The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- On the hunt
- 'Dolphin Tale' jumps to top of movie box office
- Actor Jeff Conaway's death ruled accidental
| Posted: 02 Oct 2011 11:57 PM PDT A college project turns into an adventure of a lifetime for three students. TROLLS. Aren't they those cute little things in the gift shop with the wide eyes, big bellies and fluorescent Don King haircuts? In Norway, they are anything but that. So when director Andre Ovredal was searching for a subject for his first commercial feature film, he drew on a topic all Norwegians are familiar with – trolls. Like most Norwegians, Ovredal grew up listening to fairy tales which included a mythology of trolls. "When I was very young, my grandparents used to read to me from a book written in the 1850s called The Fairy Tales Of Asbjornsen And Moe, half of which related to trolls," he recalls. "They varied from cute little creatures to big monsters." It was the latter which inspired the writer/director to create Troll Hunter. The book was filled with drawings made by a Norwegian artist named Theodor Kittelsen. "They're mostly of these monster-like trolls. Some are cozier and kinder, but some of them are really terrifying – more terrifying even than the trolls in our film." The movie showcases several varieties of trolls – the three-headed Tosserlad (turns to stone with flashes of bright light), the beastly one-armed Ringlefinch (explodes with a blinding light), the cave-dwelling phallic-nosed Mountain King troll, and the gigantic icy mountain-dwelling Jotnar troll (turns to stone with a lightning grenade). Troll Hunter, though, doesn't focus on trolls as much as it does on their hunter, Hans (along with his three student observers). "It's really a portrait of the troll hunter, more than anything," Ovredal says. The director drew inspiration from the 1992 Belgian film, Man Bites Dog, which features a film crew following the exploits of a serial killer. "It has an extremely dark sense of humour," Ovredal says. This is something he and his cast brought to this film, as well. The story here follows three students from Volda College – Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) and Johanna (Johanna Morck) – who decide to investigate news reports of unusual incidents in the mountains and forests of Norway, and cover the events for a school project. Toting a video camera – operated by Kalle, with Johanna running sound and Thomas doing the reporting – they come upon a scene where regulated/licensed hunters are being told by a Wildlife Board official, Finn Haugen (Hans Morten Hansen), that the problems are all caused by bears. But the hunters aren't buying it and they suspect a poacher. Finding the said poacher – a quiet, weathered, middle-aged man named Hans (Otto Jespersen) who calls himself a troll hunter, the trio tail him into the woods. A former navy ranger, Hans was actually hired years earlier as a troll exterminator. Burned out from countless years of performing a thankless job dealing with ferocious, gigantic and immensely dangerous trolls, Hans agrees to allow the group to accompany him and film his exploits in order to expose the secret the government has been trying to hide for years: the existence of trolls. To play the role of Hans, Ovredal turned to Norway's most famous comedian, Jespersen. "What I wanted him to bring to the movie was his sense of humour. He's well known for this kind of really crass, dark, negative sense of humour that everybody laughs at, because it's just filled with sarcasm. I just thought that was perfect." For the three students, Ovredal and producer John M. Jacobsen decided to go with relatively unknown young actors. Tosterud, who plays Thomas, is a standup comedian and improv actor. He is the go-getter of the bunch, constantly pulling the others along, and, as a result, is the one who drives the film, as well. Larsen's character Kalle, constantly doubts the group's plans and is loaded with sarcastic barbs he tosses out from behind the lens. "I actually based him on a cameraman I worked with once," Ovredal explains. "He was standing right next to me, constantly giving me these sarcastic comments about everything – that's what Kalle does. "Johanna is really the most grounded of the three," the director explains. "She's the one who brings sense into everything." Rounding out the cast are two popular Norwegian comics Hans Morten Hansen, who, according to Ovredal, is the Guinness World Record holder for longest standup comedy act ever, and Robert Stoltenberg. Troll Hunter opens in local cinemas on Thursday. |
