New York, U.S.A. — CNN, the worldwide leader in news, announced on October 8, the creation of CNN Films to secure feature-length documentaries for air on CNN and CNN International, alongside theatrical distribution. The move is part of a wider strategy to acquire original non-fiction content to complement CNN’s award-winning news programs; it was announced by CNN Worldwide Managing Editor Mark Whitaker.

‘Girl Rising’, the first documentary acquired by CNN Films, will air in spring 2013. The film, which inspired a global action campaign to promote girls’ education called 10×10, tells the extraordinary stories of several girls from around the globe fighting to overcome impossible odds to realize their dreams. The film includes voice performances by Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep, Academy Award Nominee Anne Hathaway, Kerry Washington, and Selena Gomez.

‘Girl Rising’ is directed by Academy Award Nominee Richard E. Robbins (“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience”) and executive produced by Tom Yellin and Holly Gordon of The Documentary Group and Paul G. Allen of Vulcan Productions.

CNN Films has also signed development deals with Academy Award Winning Director and Producer Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer”) and Director Andrew Rossi (“Page One: Inside the New York Times”).  Both will develop original documentaries to air on CNN.

“CNN Films will bring distinguished, thought-provoking documentary programming to our global audiences on all our television, online, and mobile platforms,” said Whitaker. “We want these documentaries to tell compelling stories and stimulate important discussions across CNN’s other programs and websites.”

The original feature-length documentaries will examine an array of political, social, and economic subject matters. The films will premiere in primetime and will re-air in order to increase exposure. Surrounding the premiere of each documentary, acclaimed CNN programs will run dedicated programming that sheds light on the topics and issues discussed in each film. In-depth interviews, expert commentary, roundtable discussions, debates, and behind-the-scenes footage will be featured across all of CNN’s broadcast and online platforms.

Amy Entelis, senior vice president of talent and content development for CNN Worldwide, and Vinnie Malhotra, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for CNN Worldwide, will oversee the acquisition strategy of documentaries under the CNN Films banner. Malhotra will manage the day-to-day operation of CNN Films, and work directly with filmmakers to develop original projects.

CNN Films also plans to bring the documentaries beyond the small screen by developing strategic partnerships to leverage distribution opportunities at film festivals and in theaters.

To learn more about “Girl Rising” and to view the trailer, please visit: http://10x10act.org/presenting-girl-rising.

For more information on CNN, please visit www.cnnpressroom.com.

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Christian Bale, the star of the latest box office hit ‘Dark Knight Rises,’ visited Aurora, Colorado on July 25 to visit the victims of the “Batman Shooting.”

Early the morning of Friday, July 20, twenty-four year old James Holmes entered theater 9 in the Aurora Cineplex and started shooting. He killed twelve people and injured another 58 at the premiere of the final film in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy. Holmes was arrested the same night and will face the death penalty if he is found guilty of all of the charges. Recently the judge ordered that film crews be banned from the courts during the hearing.

Christian Bale originally just released a written statement about the tragedy stating: “Words cannot express the horror that I feel. I cannot begin to truly understand the pain and grief of the victims and their loved ones, but my heart goes out to them.”

On July 25 Bale paid a special visit to Aurora with his wife, Sibi Blazic. The couple put flowers on the memorial to the shooting victims that is nearby the theater. According to Access Hollywood most people left him alone either because they did not recognize him or wanted to leave him in peace.

Bale also visited the hospital and thanked the medical staff and the police. He was able to visit five victims in Aurora’s local hospital and also met with two others who were bused over from the Swedish Medical Center in ambulances. He spent about fifteen minutes with each person and stayed about a total of two hours, flanked by security and police.

According to hospital personnel Bale wanted to keep his visit out of the press and to not turn the visit into a publicity ploy. A Warner Bros. spokeswoman reported that Bale was not representing the studio, just himself.

Janie Bowman-Hayes, assistant vice president of surgical services at Swedish Medical Center said, “he just said he wanted to come to thank all of us because he has been thinking about this. He knows the whole world has been thinking about this. He took it upon himself to come and thank us.”

