march of the penguins Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It wasn't that long ago that documentaries carried the stigma of being educational first and entertaining second. As with foreign-language fare, an audience for them lingered on the fringe, and an industry was willing to offer them their very own awards, but they really weren't terribly high-profile box-office prospects... that is, until the '04-'05 summer successes of Fahrenheit 9/11 and March of the Penguins made it seem perfectly okay for audiences to see, and for studios to market, a film without so much as one measly explosion in it.

But then along comes American Teen: a film openly marketed as - and arugably assembled to be - anything but a documentary that finds itself underperforming in its current limited runs (it goes wide this Friday). Last May, I witnessed a group of young women leaving whatever indie they caught at Washington D.C's Landmark E Street Cinema as they approached the film's poster and wondered aloud if someone was remaking The Breakfast Club, with a tone that suggested neither horror nor concern, nor any great interest in the big, fat what-if scenario placed before them.

What I wonder now is, at what point did we begin to craft documentary filmmaking specifically to the masses, and then what happens when the masses simply don't show?

Enough with the same old lists of favorite holiday movies! Every year, I see the same entries, probably because there hasn't been a good Christmas movie in years. At least here at Cinematical we shake things up a bit and present you with our favorite Christmas horror, favorite Christmas action, favorite holiday musicals, favorite Christmas movies for Jews, favorites you probably haven't seen, favorite R-rated Christmas, Scrooge's favorites, least favorite obnoxious Christmas comedies and we have a guy who really hates the usual favorites, including A Christmas Story.

Last year we also had a list of non-Christmas movies set during Christmas. Somewhat similar to that, I present you with my favorite non-Christmas movies NOT set during Christmas. I know, that just defines any movie that isn't a holiday movie. I could pick ... Old School ... or The Hunt for Red October. But there's actually some logic here. On Christmas I like to avoid all true holiday movies, whether they are about Christmas, set at Christmas, make fun of Christmas, steal Christmas, blow sh*t up at Christmas, whatever. Yet there is enough holiday spirit in me to choose movies that could almost just barely be associated with Christmas, at least for me. So, if you're tired of It's a Wonderful Life, Gremlins, Home Alone, Santa Claus: The Movie, or whatever you normally watch today, try out one or seven of these:

My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988)

I've never been a big fan of Santa Claus as a character. If I had to reinvent Christmas I'd choose another large jolly figure that brings joy to young children: the Totoro, specifically the largest, O-Totoro/Miminzuku. He's kind of like Santa without the annoying "ho, ho, ho", and he's probably more fun to fly with (the Catbus is likely also more comfy than a reindeer-led sleigh). Sure, Totoro's origins are more Shinto than Christian, but isn't appropriation what Christmas is all about?


Brewster's Millions (Walter Hill, 1985)

Or is Christmas really all about consumerism? The Richard Pryor and John Candy version of George Barr McCutcheon's novel (also adapted in 1914, 1921, 1926, 1935, 1945 and 1961) is one of my favorite movies that both celebrates and scorns the idea of being rich and the act of spending money frivolously (Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is another). In the movie, Pryor is a minor league baseball player who inherits $30 million that he has to blow in 30 days, after which if he's successful at maintaining no assets or savings, he receives $300 million. Another fun Pryor comedy that would make for great holiday viewing is The Toy, in which he's bought by Jackie Gleason as a plaything for his son (but that one might be viewed as a tad too racist nowadays).

Picturehouse has acquired the U.S. rights to The Fox & the Child, the first narrative film from the team that created The March of the Penguins. If you're one of two people not familiar with that movie, it was last year's surprise smash, winner of the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award, and even spawned a full-length spoof. Since The Fox is also being listed on imdb as Le Renard et l'enfant, I'm betting this will be a French film (I'm excellent with languages). The Fox and the Child is currently in production, with Penguins director Luc Jacquet both writing and directing.

Variety reports that the film is based on Jacquet's own childhood experiences. Seeing that the film tells the story of a little girl who goes into the woods and winds up entering a different dimension by following in a fox's footsteps, I'd say Jacquet had a much more exciting childhood than I did! The story sounds very Chronic - what?- cles of Narnia to me, hopefully these guys will put a new spin on things. Jacquet has his work cut out for him -- the switch from documentary to narrative filmmaking is one that several doc makers haven't made that smoothly. See Michael Moore's Canadian Bacon. Actually...don't. No word on casting for The Fox, but let me just suggest either Jamie, Matthew, or Michael J.

