Review: "The Lost Empire" is a Unique Disney Film (Happy B'day, Michael J. Fox)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – PG for action violence
DIRECTORS: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
WRITERS: Tab Murphy, from a story by Bryce Zabel, Jackie Zabel, Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise, and Tab Murphy; from a treatment by Joss Whedon with additional screenplay material by David Reynolds
PRODUCER: Don Hahn
EDITOR: Ellen Keneshea

ANIMATION/SCI-FI/FANTASY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: (voices) Michael J. Fox, Corey Burton, Claudia Christian, James Garner, John Mahoney, Phil Morris, Leonard Nimoy, Don Novello, Jacqueline Obradors, Florence Stanley, David Ogden Stiers, Natalie Strom, Cree Summer, and Jim Varney

The subject of this movie review is Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a 2001 animated film from Walt Disney Pictures. It was the first science fiction film created by Walt Disney Feature Animation. Set in 1914, the film follows a young man and his crew as they search for the lost city of Atlantis.

Unjustly ignored, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is not only a very good film (probably the best animated feature the year of its release), but it is also another example of why Walt Disney continues to be the gold standard in animated feature films.

Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, co-directors of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is the story of Milo Thatch (voice of Michael J. Fox), a young linguist who specializes in dead languages and who inherits his late grandfather’s obsession with the legendary lost city/state/continent of Atlantis. Milo joins a team of intrepid explorers searching for Atlantis as their guide because he can translate his grandfather’s book of Atlantean lore, which is also some kind of map to the lost empire.

Audiences and critics always expect the art of animation in a Disney film to be excellent even if the story isn’t. Both, in this case, are very good. From its 1914 urban setting to the journey into the ocean, through deep caverns, and to Atlantis itself, the animation is a scenic trip through the ability to not only draw beautifully, but to also tell a story with those drawings. The character designs by the great comic book artist Mike Mignola (Bram Stoker’s Dracula) are wonderful with their angular lines and wonderful curves. The animators took the designs and translated them into vibrant and interesting characters.

Screenwriter Tab Murphy (Disney’s Tarzan) crafted a script that captures the sense of wonder and awe of science fiction and fantasy films. It has the flavor of the 1999 remake of The Mummy and of Stargate. Not only is Atlantis: The Lost Empire a fine animated film, but also it’s a very good sci-fi. The film’s glaring weakness is in its stock characters - stereotypical ethnic characters, and unfunny comic relief, but those elements don’t hurt the film as much as they could.

Another part of the Disney magic is the voice cast, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire is no exception. In addition to Fox, James Garner, Claudia Christian, John Mahoney, Phil Morris, Leonard Nimoy, and Cree Summers among others deliver stellar work, a testament to their ability as actors to create characters.

Some of the computer animation seems awkward in the film, but much of computer generated imagery and all of its traditional cel animation is very good. Lost in the shuffle of the current wave of computer-animated films, Atlantis: The Lost Empire is a gem, an entertaining film for young and old, and an artistic achievement.

8 of 10
A

----------------

First "Madagascar" a Looney Tune

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 86 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


Madagascar (2005)
Running time: 80 minutes (1 hour, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG for mild language, crude humor, and some thematic elements
DIRECTORS: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
WRITERS: Mark Burton and Billy Frolick and Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
PRODUCER: Mireille Soria
EDITOR: Mark A. Hester

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter

The subject of this movie review is Madagascar, a 2005 computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation. The film focuses on a group of zoo animals accidentally shipped to Africa.

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) is king of the animal attractions at New York City’s Central Park Zoo. He and his friends: Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) have lived there their entire lives. However, on the day of his tenth birthday, Marty begins to wonder what life outside the zoo – in particular life in the wild, would be like. With the help of four crafty penguins, Marty escapes the zoo for an overnight excursion. When his friends discover him missing, they also leave the zoo to rescue him.

The quartet attracts so much attention, and the sight of Alex the Lion running loose and free scares many New Yorkers. After the quartet is captured, they along with some other animals who escaped (two monkey’s and those darned penguins, again) are put on a cargo ship to be transferred to a zoo in Kenya. Once again, the penguins cause trouble and sabotage the ship, inadvertently causing Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria to be stranded on the exotic island of Madagascar. Now, the quartet has to learn to survive in this lush jungle paradise, but Marty, Melman, and Gloria discover, much to their chagrin, Alex’s wilder side.

