Exclusive "Naruto Shippuden" Figure Headed to San Diego Comic-Con International

VIZ MEDIA AND GECCO TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE 1/6 SCALE NARUTO SHIPPUDEN MASTERPIECE FIGURE AS 2014 COMIC-CON EXCLUSIVE COLLECTABLE

Exceptionally Detailed 1/6 Nauto Uzumaki In 4th Hokage Coat  Destined To Become A Highly Sought After Collector’s Item Will Be Available From VIZ Media Booth 2813

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, teams with Japanese high-end figure manufacturer and official NARUTO SHIPPUDEN product licensee, Gecco, to unveil a very special 1/6 scale masterpiece statue of the world’s most popular ninja, clad in 4th HOKAGE coat version, to be offered exclusively at the VIZ Media booth (#2813) during the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Set to take place at the San Diego Convention Center, July 23rd-27th, Comic-Con International is the nation’s biggest annual comic book, science fiction and pop culture event.

In this limited edition version, Naruto Uzumaki is rendered in high quality full-color PVC, standing approximately 27cm tall and wearing the 4th Hokage’s famous coat. Crafted by skilled Gecco sculptor/painter Shin Tanabe with painting by Katsushige Akeyama, the intensity of Naruto’s expression has been carefully designed to show his fierce resolve to face enemies in order to protect his friends and save the world. The statue features a highly detailed costume capturing every wrinkle and texture, a true indicator of the exceptional craftsmanship of this masterpiece. The Gecco Naruto Uzumaki, 4th HOKAGE coat version, will carry an MSRP of 150.00 and will be available during 2014 Comic-Con at the VIZ Media booth #2813 (while supplies last).

“This exceptionally detailed statue of Naruto wearing his father’s red flamed coat can become the special centerpiece to a collector’s display, and we are proud to partner with one of the most exclusive Japanese figure manufacturers, Gecco, to present it as a 2014 Comic-Con exclusive product,” says Daisuke Aoki, VIZ Media Vice President, Animation Licensing. “This limited production figure will be one of the most sought after items during Comic-Con and is sure become a highly desirable item among pop culture collectors, comics, anime and manga fans. We look forward to welcoming Gecco to the VIZ Media booth during the show to secure one of the hottest new NARUTO SHIPPUDEN collectables.”

“I wanted to see the greatest Naruto figure with my own eyes, and am excited to partner with VIZ Media to make this a reality!” says Kineo Murakami, founder, Gecco. “The only person who can bring Naruto to vivid life is sculptor Shin Tanabe, and I’m sure anyone who sees this limited edition NARUTO SHIPPUDEN figure will marvel at this masterpiece!”

Created by Masashi Kishimoto, NARUTO was first introduced in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan in 1999 and quickly became that country’s most popular ninja manga properties. The manga series (rated ‘T’ for Teens, in print and digital editions) and animated counterpart (NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN rated ‘TV-14’) are some of VIZ Media’s most successful titles and have captivated millions of fans across North America, Europe and South America.

In the NARUTO manga and animated series, Naruto Uzumaki wants to be the best ninja in the land. He's done well so far, but with the looming danger posed by the mysterious Akatsuki organization, Naruto knows he must train harder than ever and leaves his village for intense exercises that will push him to his limits. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN begins two and a half years later, when Naruto returns to find that everyone has been promoted up the ninja ranks – except him. Sakura’s a medic ninja, Gaara’s advanced to Kazekage, and Kakashi…well he remains the same. But pride isn’t necessarily becoming of a ninja, especially when Naruto realizes that Sasuke never returned from his search for Orochimaru. Plus, the mysterious Akatsuki organization is still an ever-present danger. As Naruto finds out more about the Akatsuki’s goals, he realizes that nothing in his universe is as it seems. Naruto is finding that he’s older, but will he prove wiser and stronger?

For additional details about the exclusive NARUTO SHIPPUDEN figure, please visit http://www.gecco.co.jp/naruto.html.

More information on NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN is available at www.Naruto.com.

Additional information on titles available from VIZ Media is available at www.VIZ.com.

About Gecco
Gecco was established in July 2011 as a figure manufacturer in Higashi Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Founded by Kineo Murakami, the company’s goal is to create figures Murakami would personally want in his collection. This mandate of creating desirable figures has garnered the support of many figure collectors and enthusiasts around the world. Some of the best-known figures created by Gecco are from the Silent Hill video game series, and each figure created is highly detailed, crafted with exceptional mastery, using the best materials.

About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.  Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

Review: Emma Thompson Saves "Saving Mr. Banks"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Running time:  125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic elements including some unsettling images
DIRECTOR:  John Lee Hancock
WRITERS:  Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith
PRODUCERS:  Ian Collie, Alison Owen, and Philip Steuer
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John Schwartzman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Mark Livolsi
COMPOSER:  Thomas Newman
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL with elements of a biopic and comedy

Starring:  Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley, Colin Farrell, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti, Bradley Whitford, B.J. Novak, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Bigham, Melanie Paxson, Ronan Vibert, Rachel Griffiths, and Kathy Baker

Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 drama from director John Lee Hancock and is an American, British, and Australian co-production.  The film is a fictional account of author P.L. Travers’ trip to America, as she considers selling the film rights to her Mary Poppins books to Walt Disney.

Walt Disney is really a supporting character in Saving Mr. Banks, as the movie focuses on Travers as she reflects on her childhood and on her relationship with her troubled father.  The parts of the film that focus on Travers’ childhood are melancholy.  The parts of the film that take place in the film’s present (1961) are lively and colorful, and I wish all of the movie were set at Walt Disney Studios.

The film opens in the year 1961 in London, where it finds author, Pamela “P.L.” Travers (Emma Thompson), experiencing financial troubles.  Travers does have a way out of her money woes.  She can sell the film rights to her Mary Poppins books to Walt Disney (Tom Hanks), who has been pursuing Travers for the rights to the books for 20 years.  Travers travels to Los Angeles, where she is whisked to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank.

In America, Travers meets a kind limo driver, Ralph (Paul Giamatti). She meets Mr. Disney.  She meets the creative team assigned to adapt Mary Poppins to the screen:  screenwriter, Don DaGradi (Bradley Whitford); and musical composing brothers, Richard and Robert Sherman (Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak, respectively).  For two weeks, Travers plans on working with the team to get Mary right – at she sees it.

However, everything about her Mary Poppins book may be too personal for her to accept anyone else’s vision of Mary Poppins, especially Walt Disney’s version of Mary Poppins.  As she works on the film, Travers’ mind goes back to her life in Australia as a girl (Annie Rose Buckley) and she recollects her relationship with her troubled father (Colin Farrell).

I have to admit that I like Saving Mr. Banks because of its fanciful and real-life complication-free look at Walt Disney, his employees, and life at Walt Disney Studios.

I will grant that Emma Thompson gives a fantastic performance, one that is worthy of the Oscar nomination Thompson did not receive.  I will also grant that the story of Travers’ past is heartbreaking and fairly well-executed by director John Lee Hancock and his collaborators.  I will finally admit that I don’t think Hanks deserved an Oscar nomination for his performance as Walt Disney, especially not as a lead actor.  His Disney is clearly a supporting character in this story… and this is not close to being one of Hanks’ better or memorable performances.

Mostly, I think Saving Mr. Banks is a soapy television movie with big name actors trying to be a prestige motion picture.  I think the film sometimes portrays P.L. Travers as a contrary old kook and also glosses over her legitimate concerns about how her characters will be translated to film.  After all, she clearly knew that more people would see a Mary Poppins movie than would ever read her Mary Poppins books.  Because of that, many people would know Mary Poppins only through the film, so she had right to be concerned that the screen Mary Poppins be as close as possible to her Mary Poppins.

