paper lion ( film )
“lion” premiered at the 2016 toronto international film festival. the weinstein company opens it theatrically november 25 .
disclaimer from the opening credits :
this film is an amiable fiction based on the book' paper lion' by george plimpton and is not intended to be a literal depiction of its author .
spoiler warning: do not read unless you have watched “ paper towns ” which hits theaters july 24 .
disclaimer from the opening credits :
this film is an amiable fiction based on the book' paper lion' by george plimpton and is not intended to be a literal depiction of its author .
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paper lion is a swingin' 60s look at the national football league, both in tone and in aesthetic. as we lose more and more of those who played in the nfl before its merger with the afl, paper lion, the movie and the book, gives us insight into a game that was about to enter a period of exponential growth, much of which came at the expense of those who played it. and while paper lion the film is in many ways as dated as the munsingwear half the team wears off the field, it' s not just watchable but enjoyable as more than a historical document. any movie that has both vince lombardi and alan alda has some value in this world, and for all that it could have been, paper lion is that movie .
lion movie review { 4. 5 / 5 }: lion breaks your heart into a thousand pieces and puts them back together in the end
before alan alda became a tv icon for his role in
m * a * s * h ,
he played george plimpton in
paper lion ,
the 1968 film about the sports illustrated writer' s tryout with the detroit lions .
they conclude that while one on one, a tiger would certainly best a lion, in the wild the lion pride could hold their own against the solitary tiger .
spoiler warning: do not read unless you have watched “paper towns” which hits theaters july 24. the cast and creators of “paper towns” gathered for a red carpet screening on saturday at the london west hollywood and recounted one of their most exciting days on set which included a very special cameo. the film stars [ … ]
live - action' the lion king' to feature beyonce, david g ...
dev patel, nicole kidman and david wenham arrive ahead of the australian premiere of lion .
lion is directed by garth davis, making his film debut after top of the lake. he was joined at the premiere by patel, who nails an impressive australian accent in the film, kidman, wenham and screenwriter luke davies .
lion movie review: love fills every frame as lion looks at the world, from the swamp of kolkata to the pristine seas of an australian island, through the eyes of a five - year - old .
in the film, ramandu' s daughter is a star, not half - star and is named. her father never appears in the film .
what at first resembles a thriller becomes more about the complicated way art emerges. but does its film - within - a - film puzzle work ?
and finds that he has dedicated it to her, she would do well to beware. opening the parcel, she injures her finger, but there’s worse to come than a paper cut .
a story based on an indian adoptee’s memoir: dev patel stars in “lion, ” set for release nov. 25 .
keith urban, nicole kidman, saroo brierley, sue brierley and john brierley at the australian premiere of lion in sydney .
for a movie ostensibly about a football team in detroit, there is almost no sign of the city. it may or may not have been coincidence that paper lion' s training camp scenes were filmed in florida rather than the suburban michigan locale of the book, or that the final game was filmed at busch stadium ii instead of at tiger stadium. that said, the detroit race riots of july 1967 exacerbated lingering racial tensions and accelerated both white flight and the horribly depressing decline of the city. paper lion dances around this context with the same blinkered determination that the lions franchise has shown in dancing around success over the last half - century .
the cast and creators of “ paper towns ” gathered for a red carpet screening on saturday at the london west hollywood and recounted one of their most exciting days on set which included a very special cameo .
“lion” is rated pg - 13 (parents strongly cautioned) for sex and profanity. running time: 1 hour 59 minutes .
in the film, the white witch has fair skin, dark - blonde hair and a crown of ice. in the book, the witch is described as
not merely pale, but white like snow or paper or icing - sugar
, with a golden crown and a red mouth .
﻿ in the film, edmund attempts to enlist in the army, only to be thwarted by lucy in a manner eerily similar to the previous film where she embarassed susan .
kidman quickly met davis in new york, talking for hours about the film and shared experiences in their lives, then agreed to head back to australia to shoot the film .
mr. glasser grew indignant when asked whether the weinstein company could afford to mount a full - fledged awards campaign for “lion. ”
but in the field of pro football, alas, the argument breaks down. jack griffin and bill gleason are good men and true, but if they put on a bears uniform and went into a game, they' d get creamed, baby. and that is the charm of
paper lion ,
which is about an intellectual, a writer, a harvard grad no less, who joined the detroit lions, and put on the uniform, and got into a game, and got creamed. i don' t know what to make of
paper lion
as a movie - - it will not be immortal, i guess - - but as wish fulfillment, it' s crackerjack .
