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Princess Ka'iulani

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  • #31
    Re: Princess Kaiulani

    Originally posted by Menehune Man View Post
    [...]
    It was more of a 'date' movie than documentary. We enjoyed.[...]
    It was never billed as a documentary. It's a historical DRAMA, not a documentary. I enjoyed it, too.
    Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
    Bob Jones gives his take on the movie in MidWeek.
    I posted on Facebook that I felt Bob Jones was way out of line with his review. It reeked of vindictiveness rather than a review of a movie he didn't like. Almost sounded like he had to pay to see the movie rather than receiving a comp ticket or DVD! I don't mind reading a negative movie review but Jones was way out of line.
    [...]
    To add insult to injury, the historical liberties that were taken in the vain attempt to make the movie more commercial has resulted in a product that misinforms and distorts the actual events re: Ka'iulani's life and the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy to those who are curious enough to rent and seek out this film on DVD in the years to come.
    Once again...it's a drama, not a documentary.
    Originally posted by Leo Lakio View Post
    [...] but considering his personal history, using Chinky Mahoe as a consultant and in an on-screen hula role might not have been a good move.
    Gotta completely agree with you there!!!
    Originally posted by LikaNui View Post
    Wow! It's been out almost a month and has barely earned $600,000, and it cost $9 million to make.
    I'm thinkin' that the producers/investors just needed a tax writeoff.
    I doubt that. Production is always looking for a success.

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    • #32
      Re: Princess Kaiulani

      Sounds like a $5 bargain bin DVD at WalMart soon...
      I'm still here. Are you?

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Princess Kaiulani

        Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
        I think if they made a Disney Animated version of that same movie it would have been a blockbuster.
        Maybe, but think about it. Wouldn't a Disney-fied production require a happy ending? How the heck are you going to do that on a life story about Ka'iulani?

        Unless you say to hell with any pretense of historical accuracy and have her be crowned the queen, get married to Clive Davies, and (oh yes!) create some talking animals to be her best friends.
        This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

        Comment


        • #34
          Re: Princess Kaiulani

          Originally posted by LikaNui View Post
          Wow! It's been out almost a month and has barely earned $600,000, and it cost $9 million to make.
          [...]
          Just to put it into a little bit of perspective...it's not in nationwide release. It's in limited release and has averaged 40 theaters during the past month. Keeping that in mind, I don't know if $600k is good, bad or somewhere in between.

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          • #35
            Re: Princess Kaiulani

            Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
            Maybe, but think about it. Wouldn't a Disney-fied production require a happy ending?
            You mean like Bambi?

            I saw the film when it first opened here. The historical inaccuracies don't bother me much at all because as has been pointed out, this is a drama, not a documentary. What offended me was what I consider lazy film-making. How many shots of the princess gazing ponderously up at the sky (or out at the ocean, or across a field, or...) did the writers think we could endure before rolling our eyes in annoyance? There are clever (but out-of-place) transitions that do little but call attention to themselves. Most of the acting is second-rate, 'though I think Q'orianka Kilcher and Will Patton do pretty well. I understand the desire to put as many local people in this film as possible, but supporting characters who can only sorta act don't support the film very well at all.

            Any historical liberties that serve the story seem in this case to be worth it. The storyline itself is compelling; one just wishes that the film-makers had cared enough about it to support it adequately. This could have been quite a good movie.

            PS: Now that I've seen it, I completely agree with PZ. The Barbarian Princess is a much, much better title. Lame of the producers to cave.
            But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
            GrouchyTeacher.com

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            • #36
              Re: Princess Kaiulani

              Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
              Maybe, but think about it. Wouldn't a Disney-fied production require a happy ending?
              Originally posted by scrivener View Post
              You mean like Bambi?
              Bambi had a sad ending? Really??? AFAIK, the ending of the movie saw Bambi and his mate giving birth to twins.... and then, happily ever after.

              If by chance, you're referring to Bambi's mother getting killed,.... that was in the middle of the movie, Scriv.

              Originally posted by scrivener View Post
              The Barbarian Princess is a much, much better title. Lame of the producers to cave.
              If nothing else, a title that didn't have the name of the princess have made all the historical liberties easier to accept.
              This post may contain an opinion that may conflict with your opinion. Do not take it personal. Polite discussion of difference of opinion is welcome.

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              • #37
                Re: Princess Kaiulani

                Originally posted by Frankie's Market View Post
                If by chance, you're referring to Bambi's mother getting killed,.... that was in the middle of the movie, Scriv
                What? Really? Dang. I guess it's been a while since I've seen that one. Remember that episode of Friends where Phoebe finds out that her mom made her stop watching sad movies at points just before the movies turned sad? So she thinks Old Yeller is a happy movie? Maybe my mom did the opposite and stopped movies just before they got happy.
                But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                GrouchyTeacher.com

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: Princess Kaiulani

                  I think Disney should do one on the overthrow. Kids need to know the facts of Hawaii's monarchy in ways they can appreciate it. Sad ending? Maybe but like in Star Wars, Hawaii's future is still very much a cliff-hanger that exudes Sequel!

