JCVD

That's right. Jean-Claude Van Damme ... like you never saw before. Jean-Claude plays himself as an out-of-luck actor. He is out of money, his agent can't find him a decent production, and the judge in a custody battle is inclined to give custody of his daughter to his ex-wife. When he goes to a post office to receive a wire transfer, it is in the middle of a hostage situation. Due to an unfortunate error, the police think Van Damme is responsible for the crime. As the events are played from different perspectives, Van Damme is acting as a hero to protect the hostages and a negotiator that the alleged author.

Jean-Claude Van Damme was a familiar name for a long time. Everyone knows him for his action films, but has not really taken it seriously as an actor - until now. You may be surprised to know that JCVD has been very well received by critics, and is the first Van Damme film to be "Certified Fresh" on Rottentomatoes.com "Tomatometer" (at 84% - which is pretty Van Damme good). If you're waiting for Street Fighter 3, you will be sorely disappointed. Whether or not this will make some epic turn in Jean-Claude's film career has yet to be seen, but it shows that he (and filmmaker Mabrouka El Mechri) had a vision and made a great action / comedy film.

Transformers - Movie Synopsis and Info

Transformers brings the Autobot / Decepticon war to life in this live action CGI movie directed by Michael Bay with Steven Spielberg as the executive producer. The movie is scheduled for release July 4, 2007.

Check out the review and synopsis at Hero Goggles.

Or visit the Official Movie Site

Hannibal Rising - Movie Synopsis

Hannibal Rising is the fifth film (Manhunter, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Red Dragon) and prequel to the Hannibal Lecter series by Thomas Harris. It is an adaptation of Thomas Harris' 2006 novel of the same name and will tell the story of how Hannibal becomes the infamous serial killer of the previous films and books.

The film is being directed by Peter Webber from a screenplay by Harris. It was filmed in Barrandov Studios in Prague. It is produced by the Dino De Laurentiis Company and scheduled to be released in February 9 2007. Theatrical distribution in the United States will be by The Weinstein Company and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Synopsis: The story opens in Eastern Europe in the final days of World War II. These are desperate times full of desperate actions to simply survive. Young Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) witnesses the violent death of his parents, leaving him responsible for the care of his sister. Without any means of providing support for either of them, he is forced to take refuge in a Soviet orphanage that was once his families home. He leaves the orphanage to seek out what family he has, an Uncle in France, only to find his Uncle has died. His Uncle's widow, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li) takes him in and shows him love and kindness. Under her tutelage, young Hannibal becomes an apt pupil to science and takes to studying medicine. It is here that Lecter develops his talents that he will use to exact his justice on the war criminals that haunt his thoughts.

The Official Movie Site where you can view the trailer, get downloads, etc.

Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth

This film is set in post-Civil War northern Spain, in 1944. A young girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), moves with her pregnant mother Carmen (Ariadna Gil), and her stepfather Captain Vidal (Sergi López), into a new home in the countryside. Vidal and his small army have been sent to the remote area to rid it of a small Republican militia.

Ofelia, who often immerses herself in ancient stories and fairy tales, finds an immense and ancient labyrinth near her new home. There, she meets a faun (Doug Jones) who reveals that she is the long-lost daughter of the King of the Underworld, and that to regain entry to her kingdom she must carry out three tasks. The faun gives her a storybook, which will tell her the details of the tasks.

For the remainder of the film, Ofelia accesses a strange and dangerous world of fairies and extraordinary creatures such as the terrifying Pale Man (also played by Doug Jones), while trying to cope with her abusive stepfather.

Visit the Official Movie Site for beautifully rendered e-cards, trailers, games, and more.

This movie is a beautifully haunting blend of poetry and fantasy. It is visual prose, and a must see!

Coupling - Hilarious BBC Comedy - Think "Friends" With Raunchier Humor

Coupling is like Friends but with more sexual innuendo ala BBC. You have six principal characters, 3 guys and 3 girls.

The men:

Steve (Jack Davenport): Boyfriend to Susan. Excessively neurotic, and yet easily the most well-adjusted of the men.

"Lap dancing is the ultimate nightmare of man. Porn that can see you."

Patrick (Ben Miles): Man-whore. Also an ex of Susan's.

"If I don't like a woman, if there's no chemistry, if I'm not attracted to her, then I don't lead her on, I just get out of there... every time, before she even wakes up."

Jeff (Richard Coyle): Socially inept and sexually fixated. Shares his thoughts and opinions about things such as "the Melty Man" and "the sock gap." Oddly enough, Jeff is the one most men identify with.

"When God made the arse, he didn't say, 'Hey, it's just your basic hinge, let's knock off early.' He said, 'Behold ye angels, I have created the arse. Throughout the ages to come, men and women shall grab hold of these, and shout my name!"

I think we fear we are most like Jeff, wish we were more like Patrick, but most people would say we are like Steve.

The women:

Susan (Sarah Alexander): The most well-adjusted of the women characters.

