Tim Burton's "Frankenweenie" Opens Fantastic Fest in One Month

(Image from upcoming Disney feature, Frankenweenie.)

Fantastic Fest Presents The World Premiere Of "Frankenweenie"

Tim Burton's Highly Anticipated Return To Animation Will Open The 2012 Festival

Fantastic Fest is excited to announce Walt Disney Pictures' Frankenweenie will have its world premiere on September 20 as the opening night film for the 2012 festival, happening September 20-27 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.

"Tim Burton stands as a titan of modern genre cinema. To world premiere the feature adaptation of his early beloved short is a huge honor for me personally and for the festival in general," said Fantastic Fest Co-founder & Creative Director Tim League.

From creative genius Tim Burton (Alice in Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas) comes Frankenweenie, a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life--with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor's fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new "leash on life" can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, Frankenweenie was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D. The talented voice cast includes: Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

Presented by Disney, Frankenweenie is directed by Tim Burton, produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, from a screenplay by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. Frankenweenie releases in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

For further information on Frankenweenie go to http://disney.com/frankenweenie/.

Director Tony Scott Dead at 68 - A Bits and Bites Extra

Producer and director Tony Scott is dead at the age of 68.  He died Sunday, August 19, 2012 of an apparent suicide in Los Angeles.  Entertainment Weekly's website has more details.  Tony Scott was born in 1944 in North Shields, North Tyneside, England (United Kingdom).  His older brother is the Oscar-nominated director, Ridley Scott.

Scott's first feature film was the vampire movie, The Hunger (1983).  Scott would go on to direct such films as Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, True Romance, and Crimson Tide, movies which marked him as one of the greatest action movie directors in the history of Hollywood filmmaking.  Beginning with Crimson Tide in 1995, Scott would direct a total of five films starring Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, including the recent Unstoppable (2010).

Negromancer sends our condolences to Tony Scott's family and friends.  R.I.P., Mr. Scott.

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Review: Marx Bros. "At the Circus" is Still a Wonderful Circus (Remembering Groucho Marx)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 137 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

At the Circus (1939) – Black & White
Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
DIRECTOR: Edward Buzzell
WRITERS: Irving Breecher
PRODUCER: Mervyn LeRoy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Leonard m. Smith (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: William H. Terhune

COMEDY/MUSICAL

Starring: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx (The Marx Bros.), Kenny Baker, Florence Rice, Eve Arden, Margaret Dumont, James Burke, Nat Pendleton, Barnett Parker, and Fritz Feld

The subject of this movie review is At the Circus, which is also known as The Marx Brothers at the Circus. This 1939 Marx Brothers comedy finds the brothers trying to save a small circus from bankruptcy.

In 1939 the writer/director team of Irving Breecher and Edward Buzzell made two films starring the Marx Brothers, Go West and the comedy/musical At the Circus. By the time of At the Circus, the brothers’ act was already down to the familiar trio of Groucho, Chico, and Harpo, and At the Circus displays a full range of the brothers’ talents as singers, musicians, actors, and comedians.

Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker) owns a small circus, but he owes his sleazy partner, John Carter (James Burke), $10,000. When Carter calls in the loan, Wilson gets the money much to Carter’s chagrin, so Carter has the circus strongman (Nat Pendleton) and a midget (Barnett Parker) attack Wilson and steal the money. Two carnies (circus employees), Antonio Pirelli (Chico Marx) and Punchy (Harpo Marx), decide to help their boss Jeff, whom they admire, recover the dough. They call in a disingenuous lawyer, J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho Marx), to lead the investigation into the disappearance of the money. But when the money proves difficult to recover, Loophole cooks up a hair-brained scheme to get the dough from Jeff’s wealthy aunt, Mrs. Susan Dukesbury (Margaret Dumont), from whom Jeff is estranged.

While this isn’t the Marx Brothers’ best film, it is a very entertaining and funny comedy with some sparkling musical numbers. The best musical bit features Harpo with a crowd of African-American co-performers that finishes with Harpo on harp while the black folks stand around and grin, gawk, and stare wide-eyed. Groucho, however, shines in this film; he’s at his wittiest and most sarcastic. He carries the film with rapid fire, smart aleck conversation, and while it’s hard to pick his best moment in this film, it could be his innuendo-filled duel with Eva Arden’s Peerless Pauline. Excellent production values top off this breezy comedy, which I heartily recommend.

