Daniel Craig the new James Bond's 007 "license to kill" takes his first mission to Madagascar, where he is to spy on a terrorist Mollaka. His mission here: infiltrate a high-stakes card game organized by the shadowy Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), Not everything goes as planned and Bond decides to investigate, independently of the MI6 agency, in order to track down the rest of the terrorist cell. Following a lead to the Bahamas, he encounters Dimitrios and his girlfriend. Eva Green plays Vesper Lynn, an alluring operative from the British Treasury who accompanies Bond to the titular casino and Judi Dench returns as Bond's boss, M.
The film contains recurring strong action violence, including an intense torture scene, adultery, partial nudity, sexual situations, and some mildly crude language.
This movies, Casino Royale will be sreening in Penang on 16th of november 2006. Expecting to runs at a full house for a few weeks
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
The movies news the SawIII 2006
SawIII was release in theatre in 27 oct 2006 and starring by Tobin bell as jigsaw.
The movies news about the cruel of the puppet-master who intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police and he has once again excape capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Dr. Lynn Denlon played by Shawnee Smith as Amanda is unaware that she is about to become the latest victim to his vicious jigsaw cruel act. After finishing a shift at her hospital one night, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw, bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the creep alive for as long as it takes another one of his victims. Angus MacFadyen as Jeff, racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw's own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them.
The film was director by Darren Lynn Dousman at Liongate studio, producer by Mark Burg, story and screenplay by Leigh Whannell.
The next installment in the SAW4 series of horror films is set for release next Halloween on oct 31st 2007 after SAW 3 experienced the best opening yet for the gory horror franchise last weekend touching $34.4 million as sawII release last year touch $17.6 million while sawI $18.3 million in 2004.
The movies news about the cruel of the puppet-master who intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police and he has once again excape capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Dr. Lynn Denlon played by Shawnee Smith as Amanda is unaware that she is about to become the latest victim to his vicious jigsaw cruel act. After finishing a shift at her hospital one night, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw, bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the creep alive for as long as it takes another one of his victims. Angus MacFadyen as Jeff, racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw's own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them.
The film was director by Darren Lynn Dousman at Liongate studio, producer by Mark Burg, story and screenplay by Leigh Whannell.
The next installment in the SAW4 series of horror films is set for release next Halloween on oct 31st 2007 after SAW 3 experienced the best opening yet for the gory horror franchise last weekend touching $34.4 million as sawII release last year touch $17.6 million while sawI $18.3 million in 2004.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Open Season 2006
Open Season a Pictures Animation. It's a movie that kids will probably like. Open Season is no "Shrek" or "Ice Age," it gets laughs too. It's capable of giving at least the kid part of the audience a good hunter-trashing, bunny-bashing time.
Led by Boog and Elliot, a battalion of ferocious squirrels, rambunctious skunks, rampaging deer, a wacky duck and busy little beavers with chainsaws all set aside their differences and explode into revolt, attacking the crass, heavily-armed hunters. Most visible and obnoxious of the gun-toters is a snarling brute named Shaw (Gary Sinise, in his sadist mode), a maniac with a cabin full of mounted animal heads, who looks and acts like a mix of Paul Bunyan, Jack the Ripper and Bluto from the "Popeye" cartoons. There's also bossy tourist wife Bobbie, a Jennifer Tilly type voiced by Georgia Engel of the classic TV "Mary Tyler Moore Show."
As for the critters, after Boog and Elliot, the most notable are the mad Scots squirrel-general McSquizzy (the right role for Billy Connolly of "Mrs. Brown"), Elliot's dream girl deer Giselle (Jane Krakowski), his arrogant, fully antlered rival Ian (cartoon regular Patrick Warburton) and blue-collar beaver boss Reilly (Jon Favreau). grizzly bear, Boog (Lawrence) who's been sent back to the wilderness for misbehavior--getting drunk and trashing a convenience store--by his loving and regretful "mama," winsome forest ranger Beth (Debra Messing). Boog has led a fat and sassy dream life in Beth's town, Timberline, as a show-biz bear, but he gets exiled along with his fast talking, one-horned mule deer cohort and all-around bad influence Elliot (Kutcher), who keeps leading him astray for the entire movie.
CAST:
Martin Lawrence (Boog )
Ashton Kutcher (Elliot )
Debra Messing (Beth )
Gary Sinise (Shaw )
Jon Favreau (Reilly )
Patrick Warburton (Ian )
Billy Connolly (McSquizzy )
Georgia Engel (Bobbie )
Jane Krakowski (Giselle )
Gordon Tootoosis
Cody Cameron
Danny Mann
Fergal Reilly
Nika Futterman
DIRECTORS:
Jill Culton,
Anthony Stacchi,
Roger Allers
Led by Boog and Elliot, a battalion of ferocious squirrels, rambunctious skunks, rampaging deer, a wacky duck and busy little beavers with chainsaws all set aside their differences and explode into revolt, attacking the crass, heavily-armed hunters. Most visible and obnoxious of the gun-toters is a snarling brute named Shaw (Gary Sinise, in his sadist mode), a maniac with a cabin full of mounted animal heads, who looks and acts like a mix of Paul Bunyan, Jack the Ripper and Bluto from the "Popeye" cartoons. There's also bossy tourist wife Bobbie, a Jennifer Tilly type voiced by Georgia Engel of the classic TV "Mary Tyler Moore Show."
As for the critters, after Boog and Elliot, the most notable are the mad Scots squirrel-general McSquizzy (the right role for Billy Connolly of "Mrs. Brown"), Elliot's dream girl deer Giselle (Jane Krakowski), his arrogant, fully antlered rival Ian (cartoon regular Patrick Warburton) and blue-collar beaver boss Reilly (Jon Favreau). grizzly bear, Boog (Lawrence) who's been sent back to the wilderness for misbehavior--getting drunk and trashing a convenience store--by his loving and regretful "mama," winsome forest ranger Beth (Debra Messing). Boog has led a fat and sassy dream life in Beth's town, Timberline, as a show-biz bear, but he gets exiled along with his fast talking, one-horned mule deer cohort and all-around bad influence Elliot (Kutcher), who keeps leading him astray for the entire movie.
CAST:
Martin Lawrence (Boog )
Ashton Kutcher (Elliot )
Debra Messing (Beth )
Gary Sinise (Shaw )
Jon Favreau (Reilly )
Patrick Warburton (Ian )
Billy Connolly (McSquizzy )
Georgia Engel (Bobbie )
Jane Krakowski (Giselle )
Gordon Tootoosis
Cody Cameron
Danny Mann
Fergal Reilly
Nika Futterman
DIRECTORS:
Jill Culton,
Anthony Stacchi,
Roger Allers
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Open Season North American box office
Open Season a Comedy, Kids/Family and Sony Pictures Animation unit, sold about $23 million worth of tickets during its first three days beginning on Friday. The new animal cartoon "Open Season" tracked down the No. 1 spot at the North American box office. The Guardian" sharing top billing with Kevin Costner, which opened at No. 2 with $17.7 million. Last weekend's champion, "Jackass Number Two," slipped to No. 3 with $14 million,
The story about a 900-pound domesticated grizzly bear named Boog and a scrawny, one-horned mule deer named Elliot end up stranded together in the woods during hunting season and it's up to the duo to rally all the other forest animals and turn the tables on the hunters. Martin Lawrence voices a domesticated bear named Boog, who is set loose in the wilderness just before the start of hunting season. Ashton Kutcher plays his partner-in-crime, a one-antlered mule deer.
Starring: Paul Westerberg, Gary Sinise, Jon Favreau, Patrick Warburton, Ashton Kutcher, Martin Lawrence
movie news
The story about a 900-pound domesticated grizzly bear named Boog and a scrawny, one-horned mule deer named Elliot end up stranded together in the woods during hunting season and it's up to the duo to rally all the other forest animals and turn the tables on the hunters. Martin Lawrence voices a domesticated bear named Boog, who is set loose in the wilderness just before the start of hunting season. Ashton Kutcher plays his partner-in-crime, a one-antlered mule deer.
Starring: Paul Westerberg, Gary Sinise, Jon Favreau, Patrick Warburton, Ashton Kutcher, Martin Lawrence
movie news
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
movie news : omen
The film Omen was created in 1976 and directed by Richard Donner was later released in June 2006. These films were based off of a novel and the new movie was directed by John Moore.
The film focuses on the life of a young boy named Damien who may or may not be the son of the devil. With heavy religious overtones, this film plays on our sense of fear by presenting a quiet, evil, and calculating young boy. The main conflict found within the movie is the disbelief of the boy's father that his son could be the son of the devil. It is a moral dilemma faced by the man, played by Liev Schriber and his wife, played by Julia Styles,The boy is played by a young Harvey Stevenswho really knocks it out of the park when it comes to playing a one-dimensional creepster. The film also features a priest, played by Patrick Troughton who continuously warns the father of the coming circumstances he will face.
movie news
The film focuses on the life of a young boy named Damien who may or may not be the son of the devil. With heavy religious overtones, this film plays on our sense of fear by presenting a quiet, evil, and calculating young boy. The main conflict found within the movie is the disbelief of the boy's father that his son could be the son of the devil. It is a moral dilemma faced by the man, played by Liev Schriber and his wife, played by Julia Styles,The boy is played by a young Harvey Stevenswho really knocks it out of the park when it comes to playing a one-dimensional creepster. The film also features a priest, played by Patrick Troughton who continuously warns the father of the coming circumstances he will face.
movie news
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
movie news : Hollywoodland
Movie News
June 16, 1959. The glamour of Tinseltown permanently fades for actor George Reeves, the heroic Man of Steel on TV's "Adventures of Superman," as the actor dies in his Hollywood Hills home. Felled by a single gunshot wound, Reeves leaves behind a fiancée--aspiring starlet Leonore Lemmon--and millions of fans who are shocked by his death. But it is his grieving mother, Helen Bessolo, who will not let the questionable circumstances surrounding his demise go unaddressed. Helen seeks justice, or at least answers. The Los Angeles Police Department closes the case, but Helen hires--for $50 a day--private detective Louis Simo. Simo soon ascertains that the torrid affair Reeves had with Toni Mannix, the wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix, might hold the key to the truth. But truth and justice are not so easily found in Hollywood. Simo pursues dangerous and elusive leads in both high and low places and, in trying to turn up the heat, risks getting burned. The detective also uncovers unexpected connections to his own life as the case turns more personal and he learns more about Reeves himself. Behind the icon was a complex man who gave his life to Hollywood in more ways than one.
Also Known As: Truth, Justice and the American Way
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Logline: A drama that recounts the life and mysterious death by suicide of George Reeves, star of the television series "Superman" (1951-1957), who died at age forty-two.
Genres: Drama, Romance, Thriller, Crime/Gangster and Biopic
Running Time: 126 min
Release Date: September 8th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for language, some violence and sexual content.
Distributors: Focus Features
Production Co.: Back Lot Pictures
Studios: Focus Features
Filming Locations: Toronto, Ontario Canada
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
June 16, 1959. The glamour of Tinseltown permanently fades for actor George Reeves, the heroic Man of Steel on TV's "Adventures of Superman," as the actor dies in his Hollywood Hills home. Felled by a single gunshot wound, Reeves leaves behind a fiancée--aspiring starlet Leonore Lemmon--and millions of fans who are shocked by his death. But it is his grieving mother, Helen Bessolo, who will not let the questionable circumstances surrounding his demise go unaddressed. Helen seeks justice, or at least answers. The Los Angeles Police Department closes the case, but Helen hires--for $50 a day--private detective Louis Simo. Simo soon ascertains that the torrid affair Reeves had with Toni Mannix, the wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix, might hold the key to the truth. But truth and justice are not so easily found in Hollywood. Simo pursues dangerous and elusive leads in both high and low places and, in trying to turn up the heat, risks getting burned. The detective also uncovers unexpected connections to his own life as the case turns more personal and he learns more about Reeves himself. Behind the icon was a complex man who gave his life to Hollywood in more ways than one.
Also Known As: Truth, Justice and the American Way
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Logline: A drama that recounts the life and mysterious death by suicide of George Reeves, star of the television series "Superman" (1951-1957), who died at age forty-two.
Genres: Drama, Romance, Thriller, Crime/Gangster and Biopic
Running Time: 126 min
Release Date: September 8th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for language, some violence and sexual content.
Distributors: Focus Features
Production Co.: Back Lot Pictures
Studios: Focus Features
Filming Locations: Toronto, Ontario Canada
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
movie news : The covenant
Movie NewsIn 1692, in the Ipswich Colony of Massachusetts, five families with untold power formed a covenant of silence. One family, lusting for more, was banished; their bloodline disappearing without a trace--until now. This thriller tells the story of the Sons of Ipswich, four young students at the elite Spencer Academy who are bound by their sacred ancestry. As descendants of the original families who settled in Ipswich Colony in the 1600's, the boys have all been born with special powers. When the body of a dead student is discovered after a party, secrets begin to unravel which threaten to break the covenant of silence that has protected their families for hundreds of years.
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Logline: Four prep-school students discover they have supernatural powers. When one of them uses the powers for less than altruistic purposes, there are catastrophic results.
Genres: Suspense/Horror and Thriller
Release Date: September 8th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, sexual content, partial nudity and language.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Co.: Lakeshore Entertainment, Sandstorm Films
Studios: Screen Gems
Filming Locations: Montreal, Quebec Canada
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Logline: Four prep-school students discover they have supernatural powers. When one of them uses the powers for less than altruistic purposes, there are catastrophic results.
Genres: Suspense/Horror and Thriller
Release Date: September 8th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, sexual content, partial nudity and language.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Co.: Lakeshore Entertainment, Sandstorm Films
Studios: Screen Gems
Filming Locations: Montreal, Quebec Canada
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
movie news : Faris lands on sorority row in comedy
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Scary Movie" heroine Anna Faris will star in a fish-out-of-water comedy she originated.
The as-yet-untitled project revolves around a naive centerfold model who loses her job and takes the only one she can find, that of a "house mother" at UCLA's lamest, dorkiest sorority.
Faris brought the idea for the character to screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith, who developed it into a feature. The trio took the project to Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Prods., which set it up at Paramount Pictures.
Faris will serve as an executive producer, along with Lutz and Smith. The scribes' credits include "10 Things I Hate About You," "Legally Blonde" and "She's the Man."
Faris starred in all four "Scary Movie" films, which collectively grossed more than $680 million worldwide. Her other recent credits include "Brokeback Mountain," "Just Friends" and "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." She recently wrapped a starring turn in the indie feature "Smiley Face" as well as an appearance in "Mama's Boy" opposite Jon Heder and Diane Keaton.
By Borys Kit
The as-yet-untitled project revolves around a naive centerfold model who loses her job and takes the only one she can find, that of a "house mother" at UCLA's lamest, dorkiest sorority.
Faris brought the idea for the character to screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith, who developed it into a feature. The trio took the project to Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Prods., which set it up at Paramount Pictures.
Faris will serve as an executive producer, along with Lutz and Smith. The scribes' credits include "10 Things I Hate About You," "Legally Blonde" and "She's the Man."
Faris starred in all four "Scary Movie" films, which collectively grossed more than $680 million worldwide. Her other recent credits include "Brokeback Mountain," "Just Friends" and "My Super Ex-Girlfriend." She recently wrapped a starring turn in the indie feature "Smiley Face" as well as an appearance in "Mama's Boy" opposite Jon Heder and Diane Keaton.
By Borys Kit
movie news : Another Gay Movie
The gay gross-out comedy Adam & Steve was a tame family outing compared to this teen sex farce, which basically puts a homosexual spin on American Pie, gag for gag. Meaning you've got your uncomfortable sex-ed talk with a well-meaning but awkward father; your embarrassing webcam sex escapade accidentally broadcast to the entire school; and, of course, pastry humping. AGM tries so hard to be extreme that it misses the key ingredient of the American Pie films—an underlying sweetness. We laughed at the Pie crew, but ultimately came to care for them. This is not the case with AGM's four high-school seniors, who vow to lose their "Big A" virginity before heading off to college. Nor do we care for the semifamous gay celebs in supporting roles, including comic Graham Norton as an S&M–loving teacher and Survivor winner/tax evader Richard Hatch. (Yes, he's naked in every scene, only without the box blurring out his naughty bits. You've been warned.) Making the best impression is Ashlie Atkinson's Muffler, the lesbian analogue to Seann William Scott's obnoxious jock Stifler, who manages to deflower the entire cheerleading squad in one night. FRANK PAIVA
movie news
By Frank Paiva
movie news
By Frank Paiva
movie news : Charlie Sheen Making 9/11 Conspiracy Movie?
