My Favorite Movie - Kung Fu Panda

In a quest to save Kung Fu, Po, the 'Dragon Warrior' Panda and the Furious Five make their journey to China but what lies ahead can change Po's life forever. The place not only is the land of Kung Fu Legends, but also holds the mystery to Po's identity. His arch enemy Lord Shen has a connection to Po's past that Po's unaware of. What starts as a mission for Po to save Kung Fu soon turns into a struggle to master Oogway's last lesson of Kung Fu- "Inner Peace". There's never a dull moment. And, the best part about the animation is that it brings the element of comic virility alive. There are a lot of scenes of wonderful sequences and unpredictable comic timing in action that leaves the spectator filled with delight. The action sequences are full of awesome Kung fu moves and funny twists.

Comical character designs and playful animation; and an all-star cast of voice actors with such recognizable articulation that they breach the visual barrier of their 3D alter egos. Although the first film defined the characters, their relationships, destinies and the setting of ancient Asia, this second outing has the opportunity to utilize each role purely for action, adventure, comic relief and even a bit of pathos. Just when the sappiness ramps up to the point of unbearable, the script has enough sense to thwart eye-rolls (or tears if the manipulation worked) with sharply contrasting humor. The underlying discordance is Po's hazy recollection of the past and the desire to know who he is, how he ended up the son of a goose, and what happened to his real parents. Is Po in need of confidence or the drive of revenge? Are his actions provoked by inner peace, as the movie insists on preaching, or by the powerful force that is adrenaline-pumping payback?

This leads to the invincibility exhibited by all parties, which reduces the urgency and seriousness of every predicament. Po is immune to injuries and haphazardly shields himself from harm with an accidental frying pan, a lucky misstep, or a loose floor plank that swings up (like stepping on a rake) to block an onslaught of throwing knives. Crane similarly avoids danger with spastic flight, and Tigress has no excuses at all - she suffers only singed whiskers after taking a cannonball to the face. Gravity and physics also seem to utterly evade the heroes, playing no part in their unlikely escapes - although it does make the creatively complex chase sequences more intense and spontaneous. he movie is very moving in certain key moments that leaves the audience spellbound mostly due to the poignancy of the emotion combined with Po's innocence and truthfulness that's reflected in his face. Everyone can relate to the Panda in moments when his eyes shine with each new realization that brings him and with him the audience closer to 'Inner Peace'.

Introduction Of The Princess Diaries

A princess tiara is the perfect girls birthday party favor when your theme is a princess celebration. A tiara is always associated with a princess. We associate a crown with the queen, and the tiara is the smaller version we usually see on younger members of the royal family.A tiara is also called a diadem.which I learned when I watched Harry Potter.The history of the tiara brings us all the way back to ancient Egypt where it was first crafted. From that time, we see it all through history. It's said that Napoleon required all his family members to wear one so everyone would recognize who they were. But we always knew he had a complex, right?

Think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Roman Holiday, Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries, and any other Hollywood princess movie. It is a well known fact that Queen Elizabeth loves tiaras and has quite a valuable collection of them.Pageant contestants are always looking for a tiara that matches their beautiful costumes. You don't have to be a bride or a beauty pageant contestant to wear a tiara, you might just be a little girl at a princess theme birthday party!One of the easiest, and perhaps best, ways to decorate a princess theme bedroom that will make your little girl feel like the queen of her castle is to pick a particular princess from your daughter's collection of storybooks and movies, and base your girls room decor around the world of that character. That way, you have all the color schemes, accessories, settings, and other design elements already determined for you - handed to you on a silver platter, as it were.

And so, to help inspire your creativity and help make the process of creating your little girl's ideal princess theme bedroom, here - in no particular order - is a list of Disney princesses to choose from - both animated and live-action, both the more famous, popular, and obvious princesses.What's more, to help complete the inspiration for your precious little girls room decor, every one of these timeless characters comes with their own set of friends and foes (and let's not forget, princes), as well as settings and accessories - all of which make the magic of each princess's own unique fairy tale world come to life.you can then sit down with an expert designer of custom girls beds and unique children's furniture, and have perfect princess castle bed or other theme bed built to design the rest of the room around.

Development of the cinema

The development of the cinema industry is getting so fast that it's practically impossible to watch all the movies issued. But how to define what movie is worth watching and what does not deserve your attention? We all know that in some cases films with an inviting title are dull movies and a waste of time. From other point of view, there are situations when the title doesn't draw your attention, when at the same time the video itself belongs to the high-quality videos of this genre.You cannot also rely on reviews of people that have already watched the video film. It is evident that tastes are different, so the video that seemed exciting to one person will be dull for others, and the other way round. This is the reason why the creation of video trailers was a breakthrough in the development of the cinema industry.

Video preview like it's also called, represents an advertisement of the film that is coming in cinemas in the nearest time. Such a term for this advertisement - trailer – appeared owing to the fact that initially advertisements were shown in cinemas at the end of the film. Quite soon video film producers understood that such practice was not beneficial as the majority of people left the cinema when the video film ended without paying any attention to the advertisements of coming videos. Video previews were moved to the beginning of a cinema seance, but the term trailer stuck.

