March of the Penguins in Chicago (1 Viewer)

[GeoffBr]

Has anyone been anticipating/able to locate this film in the Chicagoland area? I understand it's supposed to release this weekend, if not earlier, but haven't been able to find it anywhere. I've heard only rave reviews from my friends in New York so I'm eager to check it out; friends and I have been looking forward to it since we first heard of the movie. Yahoo and the other major sites don't seem to be aware that it's even opening...

 

[Kim D]

There's a private screening at The Landmark Century Theatre this Thursday. It's too late to get tickets. Bummer. I only found out about it because of your post.

- kim

 

[EricSchulz]

It starts July 8th at the Music Box Theater (near Wrigley Field). Here's the info.

 

[EricSchulz]

If you are a subscriber to the Music Box Theater's newsletter, they offered two contests to coincide with the release of this movie:
---if you print up the newsletter and are one of the first 100 at the first night's show, you receive a free movie poster.
---if you answer the trivia question(s) correctly, you are eligible to win two tickets to the movie plus two passes to the Shedd Aquarium. The bonus trivia is good for winning a soft drink and popcorn!

The movie is playing there from 7/8 through 7/14

 

[Patrick Sun]

This film finally hit Atlanta, and it's a mesmerizing look at the arduous process penguins endure to bring forth new life. It was a fascinating documentary about the penguin's tremendous struggle, in spite of the incredibly cold climate in the south pole, and the long distances between their mating grounds and the seas (food), just to keep their species alive.

If it's playing in your city, it's worth a trip to the theaters.

I give it a 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.

 

[EricSchulz]

Just saw this tonight and highly recommend it. Interesting and informative. Interesting note on the crowd: NO KIDS!!! (loved that!) The majority of the patrons were 60+. But we had to sit through 15 minutes of "pre-feature entertainment" (I just about choked when the announcer said that!) which included 7 commercials and 6 previews...mostly for movies I would not even bother renting. (Has anyone seen the trailer for the "Yours, Mine and Ours" remake? THAT will certainly pull the movie industry out of its rut!)

 

[Brent Hutto]

We went to see Howl's Moving Castle one night and then March of the Penguins the next. Miyazaki-san's latest marvel attracted about a dozen people total, including zero kids. The Antarctic documentary half-filled the theater including scores of kids as young as three or four years old. It's amazing what a quarter-page review in the local newspaper does for box-office receipts on opening weekend.

 

[Joel C]

Howl's Moving Castle has been out for quite a while and received basically no support from Disney in terms of marketing. WIP has been pushing Penguins heavily with trailers in theaters, lots of ads, and strong press. It has already made nearly $30 million playing to the family crowd.

Cute animals are a much easier sell than an esoteric Japanese cartoon, I guess.

 

[ChrisMatson]

Yeah, I don't think the success of the movie is due to a 1/4 page in a local paper.

I caught this a few weeks ago when it was limited to art-house theaters and was disappointed in the presentation. I am grateful that there is a theater that plays "smaller" films here in town, but the presentation often leaves something to be desired.

For March of the Penguins, the sound came only from the front. Would another viewing at a better theater be advised by those that saw/heard it presented well?

I enjoyed the movie and was blown away by the cinematography. I just don't know if I would gain much by seeing it again...maybe I'm just still mad about the sound at my viewing.

 

[EricSchulz]

I saw this at my local Marcus multiplex. The only really impressive sound was during the "Southern Lights" scene. The wind/effects shot all over the place during that scene. Otherwise, not much audio-wise...but I didn't really expect there to be.

 

[David Galindo]

I saw it and was very sad for those poor penguins. :frowning: Great movie, and while I loved Morgan Freeman's voiceover, I would have loved Christopher Walken's voice even more.

Good to see this movie is doing so well- $1 mil to make, $38+mil in box office so far!

And if I have to hear another joke about this movie getting an Oscar and the main stars are already dressed for it, Ill shoot myself!

 

[Shawn_KE]

Saw it last night and thought it was pretty good. Makes you feel for those penguins having to bear those harsh winter winds.

 

[TedT]

Howard Stern was raving about it this morning.

 

[Juan C]

I just watched the French DVD of this movie. I liked it except for some cheesy narration.

And I heard the American studio did the Weinstein and replaced the original music (by Emilie Simon, very Björk-like and even sung in English ... well, Frenglish at least!) with another soundtrack by Alex Wurman. How did it sound?

 

[Sean Laughter]

I really like the Alex Wurman score, definately gives a good expanse and compliments the amazing vistas in the movie rather well - I liked it enough to buy the score CD anyway. It would be interesting to hear the original French score - I still can't imagine the film with characterized Penguin voices though, seems so cheesy to me.

 

[Andy_Bu]

is March of the Penguins for kids or is it more for adults?

Andy

 

[Jason Seaver]

Yes.

 

[EricSchulz]

If your kids are old enough to understand the concept of "The Circle of Life" then they are old enough to see this movie.

And both my mom (79 yrs) and I (44 yrs) loved it.

 

[Juan C]

My 5-year-old son loved it. Interestingly, what disturbed him the most was the shot of the egg cracked and frozen due to the extreme cold and its bad handling by the parents (quite a lesson there, eh?). All occurences of death or animal violence are done very tactfully.


It's a valiant effort, but it definitely made me cringe several times.

Is the Morgan Freeman narration more 'conventional' (ie a typical National Geographic third person, omniscient narration)?

 

[Sean Laughter]

Yes, but I think it's a bit less technical than a made-for-TV nature documentary narration tends to be. I thought it was very well done.

I wish Amazon.com had samples up for the French version of the movie's soundtrack, I'd like to get a taste of what it sounds like.