Movie : Punisher 'War Zone'

Movie Info :

Title : Punisher 'War Zone'
Genres: Action/Adventure and Adaptation
Running Time: 107 min.
Release Date: December 5th, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive strong brutal violence, language and some drug use.
Distributors: Lionsgate
Production Co.: Marvel Studios
Studios: Lionsgate
Financiers: Zweite Academy Film
Filming Locations: Montreal, Ontario Canada
Produced in: United States
Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchison, Wayne Knight, Julie Benz
Directed by: Lexi Alexander
Produced by: Oliver Hengst, Michael Paseornek, John Sacchi
Official Website : http://www.punisherwarzonemovie.com/



Synopsis :

Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss, Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the "Punisher Task Force" hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.



Movie Review :

By John

So earlier tonight I had just walked out of the screening of Punisher: War Zone and was standing around in the foyer of the theater… and Ray Stevenson (star of Punisher) comes walking up to me and asks me “So what did you think?” I paused for just a second, looked him right in the eyes and said:



“You know something Ray, I’m one of the guys who has been predicting that this movie was going to suck. I’m also one of the guys who has been saying that you were the wrong guy to cast as the Punisher. No offense against you, but I’m a Thomas Jane fan. But now I have to go home tonight and eat my words… caused I really liked it, and dude… you were pretty much perfect as Frank Castle”



And that’s the total truth. Don’t get me wrong, I never gave up ALL hope for this flick… there is always SOME hope, but my hope was SLIM. Very slim. Almost non-existent slim. But despite all of the weaknesses (and trust me, there is a lot wrong with this movie), by the time the credits rolled I had a great experience at the movie theater.


THE GENERAL IDEA

Infamous vigilante, anti-hero Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) is six years into his vengeance driven zeal as the Punisher when he brutally assaults a “beat the rap” party for notorious mob boss Gaitano Ceasar. During the course of the massacre, he hideously disfigures overeager gangster Billy Russoti (Dominic West) and murders a mafia lackey who turns out to be an undercover FBI agent.

Agent Paul Budiansky (Colin Salmon), the ex-partner of the undercover Fed, joins the NYPD’s “Punisher Task Force” to help bring Castle to justice, once and for all. A facially mutilated Russoti recovers from his run-in with the Punisher with revenge on his mind and recruits a massive army of psychotic killers, gangbangers, and mobsters under his new alias “Jigsaw.” Distraught that he has now become the very evil he swore to battle, Castle is content to hang up his guns and quit the justice business for good. However, plans quickly change once he learns that Jigsaw has kidnapped the surviving wife and child of the dead federal agent. Forced back into the war, the Punisher now has to face off against Jigsaw’s formidable army in order to save the lives of an innocent family his actions put on firing line. “Clock’s ticking.”

THE GOOD

I mentioned this at the beginning, but I’ll expand on it a bit here. Ray Stevenson was nothing short of absolutely perfect as Frank Castle (The Punisher). He was miles better than Thomas Jane (and I really liked Thomas Jane in the role). Come to think of it, I just can’t imagine the role being played any better. Many actors can play a “bad ass”. That’s not hard. But The Punisher is not just a bad ass. He’s far more complicated than that. He’s also hopeless. Filled with despair. Closed off from the world and the other people in it. Stevenson put it perfectly to me as we chatted. He said: “It was important to me that when people see him (Punisher), they in no way want to be him. People want to be Superman or Batman, but the must not want to be Frank, because to be Frank is a terrible thing. I think we got that across”. He’s right, they did.

Even though this is a reboot, I found myself hoping they wouldn’t waste a bunch of time re-telling an origin story that comic fans already know… and they handled it perfectly. Instead of using the first 30 minutes of the movie showing us Frank with his happy family… them getting killed… him getting pissed and becoming the Punisher, they instead wisely just start the movie with Frank having been The Punisher for 6 years already and then later use some short flashbacks to communicate to non-comic book fans how and why he became The Punisher. This approach was an excellent decision and handled really well.

The violence! Oh my sweet goodness the ultra gory, ultra high intensity, ultra wow-factored VIOLENCE! The movie doesn’t waste anytime at all jumping right into the action with Punisher dishing out hot platters of death to a mansion filled with mobsters. If you’ve ever thought there were only so many ways to show a guy getting his head blown off… this movie shows us there are at least 100 more ways than you might have thought. There was not only lots of action… it was QUALITY action. Very very very fun to watch.

THE BAD

Aside from Ray Stevenson, much of the acting in this flick was just horrible. Even the usually reliable Dominic West, who plays the main bad guy “Jigsaw”, was mind numbingly cheesy at times. He shifted gears between really frightening and menacing to just a slapstick joke that you couldn’t take seriously. Doug Hutchison as Jigsaw’s psycho brother was even worse. Instead of coming off of scary, he felt like a Saturday Night Live skit of a funny acting bad guy. Pathetic.

