sinema101 » Production

Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)

preme — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:56:31 +0000

Amazon.com

This 1962 special marked the last hurrah of Mr. Magoo, who starred in 43 cartoon shorts, including two Oscar® winners, from the UPA Studio between 1949 and 1959. Magoo appears as Scrooge in a Broadway production of “A Christmas Carol” in this minimally animated hour. The play-within-the-show features forgettable songs by Jules Styne and Bob Merrill: Tiny Tim (“played” by the animated character Gerald McBoing-Boing) sings, oddly, of “razzle berry dressing” and “woofle jelly cake.” This retelling of Dickens’s holiday standard is much tamer than Richard Williams’s Oscar-winning adaptation: the ghosts aren’t scary, nor does Magoo confront the specters of Ignorance and Want. Small children who might be frightened by more dramatic versions of the story will enjoy this mild program. And the self-satisfied chuckles and bromides Jim Backus gives Magoo in his lighter moments remain as delightful as ever. This film is suitable for ages 6 and older. –Charles Solomon
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A Charlie Brown Christmas (Remastered Deluxe Edition) (2008)

preme — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 23:49:18 +0000

Amazon.com

This half-hour Christmas show is one of the truly lovable animated specials in TV history, a status proved by its annual network telecast since 1965. A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first, and best, of a series of programs based on the Charles M. Schulz cartoon strip “Peanuts.” Hapless hero Charlie Brown finds himself depressed at Christmastime, searching for the true meaning of the holiday amidst the glitz and commercialism of the modern age. Appointed director of the school holiday pageant, Charlie Brown ventures out with Linus to buy “a great, big, shiny aluminum Christmas tree.” Instead they bring back a miserable tree–a real one. A Charlie Brown Christmas shows off the “Peanuts” gang doing what they do best: Lucy is bossy, Snoopy is crazy, Linus is sweet, and Pig Pen is, well, filthy. Instead of using adult actors trying to sound like kids, the production features real children providing the voices, an endearing effect. The jazz music score, composed (more…)

Short Film Production Company

preme — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:41:51 +0000

Generally, most of famous outstanding movies are produced by big production house with great directors and also great budget of course. For example, you can say like Paramount pictures, Fox, DreamWorks, and many others production house. Film Production Company like them is a company whose (usually) carry the production cost to make movies and then they sell it to cinemas or packed as DVD.

But there’s also some good short film production company or maybe some people called it as independent movie maker or independent movie production company that could make great movies that can be compared with those big production house I have mentioned above. You can check out the blog if you want to know further about what’s inside a short film production house, there’s also some tips about movie making process, techniques, even tips and tricks, also about the essence of a movie itself. What can I say? It’s really interesting, I can learn much from their weblog.

Valkyrie

preme — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 05:06:32 +0000

In a country in the grips of evil, in a police state where every move is being watched, in a world where justice and honor have been subverted, a group of men hidden inside the highest reaches of power decide to take action. Based on the true story of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and the daring and ingenious plot to eliminate one of the most evil tyrants the world has ever known.

A proud military man, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg is a loyal officer who serves his country all the while hoping that someone will find a way to stop Hitler before Europe and Germany are destroyed. Realizing that time is running out, he decides that he must take action himself and joins the German resistance. Armed with a cunning strategy to use Hitler’s own emergency plan – known as Operation Valkyrie – these men plot to assassinate the dictator and overthrow his Nazi government from the inside.

With everything in place, with the future of the world, the fate of millions and the lives of his wife and children hanging in the balance, von Stauffenberg is thrust from being one of many who oppose Hitler to the one who must kill Hitler himself.

Also Known As:
Rubicon
Untitled (United Artists/Bryan Singer Thriller)

Production Status:
In Production

Logline:
Based on actual events, thriller depicts an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the height of World War II.

Genres:
Action/Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Biopic and War

Release Date:
December 26th, 2008 (wide)

MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for violence and brief strong language.

Distributors:
MGM Distribution Company

Ghost Town

preme — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 20:23:11 +0000

Bertram Pincus is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy, who pesters him into breaking up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen. That puts Pincus squarely in the middle of a triangle, with spirited results.

Production Status:
Released

Genres:
Comedy and Science Fiction/Fantasy

Release Date:
September 19th, 2008 (wide)

Distributors:
DreamWorks SKG, Paramount Pictures

Igor

preme — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:29:11 +0000

Everyone wants to get into the potentially lucrative animation game, and “Igor” illustrates the intriguing internationalization of the genre. The often striking animation was designed at the Sparx Animation Studios in Paris, with a large staff of Vietnamese artists. Although the visuals tantalize and the actors providing the voices add a lot of sass, the result is only so-so. Boxoffice prospects look to be modest at best.

