penguins Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: Surf's Up
Filed under: Animation », New Releases », Sony », Theatrical Reviews », Family Films »
I was somewhat surprised by Surf's Up, which is better than you might think from the trailers. It's very much a movie for children, without much to capture the interest of adults, but there are so many subpar movies for kids these days that it's refreshing to see one that entertains in an almost classic fashion. The filmmakers behind Surf's Up were obviously aiming for a timeless family movie, something kids 10 years in the future could watch and still enjoy, although by then the animation might be considered dated in some way.
The structure of the narrative is the only real pop-culture reference -- it's shot in faux-documentary style, like The Office, and the beginning is obviously meant to recall March of the Penguins in a few ways. (In fact, the film is funnier than the few minutes I lasted through Farce of the Penguins.) The offscreen filmmakers interviewing the penguins are voiced by Surf's Up's directors, Ash Brannon and Chris Buck. The pre-credit sequence, which features "vintage" footage of penguin surfing legend Big Z and home movies of the main character, is done beautifully with some clever graphics and was my favorite part of the film.
Margaret Thatcher Film Coming From Makers of The Queen
Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Politics », Cinematical Indie », War »
Hot on the heels of The Queen, Pathé Pictures and BBC Films have teamed up for a film about former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Like The Queen, which was co-produced by Pathé, this picture will not be a biopic and will instead deal with only a few weeks. Specifically, it will focus on the 17 days leading up to the Falklands War (Malvinas War, for the Argentines) of 1982. Aside from the production company, there isn't much else connecting this and The Queen, but that certainly won't stop its marketing. Currently the only people attached to the project are screenwriter Brian Fillis and producer Damian Jones, so it is of course still possible for others involved with The Queen to become involved here -- would Helen Mirren make a good Thatcher? (I couldn't see it). I actually say make up Julianne Moore for the part. Seriously.
It is too bad nobody thought about making a film earlier since it would tie in perfectly right now -- today is the 25th anniversary of Argentina's initial flag raising on South Georgia, which kicked off the conflict (I'm figuring it is the first of the 17 days). I'm not an expert on the proceedings from March 19 on, but much of the plot of the proposed film would likely consist of the attempted negotiations prior to Argentina's actual invasion of the islands. It is also too bad the film will be stopped at the moment the war begins, as it would make an interesting companion piece to last year's excellent Argentine film Blessed by Fire (read my Tribeca film festival review), in a Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima-sort of way. The aftermath would be a worthy focus, too, because the war positively changed the British people's attitude toward Thatcher and the government. In any regard, I'm looking forward to the film and I hope it can be somewhat close to as good as The Queen.
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