Saturday, December 5, 2009

Special Feature: Phone Booth


Red-hot superstar Colin Farrell ("Daredevil," "The Recruit") toplines the thriller PHONE BOOTH, from director Joel Schumacher. A phone call can change your life, but for one man it can also end it.... Red-hot superstar Colin Farrell ("Daredevil," "The Recruit") toplines the thriller PHONE BOOTH, from director Joel Schumacher. A phone call can change your life, but for one man it can also end it. Set entirely within and around the confines of a New York City phone booth, PHONE BOOTH follows Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell), a low-rent media consultant who is trapped after being told by a caller - a serial killer with a sniper rifle - that he'll be shot dead if he hangs up.

What do you do when you hear a ringing public phone? You know it's a wrong number, but instinct forces you to pick it up. A ringing phone demands to be answered, but when Stu Shepard takes the call, he finds himself hurtled into a tortuous game. Hang up, says the caller (Kiefer Sutherland), and Stu's a dead man.

A sudden and shocking act of violence near the booth draws the attention of the police, who arrive backed with a small army of sharpshooters. They believe that Stu, not the unseen caller of whom they remain unaware, is the dangerous man with a gun.

The senior officer on the scene, Captain Ramey (Forest Whitaker), tries to talk Stu out of the booth. But unbeknownst to Ramey, his team, the media circus that has flocked to the site - and Stu's wife, Kelly, and his client /prospective girlfriend, Pamela - the caller has them all in his high-powered rifle sights.

As afternoon turns into evening, Stu, the embodiment of an unethical, self-serving existence, must now undertake a sudden and unexpected moral evolution. He is emotionally stripped naked by the caller. Stu's lies, half-truths, and obfuscation no longer matter. Instead, he must dig deep into his soul, find his strength and attempt to outwit the caller, taking the game to an even more dangerous level



The Proposal


Margaret Tate is the executive editor-in-chief of a book publishing company, Colden Books. All of her workers, including her assistant Andrew Paxton strongly dislike her for her bossy, cold demeanor. She fires a senior editor, Bob Spaulding because he is unable to get an author named Frank interviewed by Oprah. After learning she is being deported to Canada, she forces Andrew to marry her, as his future is tied to hers. When the government investigates, Mr. Gilbertson informs them that they will undergo rigorous testing to prove that the marriage is not fraudulent, after being notified by Bob Spaulding that this marriage might be a sham. Andrew grudgingly accepts the proposition of marrying Margaret, under the condition that he is promoted to the position of editor and his manuscript be published. He also forces Margaret to propose nicely to him on her knees in the streets of New York, and to allow him to tell his parents they are getting married.

Margaret talks with Gert about Andrew, who tells her that they dated through college, and when Andrew asked her to elope with him, she didn't want to leave her home, and said no.


Next morning, Joe and Grace knock at the door with breakfast. Andrew and Margaret hurriedly get into bed together, and the family suggest they could marry the same weekend, and they reluctantly accept. Andrew is stressed because the marriage is actually a sham, and Margaret tries to comfort and convince him, finding herself genuinely caring for him. To sort out her emotions, she goes for a bike ride into the woods, where she finds Gammy "giving thanks" in a ritual. Gammy invites her to join her, and they end up dancing to "Get Low", while Andrew watches.


During the wedding ceremony, Margaret decides she cannot do this to Andrew and confesses the business arrangement in front of everyone - including Mr. Gilbertson - who informs her she has twenty four hours to get back to Canada. She returns to New York to pack her things.

Andrew attempts to stop Margaret's flight, but cannot do so in time. However, Andrew rushes to New York and shows up at the office before he confesses his love for Margaret in front of the entire office staff, proposing marriage all over again as he "wants to date Margaret". They go to Mr. Gilbertson once more to get engaged, this time "for real".
During the end credits, everyone including Andrew's family and Ramone is being interviewed by Mr. Gilbertson. And it's hinted that Ramone is not a citizen, while Kevin, the dog, still has not gotten used to Margaret's presence

Knowing


In 2009, the time capsule is opened and the drawings are given to the current students. A boy named Caleb receives Lucinda's envelope. His father, John Koestler, a widower and professor of astrophysics at MIT, takes interest in the paper and soon realizes some of the digits represent the dates and death tolls of every major disaster over the past fifty years, and suggests three disasters still to come. Meanwhile Caleb begins receiving visits from mysterious figures in overcoats, "The Strangers". During these encounters he hears their overlapping telepathic whispers.


John and a fellow professor forecast that a massive solar flare will soon reach Earth, and the final disaster on Lucinda's paper will indeed be worldwide and apocalyptic. John then examines the door of the closet in which Lucinda was found and discovers it is where she had scratched another set of coordinates. They represent the location of Lucinda's old mobile home, and John decides it is somehow a refuge from the impending disaster.


At Lucinda's mobile home, John finds the children with the four Strangers as a glowing vessel descends from the sky. The Strangers dispossess themselves of their human appearance and reveal themselves as glowing, translucent figures surrounded by wisps of light. The Strangers invite only those who can hear their whispers to escape the destruction with them. John convinces an initially reluctant Caleb to go with The Strangers, and the vessel departs with the two children. From the vantage point of space, other ships are seen taking off from all around Earth. John travels to Boston to be with his sister and parents. While he had distanced himself from religion following his wife's death, John reconciles with his estranged father, a Christian minister. John and his family embrace as the solar flare strikes and incinerates everything on Earth. Elsewhere, Caleb and Abby are dropped off in an otherworldly field as other ships are visible along the horizon, dropping off others. The film ends as the two make their way towards a large, white, solitary tree in the distance.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen


It is revealed that thousands of years ago there was a race of ancient Transformers who scoured the universe looking for energon sources. Known as the Dynasty of Primes, they used machines called Sun Harvesters to drain stars of their energy in order to convert it to energon and power Cybertron's AllSpark. The Primes agreed that life-bearing worlds would be spared, but in 17,000 BC, one brother, thereafter dubbed "The Fallen", constructed a Sun Harvester on Earth. The remaining brothers thus sacrificed their bodies in order to hide the Matrix of Leadership the key that activates the Sun Harvester from The Fallen, who swore to seek revenge upon Earth.


