MOVIES INFO: Diesel is a tough guy with the shaved head, the tattoos and the throwaway one-liners (after he's busted for stealing a car and driving it off a bridge, he says, "It was only a Corvette."). In last summer's "The Fast and the Furious," he hurtled cars down city streets in death-defying races. As we meet him in "XXX," he's a famous sports daredevil who steals computer chips and cars and is finally hunted down by Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson), a National Security Agency spymaster with a scarred face and a role inspired by M in the Bond series.
If Bond is a patriot, Xander is a man who looks out only for No. 1, until Gibbons threatens him with prison unless he agrees to go to the Czech Republic and stop a madman with, yes, a plan to destroy and/or conquer the world. This villain, named Yorgi (Marton Csokas), apparently lives in the Prague Castle, which will come as a surprise to President Vaclav Havel. He's a renegade officer of the evil Czech Secret Service; the movie doesn't seem to know that the Cold War is over and Czechs are good guys these days, but never mind: The movie was shot on location in Prague, part of the current filmmaking boom in the republic, and the scenery is terrific.
Director Rob Cohen and producer Neal H. Mortiz, who also made "The Fast and the Furious," follow the Bond formula so carefully this would be a satire if it weren't intended as a homage. We click off the 007 check points: (1) Villain in lair hidden within mountain, with faceless minions busily going about tasks; (2) a beautiful girl, former KGB, named Yelena (Asia Argento), who seems to be Yorgi's girlfriend but falls for Xander; (3) a techno-geek who supplies Xander with a trick gun and a customized GTO that has an arsenal on board; (4) stunts involving parachuting, mountains, avalanches and explosions; (5) a chase at the end to save the world, and (6), my favorite, the obligatory final scene where the hero basks in Bora Bora with the beautiful girl in a bikini, while his boss tries to persuade him to take another job.
Will he take another job? Of course he will. Xander Cage is a new franchise, and Vin Diesel, who was walking around Sundance a few years ago telling everyone he would someday be a big star, was right.
I love the lengths that villains go to in these movies. Consider Yorgi. He has devised an incredibly expensive steel speedboat armed with three rockets containing canisters of poison gas. This speedboat is inside a mountain cavern far below his lair. It is his superweapon for world domination. Fine, except where can a boat go in the landlocked Czech Republic? Down the Danube through Budapest and Vienna? In the event, he decides to attack Prague itself, and we're wondering: Considering how much it cost him to hollow out the mountain and build the boat, why not just put the gas canisters into a car and drive into town? Yorgi is the kind of bad guy who is beloved by the architects of the 'star wars' defense, staging an attack that is cumbersome, costly and visible, instead of just delivering the goods by FedEx.
As the boat speeds down the river into town, Xander does a stunt that is not only exciting but, even better, impossible. As the Russian babe pilots the GTO on a road parallel to the river, Xander fires a steel cable, which attaches to the boat, and then he transfers from the car to the boat using the cable and a parasail. Wonderful, except ... do you suppose there are any lamp posts, traffic lights or telephone poles along the road that the cable might get hung up on? Never mind. Now Xander's on board, trying to disarm the canisters by using a slicked-up cyber-version of the old standby where he has to decide between the green wire and the red wire. Meanwhile, Gibbons has a vantage point on one of the bridges, and is commanding fighter planes that are prepared to blast the boat out of the water, no doubt thereby dispersing the poison gas, but c'est la vie.
See, I like all this stuff, at least when it's done well. Diesel's gruff, monosyllabic style is refreshing as a counterpoint to the gung-ho action, and the romantic scenes with the beautiful Yelena consist of two kisses, because Xander has a world to save. The music is aggressive heavy metal by the German band Rammstein, and Csokas, as the villain, has one of those fleshy, sneering faces, surrounded by too much greasy hair, that goes with his central European accent. Oddly, he isn't from Transylvania at all, but from New Zealand, and you may have seen him on "Xena." He likes to play opposite characters with X-names.
2:16:00 AM
Banner: Yash Raj Films Status: Under Production Re...
