Opens
Friday, April 2
NEW YORK -- This amiable, Western-themed animated effort from the Walt Disney Co. is a clear attempt to return to the more lighthearted cartoon style that was so prevalent before its onslaught of stately musical epics. The tale of a group of animals determined to save their owner's dairy farm from the clutches of an evil outlaw, "Home on the Range" also boasts the return of composer Alan Menken ("Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin") to the creative team.
While not destined to assume a place in the Disney animation pantheon, the film should reasonably entertain the Small Fry during the current holiday season, though it is not likely to attract the adult crossover audience that can make for a breakout animated hit. It may also suffer from the competition, judging by the plaintive cry "When is it going to be Scooby-Doo?" heard from one tyke during the screening.
Featuring the sort of disparate voice-over cast emblematic of Disney cartoons, the film stars, among others, Roseanne Barr and Judi Dench, representing the most unusual screen pairing since, well, Barr and Meryl Streep in "She Devil". They voice the characters of cows Maggie and Mrs. Caloway, who, along with fellow cow Grace (Jennifer Tilly), fight to rescue their kindly owner Pearl (Carole Cook) from having her farm taken over by the dastardly Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid). Joining forces with a variety of other animals from the farm -- including horse Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr.), ace can-kicking goat Jeb (Joe Flaherty) and a variety of pigs, chickens, etc. -- they set out to capture Slim in the hope of garnering the reward for his head. Besides the expected dangers, they also must contend with competition from bounty hunter Rico (Charles Dennis, doing a Clint Eastwood homage).
The screenplay by co-directors Will Finn and John Sanford is a genial, jokey affair, filled with the requisite juvenile humor (belching pigs, etc.) and sprinkled with enough adult-oriented asides, like bulls leering after dairy cows ("Let me guess, you're a Taurus", one of the former comments), to qualify the film for a PG rating. While there are indeed some funny moments -- "We don't eat meat
it's like a professional courtesy," Barr's cow explains -- the humor generally lacks the manic hilarity of the Pixar efforts. And some of the gags, like Rico quoting a line from "Little Caesar" or a brief switch to widescreen that may be an in-joke reference to the company's own "Horse Whisperer", are likely to go over the heads of even the adult audience members.
The film's conventional, old-fashioned animation style generally gets the job done, with the anthropomorphic animal qualities rendered with the proper cute appeal. The voice talents do well by their characters. Barr scores consistent laughs as the sassy Maggie. Dench uses her elegant tones to good effect as the refined Mrs. Caloway. Gooding, as the vain horse, and Tilly, as plucky cow Grace, also are very enjoyable, no doubt because they seem so much like cartoon characters even in real life. Also very funny is Steve Buscemi, whose sleazy human character amusingly bears more than a slight resemblance to him.
Menken, besides his score, also has contributed several pleasant new songs (lyrics by Glenn Slater), none destined to be standards. They're sung by such stars as k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt and Tim McGraw.
Home on the Range
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Credits:
Directors-screenwriters: Will Finn, John Sanford
Producer: Alice Dewey Goldstone
Original score: Alan Menken
Original songs: Alan Menken, Glenn Slater
Story: Will Finn, John Sanford, Michael LaBash, Sam Levine, Mark Kennedy, Robert Lence
Associate producer: David J. Steinberg
Editor: H. Lee Peterson
Art director: David Cutler
Voices:
Maggie: Roseanne Barr
Mrs. Caloway: Judi Dench
Grace: Jennifer Tilly
Buck: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Slim: Randy Quaid
Pearl: Carole Cook
Sheriff Brown: Richard Riehle
Rico: Charles Dennis
Rusty: G.W. Baily
Lucky Jack: Charles Haid
Audrey: Estelle Harris
Jeb: Joe Flaherty
Ollie: Charlie Dell
Wesley: Steve Buscemi
Patrick: Patrick Warburton
Annie: Ann Richards
Phil, Bill & Gil Willie: Sam Levine
Running time 74 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Friday, April 2
NEW YORK -- This amiable, Western-themed animated effort from the Walt Disney Co. is a clear attempt to return to the more lighthearted cartoon style that was so prevalent before its onslaught of stately musical epics. The tale of a group of animals determined to save their owner's dairy farm from the clutches of an evil outlaw, "Home on the Range" also boasts the return of composer Alan Menken ("Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin") to the creative team.
While not destined to assume a place in the Disney animation pantheon, the film should reasonably entertain the Small Fry during the current holiday season, though it is not likely to attract the adult crossover audience that can make for a breakout animated hit. It may also suffer from the competition, judging by the plaintive cry "When is it going to be Scooby-Doo?" heard from one tyke during the screening.
Featuring the sort of disparate voice-over cast emblematic of Disney cartoons, the film stars, among others, Roseanne Barr and Judi Dench, representing the most unusual screen pairing since, well, Barr and Meryl Streep in "She Devil". They voice the characters of cows Maggie and Mrs. Caloway, who, along with fellow cow Grace (Jennifer Tilly), fight to rescue their kindly owner Pearl (Carole Cook) from having her farm taken over by the dastardly Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid). Joining forces with a variety of other animals from the farm -- including horse Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr.), ace can-kicking goat Jeb (Joe Flaherty) and a variety of pigs, chickens, etc. -- they set out to capture Slim in the hope of garnering the reward for his head. Besides the expected dangers, they also must contend with competition from bounty hunter Rico (Charles Dennis, doing a Clint Eastwood homage).
