Yearly Archives: 2009

BOK Up For Top Arena

Staff Reports

altTulsa’s BOK Center has been nominated by Pollstar, the concert industry’s leading publication, for “Arena of the Year.”

The winner will be announced February 17 at the annual Pollstar awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

,It’s the second year in a row the BOK center, managed by SMG, has been nominated. Last year the downtown facility was nominated for “Best New Major Concernt of the Year.” The winner of that was the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.
 
This year, the BOK Center is up against: Air Canada Centre (Toronto, ON), HP Pavilion (San Jose, CA), Madison Square Garden (New York, NY), Sommet Center (Nashville, TN), Sprint Center (Kansas City, MO), Staples Center (Los Angeles, CA), Xcel Energy Center (Saint Paul, MN)

 Again for the second year in a row, the BOC’s John Bolton was nominated for “Facility Executive of the Year” award.

“These awards are like the Oscars for people in our industry,” Bolton said. “It truly is an honor just to be nominated, but of course we would love to win.”
 

Movie Review: The Princess And The Frog

Luke Harrington

The Princess and the Frog
United States, 2009
Directed By: John Musker and Ron Clements
Written By: John Musker, Ron Clements, Rob Edwards
Starring: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, John Goodman
Running Time: 97 min.
Rated G
4 out of 5 stars

It’s strange to think about it in an era when it’s impossible to escape the ubiquitous “Disney Princess” brand, but the venerable animation studio produced all of three princess-themed films during Walt Disney’s 40-ish year tenure there. Of the nine princesses included in the standard lineup, six are from the last 20 years (that translates to twice as many princesses, in half the time, for those of you keeping score). Why the sudden flood? A lot of it has to do with the studio’s one creative genius passing on and leaving his place open to businessmen. The Little Mermaid was a hit in 1989, so the studio continued to base their films on the same formula: plucky, independent princess; dashing-but-bland hero; goofy comic relief sidekicks; ugly villain; six Broadway-style songs; lots of cleavage.

I guess you could argue that it worked: when they started deviating from the formula, they stopped raking in the bucks pretty fast. It’s probably not a coincidence that their films from the early 2000s — Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet, among others — were some of the biggest flops in Disney history, and led the studio to give up hand-drawn animation altogether. It was a decision that was roundly criticized, but fortunately it didn’t last long — once Pixar execs were on the Disney board of directors, they insisted that traditional cel animation be brought back. After all, that stuff is kind of what Disney does.

So here we are. The Princess and the Frog is the new hand-drawn animated Disney film. With it, the princess theme was reinstated, co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements were brought back (after being fired in 2002 for nearly bankrupting the studio with the notorious Treasure Planet), and half a dozen more songs were written. Also, the Disney Princess-branded merchandise was rolled out the door.

If I sound like I’m rolling my eyes a bit, I apologize. I’m really not (though I’m also well aware that if I stop being sarcastic, you’ll stop reading this review). Truth be told, I love animation, and I think Disney has been (and is) the source of some of the finest the art form has to offer. I even count Treasure Planet as my personal favorite movie ever (though, for obvious reasons, I’m reluctant to admit this in the presence of serious film buffs). So, of course I was thrilled to see Musker and Clements return to the animating desk, and I’ve been holding my breath waiting for this film since I heard about it more than two years ago.

So yeah, I walked in with a lot of baggage. But the from the first frame, I was still completely blown away. The oil paintings of 1920’s New Orleans (yep — a fairytale set in the Jazz Age — how cool is that?) are stunning. Randy Newman’s jazz/blues/gospel-inspired score is incredible. The character animation is some of the most beautiful, consistent and fluid to come out of the studio since The Lion King. From the first few notes of the first big song and dance, I was sold.

“Sold”? Who am I kidding? I was literally on the edge of my seat, tingles going up and down my spine, tears in my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw something this beautiful on the big screen.

But alas, the magic didn’t quite last. Twenty minutes in, the lead characters turn into frogs and are banished to the bayou, and everything slows to a crawl. The pastel rainbow of New Orleans is replaced with a dull, drab, brown-and-green swamp. The beautiful human character models are replaced with lazily drawn animals. The spectacular voice of Broadway actress Anika Noni Rose (who voices the titular princess, Tiana) never sings again (not counting a few lines here and there), and a lightning bug with an annoying Cajun accent (voiced by admittedly talented voice actor Jim Cummings) gets not one, but two songs.

It’s a film that sets you up, but fails to knock you down. It’s hard to say who dropped the ball — Musker/Clements films, as a rule, all have serious pacing issues (Aladdin, Hercules, and Treasure Planet all move at a breakneck pace, turning corners with reckless abandon). Producer John Lasseter (who directed Toy Story; Monsters, Inc; and Cars) managed to turn Disney’s Bolt into a masterpiece last year, but he’s never produced a traditionally animated film, and he’s never produced a fairytale or a musical. But more than anything, I’m going to bet that this one was rushed out the door a bit too fast, perhaps in an attempt to announce Disney’s triumphant return to 2D animation.

