Peter Ramsey
The "Rise of the Guardians" Interview
with Kam Williams

The Rise of Ramsey!

Rise of the Guardians is Peter Ramsey's first feature film after directing the hit DreamWorks Animation Halloween special, "Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space." This project followed the feature film, "Monsters vs. Aliens" on which Ramsey served as Head of Story. While at DreamWorks Animation, Ramsey also served as a story artist on "Shrek the Third," and as a story board artist on "Shark Tale."

Before joining DreamWorks Animation in 2004, Ramsey's talent as a storyboard artist was on display while working on a notable number of live action feature films, including "Adaptation," "Minority Report," "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," "Cast Away", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Fight Club," "Godzilla," "Men in Black," "Independence Day," "Batman Forever," "Far and Away," "Backdraft," and "Predator 2" amongst others.

Ramsey's directing skills were also honed early, as he served as Second Unit Director on live action feature films including "Godzilla," "Tank Girl," "Higher Learning," and "Poetic Justice." A lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California, Peter grew-up in Crenshaw, and graduated from Palisades High School before attending UCLA.

Here, he talks about his life and career, and about being the first African-American to direct a full-length, animated feature.

Kam Williams: Hi Peter, thanks for the interview. I'm honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.

Peter Ramsey: Oh, the pleasure's all mine, Kam. The pleasure's all mine.

KW: I really enjoyed Rise of the Guardians. Let me start by asking you what it meant to make history as the first African-American hired by a big studio to direct a full-length, animated feature?

PR: I thought about it a little bit when I first got the job, but then rapidly got lost in the work. It wasn't until later, when my mom and dad read that fact about me in the newspaper, and I saw how it affected them, that it came back to me. Since I talk to a lot of groups at schools, one good thing is that kids can look at me and have direct knowledge of someone who's doing something they might be dreaming of doing themselves.

KW: How did you get the gig? Judging from your bio, it seems like you've been a storyboard artist most of your career until now.

PR: Right. I got into film as a storyboard artist, but my dream was always to be a director. The way I was able to get into the industry was through drawing. As a storyboard artist, you basically pre-visualize the whole film through drawing. So, I spent a lot of my career doing that with many different directors. That was really film school for me, my training ground, because I got to work with so many great people.

KW: So, what was your academic background? Did you study art?

PR: I'm pretty much self-taught. I took a couple of art classes in high school, and I entered college with the intention of majoring in art. But I was a little too young when I started at UCLA at 17, and I wasn't ready for the concept of art that was being taught there. I was intimidated by Art History, and didn't get it. All I was interested in was drawing. I wish I had been able to hang tough, but I dropped out after a couple years. Of course, I did learn a bunch of that stuff later on.

KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier was wondering whether the film is faithful to the book series it's based upon.

PR: An interesting thing about the movie and the books is that they were both being developed at the same time. The books' author, Bill Joyce, in his talks with the studio, said, "It would be really cool, if I could do a series of books about the origins of these characters, how they came to be and their backs stories while you guys were simultaneously developing a movie about the first time they all came together." So, they're all the same characters and they share the same mythology, but the movie and the books are pretty different.

KW: Patricia also asks: What message do you want children to take away from your movie?

PR: The main message of the film is that you have the power to create magic through your imagination and to bring it into the world, whether that's in the form of the Guardian characters who represent a lot of things we need, or whether it's just anybody creating something. That is the best way to fight fear. That's probably the central idea of the movie.

KW: Why did you tweak these familiar characters, like giving Santa a Russian accent and making him look a little different from what we've come to expect?

PR: The basic idea behind the books was to suggest that you grew up with a made-up version of all these characters, as if there's a secret world alongside our world, and we've never known the whole truth about it. What you see in the movie and the books is the real truth about what these guys are. And it's pretty cool, more like a Lord of the Rings kind of epic, fantasy world they all operate in as opposed to the cute, fluffy image you get from greeting cards. That was the central idea of the books. We thought that was pretty interesting and a really fresh way to get people to take another look at these characters.

KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: Where were some "Guardians" when the hunters shot Bambi's mother? I can still hear the shot ring out all those many years ago. How much trauma-less support can animation/fable offer young children without some need of a degree of reality check?

PR: Wow! I'm not sure what to do with that question. I can't answer for Bambi. We have a mom in our movie. Some form of reality check? Yeah, I don't know what to do with that one.

KW: Film student Jamaal Green asks: What is your favorite film, and is there a filmmaker whose work inspired you to make the move to becoming a director?

PR: Omigosh, I literally have too many favorite movies to name them all. But I can throw a few out there: Kurosawa... Coppola... David Lean... I'm a huge fan of Ang Lee. And there are tons of French films I love. Like I said, way too many to mention.

KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?

PR: Of course! Are you kidding? [LOL] But you have to realize that fear is something that lives in your mind, just like all the positive things that reside there. The key is to try to find a balance or a way for the positive to at least cancel out what the fear is telling you. Most of the time, fear is taking something that sounds very rational and blowing it out of proportion, and letting your mind run away with it.