"Well, you know what it's like at the start, when they're all fiery-eyed, and eager, and they haven't seen you naked yet. And it's like he's smashing at your door with his mighty battering ram. And he's promising to ravish you forever. So you brace yourself for man overload, and throw open the doors, and what do you find standing there? An over sized toddler who wants his dinner. And before you can say 'there's been a terrible mistake', he's snoring on your sofa, the fridge is full of empty bottles and the whole place smells of feet."

Sally (Kate Isitt): Exceedingly neurotic and preoccupied with aging.

"A woman's breasts are a journey. Her feet are the destination."

Jane (Gina Bellman): Steves ex. Ditsy nympho.

"I really quite like being single. Except for the bit about not having a man."

Coupling is the only show that makes me laugh out loud every time. For most with digital cable, you'll have BBC America which airs the show. If not, look for it wherever you rent movies.

A Basic DVD Movie Rental Guide For First Time Users

By: Brooke Hayles | Posted: 05-12-2006

DVD movie rentals via the mail have become increasingly popular over the last few years. As you've probably noticed there are many companies that offer this service. There are many people who can benefit from taking advantage of movie rentals by mail. The elderly, disabled and parents of small children often find it either near impossible or near improbably to leave the house for the movie store. For the individual who finds getting around and running errands a chore, receiving DVD movie rental through the mail is a welcome relief.

The advantage of DVD movie rental services continues past convenience. Paying a straight monthly fee can be easier on the pocket book too. Companies such as Netflix do not charge late fees. Since there is no "due date" you return your movie after you've finished with it. However, you won't get the next movie until the DVD out is returned. The faster you return your movies, the more you get for your money.

Traditional store front DVD rental services, such as Blockbuster, are even offering online services. A big advantage of utilizing their services is that you will get a coupon for a free in-store DVD movie rental. This is in addition to the movies you receive in the mail and allows you to get your hands on the movie you just "have to see" right then and there!

A few basic requirements such as an accepted mailing address and a credit or debit card are needed in order to join a DVD movie rental company.

With all the advantages that companies such as Netflix, Quickflicks, Intelliflix and Cafe DVD offer, it's easy to miss the drawbacks. With a DVD movie rental service you must decide not only what you want to watch, but when. If you're itching to settle down to that little romance you signed up for, but you've requested it for a later date, you're out of luck. You get the movie you choose when the online rental company has it available.

It's relatively easy to order movies once you decide to sign with a DVD rental company. Just scroll through their movie index and pick the ones you want to watch. A common option is the ability for you to prioritize which flick you'd like to view first. Unfortunately you don't get the option to choose when your videos are sent to you from the DVD movie rental company.

Summary:

Many Traditional and exclusively online companies offer mail order DVD movie rental services. Online movie rental services offer advantages that a local video store just can't. No need to bother going out to rent a video or worrying about late fees. Also, the faster you watch your movie and return it, the more movies you can watch each month and the more bang you get for your buck!

About the Author:
Brooke Hayles Check Out More Helpful Information About DVD Movie Rental For FREE! Visit DVD Movie Rental Now!

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Exclusive Interview: John Shiban, Executive Producer of Supernatural

By: Groshan Fabiola | Posted: 11-12-2006

Supernatural is a great show that currently airs on The CW. If you haven't heard of it, you're not alone. Supernatural isn't publicized too highly, making it one of network TV's hidden gems. John Shiban, an executive producer and writer on Supernatural is one of the most important cogs and driving forces behind Supernatural. John began his career as a staff writer on The X-Files; he was hired specifically by creator Chris Carter. From there, he moved his way that show's totem pole, becoming a producer then an executive producer. As you will read in this exclusive BuddyTV interview, Shiban was a big fan of the science fiction drama growing up and you can tell by the show's he has worked on that his fandom has helped him immensely.

Supernatural is a sci-fi drama about two brothers who travel the country in their 1967 Chevy Impala investigating and thwarting supernatural terrors. Like X-Files there is mythology involved; their parents died mysteriously. There are also countless stand alone episodes, creating a refreshing sort of movie of the week kind of vibe. An upcoming episode plays off the legend of the missing colony of Roanoke.

The science fiction genre has blown up in recent years in the mainstream media, especially on television. Shiban attributes this to the iffy state of the world and that people have, historically, fed off of fantasy during these trying times. This can be witnessed by the popularity of shows like Heroes and Battlestar Galactica. Supernatural is on its way to success, growing in viewers as the series has progressed, also doing quite well in some key demographics. For science fiction fans out there, there's nothing better on television.

If you want an insightful and informative interview, check out BuddyTV's exclusive with John Shiban of Supernatural.

If you want to din out more info about Supernatural or Exclusive Interview: John Shiban, Executive Producer of Supernatural, please visit this link http://www.buddytv.com/

About the Author:

If you want to din out more info about Supernatural or Exclusive Interview: John Shiban, Executive Producer of Supernatural, please visit this link http://www.buddytv.com/

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Borat: Both Sides Of The Debate

By: Gabriel Adams | Posted: 12-12-2006

Borat is a movie that has caused a great deal of controversy. The movie is funny, but the jokes make fun of women, Jewish people, and Gays. The controversy has two sides, those who view the movie as entertainment and those who are outraged because they feel this movie gives people of all ages the impression that there is nothing wrong with having fun at the expense of others. They also feel the movie stereotypes women and Jews in a manner that is disrespectful and not true.