Well, it ain’t exactly triumphant, but there is still much to like about it, and there is even much to love. While they use the best song up in the first act, Newman’s other songs are still quite charming. The breathtaking detail of New Orleans and the psychedelic voodoo sequences are truly something to behold. Louis, an alligator who wants to be a jazz trumpeter (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley), practically steals the show in the bayou. And, as every article written on this film has pointed out, Tiana is the first black Disney princess.

I’m, of course, a white guy. I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to go through life as a black female, seeing whiteness held up as a standard of beauty in all media, and I’m probably not even allowed to bring it up, by standard PC rules. But there is one thing I can’t deny: being in a theater filled with little African-American girls, enthralled to finally see a beautiful princess that looked like them, is something I’ll probably never forget.

And something like that is a million times bigger than pacing issues.

About the author: Luke Harrington is a resident of Tulsa, editor for MovieZeal.com, staff writer for The Christian Manifesto, and freelance entertainment critic. He holds a degree in film studies from the University of Nebraska. Contact him at luke.t.harrington@gmail.com.

Movie Review: The Princess And The Frog

Luke Harrington

The Princess and the Frog
United States, 2009
Directed By: John Musker and Ron Clements
Written By: John Musker, Ron Clements, Rob Edwards
Starring: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Keith David, Michael-Leon Wooley, John Goodman
Running Time: 97 min.
Rated G
4 out of 5 stars

It’s strange to think about it in an era when it’s impossible to escape the ubiquitous “Disney Princess” brand, but the venerable animation studio produced all of three princess-themed films during Walt Disney’s 40-ish year tenure there. Of the nine princesses included in the standard lineup, six are from the last 20 years (that translates to twice as many princesses, in half the time, for those of you keeping score). Why the sudden flood? A lot of it has to do with the studio’s one creative genius passing on and leaving his place open to businessmen. The Little Mermaid was a hit in 1989, so the studio continued to base their films on the same formula: plucky, independent princess; dashing-but-bland hero; goofy comic relief sidekicks; ugly villain; six Broadway-style songs; lots of cleavage.

I guess you could argue that it worked: when they started deviating from the formula, they stopped raking in the bucks pretty fast. It’s probably not a coincidence that their films from the early 2000s — Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet, among others — were some of the biggest flops in Disney history, and led the studio to give up hand-drawn animation altogether. It was a decision that was roundly criticized, but fortunately it didn’t last long — once Pixar execs were on the Disney board of directors, they insisted that traditional cel animation be brought back. After all, that stuff is kind of what Disney does.

So here we are. The Princess and the Frog is the new hand-drawn animated Disney film. With it, the princess theme was reinstated, co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements were brought back (after being fired in 2002 for nearly bankrupting the studio with the notorious Treasure Planet), and half a dozen more songs were written. Also, the Disney Princess-branded merchandise was rolled out the door.

If I sound like I’m rolling my eyes a bit, I apologize. I’m really not (though I’m also well aware that if I stop being sarcastic, you’ll stop reading this review). Truth be told, I love animation, and I think Disney has been (and is) the source of some of the finest the art form has to offer. I even count Treasure Planet as my personal favorite movie ever (though, for obvious reasons, I’m reluctant to admit this in the presence of serious film buffs). So, of course I was thrilled to see Musker and Clements return to the animating desk, and I’ve been holding my breath waiting for this film since I heard about it more than two years ago.

So yeah, I walked in with a lot of baggage. But the from the first frame, I was still completely blown away. The oil paintings of 1920’s New Orleans (yep — a fairytale set in the Jazz Age — how cool is that?) are stunning. Randy Newman’s jazz/blues/gospel-inspired score is incredible. The character animation is some of the most beautiful, consistent and fluid to come out of the studio since The Lion King. From the first few notes of the first big song and dance, I was sold.

“Sold”? Who am I kidding? I was literally on the edge of my seat, tingles going up and down my spine, tears in my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw something this beautiful on the big screen.

But alas, the magic didn’t quite last. Twenty minutes in, the lead characters turn into frogs and are banished to the bayou, and everything slows to a crawl. The pastel rainbow of New Orleans is replaced with a dull, drab, brown-and-green swamp. The beautiful human character models are replaced with lazily drawn animals. The spectacular voice of Broadway actress Anika Noni Rose (who voices the titular princess, Tiana) never sings again (not counting a few lines here and there), and a lightning bug with an annoying Cajun accent (voiced by admittedly talented voice actor Jim Cummings) gets not one, but two songs.

