VIZ Cinema to Screen Four Films by Kenji Mizoguchi

VIZ CINEMA CELEBRATES DIRECTOR KENJI MIZOGUCHI WITH FOUR FILMS IN JUNE AS PART OF UNTOLD LEGENDS SERIES

VIZ Cinema and NEW PEOPLE spotlight another of film’s greatest directors -- Kenji Mizoguchi – with four just-announced films that will screen Saturday, June 19th – Thursday, June 24th as part of the theatre’s Untold Legends series with runs throughout June.

Director Kenji Mizoguchi’s signature is the expression of strength, sorrow, and fragility of women, and his mastery of the long take and mise-en-scène are legendary. His 1953 film, Ugetsu, won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and his films went on to have a tremendous impact on Western directors including Jean-Luc Godard, Andrei Tarkovsky, Jacques Rivette, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Theo Angelopoulos. VIZ Cinema proudly presents four of Mizoguchi’s greatest works – Sisters of the Gion, Ugetsu, Street of Shame, and Utamaro and His Five Women – in crisp 35mm with English subtitles.

Tickets, screening times and more details are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

Sisters of the Gion, June 19th – June 21st and also June 24th
(1936, 69min, 35mm, with English Subtitles)
Sisters of the Gion follows the parallel paths of the independent, unsentimental Omocha and her sister, the more tradition-minded Umekichi, who are both geishas in the working-class district of Gion. Mizoguchi’s film is a brilliantly shot and provides an uncompromising look at the forces that kept many women at the bottom rung of the social ladder.

Ugetsu, June 19th – June 22nd
(1953, 94min, 35mm, with English Subtitles)
Ugetsu is a ghost story like no other and the Japanese director’s supreme achievement. Derived from stories by Akinari Ueda and Guy de Maupassant, this haunting tale of love and loss – with its exquisite blending of the otherworldly and the real – is one of the most beautiful films ever made.

Street of Shame, June 19th – June 20th and June 22nd – 23rd
(1956, 87min, 35mm, with English Subtitles)
For his final film, Mizoguchi brought a lifetime of experience to bear on the heartbreaking tale of a brothel in Tokyo’s red light district, full of women whose dreams are constantly being shattered by the socioeconomic realities that surround them in post-war Japan.

Utamaro and His Five Women, June 19th – June 20th and June 23rd – June 24th
(1946, 106min, 35mm, with English Subtitles)
Inspired by the life and work of the wood block print artist, Utamaro Kitagawa (1753-1806), who revolutionized the medium by capturing human emotion into his artwork, Utamaro and His Five Women is a fascinating study of a man’s dedication to his art and adherence to self-expression in a time of rigid conformity.


VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX®-certified sound system.

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

Review: Scorsese, DiCaprio Revived Old Hollywood Style with "The Aviator"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Aviator (2004)
Running time: 170 minutes (2 hours, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual content, nudity, language, and a crash sequence
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese
WRITER: John Logan
PRODUCERS: Sandy Climan, Charles Evans, Jr., Graham King, and Michael Mann
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Richardson
EDITOR: Thelma Schoonmaker
Academy Award winner

DRAMA

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Adam Scott, Matt Ross, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Brent Spiner, Willem Dafoe, Kelli Garner, and Frances Conroy

Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator recounts the years of Howard Hughes’ (Leonardo DiCaprio) life from the late 1920’s to the late 1940’s. In that epoch, the eccentric billionaire industrialist was a Hollywood film mogul producing scandalous and infamous films. However, he was best known even in Hollywood as the daring pilot who was test flying innovative aircraft he built and designed. The film begins with Hughes’ four-year odyssey making his war epic film, Hell’s Angels, and ends with him preparing to take the next big steps in aeronautics after the successful flight of his giant wooden plane he called The Hercules, but others derogatorily called the Spruce Goose. In between, the wealthy playboy has passionate but doomed affairs with legendary actress Katherine Hepburn (Cate Blanchett) and the no-nonsense, independent starlet, Ava Gardner (Kate Beckinsale). Hughes, owner of TWA (Trans World Airlines), also has a feud with Juan Trippe (Alec Baldwin), owner of Pan Am Airlines, and Senator Ralph Owen Brewster (Alan Alda), a Maine senator in Trippe’s pocket.