After all that granting, I am back to what I like about this movie. Saving Mr. Banks presents a… well… Disney-fied version of some of the events surrounding the production of the 1964 Mary Poppins film.  That is okay by me, but I realize that there is much more to the real story than is in Saving Mr. Banks.

6 of 10
B

Monday, May 05, 2014


NOTES:
2014 Academy Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Thomas Newman)

2010 Golden Globe:  1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Emma Thompson)

2014 BAFTA Awards:  5 nominations:  “Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film” (John Lee Hancock, Alison Owen, Ian Collie, Philip Steuer, Kelly Marcel, and Sue Smith), “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Thomas Newman), “Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer” (Kelly Marcel), “Best Leading Actress” (Emma Thompson), and “Best Costume Design” (Daniel Orlandi)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "MARY POPPINS" is Still "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Mary Poppins (1964)
Running time:  139 minutes (2 hours, 19 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Robert Stevenson  
WRITERS: Bill Walsh and Don Da Gradi (based on: The "Mary Poppins" books by P.L. Travers)
PRODUCERS:  Walt Disney and Bill Walsh
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Edward Colman (D.o.P.) 
EDITOR:  Cotton Warburton
COMPOSERS/SONGS:  Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman
SCORE:  Irwin Kostal
Academy Award winner

FANTASY/MUSICAL/FAMILY

Starring:  Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber, Hermione Baddeley, Reta Shaw, Elsa Lanchester, Arthur Treacher, Reginald Owen, Don Barclay, and Ed Wynn

Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical fantasy film from Walt Disney Productions.  The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney, although he did not receive a credit in the actual film as the producer, while producer Bill Walsh is only credited as co-producer.  In 1965, both Disney and Walsh received nominations for best producer for their work on Mary Poppins.

The primary source for Mary Poppins the movie is the 1934 novel, Mary Poppins, which was written by author P.L. Travers.  Eight Mary Poppins books written by Travers were published from 1934 to 1988.  The movie mixes adventures and episodes taken from each of the novels that existed at the time the film began production with new material created specifically for the movie.

Mary Poppins the film follows a nanny with magic powers who comes to work for the Banks family.  She takes care of two children whose father is an emotionally distant and cold banker and whose mother is a usually-absent suffragette.  The nanny gets some help working her magic on the family from a singing and dancing chimney-sweep.  I consider Mary Poppins to be an exceptional Hollywood fantasy film.  I would consider it a truly great film, except that I think the movie is too long and that it practically has no plot.

Mary Poppins opens in the year 1910.  In the city of London, England, there is trouble at No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane.  George W. Banks (David Tomlinson) and his wife, Winifred (Glynis Johns), are having trouble retaining a nanny to care for their two children, Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber).  Enter Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews); blown in on the east wind, she is the practically perfect nanny who will revolutionize the prim and proper Banks family with a bit of magic and a spoonful of sugar.  Of course, she will get some help from a Cockney jack-of-all-trades and chimney sweep, the dancing and singing Bert (Dick Van Dyke).

Mary Poppins has the magical quality that infused the Walt Disney animated films that preceded it.  One reason is because Mary Poppins combines live-action and animation.  This includes an extended sequence in which Mary Poppins, Bert, and Jane and Michael frolic in a world that is entirely animated except for them.  I think some of the live-action backgrounds and environments and some of the live-action sequences were produced in such a way that they would look like they belong in an animated feature film.

The acting is good, but not great, except for the wonderful Dick Van Dyke, who is outstanding in this film.  Julie Andrews plays the title character, but in many ways, Mary Poppins the movie is as much Bert’s film as it is Mary Poppins’.  Van Dyke’s wild, but precise and imaginative dancing sometimes cast a spell that made me watch every moment of his routines.  Van Dyke’s Bert is one of the best supporting characters in American film history, simply for the fact that he supports the film to the point of often carrying the story – especially when it really needs someone to carry it.

Of course, the songs are classic.  The songwriting duo of brothers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman are American treasures.  Even with silly titles, the Shermans’ songs are excellent and unforgettable.  Irwin Kostal adapts and orchestrates the Sherman Bros.’ songs into a musical score, and he should always get credit for how he translates those songs into music that is important to the storytelling’s mood, action, and drama.

However, I do think that the length of this film is a problem.  The film’s runtime is too long at two hours and 19 minutes.  Some of the song and dancing sequences stretch to the point of turning that which is captivating into something annoying.  Most glaring, the resolution of the Banks’ problems does not make sense.  It just comes out of nowhere, probably because at some point, everyone realized that even this movie had to end.

Still, Mary Poppins has that instant classic, Disney quality of which we all know and practically all of us love.  Perhaps, that is because Mary Poppins seems intent on plucking the audience’s emotions and playing up the good things about family.  However, the film does that with songs rather than through substantive plot and narrative.

Some of Mary Poppins is extraordinarily good.  Some of it made me tear-up, even the last act which I just criticized.  Mary Poppins is an American classic.  I don’t think we will ever stop loving it, and we will watch it again… and again.  It is “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” indeed.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1965 Academy Awards, USA:  5 wins: “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Julie Andrews), “Best Film Editing” (Cotton Warburton), “Best Effects, Special Visual Effects” (Peter Ellenshaw, Hamilton Luske, and Eustace Lycett), “Best Music, Original Song” (Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman for the song “Chim Chim Cher-ee”), and “Best Music, Substantially Original Score” (Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman); 8 nominations: “Best Picture” (Walt Disney and Bill Walsh), “Best Director” (Robert Stevenson), “Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium” (Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi), “Best Cinematography, Color” (Edward Colman), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color” (Carroll Clark, William H. Tuntke, Emile Kuri, and Hal Gausman), “Best Costume Design, Color” (Tony Walton), “Best Sound” (Robert O. Cook - Walt Disney SSD), and “Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment” (Irwin Kostal)

1965 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy” (Julie Andrews); 3 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy), “Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy” (Dick Van Dyke), and “Best Original Score” (Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman)

1965 BAFTA Awards 1965:  1 win “Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles’ (Julie Andrews-USA)

2013 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  National Film Registry

Tuesday, May 06, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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"Godzilla" Soundtrack Arrives May 13th 2014

GODZILLA: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK Due May 13th from WaterTower Music

Featuring Original Music by Golden Globe and Grammy Award® Winner Alexandre Desplat

Soundtrack Premiere on Spotify

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WaterTower Music today announced the release of the soundtrack to Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ epic action adventure “Godzilla”, which hits theatres May 16. The 20-track “Godzilla” soundtrack features new music from Golden Globe and Grammy Award® winner, and six time Academy Award® nominee Alexandre Desplat, and will be released both digitally and on CD on May 13. The Godzilla soundtrack premieres today on Spotify, and is currently available for preorder now at iTunes and Amazon.

    “a great sense of continuity between what you’re seeing and hearing.”

The Parisian-born composer worked closely with director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters”) as the score was taking shape to establish what he describes as “a great sense of continuity between what you’re seeing and hearing.” Desplat elaborates, “When I played back music for him in my studio, I could see him watching the images and listening at the same time…Gareth is very sensitive to music and that was fantastic for me.”

“Alexandre is a bit of a hero of mine musically, and the score he created for this film is just stunning,” says Edwards. “I’m really excited. I can’t quite believe not only that Alexandre composed the Godzilla soundtrack, he’s done my soundtrack. It’s the most amazing gift I think I’ll ever get.”

