Sleeping Beauty Castle to Reawaken

Just in time for the release of Sleeping Beauty as a two-disc Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray(ah, that infamous Disney synergy at work), Disneyland will reopen one of its lower-key attractions, the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough.

Longtime Disneyphiles will remember this A-ticket as a self-guided walking tour up inside the park's central icon, where they could view nifty little dioramas of Barbie-esque dolls depicting scenes from the 1959 animated fairy tale (here's a video retrospective). It was definitely low-tech stuff, mostly appealing to little girls and window display designers. (I remember as a kid we would always do this one last because if we missed it, no big loss; why we waited to do the one attraction that required a lot of walking -- up flights of stairs, no less -- after a full day at the park, I don't know.)

However, for the 2008 version (planned to open sometime this fall), Imagineers are promising a little more bells and whistles, including a virtual walkthrough for park guests who aren't able to walk up all those stairs.

UPDATE: The attraction has re-opened to guests, and LaughingPlace.com has a full report, including pictures and video.

The Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray will be available October 7. Click hereto pre-order it from Amazon.com.

Stardate 2008: Comic-Con Commences

That rumbling noise you hear coming from the west coast is the sound of millions of fanboys and girls descending upon the San Diego Convention Center for the 2008 Comic-Con. And, as the official schedule attests, there will be plenty of movie and television related events, as Hollywood has caught on to the marketing power of having all those fans in one place at one time (a very crowded place, too; Variety reports that Los Angeles and Las Vegas are trying to woe the con away from San Diego to larger pastures).

In addition to Star Trek (which will be handing out the nifty posters displayed above), notable films and TV shows that will have a presence at Comic-Con this year include Bitch Slap, Disney's Bolt, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Death Race, Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, Friday the 13th, GI Joe, Hamlet 2, Land of the Lost, Lost, Max Payne, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Pineapple Express, Punisher: War Zone, Quarantine, Race to Witch Mountain, Red Sonja, Repo! The Genetic Opera, RocknRolla, The Spirit, Terminator Salvation, Twilight, Pixar's Up, Watchmen, The Wolfman, and Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno, plus world premiere screenings of Lost Boys: The Tribe (the sequel to The Lost Boys that will be released on DVDJuly 29) and the one movie that couldn't be more fitting in this environment: Fanboys.

If last year is any indication, there will be a lot of news and such flying out of Southern California and onto the internets, so we'll try to post the relevant information here at Movie Dearest. Plus, our own Chris Carpenter (fresh off his Outfest assignment -- and didn't he do a great job with that, by the by?) will be braving the crowds of Klingons and Caped Crusaders on Friday. Expect a report from him this weekend; in the meantime, Entertainment Weekly has a pictorial preview of all the goings-on planned for this year's Comic-Con.

Reverend's Report from Outfest: Love My Life

One of the most exciting developments in GLBT cinema the last few years has been the growing number of Asian films dealing with subjects of interest to our community. Countries where the mere mention of homosexuality has historically been taboo -- Japan, China, Korea and Thailand, among others -- are suddenly turning out GLBT movies by the dozens. This is good news not only for reasons of artistic diversity but political and cultural tolerance.

Outfest 2008 is debuting several of the latest productions from Asian filmmakers, including Drifting Flowers, by Spider Lilies writer-director Zero Chou, and The Love of Siam. First up, though, is Koji Kawano’s Love My Life, which is premiering tonight.

Adapted from a popular Japanese manga by Ebine Yamaji, Love My Life is a very good romantic comedy about a teenage lesbian’s coming of age. Its plot and style recalled for me such 1980’s John Hughes comedies as Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink, and its peppy song score by the pop-rock band Noodles cements the comparison.

Ichiko (funny and cute Rei Yoshii) takes her girlfriend, Eri (played by Asami Imajuku), home to meet her widowed father, thereby announcing her homosexuality to him. But Ichiko’s father has a surprising announcement for her: he and her late mother were both gay! Ichiko first struggles to come to terms with this news, and later with Eri’s withdrawal from her. But don’t worry: true to the spirit of Molly Ringwald, everything ends up sunnily for the best.

