But what gives “Up” such a joyously buoyant lift is the refreshingly nongimmicky way in which the process has been incorporated into the big picture — and what a wonderful big picture it is.

Winsome, touching and arguably the funniest Pixar effort ever, the gorgeously rendered, high-flying adventure is a tidy 90-minute distillation of all the signature touches that came before it.

It’s also the ideal choice to serve as the first animated feature to open the Cannes Film Festival, considering the way it also pays fond homage to cinema’s past, touching upon the works of Chaplin and Hitchcock, not to mention aspects of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “The Wizard of Oz” and, more recently, “About Schmidt.”

Box-office-wise, the sky’s the limit for “Up,” which Walt Disney Studios releases stateside May 29.

Even with its PG rating (the first non-G-rated Pixar picture since “The Incredibles”), there really is no demographic that won’t respond to its many charms.

The Chaplin-esque influence is certainly felt in the stirring prelude, tracing the formative years of the film’s 78-year-old protagonist, recent widower Carl Fredricksen (terrifically voiced by Ed Asner).

Borrowing “WALL-E’s” poetic economy of dialogue and backed by composer Michael Giacchino’s plaintive score, the nostalgic waltz between Carl and the love of his life, Ellie, effectively lays all the groundwork for the fun stuff to follow.

Deciding it’s better late than never, the retired balloon salesman depletes his inventory and takes to the skies (house included), determined to finally follow the path taken by his childhood hero, discredited world adventurer Charles F. Muntz (Christopher Plummer).

But he soon discovers there’s a stowaway hiding in his South America-bound home in the form of Russell, a persistent 8-year-old scout (scene-stealing young newcomer Jordan Nagai), and the pair prove to be one irresistible odd couple.

Despite the innate sentimentality, director Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.”) and co-director and writer Bob Peterson keep the laughs coming at an agreeably ticklish pace.

Between that Carl/Russell dynamic and Muntz’s pack of hunting dogs equipped with multilingual thought translation collars, “Up” ups the Pixar comedy ante considerably.

Meanwhile, those attending theaters equipped with the Disney Digital 3-D technology will have the added bonus of experiencing a three-dimensional process that is less concerned with the usual “comin’ at ya” razzle-dazzle than it is with creating exquisitely detailed textures and appropriately expansive depths of field.

Pixar raises the animation bar with buoyant Up

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Gal Gadot, the 2004 winner of Israel’s top beauty pageant, will appear on film screens around the world next month in the fourth installment of “Fast & Furious,” one of the decade’s highest-grossing action series. In the new film, which opens in the United States on April 3, the Rosh Ha’ayin native plays Gisele Harabo, the latest romantic interest of Vin Diesel’s explosion-loving, speed-junkie protagonist. The role should launch the beauty queen to a new level of international visibility: Although the “Fast” franchise has cooled somewhat, the series’s first three installments have averaged more than $200 million each at the worldwide box office.

Regardless of the new film’s success, Gadot is not unknown to Americans. After winning the Miss Israel title, she went on to represent the Jewish state in the Miss Universe beauty pageant. In the summer of 2007, she was widely interviewed after Maxim magazine featured her in a headline-generating photo spread devoted to bikini-clad Israeli soldiers. A major attention-getter in the United States — the New York Post put a photo of Gadot on its cover, above the headline “Piece in the Middle East” — the images proved more controversial in Israel, where then-deputy Knesset speaker Colette Avital criticized the spread as “pornographic.”

Since completing her military service, the 23-year-old Gadot has starred in an Israeli TV drama and served as the female face of Castro, the country’s largest clothing company. She’s also set to guest star in an upcoming episode of HBO’s “Entourage.”

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To do that, “Watchmen”, which opens around the world this week, must attract those who have never heard of characters like Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre, and who want a thrilling joyride, box-office watchers said.

For years, filming a movie based on the sprawling 1980s “Watchmen” comic books by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons was considered impossible due to its multiple characters, violence, digressions and abundance of dialogue.

“It’s difficult material. You can’t put it on the head of a pin,” producer Larry Gordon told reporters.