Decepticon Soundwave hacks into a US satellite and learns the locations of the dead Decepticon leader Megatron and another piece of the AllSpark. The Decepticons retrieve the shard and use it to resurrect Megatron, who flies into space and is reunited with Starscream and his master, The Fallen in the Nemesis.

After Prime's death, The Fallen is freed from his captivity and Megatron orders a full-scale assault on the planet. The Fallen speaks to the world and demands they surrender Sam to the Decepticons or they will continue their attack. Sam, Mikaela, Leo, Bumblebee, the twins and Wheelie regroup, and Leo suggests his online rival "RoboWarrior" may be of assistance. "RoboWarrior" is revealed to be former Sector 7 agent Simmons, who informs the group that the symbols should be readable for a Decepticon.


The Matrix is reassembled from the dust, and Sam uses it to revive Optimus. The Fallen arrives and overpower the autobot team before stealing the Matrix and activating the Sun Harvester unearthed by the Decepticon Devastator. In his final moments, Jetfire volunteers his parts and spark to Optimus. With enhanced capabilities, Optimus destroys the Sun Harvester and takes on Megatron and The Fallen, killing the latter. Sam then finally reciprocates Mikaela's love as Megatron and Starscream retreat and vow that their fight is not finished.
The film ends with Optimus sending a message into space saying that the humans and Transformers both share a common past.
During the end credits, Sam returns to college.

Angels & Demons


The plot follows Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, as he tries to stop what seems to be the Illuminati, a legendary secret society, from destroying Vatican City with the newly-discovered power of antimatter.
CERN director Maximilian Kohler discovers one of the facility's most respected physicists, Leonardo Vetra, murdered in his own secured, private quarter at the facility. His chest is branded with a symbol—an ambigram of the word "Illuminati"—and his eye is dislodged. Instead of calling the police, Kohler researches the topic on the Internet and finally gains contact with Langdon, an expert on the Illuminati. Kohler requests his assistance in uncovering the murderer.




Langdon nevertheless attempts to complete the Path of Illumination in order to find the assassin and rescue Vittoria. His search leads him to Castel Sant' Angelo, that hides an underground tunnel leading directly into the pope's chambers in the Vatican. Langdon frees Vittoria, and together they send the assassin falling several hundred feet to his death. The two hurry back to St. Peter's Basilica, where they find that Kohler has arrived to confront the camerlengo in private. Langdon and Vittoria fear that Kohler is Janus, and that he has come to murder the camerlengo as the final step in his plot against the Church. Hearing the camerlengo scream in agony, the Swiss Guards burst into the room and open fire on Kohler. Just before he dies, Kohler gives Langdon a videotape that he claims will explain everything.


Langdon returns to St. Peter's and views Kohler's tape with the College of Cardinals. Langdon, Vittoria, and the cardinals confront the camerlengo in the Sistine Chapel, where the truth is finally revealed; Shortly before the beginning of the novel, the pope was scheduled to meet with Leonardo Vetra concerning his research at CERN. Vetra, a devout Catholic, believed that science was capable of establishing a link between Man and God, a belief that was manifested by his research on antimatter.


As one final twist, it is revealed that Camerlengo Ventresca himself was the birth son of the late pope, conceived through artificial insemination. Suddenly overcome with grief and guilt at having caused so much death, especially that of his own father, Ventresca soaks himself in oil and immolates himself before a crowd of onlookers in St. Peter's Square. The conclave elects Cardinal Mortati as the new pope. In an ironic twist, through a quibble, a loophole in the papal election process known as election by acclamation, two popes were chosen: Ventresca by all the cardinals cheering his name before he lights himself on fire, and Mortati through normal means.
Langdon and Vittoria retire to the Hotel Bernini. Lieutenant Chartrand delivers a letter and package to Langdon from the new pope. The package is the "Illuminati Diamond" brand, which is loaned indefinitely to Langdon.




X-Men Origins: Wolverine


In 1845 Canada 1845, young James sees his father killed by groundskeeper Thomas Logan. The trauma activates the boy's mutation: bone claws protrude from James' hands, and he kills Logan. With his dying breath, Logan tells James that he is James' actual father. James flees with Victor Creed, the abused son of Thomas Logan who is thus James' brother. They spend the next century as soldiers in the American army, fighting in the American Civil War, both World Wars and the Vietam War.




Six years later, James — now going by the name Logan — lives in Canada with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox. Colonel Stryker locates Logan and warns him that someone is killing members of the team, as both Wilson and Bradley are dead. Shortly afterward, Victor murders Kayla and brutally beats Logan. Stryker offers Logan a way to beat Victor; Logan undergoes an operation to reinforce his skeleton with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal. Before the procedure, Logan asks for new dog tags inscribed with "Wolverine"-- based on a story that Kayla told him.




