Walt Disney's "Cinderella" Never Loses its Magic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 100 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Cinderella (1950)
Running time: 72 minutes (1 hour, 12 minutes)
DIRECTORS: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
WRITERS: William Peed, Ted Sears, Homer Brightman, Kenneth Anderson, Erdman Penner, Winston Hibler, Harry Reeves, and Joe Rinaldi (based upon the story, “Cendrillon” by Charles Perrault)
PRODUCER: Walt Disney
EDITOR: Donald Halliday
COMPOSERS: Paul J. Smith and Oliver Wallace
Academy Award nominee

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/FAMILY with elements of romance

Starring: (voices) Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Helene Stanley (live action model), Rhoda Williams, Lucille Bliss, James MacDonald, Luis Van Rooten, June Foray, Clint McCauley, Lucille Williams, Don Barclay, William Phipps, and Betty Lou Gerson (narrator)

The subject of this movie review is Cinderella, a 1950 animated fantasy film from Walt Disney Productions. Based on the fairy tale “Cendrillon” by Charles Perrault, it is the twelfth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series.

After her father dies, Cinderella (Ilene Woods), a gentle-hearted girl, faces the jealousy and spite of her wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine (Eleanor Audley), and her two harpy stepsisters, Drizella (Rhoda Williams) and Anastasia (Lucille Bliss). Cinderella’s friends include a half-dozen mice that do constant battle with Lady Tremaine’s malevolent cat, Lucifer (June Foray). Salvation comes when The King (Luis Van Rooten) declares a palace ball to celebrate the homecoming of his son, The Prince (William Phipps), and he decrees that every eligible maid (unmarried young woman) in the kingdom attend. However, Cinderella’s stepmother doesn’t want her to attend, but a small army of friendly mice and birds and Cinderella’s benevolent Fairy Godmother (Verna Felton) makes sure she can. This magical tale includes many tunes to which the viewer can hum along including “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” “So This is Love,” and inimitable “Bibbidy, Bobbidy-Boo.”

Cinderella was Walt Disney Feature Animation’s 12th feature film. It was, at the time, the first full-length animated feature for Disney since 1942’s Bambi, because box office and wartime cutbacks had reduced the studio’s feature film output to package films like Make Mine Music and Fun and Fancy Free, which were made of two or more short films with bridging sequences. Also, according to animator Marc Davis, 90 percent of Cinderella was done in live action before it was animated.

Cinderella comes perhaps at the end of Disney’s “Golden Age” and the beginning of period in which its films received less critical praise. Cinderella retains some of the illustrative and technical aspects that marked Disney’s pre-WWII films (like Bambi and Fantasia) as the pinnacle of hand-drawn animated features. Cinderella’s background paintings, art direction, and sets befit a film with themes of royalty and class distinctions. Most of the animation is geared towards funny animal slapstick comedy. The scenes with the mice, birds, Lucifer the cat, and Bruno (James MacDonald) the dog, etc. reflect the sensibilities of the sketch and gag comedy prevalent in Looney Tunes cartoon shorts featuring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The scenes with The King and The Grand Duke (Luis Van Rooten) depend of comic timing between this comical duo, and that reflects the influence of Tex Avery’s cartoons.

The story of course is based on the fairy tale, Cinderella, primarily the version of the story told by Charles Perrault, the 17th century French author who laid the foundations for the literary genre that would be known as “fairy tales.” Disney’s version is a funny, warm-hearted romance that appeals across age categories. The voice acting plays as much a part as the animation in making Cinderella such an outstanding film. The actors make this a palatable and convincing drama when the comic half of the cast isn’t in control. The filmmakers simply do a magnificent job in bringing a film that appeals so much to the heart and to the funny bone and that dazzles with its production values.

There are so many memorable sequences. The birds and mice working in unison to make Cinderella’s dress are magical. The transformation of the animals and pumpkin into an enchanted carriage for Cinderella is a sparkling dream, and Cinderella’s dance with The Prince (who is never referred to in the film as “Prince Charming”) is certainly one of the most lyrically romantic moments in cinema history. The beauty of the animation and story combined with stellar Tin Pan Alley songs make Cinderella a true Walt Disney classic and a classic of American filmmaking.

10 of 10

NOTES:
1951 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Music, Original Song” (“Bibbidy, Bobbidy-Boo” by Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston); “Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture” (Oliver Wallace and Paul J. Smith); and “Best Sound, Recording” (C.O. Slyfield)

Chicago Film Critics Choose "Zero Dark Thirty" as 2012's Best

The Chicago Film Critics Association is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit organization that hands out the Chicago Film Critics Awards, hold critics roundtables, and takes on industry and artists’ rights issues. The parent association was founded in 1990 by film critic Sue Kiner after the successful launch of the Chicago Film Critics Awards in 1989.