Madagascar is the fifth feature-length computer animated film from DreamWorks through their computer animation studio, PDI (DreamWorks Animation). With each film, the art and craft of PDI’s computer graphics and animation markedly improves. In terms of the “drawing” style, this film is closer to the Warner Bros. cartoon shorts of the 1930’s and 40’s, in particular the work of cartoon directors Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Bob Clampett. The characters are designed to look 2D (two-dimensional), like the hand drawn cartoon characters featured in the aforementioned trio’s legendary work, although the Madagascar’s characters exist in the 3D (three-dimensional) world of computer animation.

How did PDI successfully create a computer animated film that looks like classic “cartoony” animated cartoons of yesteryear? What makes this work is that they mastered “squash and stretch,” the process which animators use to deform an object and then snap it back into shape to portray motion or impact. The ability to squash and stretch is essential to cartoon slapstick comedy such as the Road Runner cartoons. While squash and stretch are easy for animators to do with a pencil in hand-drawn/2D animation, it is more difficult for computer animators to do. DreamWorks Animation has successfully moved to the next level in terms of the quality of their work by creating characters that stretch and expand. It’s a film that able captures the manic energy of Avery, Jones, and Clampett’s Warner Bros. cartoons.

The animation of human characters and the layout, lighting, and set designs of human environments is shocking in how good it looks, but once the narrative moves to Madagascar the character animation really takes off. The characters bend, twist, elongate, and expand in a constant barrage that has the manic energy of classic cartoons. This also helps to sell a limp concept.

The plot is a basic fish-out-of-water tale without much imagination. The characters, except for the penguins, aren’t exceptional or memorable. They are good for some laughs, but they lack the zip, zest, or tang of cast of the Shrek franchise. The buddies of this buddy film, Alex and Marty, have some chemistry, but aren’t that dynamic a duo. Actually, the animals and the actors that give voice to them (Stiller, Rock, Schwimmer, and Ms. Jada) have the best chemistry as either a trio or a quartet. Put three or four together, and the film sparkles and splashes over with slapstick comedy that works. Cut the quartet in half and the narrative loses its energy.

Overall, Madagascar is a pleasant family comedy with some exceptionally strong humor that should appeal to adults; plus, the film references lots of other movies, and that keeps older viewers interested. DreamWorks Animation hasn’t yet reached Pixar, the gold standard in computer animation, but the quality of entertainment in Madagascar proves that the studio can deliver high-quality, if not classic, animated entertainment.

7 of 10
B+

"Madagascar 2" is Kinda like "The Lion King"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
Running time: 89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
MPAA – PG for mild crude humor
DIRECTORS: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
WRITERS: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath and Etan Cohen
PRODUCERS: Mireille Soria and Mark Swift
EDITORS: Mark A. Hester and H. Lee Peterson
COMPOSER: Hans Zimmer

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ADVENTURE/FAMILY/FANTASY

Starring: (voices) Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, John DiMaggio, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sherri Shepherd, will.i.am, and Elisa Gabrielli

The subject of this movie review is Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a 2008 computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation and a sequel to the 2005 film, Madagascar. It is also the company’s 10th computer-animated feature film released to theatres. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa finds the zoo animal heroes from the first film now accidentally stranded in Africa.

Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) was the king of New York City. Actually, he was the king of the animal attractions at New York City’s Central Park Zoo. He and his friends: Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), had lived at the zoo practically their entire lives. However, a series of events found them stranded on the exotic island of Madagascar. Four crafty Penguins: Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Private (Christopher Knights), and Rico (John DiMaggio) were also stranded with them.

In Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Alex and friends and the penguins hope a rickety airplane can get them back to New York. The Madagascar lemurs: King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer), and Mort (Andy Richter) join them on a flight that goes bad quickly. Now, the group is stranded in continental Africa, where Alex (whose birth name is “Alakay”) is reunited with his parents, his father, Zuba the Lion (Bernie Mac), and his mother, Florrie the Lioness (Sherri Shepherd). It is a happy reunion until a rival, Makunga the Lion (Alec Baldwin), hatches a plot to use Alex to unseat Zuba as king of the pride.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is an exceedingly family-friendly film; for a DreamWorks Animation production, it has surprisingly little scatological humor or romantic innuendo. The story is rife with themes built around family and friendship, and it emphasizes that friends can also be another kind of family. Escape 2 Africa is all about love, and in this story, love means understanding and then, acceptance.