I remember this as the first Marx Brothers movie I ever saw. I loved At the Circus the first time I saw it, and it still has a special place in my heart. So consider that when reading my review.

7 of 10
B+

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Review: Norton is the Star in "PRIMAL FEAR" (Happy B'day, Edward Norton)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 06 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Primal Fear (1996)
Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
MPAA – R for brief grisly violence, pervasive strong language and a sex scene
DIRECTOR: Gregory Hoblit
WRITERS: Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman (based upon the novel by William Diehl)
PRODUCER: Gary Lucchesi
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Chapman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: David Rosenbloom
COMPOSER: James Newton Howard
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/CRIME/THRILLER

Starring: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, John Mahoney, Frances McDormand, Alfre Woodard, Terry O’Quinn, Andre Braugher, Steven Bauer, Joe Spano, Stanley Anderson, Maura Tierney, and Jon Seda

The subject of this movie review is Primal Fear, a 1996 courtroom drama and legal thriller starring Richard Gere and Laura Linney. The film is based on William Diehl’s 1993 novel, Primal Fear. This movie was also actor Edward Norton’s feature film debut, for which he earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination.

I’ll begin with a minor spoiler warning, so skip to the second paragraph if you don’t want to know how the movie ends. I was thoroughly and completely happy that the murderer beats the system in the end; he was my hero throughout the movie. I enjoyed that he trumped the skuzzy and dishonest State’s Attorney John Shaughnessy (John Mahoney of TV’s “Fraiser”), who uses murder, intimidation, and lies to get his way like so many dirty people in district attorney and state’s attorney’s offices. Hooray to chaos! Damn the corrupt system! Now, on to the movie.

Richard Gere has spent the better part of three decades shining his lovely face in numerous films, although his skills as a thespian are usually in question, there is no doubt that he is a good movie star. He has an obvious, almost forced, charm, but he is also a charming rogue. He doesn’t bury himself in method acting; he simply plays the character as himself. It can be argued that no actress of similar skill and of similar shaky box office pedigree would continue to get choice projects, but then there’s Madonna.

In Primal Fear, Gere is the arrogant defense attorney Martin “Marty” Vail, and he just taken on the case of Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton) who has been arrested for the savagely murdering a popular bishop (Stanley Anderson). State’s Attorney Shaughnessy wants the death penalty, and he sends one of Marty’s former girlfriends and co-workers, Janet Venable (Laura Linney) to prosecute the case. Yes, Marty also has a history with the Shaughnessy, who was his boss not so long ago.

Gere is himself, and I can’t see any indication that this performance would standout amongst any others unless they were really bad. Laura Linney can certainly play the tough “cookie,” who roles with punches, taking anything life or ex-lovers have to throw her way. It’s always good to see the under utilized Alfre Woodard (as Judge Miriam Shoat) and John Mahoney is fun in practically anything.

Good performances by most of the cast aside, the scene stealing, showstopper is Edward Norton in this, his first film role. The fact of the matter is that Primal Fear is average potboiler without him. He so embodies his roles (he has more than one part, sort of) that you can’t help but be drawn into him. No matter what happens, you’re rooting for the boyish and obviously innocent and naïve country kid who was taken in and abused by the mean old city. He uses his entire body to become his character: gestures, facial expressions, hair, the way her wears his clothes, etc.

Director Gregory Hoblit, a director of episodic television, was lucky to have him. Norton transforms Hoblit’s film from a minor studio legal thriller that would have wound up in home video hell into something worth recommending to friends over and over again.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
1997 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Edward Norton)

1997 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Edward Norton)

1997 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Edward Norton)

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Production Begins on New Scary Movie, "Hidden," from Warner Bros.

Cameras Roll on “Hidden”

Alexander Skarsgård and Andrea Riseborough Star in Thriller

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography is underway in Vancouver on Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Hidden,” starring Alexander Skarsgård (TV’s “True Blood”) and Andrea Riseborough (“Shadow Dancer”).

Ray (Skarsgård), Claire (Riseborough) and their seven-year-old daughter, Zoe, are an average American family in Kingsville, North Carolina—except they have existed in a bomb shelter since escaping a day of devastation that changed everything.

For 301 days, they have transformed their cement prison into a home, holding on to memories of the past and hope for a normal life someday. And for 301 days, the family has eluded what looms above the surface—the heavy breathing and booming footsteps that punctuate the night, threatening their fragile existence.

