‘Oblivion’ won the box office in its opening weekend, with ticket sales worth approximately $38.2 million. Tom Cruise’s sci-fi thriller took in $13.3 million on opening day Friday and $14.9 million on the following day reported the Globe and Mail. The PG-13 movie is not Cruise’s first opening weekend gross of above $25 million; previously, ‘Minority Report’ brought in $35 million, ‘Interview With The Vampire’, $36 million, ‘Mission: Impossible’, $45 million, ‘Mission: Impossible II’, $57 million, ‘Mission: Impossible III’, $47 million, and ‘War Of The Worlds’, $64 million. Also in the Top 5 this week are: ’42′, ‘The Croods’, ‘Scary Movie V’, and ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’.

The adventure movie also stars Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Melissa Leo. It takes place in the year 2077, sixty years after an alien attack destroyed half of the moon, ruining Earth’s ability to support life. Cruise plays the main protagonist Jack Harper (Technician #49), who along with the communications officer Victoria, played by Riseborough, is among the very few humans to remain on the planet, with the rest of the survivors located at a massive space station called the Tet. Victoria maintains contact with Sally, her commander on the Tet, played by Melissa Leo to receive daily tasks. The storyline takes a turn for the worse once a spaceship, the Odyssey, crashes nearby and Jack discovers that drones were programmed to kill humans.

Coming in second at the box office was Brian Helgeland’s ’42′, a biographical sports drama about the life of baseball player Jackie Robinson. The biopic continued its successful run, bringing in $18 million this weekend with an overall domestic gross total of $54.1 million after two weeks in the box office. The number three slot was ‘The Croods’ with a $9.5 million gross, bringing its total to $154.9 million. ‘Scary Movie 5′ and ‘GI Joe: Retaliation’ are at numbers four and five respectively, while Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper’s latest film, ‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ just missed the Top 5 after expanding nationwide from 514 theaters into 1,542 theaters. Approximate ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US theatres, according to Hollywood.com can be seen below. 

‘Oblivion’ is a great sci-fi film full of persuasive characters, dramatic tension, and a strong plot with a few unexpected twists. The movie’s director Joseph Kosinski (‘Tron: Legacy’) was successfully able to combine visual and narrative elements to produce an engaging yet emotional addition to the genre. The film opened in roughly 35 countries including France, Sweden, Argentina, and the United Kingdom, bringing in nearly $112 million worldwide. The head of distribution for Universal, Nikki Rocco said, “He’s a global star; people love Tom Cruise. If you put him in the right vehicle, they love him even better.”

Next weekend, the main competition for the top spot will be ‘Pain and Gain’ and ‘The Big Wedding’ just before Summer 2013 kicks off with ‘Iron Man 3′.

Image credit: Oblivion UK via Facebook

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American journalist, screenwriter and influential film critic Roger Ebert passed away on Thursday. He was seventy years old. He was best known as a film critic for the Chicago Sun Times from 1967 until his death. In 1975, he became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. As of 2010 his columns were syndicated to more than 200 newspapers in the United States and abroad. During his lifetime, Ebert published more than twenty books and dozens of collections of reviews.

Born as an only child in Urbana, Illinois to parents Annabel and Walter H. Ebert, he was raised Roman Catholic and attending St. Mary’s Elementary school while serving as an altar boy in Urbana. Ebert’s interest in journalism began at the age of fifteen where he was a sports writer for The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois. His writing career however began with letters to the science fiction fanzines of the era. Ebert became involved in science fiction fandom as he wrote articles for fanzines which included Richard A. Lupoff’s Xero. During his senior year, he was class president and editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper The Echo and in 1958, he won the Illinois High School Association state speech championship in “radio speaking,” an event simulating radio newscasts.

Reminiscing about his early influences in film criticism, Ebert wrote in the 1998 parody collection Mad About the Movies:

“I learned to be a movie critic by reading Mad magazine… Mad’s parodies made me aware of the machine inside the skin – of the way a movie might look original on the outside, while inside it was just recycling the same old dumb formulas. I did not read the magazine, I plundered it for clues to the universe. Pauline Kaellost it at the movies; I lost it at Mad magazine.”

Ebert completed his high school courses while also taking his first university class at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an early entrance student. He graduated from high School in 1960 and continued to take classes at the university where he also worked as a reporter for the The Daily Illini and then served as its editor during his senior year while also continuing to work as a reporter for the News-Gazette. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and president of the U.S. Student Press Association at Illinois. One of the first movie reviews he ever wrote was a review of La Dolce Vita, published in The Daily Illini in October 1961.

After graduating from the university in 1964, Ebert spent a semester as a master’s student in the department of English there before attending the University of Cape Town on a Rotary fellowship for a year and then returned from Cape Town to his graduate studies at Illinois for two more semesters. After being accepted as a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, he prepared to move. Needing a job to support himself while he worked on his doctorate, he applied to the Chicago Daily News, hoping that, as he had already sold freelance pieces to the newspaper-including an article on the death of writer Brendan Behan-he would be hired by editor Herman Kogan. Instead Kogan referred Ebert to the city editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim Hoge, who hired Ebert as a reporter and feature writer in 1966. While working as a general reporter at the Sun-Times for a year, Ebert attended doctoral classes at the University of Chicago. After movie critic Eleanor Keane left the Sun-Times in April 1967, editor Robert Zonk gave the job to Ebert. Because the load of graduate school and being a film critic proved too much, he left the University of Chicago to focus his energies on reporting.

With Ebert becoming the movie critic for the Sun-Times in 1967, his film critic career began. That same year his first book Illini Century: One Hundred Years of Campus Life was published by the University of Illinois’ press. In 1969, his review of Night of the Living Dead was published in Reader’s Digest.

In 1975, Ebert began a co-hosting a weekly film review television show called Sneak Previews which was locally produced. Three years later Gene Siskel became a co-host when the show was picked up by PBS for national distribution and the rest was history. Going through variations of At the Movies programs, Siskel and Ebert debated and traded humourous barbs while discussing films. They created and trademarked the phrase “Two Thumbs Up” when both hosts gave the same film a positive review. After Siskel’s passing in 1999, Ebert continued the show with Richard Roeper as co-host. In 2005, Ebert became the first film critic to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and on January 31, 2009, he was made an honorary life member of the Directors Guild of America.

As far as his critical approach to films, Ebert described it as “relative, not absolute”; he reviewed a film for what he felt would be its prospective audience, but always with at least some consideration as to its value as a whole. He awarded four stars to films of the highest quality, and generally a half star to those of the lowest, unless he considered the film to be “artistically inept” or “morally repugnant”, in which case it received no stars. Ebert often made heavy use of mocking sarcasm, especially when reviewing movies he considered bad. Ebert’s reviews were also characterized by what has been called “dry wit” At other times he was direct. Ebert commented on films using his Roman Catholic upbringing as a point of reference, and was critical of films he believed were grossly ignorant of or insulting to Catholicism. He often included personal anecdotes in his reviews when he considered them relevant. He occasionally wrote reviews in the forms of stories, poems, songs,scripts, open letters, or imagined conversations. He also wrote many essays and articles exploring in depth the field of film criticism.

Ebert lived with thyroid cancer from 2002, and in 2006, surgical complications left him unable to speak, but he continued writing in print and online. On April 4th, 2013, Roger Ebert died. According to his wife Chaz, “We were getting ready to go home today for hospice care, when he [Ebert] looked at us, smiled, and passed away.” The closing sentence on his final blog post, two days before his death, said, “So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.

Ebert’s death prompted wide reaction from celebrities both in and out of the entertainment industry. President Barack Obama wrote, “Roger was the movies … [he could capture] the unique power of the movies to take us somewhere magical … The movies won’t be the same without Roger.”

Robert Redford called Ebert “one of the great champions of freedom of artistic expression” and said “His personal passion for cinema was boundless, and that is sure to be his legacy for generations to come.”

Oprah Winfrey called Ebert’s death the “end of an era,” as did Steven Spielberg, who also said that Ebert’s “reviews went far deeper than simply thumbs up or thumbs down. He wrote with passion through a real knowledge of film and film history, and in doing so, helped many movies find their audiences… [he] put television criticism on the map.”

Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert “was without question the nation’s most prominent and influential film critic,” Tom Van Riper of Forbes described him as “the most powerful pundit in America,” and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him “the best known film critic in America.”

Image credit: Kanaka Menehune via Flickr.com

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Action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to cinema, full-throttle, for an all-out showdown in ‘The Last Stand’, Kim Jee-woon’s high-speed, high-mayhem action-thriller.

The good guys have never had it this bad, but they’re ready to give it everything they’ve got in this hard-charging, car-chasing, fist-fighting wild ride that takes an amped-up spin on the classic good vs. bad battle.

Schwarzenegger stars as relentless Sheriff Ray Owens, who left behind the LAPD following a bungled narcotics operation that still wracks him with remorse. Now he’s leading the quiet life in the border town of Sommerton – but that quiet is about to be shattered, big-time. When Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), the most lethal, not to mention wanted drug kingpin in America, makes a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, he’s hell bent for the Sommerton border – in a specially-equipped Corvette ZR1 capable of blowing past 250 MPH.

U.S. Federal Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) might be hot on his trail but Cortez has no fear of the Feds. Cortez only has to fear what he doesn’t see coming: Sheriff Ray Owens. Owens might be out-manned and out-gunned, but he won’t be out-smarted or out-lasted when Cortez threatens the only thing that matters to him now – his new home. Owens and his small but fiercely loyal force are all that stands between Cortez and his freedom.

He’s long been among the toughest, most iconic action heroes of cinema legend, but lately Arnold Schwarzenegger has been serving in another high-adrenaline role – as the Governor of California. Now, at last, he makes his much-anticipated comeback with his first leading action role in a decade in ‘The Last Stand’. Taking on the role of a small-town Sheriff with a hard-edged past, Schwarzenegger resumes his screen hero status with a character who is familiar in his fierceness, yet brings a new twist.  This bold, badass veteran lawman has seen plenty of action — but he thinks he’s moved on to more peaceful pastures until bad guys show up in the very town where he’s come to escape them

“In this film, we see the Arnold we have missed, and the Arnold we have never seen before,” sums up the film’s director Jee-woon, whose Hollywood debut makes a surprise collision with Schwarzenegger’s return to the screen. One of the most lauded and watched of the Korean cinematic phenoms, Jee-Woon won acclaim with his stylish noir thriller ‘A Bittersweet Life’, his award-winning outlaw comedy ‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird’, his hardboiled horror movie ‘I Saw The Devil’ and his haunting ghost story ‘A Tale Of Two Sisters’.  But he had never made an action film in America before – and would get his first chance to do so with the biggest Hollywood action star of them all.