Bowman-Hayes added, “He did this out of his heart, and you could really tell. It was so sincere. It was just, ‘thank you’.”

Bale visit may have been influenced by an online campaign in which people encouraged the star to go and visit the victims. Other visitors to the hospital have included members of the Denver Broncos and President Barrack Obama.

Image Courtesy of cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com

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In Toonari Post’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ review, the plot, actors, and their characters were examined. All of these elements were able to come together through careful writing and masterful directing that brings honor to filmmaking as well as storytelling. Another aspect that makes ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ so amazing is how it integrates comic book and graphic novel storylines in a way that pays homage to past writers of Batman and takes its own creative spin on their work.

One of the most excellent things about ‘Rises’ is that it incorporates storylines from the Batman comics. “Knightfall,” a comic series written in 1993, is an intense story in which Bane learns Batman’s identity and breaks his spine, leaving him paralyzed for an extended period of time. ‘Rises’ also includes elements of anarchy from the 1999 comic “No Man’s Land” where an earthquake leaves Gotham cut off from the mainland and the city erupts into chaos.

Another aspect the film adapts is that Bane and Ra’s al Ghul are connected because in the comics “Bane of the Demon,” after Batman refuses to marry Talia, Ra’s daughter, Ra’s seeks out Bane instead to continue his quest to dominate the world in order to save it. Ra’s recognizes the same power and discipline in Bane that he formerly saw in Bruce, but he notices Bane is willing to kill and sacrifice innocent lives in order to achieve the League of Shadows’ ultimate goal of world peace. ‘Rises’ cleverly plays on the dynamic between Ra’s and Bane as well as Ra’s and Bruce to make them foils of each other.

Additionally, Selina Kyle is accompanied by a young woman who may or may not be her best friend from the “Batman: Year One” comics, Holly Robinson. The small references to these comics and characters show that Christopher Nolan understands the mythos that helps make Batman one of the most notable and incredible heroes to date.

‘Rises’ also draws inspiration from Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” because of its character arc for Bruce Wayne. In ‘Rises’, Bruce has to overcome the physical limits of his body as well as the psychological problems he has developed after the death of Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent, both of whom were dear friends.

As Alfred points out, Bruce never returned to being himself after Rachel died because he thought she never got a chance to move on and so he felt that he had no future without her. After Alfred reveals that Rachel had chosen Harvey over him before she died, Bruce is motivated to come out of retirement and pick up the cape and cowl once again, thus forcing him to rise above his own limitations as well as the obstacles presented by Gotham’s criminal underbelly.

In fact, the rise theme is woven into the story with all of the characters as they are forced to become even better than they ever thought they could be in order to save Gotham City. For instance, Detective John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) becomes an unofficial apprentice to Bruce not long after he returns to being Batman.

As the film progresses, he begins to see that the path of a Gotham City detective may not be right for him because of the limited power they have when it comes to saving the city. The decision to imply that Det. Blake would take his place as Gotham’s new savior is even more surprising as Nolan has stated before that he did not have any interest in including Dick Grayson, aka Robin, in his movies.

He even gives a clever nod to the name while still creating a unique character who has bits and pieces of Dick Grayson, the original Robin, in him. Blake’s involvement in the story has a similar tone to a recent run in the Batman comics where Nightwing takes up the cape and cowl as Bruce Wayne has gone missing.

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ shows that it is possible to create a deeply moving story with respect to the comic books as well as original creative vision. Everyone involved in this film, from start to finish, has outdone themselves. ‘Rises’ is a worthy ending to an incredible trilogy that will never be forgotten.

Image Courtesy of   The Dark Knight Rises

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The epic conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, hit theaters midnight of July 20, 2012. Teeming masses of fans stood in line for hours waiting to step into the theater and finish the amazing story that started with ‘Batman Begins’ (2005), continued with ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008), and finished with ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’

Expectations are high and well deserved as the previous films have been hailed as some of the greatest comic book hero movies of all time, to say nothing of two of the greatest films of all time. Fortunately, ‘Rises’ does not disappoint as it is a powerful, moving, bold tale that will resonate with fans and moviegoers for years to come.

Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution.

‘Rises’ begins with the introduction of the merciless mercenary Bane (Tom Hardy) kidnapping a nuclear physicist from a plane overseas. It then cuts to Gotham City celebrating Harvey Dent Day and reveals that it has been eight years since the death of Dent and the disappearance of Batman, who took the blame in order to place the city on the path to peace. Commissioner James Gordon (Gary Oldman) delivers a speech that reveals he is still wracked with guilt for allowing Batman to take the fall for Dent’s murder but is still hesitant to reveal to the people that Dent was not as perfect as he seemed.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a recluse and has a limp due to his inactivity and former injuries from when he was Batman. While taking in his dinner, Bruce bumps into a maid stealing his mother’s pearls as well as a copy of his fingerprints. She escapes and he is intrigued by both her crime and her personality so he starts researching her background. He discovers that she is Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), a cat burglar and master thief, and decides to finally leave his mansion in search of why she stole his fingerprints.

Selina had been paid by the owner of another major company to steal the fingerprints as part of a plan to take over Wayne Enterprises. Her client tries to kill her to tie up loose ends, but she lures the police to the location by kidnapping a congressman and escapes custody. Selina had also been searching for a program called Clean Slate, which has the ability to wipe a person’s record clean so that they could start over, but she is told it does not exist. Frustrated, she continues working in Gotham’s criminal underbelly as she has heard of Bane’s reckoning for the city and wants to stay out of his path.

Bruce reconnects with Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and newcomer Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) to try and rebuild the company, which suffered massive losses due to a failed project years ago. He enlists Tate to help him use an energy source Wayne Tech created and they pitch it to the board, hoping to reinvigorate profits at Wayne Enterprises.

Not long afterwards, Bane arrives in Gotham and Commissioner Gordon attempts to raid his lair in the sewers, but is badly injured and hospital ridden. After visiting Gordon in the hospital, Bruce is further motivated to put the cape and cowl back on to stop Bane. However, his bad knees and worn out body become his undoing and Bane defeats him, snapping one of his vertebrae in a vicious fight. Bane then sends Bruce to a prison deep underground in another country where he claimed to have escaped and tells Bruce that he will destroy Gotham as he is the apprentice of the late Ra’s al Ghul.

Bane returns to Gotham and engineers Wayne Enterprises’ energy source into a nuclear weapon. He and his army trap the city’s policemen underground and enforce martial law on the city. He then releases the inmates at Blackgate prison to “reclaim” the city. The only people left to stop him are a beat cop Gordon recruits to be a detective named John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Selina Kyle, and a handful of officers.

Upon seeing the destruction of his city, Bruce tries his best to recover from his back injury but is only successful when he realizes that fear of death is instrumental to overcoming his obstacles. He escapes the prison and returns to Gotham, enlisting Det. Blake and Selina to help him take back the city and stop the bomb from detonating.

As expected of the Nolan Batman films, the acting is superb. Particular mention goes to Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. Most people had reservations about her casting as she is still a young woman, but she pulls off the sophistication, strength, beauty, and poise that characterize Selina Kyle. Her chemistry with Bruce Wayne is absolutely fantastic as the two do not hesitate to test each other’s wits all while sharing steamy sexual tension.

Christian Bale also brings his A-game as Bruce Wayne, who is completely battered and broken over the course of the film, but eventually finds the strength to carry on for the city he loves. His conviction and pain drive the story and make it truly unforgettable.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Det. Blake is also a welcome addition to the Batman canon because of his quick wits, unflinching loyalty to both Batman and the city, and his dedication to saving lives. His story is by far the most surprising as it was downplayed in the trailers and yet ends up being instrumental to the overall story.

Overall, it is a monumental film that no one should pass up. ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ has effectively woven several amazing stories together with phenomenal actors, a dedicated director, and a fantastic production team to make one of the best superhero films of all time. See it. You won’t regret it.

Grade: 5/5

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One Day is Director Lone Scherfig’s newest scheduled release to date.  The movie is based on the 2009 international bestseller of the same name by David Nicholis and stars Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess and Patricia Clarkson.  Currently, everything is completed and is awaiting release on August 19^.