With the great force of Godzilla propelling the action, Desplat also relished the opportunity to make a big sonic impact with the music as he recorded the final score with the Hollywood Studio Orchestra. “I’ve never done a monster movie before, so coming to this with more than a hundred musicians—double brass, double horns—allowed me to open the frame of my imagination to another territory, and that’s very exciting,” Desplat describes.

The Godzilla track list is as follows:
                1.         Godzilla!
                2.         Inside The Mines
                3.         The Power Plant
                4.         To Q Zone
                5.         Back to Janjira
                6.         Muto Hatch
                7.         In The Jungle
                8.         The Wave
                9.         Airport Attack
                10.         Missing Spore
                11.         Vegas Aftermath
                12.         Ford Rescued
                13.         Following Godzilla
                14.         Golden Gate Chaos
                15.         Let Them Fight
                16.         Entering The Nest
                17.         Two Against One
                18.         Last Shot
                19.         Godzilla’s Victory
                20.         Back To The Ocean

The world’s most revered monster is reborn as Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures unleash the epic action adventure “Godzilla.” From visionary new director Gareth Edwards (“Monsters”) comes a powerful story of human courage and reconciliation in the face of titanic forces of nature, when the awe-inspiring Godzilla rises to restore balance as humanity stands defenseless.

The film stars an international ensemble cast led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson (“Kick-Ass”), Oscar® nominee Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai,” “Inception”), Elizabeth Olsen (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”), Oscar® winner Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient,” “Cosmopolis”), and Oscar® nominee Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”), with Oscar® nominee David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck,” “The Bourne Legacy”) and Emmy® and Golden Globe Award winner Bryan Cranston (“Argo,” TV’s “Breaking Bad”).

Edwards directed “Godzilla” from a screenplay by Max Borenstein, story by David Callaham, based on the character “Godzilla” owned and created by TOHO CO., LTD. Thomas Tull produced the film, along with Jon Jashni, Mary Parent and Brian Rogers. Patricia Whitcher and Alex Garcia served as executive producers, alongside Yoshimitsu Banno and Kenji Okuhira. Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures present a Legendary Pictures production, a Gareth Edwards film, “Godzilla.” The film will be presented in 3D, 2D and IMAX® in select theatres and is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, except in Japan, where it is distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. Legendary Pictures is a division of Legendary Entertainment. www.Godzillamovie.com

WaterTower Music, the in house music label for Warner Bros., has been releasing recorded music since 2001. Distributed through InGrooves Fontana, WTM has released over 150 titles, including the film soundtracks to “Gravity,” “Man of Steel,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Game of Thrones,” and “The Great Gatsby Jazz Recordings” among others.

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Have a great day! Happy Birthday and many, many, many more.

Although you say you don't mind, I still won't go there with the age thing.

Teaser Poster for Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" Revealed

MANKIND WAS BORN ON EARTH.  IT WAS NEVER MEANT TO DIE HERE.

From Christopher Nolan

INTERSTELLAR

November 2014

To watch the teaser trailer: http://youtu.be/nyc6RJEEe0U

Official Website:http://www.InterstellarMovie.com/
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/Interstellar
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InterstellarMovie
Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/InterstellarMovie

Grumble Indiegogo Campaign: Can Booty Be a Perk?

One month on and a month to go in my Grumble 2 Indiegogo campaign:

Happy Birthday, Sarah

I can't remember how old you are, but Happy Birthday and many, many, many more.

Terminator Reboot Gets Its Doctor... Who?

MATT SMITH SET TO STAR IN PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND SKYDANCE PRODUCTIONS’ “TERMINATOR” REBOOT

Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions announced today that “Doctor Who” star Matt Smith will join the cast of the upcoming “TERMINATOR” reboot.

Smith will play a new character with a strong connection to John Connor, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi and Byung Hun Lee.

Alan Taylor is directing the film from a screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. David Ellison and Dana Goldberg of Skydance Productions are producing. Skydance’s Paul Schwake, Annapurna Pictures’ Megan Ellison, Kalogridis and Lussier are executive producing.

Smith is best known for playing The Doctor on the popular “Doctor Who” television series during the 2011-2103 seasons. His other television credits include “Christopher and His Kind,” “Moses Jones,” and “The Street.”  He can be seen next on the big screen in “LOST RIVER,” directed by Ryan Gosling, alongside Christina Hendricks, Saoirse Ronan and Eva Mendes.

He is represented by United Talent Agency and Michael Duff at Troika.

The “TERMINATOR” franchise launched in 1984 with Schwarzenegger as the title character and spanned three subsequent films, which have earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Paramount will distribute the film worldwide on July 1, 2015.

About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.

About Skydance Productions
Skydance Productions creates and produces elevated event-level commercial entertainment.   Skydance’s recent releases include JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT, from director Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Pine, WORLD WAR Z, starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster; J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, and G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, starring Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum and Dwayne Johnson.  Skydance projects currently in development include the reboot of the TERMINATOR franchise, to be released on July 1, 2015, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5 with Christopher McQuarrie directing and a disaster film on a global scale titled GEOSTORM written by Dean Devlin and Paul Guyot with Devlin also directing.  Skydance’s previous projects include the award-winning Coen Brothers film TRUE GRIT, starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon; MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, starring Tom Cruise and Jeremy Renner and Christopher McQuarrie’s JACK REACHER, starring Tom Cruise.  Skydance’s new television division recently started production on its first series, Manhattan, to WGN America.  From writer Sam Shaw and director Tommy Schlamme, this 13-episode drama is set against the backdrop of the clandestine mission to build the world’s first atomic bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico and follows the brilliant but flawed scientists and their families as they attempt to co-exist in a world where secrets and lies infiltrate every aspect of their lives.

Review: "The Kingdom" is a Thrill Ride (Happy B'day, Richard Jenkins)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Kingdom (2007)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense sequences of graphic brutal violence and for language
DIRECTOR:  Peter Berg
WRITER:  Matthew Michael Carnahan
PRODUCERS:  Peter Berg, Michael Mann, and Scott Stuber
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mauro Fiore (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Colby Parker, Jr. and Kevin Stitt
COMPOSER:  Danny Elfman

ACTION/THRILLER/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring:  Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Ashraf Barhom, Ali Suliman, Jeremy Piven, Richard Jenkins, Kyle Chandler, Frances Fisher, Danny Huston, Kelly AuCoin, Anna Deavere Smith, and Minka Kelly

The subject of this movie review is The Kingdom, a 2007 action thriller and crime drama directed by Peter Berg.  The film follows a team of agents from the United States, investigating the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.

When terrorists attack and kill over 100 people at the Al Rahmah Western Housing Compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, FBI Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) leads a small squad to investigate the bombing and find the culprits.  Once Fleury and the other U.S. agents – Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), and Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman) – arrive, they learn that in Saudi Arabia, many consider them the true enemy.

Culture and the local bureaucracy hamper their investigation, but a local policeman, Col. Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), becomes sympathetic to Fleury’s predicament.  Soon, Fleury realizes that he and his team are the targets of the mysterious terrorist leader, Abu Hamza, but neither the threat of death or disgrace back home will stop Fleury’s mission.

With The Kingdom, director Peter Berg (The Rundown, Friday Night Lights) and writer Matthew Michael Carnahan (Lions for Lambs) dive headlong into the snake pit that movies about the “war on terrorism” and set in Middle East can be.  What Berg and Carnahan come up with is an imperfect, but entertaining and engaging action flick that doesn’t shy away from the fact that there are few if any easy answers when fighting the murderous criminals who are terrorists.

