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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Superman will be returning to the silver screen in 2013 with Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’, which released a trailer recently in front of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012) and at San Diego Comic Con 2012. It will be the second reboot of the character after Brian Singer’s ‘Superman Returns’ (2006), which did not do well critically nor at the box office. It has been a struggle to get the Man of Steel onto the big screen again after the lackluster response to his previous film, but even now, there are some fans who are in doubt.

First of all, Zack Snyder is a very divisive director. He has given the world gems like ‘Dawn of the Dead’ (2004), ‘300’ (2007), and ‘Watchmen’ (2009), but his recent films have shown a dip in quality. ‘Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole’ (2010) and ‘Sucker Punch’ (2011) are the reasons he has come under fire due to the gratuitous use of slow motion and focus on effects rather than good storytelling.

Snyder is complimented because of his ability to create visually stunning scenes as seen in ‘300’ and ‘Watchmen,’ but he also has a habit of focusing too much on the aesthetics. Thus, many fans are worried that the same will happen as he tackles the mythology and superhero themes associated with Superman.

Another cause for concern is the low-key tone and muted colors of the trailer. These aspects show the influence of the film’s producer, none other than the brilliant Christopher Nolan. Nolan’s work with rebooting Batman has made him a legendary filmmaker, but it may also be what makes this trailer somewhat dull. Nolan prefers to introduce heroes using realism and character-based drama. While this is certainly a good thing in some respects, Superman is far more of a fantasy character than Bruce Wayne. Thus, approaching two different comic book characters in similar fashions may not be the way to go.

On the one hand, focusing on Superman as a character is a welcome approach to the upcoming film. It is important that the audience sees all sides of him, understands where he comes from, sympathizes with him, and feels inspired by his creed to save the innocent. Nolan has shown remarkable strength in creating memorable dialogue and heart-wrenching drama with Batman and his supporting characters. If the ‘Man of Steel’ script takes the same approach to Clark Kent, he may come off better received than with Brian Singer’s Superman, who came across as rather bland and forgettable.

On the other hand, Superman is not as relatable as Bruce Wayne. While the two share copious amounts of handsomeness, Superman has a positive outlook on life and humanity and is concerned with being an inspiration rather than someone to fear. His most common problem is learning how to control his unbelievable power and blend in, whereas Bruce Wayne’s most common problem is his mortality.

The threat of Superman’s villains are also on a much larger scale as many of them seek to conquer or destroy the world rather than just one city. It will be difficult to tackle any sense of realism when you have a character who can hold his breath for hours at a time, shoot laser beams from his eyes, and freeze people with his breath all on top of flight.

The main problem with the ‘Man of Steel’ trailer seems to be that it is does not live up to the inspiring feeling of seeing Superman on the big screen. It looks very similar to the first trailer for ‘Batman Begins’ (2005), and while the dark tone and gritty realism worked wonders for the Caped Crusader, it falls short with Superman. A more impressive trailer would have played on all of the great action scenes that are inherent with the character of Superman as he smashes through buildings, stops speeding trains, and catches falling airplanes.

There are only brief references to fights in the trailer and while the shot of Superman breaking the sound barrier is cool, there does not appear to be one big ‘wow’ moment. For example, compare the ‘Man of Steel’ trailer to any of the Marvel films’ trailers. Nearly all of them have funny dialogue, gripping action, and one truly epic scene that hook the audience in and make them want to see the film.

‘The Man of Steel’ is still a year away and so it has plenty of time to release a second, third, or even fourth trailer to get fans excited. Few people are concerned about the movie being bad because Henry Cavill looks great in the costume and the casting is solid. Still, the audience will need more convincing that the fantasy elements associated with Superman will be intact so that they are left with a film worthy of the Man of Tomorrow.

Image Courtesy of  Miro Vrlik Photography / Shutterstock.com

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Columbia Records has announced that it has signed the well-known indie band Walk Off The Earth, whose current YouTube video, a five-person, one guitar cover of “Somebody That I Used to Know,” has racked up 50 million views on YouTube in less than a month.

The powerful fan response to the video has turned the five-year-old Canadian group into a media phenomenon and propelled them onto American network television, where a posted video of their appearance on The Ellen Degeneres Show received a half-million views in less than a week.

In fact, Walk Off The Earth’s version of “Somebody That I Used To Know” saw the highest Billboard debut since April 2011, blasting onto the charts at #14 with over 70,000 singles sold to date. The viral effect has been international as well – the song hit #1 on iTunes in Sweden and Germany as well as WOTE’s native Canada, where the track has achieved digital gold status.