Sultan is an upcoming action flick film, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Aditya Chopra. The film’s star cast Salman Khan and Parineeti Chopra in lead roles. Salman Khan will play a 40 year old wrestler role in film Sultan.
The film’s release announcement video released recently. The film’s first schedule for release was on Eid 2015 but on the same day Eid Shahrukh Khan’s starrer upcoming film “Raees” is all set to release in theaters. So Salman Khan decided to avoid this clash and decide the Sultan release on Diwali 2016 not on Eid. And now Salman going to hit the box office on Diwali 2016. Salman Khan’s Sultan to be shot in Punjab, Delhi, Haryana.
Official Salman Khan’s Sultan directed by Ali Abbas Zafar goes on floor on 15th November 2015 at Punjab followed by a shooting schedule at Delhi and HaryanaRiding high on the success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Salman Khan is all set to wrap up the shooting of his next film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo by the first week of September.
The film’s pre-production has started, the lady who is supposed to feature opposite the super star is yet to be finalised.Rumors was that, actress Anushka Sharma is playing role opposite Salman Khan in the film.
But according to the latest news Anushka Sharma denied to work in Sultan. Anushka Sharma currently in London for Karan Johar’s next film “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”.
Anushka confirmed! “Here i’m busy shooting & I read that my next film is sultan! News to me guys..sorry to disappoint….I am always supposedly doing more films than the ones I am actually committed to doing! Strange !”
According to the latest news, actress Anushka Sharma playing lead actress role in “Sultan” opposite Salman Khan.
Sultan is NOT postponed to Diwali 2016. Confirmed for Eid 2016. Which means, Sultan [Salman Khan] versus Raees [SRK] clash is on!
Official – Salman Khan’s ’Sultan’ Teaser out with Shah Rukh Khan’s FAN. Salman Khan’s Sultan Teaser will release with Shah Rukh Khan’s FAN prints on 15th April.
Shah Rukh Khan‘s FAN is slated to release on 15th April 2016. Salman Khan’s Sultan and Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees is slated to clash at box office on Eid 2016. The tentative release date for Sultan and Raees as of now is 6th/7th July 2016.
1:57:00 AM
MOVIES INFO: Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan Writers: Evan Spiliotopoulos, Craig Mazin Stars: Jessica Chastain, Chris Hemswo...
Stars: Jessica Chastain, Chris Hemsworth, Sam Claflin
Language: English
Release Date: 22 April 2016 (USA)
Also Known As: Snow White and the Huntsman 2
Filming Locations: Waverley Abbey, Surrey, England, UK
Technical Specs:
Runtime: 114 min
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Storyline:
As two evil sisters prepare to conquer the land; two renegades - Eric the Huntsman - who previously aided Snow White in defeating Ravenna, and his forbidden lover, Sara set out to stop them.
1:02:00 AM
Movies Info: Rating: PG-13 (for extended sequences of intense fantasy violence) Genre: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction ...
Rating: PG-13 (for extended sequences of intense fantasy violence) Genre: Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy Directed By: Duncan Jones Written By: Charles Leavitt, Duncan Jones In Theaters: Jun 10, 2016 Limited Runtime: 1 hr. 40 min. Universal Pictures
This year's BlizzCon event was full of exciting news for World of Warcraft, including a trailer for the upcoming movie and the announcement of a release time frame for the game's sixth expansion pack, Legion. But just days before BlizzCon started, the news for Blizzard's massively multiplayer role-playing game looked much more grim. The developer revealed that the game was down to 5.5 million subscribers, its lowest number since 2005, and that it would no longer be sharing subscription numbers at all.
Is it all so bad as it looks? We spoke with World of Warcraft executive producer J Allen Brack during BlizzCon, and he called the issue of subscriptions "a difficult problem."
"One of the problems that we have as a team and that I think the community has as well is this perception that there's a direct relationship between the number that we announce and the health of that community, and the health of that business," Brack said. "That's not really true. I wouldn't say that World of Warcraft is necessarily half as successful now as in previous times."
