Tag Archives: movies

Soaring with the Stars of Dumbo

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Soaring with the Stars of Dumbo

By Jonelle

*We were invited as media to cover the press conference. All thoughts & opinions remain our own.*

On March 10th I drove out to the Beverly Hills Hilton to sit in a Disney magical ballroom with Tim Burton, one of my favorite directors of all time, to listen to him talk about his latest project, Dumbo. Believe it or not, I’ve never seen the entire 1941 original, which comes in at only 64 minutes. My thought going in to this film was, how are they going to make a full-length movie about an elephant?

Journalist Grae Drake, our moderator for the day, dressed as a ringmaster, introducing her “circus”, and what a circus it was. First up we heard from Screenwriter Ehren Kruge, Producers Justin Springer, Derek Frey, Katterli Frauenfelde, Production Designer Rick Heinrichs, Costume Designer Colleen Atwood and Composer/Oingo Boingo founder Danny Elfman.

I remember taking a film music class in college where we analyzed the music of various film composers. Danny Elfman was one of the composers we studied, a composer that I greatly admire, and he’s worked with Tim Burton on 17 films. Come on, it wouldn’t be a Tim Burton film without an Elfman score. For Elfman, working with Burton, isn’t as simple as working with other directors. Burton’s mind is both strange and interesting. Just like the way audiences see the amazing characters that Burton creates.

Burton making a movie about a traveling circus is very fitting. Producer Derek Frey said that, Tim Burton’s films “are populated with outsider characters” and that “Dumbo was the original Disney outsider” in a world full of beautiful Disney Princesses.  Burton took on this very simple, sweet story. You have a band of outsiders who make their own sweet, simple family. Burton himself, never liked the circus, but liked the idea of running away with the circus.

The Costumes created by designer Colleen Atwood were beautiful and magnificent. They had to represent both hardship and extravagance. She made the 1920’s heyday of the traveling circus come to life. Samples of these gorgeous costumes were on hand to admire. The red feather dress worn by Eva Green in the film was just breathtaking. All of her costumes were beautiful. As the trapeze artist, her costumes were delicate and flowy, similar to that of an elegant bird soaring through the sky.

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The Mustang & Return to Freedom

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The Mustang & Return to Freedom

By Erin

*I attended a screening and visited Return to Freedom as media for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions remain my own*

Last week thanks to Focus Features, I had the opportunity to see The Mustang and learn first-hand how Return to Freedom is helping to save and protect wild horses and mustangs. The young female filmmaker, Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre first unleashed The Mustang at Sundance 2019. Now audiences across the nation can see what all the fuss is about. You may have seen other films about the bond between humans and horses, but none like this one. It will tug at your heartstrings and have you feeling all the emotions right along with Roman and Marcus.

About the Film:

Roman (Matthias Schoenaerts), a violent convict in a rural Nevada prison who struggles to escape his violent past, is required to participate in an “outdoor maintenance” program as part of his state-mandated social rehabilitation. Spotted by a no-nonsense veteran trainer (Bruce Dern) and helped by an outgoing fellow inmate and trick rider (Jason Mitchell), Roman is accepted into the selective wild horse training section of the program, where he finds his own humanity in gentling an especially unbreakable mustang.

Matthias Schoenaerts (left) as Roman Coleman & Jason Mitchell (right) as Henry in Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s The Mustang, a Focus Features release. Credit : Focus Features

Director:  Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre

Writers: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Mona Fastvold (“The Sleepwalker”), and Brock Norman Brock (“Bronson”)

Producers: Alain Goldman

Executive Producer: Robert Redford

Cast:  Matthias Schoenaerts, Connie Britton, Bruce Dern, Jason Mitchell, Gideon Adlon and Josh Stewart

Return To Freedom

We also had the amazing opportunity to meet the folks behind Return to Freedom and the mustangs who live here. Return to Freedom provides a safe haven to about 400 wild horses and 29 burros. With ongoing federal roundups, the sanctuary fills a very important need to meet the immediate needs of rescue and sanctuary for wild horses and burros. It is also a very important venue to educate the public about America’s wild horses and burros along with solutions to protect them in viable free ranging herds for future generations.

Return to Freedom is dedicated to preserving the freedom, diversity, and habitat of America’s wild horses through advocacy, sanctuary, education, and conservation, while enriching the human spirit through direct experience with the natural world.

KoLa ( formerly known as Viggo). Born at RTF’s wild horse sanctuary in the Hart Mountain Herd. You can see him in The Mustang!

They are pioneering the way with innovative alternatives to standard wild horse management that can be applied on the range and advocates for viable solutions to prevent the removal of wild horses from their natural rangelands.

Located on 1500 acres on the Central Coast of California, as natural an environment as possible is provided for the herds to maintain the natural behaviors and social structures they knew in the wild.

