Political Documentary Film, "Pay 2 Play," Arrives November 1st, 2014

Political Documentary “PAY 2 PLAY” Spotlights Dark Money in U.S. Politics

Director John Wellington Ennis Reveals Six Keys for Campaign Finance Reform

Doc in Limited Theatrical Release; Nationwide House Party Screenings; Digital Release November 1st and DVD Available December 2nd

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Public Interest Pictures and filmmaker John Wellington Ennis’ Shoot First Inc. are proud to present the humorous feature-length political documentary “PAY 2 PLAY: Democracy’s High Stakes” (89 minutes, Not Rated). The film about getting Big Money out of politics was held over theatrically in New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. and will be available digitally on Saturday, November 1st, 2014 on iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Vimeo, Cinemanow, Google Play, Sony Playstation, Vudu and Xbox.

    “In order to face any of our mounting problems, we need leaders who will listen to ‘We The People,’ not just ‘We The Wealthiest People.’ This documentary highlights obstacles to elected office in hopes of encouraging reform and inspiring future candidates.”
The DVD will be available Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014 and can be purchased via TDC Entertainment (http://disinfo.com/product/pay-2-play-democracys-high-stakes/). Links to purchase the DVD and learn more about community screening packages can also be found at the “PAY 2 PLAY” website (http://www.pay2play.tv/buy_a_screening_package).

Ennis explains, “In order to face any of our mounting problems, we need leaders who will listen to ‘We The People,’ not just ‘We The Wealthiest People.’ This documentary highlights obstacles to elected office in hopes of encouraging reform and inspiring future candidates.”

In the film, Ennis’ six keys for campaign finance reform are: Public Financing for Campaigns; Disclosure; Free Airtime for Candidates, Required Voting (Like Jury Duty); End Gerrymandering; and a Constitutional Amendment affirming that Money is not Speech and that Corporations are not People.

Appearing in “PAY 2 PLAY” are Robert Reich, John Nichols, Lawrence Lessig, Noam Chomsky, Van Jones, Marianne Williamson, Jack Abramoff, Marge Baker, Jerry Springer, Mark Crispin Miller, Brad Friedman, Lee Fang, Jason Leopold, Thom Hartmann, Jessica Levinson, Rashad Robinson, Bob Edgar, Kathay Feng and Rob Weissman, amongst others.

As a citizen journalist, Ennis embarked on a journey to find ways outsiders can create meaningful campaign reform. Spanning eight years, “PAY 2 PLAY” dissects Big Money’s effects in politics, connecting the dots between the hurdles to fair and open elections. The doc also illustrates how people power has had a provable impact, citing the Occupy Movement and high profile Street Art.

Ennis presents an imperative argument for the American people to overturn the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and why there should be a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 26 to October 31, 2014 - Update #10

NEWS:

From Hitflix via YahooTV:  Terminator: Genisys makes "pop culture."

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From Variety:  American Gigolo the television series... from Jerry Bruckheimer.

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From Salon:  5 reasons everyone needs to see Dear White People.

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From Variety via YahooMovies:  Meet Chadwick Boseman the Black Panther.

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From YahooMovies:  Marvel Studios' movies from Avengers: Age of Ultron through May 2019:

May 1, 2015: Avengers: Age of Ultron

·        July 17, 2015: Ant-Man

·        May 6, 2016: Captain America: Civil War

·        Nov. 4, 2016: Doctor Strange

·        May 5, 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy 2

·        July 28, 2017: Thor: Ragnarok

·        Nov. 3, 2017: Black Panther

·        May 4, 2018: Avengers: Infinity Wars Part I

·        July 6, 2018: Captain Marvel

·        Nov. 2, 2018: Inhumans

·        May 3, 2019: Avengers: Infinity Wars Part II

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From YahooMovies:  Jake Gyllenhaal talks about his career highlights, including Brokeback Mountain.

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From YahooMovies:  What can be learned from Vulture's Hollywood MVP list.

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From BusinessInsider:  Marvel is holding a secret press event tomorrow (Tuesday, October 25, 2014), which doesn't seem so secret now.  This article contains speculation about the huge announcement that is supposed to be made at the event.

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From THR:  The new, micro-budgeted horror film, Ouija, won the October 24th to 26th, 2014 weekend box office with an estimated gross of $20 million.  In second place was John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves, with an estimated take of $14.2 million.


COMIC BOOKS - Movies and Books:

From YahooMovies:  Marvel "secret event" happened.  Chadwick Boseman (who has famous black people on screen, such as Jackie Robinson and James Brown) is the Black Panther.