The Aviator has three things going for it. First, it’s a brilliant technical achievement in terms of its special effects and photography (easily the year’s best). Secondly, Martin Scorsese’s directorial effort is spectacular, not in terms of being showy, but because of his choices. For instance, he designed each year in the film to look just like color film from that time period would have looked. The photographic color technique actually drives the film narrative forward. Whereas, his 2002 film Gangs of New York, fell apart by basically tacking on a fourth act, The Aviator almost, but doesn’t fall apart by the end of it’s nearly three-hour running time. The Aviator is lively and energetic, and, at times, seems as if it is actually a film made in the golden age of Hollywood. Only a few moments of weirdness (especially an ending that hints at or suggests Hughes ultimately disintegration) hamper (barely) the film. Still, the good moments, such as the aerial scenes, both flights and crashes, may finally earn Scorsese an Oscar. [It didn't; Clint Eastwood won for Million Dollar Baby.]

The acting more than anything else makes this a special film. It goes without saying that Leonardo DiCaprio gives a great performance. He makes Howard Hughes his own, and turns him into a magnetic presence that stalks the film stage as if he were the king of the world. However, it is Hughes’ mentally unstable side that hamstrings DiCaprio’s performance. That part of the act is more odd and embarrassing than skillful. Although I personally don’t like people imitating Katherine Hepburn, Cate Blanchett does a fine job turning a caricature into an engaging, three-dimensional character. However, Kate Beckinsale’s turn as Ava Gardner is a scene-stealer, and Ms. Beckinsale makes Ms. Gardner an intriguing and appealing figure. Suffice to say, the rest of the supporting cast also go a long way to making this a cinema must-see.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2005 Academy Awards: 5 wins: “Best Achievement in Art Direction” (Dante Ferretti-art director and Francesca Lo Schiavo-set decorator), “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Robert Richardson), “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Sandy Powell), “Best Achievement in Editing” (Thelma Schoonmaker), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Cate Blanchett); 6 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Michael Mann and Graham King), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Martin Scorsese), “Best Achievement in Sound Mixing” (Tom Fleischman and Petur Hliddal), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Leonardo DiCaprio), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Alan Alda), and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (John Logan)

2005 BAFTA Awards: 4 wins: “Best Film” (Michael Mann, Sandy Climan, Graham King, and Charles Evans Jr.), “Best Make Up/Hair” (Morag Ross, Kathryn Blondell, and Sian Grigg), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” (Cate Blanchett), “Best Production Design” (Dante Ferretti); 10 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Howard Shore), “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Robert Legato, Peter G. Travers, Matthew Gratzner, and R. Bruce Steinheimer), “Best Cinematography” (Robert Richardson), “Best Costume Design” (Sandy Powell), “Best Editing” (Thelma Schoonmaker), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Leonardo DiCaprio), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Alan Alda), “Best Screenplay – Original” (John Logan), “Best Sound” (Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Petur Hliddal, and Tom Fleischman), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Martin Scorsese)

2005 Golden Globes: 3 wins: “Best Motion Picture – Drama” “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Howard Shore), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Leonardo DiCaprio); 3 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Martin Scorsese), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Cate Blanchett), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (John Logan)

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Review: "Gangs of New York" Was the First Scorsese-DiCaprio Joint

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Gangs of New York (2002)
Running time: 167 minutes (2 hours, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense strong violence, sexuality/nudity and language
DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese
WRITERS: Jay Cocks, Steven Zallian, and Kenneth Lonergan; from a story by Jay Cocks
PRODUCERS: Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Ballhaus (director of photography)
EDITOR: Thelma Schoonmaker
COMPOSER: Howard Shore
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Gary Lewis, Stephen Graham, Eddie Marsan, and Larry Gilliard, Jr.

Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited Gangs of New York begins in 1846 with a bloody battle between rival New York gangs that Scorsese films with enough majestic splendor and power to rival an epic battle in one of The Lord of the Rings films. This is an auspicious opening to a wonderful film that just happens to run on a little too long.

