I found this at BET.com's "Stay Tuned..." blog (which they got from the Washington Post):
NBC announced new Saturday Night Live cast members and one of them is Jay Pharoah, the first Black person added since 2003. Pharoah is a 22-year-old comic from Chesapeake, Virginia who became an Internet sensation thanks to spoof videos that featured him doing dead-on impersonations of Denzel Washington, Charlie Murphy, and Eddie Murphy, among others. Since Fred Armisen, who currently impersonates President Barack Obama, is leaving, is Pharoah SNL’s new Obama?
Friday, September 10, 2010
Review: "Silent Hill" Movie is Creepy But Mediocre
Silent Hill (2006)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and gore, disturbing images, and some language
DIRECTOR: Christophe Gans
WRITER: Roger Avary
PRODUCERS: Don Carmody and Samuel Hadida
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Laustsen
EDITOR: Sébastien Prangère
HORROR/FANTASY
Starring: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger, Kim Coates, Tanya Allen, Alice Krige, and Jodelle Ferland
Rose Da Silva’s (Radha Mitchell) adopted daughter, Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), walks in her sleep and calls out the name “Silent Hill.” Rose discovers that Silent Hill is a town located in Toluca County, West Virginia. In fact, Silent Hill is very near Brahams, which is where the orphanage from which Sharon came is located. Against her husband, Chris’ (Sean Bean) wishes, Rose takes Sharon and races for Silent Hill. Meanwhile, she attracts the attention of Brahams Police Department motorcycle officer, Cybil Bennett (Laurie Holden).
Rose and Sharon, however, have an auto accident near the boundary of Silent Hill. Rose awakens to find herself bruised and Sharon missing, so Rose walks into the mist-enshrouded Silent Hill searching for daughter. However, Officer Bennett has also followed them to Silent Hill, and she finds herself in the same predicament Rose does – lost in a seemingly abandoned town that sometimes transforms into a decayed “otherworld” where Rose and Cybil are stalked by horrifying creatures that walk with a disturbingly jerky gait. The two women band together to find Sharon, but the mystery of Silent Hill only deepens when they finally encounter Silent Hill’s human inhabitants.
Silent Hill is based upon the popular horror survival video game of the same title (the first of five – as of this writing – was released in 1999). Horror survival video games usually have players battle an onslaught of undead (usually zombies and monsters) and other supernatural creatures. The best known of this genre is Resident Evil, which has also spawned two film versions. Director Christophe Gans (Le Pacte des Loups – The Brotherhood of the Wolf ) and writer Roger Avary (Quentin Tarantino’s co-writer on Pulp Fiction) have based this movie on the first two games in the series.
Half of the time, the narrative is vague, and those unfamiliar with the game will struggle to figure out what’s going on. The film is also way too long to be so vague; it’s a horrible film going experience to struggle for nearly an hour of the film’s running time not really understanding the concept or central idea. On the other hand, Silent Hill has a lot of superbly creepy atmosphere, and it bears more than a striking resemblance to the paintings and drawings of Clive Barker, a noted horror novelist who is not as well known as an artist. It’s not often that a movie so ably captures what it’s like to be trapped in a nightmare – knowing you have to wake up but you can’t escape the hideous and repulsive monsters your mind has created. Akira Yamaoka (who scored the game series) and Jeff Danna’s music for the film combines eerie synth notes and beats with random noises and sound effects to create the perfectly chilling horror flick score. However, for all its genuine chills, Silent Hill is ultimately a mediocre flick worth a rental. It could have been memorable, if only the filmmakers didn’t act as if all of us (video gamers and non gamers) should already know what’s going on before we take a seat in the local theatre.
4 of 10
C
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Music Documentary "77 Boadrum" at New People
J-Pop Week Offers 5 Nights Of Pop Culture Inspired Film, Fashion, Music And Anime Events That Culminate In J-Pop Summit Festival On Saturday September 18th
NEW PEOPLE teams up with Noise Pop, organizers of the leading independent music festival in the Bay Area, for a special theatrical presentation of 77 Boadrum on Thursday, September 16th at 7:30pm at VIZ Cinema. A pre-screening reception begins at 6:00pm, hosted by Shochu distiller Haamomii.
77 Boadrum is a documentary of the Japanese free-rock group the Boredoms’s astounding concert that took place July 7th, 2007 at 7:07pm in the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, NY and featured 77 drummers performing simultaneously. The film will be preceded by a music video screening of Cornelius’ Synchronized & Sensurround. General admission tickets for the film screening are $10.00.
