2011 Oscar Animated Features Symposium

Thurs 2/24/11

The 83rd Academy Awards Oscar Nominated Animated Features Symposium was tonight and I had a great time seeing the nominated clips and hearing from the films' directors. I saw both Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon in the theaters last year but I had not even heard about the delightful, The Illusionist. Illusionist is a traditional 2 D hand drawn film about a stage magician in Europe during the 1960's. The film, which was written for adult audiences, looks absolutely beautiful to the eye and is very funny as well.

I think Toy Story 3 will win this category but this is the closest animation features race ever because HTTYD is phenom, too. Still TS3 writing was better with more 3 dimensional characters (no pun intended) with full back stories (i.e. Lotso and Big Baby). TS3 is up for best Picture, too but I doubt the academy is brave enough to pick it for a win over such a classic British film like King's Speech.

It was a nice outing but there were a few downers for the night. First, Sylvain Chomet, The Illusionist's director was unable to make it from France because he was getting an award there. Then, I was unable to meet any of the other directors after the panel. I had already met Chris Sanders and Dean Deblois from HTTYD at the 3D film Fest last year but I was really trying to speak with TS3's, Lee Unkrich, but to no avail.

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes:
I was able to meet up and coming film critic, radio talk show host, artist and self-promotional whiz kid, Perry S. Chen. Perry is just 10 but he handled himself like a pro as he asked the panel questions and promoted his various websites and projects. Later, I got the opportunity to shake Perry's hand and he handed me his business card like a tried and true industry professional. We spoke about the business a bit then I spoke with Perry's mom, film producer Dr. Zhu Shen, about what's on the horizon for him.

I was able to view Perry's art work and movie reviews on-line and I concur with the Oscar panel's response that Perry's future is bright, indeed. Here's a list of awards that the 10 year old has already racked up:

Young Journalist awards:
- “Excellence in Journalism Award” at the San Diego Press Club, Oct 2010
- Honoree of the Cox Communications Asian Heritage Month, May 2010
- Vic Kops Children’s Challenge Award:
- “Excellent Writer for We Chinese” for movie review column, January 2010:

Art awards:
-San Diego County Fair, First Place, 2010 and 2009
-San Diego City Hall Children’s Art Show, October 2009
-San Diego International Art & Music Festival, January 2010

Check young Perry out at:

www.wsRadiocom/Perry
www.youtube.com/perryspreviews
www.facebook.com/perryspreviews
http://twitter.com/perryspreviews
www.linkedin.com/in/perryspreviews

INCEPTION: Movie Premiere

I was with the fans outside the L.A. movie premiere and red carpet for the movie Inception on Tues 7/13. Inception is the new and highly anticipated film from Dark Knight's Chris Nolan. I missed the arrival of most of the main stars and but I spoke with those who saw the stars arriving and here's the run-down:

Leonardo DiCaprio crossed the street and spent a lot of time greeting the fans along the barricades and signing autographs and he was "real cool".
Chris Nolan ,Dark Knight's famed director) was a fan favorite and he arrived to lots of cheers.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt(the cute kid from 3rd Rock From The Sun and 500 Days of Summer)practically snuck by and not many people recognized him.
Ellen Page was "cute as a button" and a nerd-boy's dream and many guys couldn't stop gushing about her.
Marion Cotilliard seemed nice enough but didn't seem to spark too much lasting interest from the fans and unfortunately Michael Caine was a no show.

After all the stars were in theater, they let us get close to the red carpet and viewing area and I hung out there with the fans and a few remaining photogs. It actually wasn't a red carpet but a black carpet with the word "INCEPTION" in big red block letters and there were large wall-like posters from the movie along the walk area.

The After-party:They erected 3-4 massive white tens in the parking area behind El Capitan just by the Hollywood High School. The tents were air-conditioned (a blessing in 94 degree heat) and very high end and the main tent had glass along the entrance as you walked in and I think I spied potted plants as the decor. They had a long corridor made of metal pipes and lined with black fabric and a similarly draped black platform that was like a small maze that led from the back of the El Capitan Theater directly to the main tent in the parking lot.

Warner Brothers spent a lot for this intricate set up and they had one tent just for the caterers alone. The porta-johns were also high end and nearly twice the size of the ones I usually see and they were in a nice taupe color as apposed to the common light blue variety we use. I counted over 30 security staff and they were doing a good job of patrolling the entrances and perimeter, keeping the uninvited out. That is, except at the low fence near the high school where someone could have easily crawled over and entered if so inclined.

I heard they had a strict dress code for fans who wrangled tickets to the premiere and I was outside with a guy who said they didn't let him in because of it. I never have to worry about that as I always carry a sequenced tank, sparkly, stroppy, kitten-heeled sandals and matching accessories in my handbag whenever I attend premieres, just in case I score a ticket. I am beyond resourceful(lol)!

Alas, no ticket this time so I watched everything through the fence especially the caterers in the food prep tent, which looked like hard work but fun at the same time. The food could have been a little more imaginative though as I saw the routine stuff (roast beef, salad greens, crustinis etc.). Maybe a creative food design that mirrors the theme of the movie or a set piece... like a big water fall of beverages into a punch bowl and buildings made from cake that crumble and collapse as you slice it.

I ease-dropped on the wait-staff conversations for a bit as this is usually a good source of insider tid-bits. Unfortunately, none of it was industry stuff so I moved on to see if any of the stars would arrive early to the main tent. I observed for a bit more then I got bored and moved on.

Toy Story 3/Disney Fun Rides Carnival:As I was leaving, I strolled by the Disney/Toy Story 3 carnival on the Hollywood High's field next door. It was closed for the day but it's opened daily until 7:00 to anyone who buys a ticket to see Toy Story at The El Capitan. It looked like fun so I think I'll "borrow" a kid and join the fun on the rides next weekend(lol).

Big Opening Weekend For Toy Story 3 by Pixar!

The Box Office numbers are in and Toy Story posts $109 MILION!

I knew the number would be big as this is a must see for me and it is one of my niece's favorite movies! I heard the story is great and I knew it would be because Pixar animation has been writing the best movies for the past 4 years. Up and WALL-E scripts could easily have beaten all the Oscar winners in the live action categories.
I hope to see it this weekend and I will post my review.