Movie Review: The Descendants

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At the 2011 Hawaii International Film Festival the closing film was The Descendants. The film screened and director Alexander Payne received the Vision Award to recognize him for his broad insights into all facets of the film trade. The screening had sold out and the word of mouth was very good. I was looking forward to the general release of the film. When it did release, the movie was not showing at the main theater, the Regal Dole Cannery which is the home to HIFF. Instead, Regal pushed it out to a smaller theater. This was surprising considering all the positive buzz the movie has been receiving. Instead of heading out a dozen miles to Regal’s location, I once again headed just 3 miles to the competitor’s location.

The movie was well worth the effort to try to figure out where it was playing and the effort to get there. Starring George Clooney as Matt King, it tells the story of a man navigating through turbulent waters. The opening sequence to set the mood for the story has Matt talking in a voice over about the mainland perception of Hawaii vs the realities of living in paradise. As he talks, somewhat of a controlled rant, images of the beauty, dirt and yet ordinary everyday scenes of life in and around Honolulu backdrop the narration. As a twenty plus year resident of Hawaii, I could fully understand where he was coming from. Hawaii and the cultures here play a very important role in the movie setting the framework in the world of the King family.

Matt is being squeezed from different sides. He is the lone controlling trustee for a large tract of land from the estate of a Hawaiian Princess who married a white businessman that has been handed down through several generations. The trust which currently holds the property will dissolve in seven years and local residents and family members fall on both sides of the coin to retain the land in its pristine condition or to sell it to developers for shopping centers, marinas and housing. Either decision will have an impact on the people in the state of Hawaii but a direct impact on the relatives.

Matt and his family live a comfortable life style. He works as a real estate attorney and lives in what I call an established home, a house that has been around for decades in one of the older neighborhoods of Nuuanu or Manoa. He lives off of his lawyer income and not the money from the trust. He doesn’t want to squander the money that he has. He wants to provide enough for his kids but not so much that they don’t have to work. He’s trying to find the balance between modern day necessities and what having the trust could provide.

His wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) has just had a terrible boating accident and lies in a coma. While everyone tells Matt she’s a strong woman, she’ll pull through, the doctors have said otherwise. They have no hope that Elizabeth will recover and have recommended disconnecting her from life support equipment as instructed in a living will. Matt now has to struggle with this decision. The woman who he married lies there in the bed and he’s unable to receive a response to his statements about how he has treated her and his two girls over the past several years. He says he’ll be more attentive and responsive, but it doesn’t matter now.

His youngest daughter, Scottie (Amara Miller) is acting out in school. His older 17 year old daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) has been sent off to boarding school on the Big Island. Matt needs to pick her up at school and bring her back to Honolulu and break the bad news to her. He wants to try to keep the younger daughter shielded from the bad news as long as possible. He’s challenged because he was never really close with his daughters, as he says he was the backup parent to them.

Matt tries to talk to Alexandra about her behavior and her anger but she won’t listen. He shoots straight from the hip about her mom dying. After a breakdown in the pool festooned with floating leaves she knocks Matt in the gut by letting him know that the reason she is upset and angry is that she had caught her mom cheating. So now the knowledge of an affair adds to the turmoil sending Matt into a further state of shock.

In the end, this is not a total feel good movie. You know early on that Elizabeth is not going to make it so no bright flowers and rainbows let’s watch the couple sit on the beach in each other’s arms as the sun sets on the Pacific Ocean. The acting all around was superb. You are drawn in as Matt and the kids go to talk to her parents. The dad’s gruff exterior with the feeling that Matt wasn’t good enough for his daughter or the dad trying to explain to his dementia afflicted wife are not played in a goofy or over the top manner. Matt takes the kids over to Kauai to show them the land that he has been entrusted. While both Matt and Alexandra talk about the times they have spent camping there Scottie pipes in pointing out that if the land is sold she’ll never be able to have the family camping experience. You feel for them all the way around. In the end you see a family that has some fractures and splits and has to try to heal if they want to stay together.

I think the biggest compliment that could be given to the movie I heard in the restroom afterward. One man was talking to another and saying “I knew this was a George Clooney movie, but I forget it was George Clooney”. If you have a chance to see this 115 minute R rated for language including some sexual references movie, make the effort I think you'll enjoy it.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: The Muppets

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The movie that I’ve been waiting a long time to see finally released this weekend. There was the time spent waiting for a movie to even be announced and then when it was, the anticipation of knowing that it was coming, anticipation for the final release date. While sitting in the theater waiting for The Muppets to start, several times shivers crossed by body. It was the good kind, similar to those that you would have anticipating the arrival of the big man in the red suit to visit your house. The wait was finally over and the movie was satisfying, but not wholly fulfilling.

Before we got to the actual Muppets, there was a Disney Pixar short Small Fry. Buzz Lightyear finds himself at a fast food restaurant where there is a Mini Me of himself in the form of a kids meal toy. The Mini Me manages to swap places with the real Buzz while the owner Bonnie was playing in the ball pit. Back in Bonnie’s bedroom the rest of the gang realize that they have a fake Buzz while the real Buzz tries to escape the restaurant. Unfortunately, he ends up in a storage room of unused and defective kid meal toys in a scene that is reminiscent of the Island of Misfit Toys from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The short seemed appropriate as how many times have the Muppets been used as a promotional tool for a fast food chain?

When the curtain metaphorically rises on the main feature (how many theaters actually have curtains any more that aren’t always open for the preshow spate of commercials) we are introduced to two brothers, Gary (Jason Segal) and Walter (Walter) who grew up in Smalltown USA. The two brothers have a very tight relationship. I’m wondering if they in any way, shape or form border where the Simpsons live in Springfield? Growing up Walter couldn’t help but notice that he was different from everyone around him. It wasn’t until The Muppet Show debuted on TV that he found there were others like him. In turn, he became the Muppets' greatest fan.

Jump ahead a few years. Gary is going with his sweetheart Mary (Amy Adams) out to California. Although it’s supposed to be just Gary and Mary, Gary tells Walter he can come along and they will visit the Muppet Studios. With Walter tagging along, Mary is relegated to become the third wheel. During the tour of the now broken down studios when Walter separates from the group to visit Kermit’s office, he overhears a plan by oil baron Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) and his cronies to buy the studio only to rip it down for the oil underneath. Walter tells Gary and Mary about the dastardly future diggings and convinces the couple to try to let Kermit know that the studio is in jeopardy.

They find Kermit at his Bel Aire home with an electrified fence and images of himself and Miss Piggy in the wrought iron fence. This is not the jovial frog we once knew. He is downhearted and missing all his friends, of course, especially Miss Piggy. With the encouragement of the trio, a road trip to collect the former gang ensues to get them back to the studios. They decided to resurrect The Muppet Show for a special one night telethon to raise 10 million dollars to buy the studios back from Tex. A TV exec (Rashida Jones) tells the gang they aren’t relevant anymore and denies them airtime until miracle of miracles a time slot opens up and she agrees upon the condition they can find a star to host the telethon. Of course in the effort to get the show on the air and meeting the necessary requirements all madness and mayhem breaks loose in all the wackiness and zaniness that is the Muppets.

What works about this movie? It’s the Muppets for pete’s sake! It was wonderfully stupendously awesome to see our beloved friends and generators of laughter up on the big screen once again. I’ll admit that there were times when I had the waterworks going on, especially when the stains of The Rainbow Connection started coming through the theater’s speaker system. Walter is a fun addition to the rest of the gang with his irrational exuberance and upbeat personality, he just needs to update his wardrobe and ditch the powder blue suit. A trade mark of the Muppet movies has been the cameo appearances by Hollywood and TV stars. We were not let down in this department with such luminaries as Alan Arkin, Neil Patrick Harris, Selena Gomez, Whoopi Goldberg, Mickey Rooney and one other that had me floored because it was a great appearance and I had not heard the name mentioned as a possibility for showing up.