The Boredoms are one of Japan’s most iconoclastic experimental musical acts. Formed in Osaka in 1986 by Eye Yamataka, along with frequent collaborator Yoshimi, the Boredoms acknowledge no limits of genre or form, there are no boundaries, and no ceiling on the possibilities of experience and expression. For more than 20 years, the band has redefined the concept of noise and experimentation within pop, punk, and psychedelic music.
For a pre-event reception beginning at 6:00pm, NEW PEOPLE will offer J-Pop gift bags and present inventive spirits and beverages provided by Bay Area Shochu distiller, Haamonii. Haamonii is a new low calorie Japanese spirit created from over 400 years of tradition that mixes like vodka but with far less calories and a very smooth, floral-inspired taste. Haamonii, which means harmony in Japanese, also won a gold medal from the Beverage Tasting Institute.
J-Pop Week continues at NEW PEOPLE every night through Friday, September 17th with a variety of events celebrating Japanese and Asian film, anime, fashion design, music and other forms of pop culture. Special gift bags containing a variety of fun premiums will be given to all ticket holders each night. Check www.J-Pop.com for a complete list of nightly events.
The J-Pop Summit Festival 2010 takes place Saturday, September 18th in San Francisco’s Japantown and will present a variety of fun Japanese pop-inspired attractions including fashion shows, a theatrical film premiere, live art performances, and mini-concerts by some of Japan’s hottest bands. Innovative artists and companies from the Bay area and Japan will join in with an array of products for sale in open air displays on both sides of Post Street and a food court highlighting Japanese cuisine will further complement the celebration. Complete details are available at: www.J-Pop.com.
VIZ Cinema is the nation’s first 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.
About Noise Pop
Established in San Francisco in 1993, Noise Pop started as a yearly festival of independent music that featured the best local bands the city had to offer. Over the last 16 years it has grown into a widely respected brand. Noise Pop prides itself on bringing exposure to emerging artists, many of whom have gone on to widespread acclaim, including the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, Bright Eyes, The Donnas, Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) and Silversun Pickups. More info at: www.noisepop.com
About NEW PEOPLE
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.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Review: "Resident Evil: Extinction" is More Apocalyptic
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R for not-stop violence, language, and some nudity
DIRECTOR: Russell Mulcahy
WRITER: Paul W.S. Anderson
PRODUCERS: Paul W.S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, and Robert Kulzer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Johnson
EDITOR: Niven Howie
HORROR/ACTION/SCI-FI with elements of drama
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen, Ali Larter, Ashanti, Christopher Egan, Spencer Locke, Matthew Marsden, John Eric Bentley, and Mike Epps
Following the events of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the recent film, Resident Evil: Extinction, presents a world where only pockets of humanity scattered around the globe remain because the world has been overrun by flesh-eating zombies. Series heroine, Alice (Milla Jovovich), hides in the Nevada desert, traveling the lonely highways on a motorcycle. Fate forces her to rejoin her old comrades Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps) and a group of new survivors, including Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), K-Mart (Spencer Locke), and Nurse Betty (Ashanti). They’re all part of a lonely convoy of small trucks and one school bus, trying to evade the undead humans, who were turned into flesh eating zombies by the T-virus.
Meanwhile, Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen), a scientist from the Umbrella Corporation, the people responsible for the creation of the T-virus is seeking Alice’s whereabouts. Isaacs believes her blood is the key to finding a way to destroy the virus. He tracks to Alice and the convoy just as they arrive in what is left of Las Vegas, which is now nearly buried in sand and likely stocked with the undead.
Resident Evil: Extinction is an improvement over Resident Evil: Apocalypse, but Extinction isn’t as thrilling or as frightening as the original 2002 Resident Evil. Extinction is somewhere in the middle, but closer to the first film. Director Russell Mulcahy (best known for directing Highlander over two decades ago) piles on more visual style and flair than Apocalypse had, so the fight scenes in this film are much more exhilarating. Although often predictable, Extinction is, at times, genuinely chilling and creepy thanks to the stellar makeup on the zombies.
Yeah, the filmmakers sell us out at the end by setting up the story for another film, but what they deliver in Resident Evil: Extinction is mostly good. Bring on the next film.
