New Zombie Movie, "The Dead," Due in October

The Ford Brothers’ African-Set Zombie Horror Film “THE DEAD” Invades U.S. Theaters This October!

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Global Cinema Distribution (http://www.globalcinemadistribution.com/) announces the national theatrical release of the Ford Brothers’ West African–set zombie feature THE DEAD. After its successful U.K. run, THE DEAD lurches across the pond and into more than 20 cities across the U.S. beginning October 7th in Los Angeles and October 14th in New York and everywhere else in-between.

Shot on 35mm in life-threatening regions of Burkina Faso and Ghana, THE DEAD takes audiences on a horrifying road-trip through a now zombie-dominated terrain. An American mercenary, the sole survivor of a violent plane crash, maneuvers through the hostile, arid landscape while battling against the newly risen living dead. Almost losing all hope, he encounters an African soldier desperately searching for his son amongst the chaos. The mercenary and the soldier rise up together to forge their way through the unstoppable assault of the ever-hungry undead and forward into an uncertain future.

Along with its overseas theatrical run, THE DEAD, co-directed and written by U.K. natives Howard J. Ford and Jon Ford, has been a festival favorite since its debut last year, garnering rave reviews from horror fans and mainstream media alike.

“Out of nowhere a fan base for THE DEAD rose up, much like the zombies themselves, demanding to see it,” explains co-director and writer Howard J. Ford. “We had hundreds of zombies down at the Cannes Film Festival carrying banners for our movie and turning up as the undead for festival screenings. Now Global Cinema is bringing our movie to the big screen throughout the U.S. I’m thrilled to be traveling with the film and meeting American audiences that have been so supportive of THE DEAD over the past year.”

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJVdqZww9aE

“A balls-to-the-walls awesome ZOMBIE Film…the gore is frankly jaw-dropping. And these are full-on Romero rules zombies. And they’re scary as f*ck.” - Harry Knowles, Ain’t It Cool News

THE DEAD opens on Friday, October 7th, 2011, in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Boston, Austin and Seattle (to name a few) and continues its theatrical rollout throughout the month of October. For a complete list of theaters visit http://www.globalcinemadistribution.com/2010-film-releases/the-dead/the-dead-theatrical-release/

Review: John Singleton Shepherds "Four Brothers"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 144 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Four Brothers (2005)
Running time: 105 minutes (1 hour, 45 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, pervasive language, and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: John Singleton
WRITERS: David Elliot & Paul Lovett
PRODUCER: Lorenzo De Bonaventura
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Menzier, Jr. A.C.S.
EDITOR: Bruce Cannon, A.C.E. and Billy Fox, A.C.E.

DRAMA/ACTION/CRIME/MYSTERY

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Josh Charles, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sofia Vergara, Fionnula Flanagan, Taraji P. Henson, Barry Shabaka Henley, and Jernard Burks

The Mercer Brothers – hotheaded ex-con Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), ladies’ man Angel (Tyrese Gibson), family man and businessman Jeremiah (André Benjamin), and rock musician Jack (Garrett Hedlund) – return to the mean streets of Detroit after their adoptive mother Evelyn Mercer (Fionnula Flanagan) is murdered during the holdup of a corner grocery store. They take the matter of her murder into their own hands in spite of assurances from police Lt. Green (Terrence Howard) and Detective Fowler (Josh Charles) that they are working on the case.

Soon the Mercer boys realize that their mother’s death wasn’t just the tragic result of a simple store holdup. Bobby and Angel use their rough old ways of handling business to track their mother’s killers, but these aren’t the same Detroit neighborhoods they left and their old ways have new consequences. Whatever the result of their own private investigation, the Mercer brothers discover that their brotherly bonds, first forged by adoption, are as thick as those of brothers by birth.

I expected John Singleton’s new film, Four Brothers, to be a very well made action drama, but it turned out to be one of the best films I have seen thus far this year. It has the cool intensity of a 70’s action movie or blaxtiploitation film. While Four Brothers is certainly a straight genre piece, it is also a character-driven film with a lot of action and drama. First credit should go to the script by screenwriters David Elliot & Paul Lovett, long time collaborators. They not only pounded on story structure, but they made very engaging characters out of the protagonists for the most part.

