"Naruto Shippuden: The Lost Tower" Now on DVD and Blu-ray

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: THE LOST TOWER ON DVD AND BLU-RAY

The World’s Most Popular Ninja Returns In His Seventh Anime Feature Film For An Action-Packed Time-Travelling Adventure

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, announces the latest NARUTO anime feature film to fans everywhere with the release of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: THE LOST TOWER on DVD and Blu-ray September 17th. The newest film of the venerable ninja action property carries a rating of TV-14, a DVD MSRP of $19.98 U.S. / $24.98 CAN and a Blu-ray MSRP of $24.98 U.S. / $27.50 CAN.

The DVD and Blu-ray editions each contain a bevy of extra features including a hilarious anime short, NARUTO AND THE THREE WISHES, as well as the original Japanese theatrical trailers. The Blu-ray edition also features a bonus production art gallery.

In NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: THE LOST TOWER, the Rogue Ninja Mukade is about to be caught by Naruto's team when he summons forth the power of the LeyLine - an ancient underground channel of chakra. Naruto gets caught up in the chakra and is sent back in time to the city of Loran, known for its thousand towers. There he encounters the future Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, on a top-secret mission, and the Queen of Loran, Sarah, whose rule is threatened by Mukade. Will Naruto be able to return to his own time, and can a chance encounter in the past save the future?

“Anime fans can take an amazing journey back in time as Naruto tries to save a noble Queen in NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: THE LOST TOWER,” says Charlene Ingram, Senior Marketing Manager, Animation. “Don’t miss all of the action as Naruto takes on Mukade and meets the future Fourth Hokage in this exciting new feature film release!”

Additional information on NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN is available at www.Naruto.com.

For more information on VIZ Media anime properties, please visit www.viz.com/anime.

Review: Cruise Dominates Visually Splendid "Oblivion"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 63 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Oblivion (2013)
Running time:  124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity
DIRECTOR:  Joseph Kosinski
WRITERS:  Karl Gajdusek and Michael deBruyn (based on the original graphic novel story by Joseph Kosinski)
PRODUCERS:  Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Duncan Henderson, Joseph Kosinski, and Barry Levine
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Claudio Miranda (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Richard Francis-Bruce
COMPOSERS:  Anthony Gonzalez (score), M83, and Joseph Trapanese

SCI-FI/DRAMA/ACTION with elements of a mystery

Starring:  Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Melissa Leo

Oblivion is a 2013 post-apocalyptic science fiction drama from director Joseph Kosinski.  The screenplay is based on an unpublished graphic novel that Kosinski created for Radical Comics.  Oscar-winning screenwriter, Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), wrote the final draft of the screenplay under the penname, Michael deBruyn.  Oblivion the film stars Tom Cruise as technician who begins to question his mission on a war-torn future Earth, now a dying planet.

Oblivion opens in the year 2077.  Earth was nearly destroyed 60 years earlier by an alien race called the “Scavengers” (Scavs).  Most of humanity has moved to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.  Jack Harper, Tech 49 (Tom Cruise) and his lover and partner, Victoria “Vika” Olsen (Andrea Riseborough), are among the last humans on the planet.  Jack is a drone repairman, maintaining the planet’s defensive drones that guard massive ocean-borne power stations.

After a crippled starship enters his territory, Jack discovers that its sole occupant, a mysterious woman named Julia (Olga Kurylenko), seems familiar.  This leads Harper to make some shocking discoveries about himself and about the world.

My friend and colleague, Hervé St-Louis, wrote a review of Oblivion, from which I’ve selected the following lines:

...the plot is rather thin and much of the movie is lengthy and boring. It was a film produced for Tom Cruise’s ego...  This movie is meant to show Tom Cruise on the best possible angle at all time and nothing more. (http://www.comicbookbin.com/Oblivion001.html)

Tom Cruise apparently received good notices for his performance in Oblivion, but as is the case with most movies in which he appears, the film becomes about Cruise.  Here, the focus on Cruise/Jack Harper comes at the detriment of the other actors and the characters they play.  Thus, the mysterious, intriguing Julia remains a cipher, her captivating past and purpose subverted to serving the interests of Jack Harper’s quest.  This is the case with the equally captivating and cagey Vika, as it is with other characters I won’t name here in order to avoid creating too many spoilers.

That is not to say that Harper isn’t a great character.  There is so much to him, and while this isn’t among Cruise’s best performances, he makes Harper worth following.  However, it is as if we never really get into any depth with Harper.  Perhaps, the problem is the film’s screenplay.  Conceptually, Oblivion is like a novel, covering events that occur over a period of 60 years and happens on a worldwide level.  The actual screenplay for the movie mainly focuses on what would be the equivalent of two short stories at the end of the Oblivion saga.

