The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2011 06:10 AM PST Arthur Christmas will surely draw you into the yuletide mood. YES, it's almost that time of the year again, when it starts snowing, the tinsel is brought out, and homes begin to smell like gingerbread ... well, in the movies at least. For this yuletide season, Arthur Christmas comes to visit. At the heart of this film is a story with the ingredients of a Christmas classic – a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero: Santa's youngest son, Arthur. In a nutshell, it's all about kids everywhere getting their gifts on time, and how Arthur, the least capable Clause, embarks on a mission to deliver the last present before Christmas morning dawns. Directed by Sarah Smith, Arthur Christmas features the voice performances of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton and Ashley Jensen. The movie marks Sony Pictures Animation's first film collaboration with Aardman, the landmark animation company best-known for their award-winning and crowd-pleasing stop-motion films Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit. The winners of over 400 international awards, including four Oscars (three for Best Animated Short Film, and one for Best Animated Feature Film for Were-Rabbit), Aardman delivers their second CG-animated project with Arthur Christmas, and takes on an ambitious subject: the delivery of two billion presents in one night. "They have all the technology in the world and no expense is spared," says Sarah Smith, who directs and co-wrote Arthur Christmas, of Aardman. "This movie reveals what their equipment looks like and how they do it." The movie, naturally, takes a few liberties with the Santa story. For instance, at the top of the (Santa) organisation is the man himself, Santa – but these days, he's more of a figurehead facing the prospect of retirement. Apparently, the Clauses are a dynasty, a long line of Santas stretching back over 1,000 years! Running the day-to-day is Santa's firstborn son, Steve – an alpha male (voiced by none other than Laurie) the next in line to wear the red suit. "Hugh is marvellous as Steve," says Smith, in the production notes for the movie. "The character is incredibly cool and slightly in love with himself – the kind of character that just doesn't quite get it. "But Hugh completely gets it, and gave us a beautiful and funny performance." Laurie says: "Steve takes himself a bit too seriously – he's sort of laughable at times, because he gets it so wrong. But we all do that from time to time. "He's a very confident fellow who has plans for modernising and updating the operation – he's looking to run a state-of-the-art Christmas, and he's impatient with the softer, fluffier side of the holiday. He might not have all the social skills you'd want in a boss, but he's just doing things the way he thinks they ought to be done." Sounds a bit like a certain doctor character Laurie is more famous for playing on TV. Just why did Laurie decide to play the part of Steve in this warm and happy holiday movie? Laurie says: "I was drawn to the role by his very attractive silhouette. "He's a fine figure of a man and I don't often get asked to play fine figures of men. I've played sort of strange and unattractive men, and insects and rather twisted sort of beings." And then there's Arthur, Santa's youngest son. "Arthur believes in Christmas, and not just because he's been born into the family business," says McAvoy, who voices Arthur. "He believes it in his soul – there's nobody else in the world who cares about Christmas more than Arthur." The movie, according to McAvoy, revolves around the premise that every single child in the world must receive a present on Christmas night. "What happens is, one night, one child doesn't receive a present and basically the international conglomerate organisation that is Christmas and the North Pole, as run by Steve and Santa, decide that actually that's just like point-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-one percent of a failure and actually, when you balance the books, that's OK because the success rate is so high, because Christmas is becoming a bit of a business." But Arthur decides that that's not good enough, and goes on a mission to get that child his gift ... and in time, too. Don't think for a minute that just because it's a movie targeted at the younger audience that all sense of logic was thrown out the door. For director Smith and her co-writer Peter Baynham, half the fun of writing the screenplay was working out the math of Santa's operation – and of Arthur's heroic mission. " ■ Arthur Christmas opens in Malaysian cinemas on Dec 1. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2011 05:50 AM PST THE trailer for Snow White And The Huntsman proves that the most delicious character in this fairy tale is the Evil Queen. In this particular version, helmed by first-time director Rupert Sanders, she is played by Charlize Theron. And throughout the trailer, we hear Theron saying her character's lines in a controlled tone, only to see the character then calmly suck the life out of a woman as a means to maintain her beauty (who needs botox, eh?). Judging from the title, the Huntsman who is assigned the task of taking out Snow White's heart in the woods has become an important character. He is played by Chris Hemsworth who proves that he can swing a weapon – be it a hammer as the God of Thunder or an axe in this film – in a most stylish manner. This film also boasts really cool special effects – the famed mirror melts into gold liquid to form a man with a veil over his face; men breaking into a