Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 27 September 2019
A yeti prompts a China travelogue

in ‘Abominable’

By JAKE COYLE safe, so risk-free, so bland, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor,
Associated Press that its business imperatives whose grandfather Tenzing
“Abominable” is just about are never just off-screen. Norgay summited Everest
the most cuddly piece of Writer-director Jill Culton (a with Edmund Hillary) and
East-West synergy a corpo- writer on “Monsters, Inc.” Peng (Albert Tsai) — take
ration could dream up. and director of “Open off with the yeti they nick-
The first co-production Season”), who co-directed name Everest, with pursuers
between DreamWorks “Abominable” with Todd close behind (including a
This image released by DreamWorks Animation shows Animation and the Shang- Wilderman, opens her film, red-haired zoologist voiced
characters, from left, Peng, voiced by Albert Tsai, Everest the hai-based Pearl Studios like the Humphry Bogart by Sarah Paulson), as they
Yeti, Yi, voiced by Chloe Bennet and Jin, voiced by Tenzing (formerly known as Orien- thriller “Dark Passage,” try to get their furry friend
Norgay Trainor, in a scene from “Abominable,” in theaters on
Sept. 27. tal DreamWorks), “Abomi- with an escape shot from back to his home in the Hi-
Associated Press nable” is a rare kind of a first-person perspective. malayas.
creature but the sort we’re A young yeti — picture a A travelogue of China fol-
likely to see more and giant, furry Maltese — gets lows, with the gang briskly
more of in movie theaters. loose from the wealthy col- journeying between post-
The Chinese box office will lector of rare animals (Ed- card inland destinations,
soon overtake the North die Izzard). from the Gobi Desert to
America as the globe’s top Lured by a billboard for Mt. Leshan Giant Buddha in
movie market, inevitably Everest, he hides himself on Sichuan. The animation is
reorienting big-screen en- nearby rooftop. He’s soon bright and lively, with some
tertainment. found by Yi (Chloe Bennet), enchanting set-pieces.
There’s nothing wrong with a “self-proclaimed loner” Everest, they learn, is just a
aiming for moviegoers on teenager living below big puppy — like a cartoon
each side of the globe. For with her mother (Michelle cousin to DreamWorks’
Hollywood productions of Wong) and her diminutive dog-like dragon, Toothless.
a certain budget, it’s long but fiery grandmother (Tsai He also has powers. With a
been considered a neces- Chin). low hum, Everest can spur
sity. And, of course, the Since losing her father, Yi gargantuan growth around
intermingling of cultures — has thrown herself into an him: a dandelion turns into
like in Lulu Wang’s lovely assortment of unpleasant an enormous floating ride,
and heartfelt “The Fare- jobs, trying to save money blueberries grow bigger
well,” released earlier this to make the trip across Chi- than watermelons. The
year — often fuels brilliant, na she and her dad talked journey, too, takes on heal-
border-straddling tales. about. ing properties for Yi, whose
But “Abominable,” about a The familial scenes are beautiful violin playing — a
girl who discovers a yeti on warm but fleeting. Before hobby gleaned from her
the rooftop of her Shanghai long Yi, along with a cou- father — only adds to the
apartment building, is so ple of neighboring pals — uplifting quest.q
Belle & Sebastian make balmy songs

for upcoming film

By PABLO GORONDI
Associated Press
Belle & Sebastian, “Days of the Bangold
Summer” (Matador)
Ask some people if they’ve seen a cer-
tain film and they answer “No, but I
read the book.” For their part, Belle &
Sebastian offer those asked if they’ve
seen “Days of the Bangold Summer” the
chance to say, “Not yet, but I’ve already
heard the soundtrack.”
The Scottish band’s latest provides the
songs to Simon Bird’s directorial debut
— about a summer shared by divorced
librarian Sue Bangold and her teenage This cover image released by Matador
son Daniel — based on the 2012 graphic Records shows “Days of the Bagnold
novel by Joff Winterhart and not sched- Summer,” a release by Belle and Sebastian.
uled for release until next year. The long- Associated Press
ago on “Days of the Bangold Summer” is Away from Here I’m Dying,” which, what
invoked almost at the start, with a newly a coincidence, fits seamlessly with the
recorded version of “I Know Where the rest new songs. Turning to more conven-
Summer Goes,” originally on a 1998 EP, tional soundtrack norms, there are four
whose lyrics about the summer doldrums instrumentals, from melancholic opener
seem custom-made. Also making a re- “Sister Buddha (Intro)” to closer “We
turn appearance, in a slightly more pol- Were Never Glorious,” which incorpo-
ished version than in 1996, is “Get Me rates dialogue from the film.q