Berg doesn’t shy away from making a hardcore action movie.  There are intense car chases, with the requisite automobile flips and explosions, and there are sequences of manic gun battles that arrive in the kind of big slabs that keep an action movie junkie euphoric.  The screenplay even insists on being a police procedural, making The Kingdom something like Black Hawk Down meets Michael Mann’s Heat (Mann also co-produced The Kingdom), and TV’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

Honestly, the movie drags when it focuses on the investigation, detective work, and forensics.  On the other hand, The Kingdom soars when it lays on the gun battles and car violence.  When the movie tries to be an FBI investigation flick, the narrative and indeed the performances get bogged down in detective work and the complications that can arise when different cultures meet.  The film does raise several issues – asking questions that complicate what many only want to see as black and white.  Are the FBI agents seeking justice or are they out for revenge?  Does the subsequent violence only make matters worse?  Does anyone gain anything or does everyone lose?  These are the kind of questions that get a movie like this in trouble in the current political/social climate.  An action movie requires that everything be in black and white, but the film’s setting and the issues it tackles just won’t be divided in two like that.

Ultimately, The Kingdom is a riveting action thriller that delivers.  It affirms that Jamie Foxx can carry an action flick (but is there room for more than one or two action “stars of color?”), that Jason Bateman is funny, and that Jeremy Piven is a great character actor.  However, the audience might have to take on some sticky issues to enjoy the thrill ride that is The Kingdom.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, January 18, 2008

Updated:  Sunday, May 04, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Grumble 2 Indiegogo Campaign Has a New Perk

A T-shirt:

New Tom Cruise Movie Makes Comic Book Appearance at Free Comic Book Day 2014

VIZ MEDIA SUPPORTS 2014 FREE COMIC BOOK DAY WITH GRAPHIC NOVEL & MANGA SAMPLERS SHOWCASING EXCITING NEW TITLES

Visit And Support Local Comics Retailers On May 3rd To Receive 2 FREE Samplers Featuring HELLO KITTY®, BRAVEST WARRIORS, ALL YOU NEED IS KILL, And TERRA FORMARS!

VIZ Media is proud to be a supporter and sponsor of 2014 Free Comic Book Day, and participates this year with a pair of special FREE manga and full-color original graphic novel samplers from the all-ages Perfect Square imprint, as well as out-of-this world previews from its first Haikasoru original graphic novel and VIZ Signature.

Scheduled for Saturday, May 3th at thousands of locations nationwide, Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional campaign in the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers of all ages and interests into independent comic book stores. Free Comic Book Day began in 2002 and is coordinated by the industry's single largest distributor, Diamond Comic Distributors. Readers should visit freecomicbookday.com to find a local participating retailer in their area.

VIZ Media participates this year as a Gold Level Sponsor and will offer two FREE exclusive releases (available while supplies last).

HELLO KITTY AND FRIENDS, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 EDITION

Readers of all ages can join in the fun with Hello Kitty and her friends in all-new full-color adventures! This time they're letting their imaginations run wild in two stories from the upcoming HELLO KITTY: JUST IMAGINE..., scheduled for August 2014 (MSRP: $7.99 U.S. / $9.99 CAN). Plus don't miss a special sneak peek of Perfect Square's upcoming tribute book, HELLO KITTY, HELLO 40: A Celebration in 40 Stories, celebrating Hello Kitty's 40th anniversary and iconic cultural impact. Scheduled for Fall release (MSRP: $29.99 U.S. / $34.99 CAN).

Also debuting in the Perfect Square 2014 Free Comic Book Day sampler are special bonus pages from BRAVEST WARRIORS: THE SEARCH FOR CATBUG (July, MSRP $19.99 U.S. / $22.99 CAN), featuring the adventures of the irrepressible Catbug, the darling, fan favorite character from Cartoon Hangover’s Bravest Warriors!

A special Perfect Square trailer for Free Comic Book Day may be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE-4DlsiWMc&authuser=0.

The VIZ Media 2014 Free Comic Book Day VIZ Signature manga sampler is aimed at older teen and adult readers and will offer excerpts from the new ALL YOU NEED IS KILL official graphic novel adaptation and the forthcoming manga series, TERRA FORMARS.

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL, AND TERRA FORMARS SNEAK PREVIEW!

Live…Die…Repeat… The mantra continues in exciting new graphic novel form and sci-fi and action fans are invited to preview an entire chapter from the new ALL YOU NEED IS KILL official graphic novel adaptation (May 6th debut, MSRP: $14.99 U.S. / $17.99 CAN). The gripping release from the Haikasoru imprint offers a single-volume retelling of the acclaimed ALL YOU NEED IS KILL novel (which has been adapted into the new Tom Cruise movie, Edge of Tomorrow), and is written by Haikasoru editor and noted sci-fi author, Nick Mamatas featuring full-color artwork by popular comic book artist Lee Ferguson (Green Arrow, Miranda Mercury). When the alien Mimics invade, Keiji Kiriya is one of many recruits shoved into battle armor Jackets and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn to fight and die again and again. He receives a message from a mysterious ally – is she the key to Keiji's escape or his final death? The full ALL YOU NEED IS KILL graphic novel carries an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $17.99 CAN.

Manga fans can also catch an early peek of TERRA FORMARS, the tense sci-fi horror series created by Yu Sasuga and illustrated by Kenichi Tachibana that has become a bestseller in Japan (MSRP: $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN). In TERRA FORMARS, the colonization of Mars is an epoch-making event, but an unintended side effect of the terra-forming process unleashes a monstrous horror that no one could ever have imagined... Look for its serialized debut this July in print and digital formats from the VIZ Signature imprint and VIZManga.com.

For information on other all-ages titles available from the Perfect Square imprint, please visit: www.perfectsquare.com.

For more information on VIZ Signature and other manga titles published by VIZ Media, please visit: www.viz.com.

Free Comic Book Day 2014 is Today

National Free Comic Book Day Hits Comic Book Specialty Shops May 3rd

Over 4.6 million comics to be given away free to comic shop customers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On May 3rd, over two thousand comic book shops across North America and around the world will share the magic of comic books with their communities when they give out over 4.6 million comic books—free of charge—during Free Comic Book Day, which marks its thirteenth anniversary this year. Comic Book Specialty Retailers expect record breaking attendance and have been preparing their shops for this event for months.

    “Free Comic Book Day is a perfect occasion for fans to discover new types of comic books”

There’s literally a free comic book available for everyone’s taste, including Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, DC’s The New 52: Futures End, Archie, SpongeBob, Transformers vs GI Joe, Hello Kitty, The Simpsons and more to choose from!

Comic book publishing heavyweights Dark Horse Comics, DC Entertainment, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, and Marvel Comics are among the many sponsors who created 60 special titles for Free Comic Book Day 2014. The free books are designed to appeal to a broad range of tastes, including:

    Action-Packed Super-Hero Stories
        DC’s The New 52: Futures End
        DC’s Teen Titans
    Stories Featuring Classic Characters
        Archie
        Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck
        Buck Rogers
        The Smurfs
        The Tick
    Sci-Fi Adventures
        Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
        Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon
        Project Black Sky
    Stories for Kids
        Avata: The Last Airbender
        Hello Kitty
        Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
        SpongeBob SquarePants

“Free Comic Book Day is a perfect occasion for fans to discover new types of comic books,” said FCBD spokesperson Jason Blanchard, “especially if they’re new to the wide variety of titles that are being published today. On May 3rd, we encourage new and current readers to use Free Comic Book Day as an opportunity to learn about the great comic books and pop-culture merchandise to be found at their local comic book shop. Hopefully, they’ll walk away with free comics they can't wait to read, and then keep coming back to their local shop for more!”

Along with free comics, many comic book shops will feature events during the day including creator signings, appearances of favorite super-heroes or cosplayers and great deals on exclusives and sale items.