6 of 10
B
Thursday, October 18, 2007
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VIZ Cinema Presents "5 Centimeters Per Second"
J-POP WEEK CONTINUES AS NEW PEOPLE, ANIME ON DISPLAY AND CRUNCHYROLL PRESENT
5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND FILM EVENT AT VIZ CINEMA
Fans Are Invited To A Week Of Nightly Events Leading Up To The J-Pop Summit Fest 2010
Next Tuesday, September 14th, NEW PEOPLE and VIZ Cinema partner with leading online content provider Crunchyroll and San Francisco’s very own anime convention, Animation On Display (AOD), for a special theatrical event for director Makoto Shinkai's acclaimed anime feature film 5 Centimeters Per Second.
The ANIME NIGHT premiere includes a pre-show reception party as well as a Q&A session about the film, which screens at 7:00pm and 8:45pm. VIZ Cinema is located inside NEW PEOPLE at 1746 Post St. in the heart of San Francisco’s Japantown. General admission tickets for the film screening are $10.00.
All attendees will also receive a special gift bag containing:
1. A re-mastered retail DVD of 5 Centimeters Per Second, courtesy of Crunchyroll.
2. Certificate for a "Buy One, Get One Free" tickets for AOD's upcoming 2011 convention
3. Free one-month Crunchyroll anime membership
Along with a myriad of other great gifts from Pocky, Red Bull and more! A $60 value for only $10!
The first 25 paid attendees for either screening will also receive a FREE one-day pass to Anime On Display 2011, the Bay Area’s largest annual anime convention.
Beginning with the lyrical image of cherry blossoms falling at five centimeters a second, Makoto Shinkai paints a breathtakingly vivid tableau of young love desire loss and hope. Told in three breathtaking chapters, audiences follow the young dreamer Takaki through his life as cruel winters, cold technology, silence, and finally, adult obligations and responsibility converge to crush the delicate petals of true love.
ANIME NIGHT is part of NEW PEOPLE’s J-Pop Week, offering five consecutive nights of pop culture inspired events that culminate with the J-Pop Summit Festival 2010, on Saturday, September 18th in San Francisco’s Japantown. Tickets and more information are now available on www.J-Pop.com.
The J-Pop Summit Festival 2010 presents a variety of fun Japanese pop-inspired attractions including fashion shows, a theatrical film premiere, live art performances, and mini-concerts by some of Japan’s hottest bands. Innovative artists and companies from the Bay area and Japan will join in with an array of products for sale in open air displays on both sides of Post Street and a food court highlighting Japanese cuisine will further complement the celebration. More details are available at: http://www.j-pop.com/.
VIZ Cinema is the nation’s first 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.
About NEW PEOPLE
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.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Review: Cool "STAR TREK" Reboot is All About Breathless Adventure
Star Trek (2009)
Running time: 127 minutes (2 hours, 7 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence and brief sexual content
DIRECTOR: J.J. Abrams
WRITERS: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (based upon the television “Star Trek” created by Gene Roddenberry)
PRODUCERS: J.J. Abrams and Daniel Lindelof
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dan Mindel (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey
Academy Award winner
SCI-FI/ACTION/THRILLER with elements of drama and comedy
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoë Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder, and Tyler Perry
The new film, Star Trek, may be the 11th film in the movie franchise launched from the much-beloved 1960s television series, but it’s not just some sequel. Under the guiding hand of director J.J. Abrams and writers, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman, this stunningly clever and wildly imaginative reboot is a fresh take on a venerable science fiction classic.
This sexy and new Star Trek is not a replacement for anything that has come before it. This is more than a facelift, tummy tuck, breast enhancement, etc. meant to make an old lady (or man) look as shiny and as new as all the other new fangled sci-fi franchises with whom Star Trek now shares the pop cultural landscape. This Star Trek is something new made from familiar ingredients, and it’s a damn good movie to boot!
Star Trek 2009 takes the audience back to the early days when future Captain James T. Kirk was a hot-rodding, delinquent. Actor Chris Pine plays Kirk with all of a young actor’s bravado, presenting Kirk as a tow-headed, rebel without a cause, but smarter than his actions indicate. Although the pre-captain Kirk acts like a loser, Pine’s performance makes sure that the audience marks Kirk as exceptional, even among the big brains at Starfleet Academy.
There’s no fun in having a cocksure Kirk without a Spock. In the hands of actor Zachary Quinto, Spock – all shiny bangs and elfin ears – is the control freak as proper gentleman, but beware the volcanic temper and impulsive streak that bubbles underneath. Not only is Spock smarter than everyone else (and lets them know it), he ain’t afraid to get his swerve on with the ladies!