The screenplay by co-directors Will Finn and John Sanford is a genial, jokey affair, filled with the requisite juvenile humor (belching pigs, etc.) and sprinkled with enough adult-oriented asides, like bulls leering after dairy cows ("Let me guess, you're a Taurus", one of the former comments), to qualify the film for a PG rating. While there are indeed some funny moments -- "We don't eat meat
it's like a professional courtesy," Barr's cow explains -- the humor generally lacks the manic hilarity of the Pixar efforts. And some of the gags, like Rico quoting a line from "Little Caesar" or a brief switch to widescreen that may be an in-joke reference to the company's own "Horse Whisperer", are likely to go over the heads of even the adult audience members.
The film's conventional, old-fashioned animation style generally gets the job done, with the anthropomorphic animal qualities rendered with the proper cute appeal. The voice talents do well by their characters. Barr scores consistent laughs as the sassy Maggie. Dench uses her elegant tones to good effect as the refined Mrs. Caloway. Gooding, as the vain horse, and Tilly, as plucky cow Grace, also are very enjoyable, no doubt because they seem so much like cartoon characters even in real life. Also very funny is Steve Buscemi, whose sleazy human character amusingly bears more than a slight resemblance to him.
Menken, besides his score, also has contributed several pleasant new songs (lyrics by Glenn Slater), none destined to be standards. They're sung by such stars as k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt and Tim McGraw.
Home on the Range
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Credits:
Directors-screenwriters: Will Finn, John Sanford
Producer: Alice Dewey Goldstone
Original score: Alan Menken
Original songs: Alan Menken, Glenn Slater
Story: Will Finn, John Sanford, Michael LaBash, Sam Levine, Mark Kennedy, Robert Lence
Associate producer: David J. Steinberg
Editor: H. Lee Peterson
Art director: David Cutler
Voices:
Maggie: Roseanne Barr
Mrs. Caloway: Judi Dench
Grace: Jennifer Tilly
Buck: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Slim: Randy Quaid
Pearl: Carole Cook
Sheriff Brown: Richard Riehle
Rico: Charles Dennis
Rusty: G.W. Baily
Lucky Jack: Charles Haid
Audrey: Estelle Harris
Jeb: Joe Flaherty
Ollie: Charlie Dell
Wesley: Steve Buscemi
Patrick: Patrick Warburton
Annie: Ann Richards
Phil, Bill & Gil Willie: Sam Levine
Running time 74 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
First Run Features
NEW YORK -- Formulaic plot elements don't greatly hamper the impact of this French charmer about the relationship that develops between an elderly widower and the 8-year-old neighbor girl whose mother neglects her. Michel Serrault's typically expert performance and writer-director Philippe Muyl's ability to avoid the usual cliches in his execution of the tale give "The Butterfly" an undeniable appeal. Perfect holiday entertainment, albeit for those Small Fry who can read English subtitles, the film opened Friday at New York's Cinema Village.
Julien (Serrault) is an elderly entomologist living alone in his spacious apartment with only his cat and extensive butterfly collection for company. His next door neighbors are 8-year-old Elsa (Claire Bouanich) and her mother, Isabelle (Nade Dieu), the latter a single working mom who has little time for her little girl. When Julien sets out on a country excursion in search of an elusive butterfly whose life span is only a few days and who appears only one week out of the year, Elsa, as children in these sorts of movies are likely to do, hides out in his car. By the time the flustered Julien realizes that he has a stowaway, he's too far away to turn around and so reluctantly agrees to let her tag along. With Julien's cell phone not working, the inevitable complications ensue, with the police searching for the missing girl even as she learns life lessons from her gruff companion.
While it seems reminiscent of countless earlier efforts featuring the same themes, "Butterfly" manages to find fresh dimensions thanks to its smart and frequently amusing screenplay, its multidimensional characterizations and its refreshing lack of sentimentality. Julien is not the standard grumpy senior, Elsa is far less cutesy than the usual movie moppet, and the relationship that develops between the two has a genuineness of feeling that is ultimately quite moving. chair as one of Damian's intended victims, the viewer can certainly sympathize.
The Hebrew Hammer
Strand Releasing
A Strand Releasing and ContentFilm presentation
A film by Jonathan Kesselman
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jonathan Kesselman
Producers: Josh Kesselman, Sofia Sondervan, Lisa Fragner
Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt
Director of photography: Kurt Brabbee
Production designer: Cabot McMullan
Editor: Dean Holland
Costume designers: Alysia Raycraft, Michelle Phillips
Music: Michael Cohen
Cast:
Mordechai Jefferson Carver: Adam Goldberg
Esther: Judy Greer
Santa Damian: Andy Dick
Mohammed: Mario Van Peebles
J.J.L. Chief: Peter Coyote
Tiny Tim: Sean Whalen
Jamal: Tony Cox
Mrs. Carver: Nora Dunn
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R Frame 312
Presented by the Atlantic Theater Company
Credits:
Playwright: Keith Reddin
Director: Karen Kohlhaas
Set designer: Walt Spangler
Costume designer: Mimi O'Donnell
Lighting designer: Robert Perry
Sound designer: Scott Myers
Cast:
Lynette (1990s): Mary Beth Peil
Stephanie: Elizabeth Hanly Rice
Tom/Roy/Agent Barry/Conductor: Greg Stuhr
Margie/Marie/Doris: Maggie Kiley
Graham: Larry Bryggman
Lynette (1960s): Mandy Siegfriedcers: Marc Platt, Andre Harrell
Executive producer: Billy Higgins
Director of photography: John R. Leonetti
Production designer: Jasna Stefanovich
Music: Mervyn Warren
Costume designer: Susan Matheson
Editors: Mark Helfrich, Emma E. Hickox
Cast:
Honey Daniels: Jessica Alba
Chaz: Mekhi Phifer
Benny: Lil' Romeo
Gina: Joy Bryant
Michael Ellis: David Moscow
Mrs. Daniels: Lonette McKee
Raymond: Zachary Isaiah Williams
Katrina: Laurie Ann Gibson
As themselves: Missy Elliott, Jadakiss & Sheek, Shawn Desman, Ginuwine, Harmonica Sunbeam, Rodney Jerkins, Silkk, 3rd Storee, Tweet
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13>Emma: Dina Waters
Michael: Marc John Jefferies
Megan: Aree Davis
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
NEW YORK -- Formulaic plot elements don't greatly hamper the impact of this French charmer about the relationship that develops between an elderly widower and the 8-year-old neighbor girl whose mother neglects her. Michel Serrault's typically expert performance and writer-director Philippe Muyl's ability to avoid the usual cliches in his execution of the tale give "The Butterfly" an undeniable appeal. Perfect holiday entertainment, albeit for those Small Fry who can read English subtitles, the film opened Friday at New York's Cinema Village.
