Future Film Friday: Saving Mr Banks

Contrary to my first thought, this is not a sequel to Saving Private Ryan (but Tom Hanks sure does love saving people).

Saving Mr Banks is the Disney film behind the Disney film, the story of how P.L. Travers's Mary Poppins became Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, and the struggles in between. 

It has been well-documented that Disney and Travers often clashed and she had frequently rebuffed his attempts to purchase the film rights. She also hated the end result, particularly the world-renowned songs from the Sherman Brothers (I don't know how anyone could not like Jolly Holiday at the very least!). 

As the very first Disney film to star Walt Disney as a main character, I am intrigued to see how he is portrayed, because, although he is the founder of the greatest corporation in the world (FACT), he certainly wasn't perfect. But I'm not sure his own company will want to show him that way. 

However, the film stars a stellar cast (Tom Hanks AND Emma Thompson?? Stop it!) and anything that involves scenes filmed in Disneyland is a-ok with me!

If all that wasn't enough to whet your appetite, then how about knowing that in 2011 it was voted one of the best unproduced screenplays circulating in Hollywood?? I am enormously excited for this film and I'm not sure if I can stand the wait until January 2014! At least I have this newly-released poster to entertain me though...

This has been on my mind...

Review: Monsters University

Director: Dan Scanlon
Main Cast: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren
Runtime: 104 minutes
Certificate: U (UK)
(source: IMDB)

There are two kinds of people. Those who watched Disney films as a kid and then 'grew out of them' (a likely story) and those who are in it for life. I am one of those people.

I believe there are also two kinds of Disney films. The ones that are aimed at the kids (adults may enjoy them but the comedy is primarily young - recent examples being Bolt and the Cars franchise) and those that are definitely more for the older audience. I don't mean X-rated or horrific violence but just the provision of dry, wittier humour and subtle references to classic films (Princess Bride!). Examples that spring to mind are The Emperor's New Groove, Wreck-It Ralph and Disney/Pixar's latest offering - Monsters University.

I wrote a while ago about the impressive promotion (http://lelloyd.blogspot.co.uk/2013_04_01_archive.html) in the lead-up to the film's release and I was a little worried that the hype would be greater than the actual film...

Whilst the prequel of Monsters Inc. doesn't quite match the originality and depth of Monsters Inc., it is still a solid and funny contribution from Pixar, and a good lesson in "don't judge a book by its cover" or, more literally, "short monsters can be scary too" (a message that really resonates with me). And, instead of the film feeling like an excuse to cash in on the previous success, we are provided with new, original stories to enjoy.

The film documents the university life of Sullivan and Mike, and how they eventually came to meet, and, being polar opposites, subsequently despise each other. Mike is the studious, hard-working student who desperately wants the chance to prove himself and his scaring abilities. Sulley is the arrogant frat boy who is cruising along on the back of his father's success. As the film progresses, we see the two thrown together and start to learn more about each other.

There was still stuff for the kids, with some really meaningful life lessons - prior to the end credits we see the duo working their way up the career ladder to get to where they want to be, rather than thrown straight in without any sign of how they got there. Of course, we all know that there is technically a happy ending because we've all seen Monsters Inc., but the slight twist at the end is very interesting.

I can't end this review without a very impressed nod to the preceding short 'The Blue Umbrella'. I have never seen such photorealistic animation... it wasn't until the end that I realised that it wasn't live-action! The short centres around a blue and red umbrella who enjoying a fleeting love before being separated in a storm. It's such an emotional piece, packing so much into the 5 minute slot.

All in all, Monsters University is a hilarious and fun film that certainly doesn't let the Pixar catalogue down and I will definitely be seeing again during it's theatrical run. Let's hear it for the misfits! OK?

Mad Fashion and Modern Nails

Aside from the adultery, backstabbing and occasional ad-making that goes on at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (sorry, Sterling Cooper & Partners), something else that Mad Men is famed for is the eye-catching fashion.

I was really excited to hear that MM's costume designer, Janie Bryant, is to be in development on a new design competition series, giving aspiring designers the chance to create outfits and costumes in the style of either a classic Hollywood film, or based on a celebrity's signature style.

I'm not particularly clued up on fashion but I love Project Runway, and taking into account the sheer thought and imagination that goes into Betty Francis and Megan Draper's wardrobe, I can imagine this will be even more fabulous. Really looking forward to seeing who the judges are too. 