If you are interested in seeing Love My Life but can’t make it to Los Angeles for Outfest, don’t fret: the film is being released on DVDby Wolfe Video on July 15. Whether you are lesbian or gay, Asian or Latino, its story is, as the best stories always are, universal.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.

Metropolis Found

Missing footage from Metropolis, Fritz Lang's seminal sci-fi silent, has been found.

Twenty percent of the film has been considered lost by film historians for years; that is, until an original negative of Lang's 1927 complete original version was discovered in a museum in Argentina earlier this year.

Kino International, which had already planned on releasing a special edition Metropolis DVD and Blu-ray next year, has confirmed with The Digital Bits that the lost reels, after proper restoration, will be included in the new release. I imagine a theatrical re-release may occur as well.

That's Miss Bell to You ...

Let us hope that when the time comes for a certain fantastical faerie to get her name immortalized upon its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year, that they spell it correctly.

For the record (and according to the author who created her), the Peter Pan pixie (who surely will receive this honor conveniently timed around the release of her new Disney movie'srelease on DVD) is named Tinker Bell, not Tinkerbell.

Her friends call her Tink, but you can call her Miss Bell if you're nasty.

Sarah's Square Roots

TV watchers of a certain age will remember Square Pegs, a Freaks and Geeks-like sitcom that, like that show, lasted only one season but lives on fondly in our memories.

It was the first time that we saw several future favorites, such as Jami Gertz, Tracy Nelson, the late Merritt Butrick and someone named Sarah Jessica Parker (who, in a recent interview with MTV, claims that her nerdy Pegs character, Patty Greene, grew up and moved to New York to become a writer named Carrie Bradshaw).

All twenty episodes have been collected for the first time on home video with the new DVD set Square Pegs - The Complete Series(click here to pre-order from Amazon.com), due out on May 20.

Out in Film: Todd Haynes

Idol worship: Todd Haynes, writer/director/producer.

- His infamous short film, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (which told the story of the late anorexic singer's life using Barbie dolls), prompted a copyright infringement lawsuit by Richard Carpenter due to the unlicensed use of the recording duo's music. It was pulled from distribution, but you can see it here in full (don't you just love these unlawful internets).

- More controversy came with his feature film debut, Poison; the film earned him the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and the title of one of the vanguard of the "new queer cinema", but due to its partial funding by the National Endowment of the Arts, it was targeted by the religious right, who labeled the experimental work "filth".

- Venturing into "safer" territory (for him at least), he has brought us the AIDS parable Safe, the glam rock musical Velvet Goldmine and the Douglas Sirk-inspired Far from Heaven, for which he received an Oscar nomination for its Original Screenplay.

- In addition to writing and directing his own work, he produced Quinceañera, has appeared in several documentaries about independent and queer film, and directed a music video for Sonic Youth.

- His most recent work, the unconventional Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There, will be released on DVDthis Tuesday.

Golden Voyages

It won an Oscar but closed a studio, so chances are you haven't seen The Golden Compass. Now's your chance, as the controversial fantasy adventure journeys to DVD April 29; just think of it as another way to piss off the fundamentalist crowd.

And, if it strikes your fancy, you can always pick up these highly detailed collectible figures of the film's stars Daniel Craig,Dakota Blue Richardsand Nicole Kidmanfrom the Robert Tonner Doll Company. After all, they may be the closest will ever get to James Bond and Satine dolls.

Click on the above links to purchase the DVD and figures from Amazon.com.

Cinematic Crush: Jason Statham

Crush object: Jason Statham, actor.

- The burly British bruiser made his film debut in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels; he later teamed up with Ritchie again for Snatch and Revolver.

- More supporting roles followed for the former Olympic diver/fashion model/black marketer with Ghosts of Mars, The One, The Italian Job (playing "Handsome Rob" ... and how), Collateral and Cellular.

- Action stardom came with the hits The Transporter (and its sequel, Transporter 2), Crank, War and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (which will be available on DVDtomorrow).

- The prolific tough guy has already starred this year in The Bank Job and will next be seen in Death Race (a remake of the cult classic Death Race 2000), in theaters this fall.

- Beyond that, he will star in not one, not two, but three sequels: a third Transporter, a second Crank and The Brazilian Job, all due next year.