Beware of salt water sharks!! This first poster from Shark Night 3D has one of the fearsome underwater creatures about to devour a young beauty.
Official Synopsis: Arriving by boat at her family’s Louisiana lake island cabin, Sara (Sara Paxton) and her friends quickly strip down to their swimsuits for a weekend of fun in the sun. But when star football player Malik (Sinqua Walls) stumbles from the salt-water lake with his arm torn off, the party mood quickly evaporates. Assuming the injury was caused by a freak wake-boarding accident, the group realizes they have to get Malik to a hospital on the other side of the lake, and fast.
But as they set out in a tiny speedboat, the college friends discover the lake has been stocked with hundreds of massive, flesh-eating sharks! As they face one grisly death after another, Sara and the others struggle desperately to fend off the sharks, get help and stay alive long enough to reach the safety of dry land.
Jamie Campbell Bower leads the cast of Starz’s one hour fantasy series Camelot as King Arthur. Season one of the drama premieres on February 25, 2011.
The cast also includes Joseph Fiennes as Merlin, Eva Green as Morgan, Tamsin Egerton as Guinevere, and Peter Mooney as Kay. Claire Forlani stars as Igraine, Philip Winchester is Leontes, Clive Standen is Gawain, and Chipo Chung is Vivian.
The Synopsis: In the wake of King Uther’s sudden death, chaos threatens to engulf Britain. When the sorcerer Merlin has visions of a dark future, he installs the young and impetuous Arthur, Uther’s unknown son and heir, who has been raised from birth as a commoner. But Arthur’s cold and ambitious half-sister Morgan will fight him to the bitter end, summoning unnatural forces to claim the crown in this epic battle of control. These are dark times indeed for the new king, with Guinevere being the only shining light in Arthur’s harsh world.
Faced with profound moral decisions, and the challenge of uniting a kingdom broken by war and steeped in deception, Arthur will be tested beyond imagination. Forget everything you think you know…this is the story of Camelot that has never been told before.
HBO just announced that they’ll be hosting a True Blood panel as well as a Game of Thrones panel at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con to be held July 21-24 in downtown San Diego. The Game of Thrones panel will take place on Thursday, the first day of the Con, with True Blood‘s panel set for Friday, July 22nd.
The Game of Thrones cast will hit the road immediately following their panel in order to start work on the second season of the critically-acclaimed series (filmed in Northern Ireland).
Game of Thrones cast and producers set to appear are:
David Benioff
D.B. Weiss
Emilia Clarke
Peter Dinklage
Kit Harington
Jason Momoa
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
The True Blood cast and producers scheduled for Comic-Con are:
Alan Ball
Anna Paquin
Stephen Moyer
Sam Trammell
Ryan Kwanten
Rutina Wesley
Kevin Alejandro
Kristin Bauer van Straten
Nelsan Ellis
Joe Manganiello
Deborah Ann Woll
Additional cast members may be added closer to Comic-Con, according to HBO.
Cosmo the dog, a Jack Russell terrier, is an amazing little furry scene-stealer in the comedy/drama Beginners (one of my favorite films of 2011). In this video provided by Focus Features, Cosmo’s human co-stars – Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurent, and Christopher Plummer – as well as writer/director Mike Mills talk about how impressed they were with his personality and acting ability.
Official Synopsis: Oliver (McGregor) meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna (Laurent) only months after his father Hal (Plummer) has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father who – following 44 years of marriage – came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life.
The upheavals of Hal’s new honesty, by turns funny and moving, brought father and son closer than they’d ever been able to be. Now Oliver endeavors to love Anna with all the bravery, humor, and hope that his father taught him.
Those who read my X-Men: First Class review know that I can be passionate about comic book films. Like with books, graphic novels, and the like, it’s important to me that if you’re going to adapt something for the silver screen, you either stay extremely faithful to the source material or you find some intriguing approach that makes it your own and acknowledges that you’ve gone a different direction.
Well, none of that matters for Green Lantern because I really couldn’t care less after watching it.
The film sees Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern, whom comic book aficionados know was the rebirth of the franchise in 1959 when DC relaunched the series (Alan Scott was the original in 1940). There have been multiple ‘Green Lanterns,’ and the more hardcore fans can debate if they chose the right one for a film (or for Ryan Reynolds to depict). They did stick fairly closely to the actual origin elements of Jordan – though the villain is a nod to much more recent events. (Also, super fans may realize one of the alternate Green Lanterns is also in the film, albeit in his normal self, but I noticed that more from looking at the cast listing than the movie itself.)
