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X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

2009-05-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

In 1845, North-Western Territory, British North America, young James Howlett (Troye Sivan) sees his father John Howlett (Peter O'Brien) killed by Victor Creed's father, Thomas Logan (Aaron Jeffery). In an act of vengeance, James kills the elder Logan using his bone claws which protrude from his hands. With his dying breath, Logan tells James that he is also his son. James and Victor (Michael-James Olsen) then run away. In the following years, adult brothers James (Hugh Jackman) and Victor (Liev Schreiber) are seen fighting together throughout the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and eventually the Vietnam War, their regenerative powers keep them from being killed in the battlefield. James is forced to act as a check on Victor's ever-increasing rage and ferocity. In Vietnam, Victor kills a superior officer after being stopped from raping a girl, and James and Victor are sentenced to death by firing squad, though their unique regenerative abilities keep them alive. William Stryker (Danny Huston) approaches the two mutants and offers them membership in Team X, his elite group of mutants. The team consists of mutants Fred Dukes (Kevin Durand), who's super-strong and invulnerable, John Wraith (will.i.am), who can teleport, Chris Bradley (Dominic Monaghan), who can control electricity with his mind, expert marksman Agent Zero (Daniel Henney) and mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds). The brothers join the group, and are sent to the team's first mission: Invade a diamond traffic operation headquarters to retrieve a meteorite used by the leader of the dealers as a paperweight in Lagos, Nigeria. After retrieving the meteorite, Stryker and the team interogate nearby village people to see if there are any other meteorites. James is disgusted by the murders committed by his teammates and abandons the group. Six years afterward, James - now going by his last name, Logan - is a lumberjack living with his girlfriend Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins). Meanwhile, Victor hunts down and murders Bradley, mentioning that Wade is already dead. Stryker locates Logan, and claims that someone is out to kill members of the now-disbanded team. Stryker asks Logan for help, but is refused. Shortly after, Silverfox is murdered by Victor. Wolverine hunts down his half-brother, but is easily defeated. Stryker once again asks Logan for help, and he agrees. Stryker then has Logan's skeletal system reinforced with adamantium, a virtually indestructible metal retrieved from the meteorite found by Team X. Before the procedure, Logan asks for his new dog tags to say "Wolverine", based on a story that Kayla had told him. After the procedure, Stryker orders Wolverine's memory to be erased, but Wolverine overhears this and flees. Stryker orders Agent Zero to hunt him and take his head off. An elderly couple Travis (Max Cullen) and Heather Hudson (Julia Blake) sees Wolverine in their barn and provide him a home until the next morning, only to be shot dead by Zero. Wolverine takes out several HMMWV, a helicopter and Zero himself, then goes to Las Vegas. Wolverine locates former associates John Wraith and Fred Dukes (who is now massively obese from a guilt-driven eating disorder), seeking to learn the location of Stryker's new laboratory. Wolverine learns the disbanded team had been capturing mutants for Stryker. One of them, Remy LeBeau (Taylor Kitsch), also known as Gambit, had escaped the island and knew the location. Dukes also tells him that Victor is actually working for Stryker, capturing and killing mutants for him. Meanwhile, Stryker captures a teenage Scott Summers with Victor's aid. Wolverine and Wraith locate Gambit in a New Orleans bar. Wolverine talks to Gambit while Wraith keeps watching outside, but Gambit suspects Wolverine was sent to recapture him and, using his ability to charge objects with kinetic energy, throws several playing cards at Wolverine that sends him flying through a wall. Outside, he sees Victor has killed Wraith and taken a sample of his blood. Wolverine fights Victor, only to be interrupted by Gambit. Victor escapes, and after a brief struggle, Gambit agrees to take Wolverine to the mutant prison on Three Mile Island. Once there, Wolverine confronts Stryker and learns Silverfox is still alive, having faked her death with hydrochlorothiazide. She was keeping track of the mutant to free her sister, Emma Frost (Tahyna Tozzi), who is also in the prison. With no more quarrel with Stryker, Wolverine departs. Victor, angered at Stryker that he let Wolverine go, demands the adamantium procedure. Stryker, however, tells him that he won't survive the procedure and in an act of rage, Victor tries to kill Silverfox. Wolverine hears Silverfox's screams and attacks Victor. Finally having the chance to kill Victor, Wolverine chooses not to give in to his animal instincts and instead knocks him out. Silverfox shows Wolverine to the holding cells, and he frees the mutants there; among them are Emma Frost and Scott Summers. Panicking, Stryker prematurely activates his newest creation, Weapon XI (Scott Adkins) (also known as Deadpool), a bald, pale skinned and deformed Wade Wilson, lacking a mouth and with patterns marking adamantium bone structure. The rescue party approached an exit when it is blocked by Weapon XI who is under Stryker's control. Wolverine tells them to find a new exit as two blades extend from Weapon XI's arms, similar to Wolverine's claws, but more like Wilson's preferred katanas. At this moment Wolverine realizes that this monstrosity is actually Wade Wilson. Weapon XI has the abilities of several of the killed and captured mutants such as Scott's optic blasts, Wraith's teleportation, and Wolverine's healing ability. During the escape, Silverfox is mortally wounded. The other mutants escape through the facility's tunnels, guided by Scott who is unable to tell them how he knows the exit. Emerging from the tunnel, the party encounter a helicopter. Emerging from the helicopter is a familiar figure, Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who has guided them to safety and offers them a shelter at his school. Meanwhile, the fight between Wolverine and Weapon XI spills onto the top of one of the plant's cooling towers. Weapon XI overpowers and prepares to decapitate Wolverine, but Victor returns to aid his brother. Wolverine and Victor, now working together, are able to decapitate Weapon XI; sending its head, still firing optic blasts, down into the cooling tower. Wolverine coldly informs Victor that despite his help, their relationship is over. Victor simply reminds him that as brothers, they can never be finished, and jumps off the side of the cooling tower. The resulting damage from the optic blasts causes the cooling tower to collapse, but Wolverine is saved by Gambit. Wolverine asks Gambit to ensure the prisoners are safe, while he returns to find Silverfox, who had stayed behind. As he carries her to safety, Stryker shoots him in the back with an adamantium bullet. Wolverine tries to kill him but is soon shot in the head, knocking him unconscious. Silverfox uses her powers of persuasion to order Stryker to walk away until his feet bleed, then dies from her injuries. Gambit returns to assure Wolverine that the mutants are safe, but due to amnesia caused by the brain damage the adamantium bullets inflicted, Wolverine does not remember anything (this was Stryker's intention, knowing that even the adamantium bullets could not kill Logan). Gambit tries to get Wolverine to come with him, but he declines. Gambit wishes Wolverine good luck before departing, and Wolverine flees the scene as the ambulances and police arrive. It then cuts to Stryker, who is approached by a military vehicle and accused of knowing something in regards to General Munson's untimely death. Finally, at the end of the credits, in a bonus scene, Wolverine is seen drinking shots in what appears to be an oriental bar. Once asked by the bartender if he is drinking to forget, he simply replies, "no, drinking to remember".