Jee-woon was instantly drawn to ‘The Last Stand’s mix of breakneck speed, rollicking humor and colorful characters on both sides of the law, but he was compelled most of all by the chance to have Arnold lead an awe-inspiring defense of justice, even when he and his town have been counted out as nobodies.

Says Jee-woon of their unusual pairing: “Arnold has done everything in Hollywood and I am just starting out in Hollywood. We are so different, but when I met him, our thoughts on ‘The Last Stand’ and his character coincided. Sheriff Owens has left behind his violent past for a quiet, peaceful small town, but ironically, he must now put everything he has on the line in order to protect this new home. I think we both saw it as story about how a villain armed with high-tech machinery that even governments cannot stop is thwarted by small town people who are inspired by justice.”

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Playing the head of the FBI operation in the action movie ‘The Last Stand’, is Oscar winner Forest Whitaker. Whitaker plays John Bannister as a man obsessed with catching his quarry – and quick to deny Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character Sheriff Owens even a slim chance at stopping the Cortez gang, which he soon comes to regret.

Director Kim Jee-woon was very pleased to be able to cast an actor of Whitaker’s caliber. “He brings a lot of class to the role,” says the director. “He has the energy of a mountain. When I looked at his copy of the script once, it had more notes written in it than mine. It just goes to show that great actors are not born but made through endeavor and effort.”

Whitaker was equally compelled to work with Jee-woon. He says, “I think there are two elemental things that make his films so special. First is his style. There’s poetry to his films and a deep search to reveal the insides of character. Second, there’s a visual beauty — even if it’s an action film. There are poetic moments of violence in his films and that’s a special thing to pull off.”

He was also drawn to Bannister and the things he shares with Sheriff Owens, even if he doesn’t realize it: “I think both men are looking towards some form of redemption. Arnold’s character lost his partner and has exiled himself to a small town, hoping he’ll never have to be confronted with his past. But that is exactly what happens — he’s faced with looking at his own capabilities, what he needs to do. And my character has lost the man that he has sought for so long, and he desperately wants to get him back, so he can seek justice.  I think of him as almost an archetype of an archangel, doing his duty to bring about justice.”

Whitaker was taken with the Good vs. Bad theme which winds through the whole movie. “You have a hero going up against large odds – the establishment, society, criminals – and that gets you excited because you have an underdog in peril,” he says “And then you have strong villain who is almost bigger than a human being, sort of a demigod, because seemingly nothing can stop him from completing his task, until he meets the hero.”

For producer di Bonaventura, Whitaker makes Bannister the ultimate intermediary between the small-town Davids and a powerful modern Goliath. “Forest has that incredible power that can project at an almost zealot level but, at the same time, he has a vulnerability, and you see how he’s eaten up with guilt that this guy’s gotten away. That generates a lot of empathy for a character who has a blind spot when it comes to Sheriff Owens.”

The right and left hands of Bannister are his two lead support agents: Ellen Richards, played by Genesis Rodriguez (‘Case De Mi Padre’, ‘What To Expect When You’re Expecting’) and Phil Hayes, portrayed by Daniel Henney (‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’). They soon become only ‘one hand,’ when Richards is taken by Cortez as an apparent hostage.

Henney, a Korean-American, was already a fan of Jee-woon before taking the fun supporting role. He sums up: “Along with the chases and the explosions, he always brings in very interesting darkness and drama. And the way he films action — he’s one of the best.”

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Producer Gregory Jacobs has noted that new movie ‘Side Effects’ is perhaps the first thriller set in this milieu. “I hadn’t seen anybody do something about the drug industry or the prevalence of antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication in our society,” he says. “At the same time, it’s just such an entertaining thriller.”

As his script continued to evolve, screenwriter Scott Z. Burns turned to a pair of trusted collaborators: Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. “Lorenzo hired me to write ‘The Informant!’ for Warner Bros. at a time when I wasn’t qualified to lead a tour at Warner Bros.,” says Burns. “But he trusted me and believed in me. He had just started his production company, so I called him first. He was there when the movie had no home. He was open to casting ideas. This is a man who has made some giant movies, but he just loves filmmaking and he wants to make a lot of different kinds of movies.”

Di Bonaventura threw his full support behind the project. “I loved the idea of making an authentic thriller,” he says. “Hollywood has sort of abandoned the genre, so this is somewhat different in the marketplace. We developed it together. Scott wrote I don’t know how many drafts, but he always stayed true to his original vision. It was a long road, but a fun one.”

Over the period he was writing ‘Side Effects’, Burns worked with Soderbergh on ‘The Informant!’ and ‘Contagion’, as well as ‘PU-239’, which Burns wrote and directed, and Soderbergh executive produced. He shared the script with Soderbergh as it developed and the director closely followed his progress.

“Scott is very adept at identifying interesting issues and wrapping them in a commercial skin,” Soderbergh says. “I like movies that try to do more than one thing at a time. Like ‘Contagion’, ‘Side Effects’ can be described as a thriller, but both have an undercurrent of reality that reflects the contemporary world. If you can do that gracefully, the audience always appreciates it.”

Soderbergh says Burns is also very good at what he calls the “mathematics of a story.” “How many elements need to be in play? How you can play off the audience’s expectations? How do you navigate your way around clichés? He’s very good at the architecture, as well as creating intriguing characters and writing great dialogue.”

Burns had always planned to direct ‘Side Effects’ himself, but when Soderbergh asked if he could direct, it didn’t take the screenwriter long to agree. “Steven had a window and ‘Side Effects’ was the film he was most interested in making,” Burns recalls. “We had a very similar take on the material. It was hard to make an argument for me doing it, other than my ego, which is not a great place from which to make artistic decisions. I thought, if there were two minutes left in the game and either I could play quarterback or Drew Brees could play quarterback, what would be better for the team?”

Di Bonaventura also gave a thumbs up to the change in plans. “Steven brings a singular perspective to whatever he does,” the producer says. “He makes each movie feel unique, with its own set of strengths. And his sets are great to work on. They’re really professionally run and surprisingly quiet, which gives actors the room to do what they do.”

Burns and Soderbergh had already proven themselves a winning team on ‘The Informant!’ and ‘Contagion’, adds the producer. “They are a good match. Steven’s films always include some kind of social commentary. This story is built on the underlying notion that we don’t really know what these medications are doing to us, but our society has come to rely on them. We leave it to the viewer to decide if it’s good or bad in the end.”

That’s just one of the questions audiences are confronted with in ‘Side Effects’, a tightly plotted thriller rife with moral ambiguity and human frailty. “I believe that what draws you into a thriller is humanity,” says Burns. “You get twisted around as much by your own heart and your own perception as by the plot mechanics. It’s great to pull the rug out from people and I think that’s a really fun thing that can happen in a movie theater. But what Steven and I wanted, beyond that, was for audiences to have the rug pulled out from under them in terms of their own experiences.”

The movie is intended to pack a one-two punch that will first entertain and then spark a discussion. “We hope that the audience will come out of the theater saying, I didn’t see that coming,” says di Bonaventura. “And then we hope they’ll realize how deeply the issue of pharmaceuticals has permeated our society.”

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On the heels of seven years as Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger had planned to make a slow transition back into the action movie roles that made him an international hero – but that transition happened at a breakneck speed when he ran across the screenplay for ‘The Last Stand’.

“It was a fantastic script,” comments Schwarzenegger. “It had intensity, it had drama, it had the action I love and which my fans expect me to deliver, and at the same time it had a lot of comic relief. It was one of those movies where you laugh in the middle of the intense suspense.”

Schwarzenegger was equally intrigued by the chance to work with an up and coming director who he felt had the chops to take classic action for a fresh and fun spin. He had already seen many of Jee-woon’s Korean films and found them exhilarating. “He’s very, very talented and I like to work with talented directors,” Schwarzenegger says. “The first movie I saw of his, ‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird’, I loved – the size of it all and the action was just incredible. Then I watched ‘I Saw The Devil’, ‘A Bittersweet Life’ and ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’; and with each of his movies, I liked him more and more. What a wide range of talent this man has. He is especially good at working with the universal theme of good versus bad. That comes through in each of his movies and in ‘The Last Stand’.”

As the project came together, Schwarzenegger was also excited by the ensemble cast he would be leading. “This cast is unbelievable – Johnny Knoxville, Forest Whitaker, Luis Guzmán, Jaimie Alexander, Rodrigo Santoro, Eduardo Noriega, Genesis Rodriguez and the list goes on and on,” he says. “Each one of them has great acting talent, both from a comedy point of view but also from an intensity point of view.”

Schwarzenegger loved that Noriega plays Cortez as a man as suave as he is bad. “He’s such a good-looking guy, he’s like a sex symbol,” Schwarzenegger comments. “But he also plays a drug kingpin unbelievably well. I saw right away the intensity in his eyes and his face that made him totally believable and a really strong opponent for my character.”

Schwarzenegger also had a great time working with Knoxville. “Johnny’s hilarious,” he says. “If you’ve seen his Jackass movies, you know he’s willing to put everything on the line in order to get a big laugh – and this character was perfect for him. He ends up being the most supportive of Sheriff Owens’ team and courageous in their battles.”

Schwarzenegger also felt an affinity with Sheriff Owens, who may have once been an action hero in his own right but has taken up a very different kind of life, keeping the peace in a small town that he had assumed would never see much trouble. “He’s had all these experiences as part of a Los Angeles S.W.A.T team, but that time is over,” Schwarzenegger observes. “He’s kind of looking forward to retirement and he’s set in his mind that he’s going to live quietly until his town gets hit by criminals. So it becomes an underdog story of how the town finds a way out of this mess.”

Like Sheriff Owens, Schwarzenegger had to jump into full-scale, physically demanding action after a considerable break from it – and like Sheriff Owens, he was more ready for the challenge to body and mind than he had originally expected. “After the governorship, I felt I would have to ease myself back into action, one step at a time,” he explains, “but that is not what happened.”