One of the reasons Borat has caused such as stir is because the movie is portrayed as a documentary film. Many viewers believed that it was a realistic documentary, giving more fuel to the fire regarding the information contained in it. Another view of this film is that the producer, Sacha Baron Cohen, is brilliant. Maybe the purpose behind the film is to get people to take notice of how ignorant such behaviors truly are in our society. While many feel the jokes in the movie are border line offensive, they do make people stop and take notice. Maybe it will reflect back to their own statements as well as those made by others they converse with.

Whether you make the choice to see the film Borat or not, it is likely you will hear people talking about it. Some will find it fun entertainment while others will take it as offensive material that should not be available to the public. The producer is remaining quiet about the reasons behind such a film, leaving audiences and critics to draw their own conclusions. Cohen is no stranger to developing and marketing films that the general public finds controversial. While some individuals will go see this movie because of the trailers, it is likely many viewers will see it just to find out what all the hype is about.

About the Author:
Check out our Borat Videos at http://www.boratvideos.com/

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Ali G: Good, Bad, Or...

By: Gabriel Adams | Posted: 12-12-2006

Ali G is becoming a name more and more people are aware of. Debuting in 1998, this is a fictional character that is comically portrayed in movies and shows on the cable network HBO. The character of Ali G is played by the comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. The bold humor of this character is often controversial as it explores political arenas and often creates humor at the expense of identified groups including women, Jews, Gays, Christians, and Politicians. The character of Ali G is a gang member who resides with his grandmother in what can be referred to a ghetto area.

Ali G has gained notoriety in the music world as well. Featured as the limo driver in a Madonna video and recording an album with Shaggy exposed this character to a younger demographic. This fictional character was also the host of the 2001 European MTV award show. Many sports fans got a glimpse of Ali G during the ads he was in for the 2005/2006 season of the NBA.

With the recent release of the movie, Borat, the character of Ali G is finding himself in the fire of a heated debate among those who enjoy the humor of the character and those who feel this character has pushed the envelop far enough. Human rights groups are angry over the antics in this new film, believing they promote stereotyping and lead to labeling of groups.

In an interesting twist, many individuals who were interviewed for the mock documentary movie Borat are filing lawsuits. They claim their responses are being used in a different context than they were given, leading to their families, friends, and even employers viewing them as racists. The movie was released under 20th Century Fox, who comments that there is no foundation for anyone to file a claim, and that all participants in the film did so voluntarily.

The persona of Ali G continues to have many faces from providing humorous entertainment, exploring the music world, being a controversial figure, and being under fire from human rights activists and possible lawsuits. The future of this character should prove to be quite interesting for those who take the time to follow it.

About the Author:
Check out our Ali G Videos at http://www.aligvideos.com/

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Can The Matrix Trilogy Stay As Popular As Star Wars?

By: Gary Ruplinger | Posted: 12-12-2006

Can the extremely popular Sci-Fi movie, The Matrix, have the staying power and interest that the Star Wars movies have had?

Three years after the final movie was released, interest levels are still high as evidenced by a high level of searches on major search engines. A definite cult-like following for the Matrix Trilogy has definitely developed.

Merchandising for these movies has also been huge. The movie spawned several video games, a 10 disc DVD collection, a sunglasses line, in addition to the typical toy and action figure line. The movies have rabid fans who will buy anything that has the Matrix name on it and who have spent countless hours trying to decipher the religious and philosophical messages in the movies.

While a lot of time has been spent by Star Wars enthusiasts on developing additional background and back-story, the same is true of the Matrix movies. One need only look at the Ultimate Matrix Collection which includes several additional DVDs that help explain the entire story of the Matrix in addition to the three DVDs of the movies.

Total worldwide gross on the trilogy of movies is $1,623,967,842, making the Matrix Trilogy one of the most successful trilogies of all time. The original three Star Wars movies have made $1,788,879,251 in worldwide gross revenues.

However, the parallels to the Star Wars movies don't end there. While Star Wars was known for it's ground breaking special effects back in 1979, the first Matrix movie was ground breaking "bullet time" special effects which is now a common effect seen in action movies.

While The Matrix still has a long ways to go in proving that it can remain popular like Star Wars has all these years, so far early numbers indicate that the Matrix movies will stay popular for many years even if no new movies are ever released.

About the Author:
Gary Ruplinger owns MatrixEyewear.com, the top destination on the Internet for Matrix Sunglasses. Stop by and be sure to check out the popular Morpheus Sunglasses.

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Satellite TV Programming

By: james dalton | Posted: 16-12-2006

Once in the past millennium cable TV was king. With satellites spinning around in orbit above us; beaming exquisite television programming, the king had to be dethroned. Programming is the most important thing for any media delivery system. The major players in satellite television are Direct TV and Dish Network. They both offer a myriad of programming choices in the most important areas such as movies, sports, Spanish and international. This allows the viewers to have a wide choice and variety when they sit down on the couch and start clicking away with the remote.

