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September 19, 2006

Happy Penguins Put Their Best Foot Forward

Warner Bros. pulled a bit of a Disney at the Pacific Design Center today, throwing four tap dancing teens, four real penguins, a display case filled with soon-to-land merchandise, penguin photo ops, ice sculpture, and many penguin themed cookies into the mix for a 20 minute preview of Happy Feet, their George Miller mega-movie due in November.

The footage played a bit more like Baz Luhrman than George Miller. Nothing exploded and the anthropomorphic animals sang hit songs from the past, not originals. But George Miller knows how to entertain and the footage did just that, as we got a Spanish-language version of My Way (twice), a number sung by Brittney Murphy, a Barry White penguin voiced (also) by Williams, and lots of dancing by the Savion Glover choreographed and motion-captured penguins.

The only shocking thing about the preview was that the movie is still so far from finished with less than 2 months to delivery. But what we saw looked terrific and this movie is a prohibitive favorite to be the high grosser of the fall/holiday movie season.

Posted by poland at September 19, 2006 06:07 PM

Comments

Haha. I really wanted to go to this too, but couldn't make it. Interesting.

Posted by: Kristopher Tapley [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 19, 2006 06:21 PM

"The only shocking thing about the preview was that the movie is still so far from finished" what'd they do, show it in black and white?

Posted by: T.H.Ung [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 19, 2006 06:44 PM

What does the 'also' refer to since Barry White is the only mention of Robin Williams here?

Posted by: jeffmcm [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 19, 2006 06:47 PM

Going OT here . . .

First, now we know why Lucas released those lame non-anamorphic versions of the original SW movies on DVD. He's giving the cash to USC.

Second, can "Flyboys" possibly be as lousy as it looks? Apart from the dogfighting, that is.

Posted by: Blackcloud [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 19, 2006 08:22 PM

^^^Yes. I saw Flyboys a few months ago and it rocketed to the top of my worst-of-the-year list. It is appallin on every possible level. For me the single worst thing about it is how it turns WWI dogfights into fizzy video game sequences, at a time when our nation is engaged in fighting overseas. It's literally disgusting.

In other news, I'm perfectly happy to have those Star Wars DVDs. The VHSs wouldn't play on my laptop.

Posted by: jeffmcm [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 12:10 AM

Okay, maybe not 'literally' disgusting. But definitely appallin'. I'm very surprised it's getting a theatrical release.

Posted by: jeffmcm [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 12:39 AM

Blackcloud, apparently I'm the only critic who has come forward and said that I liked "Flyboys"...actually quite a bit, enough to sit through its 2 hours and 20 minutes TWICE and I'd see it again in a second, mainly for those aerial sequences (completely disagree with jeffmcm's take on it). You can find my review on RottenTomatoes if you're interested on my take on the movie.

Posted by: EDouglas [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 03:32 AM

Correction to the above: Actually, I know at least two other critics who agree with me...they just haven't posted reviews yet (one of them isn't on RT)

Posted by: EDouglas [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 03:33 AM

I assume this is a CGI picture. No worries aobut the glut there and poor performance of many recent animated films. I guess that the holiday season might be different.

Posted by: Direwolf [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 05:57 AM

Flyboys must have been a cheap pick up. Otherwise, by the looks of it, it is hard to believe that it got a theatrical release. I would guess that it does Great Raid type box office, maybe a little more. Looks laughably bad and surely is. I trust jeff more than comingsoon.net, that's for sure.

Posted by: Stella's Boy [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 06:18 AM

I'm really curious about how much MGM paid for it as well. I know the movie cost around $60 million but they must know that it wouldn't make that kind of money domestically...maybe once it gets released in Europe.

And though I know you must feel my opinion must be skewed since it's so singular, I've seen a lot of laughably bad movies...most of them starring James Franco...and this isn't one of them. I was equally skeptical and optimistic after seeing the presentation in San Diego, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. (Maybe it's because it reminded me of this Czech movie Dark Blue World which I saw and loved but haven't found anyone else who's even seen it)

Posted by: EDouglas [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 06:34 AM

I can't wait to see Happy Feet. I've been thoroughly charmed since the first trailer appeared. The scope and scale of it looks great. Why just have a few penguins dancing when you can have *thousands* dancing?

One of the only pieces of ComicCon swag I kept was the Happy Feet keychain, complete with thermometer. (Okay, I kept the creepy Tarantino/Rodriguez Grind House miniposters, but only 'till I find a good home for them.)

Posted by: Lynn [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 09:39 AM

Oh my god. Edouglas, I don't want to cast aspersions on your character, but on what street corner did you buy that crack you had to have been on? This movie fails in every aspect of filmmaking except that it's in focus.

Posted by: jeffmcm [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 10:56 AM

There's a great crack dealer on 49th and Broadway, conveniently located in between the Magno and Broadway screening rooms. Oh, wait...that was rhetorical, wasn't it?

Well, I hope that a few of the readers here who may be interested in that time period go see Flyboys and then report back here when they do.

Posted by: EDouglas [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 11:13 AM

All I can say is, don't waste your money. Even for the dubious thrill of being able to agree with me.

Posted by: jeffmcm [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 11:37 AM

"Even for the dubious thrill of being able to agree with me."

Well that certainly would be a first for you. :)

Posted by: EDouglas [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 11:42 AM

I liked the stuff in the reel. Very off-the-wall comic timing... supposedly the 20-minute reel was from four or five weeks ago. THere are some interesting stories to be told about Dr. Miller's interaction with the makers of MARCH OF THE PENGUINS while both pics were in production.

Posted by: prideray [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 11:58 AM

I read your review, ED. It looks like you saw a completely different movie from the one that I saw.
I'm curious, what's the 'baggage' you refer to that 'comes along with recent Hollywood movies'? Are you talking about movies referring to Sept. 11 in subtle or not-so-subtle ways?
That's, like I said, one of the things I dislike about Flyboys - it's childish escapist qualities that distort how people think about war and fighting and make it look like fun.
Also, I don't think it'll do too well in Europe - they seem to not be too fond of movies about 'their' wars that star Americans.

Posted by: jeffmcm [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 12:14 PM

jeff, Email me at "warrior at comingsoon dot net" and we'll discuss. I don't want to spoil the movie, but no, the baggage had nothing to do with the war or 9/11. Since the script was written over seven years ago, it didn't have either one as a reference.

Posted by: EDouglas [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 20, 2006 01:02 PM

Happy Feet looks really funny to me...I can't wait to see it too!

Posted by: Ashlady [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 21, 2006 11:36 AM

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