The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- Just the right voice
- Middle Earth mania for Hobbit debut
- US author sues Tyler Perry over plot of 2012 film
| Posted: 28 Nov 2012 03:25 AM PST Best known for her salty jokes, comedian Sarah Silverman talks about the sweet experience of voicing a little girl in Disney's latest animated feature. WHEN you think "family-friendly animated film", the first name to come to mind would most likely not be Sarah Silverman. After all, if you're like most people, you would know of the 41-year-old American comedian and actress from her razor-sharp and often controversial stand-up comedy, or from her Comedy Central sitcom The Sarah Silverman Program. You might also know her as the host for the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, where she bitingly lampooned celebrities like Paris Hilton. And you might even remember her for that clip that became a sensation on YouTube, a spoof music video that she premiered on then-boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel's show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, titled (ahem!) I'm ****ing Matt Damon. None of which, you have to admit, scream "kid-friendly". So, when you hear that Silverman is voicing an adorable nine-year-old girl – named Vanellope von Schweetz, no less – in Disney's latest animated feature Wreck-It Ralph, you'd be forgiven for doing a double take. "Well, I'm good at shock, right? So, there you go, it's shocking!" quips Silverman during a recent e-mail interview. "When Disney approached me with it, I was like, 'You want Sarah Silverman?' "In a way, I understand (why it's surprising), but in another way, nobody is just one thing. I've found success with one side of myself, but I have done some kids' things before, like Yo Gabba Gabba (a Nick Jr television show). Silverman says she adores entertainment targeted at children, pointing out that popular American children's TV host Mister Rogers is one of her personal heroes. "And people forget that there was also a very dirty comedian named Eddie Murphy who found a home in children's media!" she adds. (Murphy is the voice of Donkey from the Shrek series of movies.) This newest offering from the House of Mouse tells the story of Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly), an arcade video game villain who longs to be more than just the "bad guy". In his quest to be seen as a hero, Ralph travels between the various games in the arcade, and runs into Vanellope in Sugar Rush, a go-kart racing game set in a world made of candy. Vanellope dreams of racing like the other girls in her game, but can't because she's a "glitch". How Ralph and Vanellope, the unlikeliest of partners, work together to achieve both their dreams, makes up the story of Wreck-It Ralph. Directed by Rich Moore, who is known for helming many episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama, Wreck-It Ralph is already gathering rave reviews for its delightful story and inventive visuals. The movie is a treat not just for animation fans, but also video game enthusiasts, paying homage to classic arcade games like the Mario series, Street Fighter and Pac-Man. Rounding up the eclectic voice cast are Jack McBrayer as Fix-It Felix Jr, the hero of Ralph's game, and Jane Lynch as Calhoun, a tough-as-nails sergeant from a first-person shooter game called Hero's Duty. As someone who has had to overcome her fair share of personal challenges (she's open about her lifelong battle with clinical depression), Silverman says she can completely relate to the story of Wreck-It Ralph. "I think Ralph and Vanellope so badly want to be heroes in their lives but are relegated to something else. What you learn in the movie is that the things that hold us back can in some ways be harnessed to be our greatest asset; it can be the thing that propels us or becomes our superpower. "I grew up a bed-wetter, and had to go to sleep-away camp. It was a constant stream of humiliation. (But then), as a stand-up comedian, the idea of bombing in front of strangers was never daunting because I had this power of being a bit fearless, as nothing compared to what I'd experienced as a child," she says. A huge Disney fan, Silverman was delighted to be asked by the studio to be a part of Wreck-It Ralph, and even more so after discovering how connected she felt to her character. "Vanellope's this obnoxious, precocious, scrappy, tough kid, and like most tough kids, she's a scared little girl underneath. She's protecting something with that toughness. I think everybody can relate to that." Getting into character, says Silverman, was "oddly easy". "I felt like I had a handle on her right away. Finding the voice took only a minute. I knew she was spunky and I picture her having a permanent cold and being a scrappy kid." She shares that it's "extra special" that Vanellope resembles her physically. "As the sketches came in, I remember seeing her big, thick, black eyebrows and ponytail, and thinking, 'Aha, there she is!' I fell in love with her, but she was mirroring me. She was like my cartoon daughter! "All four of us kind of resemble our characters a little bit; with Ralph you can see the loveable lug of John C. Reilly, and the sweet wide-eyedness of Jack McBrayer in Felix, and Jane Lynch looks exactly like (Calhoun)! It's so cool!" Working with this "dream cast", she adds, was great. "To do things together was such a joy because I love hanging out with them. I got to record with (Reilly) and it was so special, because we were just looking across at each other and really playing the scenes. We got to improvise and go off on crazy digressions. "I think it provides a kind of special sauce and a subtle nuance between the characters that you don't necessarily see if we had done it alone in a booth," she explains. And it is this relationship between Ralph and Vanellope that gives the story of Wreck-It Ralph its heart. Says Silverman: "It's paternal, but it's love. We all, if we're lucky, grow up and find our own families with our friends and the people we connect with. They both live such solitary lives, but when they find each other, it's just so heartwarming." Wreck-It Ralph opens in Malaysian cinemas today. |