2012 Chicago Film Critics Awards winners (in bold) and nominees:

Best Picture
WINNER - Zero Dark Thirty
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Lincoln
The Master

Best Director
WINNER - Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ben Affleck, Argo
Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Actor
WINNER - Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Actress
WINNER - Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Best Supporting Actor
WINNER - Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress
WINNER - Amy Adams, The Master
Emily Blunt, Looper
Judi Dench, Skyfall
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

Best Original Screenplay
WINNER - Zero Dark Thirty by Mark Boal
Django Unchained by Quentin Tarantino
Looper by Rian Johnson
The Master by Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola

Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER - Lincoln by Tony Kushner
Argo by Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Silver Linings Playbook by David O. Russell

Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER - Amour (Austria)
Holy Motors (France)
The Intouchables (France)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey)
Rust & Bone (France/Belgium)

Best Documentary
WINNER - The Invisible War
The Central Park Five
The Queen of Versailles
Searching For Sugar Man
West of Memphis

Best Animated Feature
WINNER - ParaNorman
Brave
Frankenweenie
The Secret World of Arrietty
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Cinematography
WINNER - Mihai Malaimare Jr., The Master
Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
Janusz Kaminski, Lincoln
Roger Deakins, Skyfall
Greig Fraser, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Original Score
WINNER - Jonny Greenwood, The Master
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Alexandre Desplat, Moonrise Kingdom
Alexandre Desplat, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Art Direction
WINNER - Moonrise Kingdom
Anna Karenina
Les Misérables
Lincoln
The Master

Best Editing
WINNER - William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor, Zero Dark Thirty
Willian Goldenberg, Argo
Alexander Berner, Cloud Atlas
Leslie Jones & Peter McNulty, The Master
Stuart Baird, Skyfall

Most Promising Performer
WINNER - Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Samantha Barks, Les Misérables
Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom
Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Tom Holland, The Impossible

Most Promising Filmmaker
WINNER - Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods
Nicholas Jarecki, Arbitrage
Colin Trevorrow, Safety Not Guaranteed

Review: Streep, Jones Give "Hope Springs" Some Bounce

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 99 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Hopes Springs (2012)
Running time: 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for mature thematic content involving sexuality
DIRECTOR: David Frankel
WRITER: Vanessa Taylor
PRODUCERS: Todd Black and Guymon Casady
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Florian Ballhaus
EDITORS: Matt Maddox and Steven Weisberg
COMPOSER: Theodore Shapiro
Golden Globe nominee

COMEDY

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Jean Smart, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland, Patch Darragh, Brett Rice, Elisabeth Shue, and Mimi Rogers

Hope Springs is a 2012 romantic comedy-drama from director David Frankel. The film focuses on a married couple in therapy.

Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold Soames (Tommy Lee Jones) have been married for thirty-one years. Kay believes that they are in need of help to put the spark back in their marriage. She enrolls them in an intense, week-long counseling session with Dr. Bernard Feld (Steve Carell). The couple travels to a coastal resort town in Maine where Feld’s Center for Intensive Couples Counseling is located. But Arnold isn’t cooperative, and Kay learns that the couple’s problems aren’t necessarily one-sided.

Hope Springs is interesting simply because it is a romance about old people will to talk about their lusts and sexual fantasies, or at least struggle with the implications of denying them. Heck, any movie in which Tommy Lee Jones plays a character who admits how much he wants oral sex from his wife is worth watching. Seriously, folks: there is some fine acting here. Streep and Jones create a couple in a deep rut so convincingly that I found myself feeling really sorry for them. Without being explicit, both actors construct sex scenes that are as raw and intimate as they are clumsy and forlorn. Yeah, I was invested in the Soames’ working out their marital issues.

Unfortunately, Steve Carell is reduced to being basically a talking head, although I strangely found him believable as a marriage counselor or therapist. His character always felt restrained, as if Carell was fighting to break free of some invisible bonds forced on him by the narrative. For what little he does, any good actor without Carell’s fame could have delivered the same performance Carell does.

Also, this film has a terrible soundtrack; it almost ruins the movie.

Still, I recommend this film to fans of Streep and Jones. Honestly, you won’t find acting this good, in which both characters have this level of depth, in many romance films. Hope springs that there are more movies like Hope Springs... but with a better soundtrack.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2013 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy” (Meryl Streep)

Phoenix Film Critics Say "Argo" is Best Film of 2012

After showering Les Misérables with 12 nominations, the Phoenix Film Critics Society 2012 Annual Awards gives the film one win, Anne Hathaway as best supporting actress.  Argo gets "Best Picture," but "Best Director" goes to Zero Dark Thirty's Kathryn Bigelow.