Breaking Dawn

2009-05-06T13:13:00.001-07:00

Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age
The child is grown, and puts away childish things.
Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
Edna St. Vincent Millay

PREFACE
I’d had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn’t something
you ever really got used to.
It seemed oddly inevitable, though, facing death again. Like I really was marked
for disaster. I’d escaped time and time again, but it kept coming back for me.
Still, this time was so different from the others.
You could run from someone you feared, you could try to fight someone you
hated. All my reactions were geared toward those kinds of killers—the monsters,
the enemies.

When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could
you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your
life was all you had to give your beloved, how could you not give it?
If it was someone you truly loved?

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Mayer can be downloaded here

Eclipse

2009-05-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice. (Robert Frost)

Eclipse (Twilight Book 3) by Stephenie Meyer can be downloaded here

Midnight Sun

2009-05-06T13:06:00.001-07:00

first Sight
This was the time of day when I wisheed I were able to sleep.
High School.
Or was purgatory the right word? If there was any way to at one for my sin, this ought to count toward the tally in some measure. The tedium was not something I grew used to; every day seemed more impossibly monotonus then the last.
I suppose this was my form of sleep-if sleep was defined as the inert state between active periodes.
I stared at the cracks running through the plaster in the far corner of the cafetaria, imagining patterns in to them that were not there. It was one way to tune out the voice that babbled like the gush of a river inside my head.

Midnight Sun
by Stephenie Meyer can be downloaded here

Twilight

2009-05-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

twilight is popular novel about love vampire and human, this novel is the best category that love reader because content in twilight give something beutifully.

FIRST SIGHT
My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was seventy-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a perfect, cloudless blue. I was wearing my favorite shirt — sleeveless, white eyelet lace; I was wearing it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a parka.

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inspiration

2009-05-02T22:33:00.001-07:00

“Just because something is easy to measure doesn't mean it's important.”

