Newsbites: Pixar! Moore! Darwin! Silence! Jim!

Last updated on: February 27, 2007 at 8:41 pm by Peter T. Chattaway

Newsbites: Pixar! Moore! Darwin! Silence! Jim! 2007-02-27T20:41:00-08:00 Peter T. Chattaway

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The kids are asleep, so it’s time for more newsbites!

1. Do you want a sneak peek of the storyline for WALL-E, the next film from Pixar (after this summer’s Ratatouille, that is) and director Andrew Stanton (2003’s Finding Nemo)? Jim Hill has the spoiler-filled details. FWIW, I’m cautiously optimistic; as one of the comments puts it, the film sounds like “E.T. meets A.I.“

Meanwhile, Variety has an interesting story on the “Pixar-ization” of Disney since the two companies merged early last year:

Catmull says the layoffs weren’t a result of corporate pressure, but his and Lasseter’s decision to move Disney Animation from putting out one pic per year to one every 18 months.

“It took Pixar 10 years to get to one movie per year,” Catmull notes. “We had to get things back in balance and then grow from there.”

Such sentiments, while reasonable, underline why many in the animation community say Mouse House artists are struggling with an inferiority complex: Pixar kept its leadership, didn’t experience any layoffs, and is putting out one pic per year.

In other words, the 72-year-old Disney Animation has to follow the example of its 20-year-old sibling.

2. Remember how Roger & Me (1989) was supposed to be all about Michael Moore‘s inability to get an interview with General Motors CEO Roger Smith? Whoops, it turns out Moore actually did get an interview … and left it on the cutting-room floor. This and other details are revealed in Manufacturing Dissent, a new documentary by a couple of left-leaning Canadians that premieres March 10 at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The New York Times interviews the filmmakers.

3. Variety says producer Jeremy Thomas and director Jon Amiel are preparing a movie about Charles Darwin based on Annie’s Box, a biography by Darwin’s great-great-grandson Randal Keynes (whose own son Skandar plays Edmund in the Narnia movies):

It focuses on the period when Darwin was writing “The Origin of the Species,” his ground-breaking treatise on evolution, while living a family life at Down House in Kent, near London. . . .

The “Annie” of the title is Darwin’s first daughter, whose death aged 10 left him grief-stricken. With his scientific discoveries leading him toward agnosticism, he was unable to find consolation in belief in an afterlife, but coped with his loss by plunging into his work.

Incidentally, I interviewed Amiel four years ago, back when his disaster movie The Core (2003) came out. It was a fun chat.

4. Angela Zito has a very interesting interview with Into Great Silence (2005) director Philip Gröning at The Revealer:

AZ: Did you get surprising responses?

PG: Many. People go and see it often. The mother in law of my exec producer went to see it 8 times. She’s a psycho-analyst. A person in Rome saw it twelve times. Then the reaction I was surprised by most, was that so many people come up to me or go on the website and express gratitude—it’s not that they say “This is a great film” they say “thank you for the time we had.’ And now in France, it seems like a phenomena of people going in and starting to pray in the cinema Maybe this is a misunderstanding… But on another level, I wanted the film to transform into a monastery and this is what happens.

AZ: It feels very Buddhist, but you are not Buddhist—do you have a meditation practice?

PG: Oh no. I’m Catholic. And it’s very deliberate that I did not do this film on Buddhist monasteries. This is where the collaboration with my friend Nico ended. When we could not get into the monastery he asked, why don’t we go to Tibet? I said I want to do this for myself, to find out why I am so anti-religious, having being brought up so strictly Catholic. I want to heal some wounds and go back and understand where I’ve come from. I cannot understand that by going into a Buddhist monastery. I was not a Buddhist child, and my audience did not have a Buddhist childhood either. There is a problem with all those beautiful films which are for us a sort of religious tourism. Nice, but it’s not really going very deep.

Just on a theoretical level there is a mistake in going from the background you come from to an entirely fresh background. The way you know that a religion is your religion is that you have problems with it. If you don’t have problems with it, it’s not your religion.