trumpkin is portrayed as being more skeptical of authority in the film than in the book .
sherman said the film had stuck a chord because of the emotional issues covered in the story .
the movie leaves out the back - stories of the scarecrow, the tinman, and the lion. why does the scarecrow want a brain? why does the tinman wish and wish for a heart? why doesn' t the lion have any courage? the book answers these essential questions .
regardless of the film’s awards chances, lion is well worth seeing and, hopefully, appreciating. it’s an earnest but not cloying film, one that seems wise about the world and its alternately grim and encouraging complexity. oh, and the reveal of the significance of the film’s title arrives as a perfectly poignant little button at the end. that’s when i cried. for the third or fourth time while watching the movie, that is .
, in which each black - and - white character has a spe­cific technicolor counterpart. everyone here equal parts dorothy, wicked witch and cowardly lion .
if you are a fan of pro football, this is a must. before alan alda shot to fame in the tv series mash, he was in paper lion. many football movies have been made, some good, some bad. longest yard and brain' s song rank as two of the best, with paper lion a close third. one of the best scenes doesn' t take place on the football field. when plimpton (alda) explains his idea to vince lombardi, lombardi laughs and replied
have you thought about the afl ?
giving him a dirty look, alda leaves. this shows the bad blood that existed between the nfl and afl at the time. one year after this movie was filmed, the merger of the afl and nfl was announced .
lion movie review: there is nothing glorious about poverty, and every time you fear garth davis may resort to a trick like that, he stays away .
in the film, reepicheep never accompanies caspian, edmund and lucy as they explore each of the islands .
it' s the australian film that has kept winning acclaim overseas without anyone seeing it in this country .
in 1963, george plimpton braved the ennui and redundancy of professional football' s silliest season to train and scrimmage with the detroit lions, resulting in the classic sports book paper lion. five years later, a film adaptation came along, featuring a weird amalgam of players who originally practiced and trained with plimpton and those who would later join (or re - join) the lions. it is a strange but ultimately likeable little movie, in no small part thanks to its young star and future sex symbol, alan alda .
with no paper trail or family name, he becomes a lost cause, shunted perilously for a while around india’s barely - existent social welfare system, and eventually shipped off to a pair of kindly foster parents in tasmania, played by nicole kidman and david wenham .
the apples at the cair paravel ruins are red in the film. in the book, they are golden .
in the book, eustace tries to steal water whereas in the film, he tries to steal an orange .
an interview with writer / director boots riley about his incendiary new film ,
sorry to bother you .
the heartfelt drama lion, based on a true story about an indian - australian man who tracks down his mother using google earth 25 years after being lost as a child, has had a dream run since it debuted at the toronto international film festival in canada three months ago .
but “lion” is the studio’s primary hope for an awards - driven hit. while it faces obstacles at the box office — a large portion of the film, for instance, is in bengali with english subtitles — mr. glasser said he was confident that a strong campaign and positive word of mouth would help “lion” strike a chord with ticket buyers, not to mention awards voters. (“lion” comes from a producing team that includes iain canning and emile sherman, two of the forces behind “the king’s speech, ” which won best picture for mr. weinstein and his brother, bob, at the 2011 academy awards. )
in the book, the beavers tunnel wasn' t attached to the dam, but in the film it was .
1. in the film jack nicholson’s character is called jack torrance but in the book he’s called john daniel torrance .
i will not go into detail about how dorothy' s troupe came to save the queen of the field mice, other than to say that the tinman saved her from being eaten. the queen was able to help them in return, though. when dorothy and the lion fell asleep in the poppy field, the scarecrow and tinman saved dorothy and toto, but they could not carry the heavy lion. the field mice joined together to put the lion on a type of truck bed and pull him safely out of the field .
the world seems both small and vast in lion, a based - on - a - true - story drama that the weinstein company is pinning a lot of oscar hopes on as it premieres here at the toronto international film festival. and they’re probably right to. though lion, which was directed by top of the lake helmer garth davis, gets a bit muddled in its second half, it’s altogether a robust and moving film, one that touches on a range of topics, from poverty to adoption to the insistent longing for a sense of place felt by, well, most human beings .
dev patel in west hollywood, calif. , in early november. he stars in “lion, ” based on saroo brierley’s best - selling memoir, “a long way home. ”
but a nagging question remains: does the weinstein company have the resources required to make a real splash for “lion” on the awards circuit? oscar campaigns can cost millions of dollars .