Customers can check out the full list of all 60 titles on the Free Comic Book Day website, http://www.freecomicbookday.com/comics, and use the FCBD Store Locator to find a participating comic book shop in their area http://www.freecomicbookday.com/storelocator.

Legendary comic creator Stan Lee promotes Free Comic Book Day in a special video message to comic fans, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbdCVF7I3rc.

Reading Activist, actor, producer, director and host of Reading Rainbow LeVar Burton encourages people to participate in Free Comic Book Day in a special video message. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi8HNxiIsEk


ABOUT FREE COMIC BOOK DAY— Celebrating its thirteenth year, Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. The event is held the first Saturday in May and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many worlds of wonder available at local comic book shops. From super-heroes to slice of life to action/adventure and beyond, Free Comic Book Day has a comic book for everyone!

© 2014 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. and Free Comic Book Day, Inc. All rights reserved.

Star Wars 7 Cast Revealed

PHOTO CREDITS: April 29th, Pinewood Studios, UK - Writer/Director/Producer J.J Abrams (top center right) at the cast read-through of Star Wars Episode VII at Pinewood Studios with (clockwise from right) Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Producer Bryan Burk, Lucasfilm President and Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Writer Lawrence Kasdan. Copyright and Photo Credit: David James.

Of course, dear readers, you are already aware that Lucasfilm has announced (Tuesday, April 29, 2014) the main cast for the next Star Wars film, the as-yet-untitled Episode VII.  Click on link below to see a bigger version of the above photo.

The press release:

Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced
April 29, 2014

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

Director J.J. Abrams says, "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud."

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

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May the Fourth Negromancer Be with You

Here comes May 2014.  Welcome to Negromancer 2.0.  This is the rebirth of Negromancer, the former movie review website as a new movie review and movie news site.

All images and text appearing on this blog are © copyright and/or trademark their respective owners.

Also, Leroy's Indiegogo campaign for Grumble #2 continues:

Oscar-nominated Actor Bob Hoskins Dies at 71

The actor Bob Hoskins has died of pneumonia at the age of 71.  Hoskins died in a hospital on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, and his agent made the announcement of his passing today (Wednesday, April 30, 2014).

Born Robert William Hoskins, Jr. on October 26, 1942, Bob Hoskins began his acting career on stage in 1969.  He began appear in film and on television in 1972.  Go to Screen Daily and Wikipedia for more about Hoskins passing and his career, respectively.

Hoskins is one of my favorite actors.  I first heard of him when he earned an Oscar nomination for his role in the 1986 film, Mona Lisa.  However, it was his role in 1988's Oscar-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit that made me a fan of his.  I also admired his work in Heart Condition (1990) and Hook (1991), to name a few.  I send my condolences to Hoskins' family and friends.  Rest in Peace, Mr. Hoskins.

Review: Supporting Actresses Shine on "Beerfest" (Happy B'day, Cloris Leachman)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 20 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Beerfest (2006)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive crude and sexual content, language, nudity, and substance abuse
DIRECTOR:  Jay Chandrasekhar
WRITERS:  Broken Lizard (Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske)
PRODUCERS:  Bill Gerber and Richard Perello
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Frank G. DeMarco (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Lee Haxall
COMPOSER:  Nathan Barr

COMEDY

Starring:  Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, Will Forte, Ralf Moeller, Nat Faxon, Gunter Schlierkamp, and Mo’Nique with Jurgen Prochnow and Cloris Leachman

The subject of this movie review is Beerfest, a 2006 comedy directed by Jay Chandrasekhar.  The film stars the comedy troupe, Broken Lizard, of which Chandrasekhar is a member.  Beerfest focuses on two brothers who discover a secret, underground beer-drinking tournament in Germany.

When German-American brothers, Todd (Erik Stolhanske) and Jan Wolfhouse (Paul Soter), travel to Germany to spread their grandfather Johan’s ashes at Oktoberfest, they stumble upon a secret, centuries old underground beer drinking competition called “Beerfest.”  They also discover long lost German relatives, the von Wolfhausens, who hold an old grudge against their American relatives over a lost beer recipe.  Led by the family patriarch, Baron von Wolfhausen (Jurgen Prochnow), the von Wolfhausens humiliate Todd and Jan, and sneer at their chances of ever winning Beerfest, this Olympics of beer drinking.  The rude Germans even sneer at Todd and Jan’s grandmother, Great Gam Gam (Cloris Leachman).

Todd and Jan return to American and prepare for another Beerfest showdown the following year.  The brothers recruit three friends to join their team:  the one-man bear-drinking machine, Phil Krundel aka “Landfill” (Kevin Heffernan); the nerdy lab tech, Charlie Finklestein aka “Fink” (Steve Lemme); and Barry Badrinath (Jay Chandrasekhar), a talented skills player who has fallen to street-level prostitution.   The quintet’s year of training, however, is marred by tragedy and hardships, and the five beer-chugging friends begin to doubt they’ll ever win Beerfest.

Beerfest is the fourth feature film from the five-man sketch comedy troupe, Broken Lizard, which is comprised of Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stolhanske, and Jay Chandrasekhar.  Chandrasekhar directs the Broken Lizard films (including Super Troopers and Club Dread), and also directed the 2005 The Dukes of Hazzard film.  With Chandrasekhar at the helm, Beerfest looks like the other Broken Lizard films.  There are scenes in Beerfest that are as funny as anything in Super Troopers (what I consider to be their best feature).  However, whereas Super Trooper was smooth, Beerfest is uneven, though not as uneven as Club Dread.

Beerfest is truly a ribald comedy, and in some ways it reminds me of the bawdiest Mel Brooks movies.  Still, there’s lots of Beerfest that amounts to little more than simple, immature, juvenile humor.  Luckily, the film is blessed with a great supporting cast.  Jurgen Prochnow is fine as the spicy menace, Baron von Wolfhausen, and Mo’Nique throws herself fully into the role of the duplicitous and randy Cherry; her sex scene with Chandrasekhar is priceless.  Cloris Leachman’s turn as Todd and Jan’s Great Gam Gam, is a testament to her skill as both a comedienne and an actress, and lovers of comedy must and should not miss her performance.

Beerfest isn’t great, but it has great moments of laugh-out-loud and laugh-till-you-cry comedy, and tolerating the missteps is worth such hilarity.

5 of 10
B-

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Updated:  Wednesday, April 30, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

2014 Cannes Film Festival Jury Announced

On Monday (April 28, 2014), the 2014 Cannes Film Festival (Festival de Cannes 2014) announced the names of jury members for the 2014 edition of the festival.  Jane Campion, who previously won the festival’s highest honor, the Palme d’Or (the Golden Palm), is jury president.

The 2014 Cannes Film Festival runs from Wednesday, May 14, 2014 to Sunday, May 25, 2014, with the closing ceremony and awards handed out Saturday, May 24, 2014.

2014 Cannes Film Festival: THE JURY

• Jane CAMPION – President
• (Director, Screenwriter, Producer – New Zealand)

• Carole BOUQUET (Actress – France)

• Sofia COPPOLA (Director, Screenwriter, Producer – United States)

• Leila HATAMI (Actress – Iran)

• JEON Do-yeon (Actress – South Korea)

• Willem DAFOE (Actor – United States)

• Gael GARCIA BERNAL (Actor, Director, Producer – Mexico)

• JIA Zhangke (Director, Screenwriter, Producer – China)

• Nicolas Winding REFN (Director, Screenwriter, Producer – Denmark)

Jury Member biographies are provided courtesy of the festival:

Carole Bouquet, Actress (France)
After her film debut in 1977 with Luis Buñuel in That Obscure Object of Desire, Bouquet alternated between arthouse and blockbuster productions. A Bond Girl in 1981 in For Your Eyes Only, she worked with Bertrand Blier on Buffet Froid (1979) and Too Beautiful For You (1989) for which she won the César for Best Actress. She appeared in Le jour des idiots by Werner Schroeter, Michel Blanc’s Dead Tired and Embrassez qui vous voudrez, Lucie Aubrac by Claude Berri, L’Enfer by Danis Tanovic, Nordeste by Juan Diego Solanas (Festival de Cannes 2005) and Unforgivable by André Téchiné.

