Up Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Now that Pixar's Up has officially landed on DVD and Blu-ray, artist Paul Conrad has posted a bunch of the concept art from the film that he worked on, like the above image (which I pieced together) that includes the original digital photo that inspired "Paradise Falls" alongside the faux magazine article that Ellie first thumb-tacks in their living room. Some interesting tidbits we learn from Conrad's blog:

• According to one image, Paradise Falls was at one point called Angel Falls.
• Initially, 185 Wilderness Explorer Merit Badges were created for Russell, though they only used 47 in the film (see all 185 over at Conrad's site).
• The bird's name was originally Gary, and then later changed to Kevin.
• Additionally, several soda cap badges were also created eventually leading to the single Grape Soda cap that young Ellie pins on young Carl (see all the soda cap designs over at Conrad's site).

There's also tons more over on the site, including concept sketches for the airlines tickets, collectibles in Carl's living room, sketches for the map of South America, a jet stream image that Russell was to show Carl in the film, and a story about the mailbox hand prints. Check out a couple more below and the rest over at Conrad's site.

Kudos to Cinematical reader Kashif Pasta for sending this our way. On the latest episode of the Creative Screenwriting Magazine Podcast (which I didn't know existed, but now do and will totally listen more often), Up and Monster's, Inc director Pete Docter revealed the original pitch for Monsters, Inc. -- which was very different from what eventually hit the screen, and kinda reminded me of Where the Wild Things Are in a sorta-ish way. On this blog, Kashif separated the segment of the podcast where Docter reveals the original pitch (which came at about 22 minutes in), and it went something like this:

"Well, my idea was that what it was about was about a 30 year old man who is like an accountant or something, he hates his job, and one day he gets a book with some drawings in it that he did when he was a kid from his mom, and he doesn't think anything of it and he puts it on the shelf and that night, monsters show up. And nobody else can see them. He thinks he's starting to go crazy, they follow him to his job, and on his dates, and all this- and it turns out these monsters are fears that he never dealt with as a kid. And each one of them represents a different kind of fear. As he conquers those fears, the guys who he slowly becomes kind of friends with- they disappear as he conquers those fears. It's this bittersweet kinda ending where they go away, and so not much of that stayed

[...]

it sounds better as a pitch than it did at the time- anyway. "

Sounds like a pretty cool punch-in-the-gut kinda movie to me; something with real intense emotion. I like Docter in that way. I feel he likes to create these beautiful child-like movies with some pretty intense adult emotions behind them. It's part of what makes that Pixar crew so great and unique and powerful. You can listen to the audio from the Docter podcast over here.

As 2009 begins to come to a close and critics and pundits consider the movies that will ultimately make their Top Tens and Best Of lists, Up seems like a shoe-in for all of them. Effortlessly charming, deeply affecting and genuinely rousing, Pete Docter's follow-up to Monsters, Inc. is nothing short of spectacular. I'm especially reminded of this now that the film has arrived on Blu-ray, in no less than an epic four-disc set. But even as one of the best films of the year, is its home video iteration one of the best Blu-rays as well? Looking at the material contained (if also spread out) in this collection, I'm not so sure, even if everything on it nevertheless manages to make Up look like a masterpiece all over again.

Disc One features the film itself, two short features, and a modest but potent slate of extras. In terms of presentation, Up looks simply gorgeous, offering remarkable clarity and vividness no matter what's up on the screen, while the audio is muscular without being overwhelming. Meanwhile, the two shorts – "Partly Cloudy," which was attached to theatrical prints of Up, and the interstitial "Dug's Special Mission" – offer further adventures for viewers to check out once they've cried their eyes out watching the movie itself.

Additionally, the two featurettes, "The Many Endings of Muntz" and "Adventure is Out There," showcase specific aspects of the creative process that will probably be of most interest or importance to viewers: the first examines the way the filmmakers came up with the "villain"'s comeuppance, and what other options were available; and the second follows the creators as they journey to South America to visit the real-life tepui mountains that gave them inspiration when conceiving the film's picturesque vistas.