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the pevensies deduce that they are in the ruins of cair paravel much more quickly in the film than in the book .
reviewed at 20th century fox studios, los angeles, oct. 9, 2014. (in rio de janeiro film festival
my generation grew up mourning the death of bambi' s mother. now comes
the lion king ,
with the death of mufasa, the father of the lion cub who will someday be king. the disney animators know that cute little cartoon characters are not sufficient to manufacture dreams. there have to be dark corners, frightening moments, and ancient archetypes like the crime of regicide .
the lion king ,
which is a superbly drawn animated feature, is surprisingly solemn in its subject matter, and may even be too intense for very young children .
in the film, the first narnians caspian meets are only trufflehunter and nikabrik whilst in the book, he also met trumpkin .
you never expect to get the sort of accolades that the film is getting ,
sherman said .
these things are like lightning in a bottle. you can' t plan for it but we did feel the film would touch audiences .
actress jaz sinclair remembered witnessing the reunion between green, elgort and wolff. “it was really funny to watch him and nat and john green reunite, and that dynamic which was very different than the ‘paper towns’ dynamic, ” she said. “they were a little bit more bro - y than we were. ”
the film stars nat wolff and cara delevingne who attended the screening with the rest of the “paper towns” team. in the film, based on the novel of the same name by john green, a group of five teens embark on a road trip and along the way have to stop for gas. with a limited amount of time to reach their destination, the high schoolers race to collect snacks, go to the bathroom and refuel the van. “the fault in our stars” teen idol ansel elgort returns to the green fold to make a cameo as the gas station cashier .
shot by veteran cinematographer greig fraser (“zero dark thirty”), “lion” moves from a claustrophobic train car to crowded streets and dark tunnels as it builds a sense of desperation around young saroo’s conundrum .
and the weinsteins may well have another “lion” trick or two up their sleeves. expect them, for instance, to connect the film to philanthropic efforts to help young indian orphans. “not only is this an amazing true story, ” mr. glasser said, “but it also brings attention to an incredibly relevant social cause. ”
on stage after the premiere, patel described the film as
an anthem of love, a love that can transcend continents .
well, let’s talk size first. tigers are heavier, weighing up to 800 pounds to the lion’s 550. but the two cats aren’t so different in size. here, their profiles are superimposed :
you might remember from high school health class that muscle weighs more than fat, which helps explain the tiger’s extra pounds. so it seems that the tiger would have a physical advantage over the lion .
caspian is knocked out by nikabrik during his flight in the film. in the book, he was knocked out by a tree branch .
paper lion is a really good movie. alan alda was perfect for the role of sports illustrated reporter george plimpton, and lauren hutton gave a strong debut performance as plimpton' s secretary. this is a classic underdog movie with plimpton on assignment trying to make the detroit lion' s football team. you can' t help but put yourself in george' s shoes. what makes this movie great is that alda and hutton are the only real actors, so it' s as if you were a fly on the wall watching the team prepare for the season. i don' t want to give anything away, so you will have to see it for yourself. but believe me it is well worth your time and will leave you smiling .
so it was that george plimpton’s accent could not be imitated. on “saturday night live, ” even the great impersonator dana carvey couldn’t get it quite right. alan alda, portraying my dad in the movie version of “paper lion” (his book on playing quarterback for the detroit lions), didn’t bother with his voice at all. he got the personality totally wrong, too. alda’s version was always angry or consternated, like a character in a woody allen film, while my dad, though he certainly faced hurdles as an amateur in the world of the professional, bore his humiliations with a comic lightness and charm—much of which emanated from that befuddled, self - deprecating professor’s voice .
and in 2011, a tiger killed a lion with a single paw swipe in a run in at ankara zoo in turkey. the tiger apparently found a gap in the fence, and made its way into the lion’s enclosure. when they met, the tiger severed the lion’s jugular vein in just one stroke. craig saffoe, a biologist at the smithsonian zoo, also generally favored the tiger, telling livescience, “what i’ve seen from tigers, they seem to be more aggressive; they go for the throat, go for the kill. whereas the lions are more, ‘i will just pound you and play with you. ’”
but even as it drags through a pedestrian middle section, “lion” remains a cut above the kind of sturdy middlebrow drama its premise calls to mind by doubling down on patel’s performance. as he grows more disheveled and introverted, he’s infuriated and guilt - ridden by the privilege surrounding him and haunted by fleeting memories of his past, patel delivers his most intricate performance since “slumdog millionaire, ” to which “lion” bears a notable comparison .