There was a prolonged scene in the film where Jigsaw is going around recruiting a new gang… and without giving away any details… it was painful to watch and broke with the tone much of the rest of the movie seemed to be working so hard establish.

Dialog. Thankfully Frank has next to no lines (the way it should be), but wow… all the other characters in the film consistently has some flat out brutal dialog. Even right down to the tired and overused line where one guy is dying on the floor and the hero comes over and says… “Don’t you die on me”. Really?!?! Did they really have to do that? Come on.

OVERALL

There is a lot wrong with Punisher: War Zone. Bad dialog, some terrible performances and some disjointed and poorly composed scenes. But at the same time it’s a film that knows what its audience was looking for, and delivered loads of it. High intensity action, brutal violence and some world class machismo served by a dark and complicated character like Frank Castle. This is not a “good” movie per se… but it is entertaining and I had a good time. Over all I give Punisher: War Zone a 7 out of 10.

Taken From : http://www.themovieblog.com



The Punisher: War Zone Theatrical Trailer













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Pitt and Jolie's mystical move

Brad Pitt says he and Angelina Jolie moved to New Orleans because they felt "something mystical could happen" there.

The couple relocated to the US city after a visit convinced them it was the perfect location to raise their six children.

Speaking at the New Orleans premiere of his new movie 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' - which was filmed in the city on Dec.1st, Brad said: "Well it was big tax breaks that brought us here. I mean, that's not my department, but that's what brought us here. I'm telling you, it did something else for the film.
"It suddenly grounded it in a way that wouldn't have worked in other places. You know, there's magic and rhythms to New Orleans, that something mystical could happen here."

Meanwhile, Brad has also revealed he was pleased to be able to help the city - which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - through his charity, the Make It Right Foundation.

The 44-year-old actor, who has teamed up with architects to build affordable, sustainable homes in the region with the foundation, told Architectural Digest magazine: "You have no idea what a high it is for me to see the delight on people's faces when they see how these homes work.

"We've cracked something here. These houses redefine affordable housing - this is a proving ground for a bigger idea that could work globally. This project is not mine anymore. It's so beyond me."
Taken From : China Daily

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Sienna Miller and Getty will star in a movie together

Sienna Miller and Balthazar Getty want to star in a film together.

The 'Factory Girl' star - who was recently reunited with the married 'Brothers and Sisters' actor following a brief split - hopes working together will win over critics of their romance.

A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: "Her advisers are warning how unpopular that would be.

"People haven't taken to them as a pair due to the way they got together. They fear people will find it a bit too sickly - as though they are rubbing his wife's face in it.

"But Sienna insists it could be movie gold and is looking for a script."
Sienna, 26, was widely criticised when she began dating 33-year-old Balthazar - who has four children with his estranged wife Rosetta - with people blasting her for romancing a married man.

Following the news of the affair, Rosetta fled the US taking their children with her.

Sienna and Balthazar separated last month, allegedly over her love of partying, but reconciled last week.

The couple were spotted walking her dogs in London's Maida Vale district last week, confirming they were an item again.

An onlooker said: "We drove past them and they looked very together. Sienna looked really pretty and so happy."
Taken From : China Daily

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Coldplay, Leona Lewis topped sales in 2008

Coldplay was the hottest iTunes album download this year: Its "Viva la Vida" was crowned the best-selling album of 2008, while Leona Lewis's "Bleeding Love" was named the top-selling single.

Coldplay's CD has sold more than 2 million copies since its release in June, and has sold more than 500,000 copies digitally — most of which was through iTunes, according to the band's representative. ITunes does not release its sales figures, its spokesman said in releasing its list on Monday.

Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" was the No. 2 selling album, while the soundtrack to the film "Juno," Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" and Sara Bareilles' "Little Voice" rounded out the iTunes top 5. Two more film soundtracks were in the top ten — "Once" and "Across the Universe" — while Jason Mraz' "We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things," OneRepublic's "Dreaming Out Loud" and Leona Lewis' "Spirit" rounded it out.

Lewis' "Bleeding Love" sold 3.2 million digitally, according to her label, J Records. According to iTunes, the title track of Coldplay's album was its No. 2 most downloaded track, followed by "Low" by Flo Rida (featuring T-Pain), Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and Rihanna's "Disturbia."

Rihanna also made the top 10 singles with "Don't Stop the Music," while "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne and Static Major, "No Air" by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown, Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" and Natasha Bedingfield's "Pocketful of Sunshine" also made iTunes top 10 downloaded singles list.

Taken From : China Daily

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Britney Spears' marriage prediction

Britney Spears wants to marry again in "five years" time.

The 27-year-old singer - who is divorced from second husband Kevin Federline, and had her 2005 marriage to Jason Alexander annulled after just 55 hours - is keen to wed for a third time despite her bad experiences.