But fellow producer Lloyd Levin said audiences are getting more sophisticated.

“The movie audience of today has caught up with the comic book audience of the 1980s, and superheroes are the absolute mainstream and I think there is the opportunity to push things a little bit further,” Levin said.

“Watchmen”, which cost about $120 million to make and runs for 2 hours 43 minutes, is set in 1985 amid the specter of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The only superhero with real powers is a freak of science called Dr. Manhattan who is nearly omnipotent but escapes to Mars because he cannot understand humans and women in particular. Billy Crudup plays the often nude Dr. Manhattan, who was given a computer generated blue glow.

In the meantime, a masked vigilante named Rorschach (James Earle Haley) is tracking the killer of fellow superhero the Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Retired superheroes Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and Night Owl (Patrick Wilson) join him and unravel a plot with dangerous implications for mankind.

NOVEL IDEAS

The comic book series at the heart of the film from Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros. studio presents its greatest challenge, but also its greatest strength.

The comic books have a passionate base of “fanboys,” many of whom are eager to see the story on film. And the series has a literary pedigree, having been named by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 English-language novels since 1923.

Director Zack Snyder, whose 2007 movie adaptation of comic book series “300″ made more than $456 million worldwide, has sought to reassure avid readers of “Watchmen” that he was faithful to the source material.

Snyder said a book-bound copy of the comic series was always on the film set, like a Bible, and the actors say they thumbed through it more than the script.

“Has there ever been a movie, a mainstream Hollywood movie that is made for fanboys as much as this movie? Probably not,” Snyder said.

But box office analysts say the film faces challenges to reach a mainstream audience. Unlike 2008 top grossing Batman movie “The Dark Knight,” the film was given a U.S. rating that requires those under 17 to be accompanied by an adult.

The film is also based on characters less familiar than Batman and Spider-Man, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Media by Numbers.

Movie experts believe the movie, which cost about $120 million, could still make more than $50 million its opening weekend. Rival studios have stepped aside for “Watchmen.”

“This is pretty much the only new movie to go out this weekend, and it’s certainly the most spectacular of the year so far in terms of the look and feel of the picture,” said Brandon Gray, president of research company Box Office Mojo.

Watchmen looks to conquer mainstream audiences

Plot

A series of news reports documents the role of Richard Nixon (Langella) in the bugging of members of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate complex up until news that the House of Representatives is likely to vote to impeach Nixon. The film then cuts to a behind the scenes view of Nixon making his resignation speech. Nixon is shown leaving the White House in a helicopter and flying away.

Meanwhile David Frost (Sheen) is finishing an episode of his talk show Frost Over Australia, until he comes off set to see Nixon entering the helicopter on a television. He asks a producer to ascertain the worldwide viewing figures for the event.

A few weeks later in the London Weekend Television (LWT) central office, Frost discusses with his producer and friend, John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen), the possibility of an interview. When Frost mentions Nixon as the subject, Birt doubts the likelihood that Nixon would be willing to talk to Frost. Frost then tells Birt that 400 million people watched President Nixon’s resignation on live TV.

Nixon is shown recovering from illness in La Casa Pacifica, in San Clemente, California, discussing his memoirs with literary agent Irving “Swifty” Lazar (Toby Jones), who tells the former president of a request by Frost to conduct an interview. Lazar mentions that CBS was offering $350,000 to Frost’s $500,000. In a series of cutaway interviews, Lazar explains how he managed to talk Frost up to $600,000.

Frost and Birt fly to California to meet with Nixon. On the plane, Frost meets an attractive woman, Caroline Cushing (Rebecca Hall) and invites her to accompany him to meet the ex-president. At La Casa Pacifica, after receiving a tour from Nixon, Frost makes the first partial payment of $200,000. However, Nixon’s post-presidential chief of staff Jack Brennan (Kevin Bacon) doubts that Frost will be able to pay the entire amount.

