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The 7 Arts
This animated film takes a lot of
chances. I like movies that have the
guts to get away from the mainstream.
Think of My Dinner with Andre
for instance. What chance do you
think that movie would have today
in getting financing? Meaning in
an environment where the powers
in Hollywood think the only people
who go to movies these days are 13
(See location number on central map)
Rango
-Greek Salad or Lemon Soup
-Roasted Leg of Lamb with
Lime Potatoes & Ratatouille
or
-Moussaka
-Baklava
Moussaka
$189 Pesos
Lamb
$239 Pesos
16 www. .com March 12 to 18, 2011
to 19 year-old boys. I can hear the
conversation now between a nervous
screenwriter and a hotshot producer,
who says, “Plot in twenty-five words
or less.” Writer, “Two men go to
dinner and discuss all sorts of facets
of life. One man is a pompous ass,
the other shy. A metamorphosis
takes place and…” Producer, “That’s
twenty-eight words. The guard at my
front door will validate your parking
ticket.”
Meaning that script has as much
chance of being bought these days as
a snowball rolling through Hell has of
remaining a snowball.
Rango is the name of a chameleon,
the star of Rango. The voice over is
done by Johnny Depp. The flick is
directed by Gore Verbinski. Rango
is not your normal chameleon – any
more than Johnny Depp can ever be
typecast. The lizard doesn’t live in
the wild; he lives in a desert home
and is a pet. Our protagonist leaves
the safety of his terrarium and goes on
a search for his destiny. He lands in
an animal town called Dirt. Dirt has
the strangest group of animals ever
assembled since Disney turned The
Wind in the Willows into a movie.
That flick had Toad, Badger, Mole
and the evil weasels.
Rango has the following incredible
list of actors and animals: Isla Fisher
as Beans, a desert iguana; Abigail
Breslin as Priscilla, a cactus mouse;
Ned Beatty as Tortoise John, Mayor of
Dirt, a desert tortoise; Alfred Molina
as Roadkill, a nine-banded armadillo;
Bill Nighy as Rattlesnake Jake, a
Film shot partly in PV opens in the U.S.
Last March 8 th was the date set for the premiere of
“Limitless” at the Ziegfield Theater in New York City. The
movie stars Robert DeNiro, Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and
Anna Friel. Several scenes for the movie were shot in Puerto
Vallarta in June of last year, including action scenes such as a
Maserati car chase and a jump off a cliff into the ocean.
This film, along with all the other ones shot in Vallarta that
preceded it, provides excellent promotion for this destination,
in addition to creating numerous temporary jobs for locals and
income from the 250 crew who lived and worked here for the
duration of the shoot.
western diamondback rattlesnake;
Stephen Root as Doc, a rabbit and as
Merrimack, a squirrel; Harry Dean
Stanton as Balthazar, a naked mole
rat; Timothy Olyphant as the Spirit
of the West; Ray Winstone as Bad
Bill, a gila monster; Ian Abercrombie
as Ambrose, a burrowing owl; Gil
Birmingham as Wounded Bird,
a Chihuahuan raven; and James
Ward Byrkit as all of the following:
Waffles, a horned toad, Gordy Papa,
Joad, Cousin Murt, Curlie Knife
Attacker and the Rodent Kid.
This movie is 107 minutes long
and is PG rated. It received Rotten
Tomatoes critic rating of a welldeserved
88%. What surprised me
is the audience rating was lower, at
78%. Generally the paying public
is a lot more forgiving than the
critics. Maybe because this movie
is not in 3-D while almost every
animated movie released now is
in 3-D (meaning that some of the
audience was disappointed before
the movie even began.) Nickelodeon
is the producer, with Paramount as
distributor. The Computer-Generated
Imagery is unbelievable. Unless
someone hits a colossal homerun
in the animation business this year
– listen up, Pixar! – Rango is a shoein
for the Best Animated Academy
Award.
Here’s what a few top critics
thought: A. O. Scott of the New York
Times wrote: “It is not self-conscious
knowingness that drives Rango, but
rather a quirky and sincere enthusiasm
for all the strange stuff that has piled
up in the filmmakers’ heads over the
years.” Next we have from the distaff
side Andrea Granvall of the Chicago
Reader: “What elevates it above a
cheeky romp is the skilled CGI work,
not only the wealth of tactile detail
lavished on the parched townsfolk but
also the painterly, sand-swept vistas
they call home.” And my favorite:
Liam Lacey of the Globe and Mall:
“With his first animated feature,
Pirates of the Caribbean director
Gore Verbinski shows ambitions
considerably beyond producing the
usual standard of most children’s
fare. To put it plainly, Rango is one
weird movie.”
The director stated that almost all
animated movies are slick, but he
wanted to create the feel that this
one was shot with a camera on his
shoulder. He accomplished what he
set out to do.
Recommendation: I hate those
3-D glasses, so I liked this flick even
before the lights dimmed. And when
the lights came back on, I didn’t like
it anymore – I loved it!
Joe Harrington is an
internationally-published author
and a documentary filmmaker.
Suggestions and criticism should be
directed to: JoeMovieMadness@
Yahoo.com Artwork by R.L. Crabb.