Up
If there is one disc sure to fly off shelves this week, it's this one. The Pixar film made instant fans out of most viewers, and agonizingly ripped the rest of our hearts out with the love story opening. In her review, Jette Kernion said Up is "a very good movie that defies demographic categorization." By now, your minds are probably made, but if not: Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

The Ugly Truth
How do you follow up comments about Knocked Up being a little bit sexist? By producing and starring in a film that teaches a smart and successful woman the "ugly truth" of life from a notorious chauvinist, naturally. In his review, Jeffrey M. Anderson wrote that this romcom "actually knows next to nothing about dating advice, the behaviors of men and women, or much of anything else romantically human." Skip it and save yourself. Also on Blu-ray.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut
We all knew this was coming -- the step above the director's cut, the disc for uberfans of the graphic novel -- a version of the film with all of The Black Freighter interspersed as it was in print. Grab this, and you should have everything you need from the big-screen cinematic experience. If you adore all things Watchmen, Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.

Buy at Amazon

The Accidental Husband
When he wasn't spending time in Watchmen's blood and carnage, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was becoming Uma Thurman's Accidental Husband. Another one of those floofy romcoms, this flick takes Uma back to her Cats and Dogs days, but this time, she gets the radio show and the man. I imagine. Do you care? Skip it.

Add to Netflix queue | Buy at Amazon

Also out: Robsessed, Love Finds a Home, A Christmas Proposal, The Christmas Clause, Spread, Summer's Moon, The Echo, Hurt, The Gambler, the Girl and the Gunslinger, The Line, Bad Guys

It may not be the future of film as some herald it, but it doesn't take a psychic to realize that 3-D, gimmick it may still seem, is here to say. Two unrelated news items today coalesced together into a dawning realization, is an Academy Awards category for Best 3-D Film inevitable? But before the examination of such a hypothetical category, let's take a look at the news that inspired this post.

The Final Destination wins the international Hollywood box office.
According to Screen Daily, The Final Destination took in $17.3mil on its opening weekend run around the globe. Considering how poorly received the newest entry in the death-claims-all franchise was critically, that may seem like a surprise, but the mere presence of eye wear is the chief explanation for the successful haul. Russia alone accounted for roughly half of the weekend total, and according to the same report, half of Russia's contributions were driven by the extra premium charged for the third dimension.

What's that mean? Well for one, more crappy horror movies are going to go the 3-D route from now on. This trend was already on the rise, but studios will not ignore a win at the domestic and international box offices. And for two, more 3-D films of all genres will be on the rise. Clearly The Final Destination is not the sole catalyst for this gimmick renaissance, but it is the latest check box in a long column of studio wins.

The Hole wins the inaugural Persol 3-D Award for the Best 3-D Stereoscopic Film of the Year at the Venice International Film Festival.

So here we have it, the summer movie season finally winding down, and maybe it's just us, but a couple of peculiar trends have cropped up since May that we thought were worth bringing to light. For starters, we've only further elaborated on Eric's early indicator that puking was 'in' this year (seriously, it's gotten to be a pretty considerable theme), and as for the rest, you can check them out after the jump. Some spoilers follow. And if there are any corrections or additions to be made, please pipe up in the comments, and do so gently.

Are we in a golden age of animation? To start, Pixar just keeps getting better and better; critics almost unanimously voted WALL-E the best picture of 2008 -- not just the best animated film, but the best film. And their new Up has racked up nearly equal praise. So far two of the best films I've seen in 2009 are animated features, Henry Selick's Coraline and Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues. Coraline was filmed in stop-motion 3D, and Sita was mostly hand-drawn with some computer assist. Filmmakers seem to have perfected 3D this year, not only in live-action features, but in animated features like Coraline, Monsters vs. Aliens, Battle for Terra and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.

