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SNOW ANGELS (2008) (***1/2)

With this film, director/writer David Gordon Green has produced four wonderful independent dramas. I eagerly await his first mainstream comedy, PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, coming later this year. I hope that stoner comedy is a big hit so that he'll have more clout to do bigger productions in the vein of this film. What distinguishes all his films is his attention for personality, especially when it comes to the way people talk and the way they fall in love. There's a sweet romance woven into this tragic drama that reminds us that turbulent relationships probably started beautifully at the beginning.

Based on Stewart O'Nan's novel, the drama takes place in an average-sized Pennsylvania town, centering around three workers at a Chinese restaurant. Annie (Kate Beckinsale, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING) is a waitress, who struggles to take care of her four-year-old daughter Tara (Gracie Hudson), because she is separated from her troubled husband Glenn (Sam Rockwell, MATCHSTICK MEN), who has turned to religion to deal with his depression and alcoholism. At the motel, Annie has a routine of meeting with a married man named Nate (Nicky Katt, SECONDHAND LIONS), who is more of a diversion than a solution to her problems. Working with Annie is high schooler Arthur (Michael Angarano, LORDS OF DOGTOWN) and sassy Barb (Amy Sedaris, STRANGERS WITH CANDY). Arthur is dealing with his professor father Don (Griffin Dunne, AFTER HOURS) walking out on his mom Louise (Jeanetta Arnette, BOYS DON'T CRY), while he's developing a sweet romance with the quirky new girl Lila (Olivia Thirlby, JUNO).

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THE ARISTOCATS (1970) (**)

While not an bad film, Disney's THE ARISTOCATS is tragically forgettable. Too often the film feels like its 79-minute running time is being padded with plot elements from 101 DALMATIANS and LADY AND THE TRAMP. The look and feel is appeasing, but it lacks the spark of the best Disney animated features. Many of the pieces are beautifully done, but they don't fit together to form a complete picture.

Duchess (Eva Gabor, TV's GREEN ACRES) is a privileged feline living in a mansion in Paris in 1910. Her owner, Madame Bonfamille (Hermione Baddeley, THE SECRET OF NIMH), has willed her fortune to her cats. This upsets her butler Edgar (Roddy Maude-Roxby, SHADOWLANDS), who captures Duchess and her three kittens, dumping them in the country. Desperate to get back to Paree, they gain aid from scruffy alley cat Thomas O'Malley (Phil Harris, THE JUNGLE BOOK).

Blogs

BATH DAY (1946) (**1/2)

This film is featured as bonus material on the special-edition of THE ARISTOCATS.

PINOCCHIO's Figaro the cat gets his moment in the spotlight in this 1946 Walt Disney short cartoon. It's bath day and Figaro doesn't want to take one. Making matters worse, his owner primps him out with a big red bow. Adding insult to injury, when he heads outside afterward, he is picked on as a sissy by the mangy alley cats.

The premise is simple. One of the funniest touches was making Minnie Mouse Figaro's owner. There's something strange about a giant rodent trying to bathe a kitten. While director Charles A. Nichols and writer Eric Gurney fit in some nice gags, this 7-minute short lacks the energy that was signature to Looney Tunes shorts from the same era. The timing even feels slow at times. While the gags aren't the best, the premise contains enough overall irony that is doesn't lack all charms. Even though Figaro gets treated like a wimp that's not the impression he leaves in the end.

Blogs

Get Well JIM KORKIS!!!

Jim Korkis is an amazing individual! His in your face style of presentation is hilarious as well as delightful!

He is one of best authorities on Disney History and he has penned several books including Cartoon Confidential. I have learned a lot from Jim in so many ways.

He has been the guest of many festivals and conferences including the COMICON in San Diego.

He left his job and his acting career in L.A. and moved to Orlando to take care of his ailing parents.

He joined the staff at the Disney Institute in 1995 and immediately made an impact on our team. His specialty was writing, acting and presentation. As I have said time and time again- you did NOT want to follow Jim during a presentation - his skill levels are so high - the only way for you… was down! That said, Jim was always gracious and warm and wonderful.