But just as important as it is to get some of the details right (and I’m not so much of a fan that I know if they got it all right), the number one thing a film needs to do is entertain. Quite frankly, I found myself a bit bored by the manner in which the story developed. I never really bought into the chemistry between Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. There’s no initial development of Peter Sarsgaard’s character, so his turn toward evil makes no dramatic impact. It seemed a bit redundant for all three central cast figures to have daddy issues. Some of the dialogue comes straight from a “How to Compose Trite Sentences” pamphlet one of the writers must have picked up off the ground. Etc. Etc.
When I wasn’t fed up with the script, I was annoyed at the CGI. Was George Lucas a consulting producer? The environments felt about as real as a Star Wars prequel. Rather than Green Lantern, they could have called this “Green Screen,” with all the special effects; the worst of which being the fully CGI costume placed over Reynolds. 1st problem, he has abs, you don’t need to creep us out with fake ones. 2nd problem, it simply looked Photoshopped onto him. 3rd, and most problematic the face mask. That little green strip over his eyes was so ridiculously fake that I was constantly distracted. I understand you want the suit to feel ‘alive’ but with all of the glorious things computers can do today, why not just add in some touches that flow throughout an actual costume rather than scrap it entirely? It’s a poor decision, both in its concept and execution.
Then there’s the 3D. Anyone who just needs to see what they’ve done to a character they love can go ahead and select a nice, 2D version to see on the big screen. This is another conversion project, wherein whole scenes can go by with very few elements even selected for the extra dimension … and even fewer make a difference. I took my special glasses off for nearly an entire scene when Reynolds and Lively are attempting to make us realize they care about each other at a bar. Every now and then, I noticed it was blurry but most of that was from the filter theaters use in projecting 3D, not from the film itself trying to be 3D.
If the 3D conversion process was the reason this film was pushed from a December release last year, the time was not well spent. If the post-production CGI elements were the reason, the time was not well spent. Of course, there’s the other reason one pushes a film back, it’s not very good. This certainly holds true in the case of Green Lantern. It never builds to anything very exciting, Reynolds is the only thing that shifts the bland, monotonous tone now and again, and if they plan on franchising this one, then the first thing that needs to happen is finding a new director and screenwriters.
Unless you’re such a diehard fan that you have to see this film (and if you choose to do so, there’s an extra scene in the middle of the credits), save that extra cash for something else. If I didn’t acknowledge the comic book roots of the film, the review would have gone more like this: “Meh”; Which is about as much as I could say about it when the theater lights came up and more than I’ll think about it in the future.
GRADE: D+
Green Lantern hits theaters on June 17, 2011 and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action.
Terrence Malick is not what you would call a prolific filmmaker. Including his feature film debut of Badlands in 1973, he’d rattled off a total of four films in 37 years. But with The Tree of Life, number five is out there and it’s justifiably getting a lot of good critical buzz.
As expected in a Malick production, the acting is top notch. Brad Pitt has shown he’s quite capable of delivering a fully dynamic, developed character and does so here as the patriarch of the O’Brien family. It’s the 1950s and he’s got a good job, earning the bread money for his wife (Jessica Chastain) and their three sons (Hunter McCracken, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan). However, as his career begins to flounder, he grows increasingly frustrated and begins taking things out on those closest to him. Watching this slow descent by Pitt is fascinating and one of the better performances of the year to this point.
Chastain is equally impressive, fulfilling her role as dutiful housewife and protector of her children from a husband whose softer sides are being sharpened away. Rounding out the family, the actors portraying their kids perfectly depict their roles and make the 1950s segments an entire film until itself.
This brings up perhaps the most difficult element audiences unfamiliar with Malick’s work or unused to anything but straightforward problem/resolution films, will have. There are many layers to The Tree of Life, as comparisons and contrasts are made, sometimes overtly but often via metaphor, between numerous themes; religion vs. spirituality, man vs. nature, man vs. himself, to name a few. The film deals with loss, creation, and family. It’s also a portrait of this seemingly perfect family at a time, the 1950s, which exemplifies fundamental American ideals.