What didn’t work? First was a rap number. It came out of the blue and had me scratching my head. If it wasn’t for the subtitles, I wouldn’t have been able to understand what was being said. The second was Jason Segal. God bless the man, it’s because of his efforts that our fuzzy, hairy, and cloth friends, old and new, big and small appeared once again on the silver screen. It was good to see you Wayne and Wanda! On How I Met Your Mother as Marshall Eriksen he does a wonderful job. As Gary…eh, no so much. He was ignoring the supposed love of his life Mary which leads me to number three. Why was Amy Adams in the movie? Certainly as eye candy, unquestionably, no mistaking that! Very sweet eye candy however she was totally under used. The Me Party sequence even with the flashy disco border appeared to be done out of good sportsmanship of her heart. Hopefully when the Blu-ray and DVD come out there will be some deleted scenes showing that there was a bigger plan for her character that for whatever reason just didn’t make it into the final cut.

Even with those few shortcomings, sitting in a theater with a mix of about half and half between adults and kids was one of the most exciting events I’ve participated in over the past several months. It was as if you and one of your best friends are separated for whatever reason for a number of years, let’s say twelve for argument’s sake, but when you get back together you just pick up and continue on as if the last time you saw them was yesterday. Kermit made the comment about us forgetting about them, the Muppets. We didn’t forget about them, we didn’t. We have been patiently waiting for just this moment when they come for a visit, we can buy some soda, sit down together and share a story and a good laugh. Jason Segal, thank you for fighting to bring them back to us and Disney, please don’t let them go away again.

The Muppets is 98 glorious attention grabbing minutes and is rated PG for some mild rude humor. Fart shoes anyone?

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: The Skin I Live In

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Antonio Banderas was the actor of the weekend. I discovered that I had a free loyalty movie ticket that was going to expire during the next week so I needed to use it or lose it as well as some free popcorn and soda coupons. I used them to see Puss in Boots. Of course, he voiced the lead character Puss in this spin off from the Shrek franchise. Light, care free family fare with Banderas speaking in English with a few words in Spanish. The other movie was very different clocking in at just under two hours (117 minutes to be precise) and rated R for disturbing violent content including sexual assault, strong sexuality, graphic nudity, drug use and language and done in Spanish with English subtitles. Banderas plays Dr. Robert Ledgard in The Skin I Live In.

Ledgard is a renowned plastic surgeon having participated in three of the nine face transplants to have occurred. He passionately believes they as doctors and scientists can do better in these reconstructions with improved skin for skin grafts. Why does he so strongly believe in this? His wife, years earlier, had been in car crash and was severely burned. He believes that had he had the improved skin made by combining cells from pig’s skin with human skin at the time after the accident, he could have saved her.

This feeling, the longing to help a family member or situation is the genesis act for the birth of a mad doctor and scientist. We’ve seen it happen over and over again where they become so obsessed that they leave any sense of morality and ethics along the roadside. Quite frequently the collateral damage is either overlooked or is unknown with consequences to take place down the road. One of the more recent movie examples is Rise of the Plant of the Apes. The good doc wants to create a serum that will cure the Alzheimer’s afflicting his dad; instead it gave the primates the intelligence and spread a virus that killed millions of people. Or on Fringe on TV, an engineer builds a time bubble based off his theoretical physicist wife’s notes in order to go back in time before she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s not realizing that his time bubble created other time bubbles destroying property and lives in the process. It’s just coincidence that in both examples Alzheimer’s was the reasoning. It’s no coincidence that the love for the family member pushed them over the edge.

Experimentation of this magnitude is never done in a vacuum; the doctor inevitably has to have someone else either as an accomplice or as the guinea pig or victim and sometimes both. Ledgard has Marilia (Marisa Paredes) his longtime housekeeper assisting him with keeping victim Vera (Elena Anaya) imprisoned up in El Cigarral, the doctor’s large beautiful estate. Vera is locked in a room with cameras being monitored by the doctor and Marilia. She is not allowed out of the room, food is given via a dumb waiter and only the doctor has the key to the room. Vera wears a beige colored full body unitard that included gloves and foot coverings with individual toes (think the Vibram FiveFinger shoes). Instead of mice as the doctor has told other doctors at a conference, his experimental skin which doesn’t burn and is impervious to mosquitoes has been placed on Vera. These characteristics would have saved his wife, the selfish motive, and helping others, the public motive, by reducing the spread of malaria. These were his justifications for pushing the limits of the science and technology.

This is not your typical mad doctor movie. There is a deliberateness, a slowness and calmness about the mansion. Being a plastic surgeon, artwork (rather large ones too!) showing the human form with lots of skin exposed are decorating the walls of El Cigarral. Classical music stylings featuring piano and strings form the background music for the piece. There is a brightness and clarity in many of the scenes instead of the creepy dark and foreboding typical of the mad scientist genre. What is really dark and foreboding is Ledgard’s soul and spirit as he continues his work on Vera.

Many of the scenes were easily watchable for their visuals but at times left a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach when the implications of the dialogue settled into my brain. Why did Legard continue to do what he did? Why would the accomplice stay there knowing the results come at such a great cost? The gore was not graphic but some of the themes expressed by director Pedro Almodóvar were unsettling…very unsettling. As depicted by the rating, there was violent content that was tough to watch. Almodóvar laid out the story in a non-linear fashion and along different points of view from the characters each adding a new layer changing your perception of the situation giving you information that the characters themselves did not have to round out their world view of the events. This works well to build up to the final climax and reveal that had people in my theater responding to audibly. It came out of nowhere and hit you in between the eyes with a two by four.

If you go see The Skin I Live In, just know that it’s not your run of the mill mad scientist. Banderas does not have the wild grey hair, thick glasses, crooked teeth and lab coat prevalent of most mad doctors…well, actually he does have the lab coat, but only when working in the lab! He’s suave, smooth, calculating and diabolically deliberate, yet charming and sophisticated. If you can handle the implications of his work, you’ll have a different style of movie in your hands.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Tower Heist

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Wanted to head out to see A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Unfortunately, my normal theaters only had the up charge versions (3D, digital 3D and Titan XC) and I very rarely pay for 3D. This was not one of those times. I didn't discover until after I had seen Tower Heist that I could have seen H&K in 2D, but it would have been an hour trip via bus each way. Interesting that the two biggest theaters on the island decided not to carry the cheaper 2D version of the film and relegated the film to the lesser locations within each chain.

So we have a group of people working at an upscale residence in New York City called The Tower. Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, the building manager. He and a number of the staff have worked there for years serving their clients of which one is Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) who is an investment manager and happens to own the penthouse apartment with the pool on top. Other workers at The Tower include concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck) who is also Josh’s brother-in-law, about to retire and travel doorman Lester (Stephen Henderson), new hire elevator man Enrique (Michael Pena) and feisty Jamaican housekeeper Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe).

It turns out that Shaw and Bernie Madhoff were cut from the same cloth in bilking investors of their money. Actually Madhoff was never mentioned, but the end result was the same, people lost lots of money including Shaw whose accounts seem to have dried up as well leaving nothing for the victims to get back. Josh had entrusted Shaw with the retirement fund for the workers and they are all left with naught. When FBI agent on the case Claire Denham (Tea Leone) suggests to Josh that these guys always store away some get away money, Josh figures that he might know where it might be and wants to attempt to get back their pension fund money. He recruits some of his coworkers and a former building resident in an attempt to break into Shaw’s unit in the secure building but shortly realize they are basically all good people who don’t have a clue to pull this off properly.

In comes Slide (Eddie Murphy), a petty criminal who used to go to daycare with and now lives a few doors down the street from Josh. But can you trust a petty criminal when $20 million dollars is involved? Is it time to move up to the big leagues? As with all heist movies, you can plan, but you can’t predict everything. As Julie Chen on Big Brother would remind houseguests, “To expect the unexpected”, the bulk of the movie is how to adapt and adjust when the unanticipated and unforeseen does happen.