She told America's Glamour magazine: "In five years I would like to be married and have a father figure for my kids, someone who is a provider and can be really stable."
Britney - whose sons Sean Preston, three, and Jayden James, two, live with their father Kevin - also appeared to blast the rapper's parenting ability, adding: "It's hard doing it on your own."

The 'Womanizer' singer revealed she finds it hard to be taken seriously, because people can't look beyond the public breakdown she suffered earlier this year.

Britney - who was hospitalised after refusing to return her children to Kevin in January - said: "When I tell people the way I feel, it's like they hear me, but they aren't really listening. It's bad."
Taken From : China Daily

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Mariah Carey's Christmas £1 million ski chalet

(China Daily) Mariah Carey's husband has bought her a £1 million ski chalet.

Nick Cannon - who married the 'Touch My Body' singer in April - splashed out on the five-bedroom property in Aspen, Colorado, as an early Christmas present for the 38-year-old star.

A source told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "Nick is clearly still in the honeymoon phase. He's shocked all their pals by going out of his way to nab Mariah this beautiful sanctuary.
"He doesn't want her to go to the hassle of renting. He knows Aspen is one of her favourite places in the world so this is his early Christmas present to her."

Nick, 28, has also reportedly purchased Mariah a diamond ring for each room of the chalet.

Earlier this year, the couple bought a lavish £3.4 million home in the West Indies - which boasts five bedrooms, a Jacuzzi and an indoor swimming pool - to enjoy a second honeymoon.

They are reported to be considering buying another property in Monte Carlo.


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Victoria Beckham's toilet dress

Victoria Beckham wanted to design dresses women can go to the toilet in.

The former Spice Girls star - who recently launched her second collection of women's clothes - determined the most important features the outfits needed.

She said: "I put all the clothes on myself and walk around in it, and I know what feels comfortable. I know how a dress should sit. I've worn so many in the past and when I see the photographs I think, crikey, my boobs are up round my neck again because the corsets are too short and not cut high enough.
"Like I knew I would spend a lot on high-quality zips because I have had my share of badly made zips. I wanted a zip that undoes from both ends because then you can either put the dress on over your head or step into it - and also, you know, going to the loo wouldn't be this whole big problem."

Victoria - who has three sons with husband David - also revealed being in the Spice Girls made it harder to pursue a career in fashion.

She added to Britain's The Times newspaper: "Being in the Spice Girls, fashion-wise, probably didn't open any doors. If anything, it shut doors and I have had to bang them down."
Taken From : China Daily

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Movie : Cadillac Records

Movie Info :

Title : Cadillac Records
Genres: Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Biopic
Running Time: 1 hr. 48 min.
Release Date: December 5th, 2008 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language and some sexuality.
Distributors: Sony Pictures Releasing
Production Co.: Suntaur/Elsboy Entertainment
Filming Locations: Chicago, Illinois USA, New Jersey, Mississippi
Produced in: United States
Starring: Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Beyonce Knowles, Gabrielle Union, Columbus Short
Directed by: Darnell Martin
Produced by: Beyonce Knowles, Sofia Sondervan
Official Site : http://www.cadillacrecordsmovie.com/



Synopsis :

The story of the blues in 1950s Chicago is told in Sony BMG Film's Cadillac Records, a musical drama written and directed by TV veteran Darnell Martin. The film stars Adrien Brody as Chess Records founder Leonard Chess, with Jeffrey Wright portraying R&B legend Muddy Waters, Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James, and Mos Def doing his best Chuck Berry. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide



Movie Review :

by Nick Schager

hicago-based Chess Records, which was founded in 1950 by Polish entrepreneur Leonard Chess and made stars of Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Etta James, Little Walter, Willie Dixon and Howlin' Wolf (among others), is a true-life saga brimming with dramatic material.

Too much material, in fact, for writer-director Darnell Martin to properly handle, as evidenced by Cadillac Records, an attempt at providing a comprehensive portrait of the label and its artists that, due to time and space constraints, turns its every element facile.

Despite basically eliminating Leonard's brother and business partner Phil Chess from the story, Martin's script is so bursting at the seams with outsized personalities and racial issues that it depicts each of them with hasty brushstrokes, an unfortunate development not only because her iconic subjects deserve better—heck, if biopics weren't by and large worthlessly reductive affairs, Waters, Berry and James would each warrant their own—but because Jeffrey Wright infuses his performance as legendary bluesman Waters with acute, conflicted soul.

The film revolves around Chess and Waters's tight, often tense relationship, which was underlined by Waters's suspicion that Chess was cheating him out of riches. Martin's visually and narratively flat film makes modest pains to address this racial/economic dynamic, in which black musicians' art was exploited—and then, upon the later arrival of the Rolling Stones and Elvis, downright appropriated—by whites for profit.