| Middle Earth mania for Hobbit debut Posted: 28 Nov 2012 02:21 AM PST WELLINGTON - Huge crowds swarmed into central Wellington on Wednesday for the world premiere of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit", an event that has sparked Middle Earth mania in New Zealand. Presenters on national radio greeted listeners in the fictional language elvish on Wednesday morning, while newspapers came with complimentary Hobbit posters, and sculptures of characters from the film dotted the capital. Hundreds of fans, many in costume, staked out spots hoping for a glimpse of stars such as Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and Martin Freeman treading a 500-metre (550-yard) red carpet leading to the Embassy Theatre. "It's going to be magical," said Mia Ramsden, who travelled from Melbourne, Australia, for the premiere and camped overnight dressed as the elf queen Arwen to claim a prime position to view the stars. Wellington has renamed itself "The Middle of Middle Earth" for the event and the New Zealand tourism industry has launched a major promotional push on the back of the movies, hoping to revive flagging international visitor numbers. Jackson admitted he was nervous about the reception his three-part prequel to the blockbuster "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy would receive, saying he had "lost all objectivity" during a lengthy and gruelling shoot. "Nothing's ever perfect and it never will be, it's a real mistake if you say we're stopping now because we've made the perfect film," he told Radio New Zealand. "You never have and you never will." He added that he was making changes to the film until the last minute. "I've got severe fatigue right now, but only because I've just finished the film," he told reporters. "There's been all sorts of obstacles." The films, which were shot back-to-back in New Zealand with an estimated budget of US$500 million, depict Bilbo's quest to reclaim the lost dwarf kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Bringing the trilogy to the screen proved a saga in itself, taking more than six years since the project was first mooted in September 2006. Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro was initially poised to direct, but quit in 2010 after years of delays due to legal wrangling between Hollywood studios over the rights to the book, forcing Jackson to take over. When a green light to begin shooting was finally obtained, a union dispute threatened to move the production offshore - robbing it of its sweeping New Zealand backdrops - until the government intervened by changing labour laws. Jackson was also struck down by ill health and last week there were allegations - strongly denied by producers - of animal cruelty and a US lawsuit filed by Tolkien's heirs over marketing rights. Critics have also questioned if a three-part saga is necessary, given the original book is barely 300 pages long, suggesting box-office returns - US$2.9 billion for the "Rings" trilogy - may have trumped artistic considerations. There were no such reservations from Tolkien fan Theresa Collins, who was confident Jackson could repeat the success of his first Tolkien epic, which won 17 Oscars to become one of the most successful franchises in movie history. "I think it's going to be different, not as dark (as "Lord of the Rings")," she told AFP. "It will still have that fan base from Lord of the Rings and will probably build on that." The first movie "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" will be released globally in December. The second, "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", is due in December 2013 and the final chapter "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" follows in July 2014. - AFP |
| US author sues Tyler Perry over plot of 2012 film Posted: 27 Nov 2012 08:06 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - An American author sued the prolific filmmaker Tyler Perry in a federal court on Tuesday, accusing him of lifting the plot of his 2012 movie, Good Deeds, from her book. Terri Donald, who also writes under the pseudonym TLO Red'ness, says Perry based the film on her 2007 book, Bad Apples Can Be Good Fruit. The lawsuit, filed in Philadelphia, says Donald sent a copy of her book to Perry's company before production on the movie began. Donald is seeking US$225,000 in initial damages as well as an injunction requiring the company to add a credit for her book in the opening and closing credits. The lawsuit also calls for the company to provide an accounting of the movie's revenues. The drama, which stars Perry as a wealthy businessman who meets a struggling single mother, earned approximately US$35 million at the box office after its February release. Representatives for Perry and Lions Gate Entertainment, which released the film and is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. Perry is best known for his portrayal in drag of the character Madea in several of his films. |
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