Screenwriter Chris McKenna says he was inspired more by Frankenstein movies than by sunnier Disney cartoons. The story takes place in the kingdom of Malaria, where evil scientists rule, aided by their hunchbacked servants, known as Igors. But one of these Igors (voiced by John Cusack) dreams of advancing beyond his rank. When his master dies, Igor decides to enter the annual Evil Science Fair himself and burst the bounds of servitude. Rivals try to foil his plans before the inevitable happy ending.

The animation style, drenched in darkness, owes more to “Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas” than to recent Pixar hits. The visual style grows a bit monotonous, but a more serious problem is that the story is undernourished, and the wit erupts only in flashes. Although Molly Shannon does what she can with Eva, the monster who dreams of being an actress, the script could use more wickedly satirical touches.

Production Status:
Released

Logline:
A hunchbacked lab assistant has big dreams of becoming a mad scientist and winning the first place prize at the annual Evil Science Fair.

Genres:
Comedy and Animation

Release Date:
September 19th, 2008 (wide)

MPAA Rating:
PG for some thematic elements, scary images, action and mild language.

Distributors:
The Weinstein Company, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM)

The Women

preme — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:03:46 +0000

In New York City’s modern whirl of fashion and publishing, Mary Haines seems to have it all–a beautiful country home, a rich financier husband, an adorable 11-year-old daughter and a part-time career creating designs for her father’s venerable clothing company. Her best friend, Sylvie Fowler, leads another enviable life–as a happily single editor of a prominent fashion magazine, a possessor of a huge closet of designer clothes and a revered arbiter of taste and style poised on New York’s cutting edge. But when Mary’s husband enters into an affair with Crystal Allen, a sultry “spritzer girl” lurking behind the Saks Fifth Avenue perfume counter, all hell breaks loose. Mary and Sylvie’s relationship is tested to the breaking point while their tight-knit circle of friends, including mega-mommy Edie Cohen and author Alex Fisher, all start to question their own friendships and romantic relationships as well.

Also Known As:
The Women (Inferno)

Production Status:
Released

Logline:
The story centers around bickering, divorce and competition amongst a supposed group of friends.

Genres:
Comedy, Drama, Adaptation and Remake

Release Date:
September 12th, 2008 (wide)

MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for sex-related material, language, some drug use and brief smoking.

Distributors:
Picturehouse

Bangkok Dangerous

preme — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:49:59 +0000

The life of Joe, an anonymous assassin, takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe, a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong, a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, finds himself mentoring the young man instead whilst simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok’s intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard–just as Surat decides it’s time to clean house.

Also Known As:
A Time to Kill
Bangkok Dangerous (Remake)
Big Hit in Bangkok
Time to Kill

Production Status:
Released

Genres:
Action/Adventure, Thriller, Crime/Gangster and Remake

Release Date:
September 5th, 2008

MPAA Rating:
R for violence, language and some sexuality.

Distributors:
Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, Lionsgate

The Duchess

preme — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 05:13:00 +0000

A vibrant beauty and celebrity of her time is trapped in an unhappy triangle with her husband and his live-in mistress. She falls passionately in love with an ambitious young politician, and the affair causes a bitter conflict with her husband and threatens to erupt into a scandal.

Also Known As:
Georgiana
Georgiana: Dutchess of Devonshire

Production Status:
Released

Genres:
Art/Foreign, Drama, Adaptation and Biopic

Release Date:
September 19th, 2008 (limited)

MPAA Rating:
PG-13 for sexual content, brief nudity and thematic material.

Distributors:
Paramount Vantage

Death Race

preme — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:28:12 +0000

Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the U.S. penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the ‘Death Race’, the world’s biggest, most brutal sporting event. Five-time NASCAR champion Jensen Ames is a man who has become an expert at survival. After eight years of hard time, he has only six weeks before reuniting with his family. But when Weyland demands a driver to headline the big game, Ames is forced to submit. Donning the costume of mythical rider Frankenstein, the racer becomes an instant crowd favorite, an unequaled sporting superstar. His face hidden by a metallic black mask, one convict will be put through a brutal three day challenge, with the trophy being the ultimate prize: freedom. The only catch is that he must survive a gauntlet of the most vicious criminals in this post-industrial wasteland to claim it. Driving a monster car outfitted with machine guns, flamethrowers and grenade launchers, Ames must now kill or be killed to win the most treacherous spectator sport on Earth: ‘Death Race’.

Also Known As:
Death Race 3000

Production Status:
Released

Logline:
In the year 2020, a series of race car drivers compete in an ultraviolent race using heavily armed cars.

Genres:
Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller, Remake and Sports

Release Date:
August 22nd, 2008 (wide)

MPAA Rating:
R for strong violence and language.

Distributors:
Universal Pictures