So, at the present time everybody has got a great chance to watch a video trailer prior to making a decision if to watch the video itself or not. A video film trailer is made of a series of shots taken from the movie. These are commonly the most exciting, funny or other outstanding parts of the film. As a rule the scenes give you an idea about the genre of the film and its principal plot, while you still don't know for sure what is going to occur in the end. This way you spend just a couple of minutes on watching a film preview and you get an idea whether you are going to like the movie or not. I am sure you agree that it is better to spend a minute or two on a movie trailer than to waste 2 hours on watching the film you do not like.

If you're interested in a certain film, be certain that you will find its preview in the Internet and it'll help you to take a decision whether to go to the cinema or not.

Edge Of Darkness

Mel Gibson returns to a principal job in Edge of Darkness with an esteemed crew. There's the director of one of the best Bond films, GoldenEye (I'll take it over the non-Bond-esquire but still enjoyable Casino Royale). One of the screenwriters is William Monohan, who gained an Oscar for stealing... taking the screenplay from Mou gaan dou (Infernal Affairs) and adapting it headed for The Departed. Together with all of this talent it's safe headed for assume a competent character, but the title is such an obvious prelude on the way to a dim experience.
Meanwhile, the culprits enlist the help of the mysterious Jedburgh (Ray Winstone) toward keep the damaged Tom from unraveling the grander scheme. The result: the requisite game of cat along with mouse, which just about doubles as the James Bond script Mel Gibson was never offered.
It's good to find a motion picture that has carnage along with mayhem that doesn't seem on the way to be implemented with an iron CGI fist. Edge of Darkness can be exiting at times because you never know when chaos will ensue, along with the neorealism nature of it can be brutality off- putting toward some individuals. When it comes toward gun violence or vehicular homicide, director Martin Campbell takes his Bond experience along with ramps it into the valley of the R.
to its credit, Edge of Darkness does mix together some hit moments. What felt like a pitiful ode headed for Star Wars gains a much-needed explanation later in the motion picture. Ray Winstone is the scene-stealer, though there were plenty of times where his script must had told him on the way to speak inaudibly. Danny Houston is excellent as well as Ray Winstone are so convincing in their roles that you find yourself routing for a man who openly admits toward killing for a living...
Even with his current run-ins with the media, Mel Gibson is still one of the most gifted actors of the world. True, some people think otherwise, but this was the best suspenseful story I've seen this year. If you didn't think it couldn't get any better, think again as the third act along with final acts of this film will have you on the edge of your seat like no other. I say you should see this motion picture not just for Gibson's performance, but for all the tight twists along with turns that are peppered throughout. I for one think that Mr Gibson has redeemed himself in the eyes of his peers along with this film alone is enough to warrant the believe that he's made a grand comeback. All he needs on the way to do now is make a live apology.

Russell Brand Producing New Comedy

Arthur might not have exactly been the box office success all involved were hoping for, but it appears Warner Bros. still wants to work with Russell Brand. He’s now locked in to star and produce a new comedy called The President Stole My Girlfriend for the studio.

There's no director attached yet, but Matt Portenoy wrote the script, which Warners grabbed and handed to Brand to develop with his Branded Films production company. There are few details about the plot, though Brand did lay it out briefly to The Hollywood Reporter: "In this movie, the president steals the girlfriend of a sexy hippie — me, obviously," he says. "It was inspired by the night I naively invited  Jeff Robinov for dinner."

Portenoy is seeing his star rise as a writer, having worked on a draft of the Porky’s remake and contributed a segment to Movie 43, a collection of short comic tales overseen by the Farrelly brothers. Portenoy’s chunk was directed by Griffin Dunne and starred Emma Stone.

Brand will next be seen in Rock Of Ages, followed by work on Diablo Cody’s currently untitled crisis-of-faith comedy drama alongside Ages’ Julianne Hough and The Help’s Octavia Spencer.

Inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival off to promising start

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio as revered and reviled FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, the Warner Bros. biopic was the main attraction for sneak preview night of the inaugural Napa Valley Film Festival.

An overflow crowd waited patiently outside the Yountville Community Center just prior to sunset, eager to take in the latest effort from Oscar-winning actor/director Eastwood. Most made it into the 300-seat venue; some had to wait for the second screening which attracted a nearly full house.

Some two-and-a-half years in the making, the first Napa Valley Film Festival was off to a promising start Wednesday, noted co-producer Marc Lhormer, with screenings of other films in Napa, St. Helena and Calistoga in addition to the Warner Bros. premiere offering.

Lhormer told the sneak preview night crowd that he and his wife, Brenda — who’s serving as festival co-director — felt the Napa Valley is “such a fantastic festival environment.” With venues spread throughout the valley from Calistoga to Napa, he hoped filmgoers would take the opportunity to enjoy not only screenings of a variety of films on the five-day playbill but also what each of the communities had to offer.

Yountville Mayor John Dunbar said he and fellow town council members were proud to kick off the festival with the “J. Edgar” screenings. He predicted this would be “only the first of many successful years” of the town participating in the Napa Valley Film Festival.