| 'Dolphin Tale' jumps to top of movie box office Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:23 PM PDT LOS ANGELES: Simba the lion may rule the jungle, but he couldn't beat a plucky dolphin at the weekend box office. Family film ''Dolphin Tale'' made a surprising leap to first place with a projected $14.2 million in domestic ticket sales over three days, studio estimates released on Sunday showed. The movie about an injured dolphin rehabilitated with a prosthetic tail, which finished third last week, knocked ''The Lion King 3D'' from the box office throne it held the past two weekends. ''Lion King'' dropped to third with $11.1 million. In between the animal-themed family films was ''Moneyball,'' a baseball drama starring Brad Pitt as a general manager who fields a small-budget team of unlikely contenders. The film finished in second place with $12.5 million at North American (U.S. and Canadian) theatres. All three holdover films outranked four newcomers, showing the appeal in recent weeks of feel-good movies over heavier-themed films. The fall movie season, typically a time for more serious films, has ''seen a shift to the more upbeat and even inspirational films and family fare,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads up Hollywood.com Box Office. ''Dolphin Tale'' has gained on strong word-of-mouth buzz after rave reviews from critics and moviegoers, said Andrew Kosove, co-CEO of Alcon Entertainment, the studio that produced the film. The movie is one of just a few this year to earn an A+ rating from audiences polled by survey firm CinemaScore. ''The Lion King'' also has drawn filmgoers with a triumphant story despite being a 17-year-old film. The Walt Disney Co animated classic has rung up $79.7 million domestically and $19 million in international markets since it returned to theaters last month. Combined, ''Lion King'' has grossed $98.7 million during its new run. Of four new releases this weekend, comedy ''50/50'' had the best showing in fourth place but still fell short of studio hopes with $8.9 million. The film is a buddy comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Leavitt as a young man with cancer and Seth Rogen as his well-meaning friend. Despite the heavy topic, the movie earned an A- rating from CinemaScore. The film cost about $8 million to produce. While the cancer theme posed a ''challenge,'' the film's makers hope audiences in the coming weeks will focus on the relationship between the friends and how the illness is ''handled with humor,'' said Richie Fay, president of domestic distribution for Summit Entertainment, which released the film. In fifth place was drama ''Courageous,'' a Christian-themed film about four police officers coping with a tragedy. The movie generated $8.8 million, beating studio forecasts of $6 million and more than earning back its production cost of $2 million. It also won an A+ from CinemaScore. ''Dream House,'' a new horror film, disappointed with $8.3 million to manage only sixth place for its A-list cast. It stars Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz and James Bond actor Daniel Craig. Critics bashed the movie with only 5 percent surveyed by website Rotten Tomatoes giving a positive review. Morgan Creek, the studio that produced the film, noted the movie earned a B from audiences polled by CinemaScore. The weekend's other new film, adult romantic comedy ''What's Your Number?,'' floundered in eighth place with $5.6 million. In the movie, star Anna Faris revisits past relationships to see if any of her ex-boyfriends look more appealing. Chris Aronson, senior vice president for domestic distribution at 20th Century Fox, said filmgoers gave the movie a B at CinemaScore and the film attracted a majority female crowd, the target audience. ''Dolphin Tale'' was released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc. Privately held Summit Entertainment distributed ''50/50.'' ''Courageous'' and ''Moneyball'' were released by units of Sony Corp. News Corp's 20th Century Fox distributed ''What's Your Number?,'' and ''Dream House'' was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp. |
| Actor Jeff Conaway's death ruled accidental Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:16 PM PDT LOS ANGELES: Autopsy results show that Jeff Conaway, the star of ''Taxi'' and ''Grease'' who struggled with addiction before his death in May, died from multiple causes including a major internal infection. In ruling the actor's death accidental in a report released Friday, the Los Angeles County coroner specified a number of contributing factors, among them septic emboli, aortic valve endocarditis, coronary artery disease, pneumonia and encephalopathy. The four-month investigation by Coroner Craig Harvey's office did not include a toxicology test because Conaway, 60, had been in the hospital for more than two weeks at the time of his death, and any test for illicit drugs would have come back clean. Conaway, who had a history of addiction to prescription and nonprescription drugs as well as alcohol, was hospitalized May 10 after being found unconscious in his Los Angeles area home. At the time, he was also suffering from pneumonia and sepsis and was recovering from back surgery. He remained in a coma until his May 27 death, a day after his family took him off life support. The actor's problems with addiction were documented in 2008 when he appeared on the TV series ''Celebrity Rehab.'' Conaway found fame when he starred as the wise-cracking teen Kenickie in the 1978 film musical ''Grease,'' alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. He also became a television regular as struggling actor and cabbie Bobby Wheeler on the hit comedy ''Taxi.'' During Conaway's final illness, his manager, Phil Brock, told Reuters that the actor had a rough childhood. ''When he was 7 years-old, his grandmother let him taste the moonshine she made in her bathtub; when he was 10 and a child actor, his dad took all his money and ran away. Later, Jeff had the world in his hand and would find ways to destroy it,'' Brock said. |
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