I find the last half hour of this film to be much better than the rest. Getting the duet featuring Alex and Zuba makes watching this movie worth the time spent. As was the case with the first film, there is a subplot featuring the Madagascar penguins, who are some of my all-time favorite animated characters. This plot involves some tourists and hundreds of monkeys, and it’s like its own mini-movie – a good mini-movie.

Like the first film, Escape 2 Africa has great production values. The character animation and the overall film design and art direction are beautiful; this is the computer animation equivalent of The Lion King, one of Walt Disney’s most gorgeous and visually striking films. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa won’t have the place in film history that The Lion King has, but I love this movie’s almost-obsession with being about family and friends. It is a movie that has just enough balance to get parents to watch it with their children.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

First "Hobbit" Film Makes World Premiere November 28 2012

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the First Film in Peter Jackson's Epic Adaptation of the Timeless Book, to Make Its World Premiere on Wednesday, November 28, in Wellington, New Zealand

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gearing up for the global release of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the epic adventure will have its world premiere on November 28, 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand. A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is the first of two films from filmmaker Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, who shot the films concurrently on locations across New Zealand.

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first of two films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The second film will be “The Hobbit: There and Back Again.” Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins. Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Billy Connolly, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner.

The screenplays for both “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” are by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro. Jackson is also producing the films, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producer.

Under Jackson’s direction, both movies are being shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Filming is taking place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

Among the creative behind-the-scenes team returning to Jackson’s crew are director of photography Andrew Lesnie, production designer Dan Hennah, conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe, composer Howard Shore and make-up and hair designer Peter King. The costumes are designed by Ann Maskrey and Richard Taylor. The score is being composed by Howard Shore.

Taylor is also overseeing the design and production of weaponry, armour and prosthetics which are once again being made by the award winning Weta Workshop. Weta Digital take on the visual effects for both films, led by the film’s visual effects supervisor, Joe Letteri. Post production will take place at Park Road Post Production in Wellington.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” are productions of New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production. Warner Bros Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television licensing, being handled by MGM.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” will be released beginning December 14, 2012. The second film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” is slated for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013. http://www.thehobbit.com/


About New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema continues to be one of the most successful independent film companies. For more than 40 years, its mission has been to produce innovative, popular, profitable entertainment in the best creative environment. A pioneer in franchise filmmaking, New Line produced the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which is a landmark in the history of film franchises. New Line Cinema is a division of Warner Bros.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, and interactive media. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Distribution Co., MGM International Television Distribution Inc., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in domestic and international TV channels reaching over 130 countries. For more information, visit http://www.mgm.com/.

Review: 'The Widowmaker" is a Cool Cold War Film (Happy B'day, Liam Neeson)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 82 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
Running time: 138 minutes (2 hours, 18 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for disturbing images
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
WRITERS: Christopher Kyle; from a story by Louis Nowra
PRODUCERS: Kathryn Bigelow, Edward S. Feldman, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, and Christine Whitaker
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeff Cronenweth
EDITOR: Walter Murch

DRAMA/ADVENTURE/THRILLER/HISTORICAL

Starring: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, Sam Spruell, Christian Camargo, Sam Redford, and Ravil Isyanov

Based upon actual events, K-19: The Widowmaker is the dramatization of the inaugural voyage of the Russia’s first nuclear ballistic submarine, which suffered a nuclear reactor malfunction during its maiden voyage in the North Atlantic in 1961. The film begins in the midst of the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. K-19, called “the Widowmaker,” because of the number of men who have died working on the sub before it even launched, is the Soviet Union’s attempt to catch up to the U.S., which already has nuclear-powered (and armed) submarines.

The film fictionalizes the relationship between the unyielding Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) and his second in command, Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson), who was K-19’s Captain until politics unseated him. The two men and their gallant crew must race against time to prevent a nuclear explosion that would destroy them and inadvertently ignite a world war between the Soviets and the Americans, but the crew also finds itself caught between the two captain’s test of wills.

Kathryn Bigelow’s K-19: The Widowmaker does the fine old genre of submarine movies proud by telling an astonishing true story as an engaging and riveting dramatic tale of survival, grace under fire, and solidarity among military men. This absorbing and scary flick is a testament to Bigelow’s technical skill as a filmmaker. One would think that as a woman, she would focus primarily on character and relationships, but Bigelow is a whiz at staging big action sequences, thrilling chases, and the kind of violent confrontations for which male action movie directors are known.