Computer animation, which recently looked like it was going to take over for good, has now simply become one of the many tools an animator can use: Disney has gone back to hand-drawn this year with the upcoming The Princess and the Frog, and Hayao Miyazaki's hand-drawn Ponyo is also opening Stateside soon. And best of all, some animated features are being aimed at grown-ups, such as Sita Sings the Blues and Tatia Rosenthal's terrific $9.99. In recent years, even the Oscar-nominated short films have been released to theaters as a collection. And there are still at least half-a-dozen more big films coming out by the end of the year (including 9, Astro Boy, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, etc.)

Well, don't we all feel a little silly. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the movie that received the most hysterically negative reviews of 2009 opened to by far the year's biggest numbers -- $201 million since Wednesday, according to estimates. That's just a couple million shy of the first-five-days-of-release record set by The Dark Knight, though that movie opened on a Thursday. (It's tough to truly compare opening weekends of mega-blockbusters these days, since God knows on what day of the week they all hit theaters.) I hope everyone is looking forward to Transformers 3, where Autobots will discover fart jokes.

The only movie to dare take on Revenge of the Fallen in wide release, was the Nick Cassavetes weepie My Sister's Keeper, which opened to a respectable $12 million -- almost as strong as Cassavetes' The Notebook, though unlikely to be carried to an $80 million cume by good word-of-mouth. Year One took a big tumble, falling off 70% its middling opening; I guess Michael Cera and Jack Black aren't quite the automatic draw that battling cyborgs are. And The Hangover continues to ride a wave of audience goodwill; it will likely have reached $200 million by this time next weekend.

As for your weekly Up v. Finding Nemo update -- it's still neck-in-neck, with Nemo ahead by about $3 million after five weeks of release. If this weekend's heftier drop-off for Up is any indication, it may be starting to lose a little steam, which would mean that Nemo would get to hold on to the Pixar crown.

The full top 10 after the jump.

Disney buffs are no doubt aware of the theme park's "Living Character Initiative," where guests of Walt Disney World (and the surrounding parks, like Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot Center) are treated to a live-action experience with some of the more memorable Disney/Pixar animated characters. I believe the initiative began a couple years ago with the Muppet Mobile Lab, and it continues now with the character Remy from Ratatouille (who hangs around French restaurants at Epcot Center) and the newest edition -- Luxo Jr. (aka the hopping Pixar desk lamp), who visitors to Disney's Hollywood Studios can now see hanging out over at Pixar Place.

We posted videos of both Luxo Jr. and Remy after the jump, as well as the inflatable Up house stationed over at Downtown Disney. And now if you'll excuse me, Wall-E is about to start on cable and the thing looks absolutely smashing in HD. Enjoy your Sunday!

It may have seemed like an "off" week by summer standards in terms of releases, but two debuts and two strong holdovers meant that four films grossed $20 million or more, which is rare for a non-holiday weekend. The top dog, surprisingly, turned out to be The Proposal, which rode a genial marketing campaign and a set of sneak previews to $34 million dollars -- Sandra Bullock's best opening weekend ever, by far. (Related question: did Bullock "open" this movie? I'm inclined to think not, though it's a perfect role for her.)

Year One is a bit tougher to read. Certainly with the Cera/Black/Ramis combination, it was expected to open bigger. Generally poor reviews didn't help; I haven't seen the film, so I'm a bit handicapped in the analysis. If I had to guess, I'd say that people saw it as a bit of a novelty item. Silliness can be hard to sell if it's not low-brow.

But the weekend's real story, I'd say, is once again The Hangover, which stuck around in second place after dropping less than 20% in its third weekend. It's hard to find a precise analogue for it at this point; Box Office Mojo stretches with "R-rated summer comedy breakout," which category it will dominate after it speeds ahead of Wedding Crashers in about two weeks. The movie did add nearly 200 new screens; still, when people talk about word-of-mouth giving a movie legs, this is what they're hoping for.

Meanwhile, Up is now pretty much running neck-in-neck with Finding Nemo for the title of highest-grossing Pixar release. It will be close.

The full top 10 after the jump.