Get Your Special "K" - Anime "K" That Is - On Tuesday, February 25th

VIZ MEDIA DEBUTS FIRST-EVER LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY AND DVD COMBO PACK FOR THE ANIME SCI-FI ACTION THRILLER “K”

Savor The Complete Series About A Case of Mistaken Identity That Embroils An Easygoing Teenager In A Deadly War, Along With An Array Of Special Bonus Material

San Francisco, CA, February 20, 2014 – The wait is finally over as VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, prepares to release the anime action thriller – K – as a special Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and also as a standard DVD edition on February 25th, 2014.

The 13-episode series is rated ‘TV-14’ and will debut as a 4-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack with an MSRP of $69.99 US/CAN. The standard edition 2-disc DVD edition will be offered at an MSRP of $44.82 US/CAN. An extensive collection of bonus material also makes this release a must-see for anime fans.

K introduces viewers to Shiro, an easygoing teenager content with just being a student – until his seemingly perfect life is suddenly halted when a bloodthirsty clan, glowing red with fire, attempts to kill him in the streets. Unbeknownst to Shiro, he is suspected of murdering a member of their clan and will need a miracle to escape their vengeance. Miraculously, a young man named Kuroh Yatogami swings in and aids Shiro in his getaway, only to reveal afterward he's also after Shiro's life. Now a hunted man, Shiro will have to evade the clans of seven powerful kings and desperately try to prove his innocence – before it’s too late!

The K Blu-ray/DVD combo pack comes packaged in a luxurious collectible specialty print chipboard box containing a full-color 80 page premium art booklet containing individual episode synopses, character profiles, poster art, translated song lyrics. Additional Limited Edition combo pack extras include: VIZ Presents an Interview with KANAME☆, an insightful segment with one of Japan’s most popular professional cosplayers during his first-ever U.S. guest appearance to celebrate the debut of K at Anime Expo in Los Angeles in 2013; a KANAME☆ as Fushimi Photo Gallery; special K Day Events and convention highlights from Anime Expo including the VIZ Media K panel with cast, staff and special guests; exclusive English cast and crew interviews; the series’ original Japanese and English trailers; and clean opening and ending segments (with English translated and subtitled options), next episode previews and more. A special bonus gift of exclusive full-color K stickers is also available with purchase from select anime retailers including Robert’s Anime Corner and the Right Stuf.

“K debuts as VIZ Media’s first-ever Limited Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack title, and with its multilayered story, engaging characters, and beautifully rendered animation, this series is guaranteed to delight anime fans across North America,” says Charlene Ingram, VIZ Media Senior Manager, Animation Marketing. “We’ve also packed this release with an array of fun extras that will give viewers the chance to dive into the amazing world of K even more. Don’t miss the release of this kinetic action-filled drama debuting this month!”

For more information on K and other animated titles from VIZ Media please visit http://www.viz.com/anime.

"Entourage" Movie Begins Filming

Filming Begins on “Entourage”

The film reunites series stars Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven, under the direction of series creator Doug Ellin.

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Principal photography is underway on Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Entourage,” the much-anticipated big-screen version of the award-winning hit HBO series. The feature film reunites the show’s original cast, led by Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven. Also starring are Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment as father and son, Larsen and Travis McCredle.

“Entourage” creator Doug Ellin is directing the feature film from his own screenplay. Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Ellin are producing, with Wayne Carmona serving as executive producer. Returning cast from the series also includes Perrey Reeves as Ari Gold’s wife, Emmanuelle Chriqui as Sloan and Rhys Coiro as Billy Walsh.

Movie star Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Johnny (Kevin Dillon), are back…and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood.

The behind-the-scenes creative team reunites several key members who worked on the original series, including director of photography Steve Fierberg, production designer Chase Harlan, and costume designer Olivia Miles-Payne.

“Entourage” is being filmed in Los Angeles, California, and on location in Miami, Florida.

“Entourage” is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Home Box Office. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

"Gravity" Lifts 2013 Central Ohio Film Critics Awards

The Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA) was founded in 2002 and is made up of film critics based in Columbus, Ohio, and the surrounding areas.  Its membership currently consists of more than 25 print, radio, television, and new media critics.  Each January, COFCA votes on a number of awards, recognizing excellence in the film industry.

The 12th Annual Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2013, were announced on January 2, 2014.

