. 

Learning that Django has a wife that he was separated from at a slave auction, Dr. Schultz offers to help him find her if he assists in collecting the rest of his bounties. Django agrees since it would be almost impossible for him to find and rescue his wife alone.  When our avenging duo finally discovers the whereabouts of Django’s wife, they put their daring plan into action. But when they get there, they realize that rescuing Django’s house slave wife from the clutches of a ruthless plantation owner with a sadistic bent, is not going to be easy. 

Audiences either love or loath Tarantino’s films but whatever your feelings about this exceptional film maker, he does have a special talent for writing suspenseful movie scripts with gripping storylines and extremely motivated characters. He has an undeniable knowledge and passion for films and film lore, having worked as a video store clerk for much of his youth. And his visual style and talent for finding the perfect actors to play the demanding roles in his stories has made him a legend among cinephiles who appreciate the many film references in his movies. 

It’s not surprising that one of Tarantino’s favorite films last year was Rise of the Planet of theApes (2011), which was also a revenge fantasy about caged zoo apes turning on their human oppressors. It will be interesting to see which downtrodden, maltreated, discriminated group will get their payback in Tarantino’s next film. 

JP

Magic & Myth: Fairy Tales on Film

2013 is shaping up to be the year of the Fairy Tale. A number of film adaptations of popular children’s tales are coming soon to theaters as the fairy tale genre is making a comeback with highly anticipated releases of such wondrous fantasies as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Now playing), Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters (Jan. 25), The Sorcerer and the White Snake (Feb. 8), Jack the Giant Slayer (March 1), Oz: The Great and Powerful (March 8), Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (Aug. 16), Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage (2013), and computer animated films like Epic (May 24), and Dorothy of Oz (2013). 

Hollywood is breathing new life into these timeless traditional fables that may draw some children and adults back to the original canon of stories by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, the authors of the ancient Arabian Nights tales, and Greek, Roman and Norse myths. The enchanting worlds and characters in folklore, populated with mythical supernatural beings like Giants, Dragons, Wizards, Witches, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Ogres, Trolls, Titans,  Cyclopes’, flying horses and all manner of creatures never seen before, have always fascinated audiences young and old alike, as they sat around a crackling fire. 

Making these stories come alive, using special visual effects techniques unique to the new medium of film, was a natural irresistible impulse from the beginning, but proved to be a daunting task, and notoriously difficult and expensive to do realistically. The brave films that attempted these types of stories using puppets, men in suits or stop-motion models, often looked antiquated at best. But that didn’t stop people from trying any way they could, no matter how strange the outcome, so willing are we to suspend our disbelief in order that we may relive that feeling of wonder and excitement we remember as children. 

Made by a special breed of dedicated artists and craftsmen, most of whom were relegated to obscurity except for a handful, who eventually became as legendary as the mythical beasts they made come to life, these films gained a loyal fan following. People like Georges Méliès, Willis O’Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Jim Henson, Dennis Muren and Phil Tippet were just some of the unsung heroes of  magic and myth come vividly to life, in such classic cult fantasy adventure films as King Kong (1933), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), One Million Years B.C. (1966), Clash of the Titans (1981), Dragonslayer (1981), The Dark Crystal (1982), The NeverEnding Story (1984), Legend (1985), Labyrinth (1986), Willow (1988), and The Adventure of Baron Munchausen (1989). 

Folk & fairy tales have traditionally been the domain of animation because it was easier and cheaper to create fantastic stories by simply drawing them on paper. But the results were two dimensional and not nearly as exciting as live-action. That all changed with the phenomenal success of Star Wars (1977), which enabled George Lucas to hire a small group of computer geeks in the early 80s to develop new ways to use the up and coming science of computers in the production and editing of visual effects in movies. It was the beginning of a new digital revolution that would change the way movies were made and set the entire film industry on a course toward a digital future. The fledgling group of computer geeks eventually became known as PIXAR and their pioneering technology gave rise to landmark films like Jurassic Park (1993) and Toy Story (1995), featuring the first realistic digital characters. 

Both live action and animated films have greatly benefited from digital advances in film making and we are now able to make anything we can imagine look amazingly real. The traditional methods of creating movie magic became almost obsolete and changed forever between the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Since then, fantasy films have enjoyed the benefits of much more realistic digital creations with movies like Jumanji (1995), DragonHeart (1996), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Arabian Nights (2000), The Lord of the Rings (2001 – 2003), and the Harry Potter series (2001 – 2011). 

The art and science of the digital medium continues to evolve and improve, showcasing their eye-popping visual creations in new fantasy tales and classic fables like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia (2005), King Kong (2005), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), The Golden Compass (2007), The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008), Inkheart (2009), Avatar (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Clash of the Titans (2010), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010), Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), John Carter (2012), Wrath of the Titans (2012), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). 