He goes on: “I remember visiting a movie set as governor and seeing one of the actors hanging upside down in a harness. A friend of mine asked me ‘Don’t you miss that?’ and I said ‘No, I’d rather be in Sacramento, surrounded by legislators who are not always on your side and can make things very difficult, but I’d rather do that than hang upside down on a harness. I just can’t see myself ever doing that again.’ Well, sure enough, in this movie I hang upside down on a harness. I was back in a harness and back in a movie where from beginning to end I was battling, climbing, running and driving fast cars. And I thought I was going to ease my way back into action! But it was a lot of fun.”

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‘Side Effects’ is a provocative thriller about Emily and Martin, a successful New York couple whose world unravels when a new drug prescribed by Emily’s psychiatrist – intended to treat anxiety – has unexpected side effects.

Emily (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara) and Martin Taylor (Channing Tatum) are a young, beautiful, wealthy couple living the good life, with a mansion, a sailboat and every luxury money can buy – until Martin is sent to prison for insider trading. For four years, Emily waits for him in a tiny apartment in upper Manhattan, but his release is just as devastating as his incarceration and Emily sinks into a deep depression.

After a failed suicide attempt, psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Academy Award nominee Jude Law) is called in to consult on Emily’s case. Desperate not to be hospitalized, Emily agrees to a regimen of therapy and antidepressants, a decision that will change the lives of everyone involved. When Emily’s symptoms don’t improve, Banks prescribes a new medication that quiets her demons. But the side effects of the drug have chilling consequences: marriages are ruined, Banks’ practice is decimated and someone is dead—but who is responsible? Devastated by this professional setback, Banks becomes obsessed with finding an answer. But the truth he uncovers threatens to destroy whatever is left of his career and his private life.

Stories of psychopharmacology

Over a decade ago screenwriter Scott Z. Burns spent several weeks doing research at New York’s famed Bellevue Hospital psychiatric facility. Burns, who was then writing for the acclaimed television medical drama “Wonderland,” spoke with the psychiatrists on staff and watched them at work with mentally ill patients, including many who had a criminal past.

“It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life,” says Burns. “There were people there who were truly terrifying criminals. There were also people who were so ill they were unable to understand the rules of society and couldn’t possibly be expected to play by them.”

The experience planted a seed in Burns’ imagination. “I wanted to write a noir-style thriller that took the audience in and spun it around, like ‘Double Indemnity’ or ‘Body Heat’, set in the world of psychopharmacology,” says Burns. “I was inspired by films that involve crafty, clever scams, set against the society the audience is really living in. People seem to have stopped making those, but I have always loved the genre.”

Burns began to develop the script that would eventually become ‘Side Effects’ with the help of Dr. Sasha Bardey, who was at the time Deputy Director of Forensic Psychiatry for Bellevue Hospital. “Sasha and I met working on ‘Wonderland,’” says Burns. “His input was essential because this movie needed to be firmly rooted in reality.”

Bardey too had always been intrigued by the idea of a thriller involving psychiatry. “Once we came up with the backbone of this story, Scott did the writing, and I provided the context.”

The combination of Burns’ prodigious storytelling skills and Bardey’s expertise resulted in an eye-opening thriller. “It looks at the idea of where reality ends and mental illness begins,” says Bardey. “You don’t know if things are what they appear to be. In that sense, it’s got a Hitchcockian feel to it. And the ending is fantastic, a great lesson and a lot of fun.”

As he constructed his narrative, Burns also conducted extensive research on the growing use of anti-depressants in this country with the help of Dr. Bardey, who ultimately served as on-set adviser and co-producer.

Burns found evidence in the news stories of the day that the same medications used to treat depression, anxiety and other psychological ailments were also creating inexplicable behavior in a small but significant number of patients. Commonly prescribed drugs were being blamed for crimes ranging from vehicular homicide to physical assault. A man in California was acquitted of charges in a non-injury vehicular accident while under the influence of a popular sleep remedy.

One widely prescribed antidepressant was even implicated in a shocking kidnapping and rape.

Just as fascinating to Burns were stories he uncovered about the misbehavior of respected doctors. “There was a story in the news about a psychiatrist who tried to hire one of his patients, a convicted criminal, to kill his mistress,” says Burns. “When the patient went to the police, they didn’t believe him because he’s obviously a crazy person. Our story is completely different than that one, but it’s full of plot twists and turns that have you constantly questioning what actually happened and who is telling the truth.”

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Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in ‘The Last Stand’, which marks the U.S. directorial debut of celebrated Korean action director Kim Jee-woon (‘I Saw Devil’; ‘A Tale Of Two Sisters’; ‘The Good, the Bad, the Weird’) and is written by Andrew Knauer. Joining Schwarzenegger is an all-star ensemble that includes Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Rodrigo Santoro, Jaimie Alexander, Luis Guzmán, Eduardo Noriega, Peter Stormare, Zach Gilford and Genesis Rodriguez.

For producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, whose films include all three ‘Transformers’, ‘Salt’ and ‘The G.I. Joe’ series, ‘The Last Stand’ was a great match for Schwarzenegger’s desire to make his first film back something as thunderously exciting as ever but also fresh. “I thought it would allow Arnold to come back to the screen in a different way; and yet, there is a lot of what we always love about Arnold in this role,” says the producer. “I think this is a moment where he can redefine who he is. He’s always going to be that strong hero, but in this movie, he also has some vulnerability along with his inner fortitude. It’s a role that is less about him being an individual and more about him being a true leader.”

Di Bonaventura was also exhilarated by the chance to work with Jee-woon, who though renowned by action and horror film enthusiasts around the world, had not yet made an English-language feature. “He has a body of work that is really astonishing. When you see all of his different movies, you see his versatility — every one of them has both entertainment value and emotional pull,” observes the producer. “He knows how to shoot action, how to shoot comedy, how to shoot drama – and in this film, he brings all of that to bear in a unified way.”

As soon as Jee-woon saw the screenplay for ‘The Last Stand’, he was drawn in. “‘The Last Stand’ is a very American story, but it also had many elements that intrigue me, so I decided to go for it,” he recalls. “I found its underlying theme of finding value in the people of a small town and protecting justice very attractive, and I was also inspired by the idea of a story in which bad guys using high technology are stopped by good guys in low-tech ways.”

Though the director had a lot to learn, diving into a very different filmmaking culture from that of Korea, he says that Schwarzenegger made it a pleasure. “Arnold is so smart that he could always figure out what I was looking for,” he says. “Even when I would fumble because I’m not that familiar with the Hollywood system of doing things, he would say ‘the director is an artist, he needs his time.’ There was also a real camaraderie between us because Arnold is an immigrant and I am a foreigner. But I grew up on Hollywood cinema and that is reflected in my work.”

While Jee-woon had fun with the villain Cortez’s need for speed and state-of-the-art firepower, he was also interested in driving the action with character – as Schwarzenegger’s Sheriff Ray Owens finds himself on a very personal collision course with the most lethal criminal of his long, storied career.

Di Bonaventura concurs that this is the core of the adrenaline-pumping story. “Ray Owens was highly successful with the LAPD, but then he was involved in a raid that forced him to walk away, back to the town where his immigrant parents settled. In a sense, he has been hiding from the responsibility of being a big city cop. But when our villain Cortez decides to come right through this town that forces Owens to face the things he didn’t really want to face again, in order to protect the town and the people he loves.”

He goes on: “I think Arnold brings kind of a quiet confidence to this role, like one of my heroes, John Wayne, always did. When we see just how outmanned he is, we begin to wonder if this might not be his last stand. But you can always count on Arnold.”

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The 2011 black comedy ‘Horrible Bosses’ had moviegoers commiserating knowingly and by turns laughing until their sides split with its portrayal of three employers, each epitomizing the “boss from hell,” and three protagonist employees who decide their only respite is to off one another’s bosses.

New Line Cinema confirmed to E! Online earlier this month that a sequel to the box office hit will be in the works as of summer this year; with the original main character cast, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day and Jason Bateman returning to play the three beleaguered white collars. Dale Arbus (Charlie Day) is a newly-engaged dental assistant taxed with deflecting the overt sexual advances of his boss, Dr. Julia Harris, played by Jennifer Aniston –  revealing a sultry side to the actress known for her comic timing that surprisingly suits.

Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman) works at a financial firm for the autocratic-to-the-extreme David Harken (Kevin Spacey), who chews him out for being two minutes late (using surveillance camera footage as grounds for incrimination) and deceives Nick into believing a promotion is around the corner, only to snatch the role of VP of Sales for himself. Who hasn’t met one of those? Kurt Buckman (Jason Sudeikis) loved his job until his boss died of a heart attack and the company is taken over by the next of kin: a party animal and cocaine addict (played by Colin Farrell) who brings prostitutes to the office and fires a member of staff for being “fat”. The trio hatch a plot to kill one another’s bosses under the tutelage of self-proclaimed murder consultant Motherf**ker Jones (Jamie Foxx).

On paper, the plot sounds rickety; but the film milks most of its laughs from strategically-placed expletives, toilet humor and endless spates of misfortunes descending on the characters until you can hardly believe three people can get themselves into such a colossal mess. The redeeming factor is that the plausibility is airtight, so that viewers can’t help but think “Oh my God, that could happen to me.” Dale is prevented from resigning because of Julia’s threats that she will lie to his fiancee that she and Dale had sexual relations (unless he actually consents to the act), and Nick’s boss has threatened to pencil in a fictitious “drinking problem” and “disruptive behavior” into his reference letter.

The film grossed $209 million during its theatre run – not a bad return on investment for a project that cost $35 million to make – and racked up one of the top box office openings ($28.1 million) of all time for a film of its genre.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the sequel will feature “a brand new set of bosses”, although Aniston’s and Spacey’s characters may make cameo appearances. Two of the three screenwriters from the original, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein – minus Michael Markowitz – will be staying on to pen ‘Horrible Bosses 2’. New Line Cinema is currently in talks with ‘Horrible Bosses’ director Seth Gordon about spearheading the sequel.

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Throughout the years we have seen many different takes on the zombie genre. From the infamous ‘Night of The Living Dead’ by George Romero to “The Walking Dead” by Robert Kirkman, this genre has not only blown up in its popularity, but it has also opened the flood gates on creativity. We are now looking at the most out-of-this-world take on this horrifying genre.