The holy grail of television viewing usually boils down to the movie channels. Movies offer something that appeals to all of us and that’s good entertainment. So if you are looking for action, romance or something foreign, satellite television is the best place to get this. Both Direct TV and Dish Network offer various movie channels and packages. This is extremely important to the discerning consumer who wants the best at all time. The movie programming section offers everything from old movies, new releases and pay-per-view. What ever mood you may be in, there will be something on that will appeal to you the viewer.

Satellite television is a sports fanatic’s Mecca. The sports programming available is immense and diverse. Many wives end up hating satellite television as it becomes a thorn in their sides as their husbands become preoccupied with wide choices available. Unlike cable television, there are channels with programming solely dedicated to that specific sport. If you like basketball, there is a 24 hour channel that shows only basketball games. If you like football, you can turn on your television at any hour of the day and see your gridiron. Whatever you like sporting wise is available to you at the click of the button. Dish Network and Direct TV have done well at making sure of this.

Spanish programming has carved a very important niche in today’s television audience. With the demand for Spanish programming at an all time high, it is time for a television carrier to deliver. Cable television provides Spanish language stations, but compared to what satellite TV has to offer, their offering is very limited. Direct TV and Dish Network, both leaders in consumer television in America, offer Spanish programming packages that satisfy the insatiable demand. Everything from news, movies, sports and children’s programming all in the Spanish language are available.

International programming is an important aspect that puts satellite television over its cable counterpart. The fact that the programming is via satellite it allows for news, sports and movies from every continent on the earth to be beamed into millions of American viewers houses. This is especially useful for many people who are residing thousands of miles away from their home country. Satellite TV offers them a chance to be connected by offering programming from their home country. The major satellite providers Direct TV and Dish network both offer

The one thing that ties the programming together is the all important channel guide. This allows maneuverability through the thousands of choices available. The Direct TV Channel Guide offers their own way of categorizing the channels. Dish Network channel guide, does the same thing with the goal of making it easier for the viewer. In the end they serve their one purpose and that is to organizing and distributing the satellite TV channel programming.

In the end satellite TV programming offers a wide array of channels for everyone to enjoy. Cable television has had its run, but satellite proves to be the bigger and better. With the main programming options such as movies, Spanish, sports and international available to consumers, how can they lose.

About the Author:

James Dalton an author on various topics related to Satellite Television. You can get the latest information about Satellite TV Programming at http://www.ilovesatellitetv.com

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Music In Movies

Imagine being the first person at the turn of the 20th century to have the brilliant idea to couple those old nickelodeon pictures with music. Think back at how satisfying that moment of eureka must have been. Ever since that day, music has found a comfortable and exciting niche in the home of motion pictures which should really be referred to musical motion pictures or motion pictures with musical accompaniment.



Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton made the first popular silent films by utilizing music as if it were their dialogue. Music accelerated the rhythm of the film, accentuated the comedic beats, it lingered on the sadness and it wrapped every emotional scene in a nice little bow.



Through time, some movies have seen a tremendous amount of success more because of their music than the acting or directing or anything else for that matter. A great example is one of Steven Spielberg's earlier efforts Jaws. "It was the music that really made the movie... every time you heard the babam babam, you could imagine the shark biting off the swimmer's leg. It was ingenious." Another favorite horror film that used music in such a way was Alfred Hitchcock class "Psycho."



Ennio Morricone, is one of the most prolific musical composers for film. He has been nominated for the academy award over eleven times, but he has never received the gold. His films are characterized by a strong sense of music that fills in the gap wherever the writing lacks. In Once Upon a Time in the West, Sergio Leone recounts how Morricone composed a unique piece for each character and how that music would play in different variations every time the master character would enter the scene.



Morricone is also responsible for the music in Once Upon a time in America, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Malena.



John Williams is Morricone's American equivalent and while the previous concentrated on sweeping love themes, Williams had sensibilities leaning towards the action-adventure genres. He composed the well-remembered themes for Indiana Jones, Superman, and Star Wars.



In more contemporary times, films like American Beauty, Million Dollar Baby or Machiavelli Hangman (http://www.hangmanmovie.com) have offered a new trend of musical flavors ranging from simple acoustics to just drums creating a strong new breath of originality. Whatever the case may as long as filmmakers understand and use the power of music, their films will only be better off because of it.

About Author

Leila K. Burroughs is a movie reviewer. Machiavelli Hangman http://www.hangmanmovie.com









Source: ArticleTrader.com

The Greatest Movie of All Time

Truth be told. Hollywood hasn't come out with a great movie for a long time. The last great, completely solid motion pictures in the last decade were films like Braveheart, American Beauty and Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, the rest of the films that were offered to us movie fans always found a way to fall short of perfection.



In recent years, there were films such as Lord of the Rings that relied heavily on special effects and the already great fan base that the novels generated. Crash was an independent film that almost made it to the classics category, but the lewd essence and "rough around the edges" quality of the filmmaking cut its chances in half.