Seth Godin

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, It is the only thing that ever has.”

Margaret Mead

“People are, if anything, more touchy about being thought silly than they are about being thought unjust.”

E. B. White

“Selling to people who actually want to hear from you is more effective than interrupting strangers who don't.”

Seth Godin

“Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.”

Andrew Carnegie

MIRRORS

2008-09-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ben Carson (Kiefer Sutherland) is an ex-cop dealing with post-traumatic stress syndrome, who takes a job as a night watchman at an old luxury department store that was burned in a large fire. Soon after he begins his job, Ben is haunted by horrific visions in the large mirrors of the store at night. These entities begin to pursue him and his family, watching them through all reflective surfaces Ben's family is near. In a desperate race to save himself and his estranged family from harm, Ben attempts to unveil the sordid story that these spirits want him to bring to light...before it is too late.

Choke

2008-09-22T22:35:00.001-07:00

Victor Mancini is a medical-school dropout who has devised an ingenious scam to pay elder care for his Alzheimer's-afflicted mother: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be "saved" by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor's life, go on to send checks to support him. When he's not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mom, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park. Written by Anonymous

Sex addict and colonial theme park worker, Victor Mancini, has devised a complicated scam to pay for his mom's hospital bills while she suffers from an Alzheimer's disease that hides the truth about his childhood. He pretends to choke on food in a restaurant and the person who "saves" him will feel responsible for Victor for the rest of their lives. Written by Anonymous

Victor Mancini, a sex-addicted med-school dropout, who keeps his increasingly deranged mother, Ida, in an expensive private medical hospital by working days as a historical re-enactor at a Colonial Williamsburg theme park. At night, Victor runs a scam by deliberately choking in upscale restaurants to form parasitic relationships with the wealthy patrons who "save" him. When, in a rare lucid movement, Ida reveals that she has withheld the shocking truth of his father's identity, Victor enlists the aid of his best friend, Denny and his mother's beautiful attending physician, Dr. Paige Marshall, to solve the mystery before the truth of his possibly divine parentage is lost forever. Written by TFD

RESCUE DAWN

2008-09-21T22:22:00.000-07:00

Rescue Dawn is a 2007 film starring Christian Bale and Steve Zahn. It was written and directed by Werner Herzog, based on the director's acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly. NBA all-star Elton Brand is the film's producer through his production company Gibraltar Entertainment, which he co-owns with partner Steve Marlton. The film was produced in association with Thema Production. The project, which had been coming together in fits and starts during 2004, began shooting in Thailand in mid-August 2005.

The film is based on the true story of German-born Dieter Dengler, who dreamed of being a pilot and eventually made his way to the United States, where he joined the Navy during the Vietnam War era. He became a pilot and was shot down over Laos and captured. Eventually he organized an escape with a small band of captives.

The film was originally scheduled to be released by MGM in December 2006, but was held back for limited release in the United States at some point in 2007. The film had a nationwide release on July 27, 2007, after a limited release in New York City, Toronto, and Los Angeles on July 4. Rescue Dawn was released in the United Kingdom by Pathe International. The movie was released on DVD by MGM Home Entertainment in November 2007. The film is rated PG-13 for some sequences of intense war violence and torture. The soundtrack was released on June 26, 2007 and was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on November 20.

Dieter Dengler, a U.S. Navy pilot, is shot down over Laos in 1965, while on a combat mission. He survives the crash only to become pursued and ultimately captured by a local militia of the Pathet Lao. Dieter is given the chance for mercy if he signs a document condemning America, but he refuses. Instead, he is tortured and taken to a prison camp. There he meets fellow American military members and Air America pilots, some of whom have been captive for years. Dieter begins planning an escape, much to the disbelief of his fellow captives, who have been downtrodden through physical and psychological torture from the camp guards.

Eventually, all the prisoners rise up and escape, but they take separate routes through the jungle. Dieter and fellow captive Duane try to reach the Mekong River to cross over into Thailand. The pair are attacked and Duane is beheaded. Eventually, Dieter is rescued by an American helicopter but sequestered in a hospital due to the top secret nature of his mission. He is covertly taken back to his ship by his shipmates, where he is received as a hero by the entire crew.

Awake

2008-09-21T22:09:00.000-07:00

Awake is a 2007 suspense thriller written and directed by Joby Harold. It stars Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Lena Olin, and Terrence Howard. The film was rated R by the MPAA for language, an intense disturbing situation, and brief drug use.