That makes the film’s plot thin, but Oblivion offers good character drama and sci-fi.  Still, there are long, empty spaces in the story that seem to amount to nothing more than Harper staring off in the distance or flying in that cool Bubble Ship (which I want).

Oblivion is visually striking.  The aforementioned Bubble Ship, the drones, the power stations, and Tower 49 (Jack and Vika home and base) are sleek, showing off a production aesthetic that recalls The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and 1970s science fiction films like Logan’s Run, Silent Running, and Star Wars (of course).  It is the visual experience of Oblivion that makes me a fan of this film, in spite of my misgivings about the plot/screenplay and the diminishing of the supporting characters.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, September 13, 2013


The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

A Somber Anniversary: Four Little Girls (Bits and Bites Special)

Today is the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama by the Ku Klux Klan.  Four children were killed - four little girls: 14-year-old Addie Mae Collins, 11-year-old Denise McNair, 14-year-old Carole Robertson, and 14-year-old Cynthia Wesley.

Read the review of Spike Lee's documentary about the children, 4 Little Girls.

Read the review of the documentary of Civil Rights organizer and leader, Bayard Rustin.

Read the review of March Book One, the graphic novel and comic book biography of Civil Rights icon, Congressman John Lewis.

J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Announce New Films

Warner Bros. Announces Expanded Creative Partnership with J.K. Rowling

Rowling to Make Screenwriting Debut on “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the First in a New Film Series

Partnership Spans All Areas of Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter Businesses, Including Theme Parks, Digital Initiatives, Games and Visitor Attractions

Plus Studio to Serve as Global International TV Distributor of J.K. Rowling’s Upcoming Adaptation of her Book “The Casual Vacancy” for the BBC

BURBANK, Calif. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an expanded creative partnership with world-renowned, best-selling author J.K. Rowling. At the center of the partnership is a new film series from Rowling’s world of witches and wizards, inspired by Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbook “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and the adventures of the book’s fictitious author, Newt Scamander. The announcement was made by Kevin Tsujihara, Chief Executive Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” will be an original story and will mark Rowling’s screenwriting debut. It is planned as the first picture in a new film series. Set in the wizarding world, the story will feature magical creatures and characters, some of which will be familiar to devoted Harry Potter fans.

“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world,” said Rowling. “The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.” (Expanded Rowling quote at bottom of release.)

“We are incredibly honored that Jo has chosen to partner with Warner Bros. on this exciting new exploration of the world of wizardry which has been tremendously successful across all of our businesses,” said Tsujihara. “She is an extraordinary writer, who ignited a reading revolution around the world, which then became an unprecedented film phenomenon. We know that audiences will be as excited as we are to see what her brilliant and boundless imagination conjures up for us.”

In addition to the film series, “Fantastic Beasts” will also be developed across the Studio’s video game, consumer products and digital initiatives businesses, including enhanced links with Pottermore.com, Rowling’s digital online experience built around the Harry Potter stories.

The Studio’s expanded partnership with Rowling also covers the continued expansion of its Harry Potter activities, including the wonderful Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks in conjunction with partner Universal Parks and Resorts (currently in Orlando, FL; opening in Hollywood, CA and Osaka, Japan), digital initiatives (including Pottermore), video games, consumer products and visitor attractions.

In addition, Warner Bros. will serve as the worldwide TV distributor (excluding the U.K.) of J.K. Rowling’s upcoming television adaptation for the BBC of “The Casual Vacancy,” her best-selling first novel aimed at adult audiences. This miniseries begins production in 2014.

The relationship will be managed in London by Neil Blair of The Blair Partnership, Rowling’s literary agency, and Josh Berger, President & Managing Director, Warner Bros. UK, Ireland and Spain, who will serve as Warner Bros.’ chief business contact for all J.K. Rowling initiatives going forward.

Rowling’s expanded quote regarding “Fantastic Beasts” is below:

“It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.

As I considered Warners’ proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.

Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.

I particularly want to thank Kevin Tsujihara of Warner Bros. for his support in this project, which would not have happened without him. I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it.”

ABOUT:
1) J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007, which have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, are distributed in more than 200 territories, translated into 74 languages, and have been turned into eight blockbuster films. She has also written two small volumes, which appear as the titles of Harry’s schoolbooks within the novels. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages were published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in March 2001 in aid of Comic Relief. In December 2008, The Tales of Beedle the Bard was published in aid of the Children’s High Level Group (now known as Lumos), and quickly became the fastest-selling book of the year. In 2012, J.K. Rowling published her first book for adults, The Casual Vacancy, which has since been published in 44 languages. J.K. Rowling has also written The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, which was published this year by Little, Brown.

2) Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter films have grossed more than $7.7 billion to date worldwide at the box office, making Harry Potter the largest-grossing film franchise in history. The Harry Potter franchise has also been successfully extended across the Studio’s television, home entertainment, consumer products, video game, digital initiatives and visitor attractions businesses.

Review: Original "Friday the 13th" Movie Surprisingly Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 62 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux

Friday the 13th (1980)
Running time:  95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – X
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR:  Sean S. Cunningham
WRITERS:  Victor Miller; from a story by Sean S. Cunningham and Victor Miller
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Barry Abrams (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Bill Freda
COMPOSER:  Harry Manfredini

HORROR

Starring:  Adrienne King, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Peter Bouwer, Rex Everhart, Ronn Carroll, Ron Millkie, Walt Gorney, and Betsy Palmer

Friday the 13th is a 1980 slasher horror film from producer-director, Sean S. Cunningham.  It was the first movie in what is, as of this writing, a 12-film franchise, which includes a 2009 reboot of the franchise and a crossover film with another horror franchise, 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason.  The first Friday the 13th focuses on young camp counselors that are being stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant, as they try to reopen a summer camp with a troubled history.

Friday the 13th opens one night in 1958 at Camp Crystal Lake, where two young camp counselors are savagely murdered.  The story jumps to Friday, June 13, 1979.  Steve Christy (Peter Bouwer), son of the camp’s original owners, is trying to reopen Camp Crystal Lake.  Seven young camp counselors are arriving early to help Steve repair the camp site before it reopens.

Annie (Robbi Morgan), one of the early arrivals, finds that the town is not exactly happy about the idea of Steve reopening the camp, which has been the site of murders, fires, and water poisonings.  In fact, some of the locals specifically try to warn Annie to leave.  As this Friday the 13th turns to evening, the counselors are not aware that someone is watching and waiting and also preparing to kill them one by one.

Recently, I watched, for the first time, Friday the 13th in its entirety, and I liked it more than I ever thought I would.  It was clearly influenced by John Carpenter’s classic, 1978 slasher film, Halloween, but it is different.  I find Friday the 13th to be both moody and matter-of-fact about the murders committed in the film.  It is almost as if the filmmakers and storytellers (which include screenwriter Ron Kurz, who did not receive an onscreen credit) are saying to us that while sad, the death in this movie has to be.  This movie is less about pandering to the audience than about depicting a tragedy that has to be.

The film score for Friday the 13th, composed by Harry Manfredini, is probably the most important creative element in making this movie a chiller and thriller.  Manfredini seems to use elements from John Williams’ musical score for Jaws (1975) and Bernard Herrmann’s for Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960).  If talent borrows and genius steals, it was a genius move on Manfredini’s part to emulate the best musical cues from Jaws and Psycho, strains of music that are perfect for creating an atmosphere of fear and impending doom in Friday the 13th.

After 33 years, anyone familiar with the Friday the 13th franchise knows the identity of the killer in the original movie, but I still will not reveal the identity.  I think one of the things that make the original movie stand out from both its sequels and other horror films is who and what the killer is.  Of note, acclaimed actor Kevin Bacon has one of his earliest screen roles in Friday the 13th, and that includes a rather explicit sex scene, in which his sex partner claws his buttocks.  Including the fact that this is a horror movie classic, bare Bacon is as good a reason as any to see Friday the 13th.

Seriously, I like this movie’s scrappy nature.  There is something about its awkward, not-well made spirit that actually makes the movie seem... well, well-made.  Friday the 13th has a low-budget aesthetic that surprisingly appeals to me, and in terms of photography, there are a few moments that are captivating.  In fact, some of this movie’s scenes and best moments are as effective as the best moments found in film thrillers that are much more admired.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
1981 Razzie Awards:  2 nominations: “Worst Picture” (Sean S. Cunningham) and “Worst Supporting Actress” (Betsy Palmer)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Angelina Jolie to Receive Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Angelina Jolie, Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin and Piero Tosi to Receive the Academy's Governors Awards

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present Honorary Awards to Angela Lansbury, Steve Martin, and Piero Tosi, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Angelina Jolie. All four awards will be presented at the Academy's 5th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 16, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center®.

“The Governors Awards pay tribute to individuals who’ve made indelible contributions in their respective fields,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.  “We couldn’t be more excited for this year’s honorees and look forward to bringing their peers and colleagues together to celebrate their extraordinary achievements.”

Lansbury has received three Academy Award® nominations for her supporting performances on film – the first in her 1944 feature debut in “Gaslight,” followed by “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1945) and “The Manchurian Candidate” (1962).  Her numerous other credits include “The Long, Hot Summer,” “Blue Hawaii,” “The World of Henry Orient,” “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” “Death on the Nile” and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” as well as voice work for the first animated feature to receive a Best Picture nomination, “Beauty and the Beast.”