Julien (Serrault) is an elderly entomologist living alone in his spacious apartment with only his cat and extensive butterfly collection for company. His next door neighbors are 8-year-old Elsa (Claire Bouanich) and her mother, Isabelle (Nade Dieu), the latter a single working mom who has little time for her little girl. When Julien sets out on a country excursion in search of an elusive butterfly whose life span is only a few days and who appears only one week out of the year, Elsa, as children in these sorts of movies are likely to do, hides out in his car. By the time the flustered Julien realizes that he has a stowaway, he's too far away to turn around and so reluctantly agrees to let her tag along. With Julien's cell phone not working, the inevitable complications ensue, with the police searching for the missing girl even as she learns life lessons from her gruff companion.
While it seems reminiscent of countless earlier efforts featuring the same themes, "Butterfly" manages to find fresh dimensions thanks to its smart and frequently amusing screenplay, its multidimensional characterizations and its refreshing lack of sentimentality. Julien is not the standard grumpy senior, Elsa is far less cutesy than the usual movie moppet, and the relationship that develops between the two has a genuineness of feeling that is ultimately quite moving. chair as one of Damian's intended victims, the viewer can certainly sympathize.
The Hebrew Hammer
Strand Releasing
A Strand Releasing and ContentFilm presentation
A film by Jonathan Kesselman
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jonathan Kesselman
Producers: Josh Kesselman, Sofia Sondervan, Lisa Fragner
Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt
Director of photography: Kurt Brabbee
Production designer: Cabot McMullan
Editor: Dean Holland
Costume designers: Alysia Raycraft, Michelle Phillips
Music: Michael Cohen
Cast:
Mordechai Jefferson Carver: Adam Goldberg
Esther: Judy Greer
Santa Damian: Andy Dick
Mohammed: Mario Van Peebles
J.J.L. Chief: Peter Coyote
Tiny Tim: Sean Whalen
Jamal: Tony Cox
Mrs. Carver: Nora Dunn
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R Frame 312
Presented by the Atlantic Theater Company
Credits:
Playwright: Keith Reddin
Director: Karen Kohlhaas
Set designer: Walt Spangler
Costume designer: Mimi O'Donnell
Lighting designer: Robert Perry
Sound designer: Scott Myers
Cast:
Lynette (1990s): Mary Beth Peil
Stephanie: Elizabeth Hanly Rice
Tom/Roy/Agent Barry/Conductor: Greg Stuhr
Margie/Marie/Doris: Maggie Kiley
Graham: Larry Bryggman
Lynette (1960s): Mandy Siegfriedcers: Marc Platt, Andre Harrell
Executive producer: Billy Higgins
Director of photography: John R. Leonetti
Production designer: Jasna Stefanovich
Music: Mervyn Warren
Costume designer: Susan Matheson
Editors: Mark Helfrich, Emma E. Hickox
Cast:
Honey Daniels: Jessica Alba
Chaz: Mekhi Phifer
Benny: Lil' Romeo
Gina: Joy Bryant
Michael Ellis: David Moscow
Mrs. Daniels: Lonette McKee
Raymond: Zachary Isaiah Williams
Katrina: Laurie Ann Gibson
As themselves: Missy Elliott, Jadakiss & Sheek, Shawn Desman, Ginuwine, Harmonica Sunbeam, Rodney Jerkins, Silkk, 3rd Storee, Tweet
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13>Emma: Dina Waters
Michael: Marc John Jefferies
Megan: Aree Davis
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Opens
Friday, April 2
NEW YORK -- This amiable, Western-themed animated effort from the Walt Disney Co. is a clear attempt to return to the more lighthearted cartoon style that was so prevalent before its onslaught of stately musical epics. The tale of a group of animals determined to save their owner's dairy farm from the clutches of an evil outlaw, "Home on the Range" also boasts the return of composer Alan Menken ("Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin") to the creative team.
While not destined to assume a place in the Disney animation pantheon, the film should reasonably entertain the Small Fry during the current holiday season, though it is not likely to attract the adult crossover audience that can make for a breakout animated hit. It may also suffer from the competition, judging by the plaintive cry "When is it going to be Scooby-Doo?" heard from one tyke during the screening.