The film was released in the United States and Canada on November 30, 2007.

Capital-investment firm chief Clay Beresford (Hayden Christensen) is in love with a woman named Sam (Jessica Alba) but is unwilling to tell his mother, Lilith Beresford (Lena Olin), of their relationship. It is later revealed that this is due to Sam being Lilith's personal assistant. Clay suffers from a heart condition that requires a heart transplant to be carried out by Dr. Jack Harper (Terrence Howard) who had previously saved his life and is now his good friend. Lilith and her friend, Dr. Neyer (Arliss Howard), try to dissuade him from using Dr. Harper as his surgeon, due to Harper's spotty medical history and existing malpractice claims. In the interim, he has to disclose his relationship with his fiancé, Sam. Lilith does not take kindly to Clay's haste and asks him to wait until he is older.

Clay becomes upset and leaves with Sam, to be married in a private midnight ceremony with Dr. Harper as his best man and witness. As Clay and Sam begin to consummate their marriage, Clay receives a message via his pager informing him of a heart being ready for his transplant. Clay goes to the hospital to meet with Dr Harper, where Lilith tries to dissuade him again and insists Dr. Neyer perform the surgery instead. Clay, frustrated with his mother's sheltering, brushes aside her concerns and proceeds with Dr. Harper as his surgeon.

In the operating room the original anesthesiologist is unexpectedly replaced by an apparently inept doctor, Larry, claiming to be from another hospital. This disturbs some of the team members and momentarily concerns Clay. During surgery, Clay encounters "anesthetic awareness" and finds himself fully conscious but paralyzed. To escape the pain, Clay has an out-of-body experience.

From the conversations in the operating room Clay discovers his entire surgical team has plotted to kill him on the operating table. The failure or rejection of the transplant would prove fatal without a viable alternative. Dr. Harper is having second thoughts when Sam comes in to encourage him to go through with the plan. Meanwhile, Lilith anxiously awaits for the results of the operation. Sam tries to win the affection of her new mother-in-law during her moment of vulnerability.

Lilith grows suspicious of Sam, who seemed to have a lot of knowledge of the hospital and its personnel. So she looks through her purse, only to find that Sam was a nurse at the hospital where the surgery is being performed before she became her assistant. Sam enters the operating room and from the following conversations Clay discovers that Sam worked at the hospital under Dr. Harper, and realizes that Sam is also part of the scheme. He becomes dejected, and, accepting his fate, walks to his home and awaits death.

Lilith intentionally overdoses and calls her doctor to return and save her son (Clay's blood type is extremely rare, and Lilith is his only hope now due to the failed heart). Dr. Neyer returns to replace Dr. Harper and his surgical team with Lilith as a new heart donor. Larry also seems to know that there was something sinister about the old operating team. Dr. Neyer tells them that the police are on the way, and that he knew the drug they had injected into the transplant heart to cause it to fail. As they try to escape, Larry tells the police where two of them went.

Sam abandons Dr. Harper , saying that she will claim innocence in the matter. So Dr. Harper locks himself in his office and tells Sam that he has the syringe with Sam's fingerprints on it, and awaits his inevitable arrest, expressing repentance for his actions. It is revealed Sam had persuaded Dr. Harper under the pretense that she would use part of Clay's vast fortune to pay for all of the malpractice suits against Dr. Harper as payment for assisting her in the murder.

Although the transplant is a success, Clay refuses to leave limbo believing he has nothing left in the outside world after his mother's death and wife's betrayal. Lilith appears to him and revisits his childhood past with him and shows that during a quarrel she accidentally murdered his father to protect him. After Lilith convinces Clay that he is a better man than his father ever was, Clay decides that his life is worth living and leaves limbo.

Dr. Harper closes the film with the phrase, "He is awake", and his narration admits their guilt. Sam is shown being cornered and arrested.

The Family That Preys

2008-09-17T10:46:00.002-07:00

The story takes place in the town of Atlanta, Georgia, when wealthy socialite Charlotte Cartwright (Kathy Bates) and her dear friend Alice Pratt (Alfre Woodard), a working class woman of high ideals, have enjoyed a lasting friendship throughout many years. They set out on a cross country road trip to experience life while they leave their love ones behind to continue their lives. Suddenly, their lives become mired in turmoil as their adult children’s extramarital affairs, unethical business practices and a dark paternity secret threaten to derail family fortunes and unravel the lives of all involved. Alice’s self-centered newlywed daughter Andrea (Sanaa Lathan) is betraying her trusting husband Chris (Rockmond Dunbar) by engaging in an affair with her boss William (Cole Hauser), the son of her mother’s best friend. While cheating on his wife Jillian (Kadee Strickland) with a string of ongoing dalliances with his mistress Andrea, William’s true focus is to replace the COO , Abigail "Abby" Dexter (Robin Givens), of his mother’s lucrative construction corporation. Meanwhile, Alice’s other daughter Pam (Taraji P. Henson), a kind but no nonsense woman married to a hard working construction worker, Ben (Tyler Perry), tries to steer the family in a more positive direction.