Is it a great movie? No. Is it a fun movie? Yes. Is it believable? To an extent, yeah; as Josh points out to his coworkers, they know all about the building, its workings, the residents and their habits. They’ve been casing the place for years but never realized it. It explains some of the reasoning and why they can do what they do, but the screenwriters also leave some pretty big holes in the logic. Stiller remained calm as the building manager not going into the anger and freak outs like we’ve seen him do is so many other movies, Mr Furious from Mystery Men comes to mind. We’ve seen Murphy play the Slide character before as a person who is charming one moment and very dubious and devious the next. Rated PG 13 for some sexual content and language, director Brett Ratner gave some decent action/suspense scenes throughout the movie keeping people on the edge of their seats for part of the 104 minute running time.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: In Time

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A number of years ago cartoon artist Gary Larson came up with a panel that showed a scientist standing in front of a black board with his hands on his hips. On the board were all sorts of equations with the one, right at eye level, showing an equation with the result equaling a dollar symbol. Underneath is the caption "Einstein discovers that time is actually money." What if that were actually the case? What if time was money? What if time is the currency that is traded in transactions where today you would use dollars? Director and writer Andrew Niccol uses this proposition as the basis for his latest movie, In Time.

Will Salas (Justin Timerlake) lives in the future that genetically, when you are born you have one year of time given to you that kicks in once you hit the age of twenty-five and you stay looking that way no matter how much time you live past that moment. How much time you have is on your left forearm in 13 digits: seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, months and years. Anyone can see the digits unless its covered, sort of like having your bank account balance out there for anyone to see. When you want a cup of coffee, ride the bus or pay rent you have a deduction taken from your balance. When you work, you have time added. You can give people your time literally or it can be stolen from you as well. When your balance hits zero, you die by a Time Out. If you are killed before you time out, the remaining balance is wasted time.

Will lives with his mother (Olivia Wilde) and works at a factory in Dayton. Very appropriate name considering they live day to day. They struggle to earn enough time to pay the rent on time. When a man, Henry Hamilton, from New Greenwich (the up scale neighborhood) decides that he doesn't want to live any longer, that he wants his time to be up, he gives a sleeping Will over a century of time before he times out himself. Why would Henry just toss in the towel? After living 105 years, he doesn't feel that anyone show live forever. This gift causes problems for Will.

Venturing into New Greenwich based on a comment that Henry made in a conversation the two men had, Will meets Sylvia Weis (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter to time magnate Phillipe Weis. Will is tracked to New Greenwich by Timekeeper Raymond Leon (Cillian Murphy) who is investigating the time out of Hamilton. Will escapes taking Sylvia as a hostage as he attempts to correct what he feels is injustice between the people in New Greenwich and the residents of Dayton. A battle of sorts between the haves and the have nots.

The premise showed some promise but it fell into a trap with using all sorts of cliches about time some of which just didn't quite work. There were some inconsistencies in the action of time payments and withdrawals and locations. It was noted between Sylvia and Will that he had not come from Old Time as he was rushing around and he ran where as a person with lots of time on their hand (well, actually arm) would be taking things slower. With time as currency, phrases like "don't waste my time" and "I have all the time in the world" take on new meaning. The other references to time became a bit distracting but you could start to think differently about the time that you have. "Take it a day at a time" would have new meaning as the neon green numbers in your skin count down from 23:59:59. Although I might have missed it, when one person was stealing time from another, I don't remember hearing the phrase "I'm cleaning your clock" coming up. So it does appear they used a little restraint in the cliche department.

If you watch In Time, it will cost you 109 minutes of your time and is rated PG-13 for violence, some sexuality and partial nudity, and strong language.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: The Bengali Detective

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The Hawaii International Film Festival wraps up this weekend and I took in another film. This one from India. I thought it was going to be a Bollywood movie with the sudden departures from story blooming into colorful sequences of song and dance. Wellllll....not quite. The description and the trailer for the film really didn't describe the story the way that it revealed itself on the screen. The Bengali Detective was not a piece of fiction, but a documentary shot in reality TV style. So the movie doesn't stand up as a piece of Bollywood, but it stands firm as a unique documentary.

Rajesh lives in Kolkota (formerly Calcutta, the place where Mother Teresa served the poorest of the poor) with his wife and son. The population doesn't trust the authorities as the murder rate has increased and 70% of those murders go unsolved. The populous turn to private detectives like himself to help with investigations. This might include murders, counterfeit products or unfaithful spouses. Rajesh's agency Always has himself and a half dozen other men who track down their marks. We follow them as they attempt to solve a brutal slaying of three young men, an abused wife wondering if her husband is having an affair and busting businesses that are involved with the sale of counterfeit products like hair oil.

From the American perspective looking in, we'll probably take a slightly different view to their reactions and how the detectives go about their job, especially when looking at the issue of the counterfeit hair oil. Large corporations in America are concerned about copyright infringement, particularly media companies with concerns about people posting digital files online for easy copying. Rajesh has the company who makes the hair oil pressuring him to find anyone and everyone involved with the sale and production of the fake oil and shut them down. It's understandable that they want to protect their product.

On the home front Rajesh is concerned about his wife of seven years, Minnie. She has diabetes and has lost both the pigmentation in her skin and her eye sight. He juggles both the responsibility of the office and the care of his now blind wife and their young son. He's concerned about the entire family in all aspects. To help him relieve stress, he loves to since and dance. He loves it so much that he applies to a TV show where he and his detectives will perform. The other agents agree, even if it was with a bit of reluctance. These segments of the movie do break the tension of the day to day investigation duties, but at the same time seem so out of place that it almost comes through as completely made up and fictional especially when the men are provided costumes for the contest. The laughter they provided did bring some moments of levity amidst some intense moments. This was also about the closest you get to a stereotypical Bollywood movie but without the true triple threat of singing, dancing and acting of say an Anil Kapoor or Shar Rukh Kahn.

Director Philip Cox took the approach of a reality show like COPS or Dog the Bounty Hunter while following Rajesh and his detectives both on and off duty. They might be re-enacting a position of a body on a railroad track, looking into boxes of merchant inventory, blurring out the face of alleged adulterers or running to catch a suspect. There was quite a bit of adjusting focus to bring the picture into a sharp image or blurry abstraction and back again or changing the depth of field so that the focus went back and forth between background and foreground objects. We would look at what they're doing with jaded eyes after watching all these procedural shows and their recreations on TV. The most high tech they have to use is their color ink jet printers and cell phones never mind having access to DNA processing or cell phone records.

The uncredited actor is the city of Kolkota. The city acts as a backdrop with conditions that most Americans won't experience in their everyday lives. The crush of people; the constant honking of horns; the rush, rush rush of the traffic; colorful clothing and people bathing or performing rituals in the Hooghly river provide the framework in which Rajesh's daily interactions occur. One particular scene of note is when Rajesh takes his wife onto a small boat into the river and he describes the scene for her telling her of birds flying and following each other, nearby boats or flowers floating in the current.

The movie as a documentary does not have a rating. I didn't see any bad words in the sub titles as most of the dialogue was in Hindi with some English. If any bad words were spoken, I wouldn't have recognized them anyway, my Hindi is rusty. That is to say it's nonexistent. There are scenes of extreme poverty and a religious ritual which if rated may give it something other than a G rating. It ran for 110 minutes in one of the larger theater venues of the festival at Regal Cinemas and was about 60% full of attendees. It did have an audience ballot for which I gave it mid marks based on the fact that I was expecting a different type of film. If the HIFF web site movie's description page said documentary I would have given it a 4 out of 5 rating.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Being Elmo

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Decided to do something different this week. Instead of the usual Hollywood releases including remakes of The Thing and Footloose, the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) is going on. With the huge slate of films to choose from I chose a film from the first night of the 2011 event. The movie was a biopic of Kevin Clash. Who is Kevin Clash you ask? Well, the title Being Elmo: a Puppeteer's Journey tells you what you need to know about Kevin. Personally, I wouldn’t have known much about this film and Kevin if it wasn’t for Steve Swanson over at The Muppetcast, a podcast dedicated to the works of Jim Henson and the Muppets. Steve has interviewed Kevin on the show which added to my background knowledge and interest of the subject.

