Arnold Leibovit Movies
A filmmaker who first gained notoriety with an acclaimed documentary of sci-fi and fantasy producer/director George Pal, Arnold Leibovit transitioned into the world of fantasy feature filmmaking himself as executive producer of the 2002 adaptation of H.G. Wells' work The Time Machine. Leibovit became fascinated with the groundbreaking work of Pal at age nine, when he first saw the 1960 MGM adaptation of The Time Machine. Pal's vividly realized work on that film, as well as Destination Moon, The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, and When Worlds Collide, served as a great influence on Leibovit's career, and after working on several documentaries in the 1970s, he made it his goal to chronicle Pal's life and work in a full-length profile. That film, The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal, was completed independently and released to much acclaim in 1985; Leibovit followed it up with another documentary about the history of stop-motion animation, The Puppetoon Movie (1987), in which Pal's work also figured prominently. Around this time, Lebovit secured the rights to the 1960 retelling of The Time Machine, and toiled for over a decade to see it return to the big screen, which it did via Dreamworks' big-budget, effects-laden spectacle, directed by Simon Wells. After Time Machine, Leibovit concentrated on remaking another Pal conception, The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
The classic science fiction novel by H.G. Wells becomes this big-budget adventure directed by the author's great-grandson Simon Wells. Guy Pearce stars as Alexander Hartdegen, a scientist, professor, and inventor in 1895 New York City who believes that time travel is possible. The sudden and unexpected death of his fiancée spurs Alexander to build a time machine, which he hopes to use in an effort to change the past. When he is unable to change the past, Alexander hurls himself more than 800,000 years into the future, seeking answers about the nature of time, but instead encountering a dystopian world where humanity has divided up into two races, the peaceful Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks. Befriending the beautiful Eloi woman Mara (pop singer Samantha Mumba), Alexander must set out to save her from the underground world of the Morlocks when she is captured by them. Along the way, he is aided by Vox (Orlando Jones), a bio-mechanical being from the 21st century. Ultimately, Alexander makes a shocking discovery about the true nature of the Eloi and Morlocks and decides that the only way to change the future is to alter the present. Due to exhaustion, director Wells was briefly replaced during the last few weeks of production by Gore Verbinski, director of The Mexican (2001). The Time Machine co-stars Jeremy Irons and Mark Addy. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Starring:
- Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, (more)
The Puppetoon Movie is a tribute to the genius of special-effects maven George Pal. Long before assembling such dynamite feature films as The War of the Worlds, tom thumb and The Time Machine, Pal was top man in the field of stop-motion photography. Utilizing as many a five thousand separate wooden figures for each of his short subjects (variously titled "Puppetoons" and "Merry Madcaps"), Pal turned out such gems as Tubby the Tuba and John Henry and the Inky Poo. This compilation contains nine shorts, some produced while Pal was still working in the Netherlands (he barely escaped Hitler's deadly wrath after producing a potent anti-Nazi parable), others while he was releasing his films through the facilities of Paramount Pictures in the 1940s. The Puppetoon Movie is hosted by a star who can truly say that he owes his very existence to the standards set by George Pal: Art Clokey's whimsical "eraser boy" Gumby. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1985
- Add The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal to QueueAdd The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal to top of Queue
The works of "Puppetoon" creator and special effects wizard George Pal are perhaps best seen separately and in toto rather than lumped together in fragmentary form. The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal contains an abundance of enjoyable film clips, but most are far too short for the audience to fully appreciate Pal's cinematic contributions. The narration suffers from banality, while the overall pacing of the documentary is lumpy. Still, for those who've never seen Pal's Puppetoon shorts, or his early features The Great Rupert (1950) and Destination Moon, this compilation serves as a tantalizing teaser. Paul Frees narrates The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal, while several Pal associates and admirers, including Ray Bradbury, Roy Disney, Ray Harryhausen and Walter Lantz, are interviewed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1981
This video is a highlights compilation taken from the lovable Little Rascals episodes. It's narrated by Jerry Lewis. ~ Rovi