When this film was first released, some critics took issue with Harrison Ford’s weak Russian accent, which comes and goes (but is quite strong in the movie’s closing sequences), but the way Ford plays the character hits the right note. Ford finds a way to balance his Vostrikov for the way Liam Neeson plays Polenin, and Ford clearly understood the role both characters played in the larger narrative. Ford and Neeson fit their characters neatly into the context of the other characters and the setting. Together they sell K-19: The Widowmaker’s central conflict – Polenin versus Vostrikov, while making neither man a villain, because Christopher Kyle’s excellent screenplay gives both men ample opportunity to be heroic.

A winning adventure at sea and (Cold) war movie, K-19: The Widowmaker respects its audience, and the smart viewer who is willing to engage this film will find a treasure beneath the waves.

7 of 10
A-

Friday, May 25, 2007

------------------

2nd Annual Critics' Choice Television Awards Nominations - Complete List

BTJA Announces Nominations for the 2nd Annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA), an offshoot of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, today announced nominations for the 2nd annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards. Winners will be announced on the evening of Monday, June 18th, at a gala awards dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

NBC was the most nominated broadcast network with 14 nominations followed closely by ABC with 13 and FOX with 12. HBO led nominations for cable networks with 12, followed by AMC and FX with 11 nominations each. NBC’s Community was the most nominated series with six.

“We are very excited by these nominations, reflecting the amazing diversity and creativity that is exploding on the small screen today,” said Joey Berlin, acting president of BTJA. “In every genre, audiences are witnessing a New Golden Age where imagination knows no bounds, from mass appeal entertainment to quirky originals where one person’s unique vision can delight a more limited audience. As television journalists, we’re proud to offer our choices of the best that we see day in and day out, and we look forward to celebrating television’s best on June 18th.”

Nominees for the 2nd annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards include:

Best Drama Series
Breaking Bad – AMC
Downton Abbey – PBS
Game of Thrones – HBO
The Good Wife – CBS
Homeland – Showtime
Mad Men – AMC

Best Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad – AMC
Kelsey Grammer – Boss – Starz
Jon Hamm – Mad Men - AMC
Charlie Hunnam – Sons of Anarchy – FX
Damian Lewis – Homeland – Showtime
Timothy Olyphant – Justified – FX

Best Actress in a Drama Series
Claire Danes – Homeland – Showtime
Michelle Dockery – Downton Abbey - PBS
Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife – CBS
Elisabeth Moss – Mad Men – AMC
Emmy Rossum – Shameless – Showtime
Katey Sagal – Sons of Anarchy – FX

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones – HBO
Giancarlo Esposito – Breaking Bad – AMC
Neal McDonough – Justified – FX
John Noble – Fringe – FOX
Aaron Paul – Breaking Bad - AMC
John Slattery – Mad Men – AMC

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Christine Baranski – The Good Wife – CBS
Anna Gunn – Breaking Bad - AMC
Christina Hendricks – Mad Men – AMC
Regina King – Southland - TNT
Kelly Macdonald – Boardwalk Empire – HBO
Maggie Siff – Sons of Anarchy – FX

Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series
Dylan Baker – Damages – DirecTV
Jere Burns – Justified – FX
Loretta Devine – Grey’s Anatomy – ABC
Lucy Liu – Southland – TNT
Carrie Preston – The Good Wife – CBS
Chloe Webb – Shameless – Showtime

Best Reality Series
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations – Travel Channel
Hoarders – A&E
Sister Wives – TLC
Kitchen Nightmares – FOX
Pawn Stars – History
Undercover Boss – CBS

Best Reality Series – Competition
The Pitch – AMC
Shark Tank – ABC
So You Think You Can Dance – FOX
The Voice – NBC
Chopped – FOOD
The Amazing Race - CBS

Best Reality Show Host
Tom Bergeron – Dancing with the Stars – ABC
Nick Cannon – America’s Got Talent - NBC
Cat Deeley – So You Think You Can Dance – FOX
Phil Keoghan – The Amazing Race - CBS
RuPaul – RuPaul’s Drag Race - Logo

Best Talk Show
Conan - TBS
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart – Comedy Central
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - NBC
Jimmy Kimmel Live! – ABC
The View - ABC

Best Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory – CBS
Community – NBC
Girls – HBO
Modern Family – ABC
New Girl – FOX
Parks and Recreation – NBC

Best Actor in a Comedy Series
Don Cheadle – House of Lies – Showtime
Louis C.K. – Louie – FX
Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm – HBO
Garret Dillahunt – Raising Hope – FOX
Joel McHale – Community – NBC
Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory – CBS