Blogs

This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates World Destroying Diseases

Having missed a chance to highlight the release of I AM LEGEND last week when it debuted on DVD, I'm taking the chance this week to build a lineup around one the best genre flicks of 2007. Tied together with the theme of world destroying diseases, the five films for this week deal with a real plague and fictional ones. Infected people die in some tales while in others they turn into vampires and zombies in others. Horror and sci-fi fans will love This Weekend's Film Festival. If you're not fan, then prepare to watch these five great films from behind the slits of your fingers.

Roger Corman's THE MASQUE OF RED DEATH kicks off This Weekend's Film Festival. As the red death plague spreads across Europe, the Satan-worshipping Prince Prospero, played with usual devilish flare by Vincent Price, inflicts draconian rule over the dying peasants of the villages. At court, he presides over the privileged, who live lives of debauchery and decadence despite the great death that takes place just outside the castle walls. The Prince takes the innocent Francesca (Jane Asher) captive and tries to lure her to the dark side. But as Prospero gets closer to corrupting the innocent, the more his grip on power seems to be slipping away. We root for his downfall in this grand battle between good and evil. "This is all the more supported with the grand style of Corman, who finds a way to wallow in the perverse without making us feel dirty afterward," to quote my original review. Based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe, the plague is given a physical representation as a man in bright red hooded robes, giving the disease a real lurking presence. Corman plays with epic horror conventions, while skewering the apathetic rich as they party the night away while the poor suffer at their feet.

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12 MONKEYS (1996) (***1/2)

Terry Gilliam's apocalyptic time-travel picture, 12 MONKEYS, is less overtly fantastic than many of his other films, but his oft-kilter underground future and his hyper-decaying present are strange in equal measure. Based on Chris Marker's famed short film LA JETEE, the film takes the premise of the original, along with its irony and uncertainty, to create a paranoid tale that upon first viewing keeps the audience wondering is James Cole really from the future or just crazy.

It seems at first that Cole (Bruce Willis, DIE HARD) is a prisoner in a future where a deadly virus has forced humans to live, like worms, underground. The rulers choose "volunteers" from the prison population to collect specimens on the surface, which has now been reclaimed by the animals. Cole does such a good job at this that the leaders, who dress like twisted doctors, send Cole onto a special mission into the past where he is to collect information about the Army of the 12 Monkeys, the culprits behind the obliteration of the human species. However, Cole is sent too far into the past, where he is arrested and institutionalized. The kind doctor Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe, BAD GIRLS) takes Cole under her wing, because she has an interest in apocalyptic delusions, but isn't convinced by his doomsday tales. In the asylum, Cole meets crazed patient Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt, BABEL), who spouts off conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory. As Cole gets closer to the 12 Monkeys, the more he begins to doubt his own sanity.

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DR. SEUSS' HORTON HEARS A WHO! (2008) (***1/2)

With the feature-length Dr. Seuss track record quite poor, I wasn't expecting much from Blue Sky's CG HORTON HEARS A WHO! I mean even animation legend Chuck Jones and Ted "Dr. Seuss" Geisel had a hard time stretching this same story into a half hour TV special. The trailers seemed to show only filler material — recycled gags that have been done many, many times before. But when it was all said and done, and the credits began to roll, I was hooked. This is a sweet tale that had heart and humor for everyone in the crowd, balancing nicely between the hip and the Seussian.

As the story goes, Horton the elephant (Jim Carrey, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS) hears tiny voices coming from a speck of dust floating in the air. Determined to protect the tiny person or persons on the speck, Horton catches the piece of dust on a clover. Turns out, there is a whole town on this speck called Whoville, and Horton makes contact with its Mayor (Steve Carell, TV's THE OFFICE). In both Horton's and the Mayor's world, the inhabitants do not believe in the tales of tiny people and huge elephants in the sky, respectively. Mrs. Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) feels that Horton's belief in Whoville will spark imagination in the children, creating rebellion, so she sends out Vlad the vulture (not Vlad the bunny with the cookies) to destroy the clover. Meanwhile, the movement of the speck is creating havoc in Whoville and the Mayor must convince his people of the truth before their town in destroyed. Dedicated to keeping Whoville safe, Horton heads out to place the speck on a flower at the top of a mountain.