KW: Will you next film be live-action or animated?

PR: I don't know. So much depends on how this one is received and how well it does? I'd love to make another animated film, because I feel like I'm really just beginning to learn how to use all these tools. It's a real experience working in a big studio system. It's like learning how to command a battleship.

KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?

PR: I'm very happy with the work and the spirit my crew brought to the movie. I couldn't be prouder of them.

KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?

PR: Today! I've been laughing a lot lately. [LOL] This is my first time directing, and it's been quite a roller coaster ride.

KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?

PR: Playing the video game Halo 4.

KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?

PR: What I'm reading a new book by Robert Greene called "Mastery."

KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?

PR: I see a guy who always feels like he's a beginner. Sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a bad thing, but I can't shake that image of myself.

KW: I can't recall who said it, but that makes me think of the saying, "The greatest freedom is the freedom to begin again."

PR: Very true. I think there's a Zen saying about a beginner's mind.

KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?

PR: My earliest childhood memory is very abstract. I must have been about 3 years-old. It's just me in the backyard looking at a flower. I have another one from when I was just a little bit older of my parents taking me to see Snow White at a drive-in theater.

KW: Thanks again for the time, Peter, and best of luck with the film.

PR: Thanks so much. I really appreciate it, Kam.

To see a trailer for Rise of the Guardians, visit

Anna Karenina
Film Review by Kam Williams

First published in a literary magazine between 1873 and 1877 in a series of installments, Anna Karenina is a 1000+ page opus which chronicles the ill-fated affair between a St. Petersburg socialite and a strapping, young soldier. Despite the salacious soap opera at the heart of the story, the dense novel is actually much deeper, as it explores myriad motifs, ranging from feminism to family to forgiveness to fate.

Leo Tolstoy's tawdry tale of forbidden love has been brought to the screen over 20 times, most notably starring Greta Garbo (1935) and Vivien Leigh (1948) in the title role. Here, Academy Award-nominee Keira Knightley (for Pride & Prejudice) delivers a fresh interpretation of the flawed heroine in a bold adaptation directed by Joe Wright.

The movie marks the pair's third collaboration, along with the critically-acclaimed Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007), costume dramas which together netted a total of 11 Oscar nominations. End of year accolades are likely in store for this offering as well, primarily as a consequence of Knightley's powerful performance and Wright's daring and dazzling reimagining of the Russian classic.

The highly-stylized production has a stagy feel to it rather reminiscent of Moulin Rouge! (2001). In fact, most of the film unfolds in a dingy, dilapidated theater, which might sound at first blush like a disappointing downsizing of the sweeping source material. But this surreal treatment, replete with stampeding horses and a host of other surprises lying in wait in the wings and up in the rafters, proves nothing short of magical without diminishing the Tolstoy epic one iota.

At the point of departure, we find miserably-married Anna selfishly falling in love at first sight with dashing Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a bachelor serving in the cavalry. The two proceed to carry on shamelessly, much to the chagrin of her cuckolded, considerably older hubby, Alexei Karenin (Jude Law), a boring government bureaucrat.

Besides that awkward triangle, the picture devotes its attention to a couple of lesser-developed subplots. One involves Anna's brother (Matthew Macfadyen), a womanizer who has been cheating on his wife, Dolly (Kelly Macdonald). The other revolves around wealthy Konstantin Levin's (Domhnall Gleeson) pursuit of Dolly's teenage sister Kitty (Alicia Vikander), a debutante who harbors hopes of being courted by Vronsky.

Ultimately, Anna's mind gradually unravels, being tragically undone by a mix of jealousy, bitterness and assorted social pressures. All of the above transpires against an audacious, visually-arresting backdrop as envisioned and brilliantly executed by the gifted Wright.

A sumptuous cinematic feast!

Excellent (4 stars)

Rated R for sexuality and violence

Running time: 130 minutes

Distributor: Focus Features

To see a trailer for Anna Karenina, visit

Deadfall
Film Review by Kam Williams

Siblings Addison (Eric Bana) and Liza (Olivia Wilde) are in the midst of making a break for Canada after pulling a casino heist, when they encounter a blinding blizzard in Michigan. Their car careens down an embankment and flips over, leaving their getaway driver dead the second his head hits the windshield.

Soon, a state trooper arrives at the scene, unaware that the accident victims are actually felons on the run. Without hesitation, itchy-fingered Addison pulls out a gun and callously kills the unsuspecting officer.

Figuring that the cops might now be looking for a man and a woman, the brother and sister decide it might be wise for them to separate and reunite north of the border. He heads into the forest; she thumbs a ride with an ex-con (Charlie Hunnam) headed home for Thanksgiving.