Alright, so Oliver Stone's World Trade Center came and went without offending anyone or pissing on the victims of 9/11. We dodged a bullet there folks. Care to try it again?
Get ready, we might have to. Our friends over at Filmstalker have dug up a story from the NY Post which says yet another World Trade Center movie may be on the way.
This movie is about another last men out of the WTC, William Rodriguez. Rodriguez's story starts out heroically. A janitor at the Trade Center, on the day of the attack he was the only man with a master key to all the doors in the building. So, in a bit of bravery he led Firefighters up the stairs of the North Tower unlocking doors for them as he went. He made it to floor 39 before he evacuated, and in the process saved hundreds of lives. He made it out of the buildling just before it collapsed, but was buried under rubble for an hour before being rescued.
That's the good part. The bad part is that after it was all over he launched a lawsuit against the government accusing President Bush of planning the attacks himself.
So, who do you go to when you're a 9/11 hero full of conspiracy theories against the government? Charlie Sheen of course. Rodriguez is reportedly talking to Sheen and Esai Morales about funding a project to bring his story to theaters. He says that Charlie's on board, and told him he'd "be honored" to turn his story into a movie. Writer David Marconi is reportedly already part of the project.
Marconi insists that the movie will focus on Rodirguez's 9/11 heroism, but I find that a little hard to believe. Sheen has gained some notoriety as a 9/11 conspiracy theorist in the past, and if you're not going to explore his story from that angle, then why bother to go to him over some other Hollywood actor?
If you thought audiences weren't ready to see faithful re-enactments of the events of the day, just wait until they have to react to a 9/11 film filled with accusatory conspiracy theories. Wait, we already had that didn't we? It was called Fahrenheit 9/11 and it outgrossed United 93 and World Trade Center combined. If he does it, Charlie Sheen just might end up getting very very rich.
movie news
By Josh Tyler
Get ready, we might have to. Our friends over at Filmstalker have dug up a story from the NY Post which says yet another World Trade Center movie may be on the way.
This movie is about another last men out of the WTC, William Rodriguez. Rodriguez's story starts out heroically. A janitor at the Trade Center, on the day of the attack he was the only man with a master key to all the doors in the building. So, in a bit of bravery he led Firefighters up the stairs of the North Tower unlocking doors for them as he went. He made it to floor 39 before he evacuated, and in the process saved hundreds of lives. He made it out of the buildling just before it collapsed, but was buried under rubble for an hour before being rescued.
That's the good part. The bad part is that after it was all over he launched a lawsuit against the government accusing President Bush of planning the attacks himself.
So, who do you go to when you're a 9/11 hero full of conspiracy theories against the government? Charlie Sheen of course. Rodriguez is reportedly talking to Sheen and Esai Morales about funding a project to bring his story to theaters. He says that Charlie's on board, and told him he'd "be honored" to turn his story into a movie. Writer David Marconi is reportedly already part of the project.
Marconi insists that the movie will focus on Rodirguez's 9/11 heroism, but I find that a little hard to believe. Sheen has gained some notoriety as a 9/11 conspiracy theorist in the past, and if you're not going to explore his story from that angle, then why bother to go to him over some other Hollywood actor?
If you thought audiences weren't ready to see faithful re-enactments of the events of the day, just wait until they have to react to a 9/11 film filled with accusatory conspiracy theories. Wait, we already had that didn't we? It was called Fahrenheit 9/11 and it outgrossed United 93 and World Trade Center combined. If he does it, Charlie Sheen just might end up getting very very rich.
movie news
By Josh Tyler
Thursday, August 24, 2006
movie news : Crossover (2006)
Synopsis: movie news
Noah Cruise, a naturally talented basketball player, is determined to become a doctor using his basketball scholarship to attend UCLA pre-med, rather than succumbing to the lure of a former sports agent Vaughn, and his push for Noah to go for the NBA. Noah's best friend, Tech, the buddy that covered for him and did time for an assault charge, is also an outstanding basketball player, but has less lofty ambitions--he wants to get his GED and win an underground street ball game against an arrogant rival, Jewelz. Noah and Tech's lives drastically change when they both fall in love with two local girls, Vanessa Lilly and Eboni Jackson, and take a fateful trip out to L.A. together
Director Credit
Preston Whitmore
Anthony Mackie
Shelli Boone
Wayne Brady
Alecia Jai Fears
Michael Kimbrew
Eva Pigford
Wesley Jonathan
Kristen Wilson
James Lewis
Philip Champion
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
Noah Cruise, a naturally talented basketball player, is determined to become a doctor using his basketball scholarship to attend UCLA pre-med, rather than succumbing to the lure of a former sports agent Vaughn, and his push for Noah to go for the NBA. Noah's best friend, Tech, the buddy that covered for him and did time for an assault charge, is also an outstanding basketball player, but has less lofty ambitions--he wants to get his GED and win an underground street ball game against an arrogant rival, Jewelz. Noah and Tech's lives drastically change when they both fall in love with two local girls, Vanessa Lilly and Eboni Jackson, and take a fateful trip out to L.A. together
Director Credit
Preston Whitmore
Anthony Mackie
Shelli Boone
Wayne Brady
Alecia Jai Fears
Michael Kimbrew
Eva Pigford
Wesley Jonathan
Kristen Wilson
James Lewis
Philip Champion
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
movie news : Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Synopsis: movie news
When a young man witnesses a brutal mob murder, it falls to FBI agent Neville Flynn to escort his charge safely from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify. But in an act of self-preservation, the crime boss facing prison smuggles hundreds of poisonous snakes onto the commercial aircraft in a crate timed to release its deadly cargo halfway over the Pacific. Flynn, along with a frightened flight crew and passengers, must then band together in a desperate attempt to survive.
Full Cast & Crew
Theatrical Release 8/18/2006
Studio Credit New Line Cinema Studio
Director Credit
David Richard Ellis Director
Cast Credit
Samuel L. Jackson Neville Flynn
Nathan Phillips Sean Jones
Rachel Blanchard Mercedes
Julianna Margulies Claire Miller
Flex Alexander Three G's
Sunny Mabrey Tiffany
Bobby Cannavale Hank Harris
Todd Louiso Dr. Steven Price
Kenan Thompson Troy
Lin Shaye Grace
David Koechner Rick
Elsa Pataky Maria
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
When a young man witnesses a brutal mob murder, it falls to FBI agent Neville Flynn to escort his charge safely from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify. But in an act of self-preservation, the crime boss facing prison smuggles hundreds of poisonous snakes onto the commercial aircraft in a crate timed to release its deadly cargo halfway over the Pacific. Flynn, along with a frightened flight crew and passengers, must then band together in a desperate attempt to survive.
Full Cast & Crew
Theatrical Release 8/18/2006
Studio Credit New Line Cinema Studio
Director Credit
David Richard Ellis Director
Cast Credit
Samuel L. Jackson Neville Flynn
Nathan Phillips Sean Jones
Rachel Blanchard Mercedes
Julianna Margulies Claire Miller
Flex Alexander Three G's
Sunny Mabrey Tiffany
Bobby Cannavale Hank Harris
Todd Louiso Dr. Steven Price
Kenan Thompson Troy
Lin Shaye Grace
David Koechner Rick
Elsa Pataky Maria
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
movie news :
HOLLYWOOD - Veteran actor James Woods has dumped his 20-year-old girlfriend, Ashley Madison, after the stress from the May-December relationship sent him to the emergency room.
The 59-year-old star was distraught after his brother Michael died unexpectedly of a heart attack last month and was shocked by Madison's insensitivity during his funeral.
Woods' friend Scott Sandler tells the New York Daily News that Madison showed up for the service dressed inappropriately "in a 3-inch miniskirt and chain-smoking."
He explains, "At the funeral she was concerned about the amount of magazines she was in. Jimmy was on his knees with tears staining his shirt, and she was showing pictures of herself.
"Jimmy was so overcome by grief his blood pressure went through the roof early last week, and he had to go to the hospital. When he came out, it was like he had seen the light."
The actor has known Madison, the pal of a golfing buddy, since she was five-years-old.
Adds Sandler, "She's the anti-Christ. She truly has the soul of a moth and the brain of a dead trout."
Shark, which stars Woods as a celebrity attorney-turned-prosecutor, began shooting Monday. Production has been suspended at least until the end of next week. The series is slated for a September 21 premiere, in the Thursday 10 p.m. slot, after the seventh-season launch of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Michael Woods, 49, had acting roles in several of his brother's movies, including Race to Space, Another Day in Paradise, Killer: A Journal of Murder and USA Network's Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story.
Article Copyright Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.
Photo(s) by Scott Kirkland- © 2006- DailyCeleb.com- All Rights Reserved.
The 59-year-old star was distraught after his brother Michael died unexpectedly of a heart attack last month and was shocked by Madison's insensitivity during his funeral.
Woods' friend Scott Sandler tells the New York Daily News that Madison showed up for the service dressed inappropriately "in a 3-inch miniskirt and chain-smoking."
He explains, "At the funeral she was concerned about the amount of magazines she was in. Jimmy was on his knees with tears staining his shirt, and she was showing pictures of herself.
"Jimmy was so overcome by grief his blood pressure went through the roof early last week, and he had to go to the hospital. When he came out, it was like he had seen the light."
The actor has known Madison, the pal of a golfing buddy, since she was five-years-old.
Adds Sandler, "She's the anti-Christ. She truly has the soul of a moth and the brain of a dead trout."
Shark, which stars Woods as a celebrity attorney-turned-prosecutor, began shooting Monday. Production has been suspended at least until the end of next week. The series is slated for a September 21 premiere, in the Thursday 10 p.m. slot, after the seventh-season launch of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Michael Woods, 49, had acting roles in several of his brother's movies, including Race to Space, Another Day in Paradise, Killer: A Journal of Murder and USA Network's Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story.
Article Copyright Entertainment News Network All Rights Reserved.
Photo(s) by Scott Kirkland- © 2006- DailyCeleb.com- All Rights Reserved.
movie news : The Grudge 2
Movie NewsSuspense/Horror and Sequel
October 13th, 2006 (wide)
Starring:
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Tamblyn, Arielle Kebbel, Teresa Palmer, Jennifer Beals
Directed By:
Takashi Shimizu
Synopsis:
In Tokyo, a young woman (Amber Tamblyn) is exposed to the same mysterious curse that afflicted her sister (Sarah Michelle Gellar). The super-natural force, which fills a person with rage before spreading to its next victim, brings together a group of previously unrelated people who attempt to unlock its secret to save their lives.
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Logline: When a cast and crew of a TV show start filming in the apparently haunted house, strange things begin to happen to each of them.
Genres: Suspense/Horror and Sequel
Release Date: October 13th, 2006 (wide)
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Co.: Ghost House Pictures, Mandate Pictures
Studios: Columbia Pictures
Filming Locations: Tokyo, Japan
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
October 13th, 2006 (wide)
Starring:
Sarah Michelle Gellar, Amber Tamblyn, Arielle Kebbel, Teresa Palmer, Jennifer Beals
Directed By:
Takashi Shimizu
Synopsis:
In Tokyo, a young woman (Amber Tamblyn) is exposed to the same mysterious curse that afflicted her sister (Sarah Michelle Gellar). The super-natural force, which fills a person with rage before spreading to its next victim, brings together a group of previously unrelated people who attempt to unlock its secret to save their lives.
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Logline: When a cast and crew of a TV show start filming in the apparently haunted house, strange things begin to happen to each of them.
Genres: Suspense/Horror and Sequel
Release Date: October 13th, 2006 (wide)
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Co.: Ghost House Pictures, Mandate Pictures
Studios: Columbia Pictures
Filming Locations: Tokyo, Japan
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
movie news : Talladega Nights
Movie news
Comedy and Sports
August 4th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence
Starring:
Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amy Adams, David Koechner, Gary Cole, Leslie Bibb
Directed By: Adam McKay
Synopsis:
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a NASCAR racing sensation whose "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner and childhood friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo, thrilling their fans by finishing most races in the top spots - with Ricky Bobby always leading the pack. When a flamboyant French Formula One driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), challenges him, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight for his place as racing's top driver.
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a NASCAR racing sensation whose "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner and childhood friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo, thrilling their fans by finishing most races in the top spots - with Ricky Bobby always leading the pack. When a flamboyant French Formula One driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), challenges him for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight for his place as racing's top driver.
Also Known As: High, Wide and Handsome
Talladega Nights
Untitled (Will Ferrell Nascar Project)
Production Status: Released
Logline: Set in the world of professional stock car racing.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy and Sports
Running Time: 1 hr. 50 min.
Release Date: August 4th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Co.: High Wide and Handsome Inc, Apatow Productions, Mosaic Media Group
Studios: Columbia Pictures
Financiers: Relativity Media
U.S. Box Office: $47,042,215
Filming Locations: North Carolina, USA
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Comedy and Sports
August 4th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence
Starring:
Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen, Michael Clarke Duncan, Amy Adams, David Koechner, Gary Cole, Leslie Bibb
Directed By: Adam McKay
Synopsis:
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a NASCAR racing sensation whose "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner and childhood friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo, thrilling their fans by finishing most races in the top spots - with Ricky Bobby always leading the pack. When a flamboyant French Formula One driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), challenges him, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight for his place as racing's top driver.
Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) is a NASCAR racing sensation whose "win at all costs" approach has made him a national hero. He and his loyal racing partner and childhood friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), are a fearless duo, thrilling their fans by finishing most races in the top spots - with Ricky Bobby always leading the pack. When a flamboyant French Formula One driver, Jean Girard (Sacha Baron Cohen), challenges him for the supremacy of NASCAR, Ricky Bobby must face his own demons and fight for his place as racing's top driver.
Also Known As: High, Wide and Handsome
Talladega Nights
Untitled (Will Ferrell Nascar Project)
Production Status: Released
Logline: Set in the world of professional stock car racing.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Comedy and Sports
Running Time: 1 hr. 50 min.
Release Date: August 4th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, drug references and brief comic violence.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Co.: High Wide and Handsome Inc, Apatow Productions, Mosaic Media Group
Studios: Columbia Pictures
Financiers: Relativity Media
U.S. Box Office: $47,042,215
Filming Locations: North Carolina, USA
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
movie news : The Departed (2006)
'The Departed' is set in South Boston, where the state police force is waging war on organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy is quickly gaining Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informer for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that there's a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy -- and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.
Also Known As: Infernal Affairs
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Crime/Gangster and Remake
Release Date: October 6th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: Hollywood Gang Productions, Cappa Productions, Plan B, Vertigo Entertainment
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Filming Locations: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
New York, New York USA
Quincy, Massachusetts, USA
Produced in: United States
movie news
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Also Known As: Infernal Affairs
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Crime/Gangster and Remake
Release Date: October 6th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: Hollywood Gang Productions, Cappa Productions, Plan B, Vertigo Entertainment
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Filming Locations: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
New York, New York USA
Quincy, Massachusetts, USA
Produced in: United States
movie news
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
movie news : Miami Vice
movie news
Ricardo Tubbs is urbane and dead smart. He lives with Bronx-born intel analyst Trudy, as they work undercover transporting drug loads into South Florida to identify a group responsible for three murders. Sonny Crockett is charismatic and flirtatious until-while undercover working with the supplier of the South Florida group-he gets romantically entangled with Isabella, the Chinese-Cuban wife of an arms and drugs trafficker. The intensity of this case pushes Crockett and Tubbs out onto the edge where identity and fabrication become blurred, where cop and player become one-especially for Crockett in his romance with Isabella and for Tubbs in the provocation of an assault on those he loves.
Theatrical Release
7/28/2006
Studio Universal Pictures Studio
Director Michael Mann Director
Cast
Jamie Foxx Detective Ricardo Tubbs
Colin Farrell Det. James "Sonny" Crockett
Gong Li Isabella
Naomie Harris Trudy Joplin
Ciarán Hinds FBI Agent Fujima
John Ortiz Jose Yero
Jon Jacobs Nicholas Ugo
Elizabeth Rodriguez Gina Calabrese
Barry Shabaka Henley Lt. Castillo
Luis Tosar Montoya
Domenick Lombardozzi Det. Stan Switek
Justin Theroux Det. Larry Zito
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
Ricardo Tubbs is urbane and dead smart. He lives with Bronx-born intel analyst Trudy, as they work undercover transporting drug loads into South Florida to identify a group responsible for three murders. Sonny Crockett is charismatic and flirtatious until-while undercover working with the supplier of the South Florida group-he gets romantically entangled with Isabella, the Chinese-Cuban wife of an arms and drugs trafficker. The intensity of this case pushes Crockett and Tubbs out onto the edge where identity and fabrication become blurred, where cop and player become one-especially for Crockett in his romance with Isabella and for Tubbs in the provocation of an assault on those he loves.