The villains, however, come out on the short end. Some are very interesting, like Chwetel Ejiofor’s Victor Sweet, but in the end he emerges as nothing more than a really evil dude; there’s no The Godfather-like examination of evil here. All the “bad guys” seem to be interesting characters worth developing, but the script never gets that far. That’s one of the things here that keeps Four Brothers just short of being a truly great film.

On the other hand, Singleton’s intense, block-by-block building of this film’s narrative and the frenetic pace he gives it glosses over any script and performance shortcomings (I found Fionnula Flanagan’s Evelyn Mercer to be as creepy as she was sympathetic.), and John Singleton’s masterful directorial performance makes Four Brothers as good as the kind of memorable crime films like Out of Sight. Four Brothers doesn’t miss a beat, and this is one of the year’s best directing jobs.

The four leads really drive this film. All are good: Andre Benjamin, known to many as Andre 3000 of the Grammy-winning musical act OutKast, is a natural acting talent, and here, he doesn’t come across like a fish out of water as is the problem with so many something-else’s-turned-actor. Garrett Hedlund, barely out of high school when he captured the juicy role of Patroclus opposite Brad Pitt’s Achilles in Troy (a film by Wolfgang Peterson), comes across as an affable and energetic co-star. He’s sort of the odd-man-out, but he makes do with the lesser part the story hands him.

The driving force of the brotherly quartet is Mark Wahlberg and Tyrese Gibson. Wahlberg is a very good actor who is rushing towards greatness. He’s a movie star, and his presence can make you want to see the movies in which he stars, regardless of genre. He’s got Hollywood star cool, yet there is a bit of an edge to him – part tough guy, but loner/rebel. Hey, it works on the big screen. Who’d a thunk it? Tyrese Gibson is a damn good actor, and has movie star appeal. He’s the other piece in a matching set with Wahlberg, being every bit the handsome tough guy, but with a bit of softie in him. In this film, he doesn’t come across at all as a supporting player. He plays Angel Mercer so naturally that you’d think he’d been doing the acting thing for at least twice as long as he actually has.

The cast, writers, directors, and crew come together to make this urban action/exploitation film into the consummate gritty Hollywood action drama. Four Brothers might come across at first glance as junk, but it’s really a hamburger recipe turned into a fine steak. Enjoy it on the big screen or make a must-keep date for it on home video and DVD.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2006 Black Reel Awards: 4 nominations: “Black Reel Best Director” (John Singleton), “Best Ensemble” (André Benjamin, Tyrese Gibson, Mark Wahlberg, Sofía Vergara, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Taraji P. Henson), “Best Film,” and “Best Original Soundtrack”

2006 Image Awards: 1 win: “Outstanding Directing in a Feature Film/Television Movie” (John Singleton)

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Felicity Huffman Moves "Transamerica"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 128 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Transamerica (2005)
Running time: 103 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for sexual content, nudity, language, and drug use
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Duncan Tucker
PRODUCERS: René Bastian, Sebastian Dungan, and Linda Moran
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen Kazmierski (with Tom Camarda)
EDITOR: Pam Wise
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Felicity Huffman, Kevin Zegers, Elizabeth Peña, Fionnula Flanagan, Graham Greene, Burt Young, and Carrie Preston

Sabrina Osbourne or as she likes to be called, “Bree” (Felicity Huffman) is a pre-operative male-to-female transsexual woman who passes herself off as “G.G.,” meaning “genuine girl.” She lives in a poor section of Los Angeles, where she works two jobs (as a dishwasher at a small Mexican restaurant and as telemarketer from home) to make enough money so that she can afford the final sexual reassignment surgery that will make her wholly a woman. An unexpected complication in her plans arrives via a phone call from New York City.

Apparently, in her old life as a man named Stanley Schupack, she fathered a son, Toby (Kevin Zegers), a street hustler whom the police picked up for dealing drugs. Toby, who never met his father, is hoping that his dad will bail him out of jail. Forced by her therapist, Margaret (Elizabeth Peña), to confront her old past and tie up loose ends, Bree flies to New York and rescues the 17-year old Toby, but doesn’t tell the teen that she is his father and pretends to be a Christian missionary concerned about his well being. Toby begs Bree to follow her back to L.A. in hopes of becoming an actor in the adult entertainment industry and perhaps finding his father. Bree reluctantly agrees and buys a car so that the two can journey back to the West Coast. However, Bree is plotting to dump Toby off along the way, but circumstances have a way of helping them discover one another.