                  Or make a TV mini series like Roots! Take it from the missionary days right up to modern day Hawaii with activism riding along every historic turn in Hawaii's history! Include the plantation days and the rise of business commerce. Add the Apology from the US Government to the Akaka Bill in ways that both sides are presented. Oh man I'd buy that DVD series in a heartbeat!
                  Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    Re: Princess Kaiulani

                    Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                    [...] What offended me was what I consider lazy film-making. How many shots of the princess gazing ponderously up at the sky (or out at the ocean, or across a field, or...) did the writers think we could endure before rolling our eyes in annoyance?
                    Possibly some of those shots were written into the script but, ultimately, the director has the power to add to or change them. Sometimes they're filmed as insert shots to use for various reasons...or not use at all. In the case of this movie the writer and director are one and the same! This film is Mark Forby's directorial debut.
                    There are clever (but out-of-place) transitions that do little but call attention to themselves. Most of the acting is second-rate, 'though I think Q'orianka Kilcher and Will Patton do pretty well. I understand the desire to put as many local people in this film as possible, but supporting characters who can only sorta act don't support the film very well at all.
                    With all due respect, Scriv, I'll disagree. I walked in to the theater expecting to cringe...and I didn't. I was pleasantly surprised by the acting.
                    Any historical liberties that serve the story seem in this case to be worth it. The storyline itself is compelling; one just wishes that the film-makers had cared enough about it to support it adequately. This could have been quite a good movie.
                    I don't believe there was any lack of caring or support (except for a somewhat small budget). Filmmaking is a creative process and everyone involved brings their ideas to the table. Sometimes those ideas work and sometimes they don't. It's the proverbial crap shoot!!! Bigger budgets allow for bigger ideas. Considering that PK was filmed in Hawaii, England, Washington DC and New York and was a period piece...egads, $9M is nuthin'!
                    PS: Now that I've seen it, I completely agree with PZ. The Barbarian Princess is a much, much better title. Lame of the producers to cave.
                    I also agree. There are references to "barbarian" in the dialogue that would've more than justified sticking with the original title.

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: Princess Kaiulani

                      I just saw the tv ads for the movie. Did the real Princess Kaiulani have that accent?

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: Princess Kaiulani

                        Originally posted by Walkoff Balk View Post
                        I just saw the tv ads for the movie. Did the real Princess Kaiulani have that accent?
                        hard to say....but when Cecilio Rodrigues started singing Jawaiian, he walked around town with a Jamaican accent for a while. Life imitates art.
                        Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: Princess Kaiulani

                          Originally posted by tutusue View Post
                          I don't believe there was any lack of caring or support (except for a somewhat small budget). Filmmaking is a creative process and everyone involved brings their ideas to the table. Sometimes those ideas work and sometimes they don't. It's the proverbial crap shoot!!! Bigger budgets allow for bigger ideas. Considering that PK was filmed in Hawaii, England, Washington DC and New York and was a period piece...egads, $9M is nuthin'!
                          I actually admired that they shot on location in all those places. That was one sign that they cared about certain details. But let me ask you (and I'm asking in all sincerity because I respect you and your opinion):

                          -- minor spoilers here --

                          When the princess gives that press conference, and as the reporters (one of whom is Michael W. Perry!) are turning away, they're muttering things aloud. Stuff like, "Well she's certainly no barbarian!" and "That was well spoken!" It's that buzz of a group of journalists you see in Bugs Bunny shorts, and it's a cheap, easy way to indicate to the viewer that the princess's eloquence has won over the writers. Never mind that (a) you see that scene a thousand times in movies they don't make anymore, movies in which rebellious teenaged boys say things like, "What's it to ya, mister?" and (b) that scene has never existed in real life. Did you find that a satisfying, reasonable scene in a movie written for today's audiences? I thought it was lazy. I thought it relied on old conventions that certainly do the job but do it in a way that required (a) no thought on the part of the writer/director and (b) a lot of forgiveness from the audience.

                          All by itself, that scene is not enough to make it a bad film, but it's one example of what I considered an insult to my intelligence as a film-goer, and I'm not that intelligent a film-goer. Added to the several other scenes I thought were almost as bad, it just really was too much for me to look past. Did you not feel the same way?
                          But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                          GrouchyTeacher.com

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                          • #43
                            Re: Princess Kaiulani

                            Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                            [...] Did you not feel the same way?
                            Not really. I felt they were legitimate comments that could've been uttered under those circumstances. IOW, reality. I consider you a wonderful, intelligent writer, albeit not screenplays, so, out of curiosity, how would you have liked that scene to play out? Did you mean that scene "has never existed in real life" as in the Princess' life? Or, that journalists never react that way? While I'm not a journalist I certainly have made my share of mutterings at the end of listening to someone speak!!! And, the older I get the more I mutter!

                            I sure hope the Bugs Bunny cartoons my dad wrote had way more humorous mutterings!

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                            • #44
                              Re: Princess Kaiulani

                              Originally posted by scrivener View Post
                              easy way to indicate to the viewer that the princess's eloquence has won over the writers. Never mind that (a) you see that scene a thousand times in movies they don't make anymore, movies in which rebellious teenaged boys say things like, "What's it to ya, mister?" and (b) that scene has never existed in real life. Did you find that a satisfying, reasonable scene in a movie written for today's audiences?
                              They should have use dialogue such as "Hey Howzit or Ainokea" to give the film a more modern feel.
                              If the main character spoke with a British accent. Keira Knightley would have been more of a box office draw.
                              Last edited by helen; June 7, 2010, 11:36 PM. Reason: fixing the quote tag

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: Princess Kaiulani

                                Originally posted by Walkoff Balk View Post
                                [...]
                                They should have use dialogue such as "Hey Howzit or Ainokea" to give the film a more modern feel.
                                If the main character spoke with a British accent. Keira Knightley would have been more of a box office draw.
                                WB...wotchu talkin' about?!

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