Theatrical Release
7/28/2006
Studio Universal Pictures Studio
Director Michael Mann Director
Cast
Jamie Foxx Detective Ricardo Tubbs
Colin Farrell Det. James "Sonny" Crockett
Gong Li Isabella
Naomie Harris Trudy Joplin
Ciarán Hinds FBI Agent Fujima
John Ortiz Jose Yero
Jon Jacobs Nicholas Ugo
Elizabeth Rodriguez Gina Calabrese
Barry Shabaka Henley Lt. Castillo
Luis Tosar Montoya
Domenick Lombardozzi Det. Stan Switek
Justin Theroux Det. Larry Zito
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
movie news : Monster House (2006)
Twelve-year-old DJ Walters, who is caught in that awkward moment between childhood and the onset of puberty, has too much time on his hands and has taken it into his head that there's something weird about old man Nebbercracker's house across the street. Things keep disappearing into the dilapidated structure: basketballs, tricycles, toys and pets. Come to think of it, whatever happened to Mrs. Nebbercracker? It's the day before Halloween and DJ and his candy-friendly pal Chowder have a run-in with Mr. Nebbercracker after their basketball wanders onto his lawn and is mysteriously swept into the house. When the house tries to swallow their new friend Jenny and no one believes the frightened trio's claims that the house is up to no good, it's up to them to investigate. They turn for his advice to the only person on the planet who might even remotely understand what's going on, the wise one they call Skull, a 20-something slacker pizza chef and master of the arcade machine who once played a video game for four days straight on one singly quarter, a gallon of chocolate milk and an adult diaper. "I have heard tell of man-made structures becoming possessed by a human soul," Skull tells them. You mean the house is alive? Yikes! Skull tells them the only way to stop the house from gulping down everything in sight is by striking at its heart, which the kids figure out must be the perpetually-fueled furnace in the basement. They come up with what seems to be a foolproof plan--a vacuum cleaner disguised as a human dummy filled with cold medicine. The kids offer up their bait to the house, figuring that once it's asleep, they can sneak in and put out the furnace with their squirt guns. Their little plan goes awry, though, and when the house starts chasing them down the street--that's right, chasing them down the street!--they must join forces to once again make the neighborhood safe for trick or treaters.
movie news
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
movie news
©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
Monday, July 31, 2006
movie news : "Miami Vice" cops defeat "Pirates" at box office
Miami Vice" was the top destination for weekend moviegoers across North America, as the high-powered remake of the slick TV series ended the three-week reign of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."
Among other new releases, the Tom Hanks-produced cartoon "The Ant Bully" tanked, while young women turned out in force for the lively romantic comedy "John Tucker Must Die."
"Miami Vice," starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell as suave drug-busters, earned about $25.2 million during its first three days, distributor Universal Pictures said on Sunday.
The tally consists of actual sales for Friday and Saturday, and estimated sales for Sunday. Final data will be issued on Monday.
The $135 million film was directed by Michael Mann, an executive producer of the original 1980s television series. The shoot was plagued by hurricanes, injuries, and a shootout on location in the Dominican Republic. But the finished product drew warm reviews from critics despite an opaque plot.
Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, said almost two-thirds of the audience was aged 30 and older, and exit polling indicated that Foxx was the main draw.
If the estimate holds, it would rank as Mann's No. 1 opening, surpassing the $24.7 million debut of his 2004 film "Collateral," also starring Foxx.
DISNEY RECORD
Walt Disney Co.'s "Pirates" sequel slipped to No. 2 with $20.5 million in its fourth round. The buccaneer sequel now ranks as the No. 1 domestic release in the firm's history, with a booty of $358.4 million. The 2003 cartoon "Finding Nemo" held the record with $339.7 million.
"John Tucker Must Die" followed at No. 3 with $14.1 million, slightly exceeding the expectations of its distributor, News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox. The film, which cost about $18 million to make, stars Jesse Metcalfe, the jailbait gardener in ABC's "Desperate Housewives."
"The Ant Bully," a cartoon based on a children's book, has a high-wattage voice cast, including Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep. But it only managed a No. 5 debut with $8.1 million. Distributor Warner Bros. Pictures had hoped for an opening in the mid-teens.
The film marks the second consecutive dud for the Time Warner Inc. unit, following "Lady in the Water." The M. Night Shyamalan fantasy earned $7 million in its second weekend, for a 10-day haul of $32 million. The studio hopes it will reach $48 million, less than half the earnings of his 2004 under-performer "The Village."
One reason for the disappointing opening of "The Ant Bully" was competition from another cartoon, "Monster House," which fell two places to No. 4 with $11.5 million in its second weekend. The 10-day tally for Columbia Pictures' animated film stands at $43.9 million. Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp .
"SUNSHINE" ENLIGHTENS
The art house scene was busy over the weekend, with Woody Allen's crime farce "Scoop" and the Sundance Film Festival favorite "Little Miss Sunshine" opening in limited release.
Despite mixed reviews, "Scoop" earned $3 million from 538 theaters. The film stars Allen's latest muse, Scarlett Johansson, and Hugh Jackman. Distributor Focus Features, also a unit of NBC Universal, said it was very happy with the opening, but would not expand the film beyond its current theater count.
"Little Miss Sunshine," a comedy revolving around a dysfunctional family's road trip to California, earned a stellar $356,863 from seven theaters in New York and Los Angeles. It will expand to additional cities over the next two weekends before going into national release on August 18. It was released by News Corp.'s Fox Searchlight arm, which bought the film at Sundance in January.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited All rights reserved.
Among other new releases, the Tom Hanks-produced cartoon "The Ant Bully" tanked, while young women turned out in force for the lively romantic comedy "John Tucker Must Die."
"Miami Vice," starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell as suave drug-busters, earned about $25.2 million during its first three days, distributor Universal Pictures said on Sunday.
The tally consists of actual sales for Friday and Saturday, and estimated sales for Sunday. Final data will be issued on Monday.
The $135 million film was directed by Michael Mann, an executive producer of the original 1980s television series. The shoot was plagued by hurricanes, injuries, and a shootout on location in the Dominican Republic. But the finished product drew warm reviews from critics despite an opaque plot.
Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, said almost two-thirds of the audience was aged 30 and older, and exit polling indicated that Foxx was the main draw.
If the estimate holds, it would rank as Mann's No. 1 opening, surpassing the $24.7 million debut of his 2004 film "Collateral," also starring Foxx.
DISNEY RECORD
Walt Disney Co.'s "Pirates" sequel slipped to No. 2 with $20.5 million in its fourth round. The buccaneer sequel now ranks as the No. 1 domestic release in the firm's history, with a booty of $358.4 million. The 2003 cartoon "Finding Nemo" held the record with $339.7 million.
"John Tucker Must Die" followed at No. 3 with $14.1 million, slightly exceeding the expectations of its distributor, News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox. The film, which cost about $18 million to make, stars Jesse Metcalfe, the jailbait gardener in ABC's "Desperate Housewives."
"The Ant Bully," a cartoon based on a children's book, has a high-wattage voice cast, including Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep. But it only managed a No. 5 debut with $8.1 million. Distributor Warner Bros. Pictures had hoped for an opening in the mid-teens.
The film marks the second consecutive dud for the Time Warner Inc. unit, following "Lady in the Water." The M. Night Shyamalan fantasy earned $7 million in its second weekend, for a 10-day haul of $32 million. The studio hopes it will reach $48 million, less than half the earnings of his 2004 under-performer "The Village."
One reason for the disappointing opening of "The Ant Bully" was competition from another cartoon, "Monster House," which fell two places to No. 4 with $11.5 million in its second weekend. The 10-day tally for Columbia Pictures' animated film stands at $43.9 million. Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp .
"SUNSHINE" ENLIGHTENS
The art house scene was busy over the weekend, with Woody Allen's crime farce "Scoop" and the Sundance Film Festival favorite "Little Miss Sunshine" opening in limited release.
Despite mixed reviews, "Scoop" earned $3 million from 538 theaters. The film stars Allen's latest muse, Scarlett Johansson, and Hugh Jackman. Distributor Focus Features, also a unit of NBC Universal, said it was very happy with the opening, but would not expand the film beyond its current theater count.
"Little Miss Sunshine," a comedy revolving around a dysfunctional family's road trip to California, earned a stellar $356,863 from seven theaters in New York and Los Angeles. It will expand to additional cities over the next two weekends before going into national release on August 18. It was released by News Corp.'s Fox Searchlight arm, which bought the film at Sundance in January.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited All rights reserved.
movie news : Lord of War with Nicholas Cage
The movie; Lord of War with Nicholas Cage is a great movie to help illustrate the kinds of things that go on behind the scenes in the arms trade business. It rationalizes all different points of view and explains situations that so often we as citizens are not willing to address. It shows how often we make judgments without understanding the reality and brutality of the rest of the world.
Indeed, it also shows the darker side of man and the obvious innate characteristics to wage war and kill his own species. The movie also goes into the thought processes of all the different players on all sides of the fence in the movement of drugs, diamonds, currency, arms and even oil. During this current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah many people are wondering how the international terrorists organizations get their arms and their money to securities arms, which end up killing innocent people.
This movie should be seen by people who simply watch the news and think they understand world affairs because it is rather obvious that the mass media has done a mass snow job on the reality of world events. The Lord of War with Nicolas Cage is a great action-packed movie and worth your time to view. Please consider all this in 2006.
Lance Winslow
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
Indeed, it also shows the darker side of man and the obvious innate characteristics to wage war and kill his own species. The movie also goes into the thought processes of all the different players on all sides of the fence in the movement of drugs, diamonds, currency, arms and even oil. During this current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah many people are wondering how the international terrorists organizations get their arms and their money to securities arms, which end up killing innocent people.
This movie should be seen by people who simply watch the news and think they understand world affairs because it is rather obvious that the mass media has done a mass snow job on the reality of world events. The Lord of War with Nicolas Cage is a great action-packed movie and worth your time to view. Please consider all this in 2006.
Lance Winslow
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow
Saturday, July 29, 2006
movie news : Operation Petticoat (1959)
A rather average Blake Edwards comedy released the same year as that other Cary Grant movie that would destined to become a classic of all times – NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959). OPERATION PETTICOAT is written by Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin.
The film is one long flashback of Admiral Sherman (Cary Grant) who used to be the first captain of an old WW2 sub about to be commissioned.
Cary Grant stars as Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman, the commander of the WW2 submarine USS Sea Tiger docked at its port in Philippines.
December 1941. Before it can join the battle in the Pacific, Sea Tiger is damaged heavily by the attacking Japanese fighter planes. Rather than decommission the one-year old ship right away, Sherman manages to get the permission to fix his sub within two weeks – which does not seem possible given the impossibility of getting any parts or supplies.
But the next character who shows up will change the fate of the sub -- Lt. Nicholas Holden (Tony Curtis) has served previously as the “idea man” and an “entertainment officer” providing Navy's liaison “with Hollywood.” He has never set foot on a submarine and with his pretty-boy looks and spoiled mannerisms he does not look like he is ready for the rigors of sailing for war.
Yet Holden, who actually grew up in a tough neighborhood and a dog-eat-dog world, has one skill that comes in handy for the rule-and-order straight-arrow Sherman who cannot cut through the Navy red tape and order 150 rolls of toilet paper for his crew: Holden can scavenge, steal and do anything and everything possible to get things done. He is a smooth, sweet talking and shameless operator who knows the “easy way” to get everything. He asks to be assigned as the “supply officer” of Sea Tiger and his request is accepted right on the spot.
Pretty soon, due to clandestine visits to navy supply depots in black faces and black burglar outfits, Holden and his men manage to get whatever is needed in record time. Soon the black-smoke belching and wheezy sub is swimming again on a single faulty engine.
After sailing for open seas, a major plot point arrives when five female officers stranded on an island board the ship, thanks to Lt. Holden.
From that point on till the end, the story transforms into a comedy of double entendres and innuendos, of sexually suggestive and socially embarrassing chance encounters and confrontations among a boat full of men and five attractive women. A submarine is not made for “co-educational purposes” and that generates a lot of tension, a lot of one liners and laughs.
The film is full of sexist wisecracks that would not fly today like “When a girl is under 21, she's protected by law. When she's over 65, she's protected by nature. Anywhere in between, she's fair game. Look out.”
At one point, since they can get their hands only on red and white paint, they end up painting the whole submarine with pink primer, becoming the butt of jokes in the Navy. But when the “Tokyo Rose”starts to make radio broadcasts inviting the “pink submarine” to surrender, the US Navy command, certain that the Americans do not have a pink submarine, think all that talk might actually be a Japanese ruse to slip a pink sub masquerading as a US vessel behind the US lines. Thus the US surface ships are ordered to sink the pink sub wherever it is spotted.
At the end Sherman's pink sub survives the attacks and the ridicule and the war of the sexes in tight quarters. It even survives a goat on board and two babies delivered by the female officer who also happened to be a nurse.
USS Sea Tiger returns to its home port listing on one side, its engine misfiring and belching out black smoke. The funny looking sub is jeered and ridiculed until the proud ship shows the colors and gains the respect of all the US sailors present at the port for homecoming.
The last scene -- we zoom back to the present time. Lt. Holden is now the Captain of the decommissioned US Sea Tiger and Sherman is an Admiral giving Holden the good news – he is going to be the captain of a brand new nuclear sub.
Both have married and had kids with the female officers with whom they have flirted in the sub during those eventful days of WW2. Both are happy and the film leaves us there while the going is still good.
Cary Grant and Tony Curtis excel in their roles. They are cast superbly. Both are very believable and deliver their lines with authority. Lots of good one liners and innuendos. But ultimately this is a feel-good comedy reflecting the specific conditions of WW2. Half a century later it probably has lost all its relevance and shine, especially for the younger generation born in the '80s and '90s.
A 7 out of 10.
Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Senior Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 corporations since 1999.
He is the editor of PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS web site http://www.privatetutor.us
In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).
A true movie fan since he was a child, Akinci provides FREE MOVIE PLOT IDEAS every day of the year at SCRIPT BOILER. Visit http://scriptboiler.blogspot.com today.
You are most welcomed to visit his COPYWRITING WEB SITE http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ugur_Akinci
The film is one long flashback of Admiral Sherman (Cary Grant) who used to be the first captain of an old WW2 sub about to be commissioned.
Cary Grant stars as Lt. Cmdr. Matt T. Sherman, the commander of the WW2 submarine USS Sea Tiger docked at its port in Philippines.
December 1941. Before it can join the battle in the Pacific, Sea Tiger is damaged heavily by the attacking Japanese fighter planes. Rather than decommission the one-year old ship right away, Sherman manages to get the permission to fix his sub within two weeks – which does not seem possible given the impossibility of getting any parts or supplies.
But the next character who shows up will change the fate of the sub -- Lt. Nicholas Holden (Tony Curtis) has served previously as the “idea man” and an “entertainment officer” providing Navy's liaison “with Hollywood.” He has never set foot on a submarine and with his pretty-boy looks and spoiled mannerisms he does not look like he is ready for the rigors of sailing for war.
Yet Holden, who actually grew up in a tough neighborhood and a dog-eat-dog world, has one skill that comes in handy for the rule-and-order straight-arrow Sherman who cannot cut through the Navy red tape and order 150 rolls of toilet paper for his crew: Holden can scavenge, steal and do anything and everything possible to get things done. He is a smooth, sweet talking and shameless operator who knows the “easy way” to get everything. He asks to be assigned as the “supply officer” of Sea Tiger and his request is accepted right on the spot.
Pretty soon, due to clandestine visits to navy supply depots in black faces and black burglar outfits, Holden and his men manage to get whatever is needed in record time. Soon the black-smoke belching and wheezy sub is swimming again on a single faulty engine.
After sailing for open seas, a major plot point arrives when five female officers stranded on an island board the ship, thanks to Lt. Holden.
From that point on till the end, the story transforms into a comedy of double entendres and innuendos, of sexually suggestive and socially embarrassing chance encounters and confrontations among a boat full of men and five attractive women. A submarine is not made for “co-educational purposes” and that generates a lot of tension, a lot of one liners and laughs.
The film is full of sexist wisecracks that would not fly today like “When a girl is under 21, she's protected by law. When she's over 65, she's protected by nature. Anywhere in between, she's fair game. Look out.”