At its heart, Transamerica is an indie road movie, and like most road movies, it is a character-driven film in which (usually) two people from different worlds discover a common bond. The twist or hook in this case is that one of the travelers is one is a transgender and the other is the son. One would think that with a concept like this, writer/director, Duncan Tucker, would take the opportunity to make some potent and cogent observations about human nature, yet Tucker’s film spends most of its first half meandering, listlessly trying to find its way – a sure sign of a mediocre road movie. It isn’t until Bree visits the home of another transgender, who is entertaining like guests that the film takes off, allowing an eclectic mixture of characters to shine and give this film a pungent, but inviting flavor.

Transamerica has a lot of wonderful supporting performances, especially Kevin Zegers as the son, Toby. Zegers is spot on a wayward teenager who can’t right his ship, and he juggling numerous options for his future – most of which are simply flights of fancy. Zegers makes Toby a drug addict who is at least able to retain some sense of balance; his addictions don’t entirely ruin his ability to relate well to other people. Fionnula Flanagan (who played the murdered mother in Four Brothers) gives a nice turn as Bree’s frantically disappointed mother, Elizabeth, and Burt Young gives an unusual twist to Bree’s father, Murray, a patient and jovial, if not entirely understanding parent.

Of course, the showcase, the gem of this film, is Felicity Huffman as Bree. She worked on this film before her career received a huge boost from playing “Lynette Scavo,” one member of the star quartet on ABC’s hit comedy/drama TV series, “Desperate Housewives.” Huffman, a woman playing a man who wants to be a woman, gives a transcendent performance as Bree and seems to have absorbed the part in mind, body, and soul. Everything about Huffman as Bree rings with truth and honesty. She makes you believe that Bree knows she is a woman, but when Bree struggles with her past as a man, it’s fun to watch Huffman make the fight to right herself so real. Transamerica may not be anywhere near being a great movie, but Felicity Huffman’s performance is indeed great.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Felicity Huffman) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song” (“Travelin’ Thru” by Dolly Parton)

2006 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Felicity Huffman); 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Dolly Parton for the song “Travelin’ Thru”)

Saturday, June 10, 2006

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New Pokemon, "Zoroark: Master of Illusions," on DVD

ADVENTURE AWAITS POKÉMON FANS AS VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF POKÉMON—ZOROARK: MASTER OF ILLUSIONS ON DVD

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, will excite POKÉMON™ fans everywhere with the DVD release of the full-length feature film from the venerable kids franchise, POKÉMON—ZOROARK: MASTER OF ILLUSIONS. The DVD, rated ‘A’ for All Ages, was released on September 20th under the company’s VIZ KIDS imprint and carries an MSRP of $19.97 U.S. / $19.98 CAN.

As Ash and his friends journey to Crown City to join the crowds watching the Pokémon Baccer World Cup, mysterious forces are in motion that could bring untold misfortune to them all! What secrets does Zorua, a Pokémon they befriend along the way, hide? Why is the powerful Zoroark rampaging through the city, and what does the appearance of the Legendary Pokémon Raikou, Entei, and Suicune mean? All these questions and more will be answered in POKÉMON—ZOROARK: MASTER OF ILLUSIONS!

“We are thrilled to bring the POKÉMON—ZOROARK: MASTER OF ILLUSIONS DVD to Pokémon fans across the country,” says Brian Ige, Vice President, Animation. “The Pokémon community is incredibly passionate and they will be excited to add this movie to their home DVD library.”

For more information on VIZ Media’s POKÉMON manga and anime titles, please visit www.VIZ.com/Pokemon/.


About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine and blockbuster properties like Naruto, Bleach and InuYasha, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at http://www.viz.com/.