Stryker activates Weapon XI, a "mutant killer" super-soldier with the abilities of other mutants. Logan holds Weapon XI off while the escaped mutants flee. The mutants escape through the facility's tunnels, guided by a young blinded Scott Summers who is following a voice in his head. The party is greeted by Professor Charles Xavier, who offers them shelter at his school. Kayla, shot in the stomach and mortally wounded from Stryker's guards, decides to stay. Logan lures Weapon XI to fight on top of one of the plant's cooling towers, where he is almost killed until Victor aids him. They battle Weapon XI and decapitate him. Victor departs, vowing to finish what they have started, and Logan is saved from the collapsing tower by Gambit. As Logan carries Kayla to safety, Stryker shoots Logan in the forehead with adamantium bullets, rendering him unconscious. He points the gun at Kayla but she uses her power of persuasion, telling him to walk until his feet bleed and then keep walking, before dying from her wounds. Gambit returns, but the damage to Logan's brain causes him not to remember anything. As the police arrive, Gambit tries convincing Logan to come with him, but he declines, wanting to go his own way.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Musical Movie "NINE"


Rob Marshall directs a cast that includes Penelope Cruze, Kate Hudson, Daniel-Lewis, Nicole Kidman Fergie in a movie musical generating real Oscar buzz.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Inglourious Basterds

An intermittently-inspired World War II epic which illustrates both Quentin Tarantino’s brilliance and his tendency towards indulgence, Inglourious Basterds is composed of a series of long-running vignettes strung together by a slender story thread. The problem is that no one character or set of characters runs through the entire two-and-a-half hour running time, and, with some of the scenes running up to half an hour each, the thread of the drama is left disjointed and the focus ever-changing.

Above-the-title star Brad Pitt plays the captain of a troupe of Jewish American renegades dubbed the Inglorious Bastards, but Pitt is far from the centre of attention and both French actress Melanie Laurent and Austrian actor Christoph Waltz both have more screen time and juicier roles. That, combined with the fact that most of the film is in French and German, will limit the film’s box office prospects, principally in the subtitle-wary US where The Weinstein Company is opening wide on August 21. A big launch weekend should be guaranteed on the names of Pitt and Tarantino and the strong advance campaign which has been building on the internet, but like the Kill Bill films, it might fall fast in subsequent weeks.

Universal Pictures co-financed the film in return for international where audiences will be more receptive, especially in Europe. Results in Germany are unpredictable. A version of the script was leaked on the internet last year and already caused a firestorm in the German media, especially since the film – in which ordinary German soldiers are seen beaten and scalped – received considerable public funding from the government.

The opening scene alone, in which SS colonel Hans Landa (Waltz) intimidates a French farmer (played by Denis Menochet) in 1941, runs to over 20 minutes, an indication of how the film is to continue. The result of the “friendly” interrogation is the massacre of a Jewish family hiding out under the floorboards although the teenage daughter of the family Shosanna (Laurent) escapes.

The second scene – already previewed in trailers – sees Lt Aldo Raine (Pitt, one-note in heavy Tennessee accent) briefing 12 Jewish American soldiers on their upcoming mission which is to fly behind enemy lines and kill as many Nazis as possible. Each is charged with collecting 100 Nazi scalps. Among the group are Sgt Donny Donowitz (Roth) who becomes famous for beating his victims to death with a baseball bat and a German soldier who has defected to the Allied side called Hugo Stiglitz (Schweiger, who doesn’t say a word in the film).

The drama, scattered among so many characters as it is, eventually evolves into a 1944 plot called Operation Kino to blow up Goebbels, Goring, Bormann and other members of the German High Command at a cinema in Paris where a Goebbels propaganda film starring “the German Sergeant York” Daniel Bruhl is to have its premiere. The cinema is owned by Sosanna, now masquerading as a gentile, who has attracted the unwanted romantic advances of Bruhl.

The most brilliant section of the film sees a British spy (Fassbender) and two of the Bastards arriving in an underground bar to rendezvous with German film star and double agent Bridget von Hammersmark (Kruger). But when they arrive, they unexpectedly find a party of Nazis getting drunk and playing games. When the British spy’s accent is questioned by one of the soldiers, a senior German major (Diehl) emerges from the shadows and a tense face off ensues.

Ironically Tarantino’s dialogue here is not as tricksy or self- consciously clever as in other sections and the scene works through sheer tension and the skills of the excellent ensemble.


DJ Tiesto's Kaleidoscope!!!


Arguably one of the world’s greatest trance DJs, Dutch producer Tiesto has continued to redefine the boundaries of trance music with his signature emotive style and arena-ready sound for over fifteen years.

For his fourth major studio release Kaleidoscope, the premiere producer of trance sought some of the music scene’s most dynamic characters, ranging from global superstars (Calvin Harris, Sneaky Sound System, Nelly Furtado) to an assortment of lesser known, left-of-center acts (Tegan & Sara, Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, Sigur RósJónsi) The result? A powerhouse collection of single-worthy uptempos bursting with indie cred and trance appeal, appealing to both the body and soul.

One standout involves Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, who had her first taste of dance with her 2006 album, Loose. Replace the generic Timbaland-produced beats of that album with a flurry of glittering, electro-encrusted pulsations, and you’ve got “Who Wants To Be Alone,” a devastatingly addictive dancefloor haunt guaranteed to delight on repeat time and time again.

Other winners include Emily Haines‘ turn on the storming “Knock You Out,” which plays like Ladytron on E, the warm synth pulsations of the Cary Brothers-assisted “Here On Earth,” and “You Are My Diamond,” a throwback to the days of pure, ‘90’s pulsating bliss. The track is made all the better thanks to a shamelessly celebratory, sugary sweet delivery from Kianna Alarid, known best as the lead singer of Tilly and the Wall.

“Feel It in My Bones,” featuring indie darlings Tegan & Sara is perhaps the album’s greatest track, and undoubtedly the epitome of the album’s intentions. As Tiesto’s cool, calculated trance vibrations shudder underneath, Tegan & Sara’s smart-pop sensibility lift the track and create something new; the result becoming a celebration of the art of collaboration.