the lion' s story isn' t much of one. when dorothy asks him what makes him a coward, he responds ,
it' s a mystery. i suppose i was born that way .
but memories of his long - ago life haunt him, and the arrival of new technology raises the tantalizing possibility of a return to his first home. using google earth, saroo sets out to retrace, on the computer screen and on sheets of paper tacked to his bedroom wall, his accidental journey. it’s not a fast or easy process, and the effort takes an emotional toll on him, on his parents and on lucy. but you know, even if you’re not familiar with the true story behind “lion, ” that the fairy tale will come true .
caspian' s nurse is not seen in the film, nor is she mentioned and it was doctor cornelius who told caspian the stories of narnia .
in the film, peter gives caspian his sword to keep before the pevensies leave. in the book, he was given susan' s horn .
and a month after opening in north america to qualify for the hollywood awards season – landing four golden globe nominations and expected to be competing for multiple oscars including best picture in the new year – lion has finally come home .
at the golden globes, lion is up for best motion picture drama, best supporting actor for patel, best supporting actress for kidman and best original score. patel and kidman have also been nominated for screen actors guild awards .
this is a competent film version of reporter george plimpton' s ill - fated attempt to be a nfl quarterback. although alan alda does a good job as plimpton, the real joy of this film is in the way it unintentionally documents the sense of community shared among the teammates (many of those used in this film were actual football players, including alex karras of
webster
fame) before money, egos, and greed corrupted the sport .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
in the book, lucy first enters the wardrobe while they were exploring the house. in the film, she enters while playing hide and go seek .
in the film, eustace faints when he sees that the animals can talk whereas in the book, he dismisses reepicheep as a
performing animal
.
any nerves dissipated with a standing ovation for the film and another rousing reception when brierley and his adoptive parents sue and john joined the filmmakers on stage .
richard lawson is a columnist for vanity fair' s hollywood, reviewing film and television and covering entertainment news and gossip. he lives in new york city .
in the book, the river god was released after the bridge was destroyed. in the film, the river god destroys the bridge after aslan wakes him up .
7. a female children’s doctor checks on danny after he collapses at the hotel in the film but in the book he’s male and the go to his office .
in the book, the children and the beavers had already got out before the wolves came, but in the film the children had to go through the tunnel to escape .
the film opens with caspian' s flight. in the book, trumpkin told the pevensies of caspian and his story after they had been in cair paravel for two days .
in the film, rhince is a narrowhaven citizen who joins the voyage to find his wife. in the book, rhince is a high member of the dawn treader crew .
“harvey’s baaack, ” scott feinberg, a longtime academy awards handicapper for the hollywood reporter, said on twitter. in a subsequent article analyzing “lion, ” mr. feinberg wrote, “the nature of its story and reception suggests, to me, that embattled harvey is headed back to the place where he’s most at home: the oscars. ” “lion” is based on saroo brierley’s heart - wrenching memoir (with larry buttrose) recounting his days on the streets as a boy, adoption and eventual quest to find his birth mother .
just when it begins to stumble into a cycle of shrill melodrama, “lion” regains its initial intrigue as a detective story. saroo spends late nights sifting through digital maps and crunching numbers to determine his origins, bringing fresh context to the engaging moments that open the film. it’s no secret that the effort pays off, and “lion” makes the trip worthwhile not only for mother and son but for the audience as well. the reunion earns its tears by arriving at the end of a strenuous journey that begins by accident and concludes only through sheer determination. it’s the rare sappy finale that doesn’t force the feels; they’re built into the drama so well that davis only needs to connect the dots and let the material do the rest .
in the film, the narnians launch an attack on miraz' s castle. in the book, an attack on miraz' s castle was considered, but the idea was abandoned .
in the book, caspian flirts with lilliandil by referencing sleeping beauty. in the film, he states in a formal manner that she is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen .
true stories of the somebody - got - famous kind are a dime a dozen in cinema. but the one in lion, involves no one you’ve ever heard of, doesn’t star a soul you’ll recognise for its first 40 minutes, and will rip you into a thousand pieces .