It was the second movie on the HIFF schedule and played to a pretty packed house. The movie isn’t about Elmo, it’s about the man who really brought Elmo to the forefront of the American pop culture scene. Even at the age of eight, Kevin knew what he wanted to be and he followed through on that ambition to become a puppeteer. It’s a trait that only a small percentage of people hold and carry with them to have that fortitude to follow his dream and even a smaller percentage who want to move into the creative arts. While I won’t say that Kevin’s had a charmed life, he’s been surrounded by people who have been willing to help and mentor him. He received a hand up and not a hand out.

For the 76 minutes running time, it just flew by. I will admit that for the majority of the movie I had a lump in my throat. It was totally enthralling to hear about the progression of the skill and desire that Kevin has put towards the craft of both puppet making and puppeteering. This young boy setting out into the world of making the inanimate come to life by taking his father’s coat and turning that into his first creation and then honing the craft with performances in the backyard and at neighborhood events. His parents, especially his father, could have gotten upset over the jacket but instead helped foster Kevin’s desire and ambitions the best they could.

There was a quality about his passion that sadly doesn’t seem to be overflowing in the general public today. I think why I had the lump was that I wish I had that sort of passion in me for everything I do. It’s the kind of passion which just exudes out of every pore and creates an aura that people just know that you know that you know this is where you where meant to be. That’s why when Kevin is puppeting Elmo and the child or person see Kevin right there with his hand inside the puppet their eyes are glued not to the man but to the inanimate shaggy red pieces of material on the end of his hand. The passion had breathed life into what had no presence before captivating individuals.

One aspect of the movie that director Constance Marks brought forward was the mentoring that Kevin received. When Kevin saw Kermit Love on TV, Mrs Clash reached out on Kevin’s behalf and made contact. Kermit Love was a major force in the design of the Muppets. Kermit shared his own love, passion and knowledge when the two met and today Kevin in turn extends his hand to help others who want to get into puppetry. They didn’t seem to put up their shields and flip on protection mode that if I share this method or secret with you the result will harm me in the either now or in the future. It came across as pure joy for Kevin who would either share with someone looking to develop a career as a puppeteer or someone who was already on the staff of Sesame Street.

Success depends on hard work, but sometimes it's a matter of luck, being in the right place at the right time. Kevin's greatest creation Elmo, was partially hard work and effort but the door that opened for him to perform Elmo was where luck was a factor. Richard Hunt was originally Elmo but didn't "feel" Elmo so he gave Kevin the chance. Marks shows footage of Hunt as Elmo who sounded like a New York taxi driver with cuts between Kevin and Marty Robinson who was present in the break room when the hand off occurred to tell the birth story of the Elmo that we know today.

The documentary used lots of archival footage from Kevin’s past to mark milestones along the way. From the days of working with Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo in New York to the trips that he makes around the world with Elmo in tow, footage has captured Kevin at work or behind the scenes. Still pictures from friends and family were altered slightly so that instead of the pan and scan to draw your attention to a detail, sections were lifted to give a bit of depth and animated motion to pull your eye where Marks wanted you to go.

There is no rating on this film, but it was definitely G material. It's been making it's way around the film festival circuit and I couldn't find any information for a general release date for theaters, DVD or Bluray. At the film's web site there is a page showing currently planned locations and dates and a button to "Demand it!". If you are excited about the Muppets, the creative arts or puppetry, this is a film for you. To help round out the picture there are interviews and footage with Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Fran Brill and Whoopi Goldberg. As I was leaving the theater I took my audience response form to rate the film and ripped it on number five on the 1-5 scale.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Real Steel

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When I was growing up there was a toy game called Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. It had two robots, a red one and a blue one, in a boxing ring being controlled by the managers who moved the robots around and pushed buttons to throw punches. When one punch landed in the right place on the opposing robot's head, it sprang up with a funny noise and that robot's manager would yell "You knocked by block off!" Well, at least they yelled in the commercials of old! Watching Real Steel immediately brought me back to that time in the past only for a moment because the movie had good enough execution that I was immediately brought back into the now to watch the near future of robotics and boxing.

In the near future, boxing is no longer done by humans. The crowds wanted more carnage than a man could either dish out or take so robots were used. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) used to be a real boxer and now boxes with the remote controlled man-like machines. Unfortunately he hasn't done too well in the ring and owes a number of people a lot of money. After one demonstration show where his machine was taken out by a bull, he's approached by two men informing him that the mother of his son has passed away and he needs to make an appearance in family court to resolve the matter of who will become the guardian for the boy.

Max Kenton (Dakato Goyo) was abandoned by Charlie when the boy was born. Now the boy's wealthy aunt wants to adopt him and Charlie sees a way to alleviate some of his money problems. Charlie works a deal to in essence sell his rights to Max in order to purchase a new fighting robot. The catch is that Charlie has to take Max for the summer. Estranged father and son forced together for several months. Yeah, at this point, you know how part of the movie will end, the question is what road will the two travel to get there.

Charlie and Max head to the gym where Charlie was trained to pick up the new robot. The gym is now operated by the trainers daughter Bailey (Evangeline Lily) since her dad had passed away. Luckily for Charlie, not only does she know how to run the gym, she knows how to fix the big pieces of sporting metal. While Charlie attempts to leave Max with Bailey, Max won't have that. The kid manages to finagle his way into going to his first robot boxing match while sparring verbally with his dad about what they're doing. The kid has some spunk about it. Now understanding how his new robot will react is bad news for both the robot, Noisy Boy, and Charlie.

Quite frankly, if it wasn't for the character of Max and the way that Goyo played him, you wouldn't have a movie here. It’s Goyo who really carries the film. For an 11 year old Max displays knowledge beyond his years, insight into boxing and betting, and a lot of chutzpah to act the way that he does towards his father and people in the World Robot Boxing league. After Noisy Boy is destroyed in the ring, Max and Charlie break into a junk yard. Buried in the mud Max finds an old sparring robot named Atom. Without Charlie’s digging assistance, Max manages to extricate the robot out of the junk heap and back to Bailey who helps repair Atom. At times Goyo delivers the fierce determination and belief in Atom and what the bot can do and yet at times gives these sad, large Puss-in-Boot eyes when he shows vulnerability in that he wants a relationship with his dad or when he is betrayed when Charlie’s selfish streaks come to the surface.

In a true Rocky style, Atom slowly rises in the boxing community’s awareness drawing the attention of the owners of the top ranked fighting bot Zeus. Max in his exuberance of youth throws down the gauntlet taunting them. Eventually the big fight happens and I’ll let you watch the movie to see what happens from there. I’ll just say that it wasn’t a cookie cutter ending.

The movie ran for 127 minutes and had my attention the whole time. For the first show of the day, the theater was pretty packed and even though it was rated PG-13 for some violence, intense action and brief language, there were a fair number of young kids in the audience. While the robots got smashed to pieces, the worst thing that happened to a human was a fat lip and bloody nose. The movie had the action of a sports movie, but that was secondary to the father son story of Charlie and Max. Also watching these gigantic robots battle was fun and fascinating. At times real robots were used for some of the close up shots with humans while the boxing scenes were done with the motion capture to depict what a real fight was like. Enough adjustments were made to the styling of the movements to make it believable that mechanical men were swinging and pounding each other instead of flesh and blood.

I predict that the movie will do well over the weekend (update, it came in first with more than double the money that came in for the number 2 movie at the box office) and that a series of sequels based on both Charlie and Max and the robot fighting world in general will be in our near future.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: 50/50

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The movie 50/50 is about a cancer patient and could have taken the route of being a total tear jerker movie. Luckily we know in advance that everything ends up ok as it was based on a true story of Will Reiser who penned the screen play. Yet what could have followed the “Oh, woe is me” path instead was peppered with a number of spots that handed the audience moments of laughter. Chances of you giving out some giggles during the movie are better than 50/50.

Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is 27 and single but dating, has a decent job as a writer for the Seattle Public Radio station and has Kyle (the still skinny from doing The Green Hornet Seth Rogen) as his co-worker and best friend. When recurring back pain forces Adam to the doctors, it’s discovered that he has a large tumor growing on his spine. His doctor probably went to the Dr Gregory House School of Charm and Bedside Manners to learn how to deal with his patients. No empathy or even using reassuring language Adam could comprehend without having the DR letters attached to his own name. Very understandably, when the C word, cancer, is mentioned, it’s the only thing Adam could pick out among the medical terms and immediately zoned out of his regular life and entered survival mode.