At one point, since they can get their hands only on red and white paint, they end up painting the whole submarine with pink primer, becoming the butt of jokes in the Navy. But when the “Tokyo Rose”starts to make radio broadcasts inviting the “pink submarine” to surrender, the US Navy command, certain that the Americans do not have a pink submarine, think all that talk might actually be a Japanese ruse to slip a pink sub masquerading as a US vessel behind the US lines. Thus the US surface ships are ordered to sink the pink sub wherever it is spotted.
At the end Sherman's pink sub survives the attacks and the ridicule and the war of the sexes in tight quarters. It even survives a goat on board and two babies delivered by the female officer who also happened to be a nurse.
USS Sea Tiger returns to its home port listing on one side, its engine misfiring and belching out black smoke. The funny looking sub is jeered and ridiculed until the proud ship shows the colors and gains the respect of all the US sailors present at the port for homecoming.
The last scene -- we zoom back to the present time. Lt. Holden is now the Captain of the decommissioned US Sea Tiger and Sherman is an Admiral giving Holden the good news – he is going to be the captain of a brand new nuclear sub.
Both have married and had kids with the female officers with whom they have flirted in the sub during those eventful days of WW2. Both are happy and the film leaves us there while the going is still good.
Cary Grant and Tony Curtis excel in their roles. They are cast superbly. Both are very believable and deliver their lines with authority. Lots of good one liners and innuendos. But ultimately this is a feel-good comedy reflecting the specific conditions of WW2. Half a century later it probably has lost all its relevance and shine, especially for the younger generation born in the '80s and '90s.
A 7 out of 10.
Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Senior Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 corporations since 1999.
He is the editor of PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS web site http://www.privatetutor.us
In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).
A true movie fan since he was a child, Akinci provides FREE MOVIE PLOT IDEAS every day of the year at SCRIPT BOILER. Visit http://scriptboiler.blogspot.com today.
You are most welcomed to visit his COPYWRITING WEB SITE http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ugur_Akinci
movie news : Horror Movie News
Scream 4 is pretty much a done deal according to Icons Of Fright. Read on for the blockbuster news which comes straight from the mouth of Wes Craven.
Icons Of Fright Reports...
Big news for "Scream" fans from Wes Craven. During his panel discussion Craven revealed that he had recently had breakfast with Neve Campbell. He told us that she had recently spoken with the Weinsteins about coming back for "Scream 4". Wes made it clear that this was the first he'd heard about it, but Campbell seemed to be seriously considering another stab at Sidney Prescott.
My 2 cents on Scream 4
Back in 2000, when the third film was released, and I saw it, I felt things had been brought to a satisfactory conclusion as far as the "Scream" universe goes, despite the ominous ending. Now here we are 4 years later, and the rumor of a 4th movie still lives, and now with this latest lump of coal added to the fire, seems to have gained steam. Truthfully, I would pay to see a 4th film, but still alot of questions remain... We know Williamson won't be involved. Craven most likely won't be. Who will write and direct then? Neve Campbell has been a long time hold out for doing a 4th film if you believe what you read on most of the "Scream 4" rumor sites. Just who will and won't be returning? and finally, what direction can this story continue in? Sids already disposed of Mrs Loomis, and her Brother Roman, as well as Billy and Stu, whos left at this point? Sure there are plenty of relatives out for revenge type scenarios, but which one makes the most sense?
Mr. HoRrOr Horror Movies & stuff.com http://www.hms.notlong.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicky_Jones
Icons Of Fright Reports...
Big news for "Scream" fans from Wes Craven. During his panel discussion Craven revealed that he had recently had breakfast with Neve Campbell. He told us that she had recently spoken with the Weinsteins about coming back for "Scream 4". Wes made it clear that this was the first he'd heard about it, but Campbell seemed to be seriously considering another stab at Sidney Prescott.
My 2 cents on Scream 4
Back in 2000, when the third film was released, and I saw it, I felt things had been brought to a satisfactory conclusion as far as the "Scream" universe goes, despite the ominous ending. Now here we are 4 years later, and the rumor of a 4th movie still lives, and now with this latest lump of coal added to the fire, seems to have gained steam. Truthfully, I would pay to see a 4th film, but still alot of questions remain... We know Williamson won't be involved. Craven most likely won't be. Who will write and direct then? Neve Campbell has been a long time hold out for doing a 4th film if you believe what you read on most of the "Scream 4" rumor sites. Just who will and won't be returning? and finally, what direction can this story continue in? Sids already disposed of Mrs Loomis, and her Brother Roman, as well as Billy and Stu, whos left at this point? Sure there are plenty of relatives out for revenge type scenarios, but which one makes the most sense?
Mr. HoRrOr Horror Movies & stuff.com http://www.hms.notlong.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicky_Jones
Thursday, July 27, 2006
movie news : Ghost Rider - Biker's Beloved or Philosopher's Pet?
I see today that they're making a Ghost Rider movie. I discovered Ghost Rider when I was about thirteen years old, at my regular haunt, Collector's Comics of Wantagh, New York. I was a late bloomer to comic books, having been introduced to them by my D&D buddy, Marc Koenig. Like most things new in my life, I quickly became hooked and soon after, obsessed. I started small, with X-Men, Daredevil, and Thor. Oh, and I was lucky enough to be there for the Wolverine miniseries. The X-Men were about to embark on their second fight with the Brood, Daredevil was looking for direction after his lover had died, and I can't remember what was happening to poor Thor. What I do remember, though, was that crossovers got me to buy more books, and if I bought an issue I bought into the series. I was a Marvel man all the way, and they played me like a fiddle. At sixty cents an ish, I was soon spending twenty bucks a week and was a member of the discount club, adding to the savings I got by preordering my subscriptions. One of those that I ordered was Ghost Rider, the continuing story of the much-cursed Johnny Blaze, host to a demon motorcyclist.
Now a tale about a demonic motorcycle rider might seem like it's only appealing to tattoo artists and Harley salesmen, and perhaps tasteless teenagers, and that probably isn't that far off. Ghost Rider created solid objects out of Hellfire™ and spouted no small amount of preachy stuff about punishing the guilty, and all-in-all came off as a strange hybrid of Green Lantern and Captain America. However, after I went off to college and had no money for comics they retooled his character, making it less dependent on supernatural solids and moreso on his chain and "Penance Stare," whatever that is. I can't say I'm an expert on this character anymore, but I can say that the movie version looks really, really cool.
So why am I interested? Why don't I ever see issues of Ghost Rider laying in the waiting rooms of tattoo studios? Is Ghost Rider actually a multilayered allegory of truth and consequence, cause and effect, the dark nature within each of us? Is the carnival background of the oh-so-aptly-named Johnny Blaze a commentary of the estrangement that increases daily in our society, and the growing fear of the "other" that bears down on us? Given its original writing, would that "other" have once been Communist, and now have been transmogrified into the Islamist terrorists all over the news? And what of the motorcycle aspect? Man becoming his own worst nightmare by embracing technology? Pushing the limits of danger to finally push past the fear of death? Are these the deep, weighty issues that attract us to this much-misunderstood anti-hero?
Or is it that flames, motorcycles, and skulls go really well together?
Terence P Ward expresses much of his observations about the world through the written word, spoken word, visual media . . . well, any way he damned well pleases. Most of what he's responsible for can be found at, or through, http://otherlleft.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terence_Ward
Now a tale about a demonic motorcycle rider might seem like it's only appealing to tattoo artists and Harley salesmen, and perhaps tasteless teenagers, and that probably isn't that far off. Ghost Rider created solid objects out of Hellfire™ and spouted no small amount of preachy stuff about punishing the guilty, and all-in-all came off as a strange hybrid of Green Lantern and Captain America. However, after I went off to college and had no money for comics they retooled his character, making it less dependent on supernatural solids and moreso on his chain and "Penance Stare," whatever that is. I can't say I'm an expert on this character anymore, but I can say that the movie version looks really, really cool.
So why am I interested? Why don't I ever see issues of Ghost Rider laying in the waiting rooms of tattoo studios? Is Ghost Rider actually a multilayered allegory of truth and consequence, cause and effect, the dark nature within each of us? Is the carnival background of the oh-so-aptly-named Johnny Blaze a commentary of the estrangement that increases daily in our society, and the growing fear of the "other" that bears down on us? Given its original writing, would that "other" have once been Communist, and now have been transmogrified into the Islamist terrorists all over the news? And what of the motorcycle aspect? Man becoming his own worst nightmare by embracing technology? Pushing the limits of danger to finally push past the fear of death? Are these the deep, weighty issues that attract us to this much-misunderstood anti-hero?
Or is it that flames, motorcycles, and skulls go really well together?
Terence P Ward expresses much of his observations about the world through the written word, spoken word, visual media . . . well, any way he damned well pleases. Most of what he's responsible for can be found at, or through, http://otherlleft.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Terence_Ward
movie news : Microsoft Loses Patent Lawsuit
One of the top news stories this week that got virtually no popular press involves the judgment against Microsoft by a small company with a big software patent.
University of California and Eolas Technologies, Inc. hold a patent which Microsoft, according to several judges, violated with its popular Internet Explorer Web browser.
Without going into painful technical detail, the patent involves the "ActiveX" technology enabling Web browsers to display both web pages and content such as streaming audio, Flash, QuickTime video and other "rich" or "dynamic" content.
Despite heated input by the Internet community to invalidate Eolas' patent because of its broad nature, Microsoft lost every appeal and effort to get the patent nullified.
Bottom line: Microsoft faced two choices. First, they could pay the patent owner and keep things moving along, business as usual (much the way Blackberry did recently when a judge found them guilty of patent infringement).
Second choice: Microsoft could avoid future licensing fees by changing their IE browser and removing the offending code.
Which do you think they chose? Ding-ding-ding!
You guessed it, Microsoft chose to avoid paying millions more by simply removing the offending code.
Unfortunately, that decision means a bit of trouble for a few million web designers who use Flash, streaming movies, and more.
Ultimately, the change to IE may force visitors to sites with rich content to click on an object to enable it before they can interact with it.
Not a huge deal. However, time will tell what ultimately happens and the actual impact on sites running rich content.
But before everyone starts screaming that "The sky is falling" and "our websites are broken," let me ask you a question.
Do you really think that companies like Macromedia (makers of Flash) and sites like Google Video will let a few changes in Internet Explorer put them out of business?
I don't think so!
If anything, this change will force companies to step up to the plate and discover ways to serve dynamic content that does not depend on ActiveX.
Sure, it will mean some pain for both content creators and users in the short term, but in the end I honestly believe that, through innovation, we will all end up with a better solution than what currently exists.
In other news today...
** Hollywood Goes Online **
Six major movie studios recently announced their intentions to start selling new-release movies via Internet download from the site MovieLink.com.
But before you jump for joy at watching "Brokeback Mountain" on your pc, understand a couple of facts.
You can't burn the movie to DVD, and the downloadable films carry a price tag of around $15-30, a price comparable or more than a physical DVD you can purchase at Wal-Mart.
As a rabid DVD consumer and enthusiastic computer user (with six in my home office alone), I can tell you right up front, there is no way in @#$%* I'll pay 20 bucks for a movie I can't "veg" out with in front of the TV.
Are they insane?
Until it gets to the point where you can download a new- release movie, burn it to DVD or put it on your iPod, downloadable flicks will remain, at best, a novelty.
"Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking 'Mini' Websites... Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!" Click Here => http://www.MiniSiteCreator.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Edwards
University of California and Eolas Technologies, Inc. hold a patent which Microsoft, according to several judges, violated with its popular Internet Explorer Web browser.
Without going into painful technical detail, the patent involves the "ActiveX" technology enabling Web browsers to display both web pages and content such as streaming audio, Flash, QuickTime video and other "rich" or "dynamic" content.
Despite heated input by the Internet community to invalidate Eolas' patent because of its broad nature, Microsoft lost every appeal and effort to get the patent nullified.
Bottom line: Microsoft faced two choices. First, they could pay the patent owner and keep things moving along, business as usual (much the way Blackberry did recently when a judge found them guilty of patent infringement).
Second choice: Microsoft could avoid future licensing fees by changing their IE browser and removing the offending code.
Which do you think they chose? Ding-ding-ding!
You guessed it, Microsoft chose to avoid paying millions more by simply removing the offending code.
Unfortunately, that decision means a bit of trouble for a few million web designers who use Flash, streaming movies, and more.
Ultimately, the change to IE may force visitors to sites with rich content to click on an object to enable it before they can interact with it.
Not a huge deal. However, time will tell what ultimately happens and the actual impact on sites running rich content.
But before everyone starts screaming that "The sky is falling" and "our websites are broken," let me ask you a question.
Do you really think that companies like Macromedia (makers of Flash) and sites like Google Video will let a few changes in Internet Explorer put them out of business?
I don't think so!
If anything, this change will force companies to step up to the plate and discover ways to serve dynamic content that does not depend on ActiveX.
Sure, it will mean some pain for both content creators and users in the short term, but in the end I honestly believe that, through innovation, we will all end up with a better solution than what currently exists.
In other news today...
** Hollywood Goes Online **
Six major movie studios recently announced their intentions to start selling new-release movies via Internet download from the site MovieLink.com.
But before you jump for joy at watching "Brokeback Mountain" on your pc, understand a couple of facts.
You can't burn the movie to DVD, and the downloadable films carry a price tag of around $15-30, a price comparable or more than a physical DVD you can purchase at Wal-Mart.
As a rabid DVD consumer and enthusiastic computer user (with six in my home office alone), I can tell you right up front, there is no way in @#$%* I'll pay 20 bucks for a movie I can't "veg" out with in front of the TV.
Are they insane?
Until it gets to the point where you can download a new- release movie, burn it to DVD or put it on your iPod, downloadable flicks will remain, at best, a novelty.
"Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up Your OWN Moneymaking 'Mini' Websites... Without Being a Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!" Click Here => http://www.MiniSiteCreator.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Edwards
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
movie news : The Squid and the Whale
I've been a Jeff Daniels fan for a long time.
This is yet another great Jeff Daniels movie based on a very strong script by Noah Baumbach who also directed this family drama. Bernie Berkman (Daniels) is an English professor married to another writer Joan (delivered with great texture by Laura Linney). They have two sons Walt (Chicken) (Jesse Eisenberg) and Frank (Pinkie) Berkman (Owen Kline) who go through their own breakdown episodes when they hear that their mom and dad are separating.
The opening tennis scene in which the four are playing a nasty game of doubles (Bernie keeps hitting Joan with stiff volleys) is a good metaphor for where their relationship is headed. On the one side is Bernie and Walt, and on the other, Joan and Frank.
Nobody seems to be blameless but Joan probably contributed more to the breakup than anybody else with her illicit love affair with a neighbor. During their separation she beds her son's tennis coach (a perfectly cast happy-go-lucky Bill Baldwin). Soon we have a seriously malfunctioning family unit where the little Frank starts drinking beer when he is home alone and displays sex-related anomalies at school and home. Walt, on the other hand, takes a different route to his neurosis and tries plagiarism to score a quick success at his high school's talent contest.
Bernie himself loses his rudder as well and vacillates between his desire to keep away from Joan, on the one hand, and his jealousy with her literary success and boyfriends on the other. He also starts an affair with a female student of his who rents a room at his new house and flirts with his son as well.
There is no quick and neat solution to this modern drama set in Brooklyn in the 80s. There is an attempt at reconciliation but no one knows how to get the toothpaste back into the tube again. Thus it is very appropriate that the film ends with Walt's visit to the museum of natural history where there is an immense replica of a whale battling with a giant squid (and thus the film's title). That looks like a visual representation of Bernie and Joan's stalemate as well as Walt and Frank's no holds barred fight in and out of school to keep their sanity and grow as a “normal adult” in a very turbulent world.
The editing is as sharp and fast as the script. I really loved the transitions that kept exposition to a minimum and used the cinema language to great effect. For example, in the scene where Joan is trying to talk and “explain things” to his little son who is in the shower, the appearance of his frail small hand on the shower tile, just a small fragile object coming out of the shower curtain as if it were the antenna of a scared creature testing the world's atmosphere for presence of poisonous gasses, shows the kind of great talent Noah Baumbach has for telling stories in “motion pictures.”
It's a good watch if you like modern R-rated dramas. A good 8 out of 10.
Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Senior Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 corporations since 1999.
He is the editor of PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS web site http://www.privatetutor.us
In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).
A true movie fan since he was a child, Akinci provides FREE MOVIE PLOT IDEAS every day of the year at SCRIPT BOILER. Visit http://scriptboiler.blogspot.com today.