All the while, the family has managed to stay hidden. Until now. Now their safe haven has been breached…and something is coming for them.

Brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, who wrote the original script, make their feature film directorial debut on “Hidden.” The film also stars Emily Alyn Lind (“J. Edgar”) as daughter Zoe.

Roy Lee (“The Departed”), Oscar® nominee Mason Novick (“Juno”) and Lawrence Grey (“Hope Springs”) are producing. The executive producers are John Middleton, Sebastian Aloi, Jim Rowe and Katterli Frauenfelder. Michelle Knudsen is serving as co-producer.

The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Tom Townend (“Attack the Block”), Academy Award®-nominated production designer Jim Bissell (“Good Night, and Good Luck”), editor Jeffrey Werner (“The Kids Are All Right”), and Oscar®-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha”). The music is by Jeff Grace (“Meek’s Cutoff”).

“Hidden” will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

"Monster House" is an Animated Horror Movie

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 159 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Monster House (2005)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG for scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor, and brief language
DIRECTOR: Gil Kenan
WRITERS: Dan Harmon & Rob Schrab and Pamela Pettler; from a story by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab
PRODUCERS: Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Paul C. Babin and Xavier Pérez Grobet
EDITORS: Fabienne Rawley and Adam Scott
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/HORROR/COMEDY/MYSTERY

Starring: (voices) Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke, Steve Buscemi, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Jason Lee, Kevin James, Nick Cannon, Jon Heder, and Kathleen Turner

The new computer-animated film, Monster House, isn’t just a kid’s film, and even if it were, it’s not just any kid’s movie. Monster House is a genuine horror movie, but one made for family viewing (perhaps a little too intense for younger than 8 or 9), and its roller-coaster, action movie ending makes the movie a bit more than standard computer animated fare. Free of all those sometimes annoying pop culture references that beset so many other computer animated films, Monster House is just a good solid ghost story told in a way that will scare the kids and has enough fright to engage older minds.

He’s on the verge of puberty, but when his parents head away for the weekend, DJ (Mitchel Musso) still gets a babysitter. To make matters worse, that very afternoon, DJ had a run-in with Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), the neighbor who lives across the street in the rundown old house. During their confrontation, Nebbercracker seemingly dies, but that’s not the end of the story. Nebbercracker’s death apparently brings the old house to life as some kind of monster. The front door grows spiky teeth out of boards, and the rug in the front hall becomes a monstrous tongue that darts outside and snatches unsuspecting visitors. Anyone who steps foot on the lawn is monster house food.

The house seems to have a special hate for DJ, so he calls for the assistance of his best friend, the chubby prankster, Chowder (Sam Lerner). It’s not long before the boys add the final piece to their heroic trio when they save the life of Jenny (Spencer Locke), a beautiful young girl about the age of DJ and Chowder, who unwittingly stops by the monster house to sell school candy. It seems, however, that no adults will believe them that the house across from DJ’s is a living, breathing, scary monster. It’s up to them to save the neighborhood, but will it cost them their own lives.

Executive-produced by Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, two Oscar-winning directors and sometime partners, Monster House is shot in motion-capture animation, the process Zemeckis used for his 2004 film, The Polar Express. In motion-capture, the performances of the live actors are filmed; then, the live action photography is used as a model for the motion-capture computer animation. Monster House, however, looks more like such 3-D animation films as Madagascar or The Incredibles than it looks like The Polar Express.

That said – I like the animation in this movie. Both the characters in their design and in the way they move look like something from one of Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated films (Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride). The film doesn’t look flat, and the characters almost seem like puppets on a set. This unique look makes Monster House stand out from the rest of the jam-packed computer-animation crowd (and 2005 is heavy with 3-D animation).

In terms of story, Monster House looks and feels like something Spielberg or Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) might have done two decades ago. The story’s setting is vaguely anachronistic, partially situated in the 1980’s, but with some touches that have only recently come into existence. The story has the distinct flavor of Spielberg’s mid-80’s anthology series, “Amazing Stories,” and even a little bit of “Tales from the Crypt, the late HBO series of which Zemeckis was one of the executive producers. Most of the audience will recognize the familiar plot – the neighborhood ghost story or the monster in the house down the street.