And what may frustrate some while pleasing others is that Malick doesn’t seem to give us clear-cut answers. See this with a few friends and enjoy the debate afterward on what was being represented by the closing scenes, by the amorphous glowing light that serves as some sort of visual interlude between segments, by the actions of a velociraptor and its prey, by Mr. O’Brien’s struggle with being so devoutly religious and wondering how his family could face so many obstacles. It’s a lot to take in, and it may take some time afterward just to gather your thoughts and conclusions as to what the film was trying to say. That’s perfectly fine with me, not so much with others. And it’s okay if you’re in that latter group. Don’t let someone tell you only smart people enjoy this sort of thing because the expectations and reasons for seeing films differ from person to person.
Back to the merits of Malick’s film, where it truly marvels is in depicting the birth and development of the Earth. We’re shown the formation of the planet itself, how it changed from a dead piece of rock into a living, breathing world, with evolving organisms, from the most rudimentary forms of life all the way up to the dinosaurs (sorry, Creationists). All of the effects are outstanding, and this segment of the film is one of the most impressive stretches of cinema I’ve seen in years.
And whereas the actors and effects are all compelling, once again Malick delivers perhaps the best-shot film since … well, probably since his last film, 2005’s The New World. Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki returns from that effort, and I’d be completely surprised, albeit happily so, if any other film this year looks better. The light balance, the composition of the elements, the clearly thought-out and well-conceived camera placement and movement; all of it is astounding.
Working in harmony with the director, cinematographer, and effects team is composer Alexandre Desplat. His original creations complement the actions on-screen rather than compete with them. They also go hand in hand with a number of established classical, orchestral, and operatic pieces.
While it’s up to each person to find a connection to the material, there’s really no denying the artistry on display in The Tree of Life and as such it receives a 4 out of 5. Those looking for more than comic book adaptations, sequels, and basic popcorn entertainment definitely have something here to appreciate. And whereas some films are fine to watch at home, and some are better on the big screen, to truly appreciate Malick’s latest work, you MUST see this in a nicely projected theater, even if that means a few more travel miles. Seeing this as it was meant to be presented is a treat unto itself, even before factoring in the content delivered by the script and the actors.
GRADE: A
The Tree of Life opened in limited release on May 27, 2011 and is rated PG-13 for some thematic material.
In The Art of Getting By, writer/director Gavin Wiesen centers his coming-of-age story on George (Freddie Highmore) – an intelligent but underachieving high school senior filled with teenage angst. He doesn’t have any friends, sketches all over his textbooks, and overthinks everything. Of course, as fate would have it, sheer dumb luck brings his high school crush, Sally (Emma Roberts), into his life and turns the last few months of high school upside down for him.
And then the bottom drops out. While Rita Wilson and Elizabeth Reaser do a nice job of playing George and Sally’s mothers (respectively), nearly every other adult feels like a stock character from a hundred different movies about high school. We’ve got Michael Angarano as the stereotypical New York artist/former graduate of the same high school, who serves as a mentor for George and, of course, at some point screws him over … but it’s okay, it’ll serve to teach him a life lesson (*puke*). Sam Robards plays George’s stepfather, and just think how stepfathers are normally written and you know how this will turn out (*sigh*).
Then there’s the faculty of the school. Blair Underwood is the tough but overly fair principal who keeps giving George chances because of his potential – no matter how many rules he breaks. English teacher Alicia Silverstone (like I care what her character’s name is) is so happy to see that a kid actually understands the mind-numbingly boring work of Thomas Hardy and only gets fed up with his antics when it’s time for the script to shift into auto-write.
Jarlath Conroy portrays the gruff art teacher (complete with just a wisp of a ponytail) that nurtures his students like an old-timey midshipman on leave. George also has a trigonometry teacher (Ann Dowd) that isn’t happy he’s not applying himself. She too fits neatly into this carbon copy assembly of teachers that apparently have the time to focus so much energy on one kid because that’s how movies work (*puke* and *sigh*).