Blogs

BARTON FINK (1991) (***1/2)

Joel and Ethan Coen's BARTON FINK won a remarkable three prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, an event that typically likes to spread the prizes around. This kind of praise should mean this is one of the landmark films in history. It is not. It's not even one of the Coen Bros.' best films. Yet, this shouldn't deter you from seeing it. I'm just mentioning this from the start to put things in perspective (and maybe to point out that prizes often mean nothing). Nonetheless, the film does seem to be the most directly personal of their films, chronicling the move of a rising playwright to Hollywood where he is commissioned to pen a wrestling picture.

Set on the brink of WWII, Barton Fink, played by John Turturro (DO THE RIGHT THING) who won Best Actor at Cannes, has just written a Broadway sensation. Now Jack Lipnick (Oscar-nominated Michael Lerner, EIGHT MEN OUT), head of Capitol Pictures, wants Fink to be on his writing staff. He wants to bring the Barton Fink-touch to his studio. Fink, obsessed with the idea of writing stories that highlight the plight of the common man, moves into a rundown hotel in Los Angeles to be closer to real people. Staying next door is rotund and friendly insurance salesman Charlie Meadows (John Goodman, THE BIG LEBOWSKI). Fink can't find any inspiration for this B-movie and looks to novelist-turned-screenwriter-turned-drunk W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney, TV's FRAISER). And then when that is no use, he turns to Mayhew's long-suffering secretary/inspiration Audrey Taylor (Judy Davis, HUSBANDS AND WIVES). Along the way, Fink will get a big dose of reality.

Blogs

SAW III (2006) (**1/2)

In my review of SAW II, I stated that I was happy to report that the SAW films were getting better. I'll say when it comes to story this is still true, but I'm no longer happy about it. Increasing levels of gore have begun to overshadow the dark morality tales at the core of the franchise. While SAW III has a tighter and more intriguing story than the other installments, I get the sick feeling that like so many other horror films that want to shock their audience than claim some loftier goals are really just juvenile frauds trying to out gross their friends.

Leaving off from where the last film did, we get the gory details about what happened to the surviving characters. Then we meet Dr. Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh, CRASH), a depressed doctor who is cheating on her husband. She is taken prisoner by Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, IN THE LINE OF FIRE), the killer who loves to play twisted games with his victims, and his assistant Amanda (Shawnee Smith, TV's THE STAND). Lynn is strapped with an explosive collar, which will blow her head off if either she tries to run or the dying Jigsaw flatlines while another captive named Jeff (Angus Macfadyen, BRAVEHEART) tries to complete three morality tests.

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SUNRISE: A SONG OF TWO HUMANS (1927) (****)

F.W. Murnau is best known for his German silent classic NOSFERATU. He came to the U.S. specifically to make SUNRISE, a visually innovative romantic drama. At the very first Oscars, the film garnered awards for actress Janet Gaynor, cinematographers Charles Rosher and Karl Struss, and Best Unique and Artistic Production (an award only given at the first Academy Awards). Many critics’ lists rank this film among the best films of all time. The American Film Institute ranked in 63rd on its 100 Passions List, and last year the film made the 10th anniversary redo of AFI’s famed 100 best American films list. The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 1989, while the film ranks within the top 250 films voted by fans on the Internet Movie Database. I list these accolades for nothing more than to show how a simple, well-told story can last the test of time. Film styles and techniques have evolved over time, but a powerful story never fails to resonate.