The zombance-zombie romance- of the year is finally upon us! Based on Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies novel, ’Warm Bodies’ is about R, a zombie, wandering around an airport who is unlike any other zombie as presented in other films. R thinks like he is still alive and thrives on becoming human again. He falls in love with Julie, a strong-willed woman whom he meets when she and her team of survivors are sent to get more medical supplies for their town. R and his zombie friends are the horde of undead who burst through the doors of the medical facility. While R is devouring Julie’s boyfriend, Perry, he is taken on a ride of Perry’s emotions and memories. Whenever zombies eat a human brain, they are able to see that person’s memories, and feel their emotions. It is the closest things these zombies have to dreaming. It is the closest thing R has to being human again.

This movie and novel mirrors the classic tale of love, “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare. Julie is Juliet, R is Romeo, Nora is the nurse, Perry is Paris, the rejected suitor. The movie does not really follow the novel whatsoever. However, it has certain attributes from the novel.

‘Warm Bodies’ brought in $20 million on opening night and continues to make money. No other zombie movie is like it. We usually see zombies tearing into humans or animals, but ‘Warm Bodies’ shows a softer side to the zombie genre. It proves zombies have feelings, too. They are not just mindless, killing machines bent on destroying all of mankind. The witty and talented Nicholas Hoult plays the romantic heartthrob R and brings new meaning to protecting love.

To be honest, the film was almost perfect. There were a few scenes that were a bit confusing. When R eats Perry’s brain, he gets taken on a ride through his memories. R is supposed to be Perry in those memories. So naturally R should be in first person throughout those memories. There were many moments when R was in third person, watching Perry go through these memories as if he was an audience watching a film. Summit Entertainment did an amazing job casting this film. Nicholas Hoult and Theresa Palmer seamlessly bring these two characters together to tell their story. Rob Corddry brings comedy relief as R’s best friend, M.

For those fans wanting a true translation of Marion’s book onto the silver screen, they will be disappointed; this movie is without a doubt a reinterpretation of the source material, with the best parts sewn together to create a more palatable story for general audiences.

This does not mean it takes anything away from either the book or the movie itself, but the audience gets a story that is highly satisfying for being a romance-comedy about zombies. On the other hand, the movie itself is greatly performed and put together. There was comedic relief when you found yourself wanting to cry. ‘Warm Bodies’ has zombies, romance, adventure, and comedy all in one!

“Why can’t I connect with people?” R states as he wanders around his new home, the airport. At one point you find yourself relating to how R feels. This was a great adaptation of Isaac Marion’s Warm Bodies novel. Besides the fact that a few scenes were out of place, the movie itself was great. Your attention is held throughout.

Rated 4.5/5 – An unbelievable love story with an amazing cast

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A classic fish out of water story, ‘So Undercover’ finds Molly (Miley Cyrus) as a street-smart young woman living with her father Sam (Mike O’Malley), a policeman who was wrongly dismissed from the force. To help make ends meet, Molly, with help from her dad, takes on cases of finding evidence of cheating spouses. As executive producer Robert Cowan says about the television star-turned recording artist-turned movie star, “Miley is just what you would think she would be. We’ve all watched her grow up and you see that she has something that very few actresses have, which is a spark and incredible instinct for comedy as well as drama.”

Cowan, who over the course of his illustrious career has produced or co-produced many feature films, says that Miley Cyrus is very much among the wave of new comedians. “I think she falls into the same category as Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts,” he says. “I did a movie (‘The Net’) with Sandra about the same time when she was just breaking out, and Miley reminds me a lot of Sandy at that time. She’s very instinctual and enthusiastic. She’s just a pleasure to be around. And I think she has brought something to the role that no other actress could have, which is unselfconscious charm.”

For writer Steven Pearl, ‘So Undercover’ is a love letter to New Orleans. “I love this city,” he says. “It’s incredible. I feel like I’m going on a victory tour, going round to all the different locations. There’s a great surprise every day.”

One unexpected surprise came when Eloise Mumford, who plays Sasha, president of the sorority, discovered some unnerving news about the grand old home the production used for the sorority house location. “One of the girls said, ‘While we’re in New Orleans, we should take one of the haunted houses tours.’ So we went down to the hotel where they had all sorts of tourist brochures. The number one house on the haunted house tour was … THIS HOUSE! Apparently it’s like madly haunted. I know it’s crazy, but supposedly someone like a servant or a slave was murdered here. We’re told that the chandelier swings by itself and there’s a potent scent of lemons. But otherwise, it’s a beautiful house. And just being in New Orleans itself is a treat.”

New Orleans is such a remarkable city and the filmmakers did all they could to incorporate all the visual aspects of this legendary area that are specific to its history, without trying to make it look like a travelogue. “We shot at Café Dumas, and on street cars, and in the French Quarter,” says executive producer Cowan. “It’s a magnificent city and we realized that we could add another layer to the script by shooting here. I think the movie has been elevated by filming in New Orleans.”

Having lived in England for so many years, Kelly Osbourne, who plays Becky Slotnick, fell in love with New Orleans and all of its historical landmarks. However she realizes that she takes a lot of English history for granted. “I walk down the street in London and see places that are four or five hundred years old. There’s nothing like that here in this amazing place, and yet there’s so much to see, such as all the different styles of architecture from when the Spanish and French were here. We’ve found some very fun places to explore.”

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With such a large cast of young women portraying college sorority girls in the new movie ‘So Undercover’, the filmmakers certainly had their work cut out for them to make each girl stand out as an individual. The casting was key, of course, but so too was the costuming, hair and make up for each young lady. As costume designer Wendy Chuck points out, “The actors bring something special to the characters, but so do their clothes. We had to select wardrobes that fit each person’s story character,” she says. “Although we had a fairly good lead time to prep, we didn’t know who our cast was until a week before we went to camera. Fortunately, I had a good assistant and we were able to use the template of the characters in the script to start to think about who they were and how they would be dressed. We sort of knew which one was the über preppy, and which one was the snooty one, and which one was the leader of the pack, etcetera.”

While Ms. Chuck absolutely nailed the characters’ costume looks, she points out that research was vital. “It was a big learning curve for me because I’m from Australia and we don’t have sororities there,” she smiles. “So I went on a scout to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and visited a couple of sororities there. I took a lot of photos and asked a lot of questions. It was my anthropological study! I hooked up with an expert on sororities who was amazingly helpful.”

Often, however, design must be dictated by what the camera may not want to capture. For instance, Kelly Osbourne, who stars as Becky Slotnick, wears tattoos. “That was not ‘sorority correct,’” Ms. Chuck says. “I had to do some creative inventions for that. You’ll see Kelly in long sleeves and little gloves, all of which ended up working very well for her character.”

While the costumes are eye catching, they never appear too over the top. They strike the right balance of color and attitude. For instance, when audiences see Sasha, played by Eloise Mumford, coming down the stairs of the sorority house, you’ll know who she is by how she looks and carries herself and it’s the same with Megan Park who plays Cotton, the sort of dim one in the bunch. She’s quite defined by her wardrobe.

Miley Cyrus’s character was unique because the costume designer had to straddle two separate looks. Molly’s world is gritty because she’s poor and doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on clothes. So Wendy chuck used grays and blues and steely colors for her wardrobe. But Molly’s alter ego, sorority girl Brook, was dressed in high heels and short dresses.

The important role of Miley’s FBI mentor Armon Ranford went to Emmy Award winner Jeremy Piven. “I feel we really lucked out getting Jeremy for this role,” director Vaughan says. “His character has to carry a lot of exposition, and with Jeremy’s energy and great humor he turned the role into more than what was on the written page. He was the perfect foil for Miley’s character, and it was fun watching the great chemistry they have together.”

For his part, executive producer Cowan agrees with Vaughan’s assessment of Piven. “When Jeremy came on he really brought a lot of exceptional qualities to the role. We were very happy to get him,” Cowan raves. “He brought charm and humor and a bit of quirkiness to the character. And he really made the ending of the film work for us.”

While Jeremy Piven appreciates the swell of commendations, he has equal praise for Miley Cyrus. “Miley was perfect for her role,” Piven says. “Our director, Tom Vaughan, was brilliant in casting her. Miley is like no other. She’s an authentic ball of energy and isn’t pretentious. She’s a young actress but handles herself beautifully. She touches on all the different tones she needs to as an artist. She can be really serious when she has to be, and then incredibly silly, too.”

When one thinks of Kelly Osbourne, what may come to mind is her career as a recording artist, as well as the shy contestant who blossomed into the darling of last season’s “Dancing With the Stars.” Now motion picture audiences are going to be pleasantly surprised and delighted by her acting performance as Becky Slotnick. As director Vaughan enthuses, “Kelly Osbourne is a revelation. She came in to the audition and just completely surprised me. The minute she started acting and being the character, I knew she was the one for the role.”

Osbourne recalls her first audition for ‘So Undercover’ and the trepidation she felt going in. “I was so scared when I walked into the room because Tom, the director, and casting people were there, as well as Miley’s mom,” the young actress says. “I didn’t know that Miley’s mom was going to be judging me! They were all taking notes and looking at me as I read, and I thought ‘Oh my god, you sound so stupid. This is so bad. You’re never going to get this. It’s going to be embarrassing.’ But then everyone was so nice to me and they called me back to read with Miley.”

It was an agonizing two weeks for Kelly as she waited to hear from her agent about the results of her auditions. “The thing is, and I didn’t know this at the time, but I was the only one they saw for the role,” Osbourne says with more than a hint of disbelief. “My agent didn’t tell me that. So I went to the auditions being terrified. Finally I got the call and my agent said, ‘You got the role, and by the way, you were the only one they saw.’ I was like, ‘Why did you let me through all that agony? I was so scared and so nervous for two full weeks!’”

The torture was ultimately worth it to Kelly however, because she thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience of working on “So Undercover.” “I loved the whole idea of being able to create a character and really work on it and be part of a production with such great people,” she says. “I feel as though I’ve become spoiled. Whatever I do after this, I don’t think it will live up to how much I enjoyed myself here.”

Although a sorority house is a girls-only living arrangement, that doesn’t mean the residents aren’t studying anatomy. For the role of Nicholas, Molly/Brook’s love interest in the story, the filmmakers cast Joshua Bowman. “Although Josh was a new face to me, he gives an absolutely charming performance,” says director Vaughan. He brings a lovely sensitivity to the role of Nicholas who, although he develops a relationship with Molly/Brook, we don’t know whether he’s a killer, or what he’s really about. He’s a man of mystery in the story.”