His support system is his girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard), a cold and manipulative woman who is a taker and not a giver. His mom (Angelica Houston) is a smothering mom who is dealing with the care of her husband, Adam’s dad, who has Alzheimer’s. She now has two very sick family members drawing her focus. Bro bud Kyle who sort of looks at the positive side of the disease thinking that it can be used to get some action for not only Adam but himself as well. Lastly, his treatment therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick) rounds out the team although, she is not a doctor; she’s working on her doctorate degree and doesn’t have a huge pool of experience to pull from. While not her first, he is wading in the very shallow end of the pool, barely enough to cover the knees.

There are the tough moments to watch and then these are offset with some of the laughter. Young Adam goes in for his chemo treatment and meets two other patients who are much older. They are looking back on their lives while Adam is supposed to be looking forward now has this giant obstacle staring him in the face. One of the men jokes that the longer the name of the cancer, the tougher it is to beat and Adam’s type has a long name, schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma. Adam goes through the highs and the lows of the disease trying to face it as stoically as possible without being a burden on his friends and family, keeping most of his anger, fear and frustration bottled up. Katherine attempts as a green therapist don’t yield the comfort or mental processing that Adam needs to deal with his circumstances. Kendrick’s eyes help tell the story of wanting to help but at times being at a loss to convey what Adam needs.

The topic of medical marijuana came up several times between eating it or smoking it to relieve the symptoms of the chemo or in Kyle’s case sympathetic chemo nausea; perhaps, but maybe not. Is there a Rogen movie that doesn’t involve getting a party on somehow? Luckily at no time did Adam or Kyle attempt to feed the rescued from the racetrack greyhound given to Adam from Rachel as a way to help comfort him any pot brownies. The joke being that the skinny former athletic race dog about town was named Skeletor, just the kind of name that a cancer patient wants to hear.

With such a heavy topic of life and death at a young age due to cancer, the movie was rated R for drug references and use, language throughout and sexual content during the 99 minute running time.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Detective Dee and Mystery of the Phantom Flame

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Another poor weekend movie choice for the big releases with last week having an animated 17 year old film converted to 3D taking the box office. This weekend didn’t look like any new releases were going to beat it. (update, yeah, Lion King 3D was the highest grossing movie for a second weekend) Back to the art house films I go although, my regular Regal theater is supposed to be cinema art house here in Honolulu, they haven’t shown art house films in a while. So I looked at Consolidated Theaters and one film leapt off the computer monitor at me. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame just has such an intriguing name I couldn’t pass it up.

The movie is rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and some sensuality and ran just over two hours at 122 minutes. The whole time my eyes were attentive to what was happening on the screen. Take beautiful cinematography, add in high wire martial arts (like a Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon), set it in 690 AD for a period movie and lay that on top of a murder mystery and you have an engaging film. The fact you that you have to keep looking at the screen in order to read the subtitles helps keep you engaged too.

Empress Wu (Carina Lau) is soon to be coronated as the first female Emperor of China. While a giant Buddha statue for the coronation is being constructed two of her high level officials mysteriously and suddenly burn up. Some think it is divine intervention signaling that Wu should not be crowned. Others believe there is plot afoot not by the gods but by man to stop the ceremony. The best person to solve the mystery is Detective Dee (Andy Lau), a man who eight years earlier was sent to prison for opposing the empress’ raise to power. To help ensure the now released detective stays on the case, the empress assigns Shangguan Jing’er (Li Bing Bing) and Pei Donglai (Chao Deng) to both assist and watch over Dee.

The martial arts staging was enthralling to watch. Flips, climbs, dives, jumps, spins and back bends done with the assistance of wires are staged with deft choreography bringing the fight scenes to life. Include weaponry with swords, arrows, whips and a special mace and you have some edge of your seat kick butt altercations. With assassins running rampant to stop Dee, Jing’er and Pei from trying to solve the mystery and you never know when a fight to save their lives will break out. Being high on the cinematography scale scenes with falling white petals adds to the mood of the film.

Two items that I found took away from the experience slightly were the subtitles and the massive CGI shots. For the CGI they needed to be tweaked slightly. I can’t put my finger on why, but any of the scenes showing massive amounts of boats in the harbor just didn’t look quite right. I’m not sure if it was the coloring, the movement or shapes that my mind automatically jumped to “those aren’t real.” For the subtitles, there was a few times when there were large sentences on display and not enough time to read them; sometimes they just flashed too quickly. Being what they are, your eyes focused on the bottom of the screen preventing you from focusing in on the beautiful details in intricate designs, patterns and background action and absorbed them fully. This is one film that a dubbed version might actually make it better allowing you to watch with eyes wide open across the entire screen rather than just the lower third.

Even though Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame was originally released in 2010 and received nominations for Best Film and Best Choreography while winning for Best Director and Best Costume Design at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards, it has just now made its way to American shores. If you have a chance to see the film on the big screen, I think you’ll enjoy it.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Drive

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Wow, this ...this was a movie I wasn't expecting. You anticipate something pretty bold when the coloring of the titles is fuchsia. Based on the previews I thought it would have been a high powered action movie, something along the lines of The Fast and The Furious. Boy was I wrong. I would call this a minimalist action thriller heist movie, sort of a laid back, chill, toned down action movie. When engagements occurred, it was not over the top, but it could be extremely intense. They were presented with a confidence about themselves that it came across as cool. So cool in fact that the main character played by Ryan Gosling didn't even have a name...in the credits he was listed by his profession which was being a Driver and his whole point was to Drive.

The opening sequence was a chase sequence but it was a zen, intelligent chase sequence. No whooping, no hollering, no loud annoying screeches, no cars flipping over and taking out pedestrians or other cars. There was a simplicity about what The Driver did, how he performed and kept his wits about him. The Driver maintains this level of composure while dealing with traffic, lights and the ensuing police cars.

By day The Driver is a mechanic and a stunt driver. At night he’s behind the wheels of the getaway vehicle with the rules that you have a five minute window. He’ll do everything for you during those five; outside of those five, you’re on your own. Pretty cut and dry, straight forward rules. That’s about all he says to his clients allowing himself to keep emotional distance between him and them, not getting caught up in their plans.

So what’s the driving point of the story? Well, he meets his next door neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son Benicio. They seem to hit it off and become friendly all the time keeping dialogue to a minimum. Oh and by keeping the dialogue to a minimum I don’t mean they are exploring the physical side of the relationship. Far from it. The Driver, Irene and Benicio enjoy spending time together almost as if The Driver is extending himself for a relationship that he either can’t have or wouldn’t allow himself to have due to his profession. The backstory for the driver is very limited only learning a small fragment from Shannon (Brian Cranston), the shop owner at The Driver’s place of employment when Irene brings in her car for repair.

Fairly quickly it’s revealed that Benicio’s father, Standard (Oscar Isaac), is in prison and to be released shortly. Unfortunately, Standard can’t seem to get away from the gang life and in doing so pulls in The Driver. From here out is where the intensity of the action gets moved up a few pegs. Unlike most action movies today it wasn’t a constant barrage of in your face. It was quiet. Something happens, maybe vicious or brutal for just a moment or so and then it goes back to quiet. My audience had an audible “argh” and “ugh” at a couple displays which is why the movie has an R rating for strong brutal bloody violence, language and some nudity. Most of the movie is pretty tame but when those scenes happen, you might squirm a bit in your seat. But, all in all, the movie ended its 100 minute run on a calm, quiet note with no easter egg, just the vivid fuchsia letting flashing on the screen.

The Movie Monkey

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Disney's Aulani Maka'ala

Took a number of pictures out at Aulani, a Disney Resort and Spa in Ko Olina, in the lobby called Maka'ala. Over 200 photos have be stitched together using Microsoft Photosynth to give you a 3-D view of sorts of the incredible details in the entrance to your Hawaiian experience at Aulani. Take some time, keep your eyes wide open as you explore and look around Maka'ala.