The story is about love between a man and a woman who spend the night of their college graduation together.  The woman, Emma Morley (Anne Hathaway) is ambitious and wants to make the world a better place while the man named Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess) comes from a privileged family and believes the world is his oyster.  For 20 years, the film follows these two characters whether they are together, alone, cheerful, or sad on the anniversary of their meeting, July 15.

The book One Day was released in the U.K. in 2009, and quickly became a bestseller.  It then spread all around the world reaching the top of the charts in Italy and Sweden, No. 2 in Germany, No. 3 in Russia and No. 4 in the U.S.

Henry Goldblatt of Entertainment Weekly called it, “a luscious, beautiful, and ultimately devastating portrait of two soul mates.”

With this particular book-to-movie is that the writer of the book, David Nicholis, is also the screenwriter.  Writing a book is much different than writing a screenplay.

“There’s a challenge involved in trying to condense 20 years of a character’s life into a novel anyway. When you have to condense it even further, into maybe two hours of screen time, you just have to accept the fact that you’re going to lose things, Nicholis said.  “Having said that, s is a very faithful adaptation in terms of both the mood and the tone — as well as the storytelling style.”

The director, Lone Scherfig has directed An Education which was nominated three times; once for an Oscar for Best Picture.  When choosing the director the producer Nina Jacobson and David Nicholis had believed she was perfect for the job.  Nicholis had said that “It was clear that the qualities she has as a director were ones that One Day was going to need; integrity, and a sense of how to modulate the highs and lows of the story,” Nicholis said.

Anne Hathaway plays the main character,to the dismay of many, though she has shown interest in Emma as a character.  Scherfig had recounted that Hathaway approached her asking for the part.

“She liked Emma so much that she flew to London to talk to me and tell me why she should have the part! Anne shares Emma’s humor and strength. She is a highly experienced actress who lends huge warmth and fragility to the part, more than anyone else I can imagine,” Scherfig said.”

Jim Sturgess is playing Dexter, the character opposite of Emily.  He obtained the part through an audition but was chosen because of his natural chemistry with Hathaway.  Sturgess believes that himself and Hathaway have a unique resemblance towards their characters.

“Well, there’s a lot of Emma in Anne. She has an intellectual wit, as has Emma. On the set, I’d often find myself sitting next to Anne; I’d be reading a foolish magazine and she’d be reading some highbrow novel — that’s Em and Dex right there! She’s lovely, and we got on straight away,” Sturgess said.

Shooting finished nearly a year ago and the film is ready for release.  With the chemistry between the two stars the love story will come alive before the audience’s very eyes.

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Dark Knight Rises is set for a summer 2012 release and screen shots are already being circulated throughout the internet.  Nolan returns to direct the blockbuster trilogy with the film set to be the dramatic conclusion to the series in wherein Batman was reintroduced to us through leading man Christian Bale.

The screen shots of the set that is being talked about all over the internet circles around Anne Hathaway, the 28 year old actress who will play the role of Cat Woman.  The costume in which she appears in the shots online does not really remind many of the history of the Femme Fatale.

She appears in a futuristic-looking costume with 3d looking goggles that cover her eyes.  Those who are familiar with the Batman series are crying foul and it remains to be seen what exactly the costume will look like and how Hathaway will play the role.

Anne Hathaway recently spoke saying the pictures do not represent the overall look of the costume and there is more to discover, but fans see it differently.  MTV has called the pictures “underwhelming” but nothing more is known about the movie and the direction it will take.

The worst of it came in a recent poll done by US Magazine in which fans were asked who they considered the sexiest Cat Woman.  The answer was pretty clear and not in favor of the newest leading lady.  Michelle Pfeiffer finished with 52 percent of the vote, the expected favorite Halle Berry earned 37 percent while Hathaway came in last with 11 percent.

11 percent is not a bad starting point considering the movie is still a year away and both of her predecessors are considered icons.  Much will change between then and now but fans are already showing their lack of patience for the role and since little is still known, there is a lot of room for fueled opinions to brew.
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