The band has already gotten thumbs-up from an impressive roster of show business veterans, including actor Russell Crowe, Coldplay, Mumford and Sons, Wiz Khalifa (they covered his song “Roll Up”), Justin Timberlake, Ryan Seacrest and Adele. Their version of her hit “Someone Like You” has had 3 million YouTube views.

WOTE’s presence on Facebook has grown exponentially as well since the video was first posted on Jan. 5. They now have 300,000 people who “like” them – an 85 percent jump in just three weeks; in addition, their page on Wikipedia has been averaging 10,000 page views a day.

Goyte featuring Kimbra’s original video for “Somebody That I Used to Know” was an internet sensation on its own before Walk Off The Earth’s Gianni Luminati decided it was a perfect song for his band members, known for their creative remakes of current songs. (After seeing the Walk Off The Earth version, Goyte tweeted his approval, calling the new video “hilarious and brilliant.”) In the video, the five play the same guitar simultaneously as Ryan Marshall, Luminati and Sarah Blackwood trade off on vocals. The other band members are Joel Cassady on drums/percussion and Mike Taylor on keyboard.

But the Burlington, Ontario-based Walk Off The Earth, as their loyal fans will attest, is hardly an overnight sensation. Together since 2006, the five accomplished performers have remade dozens of songs and self-released 2 full-length albums of original material, including the first single, “These Times.”

Their ability to take a familiar song and give it an innovative twist has made their YouTube channel a hit, with 280,000 subscribers and 80 million combined views of their videos of both originals and covers. ”It’s been a crazy, dream-come-true moment for us,” said Luminati. “Our fans brought us to where we are now,” said Blackwood. “We will continue to play for them for a long time to come.”

It was Luminati – a musician since childhood who specializes in layering musical sounds and beat-boxing – who first envisioned the five group members playing the same guitar.

Once he heard the Goyte tune, “I knew right away it was the perfect song for the idea,” he recalls. “I started messing around with different parts seeing if it would work.” Once he realized it could be done, he asked his bandmates to learn their individual parts before attempting to make the video.

Once reunited, he admits they had trouble getting all the pieces to fit together: “It was pretty frustrating.” And once they turned on the camera it took 30 takes until they finally succeeded at around 4 a.m., when Luminati uploaded the video to their YouTube channel. (“All of our videos are one cut because I don’t know how to edit,” he admits).

“I went to bed at five or six in the morning, and by the time I woke up around 11 a.m. it was well on its way around the world,” he remembers. “We were already getting talked about on local radio stations.”

Image Courtesy of   https://www.facebook.com/walkofftheearth

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The feeling of abandonment, on its own, is hard. Imagine being abandoned by those who were supposed to love, protect, and support you since birth, your parents. Mark Wahlberg, along with Darryl McDaniels have recently announced that they are teaming up to raise funds for an adoption charity. McDaniels, who himself is an adoptee said, “We wanted to give back to those children who didn’t get taken home or who are growing up in the foster care system.”

To boost the charity fund, Wahlberg is auctioning off a visit to the set of his latest film, Broken City, the movie he has been filming with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Crowe, and Kyle Chandler for the past few months in New Orleans. This fundraising activity is expected to gather $10,000 for the Felix organization, a charity founded in 2006, by Darryl McDaniels and Sheila Jaffe, with Mark Wahlberg being among the founding members.

The winner of the CharityBuzz.com auction will be invited to meet the actor this month. However, he/she will only be given a week’s notice to schedule a meeting and must be reachable for at least three days in case of a scheduling change.

The Felix campus is located in Putnam Valley, New York, where it provides new experiences and opportunities to children growing up in the foster care system, in order to enrich their lives and help them overcome the feeling of abandonment. Ever since the organization was founded in 2006, it has sent over 500 children to its campus, Camp Felix. The Felix organization’s mission is to continue to send an increasing number of children to its campus every year, in order to nurture and encourage them with inspiring opportunities.

Moreover, Wahlberg is also fundraising for his own charity organization, The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, which will use the funds gathered to improve the life quality of inner city youth through a working partnership with other youth organizations. Wahlberg is holding a raffle for a set visit to his latest movie. The price of the raffle ticket is two dollars each with a minimum purchase of five tickets. The winner will be given a chance take photos with Wahlberg, receive autographs, get up to $2,500 as travel allowance to New Orleans, and be awarded a cash prize in the amount of $635.25 to ease his/her tax liability that results from winning the raffle.