Movie Review: Contagion

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At one point in time, if you wanted to travel the world, it took a lot of time and a lot of effort. Heck, It used to be that if you wanted to fly the China Clipper from San Francisco to Honolulu, there were about 25 people on the plane and about 17-20 hours in the air. Today, the same flight is about 5-6 hours and a flight from Honolulu can reach all the way to Newark, New Jersey in just 11 hours and in both cases the planes can hold around 250 people. The point the movie Contagion is making is that with the mobility of people today, if a highly infectious and deadly disease with a short gestation period ever occurred, it would truly be horrifying as the disease left deadly pockets of destruction across the globe.

The movie begins with Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) coughing and Day 2 appearing on the bottom of the screen. She's on her way home from Hong Kong. Shortly after having arrived at a place of safety back with her family, she has seizures, is rushed to the hospital by her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) where she dies. Don't get mad at The Movie Monkey for revealing this, it's all over the previews so it's no big secret. What was surprising is just how quickly this major Hollywood star was killed off. That doesn't happen too often.

The clock is ticking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Heath Organization are made aware of people who have died at several locatiosn across the globe. CDC head Dr Cheevers (Laurence Fishburne) sends investigator Dr Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) to investigate Beth's death while the WHO dispatches Dr Leonora Orantes (Marion Cortiland) to Hong Kong to try to locate the initial infection point. Back in San Francisco a conspiracy theorist Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) discovers a video of a man in Japan who dies on a bus and attempts to sound an alarm. Up front, no one believes him. As the days pass from the initial contamination, the body count starts rising. The conspiracies run wilder, the doctors and scientists keep working to find a solution. Some people get sick and survive, some are immune but the death toll goes higher and higher.

There are parallels to what the world experienced back in 2009 with the outbreak of the H1N1 virus. Contagion takes it a step further with a deeper "What if". What if the components of the outbreak because more time restrictive, the potency of the virus was ratcheted up, and the method of transmission was even easier? You sit in your seat for 105 minutes squirming as you watch human nature take over. People want to hug and kiss but doing so may transmit the disease. Government works to find solutions but fears of creating panic before the full information is available hinder dissemination to the public. First responders either knowingly or unknowingly putting their own lives on the line. They just know they are attempting to help someone in need. News organizations are not sure which information to distribute, those from the government or from other organizations who may have details that are contradictory in nature. Individuals across the board are trying to keep their reputations and integrity intact when faced with overwhelming circumstances.

What makes this movie work is the slow build of the fear. How do you protect yourself from something that you can't see without a microscope? Do you protect yourself? How do you guard those you care about? How far do you go to safeguard your own and what lengths to shield others? How do you distinguish truth from propaganda? Short of aliens coming down and blowing up planet Earth, the body count is high, even higher than the 1918 pandemic of the Spanish Flu. With the disturbing images and strong language, the picture was rated PG-13. When the movie is over, you'll be breathing a big sigh of relief, but remember, if the MEV-1 virus actually existed, that single exhale could be deadly to someone else.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Seven Days in Utopia

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The unofficial end of summer is upon us and I was looking for something different to wrap up the season. One film in the listings caught my attention as I had not seen any previews for it but it was playing at both of the art house theaters in town. Not seeing any previews can either be a good thing or a bad thing. So with only that it was listed for the two theaters to go on, I got my QR code for one of the free one million bags of popcorn from Yahoo! and Regal Cinemas and headed out. During the course of the movie there were a total of six people in the theater for first show of the day.

Seven Days in Utopia is based on a David L Cook's book Golf's Sacred Journey: Seven Days at the Links of Utopia. The movie had some star power with Academy Award winners Robert Duvall and Melissa Leo. It also reunited Duvall with Lucas Black who starred with each other in 2009's Get Low. A golfer, Luke Chisholm (Black) after having a very bad round unexpectedly ends up in Utopia, TX where he meets Johnny Crawford (Duvall). Crawford had seen Chisholm's melt down on TV and tells him that if he stays in Utopia for seven days he can help him work through the situation. Chisholm takes up Crawford's offer.

So, if you take a bit of love of golf and the love of the purity of the sport from The Legend of Bagger Vance, some of Mister Miyagi's style of off beat training methods from the original Karate Kid and some of the elements of story telling from best selling self-help books' author Og Mandino, you have an outline of elements and devices of the story laid before you. Going into the 99 minute movie I had no idea what to expect, I took it on faith that it would be a decent movie. While the visuals which were actually shot in Utopia, TX were very compelling and from a production and acting stance were top notch, the story being told and therefore the editing to tell the story were a bit uneven. The attempts to give the back story via flash backs worked to an extent. The trust and openness between Crawford and Chisholm seemed really deep for two people who had just met. The people of Utopia, all 375 of them, seemed very warm and receiving of Chisholm which seems so unlike life today.

Ultimately, it is a feel good movie with a touch of a redemption story of sorts folded into the sports story script. At the end of seven days when Chisholm is about to leave town the connection between the characters is very tight given the time frame they had been together. The overall tenor and tone of the movie reminded me of a movie that I saw the better part of ten years ago called The Legend of Johnny Lingo. Chances are you didn't see that movie either. If you have a chance to find it via a streaming site or a DVD rental it also leaves you feeling good plus you'll love the views of the beaches and waters of the Cook Islands. Heading back up to the Lone Star state, Seven Days in Utopia will leave you feeling the same except for the very end of the movie. The move that I had never seen before in a movie was a very bold approach done by the marketing department. I'm like "WHAT! How could you do that in the movie!" It was very effective in that it had me thinking about the movie when I got home several hours later.

When you SFT, See, Feel, Trust, the positive and inspirational message delivered by Lucas and Duvall, you'll totally understand why the movie has a G rating for general audiences. There is no easter egg at the end of the movie, but there is a good song that plays during credits if you choose to stay.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

Aulani opening day detailed trip report

My trip started at 6am as I hopped the bus out to Ko Olina. At my second transfer point, there was some rain that concerned me but by the time I needed to get off the bus to walk in, it had cleared up. The driver was nice enough to drop me off across from the driveway into Ko Olina rather than another tenth of a mile at the actual stop. It was greatly appreciated. I understand that during the morning there was a nice rainbow that graced the opening ceremony.

This is a rather long report so here’s what I’m covering:

Background Music
Photopass
Logo merchandise
General Excise Tax
Car Rental
Menehune Adventure
Aulani Trivia
Rainbow Reef and Makai Preserve
Mickey Float
Alcohol on the Beach
Aunty’s Beach House and the Adventure’s Club
One Paddle, Two Paddle
Quiet Area
Conference Center and Nani
Loungers and Cabanas
Second Recommendation
The Daily 'Iwa
Aloha, Welcome to Aulani
Water Coolers
The Spas-Painted Sky and Laniwai
The Lava Shack
Shave Ice
Hidden features
Na Menehune
Disney Characters
Oahu Ohana Disney Pin Traders & 10th floor Three Bedroom Suite
Kamaaina Rates
Last First Day Thoughts

Background Music

As I walked into Maka'ala, as I've said in previous, my mouth was on the floor. The activity, the costumes and details I've mentioned in another post. Something that I didn't talk about was the background music. The news was released a few days before the opening that Kealii Reichel has produced several mele (songs) to serenade guests. When I walked in there was one that had some chanting that just gave me total chicken skin (goose bumps) with the vocals and beats blending into the environment creating an exciting aura around what will be for many their first time exposure to Hawaiian culture. I didn't think to check at Kalepa's if there was a CD with the soundtrack available, but will the next trip out.

Photopass

In Kalepa's there is a photo pass available. There are a number of nice overlays that can be added to your pictures. The photopass card for Aulani has a nice plumeria picture on the left side. For the slides and such around Waikolohe Valley, at this time there are no automated cameras like on Splash or Space Mountains. If you want a picture on the slides, you'll need to get a photographer to try to take one and apparently the cameras at the moment can't do the bust photography so it's one at a time shots.
Photopass front Photopass back

Logo merchandise

There was a sign limiting purchases of the Aulani logo merchandise to two items. A Cast Member told me that none of the Aulani merchandise will be available at the Disney Store at Ala Moana Center. No option for mail order either. So, if you want the Aulani pins and Vinylmation items contact me and we can talk turkey about pricing and shipping! I visited the store three times during the day and it was crowded each time. When I purchased some pins, I was offered a nice sturdy folded bag with rope handles and topped with tissue paper. I have not seen this sort of bag at any other Disney resort. This was another example of upping the experience at Aulani. I turned it down as I didn't want to carry it around for the day but did accept it when I purchased two of the Vinylmation figures before I left for the day. A 20 oz Coke Zero cost me $2.59 and with General Excise Tax and deposit, total cost was $2.77.