Needless to say, the only real bright spots are Highmore and Roberts. They really absorb and become these characters, sharing a wonderful chemistry despite the shortcomings the script imparts onto the other actors (and ultimately onto them as well). It’s a little odd to see little Freddie Highmore growing up, but he nails the role and makes us believe all of the eccentricities and insecurities welled up inside of George. Roberts is also fantastic, albeit in a slightly different role than audiences may be accustomed to (emotionally guarded and using her sexuality to give the illusion that she’s in control of her life). It’s good to see her tackle a variety or roles and I’m increasingly impressed with her work.
But no matter how good the two leads are, it appears Wiesen was far too close to the material in order to reasonably edit himself. At one stage, the film was going to be called Homework (Netflix still listed it this way as of June 7th). If anything, that banal title may be more apropos considering the cliff the script jumps off in the last 20 minutes. Everything, and no I’m not being facetious – EVERYTHING that wraps up the story comes out of some trite, cliché, heavy-handed, feel-good handbook that nullifies the pain and angst built into the characters over the course of the film.
This wasn’t even a case of rooting for the main characters to end up alone and broken, as I so often do. I simply want a film, and by “a film” I mean this film, to be consistent and logically follow the constructs set from the outset. It’s a disservice to the actors who do all that they can and a slap in the face to audiences suckered into thinking this might not be just another cookie-cutter romantic dramedy (ugh, yet another sub-genre).
Also, there are a number of scenes where the kids are out at bars apparently drinking alcohol. Sure, they’re the cool kids so they probably have fake IDs, but it’s never addressed. Not being a New Yorker, is this really commonplace? Did I spend all that time in Tijuana between the ages of 18 and 21 senselessly? I could have been happily imbibing a few tall, cool ones in some hip borough of the Big Apple rather than taking sketchy taxis to dirty clubs with who knows what in the appropriately cheap drinks? Damn.
In giving The Art of Getting By a D+, I almost feel too generous. Highmore and Roberts give excellent performances, but the resolution undercuts all that could have been. Fans of these up-and-coming actors are much better off waiting for this to hit the home market than plunking down the cash at even a matinee price. The only heart getting broken will be yours when you realize how special this could have been … only it’s not (*tear*).
GRADE: D+
The Art of Getting By hit theaters on June 17, 2011 and is rated PG-13 for thematic elements including sexual content, language, teen drinking, and partying.
Super 8 comes from writer/director J.J. Abrams. It features his ridiculous assortment of lens flares (not nearly as prevalent as in Star Trek thankfully), but aside from that and a far more agile, violent creature, many would be hard-pressed to say that producer Steven Spielbergwasn’t the one calling action behind the camera.
Whether or not that’s a bad thing is up to you, but the small Ohio town the film is set in feels like Amity in Jaws. The kids banding together, taking matters into their own hands is right out of The Goonies (Spielberg was an executive producer). And of course, the contents of the derailed train are not of this world; touching on themes apparently near and dear to Spielberg’s heart, a la Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., A.I., War of the Worlds, and Indiana Jones 4 – not to mention a number of projects he produced.
I grew up watching many of those films though and found a great deal of comfort in seeing a movie centered around kids that treated them with respect. Far more often than not, anything with a bunch of 13-year-olds these days is some Nickelodeon/Disney spin-off made of substance so thin you can read through it. Films like The Goonies, Lost Boys, and Monster Squad all feature adolescent protagonists faced with overcoming adult-sized obstacles but they don’t talk down to the kids. Rather than be limited by their age, they use the curiosity, eagerness, and sense of adventure so many adults lose as they “grow up” to their advantage.
To that end, what makes the film so entertaining is how well cast all of the kids were. Joel Courtney, in his feature film debut, absolutely nails the part; so much more impressive as he’s the main character and essentially carries the story from beginning to end. If there is such a thing as a co-lynchpin, it’s Elle Fanning, who seems to utilize a far more natural approach than her much more lauded older sibling (while Dakota’s great, sometimes we see her “acting”). Courtney and Fanning share remarkable chemistry, and their scenes together are the best of the film, connecting the audience with the characters beautifully.
It’s also appreciative that their burgeoning attraction isn’t fast-forwarded simply because the film is just under two hours. This is the beginning of a relationship, and they’re in middle school; there’s no need to act like these are 24-year-olds playing high school seniors and I’m relieved to see it depicted more appropriately here.