For more information regarding Wahlberg’s raffle, please visit the website of Celebrities for Charity. If you would like to donate to either of the charity organizations, refer to their websites, The Flex Organization and The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation to find details on how you could help.

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Recently, the Superman reboot, Man of Steel, has been building its cast for some time now.  However, Warner Brother Studios put the brakes on the release date and extended it to June 14, 2013.

There is some speculation on why this delay was put into place but nothing official has been given out by either the producers or the studio.  The copyright issue on Man of Steel is pushing the date a little too close as production is being delayed along side its release.

The Man of Steel cast has had its fill of rumors, and big names.  Now, the cast is pretty much set with Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Michael Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Russell Crowe, Julia Ormond, Harry Lennix and Antje Traue.  But, with the release date pushed it’s unclear if the cast will stay the same.

No word has come out from the producer, Christopher Nolan, about any cast changes.  When asked about the Man of Steel delay, Henry Cavill, who will play Superman said, “they broke it to me gently…it’s okay, it’s nothing to do with me…I just focus on the character and do my job.”

Cavill also showed his excitement for the movie to start filming.  “I’m really raring to go.  It’s exciting, humbling, and about time to get started,” Cavill said.

The reason why the movie has been delayed about six months is, at this moment, unclear.  Some believe that there are problems with the script that Kurt Jonstad needs to finish.  This accusation could be true.  The script has gone through many changes, and writers since David Goyo penned it.

The more popular belief for the delayed release is that Warner Brothers does not want to go into competition with other big name releases coming out in 2012, such as Quentin Tarantino’s Django: Unchained, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, or Disney’s Lone Ranger.  Alongside this competition, 2012 is already a big comic-book movie year with The Avengers, and The Amazing Spider- Man.

The copyright issue is said to be pushing it close but not necessarily a problem for the film.  The contract dictates that the movie must go into production before the end of 2012.  With everyone in the cast and crew in place they can easily make that deadline.

Man of Steel is scheduled to come out a little less than two years from now.  With many (including Cavill) antsy for the project to start this delay comes as a disappointment to some but many look at it in a positive light.

The newfound time will allow the writers to fix bugs in the script, and the production team can take its time to make sure everything falls into place.  Nevertheless, it still is a long time till its release in 2013 but having patience always pays off.

cinemafestival / Shutterstock.com

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As the new Superman movie’s release date was announced for December 2012, the pre-production began. Man of Steel, the movie has its fair share of rumors spreading around about who shall be cast.  Rumors have been floating around that Christopher Meloni is in talks with Warner Brothers and Zack Sydner, the director.

There are no details about whom he will play if he accepts the offer except that he will play a general. I know what you’re thinking.  But no, Michael Shannon will play Zod. The real wildcard was who will play Superman’s mother, Lara Lor-Van?

At first, there were rumors of Connie Nielson taking the part, but it was confirmed to be false, as Synder chose Julia Ormond as his first pick.  The offer was officially given out June 22, 2011 and accepted some time later.

Julia Ormond’s most recent and well-known movies include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Che. She won an Emmy for her supporting role in Temple Grandin, in 2010. She also appeared on many other television shows such as Law and Order and Nurse Jackie. Right now she is finishing up her most recent movie My Week with Marilyn, starring Emma Watson, and Michelle Williams.

She will be playing opposite of Russell Crowe as Jor-El. The rest of the cast, that is certain to appear consists of Henry Cavill playing Superman, Amy Adams playing Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, and Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent.

The plot of the movie is kept under lock and key. Diane Lane said this on Jay Leno Show, “Of course, there is a lot of secrecy these days, with the Internet and everything and rumors get started, so I had to read the script under lock and key in a room. You go to the offices, and it is a locked door and the curtains are drawn, and, so that was the time I had.” The only leaked details about the plot was that Synder wanted to make the movie as if the other Superman movies do not exist. In other terms, he wants to start at square one.

He said to contactmusic.com, “[l]iterally, the one thing that everyone can start to think about is that we’re making a movie that finally goes with the approach that there have been no other Superman movies. If you look at ‘Batman Begins’ there’s that structure: there’s the canon that we know about and respect, but, on the other hand, there’s this approach that pre-supposes that there have not been any other movies. That is what we’re going with.”

Many fans of the movies are bitter about Synder’s idea because they feel the story should be pushed along and not rebooted.

With many spots on the cast still not filled, there is still a lot of work for the filmmakers to do. With extremely little information about the plot and many offers given out, rumors have spread like wildfire. Julia Ormond has been officially named the mother of Superman but her shooting dates are unclear as of yet.

DFree / Shutterstock.com

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