Dunbar and a packed house of first-nighters spent the next two-and-a-quarter hours engrossed in Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black’s (“Milk”) exploration of the public and private life of one of the most powerful, controversial and enigmatic figures of the 20th century. Hoover founded the F.B.I. in 1935 and remained director until his death in 1972.

As head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for nearly 50 years, the film points out that Hoover would stop at nothing to protect his country. Through eight presidents and three wars, Hoover waged battle against threats both real and perceived, often bending the rules to keep his countrymen safe. His methods were both ruthless and heroic, with the admiration of the world his most coveted, if ever elusive, prize.

DiCaprio captures the very essence of a man who placed great value on secrets — particularly those of others — and was not afraid to use that information to exert authority over the leading figures in the nation.

Eastwood has also incorporated a touching love story, focusing throughout on the close, yet often strained relationship between Hoover and his assistant, Clyde Tolson, sensitively portrayed by Armie Hammer. The film also features Judi Dench as Hoover’s domineering mother and Naomi Watts as long-time personal secretary Helen Gandy. Eastwood also composed the incidental music for the film.

Following the screening, many of the festival passholders, VIPs, industry insiders and media adjourned to Yountville’s Groezinger Estate House for the Sneak Night After-Party, enjoying hearty savories and sweets prepared by Cuvée restaurant chef Jordan Mackey and his crew and the Sugar Mama Bakery, paired with wines from Mi Sueno and Domaine Chandon.

Thursday night’s scheduled stellar opening night film is “The Descendants,” the new Fox Searchlight film starring George Clooney. It is to be screened twice at the Napa Valley Opera House. Featuring taste treats from some two dozen area chefs, the post-premiere Opening Night Gala is to be held at the Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville.

Race Across The Sky

At 10,000+ feet, against the misty backdrop of a former mining town, Leadville, Colorado, 1228 cyclists line the starting line. For many, it will be the most difficult race of their lives. For some, a bragging right to say they raced alongside the best in the world. Some imagine victory. Most hope only to finish. But everyone will count.

The race that started 25 years ago as a running race to drive tourism in Leadville has now grown to a lottery cap of 1000+ competitors, many of them the world’s most elite cyclists. But the Leadville Trail 100 “Race Across the Sky” Mountain Bike Race is not just a race of man against man:  it’s man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs. elements, man vs. time. A clock set for 12 grueling hour’s slugs through 100 miles, over 14,000 vertical feet of climbing, some two miles above sea level, through extreme climate changes ranging from heat to hail, from rain to snow.  To the racers, the risks of injury, fatigue and mechanical failure pale next to the chance that they will fall behind the 12 hour cut off mark and be eliminated.

Rivalries include six-time defending champion Dave Wiens vs. international star / seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.  Inspirational stories of human triumph include a Leadville woman rider who was critically injured by a car while training for last year’s race, another who suffers from multiple sclerosis, and 45+ rider who has raced all 15 years.

Whether they’re international stars of the sport or everyday folks with the will to finish a race whose difficulty is on par with the Ironman, the grit to push to their own physical and emotional limits strikes an elegant symmetry between racer and environment and a struggling former mining town whose very existence now relies on the tourism generated by this race.

Special Screening: Family Instinct

Coming to NYC’s Rooftop Films this Sunday, June 26: FAMILY INSTINCT

I wrote about Latvian director Andris Gauja’s mostly-but-not-entirely-unstaged documentary after its international debut at IDFA this fall for indieWIRE, saying:

The fact that Zanda has had two children with her brother Valdis is presented immediately and in the most matter of fact manner in Gauja’s film. This hardly seems to be the main problem faced by the poor, rural Latvians in FAMILY INSTINCT. Valdis is in jail, from which he sends his sister increasingly disturbing and threatening letters. Zanda shares her small home not only with her kids but with other family members and neighbors prone to drinking, disruptive arguments, and violence. A quiet, but also alcoholic, neighbor might be her salvation, but he fears retribution from Valdis, and Zanda fears losing her kids. Stark and at times painful to watch, but always gripping.

The Biblioburro of The Donkey Library

Carlos Rendón Zipagauta’s documentary has screened at a number of film festivals in shorter versions, spreading the story of Colombian Luis Soriano and his mobile lending library. With next week’s upcoming POV screening, Soriano’s efforts will get a much larger audience.

Rendón Zipagauta’s film follows Soriano as he and his donkey trek over dangerous terrain to bring books, and the love of learning, to children in rural communities. Spending his weekends on this mission for over a decade, the elementary school teacher is single-handedly helping to make a change in his fellow countrymen, encouraging the next generation to become educated and to better their situation and their country in return. As he makes his rounds, his conversations with his donkey provide needed information – an unexpectedly clever yet natural exposition device.

BIBLIOBURRO tells a simple, but truly inspirational, story. Soriano and his burro make for immediately likeable subjects, and like Jennifer Arnold’s A SMALL ACT, his actions demonstrate how the simplest idea or action can affect lasting change.