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From Deadline:  Marvel wants Benedict Cumberbatch to play Doctor Strange.


STAR WARS:

From IBT:  Descriptions about the filming of a scene involving actor Boyega and reveals about his character in Star Wars 7.

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From YahooParenting:  Dad plays Princess Leia to his daughter's Han Solo.


REVIEWS:

Dear White People by TheVillageVoice.

Negromancer's Fave Poli-Reads - October 2014 Edition - Update #26

From YahooNews:  Finally, Senator Landrieu tells the truth about something.

From YahooNews:  Surprising Israeli political cartoon about Israeli=U.S. relations.

From RollingStone: Paul Krugman - "In Defense of Obama"

From TheDailyBeast:  The suicide of Israeli soldiers after recent Gaza incursion.

From TheNewYorker:  Andy Borowitz says billionaires to retain control of congress after the midterms.

From NewYorkMagazine:  Can Elizabeth Warren (via Jeanne Shaheen) beat Scott Brown again.

From the GuardianUK:  A controversial book about the Matthew Shepard murder.

From ThinkProgess:  Yes, let's soak the 1 percent with a 90 percent tax rate.

From Prospect:  The making of Ferguson.

From TheGuardian:  Four Blackwater mercenaries/employees found guilty in Nisour Square massacre.

From TheGuardian:  Gamergate.

From ThinkProgress:  This judge is a prick for not granting maternity leave.

From RSN:  Mumia and the commencement speech that cause police to go nuts.

From the GuardianUK:  Matt Taibbi on the justice divide between Wall Street and Ferguson.

From SPLC via RSN:  How Cliven Bundy won and is still winning.

From Consortium News via RSN:  The Washington Post strikes back at Gary Webb revival.

From Consortium News via RSN:  Robert Parry talks about Ronald Reagan's CIA and the contra-cocaine saga.

From TheIntercept:  The neocon-UAE-Iraeli plot to declar Qatar a supporter of terror.
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From TheNewYorkTimes:  Why is President Obama continuing the embargo of Cuba.
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From Consortium News via RSN:  Robert Parry on the mainstream media's tepid response to the ghost of Gary Webb rising again with the release of the film, Kill the Messanger.
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From Think Progress via RSN:  The one time the U.S. had "universal childcare."
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From Reuters:  Sweden to recognize the state of Palestine.
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From the GuardianUK: Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi win the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

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From YahooNews:  10 States with the worst quality of life... Yes, Louisiana makes the cut.  And her current governor, Bobby Jindal (once called "the little majaraja") thinks his performance makes him a great U.S. presidential candidate for 2016.

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From Truthout:  John Cleese weighs in on FOX News and stupidity.

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From Salon:  The South (Southern states) has a victim complex.

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From MotherJones:  An Alabama law provides lawyers for fetuses.

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From Reuters:  The Supreme Court dodges gay marriage.

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From Truthout:  Funny Obamacare cartoon.

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From Slate via RSN:  (in)Justice Scalia's favorite murderer is innocent.  You just have to laugh.

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From Consortium News via RSN:  The New York Times admits that the Contra-Cocaine story was true... belatedly and relatively hidden.

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From Politico:  "Something is Rotten in the Secret Service" - includes the author's now infamous line about it being Obama's own fault if he is assassinated.

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From the NewYorkTimes:  Our Invisible Rich by Paul Krugman

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From RollingStone and RSN: Koch Bros. toxic empire.

From Rolling Stone via RSN:  Koch's respond to Rolling Stone.

Production Begins on Shane Black's "The Nice Guys"

Silver Pictures’ “The Nice Guys” in Production

Cameras roll on Shane Black’s detective thriller starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling, with additional cast set to star, including Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger and more

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography has begun on Silver Pictures’ upcoming detective thriller “The Nice Guys,” from director Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” “Iron Man 3”). The film, which stars Oscar winner Russell Crowe (“Gladiator,” “Man of Steel”) and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (“Half Nelson,” “Drive,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”), is shooting in Atlanta and Los Angeles. It is being produced by Joel Silver (“Non-Stop,” “The Matrix” series, the “Sherlock Holmes” series).

Recently added to the cast are Matt Bomer (“Magic Mike,” HBO’s “The Normal Heart”), Oscar winner Kim Basinger (“L.A. Confidential”), Angourie Rice (“These Final Hours”), Beau Knapp (“Super 8”), Keith David (“Pitch Black,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) and Margaret Qualley (HBO’s “The Leftovers”).