The article Casting Sorority: ‘Kelly Osbourne a Revelation’ for So Undercover appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

She may be a tough-as-nails, street-smart private investigator, but when total tomboy Molly (Miley Cyrus) is drafted by the FBI to go undercover within a college sorority, she finds that she is way out of her class among a sisterhood of snooty, high maintenance, materialistic college girls.

However, Molly accepts the pledge to protect one of the society debs, who holds key information that will be used at a trial where her father is about to turn State’s evidence and testify against the mob. Despite being the opposite of her new “sisters,” Molly has to suck it up and bond with obnoxious upper crust trust fund babies if she’s going to succeed in her top-secret mission, in Millennium Entertainment’s action/comedy, ‘So Undercover’.

The story originated from a sharply etched, highly original screenplay written by Steven Pearl and Allan Loeb, which, when they first began the project, was based on a story idea by Mr. Loeb, and had a male protagonist. As Mr. Pearl recalls, “We actually wrote this seven years ago. At one point we thought, why don’t we take the idea and flip it on its head and put a female in the lead.”

Bingo! The screenplay was well received, and over the years a number of actresses were attached to the project. However, although the much sought-after writing team had a number of chances to sell the script, they were committed to finding just the right equation of cast and studio so that they could make the movie the way they envisioned it.

The long-awaited combination began to click when director Tom Vaughan read the screenplay and, as he says, found it “Really fun and smart. As I read it, I just thought of Miley Cyrus for the dual roles of Molly Morris and Brook Stonebridge,” the director adds. “I’ve known Miley’s work for years, and I always thought she was very funny, very charming, and had a lot to offer the movies. I knew she would be perfect and would add heart to the film.”

Screen superstar Miley Cyrus recalls how enthusiastic she was when she first received the script. “Allan Loeb and Steven Pearl are amazing and they’ve done so many terrific films,” the popular actress says. “I was really looking forward to working with them, and once I read their screenplay, I saw how fun it would be to portray a character where I got to play a dual role again. I also knew it would be something that all audiences would enjoy watching.”

In ‘So Undercover’, Miley’s tough character Molly has to infiltrate a sorority. However, she’s been raised by her single father and hasn’t grown up with other girls, so she’s thrust into a completely foreign and feminine world. As everyone knows, Cyrus has vast experience transforming herself from one persona to another all within the same story. “On my TV show, I went from Miley, a nice normal girl, to Hannah Montana who was a superstar,” the actress says. “I really like playing characters who contradict each other. So this was an especially fun role for me. I think Molly is more like me than my undercover character Brook. But it was fun to bring in the feminine qualities that I definitely have too.”

Director Tom Vaughan says that his instincts about Miley Cyrus’s talents were spot on. “When you watch Miley work you get a great sense that she’s a lot of fun, and very professional. She has natural talent for comedy. She’s a born comedienne, and she brings great energy to her characters,” he says. “I knew this was going to be her first role as an adult—she just turned 18 before we started filming—and it’s been fun watching her mature through the years.”

The article So Undercover: Miley Cyrus Infiltrates Sorority in New Comedy appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Universal Pictures had announced that the new ‘Despicable Me 2’ will hit theaters in the States on July 3, 2013. The trailer had its worldwide digital debut as a global exclusive on iTunes on October 31, 2012. This marked the first time in Universal’s history that the studio has released a trailer worldwide on iTunes, with international versions available on the same day. The trailer for the 3D-CG comedy adventure is available exclusively on iTunes Movie Trailers (trailers.apple.com), the iTunes Movie Trailers App (www.itunes.com/appstore) and iTunes (www.itunes.com) via worldwide podcast in 155 countries and seven languages.

“Despicable Me is one of the most beloved and successful films in our studio’s history,” said Simon Hewlett, Executive Vice President, International Marketing, Universal Pictures. “With this global trailer launch of Despicable Me 2 on iTunes, we are pleased to give moviegoers across the world a first look at this incredibly anticipated motion picture.”

Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s worldwide blockbuster ‘Despicable Me’ entertained audiences around the globe in 2010, grossing more than $540 million and becoming the 10th-biggest animated motion picture in U.S. history. In summer 2013, get ready for more Minion madness in ‘Despicable Me 2’.

Chris Meledandri and his acclaimed filmmaking team create an all-new comedy adventure featuring the return of (former?) super-villain Gru (Steve Carell), his adorable girls, the unpredictably hilarious Minions…and a host of new and outrageously funny characters. Find out more at www.despicable.me

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‘Chasing Mavericks’ is the inspirational true story of surfing phenom Jay Moriarity (played by newcomer Jonny Weston). When 15 year old Jay discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, is near his Santa Cruz home, he enlists the help of local legend Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) to train him to survive it. As Jay and Frosty embark on their quest to do the impossible, they form a unique friendship that transforms their lives, and their quest to tame Mavericks becomes about more than surfing. ‘Chasing Mavericks’ was made with the help of some of the biggest names in the surfing world, and features some of the most mind-blowing wave footage ever captured on film.

There is a saying that if you hail from the Northern California town of Santa Cruz, you are born with a surfboard in one hand and a skateboard in the other. But that isn’t the only adage the seaside community abides by. The residents are also fiercely true to the motto “Live Like Jay,” a saying – and a lifestyle – dedicated to the memory of a local surfer named Jay Moriarity. Jay was a rising star in the world of big wave surfing when his life ended much too soon. And while he gained international notoriety for his fearless wave riding, it was his personal spirit – driven by kindness, an infectious enthusiasm, and an absolute fervor for life – that was truly unforgettable.

Jay’s neighbor was Frosty Hesson, a surfer who became a friend, mentor, father figure – and so much more – to Jay. Michael Apted (‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’), who shared directing duties with Curtis Hanson (‘8 Mile’), explains: “The initial relationship between Frosty and Jay is mentor and pupil. As the story develops, their bond becomes more complicated, more emotional, and more in the territory of father and son. By the end of the story, the child is father to the man. So the movement of the film is a bit of a role reversal as to who is the mentor.”

Gerard Butler and newcomer Jonny Weston bring Frosty and Jay to life on the big screen. Butler, who following his triumphant success as a peerless warrior in ‘300’, has become one of today’s most versatile and in-demand actors, is, says Apted, “a movie star and the rock on which we built ‘Chasing Mavericks’. He dramatized the internal struggles that Frosty must navigate in the course of the film.  A lot of the cast were young and were able to learn from Gerard’s experience.”

Jonny Weston was among those benefiting from Butler’s experience and talent – especially given the fact that ‘Chasing Mavericks’ is the young star’s major motion picture debut. Apted elaborates: “Jonny brings a freshness and curiosity to the role. He could have been intimidated by the challenges, but he had the ability to listen and learn. Once Jonny saw the way through a problem, he doggedly stuck with it.”

“Jonny is Jay,” adds producer Brandon Hooper. “There was just this purity in his eyes and in his spirit.”

Butler notes that one of the film’s key themes is connections. “In many ways, the film is about connecting with nature, to spirituality, and connecting with another person.” The connection that grows between Frosty and Jay is the most compelling aspect of the story. But there are several more relationships that shape both Jay and Frosty, including, notes director Curtis Hanson, “Jay’s relationship with his girlfriend and future wife Kim; Jay’s relationship with his mother; and Frosty’s relationship with his wife and his little child.”

“There are interesting relationships in this story, which help dramatize the emotion of the piece,” says Michael Apted. “I’m drawn in by that emotion and look for unusual relationships to help express it.  But I also thought that big wave surfing was a spectacular and unusual world in which to set the story. I felt we were in original territory.”

The connection between Weston and Butler mirrored the one they were depicting. “From the second Jonny screen tested, everybody fell in love with him. We really had a kind of Jay-Frosty / mentor-friend relationship; it was very much life imitating art.”

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Brandon Hooper and producer Jim Meenaghan – who together wrote the story behind the film ‘Chasing Mavericks’ – went directly to Frosty Hesson and Jay’s widow, Kim Moriarity, for permission to bring surfing legends Jay and Frosty’s journey to the big screen. Other filmmakers had previously approached them, but Hooper and Meenaghan’s enthusiasm and ideas made Kim and Frosty comfortable with the idea of a film inspired by Jay’s life. Hooper notes, “Kim and Frosty have been supportive throughout the entire project, and we were grateful they entrusted us to tell the story. We wanted to do justice to them and, especially, to Jay.”

When director Curtis Hanson came on board the project, he joined Hooper and Meenaghan in Santa Cruz for scouting expeditions and research. “I met Frosty and Kim, and had long talks with them,” Hanson says. “We told them our film would resonate because everyone will identify with the struggles of these characters, and knowing that they’re based on real people will strengthen that identification and the emotional connections.”

Gerard Butler and Jonny Weston, like the producers and directors, immersed themselves in the world of Jay and Frosty. Weston shares, “I came to Santa Cruz and basically got adopted by Frosty and Kim and by some of Jay’s closest friends. They took me in and they told me everything they know about Jay.”

‘Chasing Mavericks’ was filmed on locations where much of Jay’s life unfolded, including Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and Mavericks itself, as well as residential streets where the real-life characters’ actual homes had been situated. “It’s beautiful that we were able to film where everything really happened,” says Butler. “It’s great for the story because it gives it an additional layer of verisimilitude.”

In addition to Frosty and Kim, many others who crossed paths with Jay participated in the film, including legendary surfboard shaper Bob Pearson, photographer Bob Barbour – and one thousand Santa Cruz locals who served as extras in a scene that reenacts Jay’s legendary triumph at Mavericks. The Santa Cruz community was thrilled to celebrate and share the legacy of “Live Like Jay.”

Hooper explains, “Ten years after Jay’s passing, there’s so much love still out there for him. These people did not turn out for the scene because this was a big Hollywood movie; they turned out for Jay.” Gerard Butler adds, “I’ve never heard people talk about anybody so positively as they did about Jay Moriarty. He touched people’s lives, had a kind word for everybody, and he affected an entire community.  They all just wanted to be a part of that and were so proud that this story is being told.”

Weston adds, “Everybody recognized Jay’s purity and his selflessness. And whatever it was that made people love seeing Jay, whatever that energy he was putting out, people couldn’t really describe it. Everybody just knew what it meant.”

The filmmakers did not have to look far to find an impressive list of big wave surfers who wanted to participate in the making of ‘Chasing Mavericks’. In doing so, they paid tribute to an impressive legacy: When Jay had what was considered the biggest surfing wipeout to date and shortly thereafter rode the perfect wave, it changed the world of big wave surfing forever.