Simply speaking, there’s not a bad track in the bunch—at least in terms of the vocal offerings. The album’s only drawback can be found in its five instrumental tracks, included as a kind of overcompensating injection of Tiesto trance, lest we somehow forget who’s in charge behind the scenes of all of these guest spots. Sadly, they do little for the album here, aside from providing long, unnecessary breaks between the meat of the album. Skip them, and you’ve got one hell of a solid set.

Kaleidoscope is unlike anything Tiesto has done before (and surely nothing its guests have recorded). In spite of what could have been a risky undertaking (whether or not devoted fans of each genre will come to embrace this album remains to be seen), Tiesto’s fifth studio album is nothing short of excellence—allowing indie music the pulse it never knew it needed and dance music the lyrical sophistication it has so stubbornly ignored. Hearing the two genres come together? Well, that’s why this is nothing short of a musical dream come true.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Some Other Movies 0f 2009

  • X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May)
  • Angels & Demons (May)
  • Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July)
  • Public Enemies (July)
  • Star Trek (May)
  • Watchmen (March)
  • Monsters vs. Aliens (April)
  • Terminator Salvation (June)
  • Inglourious Basterds (June)
  • The Informant (September)
  • The Taking of Pelham 123 (August)
  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (June)
  • They Came from Upstairs (July)
  • Coraline (March)
  • Bride Wars (January)
  • A Perfect Getaway (March)
  • The Spirit (January)
  • The Wolf Man (April)
  • The International (February)
  • Fanboys (February)
  • Planet 51 (November)
  • The Proposal (August)
  • Knowing (March)
  • Nine (December)
  • Fast & Furious (June)
  • Good (January)
  • The Reader(January)

Friday the 13th (February)


On June 13, 1980, a young (Caleb Guss) witnesses his mother by a camp counselor (Stephanie Rhodes) who was trying to escape Mrs. Voorhees's murderous rampage around Camp Crystal Lake.

Six weeks later, Trent along with his girlfriend Jenna, and their friends Bree , Chewie, Chelsea, Nolan and Lawrence at Trent's summer cabin, which sits on Crystal Lake. The group is unaware of the events that occurred a few weeks prior. Additionally, Clay Miller arrives in town to search Crystal Lake for his sister Whitney, whom he believes to be alive. Clay eventually makes his way to Trent's cabin, where Jenna agrees to help him look for his sister on the other side of the lake. As Clay and Jenna search for clues to Whitney's disappearance, Jason kills Nolan and Chelsea, who are waterskiing on the lake. Clay and Jenna reach the old Crystal Lake campgrounds, where they witness Jason hauling a dead body into one of the abandoned camp houses.

The pair run back to warn the others about Jason, who arrives shortly after them and cuts the power to the cabin. After killing Chewie and Lawrence, who ventured outside the house, Jason sneaks inside the cabin and kills Bree. Trent, Clay and Jenna escape the house, but Trent is killed when he reaches the main road. Jason then chases Clay and Jenna back to the campgrounds, where Clay discovers Jason's lair and finds his sister chained to the wall. Clay frees Whitney, and all three attempt to escape as Jason arrives. The trio find an exit, but Jenna is killed before she can get out. Jason comes after Clay and Whitney, but Whitney uses Jason's love and memory of his mother—by pretending to be Mrs. Great intertaining movie for students and music lovers. Voorhees—to distract him long enough to stab him in the chest with his own machete. Afterward, Clay dumps Jason's lifeless body into the lake. Before he and Whitney can leave, Jason bursts through the wooden dock and grabs Whitney.

The Pink Panther 2 (February 2009)


When the master thief, the Tornado, begins stealing expensive artifacts the Government of France assembles a Dream Team of Amateur Detectives to solve the case. Inspector Clouseau is reassigned from his task as a parking officer by Chief Inspector Dreyfus to join the Dream Team in Japan, site of the Tornado's recent heist. At the airport, as soon as he is officially leaving France, news breaks that the Pink Panther Diamond has also been stolen. Clouseau travels back to the scene of the crime, where the other members of the Dream Team, Inspector Pepperidge, Vicenzo, Kenji, and Sonia, are gathering. They go to Rome to investigate a black market fence, Alonso Avellaneda, who deals with The Tornado.

For their victory in recovering the stolen items (minus the Pink Panther), a celebration is thrown in the Dream Team's honor. Clouseau, who was not invited, tries to convince Dreyfus that the real thief is still at large, but is ignored. Dreyfus relays to the group that Clouseau told him Sonia was the thief, and the group, treating the idea as a joke, works out a plausible explanation for how she could have done it; as the Tornado's ex-lover, she would have in-depth knowledge of his methods, and has set up a situation to draw all attention to the thefts of the other artifacts while leaving her free to sell on the Pink Panther as the only treasure that could be cut up and sold on without suspicion.

Finally cornered, Sonia threatens to destroy the Pink Panther, and Clouseau successfully goads her to do so. Clouseau reveals that she had destroyed a fake gem he had switched with the real one before his departure from France, and that the Tornado, a master thief and a recognized authority on valuable gems, would have recognized this; therefore, his suicide note— where he praised the beauty of the gem in his possession— was forged and he was actually murdered. He reveals that he had given Sonia's car a ticket two days before the Pink Panther was stolen, contradicting her alibi of having been delayed to the crime scene because of her flight. Dreyfus tries to claim credit for having appointed Clouseau to his parking job, but Clouseau, remembering Dreyfus told him to deny this to anyone who asked, rebukes the claim. Clouseau later marries Nicole, though the wedding is short-lived after Dreyfus fires the cork out of the Champagne bottle onto a security device, causing Black Ops to storm the party in a manner similar to an earlier event in the film. Clouseau and Nicole ditch the wedding and head for the airport for their honeymoon with the animated Pink Panther watching them leave. The Pink Panther looks into the camera as he walks into the chaotic wedding and closes the door.