Featuring the sort of disparate voice-over cast emblematic of Disney cartoons, the film stars, among others, Roseanne Barr and Judi Dench, representing the most unusual screen pairing since, well, Barr and Meryl Streep in "She Devil". They voice the characters of cows Maggie and Mrs. Caloway, who, along with fellow cow Grace (Jennifer Tilly), fight to rescue their kindly owner Pearl (Carole Cook) from having her farm taken over by the dastardly Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid). Joining forces with a variety of other animals from the farm -- including horse Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr.), ace can-kicking goat Jeb (Joe Flaherty) and a variety of pigs, chickens, etc. -- they set out to capture Slim in the hope of garnering the reward for his head. Besides the expected dangers, they also must contend with competition from bounty hunter Rico (Charles Dennis, doing a Clint Eastwood homage).
The screenplay by co-directors Will Finn and John Sanford is a genial, jokey affair, filled with the requisite juvenile humor (belching pigs, etc.) and sprinkled with enough adult-oriented asides, like bulls leering after dairy cows ("Let me guess, you're a Taurus", one of the former comments), to qualify the film for a PG rating. While there are indeed some funny moments -- "We don't eat meat
it's like a professional courtesy," Barr's cow explains -- the humor generally lacks the manic hilarity of the Pixar efforts. And some of the gags, like Rico quoting a line from "Little Caesar" or a brief switch to widescreen that may be an in-joke reference to the company's own "Horse Whisperer", are likely to go over the heads of even the adult audience members.
The film's conventional, old-fashioned animation style generally gets the job done, with the anthropomorphic animal qualities rendered with the proper cute appeal. The voice talents do well by their characters. Barr scores consistent laughs as the sassy Maggie. Dench uses her elegant tones to good effect as the refined Mrs. Caloway. Gooding, as the vain horse, and Tilly, as plucky cow Grace, also are very enjoyable, no doubt because they seem so much like cartoon characters even in real life. Also very funny is Steve Buscemi, whose sleazy human character amusingly bears more than a slight resemblance to him.
Menken, besides his score, also has contributed several pleasant new songs (lyrics by Glenn Slater), none destined to be standards. They're sung by such stars as k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt and Tim McGraw.
Home on the Range
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Credits:
Directors-screenwriters: Will Finn, John Sanford
Producer: Alice Dewey Goldstone
Original score: Alan Menken
Original songs: Alan Menken, Glenn Slater
Story: Will Finn, John Sanford, Michael LaBash, Sam Levine, Mark Kennedy, Robert Lence
Associate producer: David J. Steinberg
Editor: H. Lee Peterson
Art director: David Cutler
Voices:
Maggie: Roseanne Barr
Mrs. Caloway: Judi Dench
Grace: Jennifer Tilly
Buck: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Slim: Randy Quaid
Pearl: Carole Cook
Sheriff Brown: Richard Riehle
Rico: Charles Dennis
Rusty: G.W. Baily
Lucky Jack: Charles Haid
Audrey: Estelle Harris
Jeb: Joe Flaherty
Ollie: Charlie Dell
Wesley: Steve Buscemi
Patrick: Patrick Warburton
Annie: Ann Richards
Phil, Bill & Gil Willie: Sam Levine
Running time 74 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Friday, April 2
NEW YORK -- This amiable, Western-themed animated effort from the Walt Disney Co. is a clear attempt to return to the more lighthearted cartoon style that was so prevalent before its onslaught of stately musical epics. The tale of a group of animals determined to save their owner's dairy farm from the clutches of an evil outlaw, "Home on the Range" also boasts the return of composer Alan Menken ("Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin") to the creative team.
While not destined to assume a place in the Disney animation pantheon, the film should reasonably entertain the Small Fry during the current holiday season, though it is not likely to attract the adult crossover audience that can make for a breakout animated hit. It may also suffer from the competition, judging by the plaintive cry "When is it going to be Scooby-Doo?" heard from one tyke during the screening.
Featuring the sort of disparate voice-over cast emblematic of Disney cartoons, the film stars, among others, Roseanne Barr and Judi Dench, representing the most unusual screen pairing since, well, Barr and Meryl Streep in "She Devil". They voice the characters of cows Maggie and Mrs. Caloway, who, along with fellow cow Grace (Jennifer Tilly), fight to rescue their kindly owner Pearl (Carole Cook) from having her farm taken over by the dastardly Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid). Joining forces with a variety of other animals from the farm -- including horse Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr.), ace can-kicking goat Jeb (Joe Flaherty) and a variety of pigs, chickens, etc. -- they set out to capture Slim in the hope of garnering the reward for his head. Besides the expected dangers, they also must contend with competition from bounty hunter Rico (Charles Dennis, doing a Clint Eastwood homage).
The screenplay by co-directors Will Finn and John Sanford is a genial, jokey affair, filled with the requisite juvenile humor (belching pigs, etc.) and sprinkled with enough adult-oriented asides, like bulls leering after dairy cows ("Let me guess, you're a Taurus", one of the former comments), to qualify the film for a PG rating. While there are indeed some funny moments -- "We don't eat meat
it's like a professional courtesy," Barr's cow explains -- the humor generally lacks the manic hilarity of the Pixar efforts. And some of the gags, like Rico quoting a line from "Little Caesar" or a brief switch to widescreen that may be an in-joke reference to the company's own "Horse Whisperer", are likely to go over the heads of even the adult audience members.