in the film, eustace addresses his parents as
mother
and
father
whilst in the book, he addresses them by their names ,
alberta
and
harold
.
in the book, lilliandil' s dress is blue whilst in the film, her dress is white, though the colour of her starly glow is blue as she is a blue star .
but if you’ve read the book and watched the film, it’s pretty obvious stanley went in a very different direction with his interpretation of stephen’s story, which the writer wasn’t too impressed with .
proved, and no one caught up in the sweaty tornado of edward’s fiction will be wondering what’s going on back in the antiseptic apartments and feebly satirised art happenings that define susan’s life. it’s not that the film within the film is necessarily better – it was disastrous, for ins­tance, to cast taylor - johnson as an uncouth psychopath. when brad pitt played a similar part in
the 1967 detroit lions are as much the star of paper lion as alan alda, and do the best they can playing pranks on the actor, awkwardly singing their schools' fight songs, and making sure the future hawkeye pierce doesn' t get maimed. the filmmakers must have thought a feminine presence was needed, so lauren hutton is brought along to take a few snapshots, indulge in a second - unit montage catching a plane at jfk, and try to prove that alda is more masculine than at first glance. david doyle, the future bosley from charlie' s angels, drops in to give alda a few suggestions on his next project. an uncredited but definitely recognizable roy scheider shows up to play a little touch football in the beginning .
ryan gilbey is the new statesman' s film critic. he is also the author of it don' t worry me (faber), about 1970s us cinema, and a study of groundhog day in the
modern classics
series (bfi publishing). he was named reviewer of the year in the 2007 press gazette awards and is film critic in residence at falmouth university .
most stories of adopted children searching for their biological parents spring from an “emptiness”, a feeling of “not belonging”. lion, based on a true story, explores the void as not an absence of love but a presence that hollows out everything else. love fills every corner, every frame, every memory, as lion looks at the world, from the swamp of kolkata to the pristine seas of an australian island, through the eyes of a five - year - old. it’s a view you may have lost sight of; it’s a view you won’t forget in a hurry .
pundits are not critics, of course, and insta - reviews from trade publications were mixed. some saw a well - made art - house crowd pleaser in “lion, ” which is set for release on nov. 25 and directed by garth davis in his feature - film debut. (until now, mr. davis has been primarily known for commercials, including “ ninja kittens ” for toyota .) but a few other critics were underwhelmed, with peter debruge of variety especially cutting .
in the film, while reading, susan meets a boy who has an unrequited crush on her, and peter gets himself and edmund into a fight. there are no such occurrences in the book .
in the book, the pevensies turn back after they find a town at beruna and a bridge built over the ford. in the film, they find the bridge still under construction by telmarine soldiers .
but fighting in an arena, and even in a zoo, is quite different than fighting in the wild. if a tiger were to meet a lion without cages or screaming fans, what would happen? that’s actually a question that some conservationists are having to answer right now. there’s a plan to move some asiatic lions to from the gir forest to kuno palpur, where there are tigers. the university of minessota’s lion research center says that the plan has been delayed for fear that the native tigers would kill the lions. but in the wild, they say, tigers and lions fight quite differently :
in the book, caspian is a young teenage boy of thirteen; the same age as susan. in the film, he is coming of age (and therefore closer to peter' s age) .
in the film, dr. cornelius tells caspian that miraz killed his father after caspian rescues him from prison. in the book, dr. cornelius reveals this secret to caspian when helping him to escape .
in the film, lord bern had not left narrowhaven because he had been captured and imprisoned by the slave traders. in the book, he had not left because he had married and settled down there .
in the film, eustace and jill pole are already friends as jill is mentioned to be visiting eustace at the end of the film. jill is not mentioned in the book, but in its sequel
the silver chair
. initially they were not friends and only knew each other by surname; in fact, jill loathed eustace for following the gang of bullies at their school (before he changed) .
in the book, lucy' s second time into narnia and edmund' s first was while playing hide - and - go - seek. in the film, it was in the middle of the night .
in the film, trumpkin is captured by the telmarine soldiers who chase caspian into the woods when he intervenes in caspian' s flight. in the book, he was captured on his journey to cair paravel .
similarly, the sea serpent was a dumb brute that the dawn treader is able to slip away from before deathwater island. in the film, it appears at the end as another manifestation of the green mist .
despite the comic relief from the hyenas, the meerkat and the warthog ,
the lion king
is a little more subdued than
mermaid ,
beauty
and
aladdin .