Blogs

This Weekend’s Film Festival Contemplates Regret

Regret is a big issue dealt within the Oscar-nominated ATONEMENT, which arrived on DVD this week. Thus, the latest edition of This Weekend's Film Festival collects five films that deal with the issue of remorse. Like ATONEMENT, several of this week's films address the issue of regret held over from actions in a character's youth. How much responsibility does the "adult you" have for mistakes the "child you" committed? Again like ATONEMENT, others deal with the regret that comes in lost loves. Life and death choices also lead to lifelong regret in several of the films as well. Thrillers and dramas fill this week's lineup, which I'm sure you won't regret watching.

Love and regret go hand and hand so often in art. Few films deal with this subject as powerfully as Wim Wenders' PARIS, TEXAS. To begin, Travis, in a classic performance from Harry Dean Stanton, is found wondering in the desert. He's lost physically and metaphorically. His brother Walt, played wonderfully by Dean Stockwell, picks him up. He been gone for four years, and ever since Walt and his wife have been taking care of Travis' son Hunter, who was dropped off by Travis' estranged wife Jane, who is played in a short, but searing, performance from Nastassja Kinski. Written by Sam Shepard, the story slowly reveals details about the characters as it goes along. Why did Travis disappear? Where is Jane? Is it better for Hunter to stay with his new family or be with his biological parents? All these issues are infused with the guilt of the characters, especially Travis, who longs for a lost life that he ruined. At one point, Travis and Hunter will head out in search of Jane. As I said in my original review, "One of the best road movies ever made — the film stays with you after it’s done and leaves you with feelings of both sadness and joy."

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SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982) (****)

Filled with the best of life and the worst of life, this haunting drama deals with they way people view the world versus how it really is. Some have a rosy colored view out of naiveté and others use it out of survival. Director Alan J. Pakula (ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN) adapts William Styron's novel, which is virtually a three-character story that unfolds with one unsettling discovery upon another, only increasing our captivation with the lives of the flawed characters. My memory of this film always focuses on Sophie "big shocking choice," but upon another viewing I was gripped more with the smaller choices, even frivolous choices, that all the characters must make.

Stingo (Peter MacNicol, PORKY'S) is a young man who has left his Southern home to move to the Northern Sodom, as New York City is called by his father. He has saved a bit of money so that he can work on his great novel. At his apartment in Brooklyn, he meets the bohemian couple Sophie (Meryl Streep, ADAPTED) and Nathan (Kevin Kline, A FISH CALLED WANDA). Sophie is a survivor of Auschwitz and Nathan is her passionate lover, who saved her life when she was suffering from anemia. Their love is volatile; Stingo's introduction to them is Nathan screaming at Sophie in the hall that he needs her like he needs anthrax. Stingo's friendship with the duo will change the way he looks at the world, breaking down his naïve expectations.

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THE SMURF’S CELEBRATE THEIR 50th BIRTHDAY IN GENT

Last Saturday and Sunday (March 15 and 16) the Smurfs came to my home town of Gent, Belgium to celebrate their 50th Birthday. The tiny blue figures, who live in little mushroom homes and speak their own language, first appeared as comic strip figures in cartoonist Pierre Culliford’s cartoon “Johan and Pirlouit” which was set in the middle ages.

The Smurf’s popularity increased rapidly, and by 1960 Papa Smurf and his clan had their own comic strip. Hanna-Barbera Productions brought the characters to life as an animated cartoon in 1981, and they soon became a hit around the world.

Although the Belgian born Culliford, or Peyo, as he is better know to his legion of fans, passed away 15 years ago, he lives on in he hearts of two generations of children around the world. The Smurfs are known in Spain as Pitufo, in Germany they are called Schumpf; Chinese children know them as Nam Ching Ling, and as Sumafa in Japan. Israeli children call them Dardassim. The Smurfs have teamed up with UNICEF to raise awareness of the plight of ex-child soldiers in Africa and this year they will promote children’s rights and education worldwide.

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IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH (2007) (***1/2)

Despite it's lofty title, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH is actually a gripping murder mystery first and foremost. CRASH director Paul Haggis uses the investigation of this murder to comment on the demoralizing effects of war. It's never a preachy tale, only a story of a father, who has seen the horrors of war himself, wanting to find out why his son returned from Iraq and ended up stabbed 40-plus times, dismembered and charred in a field in the United States of America.