1:13:00 AM
Director: Alexander Yellen Awards: Telly Award for Non-Broadcast Productions Film/Video - Sound/Sound Design Movie Info: Battle...
Awards: Telly Award for Non-Broadcast Productions Film/Video - Sound/Sound Design
Movie Info: Battledogs is movie for those who are 13 years old and up. It is also for those who like a SciFi Horrox mix. Battledogs is a different kind of werewolf story that most of us are used to. Usually, it is the moon which triggers the werewolf. In this movie, it is the heartbeat. Battledogs is a scary movie. The werewolf adds to the scariness, but the most scary part of this movie is what people in power can do with such weapons of power and knowledge. That makes it scary. We always wonder just what our Government has in it bio-warfare arsenal. I am sure that it all stays out of the press. Teens like werewolves and vamps so this is right down their alley. Bring out the popcorn in this movie. I give Battledogs 5 thumbs up.
4:07:00 AM
CAST: Ankush Hazra, Mimi Chakraborty, Shankar Chakraborty, Reshmi Sen, Santilal Mukherjee, Kharaj Mukherjee and others DIRECTIO...
CAST: Ankush Hazra, Mimi Chakraborty, Shankar Chakraborty, Reshmi Sen, Santilal Mukherjee, Kharaj Mukherjee and others
DIRECTION: Ravi Kinagi
GENRE: Romantic Comedy
DURATION: 2 hours 34 minutes
Review: Akash (Ankush) gets into divorce mode right after his wedding with Anjali (Mimi), because she is already head over heels in love with another guy. What follow are their experiences together in the six-month 're-think' time the court grants them after accepting their divorce petition. Cliched, predictable storylines are nothing new when it comes to commercial Bengali films. And Ki Kore Toke Bolbo leaves no stone unturned in running down the beaten track. The only new thing about the whole film is the lead pair of Ankush and Mimi, who display a fair bit of on-screen chemistry. No, not sizzling, but believable. The best thing about the film? No one needs to tax their brains about why's and how's; they can just sit back with that smug smile, which usually equates to the thought, 'I know what's coming next'. Yup, it's the usual masala romantic flick with a different cast and a hero who can give Jet Lee or Jackie Chan a run for their money. Even these martial arts superstars show some human traits, like getting seriously injured, in their films. But our heroes get away with mere scratches after mostly aerial fights with N number of bad guys. Ankush is no exception. There are times when he behaves more like a WWE champion than a radio jockey in the film! But we're used to that, aren't we? Performance wise, every member of the cast has done a decent job, including the lead pair of Ankush and Mimi. There is, however, no room for anything spectacular, as the script hardly demands it.
3:50:00 AM
Movie Info: It's said that two actresses can't be friends, so CT asked Riya and Nusrat, about their experience of working togeth...
Movie Info:It's said that two actresses can't be friends, so CT asked Riya and Nusrat, about their experience of working together. Excerpts: Riya: I loved playing Meera, a girl from a wealthy political family , as the role has many layers. I admire Sujit Mondol as a director, as he pushes actors out of their comfort zones. That helped me rediscover my acting skills. Our DoP Ishwar and choreographer Jayesh deserve special mention for their hard work. Om, too, was a pleasure to work with and I'm sure he'll go a long way . It was nice working with Nusrat, but given the crazy schedule, there was hardly any time to bond.Nusrat: This is my second film here after Aashiqui and I enjoyed every bit of it. I play Rai, a softnatured working girl who stays with her mother.She is down to earth and falls in love with a guy who is her opposite.Sujitda was a pleasure to work with, as he gives a lot of space to his actors.He knows exactly what he wants from his cast. As for Om, our on-screen chemistry is so good that the audience might think it's our tenth film together, though it's our first. Riya, too, is a superb co-actress and we had a blast together!
Hero 420, produced by Eskay Movies, will release on February 12, 2016.
3:10:00 AM
Film Review: ‘The Mermaid’: Director: Stephen Chow Box office: 540 million USD Budget: 60.72 million USD Music composed...