the central theme is a grim one: a little cub is dispossessed, and feels responsible for the death of its father .
just as for the king' s speech, which won best picture and director at the oscars five years ago, american distributor the weinstein company wanted to open lion in the us first to build awareness during the awards season. the plan is to give it a wider release around the time it opens in australia next month .
if the shoot changed his life, the film itself initially did little to alter mr. patel’s prospects in hollywood. “i wasn’t getting cast after ‘slumdog, ’” he said. at times, the breakthrough film even worked against him. he wasn’t allowed to audition for the south asian title character of “life of pi, ” ang lee’s 2012 adventure fantasy, he said, because the filmmakers thought he had become overexposed. suraj sharma, who eventually landed the role, “did an amazing job, and the film blew me away, but there’s a part of me that’s like, damn, i wish i could have at least taken a shot at it. ”
along with “lion, ” the weinstein company is gearing up for the end - of - year releases of “ the founder, ” about ray kroc (michael keaton) and his creation of the mcdonald’s fast - food empire, and “gold, ” starring matthew mcconaughey as a prospector who runs into trouble in the jungles of borneo .
in the book, the pevensies changed back into their school clothes before they went back. in the film, their clothes appear to change by magic, leaving it unclear how edmund managed to leave his torch in narnia .
the festival, which runs until sunday, has shaken up the coming film season in multiple ways. “ jackie, ” starring natalie portman as president john f. kennedy’s traumatized widow, was thrust into the oscar conversation on tuesday, when fox searchlight — perhaps hedging its bet on “the birth of a nation, ” now surrounded by controversy — bought the film after its screening here. the studio plans to release “jackie” on dec. 9 .
but it turns out that we have some historical data to add to this conjecture, too. in ancient rome, the tiger - lion face - off wasn’t uncommon. in 1959, a reader asked the spokesman - review this question, and the paper, in turn, asked william bridges, the curator of publications at the bronx zoo. he told them that “back in the day of the roman coliseum, the smart money usually backed the tiger. ” while we don’t have any great descriptions of the outcomes, ancient paintings of the event usually showed the tiger winning. and in the late 1800′s, the gaekwad of baroda, an indian ruler, arranged a fight between the two beasts. before the fight began, those running the bettor set the odds at 1 to 37, 000 that the tiger would win. it did, and the gaekwad lost 37, 000 rupees .
mr. weinstein was not available for an interview, according to david glasser, the weinstein company’s president and chief operating officer. for his part, mr. glasser, speaking by telephone on monday night, said that his studio made a strategic decision to keep as much of a lid on “lion” as possible ahead of the toronto event .
a biplane pilot who had missed flying in wwi takes up barnstorming and later a movie career in his quest for the glory he had missed, eventually getting a chance to prove himself in a film... see full summary »
the film begins with lucy telling the others about narnia and the wardrobe, and the events in narnia with mr. tumnus are shown as a flashback. in the book, these events are shown before she tells everyone about them .
in the film, miraz isn' t crowned king until after the night - raid. in the book, he had been the king for years as he was crowned shortly after he secretly murdered his brother, king caspian ix .
in the film, caspian blows susan' s horn during his flight after falling from his horse, just outside trufflehunter' s home. in the book, he blew the horn at aslan' s how after meeting the narnians .
in the book, reepicheep challenges eustace to a duel before arriving at the lone islands; this challenge is replaced with a duel between caspian and edmund in the film and reepicheep and eustace later have their own duel after visiting narrowhaven .
his movie company, troubled by executive departures and box - office misfires, had neither the money nor the manpower needed to sustain an awards campaign, hollywood conventional wisdom held. and mr. weinstein’s primary contender this time around, “ lion, ” an adoption drama set in india and based on an astonishing true story, was generating virtually no tastemaker buzz .
the lion king
is the first disney animated feature not based on an existing story. in another sense, it is based on half the stories in classical mythology. it tells the tale of the birth, childhood and eventual manhood of simba, a lion cub. the cub' s birth is announced in the opening sequence of the movie, called
the circle of life ,
which is an evocative collaboration of music and animation to show all of the animals of the african veld gathering to hail their future king. the cute little cub is held aloft from a dramatic spur of rock, and all his future minions below hail him, in a staging that looks like the jungle equivalent of a political rally .
the famed slugger is played by bendix, who resembles ruth slightly in looks and not at all in baseball ability. the film traces the
life and times
of ruth, including his famous
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9. danny’s imaginary friend tony is only seen by him and gets closer and closer as the story unfolds in the book but in the film tony isn’t seen at all and danny uses his little finger to identify his pal. super weird .
in the book, lucy wants to stay with edmund to see him recover, but aslan tells her to go help the others before it is too late for them. in the film, edmund recovers quickly and lucy goes to help the others .
in the film, doctor cornelius is arrested and thrown into prison by miraz after caspian' s flight and is rescued by caspian during the attack on the castle. in the book, doctor cornelius escaped the castle shortly after helping caspian to flee .