Monster House is just a well done film. From the wonderfully vivid colors to the fast-paced scares and thrills, it engages all ages. The lead characters: DJ, Chowder, and Jenny and the young voice actors who play them are appealing with winning comic personalities – giving a human touch to this computer-produced film. Even the supporting voice performances are good (Nick Cannon gives a surprisingly nimble and funny turn as a daffy rookie cop.). That’s why Monster House captured my attention and imagination and gave me thrills and chills the whole way through. Monster House does have a few lapses, but anyone willing to give it a chance just might find a good time. It’s one of those magical summer treasures that the kid in all of us loves to find in our favorite theatre.

7 of 10
A-

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Feature Film of the Year” (Gil Kenan)

2007 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Film”

Review: Rooney Mara is All Woman in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 68 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Running time: 158 minutes (2 hours, 38 minutes)
MPAA - R for brutal violent content including rape and torture, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, and language
DIRECTOR: David Fincher
WRITER: Steven Zaillian (based upon the novel, Man som hatar kvinnor, by Stieg Larsson)
PRODUCERS: Cean Chaffin, Scott Rudin, Soren Staermose, and Ole Sondberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeff Cronenweth
EDITORS: Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
COMPOSERS: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgard, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen, Joely Richardson, Geraldine James, Goran Visnjic, Donald Sumpter, Ulf Friberg, Julian Sands, and David Dencik

The subject of this movie review is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a 2011 American thriller and murder mystery from director David Fincher. The film is based upon the late author Stieg Larsson's 2005 novel, Man som hatar kvinnor (translates to "Men who hate women"). The novel is best known by the title used for its English-language release, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was previously adapted into a 2009 Swedish film.

The film opens with Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), the co-owner of Millennium magazine, losing a libel case. He doesn't know that a brilliant, but troubled computer hacker and researcher named Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) has just compiled an extensive background check on him for Swedish business magnate Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). Vanger wants Blomkvist to solve the apparent murder of his niece, Harriet Vanger, 40 years ago. There is a common thread that eventually brings Mikael and Lisbeth together, when she becomes his assistant. Are their talents enough to solve what seems to be a series of murders of young women over a 20-year period, including the time when Harriet disappeared?

I saw the American film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo about two weeks after I saw the 2009 Swedish version, so I could not help but compare the two. I prefer the Swedish film, and I have to admit that there were things in the Swedish version that were not in the American version, and I missed them. I think the American film pales a little in comparison to it. Why?

The American film's casting is inferior. Daniel Craig is too rough and craggy-looking to play the introspective Mikael Blomkvist, and Christopher Plummer, fine actor that he is, seems out of place as Henrik Vanger. That the overrated, anorexic-like Ellen Page was once considered as the choice to play Lisbeth Salander makes me realize that I'm luck the filmmakers got one bit of casting dead right. That is casting Rooney Mara as Lisbeth.

The premise of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is simply great. The subplots are also exciting and appealing, and the words to describe how good the characters are fail me. Give David Fincher this kind of material and he'll give us an exceptional movie, which he does in spite of my complaints. Still, everything turns on Lisbeth Salander.

That is why I give a lot of the credit for this movie's quality to Rooney Mara's performance as Lisbeth. Following Noomi Rapace's mesmerizing turn in the Swedish version is not a job for the squeamish or the overrated. Mara's Lisbeth has a spry sense of humor and sparkling wit. She is both feral and vulnerable, and she seems chaste while also being capable of being quite the seductress. Her intelligence and willingness to get physical with opponents makes Lisbeth often seem like a superhero.

Fincher makes Mara the focus of the story, and sometimes his attention to details about Lisbeth seems lurid. However, the script has holes and some of the other actors aren't up to snuff, so Fincher rightly builds the success of this film on Rooney Mara1s solid foundation. In Mara, the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has a dragon of an actress, indeed.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2012 Academy Awards: 1 win: "Best Achievement in Film Editing" (Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter); 4 nominations: "Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role" (Rooney Mara), "Best Achievement in Cinematography" (Jeff Cronenweth), "Best Achievement in Sound Editing" (Ren Klyce), and "Best Achievement in Sound Mixing" (David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Bo Persson)

2012 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: "Best Cinematography" (Jeff Cronenweth) and "Best Original Music" (Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor)

2012 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: "Best Original Score - Motion Picture" (Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor) and "Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama" (Rooney Mara)

Thursday, August 16, 2012

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