Best Actress in a Comedy Series
Zooey Deschanel – New Girl – FOX
Lena Dunham – Girls – HBO
Julia Louis Dreyfus – Veep - HBO
Martha Plimpton – Raising Hope – FOX
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Ashley Rickards – Awkward – MTV

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Ty Burrell – Modern Family – ABC
Max Greenfield – New Girl – FOX
Nick Offerman – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Danny Pudi – Community – NBC
Jim Rash – Community – NBC
Damon Wayans Jr. – Happy Endings – ABC

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy
Julie Bowen – Modern Family – ABC
Alison Brie – Community – NBC
Cheryl Hines – Suburgatory – ABC
Gillian Jacobs – Community – NBC
Eden Sher – The Middle – ABC
Casey Wilson – Happy Endings – ABC

Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series
Becky Ann Baker – Girls – HBO
Bobby Cannavale – Modern Family – ABC
Kathryn Hahn – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Justin Long – New Girl – FOX
Paul Rudd – Parks and Recreation – NBC
Peter Scolari – Girls – HBO

Best Animated Series
Archer – FX
Adventure Time – Cartoon Network
Bob’s Burgers – FOX
Family Guy – FOX
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Cartoon Network

Best Movie/Miniseries
American Horror Story – FX
Luther – BBC America
Sherlock – PBS
Page Eight – PBS
The Hour – BBC America
Game Change – HBO

Best Actor in a Movie/Miniseries
Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock – PBS
Bill Nighy – Page Eight – PBS
Woody Harrelson – Game Change – HBO
Idris Elba – Luther – BBC America
Dominic West – The Hour – BBC America
Kevin Costner – Hatfields & McCoys – History

Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries
Jessica Lange – American Horror Story – FX
Gillian Anderson - Great Expectations – PBS
Julianne Moore – Game Change – HBO
Patricia Clarkson – Five – Lifetime
Lara Pulver – Sherlock – PBS
Emily Watson – Appropriate Adult – Sundance

Submissions are still being accepted for The Most Exciting New Series category.

The Critics’ Choice Television Awards honors programs and performances that aired between June 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012. Since last year, six new categories have been added for the 2011/12 season including Best Movie or Mini-series, Best Actor in a Movie or Mini-Series, Best Actress in a Movie or Mini-Series, Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series, Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series and Best Animated Series.

Bob Bain will executive produce the show for Bob Bain Productions.


About BTJA
The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) is a partner organization to the Broadcast Film Critics Association. BTJA includes TV, radio and Internet journalists who cover television on a regular basis. For more information, visit: http://www.criticschoice.com/

Review: "Over the Hedge" is a Surprising Delight

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 107 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Over the Hedge (2006)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some rude humor and mild comic action
DIRECTORS: Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick
WRITERS: Len Blum, Lorne Cameron and David Hoselton, and Karey Kirkpatrick with Chris Poche (based upon characters created by Michael Fry and T. Lewis)
PRODUCER: Bonnie Arnold
EDITOR: John K. Carr
COMPOSER: Rupert Gregson-Williams
SONGS: Ben Folds

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ACTION/FAMILY

Starring: (voices) Bruce Willis, Gary Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte, Thomas Haden Church, Allison Janney, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Avril Lavigne, Omid Djalili, Sami Kirkpatrick, Shane Baumel, and Madison Davenport

The subject of this movie review is Over the Hedge, a 2006 computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation. This action comedy is based upon the syndicated newspaper comic strip, Over the Hedge, created by Michael Fry and T. Lewis. The film focuses on a raccoon who uses his friends to help him repay a debt.

RJ (Bruce Willis) is an opportunistic raccoon, and his greed causes him to destroy the treasure trove of a dangerous bear named Vincent (Nick Nolte). Vincent gives RJ less than a week to replace his loot. Fortune leads RJ to a sprawling new suburban neighborhood, where he figures he can replace all of Vincent’s things (such as potato chips, a red wagon, a blue ice cooler, etc.).

Meanwhile, Verne (Gary Shandling), a turtle, and the woodland friends that make up his family: a hyperactive squirrel named Hammy (Steve Carell); a sassy, but low on self esteem skunk named Stella (Wanda Sykes); a melodramatic possum named Ozzie (William Shatner) and his daughter, Heather (Avril Lavigne); Lou & Penny (Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara), a porcupine couple with three little ones, wake up from their long winter’s nap only to discover that a tall green thing has cropped up in the middle of their forest home. RJ arrives just in time to inform Verne and his group that the “thing” is actually a hedge, and over the hedge is the “gateway to the good life” – a neighborhood full of humans. Humans live to eat (where as the animals eat to live), and they have lots of food and lots of stuff, he tells them – stuff they can take for themselves.