Phoenix Film Critics Society 2012 Annual Awards winners:

Best Picture: Argo

Top Ten Films
•"Argo"
•"The Avengers"
•"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
•"Les Misérables"
•"Life of Pi"
•"Lincoln"
•"Moonrise Kingdom"
•"Silver Linings Playbook"
•"Skyfall"
•"Zero Dark T`hirty"

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow - "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis - "Lincoln"

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Jessica Chastain - "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Master"

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway - "Les Misérables"

Best Ensemble Acting: "Moonrise Kingdom"

Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: "Moonrise Kingdom"

Best Screenplay Adapted from Another Medium: "Argo"

Best Live Action Family Film: "Life of Pi"

Overlooked Film of the Year: "Safety Not Guaranteed"

Best Animated Film: "Wreck-It Ralph"

Best Foreign Language Film: "The Intouchables" (France)

Best Documentary: "Searching for Sugar Man"

Best Original Song: "Skyfall" from "Skyfall"

Best Original Score: "Skyfall"

Best Cinematography: "Life of Pi"

Best Film Editing: "Argo"

Best Production Design: "Moonrise Kingdom"

Best Costume Design: "Anna Karenina"

Best Visual Effects: "Life of Pi"

Best Stunts: "Skyfall"

Breakthrough Performance on Camera: Quvenzhané Wallis - "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera: Benh Zeitlin - "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Youth Performance in a Lead or Supporting Role – Male: Tom Holland - "The Impossible"

Best Youth Performance in a Lead or Supporting Role – Female: Quvenzhané Wallis - "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

The Return of "Top Gun" - in IMAX 3D

“TOP GUN” TO BE RELEASED IN IMAX® 3D FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

THE CLASSIC FILM RETURNS TO THE BIG SCREEN EXCLUSIVELY IN SELECT IMAX 3D THEATRES FOR A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT BEGINNING FEBRUARY 8, 2013

“TOP GUN” Debuts on Blu-ray 3D™/ Blu-ray 2D™ Two-Disc Set February 19, 2013

“Top Gun,” Paramount Pictures’ 1986 classic from director Tony Scott, producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Tom Cruise, takes off on a new adventure with an exclusive six-day 3D engagement in select IMAX® theatres beginning February 8, 2013. The film has been re-mastered for the IMAX® 3D release and subsequent debut on Blu-ray.

TOP GUN was re-mastered for the big screen from high-resolution original negative scans and painstakingly converted to 3D by Legend3D under the supervision of the film’s director, Tony Scott. Rendered in 3D, the film’s complex, long shots reveal extraordinary depth and clarity, allowing viewers to explore every detail of the action. From the spectacular aerial dogfights to the intense close-ups in the cockpits, each frame enables the audience to feel a part of the story.

The story of an elite group of pilots competing to be the best in their class and earn the title of

“TOP GUN” captured the imagination of a generation and earned a worldwide box office of over $350 million upon its release. The film stars Tom Cruise as Maverick and Kelly McGillis as his civilian instructor. The film also stars Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan.

The “TOP GUN” Blu-ray 3D disc presents the film with pristine high definition picture and sparkling sound in spectacular 3D for the ultimate home viewing experience. The Blu-ray 2D includes the re-mastered film in high definition, along with a six-part documentary on the making of the movie, a behind-the-scenes featurette, interviews with Tom Cruise, commentary by producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Tony Scott, co-screenwriter Jack Epps, Jr. and more. The two-disc set available for purchase also includes a digital copy of the film and will be enabled with UltraViolet technology.


About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About IMAX Corporation
IMAX, an innovator in entertainment technology, combines proprietary software, architecture and equipment to create experiences that take you beyond the edge of your seat to a world you’ve never imagined. Top filmmakers and studios are utilizing IMAX theatres to connect with audiences in extraordinary ways, and, as such, IMAX’s network is among the most important and successful theatrical distribution platforms for major event films around the globe.

IMAX is headquartered in New York, Toronto and Los Angeles, with offices in London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. As of Sept. 30, 2012, there were 689 IMAX theatres (556 commercial multiplex, 20 commercial destination and 113 institutional) in 52 countries.