******

On a separate note, I've just discovered the Modern Family tie in range from O.P.I nails!

http://www.nicolebyopi.com/collection/modern-family

My particular favourite is A Like-Haley story. Ha!

Oo-Be-Do, I Wanna Be Like (all of) You

Reports are suggesting that Disney have another live-action in the pipeline to follow the likes of Alice and Wonderland and the upcoming Maleficent - this time they have their sights set on The Jungle Book.

As awesome as a 21st century live-action version of Rudyard Kipling's story sounds, let's not forget that Warner Bros have already announced their own version and a quick browse of imdb tells me that ANOTHER one is also in the mix, due 2014... 

Looks like there'll be an outbreak of jungle fever over the next few years, but we'll have to wait and see how many people catch it...

Pride and Bromancing

It's been a brilliant couple of days for news about movie hunks.

First up...

Joggers, tourists and any other kind of London wanderer had quite the Monday morning treat today, when none other than Mr Darcy popped out of the Serpentine.

Apparently this was to celebrate the launch of 'Drama', the new channel from UKTV but enough of the finer details, JUST LOOK AT HIM *drools*

Ahem. Secondly...

How AWESOME was Wimbledon yesterday?! So so proud of Murray!! And whilst 90% of eyes were glued to the action, I can imagine quite a few females in Centre Court had one eye trained on the royal box, specifically at these two...

I love that all the tabloids have picked up on the beautiful bromance that was brewing mere metres from the match. It was really was something quite special to see, and I felt all warm at how much B-Coop was cheering for Murray and the Brits. And look! They're taking a selfie! *Swoon* 

YA genre marketing and fan engagement

Over the past couple of years, I've really embraced the YA fiction genre - possibly more so than when I was actually the target audience. Dystopian fiction in particular has really captured my imagination, but, more importantly, has also caught the attention of Hollywood. Most prominent at the moment has to be The Hunger Games franchise, with the second film in the trilogy set for release in November of this year. One of the great things about this kind of genre, is that it really opens up the opportunities to its target audience, allowing them to interact within this new world. As we have seen in the past with the Harry Potter franchise institution, readers can get fully involved, from connecting with fellow fans through role play (eg 'what house are you?'), fanfiction and fan art at one end of the spectrum, through to truly immersing yourself in the culture of the story, such as the theme park, the studio tour and various tours and exhibitions that have sprung up in the past couple of years.

Back to The Hunger Games, we can see the same thing happening, particularly embracing social media as part of the film's promotion.  One of the best things about movies based on adaptations of existing novels is that they already have that initial fan base, so they can really embrace the story from the offset, and especially so with YA dystopian because there are often very distinctive themes and characters involved, such as the different districts in The Hunger Games.

The main example of The Hunger Games social media promotion, is the introduction of the District Identification Pass (DIP). By logging onto Facebook or Twitter via the Capitol Network, the user will be registered as a citizen of 'Panem' and assigned an district, citizen number and occupation.  The user is then encouraged to join said district on the official HG Facebook page.  There is an elected mayor for each district, but, even more importantly, there are journalists, who provide Hunger Games news and sneak peeks at exclusive content.  This type of social media activity not only actively promotes the film, but really gives the fans a sense of community and enables them to really engage with the franchise.  

That said, there's a few films currently in development that I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for come the months leading up to release date...

Divergent 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1840309/

Another dystopian fic, this time where society is divided into factions based on personality traits - Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Amity (the peaceful), Erudite (the intelligent) and Dauntless (the brave). There is also a group of people known as Divergent (BUT WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT). Oh, and Factionless (again, less said about them the better). 

I'm really looking forward to how the promotion of this film embraces the different factions and allows fans to choose who they want to be.

The Night Circus

We don't have much information to go on with this film because so far it has only been optioned, but it was optioned by Heyday Films so we KNOW it's in safe hands. 

The film centres around the build-up to a duel between two young magicians against the backdrop of the black-and-white striped canvas tent of The Night Circus which appears out of warning in the night.... Just imagine how beautiful this will be! I can't wait to see stills and concept artwork and when there's magic and circus performance involved, the marketing possibilities for this are almost endless.

Watch this space!