The film's conventional, old-fashioned animation style generally gets the job done, with the anthropomorphic animal qualities rendered with the proper cute appeal. The voice talents do well by their characters. Barr scores consistent laughs as the sassy Maggie. Dench uses her elegant tones to good effect as the refined Mrs. Caloway. Gooding, as the vain horse, and Tilly, as plucky cow Grace, also are very enjoyable, no doubt because they seem so much like cartoon characters even in real life. Also very funny is Steve Buscemi, whose sleazy human character amusingly bears more than a slight resemblance to him.
Menken, besides his score, also has contributed several pleasant new songs (lyrics by Glenn Slater), none destined to be standards. They're sung by such stars as k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt and Tim McGraw.
Home on the Range
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Credits:
Directors-screenwriters: Will Finn, John Sanford
Producer: Alice Dewey Goldstone
Original score: Alan Menken
Original songs: Alan Menken, Glenn Slater
Story: Will Finn, John Sanford, Michael LaBash, Sam Levine, Mark Kennedy, Robert Lence
Associate producer: David J. Steinberg
Editor: H. Lee Peterson
Art director: David Cutler
Voices:
Maggie: Roseanne Barr
Mrs. Caloway: Judi Dench
Grace: Jennifer Tilly
Buck: Cuba Gooding Jr.
Slim: Randy Quaid
Pearl: Carole Cook
Sheriff Brown: Richard Riehle
Rico: Charles Dennis
Rusty: G.W. Baily
Lucky Jack: Charles Haid
Audrey: Estelle Harris
Jeb: Joe Flaherty
Ollie: Charlie Dell
Wesley: Steve Buscemi
Patrick: Patrick Warburton
Annie: Ann Richards
Phil, Bill & Gil Willie: Sam Levine
Running time 74 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
First Run Features
NEW YORK -- Formulaic plot elements don't greatly hamper the impact of this French charmer about the relationship that develops between an elderly widower and the 8-year-old neighbor girl whose mother neglects her. Michel Serrault's typically expert performance and writer-director Philippe Muyl's ability to avoid the usual cliches in his execution of the tale give "The Butterfly" an undeniable appeal. Perfect holiday entertainment, albeit for those Small Fry who can read English subtitles, the film opened Friday at New York's Cinema Village.
Julien (Serrault) is an elderly entomologist living alone in his spacious apartment with only his cat and extensive butterfly collection for company. His next door neighbors are 8-year-old Elsa (Claire Bouanich) and her mother, Isabelle (Nade Dieu), the latter a single working mom who has little time for her little girl. When Julien sets out on a country excursion in search of an elusive butterfly whose life span is only a few days and who appears only one week out of the year, Elsa, as children in these sorts of movies are likely to do, hides out in his car. By the time the flustered Julien realizes that he has a stowaway, he's too far away to turn around and so reluctantly agrees to let her tag along. With Julien's cell phone not working, the inevitable complications ensue, with the police searching for the missing girl even as she learns life lessons from her gruff companion.
While it seems reminiscent of countless earlier efforts featuring the same themes, "Butterfly" manages to find fresh dimensions thanks to its smart and frequently amusing screenplay, its multidimensional characterizations and its refreshing lack of sentimentality. Julien is not the standard grumpy senior, Elsa is far less cutesy than the usual movie moppet, and the relationship that develops between the two has a genuineness of feeling that is ultimately quite moving. chair as one of Damian's intended victims, the viewer can certainly sympathize.
The Hebrew Hammer
Strand Releasing
A Strand Releasing and ContentFilm presentation
A film by Jonathan Kesselman
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jonathan Kesselman
Producers: Josh Kesselman, Sofia Sondervan, Lisa Fragner
Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt
Director of photography: Kurt Brabbee
Production designer: Cabot McMullan
Editor: Dean Holland
Costume designers: Alysia Raycraft, Michelle Phillips
Music: Michael Cohen
Cast:
Mordechai Jefferson Carver: Adam Goldberg
Esther: Judy Greer
Santa Damian: Andy Dick
Mohammed: Mario Van Peebles
J.J.L. Chief: Peter Coyote
Tiny Tim: Sean Whalen
Jamal: Tony Cox
Mrs. Carver: Nora Dunn
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R Frame 312
Presented by the Atlantic Theater Company
Credits:
Playwright: Keith Reddin
Director: Karen Kohlhaas
Set designer: Walt Spangler
Costume designer: Mimi O'Donnell
Lighting designer: Robert Perry
Sound designer: Scott Myers
Cast:
Lynette (1990s): Mary Beth Peil
Stephanie: Elizabeth Hanly Rice
Tom/Roy/Agent Barry/Conductor: Greg Stuhr
Margie/Marie/Doris: Maggie Kiley
Graham: Larry Bryggman
Lynette (1960s): Mandy Siegfriedcers: Marc Platt, Andre Harrell
Executive producer: Billy Higgins
Director of photography: John R. Leonetti
Production designer: Jasna Stefanovich
Music: Mervyn Warren
Costume designer: Susan Matheson
Editors: Mark Helfrich, Emma E. Hickox
Cast:
Honey Daniels: Jessica Alba
Chaz: Mekhi Phifer
Benny: Lil' Romeo
Gina: Joy Bryant
Michael Ellis: David Moscow
Mrs. Daniels: Lonette McKee
Raymond: Zachary Isaiah Williams
Katrina: Laurie Ann Gibson
As themselves: Missy Elliott, Jadakiss & Sheek, Shawn Desman, Ginuwine, Harmonica Sunbeam, Rodney Jerkins, Silkk, 3rd Storee, Tweet
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13>Emma: Dina Waters
Michael: Marc John Jefferies
Megan: Aree Davis
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
NEW YORK -- Formulaic plot elements don't greatly hamper the impact of this French charmer about the relationship that develops between an elderly widower and the 8-year-old neighbor girl whose mother neglects her. Michel Serrault's typically expert performance and writer-director Philippe Muyl's ability to avoid the usual cliches in his execution of the tale give "The Butterfly" an undeniable appeal. Perfect holiday entertainment, albeit for those Small Fry who can read English subtitles, the film opened Friday at New York's Cinema Village.