The screenplay by Chow and eight other scribes is not wildly original, but keeps springing minor surprises and Chow’s patented smart-alecky dialogue. As with his other directorial works, notably “The God of Cookery” (1996) and “Kung Fu Hustle” (2004), Chow sneeringly pushes past the limits of decency and humanity in his ill treatment of his characters, suggesting an innate misanthropy that at times sits uncomfortably with his exuberant merrymaking and often black-and-white morality. Likewise, the longstanding misogynist streak in his work shows no signs of abating: Newcomer Jelly Lin joins a long line of gorgeous femmes like Karen Mok, Vicki Zhao and Shu Qi who are made to undergo repulsive image makeovers, then subjected to physical and mental abuse, though Lin’s performance proves winning enough to prevail over these obstacles.
Nostalgically harking back to Chow’s pioneering “mo lei tau” (nonsensical) comedic antics, the film begins with a tour of the “Museum of World Exotic Animals,” somewhere off the coast of Guangdong province — a dive that seems to have frozen in time with its grotesquely fake exhibits, including a “mermaid” that’s a dead ringer for a salted mackerel and a museum curator who rehearses a freak show in his bathtub. This may seem like a narrative non sequitur, but it does reinforce, albeit bizarrely, how badly the animal kingdom has been depleted.
11:22:00 PM
Movie Info: Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's prim...
Movie Info:Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's primal fears. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley, horror films have existed for more than a century. The macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes, and may overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction and thriller genres.[1]
Horror films often deal with viewers' nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, extraterrestrials, vampires, werewolves, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, psychopaths, and serial killers.
Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of George Hogg, a young British journalist, who rescues 60 orphaned children. He leads them on a treacherous 1000-mile journey along the Silk Road, through the Liu Pan Shan Mountains into the spectacular Gobi desert. Over the course of the journey he falls in love with a determined, self-trained nurse, and makes a friend in Chen, the leader of a Chinese partisan group. Madame Wang, a surviving aristocrat, assists in guiding them to safety in a remote village near the western end of China's Great Wall.
10:39:00 PM
Movie Info: By all means, there are worse Asylum movies out there than Avengers Grimm, but this was especially disappointing because t...
By all means, there are worse Asylum movies out there than Avengers Grimm, but this was especially disappointing because the premise was great, one of the best ideas they've ever come up. However, the execution was bad, terrible even at worst, and the very misleading and irrelevant title does nothing in its favour and that's putting it mildly.
What saves Avengers Grimm from being unwatchable are the confident Red of Elizabeth Peterson and Casper Van Dien who is clearly having fun as Rumpelstiltskin (the one character that the writers even attempted to do something with). The rest of the acting is atrocious, Lauren Parkinson's Snow White's line delivery just grates, Kimo Leopoldo is as un-wolf-like as one could possibly get and Marah Fairclough spends the entire time looking dead as Sleeping Beauty. There's also the most forgettable version of Cinderella ever, both in acting and how the character is written. With the exceptions of Peterson and Van Dien, nobody looks interested or like they wanted to be there. Lou Ferringo is nice to see but is made up weirdly (the Dr Freeze and Colossus comparison is pretty apt) and bogged down with bad material and an under-characterised character who's barely in the movie to make enough of an impression, good to see him again but it doesn't go beyond that.
The characters are just dull, dumb stereotypes, with characterisation almost non-existent apart from Rumpelstiltskin, while the horrid (and that's being kind) dialogue is enough to make even an amateur actor embarrassed. The story does absolutely nothing with its concept, being told in a constantly sluggishly paced, paper-thin and muddled way, further disadvantaged by very confusingly choreographed, pedestrian-paced and sloppily edited fight scenes. Avengers Grimm is directed with little competence, has a soundtrack that is too often too loud and too quirky which jars with the 'darker' (in quote marks because the movie is little more than tired cheese throughout) moments and looks cheap. A couple of sets are decent, but most are basic and too darkly lit, the editing is besieged with continuity errors with all too obvious stunt doubles, the camera work is going-through-the-motions-like and while there are worse special effects around the effects are slapdash at best.
