Milk

Posted on March 10, 2009 at 8:00 am

“My name is Harvey Milk and I want to recruit you!”

This disarming introduction became the trademark of the man who would become the first out gay man to hold major elective office in the United States. With this greeting, Milk let his audience know that he understood their fears of homosexuality and could not only make a little gentle fun of them but could make fun of himself, too. He did want to recruit his audiences, not to being gay but to fighting for justice.

As the movie begins, Milk (Oscar-winner Sean Penn) is about to turn 40 and feels that he has never done anything important. So he and his boyfriend Scott Smith (James Franco) move to San Francisco, open a camera store, and begin to get involved in the community and to become active in opposing a system that perpetuated bigotry and abuse of the gay community. After running unsuccessfully, he makes an important change in his approach — instead of running against something, he starts to run for something, to talk about hope. He becomes a respected leader. He forges some unexpected alliances — with the Teamsters and with people who want pooper-scooper laws. He is elected to San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. But he has enemies. There are threats. And finally, he is killed, along with the city’s mayor, by one of his former colleagues, Dan White (Josh Brolin).

This film has some of the elements of the traditional biopic, but Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black spares us the shorthand formative childhood experiences and minimizes the internal struggles. From the first moment we see Milk, picking up a stranger coming out of the subway on the eve of his 40th birthday we see a man who is already completely comfortable with who he is, a man of great sweetness and humor (both as in good humor and as in wit).

Every performance is impeccable, especially Penn, Franco, and Brolin. But what makes the movie so vibrant is the exquisitely evoked setting, not just the meticulously re-created Castro neighborhood of the 1970’s but the era, the moment, when so much seemed against what they were trying to achieve (the archival footage shows a casual homophobia that is a powerful reminder of how far we have come, even in an era of state initiatives to ban gay marriage. The sweetness and thrill of a heady new sense of possibilities in the pre-AIDS era is almost unbearably poignant. It is a tragic story but it is also a story of hope. It was hope, after all, that Milk learned to bring to his community. That community grew to include the entire city, and now, thanks to this film, to all of us.

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Based on a true story Drama

Pinocchio

Posted on March 9, 2009 at 2:00 pm

A+

Lowest Recommended Age:	All Ages
MPAA Rating:	G
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Children smoke cigars
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense and scary scenes including characters being swallowed by a whale and apparent death
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	1940
Date Released to DVD:	January 30, 2017
Amazon.com ASIN:	B01M105H8W

This week Disney is releasing a glorious new edition of its most most gorgeous, splendid, and fully realized of all of its hand-drawn animation classics before the use of photocopiers and computers. Every detail is brilliantly executed, from the intricate clocks in Geppetto’s workshop to the foam on the waves as the enormous whale Monstro thrashes the water. It also has one of Disney’s finest scores, featuring “When You Wish Upon a Star,” which has become the Disney theme song. “I’ve Got No Strings,” “Give a Little Whistle,” and “An Actor’s Life for Me” are also memorable. It is the classic story about the wooden puppet whose nose grows when he tells a lie and has to almost turn into a donkey before he can become a real boy, told with endless imagination and beauty, a must-see for all families.

This new edition has some great behind-the-scenes extras.

“Pinocchio” is a natural for the first discussions with kids about telling the truth (especially admitting a mistake) and not talking to strangers. Talk to them, too, about how to find their own conscience and listen to it as if it were Jiminy Cricket. The trip to Pleasure Island may also lead to a discussion of why things that feel like fun may be harmful, and the difference between fun and happiness.

‘Kings’ — A Modern David and Goliath

Posted on March 7, 2009 at 8:00 am

I am really intrigued by the new NBC series Kings, “a contemporary re-telling of the timeless tale of David and Goliath. This series is an epic story of greed and power, war and romance, forbidden loves and secret alliances — and a young hero who rises to power in a modern-day kingdom.”
I was lucky enough to get an early peek at the opening episode and found it fascinating to see the classic themes and characters in a modern-day setting. It explores issues and conflicts that resonate with today’s headlines — war, energy, health care — and eternal themes of faith, conflict, loyalty, and family.
David Shepherd (Chris Egan) is a soldier who rescues a wounded hostage, not knowing the man he rescued is the son of the king, Ian McShane (“Deadwood,” “Kung Fu Panda”). In gratitude, the king offers David access and power, but there is treachery that makes the battles of war seem easy. The superb actor Dylan Baker co-stars.
It premieres on March 15. Give it a look. (Note to parents: Mature material including violence and sexual references)

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Based on a book Television

Interview: Morgan Taylor of ‘Gustafer Yellowgold’

Posted on March 5, 2009 at 8:00 am

Morgan Taylor is the illustrator, animator, and musician who created Gustafer Yellowgold, the pointy-headed little yellow guy from the sun featured in DVDs and live concert performances.

Gustafer is a friendly creature who came to Earth from the sun and has an unusual magnetism for making friends with some of Earth’s odder creatures. His best friend is Forrest Applecrumbie the flightless Pterodactyl. Gustafer and Forrest built a small cottage-style home on the edge of an uncharted wooded area in Minnesota. He has a pet Eel named Slim (short for Slimothy) and a pet Dragon named Asparagus who lives in his fireplace and loves corn on the cob. Gustafer’s pals, the Mustard Slugs practice their math under the shrubbery.