Julien (Serrault) is an elderly entomologist living alone in his spacious apartment with only his cat and extensive butterfly collection for company. His next door neighbors are 8-year-old Elsa (Claire Bouanich) and her mother, Isabelle (Nade Dieu), the latter a single working mom who has little time for her little girl. When Julien sets out on a country excursion in search of an elusive butterfly whose life span is only a few days and who appears only one week out of the year, Elsa, as children in these sorts of movies are likely to do, hides out in his car. By the time the flustered Julien realizes that he has a stowaway, he's too far away to turn around and so reluctantly agrees to let her tag along. With Julien's cell phone not working, the inevitable complications ensue, with the police searching for the missing girl even as she learns life lessons from her gruff companion.
While it seems reminiscent of countless earlier efforts featuring the same themes, "Butterfly" manages to find fresh dimensions thanks to its smart and frequently amusing screenplay, its multidimensional characterizations and its refreshing lack of sentimentality. Julien is not the standard grumpy senior, Elsa is far less cutesy than the usual movie moppet, and the relationship that develops between the two has a genuineness of feeling that is ultimately quite moving. chair as one of Damian's intended victims, the viewer can certainly sympathize.
The Hebrew Hammer
Strand Releasing
A Strand Releasing and ContentFilm presentation
A film by Jonathan Kesselman
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jonathan Kesselman
Producers: Josh Kesselman, Sofia Sondervan, Lisa Fragner
Executive producers: Edward R. Pressman, John Schmidt
Director of photography: Kurt Brabbee
Production designer: Cabot McMullan
Editor: Dean Holland
Costume designers: Alysia Raycraft, Michelle Phillips
Music: Michael Cohen
Cast:
Mordechai Jefferson Carver: Adam Goldberg
Esther: Judy Greer
Santa Damian: Andy Dick
Mohammed: Mario Van Peebles
J.J.L. Chief: Peter Coyote
Tiny Tim: Sean Whalen
Jamal: Tony Cox
Mrs. Carver: Nora Dunn
Running time -- 85 minutes
MPAA rating: R Frame 312
Presented by the Atlantic Theater Company
Credits:
Playwright: Keith Reddin
Director: Karen Kohlhaas
Set designer: Walt Spangler
Costume designer: Mimi O'Donnell
Lighting designer: Robert Perry
Sound designer: Scott Myers
Cast:
Lynette (1990s): Mary Beth Peil
Stephanie: Elizabeth Hanly Rice
Tom/Roy/Agent Barry/Conductor: Greg Stuhr
Margie/Marie/Doris: Maggie Kiley
Graham: Larry Bryggman
Lynette (1960s): Mandy Siegfriedcers: Marc Platt, Andre Harrell
Executive producer: Billy Higgins
Director of photography: John R. Leonetti
Production designer: Jasna Stefanovich
Music: Mervyn Warren
Costume designer: Susan Matheson
Editors: Mark Helfrich, Emma E. Hickox
Cast:
Honey Daniels: Jessica Alba
Chaz: Mekhi Phifer
Benny: Lil' Romeo
Gina: Joy Bryant
Michael Ellis: David Moscow
Mrs. Daniels: Lonette McKee
Raymond: Zachary Isaiah Williams
Katrina: Laurie Ann Gibson
As themselves: Missy Elliott, Jadakiss & Sheek, Shawn Desman, Ginuwine, Harmonica Sunbeam, Rodney Jerkins, Silkk, 3rd Storee, Tweet
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13>Emma: Dina Waters
Michael: Marc John Jefferies
Megan: Aree Davis
Running time -- 88 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 12/23/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Miramax Films
NEW YORK -- This fifth installment in the commercially declining kiddie franchise -- those tykes are fickle in their attentions, don't you know -- is unlikely to win many new converts to the Pokemon phenomenon. But "Pokemon Heroes" is a reasonably entertaining entry that, thanks to its exotic setting and several new characters, should prove engaging for the Small Fry and not too painful for their adult chaperones. Being shown as part of the family weekend at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, it will be released theatrically May 16 via Miramax.
This edition, co-directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Jim Malone, again finds Pokemon trainer Ash, his pet Pikachu and the rest of his gang battling -- as our current president would put it -- some evildoers, in this case a pair of sexy thieves cutely named Annie and Oakley. The nefarious duo, wearing skirts so short that if this were a live-action film would garner an R rating, are in pursuit of something called the Soul Dew, located in a city on water named Altomare that bears more than a slight resemblance to Venice. Helping Ash and Pikachu in their struggle against the pair are two new Pokemon, Latia and Latios, who possess both psychic powers and the ability to disguise themselves as humans. Unfortunately, they also sound like a pair of high-pitched seagulls; hopefully, the action figures certain to be found in a toy store near you will be blissfully silent.