You are most welcomed to visit his COPYWRITING WEB SITE http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ugur_Akinci
This is yet another great Jeff Daniels movie based on a very strong script by Noah Baumbach who also directed this family drama. Bernie Berkman (Daniels) is an English professor married to another writer Joan (delivered with great texture by Laura Linney). They have two sons Walt (Chicken) (Jesse Eisenberg) and Frank (Pinkie) Berkman (Owen Kline) who go through their own breakdown episodes when they hear that their mom and dad are separating.
The opening tennis scene in which the four are playing a nasty game of doubles (Bernie keeps hitting Joan with stiff volleys) is a good metaphor for where their relationship is headed. On the one side is Bernie and Walt, and on the other, Joan and Frank.
Nobody seems to be blameless but Joan probably contributed more to the breakup than anybody else with her illicit love affair with a neighbor. During their separation she beds her son's tennis coach (a perfectly cast happy-go-lucky Bill Baldwin). Soon we have a seriously malfunctioning family unit where the little Frank starts drinking beer when he is home alone and displays sex-related anomalies at school and home. Walt, on the other hand, takes a different route to his neurosis and tries plagiarism to score a quick success at his high school's talent contest.
Bernie himself loses his rudder as well and vacillates between his desire to keep away from Joan, on the one hand, and his jealousy with her literary success and boyfriends on the other. He also starts an affair with a female student of his who rents a room at his new house and flirts with his son as well.
There is no quick and neat solution to this modern drama set in Brooklyn in the 80s. There is an attempt at reconciliation but no one knows how to get the toothpaste back into the tube again. Thus it is very appropriate that the film ends with Walt's visit to the museum of natural history where there is an immense replica of a whale battling with a giant squid (and thus the film's title). That looks like a visual representation of Bernie and Joan's stalemate as well as Walt and Frank's no holds barred fight in and out of school to keep their sanity and grow as a “normal adult” in a very turbulent world.
The editing is as sharp and fast as the script. I really loved the transitions that kept exposition to a minimum and used the cinema language to great effect. For example, in the scene where Joan is trying to talk and “explain things” to his little son who is in the shower, the appearance of his frail small hand on the shower tile, just a small fragile object coming out of the shower curtain as if it were the antenna of a scared creature testing the world's atmosphere for presence of poisonous gasses, shows the kind of great talent Noah Baumbach has for telling stories in “motion pictures.”
It's a good watch if you like modern R-rated dramas. A good 8 out of 10.
Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a Creative Copywriter, Editor, an experienced and award-winning Senior Technical Communicator specializing in fundraising packages, direct sales copy, web content, press releases, movie reviews and hi-tech documentation. He has worked as a Technical Writer for Fortune 100 corporations since 1999.
He is the editor of PRIVATE TUTOR FOR SAT MATH SUCCESS web site http://www.privatetutor.us
In addition to being an Ezine Articles Expert Author, he is also a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), and a Member of American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI).
A true movie fan since he was a child, Akinci provides FREE MOVIE PLOT IDEAS every day of the year at SCRIPT BOILER. Visit http://scriptboiler.blogspot.com today.
You are most welcomed to visit his COPYWRITING WEB SITE http://www.writer111.com for more information on his multidisciplinary background, writing career, and client testimonials.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ugur_Akinci
movie news : At the Peak of Disaster Films:
"Dante's Peak" does for disaster movie fans what a hot fudge sundae does for a chocolate addict. It satisfies you immensely and then makes you want to come back for more. This afternoon, while sitting at home looking at all the housework that needs to be done, I decided to watch "Dante's Peak" for probably the twelfth or thirteen time since it first hit the big screen.
"Dante's Peak" stars Pierce Brosnan as Harry Dalton, a scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey. Harry, who lost his fiancée in a volcanic eruption several years before, is sent to "Dante's Peak", a quiet town in the Cascades, where a dormant volcano overshadows the nations second best place to live -- population under 20,000.
After two deaths (backpackers boiled while bathing in Twonset hot springs), and a suspiciously acidic water level in the lake, Harry wants to put "Dante's Peak" on alert. His boss, Paul, thinks otherwise. Of course, in the middle of all this is a potential multi-million dollar investor. Politics, politics...
Starring alongside Pierce Brosnan is Linda Hamilton, who plays Rachel Wando, a small town mayor and single mom of two. Hamilton is better remembered as the pumped-up mom in the Terminator movies. I've liked Linda Hamilton's work ever since her Beauty and the Beast days. I'm not saying she's an Oscar-caliber actress, but she turns in a solid performance time and again, and it's nice to see her in a softer role.
Brosnan, on the other had, I've always had a healthy dislike of, even in his better roles, such as in the perennial favorite, "Mrs. Doubtfire." Brosnan is, however, perfect for his role in "Dante's Peak", and even I can't take this away from him. The two stars have good chemistry -- very subtle -- and it adds to the movie, rather than detracting from it.
"Dante's Peak" does a great job of building suspense and holding it there -- much better than Volcano which was released in theaters at approximately the same time and with a similar theme. The suspense builds from the time the unsuspecting backpackers are cooked, and when the geologists are ready to pack it up, certain that there will be no action from this volcano, viewers know that this idyllic town is cooked as well.
Evacuation begins, but of course, Wando's two children (played beautifully by Jamie Renee Smith and Jeremy Foley) have taken off on a wild ride up the mountain to rescue their brutally independent grandmother. Harry and Rachel take off after them and they all end up in the devil's layer itself -- the very heart of "Dante's Peak".
This movie has some wonderful special effects. The pyroclastic cloud is incredibly believable, and the pyrotechnics will steal your breath. But it's the more focused, personal moments that are really gripping in "Dante's Peak", such as the boat scene. Anyone who's seen the film will know just the scene I'm talking about -- and for those of you who haven't, I won't ruin it. This scene was wonderfully original, and easily one of the most suspenseful moments in any movie ever. Row, row, row your boat... After a dozen viewings, I still sit on the edge of my seat for those few moments.
One thing I never really noticed in my many watchings of "Dante's Peak" was the music -- and it's really very good. I've always found that the mark of a good musical score for a film is that it isn't obtrusive -- that you don't really know it's there. Still, take a moment while you're watching "Dante's Peak", close your eyes, and listen to the music. It's beautiful, orchestral music which swells and ebbs at just the right moments. I'd buy the soundtrack.
As far as believability goes, well no, "Dante's Peak" is not always 100% credible. What movie of this type is? Disaster movies do tend to be formulaic. I've seen this time and again. If you're willing to suspend your disbelief at times, you'll enjoy it immensely. Stretch your imagination -- and for those of you who've seen "Twister," there is nothing in "Dante's Peak" worse than the concept of a "suck zone" for scientific believability. Do I believe a tire-less vehicle could outrun a pyroclastic cloud? Who cares? That's the whole fun of "Dante's Peak".
This is, on the whole, a remarkably well put-together movie, and I don't wholly understand all the criticism it has received. This type of movie is supposed to be great fun -- no nitpickers allowed. And if you're car shopping -- well, then it would also make a great commercial for SUVs.
This is the perfect movie for a Friday night. Make some popcorn and gather together in your very safe living room and pop in the video. For adrenaline addicts, technophiles, and disaster fans alike, it's a wild ride through this volcanic eruption.
Lisa is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Koosis
"Dante's Peak" stars Pierce Brosnan as Harry Dalton, a scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey. Harry, who lost his fiancée in a volcanic eruption several years before, is sent to "Dante's Peak", a quiet town in the Cascades, where a dormant volcano overshadows the nations second best place to live -- population under 20,000.
After two deaths (backpackers boiled while bathing in Twonset hot springs), and a suspiciously acidic water level in the lake, Harry wants to put "Dante's Peak" on alert. His boss, Paul, thinks otherwise. Of course, in the middle of all this is a potential multi-million dollar investor. Politics, politics...
Starring alongside Pierce Brosnan is Linda Hamilton, who plays Rachel Wando, a small town mayor and single mom of two. Hamilton is better remembered as the pumped-up mom in the Terminator movies. I've liked Linda Hamilton's work ever since her Beauty and the Beast days. I'm not saying she's an Oscar-caliber actress, but she turns in a solid performance time and again, and it's nice to see her in a softer role.
Brosnan, on the other had, I've always had a healthy dislike of, even in his better roles, such as in the perennial favorite, "Mrs. Doubtfire." Brosnan is, however, perfect for his role in "Dante's Peak", and even I can't take this away from him. The two stars have good chemistry -- very subtle -- and it adds to the movie, rather than detracting from it.
"Dante's Peak" does a great job of building suspense and holding it there -- much better than Volcano which was released in theaters at approximately the same time and with a similar theme. The suspense builds from the time the unsuspecting backpackers are cooked, and when the geologists are ready to pack it up, certain that there will be no action from this volcano, viewers know that this idyllic town is cooked as well.
Evacuation begins, but of course, Wando's two children (played beautifully by Jamie Renee Smith and Jeremy Foley) have taken off on a wild ride up the mountain to rescue their brutally independent grandmother. Harry and Rachel take off after them and they all end up in the devil's layer itself -- the very heart of "Dante's Peak".
This movie has some wonderful special effects. The pyroclastic cloud is incredibly believable, and the pyrotechnics will steal your breath. But it's the more focused, personal moments that are really gripping in "Dante's Peak", such as the boat scene. Anyone who's seen the film will know just the scene I'm talking about -- and for those of you who haven't, I won't ruin it. This scene was wonderfully original, and easily one of the most suspenseful moments in any movie ever. Row, row, row your boat... After a dozen viewings, I still sit on the edge of my seat for those few moments.
One thing I never really noticed in my many watchings of "Dante's Peak" was the music -- and it's really very good. I've always found that the mark of a good musical score for a film is that it isn't obtrusive -- that you don't really know it's there. Still, take a moment while you're watching "Dante's Peak", close your eyes, and listen to the music. It's beautiful, orchestral music which swells and ebbs at just the right moments. I'd buy the soundtrack.
As far as believability goes, well no, "Dante's Peak" is not always 100% credible. What movie of this type is? Disaster movies do tend to be formulaic. I've seen this time and again. If you're willing to suspend your disbelief at times, you'll enjoy it immensely. Stretch your imagination -- and for those of you who've seen "Twister," there is nothing in "Dante's Peak" worse than the concept of a "suck zone" for scientific believability. Do I believe a tire-less vehicle could outrun a pyroclastic cloud? Who cares? That's the whole fun of "Dante's Peak".
This is, on the whole, a remarkably well put-together movie, and I don't wholly understand all the criticism it has received. This type of movie is supposed to be great fun -- no nitpickers allowed. And if you're car shopping -- well, then it would also make a great commercial for SUVs.
This is the perfect movie for a Friday night. Make some popcorn and gather together in your very safe living room and pop in the video. For adrenaline addicts, technophiles, and disaster fans alike, it's a wild ride through this volcanic eruption.
Lisa is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Koosis
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
movie news : CinemaNow to sell movie downloads that can be burned to DVD
CinemaNow Inc. will begin selling mainstream movies for download that can be transferred to DVD and watched on standalone players, marking a first for Hollywood films bought and distributed over the Internet.
The online movie provider's "Burn to DVD" service was to debut Wednesday with more than 100 movies available, including "Scent of a Woman," "About a Boy," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Barbershop."
"Our customers will experience a true innovation in home entertainment, the ability to obtain a DVD in the comfort of their living room," said Curt Marvis, CinemaNow's chief executive.
Previously, Hollywood movies purchased through CinemaNow could be watched on a PC _ or even a TV hooked up to a computer _ but not transferred to a DVD.
Studios have been reluctant to offer movies for at-home DVD copying because of piracy concerns. But the development of more secure technology has eased those fears.
"The studios were pretty rigorous in their need to have very strong encryption," Marvis said.
CinemaNow said studios initially licensed only a limited number of films.
"It's a test of the distribution and the security architecture," said Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony's home entertainment division.
He expects more films to be offered if users find the system easy to use and if the copy-protection is successful at thwarting pirates.
Hollywood is looking toward digital distribution as a way to generate revenue amid rising manufacturing and retail costs.
"It is a big deal that the studios are going to do this because they're all very interested on electronic sell-through," said Josh Bernoff, digital video analyst for Forrester Research.
"It has some challenges, but it's a much cheaper way to distribute content," he said.
A separate Web site run by CinemaNow has been offering the DVD download option for adult films since May.
CinemaNow will sell the mainstream films starting at $8.99. The offerings will contain all the features of its store-bought counterpart, including boosted sound settings, interactive menus, deleted scenes, commentaries and other extras, Marvis said.
Consumers can transfer only one copy of the movie to a DVD, which will be near the quality of retail DVDs. The service will also allow consumers to view the movies on their computer with video software like Windows Media Player.
Initially, the DVD service will not offer any first-run movies for purchase, which is likely to dull its prospects in the near term, Bernoff said.
"The choice of movies here is, shall we say, underwhelming," he said.
"It's a step in the right direction, but I don't think it's a fair test because you'd have to have a whole lot more selection, even of library movies," he said.
Marvis expects first-run movies to be added later.
The lack of selection will likely keep CinemaNow and other video-on-demand services behind traditional DVD retailers for a while, said Steve Swasey, a spokesman for Netflix Inc.
"Until the title selection is significant so that the majority of the people are interested, it's going to be a very niche and small market that does not take off," Swasey said.
Among the major Hollywood film distributors providing content for the service are The Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, MGM Worldwide Digital Media and Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
Independents Lionsgate, EagleVision and Sundance Channel have also licensed films for home download and transfer to DVD.
CinemaNow rival Movielink announced Monday it has licensed technology to offer DVD downloads but has yet to launch such a service.
The CinemaNow burning technology is based on fluxDVD, which was developed by Dortmund, Germany's ACE GmbH. Movielink's technology partner is Marin-based Sonic Solutions.
© 2006 AP DIGITAL
The online movie provider's "Burn to DVD" service was to debut Wednesday with more than 100 movies available, including "Scent of a Woman," "About a Boy," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Barbershop."
"Our customers will experience a true innovation in home entertainment, the ability to obtain a DVD in the comfort of their living room," said Curt Marvis, CinemaNow's chief executive.
Previously, Hollywood movies purchased through CinemaNow could be watched on a PC _ or even a TV hooked up to a computer _ but not transferred to a DVD.
Studios have been reluctant to offer movies for at-home DVD copying because of piracy concerns. But the development of more secure technology has eased those fears.
"The studios were pretty rigorous in their need to have very strong encryption," Marvis said.
CinemaNow said studios initially licensed only a limited number of films.
"It's a test of the distribution and the security architecture," said Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony's home entertainment division.
He expects more films to be offered if users find the system easy to use and if the copy-protection is successful at thwarting pirates.
Hollywood is looking toward digital distribution as a way to generate revenue amid rising manufacturing and retail costs.
"It is a big deal that the studios are going to do this because they're all very interested on electronic sell-through," said Josh Bernoff, digital video analyst for Forrester Research.
"It has some challenges, but it's a much cheaper way to distribute content," he said.
A separate Web site run by CinemaNow has been offering the DVD download option for adult films since May.
CinemaNow will sell the mainstream films starting at $8.99. The offerings will contain all the features of its store-bought counterpart, including boosted sound settings, interactive menus, deleted scenes, commentaries and other extras, Marvis said.
Consumers can transfer only one copy of the movie to a DVD, which will be near the quality of retail DVDs. The service will also allow consumers to view the movies on their computer with video software like Windows Media Player.
Initially, the DVD service will not offer any first-run movies for purchase, which is likely to dull its prospects in the near term, Bernoff said.
"The choice of movies here is, shall we say, underwhelming," he said.
"It's a step in the right direction, but I don't think it's a fair test because you'd have to have a whole lot more selection, even of library movies," he said.
Marvis expects first-run movies to be added later.
The lack of selection will likely keep CinemaNow and other video-on-demand services behind traditional DVD retailers for a while, said Steve Swasey, a spokesman for Netflix Inc.
"Until the title selection is significant so that the majority of the people are interested, it's going to be a very niche and small market that does not take off," Swasey said.
Among the major Hollywood film distributors providing content for the service are The Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Sony Corp.'s Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, MGM Worldwide Digital Media and Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
Independents Lionsgate, EagleVision and Sundance Channel have also licensed films for home download and transfer to DVD.
CinemaNow rival Movielink announced Monday it has licensed technology to offer DVD downloads but has yet to launch such a service.
