Mini-Review: The Adventures of Prince Achmed

“Even with primitive materials, one can work small wonders.” – Lotte Reiniger


Still in its infancy in 1926, animation took a leap forward when Lotte Reiniger revealed her latest creation to the world. The film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, was unlike anything audiences had seen before and, in many cases, since. Using thousands of cut-out silhouette figures, Reiniger created a beautiful world populated by fairy tale characters. This work holds a special distinction in the world of cinema as it represents what most historians consider the first feature-length animated film.

The story revolves around (you guessed it) Prince Achmed and his efforts to rescue a princess from an evil sorcerer. Along the way he visits strange lands, befriends a witch, and battles demons, among other things. The film essentially contains all the typical archetypes you would expect to find in a fairy tale; all of which are used to great effect.

While the style and storyline undoubtedly seem basic, the results are pretty fantastic. In fact, the most impressive thing about the film is its effectiveness. Although the film features subtitles, viewers really don’t even need them to follow what’s happening. Instead, they can simply read the character’s body language and actions to determine the progression of the story. It’s surprising how much detail comes from even the slightest of gestures. The film reminded me of an intricate ballet in this way.

I think the silhouette figures work on a level that no other animated film – or film in general – has accomplished. The blank figures allow the audience to envision their own imagery which allows for a unique experience to anyone watching. Of course, when looking at it this way, you get what you are willing to put into it.

The DVD I watched featured a documentary on Lotte Reiniger and her career that’s also worth watching. She managed to carve out a niche for herself and stuck with it her entire career. The doc illustrates just how much time and effort the process took and the patience and precision it required to complete a film like The Adventures of Prince Achmed. So, for any animation enthusiasts or film buffs out there, check this one out.

Eastwood Sets Up Hoover Project

Clint Eastwood continues to stay a busy man; setting up film after film. Seriously, I'm not sure how he does it. The 79 year-old director already has Hereafter to be released later this year and now there's word on his next potential film. It's been reported that Eastwood now wants to helm a bio-pic of FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover. A script has already been written by Milk screenwriter Lance Black and producer Brian Grazer is reportedly on board as well. The film would likely follow Hoover's life as he set up the bureau through his death in 1972.

Bio-pics usually don't do too much for me, honestly. By-and-large they simply follow a straightforward pattern in an attempt to "sum up" a person's life. This project sounds somewhat interesting, though, since Hoover seems like an interesting topic. Right now, the project is still without a studio, although Warner Bros. will probably get first crack at it since Eastwood works there nearly every time out.

Oscar Aftermath

The Oscars have come and gone once again, so now it's time for a few reflections on the big night.

First of all, the hosts: I didn't think Martin and Baldwin worked together as well as they could have. They just seemed to lack the chemistry that was necessary to carry the show. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed some of the bits. The Paranormal Activity video was funny and the cut to the two of them in a Snuggie worked well too, I thought. Overall, I was left kind of underwhelmed, though.

I was happy to see Christoph Waltz win a well-deserved Best Supporting Actor award. He actually had one of my favorite lines of the night: "That's an uber-bingo!" I just wish that Inglourious Basterds had been given more recognition.

What was with the John Hughes memorial? Not to take anything away from Hughes, but in all the years I've watched the Academy Awards, I've never seen an entire segment of the show dedicted to a single deceased filmmaker. The whole thing seemed odd to me.

As far as my annual Oscar predictions, I went 17 for 24 this time out. That counts as a personal best for me (pretty good considering a usually get about half right most years).

Seeing Jeff Bridges win for Best Actor brought a smile to my face. The man has maintained a solid career for many years now and just seems like a really down-to-earth kind of guy.

While The Hurt Locker wasn't my absolute favorite film of the year, I was glad it won Best Picture. It's ironic that one of the lowest grossing films won in a year when the Academy was clearly trying to broaden its audience with the expansion of the Best Picture category.

Why was a horror montage included? It seemed pretty tacked-on.

One of the easiest awards to predict was for Best Animated Feature, which Pixar naturally won with Up. Honestly, I was hoping Fantastic Mr. Fox would pull out an upset, even though I knew there was no way it could happen.

I can live with Avatar winning three awards. It certainly deserved some recognition...just not too much.

The memorium montage had some notables missing: Farrah Fawcett, Henry Gibson, Dan O'Bannon, and Bea Arthur.

I'm still not sure what to think about the whole Sandra Bullock thing. Of course, I haven't seen The Blindside, so I shouldn't judge, but it just doesn't seem right that she should win for that film. I mean, what could it have hurt to give Streep another Oscar, right?

Many of the top categories were easy to predict this year - a little too easy. Next year, I'll hope to see some close races.

Some Recent Viewings

The Long Hot Summer (1958)
This film was the first to pair Paul Newman and future wife Joanne Woodward together and the chemistry between the two really stands out. Newman plays Ben Quick, a drifter who disrupts the lives of a rich small-town family. Orson Welles gives a delightfully over-the-top performance as the head of the family who will stop at nothing to ensure his name continues on in importance.