Jennifer's Body


nsecure bookworm Anita "Needy" Lesnicki and arrogant, popular flag girl Jennifer Check have been best friends "since the sandbox" and wear matching heart-shaped lockets engraved with the initials BFF to signify this bond, although they share little in common. One night, Jennifer insists Needy come to a local dive bar to attend a concert by indie rock band Low Shoulder. As the band begins to perform one of their songs, a suspicious fire engulfs the bar. Needy saves a somewhat intoxited and shocked Jennifer, who, against Needy's wishes, ends up leaving with the band; they take her into the woods, where she learns that the band is desperate for wealth and fame, resorting to making her their sacrifie to Satan, exchanging a virgin for their success. However, as Jennifer is in fact not a virgin when Nikolai murders her, a demonic spirit takes over her body with all her memories still intact after Nikolai and the band leave. Later that evening, Jennifer appears at Needy's house, covered in blood.

Needy decides she must stop Jennifer, as she fears Chip may be her next intended victim. All the while, the band that performed at the bar have become local heroes, having lied about helping people out of the fire. Needy tells Chip not to attend the dance and breaks up with him because she fears for his safety; he goes to the dance anyway and hopes to make up with her. As he is walking to the dance, Jennifer sneaks up on him, claiming she has always had romantic feelings for him and that Needy was cheating on him with Colin.

Set upon revenge, she hitchikes a ride, saying to the driverthat she is following a band and that "tonight is gonna be their last show". She soon finds and butchers them all.

Coming soon (11 December 2009)

The Lovely Bones

On December 6, 1973 in Norristown, Pennsylvanis, a suburb of Philadephia, Susie Salmon takes a shortcut home from her school. She is approached by a neighbor, George Harvey, a man in his mid-30s who lives alone and builds dollhouses for a living. He persuades her to enter an underground den he has recently built nearby. Once she enters, he rapes her, slits her throat, then dismembers her body. An elbow, the only part of Susie ever to be found, falls out of his bag as he returns home, disposing of the remaining parts of the body by putting them in a safe and dropping it into a sinkhole. Meanwhile, Susie's spirit flees toward her personal heaven.

The Salmon family is at first reluctant to accept that Susie has been killed, but then accepts this when Susie's hat and elbow are found. The police who talk to Harvey find him odd but see no reason to suspect him. Jack, Susie's father, becomes suspicious and later begins to harass the police about Harvey.

Lindsey and her boyfriend Samuel Heckler become engaged, find an old house in the woods owned by a classmate's father, and decide to fix it up and live there. Sometime after the celebration, while arguing with his son, Jack suffers from a heart Attack.

She moves on into the larger heaven, still watching earthbound events from time to time. She sees her sister's newborn baby girl, who is named Abigail Suzanne. One day she spies Harvey getting off a Greyhound bus at a diner in New Hamshire in early spring.Susie notices some large icicles hanging from the roof, and after the woman leaves, one falls and hits Harvey on the head, knocking him into a nearby ravine and ultimately killing him.

The novel ends with Susie showing us Lindsey's newborn daughter, then tracking away to a newer house where a man has finally found Susie's old charm bracelet. "This little girl's grown up by now," his wife says. "Almost. Not quite," Susie's narrative voice rejoins. "I wish you all a long and happy life."

The Men Who Stare at Goats



The film follows Ann Arbor Daily Telegram reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who one day interviews Gus Lacey, a man who claims to have psychic abilities. Bob shrugs Lacey off as crazy. Soon after, Bob's wife leaves him for his one-armed editor. Bob, out of anger, flies to Kuwait to investigate the Iraq war.

The founder of this unit, Bill Django ( Jeff Bridge)(, travelled across America in the 1970s for six years exploring a range of New Age movements, because of a vision he received after getting shot during the Vietnam War , and used these experiences to found the New Earth Army . In the 1980s, two of Django's best recruits were Lyn Cassady and Larry Hooper, who developed a lifelong rivalry because of their opposing views of how to implement the New Earth Army philosophy; Lyn wanted to emphasize the positive side of the teachings, whereas Larry was more interested in the dark side of the philosophy.

In the early 2000s Bob and Lyn embark on a new mission in Iraq, where they are kidnapped by a criminal gang. They escape with fellow kidnapping victim Mahmud Daash get rescued by a private security firm led by Todd Nixon, but get caught up in a firefight between Todd's security firm and a rival security firm; this would later be known as the "Battle of Ramadi." Mahmud, Bob and Lyn escape from the firefight and go to Mahmud's house, which has been shot up by soldiers. From there Bob and Lyn leave to continue on Lyn's vague mission involving a vision he had of Bill Django.

Bob returns to work as a reporter and writes an article about his entire experience with Lyn. However, the only portion of the story to be aired on the news was how the captives were forced to repeatedly listen to the Barney & Friends theme song. However, this part of the story was treated as a joke, and Bob vows to continue trying to get the story out. In the film's final scene, Bob exercises his own psychic abilities and runs through a solid wall in his office.

old dogs (23 November 2009)


Charlie (John Travolta) and Dan (Robin Williams) are best friends and co-workers who have no clue about the importance of family or what life is truly about. Dan's ex-wife, Vicki (Kelly Preston), shows up after a long period of time and reveals that she and Dan have seven-year-old twins: a son and a daughter. Dan recruits Charlie and together they take care of the twins along with Charlie's aging fourteen-year-old dog Lucky. With help from a younger co-worker friend named Ralph(Seth Green), they go from outdoor activities with the kids and a rough instructor (Matt Dillon), to enduring mix-ups of medicine and even a flamboyant children's entertainer (Bernie Mac), and eventually they will learn the true meaning of life and family.