thousand pieces; the Evil Queen transforming into a hundred crows. Wait, what of Snow White herself – portrayed by Kristen Stewart? Well, she doesn't look like a dainty princess who is waiting to be rescued. She actually wears armour and carries a sword. The teaser trailer for Mirror, Mirror – the other Snow White film – takes a more comedic route. Sorry, Julia Roberts (who portrays the Evil Queen), but Charlize Theron rules. Snow White And The Huntsman is scheduled to arrive in our cinemas on May 31, 2012. Small fryTHE short playing before The Muppets (in cinemas on Dec 8) is titled Toy Story Toons Small Fry. It sees our favourite toys saddled with an annoying three-inch-tall Buzz impersonator. Buzz Lightyear is somehow exchanged with a kids' meal toy version of Buzz after a stop at a fast-food restaurant. It is up to Woody and the gang to rescue their friend, who hopefully will rid them of the fake Buzz. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 18 Nov 2011 05:43 AM PST KRU Studios' epic film Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa kicks off the 24th Malaysian Film Festival's (FFM 24) awards night with three wins from the three categories it was nominated for at the Gemilang Cipta night. This only sets up for bigger wins for the studio at the festival's culminating night – dubbed Malam Gemilang Perdana – happening this Sunday at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC). Mahawangsa is nominated in nine categories, including best director, best screenplay and best costume. On Wednesday, it won for best poster, best visual effects and best song. What makes the win especially sweet for KRU Studios is that the visual effects category has just been introduced to the festival this year. The win is truly apt since the studio was the first production house in Malaysia to develop its own special effects department as another tool in storytelling on films. Norman Abdul Halim, who heads the KRU Studios, said: "We are grateful the organiser has created this category as visual effects is very important to us. It allows the story to be larger than life amd is a means to elevate our films to international level." KRU Studios is currently involved in making two films with international distribution stamps on them – Vikingdom which features Hollywood actor Dominic Purcell and an animated film titled Ribbit. Eyeing a larger market through films is something that the government is keen on. Gracing the evening event, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Haji Muhyiddin Haji Mohd Yassin said in his speech that the film industry is an important component in making Malaysia a high-earning country by 2020. It is particularly encouraging seeing that the 35 local films released in local cinemas as of this month have earned a total of RM86mil at the boxoffice. He said: "Realising just how imperative films are, the government has allocated a RM200mil fund to expand our film industry." Norman added: "(South) Korea is a great example (of international market penetration). Malaysia can create its own waves, just like Korea, if we take advantage of our unique multi-ethnic society and invest in the strong cultures." And of course, KRU Studios is planning to do this with a little help from the latest technology, "We are looking at Stereoscopic 3D next." The Gemilang Cipta night had an open-air concept with an open invitation to the public. Held at Panggung Anniversari at Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur, the night proved to be quite subdued not only because of the wet weather, but because there were silent pauses whenever it moved to the next category – be it because the presenters were out of sight or because no one briefed the hosts (Linda Onn and Halim Othman) on the goings-on. Fortunately, the organisers got it right by getting the Orchestra Kuala Lumpur to provide the live music. During the intervals of handing out the awards, there were performances as well where old hits like Khayalan performed by Roy from the film SH3, and Teruja performed by AF Nadia from the film Gol & Gincu entertaining the crowd. Roy and Nadia also teamed up to sing the very popular song Sandarkan Pada Kenangan, originally sung by Jamal Abdillah and Fauziah Ahmad Daud in the 1984 film Azura. The tune gave composer M. Nasir the best song award for that year's FFM and from the performance and audience's reaction, the song has obviously stood the test of time. Nonetheless, the night still held a dash of drama. Raja Azmi walked out of the auditorium after Khir Rahman (the director of ... Dalam Botol, a film produced by Raja Azmi) lost in the Most Promising Director category to Jurey Latiff Rosli (Libas). The controversial ... Dalam Botol received three nominations out of the 10 categories under the Gemilang Cipta night. Nadia Nisaa, who clinched the Most Promising Actress for her supporting role in Cun!, said the win was a sign that she should take acting more seriously. "It was a very difficult role to play because I've never played someone so sweet. But director Osman Ali had faith in me, and the more experienced actors in the film helped me. It was really worth it." Her next project sees her working with Osman Ali again. Other winners > Mia Sara – Best Child Actor, Sekali Lagi > Taiyuddin Bakar – Most Promising Actor, Hantu Bonceng > The Other One – Best Short Film > Altitude Alto – Best Animated Feature > Great Day – Best Film In Non-Bahasa Melayu > FFM 24's Gemilang Perdana Awards Night will be aired live on Astro Prima (Astro Ch 105 at 9pm) on Sunday. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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