Warner Bros. Eyes Tite Kubo's "Bleach" As Live-Action Film

VIZ PRODUCTIONS & WARNER BROTHERS TO DEVELOP BLEACH LIVE ACTION MOVIE AFTER BANNER YEAR

VIZ Media’s Mega-Hit Franchise Continues To Expand Across All Entertainment Channels, Win In Ratings, And Top Best Seller Lists

VIZ Media, the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in the North America, announced today that Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired the live-action feature film rights to the hit manga and anime property BLEACH. The announcement comes after another successful year for BLEACH in print, digital publishing, cable television, streaming video, consumer products and video-on-demand.

“BLEACH has built a huge international following in its manga and anime formats, and we’re excited that Warner Bros. shares our belief that BLEACH can also become a fantastic live-action film,” said Jason Hoffs of VIZ Productions, VIZ Media’s Hollywood-based production company. “BLEACH is an exciting opportunity to mix Japanese and Hollywood storytelling to create something new for the big screen, and we’re thrilled for the opportunity to further expose its unique characters and story to film audiences everywhere.”

Peter Segal (GET SMART, THE LONGEST YARD) of Callahan Filmworks is producing with an eye toward directing. The film’s creative team also includes screenwriter Dan Mazeau, who recently penned Warner Bros.’ upcoming sequel to CLASH OF THE TITANS. Callahan Filmworks partner Michael Ewing and Masi Oka (best known for his roles on NBC’s HEROES and CBS’s HAWAII FIVE-0) will produce. From VIZ Productions, Hoffs will serve as Producer, and Branon Coluccio will be Executive Producer. Screenplay development will commence in 2012.

The popular BLEACH animated and manga series, created by Tite Kubo, follows the adventures of Ichigo, a teenager with the ability to see ghosts. When his family is attacked by a Hollow — a malevolent lost soul – Ichigo encounters Rukia, a Soul Reaper tasked to hunting Hollows, and inadvertently absorbs her powers. Now, Ichigo must dedicate his life to protecting the innocent and helping tortured souls find peace.

BLEACH is a tremendously successful multimedia property around the world. The manga has been licensed to more than a dozen countries and has over 75 million copies in print in Japan alone. In North America, the manga (rated ‘T’ for Teens) has consistently appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list for Manga and the Neilsen BookScan Top 50 Graphic Novels list, selling more than 2.1 million copies across 36 volumes.

The BLEACH manga is also available digitally through VIZManga.com and for download through the VIZ Manga App for iPad®, iPhone® and iPod® touch, where it has proven to be a top-seller. The series was recently sped up to bring North American readers up-to-date with the latest story arc in Japan, culminating in it being featured in WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, the groundbreaking digital manga magazine that VIZ Media just launched at the end of January 2012.

The BLEACH animated series (rated TV-14) has topped the ratings on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, sold over 1.8 million DVDs and consistently ranked among Hulu’s most watched shows, This success has further spawned an array of related video games (over 820,000 sold), apparel, action figures, trading cards and other merchandise.

For more information on BLEACH and to view free streaming episodes, please visit Bleach.viz.com.

For more information on BLEACH digital manga, please visit VIZManga.com/bleach.

For more information on WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, please visit SJAlpha.com.

"Good Deeds" is Good Indeed

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 16 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux


Good Deeds (2012)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA - PG-13 for sexual content, language, some violence and thematic material
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tyler Perry
PRODUCERS: Ozzie Areu, Paul Hall, and Tyler Perry
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alexander Gruszynski
EDITOR: Maysie Hoy
COMPOSER: Aaron Zigman

ROMANCE/DRAMA

Starring: Tyler Perry, Thandie Newton, Gabrielle Union, Eddie Cibrian, Brian White, Jordenn Thompson, Phylicia Rashad, Beverly Johnson, Rebecca Romijn, and Jamie Kennedy, Andrew Masset, and Victoria Loving

Good Deeds is a 2012 romantic drama from writer/director Tyler Perry. Although Perry is also the film’s lead actor, this isn’t a “Tyler Perry film,” as far as what we generally expect of a Perry film – broad comedies often featuring the character, Mabel “Madea” Simmons, who does not appear in this movie. Good Deeds is about a businessman who leaves his comfort zone to help a struggling single mother.

Wesley Deeds (Tyler Perry) is a San Francisco-based businessman who is CEO of Deeds Corporation, the software company his late father started. He is engaged to marry Natalie (Gabrielle Union), a beautiful young woman who works in real estate, but his mind is always on work. With the assistance of John, (Eddie Cibrian), a company executive, Wesley is currently trying to buy a rival company, but Wesley’s resentful younger brother, Walter Deeds (Brian White), may be trying to sabotage the company. Their mother, Wilimena (Phylicia Rashad), is totally plugged into planning the wedding. Wesley Deeds does what he is supposed to and expected to do.