The rest of the kids in the group are also superbly cast. They each have distinctive characteristics, and it makes for one of the best adolescent ensembles put on-screen. My only small gripe is that I couldn’t tell you the name of every kid after the credits rolled. There are two who play larger roles and as such don’t have this problem, but there were a few more who did feel a bit more like background players. While I didn’t need more fully developed scenes with each of them adding to the runtime, it would have been nice for some of their introductions to be done just a bit more clearly and with focus on them rather than as ancillary support to the others.
Also helping to make the film something truly worthy of being seen on the big screen are the effects. Some fantastical events occur in this small town, and Abrams does a nice job of both satiating modern audiences while also paying homage to the Spielberg films that are responsible for the basic DNA of Super 8.
I have a few more minor gripes about the revelation of the creature (like with Jaws, it’s nicely held off-screen for a long time, but it would have been more fitting that the kids’ film was the first time the audience sees it). Also, there are a few heavy-handed moments as they try to amp up the sentimentality of key scenes. And I think the ending comes about a bit too quickly and conveniently.
But as far as big budget, Hollywood summer tent pole films go, Super 8 is the best one to come along in years. Trying to think of a comparable, I end up going back decades, often to some of the films it’s directly drawing from. As such, I’m highly recommending people go out and see it. (And make sure to stay in your seats once the credits roll, as a very special treat, is played over them.)
The only word of caution I would give is that the PG-13 rating is perhaps a little too generous. There are some scenes that I would not feel comfortable bringing someone under 15 or 16 to see … but then again, media desensitization seems to be happening to younger and younger kids, so it’s really just something worth considering if you’ve got children in middle school or below. Obviously, every case is different, but I was bothered by the very young age (more like 9 or 10) of some of the kids brought to the screening I attended … and more so that they didn’t seem fazed by things that would have scared the crap out of me when I was their age. Growing up is supposed to be a process, not something done early enough to ensure parents don’t need to find babysitters for too many years. (And now to get off my high horse.)
GRADE: A
Super 8 was released on June 10, 2011 and is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and some drug use.
Before I get to talking about Mr. Popper and his Penguins, allow me a brief rant (this time it’s only 2 paragraphs) concerning some pre-show entertainment:
I’m 100% behind the idea of a cute short film (live or animated) shown prior to a feature film. It’s a throwback to a bygone era, and it gives a little extra time for the people behind you (having a fascinating discussion about how Marcus, that good-for-nothing freeloader, dumped poor, sweet Ellie via text message) to SHUT UP. Can we all agree that when the lights go down, the mouths go silent?
Anywho, before watching Mr. Popper’s Penguins, 20th Century Fox thought it’d be cute to show “Scrat’s Continental Crack-Up”, a 3-minute animated short featuring the titular Scrat once again trying to hold onto his beloved acorn. It’s not a bad short per se … but I’ve SEEN IT BEFORE. I personally saw it before Rio and according to the IMDb message boards, it was placed in front of “Gulliver’s Travels” too. How unoriginal do you have to be to show the same short THREE TIMES (and maybe more)?
If you’re going to spin off the character into a series of shorts, fine … I get it. But especially considering the same demographic is being targeted for all of these films, audience overlap is expected, and it’s simply cheap (fiscally and morally) to keep trotting this out. It was amusing the first time I saw it. Move on.
As for me moving on, let’s talk about Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Based on the book of the same name by Richard and Florence Atwater, the story is justifiably centered around Mr. Popper (Jim Carrey) and six penguins named Captain, Loudy, Bitey, Lovey, Stinky, and Nimrod. Popper is a lawyer trying to make partner who’s long since lost his inner child because of paternal abandonment issues. Obviously, the penguins are there to help him find his soft side, to be a better partner for his ex-wife (Carla Gugino), a better father to his kids (Madeline Carroll, Maxwell Perry Cotton), and a better person in general.
The plot unfolds as one expects, though anyone anticipating some bold, new take on the family film oeuvre probably needs to relax. Carrey gets to mug for the camera and show off a little bit of his warmer side, echoing his role in Liar, Liar (director Mark Waters obviously wasn’t going for The Truman Show or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind here). And Gugino is a veteran of the genre and the seeming go-to casting choice when it comes to maternal figures with a side of romantic entanglement (Spy Kids, Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Night at the Museum), so she also does fine.