Frost, however, manages to finance the entire fee, by selling his shares in LWT and by calling in help from wealthy friends. He hires two investigators, Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) and James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell) to dig for information along with Birt, mainly on the Watergate scandal. Zelnick is a veteran reporter who is outwardly genial; Reston takes a confrontational stance towards Frost, angrily asking him what he hopes to accomplish with the interviews and declaring that he wanted “to give Richard Nixon the trial he never had.” During the research process, Reston mentions a lead in the Federal Courthouse in D.C. that he thinks he can lock down with a week of work, but Frost says they can’t afford to be without him for that long.

Frost is shown trying to sell the series of four interviews (to be broadcast as four 90-minute specials) to the U.S. broadcast networks, but they all turn him down. Despite the financial issues, Frost is able to finance the hiring of recording equipment and a venue and the interviews begin.

Over the first eleven recording sessions (each at two hours in length covering Nixon’s foreign policy, domestic policy, biography, handling of Vietnam), Frost is shown struggling to ask planned “on the spot” questions of Nixon, with Nixon able to take up much of the time during the sessions by making long speeches without enabling Frost to challenge him. The former president fences ably on the Vietnam section and is able to dominate in the area where he had substantial achievements, foreign policy related to Russia and China.

Frost’s editorial team appears to be breaking apart as the two American members (Zelnick and Reston) express anger that Nixon appears to be exonerating himself, and Reston belittles Frost’s abilities as an interviewer. Frost suggests that the four of them separate over a small break for Easter, after having been together almost daily for a month.

Four days before the final session on Watergate, Frost is awakened in his hotel room by a phone call from a drunken Richard Nixon asking Frost what he was doing in his room on a Friday night. Frost answers that he was expecting a call from Caroline inquiring about dinner arrangements. Nixon, in his cups, proceeds to bemoan his lot, suggesting that, like Frost, people of a higher social class brought him down, as they refused to accept him in a high position. Nixon tells Frost that they both know the final interview will make or break the other’s career. If Frost fails to implicate Nixon definitively in the Watergate scandal, then Frost will have allowed Nixon to revive his political career at the expense of Frost, who will have an unsellable series of interviews and be bankrupt.

The conversation knocks Frost into action declaring, “I’ve got to work.” Until now, having spent most of his time selling the show to networks and gaining advertisers, Frost resolves to ensure that the final interview will be successful. He calls Reston and tells him to follow up on the federal courthouse hunch and works relentlessly for three days.

Shortly before the final interview, Frost mentions the phone call; however, Nixon asks him, “What phone call?” and looks very unsettled. As the final recording begins, Frost is a much sterner adversary, providing evidence of Nixon’s full involvement and bringing up damning information about Charles Colson that Reston uncovered, causing Nixon to admit that he did things that would otherwise be illegal, were he not the president. Frost asks if the president took part in a cover-up, at which point Brennan bursts in and stops the recording as Nixon is visibly unable to answer. The president and Brennan confer in a side room, Brennan telling Nixon that there will be “No way back East” if he admits to any cover up. Nixon says he is tired of lying, but thanks his chief of staff as he returns to complete the recording, admitting that he participated in a cover-up and “let the American people down,” and that his political life was now over.

Shortly before Frost returns to the UK, he and Caroline visit Nixon in his villa and Frost thanks him for the interviews. Nixon questions Frost if they really had a discussion on the phone, and asks what they discussed. Frost replies “cheeseburgers,” and bids goodbye to Nixon and leaves. The closing titles describe Frost’s future successes and Nixon’s continued controversy and absence from political activity until his death in 1994.

Release

The film had its world premiere on October 15, 2008 as the opening film of the 52nd annual London Film Festival. It was released in three theaters in the United States on December 5, 2008 before expanding several times over the following weeks. It was released in the United Kingdom and expanded into wide status in the United States on January 23, 2009.

Box Office

The film had a limited release at 3 theaters on December 5, 2008 and grossed $180,708 on its opening weekend, ranking number 22. Opening wide at 1,099 theaters on January 23, 2009, the film grossed $3,022,250 at the domestic box office this weekend, ranking number 16. As of January 26, 2009 the total gross at the domestic box office is $12,231,106, including the international box office the total gross is $14,596,107. The film grossed estimated $420,000 on January 31, 2009. As of February 2, 2009, the film grossed estimated $14,311,000 at the box office and $16,676,001 worldwide. As of February 9, 2009, the film grossed estimated $$15,632,000 at the domestic box office and $19,684,550 at the box office worldwide.