However, Wesley is jolted out of his scripted life when he meets Lindsey Wakefield (Thandie Newton), a single mother who is a janitor in Wesley’s office building. Lindsey speaks her mind and is fiercely independent, but when she and her daughter, Ariel (Jordenn Thompson), are left homeless, she needs help. A chance encounter brings together two people who are in a really bad place in their lives.

If Wesley Deeds can be said to leave his comfort zone in this story, then, it can be said that Tyler Perry, for the most part, leaves his comfort zone to create Good Deeds. This is an uplifting movie that emphasizes living the life one wants to live (or trying to) by relying on one’s self. In this movie, Perry pushes believing in yourself as a vehicle of change rather than a belief in faith and God as the path to change. Good Deeds is by no means anti-religion, but this is the most secular film Perry has done to date. The religious themes and testifying that are so evident in his broad comedies are absent in this romance and drama.

I was also surprised by how well written the screenplay is, considering (once again) that Perry has left his broad comedy comfort zone. Good Deeds does sometimes come across as an African-American soap opera (especially the elevator scene late in the film). However, this is also a character drama that puts a laser focus on Wesley Deeds and Lindsey Wakefield. Perry really delves into these characters and pulls out their insides so that the audience can see what makes them tick. Perry shows the audience the inner conflicts and struggles as much as he depicts Wesley and Lindsey’s exterior drama.

I think that Thandie Newton is, as usual, very good. She can do trials and tribulations as well as any African-American actress, and better than most. Perry, on the other hand, is mostly hit or miss as Wesley. There are moments in which he just does not seem convincing as an upper class Black man from an old money African-American family with an Ivy League pedigree.

Another of the film’s faults is that it largely ignores some of the other characters that have potential: Walter and Wilimena Deeds and Natalie, in particular. Perry created three good characters in them, but gave them small spaces to shine except in moments that seem like little more than stereotypical melodrama. Young Jordenn Thompson as Lindsey’s daughter, Ariel, also steals a few scenes.

Still, Good Deeds is really about Wesley and Lindsey, and to that end, the film is a pleasant drama that has a few riveting moments. These moments can jerk some tears from the audience, and that’s surprising to me. I didn’t expect even that much from Good Deeds.

6 of 10
B

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Happy Birthday, Tracy

I won't go there on the age thing, but I hope you have a great birthday and many, many more.

2012 Academy Award Winners - Complete List

The Academy Award is an award bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The award recognizes the excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. Winners and honorees receive the Oscar statuette, which is officially named the Academy Award of Merit and is one of nine types of Academy Awards.

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of the 1927/1928 film season. The 84th Academy Awards, which honored films in 2011, was held at the Hollywood & Highland Center Theatre on Sunday, February 26, 2012 and broadcast live on ABC.

The Artist was the big winner at the 84th Academy Awards, winning 5 including the best picture, director, and actor awards. Hugo, which had the most nominations at 11, won 5, all in the “technical categories.”

Meryl Streep won the best actress Oscar, which I wanted Viola Davis to win. Woody Allen won his third Oscar for screenwriting (his fourth overall) with his win for Midnight in Paris. The state of Louisiana was represented in victory when William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg of the Louisiana-based Moonbot Studios won the best animated short film Oscar.

84th Academy Award winners:

Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Artist: Thomas Langmann

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Jean Dujardin for The Artist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Christopher Plummer for Beginners

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Octavia Spencer for The Help

Best Achievement in Directing
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published
The Descendants: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
Rango: Gore Verbinski

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
A Separation: Asghar Farhadi (Iran)

Best Achievement in Cinematography
Hugo: Robert Richardson

Best Achievement in Editing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

Best Achievement in Art Direction
Hugo: Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo

Best Achievement in Costume Design
The Artist: Mark Bridges

Best Achievement in Makeup
The Iron Lady: Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
The Artist: Ludovic Bource

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
The Muppets: Bret McKenzie ("Man or Muppet")

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
Hugo: Tom Fleischman, John Midgley

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Hugo: Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
Hugo: Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning

Best Documentary, Features
Undefeated: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin, Rich Middlemas

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
Saving Face: Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Best Short Film, Animated
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore: William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg

Best Short Film, Live Action
The Shore: Terry George, Oorlagh George

"The Artist" Wins Best Picture Oscar

Best Motion Picture of the Year

WINNER - The Artist: Thomas Langmann

Nominees:
The Descendants: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Scott Rudin
The Help: Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan
Hugo: Graham King, Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
Moneyball: Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
The Tree of Life: Sarah Green, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill, and William Pohlad
War Horse: Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy

Meryl Streep Wins Best Actress Oscar for "The Iron Lady"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

WINNER - Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady

Nominees:
Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis for The Help
Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn

Jean Dujardin Wins Best Actor Oscar for "The Artist'

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

WINNER - Jean Dujardin for The Artist

Nominees:
Demián Bichir for A Better Life
George Clooney for The Descendants
Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt for Moneyball