Retired MP Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN) gets a call that his son Michael (Jonathan Tucker, HOSTAGE) has gone AWOL. Hank packs his bags and leaves his wife Joan (Susan Sarandon, DEAD MAN WALKING) to find their boy. Hank first goes to the military base where he finds his son's cell phone, which contains distorted video and pictures from Iraq. As he follows leads, he asks Det. Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron, MONSTER) for help, but she explains that the military has jurisdiction over its missing soldiers. When Michael's body is found, Emily is first on the case, but it is then turned over to military police, led by Lt. Kirklander (Jason Patric, LOST BOYS). Hank can't help but wage his own investigation, which brings new light to the case at every turn.

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30 DAYS OF NIGHT (2007) (**)

There's something about vampires that's fascinating. That's why we get at least one vampire movie a year. Sadly, they're often not that good. When I first heard about 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, which is based on Steven Niles and Ben Templesmith's comic, it sounded like a promising premise — vampires attack a remote Alaskan town when it plunges into 30 days of night. When this premise clicks, the film is at its best, however the lack of character development undermines the film's emotional pull to often.

Eben Oleson (Josh Hartnett, SIN CITY) is the sheriff of Barrow, Alaska. When the town descends into 30 days of continuous night during the winter, 4/5th of the population leaves. On the evening of the last sunset, strange and bloody occurrences plague the town. Cell phones are stolen and burned, dogs are killed, helicopters are destroyed. While dealing with these events, Eben learns that his estranged wife, Stella (Melissa George, DERAILED), a fire marshal, is in town. She wants to keep her presence a secret, but a traffic accident forces her to ask Eben for help. Unwilling to talk, he sends a deputy to pick her up so that she can make the last plane back to Anchorage. Well, she doesn't make the plane (as I'm sure you guessed), and ends up helping Eben deal with a stranger (Ben Foster, 3:10 TO YUMA), who is causing trouble in the dinner. As they lock up the haggard-looking man, he warns them that death is coming. With the promise of eternal life, he has set up the scenario to allow a tribe of vampires, lead by Marlow (Danny Huston, THE CONSTANT GARDENER), to feed freely on the helpless and isolated town for the next month.

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IN BRUGES (2008) (****)

Martin McDonagh’s 2005 Oscar-winning live-action short was a dark comedy filled with biting dialogue. His 2008 feature film debut is a dark comedy filled with biting dialogue. The former playwright, now screenwriter, has followed the old adage — write what you know. And he knows black humor. This witty crime comedy mixes dark laughs with real drama. McDonagh flips and twists the story, keeping the audience gripped. But he does so with ingenious moral conundrums that build one on the other. Hitmen may be killers, but it doesn’t mean they don’t have consciences.

After a job gone wrong, hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell, ALEXANDER) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson, GANGS OF NEW YORK) are sent away to Bruges, Belgium to hang low until their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes, THE ENGLISH PATIENT) calls. Ken embraces the opportunity to sightsee in the most well preserved medieval city in Europe. However, Ray couldn’t be more displeased with the boring tourist trap. A film being shot in town piques Ray’s interest, because it features a dwarf named Jimmy (Jordan Prentice, HOWARD THE DUCK) and brings him in contact with the beautiful Chloe (Clemence Poesy, HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE), a local drug dealer. The botched job weighs heavy on Ray’s soul and Ken’s faith will be shaken along the way as well.

Blogs

This Weekend’s Film Festival Contemplates Life and Death

This Weekend's Film Festival tackles life and death. To be or not to be that's the question. The inspiration for this week's lineup is Oscar-winning Best Picture NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, which also topped by Top 25 for 2007. Now this ponderous topic doesn't have to be painful, and the five films in this week's lineup are as captivating as they are thoughtful. From what lies for us after death to the death of a loved one to the randomness of the Grim Reaper's visit, these films tackle the age-old topic that dwells in both art and entertainment.