The CinemaNow burning technology is based on fluxDVD, which was developed by Dortmund, Germany's ACE GmbH. Movielink's technology partner is Marin-based Sonic Solutions.
© 2006 AP DIGITAL
movie news : Disney to Cut 650 Jobs, Movie Output
LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co. is restructuring its studio division to emphasize blockbuster franchise films over more adult fare, a move that will mean slashing 650 jobs worldwide, the company announced Tuesday.
Among those who will lose their jobs is Disney's longtime head of live-action production, Nina Jacobsen.
The restructuring will cut Disney's output from about 18 films a year to about a dozen. Of those, about 10 will be released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner, a proven family-friendly brand that includes the successful"Pirates of the Caribbean"franchise.
Disney's Touchstone label, which is responsible for more esoteric fare by artists like Joel and Ethan Coen of"Fargo"fame, will be cut back to only two or three releases a year. Recent Touchstone films have included the box-office flops"The Alamo"and"The Ladykillers."
The shift, the company explained, will allow Disney films to bolster the resources of other divisions. A hit like"Pirates of the Caribbean,"for example, can spawn video games, action figures, cable TV shows and, in the case of"Pirates,"give new life to an old Disney theme park attraction.
"When we do it well, the lift it gives to the entire company is so significant,"Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios told The Associated Press.
By ANDREW GLAZER, Associated Press Writer
Among those who will lose their jobs is Disney's longtime head of live-action production, Nina Jacobsen.
The restructuring will cut Disney's output from about 18 films a year to about a dozen. Of those, about 10 will be released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner, a proven family-friendly brand that includes the successful"Pirates of the Caribbean"franchise.
Disney's Touchstone label, which is responsible for more esoteric fare by artists like Joel and Ethan Coen of"Fargo"fame, will be cut back to only two or three releases a year. Recent Touchstone films have included the box-office flops"The Alamo"and"The Ladykillers."
The shift, the company explained, will allow Disney films to bolster the resources of other divisions. A hit like"Pirates of the Caribbean,"for example, can spawn video games, action figures, cable TV shows and, in the case of"Pirates,"give new life to an old Disney theme park attraction.
"When we do it well, the lift it gives to the entire company is so significant,"Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios told The Associated Press.
By ANDREW GLAZER, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, July 13, 2006
movie news : It’s movie time!
Summer appears quite a dead season for good movies. I mean “Poseidon,” “She’s the man,” “The Break-Up,” “Just My Luck” – all very fine but they can hardly make me rush to the cinema and give away my cash for a couple of hours of dubious pleasure. But I do love cinemas – big screens, the smell of popcorn and all that jazz, and for the last few weeks I just couldn’t wait for some movie to come out which would be worth seeing. Finally, this coming week three great flicks will hit Ukrainian cinemas – one in English, one in Portuguese and one in Ukrainian and Russian, but I’d say, speaking of the latter, the language will hardly matter there at all.
Pirates of the Carribean:
Dead Man’s Chest
“Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest” is surely the most awaited blockbuster this summer and the reason for it is quite simple – the success of its predecessor “Pirates of the Carribean: the Curse of the Black Pearl.” It’s easy to predict that the sequel will be just as much or even much more fun and judging by the latest reports of viewers and critics, it’s very likely.
The success of the first “Pirates” movie was mainly due to the performance of Johnny Depp – who knows what could become of a movie based on the Disneyland attraction if not for his character, Captain Jack Sparrow. The famous Hollywood “chameleon” approached his new image with quite some inspiration – having fancied that pirates where nothing but hippies and rock-n-rollers of the past, he based his performance on Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. In fact, Depp was eager to have Richards appear in the movie sequel as Jack Sparrow’s father. Unfortunately, we’re not going to see the veteran rocker in “Dead Man’s Chest” but it has been reported that Richards finally agreed to appear in the third installment of “Pirates,” and in autumn he will arrive on the set to play a cameo written specially for him.
In the meantime we’ll be treated to another portion of adventures from the dashing Captain Jack Sparrow, his pal Will Turner and the brave beauty Elizabeth Swann. Haunted by ghosts just as much as before, Sparrow finds out that he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones, Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman played by Bill Nighy. The hippy pirate risks being doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife, and naturally tries to escape this sort of fate in the company of his two friends, who are forced to put off their marriage in order to help Jack.
“Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest,” premiered in USA last week, grossing $132 million in the first three days and topping the previous record of “Spider-Man,” which grossed $115 million. Of course, those figures don’t guarantee that the movie is going to be great, but trust me, Johnny won’t let us down.
by Alexandra Matoshko, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Pirates of the Carribean:
Dead Man’s Chest
“Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest” is surely the most awaited blockbuster this summer and the reason for it is quite simple – the success of its predecessor “Pirates of the Carribean: the Curse of the Black Pearl.” It’s easy to predict that the sequel will be just as much or even much more fun and judging by the latest reports of viewers and critics, it’s very likely.
The success of the first “Pirates” movie was mainly due to the performance of Johnny Depp – who knows what could become of a movie based on the Disneyland attraction if not for his character, Captain Jack Sparrow. The famous Hollywood “chameleon” approached his new image with quite some inspiration – having fancied that pirates where nothing but hippies and rock-n-rollers of the past, he based his performance on Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. In fact, Depp was eager to have Richards appear in the movie sequel as Jack Sparrow’s father. Unfortunately, we’re not going to see the veteran rocker in “Dead Man’s Chest” but it has been reported that Richards finally agreed to appear in the third installment of “Pirates,” and in autumn he will arrive on the set to play a cameo written specially for him.
In the meantime we’ll be treated to another portion of adventures from the dashing Captain Jack Sparrow, his pal Will Turner and the brave beauty Elizabeth Swann. Haunted by ghosts just as much as before, Sparrow finds out that he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones, Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman played by Bill Nighy. The hippy pirate risks being doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife, and naturally tries to escape this sort of fate in the company of his two friends, who are forced to put off their marriage in order to help Jack.
“Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest,” premiered in USA last week, grossing $132 million in the first three days and topping the previous record of “Spider-Man,” which grossed $115 million. Of course, those figures don’t guarantee that the movie is going to be great, but trust me, Johnny won’t let us down.
by Alexandra Matoshko, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
movie news : Piracy 'destroying China's own movie industry'
Most Chinese film executives believe movie piracy, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of the market in China, will expand in the short term and is unlikely to shrink in the future, according to a survey. The survey was recently conducted on behalf of the Motion Picture Association, the lobby group for Hollywood and the global interests of the US film industry.
The survey represents an effort by the MPA to put a Chinese face on its longstanding claims about the size and scope of movie piracy in China, which it argues is devastating the local industry as well as harming foreigners. "Pirated movies have fundamentally undermined the production capabilities of China's movie industry, with the private sector hit most severely," the report says.
The MPA's work in countries such as China has often been undermined by the perception that the Hollywood lobby simply represents wealthy foreign studios with little interest in building the local market. A recent study commissioned by the MPA estimated that piracy cost movie makers $2.7bn in 2005 in China, with more than half of that loss being carried by the Chinese industry itself.
The latest report makes no such claims for total monetary losses, as it is based on the responses of about 100 senior Chinese executives to a list of survey questions. One measure of the scope of piracy are China's 774 registered DVD/CD production lines which have a total annual capacity of about 2.7bn pieces, overshadowing official sales of 353m in 2003. "Some pirated DVD manufacturers have established their own reputations and brands," the report says.
The rapid growth in downloads by young movie watchers is a major reason why piracy will continue to thrive. The makers of pirated discs are mostly clustered in Guangdong, the southern Chinese province bordering Hong Kong, and are structured along the lines of organised crime organisations, the report says. "These [crime] bosses generally establish illegal production plants in mainland China but stay abroad themselves to avoid being arrested," the report says.
The main drivers of piracy remain the tight restrictions on movies in China and the huge profits that come from selling illegal discs. Discs cost less than Rmb1 (E0.10) to manufacture and are sold for between Rmb5 and Rmb10 each.
von Richard McGregor, Beijing
The survey represents an effort by the MPA to put a Chinese face on its longstanding claims about the size and scope of movie piracy in China, which it argues is devastating the local industry as well as harming foreigners. "Pirated movies have fundamentally undermined the production capabilities of China's movie industry, with the private sector hit most severely," the report says.
The MPA's work in countries such as China has often been undermined by the perception that the Hollywood lobby simply represents wealthy foreign studios with little interest in building the local market. A recent study commissioned by the MPA estimated that piracy cost movie makers $2.7bn in 2005 in China, with more than half of that loss being carried by the Chinese industry itself.
The latest report makes no such claims for total monetary losses, as it is based on the responses of about 100 senior Chinese executives to a list of survey questions. One measure of the scope of piracy are China's 774 registered DVD/CD production lines which have a total annual capacity of about 2.7bn pieces, overshadowing official sales of 353m in 2003. "Some pirated DVD manufacturers have established their own reputations and brands," the report says.
The rapid growth in downloads by young movie watchers is a major reason why piracy will continue to thrive. The makers of pirated discs are mostly clustered in Guangdong, the southern Chinese province bordering Hong Kong, and are structured along the lines of organised crime organisations, the report says. "These [crime] bosses generally establish illegal production plants in mainland China but stay abroad themselves to avoid being arrested," the report says.
The main drivers of piracy remain the tight restrictions on movies in China and the huge profits that come from selling illegal discs. Discs cost less than Rmb1 (E0.10) to manufacture and are sold for between Rmb5 and Rmb10 each.
von Richard McGregor, Beijing
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
movie news : Kenya: Armenians? It's Only a Movie
The cartoonist Gado got it right. His daily offering in last Friday's Daily Nation depicted the Kenyatta International Conference Centre as a movie theatre showing the saga of The Artur Brothers. A poster to one side advertised the movie, showing them together with two African women - one old and one young. No prizes for guessing whom they were meant to represent - the repudiated daughter of the repudiated second wife now euphemistically referred to as a 'NARC activist.' Meanwhile, a woman excitedly described the contents of the movie to her male companion, "It has everything: intrigue, conflict, romance, betrayal, comedy and tragedy."
The reference was to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry now sitting on the matter, its proceedings open to the public. The sub-text was the turning of serious national proceedings into circuses where our outrage is silenced. Just as we did with the Goldenberg inquiry, we will troop to this inquiry's sittings in large numbers. We will exclaim and wring our hands, beside ourselves at the juicy revelations.
The proceedings will dominate media coverage for the duration. We will feel we participated. That we have learnt just how security is assured at our international airport. That we have sufficiently chastised and embarrassed the senior airports officials involved in enabling the breach of that security. Simply by being there. Or hearing about it. And discussing it, endlessly, tediously, with our families and friends.
For Kenyans, it is apparently now enough to know. But only after having resisted knowledge in the first place. Let us not pretend, after all, that we had not been forewarned about the presence of the so-called Armenian brothers in our country.
AND WE LET THE STORY DIE DOWN, while allowing the jurisdiction of our Police Commissioner to be trampled upon unceremoniously. Until the goings-on at our international airport when, finally (so the story goes), one brave minister apparently stepped up to the plate to enable the Police Commissioner to do his job.
But, even then, we resisted the logical progression from partial knowledge to full knowledge to decisive action. We decided that it was enough to know only as much of the story as is allowed to come through by inflexible and strict adherence to basic principles of law. Meaning that no inferences are to be drawn based on broader understandings of accountability. At all.
Thus the Judicial Inquiry into Goldenberg can be closed with absolutely no mention of our former president's good name. Even though he clearly had, if not legal accountability, then political accountability for everything that transpired under his watch.
Similarly, the only result of the release of John Githongo's dossier on Anglo-Leasing has been the resignation of erstwhile ministers, only for them to be resurrected unchallenged in various House committees - including those (gasp!) dealing with financial matters.
The events at our international airport, together with the discoveries made in the home of the "Armenian brothers" should have resulted in the prompt (and I do mean prompt!) sacking (not "resignations") of our Ministers for Internal Security and Immigration - just for a start. Because they are so clearly politically accountable.
Instead, what do we see going on before our very eyes? A movie.
We know what happened. The direct line of accountability that can be legally established and substantiated never tells the whole story. Political accountability demands more.
Copyright © 2006 The East African. All rights reserved.
The reference was to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry now sitting on the matter, its proceedings open to the public. The sub-text was the turning of serious national proceedings into circuses where our outrage is silenced. Just as we did with the Goldenberg inquiry, we will troop to this inquiry's sittings in large numbers. We will exclaim and wring our hands, beside ourselves at the juicy revelations.
The proceedings will dominate media coverage for the duration. We will feel we participated. That we have learnt just how security is assured at our international airport. That we have sufficiently chastised and embarrassed the senior airports officials involved in enabling the breach of that security. Simply by being there. Or hearing about it. And discussing it, endlessly, tediously, with our families and friends.
For Kenyans, it is apparently now enough to know. But only after having resisted knowledge in the first place. Let us not pretend, after all, that we had not been forewarned about the presence of the so-called Armenian brothers in our country.
AND WE LET THE STORY DIE DOWN, while allowing the jurisdiction of our Police Commissioner to be trampled upon unceremoniously. Until the goings-on at our international airport when, finally (so the story goes), one brave minister apparently stepped up to the plate to enable the Police Commissioner to do his job.
But, even then, we resisted the logical progression from partial knowledge to full knowledge to decisive action. We decided that it was enough to know only as much of the story as is allowed to come through by inflexible and strict adherence to basic principles of law. Meaning that no inferences are to be drawn based on broader understandings of accountability. At all.
Thus the Judicial Inquiry into Goldenberg can be closed with absolutely no mention of our former president's good name. Even though he clearly had, if not legal accountability, then political accountability for everything that transpired under his watch.
Similarly, the only result of the release of John Githongo's dossier on Anglo-Leasing has been the resignation of erstwhile ministers, only for them to be resurrected unchallenged in various House committees - including those (gasp!) dealing with financial matters.
The events at our international airport, together with the discoveries made in the home of the "Armenian brothers" should have resulted in the prompt (and I do mean prompt!) sacking (not "resignations") of our Ministers for Internal Security and Immigration - just for a start. Because they are so clearly politically accountable.
Instead, what do we see going on before our very eyes? A movie.
We know what happened. The direct line of accountability that can be legally established and substantiated never tells the whole story. Political accountability demands more.
Copyright © 2006 The East African. All rights reserved.
movie news : Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
THE STORY: Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightly) and Will Turner (Johnny Depp) are arrested on their wedding day for releasing the notorious pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in the first “Pirates” film;, So, they must find Sparrow if they want to secure freedom for themselves and Sparrow, too ... or, something.
PIRATE TRUTH: The plot of this movie is about as convincing as the plot from the first movie, but in a series of films with a heck of a lot of undead pirates, believability isn’t exactly paramount. These films serve up exactly what they promise: extremely attractive people, amazing swordfights, some worth-watching special effects, and a little bit of Depp hilarity.
What more could you want from a mindless summer flick?
What worked quite well in the first film was that the special effect of the walking skeletons was used only as a temporary fright, making them all the more interesting. Some might consider it a drawback that in this installment, the villains — the legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and the monstrous crew of “The Flying Dutchman” — dominate a huge chunk of screen time. But if, like me, you are at all impressed by a perfect binding of unbelievable makeup arts and flawless special effects, you won’t be able to peel your eyes away from them.
THE BOTTOM LINE: If “Dead Man’s Chest” had pre-dated “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” the whole “Pirates” cult following and obsession probably wouldn’t have reached the magnitude that it’s at today. However, this incredibly amusing sequel -- with it’s wickedly wonderful, cliff-hanger ending -- will be sure to fill theaters for next year’s release of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
-- Jody Goldberg, Los Gatos High
PIRATE TRUTH: The plot of this movie is about as convincing as the plot from the first movie, but in a series of films with a heck of a lot of undead pirates, believability isn’t exactly paramount. These films serve up exactly what they promise: extremely attractive people, amazing swordfights, some worth-watching special effects, and a little bit of Depp hilarity.
What more could you want from a mindless summer flick?
What worked quite well in the first film was that the special effect of the walking skeletons was used only as a temporary fright, making them all the more interesting. Some might consider it a drawback that in this installment, the villains — the legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and the monstrous crew of “The Flying Dutchman” — dominate a huge chunk of screen time. But if, like me, you are at all impressed by a perfect binding of unbelievable makeup arts and flawless special effects, you won’t be able to peel your eyes away from them.