Martin, who got his start in television, is a versatile actor, writer, comedian and musician who began to display the breadth of his big-screen talent as the screenwriter and star of the 1977 Oscar®-nominated short film “The Absent-Minded Waiter.”  He wrote and starred in “The Jerk,” “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid,” “Three Amigos,” “Roxanne,” “L.A. Story,” “The Pink Panther” series and “Shopgirl,” which he adapted from his critically acclaimed book of the same name.  His other acting credits include “All of Me,” “Parenthood,” “Father of the Bride” and “It’s Complicated.”  He also is a three-time host of the Oscars®, most recently in 2010 with Alec Baldwin.

Tosi rose to prominence through his collaborations with Italian director Luchino Visconti on such films as “White Nights” and “Rocco and His Brothers,” and continued to work with him on several other features, including the Costume Design nominees “The Leopard,” “Death in Venice” and “Ludwig.”  Tosi received two more nominations for his designs for “La Cage aux Folles” and “La Traviata.”  His other notable credits include “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” a Foreign Language Film winner, and “Marriage Italian Style,” a Foreign Language Film nominee, both directed by Vittorio De Sica.

Jolie, who won an Oscar for her supporting performance in “Girl, Interrupted,” has been an impassioned advocate for humanitarian causes, traveling widely to promote organizations and social justice efforts such as the Prevent Sexual Violence Initiative.  Staking out a career at the nexus of entertainment and philanthropy, Jolie has worked for a number of global advocacy groups including the Council on Foreign Relations and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), for which she was appointed Special Envoy of High Commissioner António Guterres in 2012 after twelve years of service.  Her dedication to these causes has also shaped her work in films that tackle global humanitarian issues including “A Mighty Heart” and her feature film directorial debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey.”

The Honorary Award, an Oscar statuette, is given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, also an Oscar statuette, is given “to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.”

Review: "Iraq in Fragments" Gives Voice to the Voiceless

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 80 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Iraq in Fragments (2006)
Running time:  94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – Not rated
DIRECTOR:  James Longley
COMPOSER/CINEMATOGRAPHER:  James Longley
PRODUCERS:  James Longley and John Sinno
EDITORS:  James Longley, Billy McMillin, and Fiona Otway
2007 Academy Award nominee

DOCUMENTARY – War, Politics, Religion

Starring:  Mohammed Haithem and Suleiman Mahmoud

The subject of this movie review is Iraq in Fragments, a 2006 documentary from filmmaker James Longley.  The film offers stories from modern day Iraq, as told by Iraqis living in a time of war, occupation and ethnic tension.

Iraq in Fragments earned an Academy Award nomination.  The film also won 3 awards at the 2006 Sundance Festival:  “Cinematography Award,” “Directing Award,” and “Documentary Film Editing Award,” as well as being nominated for the “Grand Jury Price."

In his Oscar-nominated documentary, Iraq in Fragments, director James Longley presents a portrait of Iraq, a nation divided, one at war with itself after the United States invaded the country won Operation: Iraqi Freedom.  Through a collage of images and commentary from ordinary Iraqis, Longley illuminates post-invasion Iraq in three acts focusing on different regions of the country.

In Part One, entitled “Mohammed of Baghdad,” Mohammed, a fatherless 11-year old boy is apprenticed to a dictatorial garage owner, who is outraged that after several years of schooling Mohammed cannot read.  In, “Sadr’s South,” the followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr rally for regional elections, but also enforce Islamic law at the point of a gun, which some residents see as similar to things Saddam Hussein did and the American are doing.  In the final act, “Kurdish Spring,” a family of farmers welcome the American presence because it brings them a measure of freedom Kurdistan never knew, but one boy, Suleiman, will still see his dreams of an education dashed as he remains trapped in his elderly father’s meager occupations as a sheepherder and brick maker.

Through these interviews with Iraqis (although neither his nor his translators’ voices are ever heard), Longley, via words and images, captures the discord in the war-torn country – both in the abstract and in the literal that give the effects of war, political unrest, religious feuds deeper meaning.  In this way, Longley helps the audience to understand how living in uncertainty and deepening poverty drags on the people physically and spiritually.

Sometimes, the film seems to hunger for a historical context (especially when an Iraqi subject mentions distant historical events), and the near-absence of Americans in this documentary is noticeable.  That doesn’t really hurt Iraq in Fragment, for it remains a riveting film in which the images and subjects stick with you in an insistent fashion.  Besides, with this documentary, Longley forces us (at least the ones who do bother to see Iraq in Fragments) to do something more Americans should – see things from the ordinary Iraqi’s perspective.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards:  1 nomination for “Best Documentary, Features,” (James Longley and John Sinno)

Monday, May 21, 2007

Updated, Wednesday, September 11, 2013

The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.