Young Amsterdam Vallon watches his father Priest (Liam Neeson, K-19: The Widowmaker), leader of the Irish Dead Rabbits, fall under the knife of William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis, The Crucible), leader of the Nativists. The Nativists, whose parents and grandparents were Americans and who are white Anglo Saxon New Yorkers, look upon the new immigrants, especially the Irish, as foreign invaders, garbage whom must they must subjugate. Truthfully, they’re all poor folks living in the slums in filth and hunger.

In 1863, the adult Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio, Titanic) emerges from a juvenile home ready to avenge his father’s death. He finds that many of his late father’s colleagues have joined ranks with Cutting’s gang and that Cutting now reveres Priest Vallon as the last great man. Amsterdam hides his identity and joins Cutting’s crew, where he becomes like a son to him, until Amsterdam’s identity is revealed and he has his first bloody confrontation with Cutting.

For most of Gangs, one can’t help but be taken in by the breathtaking and dazzling filmmaking, possible Scorsese’s most invigorating work since Goodfellas. Superb camerawork by Michael Ballhaus and excellent film editing by Thelma Schoonmaker (both long time Scorsese cohorts) combine their talents with the master’s brilliant sense of design, pacing, and storytelling to form a perfect film. Then, it suddenly goes on past the point where it should have ended – the first confrontation between Amsterdam and Bill the Butcher. Their continued rivalry isn’t boring, but some of other subplots that went with it seem extraneous.

The script, by former Scorsese collaborator Jay Cocks, the talented Steven Zallian (Academy Award winner for Schindler’s List), and Kenneth Lonergan (writer/director of the beautiful You Can Count on Me) is Shakespearean in its approach to character, plot, and dramatization. The story, however, tries to cover all the important national issues of 1863: The War Between the States, immigration, conscription, class conflict, ethnic conflict, racism, slavery, political corruption, police corruption, violence, hunger and poverty, religious conflict, and loyalty and how all these issues intermingle into further conflict. Sometimes, it all seems like so much crap thrown against the wall to see what sticks. All these subplots require a longer film, and Gangs is already two hours and 48 minutes long. This obese screen story is the blemish on what could have been a great film.

Still Scorsese tackles this beast of a script and turns it into a wonderful movie, in part because he draws some great performances from his cast. Day-Lewis is always a pleasure to watch, and he turns Cutting into a complex man worthy of everything between outright loathing and sincere admiration. DiCaprio is the youthful and seething hero and proves, once again, that the screen loves him; you can’t take your eyes off him. He’s the perfect movie star: dazzling, boyish beauty and talent to burn, but envy will deny him the accolades that Day-Lewis will get for this film. Other stellar performances include Cameron Diaz (stop hatin,’ she can really act), the chameleonic Jim Broadbent (always on his game), and Henry Thomas (all grown up since E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial). Gangs of New York is not to be missed; the only regret one can have is how close they all came to getting making perfect.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 10 nominations: “Best Picture” (Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein), “Best Director” (Martin Scorsese), “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (Daniel Day-Lewis), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Dante Ferretti-art director and Francesca Lo Schiavo-set decorator), “Best Cinematography” (Michael Ballhaus), “Best Costume Design” (Sandy Powell), “Best Editing” (Thelma Schoonmaker), “Best Music, Original Song” (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. for the song "The Hands That Built America"), “Best Sound” (Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, and Ivan Sharrock), “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Jay Cocks-screenplay/story, Steven Zaillian-screenplay, and Kenneth Lonergan-screenplay)

2003 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (Daniel Day-Lewis); 11 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Howard Shore), “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (R. Bruce Steinheimer, Michael Owens, Edward Hirsh, and Jon Alexander), “Best Cinematography” (Michael Ballhaus), “Best Costume Design” (Sandy Powell), “Best Editing” (Thelma Schoonmaker), “Best Film” (Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein), “Best Make Up/Hair” (Manlio Rocchetti and Aldo Signoretti), “Best Production Design” (Dante Ferretti), “Best Screenplay – Original” (Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan), “Best Sound” (Tom Fleischman, Ivan Sharrock, Eugene Gearty, and Philip Stockton), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Martin Scorsese)

2003 Golden Globes: 2 wins: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Martin Scorsese) and “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. for the song "The Hands That Built America"); 3 nominations “Best Motion Picture – Drama” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Daniel Day-Lewis), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Cameron Diaz)

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John Pilger on How Wars Begin

With something called "black propaganda," the award-winning journalist writes in this Truthout essay.