The article Gerard Butler, Jonny Weston “Live Like Jay” appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The fifth installment of Bruce Willis’ career-making ‘Die Hard’ franchise, ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’, hit theaters February 14, 2013. Unfortunately, seasoned moviegoers know February is the dumping ground for lazy, unimaginative, sloppy action flicks. ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ is without a doubt the final nail in the coffin for Detective John McClane, and Toonari is here to explain why the franchise needs to bite the dust for good. Mild spoilers ahead.

John McClane has nothing left to offer the audience

The original ‘Die Hard’ was a hit: the snarky New York officer ran around kicking butt, getting beaten up, and generally pissing off one of the greatest film villains of all time. John McClane is a household name because of his lack of respect for authority, his foul mouth, and his easy trigger finger. By the fifth film, McClane is no longer an honest, lucky guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. He comes across as boorish and arrogant in the Moscow setting. His character works so much better in the previous films, even in the lukewarm ‘Live Free or Die Hard,’ that in the fifth movie he seems like a hollow shell of himself.

The writers keep giving him annoying sidekicks

One of the reasons why ‘Die Hard’ was so awesome is because it was one guy hopelessly outnumbered by bigger, stronger, badder German mercenaries. Adding a foil to John McClane is unnecessary (with the exception of Zeus (Samuel L. Jackson) in ‘Die Hard 3’ because he was funny, useful, and a great character). Jack McClane (Jai Courtney) is nothing more than a younger, less interesting shadow of his father and served absolutely no purpose other than to bounce dialogue off of his much cooler predecessor.

The villains cannot hold their mud compared to Hans Gruber

By far, this new villain is the weakest threat of the bunch. The first ‘Die Hard’ characterized Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) so well that he is almost as much of a household name as McClane. He was vicious, articulate, and cunning. The new villain is dull, has weak motivations, and is stuffed full of clichés. Even worse, the villain in the trailer is not the true villain and dies in the third act with no build up. The real villain is revealed in the last thirty minutes of the film,but it does not add anything to the story.

The films are almost entirely independent of each other after the third movie

The first two ‘Die Hard’ sequels worked because they made references to the original and tied back into the story relatively well. However, the fourth and fifth films barely string anything from the previous flicks together, aside from a brief cameo by McClane’s daughter (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Jack McClane’s continuous digs at his dad for not caring about national security make no sense when John McClane stops cyber-terrorist Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) from stealing millions of dollars that would have collapsed the U.S. government. Additionally, McClane’s previous cohorts are forgotten. The audience never finds out what happened to Al (Reginald VelJohnson), Zeus, Matthew (Justin Long) or any other characters who made it out of the earlier movies alive. It is foolish to continue making movies without referencing the characters who helped make them worthwhile.

The filmmakers seem to misunderstand why we love the ‘Die Hard’ series

There are a plethora of reasons why the first ‘Die Hard’ is an American classic. The action is relatively realistic and superb, the stakes are high, and the dialogue is wonderfully irreverent. It is an incredibly memorable film because it presented a great character with plenty of flaws, a nasty villain, an engrossing heist, and a metric ton of violence and profanity. By the fifth film, it is impossible to see any of the enjoyable aspects of the franchise any longer; it has been bogged down with sickening clichés and an invincible main character with no involvement in the story. McClane has no motivation to hunt down the villain in ‘Good Day’, and that is one of the movie’s worst flaws.

With any luck, this ‘Die Hard’ will be the last, as many reviews reflect our aforementioned issues with the flick. It is safe to say that McClane should lay down his gun and retire before he starts making the audience wish they would die. Hard.

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William Ross will conduct the Oscar orchestra for the Academy Awards, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced this week.

“We are happy to have Bill Ross conduct the Oscar orchestra,” said Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “With a show so rich with music, we are so pleased to have someone as talented as Bill on our team.”

Ross, who conducted for the 79th and 83rd Academy Awards, is a prolific award-winning composer and arranger whose work encompasses feature films, television and the music recording industry. He has arranged music for artists such as Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Buble, Kenny G., Sting, Quincy Jones, Seal, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. The records on which he has worked have sold a total of over 250 million copies in the United States.

Ross has written original scores for such films as ‘The Tale of Despereaux’, ‘Ladder 49’, ‘Tuck Everlasting’ and ‘My Dog Skip’. He also adapted and conducted the score to ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’.

Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide. For more information go to Oscar.com or download the official Oscars app.

Image Courtesy : William Ross

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Tina Fey (“30 Rock”) and Paul Rudd (‘This is 40′) are paired for the first time on-screen in the new comedy/drama directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Weitz (‘About a Boy’, ‘In Good Company’), about the surprising detours we encounter on the road to happiness.

Every spring, high school seniors anxiously await letters of college admission that will affirm and encourage their potential. At Princeton University, admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is a gatekeeper evaluating thousands of applicants. Year in and year out, Portia has lived her life by the book, at work as well as at the home she shares with Princeton professor Mark (Michael Sheen). When Clarence (Wallace Shawn), the Dean of Admissions, announces his impending retirement, the likeliest candidates to succeed him are Portia and her office rival Corinne (Gloria Reuben). For Portia, however, it’s business as usual as she hits the road on her annual recruiting trip.

On the road, Portia reconnects with her iconoclastic mother, Susannah (Lily Tomlin). On her visit to New Quest, an alternative high school, she then reconnects with her former classmate, idealistic teacher John Pressman (Paul Rudd) – who has recently surmised that Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), a gifted yet very unconventional New Quest student, might well be the son that Portia secretly gave up for adoption years ago while at school. Jeremiah is about to apply to Princeton.

Now Portia must re-evaluate her personal and professional existences, as she finds herself bending the admissions rules for Jeremiah, putting at risk the future she thought she always wanted – and in the process finding her way to a surprising and exhilarating life and romance she never dreamed of having.

‘Admission’ will be released in theaters nationwide on March 22 by Focus Features. This film has been rated PG-13 (for language and some sexual material).

Image Courtesy : Admission

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Dame Shirley Bassey will make a special appearance on the Oscars, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced last week.

“We are thrilled to welcome the legendary Dame Shirley Bassey to our Oscar show,” said Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “Her association with film music is world renowned and we are proud that she will be making her first Oscar appearance on our telecast.

Bassey is this year celebrating her very own “Diamond Jubilee” with a career spanning over six decades. She has recorded over 44 albums, sold over 135 million records and has sold out concert halls across the world. In June 2012, she was one of a number of esteemed artists, including Elton John, Paul McCartney and Annie Lennox, who performed at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert. In the United States, Bassey is best known for recording the theme songs for the James Bond films “Goldfinger,” “Diamonds Are Forever” and “Moonraker.”

Bassey joins a stellar list of previously announced Oscar performers including Adele, Norah Jones and Barbra Streisand; and presenters including ‘The Avengers’ cast members Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo; returning 2011 Oscar winners Jean Dujardin, Christopher Plummer, Octavia Spencer and Meryl Streep; co-stars Mark Wahlberg and Ted; and, special guest appearances including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Daniel Radcliffe, Channing Tatum and Charlize Theron.

Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide. For more information go to Oscar.com or download the official Oscars app.

Image Courtesy : Dame Shirley Bassey

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Marvel’s ‘The Avengers’ cast mates Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo will present together on the Oscar stage, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced last week.

“We are happy to re-unite the ‘Avengers’ cast to present on our show,” said Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “Audiences who enjoyed the year’s biggest box office hit will be excited to see these terrific actors back together again.”

Downey has twice been nominated for an Oscar, for his leading role in ‘Chaplin’ (1992) and for his supporting role in ‘Tropic Thunder’ (2008).

Evans, who will be making his first Oscar show appearance, will be seen in the upcoming ‘The Iceman’.

Jackson was nominated in 1994 for his supporting role in ‘Pulp Fiction’.  He can also be seen in this year’s Best Picture nominee ‘Django Unchained’.

Renner was nominated for his leading role in 2009 Best Picture winner ‘The Hurt Locker’ and for his supporting role in ‘The Town’ (2010).  Renner had roles in this year’s ‘The Bourne Legacy’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ (2011).

Ruffalo received his first nomination for his supporting role in 2010 Best Picture nominee ‘The Kids Are All Right’.

Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are producers of critically acclaimed and award-winning feature films, television movies, series, and Broadway productions. Their feature films include ‘The Bucket List’, ‘Footloose’, ‘Hairspray’, and ‘Chicago’, which won six Academy Awards including one for Best Picture. For television, they’ve produced films of ‘Steel Magnolias’, ‘Life with Judy Garland’, and ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, among many others and the series “Smash” and “Drop Dead Diva.” They recently returned to their roots in live theater by producing Broadway revivals of the Tony-winning “Promises, Promises” and the Tony-winning 50th Anniversary revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

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The catalyst for the Billy-Hostetler dynamic in the new movie ‘Broken City’ is the latter’s wife, Cathleen, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Her relationship with her husband is a complex one, as is often the case with real-life political couples. “Politicians’ wives sometimes put on a face to protect their partner,” notes Zeta-Jones. “To the outside world they are this quintessential first family, but a bright light sometimes reveals scandal and corruption. To play the role, I drew on this dichotomy. When you meet Cathleen, she is what every woman wants to be and has everything they would love to possess, but that is not what’s reflected behind closed doors. As the character evolves, you see why she wants to get out of this situation. Cathleen knows way too much, and she knows that Hostetler’s dealings and actions will destroy many people’s lives, including her own.”

Another character who’s much more than he seems is Commissioner Fairbanks, who hasn’t forgiven Billy, played by Mark Wahlberg, for his past transgression, but begins to see that Billy has changed over the years. Time and again, Fairbanks has proven more than equal to the task of surviving in a tough, sometimes brutal political environment. Director Allen Hughes tapped Jeffrey Wright for the role.

“Fairbanks is potentially as dangerous as anyone else – a shark among sharks – but there are certain moral boundaries that he respects,” explains Wright. “Allen [Hughes] and I discussed how mysterious he is and that he’s both an observer and manipulator of the action and, most importantly, that he’s a survivor who knows how to protect himself.”

Another survivor is Councilman Jack Valliant, the mayor’s fresh-faced opponent in the upcoming election. Barry Pepper, an Emmy winner for his role as Robert F. Kennedy in the mini-series “The Kennedys,” portrays Valliant. Valliant is pursuing evidence that could mean an easy victory for him – but he soon discovers that nothing comes easily when you face off against the mayor.