The Family That Preys is a 2008 comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, who also co-produced and co-stars. The film starring Alfre Woodard, Kathy Bates, Sanaa Lathan. The film is rated PG-13 by the MPAA and was released on September 12, 2008. The film focuses on "two families from different sides of the tracks that become intimately involved in love and business".

Burn After Reading

2008-09-17T10:46:00.001-07:00

Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich) is a CIA analyst who quits his job at the agency after being demoted ostensibly because of his drinking problem. He then decides to write a memoir about his life in the CIA. His wife, Katie Cox (Tilda Swinton), wants to divorce Osbourne and, at the counsel of her divorce lawyer, she copies many of his personal and financial files off his computer and onto an optical disc. Katie's lover is Treasury agent Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney). The disc eventually finds its way to Hardbodies, a workout gym. An employee of the gym, Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) finds the disc and ascertains that it contains classified government information. Along with his fellow employee Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand), he intends to use the disk to blackmail Osbourne - Linda needs money to pay for cosmetic surgery. They call up Cox in the middle of the night, but he is not receptive. When blackmailing him fails, Linda decides to take the information to the Russian embassy. At the embassy, she hands the disk over to the Russians, promising she will give more information afterwards. Because Linda and Chad don't have any more information, they decide to break into Cox's house.

By now Harry and Linda have met over an internet dating service, and begin seeing each other. Chad stakes out the Cox's house and breaks in when Harry and Katie leave. Harry, however, comes back, finds Chad, and instinctively shoots him in the face. Harry, thinking that Chad was a spy, disposes of the body. On his way to leave he manages to tackle a man who has been trailing him for some time, thinking he was working for the CIA or some other government agency. After tackling him, Harry finds out that the man is working for a divorce firm hired by his wife who, it is later revealed, also has been cheating on him. Harry is devastated and goes to see Linda.

The next morning, Harry and Linda meet in a park. When he realizes that Chad was Linda's associate, he becomes paranoid and flees in terror.

Meanwhile, Osbourne returns to his home only to find himself locked out because Katie changed locks in a final move in her secret divorce proceedings. He sleeps overnight in his boat, and the next day breaks into his own house with a hatchet. There he finds Ted Treffon (Richard Jenkins), the manager of Hardbodies, rifling through his computer looking for personal information. Linda had sent Ted to look for more information to give to the Russians, believing that the Russians had kidnapped Chad. Osbourne shoots Ted, who survives and runs out of the house. Osbourne grabs the hatchet and kills Ted in broad daylight.

The movie ends by returning to the CIA's headquarters, where an official (David Rasche) and his director (J.K. Simmons) are trying to sort out what happened: Chad is dead, Ted is dead, Osbourne is in a coma after being shot by an agent while attacking Ted, Harry has been arrested trying to board a flight to Venezuela (but the CIA wants to let him leave anyway so he's out of their hair), and Linda has agreed to cooperate in exchange for the CIA financing her plastic surgery. The baffled CIA agents then decide that they have learned their lesson: to never repeat whatever it is that they did in this case.

Burn After Reading is a dark comedy[1] film written, produced and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars John Malkovich, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt. It was released in the USA on September 12, 2008 and will be released on October 17, 2008 in the UK. The R-rated film had its premiere on August 27, 2008 when it opened the 2008 Venice Film Festival.[2] The film is the brothers' first since the Academy Award winning No Country for Old Men.
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Righteous Kill

2008-09-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

Two veteran New York City detectives (De Niro and Pacino) work to identify the possible connections between a recent series of murders. All of the victims are criminals that slipped through the cracks of the Judicial System and as the evidence mounts it begins to look like the murderer may be an NYPD Officer.