Spirit who was used as inspiration & a model for DreamWorks Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron also lives at Return to Freedom.

I love that their first priority is to keep wild horses in their original family bands or naturally selected social groups, to provide for their emotional well being as well as their physical care. Wild horses are herd animals and within this herd structure, bonds are formed and education is taking place all the time. In the wild, the herd ensures survival.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit Return to Freedom, do it! Be sure to check out their website to see how you can go visit the mustangs or go on one of the safaris to see these amazing creatures running free in their natural environment! It is an amazing experience you will NEVER forget!

Meeting Isadora-Cruce a special Spanish Mustang who was also a Breyer Model Horse in 2010!

Learn more about the Mustang & Return to Freedom here!

The Mustang

Return to Freedom

Go out and see the film now and learn more about these amazing mustangs!

Marvel Studios’ First Female Solo Lead Makes Powerful Debut in “Captain Marvel” (Spoiler-Free Review)

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Marvel Studios’ First Female Solo Lead Makes Powerful Debut in “Captain Marvel”

By Melanie Gable

*I was invited as media to attend a press screening for “Captain Marvel.” All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

“Captain Marvel” checks all the boxes for an entertaining Marvel Studios origin story: Wisecracking hero learning how to wield their super powers responsibly? Check. Villainous alien invaders? Check. Complex and thrilling fight sequences? Check. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Nick Fury attempting to maintain control of an insane situation with his signature surly attitude? Check. So what makes “Captain Marvel” stand out from the other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (a.k.a. the MCU)?

Namely, it’s Captain Marvel herself.

Captain Marvel in the Desert

First introduced by Marvel Comics in 1967, Captain Marvel has been the superhero alter ego of a variety of characters, both male and female, since the series first began. The new film is based on Captain Marvel’s most recent mantle holder, Carol Danvers, a determined and talented U.S. Air Force pilot with a dry sense of humor and strong moral compass. Played with pluck and confidence by Academy Award winner Brie Larson, the new Captain Marvel is an awesome (and welcome) addition to Marvel Studios’ roster of superheroes.

Though there are already formidable heroines in the MCU, like Black Widow, Gamora, Scarlet Witch, The Wasp, and pretty much every woman in Wakanda (shout-outs to Okoye, Nakia, and Shuri), none of these characters have been featured in their own stand-alone, solo franchise. Captain Marvel is the first female superhero to do so, and it’s long overdue.

But that’s not the only unique aspect of this film in comparison to other Marvel Studios flicks – it also acts as a prequel of sorts to the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Set in the 1990s, “Captain Marvel” is not only an origin story for the title character, but also for S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury and Phil Coulson, and the Avengers Initiative itself.

The movie begins in media res, with Carol Danvers waking up in another galaxy on Hala, the home planet of the Kree alien race. She has no memory of her life on Earth, but is haunted by vivid nightmares that hint at a past very different from the life she’s living on Hala, where she’s simply known as “Vers.” She spars with a Kree military commander named Yon-Rogg (Jude Law), who acts as her mentor and is training her to serve on an elite team of Kree military officers known as Starforce. Vers believes her super powers, specifically her ability to fire photon blasts from her fists, were given to her by the Kree, and she’s eager to put those skills to use. The Kree are embroiled in a war with the Skrulls, a race of shapeshifters, and Vers is sent on her first Starforce mission to help retrieve a Kree spy from Skrull-occupied territory.

Through a series of misfires, Vers is captured by the Skrulls, who are seeking information about an energy core that could turn the tide of the war. The Skrulls use a device to comb through Vers’ memories of her life on Earth, but she’s uncertain as to whether or not the memories are real or a mind game being played on her by the Skrulls. Vers is able to make her escape and crash lands on Planet C-53, otherwise known as Earth, and that’s where the real fun begins.

Vers soon encounters a younger, slightly less jaded Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, de-aged by visual effects technology) and his partner Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), agents in the specialized U.S. law enforcement and counter-terrorism division known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Vers is Fury and Coulson’s first encounter with a visitor from another planet, and Fury is quickly drawn into Vers’ search for answers as to who she was on Earth and the real reasons behind why the Skrulls are seeking the energy core.

Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, a married couple who are also creative partners, are best known for helming indie films “Mississippi Grind,” “It’s Kind of a Funny Story,” and “Half Nelson.” The pair were originally in the running to direct “Guardians of the Galaxy,” but Marvel Studios ultimately hired them for “Captain Marvel,” in part based on an eloquent pitch by Boden. Though the film is a bit uneven in tone, their direction is overall adept, especially in the quieter scenes where the actors are given the chance to have more intimate conversations. With this film, Boden and Fleck have proven they can tackle a big-budget adventure just as skillfully as a character-driven indie.

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