Kicking off this week's fest is the quintessential art film — Ingmar Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL. No film has a more memorable visual metaphor of life and death than returning Crusader Antonius Block playing chess with Death. These artistic fantasy segments have become so synonymous with the film that the unknowing feel this film will be drudgery, but what they will be missing is the satirical humor that lies within. The Grim Reaper, played iconically by Bengt Ekerot, holds a presence over the whole film, but the mysterious character is used to get inside the mood and thoughts of Block, played with passion by Max von Sydow, and the supporting cast. Life, death and the afterlife are topics that Bergman dealt with throughout his career, but never more clear and provocatively than here. Block is in a crisis of faith and his unbelieving squire Jons and the faithful traveling actor Jof push and pull him to varying sides of the debate. Bergman allows the deep subjects to also provide brevity with the satirical banter between Jons and Jof. As I said in my original review, "Bergman does an amazing job of balancing the humor with the drama, which is all the more powerful because it is preceded by a funny scene." Balanced between comedy, powerful drama and introspection, this masterpiece is not what you might expect and more than who could ever believe it to be.

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THE TERMINATOR (1984) (***1/2)

As legend has it, James Cameron sold the script for THE TERMINATOR to producer Gale Anne Hurd for $1 with the promise the fledgling filmmaker would be able to direct the film. With a modest budget, funder Orion left the production virtually alone outside of making two requests — add a robot dog and improve the relationship between the main characters. Cameron took one of the two suggestions. When it was all done, Cameron established himself as a top-tier director and body-builder-turned-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was launched into superstardom.

Traveling back to 1984 from a future ruled by savage machines, human rebel Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn, THE ABYSS) is assigned the task of protecting waitress Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton, TV's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) from a nearly-unstoppable killing machine called the T-101 (Schwarzenegger). Sarah is first brought aware of the danger she is in when two Sarah Connors are reported murdered in one night. The Terminator is killing them in the order of the phonebook listing. Lt. Ed Traxler (Paul Winfield, THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW) and Det. Hal Vukovich (Lance Henriksen, ALIENS) think they have a new twisted spree killer on the loose, but they have a hard time believing that a robot has come from the future to murder the mother of the unborn leader of the human resistance against the ruling computers.

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HORTON HEARS A WHO! (1970) (***)

HORTON HEARS A WHO! was animation legend Chuck Jones’ second collaboration with Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss, following 1966’s animated classic HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! HORTON isn’t as successful as the GRINCH, but this Seussian fable is still entertaining and as relevant as ever.

One day, Horton the elephant (Hans Conried aka Snidely Whiplash) hears a voice coming from a speck of dust. Discovering a whole society of Whos living on the white piece of fluff, Horton dedicates himself to protecting his new tiny friend Dr. Hoovey (Confried). However, the folks of Horton’s world, especially Jane Kangaroo (animation legend June Foray aka Rocky J. Squirrel), think he’s a little nuts, as do the Whos of Dr. Hoovey when he claims their world lies on the trunk of a peaceful pachyderm. Fearing that his radical way of thinking will destroy their way of life, Jane enlists three devious monkeys, the Wickersham Brothers, to steal Horton’s Who haven.

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HORTON HATCHES THE EGG (1942) (****)

This film is featured as bonus material on the deluxe-edition of HORTON HEARS A WHO!

As part of Warner Bros.' Merrie Melodies, animation legend Bob Clampett took a crack at putting his spin to Dr. Seuss. The result is a mash-up of Clampett's craziness and the Seussian rhyme and style. At 10 minutes, this short is brisk and alive, which isn't always the case with some of the longer animated TV specials of Dr. Seuss' books.

In this fable, dedicated elephant Horton kindly takes over sitting on an egg for the lazy bird Maisie. With a sucker in place, Maisie grabs her bags and heads to the beach. No matter what happens, Horton is determined to sit until the job is complete. Even when three hunters show up, the firm pachyderm takes a stand to protect the egg.

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THE BUTTER BATTLE BOOK (1989) (***1/2)

This film is featured as bonus material on the deluxe-edition of HORTON HEARS A WHO!