Turk (Robert De Niro) and Rooster (Al Pacino) are partners in the NYPD Homicide Division. They have 30 years of service investigating murders, and before they pull the pin, they want to solve their last big case. The city has a serial killer who is targeting criminals who have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system and have gotten away with rape, murder, and other heinous crimes. The serial killer believes that he is helping the police by taking the scum of the earth out of society for good, never to hurt any law abiding citizens again. The serial killer shoots the criminal at very close-range and leaves a four-line poem justifying the execution. Turk and Rooster want to give this person a medal, but instead, they must arrest him before he kills again. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

Righteous Kill is a 2008 action-crime film directed by Jon Avnet, and starring Robert De Niro,[1] Al Pacino, Donnie Wahlberg, and Curtis Jackson.[2][3] The film was released in the United States on September 12, 2008

The Duchess

2008-09-16T23:51:00.000-07:00

The grand houses. The glorious interiors. The awe-inspiring lobbies and entrances with marble flooring washed with natural light. The candlelit ballrooms densely populated by simpering ladies and gossiping 18th-century politicians. The wigs. The Whigs. The elegant country houses, from whose drawing rooms ambitious mothers can thoughtfully watch their beautiful, innocent daughters romping ingenuously on the wonderful lawns. All of it murmurs "England", and the whole thing is so excessively English that I half-expected the usherette to check my National Trust membership card at any moment. Boris Johnson might well feel like bringing Keira and her bewigged and powdered crew on for the London Olympics opening ceremony in 2012.

The Duchess
Release: 2008
Countries: UK, USA
Cert (UK): 12A
Runtime: 110 mins
Directors: Saul Dibb
Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell, Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Simon McBurne

Director Saul Dibb smoothly orchestrates these elements in his stately, measured pageant-drama, starring Keira Knightley as Georgiana (counter-intuitively pronounced Jaw-jain-a), Duchess of Devonshire, née Spencer, the brilliant but broken-hearted political hostess and courageous wronged woman whose life story, with a little tweaking, resembles that of her 20th-century descendant: our own Queen of Hearts, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

Once again, Keira is playing at the comfortable upper reaches of the social register, though without the thin, shrill edge of neurosis that made her performance compelling in Atonement, nor yet the loose, jaunty, sisterly swing that made her so attractive in Pride and Prejudice. Her lips are once again perennially shaped to express something between a pout and a moue, but those panda eyebrows are rarely raised in surprise. She is the simple girl whose steely-eyed mama (a shrewd, poised performance from Charlotte Rampling) pairs her off with the fabulously wealthy and powerful Duke of Devonshire, played with a kind of clenched glumness by Ralph Fiennes. Like many Englishmen of that time and ours, he is emotionally animated only by animals: in this case, his beloved dogs.

At first shy and lonely, Georgiana discovers that she is loved by the people and by high society alike; she blossoms and makes her husband look a dullard. But the duke breaks her heart with his indiscretions, including an affair with Georgiana's best friend, Lady Bess Foster (Hayley Atwell) - and so Georgiana finds herself submitting to the attentions of the handsome Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper). It was, to coin a phrase, very crowded in that marriage, and once the facts are presented in this light, Georgiana does indeed start to look like Diana.

What is frustrating is that the movie does not give Knightley much of a chance to show the progression of her character: from simple teenager to racy society woman with a weakness for wine and gambling and finally to battle-hardened mother, a person who now knows what is really important in this world and who is dedicated to staying with her children at all costs. We need to see Georgiana develop as a person, see her grow up, grow old even. Frankly, this doesn't happen, though I sensed that Knightley could have achieved this, had the script and direction allowed it.

I must also say that I am turning from agnostic to atheist when it comes to Ralph Fiennes' performance. He plays the entire thing with a look of thin-lipped, fastidious despair - and a face like a wet weekend in Wigan. It's appropriate for the role, arguably, but where is the passion he's supposed to feel for Bess? The nearest we get to it is hearing their cries of illicit passion behind the bedroom door, but we stay outside, with Georgiana, as she listens, stunned by his unfaithfulness. I would have loved to see a genuine, clothes-on, love scene between Ralph Fiennes and Hayley Atwell. This, however, might have meant upstaging the leading lady.

Georgiana moves in racy social and political circles; Simon McBurney plays the turbulent radical Charles James Fox and Aidan McArdle is Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the dramatist whose School for Scandal was evidently inspired directly by the Devonshires' notoriously unstable marriage. Both men enjoy her friendship, but again, there is no sense that politics really means all that much to Georgiana other than with one pretty feeble squeak about female suffrage over the port one evening.