Dan, Charlie, and the kids all become one big happy family, and Dan learns how to appreciate his kids and even have fun with them, make-believing he is a superhero/king for his daughter Emily who wants a protector in her life and accomplishing all the tasks his son wrote down on his "Dad List". All is splendid when Vicki comes home, possibly wanting to reunite the family for good by rekindling her and Dan's long gone flame.

The film closes with footage of the group one year later on Charlie's new boat which he is having child proofed (as Dan had Charlie's apartment done earlier in the film), as Charlie has begun a relationship with the translator and has a two month old daughter. Dan and Vicki are back together, along with Ralph who is like an uncle to the kids, and Lucky Jr. who pants happily in the corner. The "child proof people" are downstairs in the boat while the happy family above are taking pictures, and they accidentally spill Dan and Charlie's pills in the sink. One asks if they should tell, and the other reluctantly replies, "I think I remember where they go" as they hastily put the pills in the wrong bottles, the last picture showing the whole lot with obnoxiously large, frozen grins on their faces: one of the side effects as Ralph, who is taking the photos, remarks, "Maybe not that big of a smile".

Funny People (May 2009)


George Simmons is an extremely successful comedian and actor, having starred in a number of successful lowbrow comedy films. But he is also very self-absorbed, lonely and estranged from his family by choice. When he finds out that he suffers from a rare form of leukemia and his treatment has only an 8 percent chance of success, he falls into a depression where he finds solace watching old videos of his early stand-up and other work. It is then, he decides to go back to his roots and start performing standup comedy again.

Meanwhile, Ira Wright is an aspiring stand-up comedian who dreams of quitting his day job at a deli. He shares an apartment with roommates Leo Koenig, another aspiring comedian who has found more success than Ira, and Mark Taylor Jackson , an actor who has recently come into wealth and fame as the star of a lame NBA sitcom called Yo Teach! Ira has a crush on Daisy , a female comedian who lives nearby, but has been unable to act on it, and Mark gives him an ultimatum to act on it or else he will sleep with her.

In the morning, Clarke gives George a tearful goodbye, thinking he will die soon. Then, his daughters reveal that George is actually better, as Ira had told them earlier. Clarke then confronts Laura about this as he suspects she's cheating on him. Laura tries to explain that he may not be entirely better, but Clarke doesn't believe her. When Laura then calls him out on his infidelity, Clarke leaves the house. Laura tells George that she will meet with Clarke later to tell him to find a new place. Ira tells George that he thinks they should leave and that it's not worth it to break up a twelve-year marriage so that George will be happy, but George yells at him and threatens to fire him.
George ends up lonely again, while Ira goes back to his job at the deli and enters into a relationship with Daisy. Ira meets up with George again at a club and George watches Ira being much more confident on stage. The next day, George finds Ira working at the deli and asks to speak with him. George admits that even though he is no longer sick, his attitude still needs much improvement. George offers Ira some jokes he wrote down to help Ira's act, proving that he is making an attempt to become a better person.

Coming Soon in 19th December 2009



Avatar – 18 December 2009

The story’s protagonist, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), is a former U.S. Marine who was wounded and paralyzed from the waist down in combat on Earth. Jake is selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk. Jake travels to Pandora, a lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon filled with incredible life forms, some beautiful, many terrifying. Pandora is also home to the Na’vi, a sentient humanoid race, who are considered primitive, yet are more physically capable than humans. Standing three meters tall (approximately 10 feet), with tails and sparkling blue skin, the Na’vi live in harmony with their unspoiled world. As humans encroach deeper into Pandora's forests in search of valuable minerals, the Na’vi unleash their formidable warrior abilities to defend their threatened existence.

Jake has unwittingly been recruited to become part of this encroachment. Since humans are unable to breathe the air on Pandora, they have created genetically-bred human-Na’vi hybrids known as Avatars. On Pandora, through his Avatar body, Jake will be able to walk again. Sent deep into Pandora's jungles as a scout for the soldiers that will follow, Jake encounters many of Pandora's beauties and dangers. There he meets a young Na’vi female, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana).

Over time, Jake integrates himself into the Na'vi clan, and begins to fall in love with Neytiri. As a result, Jake finds himself caught between the military-industrial forces of Earth and the Na’vi, forcing him to choose sides in an epic battle that will decide the fate of earth and the Na'vi.


Box office wrapup- New Moon shatters records


Multiplex cash registers were overflowing as the hotly-anticipated vampire sequel The Twilight Saga: New Moon opened to gargantuan numbers generating the third largest opening in box office history and led the overall marketplace to the second biggest weekend tally of all-time. Debuting far back in second, but also surging past industry expectations, was Sandra Bullock's new football pic The Blind Side which got off to a fantastic start. The two new female-driven films attracted over $175M in combined ticket sales leading the top ten to soar to a jaw-dropping $245M.

Audiences wanted monster love as The Twilight Saga: New Moon stunned the film industry by beating what were already sky-high expectations opening to an estimated $140.7M over the Friday-to-Sunday period. That gave Summit the third best opening weekend ever trailing the super hero duo of The Dark Knight ($158.4M in July 2008) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1M in May 2007). However, New Moon did break the all-time records for highest post-midnight grosses on the night before opening day with $26.3M and the best opening day with $72.7M. The records were formerly held by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Dark Knight with $22.2M and $67.2M, respectively. The Twilight sequel cost only $50M to produce while the others cost well over $200M each.


