Movie Review: Eddie the Eagle (2016) *Worst Olympian Ever is Still an Olympian*

The 2016 Summer Olympics will begin a week from tomorrow in Rio.  Those games will undoubtedly be the swansong of the greatest Olympian (in terms of medals won) of all-time: Michael Phelps.  If you were to try to find his polar opposite in the annals of Olympic lore, a very good case could be made for British ski jumper Eddie Edwards.  The 1988 Winter Olympics were a strange games, producing the infamous Jamaican bobsled team (for which there is a great movie in Cool Runnings) and Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards.  The ski jumper became a polarizing figure in 1988 when only after a brief time in the sport, he slipped through some rule oversights not corrected in half a century and onto the British Olympic Team.  He finished last (spoiler), but I’m not sure anyone has ever been happier to be an Olympian or more embodied the determination to push yourself to your personal best than Edwards.  He now has his own film to complete the Calgary Olympics Weird Stories Boxset with Eddie the Eagle.

Disney’s The Jungle Book Blu Ray Release Date and Special Features

 

Walt Disney Home Entertainment has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray director Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book (2016), featuring the voices of Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong’o, and Bill Murray. The release will be available for purchase on August 30.

Please note that the 3D version of The Jungle Book will be available later this year.

Synopsis: Synopsis: Directed by Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”), based on Rudyard Kipling’s timeless stories and inspired by Disney’s classic animated film, “The Jungle Book” is an all-new live-action epic adventure about Mowgli (newcomer Neel Sethi), a man-cub who’s been raised by a family of wolves. But Mowgli finds he is no longer welcome in the jungle when fearsome tiger Shere Khan (voice of Idris Elba), who bears the scars of Man, promises to eliminate what he sees as a threat. Urged to abandon the only home he’s ever known, Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey of self-discovery, guided by panther-turned-stern mentor Bagheera (voice of Ben Kingsley), and the free-spirited bear Baloo (voice of Bill Murray). Along the way, Mowgli encounters jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests at heart, including Kaa (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the man-cub, and the smooth-talking King Louie (voice of Christopher Walken), who tries to coerce Mowgli into giving up the secret to the elusive and deadly red flower: fire.

The all-star cast also includes Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of the fiercely protective mother wolf Raksha, and Giancarlo Esposito as the voice of wolf pack’s alpha male Akela. “The Jungle Book” seamlessly blends live-action with photorealistic CGI animals and environments, using up-to-the-minute technology and storytelling techniques to immerse audiences in an enchanting and lush world.

Special Features:

• “The Jungle Book” Reimagined – Favreau sits down with producer Brigham Taylor and visual effects supervisor Robert Legato to discuss “The Jungle Book” and reflect on the years they devoted to the reimagining of this timeless tale. Discover how Rudyard Kipling’s original stories and the classic animated film influenced their unique approach, witness the technical wizardry that enabled the team to create a believable and thrilling movie-going experience, and learn how they borrowed a page from Walt Disney’s innovation playbook to make it all happen. Lastly, meet the all-star voice cast who help bring the film’s colorful characters to life, as well as the musicians who accent the adventure with a majestic music score.
• I Am Mowgli – Follow the extraordinary journey of 12-year-old Neel Sethi, who was selected from thousands of hopefuls worldwide to play Mowgli “alongside” some of today’s biggest movie stars. Get a glimpse of Neel’s life before Hollywood came calling, check out his audition that sealed the deal, and see how a close-working relationship with Favreau brought out his best. Plus, Neel shares how filming “The Jungle Book” was one wild ride, from working alongside imaginary animals to performing some super-fun stunts.
• King Louie’s Temple: Layer by Layer – So, exactly how do you create a musical number featuring one man-cub, a massive, legendary ape and an army of wild and wily monkeys in the Seeonee jungle? Viewers are granted rare and unique access to the development of the “I Wan’na Be Like You” sequence in which King Louie attempts to coerce Mowgli into giving up Man’s deadly “red flower” (fire). A fast-moving musical progression reel showcases storyboards, animatics, Christopher Walken’s recording session and visual effects layers, which ultimately merge to form one of the film’s most memorable scenes.
• Audio Commentary – Favreau delivers his scene-by-scene perspective on the live-action adventure “The Jungle Book” with all the candor and humor you’d expect from this multi-talented actor-writer-director-producer.

Movie Review: Disney’s The Jungle Book (2016) *Disney Brings the Wonder to the Jungle*

“Now this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky, And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die. As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

Disney has been remaking their classic animated features into live-action films for a while now, and I haven’t really been impressed at the effort.  There seemed no need for them.  It simply looked like a money grab.  Disney’s The Jungle Book is a film that needed to be made, because it couldn’t have been made before now.  It’s not often, in the age of FX we live in, that I can say I’ve never seen anything like this, but bringing an entire jungle of completely CGI photorealistic animals who speak, and never having it look fake is astounding.  The entire film is.  Jon Favreau has combined a strong script leaning much more on Kipling’s books, but giving homage to the 1967 animated film, with groundbreaking effects and one of the best performances I’ve ever seen given by a child to make his best film yet by far.  I can’t find flaw in it.  In fact, I would go so far to say that this surpasses Kipling (whose prose I never really enjoyed) as the definitive version of The Jungle Book story.  Quite simply, it’s a masterpiece.

In Theaters This Week (4/15/2016) – Disney’s The Jungle Book & Barbershop Returns

Each Thursday we look at what is going to be coming out in theaters this weekend, show you the trailers for the big releases, predict the box office winner and just generally give you enough of a carrot to pull you through the rest of the work week.  April 15th is really the start of the summer blockbuster season as Disney’s The Jungle Book should be a huge hit.  The much-loved Barbershop franchise is also back with its….fourth? installment.  There is also a Kevin Costner movie.

Trailer Time: Disney’s The Jungle Book Trailer #1 (2016) *A Remake Worth Making*

As much as I’m impressed by what Disney has been doing right in so many areas of their film making, their recent live-action remaking of all their animated classics is getting old, and I’m not going to  even talk about the Mary Poppins sequel they’re working on because that’s going to spin me into a level of pissed off, we’re not ready for.  HOWEVER, the only one of these projects that has ever interested me is Jon Favreau’s Jungle Book.  The voice cast, the tech used in Life of Pi to bring all the animals to realistic life….that seemed a reason to actually make the movie and this first look at it is fantastic.  Read the full synopsis and cast list below and look forward to this next April.