So in honor of the season of goodwill towards men, yet another lawsuit is on the way. First up was Jon Peters and a sexual harassment suit, and now Laurent Chalet, who was the Director of Photography for the award-winning documentary March of the Penguins is suing for directorial credit alongside Luc Jacquet.

Variety confirmed that Chalet has filed a lawsuit against the producers of the film. Chalet states that he shot most of the film with the second director of photography Jerome Maison during a 13-month production in Antarctica. Already talk of an out-of-court settlement have begun between the lawyers, but the producers are unwilling to budge on giving Chalet the credit. Producer Yves Darondeau stated "As director of photography, Laurent Chalet did a very good job in difficult conditions, but that doesn't qualify him for a director's credit -- The director has the idea, the point of view, tells a story and has the final cut. It is a very different job." Maison, who is currently working with Jaquet on his follow up The Fox & the Child, about a little girl who tames a fox, is standing behind the producers, and makes no such claims about directing Penguins. Darondeau isn't worried, stating "Unfortunately, when a French film does well, there are practically always lawsuits like this; It's become a fashion." The case is set to come before the court this February.

Back when that seriously overrated March of the Penguins was cleaning up at the box office, comedian Bob Saget felt an apparently irresistable impulse: Why not shoot a bunch of penguin footage and then invite a bunch of his comic pals into a recording studio to tell some jokes?!? It's such a lazy idea, I can't believe it hadn't been done before! Voila, Farce of the Penguins was born.

But aside from his work on Full House and America's Stupidest Home Videos, I happen to think Bob Saget is a pretty funny guy, so I was more than happy to play "wait and see" regarding Farce of the Penguins -- and when the voice-cast list ballooned to include Samuel L. Jackson, Dane Cook, Tracy Morgan, Jason Alexander and Christina Applegate, I considered myself "actively anticipating" the goofy little experiment.

And then we learned that ThinkFilm was releasing the thing directly to video ... and then they released this trailer, which could be described by way of 3,000 different adjectives, but "funny" wouldn't be one of 'em. I mean, how lame do the rest of your jokes have to be if TWO different trailer gags start out with the line "If I had testicles"?

It's still waiting in my Netflix queue, and I'd be thrilled to report that the movie's actually pretty damn funny, but based on the trailer it seems like Farce of the Penguins will be a lot like The Discovery Channel on MUTE while a bunch of semi-drunk comedians crack wise in the background. And there's no way something like that will fill 90 minutes without making me want to stick pins through my ears.

I still don't understand the success of March of the Penguins. I don't understand the film's popularity, and I really don't understand how it beat Murderball for the documentary Oscar. I do understand its influence, though. Yes, Happy Feet was coincidentally in production before the release of the penguin doc, but as far as the public knows, the animated movie is coming on the heels of March, and it should be of help to Warner Bros. that kids might be hungry for more penguins (not literally, of course). Earlier this month, the New York Times featured an article on the penguin craze and mentioned other related movies coming out in the near and distant future, including Surf's Up, a Madagascar sequel and a long-in-the-works Opus picture. Of course, there's also Bob Saget's March parody, Farce of the Penguins, which heads straight-to-DVD in January.

But what about the nature documentary? What influence has March of the Penguins had on its genre as opposed to its subject? Obviously, Hollywood isn't so keen on celebrating the medium, especially when that medium is one typically associated with the Discovery Channel and other cable outlets more than with theatrical box office gold. Sure, before March of the Penguins there was Winged Migration, another doc about birds that grossed about $11 million domestically, but compared to March's $77 million domestic earnings, that can easily be forgotten in studio execs' memories.

AMC Theatres is continuing its lead in exhibitor promotions by giving out more free movies this summer. Perhaps you remember last summer when the cinema chain offered a money-back guarantee for Cinderella Man. Then last month it gave out free Akeelah and the Bee tickets to teachers. This time, the deal includes 12 different movies, is open to anyone and goes through the season.

In select cities (listed after the jump), G- and PG-rated films will be shown for free on Wednesday mornings. The films are not new, of course, but they are all popular family fare that are undeniably good deals. They include Shark Tale, Shrek, Shrek 2, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Racing Stripes, Because of Winn-Dixie, Ice Age, Dreamer, Madagascar, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, March of the Penguins, and, the movie I will go see free any time, Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. In addition, The Cartoon Network is producing the pre-show entertainment, which will include bonus cartoon shorts.