General Excise Tax

One item that surprised me on the General Excise Tax is how Disney is collecting it. This paragraph could get boring so you might want to jump ahead to the next paragraph if you’re not into those details. Hawaii has a tax that is a tax on the business and not the consumer. The GET is NOT a sales tax. The company is not required to pass it along, but they almost all do. Any money the business collects the State of Hawaii wants a portion so if the business passes along the GET to the consumer, that tax is taxed. Long story short, in order for the company to break even on the tax collection, they should collect 4.712%. Disney is collecting only 4.71%. That is an unusual move not to collect the full 4.712%. On larger purchases, that could be a little bit of money but with the total number of transactions, it could add up. If you made it this far in this paragraph, bless you....now go read some more fun stuff in the paragraph next door!
Receipt

Car Rental

In the Holoholo tour area is where you will find a desk for Alamo rent a car. Archie, Jesse and Savanah are the CMs responsible for the desk. One feature they pointed out is that the Leaf is available for rental and there are charging stations at Aulani. They quoted $59.99 per day not including any taxes. I joked around asking if I needed to bring it back with the battery drained! They laughed. They recommend keeping it less than 80 miles before charging. They are now listed on the Alamo web site, but here is a heads up. They are NOT listed as Kapolei for either the city or using the zip code; you need to look up either Honolulu or Aulani. As another heads up, for Oahu, I'm not aware of any public charging stations. I'll still need to do some more research to see if I can find anything. The number for them directly is 808-676-5924.

Menehune Adventure

Make sure that you check out the Menehune Adventure. If you are familiar with the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure at Epcot, it is similar. You will have a device that will give you clues and activate special animations around the property. I was told there are a number of animations already in place and that more are planned. That sounds exciting!

Aulani Trivia

I spoke with Janice who is a life guard supervisor dressed in red. The funny thing is, her name tag had a different name. Apparently there is a back log on getting the name tags made. She's been in Hawaii for about two years and really excited about Aulani. My question for her was about a bridge that crosses the Waikolohe Stream and has the date of 1923. I asked her what the significance of the date was. When she answered, I said "Ahhhhhh". I will let you find out for yourself when you visit what it means.

Rainbow Reef and Makai Preserve

I ended up walking around the valley for a while checking out the Rainbow Reef where people can snorkel with tropical fish. There is a nice viewing area where you can see into the waters with signs posted with pictures of the fish that you'll find inside the viewing area. Viewing into the window, there are some hidden surprises there as well! From what I could see, the people were not going underwater, but snorkeling while floating on the surface of the water. In the Makai Preserve there are sting rays in a pool. There are sessions where guests can get up close and personal with the animals under controlled conditions.
Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3 Pic 4

Mickey Float

There are several people with whom I've been communicating with about Aulani. One of them works in recreation services. It was great to finally me him in person after corresponding for several months. They are dressed in blue. The waterfront of the lagoon has transformed with the opening of Aulani. With the number of loungers and cabanas available, the beach has more activity. One of the activities is the rental of a float in the Aulani version of Mickey. The standard corporate three circle logo has been transformed for Hawaii. If you look at some of my pictures from around the resort, you'll see the modification! You can use that to enjoy time in the lagoon. The stand on the beach is homage to Joe Rohde thru its name of Makiki Joe’s.

Alcohol on the Beach

For the beach activities, there is something that has totally surprised me. While exiting the property to the beach there is a sign saying "no alcohol allowed beyond this point." But yet, you can have a server bring alcohol out to you on the beach. Now this is where I don't understand the law fully at Ko Olina with their agreement with the State of Hawaii. There is public access to the shoreline. Ko Olina created the lagoons and has provided access to the beach. Alcohol is not supposed to be allowed on public beaches. So, I’m not totally sure under the conditions by which alcohol is not allowed to be brought out, but yet they will serve you alcohol on the beach.
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Aunty’s Beach House and the Adventure’s Club

The keiki (children) that are 3-12 years old are going to have a blast at Aunty's Beach House. The activities that are set up at Aunty's with costume dress up, computers, games, science experiments, nap time and snacks will keep kids occupied! I asked to visit and see the Adventurer's Club items. They allowed me in, I had to sign in, be escorted, allowed to take pictures of props and had to wash my hands upon entry. There is an Aunty's side and an Uncle's side to the location. It's over on Uncle's side where the Adventure's Club items are located. It was fun to see how Aulani has been tied to Pleasure Island over at Walt Disney World *and* to the Tokyo DisneySea theme park. It was a very nice touch! I did talk to the CM about the significance of these items and why they will probably have a number of requests to view them. This was a second reference point back to Joe Rohde.
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One Paddle, Two Paddle

Over at One Paddle, Two Paddle, there was a line for the counter service food. They had items from wraps to burgers and tacos and a number of sides as well as a keiki menu. The prices seem a little on the high side. A delicious smell was floating in the air from the grill cooking the Angus burgers as you stood in the area. This is located at the base of the Ewa Tower next to Aunty's Beach House next to 'Ama'ama restaurant.
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Quiet Area

Over by the base of the Waianae Tower is the Wailana pool bar which is next to the quiet pool that is called the Wailana Pool! How convenient! It is very nice over there, very tranquil as compared to the pools that are part of Waikolohe Valley. A couple of cabanas are available for rental at this location.
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Conference Center and Nani

At the Conference Center, I met Nani. She was kind enough to let me into the ballroom. She was very excited to share about the location and what it offered with its Hawaiian touches. She pointed out the “chandelier” in the room which looked like a lei that they could computer control for the lighting and color control. She also pointed out a beautiful floral pattern woven into the carpet which in many cases will probably be covered with chairs or tables for events and missed by guests. We talked about a bit more which I mentioned in another post. I really want to thank her for taking as much time as she did on the busy opening day to share and talk story with me. She mentioned the 4:15 Aloha, Welcome to Aulani event at would take place at the Maka’ala lanai.
Lights Carpet

Loungers and Cabanas

All around are places to relax. The valley abounds with lounge chairs for use as well as cabanas that can be rented. There were signs identifying the ohana (family) that had rented the locations in front of each cabana. Having a place that you can call "home" while at the pool and knowing that you have ability to have walls to allow or block the sun or wind gives that extra touch for your pool time.
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Second Recommendation

At one point I had found a plug to charge my batteries. It was in the Ewa tower not too far away from the Makahiki restaurant where I could sit down in shade and use the outlet. It was here I met a couple who are big Disney fans, Storm and Bently, who live in Waikiki that had come out for the day. They were enjoying the resort. I did have my copy of The Daily 'Iwa out to see the schedule. One cast member came over and suggested the Aloha Welcome to Aulani event. So that makes twice it was mentioned to me.

The Daily 'Iwa

The Daily 'Iwa is a schedule for guests. It is printed daily and lists all the activities going on around the resort. It is similar to the Personal Navigator that can be found aboard the Disney cruise ships. For guests, this will be a valuable piece to pick up and know what’s happening where and when. This newsletter gives the daily pulse of the events around the resort that guests can take advantage of during their stay if they choose to be active or they could just hunker down in Waikolohe Valley with their towels and sun screen all day.
Front Page

Aloha, Welcome to Aulani

I did attend the first public Aloha, Welcome to Aulani. Cast members started handing out post cards to people who had gathered on the Maka’ala lanai. At the appropriate time, a cast member called the people to order and we had an ice breaker exercise. We had to find someone who had the same postcard that had been handed to you. If you couldn’t find an exact match, then find someone with a similar card. We were asked to share our name, location and something we’re proud of. I met Vincent, a Brigham Young University student who had come over to Hawaii on his own to study at the Laie campus. He worked at the Polynesian Cultural Center as a food vendor.