Verne is suspicious and a little jealous of RJ’s assertive nature, but Verne’s woodland band is ready to follow the manipulative raccoon into the domain of their over-indulgent human neighbors. Verne believes that they have more to fear than to gain from humans, and he is right. Gladys (Allison Janney), the president of the neighborhood association, hires a murderous pest exterminator, Dwayne (Thomas Haden Church), to get rid or RJ, Verne, and the rest of the animals. Can RJ and Verne put aside their differences in time to save the group? Will RJ be able to replace Vincent’s things before he shows up to kill the poor raccoon?

Although there were times in DreamWorks Animation’s latest computer animated film, Over the Hedge, when I was sure the filmmakers were simply trying to make another middle of the road, easily digestible family film, there were many more times when I was shocked at how genuinely sly, witty, smart, and lightly subversive this cartoon movie is. The narrative takes the side of the group over the individual, in this case because the group survives best as a unit and not on the whims of an individual prone to always look out for number one. There’s lots of clever commentary on American consumerism and also on how much people waste, and class division comes up in the form of the woodland animals being poor people who are conservative and gather to live, while the humans over the hedge in suburbia are more about gathering things for status. The movie also takes several digs at junk food.

The quality of the computer animation in DreamWorks Animation’s films (produced by PDI) continues to improve with each film, and that’s evident in Over the Hedge. The texture of the animals’ fur, the reflective surfaces, and the sets (the neighborhood lawn grass is good enough to call attention to itself) are all quite impressive. The surface consistency looks more real; it’s as if the animals’ skins, fur, quills, etc are authentic and not rubber suits. Character movement, which took a leap forward for DreamWorks in last year’s Madagascar, improved here. RJ, Hammy, Ozzie & Heather, and the porcupine triplets move with such grace and fluidity. There is a subtlety to their facial expressions that gives a sincere feel to their emotional displays, and when combined with smooth physical movement, makes their performances feel genuine.

If Pixar (now officially owned by the Walt Disney Company, just a few weeks prior to this review) is like Disney in that the studio create animated feature films that focus on story and the art of animation, DreamWorks is like Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes in that it emphasizes broad comedy (sketch, slapstick, situation, etc.) of varying appeal to adults, and it stresses caricature and cartoon-style drawing in the design of its characters. PDI also goes for the “squash and stretch” animation that marked the work of cartoon short directors like Tex Avery and Chuck Jones, so in many ways DreamWorks’ computer animated films are like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Road Runner, and Droopy cartoons.

While Over the Hedge occasionally drags in its first half, the voice acting comes together to strengthen both the film’s narrative and its message of family. The acting also makes for some surprisingly strong comedy. Bruce Willis, well known as an action movie hero, first came to fame in the romantic, detective comedy television series, “Moonlighting.” Audiences tend to forget his boyish charm and wit, his sharp sarcasm, and a sense of humor that make him a very good comic actor. It takes a bit of warming up, but he makes a great foil for Gary Shandling’s über-responsible family patriarch. Shandling also takes a bit of warming up to, but that’s true of most of the cast. The film’s writers play well to the actors’ strengths.

Who knew it was possible to get such excellent comedy out of the perception that William Shatner overacted in the original Star Trek TV series and films? Here, his penchant for over dramatizing or melodrama is turned into pure comedy gold. The writers also make good use of Wanda Sykes’ saucy personality and constant sarcasm, as well as her ability create characters that ingratiate themselves to others while still being a smart ass. By the end of the film, my favorite character by far was Steve Carell’s Hammy the squirrel. Carell can do manic, panic, and hyperactivity and can babble with the best. When combined with the superb character animation done on Hammy, Carell creates a memorable cartoon animal character – one worth seeing again.

Over the Hedge is also a good action comedy. The chase that closes its last act is almost as good as the kind of slam-bam showdowns in the Toy Story franchise and could rival a car chase in a Lethal Weapon movie. It’s this facility for action comedy and funny characters that makes Over the Hedge DreamWorks’ best non-Shrek film to date.

7 of 10
A-

Sunday, May 21, 2006

----------------