Liam Neeson has come to South Korea for the first time. The famous Hollywood star arrived at the Incheon International Airport at 11am, September 15 by his chartered airplane. His visit is intended to promote his latest movie ‘Taken 2.’

When Liam Neeson showed up at the airport, he looked tired because of a long flight. He was dressed in a khaki shirt and a jumper, holding a newspaper in his hand. Liam, surrounded by his minders, waved his hand to reporters and moved to his hotel to take a rest.

An Irish actor, Liam Neeson was born in June 7, 1952. He has been nominated for an Oscar, a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award, and three Golden Globe Awards. He has starred in a number of notable roles, including Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List, Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises, Daniel in Love Actually, and Bryan Mills in Taken.

He is loved by people worldwide for his a courteous and generous image and notable acting. He is scheduled to attend an interview with the foreign press, including Asian press on September 16. On September 17, Liam is planning to attend an official press interview to meet Korean fans and the red carpet premium event held at the iPark shopping mall in Yongsan, Seoul.

‘Taken 2′ is a sequel to ‘Taken,’ released in 2008. Taken is an action thriller that attracted a lot of fans worldwide. Taken 2 casts exactly the same actors and actresses, aimed at entertaining fans, just like Taken did four years ago. The movie is about the revenge of human trafficker who kidnapped Bryan’s daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) in the previous movie. This time, the human trafficker kidnaps Brian’s wife (Famke Beumer) to take revenge on Brian.

The Korean audiences especially expect to see Liam Neeson’s immaculate performance.

A 26-year-old student Jung Ah-rum, who visited the airport to see Liam Neeson, said, “His acting is amazing, I really enjoyed all of his movies. I believe he will show another incredible performance again. I’m counting on him.”

“I saw many movies that he was in, but Taken was my favorite. I’m so excited to see his acting as Brian again,” office worker Kim Min-jung told the reporter.

Taken 2 is scheduled to be released on September 27, and South Korea will be the first place where the movie opens.

The article Liam Neeson Visits Korea to Promote ‘Taken 2′ appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The movie “Taken” released in 2008 brought to light and grabbed the attention of millions across the world as the movie raised awareness about one of the fast growing industries in the world: Sex trafficking.

While the movie revolves around girls being smuggled as traveling tourists in western European countries, then addicted to drugs and forced into prostitution, there is one thing that the movie doesn’t recognize; this is not something foreign that is going on. It’s not just in Europe or Asia or Africa. It’s happening right here in the United States, in our very own backyards.

According to Sarah Vardaman, Senior Director of Shared Hope International, “the majority of the victims that we’re finding who are child sex-trafficking victims are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.” And According to the U.S. Department of Justice, sex-trafficking is growing at an alarmingly fast rate.

“In 2005, the Department of Justice reported there have been an estimated 100,000 to 150,000 sex slaves in the U.S,” reported International Crisis Aid on their website. They also pointed out that “in 2009, a University of Pennsylvania study estimated nearly 300,000 youth in the United States were at risk of being sexually exploited for commercial uses.”

One of the youths that represent this statistic is 16-year-old Brianna (her real name was changed for her own protection), who was 12 and living in New York City at the time that she was captured.  Brianna had gotten into an argument with her mother one evening and decided to leave the house for the night with plans to stay with her friend’s older brother.

Her plans of returning home in the morning changed in an instant when she found out her friend’s older brother was a pimp and she was now his property. From that point on, Brianna’s life changed forever and her childhood had been taken from her.

The first thing the pimp did was lock her in a room where he took several provocative pictures of her and then posted her on Backpage.com. This website is known to be the most advertised and popular website in America today for sex trafficking. According to AIM Group, “Backpage accounts for about 70 percent of America’s prostitution ads.”

Brianna  was repeatedly beaten and advertised on Backpage.com. After three years of living in fear, bearing sexual and physical abuse and being demoralized by men willing to pay to watch her perform sexual acts on the web, Brianna managed to escape. She ran away to a place called “Gateways,” which is a treatment center for girls ages 12-16 that have been victims of the sex trafficking trade.

New York Times’ Reporter, Nicholas Kristof claims Brianna, who is now receiving the therapy and support she needs, is one of the “lucky few.” According to the Huffington Post, “Brianna is one of one hundred thousand American girls exploited through commercial sex.”

Kristof believes that this is a growing epidemic, similar to that of the AIDS virus. The sex and human trafficking industries keep growing and if more people aren’t informed soon, or willing to raise awareness and learn about what’s going on right before their eyes, then many more young girls’ childhoods will be swiped out from under them and they will be robbed of having any future at all.

If you are interested in helping putting a stop to this rapidly growing industry and want to learn more about sex/human trafficking please join or check out the campaigns at:

WWW.HumanTrafficking.org & WWW.NotForSaleCampaign.org.

The article Childhood Lost: Becoming a Sex Trafficking Victim appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Wondering what action movie to see this summer? Consider Colombiana, an action/adventure starring Zoe Saldana as a young woman who witnessed both of her parents murder by the mob when she was nine years old. Similar to Angelina Jolie’s character in Wanted, she grows up to be a “stone-cold” assassin, embarking on a fifteen year journey to hunt down the mobster responsible for her parents murders and achieve vengeance. During this time, she works for her uncle as a hit(wo)man by day, and come nightfall she becomes a rogue killer. Responsible for over 22 deaths within four years, she is getting closer to her target and, typical of Saldana, is looking good while doing it.

As its name indicates, the film is set in Bogota, Colombia, though it is filmed in throughout the United States, Mexico and Paris studios. With a focus on Latin America, many message boards are questioning the stereotypes which may arise due to the setting in Latin American culture. The murder and expected drug use–along with the common misconception that Bogota is located in a tropical jungle when it apparently has a more similar climate to Chicago, rarely reaching above 65 degrees Fahrenheit– has many Colombian natives questioning the authenticity. One blogger wrote, “I just hope to find in this movie at least some slight interest on the true Colombia, and not some pretension of creating a Latin Lara Croft raised in a non-existing and decontextualized Bogota.” With a looped tagline in the trailer of “Never forget where you came from,” will the movie live up to a higher standard?

Directed by Olivier Megaton and produced by Luc Besson, the French pair will take on the challenge. Megaton is best known for Transformers 3 (2008), though some would argue that it was their least favorite installment of the series. In addition, Transformers 3 is his only English-language film to date, making for some speculation amongst movie goers if he will be able to deliver.

However, teamed up with mega-producer Luc Besson the odds are looking quite likely. Besson wrote and directed the 1990 box office hit Nikita, which was focused around a femme fatale assassin. He is also responsible for other action films, such as The Fifth Element and Taken, making him a veteran of putting action and powerful female characters onto the screen.

To add to the hype is Saldana herself, who has become cinema’s “bad ass female” through her roles in the highly acclaimed Avatar and Star Trek. Present in a wave of action heroines, Saldana continues to hold her role as a sexually empowered and machine gun wielding vigilante, prevailing above whoever has done wrong until personal justice is achieved. Will she help make Colombiana a box office hit that stays true to Colombian culture, while asserting her presence as a femme fatale?

The article Colombiana, Saldana Back on The Screen as Another Femme Fatale appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.