Zain Anjum


Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs


Ellie (Queen Latifah)and Manny (Ray Romano) are expecting their first child, and Manny is obsessed with making life perfect and safe for the family, since his first experiences as a husband and father went bad when his family was killed by hunters. At the same time, Diego(Denis Leary) finds himself unable to catch a cocky gazelle (Billi Hader) he has been stalking and decides to leave the herd, believing that he is losing his predatory nature as a tiger. Sid(John Leguizaamo)grows jealous of Manny and Ellie and “adopts” three apparently abandoned eggs that he finds in an icy underground cavern and call them Eggbert, Shelly, and Yoko. Manny tells him to put them back, but Sid instead looks after the eggs, which hatch into baby Tyrannosausus the next morning.

Although Sid tries his best to raise the three dinosaurs, their rambunctious behavior scares away all the other animals’ young and ruins a playground Manny built for Ellie’s baby. A female Tyrannosaurus, Momma, whose eggs Sid stole, soon returns and carries both Sid and her young underground, with Diego in pursuit.

Before they can exit the jungle, Rudy attacks at full force; Buck lures Rudy away from the group and is nearly eaten himself, before Diego saves him at the last second. They then ensnare him briefly, but he escapes and resumes his onslaught. The herd is saved by the timely arrival of Momma, who charges at Rudy and knocks him off a cliff before roaring her victory. As she and her children wish Sid well, Buck – now without a purpose in life since Rudy is gone – decides to join the herd and live on the surface. However, a distant roar tells him that Rudy is still alive; he changes his mind and sends the herd home, blocking off the path to the underground jungle at the same time so that no one else can go down there. Manny and Ellie welcome Peaches into their frozen world and admit that Sid did a good job looking after Momma's children (though Manny tells Diego that he will never let Sid babysit Peaches). Diego decides to remain with the herd, while Buck stays where he wants to be: underground, battling it out with Rudy.

The Box (6 November 2009)


The film begins with a CIA internal memo being typed across the screen. It states that a man named Arlington Steward has recovered from severe burn wounds and is delivering units related to the Mars project.

The film then opens up in 1976 Richmond, Virginia with Norma and Arthur Lewis cuddling in bed after a night of passionate lovemaking (this scene has been removed from screenings in North America to obtain a PG 13 rating), and awaking at 5:45 am as the doorbell rings. Norma goes downstairs and looks through the peephole seeing a black car drive off. Upon opening the door, she sees a package on her doorstep. Inside, she and her husband find a wooden box with a button protected by a glass dome, locked with a key, and a note, reading Mr. Steward will come at 5:00 pm.

She tells Arthur it's not safe for him.In the motel, every door she passes opens and a startled looking person stares her down. She reaches her room, where she has a large map and pictures of Arthur, Norma, and Walter.

They decide that they must make a choice, and Norma leads Arthur downstairs. Arthur then shoots Norma through the heart, and runs upstairs to find Walter. Walter is passed out on the floor, and does not respond. Soon the police arrive, having been called about the gunshot. Walter wakes up and calls out, as Arthur is lead out of the house. While this is happening, we see another couple make the decision to push the button. As Arthur leaves, we see Arlington arrive at the new couples house. Arthur's NASA friend informs him he and his son will be taken care of, as Arthur is escorted away by men in uniforms, who put him into a black car before driving off. Arlington, waiting outside and seeing Walter looking out through the home's window, tips his hat to the boy, and the film ends.

Monday, November 23, 2009

The Unborn (1 May 2009)


Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman) is plagued by nightmare visions of strange looking dogs, and an evil child with bright blue eyes.

While baby-sitting Matty, her neighbor's son, she hears Matty's voice over the baby monitor. When she goes to check on the newborn, she finds Matty showing the infants reflection, then he attacks her with the mirror, and says "Jumby wants to be born now". The next day, Casey's friend Romy tells a superstition involving newborns and mirrors: they shoudn't see their reflections for at least a year. When she comes back from her run the next day, an ambulance is outside her neighbors house, and another neighbor tells her "the baby wasn't breathing", indicating what Romy said was true. After questioning her father she learns she had a twin brother who died in the womb. Casey begins to suspect that the spirit haunting her is the soul of her dead twin wanting to be born so it can transfer to the world of the living.

Casey meets a woman named Sofi, who is revealed to be her grandmother. Sofi explains that she had a twin brother who was killed in Nazi experiments in Auschwitz when they were both just children during Worlg War 2. The boy was brought back to life by a dubbuk who intended to use his body as a portal into the world of the living. Sofi killed her twin to stop the dybbuk, and now it haunts her family for revenge. Sofi refers Casey to Rabbi , who can perform a Jewish exorcism remove the dybbuk. Rabbi Sendak doesn't believe her at first until he sees a dog with its head twisted upside down in his synagogue . During this time, the dybbuk kills Sofi and Romy, and Casey realizes it's getting stronger.

The exorcism is performed, but things go awry as the dybbuk tries to stop Rabbi Sendak from completing the ritual. Several people are wounded, and others are killed. The exorcism is finally completed, and the dybbuk is drawn back from the human world. Casey's boyfriend, Mark, gets possessed by the dybbuk and is severely wounded when Casey stabs him in the jugular vein stop him from killing her and later dies with Casey by his side. Casey mourns him, and she soon finds out that she is pregnant by him, with twins.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

New Moon


On Isabella 'Bella' Swan's 18th birthday, Edward Cullen, the vampire she loves, and his family throw her a birthday party. While unwrapping a gift, she gets a paper cut, which causes Edward's adopted brother, Jasper, to be overwhelmed by her blood's scent and attempt to kill Bella. To protect her, Edward decides to end their relationship, and the Cullens move away from Forks. This leaves Bella heart-broken and depressed.