The future of the fantasy adventure is looking brighter every year as the technology gets cheaper and easier to use with awesome results. We can now look forward to all our favorite fairy tales, no matter how fantastic, being as real as you imagined them when your mother read the book to you as a child. Thus we can expect to see remakes and re-imaginings coming to theaters near you. 

Did you ever wonder what happened to Hansel and Gretel after their famous escape from the witch’s oven? Get ready for the story of Hansel & Gretel Witch Hunters (Jan. 25, 2013). All grown up now, they work as a pair of bounty hunting witch hunters starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton. 

Did you ever ask yourself how the great Wizard, from The Wizard of Oz (1939), ended up in the world of Oz? Well, with next year’s Oz: The Great and Powerful (March 8, 2013), we will finally know. 

You know of The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), but what about the other voyages? Now there is a new Sinbad adventure from the Arabian Night tales, Sinbad: The Fifth Voyage (2013).  

Also look for a spectacular new live action retelling of the classic Jack and the Beanstalk tale, Jack the Giant Slayer (March 1, 2013), by X-Men (2000), Superman Returns (2006) and Valkyrie (2008) director, Bryan Singer. 

There will also be a new Percy Jackson & the Olympians adventure coming to the big screen in August as the demigod teenager Percy Jackson battles Titans and Cyclopes’ in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, that will continue the popular book series created by Rick Riordan. 

Also look for The Sorcerer and the White Snake, a Chinese fantasy adventure film coming this February based on a Chinese legend about a thousand year old snake disguised as a woman who seduces a man when a sorcerer discovers her true identity.  

JP

Wreck-It Ralph

Disney animation is back in excellent form with Wreck-It Ralph, thanks to Pixar alumnus John Lasseter acting as Executive producer and the Pixar brain trust who were clearly involved in the heart felt story of a video game villain who decides he has had enough of being unappreciated.  

Ralph is lonely and bored, and the apartment dwellers in his video game world treat him like he’s the enemy, which he is, but he doesn’t feel like a bad person and he wants some appreciation and recognition from his tenants who run screaming for the super, Fix-It Felix, when they see him coming. So he goes out in search of a more rewarding career where people will actually value his talents and award him with a nice shiny medal. That’ll show them that he can also be a hero. But where or when has the bad guy ever won a medal? 

Like the Toy Story (1995) concept of toys living a secret life when people are not around, in Wreck-It Ralph, when the video arcade lights go out, and the doors close after everyone has left, the game characters come to life and live in a secret world of their own where characters can freely travel from their own game into other arcade games via the electrical wires and the surge protected power bar that connects everything together. The power bar acts as a sort of central station through which everyone must travel to get to the video game world you want to visit. 

There are three visually distinct and uniquely fun gaming worlds that we get to travel around in. Ralph’s home game world, called ‘Fix-It Felix’ is an older wholesome game but is considered to be cool and still popular with many younger kids. Representing the newer, darker, edgier high definition, violent first person shooter games, is ‘Hero’ s Duty’, which has an infestation of creepy flying bugs to shoot at and a cold dark blue neon Tron style visual look, not to mention a curvaceous armor wearing, laser gun toting heroine. 

Without their villain, the people of the Fix-It Felix game now have nothing to do and their game quickly becomes in danger of being shut down.  Meanwhile Ralph decides to check out ‘Hero’s Duty’ where he learns of the glorious medal he’s been dreaming of that will gain him respect back at home, if he can get his gamer to the top level in the extremely difficult game which he has no experience in. 

Then there’s the candy land racing game of ‘Sugar Rush’ that looks like the inside of Charlie’s Chocolate factory, and is run by a King who looks like a munchkin from The Wizard of Oz.  This is where Ralph meets the spunky glitch girl Vanellope, played by Sara Silverman. When Vanellope started glitching, she was banished and now lives in the code of her electronic game where no one can find her as she tries to figure out a way to regain her rightful standing in the game. 

Don’t underestimate the power of Wreck-It Ralph. There are many things in the film that will resonate with those who are unsatisfied with their current job and desire a new career or have had to reinvent themselves to stay relevant in today’s challenging economy.  It’s also a visual treat to watch for children and adults. 

Following in the tradition started by Pixar of playing an original short animated film before each of its feature films, Wreck-It Ralph has adopted that tradition by playing a short film called Paperman before it starts. It’s a sweet boy meets girl fateful romantic encounter, boy loses girl and then finds her again after many comic and anxious mishaps. 

JP