Movie theaters show three family films during holidays

By Joko E.H. Anwar

JAKARTA (JP): It's safe for parents to take their children to movie theaters during this upcoming holiday season. There are at least three films showing over the holidays that are suitable for family viewing: Chicken Run, The Grinch (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas) and 102 Dalmatians.

Let's start with great stop-motion comedy Chicken Run, which tells the story of a bunch of hens "imprisoned" at Tweedy's Egg Farm in England. They live their days fearing they will end up on the dinner table if they cannot produce enough eggs for the vicious, greedy Mrs. Tweedy (voiced by Miranda Richardson).

A spirited hen named Ginger (Julia Sawalha) who dreams of freedom never gives up plotting an escape, including digging under a wire fence with a spoon. But she is always caught by Mrs. Tweedy's husband.

When a loner, American flying rooster named Rocky (Mel Gibson) accidentally arrives at the farm, Ginger asks him to teach the hens how to fly so they can escape.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Tweedy has plans to change the focus of the business, meaning the chickens better hurry up and learn how to fly if they do not want to be chicken pies.

This first full-length feature from the multiple Academy Award winning team of Aardman offers plenty of gags for children, and even more for adults. In fact, adults will get a kick from most of the film's characters.

Mr. Tweedy tries hard to please his domineering wife. He is constantly suspicious that the hens are organizing and planning an escape, but his wife just yells at him, saying chickens do not organize.

The film, directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park, also features the old Fowler, the only other rooster on the farm, who bores the hens with stories of his golden days in the Royal Air Force. A bit envious of Rocky, Fowler says he is a typical American GI: "Overpaid, oversexed and over here" (oops, some words might not please parents).

Chicken Run is an excellent film and you will appreciate it more once you think about the efforts of the filmmakers in making the figures come to life.

Every second of film on the screen takes 24 frames. So the filmmakers had to shoot 24 separate poses of each character for every second of the film. Each shot shows the small movements of the on-screen characters to ensure fluidity of movement.

On many days during production, the filmmakers' goal was to complete just 10 seconds of film.

In the age where technology has enabled filmmakers to make animated films with the help of computers, these filmmakers opted to go through the painstaking technique of stop-motion.

Watch it and poultry products will never taste the same.

The second film, The Grinch (Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas) is a live-action film based on the classic tale by the late Theodor S. Geisel, or Dr. Seuss, the world-famous writer of children stories.

Narrated by Anthony Hopkins, the film tells the story of a city inside a snowflake called Whoville, which always holds the most beautiful Christmas celebration.

Everybody is very happy except the Grinch, who lives in a cave at the top of a mountain and hates Christmas the most. Why? Nobody knows. Maybe because his head isn't screwed on just right, or maybe his shoes are too tight or because his heart is two sizes too small.

Everybody hates the Grinch, except a little girl named Cindy Lou (Taylor Momsen), who believes there is still goodness in the Grinch's heart.

Helped by his oppressed dog Max, the Grinch sets out to ruin the Christmas celebration of the Whoville citizens.

The great physical comedian Jim Carrey was the perfect choice to play the green and hairy Grinch. He leaps, twirls, stretches his elastic face muscles to the extreme, as well as giving his character heart.

This is a heartwarming film which offers witty humor and a good lesson about the true meaning of Christmas.

The film is directed by Ron Howard and supported by a great production design team, who did an excellent job bringing the world of Whoville to life.

For years Hollywood had its eyes set on the stories of Dr. Seuss, but he always turned down the offers. He only green- lighted the animated version of the Grinch story in 1966, a movie which was hailed by audiences and critics and went on to become a holiday classic.

The author died in 1991 and after resisting many eager filmmakers, his widow Audrey finally allowed producer Brian Grazer (Apollo 13, Liar Liar) to turn the story into a live- action film.

It looks like she made a good choice.

The third film is the sequel to the 1996 live-action adaptation of a novel by Dodie Smith, The One Hundred and One Dalmatians, about crazed billionaire Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close) who is obsessed with fur coats and dreams of a owning the ultimate fur coat made out of Dalmatians.

This time, Cruella has been released from a London prison after three years in a special program which is meant to change the behavior of inmates.

Cruella seems a changed woman who hates fur and soon becomes an animal lover, particularly dogs.

Her parole officer, Chloe Simon (Alice Evans), however, does not believe that dogs are safe with Cruella, who insists on being called Ella.

Soon, Dalmatian puppies begin to disappear, but who is stealing them?

Despite the fact that the film, directed by Kevin Lima, has several amusing moments and great animal characters, including a bird who thinks it is a dog, it is more suitable for children and not-too-demanding adults. Most people would hope for more from a Walt Disney production.

Glenn Close is suitably scary, but Gerard Depardieu is wasted as vicious fashion designer Le Pelt.

However, it is not by all means a bad movie.