After a short introduction for those parents who till now have been spared the Pokemon experience, the action kicks into high gear with an entertaining water sports contest, with the plot rolling along quickly for the 80-minute running time. Less convoluted and more streamlined than earlier entries in the series, "Pokemon Heroes" also displays decent animation quality, especially in its depiction of the exotic watery city, as well as an admirable ecological message.
NEW YORK -- This fifth installment in the commercially declining kiddie franchise -- those tykes are fickle in their attentions, don't you know -- is unlikely to win many new converts to the Pokemon phenomenon. But "Pokemon Heroes" is a reasonably entertaining entry that, thanks to its exotic setting and several new characters, should prove engaging for the Small Fry and not too painful for their adult chaperones. Being shown as part of the family weekend at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, it will be released theatrically May 16 via Miramax.
This edition, co-directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Jim Malone, again finds Pokemon trainer Ash, his pet Pikachu and the rest of his gang battling -- as our current president would put it -- some evildoers, in this case a pair of sexy thieves cutely named Annie and Oakley. The nefarious duo, wearing skirts so short that if this were a live-action film would garner an R rating, are in pursuit of something called the Soul Dew, located in a city on water named Altomare that bears more than a slight resemblance to Venice. Helping Ash and Pikachu in their struggle against the pair are two new Pokemon, Latia and Latios, who possess both psychic powers and the ability to disguise themselves as humans. Unfortunately, they also sound like a pair of high-pitched seagulls; hopefully, the action figures certain to be found in a toy store near you will be blissfully silent.
After a short introduction for those parents who till now have been spared the Pokemon experience, the action kicks into high gear with an entertaining water sports contest, with the plot rolling along quickly for the 80-minute running time. Less convoluted and more streamlined than earlier entries in the series, "Pokemon Heroes" also displays decent animation quality, especially in its depiction of the exotic watery city, as well as an admirable ecological message.
The Las Vegas Strip has no El Dorado Hotel at the moment. But Kirk Kerkorian might want to consider building one because DreamWorks Pictures provides all the necessary research and development in its new animated feature, "The Road to El Dorado".
There's the faux Mayan design, jaunty Elton John and Tim Rice songs for the showroom, a sensuous tropical jungle for the pool, Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh's Crosby & Hope-style comics, Rosie Perez's va-va-va-voom Latina bombshell, a whirlpool-and-flood water ride and, finally, the Tulio & Miguel craps game that opens the movie -- though those loaded dice may present problems for the Gaming Commission.
Designed like a Saturday matinee adventure -- a kind of Crosby-Hope road movie meets "The Man Who Would Be King" -- "El Dorado" is pitched primarily to kids. And as the marketplace is remarkably bereft of family fare now, DreamWorks may strike boxoffice gold.
Marking a dramatic change of pace from the animation studio's first offering -- cartoony fun as opposed to the life-and-death seriousness of "Prince of Egypt" -- "El Dorado", directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul, is closer in tone and style to Disney's "Hercules". However, that film was the first Disney cartoon not to break the $100 million domestic boxoffice barrier in a long while. The key for DreamWorks will be repeat viewings by Small Fry, an exigency its lengthy running time may work against.
While the film explodes with riotous color and the background layouts display an imaginative Latin America circa 1519, "El Dorado" may also demonstrate the current limitations of 3-D character animation. Using more computer animation than most animated features -- other than all-CGI features such as the "Toy Story" movies or "Antz", of course -- "El Dorado" lacks the visual lushness and painterly depth of traditional animation. However, the style jibes nicely with the jokey, action-filled antics.
Tulio (Kline) and Miguel (Branagh) are a pair of Spanish con men, who inadvertently stow away on one of Cortes' galleons headed for the New World in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. The two escape imprisonment in the ship's hold through the helpful intervention of the war horse, Altivo.
But, swiftly, the two hustlers and the animal find themselves tossed about a stormy sea in a small row boat. Miraculously -- the first of many miracles on a journey that makes the road to Oz seem downright dreary -- they wash ashore on a fabulous jungle beach only a few machete chops away from the portal to El Dorado. (Where that machete came from only the churlish would wonder.)
After an Elton John-Tim Rice song gets the trio through the jungle, they encounter Chel (Perez), a quick-witted and nimble-limbed native girl. All get captured by soldiers, who haul them before the chief Edward James Olmos) and high priest (Armand Assante) of the city at the end of the rainbow, yes, the glittery and golden El Dorado.
The residents -- who, most helpfully, speak English -- are terrorized by the unbending religion of its high priest, who is in deadly conflict with the easygoing chief. Both foes seize upon the newcomers as long-promised gods that will dictate the proper social order.
Tulio falls in love with Chel while Miguel falls in love with the bewitching city. But the men get caught up in the battle between chief and priest, and debate whether to remain in El Dorado as gods or return to Spain with golden loot, a conflict that demands a hasty resolution when Cortes' army thunders at the town gate.
"El Dorado" doesn't lack for excitement -- with an evil dragon, a playful armadillo, an ancient basketball game (which is Aztec rather than Mayan, actually) and several water sequences including an oceanic storm and a death-defying ride on flood waters.
But once our adventurers reach their destination, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio let a certain stasis set in. Already pushing the running-time envelope for a family movie at 98 minutes (about 10 minutes longer than most animated features), "El Dorado" allows its second half to get taken up with too much day-dreaming and scheming and not enough forward momentum.
Kline and Branagh are a slap-happy pair of lovable rogues with Kline's witless intrigues a sharp counterpoint to Branagh's dreamy idealism. And if Perez put any more oomph into her sexy Chel in her skimpy outfits, that PG rating would have to change. Olmos' chief and Assante's priest are formidable adversaries, while Altivo the horse, who is given no voice, makes a fine comic foil.