2013 Central Ohio Film Critics Awards:

Best Film 
   1. Gravity
   2. Her
   3. American Hustle
   4. Frances Ha
   5. The Wolf of Wall Street
   6. 12 Years a Slave
   7. Inside Llewyn Davis
   8. Before Midnight
   9. Upstream Color
  10. Nebraska

Best Director 
  • Alfonso Cuarón - (Gravity)
  • Runner-Up: Spike Jonze - (Her)

Best Actor
  • Chiwetel Ejiofor - (12 Years a Slave)
  • Runner-Up: Matthew McConaughey - (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress
  • Adèle Exarchopoulos - (Blue is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle))
  • Runner-Up: Brie Larson - (Short Term 12)

Best Supporting Actor
  • James Franco - (Spring Breakers)
  • Runner-Up: Jared Leto - (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Supporting Actress
  • Jennifer Lawrence - (American Hustle)
  • Runner-Up: Lupita Nyong’o - (12 Years a Slave)

Best Ensemble
  • American Hustle
  • Runner-Up: The Wolf of Wall Street

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work):
  • Matthew McConaughey - (Dallas Buyers Club, Mud, and The Wolf of Wall Street)
  • Runner-Up: Jennifer Lawrence - (American Hustle and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)

Breakthrough Film Artist
  • Adèle Exarchopoulos - (Blue is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle)) - (for acting)
  • Runner-Up: Brie Larson - (Don Jon, Short Term 12, and The Spectacular Now) - (for acting)

Best Cinematography
  • Emmanuel Lubezki - (Gravity)
  • Runner-Up: Hoyte Van Hoytema - (Her)

Best Adapted Screenplay
  • Terence Winter - (The Wolf of Wall Street)
  • Runner-Up: John Ridley - (12 Years a Slave)

Best Original Screenplay
  • Spike Jonze - (Her)
  • Runner-Up: Destin Daniel Cretton - (Short Term 12)

Best Score
  • Arcade Fire - (Her)
  • Runner-Up: Steven Price - (Gravity)

Best Documentary
  • The Act of Killing
  • Runner-Up: Stories We Tell

Best Foreign Language Film
  • The Wind Rises (Kaze tachinu)
  • Runner-Up: Blue is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle)

Best Animated Film
  • The Wind Rises (Kaze tachinu)
  • Runner-Up: Frozen

Best Overlooked Film
  • Short Term 12
  • Runner-Up: Mud

http://www.cofca.org/

-----------------------------------

Two-Time Oscar Winner Christoph Waltz Announced as 2014 Oscar Presenter

Christoph Waltz Returns To Present At The Oscars®

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Two-time Oscar® winner Christoph Waltz will present at this year’s Oscars, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today. The Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will air on Sunday, March 2, live on ABC.

Last year Waltz won his second Oscar for his supporting performance in “Django Unchained.” He received his first in 2009 for his supporting role in “Inglourious Basterds.” Waltz’s other feature credits include “Carnage,” “The Green Hornet” and “Water for Elephants.”  Waltz will next be seen in “Big Eyes“ and “Horrible Bosses 2.”

Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

"The Lego Movie" Builds Past $200 Million in Global Box Office

“The Lego® Movie” Assembles More Than $200 Million in Global Box Office

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Audiences are connecting with “The LEGO® Movie” in a big way, driving the first-ever full-length theatrical LEGO adventure past $200 million in worldwide box office, less than two weeks after its record-breaking release. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

“The LEGO Movie,” from Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and LEGO System A/S, made its North American debut on Friday, February 7. It took in an opening weekend gross of $69.1 million, making it the largest February opening for any animated film and the largest opening for an animated Warner Bros. release. It has since gone on to earn a total of $146.3 million at the domestic box office, and still building.

The film has also launched its international engagements in a number of European, Asian, and Latin American markets, including the UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Hong Kong, Korea, Brazil and Mexico, earning $60.4 million to date, for a combined worldwide box office total of $206.7 million, and climbing.

Many major territories have yet to open, including Germany, Russia, France, Italy, Australia and Japan.

Stated Fellman, “‘The LEGO Movie’ is everything we hoped it would be, and then some: a big, fun, moviegoing experience for the whole family. Congratulations to the phenomenal voice cast and to directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee for their unwavering commitment to bringing this ambitious project to the screen. We are thrilled by the overwhelming response and early word-of-mouth that has made this movie a must-see, and we have every expectation that this is just the beginning of a long and successful run.”

Kwan Vandenberg added, “In addition to congratulating the talented filmmakers and cast, we also want to thank The LEGO Group and our partners at Village Roadshow for helping to make ‘The LEGO Movie’ such a tremendous success. The LEGO brand has captivated generations with a focus on discovery and imagination. By bringing those ideals to the big screen in such a fun and exciting way, ‘The LEGO Movie’ speaks to kids and adults the world over, and we believe enthusiasm will remain high as the film continues its international roll-out.”

“The LEGO Movie” tells an original 3D computer animated story about Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

Directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, “The LEGO Movie” stars Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie and Charlie Day, with Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman. Lord & Miller also wrote the screenplay, from a story by Dan Hageman & Kevin Hageman and Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, based on LEGO construction toys. “The LEGO Movie” is produced by Dan Lin and Roy Lee. Executive producers are Jill Wilfert, Matthew Ashton, Kathleen Fleming, Allison Abbate, Zareh Nalbandian, Jon Burton, Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Seanne Winslow, Matt Skiena and Bruce Berman; and co-producer is John Powers Middleton. The filmmaking team includes cinematographer Pablo Plaisted, production designer Grant Freckelton, editors David Burrows and Chris McKay, and composer Mark Mothersbaugh. Chris McKay also serves as animation co-director.