In the months that follow, Bella learns that thrill-seeking activities, such as motorcycle riding, allow her to "hear" Edward's voice in her head. She also seeks comfort in her deepening friendship with Jacob Black, a cheerful companion who eases her pain over losing Edward. Bella later discovers that Jacob is a werewolf. He and his fellow werewolves protect Bella from the vampires Laurent and Victoria, the latter of whom seeks revenge for her dead mate, James, whom the Cullens killed in Twilight

Meanwhile, a series of miscommunications leads Edward to believe that Bella has killed herself. Distraught over her supposed suicide, Edward flees to Italy to provoke the Volturi, vampire royalty who are capable of killing him. Alice and Bella rush to Italy to save Edward, arriving just in time to stop him. Before leaving Italy, the Volturi tell Edward that Bella, a human who knows that vampires exist, must either be killed or transformed into a vampire. When they return to Forks, Edward tells Bella that he has always loved her and only left Forks to protect her. She forgives him, and the Cullens vote in favor of Bella being transformed into a vampire, to Edward's dismay. However, Edward gives Bella a choice: either she lets Carlisle change her after her graduation, or, if Bella agrees to marry him, he will change her himself.

2012


In 2012, Jackson Curtis is a writer in Los Angeles who works part-time as a limousine driver for wealthy Russian businessman Yuri Karpov. Jackson's ex-wife Kate and their children Noah and Lily live with her new boyfriend, plastic surgeon and amateur pilot Gordon Silberman. Jackson takes Noah and Lily on a camping trip to Yellowstone National PArk, where they meet Charlie Frost, a conspiracy theorist living as a hermit and hosting his own radio show live from the park. Charlie supports a theory that suggests the Mayans predicted the world would come to an end in 2012, and claims he has knowledge of the secret "space ship" project and possesses a map of the ships' location.

As millions begin dying in apocalyptic earthquakes worldwide, the group flies to Yellowstone to retrieve Charlie's map. The group narrowly escapes as the Yellowstone Caldera erupts. Charlie, who stayed behind to make a live broadcast of the eruption, is killed by the blast. Realizing the ships are in China, the group lands in Las Vegas, where they meet Yuri, his twin sons, girlfriend Tamara, and pilot Sasha.
Upon arriving in China in a crash-landing that kills Sasha, Yuri and his two sons are taken to the ships, stranding the Curtis family, Gordon, and Tamara, all of whom do not possess tickets. Jackson and the group witness helicopters carrying multiple animals to the ships' location which Jackson later reconciles as "arks". After leaving the crash site the abandoned group is picked up by Nima, a Buddhist monk. Together, they begin sneaking onto an ark through its hydraulics chamber with the help of Nima's brother Tenzin, a welder for the ark project.
The tsunami arrives and begins to flood the ark, drowning Tamara and setting the ark helplessly adrift. Jackson and Noah work together to free the drill and its cable from the closing mechanism. The gate closes and the crew regains control of the ark, preventing a fatal collision with Mount Everest.

When the floodwater from the worldwide tsunamis eventually recedes, satellite data shows that Africa rose in relation to sea level, and the Drakensbergmountains in KwaZulu Natal are now the highest on the planet. As three arks set sail for the CXape of Good Hope, Jackson reconciles with his family, and Adrian starts a relationship with Laura. The movie ends with a view of the Earth revealing a geographically different African continent.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

newly released movies


The Damned United (2009)

Set in 1960’s and 1970’s England, tells the story of Brian Clough’s doomed 44 day tenure as manager of the reigning champions of English football Leeds United. Previously managed by his bitter rival Don Revie, and on the back of their most successful period ever as a football club, Leeds was perceived by many to represent a new aggressive and cynical style of football – an anathema to the principled yet flamboyant Brian Clough, who had achieved astonishing success as manager of Hartlepool and Derby County building teams in his own vision with trusty lieutenant Peter Taylor. Taking the Leeds job without Taylor by his side, with a changing room full of what in his mind were still Don’s boys, would lead to an unheralded examination of Clough’s belligerence and brilliance over 44 days.

Full Cast & Crew
Theatrical Release
10/9/2009

UP(2009 Film)


Up is a 2009 American computer-animated comedy-adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film premiered on May 29, 2009 in North America and is the first animated film to open the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 9, 2009.
Carl Fredricksen, a shy and quiet young boy, meets an energetic and outgoing tomboy named Ellie, discovering they share the same interest in exploration as their hero, the famed explorer Charles F. Muntz. Ellie expresses her desire to move her clubhouse to Paradise Falls in South Amercia, a promise she makes Carl keep. Carl and Ellie wed and grow old together in the old house where they first met while making a living as a toy ballon vendor and a zookepper respectively. Unable to have children, they also try to save up for the trip to Paradise Falls. Ellie passes away, leaving Carl a lonely and bitter old man with nothing to live for and missing his wife terribly.Then he Decided to fulfill his wife's dream So he went to South America. As they walk towards Paradise Falls, Russell finds a colorful tropical flightless bird, which he names Kevin, not realizing that the bird is actually female. Russell, is a Wilderness Explrer trying to earn his final merit badge for "Assisting the Elderly", has stowed away on the porch after being sent on a snipe hunt by Carl the day beforeThey later run into a dog named Dug wearing a translating collar that lets him speak. They discover Dug's owner is an elderly Charles Muntz, who returned to South America in his immense dirigible several decades earlier in a quest to find and bring back a large species of bird to restore his reputation.
when Carl realizes that Muntz is after Kevin and will kill without a moment's thought in order to capture her alive, he takes steps to save the bird and escape with Russell. Invigorated by Ellie's last wish, he goes outside to find Russell, only to find him suspended from balloons to give chase to Muntz. Carl takes Muntz's dirigible and returns Kevin to her chicks, then flies Russell and Dug back to the city.