Natalie Martinez portrays Billy’s girlfriend Natalie, an aspiring actress. Their relationship becomes challenged because of their past. “Natalie is from the projects where you have to fend for yourself and really fight to get out,” Martinez explains. “Natalie is trying to become an actress and is hungry for that life. She is sometimes tough with Billy, who is trying to find value in what he’s done and who he’s become.”

The other woman in Billy’s life is his quick-witted assistant Katy Bradshaw, with whom he shares a comfortable banter and shorthand. “Katy is the place that Billy feels at home,” explains Alona Tal, who takes on the role. “He’s almost relaxed and open, and even funny; there’s a very different beat to Billy’s personality when he is with Katy.”

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‘Broken City’ was shot on location in New York and, due to production logistics, in New Orleans, the latter doubling for the Big Apple. “‘Broken City’ is a New York movie in the classic sense that we shot most of the exteriors in New York,” director Allen Hughes explains. “Our production designer, Tom Duffield, maintained a consistency from New York into New Orleans, and there was definitely a cohesion that was remarkable.”

During their first meeting to discuss the project, Hughes and Duffield sorted through images and discussed movies that featured New York, deciding what they would film in New Orleans and what absolutely had to be shot in New York. “We wanted to show the big panoramic views of New York from across the river or on the rooftops looking at some of New York’s iconic buildings,” says Duffield. “In one scene shot from a penthouse balcony of the Palace Hotel at night (doubling for the Four Seasons) you can see both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in one shot. Those are the scenes that give the film a real iconic feel for New York.”

Production began with over two weeks of establishing exteriors throughout New York City

Bolton Village, scene of the crime for which Billy, played by Mark Wahlberg, must relinquish his badge, and the center of the controversy surrounding Mayor Hostetler, played by Russell Crowe, was shot in and around the Lower East Side public housing project in New York’s Alphabet City known as Riis Houses.

Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood at Plymouth and Adams Streets, also known as DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), offered up the gritty streets where Billy sets up shop as a small-time private investigator, biding his time in hopes of regaining his honor and badge. The borough provided the perfect vantage point for daytime skylines overlooking Manhattan’s financial district.

Several hundred extras gathered as protesters of police corruption and injustice, in front of a courthouse during Billy’s trial, which filmed on the stairs of the New York City Supreme Court at One Center Street. Councilman Valliant’s press conference pledging hope for the working class, was shot at the Tweed Courthouse at 52 Chambers.

The cast and crew regularly found themselves amongst the hustle and flow of humanity, shooting on the streets of mid-town Manhattan, on Madison and 44th or Grand Central Station to capture the unassumingly influential lifestyle of the mayor’s wife, Cathleen, and her aides. Production in New York wrapped with a scene shot at the Long Island Railroad, and a sequence filmed at a Montauk Beach house in Nissequogue, Long Island.

“There are many different ways of showing New York, gritty like ‘The French Connection’, or beautiful like ‘Manhattan’,” explains Duffield. “We tended a little more towards ‘Manhattan’, with picturesque views across the river or up at the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx – all these beautiful locations that just make New York feel like a great city.”

‘Broken City’ is a rhythmic dance with two forces colliding: the dangerous Manhattan patriarch (Crowe’s Mayor Hostetler) and the unapologetic outcast (Wahlberg’s Billy Taggart) on a relentless path of redemption. Much of their intense interaction was captured in New Orleans, where the production moved for the remaining six weeks to shoot interiors and select exteriors.

“For Hostetler, we wanted that sort of ‘Godfather’ feel, with light slashing through the shutters of the Don’s office,” says Duffield. “After his fall from grace, Billy Taggart moves to more gritty areas around Brooklyn. His office is probably my favorite set build in New Orleans because I got into that kind of texture of an older neighborhood, lot of walls with peeling paint and exposed pipes.”

‘Broken City’ arrived in theaters everywhere in the States on January 18, 2013.

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In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) seeks redemption – and revenge – after being double-crossed by the city’s most powerful figure, the mayor (Russell Crowe). Billy’s relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force – and the mayor’s worst nightmare.

‘Broken City’ protagonist Billy Taggart is one of Mark Wahlberg’s richest screen roles. “The film’s script reminded me of those smart, character-driven crime thrillers that I grew up watching and loving,” says the Oscar-nominated actor.

Billy is an ex-New York City cop who loved his job and did it very well until he went too far while investigating a murder. Now, he’s a private detective, barely making ends meet, “when a call from the mayor offers an opportunity to regain his badge and gun,” Wahlberg explains. “The mayor thinks his wife is having an affair and he’s worried about it interfering with his chances for reelection. As Billy starts to investigate, he comes to realize there’s much more to this case than a cheating spouse, and that’s when the war between the mayor and Billy ignites.” It is this war that leads Billy to redemption.

“There is an edge to this story and to the way people speak to each other,” says Russell Crowe, who portrays Mayor Hostetler, a character that projects a powerful mix of charm and menace. “I look to be physically affected by projects I’m considering, and I sort of got goose bumps and started making decisions on behalf of the mayor straightaway while reading the script for ‘Broken City’. It’s a truly grown-up story.”

“The film really respects the audience’s intelligence,” notes Catherine Zeta-Jones, who portrays the mayor’s wife, Cathleen, who is much more than she seems. “Its smart dialogue moves like a bullet train right through the piece.”

“I read ‘Broken City’ as a kind of contemporary Humphrey Bogart story, taking place against a backdrop of treachery and intrigue where everyone is ambitious in one way or another,” adds Jeffrey Wright, who portrays Commissioner Fairbanks, whose continuing doubts about Billy will change by the end of the latter’s journey.

Brian Tucker’s taut screenplay had an impressive pedigree, having earned a spot on The Black List, an industry clearinghouse for the best, yet-to-be-produced screenplays. “It has a lot of great action, twists and turns, and a dynamic narrative, but more important than that is its characters,” explains director Allen Hughes. “Billy Taggart jumped off the page as being very layered and challenging.”

‘Broken City’ fits squarely within the impressive body of work from Hughes. He and his brother Albert – known professionally as The Hughes Brothers – are renowned for their gritty, no-holds-barred films that place dynamic characters in challenging, if not impossible situations. Their films include ‘Menace II Society’, ‘Dead Presidents’ and ‘From Hell’. Allen, inspired by Brian Tucker’s screenplay, was eager to make ‘Broken City’ his next project. “Ultimately ‘Broken City’ is a redemption story,” he points out. “Billy will go to any lengths to find justice for something that’s long haunted him.”

Hughes was more than surprised when the creator of these powerful and complex characters turned out to be very different from what he expected. “I was blown away when Brian, this scrawny 25-year-old kid walked in for our meeting. I could not believe that this young man, who looked barely 19, had written such a sophisticated, compelling, and layered story.”

Producer Randall Emmett shared the actors’ and Hughes’ passion for the story and characters. “I’ve always loved films about the underdog who stands up to the system,” says Emmett, who is partnered with George Furla (one of ‘Broken City’s executive producers) in the prolific production company Emmett/Furla Films. “I was really excited by the fact that you never know where the story is going.”

‘Broken City’ is out in theaters in the US now.

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Director Allen Hughes of the new movie ‘Broken City’ admits that as he read the script, he immediately saw Mark Wahlberg in the role of Billy. “So I went out to Mark and we sat down and started the journey of making ‘Broken City’,” says the filmmaker.

“Allen sent the script to me and said, ‘I see you in this part; do you want to do this thing together?” Wahlberg remembers. Moreover, Wahlberg felt such a connection to the character and material that he came onboard as a producer, working closely with Hughes to put together the project.

“One thing that I love about Mark’s acting is that he embodies the true spirit of the underdog,” reveals Hughes. “There’s an endearing quality about him and when he smiles he lights up an entire room. Mark had never before done anything quite like this, and that also was interesting to me. Mark has this innate ability to surprise audiences, and that’s what his role in ‘Broken City’ called for.”

“I love the fact that Billy is unapologetic,” says Wahlberg. “He does whatever it takes to right the wrong he committed years ago. From his private detective agency in Brooklyn he watches what’s going on in the city and the life that he used to have, and he misses that. Investigating the mayor’s wife offers not only a big payday, but a chance to get back his old life.”

But as Billy soon learns, the mayor’s offer hides a much more sinister intent, one that will require Billy to summon inner resources untapped since his days as a cop.

Ultimately, he and the mayor in the film, played by Russell Crowe, will face off in a battle that will put Billy to the test. Hughes knew that a Wahlberg-Crowe on-screen confrontation would be electrifying. During his first meeting with Crowe, Hughes found that Crowe could hold court at a dinner party as masterfully as any seasoned politician. “He’s a riveting storyteller and it was the biggest surprise for me to mine that, because that quality of Russell has rarely been seen.”

Crowe didn’t base his performance on a specific public figure, instead opting to study the lives of several New York City officials. He explains: “I went back for the last fifty years and I looked at their schooling, where they came from and how they connected to people. ‘Broken City’ s Mayor Hostetler is part Queens and part Wall Street. He’s an absolute populist with elitist lifestyle habits that he’s come to appreciate and expect. We all know the old cliché that power corrupts, but it’s very interesting when the person that’s doing the corrupting believes that this is benign corruption for a higher purpose.”

Crowe brought not only his impressive skills but his larger-than-life persona to the role. “Russell is one of the greatest living actors, and he’s also very charming,” says Wahlberg. “On set, he was the mayor. He certainly charms my character Billy, but once he realizes the mayor is corrupt, Billy has got to take him down. There’s no more formidable opponent than Russell and the movie is really about us going at it.”

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The world-known movie directors Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski were on the Korean talk show on January 3 (local time), impressing a lot of Korean viewers with their good sense of humor and touching personal life stories.

The Wachowskis, who are known for their hit movie ‘The Matrix’, have never been on a TV show before, and it was thus a special occasion when they made their first appearance on TV in Korea.

The talk show was “Mooreuppak Dosa,” which means something along the line of “fortune teller.” The basic concept of this show is to invite famous figures and ask them what their concerns are. The host of this show, Kang Ho-dong, who is one of the most popular show hosts in Korea, throws many questions at the guest and tries to get as many stories as possible in the time frame.

The show, which was recorded in a hotel rather than the TV station for the Wachowski’s convenience, prepared simultaneous interpreters for a smooth interview.