Yet the director's surplus of characters prevents any serious consideration of the pressing socio-economic forces at play, with time instead allotted to Chess's loyalty to his wife (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Little Walter's (Columbus Short) descent into booze, the toll Waters's philandering had on spouse Geneva (Gabrielle Union)—who, barren herself, even chose to care for one of his illegitimate children, a ripe storyline that's introduced and then immediately forgotten—and Chess's burgeoning feelings for James (Beyoncé Knowles).

Throw in a collection of musical numbers, including at least one too many from Beyoncé, and the result is a film that resembles not the raw and immediate blues, R&B and rock n' roll singles that made Chess a pioneer, but the bloated, unfocused full-length albums that would later become the industry's stock and trade.

Taken From : http://slantmagazine.com




Cadillac Records - Debut Trailer (2008) [HD]




























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Why Leon has big shoes to fill

Leon Lai plays the lead role of the Peking Opera master in Forever Enthralled.

(China Daily) The controversy has never stopped since Hong Kong singer/actor Leon Lai was cast to play the role of the Peking Opera master.

He is a Hong Kong singer who never learned Peking Opera; he is much taller than Mei and his acting skills have been questioned.

But director Chen Kaige sees something common in Lai and his role - neither men had a very happy childhood.

Mei's parents died in his childhood and he was considered a hopeless pupil by his first teacher.

Born in Beijing, Lai's parents divorced when he was a little boy. He left for Hong Kong at 7 with his father. There he was an outsider among his peers, because he did not speak the local dialect. When things started getting better he went to Britain to further his studies and he became an outsider again.

In his early days, striving to be a star, Lai sold cell phones and sang in bars to support himself. He had to borrow money from friends when his father needed money to get an operation.
Although, in the 1990s, he was one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" in the Hong Kong pop music industry, for many years he was considered a good-looking idol rather than a skilled singer.

"He made his name by his own efforts in a new land and maintained his fame for many years," Chen says. "Somewhere in his heart there must be something similar to Mei."

During their first talk about the film, Lai listened to Chen quietly and seldom interrupted. When Chen finished, he said: "I would not be surprised if I was not chosen, but if I was the one, I wouldn't play Mei Lanfang, I want to be Mei Lanfang."

One day later when shooting, Chen found Lai pacing alone in a corridor in costume and makeup, reciting his lines silently. The view of his back touched Chen. "I think he can relate to Mei, in the sense that he must be scared under great pressure, but has to overcome it again and again."

Lai's response to the doubt and controversy was simple. "Children learn fast, because they do not care about others' opinions," he says. "They only focus on things they like and feel curious about."

Chen would not compare Lai to the late Leslie Cheung, who brilliantly performed an obsessed Peking Opera actor in Chen's famous film Farewell My Concubine.

"The two characters are very different in personalities," he says. "This is not a 110m race, in which the one who takes the lead wins."


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"Kung Fu Panda" earns 16 Annie Awards nominations

(China Daily) DreamWorks Animation's "Kung Fu Panda" fought off stiff competition to earn 16 nominations -- the most for a feature -- for the International Animated Film Society's 36th Annual Annie Awards.

That includes a nomination for best animated feature, a category in which it is competing with Pixar Animation Studios' "WALL-E" -- considered the front-runner for the Oscar -- which earned seven nominations. "Panda" and "WALL-E" also earned one additional nomination each in the best video-game competition.

The top category is rounded out by nominations for Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Bolt," a 3-D release that earned five nominations; Sony Pictures Classics' "Waltz With Bashir," Israel's award-winning documentary, which took four nominations; and Sherman Pictures/Lama Films' "$9.99," a stop-motion title that earned two nominations.

Blue Sky Studios' "Dr. Suess' Horton Hear a Who," a Fox release, also had a strong showing with five nominations.

All of these features are short-listed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for this season's animated feature Oscar competition.

DreamWorks Animation earned a total of 27 nominations. Those for "Panda" included direction, animated effects, character design, music and writing. The film's total of 16 nominations encompasses double and triple mentions in the fields of character animation, production design, storyboarding and voice acting.

Nickelodeon leads the pack in the television categories with 12 nominations, including two for best animated television production produced for children: "Avatar:The Last Airbender" and "The Mighty B!"

Nominees for best animated television production are "Phineas and Ferb" (Disney Television Animation), "The Simpsons" (Gracie Films/Fox TV), "King of the Hill" (20th Century Fox TV) and "Moral Orel" and "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II," both from ShadowMachine.

During the awards ceremony, Mike Judge, John Lasseter and Nick Park will receive Winsor McCay honors for career contributions to the art of animation; Bill Turner will be recognized with the June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation; and Amir Avini, Mike Fontanelli, Kathy Turner and Alex Vassilev will receive certificates of merit.

The Annie Awards will be presented January 30 at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles.



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