After the ice breaker, we were introduced to Uncle who then talked more about the resort. Now, Uncle sported a beard which was weird because usually CMs are clean shaven. Actually, I had seen Uncle a couple weeks prior while I was on the lagoon as he was rehearsing lines. It was the first day and he made a little, but understandable mistake by calling one of the towers by the incorrect name. Not a biggie. As he talked he used a few Hawaiian words, gave their definition and pointed out other cast members who briefly talked about activities available that fell into their department. The meeting got cut a little short due to people standing out in the direct sun who were starting to break up. Afterwards I heard him pointing out mistakes that he made. The jitters will go away and the presentation will be refined.

By the way, in case you’re wondering, aunty and uncle in Hawaii is a term of respect and endearment. They don’t necessarily need to be blood relatives, but people who are generally older than you, will share themselves with you, and will let you take the first taste of the poi before they do. They really might be Aunty Leilani or Uncle Kimo, but you don’t always call out their name, just the title will do. They are ohana.

Water Coolers

Something that I noticed around the resort are insulated clear water coolers. I've seen this type of cooler before when I've attended events at hotels or convention centers. There were small plastic cups next to it. Some were just plain water and others had fruit in the water. I personally don't remember seeing this at any of the resorts in Florida including the Grand Floridian. This is one of the aspects of Aulani that I saw and why I say that Disney is raising their game.
Pool area

The Spas-Painted Sky and Laniwai

Inside the Waianae tower are the spas. Painted Sky is the first spa on Oahu for teens and next door is the big spa Laniwai for adults. Painted Sky has the Rip Swirl yogurt bar that's open to anyone in the resort. Teens can get pampered with facials and mani-pedis in a semi-private area. Just outside the door by Painted Sky are the Wailana pool area and the Laniwai hydrotherapy area. As you look up you'll see clouds that will change color giving the idea of the painted sky. Game consoles and computers for the teens are included in this area.

The main spa Laniwai is spectacular. I entered and started talking to the staff. All very friendly and wired up with ear buds to communicate with each other. I had stopped by in the early afternoon to take a look at the spa and was told there was a tour at 6pm. When I returned for the tour, I was offered a seat and then given a glass of water with an infusion of pineapple. While waiting for the tour a local gentleman came in and wanted to buy a package for his wife and daughter. They graciously assisted him using what looked like an iPad to take his order.

The person who gave the tour needs to work a bit on his presentation. He seemed a bit nervous and was speaking like he had memorized a script. It wasn't as natural as some other tours that I've taken. He also didn't know how to keep the group together and everyone in place before he started talking. The looks and feels as you go through the spa are very calming. The main spa is 18,000 square feet and the hydrotherapy outside called Kula Wai Gardens is an additional 5000 square feet and is unique. No other location in Hawaii has a hydrotherapy area. In the Kula Wai Garden are special showers that are like a hard rain, soft rain, side spray and several other choices. There was a hot whirlpool and a cold bath. The water was kept at 52 degrees if I remember correctly. In several locations throughout Laniwai, small snacks and fruits are available.

Going back for a moment to the man who was buying the gift package. He was surprised at the cost. According to him it was affordable. Personally, I've never been to a spa so I have no reference for cost. In any case, the atmosphere was very soothing. Even though I was rush, rush, rush to try to do so many things, just being in Laniwai for the 15 minute tour was very calming! The tour guide also pointed out the driftwood art that was present throughout Laniwai was from driftwood that had been found on the beaches there on the west side of Oahu. Very nice!
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The Lava Shack

Back in Waikolohe Valley is The Lava Shack. It had a few logo items for sale plus some food. Outside was another location for your refillable mug. Inside was a refrigerator that sold food and drinks. What was funny was the way the shack was themed. All sort of little trinkets and odds and ends. Locals will get a real kick out of exploring this location. Two items that I found particularly of note were a picture of Angela Perez Baraquio and a bobble head. Anglea is notable as being a sister in law for a local radio talk show host and a Miss Hawaii who went on to become Miss America. I sent a note to the host Rick letting him know that his sister in law was now immortalized by Disney at their new resort. The bobble head is funny. We have a person who spent part of his childhood in Hawaii and then went on to become the 44th President of the United States of America. Yes, Barrak Obama is being noted for his ties to Hawaii with a bobblehead of him in a surfing position!
Angela bobble head

Shave Ice

Across from The Lava Shack is a location where you can buy the local treat called shave ice. Many people confuse shave ice with a snow cone. There is a BIG difference between the two. A snow cone is ground ice whereas shave ice is as its name says, shaved. It's much lighter and fluffier than a snow cone. Japan visitors might know it as kakigori. This stand is backed by the Rainbow Reef and next to the reef viewing area.

Hidden features

As I walked around Waikolohe Valley throughout the day I tried to take pictures of the different animals hidden in Puu Kilo, the big volcano like structure within the valley. All throughout the day new animals kept appearing. I might have looked at a location in the morning receiving direct light and didn't notice anything. I come back later in the afternoon when the sun had shifted position so there were shadows and BOOM! a new life form was staring back at me. Within the rock work you'll find hidden creatures out by the lagoon going all the way in towards Maka'ala.
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Na Menehune

And speaking of BOOM! The same is true of the menehune. They are all over the place! Make sure you look up, look down, look behind you, in rafters, behind branches. In case you don't know what a menehune is, in Hawaiian legends, the menehune are crafts people who live in the forests who come out at night and use their superb skills to create structures like ponds, temples and roads overnight. You'll find both male and female menehune. Although I have pictures of any that I saw, you might not find them there. They are mischievous and could move at any time. I was surprised at some of the locations where I found them. So keep on the lookout because you just don't know when and where you will see them!
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Disney Characters

Over the course of the day I did see Mickey, Minnie and Stitch. When I asked about Lilo, I was told that she’s staying over on Kauai and one CM said that she’s in school over there! During the Character Breakfast at Makahiki, you’ll see more than just the three I mentioned above. Still no sighting of Duffy Bear! Character appearances can be found in The Daily 'Iwa.

Oahu Ohana Disney Pin Traders & 10th floor Three Bedroom Suite

I did two things to finish off my day. The first was the chance to meet up with the Oahu Ohana Disney Pin traders. The second to visit the tenth floor three bedroom suite. I haven't gotten into the pin trading because I know that I could very well go overboard. Although I do have some pins; my claim to fame is having the complete framed collection of the Walt Disney World Fifteenth Anniversary Coke pins with plaque and when I was a cast member I collected pavilion sponsor pins like Kikoman’s and AT&T. I had the chance to meet some of the collectors here on Oahu and see parts of their prized collections. In the suite, I took pictures of it with the interior and views from the lanai (patio) looking out onto the beautiful Pacific Ocean while down below people were gathering on the lawn.
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Kamaaina Rates

For Hawaii's local residents, the question about Kamaaina rates has come up. From what I understand, the hotel rooms have a 25% discount. For other discounts on parking, meals or merchandise, there none at this time. What I would think is that after they have been open for a number of months Disney will go back and reevaluate what they are offering the local residents. Just as the Florida and California resorts offer specials for locals, I would expect them to eventually offer discounts to help fill up the slow seasons. But for right now, only the room discount is available and future discounts are just speculations.

Last First Day Thoughts

At his point, my day was just about over. I was tired, hungry and a little sun burned. I headed back down and was surprised by a menehune in the elevator. So really, keep an eye out as these little guys could be hiding ANYWHERE! My last treat for the night was running into Joe Rohde again. I asked if I could get his picture and he said sure. He back up a little bit to head to Maka’ala where I took the shot. I once again thanked him and he went along his way. So that was a great way to cap off the evening and my visit to Aulani on its opening day.

To see the complete set of over 600 pictures from opening day, click here
To see all the video of the site before any construction started, click here
To see the complete collection of pics of Aulani as it was being construction, check here

Finally, as a special gift commemorating the opening of Aulani, right click here and then choose the save option.