"The Lion King" Back on Top

Disney’s The Lion King Reigns Once Again

3D Release Takes Top Spot With $30 Million Domestic Gross; Beloved Tale Continues to Captivate Global Audiences on Screen and Stage

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Circle of Life continues as The Walt Disney Studios’ The Lion King 3D opened at #1 in theaters this weekend with an estimated gross of $30 million. The Lion King is now the third highest-grossing animated film of all time at the domestic box office. This release of The Lion King marks the fifth biggest September opening in industry history, the second biggest September opening in Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures history, and the first reissue to open #1 in 14 years. The film will remain in theaters for a limited engagement ahead of its Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray 3D™ premiere on October 4.

Meanwhile, the London production of the hugely popular stage show recently celebrated its 5000th performance on September 13. The award-winning musical is also preparing to launch its Spanish premiere in Madrid, the largest stage musical ever presented in Spain. Opening October 21 at Lope de Vega Theatre, it is the first time the musical has been performed in the Spanish language. Since opening in 1997, The Lion King has been performing to sold-out crowds on Broadway with a remarkable 5,757 shows thus far.

“The Lion King has proven again and again the transcendent power of great stories and characters,” said Rich Ross, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “From the screen to the stage, this timeless classic continues to touch the hearts of audiences of all ages around the world.”

Notable Facts:

First released in 1994, The Lion King is the third highest-grossing animated film of all time with $358.6 at the domestic box office (includes all releases), the highest-grossing traditional hand-drawn animated film of all time, and the highest-grossing film from Walt Disney Animation Studios.

The Lion King is the top-performing home entertainment release ever. The Blu-ray™ debut marks the first time it has been available in any form since 2004.

The Lion King is Disney’s best-selling soundtrack. It received Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (10x platinum). Only four other soundtracks in history have been certified Diamond.

Best of The Lion King, a collection of songs from and inspired by the films and the show, is currently the #3 soundtrack on iTunes.

The Lion King has won 2 Academy Awards®, 3 Golden Globes®, 6 Tony Awards® and 3 Grammys®, among other accolades, including over 70 major theatrical honors worldwide.

The stage show has been seen by more than 60 million people worldwide, grossing over $4.6 billion in 18 productions across 14 countries, spanning 5 continents and 8 languages.

Current productions include Broadway, North American Tour, Las Vegas, London, Hamburg, Tokyo and Singapore.

The Lion King opened on Broadway in 1997 and in January 2011 became its seventh longest-running show ever; it continues to be one of the highest-grossing on a weekly basis.

The North American tour recently completed a record-breaking, sold-out, 32-show premiere engagement at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Montreal, grossing more than $7 million – the highest-grossing theatrical production in the venue’s history.


ABOUT “THE LION KING”
An unforgettable story, breathtaking animation, beloved characters and award-winning music sets the stage for The Lion King, a Disney classic that follows the adventures of Simba, the feisty lion cub who “just can't wait to be king.” But his envious Uncle Scar has plans for his own ascent to the throne, and he forces Simba’s exile from the kingdom. Alone and adrift, Simba soon joins the escapades of a hilarious meerkat named Timon and his warmhearted warthog pal, Pumbaa. Adopting their carefree lifestyle of “Hakuna Matata,” Simba ignores his real responsibilities until he realizes his destiny and returns to the Pride Lands to claim his place in the “Circle of Life.”

The all-star vocal talents—including Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Ernie Sabella, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Robert Guillaume, Cheech Marin and Moira Kelly—rip-roaring comedy and uplifting messages of courage, loyalty and hope make this a timeless tale for all ages. Produced by Don Hahn and directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff from a script by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton, The Lion King is rated G by the MPAA.

ABOUT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS
For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel; and Touchstone Pictures, which includes the distribution of live-action films from DreamWorks Studios. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!. For more information, visit http://www.waltdisneystudios.com/.

"Dude, Where's My Car?" Makes Dumb Funnier Than it Should Be

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 66 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for language and some sex and drug-related humor
DIRECTOR: Danny Leiner
WRITER: Philip Stark
PRODUCERS: Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove, Gil Netter, and Wayne Rice
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Stevens (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Kimberly Ray

COMEDY/SCI-FI/FANTASY

Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Seann William Scott, Jennifer Garner, Marla Sokoloff, Kristy Swanson, David Herman, John Toles-Bey, and Hal Sparks

I planned never to see Dude, Where’s My Car?, figuring my initial curiosity to be a sign of intellectual weakness. After seeing Seann William Scott in Bulletproof Monk and really digging his performance, my intellect further weakened, I decided to seek out some of his other films and came across Dude, Where's My Car? again. Scott co-stars in this outlandish comedy with Ashton Kutcher, who came to prominence in the television series “That 70’s Show.” Whatta you know: this turned out to be one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen.