Go. Read. Learn.

Shutter Island Arrives on DVD Tomorrow

FROM ACADEMY AWARD®-WINNING* DIRECTOR MARTIN SCORSESE COMES A SUSPENSEFUL THRILLER STARRING ACCLAIMED ACTOR LEONARDO DICAPRIO - SHUTTER ISLAND

Intense and Spine-Chilling Tour de Force Debuts on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD June 8, 2010

World-renowned director Martin Scorsese delivers “a stunning masterpiece that requires and demands multiple viewings” (Ain’t It Cool News) with the critically-acclaimed suspense thriller

SHUTTER ISLAND, debuting on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD June 8, 2010 from Paramount Home Entertainment. Starring three-time Academy Award® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed), the film features an outstanding ensemble cast including Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac), Oscar® winner Sir Ben Kingsley (Gandhi),

Max von Sydow (Minority Report), Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain) and Emily Mortimer (Match Point). Based on the best-selling novel by celebrated writer Dennis Lehane, SHUTTER ISLAND was written for the screen by Laeta Kalogridis and tells the story of two U.S. marshals investigating the mysterious disappearance of an inmate from a hospital for the criminally insane. But as their investigation proceeds, they uncover an intricate web of deception where nothing may be as it seems. Filled with nail-biting suspense and unexpected plot twists, SHUTTER ISLAND is a must-see thriller that will keep you guessing to the very end.

The SHUTTER ISLAND Blu-ray includes making-of featurettes entitled “Behind the Shutters” and “Into the Lighthouse”. Music from the motion picture is available now from Rhino Records at all physical and digital retail outlets. The haunting double disc set was produced by music legend and frequent Scorsese collaborator Robbie Robertson and features a stunning array of modern classical music.

The SHUTTER ISLAND DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and Spanish 5.1 Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. The Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and Brazilian Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese subtitles. The Blu-ray includes the following special features:

o Behind the Shutters—Follows the film from its inception as an acclaimed novel through the production process and to the big screen. Includes interviews with cast and crew.

o Into the Lighthouse—Discusses the historical landscape of psychiatric therapies during the 1950s through interviews with cast and crew.


About Paramount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) is part of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment. PPC is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. PHE is responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of home entertainment products on behalf of various parties including: Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Paramount Famous Productions, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS and PBS and for providing home entertainment fulfillment services for DreamWorks Animation Home Entertainment.

Read my review of Shutter Island.

Original "Karate Kid" Still Kicking

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Karate Kid (1984)
Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
DIRECTOR: John G. Avildsen
WRITER: Robert Mark Kamen
PRODUCER: Jerry Weintraub
CINEMATOGRAPHER: James Crabe (director of photography)
EDITORS: John G. Avildsen, Walt Mulconery, and Bud Smith
COMPOSER: Bill Conti
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove, Randee Heller, William Zabka, and Larry B. Scott

It has been more than 20 years since I last saw the 1984 film, The Karate Kid (maybe even longer), so with the upcoming 2010 remake due to hit theatres shortly, I decided to see the original again. I saw The Karate Kid in a theatre, and I remember liking it a lot at the time, but back then, I’d like anything that entertained me – even bad movies.

However, I was delightfully surprised to find that The Karate Kid still had me rooting for its underdog hero, Daniel LaRusso. I cringed when he was in trouble, fretted with him over typical teen problems, and cheered when he became the victor. Some of the movie is still standard teen movie fare – even the listless romance between Daniel and Ali. It may not be perfect, but this movie is mostly a winner.

The Karate Kid is the story of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who is the new kid in the California town of Reseda. Daniel moved from Newark, New Jersey with his mother, Lucille LaRusso (Randee Heller), because of Lucille’s new job. It doesn’t take long before Daniel falls afoul of a gang of bullies from a local martial arts school, the Cobra Kai dojo. When Daniel befriends a new classmate, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), he angers her ex-boyfriend, Cobra Kai stud and karate student, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Daniel knows a little karate, but that doesn’t protect him from a few beatings at the hand of Johnny and his cronies.