Cast & Credits

• Directed by: Ron Howard
• Produced by: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
• Written by: Peter Morgan
• Starring: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, Matthew Macfadyen, Toby Jones, Andy Milder, Rebecca Hall
• Music by: Hans Zimmer
• Cinematography: Salvadore Totino
• Editing by: Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

Other Information

• Studio: Imagine Entertainment, Working Title Films, Relativity Media, StudioCanal
• Distributed by: Universal Pictures
• Release dates: October 15, 2008 (London Film Festival); December 5, 2008 (US, limited); January 23, 2009 (UK/US wide)
• Running time: 122 min.
• Country: United States, United Kingdom
• Language: English
• Budget: $25,000,000
• Gross revenue: $$23,661,728 (world-wide)

Links

• Frost/Nixon at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website
• The Original Interviews website
• Universal Pictures Awards
• Frost/Nixon box office information at The Numbers
• Frost/Nixon at Rotten Tomatoes
• Frost/Nixon at Metacritic
• Frost/Nixon at Box Office Mojo

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Plot

The Cabin in the Woods provides a new twist on a classic scenario, in this case the young-people-stranded-in-the-woods horror trope. Jenkins and Whitford will play white-collar co-workers with a mysterious connection to the cabin. A group of college kids spend a weekend at a mysterious cabin in the woods.

Other Information

• Genre : Horror, Thriller
• Release date : February 5, 2010
• Country  : United States
• Language : English

Cast and Credits

• Directed by : Drew Goddard
• Produced by : Joss Whedon
• Written by : Drew Goddard, Joss Whedon
• Starring : Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford
• Studio : MGM
• Distributed by : MGM

Links

• The Cabin in the Woods at Allmovie
• The Cabin in the Woods at Box Office Mojo
• The Cabin in the Woods at the Internet Movie Database
• The Cabin in the Woods at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Cabin in the Woods at Yahoo! Movies

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Synopsis

The film has Woody, Buzz, and the rest of their toy-box friends being dropped off at a day-care center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college.

Other Information

• Genre : Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family
• Release date : June 18, 2010
• Country : United States
• Language : English
• Preceded by : Toy Story 2 (1999)
• Company:Pixar Animation Studios

Cast and Credits

• Directed by : Lee Unkrich
• Produced by : John Lasseter, Darla K. Anderson
• Written by : Michael Arndt (screenplay), Andrew Stanton (treatment)
• Starring : Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Estelle Harris, Ned Beatty, Michael Keaton, Jodi Benson
• Distributed by : Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia

• Entertainment Weekly published an article that said the original plot for Toy Story 3 was going to be about Buzz Lightyear having a defect. Buzz would then be shipped to Japan to be fixed, but the other toys find out that the toy company is just replacing the broken Buzz toys with new ones, so they ship themselves to Japan to rescue him. This script had to be canned when Pixar and Disney made amends. Part of their agreement was not to further develop projects that had been planned during their fallout.

Links

• Toy Story 3 at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Toy Story 3 at the Internet Movie Database

Plot

The son of a Viking trains his scrawny, toothless dragon to be a brave hero. Based on Cressida Cowell’s children’s book, “How to Train Your Dragon.”

Other Information

• Also Known As : How to Train Your Dragon: An IMAX 3D Experience (IMAX version)
• Genre : Animation
• Release date : March 26, 2010
• Country : United States
• Language : English
• Company : DreamWorks Animation

Cast and Credits

• Directed by : Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
• Produced by : Bonnie Arnold
• Co-Producer : Michael A. Connolly, Doug Davison, Roy Lee
• Associate Producer : Lisa M. Poole
• Written by : Adam F. Goldberg, Peter Tolan, (Story) Cressida Cowell
• Starring :Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
• Music by : Michael Tavera
• Editing by : John K. Carr
• Distributed by : DreamWorks Animation SKG, Paramount Pictures

Links

• How to Train Your Dragon at the Internet Movie Database

Plot

A band of bank robbers, find their 20 million dollar heist interrupted by a hard edged detective.