And while Addison continues to create major mayhem with his every encounter with people he meets in the woods, Liza uses her womanly wiles to wrap Jay around her little finger. By pure coincidence, Addison's bloody trail leads to the humble country home of Jay's parents, June (Sissy Spacek) and Chet (Kris Kristofferson). Of course, Jay and Liza eventually arrive there, too, leading to a big showdown during the turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky, Deadfall is a high body-count affair that's every bit a grisly splatterflick as it is a psychological thriller. What makes the film fascinating is the contrasting approach taken by the picture's protagonists.

For, Addison is a psychopath inclined to take no prisoners, while his sister's relatively-subtle style is that of a sultry femme fatale. The question is how long can they keep up the "good perp, bad perp" charade before their luck finally runs out?

An intriguing cat-and-mouse caper featuring both bullets and brains.

Very Good (3 stars)

Rated R for profanity, sexuality and graphic violence

Running time: 95 minutes

Distributor: Magnolia Pictures

To see a trailer for Deadfall, visit

Universal Soldier 4: Day of Reckoning
Film Review by Kam Williams

John (Scott Adkins) was sadistically beaten with tire irons and left for dead by three assassins dressed like ninjas during a home invasion. When he came out of his coma nine months later, all he could remember about the attack was how his wife and daughter had been murdered right in front of his eyes by a creep who had the nerve to taunt him.

In fact, their assailant, Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) even had the temerity to remove his mask and show his face. As he recovered from his wounds, John realizes he doesn't have much to live for with his family gone. So, he decides to take the law into his own hands, rather than wait for the police to bring the perpetrators to justice.

That is the deceptive point of departure of Universal Soldier 4: Day of Reckoning, a high body-count splatterflick ostensibly revolving around an embittered vigilante bent on revenge, ala Charles Bronson in Death Wish. Directed by John Hyams, the film is the fourth in a grisly franchise launched way back in 1992.

The plot thickens while John is searching for Deveraux, when he finds himself being relentlessly hunted by a mysterious figure (Andrei Arlovski).

Furthermore, getting to Deveraux proves easier said than done, since he is protected by an army of rogue Universal Soldiers in his capacity as high priest of the Unisol Church of Eventualism.

Previously, these liberated Unisols had been remote-controlled sleeper agents, operating under the thumb of the government like latter-day Manchurian candidates. But trust me, trying to sort out this complicated storyline isn't worth the time, since just about everybody is about to get gutted or have his head lopped off.

Appreciation of this installment doesn't depend on any knowledge of what's transpired in the earlier episodes, since this bloody free-for-all is designed for that demo of film fans with an insatiable appetite for gratuitous gore. So gruesome, it makes Peckinpah look like Winnie the Pooh.

Very Good (2.5 stars)

Rated R for profanity, graphic sexuality, frontal nudity and pervasive gruesome violence

Running time: 113 minutes

Distributor: Magnet Pictures

To see a trailer for Universal Soldier 4: Day of Reckoning, visit

Rise of the Guardians
Film Review by Kam Williams

When the Boogeyman (Jude Law) hatches a diabolical plan to dash the dreams of sugarplums dancing in tykes' heads and to steal baby teeth left under their pillows at bedtime, it's clear that something must be done. For, if left unchecked, it'll just be a matter of time before the evil schemer will quash kids' belief in the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman) and the Sandman.

Fortunately, these beloved mythical figures have already united to fight their longtime adversary by forming the Guardians, an association dedicated to the preservation of the innocence, imagination and sense of wonder of children all over the world. And at the direction of their sage inspirational leader, the Man in the Moon, they proceed to implore Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to sign-on as an indispensable addition to their ragtag team.

Initially, Jack proves a rather reluctant superhero, between his immaturity and a traumatic feeling of inadequacy resulting from his invisibility. But he ultimately succumbs to his earnest confederates' relentless pressuring that, "You cannot say no!" and "It is destiny!"

With greatness thus thrust upon him, will Jack rise to the occasion to spearhead the charge against the Boogeyman? That is the pivotal question posed by the premise of Rise of the Guardians, an enchanting fairytale loosely based on "The Guardians of Childhood" series of best-sellers by William Joyce.

This action-oriented, animated adventure marks the auspicious directorial debut of veteran storyboard artist Peter Ramsey who makes novel enough use of state-of-the-art 3-D technology here to warrant an investment in goggles for an amplified enjoyment of all the eye-popping, special f/x. Nevertheless, at heart, the picture remains a sweet story with a universal message about the importance of protecting children's innocence.

Although aimed at the very impressionable, still-believing demographic, Rise of the Guardians is apt to resonate with kids of any age with an intact sense of wonder and awe. Yes, Virginia, there is not only a Santa Claus, but a Tooth Fairy, a Jack Frost, an Easter Bunny, and a Sandman, too.

Excellent (3.5 stars)

Rated PG for mature themes and scary action sequences

Running time: 97 minutes

Distributor: Dreamworks Pictures

To see a trailer for Rise of the Guardians, visit