Quentin Tarantino wasn't able to duplicate his masterpiece tour-de-force Pulp Fiction with his following tries. Jackie Brown was too talky and it lost its audience's attention after the first 10 minutes and Kill Bill was the exact opposite and could never be taken as a serious cinematic work.



Sixth Sense was an innovation in the world of cinema but it didn't have enough solidity through out its whole body to complement the great conclusion. The Usual Suspects had the same situation by having a powerful ending but nothing so impressive leading up to it.



How about all those comic book adaptations? It seems like filmmakers these days make films to make money and there is really no drive toward creativity and taking risks. One of the films that was recently nominated for the Oscars was Lost in Translation - which although so small managed to stand on its own too feet. It was a breeze of fresh air and it didn't feel like two hours; it felt like a casual and satisfying conversation with a person across the dinner table.



Machiavelli Hangman achieved that magic even though it was also swimming in the same low-budget waters as Lost in Translation. When there is so much at stake, there seems to be an awkward sense of restriction placed on how far the film can take you. The high budget and production values place that limitation on risk and spontaneity and it doesn't leave the story any room for breathing.



Napoleon Dynamite was made just like Machiavelli Hangman (http://www.hangmanmovie.com), on a thread-thin budget but it felt real and that's the reason for its tremendous success. The irony is that no matter how many of these "real" movies prove successful at the box-office, studios continue to make motion pictures that depend mainly on special effects and visuals.



Learn from the amateurs. Focus on story.

About Author

Arthur Kohoutova is a movie reviewer. Machiavelli Hangman http://www.hangmanmovie.com









Source: ArticleTrader.com

Comic Book Superhero's in Movies

The Movie Industry and the Comic Book Superhero

The public fascination with comic book superhero characters
have been exploited by movie production companies for
years. Hollywood has been creating feature length comic
book movies, movie serials and TV shows to continue to whet
our appitites. But as special effect technology and costume
designs became better and better, Hollywood kicked it up a
notch with feature-length high budget productions.
Superman, the Movie and the 3 sequels started in the 1970s
and the '90s and beyond brought us Batman, The Hulk, the
X-Men and the now infamous Spider-Man, to name a few.

Why all this interest in producing comic book superhero
movies? Big bucks!! The two Spider-Man movies alone have
netted about 800 million dollars apiece in worldwide ticket
sales. That's not chicken feed. This kind of income could
not be generated without an avid public interest in comic
book movies. So if you feel you are alone in your voracious
passion for your own comic book collection, think again.

And now a new twist has been added. Directors, screenplay
writers, and even actors are writing for, of all things,
comic books now. Big name Hollywood writers are helping to
sell more comics. For example, Joss Whedon, perhaps best
known for creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has written
stories for Marvel in the series Astonishing X-Men. Back in
the 90s, who would have known that all these fan boys had
been hiding in the Hollywood woodworks waiting for comics
to gain some cultural credibility?

If you haven't followed some of the comic news of the last
several months, Stan "the man" Lee has been fighting his
personal battle with His life long employer, Marvel Comics.
Stan is probably one of the most well known character
creators in the comic book industry. He has characters like
Batman, Spider-Man and the Hulk credited to his creative
imagination.

Seems Stan had a contractual agreement with Marvel for 10%
of any revenue acquired by Marvel from comic book superhero
movies and TV projects centered on Stan characters. But
apparently the high dollar superstructure of the corporate
mind doesn't want to part with all their income. Now this
is nothing new, but Stan Lee managed to win the first round
for the little guy. The judge presiding over Stan's case
agreed that Stan should receive his share of the agreed on
profits.

Now maybe Stan will get his share and maybe he won't.
Sounds like Marvel will be appealing the decision. At any
rate, if there weren't big bucks involved in the production
of comic book superhero movies, this case would not have
been such an issue.

I believe the near future is going to bring many more of my
favorite comic book superheroes to the silver screen. I
have already started my own DVD collection and as more
comic book superheroes get transferred from the screen to
round disc, I will continue to increase the size of my
collection. Do you think a DVD comic book movie collection
will be worth as much as a comic book collection in the
future? Probably not, but that won't stop me from building
my collection anyway.

What does the future hold for comic book superhero movies?
It almost seems that we can call the present and near
future the Golden Age of the comic book movie. I spend a
lot of time researching comic book superheros and creating
new content for my comic book site. Is there a movie in the
planning stages for your favorite comic book superhero? A
frequent visit to my site may inform you as to when you can
expect the next comic book movie. See you there.

About Author

Dave Gieber owns and edits a website built around one of his childhood passions. Learn the basic essentials to comic book collecting success. To receive your free 5-part mini course visit: www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/5-day-course.html







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Actress Nicole Kidman

Who's Afraid Of Nicole Kidman

A tall elegant redhead, Nicole Kidman, who has appeared often as a blonde or a brunette is the films she has graced with her incredibly subtle performances. While she tries to choose good scripts, her fans nevertheless will watch anything she's in and walk away satisfied with much disregard to story or other performances.