Sofia Coppola, Director and screenwriter (United States)
Coppola’s first feature film, The Virgin Suicides (1999) was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, where it met with international critical acclaim. Four years later, after several Oscar nominations for Lost in Translation, including Best Director, she walked off with the Best Screenplay award. Her third film, Marie-Antoinette was selected in Competition at Cannes in 2006. After picking up a Golden Lion in Venice for Somewhere (2010), Sofia Coppola opened Un Certain Regard with her last film The Bling Ring at the Festival de Cannes in 2013.

Leila Hatami, Actress (Iran)
Born in Tehran into a family of filmmakers, she started out acting in films directed by her father, Ali Hatami, before starring in Dariush Mehrjui’s Leila (1998) which brought her to national attention. It was Asghar Farhadi who established her on the world stage with A Separation (Golden Bear at the 2011 Berlin Festival). She picked up the Best Actress award in Karlovy Vary for her role in Ali Mosaffa’s Last Step in 2012.

Jeon Do-yeon, Actress (South Korea)
The first Korean actress to receive the Best Actress award at the Festival de Cannes for her role in Secret Sunshine by Lee Chang-dong (2007), Jeon Do-yeon started out as a television actress before turning exclusively to cinema. Her major films include I Wish I Had a Wife by Ryoo Seung, My Mother, The Mermaid by Park Jin-pyo and The Housemaid by Im Sang-soo, presented at Cannes in 2010. A massive celebrity in her country, she has just finished shooting Memories of the Sword by Park Heung-sik.

Willem Dafoe, Actor (United States)
Twice nominated for an Oscar, for Oliver Stone’s Platoon and Shadow of the Vampire, Dafoe has appeared in 80 films including Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson, Light Sleeper by Paul Schrader, The Last Temptation of Christ by Martin Scorsese, Antichrist by Lars von Trier and The English Patient by Anthony Minghella. He will soon be appearing in A Most Wanted Man by Anton Corbijn and Pasolini by Abel Ferrara. A co-founder of the Wooster Group – an experimental theatre collective – he is currently on tour with Bob Wilson’s play The Old Woman.

Gael García Bernal, Actor, director and producer (Mexico)
Bernal first came to public attention in Iñárritu’s Amorres Perros, soon followed by Y Tu Mamá También by Alfonso Cuarón. He then featured in films directed by some of the greats of international cinema, such as The Motorcycle Diaries by Walter Salles, Pedro Almodóvar’s Bad Education, The Science of Sleep by Michel Gondry, Babel by Gonzalez Iñárritu, and The Limits of Control by Jim Jarmusch. In 2005, he founded his Canana production company with Diego Luna and in 2010, after a few short films, directed his first feature film, Deficit, selected at La Semaine de la Critique at Cannes.

Nicolas Winding Refn, Director, screenwriter and producer (Denmark)
His first film, Pusher (1996), written and directed at the age of 24, immediately became a cult movie and he shot to fame throughout the world. He then directed Bleeder (1999), Fear X (2003), Pusher II & III (2004 & 2005), Bronson (2008) and Valhalla Rising (2009), all characteristic of the style that came to be dubbed "Refn-esque". In 2011, Drive was presented at the Festival de Cannes and won the Best Direction prize, awarded by the Jury presided by Robert De Niro. His last film, Only God Forgives, featured in Competition at Cannes in 2013.

Jia Zhangke, Director, screenwriter and producer (China)
After first studying art Jia Zhangke, born in 1970, attended the Beijing Film Academy in the 1990s. After the success of his first film, Xao Wu (1998), he directed Platform (Zhantai, 2000) and Unknown Pleasures (Ren xiao yao, 2002) selected for Venice and Cannes respectively. Still Life picked up the Golden Lion in Venice in 2006. He also presented 24 City at the Festival de Cannes, in Competition in 2008 and I Wish I Knew for Un Certain Regard in 2010. Last year, A Touch of Sin garnered the Best Screenplay prize awarded by the Jury presided by Steven Spielberg.

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Review: "My Beautiful Laundrette" Tackles Social Issues (Happy B'day, Daniel Day Lewis)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  United Kingdom
Running time:  97 minutes (1 hour, 37 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR:  Stephen Frears
WRITER:  Hanif Kureishi
PRODUCERS:  Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Oliver Stapleton
EDITOR:  Mick Audsley
COMPOSER:  Ludus Tonalis
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/ROMANCE with elements of comedy

Starring:  Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke, Derrick Blanche, Rita Wolf, Souad Faress, Richard Graham, Shirley Ann Field, Dudley Thomas, Winston Graham, and Garry Cooper

The subject of this movie review is My Beautiful Laundrette, a 1985 British comedy-drama directed by Stephen Frears and written by Hanif Kureishi.  The movie, which was originally intended for television, was one of the first films released by Working Title Films.  My Beautiful Laundrette focuses on an ambitious Asian Briton and his white male lover as they strive to find success with a glamorous launderette (Laundromat).

In My Beautiful Laundrette, director Stephen Frears (The Hit) and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi don’t tackle issues, so much as they present a story that involves the entanglement amongst class, economics, family, politics, race, and sex.  My Beautiful Laundrette subtly presents the issues, but presents them nonetheless.  Because the issues of the film tie everyone together, every character is a legitimate player, and the viewer has to always pay attention to all the characters.  That’s heady stuff in a world where the most popular and publicized pictures are glossy films with lots of throwaway appendages.

Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is an ambitious young Asian Briton of Pakistani decent who convinces his uncle to let him manage his uncle’s laundrette.  He convinces Johnny (Daniel Day Lewis, The Bounty), an old school chum and his gay lover, to join him.  They convert the dilapidated business into a colorful and glamorous establishment as they strive for success amidst familial and social politics – Omar’s mostly immigrant family and Johnny’s racist thug friends.

Warnecke and Lewis are excellent as the young businessman who leaps at every opportunity and the disaffected youth at odds with the world respectively.  In this early role, Lewis smolders, as he would so often in the future, showing the audience that there is more, much more, beneath the surface of his character, unseen and real – the window to the character’s soul.  However, the best part belongs to an actor seldom seen in film since My Beautiful Laundrette, Derrick Branche as Omar’s cousin Salim.  Every bit as racist as Johnny’s buddies and as ambitious as any of his relatives, he is the ruthless and blunt looking glass of this story.

My Beautiful Laundrette takes a while to get going, but its documentary approach to storytelling in which the characters are like real people and not actors acting like people is worth the wait.  Much of the love and romance is tepid, probably because the filmmakers wished to convey how difficult love can be amongst people straddling the borders between warring social groups.  Perhaps, the film could have been a bit more emotional, but maybe the filmmakers wanted to play down the passion of love in favor of presenting a broader picture of the societal pressures weighing upon the characters.  The viewer can decide for himself, especially if he likes films that focus on the common everyman.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
1987 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Hanif Kureishi)

1986 BAFTA Awards:  2 nominations: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Saeed Jaffrey) and “Best Screenplay – Original” (Hanif Kureishi)

Updated:  Tuesday, April 29, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Warner Bros.' "Peter Pan" Begins Production Today

Production Set to Begin on Warner Bros. Pictures’ Live-Action Peter Pan Feature Film

Production rounds out cast with addition of Amanda Seyfried and others in key roles

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography will begin April 28 on Warner Bros. Pictures’ live-action Peter Pan feature from director Joe Wright (“Atonement,” “Pride & Prejudice”).