“The Nice Guys” takes place in 1970s Los Angeles, when down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March (Gosling) and hired leg-breaker Jackson Healy (Crowe) must work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. During their investigation, they uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power.

Black directs from an original screenplay he wrote with Anthony Bagarozzi. Silver is producing under his Silver Pictures banner, with Ken Kao of Waypoint Entertainment, Hal Sadoff, and Michael Malone serving as executive producers. Waypoint is co-financing, and Alex Walton and Ken Kao’s BLOOM is handling international sales.

The creative team behind “The Nice Guys” includes director of photography Philippe Rousselot (the “Sherlock Holmes” series, “Big Fish”), production designer Richard Bridgland (“Serena,” “Unknown”), editor Joel Negrón (“21 Jump Street”), and costume designer Kym Barrett (“The Matrix” series).

“The Nice Guys,” set for release on June 17, 2016, will be distributed in North America by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.


About Silver Pictures
Joel Silver’s Silver Pictures is one of Hollywood’s leading producers of action motion pictures. The company’s most recent project, “Non-Stop,” starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore and directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, opened in February 2014. The film has earned more than $200 million at the worldwide box office. Silver Pictures recently wrapped production on the much buzzed about “Autobahn,” starring Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley. Additionally, the company is currently in post-production on “The Gunman,” starring Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Idris Elba and directed by Pierre Morel. In 2012, Silver signed a 5-year non-exclusive distribution deal with Universal Pictures. Silver has produced more than 70 films which have earned more than $13 billion in worldwide revenue. Past credits include the “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, starring Robert Downey Jr., which has earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office, the Academy Award-winning “The Matrix” trilogy, the blockbuster “Lethal Weapon” franchise and seminal action films “Die Hard” and “Predator.”

About Waypoint Entertainment
Waypoint Entertainment is a film and television development, production, and finance company cofounded by Ken Kao in 2010. Waypoint’s upcoming slate includes Martin Scorsese’s “Silence,” starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield, Andrew Driver and Ken Watanabe, and Terrence Malick’s next two films, “Knight of Cups,” with Christian Bale, Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett, and an untitled film featuring Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman and Cate Blanchett.

About BLOOM
BLOOM represents and curates a diversified slate of films ranging from commercial, talent-driven, wide release movies, to specialty films from proven and trusted filmmakers, all the while keeping an eye towards fresh and emerging talent. Alex Walton and financier and producer Ken Kao partnered to form BLOOM, a sales, production and financing outfit which launched just prior to Cannes with two-time Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant’s “Sea of Trees,” starring Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, Academy Award nominees Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts, which recently wrapped principal photography. Upcoming projects include Michael Apted’s “Unlocked,” starring Noomi Rapace, Academy Award winner Michael Douglas, and Orlando Bloom; Renny Harlin’s “Skiptrace,” starring Jackie Chan and Johnny Knoxville; and “The Hunters,” which will be directed by John Moore. The existing slate includes Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel “Dark Places,” starring Charlize Theron; “A Walk Among the Tombstones,” starring Liam Neeson; “The Woman in Black: Angel of Death”; “Pele,” the biopic about the legendary Brazilian soccer player; “Jane Got a Gun,” starring Natalie Portman; and “Out of the Dark,” starring Julia Stiles and Scott Speedman.

Teaser Trailer Released for "The Gambler" Starring Mark Wahlberg

THE ONLY WAY OUT IS ALL IN.

Watch the red-band teaser and read an interview with star and producer Mark Wahlberg:
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/mark-walhberg-the-gambler-preview-weight-100665948362.html

Jim Bennett (Academy Award®-nominee Mark Wahlberg) is a risk taker. Both an English professor and a high-stakes gambler, Bennett bets it all when he borrows from a gangster (Michael Kenneth Williams) and offers his own life as collateral. Always one step ahead, Bennett pits his creditor against the operator of a gambling ring (Alvin Ing) and leaves his dysfunctional relationship with his wealthy mother (Academy Award®-winner Jessica Lange) in his wake. He plays both sides, immersing himself in an illicit, underground world while garnering the attention of Frank (John Goodman), a loan shark with a paternal interest in Bennett’s future. As his relationship with a student (Brie Larson) deepens, Bennett must take the ultimate risk for a second chance…

THE GAMBLER in select theaters starting December 19th

Official site: www.TheGamblerMovie.com
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGamblerMovie

Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheGamblerMovie
#THEGAMBLER

"Z Nation" Creator Launches New H.P. Lovecraft Comic Book

Creator of Syfy’s Hit Show ‘Z Nation’ Launches Lovecraft Kickstarter Comic for Halloween