It did not come as a surprise when she was finally nominated for her work in Moulin Rouge. She was working on Dogville when she received word of the nomination. How this woman can juggle her success with raising two children is beyond belief for some, but Kidman is known for her firm discipline in work as well as in life.



While her last films did not complement her talent, they did enjoy a decent amount of box office success. Interestingly it seems that she chooses what films to do based on the same genres. Recently, she has played mostly quirky characters in a group of comedies (Stepford Wives, Bewitched) while many have confused her more dramatic roles in tragedo-dramas (Birth, Dogville, The Human Stain).



Kidman has worked with the most prolific actors ranging from Stanley Kubrick to Sidney Pollack to Gus Van Sant and Lans Van Trier and she has a lot of more work coming up soon.



These days, whatever project enters the casting process, Kidman's name always seems to be the first to come up. For a while she was rumored to have been involved with the highly secretive JFK script Machiavelli Hangman - http://www.hangmanmovie.com (directed by Shervin Youssefian - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1352346/), to be produced by then hubby Tom Cruise. Her involvement with the hangman is still not completely certain but a possible cameo may surprise audiences at the film's release, in late December.



Kidman is also involved with seven other projects that will be soon in theatres everywhere. These include Wedding Season, American Darlings, Emma's War, The Lady From Shanghai, Invasion, Happy Feet and Fur.



In the Tony Scott directed Emma's War, Kidman plays with co-star Taylor Handley. This movie is said to bring her a second Oscar win for her role as an aid worker in the Sudan who marries a warlord who wants to take over the country.



Kidman's range as an actress has attracted many filmmakers but interestingly enough, she has never worked with either Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese who are two of the most important American directors of the time.



With so much work on her plate, one would wonder how she makes the time to devote 100% to each project and always come out brilliant. Not a lot of people could deal with so much pressure and that is the precise reason why there is only one Nicole Kidman on the charts.

About Author

Deborah Weingrod is a movie reviewer. Machiavelli Hangman http://www.hangmanmovie.com









Source: ArticleTrader.com

Peter Jackson's King Kong

King Kong Review

Three time Oscar winner Peter Jackson reteams with his screenwriting partners Phillipa Boyens and Fran Walsh to retell the story of King Kong. The large ape who is captured and brought to civilization to meet its tragic ends. Jackson was always interested in retelling the story of the love story between the large creature and Ann Darrow (played by Naomi Watts).



After his great success from the Lord of the Ring trilogies, Peter Jackson dove right back into filmmaking with this great and popular character in the history of cinema. There had been so many films made based on the original that it was difficult to know where to begin and where to end and still keep the audience on its toes. After a long casting period, the main players were chosen and moved to New Zealand to begin production. Adrian Brodey and Jack Black were the first to step on the boat.



Jackson completed principal photography a few months ago in New Zealand he is now working with his team of editors to polish the rough ends. While a trailer was released recently, many people criticized the fact that King Kong was revealed to the audience as opposed to extending the teaser and suspense period.



Recent poles and statistics have shown that the trailers that give away the least amount of information on the film are the one to bring the more people to the theatres. "And it's quite understandable. People go to see what has been marinating in their imaginations... With King Kong, the trailer doesn't leave much room for anything else. We know what he looks like and how he moves. I think that this was a very bad move on part of the marketing team," says Brian Copote.



Other films that are said to be released around the same time as King Kong are Machiavelli Hangman (http://www.hangmanmovie.com) and Wedding Season with Nicole Kidman. Whether these two smaller films will be completely crushed by the size of Jackson's mega-motion picture is to be seen.



So far, Peter Jackson, has enjoyed a great amount of following for the Lord of the Rings mainly because there was such a huge fan base of the book and there had never been a movie made from the books. In this case, King Kong was never based on any novels and it has been shown on the silver screen several times. This may or may not be a handicap but one thing's for sure. It will certainly not equal the $300,000,000 success of the Lord of the Rings.

About Author

Laney-Jane Jackman is a pediatrician and a part time film reviewer for online publications. Machiavelli Hangman http://www.hangmanmovie.com









Source: ArticleTrader.com

Ultraviolet DVD Review

Ultraviolet review

The film starts out with rather unique comic covers for the title sequence. There is a reason, this is a comic book movie. I don't mean like X-men or Hulk, a big screen adaption of a comic, I mean a visual abuse of the media to produce comic style entertainment in a theatre.

Yes, the story does contain something about vampires, but beyond the pointed teeth little is talked about. Essentially you have a government created infliction, a bunch of hunted down infected people and an evil facist government that sees germs and disease as the no. 1 enemy.

In walks Violet, yup, she's infected. Yup, she's mightly pissed off. Yup, she's on a rampage, hell it'd be a dull movie if she overcame her issues and took up knitting.

This film is everything that the disappointing Aeon Flux wasn't. While Aeon showed how empty a film like this can be, Ultraviolet shows how attention to detail makes the tired old concept of "ultimate assasin turns on their maker and seeks revenge" can actually create something unique, fresh and exciting.