IMAX®, IMAX® 3D, IMAX DMR®, Experience It In IMAX®, An IMAX 3D Experience®, The IMAX Experience® and IMAX Is Believing® are trademarks of IMAX Corporation. More information about the Company can be found at www.imax.com. You may also connect with IMAX on Facebook (www.facebook.com/imax), Twitter (www.twitter.com/imax) and YouTube (www.youtube.com/imaxmovies).

Michael Bay vs Steve Lemlek "Transformers 4" Statement

Below is a statement from director Michael Bay, released yesterday (Monday, December 18, 2012) and refuting the earlier news about the "Transformers 4" script referenced by writer Steve Lemlek, being leaked online.

"Some Internet sites this morning reported that some document recovery guy has found a legitimate 120 page script of Transformers 4. I can absolutely 100 percent say this is completely false. The only two people in the world that have our unfinished script are Kruger and myself. Also we are only up to page 70 in our T4 script. Maybe this guy has a cartoon or something else – but definitely not our movie!"

Bay

http://michaelbay.com/

Got that? Ain't now Transformers 4 script on the Internet, declares Michael Bay.  Seriously, Steve Lemlek has the website www.unleashthefanboy.com where he posted a 120-page screenplay that he claims is the "Transformers 4" script.  Go here: http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/movies/exclusive-transformers-4-script-leaked-villain-is-unicron/37339 for more.

"The Hobbit" Part One Sets Box Office Records

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Smashes Records as It Ventures to the Top of the Worldwide Box Office

First film in Peter Jackson’s epic “The Hobbit” Trilogy takes in an estimated worldwide $223 million in its opening weekend.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” soared to the top of the global box office in a record-breaking opening, dominating the weekend with an estimated $84.775 million domestically and $138.2 million internationally, for a worldwide estimated total of $223 million, including a record-breaking $15.1 from IMAX theatres worldwide. Domestically, the film broke records for largest December opening in motion picture history, including Christmas/holiday weekends. It is also the largest opening for any film in the canon of The Lord of the Rings. The joint announcement was made today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema; Gary Barber, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios; Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group; Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures; and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

The CinemaScore coming out of the weekend was an overall A from all audiences, with an A+ from moviegoers under 18. Opening day showings, starting at midnight on December 14, were sold out, some weeks in advance, and thousands of fans waited in line to be among the first to see the movie.

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures, is the acclaimed first film in Oscar®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s epic “The Hobbit” Trilogy, based on the timeless novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Internationally, the film opened in 56 markets, representing approximately 70% of the total projected final screen count, with such major territories as Australia, Russia, China and others still to come.

Shot in 3D 48 frames-per-second, the film was released in High Frame Rate 3D (HFR 3D) in select theaters, other 2D and 3D formats, and IMAX®.

In making the announcement, Emmerich stated, “It has been a long journey for New Line and our partners to make ‘The Hobbit’ Trilogy a reality. We’re so privileged to continue the journey we started with Peter Jackson on ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy.”

Barber added, “MGM is so proud to help bring ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ to audiences the world over. This film is truly a global event, and touches people in every language.”

Robinov remarked, “Along with our partners, we congratulate the extraordinary Peter Jackson and his entire team of actors and filmmakers on a remarkable start to this grand adventure. We could not be more proud of this film or more thrilled that fans, old or new, have embraced it.”

Fellman said, “This is such a tremendous start heading into the holiday season. This time of year always presents a very competitive landscape, so we are incredibly pleased that ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ performed so well across every demographic.”

Kwan Vandenberg noted, “This incredible journey has inspired passionate fans around the world who could not wait to return to Middle-earth, this time with Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves. These impressive results speak to the universal appeal of this story.”

From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” the first of a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The three films tell a continuous story 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, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” in “The Hobbit” Trilogy are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as Old Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; and Andy Serkis as Gollum. The international ensemble cast of the Trilogy also includes James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Graham McTavish, Adam Brown, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Manu Bennett and Conan Stevens.

The screenplay for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Jackson also produced the film, 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-producers.

The creative behind-the-scenes team returning to Jackson’s crew included director of photography Andrew Lesnie, production designer Dan Hennah, conceptual designers Alan Lee and John Howe, editor Jabez Olssen, and makeup and hair designer Peter Swords King. The costumes were designed by Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor and Bob Buck. Taylor also oversaw the design and production of armour, weapons, creatures and special makeup, which were once again made by the award-winning Weta Workshop. Weta Digital took on the visual effects for the film, led by senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri. The visual effects supervisor was Eric Saindon, with David Clayton serving as animation supervisor. The film features the song “Song of the Lonely Mountain,” performed by Neil Finn.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” All three films in “The Hobbit” Trilogy, also including “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” and the final film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.

www.thehobbit.com