Craig Engler, the co-creator/writer/co-executive producer of Syfy’s new hit series “Z Nation,” launched a Kickstarter project to create a new comic series based on the work of famous horror author H.P. Lovecraft. The project went live yesterday morning and within 24 hours was already 73% funded.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/4480776/lovecraft-the-blasphemously-large-first-issue

“Halloween week is the perfect time to launch ‘Lovecraft: The Blasphemously Large First Issue,’ the start of a new series we’re working on that completely reinvents H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos,” Engler said. “The story is set in the present day and recasts Lovecraft as the world’s foremost alchemist and a magician who guards a secret library of forbidden knowledge, which includes books like the Necronomicon.”

In this world magicians are a secret culture within our culture constantly vying for control over ancient magickal tomes and the power they wield. That leads to magickal feuds and wars that can unleash unspeakable terrors in the world. When that happens, Lovecraft is the guy who cleans things up.

Engler (Z Nation, Zombie Apocalypse) is writing the story with pencils and inks by Daniel Govar (DC, Marvel), colors by Matheus Lopes (Image, Dark Horse, IDW) and a special limited-edition cover by red hot artist Lewis LaRosa (Valiant). The first issue will be 48 pages long, including 6 pages of Lovecraft pinups by some fantastic guest artists:

Brian Hurtt (The Sixth Gun),
Dennis Calero (X-Men: Noir)
John Bivens (Dark Engine)
Lukas Ketner (Witch Doctor)
Richard Luong (Cthulhu Wars)
Jamie Tanner (The Dark Well)

The Kickstarter will also feature a special green foil variant cover that’s only being offered during the 28 day campaign.

Engler is a former Syfy executive who left the network last year to create his own TV series and launch other creative projects. Z Nation debuted on September 12 and airs Friday nights. It has consistently been one of Syfy’s highest rated series and was recently picked up for a second season.

Tyler Mane to Appear at Los Angles Comikaze Expo 2014

Darby Pop Publishing announced today that Tyler Mane – none other than “Michael Myers” himself from Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN -will be appearing at their booth (#806) during the Los Angeles Comikaze Expo on Friday, October 31st and Saturday, November 1st, 2014.

Mane, also known for his role as “Sabretooth” in X-MEN, as well as featured parts in TROY and SCORPION KING, will be signing photos and other memorabilia throughout the weekend. Photo ops will also be available, as will DVDs of COMPOUND FRACTURE, the inaugural film from Mane’s recently-formed shingle Mane Entertainment.

Darby Pop Publishing, an L.A.-based comic book company distributed worldwide by IDW, is about to celebrate its first anniversary. With five original series already in print, Darby Pop has been aggressive about creating both high-quality content and unique opportunities for reader interaction.

Renae Geerlings, who serves as both Mane Entertainment President and Darby Pop Publishing Managing Editor, explained: “Having both companies join forces seemed like a no-brainer, and a fun way for us – and fans of all stripes — to celebrate the holiday together.”

Mane added: “Halloween is obviously my favorite time of year, and I love supporting local shows. Darby Pop has published some outstanding books, and I’m looking forward to hanging out with them for a couple of days and meeting fans of all genres!”

ABOUT Darby Pop Publishing
Founder and Emmy-winning writer/producer Jeff Kline (Transformers: Prime, G.I. Joe: Renegades) created Darby Pop Publishing in 2013 with the goal of telling all-new stories crafted by a small circle of friends. Darby Pop Publishing’s ever-growing array of original titles includes INDESTRUCTIBLE, CITY: THE MIND IN THE MACHINE, THE 7TH SWORD, DOBERMAN, and DEAD SQUAD, all distributed worldwide by IDW. For more information, visit darbypop.com.

ABOUT Mane Entertainment
Founded in 2010, Mane Entertainment, LLC, is a Los Angeles-based production company founded by actor/producer Tyler Mane. Mane Entertainment is committed to producing high-quality films that build on Mane’s cache as a horror icon. Visit Mane Entertainment online at www.maneentertainment.com.

ABOUT Stan Lee's Comikaze
Stan Lee’s Comikaze is Los Angeles’ first and only large-scale, multi-media pop culture convention. Held annually at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Comikaze assembles the most exciting and innovative in comics, video games, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and all things pop-culture. Partnering with comic legend Stan Lee himself and Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Comikaze is the only pop-culture convention owned and operated by true pop-culture icons. Check http://comikazeexpo.com for more info.