Helping Carrey and Gugino is a supporting cast that was well chosen. Carroll and Cotton give what’s necessary to their roles as kids from a split household. Ophelia Lovibond perfectly plays the plucky personal assistant with a peculiar partiality for words starting with the letter ‘p.’ Clark Gregg gets to step out of his S.H.I.E.L.D. duties for a second and portray a Zoo employee trying to procure the penguins. And Angela Lansbury is always a welcome treat as the owner of the renowned Tavern on the Green in New York’s Central Park.
Of course, the real stars of the film are the penguins. I suppose if a poll was done, these tuxedo-garbed, flightless birds would rank right up there with pandas, koalas, and baby animals of nearly every kind. However, through the magic of CGI, animal trainers, and the film’s editors, what’s nice here is that each one has a distinct personality (though sadly, they’re bereft the narration of Morgan Freeman). After a short time, you can pretty much distinguish one from another on-sight, and any confusion is quickly cleared up by their actions (pro tip: their names basically tell you how they act).
If there is a negative to the actions of these cute penguins, it’s the excretory humor; one gag would have been enough…they didn’t have to go for it multiple times…but I’m weird like that.
Unsurprisingly, Ben Stiller was first attached to this film (it would have reunited him and Gugino) but had to drop out. I’m glad, however, that he couldn’t be a part of it – not so much because he can’t deliver this type of role but because it would have felt like a spin-off of the Night at the Museum franchise rather than its own entity. Carrey was the perfect choice to step in, as he can deliver the comedic aspects (physical and verbal) and he also exudes the approachable, affectionate side needed in the character.
Look, penguins are adorable – to children and adults alike. While there’s nothing here that breaks the family film formula, there’s also nothing really wrong with that. Mr. Popper’s Penguins delivers exactly what you think it’s going to: a warm-hearted, slightly goofy, kid-friendly movie. If you’ve already seen Kung Fu Panda 2, this is your next best option as parents of young children on up to the low teens.
GRADE: C+
Mr. Popper’s Penguins hits theaters on June 17, 2011. The film’s rated PG for mild rude humor and some language.
Andrew Stanton makes his live-action feature film directorial debut with Disney’s sci-fi action-adventure, John Carter. Taylor Kitsch takes on the lead role in the PG-13-rated film heading to theaters on March 9, 2012.
The cast also includes Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, Willem Dafoe as Tars Tarkas, Samantha Morton as Sola, Mark Strong as Matai Shang, and Ciaran Hinds as Tardos Mors. Dominic West plays Sab Than, James Purefoy is Kantos Kan, Daryl Sabara is Edgar Rice Burroughs, Polly Walker is Sarkoja, Bryan Cranston is Colonel Powell, and Thomas Haden Church is Tal Hajus.
Official Synopsis: John Carter is a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). John Carter is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present.
The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.
John Carter Trivia, courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures:
– Edgar Rice Burroughs was born in Chicago and is best known for writing and creating Tarzan—still one of the most successful and iconic fictional creations of all time. John Carter is based on Burroughs’ first novel, A Princess of Mars.
– Academy Award–winning director/writer Andrew Stanton directed and co-wrote the screenplay for WALL-E which earned the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature of 2008. He was Oscar-nominated for the screenplay. He made his directorial debut with Finding Nemo, garnering an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and winning the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of 2003. He was one of the four screenwriters to receive an Oscar nomination in 1996 for his contribution to Toy Story, and went on to receive credit as a screenwriter on subsequent Pixar films A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and WALL•E.
– The award-winning below-the-line team includes Production Designer Nathan Crowley, Oscar-nominated for both Dark Knight and The Prestige, and Costume Designer Mayes Rubeo, whose work is showcased in Avatar and Apocalypto.
– Michael Chabon, who won the Pulitzer Prize in Literature for his novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, is a co-writer on the screenplay.
– Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino has received numerous accolades for his work on previous Disney•Pixar films Up (Oscar winner, Best Original Score; BAFTA winner, Best Music; Golden Globe winner, Best Original Score for a Motion Picture; GRAMMY Award winner, Best Score Soundtrack Album), Ratatouille (GRAMMY Award winner, Best Score Soundtrack Album; Annie Award winner, Best Music in an Animated Feature Production; Oscar nomination, Best Original Score) and The Incredibles (Annie Award winner, Best Music in an Animated Feature Production; GRAMMY nomination, Best Score Soundtrack Album).