Seven Men from Now (1956)
Randolph Scott stars in this low-budget western that is at once simple and complex. I say simple because the story and style are straightforward enough, but I also say complex because of the ideas explored. Lee Marvin also stars as a charismatic heavy.

A Serious Man (2009)
The latest Coen brothers film delivers like no other film could. After watching it for the first time, I ended up watching it again the very same day. There's certainly a lot to chew on in this dark comedy about a man faced with a series of unfortunate events. It's probably the most personal film the Coens have made.

Trees Lounge (1996)
Character actor Steve Buscemi's directorial debut centers on a man who stands at a crossroads in his life. He turns to alcohol at the local bar to soften the blow of a disappointing life. This film was a engaging slice-of-life type of story, helped along by a cast of great supporting players.

Bloody Sunday (2002)
If you've seen a Paul Greengrass film in the past few years, this one follows the same shooting style. The film portrays the fateful 1972 Irish civil rights protest march and the subsequent massacre that took place. Much like United 93, the film is shot in an essentially documentary style; all handheld and with many unknown or non-actors.

Watch Alice in Wonderland (1903)

The story of Alice in Wonderland has been through many iterations over the years. Since Tim Burton's take on the material premieres tomorrow, I thought it would be fitting to view the earliest cinematic adaptation. The 1903 version of Alice in Wonderland has been restored by the British Film Institute and it's really something to see. Although the footage is still rough despite the restoration, there's a lot of creativity on display.
Check out the film on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeIXfdogJbA

Allen's Latest Picked Up by Sony

Woody Allen continues to stay a busy man (it's kind of amazing that he still churns out a movie per year) as his latest film, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, has been bought by Sony Picture Classics for domestic distribution. Although Allen's work has been hit or miss over the past decade or so, I still hope for the best when it comes to his projects. Another Match Point could be right around the corner, after all. As usual, not much is known about this latest effort other than a brief plot description: “[the film] revolves around different members of a family, their tangled love lives and their attempts to try to solve their problems." That seems like well-traveled territory for Allen, but, then again, you really can't discern too much from that vague of a description. The film stars Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, and Naomi Watts among others - all first-timers for an Allen film, I believe. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger has a planned release in September.

2010 Oscar Predictions

With the Academy Awards only a week away, I thought I'd formulate my predictions for this year's winners. Most of the main categories seem fairly easy to predict this year, but you never can tell for sure. As usual, the further down this list goes, the more I'm just throwing out guesses. So, for better or worse, here are my picks. (* = prediction of winner)

Best Motion Picture

"Avatar"
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

"The Blind Side"
Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Producers

"District 9"
Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

"An Education"
Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

*"The Hurt Locker"
Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro, Producers

"Inglourious Basterds"
Lawrence Bender, Producer

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

"A Serious Man"
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

"Up"
Jonas Rivera, Producer

"Up in the Air"
Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers


Achievement in Directing

"Avatar" James Cameron

*"The Hurt Locker" Kathryn Bigelow

"Inglourious Basterds" Quentin Tarantino

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Lee Daniels

"Up in the Air" Jason Reitman


Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

*Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart"

George Clooney in "Up in the Air"

Colin Firth in "A Single Man"

Morgan Freeman in "Invictus"

Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker"


Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon in "Invictus"

Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger"

Christopher Plummer in "The Last Station"

Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones"

*Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds"


Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

*Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side"

Helen Mirren in "The Last Station"

Carey Mulligan in "An Education"

Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"

Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia"


Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Penélope Cruz in "Nine"

Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air"

Maggie Gyllenhaal in "Crazy Heart"

Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air"

*Mo'Nique in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"


Adapted screenplay

"District 9" Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

"An Education" Screenplay by Nick Hornby

"In the Loop" Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

*"Up in the Air" Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner


Original screenplay

"The Hurt Locker" Written by Mark Boal

*"Inglourious Basterds" Written by Quentin Tarantino

"The Messenger" Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

"A Serious Man" Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

"Up" Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter
Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy


Best Animated Feature Film

"Coraline" Henry Selick

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" Wes Anderson

"The Princess and the Frog" John Musker and Ron Clements

"The Secret of Kells" Tomm Moore

*"Up" Pete Docter


Achievement in Art Direction

*"Avatar" Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

"Nine" Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

"Sherlock Holmes" Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

"The Young Victoria" Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray


Achievement in Cinematography

*"Avatar" Mauro Fiore

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" Bruno Delbonnel

"The Hurt Locker" Barry Ackroyd

"Inglourious Basterds" Robert Richardson

"The White Ribbon" Christian Berger


Achievement in Costume Design

"Bright Star" (Apparition) Janet Patterson

"Coco before Chanel" Catherine Leterrier

"The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" Monique Prudhomme

"Nine" Colleen Atwood

*"The Young Victoria" Sandy Powell


Achievement in Film Editing

"Avatar" Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

"District 9" Julian Clarke

*"The Hurt Locker" Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

"Inglourious Basterds" Sally Menke

"Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" Joe Klotz


Best Foreign Language Film

"Ajami"
An Inosan Production Israel

"El Secreto de Sus Ojos"
A Haddock Films Production Argentina

"The Milk of Sorrow"
A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production Peru