Directed by the man responsible for Equilibrium, expect some kick ass martial arts/gun fights. If there's one thing that man knows, it is how to make pulling a trigger and kicking a barrel load of ass look like hot steamy sex on the big screen.

There's also all manner of cool gadgets, inventions and technology within the film that just simply aren't talked about or explained. You know, that's a good thing. The idea the audience need some Star Trek style technobabble to explain away every plot device is a moronic one, I've no care for how this shit works, just that it looks cool when it does. Watch the film, you'll see what I mean.

The dialogue is... well... forgettable. A series of groans, grunts and traded insults about who isn't going to leave the room alive and such.

The acting is the same, Oscars won't be won, but essentially all that is needed are a few snarls and some tension, which Mila Jovovich provides, despite fully expecting "Umbrella corp" to be lurking around the corner, due to similarties between this and the Resident Evil movies.

That isn't to say the movie sucks, it doesn't, like I say I left the theatre saddended that this wasn't Aeon Flux, it should have been: Stylish, sexy, futuristic film about a vengeful assasin with some great set pieces, cool tech and gorgeous sets/costumes.

So, if you like Mila, or just like ass kicking or guns, you won't be disappointed in this movie. Plot is entirely optional (and to be honest I've pretty much already forgotten it).

Rating: 4 out of 5

About Author

The author is the founder of Further Down the Rabbit Hole, a vampire community designed to promote the normal, everyday side to real vampirism by delving deeper into Vampire, Gothic and dark culture.



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Planet of the Apes

The Metaphor of Planet of the Apes

What you have to understand about the original Planet of the Apes movies is that is was an A-List movie. It had a respectable budget, a respectable director, and stars that been in major motion pictures in the past - Charlton Heston (no slouch) Roddy McDowell (also no slouch) and almost Edward G. Robinson. I'll explain what happened, later, but he started filming and left. And most of all the first draft of the script was authored by none other than master story teller Rod Serling.

It had a lot going for it. There was a special on the series that I watched that detailed all of these things, and as these 'making of' specials tend to it made every decision look like it was inspired genius. What the special glossed over was the central metaphor of the movie. The special said that it wasn't clear what the metaphor was, though unfortunately, it was and looking back from the twenty first century the metaphor was clearly racism. On the Planet of the Apes the monkeys were once the slaves of the humans but they rose up and became their own masters. The reason that no one wants to touch this one is because monkeys can be equated with former African slaves and that is an ugly and insensitive connection. It's also almost certainly the one that was intended.

My favorite show, Star Trek, often used metaphor and often painfully obvious metaphor. They tackled racism once in the guise of two aliens from a planet that had been racked with civil strife. These aliens were portrayed with black grease paint on one side of their face and white grease paint on the other, but they hated each other because of the side that was black and white, which happened to be opposite. See, there's the irony. To the human eyes the difference of the sides was silly, but to them it was critically important - so that means that our racism (it was the sixties) is silly also.

For the time, I guess that was a daring statement, though these days it seems quaint and prosaic. Anyways, to get back to the Planet of the Apes - for it's time it also was a powerful message. When Charlton Heston sees the remains of the Statue of Liberty in the foreground and does his marvelous bellowing speech about the maniacs blowing it all up damn them, damn them all to hell! What he is clearly showing is that racism was destroying the promise of the United States - freedom and equality and all that. Sure it seems trite today, but the first time it wasn't.

Slavery we all know now is wrong. What I have trouble getting my brain around is that for human history it wasn't considered so. How could human beings have believed in and practiced this sort of abomination for - basically for ever except the slim era of present history? Currently slavery is legal nowhere and it is also currently more prevalent than any other time. Most of the slaves who have ever been alive are alive right now.

This statistic I got from a Dateline NBC Special. In this special the correspondent went undercover to an Eastern European country and bought himself a sex slave, who of course, he freed right afterwards. He paid eighteen hundred dollars. The woman's story - his slave - was sad beyond belief. She grew up in an orphanage, was developmentally disabled, and at the age of fourteen she was thrown out of the orphanage where she lived in the sewers for two years before being enslaved and forced to earn her keep by having sex dozens of times per night while being fed beans and beans only.

Back to Plantet of the Apes: The Tim Burton version was one that I looked forward to eagerly, and which I was therefore disappointed in when I finally saw it. His version was a mess. Not the visuals, mind you, Burton is a master at putting out visually stunning movies that are an absolute confused mish mash. This was definitely one of them. Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes meant basically nothing and the contrived ending was obviously something that the studio insisted that he put in so he would have some sort of an ending comparable to the origninal. It wasn't. It was stupid.

Please take my advice and see the original, or own the original since its now out on DVD. It's the whole series I think.

About Author

Steve Sommers is the author of REXROI, and Evil Super-Villains need Love, Too ... and other important wisdom. (Both books can be viewed by simply clicking on the titles)



Source: ArticleTrader.com

Amityville Horror on DVD

The Amityville Weight Set

The remake of the Amityville Horror is now out on DVD. If I remember correctly, the original Amityville Horror movie wasn't such a blockbuster and it's a true puzzlement that anyone would take a second shot at it. Thumby movie critics, Ebert and Roeper, were unable to review it because the movie company didn't want the critics to see it. So, that's not a good sign. My amazing connection to this movie was that I bought a set of weights from a guy from Amityville.