Other Information

• Genre : Action, Crime
• Filming Locations : Culver City, California, USA
• Company : Grand Hustle Entertainment
• Release date : January 8, 2010
• Language : English

Cast and Credits

• Directed by  : John Luessenhop
• Produced by : William Packer
• Written by : Gabriel Casseus, John Luessenhop
• Screenplay : Peter Allen, Avery Duff
• Starring : Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Hayden Christensen, Chris Brown, T.I., Idris Elba
• Cinematography : Michael Barrett
• Editing by : Armen Minasian
• Distributed by : Screen Gems

Links

• Bone Deep at the Internet Movie Database

Plot

Red Puckett (Hayden Panettiere) is in training for the Sister Hoods, and now teaming with Wolf (Patrick Warburton), she must investigate the mysterious disappearance of Hansel and Gretel (Bill Hader and Amy Poehler) and Mr. Alligator (Bill Murray).

Other Information

• Genre : Animation
• Release date : January 15, 2010
• Country : USA
• Language : English
• Budget : $15,000,000
• Preceded by : Hoodwinked!
• Company : Blue Yonder Films (2005)

Cast and Credits

• Directed by : Mike Disa
• Produced by : Maurice Kanbar, David Lovegren, Joan Collins Carey
• Written by : Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, Tony Leech
• Starring : Hayden Panettiere, Glenn Close, Patrick Warburton, Martin Short, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Bill Murray
• Music by : Murray Gold
• Editing by : Tom Sanders
• Distributed by : Weinstein Company/Summit Entertainment

Links

• Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil at the Internet Movie Database

Plot

Three adults inadvertently stumble into a mysterious land populated by dinosaurs and other creatures, including the mysterious and dangerous race of Sleestak.

Production

Development of a feature film based on the show has been in talks at various studios since 1995. In 2002, Sony Pictures was working on a movie version, following the 2000 reversion to the Kroffts of adaptation rights previously bought by Disney as early as 1995. In April 2005, Universal Pictures acquired the adaptation rights and attached director Adam McKay and actor Will Ferrell, who had previously collaborated on Anchorman (2004), to the project. In May 2007, director Robert Rodriguez met with Universal to potentially direct the film adaptation of Land of the Lost. Rodriguez had also entered talks with Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. to film a live action film adaptation of The Jetsons. The director was uncertain which project he would pursue next, though the latest script draft for The Jetsons by Adam Goldberg was further along in development. In September 2007, director Brad Silberling was announced to be attached to direct the film adaptation, with Ferrell starring. The project was slated to begin production in March 2008 after reducing its budget from $125 million to $100 million, and wrapped up shooting at Universal Studios Hollywood. The first trailer was shown during Super Bowl XLIII.

Other Information

• Genre : Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
• Tagline : Right place. Wrong time.
• Movie Connections : Remake of “Land of the Lost” (1974)
• Release date : June 5, 2009
• Country : United States
• Filming Locations : Dumont Dunes, San Bernardino County, California, USA
• Company : Mosaic Media Group
• Language : English
• Budget : $100,000,000

Cast and Credits

• Directed by : Brad Silberling
• Produced by : Marty Krofft, Sid Krofft, Jimmy Miller
• Written by : Chris Henchy, Dennis McNicholas, (Television Series) Marty Krofft, Sid Krofft
• Starring : Will Ferrell, Anna Friel, Danny McBride, Jorma Taccone
• Music by : Michael Giacchino
• Cinematography : Dion Beebe
• Editing by : Peter Teschner
• Distributed by : Universal Pictures

Trivia

• In Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Will Ferrell’s character, Marshall Willenholly, was named after the characters Will and Holly Marshall from the original TV series “Land of the Lost” (1974). In this movie, Will Ferrell plays the father of those characters, Park Ranger Rick Marshall. more

Links

• The Official Movie Site
• Land of the Lost at the Internet Movie Database
• Land of the Lost at Allmovie