The six John and Rice songs perform the dual functions of providing musical segues between the major sequences and a likely hit CD for DreamWorks Records.
THE ROAD TO EL DORADO
DreamWorks Pictures
Producers:Boone Radford, Brooke Breton
Directors:Eric "Bibo" Bergeron, Don Paul
Screenwriters:Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Executive producer:Jeffrey Katzenberg
Music:Elton John
Lyrics:Tim Rice
Score:Hans Zimmer, John Powell
Production designer:Christian Schellewald
Editor:Vicki Hiatt
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tulio:Kevin Kline
Miguel:Kenneth Branagh
Chel:Rosie Perez
Tzekel-Kan:Armand Assante
Chief:Edward James Olmos
Cortes:Jim Cummings
Running time -- 98 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
There's the faux Mayan design, jaunty Elton John and Tim Rice songs for the showroom, a sensuous tropical jungle for the pool, Kevin Kline and Kenneth Branagh's Crosby & Hope-style comics, Rosie Perez's va-va-va-voom Latina bombshell, a whirlpool-and-flood water ride and, finally, the Tulio & Miguel craps game that opens the movie -- though those loaded dice may present problems for the Gaming Commission.
Designed like a Saturday matinee adventure -- a kind of Crosby-Hope road movie meets "The Man Who Would Be King" -- "El Dorado" is pitched primarily to kids. And as the marketplace is remarkably bereft of family fare now, DreamWorks may strike boxoffice gold.
Marking a dramatic change of pace from the animation studio's first offering -- cartoony fun as opposed to the life-and-death seriousness of "Prince of Egypt" -- "El Dorado", directed by Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul, is closer in tone and style to Disney's "Hercules". However, that film was the first Disney cartoon not to break the $100 million domestic boxoffice barrier in a long while. The key for DreamWorks will be repeat viewings by Small Fry, an exigency its lengthy running time may work against.
While the film explodes with riotous color and the background layouts display an imaginative Latin America circa 1519, "El Dorado" may also demonstrate the current limitations of 3-D character animation. Using more computer animation than most animated features -- other than all-CGI features such as the "Toy Story" movies or "Antz", of course -- "El Dorado" lacks the visual lushness and painterly depth of traditional animation. However, the style jibes nicely with the jokey, action-filled antics.
Tulio (Kline) and Miguel (Branagh) are a pair of Spanish con men, who inadvertently stow away on one of Cortes' galleons headed for the New World in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. The two escape imprisonment in the ship's hold through the helpful intervention of the war horse, Altivo.
But, swiftly, the two hustlers and the animal find themselves tossed about a stormy sea in a small row boat. Miraculously -- the first of many miracles on a journey that makes the road to Oz seem downright dreary -- they wash ashore on a fabulous jungle beach only a few machete chops away from the portal to El Dorado. (Where that machete came from only the churlish would wonder.)
After an Elton John-Tim Rice song gets the trio through the jungle, they encounter Chel (Perez), a quick-witted and nimble-limbed native girl. All get captured by soldiers, who haul them before the chief Edward James Olmos) and high priest (Armand Assante) of the city at the end of the rainbow, yes, the glittery and golden El Dorado.
The residents -- who, most helpfully, speak English -- are terrorized by the unbending religion of its high priest, who is in deadly conflict with the easygoing chief. Both foes seize upon the newcomers as long-promised gods that will dictate the proper social order.
Tulio falls in love with Chel while Miguel falls in love with the bewitching city. But the men get caught up in the battle between chief and priest, and debate whether to remain in El Dorado as gods or return to Spain with golden loot, a conflict that demands a hasty resolution when Cortes' army thunders at the town gate.
"El Dorado" doesn't lack for excitement -- with an evil dragon, a playful armadillo, an ancient basketball game (which is Aztec rather than Mayan, actually) and several water sequences including an oceanic storm and a death-defying ride on flood waters.
But once our adventurers reach their destination, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio let a certain stasis set in. Already pushing the running-time envelope for a family movie at 98 minutes (about 10 minutes longer than most animated features), "El Dorado" allows its second half to get taken up with too much day-dreaming and scheming and not enough forward momentum.
Kline and Branagh are a slap-happy pair of lovable rogues with Kline's witless intrigues a sharp counterpoint to Branagh's dreamy idealism. And if Perez put any more oomph into her sexy Chel in her skimpy outfits, that PG rating would have to change. Olmos' chief and Assante's priest are formidable adversaries, while Altivo the horse, who is given no voice, makes a fine comic foil.
The six John and Rice songs perform the dual functions of providing musical segues between the major sequences and a likely hit CD for DreamWorks Records.
THE ROAD TO EL DORADO
DreamWorks Pictures
Producers:Boone Radford, Brooke Breton
Directors:Eric "Bibo" Bergeron, Don Paul
Screenwriters:Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Executive producer:Jeffrey Katzenberg
Music:Elton John
Lyrics:Tim Rice
Score:Hans Zimmer, John Powell
Production designer:Christian Schellewald
Editor:Vicki Hiatt
Color/stereo
Cast:
Tulio:Kevin Kline
Miguel:Kenneth Branagh
Chel:Rosie Perez
Tzekel-Kan:Armand Assante
Chief:Edward James Olmos
Cortes:Jim Cummings
Running time -- 98 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 3/31/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.