Offering a new take on the origin of the classic characters created by J.M. Barrie, the film follows the story of an orphan who is spirited away to the magical Neverland. There, he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny—to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.

The film stars Oscar® nominee Hugh Jackman (“Les Misérables”) as Blackbeard; Garrett Hedlund (“Inside Llewyn Davis”) as Hook; Oscar® nominee Rooney Mara (“The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”) as Tiger Lily; Adeel Akhtar (“The Dictator”) as Smee; and newcomer Levi Miller as Peter.

Amanda Seyfried (“Les Misérables”) rounds out the cast as Mary, alongside Jack Charles (“Mystery Road”) as The Chief/Tiger Lily’s father; Taejoo Na (“The Kick”) as Kwahu; Nonso Anozie (“Son of God,” “Atonement”) as Bishop; Kathy Burke (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) as Mother Barnabas; Kurt Egyiawan (“Skyfall”) as Murray; Lewis MacDougall (UK TV’s “In the Name of the Children”) as Nibs; and newcomer Leni Zieglmeier as Wendy Darling.

Wright is directing the as-yet-untitled Peter Pan adventure from a screenplay by Jason Fuchs. Greg Berlanti, Paul Webster and Sarah Schechter are producing, with Tim Lewis serving as executive producer.

Filming will take place at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden. The film is set for a worldwide release on July 17, 2015.

Sony Sets "Goosebumps" Movie for March 2016

JACK BLACK STARS IN GOOSEBUMPS DIRECTED BY ROB LETTERMAN ALSO STARRING DYLAN MINNETTE AND ODEYA RUSH

Principal photography has commenced on Goosebumps, starring Jack Black. Rob Letterman directs the film from a screenplay by Darren Lemke and Mike White and a story by Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski and Darren Lemke, based on the Goosebumps book series published by Scholastic and written by R. L. Stine. The producers are Neal H. Moritz and Deborah Forte. Executive producers are Bill Bannerman and Tania Landau. The film will be released on March 23, 2016.

Also starring in Goosebumps are Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Amy Ryan, Jillian Bell, Ryan Lee, and Ken Marino.

In Goosebumps, upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach’s comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange… he is a prisoner of his own imagination – the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it’s suddenly up to Stine, Zach, and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong.

The production films in and around Conyers, Madison, and Atlanta, Georgia, notably in the counties of Morgan, Rockdale, Cobb, and DeKalb.

Scholastic has sold over 350 million Goosebumps books worldwide in 32 languages since the series introduction in 1992, earning critical acclaim and dominating global best seller lists. R.L. Stine has been recognized as one of the bestselling children’s authors in history.

The production’s creative team also includes director of photography Javier Aguirresarobe, production designer Sean Haworth, editor Jim May, and costume designer Judianna Makovsky.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT 
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

Grumble #2 Indiegogo Campaign Begins Week 4

Please, take a look:

Review: "When the Sky Falls" Means Well (Happy B'ay, Kevin McNally)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 73 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

When the Sky Falls (2000)
Running time:  107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for brutal violence, strong language, drug content and some sexuality
DIRECTOR:  John Mackenzie
WRITERS:  Ronan Gallagher, Colum McCann, and Michael Sheridan; with additional dialogue by Guy Andrews
PRODUCERS:  Nigel Warren Green and Michael Wearing
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Seamus Deasy
EDITOR:  Graham Walker
COMPOSER:  Pol Brennan

CRIME/DRAMA

Starring:  Joan Allen, Patrick Bergin, Liam Cunningham, Kevin McNally, Jimmy Smallhourne, Gerard Mannix Flynn, Jason Barry, Pete Postlethwaite, Des McAleer, Owen Roe, Gavin Kelty, and Ruaidhrí Conroy

The subject of this movie review is When the Sky Falls, a 2000 crime drama directed by the late John Mackenzie.  The film is a fictional account of a real-life Irish investigative reporter’s battle with a Dublin drug lord.  This film stars one of my favorite actors, Joan Allen, and Kevin McNally, an actor of whom I became a fan after his roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.  When the Sky Falls did not receive a theatrical release in the United States, although it is partly a U.S. production.

When the Sky Falls, a fact-based drama, focuses on Sinead Hamilton (Joan Allen), a reporter who invades the drug underworld of Dublin, Ireland.  Mackey (Patrick Bergin), the police officer who helps her, is mostly ineffectual because bureaucracy and lack of resources tie his hands.  Her husband, Tom (Kevin McNally), doesn’t particularly care about her work, but he supports her.

Sinead consorts with Mickey O’Fagan (Jimmy Smallhourne), minor thug who just might lead her to the big fish, Dave Hackett (Gerard Flynn), a brutal drug boss.  Add the Irish Republican Army to the danger mix, and you have a lone woman as a crusading reporter headed for doom.

The film is based upon the story of real life Dublin reporter Veronica Guerin with Sinead Hamilton as the fictional version of her, and for all the drama of the last year of Ms. Guerin’s short life, When the Sky Falls is rather tepid.  Although the film is less than two hours long, it drifts from one genre to another.

At moments, it’s a fairly intense crime thriller about a woman going after greedy men who would see the whole of Dublin addicted to heroin so that they could be fabulously wealthy.  At other times, it’s a clunky and clumsy crime drama about cops willing to go to any extreme to nail a criminal; that is whenever Patrick Bergin’s Mackey takes over the story.  It’s also a lame, movie of the week melodrama about a crusading reporter whenever Sinead Hamilton visits the offices of the newspaper for which she writes.

Anyone of the three storylines could have made a good film at a running time of one hundred and six minutes.  As it is, the subplots and storylines crowd the movie, and the filmmakers don’t do any of them justice.  The cast is mostly good, but seem to run on simmer and slow burn, lest they really let loose and chew up the scenery.  Dog forbid this movie should be as passionate as its real life subject matter.  I like Joan Allen, but this is one of her weaker performances – decent, but the kind of low wattage thing we can get from a TV movie.  When the Sky Falls is a fairly good film, but if you don’t see it, you won’t be missing anything important.

5 of 10
B-

Updated:  Sunday, April 27, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Sony Pictures Classics Sets "Foxcatcher" For November 14 2014

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS TO RELEASE FOXCATCHER ON NOVEMBER 14

Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they will release Bennett Miller's FOXCATCHER in the United States on November 14. The film will premiere in the In Competition Section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Directed by Bennett Miller (MONEYBALL, CAPOTE), FOXCATCHER tells the gripping, true story of Olympic Wrestling Champion brothers Mark Schultz (Tatum) and Dave Schultz (Ruffalo) and their relationship with the eccentric John du Pont (Carell), heir to the du Pont Chemical fortune that led to murder.

The film is produced by Megan Ellison under her company Annapurna Pictures, as well as, Miller, Jon Kilik, and Anthony Bregman. Miller’s prestigious cast includes Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, and Anthony Michael Hall. The film was written by E. Max Frye (SOMETHING WILD, AMOS & ANDREW) and Dan Futterman (CAPOTE), the Cinematographer is Greig Fraser (ZERO DARK THIRTY), and the Production Designer is Jess Gonchor (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, MONEYBALL, TRUE GRIT, CAPOTE).

ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world.

Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 32 Academy Awards® (28 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 140 Academy Award® nominations (114 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

Review: "Barnyard" Surprises (Happy B'day, Kevin James)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 199 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Barnyard (2006)
Running time:  84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild peril and rude humor
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Steve Oedekerk
PRODUCERS:  Pam Marsden, Steve Oedekerk, and Paul Marshal
EDITORS:  Billy Weber and Paul Calder
COMPOSER:  John Debney

ANIMATION/FANTASY/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring:  (voices) Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Sam Elliot, Danny Glover, Wanda Sykes, Andie MacDowell, David Koechner, Jeff Garcia, Cam Clarke, Rob Paulsen, Tino Insana, Laraine Newman, John DiMaggio, and Fred Tatasciore

The subject of this movie review is Barnyard, a 2006 computer-animated comedy and family film from writer-director Steve Oedekerk and Paramount Pictures.  The film is also known as Barnyard: The Original Party Animals, and yielded a spin-off animated television series, Back to the Barnyard, in 2007.  Barnyard, which features a group of anthropomorphic animals, focuses on a carefree cow that resists the call that he be the animal in charge of a barnyard.

In a barnyard of walking and talking animals, Otis the Cow (Kevin James) is the party animal.  Otis and his friends: Pip (Jeff Garcia) the mouse, Freddy (Cam Clarke) the ferret, Peck (Rob Paulsen) the rooster, and Pig (Tino Insana) the pig are world-class pranksters out for a laugh.  Otis’ father, Ben (Sam Elliot), however, wants his son to be like him – the cow who makes sure the barnyard runs on all cylinders and the cow who protects the barnyard’s denizens from their common enemy, a pack of coyotes led by the malevolent and conniving Dag (David Koechner).

Otis, who is in a state of perpetual arrested development, is not interested, but when Ben is no longer able to lead and protect, the responsibility falls on Otis.  It’s not an easy fit, and he struggles with the tension between a sense of duty and an urge to run away.  There is, however, a pretty girl cow, Daisy (Courtney Cox) and the crafty Miles the Mule (Danny Glover) who just may give Otis the impetus to take the mantle of leadership.  He’ll need the encouragement because Dag is plotting to make a major attack on the barnyard.

With its August 4 release date, Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies’ computer animated feature, Barnyard: The Original Party Animals was the eighth computer animated feature film to debut in U.S. theatres.  Barnyard is a story about taking responsibility and honoring obligations – a staple of computer animated family fare, but other than that, Barnyard looks different from the rest of its cartoon brethren.

As far as plot and character, Barnyard is mediocre and mildly entertaining.  The animation, however, is quite good.  The characters have a rubbery texture, so they look more like cartoon characters than computer rendered characters.  The story’s setting and environments personify 3-D animation.  Watching this film, it becomes evident that it is indeed taking place in a world of space and depth rather than in the traditional “flat” world of hand drawn animation.  It’s not that any of this looks real; it just doesn’t look flat, so the action looks like actual action.  When characters move, it looks like the figures are really moving.

Barnyard is a pretty and colorful animated feature, which makes up for the average narrative and voice acting.  Only Sam Elliot as Ben, Danny Glover as Miles, and Wanda Sykes as Bessie the Cow give voice performances that come across with any richness.  This is a typical children’s animated feature, filled as it is with funny animal supporting characters that spout line after line of silliness.  Barnyard’s simple story and childish and raucous humor explains why it has long legs at the box office.  It’s actually a family movie that the family can enjoy together.  Barnyard: The Original Party Animals is unashamedly for children.  Still, there are enough risqué gags, bathroom humor, and innuendo to keep teenagers interested and adults chuckling.

5 of 10
B-

Monday, September 18, 2006

Updated:  Saturday, April 26, 2014

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Iconic Barbie Doll Headed to the Big Screen in a Live-Action Comedy

SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT AND MATTEL ANNOUNCE PLAN TO BRING THE ICONIC CHARACTER OF BARBIE TO LIFE ON SCREEN

Live-Action Comedy Set to Begin Production End of Year Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Next Global Franchise to be Produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and written by Jenny Bicks

Sony Pictures Entertainment, Mattel and Parkes+MacDonald/Image Nation today announced a partnership on a live-action comedy featuring the beloved and dynamic icon Barbie. The studio sees this as its next big, global franchise and plans to go into production by the end of the year. Written by Jenny Bicks and produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald, the film will be executive produced by Parkes+MacDonald’s president Marc Resteghini alongside Julia Pistor, who will executive produce for Mattel’s Playground Productions.

From princess to president, mermaid to movie star, Barbie® has done it all – through her more than 150 careers, she has gained valuable experiences and shown her fans that anything is possible for a modern woman. In her live-action big screen debut, Barbie will inhabit many of these roles, utilizing her personal and professional skills to inspire change in the lives of everyone around her. This comedic and contemporary film marks the second collaboration between Sony Pictures and Mattel, which are currently developing a film adaptation of Masters of the Universe, based on Mattel’s popular action figures.

Commenting on the announcement, Hannah Minghella, Columbia Pictures’ president of Production, said "We’ve always thought that the Barbie story had great potential, but a universe of possibilities opened up when Jenny, Walter and Laurie brought us their unexpected, clever, and truly funny concept. It captures everything that has made Barbie a classic for generation after generation while also standing on its own, establishing Barbie as a truly original screen character. We’re confident that Barbie will delight audiences, no matter where her adventures take her."

Parkes and MacDonald added, "While it's an overused word, Barbie truly is a legend, a cultural symbol whose career choices have been as unlimited as her wardrobe. She is about empowerment, but never at the expense of fun. Our hope is to capture all of these aspects of Barbie in a modern take of the character that can appeal to moviegoers of all ages."

"Barbie has entertained children and inspired their imagination and creativity for more than 50 years. Now is the right time in Barbie’s celebrated history for her to star in a live-action, contemporary comedy that brings her playful personality to life for generations of fans," said Tim Kilpin, EVP Global Brands, Mattel.

The deal was brokered by CAA on behalf of Mattel and Parkes+MacDonald, by UTA on behalf of Jenny Bicks and by Michael Marshall for Sony Pictures Entertainment.

JENNY BICKS most recently served as a writer and executive producer of the Showtime series "The Big C." She was also a writer/executive producer of the series "Men in Trees" and writer/co-executive producer of "Sex and the City." She most recently co-wrote Rio 2 and also wrote the feature film What a Girl Wants.

WALTER F. PARKES and LAURIE MacDONALD are the husband and wife team who hold the unique distinction of having helped to create DreamWorks, the first new studio in five decades, as well as being two of the most active producers working today. Films produced or executive-produced by Parkes & MacDonald include Gladiator, Amistad, Men In Black I & II, Minority Report, The Mask of Zorro, Catch Me If You Can, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Terminal, Road to Perdition, The Ring, The Kite Runner, and Stephen Sondheim’s musical thriller, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, among many others. In total, films produced or executive-produced by Parkes and MacDonald have earned in excess of $6 billion in worldwide box office. They most recently produced Men in Black 3 and Flight.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT 
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 142 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/.

ABOUT MATTEL
The Mattel family of companies (Nasdaq: MAT) is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. Mattel’s portfolio of best-selling brands includes Barbie®, the most popular fashion doll ever produced, Hot Wheels®, Monster High®, American Girl®, Thomas & Friends® and Fisher-Price® brands, including Little People® and Power Wheels®, as well as a wide array of entertainment-inspired toy lines. In 2013, Mattel was named one of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" by Ethisphere Magazine and is also ranked No. 2 on Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list. With worldwide headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., Mattel’s companies employ nearly 30,000 people in 40 countries and territories and sell products in more than 150 nations. At Mattel, we are Creating the Future of Play. Visit us at www.mattel.com, www.facebook.com/mattel, or www.twitter.com/mattel