Then there is the gambling - something to which the real-life Duchess was, if not addicted exactly, sufficiently devoted to run through a very large amount of her cash, leaving her reportedly broke at the end of her life. This Georgiana's gambling looks like a genteel flutter. Betting and politics are shown as male adventures on which Georgiana is content to take a free ride. Her frizzy coiffure is shown disturbed at one stage - in fact, her wig catches fire, which is more than her performance does - but Georgiana seems perplexingly submissive, even when supposedly at the height of her career.

Dibb's movie looks good, but there is something exasperatingly bland and slow-moving at all times. Unlike the heroine, he never takes much of a risk.

My Best Friends Girl

2008-09-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

Smart, beautiful and headstrong, Alexis is the girl of Dustin’s dreams. But after only five weeks of dating, the love-struck Dustin is coming on so strong that Alexis is forced to slow things down – permanently. Devastated and desperate to get her back, Dustin turns to his best friend, Tank, the rebound specialist. A master at seducing – and offending – women, Tank gets hired by freshly dumped guys to take their ex-girlfriends out on the worst date of their lives – an experience so horrible it sends them running gratefully back to their beaus. But when Tank works his magic on Alexis, he ends up meeting the challenge of a lifetime. Alexis is the first girl who knows how to call his bluff, and Tank soon finds himself torn between his loyalty to Dustin and a strange new attraction to his best friend’s girl. An outrageous, sexy, no-holds-barred romantic comedy, Lionsgate’s MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL stars Kate Hudson, Dane Cook, Jason Biggs and Alec Baldwin. MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL is directed by Howard Deutch and written by Jordan Cahan.

Genre: comedy
Director:Howard Deutch
Cast:Dane Cook, Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs, Lizzy Caplan, Alec Baldwin

Lakeview Terrace

2008-09-16T21:10:00.001-07:00

A young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship. A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer (Samuel L. Jackson) has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives causes the couple to fight back.

WE OWN THE NIGHT

2008-09-16T02:37:00.002-07:00

New York, November 1988: A new breed of narcotics has swept the great city, bringing with it a ferocious crime wave more terrifying than any in recent memory. Outmanned and outgunned by the new criminal order, the police find themselves burying one of their own at the rate of two a month. An all-out war rages, threatening to engulf guilty and innocent alike.

Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) is caught in the crossfire. Manager of a Russian nightclub in Brighton Beach owned by his mentor Marat Buzhayev (Moni Moshonov) and frequented by gangsters like Buzhayev's nephew Vadim Nezhinski (Alex Veadov), Bobby keeps his distance, not wanting to get involved. Despite his hedonistic, amoral lifestyle, he is committed to his girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes) and has ambitions to open another club in Manhattan for Buzhayev.

Bobby has a secret, however, which he guards closely. His brother is Police Captain Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg), who has followed in the footsteps of their father, legendary Deputy Chief Bert Grusinsky (Robert Duvall). Bobby's already strained relationship with his father and brother is tested when Bert warns his son that this is a war, and he's going to have to choose a side.

He can no longer remain neutral when his brother is badly wounded in an assassination attempt, and Bobby discovers his father could be next. Realizing they will only be safe when Nezhinski and his organization are destroyed, Bobby and Joseph join forces for an all-out assault. Together, they'll try to prove the NYPD's '80s rallying cry in the war on drugs: We Own the Night.

CIVIC DUTY

2008-09-16T02:37:00.001-07:00

After being laid off in a downsizing of his company, the bitter and bigoted American accountant Terry Allen faces financial problems with the mortgage of his house. He uses his available time to snoop his downstairs neighbor Gabe Hassan, a Middle Eastern student that is having his Master degree sponsored by an Islamic organization in an American university, and calls the FBI to tell his suspicion. However, FBI Agent Tom Hilary asks him to forget Hassan. When Terry tells his wife Marla Allen that he had contacted FBI, she becomes upset and leaves Terry. However, his obsessive bigotry and alienation trigger paranoia against his neighbor and a tragic conclusion. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Bangkok Dangerous

2008-09-16T02:37:00.000-07:00

Hitman Joe (Nicolas Cage) goes to Bangkok on an assignment to kill four people. He hires pickpocket Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) as his assistant and meets a beautiful mute girl along the way.

Joe is given the contract by Bangkok gangsters who communicate with Joe through Kong and a dancer who becomes romantically involved with Kong.

Joe breaks his own rule of not getting involved with people on his missions and takes Kong under his wing because he sees Kong as a younger version of himself. Kong regularly comments on, and asks about Joe's victims being bad people; this awakens Joe's conscience. Joe takes out three 'bad men' who are as Joe says to Kong "bad for somebody". In the third killing Kong assists Joe and the kill does not go as planned with the target nearly getting away before Joe catches him and shoots him after a chase in front of many shocked onlookers.