Jessie Richmond (Kutcher) and Chester Greenburg (Scott) wake up one morning to find Jessie’s car missing, and they have no memory of what happened the night before except for the wild and crazy things people tell them that they did. At first, Jessie and Chester are excited and proud of the calamity and craziness they allegedly committed, but in time they come to be frustrated that they got so wasted that they can’t remember anything. And they need their memory to find the car, which is the key to a lot of weird trouble for them. They owe a transvestite strip dancer a suitcase full of cash, and people claiming to be aliens are looking for an important, universe-endangering object. Losing the car was just the beginning; you have to see the film to believe how hilarious the adventure to find the car gets.

I’m sure this film was cynically conceived and produced to cash in on the youth movie craze. Film studios figure that if they make movies starring familiar young faces from TV and pad the story with jokes about sex, bodily fluids and functions, teenage jargon, twentysomething slang, and general crassness, they’re bound to make a mint, if not in theatres then in home video and television. It’s a can’t-lose option: marrying the lowbrow, the dumb, the rude, and a bit of cultural decay.

This time the studio got lucky and the movie turned out way funny. I’d rather believe that this was a happy accident, but regardless this is funny, in the vein of Dumb and Dumber, accept that Jessie and Chester, for all their dimwittedness, tend to be a little smarter than their adversaries. You can root for these guys, by awed by their occasional show of smarts, laugh at them, and with them. Dude, Where’s My Car? comes close to being the perfect dumb-but-funny movie. Don’t take it seriously, and you’ll laugh your proverbial ass off. Don’t be stuck in the mud; see it and laugh like a madman.

7 of 10
B+

2011 Primetime Emmy Awards Winners Complete List

The Emmy Award is a television production award that is considered the television equivalent of the Academy Awards in film and the Grammy Awards in music. Winners for the 63rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were revealed during the Sunday, Sept. 18 ceremony hosted by actress Jane Lynch (“Glee”) and broadcast live on Fox.

The full list of winners in all categories:

DRAMA

BEST DRAMA SERIES
"Mad Men"

BEST DRAMA ACTOR
Kyle Chandler, "Friday Night Lights"

BEST DRAMA ACTRESS
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"

BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR
Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"

BEST DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Margo Martindale, "Justified"

BEST DRAMA SERIES DIRECTING
Martin Scorsese, "Boardwalk Empire" - "Pilot"

BEST DRAMA SERIES WRITING
Jason Katims, "Friday Night Lights" - "Always"

COMEDY

BEST COMEDY SERIES
"Modern Family"

BEST COMEDY ACTOR
Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"

BEST COMEDY ACTRESS
Melissa McCarthy, "Mike & Molly"

BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ty Burrell, "Modern Family"

BEST COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Julie Bowen, "Modern Family"

BEST COMEDY SERIES DIRECTING
Michael Alan Spiller, "Modern Family" - "Halloween"

BEST COMEDY SERIES WRITING
Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman, "Modern Family" - "Caught in the Act"

TV MOVIE/MINISERIES

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES
"Downton Abbey"

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES ACTOR
Barry Pepper, "The Kennedys"

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES ACTRESS
Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce"

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES SUPPORTING ACTOR
Guy Pearce, "Mildred Pierce"

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES DIRECTING
Brian Percival, "Downton Abbey"

BEST TV MOVIE/MINISERIES WRITING
Julian Fellowes, "Downton Abbey"

REALITY

BEST REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
"The Amazing Race"

VARIETY

BEST VARIETY SERIES
"The Daily Show"

BEST VARIETY SERIES DIRECTING
Don Roy King, "Saturday Night Live" - "Host: Justin Timberlake"

BEST VARIETY SERIES WRITING
"The Daily Show With Jon Stewart"