35. there’s also a black and white painting that john sees in the book that makes him think he’s going to be damned but that doesn’t appear in the film, just a black and white photo of party guests with jack in the middle .
that dichotomy comes to bear on the second half of the film, when saroo is older: a man in his 20s whose life has been largely comfortable, but who has a deepening yearning at his center. when at a party in melbourne, a sense memory triggers a recollection of his life in india, and saroo becomes determined to track down the family he lost. the remarkable thing about the real - life saroo is that he eventually found his hometown largely by using google maps, tracing train routes and distances until stumbling upon some topography he recognized. the trouble for lion as a movie is that none of this is terribly dynamic to watch. so davis, and the screenwriter luke davies, focus more on saroo’s moodiness and internal struggle. his emotions are certainly warranted, but in the film, all this (for lack of a better word) moping, becomes repetitive .
in the film, caspian forms an attraction to susan, which results in susan kissing caspian goodbye before the pevensies leave. in the book, however, caspian was never attracted to susan, nor did she ever kiss him for they only met briefly .
in the film, all four pevensies leave their shoes on the beach and explore the cair paravel ruins barefoot after paddling. in the book, lucy and edmund are the only ones to go barefoot, and susan berates them into bringing their shoes with them .
in the film, caspian meets all four of the pevensies before arriving at aslan' s how. in the book, he only met peter and edmund at aslan' s how and didn' t meet susan and lucy until after the battle was over .
in the book, eustace was unable to follow the dawn treader at sea until aslan changed him back from a dragon. in the film, eustace remains transformed until the end, and is curiously able to pull the ship when there' s no wind .
like the 3 other movie adaptions of the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, when edmund asks for more turkish delight. the white witch angrily snaps
noooooooooooooooo! !! !! !! ! !
at him, before she says
no
gently to him. in the books, she was content with edmund when he asked for more turkish delight and laughed .
coalitions of male lions usually fight as a group against territorial rivals, so a tiger may have an advantage in a one - on - one encounter, since this is the typical mode of combat for a tiger. however, a lion coalition of 2–3 males would have a clear advantage over a lone tiger. a group of 2–4 female lions would have a similar advantage over a lone tigress .
beverly hills, calif. — dev patel wanted the lead role in the forthcoming film “ lion ” so badly that he showed up at the los angeles home of the screenwriter luke davies in 2013 to plead for the part. from the moment the young actor heard of the project, he had been intrigued by its improbable story and conflicted hero. the director garth davis was there, too, and the three settled in over fresh ginger tea. but then mr. patel noticed a whiteboard covered in a blizzard of post - its. he looked at the notes. “i was like, wait, you haven’t done the script yet? ” he said .
6. danny has a vision and sees basically everything that will happen in the book from ‘redrum’ to his dad and a mallet, but not the grady twins. in the film he only sees the twins and that famous flood of blood coming out the elevator .
insistent movie executives and his own love for martial arts — “i’m the biggest bruce lee fan, ” he said — led him to take a role in “the last airbender, ” an action fantasy film whose budget dwarfed that of “slumdog. ” the movie was a
unfortunate as it is to say about a movie largely about indian people, one of the most striking performances in the film belongs to nicole kidman, who plays saroo’s adoptive mother. she has one scene in particular, in which she explains to saroo why she and her husband chose adoption, that is, beyond the teary reunion, the emotional centerpiece of the film. kidman just plays it so well, and it’s so thoughtfully written. i’ve no doubt the weinsteins have her performance primed and ready for a supporting - actress run .
still, the story of lion is pretty incredible, and it features a final reunion that, i think, would soften even the hardest of hearts. the film is shot beautifully by greig fraser, working in a kind of poetic realism. and it’s got a host of strong performances. young sunny pawar, who plays saroo as a boy, is adorable, which, yes, may be a strange thing to say about a performance in a movie with such heavy subject matter, but what can you do. he’s a cute little kid, and he instantly wins our sympathy and concern. adult saroo is played by dev patel, who works in a more somber tone than we’re used to seeing from him. saroo is torn between homes, between lives, and patel effectively communicates that tension. but, again, the same beats get played over and over again. eventually you just want the film to hurry up and get saroo back to india .
in the book, the children are waiting for the trains to take them to school at a country railway station, which is almost empty. in the film, they are on the crowded london underground, making it unclear how the four children could disappear without anyone noticing .