5. Jim Carrey discusses his “spiritual side” with Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Daily News:

Q: So your production company — JC23 — has more to do with the 23rd Psalm than your fascination with the number.

A: A friend gave me a book about the 23rd Psalm and I thought, “That’s a great way to look at my life and career. To make choices without fear. To know that I’m taken care of, that I’m all right. And I can choose boldly.” And in Hollywood, the line about a banquet in the midst of your enemies is not bad, either. It makes you feel better.

6. Variety reports that Ice Cube will star in First Sunday, the directorial debut of playwright David E. Talbert:

Talbert script casts Cube as one of two men who bungle an attempt to heist money from a church. They wind up taking its parishioners hostage, and those churchgoers slowly convert the robbers to see the error of their ways.Filming will begin May 14 in Los Angeles and Baltimore, with pic to be released to coincide with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. . . .

Though he hasn’t directed a feature yet, Talbert has already proved his appeal with urban audiences. He has spent 15 years writing more than a dozen gospel-tinged plays that have been performed in theaters around the country. His latest, “Nick of Tyme,” is currently on tour with Morris Chestnut in the lead.

7. The Associated Press has a fun story on Switzerland and the abundance of subtitles in movie theatres there:

Switzerland is the only European country with four recognized languages — with English making up an unofficial fifth language — and the Swiss have long been proud of their multilingual status. Most other countries have just one dominant language, so movies are either dubbed or subtitled in that language. . . .

A fondness for subtitles is not the only difference between Swiss and American movie theaters — consider the Swiss movie ratings, which are both more varied and more rigid than their U.S. counterparts.

Movies can be rated K/6, K/8, K/10, J/12 or J/14, which means a child or teen has to be that age to view it. Babies and toddlers are banned unless a special family matinee is advertised. Parental discretion is not allowed. . . .

Other surprises await ex-pat theatergoers. One is the price 16-19 Swiss francs (up to $15.50) for an adult a serious ouch that surpasses even Manhattan’s $11 tickets. Another is the traditional Swiss intermission. Explosions could be thundering, lips could be inches away from connecting, but the screen goes black, the lights go on and it’s time to head to the lobby for popcorn, ice cream or a cigarette. . . .

Speaking of seats, they are reserved, with comfy cushions and lots of leg room. That eliminates the American stampede for seats when the doors open, but woe to those who want a different view. The Swiss are not amused to find someone in their reserved seat and stare down anyone who dares to arrive late, even amid the endless pre-movie ads.

So the Swiss only like interruptions at specified times?

Uncategorized

Previous Post

February 27, 2007

Steyn's song of the week: 'Buttons and Bows'

Next Post

February 27, 2007 Oh, the thinks you can think, indeed.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Anglican Planet Articles BC Christian News BC Report Bible Movies Bible Review Blog Books & Culture Campus Times CBC Radio Christianity Today ChristianWeek Essays Faith Today Festival Cinemas Guide Film Journals Georgia Straight Interviews MB Herald National Catholic Register Salvationist Today's Christian Two Chairs Ubyssey Uncategorized Vancouver Courier Vancouver Sun

Select a Month August 2025 April 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 May 2024 February 2024 December 2023 May 2023 March 2023 November 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 January 2012 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 November 2003 October 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 March 2002 January 2002 December 2001 November 2001 September 2001 August 2001 July 2001 June 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000 July 2000 June 2000 May 2000 April 2000 March 2000 January 2000 October 1999 August 1999 May 1999 April 1999 February 1999 January 1999 December 1998 November 1998 October 1998 August 1998 July 1998 June 1998 April 1998 March 1998 January 1998 November 1997 September 1997 July 1997 June 1997 April 1997 March 1997 February 1997 January 1997 December 1996 October 1996 September 1996 June 1996 March 1996 February 1996 January 1996 April 1995 November 1994 September 1994 September 1991

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the first miracle performed by Elisha?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Multiplying oil Healing Naaman’s leprosy Parting the Jordan River Raising a boy from the dead