Refusing to merely slink in the background as eye candy is this enchanting new Uhura, whom the gorgeous Zoë Saldana plays as super smart, super sexy, and super don’t-put-up-with-bullshit. This lovely lady ain’t too grand to show her soft and caring side with the man in her life, but she’ll go toe-to-toe with impulsive Starfleet officers. In this era of Oprah Winfrey, Condoleeza Rice, Beyoncé Knowles, and Michelle Obama, it’s great to see such a strong, complicated woman of color like Saldana’s Uhura in pop culture, especially science fiction.
Star Trek’s plot revolves around a time-traveling, revenge-seeking, shaven-headed Romulan named Nero. Played with a kind of wrathful quietude by the exquisite Eric Bana, Nero is a Star Trek villain worthy of Khan and the Borg Queen. Piloting a giant, squid-octopus-like, planetoid drill, Nero is the Everyman turned murderous thug, and every time Nero unleashes his killing machine, this movie exudes the kind of special effects grandeur previous Star Treks never had. On the maiden voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise (all shiny and Macintosh-ed), this new, but elite crew must rescue its Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) from Nero’s clutches and stop the Romulan from destroying Earth. Oh, and the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) plays an integral part in the story.
Everything about this new Star Trek is bright, sparkly, and cutting edge; it’s as if the film is constantly generating new visual effects every few seconds just to dazzle your eyes and blow your mind. The battle scenes remind me of the ones on the Sci-Fi Channel’s recent Battlestar Galactica series (itself a re-imagination of an old sci-fi franchise). Sometimes, this film even feels a little like a Star Wars movie (of which J.J. Abrams is fan). Even Simon Pegg’s hyperkinetic take on chief engineer Scotty is a joy to behold. Yes, this new Star Trek delivers the good. It’s not like most popcorn movies – practically gone from your mind within a few hours of leaving the theatre. Watching this Star Trek left me with good feelings, and it made me believe that Star Trek is once again ready to keep going boldly into the future.
9 of 10
A+
Monday, May 18, 2009
NOTES:
2010 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Oscar Best Achievement in Makeup” (Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, and Joel Harlow); 3 nominations: “Best Achievement in Sound” (Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson, and Peter J. Devlin), “Best Achievement in Sound Editing” (Mark P. Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin), and “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, and Burt Dalton)
2010 BAFTA Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Sound” (Peter J. Devlin, Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Mark P. Stoeckinger, and Ben Burtt) and “Best Special Visual Effects” (Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, and Burt Dalton)
-----------------------------
In "Star Trek The Motion Picture" Old Friends Returned
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Running time: 132 minutes (2 hours, 12 minutes)
MPAA – PG for sci-fi action and mild language
DIRECTOR: Robert Wise
WRITER: Harold Livingston; from a story by Alan Dean Foster (based on the TV series created by Gene Roddenberry)
PRODUCER: Gene Roddenberry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Richard H. Kline
EDITOR: Todd Ramsay
SCI-FI/ADVENTURE with elements of drama
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Persis Khambatta, and Stephen Collins
The original cast of the 1960’s sci-fi television series, “Star Trek,” reunites aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise with Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), now admiral, back in the big chair. Their mission is to intercept a giant alien ship steadily approaching Earth and destroying everything in its path. Kirk must also square off with the man who was the Enterprise’s new captain, Commander Decker (Stephen Collins), until Kirk displaced Decker and made him his assistant.
In 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture blasted onto movie screens, much to the delight of Trekkies/Trekkers (Star Trek fanatics) and TV viewers who made the original series, which ran on broadcast TV from 1966-69, a smash hit in syndication during the 1970s.
While not the best of the Star Trek films featuring the cast of the original series, it’s joyous simply because the film marked the return of the original cast. The film has many good moments, some of them awe-inspiring and others deeply emotional (such as the scene in which Kirk sees the Enterprise in dock for the first time in over two years). While at times, it comes across as a Star Trek riff on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek: The Motion Picture hits all the right notes for those of us who are not fanatics, but who have a soft spot for the original Star Trek – warts and all.
7 of 10
B+
NOTES:
1980 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Harold Michelson, Joseph R. Jennings, Leon Harris, John Vallone, and Linda DeScenna), “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Richard Yuricich, Robert Swarthe, David K. Stewart, and Grant McCune), and “Best Music, Original Score” (Jerry Goldsmith)
1980 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Jerry Goldsmith)
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
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