Movie News & Gossip

HONG KONG - More than a decade after Disney made a blockbuster animated film out of a folk tale about a young woman in ancient China who takes her father's place on the battlefield, a Hong Kong director is taking on the story of Hua Mulan with real actors.

Jingle Ma said his live-action version of "Mulan" avoids glorifying one of China's best-known female folk heroes, instead focusing on her vulnerabilities and relationships. Ma said he delved into Mulan's trepidation when killing for the first time and confronting the death of her comrades.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - There's no doubt that "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" will rise to the top of the domestic box office again over the coming long holiday weekend.

But Warner Bros. should peel more than a few young males away from that picture's female-driven fan frenzy to support the opening of martial-arts action movie "Ninja Assassin." And Disney looks likely to post an even more lucrative session to nab one of the medal positions in the weekend's box-office rankings with family-friendly comedy "Old Dogs," starring John Travolta, Robin Williams, Seth Green and Kelly Preston.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The narrative behind "The Princess and the Frog" is that Walt Disney Animation has rediscovered its traditional hand-drawn animation, which has been supplanted by computer-generated cartoons. But this misses the point about what allowed Pixar -- which Disney now owns -- DreamWorks and other CG-animation companies to upstage the one-time king of the animation world. It's a thing called story.

So "Princess and the Frog" really marks Disney's rediscovery of a strong narrative loaded with vibrant characters and mind-bending, hilarious situations. Under the direction of veterans Ron Clements and John Musker (the team behind "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin") and the watchful eye of Pixar guru John Lasseter, now chief creative officer of Disney Animation, "Princess and the Frog" celebrates old and new: It's a musical fairy tale that dates back to the days when Walt Disney was a person, not a brand. Yet it deftly mingles with the new sensibilities in animation where fairy tales must get fractured, settings must be fresh and humor must be pitched to many age levels.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Since they are old dogs, there are no new tricks in Walt Disney's "Old Dogs," a shamelessly predictable, overly broad comedy aimed at the family audience starting Thanksgiving weekend. One could debate whether John Travolta or Robin Williams have reached an age to be mistaken for grandfathers, but they certain don't shy away from jokes their grandfathers would have groaned about.

Apparently, the working principle is if it's old, let's use it. There is one mild -- really, really mild -- gag that hints we are in an age that doesn't freak out that gay people exist. That's about as bold as "Old Dogs" gets. The film, opening Wednesday (November 25), should play well this weekend for grandparents and youngsters, after which any staying power it demonstrates will be a tribute to the stars' names and the Disney brand.

- In case anyone in the audience isn't sure when to cackle, coo, snicker or sigh, the makers of "Old Dogs" have provided a handy on-screen prompt.

It's an old dog, shown in closeup, reacting with little grunts of canine confusion or curiosity over the antics of Robin Williams and John Travolta in this dead stray of a family comedy.

Following his rumored relationship with "Twilight" co-star Kristen Stewart and his dreamy coif, the most talked about Robert Pattinson tidbit is his alleged stench - but according to his co-star, Peter Facinelli, it's all part of a plan to get a leg up on the paparazzi.

"He's smart, because if he doesn't changes his clothes and the paparazzi get pictures of him in the same outfit all the time, then they can't sell the pictures," Peter told New York Magazine last week at the Cinema Society screening of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" might have opened with huge numbers at the box office and had the biggest November & Friday openings for any movie ever - but teen sensation Miley Cyrus wasn't one of the Twi-hards pledging their allegiance to Team Edward or Team Jacob. In fact, the teen star considers the whole "Twilight" world to be "a cult."

"I think it's like [a] cult... I think it's a cult," Miley told Sirius XM's The Morning Mash Up in an interview that aired on Tuesday. "I think it's bad. I think it's like, just people get too into it."

- As an icon prone to caricature, Orson Welles ranks right up there with Truman Capote and Ray Charles.

But in "Me and Orson Welles," our view of the great, charismatic director and thespian isn't straight on, but a sideways glance. We see him from the perspective of an aspiring teenager, Richard Samuels (Zac Efron), who lands a bit part in Welles' 1937 production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" at the Mercury Theatre in New York.