"Un Prophète"
A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production France

*"The White Ribbon"
An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany


Achievement in Makeup
"Il Divo" Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

*"Star Trek" Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

"The Young Victoria" Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore


Achievement for Best Original Score

"Avatar" James Horner

"Fantastic Mr. Fox" Alexandre Desplat

"The Hurt Locker" Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

"Sherlock Holmes" Hans Zimmer

*"Up" Michael Giacchino


Best Original Song

"Almost There" from "The Princess and the Frog" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Down in New Orleans" from "The Princess and the Frog" Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Loin de Paname" from "Paris 36" Music by Reinhardt Wagner
Lyric by Frank Thomas

"Take It All" from "Nine" Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

*"The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)" from "Crazy Heart" Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett


Achievement in Sound Editing

*"Avatar" Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson

"Inglourious Basterds" Wylie Stateman

"Star Trek" Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin

"Up" Michael Silvers and Tom Myers


Achievement in Sound Mixing

*"Avatar" Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

"The Hurt Locker" Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

"Inglourious Basterds" Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano

"Star Trek" Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson


Achievement in Visual Effects

*"Avatar" Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

"District 9" Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken

"Star Trek" Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton


Best Documentary Feature

"Burma VJ"
A Magic Hour Films Production Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller

*"The Cove"
An Oceanic Preservation Society Production Nominees to be determined

"Food, Inc."
A Robert Kenner Films Production Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein

"The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers"
A Kovno Communications Production Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith

"Which Way Home"
A Mr. Mudd Production Rebecca Cammisa


Best Documentary Short Subject

"China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province"
A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

"The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner"
A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher

*"The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant"
A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

"Music by Prudence"
An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

"Rabbit à la Berlin"
An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra


Best Animated Short Film

"French Roast"
A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O. Joubert

"Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty"
A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O'Connell

"The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)"
A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia

"Logorama" (Autour de Minuit)
An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin

*"A Matter of Loaf and Death"
An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park


Best Live Action Short Film

"The Door"
An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

"Instead of Abracadabra"
A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström

"Kavi"
A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey

"Miracle Fish"
A Druid Films Production Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

*"The New Tenants"
A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Tackling IMDb's 250

Today I was searching through IMDb as per usual when I decided to check out the site's Top 250 films as voted by the users. I can remember a time when I hadn't seen half of the films on the list (which constantly changes due to user voting), but as of today I've seen 241 of the titles listed. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Perhaps at some point I can claim to have seen all 250 on a given day. But I bring this topic up not to gloat so much as inform. Anyone with an increasing interest in cinema really should check out IMDb's list as a good starting point since it includes a diverse enough number of films that you are bound to make many discoveries. I know I have over the years. Check out the site and see how many films you've watched from the list.

http://www.imdb.com/chart/top

Against the Grain: Inspired Casting

When people describe Grace Kelly, words such as glamorous or elegant usually come to mind. And why shouldn’t they? After all, she was Hollywood royalty and later on a real-life princess. Her most iconic roles in films like Rear Window and To Catch A Thief showcase her beauty, charm, and refinement. But the role for which she earned her Academy Award lacks the qualities Kelly typically attributed to her work. Instead, her character could be described as a buttoned-down, hostile, decidedly unglamorous woman. The film is The Country Girl; the role is Georgie Elgin.

It’s a brave performance by Kelly, playing the wife of a struggling actor. I say brave because her character isn’t necessarily the most likable or appealing person when we first meet her. She comes off as harsh towards her husband, not to mention the director who tries to give him a break in a new play. As the film moves along, we begin to see the complexity between Georgie and her husband and come to understand her position. Kelly proves she can handle a character who doesn’t automatically exude charisma and instead dig deep into a role that may not appeal to everyone.

If you get the chance, give The Country Girl a watch. The film also stars William Holden and Bing Crosby, both of whom also deliver great performances.

Coens Find Their Lead For True Grit

After an extensive search, the Coen brothers have found the lead for their latest film, a western called True Grit. The central character of Mattie, a fourteen year-old girl who seeks vengeance after the death of her father, will be played by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld. She joins a cast of heavyweights such as Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin. Steinfeld should have quite a challenge ahead of her as her character drives the story and provides the audience a point of entry. If she pulls it off, this could easily become a star-making role. The Coens have traditionally been spot-on with their casting, so I'm very hopeful about their choice. True Grit begins shooting soon for a planned Christmas day release. As usual, I'll be highly anticipating whatever the Coens deliver.