Luckily, the manager of the apartment building where Daniel lives, Kesuke Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita), is a martial arts master, and he rescues Daniel from one particularly bad beating. Hoping to resolve the situation, Mr. Miyagi and Daniel visit the Cobra Kai dojo, but the sensei (teacher), an ex-Special Forces thug named John Kreese (Martin Kove), refuses to defuse the situation between Daniel and his students. Mr. Miyagi and Kreese agree to settle the conflict between Daniel and Johnny at the “All Valley Karate Tournament.” Mr. Miyagi begins Daniel’s training, but Daniel is shocked to discover just how strange the training regimen is. Can he handle it?

Pat Morita earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as Mr. Miyagi, one certainly well deserved. Morita took what could have been an odd-duck, wizened martial arts master and turned Mr. Miyagi into a complex supporting character and guardian to the hero. Morita made Mr. Miyagi a friend when Daniel needed one, and a surrogate father even when Daniel didn’t know he needed one.

Ralph Macchio was equally as good, personifying the typical American high school teenager with skill and depth. Macchio captured the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of Daniel LaRusso in a variety of shades and colors. One of the best parts of Macchio’s performance is how he depicts Daniel’s uncertainty about how and when to confront his Cobra Kai bullies. Macchio plays those moments by giving Daniel a mixture of fear and craftiness that really defies firm description, but it exemplifies the sense of verisimilitude Macchio’s performance gives Daniel.

Morita and Macchio’s performances are why The Karate Kid resonates with audiences, then and now. They make their characters recognizable, likeable, and believable, and together, they are the kind of winning father-son and best friends dynamic duo that can make audiences love a movie enough to turn it into a franchise.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
1985 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita)

1985 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita)

Monday, June 07, 2010

Spike TV Viewers Choose Christopher Nolan's "Inception"

"Inception" Crowned Most Man-ticipated Movie at Spike TV's "Guy's Choice"

LEONARDO DICAPRIO, CHRISTOPHER NOLAN AND JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT TO ACCEPT HONOR Fourth Annual Show Premieres Sunday, June 20th at 10 PM, ET/PT

NEW YORK, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Spike TV has announced another honr to be presented during its "Guys Choice" event, as the original sci-fi action thriller "Inception" will be crowned Most Man-ticipated movie of 2010. Most Man-ticipated will be presented to "Inception" writer, director, producer Christopher Nolan and film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Taping Saturday, June 5 at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA, "Guys Choice" premieres Sunday, June 20 (10:00 PM - Midnight, ET/PT).

The Most Man-ticipated Movie Award has become one of the show's highlights -- fans are treated to footage by some of Hollywood's biggest names. Last year, viewers got an exclusive first-look from director Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt with footage from "Inglourious Basterds." This year, DiCaprio, Nolan and Gordon-Levitt will bring Spike guys exciting footage from "Inception," which opens in theatres and IMAX on July 16, 2010.

"With its powerhouse players, incredible scope and completely original storyline, 'Inception' has it all and is hands down the most Man-ticipated movie of the summer," said Casey Patterson, SVP, event production, talent development and studio relations, Spike TV.

"Inception" marks acclaimed filmmaker Nolan's first major motion picture since his 2008 Academy Award®-winning blockbuster "The Dark Knight." In "Inception," DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious, during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible--inception. If he and his team of specialists succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.

A presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Legendary Pictures, "Inception" also stars Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. Emma Thomas produced the film with Nolan.

The star-studded, action-packed night will also feature appearances by Robert De Niro, LeBron James, Ben Affleck and Ben Kingsley and "Iron Man 2" super-stars Robert Downey, Jr. and Scarlett Johansson. Additional appearances include: James Gandolfini, Sylvester Stallone, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, Brooklyn Decker, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Liam Neeson, Ozzy Osbourne and many more.

Voting for this year's winners is being held online at www.spike.com/guyschoice through Friday, June 4th. Also online, fans can log-on to view exclusive red carpet and backstage coverage of "Guys Choice."

The official sponsors of Spike TV's "Guys Choice" are AT&T, AXE Hair, Captain Morgan, Corona and Pizza Hut.

Casey Patterson, Carol Donovan, and Beth McCarthy-Miller will serve as executive producers.

Spike TV is available in 98.6 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press