Where did the name Gustafer Yellowgold come from?

I started drawing picture books illustrating the lyrics of some of my more humorous songs and I got to the point where I had to draw the cover for the book. I had this yellow pointy headed guy I had been drawing. I wanted his name to be unusual, slightly tongue-twistery, and warm-sounding. I love worldplay. Gustafer Yellowgold was fun to say and sounded friendly, and projected a confident image. I chose the name and googled it just to make sure it wasn’t taken!

When was this?

It was in the winter 2004, going into 2005. It began with the songs “Tiny Purple Moon” and “Pterodactyl Tuxedo.” I had already written them but they fit in with what I was doing with Gustafer. I looked over the songs I had and asked, “Which songs would fit with this project?” I had been subconsciously creating this whole fictitious world. I had a number of humorous pop songs sung in first person. I knew it wasn’t me, though. They were created in these moments of creative freedom. I had this character but no story around him, but there was something that I always doodled, and then I said “Okay so I’ll use that guy.” I had this “I’m From the Sun” song. Wait a second, the guy is from the sun!

Now I have used up all of my old songs. Four on Mellow Fever are the last of those. The songs for the fourth DVD are all new and almost totally written already.

You have a new baby. Is he your test audience?

He is just turning 11 months and he really perks up when we have the music on. He was there during the mixing and editing, sometimes on my lap. He is just now starting to realize that it’s something; he picks up the doll and looks at it.

Where does Gustafer’s mellow, laid-back sensibility come from?

It comes from my taste in music and song-writing. It is therapy in a way to think about that question and about the genesis of the creative process. When I am creating something, especially music, my creative nucleus exists in about 1976-78. My mom always had the radio on in the kitchen, a soft rock AM station. I think about how I felt at the time getting ready for school, interested in comics and music and filled with creative inspiration. I gravitate toward those feelings, chasing that feeling of safety, oblivious to everything except the immediate surrounding, when I am creating something.

You have some unusual collaborators including some of the people from Wilco and Lisa Loeb helping you with the music. How did that come about?

When I moved in NY in 1999 from Dayton, I met every musician, singer-songwriter in NY and made a bunch of new friends. One of the guys from Wilco was getting ready to tour and asked me to recommend a bass player. I said, “Well dude, I play bass!” “Oh really?” So I toured with them and I guested on their last record. I asked them to come in and mash harmonies for Gustafer. I also played bass on a band that was opening for Lisa Loeb. She became aware of Gustafer and came to our off-Broadway shows and we worked on a couple of songs together. I said, “Hey you want to sing on the new Gustafer record?” There was a song with a counter-melody that I thought would be good for her.

What do kids learn from Gustafer Yellowgold?

They learn the power of imagination, some abstract thoughts, they learn to read because all the text is on the screen, they learn to stop and appreciate some small things, the details in nature, they learn about relationships with people of all different backgrounds and colors. His world is kind of a little melting pot of weird personalities.

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Animation Interview

Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Posted on March 3, 2009 at 7:08 am

A pampered pooch goes on an unexpected adventure but just about everything else in this movie is only too predictable. Drew Barrymore provides the voice for Chloe, a cashmere couture and diamond collar-clad chihuahua. She enjoys the high life with her wealthy owner, Viv (Jamie Lee Curtis), with a full schedule of shopping and parties. But then Viv’s niece Rachel (Piper Perabo) loses Chloe in Mexico and it will require the help of humans and dogs and even a rat and an iguana to get her safely home.

The protected princess must find her way in a world that is dirty and scary but also exciting. She is chased by bad guys with a scary Doberman named Diablo (voice of Edward James Olmos) and tricked by thieves (a rat voiced by Cheech Marin and an iguana voiced by Paul Rodriguez). But she is befriended by a brave German Shepard (voice of Andy Garcia). And her friends come to the rescue: Rachel and Sam, Viv’s handsome landscaper (Colombian actor Manolo Cardona), and Sam’s lion-hearted chihuahua Papi (voice of George Lopez), with the help of Officer Ramirez (Mexican actor Jesus Ochoa).

The trailer makes it look like a light-hearted doggie fish out of water story with a Busby Berkeley-esque musical number that does not appear in the film. Instead it is a lazy strung-together series of sketchy episodes — oh! the sheltered darling got all muddy and lost a bootie! Dear me, the alabaster goddess is surrounded by brown dogs with accents! Will Delgado desert her? Will Diablo catch her? Will Rachel and Sam start to like each other?

A wide range of outstanding Latino performers does not keep this film from an overlay of condescension and caricature. The jokes about couture and beauty treatments and Rachel’s mistaking the landscaper for a non-English-speaking gardener will not mean anything to the film’s target audience of young children. They will enjoy the cute pooches and “tinkle” humor but may be frightened by the mean Doberman and dog-napping bad guys.

It’s a messy, lackluster movie that feels like it was put together by a committee, product, not story, with a soundtrack of over-played, over-familiar, all-but-inevitable radio favorites. Could Cheech Marin ever have predicted that he would once again appear in a movie that features his signature song, “Low Rider,” and that it would be such a dog?

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Action/Adventure Comedy Talking animals