“The LEGO Movie” is a Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, in association with LEGO System A/S, a Vertigo Entertainment/Lin Pictures Production. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. www.thelegomovie.com

This film is rated PG for “mild action and rude humor.”

LEGO, the LEGO logo, the minifigure and the brick and knob configuration are trademarks of The LEGO Group. ©2014 The LEGO Group. Used with permission. All rights reserved.

Oscar-Nominated Bette Midler Announced as 2014 Oscar Performer

Bette Midler To Perform On The Oscars®

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Two-time Oscar®-nominated actress and multiple Grammy Award®-winning singer Bette Midler will perform for the first time on the Oscars, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today. The Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, will air on Sunday, March 2, live on ABC.

“We are thrilled to have Bette perform on the Oscars for the very first time,” said Zadan and Meron.  “We believe she will make our Oscar telecast an especially moving evening.”

Midler received Oscar nominations for Actress in a Leading Role for “For the Boys” and The Rose.” She has recorded 13 studio albums, the first of which, 1972’s “The Divine Miss M,” sold over a million copies and earned her a Grammy for Best New Artist. Midler has gone on to sell over 30 million albums worldwide and win two additional Grammys for the songs “The Rose” (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance) and “Wind Beneath My Wings” (Record of the Year). She has been honored with three Emmy® Awards and a special Tony Award® in 1974 for her contribution to that year’s Broadway season. Her numerous starring film roles include “The First Wives Club,” “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” and  “Ruthless People,” Last year Midler portrayed the late Hollywood agent Sue Mengers in the hit Broadway production, “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers.”

Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2013 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars, produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.

Review: "Riddick" Goes Back to Basics

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2014) by Leroy Douresseaux

Riddick (2013)
Running time:  119 minutes (1 hour, 59 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence, language and some sexual content/nudity
DIRECTOR:  David Twohy
WRITER:  David Twohy (based upon characters created by Jim Wheat and Ken Wheat)
PRODUCERS:  Vin Diesel and Ted Field
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  David Eggby
EDITOR:  Tracy Adams
COMPOSER:  Graeme Revell

SCI-FI/ACTION/THRILLER

Starring:  Vin Diesel, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Bautista, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, Conrad Pla, Danny Blanco Hall, Noah Danby, Neil Napier, Nolan Gerard Funk, Andreas Apergis, Keri Lynn Hilson, and Karl Urban

Riddick is a 2013 British-American science fiction and action-thriller film from writer-director David Twohy.  Starring Vin Diesel in the title role, this film is a sequel to the 2004 science fiction film, The Chronicles of Riddick, and is also the third feature film in The Chronicles of Riddick film franchise that began with 2000’s Pitch Black.  In the new film, Riddick finds himself left for dead on a desolate planet and facing off against two bands of mercenaries and the planet’s predatory inhabitants.

Riddick takes place five years after the events of the movie, The Chronicles of Riddick.  The universe’s most dangerous man, Richard B. Riddick (Vin Diesel), awakens on an unnamed, sun-scorched planet and finds himself severely injured.  He realizes that he must go “back to zero” and awaken the savage inside himself.  Eventually, Riddick discovers that although he has survived the planet’s harsh environment and native predators, he must still find a way off this world.

Riddick activates an emergency beacon at an abandoned mercenary station.  Two ships promptly answer the beacon.  The first carries a band of grungy mercenaries led by the violent and erratic, Santana (Jordi Molla).  The second group of mercenaries is more professional and better equipped, but they are led by Boss John (Matt Nable), a man who has a connection to Riddick’s past.  As the two groups fight to see which will capture Riddick, they are unaware of something that may be more dangerous than Riddick.

Riddick isn’t by any means a great movie, but, just like The Chronicles of Riddick, it is a rather entertaining movie.  Riddick is very much the work of talented artists, craftsman, and photographers and CGI artists.  Their best work is revealed in the long-distance views of the planet’s sun-scorched landscapes and turbulent sky.

However, director David Twohy and his star, Vin Diesel, don’t leave everything up to the techs and artisans.  They go back to the basics, delivering a tense, brooding thriller that borrows heavily from the first film, Pitch Black, which is basically a template for this new movie.  Riddick recaptures the stripped-down, indie-style science fiction that was the first film, while jettisoning the opulent sci-fi mode of the second film.  If you like Pitch Black, you may like Riddick.

I wish the screenplay developed the characters better than it does.  The Boss John subplot is wasted.  There is potential for real conflict between Riddick, John, and the other mercs, but the other characters are mostly cannon fodder or are simply in the film to make Riddick look like such a stallion among nags.

Say what you will about his acting (and there may be little to say), Diesel, as a movie star, is a steed and a charger and a stallion, and his personality is a large object, large enough to cast a shadow over his co-stars.  That can keep other characters from showing their best side.  But what the hell – Riddick is back, and that’s more than good enough for me.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, February 17, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.