THE BOTTOM LINE: If “Dead Man’s Chest” had pre-dated “The Curse of the Black Pearl,” the whole “Pirates” cult following and obsession probably wouldn’t have reached the magnitude that it’s at today. However, this incredibly amusing sequel -- with it’s wickedly wonderful, cliff-hanger ending -- will be sure to fill theaters for next year’s release of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
-- Jody Goldberg, Los Gatos High
Thursday, July 06, 2006
movie news : Natalie bares all in new movie
Natalie Portman appears nude in her new movie.
The stunning actress will be seen completely naked during torture scenes in the upcoming historical drama Goya's Ghosts, which focuses on revered artist Francisco Goya.
Portman plays Goya's muse, Alicia, who becomes embroiled in a scandal after she is accused of being a heretic by a monk.
It is not the first time Portman has stripped off for a movie role.
She previously exposed her body in the complex romantic drama Closer, which also starred Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, but the explicit scenes were eventually cut.
The 24-year-old actress, who appeared in the three Star Wars prequels, has previously admitted she is uncomfortable being a sex symbol - because of her role in Leon. Portman shot to fame aged just 12 playing a young Lolita-esque orphan who befriends a hardened assassin in the critically acclaimed 1994 movie.
Although the role won her universal acclaim, the actress admits she found it disturbing that some men lusted after her - even though she was a child.
She said: "I had a bad experience when Leon first came out.
"In hindsight, I'm really proud of that film, though at the time it was
unnerving to find myself suddenly being looked at."
©2006 Tonight & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.
The stunning actress will be seen completely naked during torture scenes in the upcoming historical drama Goya's Ghosts, which focuses on revered artist Francisco Goya.
Portman plays Goya's muse, Alicia, who becomes embroiled in a scandal after she is accused of being a heretic by a monk.
It is not the first time Portman has stripped off for a movie role.
She previously exposed her body in the complex romantic drama Closer, which also starred Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, but the explicit scenes were eventually cut.
The 24-year-old actress, who appeared in the three Star Wars prequels, has previously admitted she is uncomfortable being a sex symbol - because of her role in Leon. Portman shot to fame aged just 12 playing a young Lolita-esque orphan who befriends a hardened assassin in the critically acclaimed 1994 movie.
Although the role won her universal acclaim, the actress admits she found it disturbing that some men lusted after her - even though she was a child.
She said: "I had a bad experience when Leon first came out.
"In hindsight, I'm really proud of that film, though at the time it was
unnerving to find myself suddenly being looked at."
©2006 Tonight & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.
movie news : Harry Potter author receives honorary law degree
Harry Potter author JK Rowling received an honorary law degree from the University of Aberdeen on Thursday to mark her support for research into multiple sclerosis.
"I am thrilled, it is very exciting," she said about the degree, which she said was "particularly meaningful" to her.
Rowling, whose mother died aged 45 from MS in 1990, has helped fund a programme of research at the university into the debilitating condition.
She became patron of the MS Society Scotland in 2001 after discovering what she has described as the "appallingly poor quality of care" available to people with the condition in Scotland.
"I am particularly pleased to support the work that the University's Institute of Medical Sciences is doing on MS research," Rowling said.
"As the patron of the MS Society Scotland, and someone with personal experience of the devastating effects of MS, it is a great privilege to be able to help the Institute continue its pioneering work into the causes and effects of multiple sclerosis."
The 40-year-old writer has already been honoured for her contribution to literature by three other Scottish universities, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Napier.
Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter adventure when she was an unemployed single mother in Edinburgh, but has gone on to become one of the richest authors in history.
The Potter series has sold an estimated 300 million copies worldwide. - Reuters
movies news
©2006 Tonight & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.
"I am thrilled, it is very exciting," she said about the degree, which she said was "particularly meaningful" to her.
Rowling, whose mother died aged 45 from MS in 1990, has helped fund a programme of research at the university into the debilitating condition.
She became patron of the MS Society Scotland in 2001 after discovering what she has described as the "appallingly poor quality of care" available to people with the condition in Scotland.
"I am particularly pleased to support the work that the University's Institute of Medical Sciences is doing on MS research," Rowling said.
"As the patron of the MS Society Scotland, and someone with personal experience of the devastating effects of MS, it is a great privilege to be able to help the Institute continue its pioneering work into the causes and effects of multiple sclerosis."
The 40-year-old writer has already been honoured for her contribution to literature by three other Scottish universities, St Andrews, Edinburgh and Napier.
Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter adventure when she was an unemployed single mother in Edinburgh, but has gone on to become one of the richest authors in history.
The Potter series has sold an estimated 300 million copies worldwide. - Reuters
movies news
©2006 Tonight & Independent Online (Pty) Ltd. All rights reserved.
Monday, July 03, 2006
movie news : Knightley Didn't Dig 'Pirates' at First
Keira Knightley acknowledges she was a bit skeptical at first about appearing in a movie that shared a name with a Disney ride.
"I was like, 'Wait a minute, you're doing a pirate movie something that hasn't worked in about 50 years and it's based on an amusement park ride?!" the actress told the New York Daily News for a story published Sunday.
The 2003 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" went on to be a $650 million worldwide success, and co-star Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination for his role.
Knightley appears again in the sequel "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," opening Friday. A third "Pirates" installment is due out Memorial Day weekend next year.
Knightley says it wasn't until she was at the premiere of the first "Pirates" movie with co-star Orlando Bloom that she knew the premise would work.
"Orlando and I were sitting next to each other at the premiere, which was the first time I'd seen it, and we'd had a big talk and decided that if it was awful, we'd still leave the theater all smiles," she said.
"Halfway through the film, I nudged him and said, 'It's quite good, isn't it?' and he was like 'Yeah, it's really good.' We had no idea it would work."
Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
"I was like, 'Wait a minute, you're doing a pirate movie something that hasn't worked in about 50 years and it's based on an amusement park ride?!" the actress told the New York Daily News for a story published Sunday.
The 2003 film "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" went on to be a $650 million worldwide success, and co-star Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination for his role.
Knightley appears again in the sequel "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," opening Friday. A third "Pirates" installment is due out Memorial Day weekend next year.
Knightley says it wasn't until she was at the premiere of the first "Pirates" movie with co-star Orlando Bloom that she knew the premise would work.
"Orlando and I were sitting next to each other at the premiere, which was the first time I'd seen it, and we'd had a big talk and decided that if it was awful, we'd still leave the theater all smiles," she said.
"Halfway through the film, I nudged him and said, 'It's quite good, isn't it?' and he was like 'Yeah, it's really good.' We had no idea it would work."
Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
movie news : Superman Returns (2006)
Superman--born on a planet which has long since died--has been raised by adoptive parents on the Kent farm in Kansas. The young boy Kal-El is renamed Clark Kent, and though he has grown up among humans, he is not one of them. Under Earth's yellow sun, he can do two things humans can only dream of, but to co-exist with them he must live a dual life as mild, unassuming Clark Kent, secretly transforming into the Man of Steel when the world cries out for him. But now, the world's crises have gone unheeded for five long years since Superman's mysterious disappearance. Without him, crime has risen in the city of Metropolis and beyond; that's not even counting the future destructive acts of Lex Luthor, who has been sprung from prison with the specific intent of using Superman's technological secrets for his own personal gain and glory. Lois Lane, star reporter for the Daily Planet and the love of Superman's life, has moved on since Superman left without a word. She has even won a Pulitzer Prize for her essay, "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." Lois has other issues to contend with--she is now engaged to the editor's nephew and has a young son to look after. But for Superman, the long search for his place in the universe ends back at the Kent farm, among the only family he has ever known. His destiny lies in Metropolis, where one look in Lois's eyes tell him that this place, among the flawed but ultimately good people of Earth, is his true home. And with Lex's plan coming to fruition mere hours after his return, the world will never need Superman more than it does now.
Also Known As: The Last Son of Krypton
Unbelievable
Production Status: Released
Logline: Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 34 min.
Release Date: June 28th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some intense action violence.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures International, Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: Bad Hat Harry Productions, Peters Entertainment
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Financiers: Co-Financier: Legendary Pictures, Inc.
Filming Locations: Fox Studios Austrialia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Los Angeles, California, United States
Produced in: United States
movies news
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Also Known As: The Last Son of Krypton
Unbelievable
Production Status: Released
Logline: Following a mysterious absence of several years, the Man of Steel comes back to Earth.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 34 min.
Release Date: June 28th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some intense action violence.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures International, Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: Bad Hat Harry Productions, Peters Entertainment
Studios: Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Financiers: Co-Financier: Legendary Pictures, Inc.
Filming Locations: Fox Studios Austrialia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Los Angeles, California, United States
Produced in: United States
movies news
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Saturday, July 01, 2006
movie news : Copter filming movie crashes in Iowa field, killing 1
A helicopter being used to film scenes for a movie crashed, killing one person and critically injuring two others, authorities said.
The helicopter crashed just before 1 p.m. (2330 IST) yesterday, said Jim Saunders, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
Federal Aviation Administration officials in Kansas City said the helicopter, a Bell 206, may have crashed because of a "wire strike."
The Gazette newspaper reported on its Web site that the helicopter was filming a parade for the movie "The Final Season," starring Sean Astin and Powers Booth, about a high school baseball team.
Witnesses said the helicopter was carrying the pilot, a producer and a photographer when it hit power lines and crashed into a field about 16 kilometers southwest of Cedar Rapids, the newspaper reported.
The photographer, Roland Schlotzhauer, 50, of Lenexa, Kansas was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Benton County sheriff's office. Pilot Richard Green, 72, and producer Tony Wilson, 49, both of Iowa, were hospitalized in critical condition last night.
The helicopter was contracted through Ri Tel Copter Services Inc. in Hudson. A woman who answered the telephone at the company said a family member was piloting the aircraft and declined to comment.
"The Final Season" is based on the real life story of the 1991 Norway High School baseball team. It is being directed by David Mickey Evans, who also directed the "The Sandlot".
Copyright © 2006, The Hindu
The helicopter crashed just before 1 p.m. (2330 IST) yesterday, said Jim Saunders, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
Federal Aviation Administration officials in Kansas City said the helicopter, a Bell 206, may have crashed because of a "wire strike."
The Gazette newspaper reported on its Web site that the helicopter was filming a parade for the movie "The Final Season," starring Sean Astin and Powers Booth, about a high school baseball team.
Witnesses said the helicopter was carrying the pilot, a producer and a photographer when it hit power lines and crashed into a field about 16 kilometers southwest of Cedar Rapids, the newspaper reported.
The photographer, Roland Schlotzhauer, 50, of Lenexa, Kansas was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Benton County sheriff's office. Pilot Richard Green, 72, and producer Tony Wilson, 49, both of Iowa, were hospitalized in critical condition last night.
The helicopter was contracted through Ri Tel Copter Services Inc. in Hudson. A woman who answered the telephone at the company said a family member was piloting the aircraft and declined to comment.
"The Final Season" is based on the real life story of the 1991 Norway High School baseball team. It is being directed by David Mickey Evans, who also directed the "The Sandlot".
Copyright © 2006, The Hindu
movie news : South Korean movie stars rally against screen cuts.
South Korean movie stars rallied Saturday night against a proposed free trade agreement between their country and the United States amid the start of reduced protections for the domestic film industry.
About a dozen actors including Choi Min-shik, who starred in the Cannes award-winning film "Oldboy," actress Jeon Do-yeon, movie industry workers, academics and some 3,000 supporters gathered in a park in central Seoul for a rally denouncing the U.S. and South Korean governments as well as the American movie industry.
"We refuse to surrender to the unjustifiable demands of the United States," Kim Min-woong, a professor of social science and theology at Sungkonghoe University, told the rally. "We will not kneel down before the Hollywood giant."
The focus of the protester's anger is a government measure announced in January - the so-called screen quota system - that cuts the required number of domestic films shown annually in the nation's cinemas.
As of Saturday, local theaters are now required to show South Korean movies for 73 days a year, down from the previous 146 days. The system was introduced in 1966 to protect the local film industry.
The United States had long pushed for the quota to be reduced and made it a prerequisite for free trade negotiations, which began in Washington last month. The second round of talks is set to start in Seoul on July 10.
Cinematographer Kim Byung-il said he fears the domestic movie industry will lose jobs becasue of the lower screen quota.
"The Korean film industry is small," said Kim, who filmed the acclaimed 2003 movie "Untold Scandal," a South Korean version of the novel "Les Liasons Dangereuses." It's a "huge industry in Hollywood."
The South Korean government has pledged to continue supporting the local film industry, and has promised a 400 billion won (US$422 million; euro330 million) fund to help cushion the blow.
by Associated Press
About a dozen actors including Choi Min-shik, who starred in the Cannes award-winning film "Oldboy," actress Jeon Do-yeon, movie industry workers, academics and some 3,000 supporters gathered in a park in central Seoul for a rally denouncing the U.S. and South Korean governments as well as the American movie industry.
"We refuse to surrender to the unjustifiable demands of the United States," Kim Min-woong, a professor of social science and theology at Sungkonghoe University, told the rally. "We will not kneel down before the Hollywood giant."
The focus of the protester's anger is a government measure announced in January - the so-called screen quota system - that cuts the required number of domestic films shown annually in the nation's cinemas.
As of Saturday, local theaters are now required to show South Korean movies for 73 days a year, down from the previous 146 days. The system was introduced in 1966 to protect the local film industry.
The United States had long pushed for the quota to be reduced and made it a prerequisite for free trade negotiations, which began in Washington last month. The second round of talks is set to start in Seoul on July 10.
Cinematographer Kim Byung-il said he fears the domestic movie industry will lose jobs becasue of the lower screen quota.
"The Korean film industry is small," said Kim, who filmed the acclaimed 2003 movie "Untold Scandal," a South Korean version of the novel "Les Liasons Dangereuses." It's a "huge industry in Hollywood."
The South Korean government has pledged to continue supporting the local film industry, and has promised a 400 billion won (US$422 million; euro330 million) fund to help cushion the blow.
by Associated Press
Monday, June 26, 2006
movie news : Superman II (1981)
Terrorists hold Lois Lane captive and threaten to destroy Paris with a thermo nuclear device. Superman rescues Lois and throws the weapon into space. But, the blast awakens Zod, Ursa, and Non, the three exiled villains from Superman's home planet of Krypton. The evil threesome return to Earth and attempt to use their powers to take over the world.
Production Status: Released
Logline: Three villains from Superman's former home planet escape imprisonment and come to Earth with the same powers as Superman.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Sequel
Running Time: 2 hrs. 7 min.
Release Date: January 1, 1980
MPAA Rating: PG
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: International Film Productions, Dovemead
Filming Locations: Niagara Falls and New York City, New York; Paris, France
Produced in: United Kingdom
Starring: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas
Directed by: Richard Lester, David Tomblin, Robert Lynn (II)
Produced by: Ilya Salkind, Geoffrey Helman, Robert Simmonds
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Production Status: Released
Logline: Three villains from Superman's former home planet escape imprisonment and come to Earth with the same powers as Superman.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Sequel
Running Time: 2 hrs. 7 min.
Release Date: January 1, 1980
MPAA Rating: PG
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
Production Co.: International Film Productions, Dovemead
Filming Locations: Niagara Falls and New York City, New York; Paris, France
Produced in: United Kingdom
Starring: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas
Directed by: Richard Lester, David Tomblin, Robert Lynn (II)
Produced by: Ilya Salkind, Geoffrey Helman, Robert Simmonds
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
movie news : Superman (1978)
The Superman myth is well told, from his birth on the doomed planet Krypton to his childhood in a small Kansas town and beyond, in Richard Donner's blockbuster. After he comes of age, young Clark Kent, as his Earth parents have named him, learns the truth of his alien birth on a voyage of discovery to the Arctic where he builds his "Fortress of Solitude". It is there that he learns--through a link to his long-dead birth father--of his superhuman abilities and his responsibility to preserve and protect "truth, justice and the American Way." Once he adjusts to life in the big city, Metropolis, he discovers that hiding his superpowers as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) isn't easy as he flirts with hard-nosed Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and battles supervillain Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman). The film's all-star cast includes Jackie Cooper, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty, Glenn Ford, Terence Stamp, and Valerie Perrine, among others, all camping it up wonderfully.
Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Music, Best Sound and Best Editing.
Academy Awards: 1, Special Achievement Award for the groundbreaking special effects.
Also Known As: Superman the Movie
Superman: The Movie
Production Status: Released
Logline: A young boy is sent to Earth from his dying planet and grows to become a man with superhuman powers.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 23 min.