It doesn't get any better than free movies, and the only catch is that the program's sponsors will likely be showing commercials during the pre-show. Like that is any different than when we pay, right? AMC's plan is brilliant, especially if they have their concession stands open at 9am. Since the movies aren't first-run, the theatres don't have to pay a lot to the studios to show them. In fact, the program's sponsors might be paying for the titles by themselves. And as packed as any of these shows is likely to be, seeing as they're free, they should be guaranteed to sell out on any rainy wednesday morning. If they sell popcorn to a good percentage of the audience, AMC will be making a ton of money (If they would sell better popcorn, they'd get some of the money from me, as well).

• Breakfast On Pluto - The Crying Game writer-director Neil Jordan never really does get into why Patrick “Kitten” Braden becomes a transvestite, but he does manage to save his film from being a rote and self-indulgent celebration of uniqueness when he bobs and then weaves a political cry (for Irish independence) into it. The criminally attractive Cillian Murphy plays Kitten a little too much like Mrs. Doubtfire, though he does sustain the character, and an incredible glam-packed soundtrack helps create an energetic sense of time and place.
• Deep Blue - While not as stunning as the likes of Winged Migration or March Of The Penguins, this BBC-produced nature film sure is pretty to look at. With a calming, minimalist narration by Pierce Brosnan (supplanting Michael Gambon's from the UK release) and a dreamy score by George Fenton, the underwater photography is stunning. The beast-on-beast violence is a bit intense, with one hapless sea lion meeting his end when two orcas play hacky-sack with his mangled corpse (in slow-motion, no less).

Like everyone else in all of Hollywood, comedian-actor Chris Kattan is soon going to lend his voice to a wild animal in a computer animated feature no doubt packed full of cute. The movie is Foodfight! and the animal voiced by Kattan is - what else - a penguin, because penguins are in these days. To prepare for this important role, Kattan says he has been busy finding his "inner penguin;" which mostly involves watching the tell-all penguin documentary March of the Penguins. Kattan explains his role-prep by saying "I ate a lot of Klondike bars and sat in a very cold pool for a long time. No, truly, I watched March of the Penguins and got some insight into my character." Which makes sense, I suppose, since the only other method of studying penguins in their natural habitat would be to head for the pole in person.
In case you are wondering, the rest of the motley cast is rounded out by Hilary and Haylie Duff, Wayne Brady, Greg Ellis,Charlie Sheen, Tony Longo, and Eva Longoria. I don't know about you, but that cast just screams winner to me! Why does it seem like every time a new kids' flick is announced, the voices involved seem to be a strange collection of whatever talent the director can find hanging around that day. Maybe there's some big box full of names, and every time a new animated movie is announced they hold some big raffle and draw out seven or eight lucky names. In fact, I took the liberty of doing so myself - just in case I ever get to direct an animated children's feature. My cast will be composed of Luke Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Eugene Levy, Christina Ricci and a musical performer to be named later. It will be a blockbuster.

The last roundup for the week:

• Randy Quaid has been terribly mistreated by the folks behind Brokeback Mountain. He appeared for about $14 out of the goodness of his heart, because the film's makers told him that the movie was gonna be tiny, and they had no money to spend. Quaid's response, basically, is "LIARS!" He feels the movie was willfully misrepresented, and is suing for the $10 million his brilliance deserves.

• Street Fight, Marshall Curry's Oscar-nominated documentary about 2002's nasty race for governor in Newark, NJ, has been picked up for distribution by Ironweed Films. As we've discussed here earlier, Ironweed is a socially-minded online DVD club that "aims to be an outlet for indie pics that never make it beyond the festival circuit"; members are sent a new DVD each month "with a theme such as globalization, human rights and civil liberties." The bummer, of course, it that those of us who are NOT Ironweed members are now going to have a hard time seeing the movie.

• Because he clearly needed a black guy with chops, Bob Saget has hired Samuel L. Jackson to provide the voice-over for Farce of the Penguins, the target of which I trust you'll be able to guess. The film, which Saget wrote and is directing, details the adventures of one male penguin "on a 70-mile trek with hedonistic buddies obsessed with getting laid." In addition to Jackson and Saget himself, the film's vocal talents will include John Stamos and Dave Coulier (Ah, Full House humor), Jason Alexander, Harvey Fierstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Gilbert Gottfried, Norm Macdonald, and Jon Lovitz. I admit it: I'm giggling a little bit already.