19. midway through the book danny goes in 217, sees his odd double in the mirror and the old lady, and when john enters he sees a dry bath. midway through the film jack goes in 237 snogs the wet woman who then turns into a decomposing old body .
patel, so often encouraged to be cutely naïve, exudes all the right kinds of pain here, but also gives saroo a bitter, self - flagellating core which feels like an especially brave choice, in a role (and film) which infinitely improve on his breakthrough in slumdog millionaire .
in the book, the ship is caught up in a violent storm for two weeks after departing narrowhaven and arrives at dragon' s island badly damaged. in the film, the storm comes after departing magician' s island and before arriving at goldwater island and no serious damage is caused .
in the book, aslan appears to eustace at dragon' s island, once at deathwater island and to lucy at coriakin' s island. in the film, he only appears at the world' s end outside a dream, implying that the green mist somehow prevented his communicating with them .
in the book, caspian learns from lord bern that the slave traders have been allowed to operate without interference from the governor, gumpas, who sees the practice as unavoidable and necessary for the economy. in the film, caspian learns from bern that the slave traders have been making sacrifices to a green mist .
but few used the festival to better advantage than mr. weinstein, who is credited with inventing and perfecting the modern awards game, even if his oscar entrant last season, “carol, ” came up short. “lion, ” which stars dev patel, nicole kidman and rooney mara, had its premiere here on saturday — most major films, including “jackie, ” had already been seen elsewhere — and generated a stream of euphoric responses from entertainment reporters and some critics .
in the film, a page from the book of incantations tempts lucy by showing her as the exact image of susan; in the book she imagined her beauty surpassing susan' s. she also harmfully used a spell to spy on her friends, but in the movie she uses a harmless spell to make it snow indoors .
through the course of the 1960s, alan alda made significant strides in pursuing the stage profession of his father robert, carving himself a niche as one of broadway' s most engaging and in - demand performers. with one film appearance under his belt, he landed the lead in the feature adaptation of george plimpton' s popular memoir
still, it isn’t quite satisfying. the transition from the young to the grown - up saroo demands a shift in tone and genre that “lion” doesn’t quite achieve. what felt in the first part like wonderful, spielbergian simplicity feels, in the latter sections, like simplification. there isn’t enough of the rough texture of family life or the complications of young love to give the older saroo a full identity. the movie hovers on the edge of going deeper into his psychological predicament but holds itself back .
while rooney mara has a fairly limited function as saroo’s girlfriend, kidman enriches the film enormously. it’s a sterling, supportive performance. the script never lunges for cheap drama by forcing saroo into a binary choice between mothers, and the most complex beats are about tip - toeing around, often counter - productively, to avoid hurt or betrayal .
the geography has been drastically changed for the film, resulting in some of the islands being visited in a different order than they were in the book. in the book, dark island came before ramandu' s island; dragon island and goldwater island were two separate islands, neither were volcanic and both were visited before coriakin' s island.
paper lion is a 1968 sports comedy film starring alan alda as writer george plimpton , based on plimpton 's 1966 nonfiction book of the same name depicting his tryout with the detroit lions of the national football league . the film premiered in detroit on october 2 , 1968 and was released nationwide the week of october 14 , 1968 . 
paper lion is a 1968 sports comedy film starring alan alda as writer george plimpton, based on plimpton's 1966 nonfiction book of the same name depicting his tryout with the detroit lions of the national football league. the film premiered in detroit on october 2, 1968 and was released nationwide the week of october 14, 1968.
paper lion is a 1968 sports comedy film starring alan alda as writer george plimpton, based on plimpton's 1966 nonfiction book of the same name depicting his tryout with the detroit lions of the national football league. the film premiered in detroit on october 2, 1968 and was released nationwide the week of october 14, 1968.