During the show, Lana Wachowski said that she and Andy grew up watching Japanese animations such as “Speed racer,” or “Ultra Man,” and also read many Asian novels. She also added that Asian novels are more concentrated on giving lessons to readers unlike Western novels, which often focus on simplifying the story.

Lana also discussed her gender transition, saying that she realized she had a different sexuality from other people when she was young. She tried her best to find a way to “fix” it, but she failed. She was afraid of being a transsexual because she thought it could have brought a negative effect on her goal of becoming a movie director and a writer.

Her brother, Andy Wachowski, commented that he still think Lana is the same person regardless of her sex-change. He said, “She is the same person, but just more well-adjusted because there is no longer conflict with her interior to her exterior. So, she is much happier, and that makes me much happier.”

Lana said, “I might be able to open the world up little wider for other people who might be like I was when I was young.”

Director Tom Tykwer and the Korean actor Bae Doo-na, who was in the Wachowski’s latest movie ‘Cloud Atlas’, also appeared on the show.

When the host asked Lana and Andy what their future goal is, Lana answered that her dream is to come back to Korea when the two Korea are unified, showing her affection for Korea.

The movie ‘The Matrix’ made around half a billion US dollars, and the technology used to shoot the scenes that required over 100 cameras  brought a revolution to the movie industry.

Their latest movie ‘Cloud Atlas’, which has already been released in the United States, is scheduled to be in Korean cinema on January 9.

Image Courtesy : O2 in Deutschland

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Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ was a long awaited movie for ‘Lord of the Rings’ fans and new fans alike. The first movie in the expected ‘Hobbit’ Trilogy, based on the book of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien, may present vivid action, but the audience can get lost in the dragged-out scenes.

‘The Hobbit’ begins with Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) who is a hobbit from the Shire, meeting with Gandalf (Ian McKellen), a wizard from his childhood. Gandalf tricks Bilbo into helping him with a mysterious quest; when thirteen dwarves show up at the door, Bilbo has no option but to help. Thorin (Richard Armitage), descendant of the great Dwarven King, is on a quest to defeat the Dragon Smaug and take back the gold that is rightfully his. Gandalf has discovered a secret entrance into the hall of his ancestors, which has been sealed since Smaug attacked, but needs help reaching his destination. On the journey he encounters various enemies, while Bilbo struggles with his conflict between wanting an adventure and wanting to return home. The enemies aren’t even the dragon, they are the orcs Thorin once battled with for his homeland, led by the one-handed pale orc Azog. This starts a series of heart-pounding moments as the characters struggle to reach their goal.

‘The Hobbit’ truly lives up to its name of being a prequel. Beginning with the returning faces of Ian Holm as young Bilbo and Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, fans of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ are instantly drawn into the new plot. Hints are dropped throughout the movie to foreshadow ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ from Gandalf’s hatred of the wizard Saruman, to Gollum’s hatred of the Baggins family. It also adds background information that the previous movies lacked, like the history of the dwarven hall of Moria or the feud between the elves and the dwarves. There is so much background information, in fact, viewers can be sure they will have a nearly complete understanding of many unexplained things in ‘The Lord of the Rings.’

The actors portray their roles wonderfully- the dwarves embody the gruff, untrusting characters fantasy fans are accustomed to, and has Freeman the comfortable, sheltered life of a hobbit. Shining in particular was Sylvester McCoy, who played Radagast the Brown, another wizard. However small his role, the scenes are delightful to watch because of the crazy character he artfully represents.

The scene of a game of riddles between Gollum and Bilbo is is one of the most fantastic foreshadowing scenes in the movie. It is the first moment Bilbo acquires the ring, the plot of the later trilogy. It also shows insight into both of their characters, emphasizing Bilbo’s wit and Gollum’s dual nature. The creature shows signs of his Smeagol/Gollum split that fans instantly recognize and know not to trust. Jackson may have dragged out the scene a bit too long- when fans already know Bilbo lives, why do the riddles keep going?

A notorious inconsistency in the movie is the way the characters never die. Or for that matter, never get hurt. They make bold, brave decisions and manage to slay a hundred orcs at a time. It would kill anyone else, but this company doesn’t even suffer injuries. For characters that begin not as warriors, but as loyal artisans gathered under Thorin, this is an amazing and unbelievable feat. The same goes for Bilbo, who protests wholeheartedly at beginning of the movie about going on the journey, and then becomes one of the most daring characters in the group. For the amount of time Bilbo rejected the idea, he changes his mind and fighting abilities quickly.

That being said, there is a lot of walking, talking and not much else happening. Azog and another unexplained character, the Necromancer, are not in the book but do add more interest to the story of what could potentially be ‘The Lord of the Rings’ with different characters. The movie itself was enjoyable, so long as the audience doesn’t get tired of watching the company almost die, to be saved at the last moment by someone finding the courage to act.

3.5/5 stars – for a movie that helped explain ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ but tried to pack too much into a plot without much ever happening.

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Burbank, U.S.A. — From the uniquely imaginative mind of writer/producer/director Baz Luhrmann comes the new big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. The filmmaker created his own distinctive visual interpretation of the classic story, bringing the period to life in a way that has never been seen before, in a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role.

‘The Great Gatsby’ follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Nick Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and sky-rocketing stocks. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits.

Academy Award nominee DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire starring as Nick Carraway; Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton as Daisy and Tom Buchanan; Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke as Myrtle and George Wilson. Indian film legend Amitabh Bachchan plays the role of Meyer Wolfsheim.

‘The Great Gatsby’ opens May 2013, the film will be distributed in 3D and 2D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

Check out the trailer below:

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Macao, China — Throngs of fans lined up at Sands Cotai Central Saturday evening, hoping to catch a glimpse of the glittering array of celebrities walking the red carpet on their way to a VIP gala dinner at Sheraton Macao Hotel, part of Sands Cotai Central’s A Night of Stars event.

Celebrities gracing the red carpet, to the delighted screams and cheers of their fans, included Sammo Hung, Carol “Dodo” Cheng, Frances Yip, Chang Chen, Wu Chun, Ekin Cheng, Chilam Cheung,Karena Lam, Grasshopper and Sandrine Pinna, along with Vincent Kok and Sire Ma, who were masters of ceremony at the gala dinner – a celebration for the integrated resort’s VIP customers. Before the dinner, the stars participated in a handprint ceremony, with the resulting handprints to be incorporated into the Cotai Strip development’s own version of an ‘Avenue of Stars’ walkway.

As part of the exciting, movie-themed gala dinner, VIP guests were entertained with performances from Moulin Rouge; a live band playing film theme tunes; headline performer Frances Yip and celebrity look-a-likes dressed as Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Charlie Chaplin, Lady Gaga and others. The evening’s emcees, Sire Ma and Vincent Kok, also gave guests the opportunity to win thousands of dollars in cash prizes through games played on stage.

During the A Night of Stars evening, Sammo Hung joined a handful of lucky guests for a round of cards at Sands Cotai Central’s APEX Club. Hung’s participation in “Win Like a Star” provided an opportunity for Sands Cotai Central to donate HK$250,000 to the Sammo Hung Charity Fund, a non-profit organisation that works to improve the lives of those in need: the poor, the elderly, the disabled, orphans and those impacted by natural disasters (projects include the reconstruction of damaged or destroyed schools).

As a celebration of the star-studded evening, visitors to Sands Cotai Central were each given a commemorative golden star. Visitors lined up to receive the one-of-a-kind mementos which were distributed by Sands Cotai Central ambassadors throughout the ground floor of the property.

A Night of Stars is part of Stars of the Cotai Strip, which has included celebrity events and amazing prize draws at the Sands Cotai Central integrated resort. Parent company Sands China Ltd. aims to make Macao one of the top entertainment hubs in Asia by bringing in a steady stream of talented film, TV, music and sports stars to the city. A Night of Stars and the other dazzling celebrity-led events this month affirm the company’s resolve to see Macao develop into a world centre of tourism and leisure.

Stars of the Cotai Strip, which launched on December 3, will climax in a celebrity-filled New Year’s Eve extravaganza. The year-end event features a special The Voice of China Venetian Macao Rock with Stars Concert, including Paul Wong of the Hong Kong rock band Beyond at the CotaiArena and a countdown to a spectacular fireworks display to ring in the New Year.

To find out more details on the celebrities involved and the exciting events of Stars of the Cotai Strip logon to the Sands Cotai Central Facebook and Weibo pages.

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Pittsburgh, U.S.A. — Two of Pittsburgh’s largest cinemas, Chartiers Valley Stadium 18 in Bridgeville and North Versailles Stadium 18 are now fully digital. The theatres underwent a number of upgrades in the past several months including a conversion from 35mm projection to state-of-the-art digital projection, digital surround sound and Digital Real D 3D.

“Digital projection is the way the movie industry is moving. Converting to high-quality digital systems allows Chartiers Valley and North Versailles theatres to present the best possible cinema experience available,” said Phil Zacheretti, president of Phoenix Big Cinemas which manages the two mega-plexes. “The theatre upgrades and renovations reinforce the owner’s commitment to offer a state-of-the-art entertainment destination.”

In honor of the cinema updates, both sites have several special offers and events scheduled. During the opening weekend of Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit,’ each guest will receive a free popcorn with every admission to film. Guests can also become fans of the cinemas’ Facebook pages for a chance to win a year of free movies and a $500 concession gift card. Finally, for the highly anticipated release of the Pittsburgh film starring Tom Cruise, both sites are offering special advance showings of ‘Jack Reacher’ on Thursday, December 20 at 9:00 PM and Midnight. In addition, all guests attending the ‘Jack Reacher’ shows on Thursday will receive a Free Popcorn and free Jack Reacher Poster.

Opening on Friday, December 21, Chartiers Valley Stadium 18 and North Versailles Stadium 18 will play new releases including ‘Jack Reacher,’ ‘This Is 40,’ ‘Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away,’ as well as, recent releases such as ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,’ ‘Monsters Inc. 3D’ and ‘Guilt Trip.’

Chartiers Valley Stadium 18 and North Versailles Stadium 18 offer Gift Cards and online and advance ticketing through MovieTickets.com. Guests can join the free “Motion Picture Points” rewards club to earn points for free popcorn, soft drinks and movie tickets at both locations. Both cinemas offer plentiful parking and their convenient locations provide easy access for the surrounding communities. Knoxville-based Phoenix Big Cinemas Management manages the cinemas for the Pittsburgh based ownership group.

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