Yes. It's incredible and hard to believe, but here's how it happened. It was at an airforce base in Greece where I read the entire book, The Amityville Horror. I never actually bought the book, but just read the whole thing standing in the aisles. This bookstore was a fair-sized one which was run by Greeks who had what I think is the most unique way of organizing I've ever seen.

Let me ask you - say you were going to open a bookstore - how do you think you might organize the books? Subject matter, maybe. Or perhaps alphabetical by author? Or publisher or even the color of the cover? You'd do it in some logical way, wouldn't you? Not them. They organized the books by price. (no, no, I'm not kidding). Is that the dumbest thing you've ever heard of? Have you ever said to yourself that you want to read a twenty five dollar book, for example? Anyways, the Greeks there didn't like me too much because I was pretty insistent that they find a different method of inventory. Which, 0f course, they never did.

The book was written in the form of a daily diary and I had to wonder who on Earth goes to the trouble of starting and maintaining a daily diary about their friggin' house? Do you have friends or family who've ever done that? It's pretty abnormal, I think. The story was that this family moved into this house and all sorts offrightening paranormal activities started happening. Then they find out that a gruesome mass murder had been committed there before they'dbought it and it was haunted like you wouldn't believe. I forget how I met this guy from Amityville who I bought the weights from, but I did ask him about this and he said that he hadn't known the family who wrote the book, but knew the family who were murdered and the guy who murdered them, whom he described as a pretty normal fellow who he would see down at the local bar.

Later I saw a special on the Amityville Horror on PBS. (I don't know why I was watching PBS and I also don't know why they would do a show on this). On the show, they interviewed the people who had bought the house after the Amityville Horrors and found the house not to be the least bit haunted at all. The wife had, in fact, gone to the trouble of looking up the daily weather reports that matched the dates in the book and not one matched. That pretty much cinched it for me that the house was never haunted.

Those weights I bought from that Amityville guy, however - they were.

About Author

Steve Sommers is the author of REXROI, and Evil Super-Villains need Love, Too ... and other important wisdom. (Both books can be viewed by simply clicking on the titles)



Source: ArticleTrader.com

Shop Cable TV vs. Satellite Services

Comparing Cable and Satellite

There's a lot of debate over whether satellite television providers or cable television providers offer superior service, value, and program selection. But when you compare cable television with a satellite television provider like Dish Network, there really is no comparison. Dish Network is able to offer more programming in more different areas than cable television, and all of it with the high quality of a completely digital signal.

For example, Dish Network Offers programming packages starting at about $20 while cable packages start at around $70. Dish Network can also deliver well over 200 channels, while cable providers top out at around 100. Dish Network can deliver special seasonal sports subscriptions like MLB Extra Innings, ESPN Gameday, NHL on the Ice, and NBA League Pass, while cable just provides your local sports programming. Dish Network also lets you hook up extra televisions for no additional charge while cable bills you at upwards of an extra $5 per television. Dish Network offers free equipment upgrades to help you get a digital video recorder or HDTV. Cable doesn't bother.

So how is Dish Network able to deliver so much more while charging so much less money? The answer is simple: Dish Network doesn't rely on cables to deliver it's programming. Dish Network's digital television signals are sent from a broadcasting station on the Earth's surface up to satellites orbiting 25,000 miles above the equator. The satellites bounce the signals back to the Earth where they can be picked up by anyone who has a satellite dish and receiver capable of decoding them. The electromagnetic waves that carry the signals are essentially free and don't have any inherent limit on the amount of data they can carry. Cables on the other hand cost money to buy and install, and will always be limited in the amount of data they can carry. In other words, while cable companies struggle to improve their infrastructure to meet the constantly growing demand for more data intensive TV technology, Dish Network can simply concentrate on finding better ways to deliver that technology to it's customers.

Another advantage that Dish Network has is that it operates on a greater scale. Most cable companies are local affairs which means that each company operates in a limited area with limited customers. Those limited customers have to bear the brunt of all of the costs associated with running the business. Dish Network on the other hand is a nationwide company that spreads it's administrative costs out over it's 12 million customers. This means that Dish Network costs less to run for each customer than cable and the savings can be passed on to the customers and used to improve programming and technology. Also because of the fact that Dish Network's satellites are broadcasting their signals everywhere, there's no limit on the number of people who can sign up for the service. All you need to get Dish Network service is a place where you can set up a dish and aim it at a patch of sky to the south. But if you want cable TV service and you're too far out of town, you're simply out of luck.

To give credit where credit is due, cable providers are trying to catch up, but considering the disadvantages of their technology and their business model they're simply too far behind. Satellite TV companies like Dish Network will continue to move forward in meeting the high demands of television enthusiasts everywhere.

About Author

W. King writes articles for consumers who want to find the best Dish Network offers currently available. She has written for many major publications about the latest satellite TV deals and promotions and how buyers can find the best discounts.



Source: ArticleTrader.com