It’s a film that sets you up, but fails to knock you down. It’s hard to say who dropped the ball — Musker/Clements films, as a rule, all have serious pacing issues (Aladdin, Hercules, and Treasure Planet all move at a breakneck pace, turning corners with reckless abandon). Producer John Lasseter (who directed Toy Story; Monsters, Inc; and Cars) managed to turn Disney’s Bolt into a masterpiece last year, but he’s never produced a traditionally animated film, and he’s never produced a fairytale or a musical. But more than anything, I’m going to bet that this one was rushed out the door a bit too fast, perhaps in an attempt to announce Disney’s triumphant return to 2D animation.

Well, it ain’t exactly triumphant, but there is still much to like about it, and there is even much to love. While they use the best song up in the first act, Newman’s other songs are still quite charming. The breathtaking detail of New Orleans and the psychedelic voodoo sequences are truly something to behold. Louis, an alligator who wants to be a jazz trumpeter (voiced by Michael-Leon Wooley), practically steals the show in the bayou. And, as every article written on this film has pointed out, Tiana is the first black Disney princess.

I’m, of course, a white guy. I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to go through life as a black female, seeing whiteness held up as a standard of beauty in all media, and I’m probably not even allowed to bring it up, by standard PC rules. But there is one thing I can’t deny: being in a theater filled with little African-American girls, enthralled to finally see a beautiful princess that looked like them, is something I’ll probably never forget.

And something like that is a million times bigger than pacing issues.

About the author: Luke Harrington is a resident of Tulsa, editor for MovieZeal.com, staff writer for The Christian Manifesto, and freelance entertainment critic. He holds a degree in film studies from the University of Nebraska. Contact him at luke.t.harrington@gmail.com.

Two Sentenced To Prison In Bribery Case

Staff Reports

Two men were sentenced Monday for their part in a bribery scheme involving millions of dollars in taxpayer funds connected to the city’s Public Works Department. in Tulsa.

Max Elliot Wolf, age 57, of Owasso, president of Horizon Construction Company, Inc., was sentenced to 57 months.  Wolf earlier paid restitution in the amount of $939,078.56, according to acting United States Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward.

Wolf plead guilty on September 10 to Procurement Fraud Bribery. He admitted that from mid-2005 until June 2008, he made numerous bribery payments to former Tulsa Public Works Field Engineering Manager Albert Martinez with the intent to influence and reward Martinez for certifying fraudulent inflated invoices submitted by Horizon.

Also, Harlan Eugene Yocham, age 49, of Yocham Enterprises, Sapulpa, was sentenced to five months to be followed by five months of home detention, according to Woodward. Yocham also paid restitution of $10,000. He was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.

 Yocham had earlier plead guilty on September 8 to Procurement Fraud Bribery. He admitted that he paid a $7,000 bribe to Martinez for his approval of a fraudulent and inflated invoice involving a street improvement contract, Woodward said.

The scandal involving the Tulsa Public Works Department was made public on Jan. 22 when federal indictments were unsealed. At that time, it was announced that two former managers and four area businessmen were charged by a grand jury for bribery and fraud.

“Hundreds of hard-working public employees and private contractors work together every day to maintain and improve the operation of the City of Tulsa," Woodward said after Monday’s sentencing. "Rarely do we see such an obvious disregard for the public trust as these defendants have shown. However, when public corruption is exposed, we will do our best to ensure that the perpetrators are punished accordingly and the interests of the citizens are upheld.”

State Senator Calls For Abolishing Death Penalty

Staff Reports

Sen. Constance N. Johnson said Monday she wants to abolish the death penalty in Oklahoma.  

“Since 1973, 135 death row inmates in the United States have been released from prison after they were determined to be innocent,” said Johnson, D-Oklahoma County, during a press conference at the Capitol.   “Faced with the understanding that our system of justice is not infallible, we cannot continue allowing the system to be the arbiter of life or death for those charged with crimes in Oklahoma.  

Oklahoma has executed the third-highest number of prisoners since 1976, when the Supreme Court permitted the death penalty to resume, according to Johnson.

Johnson also said the high cost of death penalty cases are putting too much a strain on the state’s fiscal budget.

 Jim Rowan, President of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said state dollars could best be spent on investigating unsolved crimes, or cold crimes, and organized criminal activity. 

“Our hope is to renew the dialogue about the costs of the death penalty in both human suffering and economic resources,” Rowan said.  “Through a critical examination of the issue, we want to see if these dollars could be better spent on making our system of justice more effective and efficient.  The ethical and economic ramifications of the issue merit nothing less.”

Johnson and Rep. Sue Tibbs will host the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Symposium on Dec. 15-17, in the Senate Chamber, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 1:30 to 4:30.  

Topics discussed will include abolishing the death penalty, removal of the Governor from the parole process, the Actual Innocence Project, expungement, sentencing reform and barriers to reintegration.  All meetings are open to the public.