Release Date: December 15, 1978
MPAA Rating: PG for peril, some mild sensuality and language.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures International
Production Co.: Dovemead, International Film Productions
Filming Locations: New Mexico
New York City, New York
Canada
England
Produced in: United States
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty
Directed by: Richard Donner, Jonathan Barry, David Tomblin
Produced by: Ilya Salkind, Pierre Spengler, Charles F. Greenlaw
Portions of this page Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Academy Award Nominations: 4, including Best Music, Best Sound and Best Editing.
Academy Awards: 1, Special Achievement Award for the groundbreaking special effects.
Also Known As: Superman the Movie
Superman: The Movie
Production Status: Released
Logline: A young boy is sent to Earth from his dying planet and grows to become a man with superhuman powers.
Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 23 min.
Release Date: December 15, 1978
MPAA Rating: PG for peril, some mild sensuality and language.
Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures International
Production Co.: Dovemead, International Film Productions
Filming Locations: New Mexico
New York City, New York
Canada
England
Produced in: United States
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Valerie Perrine, Ned Beatty
Directed by: Richard Donner, Jonathan Barry, David Tomblin
Produced by: Ilya Salkind, Pierre Spengler, Charles F. Greenlaw
Portions of this page Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
movie news : Waist Deep
"Waist Deep" plunges much deeper than that into good old-fashioned genre filmmaking.
Director Vondie Curtis Hall gives this virtually nonstop crime actioner, set against the mean streets of Los Angeles, pleasing noirish touches along with larger-than-life-size characters.
The Rogue Pictures release is pitched to urban houses, so blacks will predominately make up the audience for the well-made film.
Tyrese Gibson, after two fine performances in the John Singleton films "Baby Boy" and "Four Brothers," carries the movie on his broad shoulders, though the impossibly good-looking Meagan Good makes a solid action co-star.
The opening sequence in the screenplay by Hall and Darin Scott (from a story by Michael Mahern) is overly contrived, but does set off a classic race against the clock.
A newly paroled ex-con named O2 (Gibson) has somehow landed a security job that gives him access to a gun. When his flaky cousin Lucky (Larenz Tate) fails to pick up O2's son, Junior (H. Hunter Hall), from school, O2 must leave his job before a replacement shows up, taking the gun with him, to pick up the boy.
Then, tooling down Adams Boulevard, O2 has his car jacked by hoods with his boy still inside. This leads to a well-executed foot-and-car chase through traffic with guns going off and bad guys shot, but O2 ultimately loses the car -- and his beloved son.
His only connection to the carjackers is a hustler named Coco (Good), who apparently was assigned the job of distracting O2 before the assault. He forces Coco at gunpoint to join him in his crusade to get back his son.
By Kirk Honeycutt
Director Vondie Curtis Hall gives this virtually nonstop crime actioner, set against the mean streets of Los Angeles, pleasing noirish touches along with larger-than-life-size characters.
The Rogue Pictures release is pitched to urban houses, so blacks will predominately make up the audience for the well-made film.
Tyrese Gibson, after two fine performances in the John Singleton films "Baby Boy" and "Four Brothers," carries the movie on his broad shoulders, though the impossibly good-looking Meagan Good makes a solid action co-star.
The opening sequence in the screenplay by Hall and Darin Scott (from a story by Michael Mahern) is overly contrived, but does set off a classic race against the clock.
A newly paroled ex-con named O2 (Gibson) has somehow landed a security job that gives him access to a gun. When his flaky cousin Lucky (Larenz Tate) fails to pick up O2's son, Junior (H. Hunter Hall), from school, O2 must leave his job before a replacement shows up, taking the gun with him, to pick up the boy.
Then, tooling down Adams Boulevard, O2 has his car jacked by hoods with his boy still inside. This leads to a well-executed foot-and-car chase through traffic with guns going off and bad guys shot, but O2 ultimately loses the car -- and his beloved son.
His only connection to the carjackers is a hustler named Coco (Good), who apparently was assigned the job of distracting O2 before the assault. He forces Coco at gunpoint to join him in his crusade to get back his son.
By Kirk Honeycutt
movie news : CBS mulls entry into movie business
Television broadcaster CBS Corp. is exploring a possible entry into the motion picture business, with a view toward producing a handful of smaller-budget films annually, Chief Executive Les Moonves said on Wednesday.
"We are exploring it," Moonves said at a PricewaterhouseCoopers media event in New York. "We're not looking to do 'Superman."'
Moonves did not provide details on how CBS would set up a movie venture, whether through acquisition or building up its own properties.
But he said the television and radio broadcaster would be interested in producing six to eight movies a year on smaller budgets of $20 million to $30 million.
"We could get in a small way, doing six to eight movies a year in a risk-free way," Moonves said.
CBS, home to the television network of the same name, separated from corporate parent Viacom Inc. at the beginning of the year. Viacom retained the Paramount Pictures movie studios.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
"We are exploring it," Moonves said at a PricewaterhouseCoopers media event in New York. "We're not looking to do 'Superman."'
Moonves did not provide details on how CBS would set up a movie venture, whether through acquisition or building up its own properties.
But he said the television and radio broadcaster would be interested in producing six to eight movies a year on smaller budgets of $20 million to $30 million.
"We could get in a small way, doing six to eight movies a year in a risk-free way," Moonves said.
CBS, home to the television network of the same name, separated from corporate parent Viacom Inc. at the beginning of the year. Viacom retained the Paramount Pictures movie studios.
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, June 16, 2006
movie news : A lazy cat in a lazy movie
There's nothing horribly wrong with "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties."
There's nothing especially right about it either.
The three children under 5 whom I took to the movie were entertained enough.
But as a parent, I was pretty much left out to dry, wondering who ordered up a sequel to the 2004 "Garfield," anyway.
Though the title alludes to Charles Dickens, "Two Kitties" resurrects Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" as house cat Garfield gets mixed up with the hoity-toity tabby Prince, who has just inherited an English castle. Both must battle a vengeful nephew (voiced by Billy Connolly), out for blood after getting shortchanged in the will.
As in the first movie, Garfield is convincingly rendered via computer animation while the rest of the world is photographed in live action. Everyone plays straight man (or duck, dog, or goat) to the wisecracking Garfield, for whom all the world is a stand-up comedy stage.
Bill Murray is the perfect choice to voice Garfield, since the laid-back actor can deliver his asides half-asleep and still stay in character. The cat's chronic laziness infects the movie, since the jokes are as dusty and the script as clattery as the suits of armor in the parlor.
The slapstick is aimed squarely at preschoolers, while parents are expected to chortle at references to "Fear Factor" and "Silence of the Lambs." The mix of cute and crude doesn't serve either demographic.
The twist here is that the cat acts human while the actors run around like cartoons. Breckin Meyer returns as owner Jon, who can't find the right moment to propose to girlfriend Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Garfield figures that it's bad enough that he has to share Jon's affection with the mutt Odie, so he tries to foil the nuptials.
No one looks comfortable, including the animated Garfield. He seems to know as well as we do that his comedy works best in a handful of comic strip frames.
BY JOHN MONAGHAN
There's nothing especially right about it either.
The three children under 5 whom I took to the movie were entertained enough.
But as a parent, I was pretty much left out to dry, wondering who ordered up a sequel to the 2004 "Garfield," anyway.
Though the title alludes to Charles Dickens, "Two Kitties" resurrects Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper" as house cat Garfield gets mixed up with the hoity-toity tabby Prince, who has just inherited an English castle. Both must battle a vengeful nephew (voiced by Billy Connolly), out for blood after getting shortchanged in the will.
As in the first movie, Garfield is convincingly rendered via computer animation while the rest of the world is photographed in live action. Everyone plays straight man (or duck, dog, or goat) to the wisecracking Garfield, for whom all the world is a stand-up comedy stage.
Bill Murray is the perfect choice to voice Garfield, since the laid-back actor can deliver his asides half-asleep and still stay in character. The cat's chronic laziness infects the movie, since the jokes are as dusty and the script as clattery as the suits of armor in the parlor.
The slapstick is aimed squarely at preschoolers, while parents are expected to chortle at references to "Fear Factor" and "Silence of the Lambs." The mix of cute and crude doesn't serve either demographic.
The twist here is that the cat acts human while the actors run around like cartoons. Breckin Meyer returns as owner Jon, who can't find the right moment to propose to girlfriend Liz (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Garfield figures that it's bad enough that he has to share Jon's affection with the mutt Odie, so he tries to foil the nuptials.
No one looks comfortable, including the animated Garfield. He seems to know as well as we do that his comedy works best in a handful of comic strip frames.
BY JOHN MONAGHAN
movie news : Nacho Libre (2006)
Nacho is a man without skills. After growing up in a Mexican monastery, he is now a grown man and the monastery's cook, but doesn't seem to fit in. Nacho cares deeply for the orphans he feeds, but his food is terrible--mostly, if you ask him, a result of his terrible ingredients. He realizes he must hatch a plan to make money to buy better food for "the young orphans, who have nothing" (and if in doing so Nacho can impress the lovely Sister Encarnacion, that would be a big plus). When Nacho is struck by the idea to earn money as a Lucha Libre wrestler, he finds that he has a natural, raw talent for wrestling. As he teams with his rail-thin, unconventional partner, Esqueleto (the Skeleton), Nacho feels for the first time in his life that he has something to fight for and a place where he belongs. As Lucha is strictly forbidden by the church elders at the monastery, Nacho is forced to lead a double life. Disguised by a sky blue mask, Nacho conceals his true identity as he takes on Mexico's most famous wrestlers and takes on a hilarious quest to make life a little sweeter at the orphanage.
Also Known As: Untitled (Nickelodeon/Jack Black Project)
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Genres: Comedy
Release Date: June 16th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG for rough action, and crude humor including dialogue.
Distributors: Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures
Production Co.: Black & White Productions, Nickelodeon Movies
Studios: Paramount Pictures
Filming Locations: Oxaca, Mexico
Los Angeles, California USA
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Also Known As: Untitled (Nickelodeon/Jack Black Project)
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Genres: Comedy
Release Date: June 16th, 2006 (wide)
MPAA Rating: PG for rough action, and crude humor including dialogue.
Distributors: Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures
Production Co.: Black & White Productions, Nickelodeon Movies
Studios: Paramount Pictures
Filming Locations: Oxaca, Mexico
Los Angeles, California USA
Produced in: United States
Copyright © 2006 Baseline. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
movie news : Waist Deep (2006)
I'll always come back for you," single father O2 tells his young son Junior. This parental promise is put to the test when O2 is suddenly plunged into a do-or-die situation; trying to go straight for Junior's sake, this recently paroled ex-con is forced to go back outside the law after his son is kidnapped in a carjacking. The resulting chase and shootout have left Junior in the hands of Meat, the vicious leader of the Outlaw Syndicate. O2's shady cousin Lucky tries to meditate, but is caught between criminal and family loyalties. The only person who can or will help O2 get his son back is wily street-smart hustler Coco, whose path fatefully crossed O2's just moments before the kidnapping. When Lucky gets word to O2 that Meat expects $100,000 for Junior's freedom, O2 and Coco seize the opportunity to pit rival elements of the South Los Angeles underworld against each other. "It's either all or nothing," realizes O2. With the clock ticking down, the heat between O2 and Coco rises as they become a lawbreaking couple, on an action-packed tear through a range of Los Angeles neighborhoods. Can they outwit the underworld and save Junior and themselves?
movie news
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©1999-2006 Hollywood.com, Inc. NASDAQ:HOLL
movie news ; God Bless IMAX
As a resident of the American South for 27 out of the 28 years of my life and a childhood "Dukes of Hazzard" fan, let me start this by saying the following: I'm really sick of us Southerners making ourselves look like ass-clowns. Get it together people. For every episode of "Boston Legal" that portrays us all as gun-toting, mustache twirling, murdering dim-wits, there's a real life story like this one that makes us every bit as stupid as James Spader portrays us. Maybe it's time I moved up north.
Here's the long and short of it: IMAX theaters in several southern cities (Texas is listed specifically, so no doubt this includes my IMAX theater here in Dallas.) have opted not to show a film on volcanoes on the grounds that it references the theory of evolution. Cited are concerns that movie-goers might be offended, or worse still actually learn something. The South's education reputation didn't occur by accident after all.
Now granted, I don't spend a lot of time watching The Discovery Channel, but when was the last time you saw a nature program that didn't reference evolution? They're absolutely RIFE with it, perhaps because they're put together by smart people known as "scientists" instead of evangelical, money-hungry preachers. Scientists you see are this weird cult of folks who worship this guy named Einstein and believe in crazy things like scientific method as a way for unraveling the mysteries of the Earth. They also feel pretty confident that we all got here by a process known as evolution. Fun fact… the Pope agrees.
To be honest, I'm not sure what I believe on the subject, but that's irrelevant to the discussion. Whether evolution is the real deal or not, this is a move that's completely out of wack. I support the rights of these individual theater owners to run whichever movies they want. I believe in that, it's a private business and they're in it to make money. Fine. But has the Bible belt really become so desperately oppressive that legitimate science no longer has a place in movie theaters? That's a frightening thought. It stinks of knee-jerk reaction. Are people actually out there protesting this? I know a lot of fundamentalist creationists (I do after all live in Texas) and they spend more time watching the Discovery Channel than anyone I know (Animals screwing is less morally offensive than people). They're used to wading through evolution references… why would it suddenly bother them? It's as if electing a president on moral grounds has suddenly empowered an entire small subset of psychotically religious people to go out and start forcing their beliefs on the rest of the populace… or has it? At least that seems like what these theater owners are afraid of. To me, the fear seems unfounded.
The worst thing about this is the message it sends to the folks making these sorts of movies. If you want your movie shown, leave out anything that isn't in the Bible. Maybe work in some references to God. Throw in A few shots of a bearded guy shooting stars out of his ass. Better make that beard thicker, wouldn't want him to be confused as female. Alanis Morrisette is right out. Maybe the Lucas-like fellow could even ask to borrow a starship. God does that sort of thing you know.
This mess reflects poorly on normal, mainstream Christians, and as usual reflects poorly on the justifiably maligned Deep South. We deserve the stereotypes. Might as well kick back in your rocking chair and suck on a corn-cob pipe brothers. Religion is well and good but please, keep it to yourself. You're making the whole region look like bullshit. God bless Texas?
by Joshua Tyler
Here's the long and short of it: IMAX theaters in several southern cities (Texas is listed specifically, so no doubt this includes my IMAX theater here in Dallas.) have opted not to show a film on volcanoes on the grounds that it references the theory of evolution. Cited are concerns that movie-goers might be offended, or worse still actually learn something. The South's education reputation didn't occur by accident after all.
Now granted, I don't spend a lot of time watching The Discovery Channel, but when was the last time you saw a nature program that didn't reference evolution? They're absolutely RIFE with it, perhaps because they're put together by smart people known as "scientists" instead of evangelical, money-hungry preachers. Scientists you see are this weird cult of folks who worship this guy named Einstein and believe in crazy things like scientific method as a way for unraveling the mysteries of the Earth. They also feel pretty confident that we all got here by a process known as evolution. Fun fact… the Pope agrees.
To be honest, I'm not sure what I believe on the subject, but that's irrelevant to the discussion. Whether evolution is the real deal or not, this is a move that's completely out of wack. I support the rights of these individual theater owners to run whichever movies they want. I believe in that, it's a private business and they're in it to make money. Fine. But has the Bible belt really become so desperately oppressive that legitimate science no longer has a place in movie theaters? That's a frightening thought. It stinks of knee-jerk reaction. Are people actually out there protesting this? I know a lot of fundamentalist creationists (I do after all live in Texas) and they spend more time watching the Discovery Channel than anyone I know (Animals screwing is less morally offensive than people). They're used to wading through evolution references… why would it suddenly bother them? It's as if electing a president on moral grounds has suddenly empowered an entire small subset of psychotically religious people to go out and start forcing their beliefs on the rest of the populace… or has it? At least that seems like what these theater owners are afraid of. To me, the fear seems unfounded.
The worst thing about this is the message it sends to the folks making these sorts of movies. If you want your movie shown, leave out anything that isn't in the Bible. Maybe work in some references to God. Throw in A few shots of a bearded guy shooting stars out of his ass. Better make that beard thicker, wouldn't want him to be confused as female. Alanis Morrisette is right out. Maybe the Lucas-like fellow could even ask to borrow a starship. God does that sort of thing you know.
This mess reflects poorly on normal, mainstream Christians, and as usual reflects poorly on the justifiably maligned Deep South. We deserve the stereotypes. Might as well kick back in your rocking chair and suck on a corn-cob pipe brothers. Religion is well and good but please, keep it to yourself. You're making the whole region look like bullshit. God bless Texas?
by Joshua Tyler
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