Ralph Bakshi is best known for his adult animation FRITZ THE CAT. But in 1989 for Turner TV, he mixed his sensibilities with those of pre-school icon Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss. The result is one of the best Seuss adaptations ever made, and sadly one of the most overlooked. Even Seuss himself felt this was the most faithful adaptation of his work. Considering he adapted the script, he of course had a big part in that.

A grandfather (Charles Durning, TOOTSIE) tells his grandson a tale of the Zooks, who live on the other side of the wall and butter their bread butter side down. Yikes! So as a patriotic Yook, the grandfather in his younger years patrolled the wall keeping an eye out for any upside down buttering behavior. During a patrol, a Zook uses a slingshot to break the grandfather’s tough-tufted prickly snick-berry switch. This begins a race for bigger and bigger weapons to threaten the other race with.

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DAISY-HEAD MAYZIE (1995) (***)

This film is featured as bonus material on the deluxe-edition of HORTON HEARS A WHO!

This 1995's adaptation of Dr. Seuss' book is a fairly straightforward rendition of the story. The brightly colored Emmy-nominated Hanna-Barbera production takes the color palette and design right from the books. It doesn't have the energy of some of the other Dr. Seuss adaptations, but it also avoids some of their mistakes.

The Cat in the Hat (Henry Gibson, THE 'BURBS) narrates the tale of Mayzie McGrew, who one day sprouts a daisy from the top of her head. At first her fellow students ridicule her. Her teacher, principal, parents and various other townsfolk are baffled by what has occurred. But when agent Finagle (Tim Curry, ANNIE) shows up, he lures Mayzie to sign a contract, promising fame and fortune. But as these kinds of tales often go, fame and fortune aren't always fun and fancy-free.

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LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL (1998) (****)

Oscar-winning Foreign Language Film LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL miraculously finds hope in the midst of unthinkable evil and death. Director, writer and star Roberto Benigni seems to channel Charlie Chaplin's slapstick and sentiment. The first half is made up of a sweet romance and the second half is an ironic tale of a father using make-believe to shelter his son from the horrors of the Holocaust. While making the concentration camp a game for his little boy, Benigni does not fail to understate the epic crimes that the Nazis committed.

Guido Orefice (Benigni, JOHNNY STECCHINO) moves to Rome where he falls for the pretty teacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi, DOWN BY LAW)… or more accurately she falls from a barn to top of him to start. A series of Meet Cutes will follow leading to Guido sweeping his dream girl away from her fiancée. They get married and have a cute son named Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini, GLADIATOR); their lives seem perfect. But this is an illusion for they live in fascists Italy. On Giosue's birthday, Dora comes home to find her husband and son missing. After finding them on a train to the concentration camps, she joins them. Separated from his wife, Guido shelters his son from what is happening by telling the boy its all part of a game where the winner wins a real tank.

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THE SENTINEL (2006) (**1/2)

Michael Douglas has been a go-to guy for thrillers of all shapes and sizes for most of his career. He also wears a suit well too. So this political potboiler seems like a perfect fit for the actor. Lending his name and talent to this production helps with its partial success. Not to say that this isn't an entertaining actioner, but it isn't anything new.

Douglas plays Pete Garrison, a veteran secret service officer who took a bullet for President Reagan. He's currently assigned to protect the First Lady Sarah Ballentine (Kim Basinger, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL). However, he's gotten too close to his assignment, having started an affair with Mrs. Ballentine. When rumors arise that a secret agent has turned against the President (David Rasche, TV's SLEDGE HAMMER!), an agent with information to the mole's identity is murdered. In the aftermath, all agents are required to take a polygraph, which Garrison fails due to his affair. This along with the fact that Garrison had planned to meet with the murdered agent puts agent David Breckinridge (Kiefer Sutherland, TV's 24) on Garrison's tail. Breckinridge, who trained under Garrison, has another reason to not trust his old mentor — the Don Juan of Washington D.C. might have slept with his wife too.

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