His fourth target is a politician and therefore a difficult target resulting in Joe demanding more money. The gangsters intend to kill Joe to avoid the murder being traced back to them, as Joe sets off to the location of the final kill the gangsters kidnap Kong and the dancer girl and use them to find Joe's safe house. The target politician is beloved by the people, including Kong. As a result Joe hesitates when he is about to shoot him, which results in him being spotted by the police who fire at him leaving the assassination attempt a failure.

Joe has now become the target and having evaded the police is attacked at his house by four gang members; he manages to use explosives to take them out and is faced with the choice of rescuing Kong or leaving the country unharmed. Joe decides to rescue Kong so sets off to the gangs HQ with one of the half-alive attackers who was injured in the explosion at Joe's safe house.

Superhero Movie

2008-09-13T07:13:00.000-07:00

Super is as super does: Finally, the guys behind the outrageously silly "Scary Movie" franchise have used their own 'special powers' to spoof superhero movies. After being bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly, high school loser Rick Riker develops superhuman abilities like incredible strength and armored skin. Rick decides to use his new powers for good and becomes a costumed crime fighter known as "The Dragonfly." However, standing in the way of his destiny is the villainous Lou Landers. After an experiment gone wrong, Lou develops the power to steal a person's life force and in a dastardly quest for immortality becomes the supervillain, "The Hourglass." With unimaginable strength, unbelievable speed and deeply uncomfortable tights, will the Dragonfly be able to stop the sands of The Hourglass and save the world? More importantly, will we stop laughing long enough to notice?

To call “Superhero Movie” a satire, or even a parody, of the genre specified in its title would be misleading, since those terms imply at least an attempt at wit. But no real mockery is intended by this harmless, mindless grab bag of slightly used gags, which lampoons some of the conventions of recent comic-book epics and adds the expected staples of juvenile humor: urine, vomit and intestinal gas

Babylon A.D.

2008-09-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

In the near future, Toorop (Vin Diesel) is a mercenary who takes the job of escorting a woman named Aurora from Central Asia to New York. While he thinks this is just an ordinary mission, he gradually finds out that his guest is carrying twins that have the potential to become the next Messiahs - and everybody wants to get their hands on them.

Production

Mathieu Kassovitz developed an English-language film adaptation of Maurice Georges Dantec's French novel Babylon Babies for five years; in June 2005, this project got financed from StudioCanal and Twentieth Century Fox. The adapted screenplay was written by Kassovitz and screenwriter Éric Besnard. Production was initially slated to begin in February 2006 in Canada and Eastern Europe.French actor Vincent Cassel was initially sought to be cast in the lead role. In February 2006, actor Vin Diesel entered negotiations to star in the film, titled Babylon A.D., dropping out of the lead role of Hitman in the process.Production of the futuristic thriller about genetic manipulation was slated to begin in June 2006. By February 2007, filming was slated to wrap in April to release Babylon A.D. in time for the coming Thanksgiving.In February, filming took place at Barrandov Studios.[10] In March 2007, the filming crew, having shot in the Czech Republic, took a two-week hiatus to deal with uncooperative weather, such as the lack of snow, and problems with set construction. Crew members scouted Iceland for locations with snow to shoot six to eight days of footage, which was supposed to be done in February. Filming was also done with the leads Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, and Mélanie Thierry in Ostrava in March. The French visual effects company BUF Compagnie was contracted to develop the film's effects.

In April 2007, Babylon A.D. was reported to be over-budget and three weeks behind schedule. A lack of snow meant a skiing sequence to be shot in Eastern Europe had to be moved to Sweden. Later in the month, actor Lambert Wilson was cast into the film. Filming was completed in May 2007.

American artist Khem Caigan designed the sigil that appears as a tattoo on the right side of Toorop's neck - an emblem which originally appeared in the Schlangekraft Necronomicon in 1977.

The music of Babylon A.D. is scored by composers Hans Zimmer and Atli Örvarsson. The musical alliance Achozen, represented by Shavo Odadjian and RZA performed the score for the film. Zimmer described the intended style: "Musically, our objective was to merge the sounds and energies of hip hop with classical music, seamlessly melting them into an unusual soundscape.

Babylon 5 - The Movie Collection

STEP UP 2 THE STREETS

2008-09-08T11:53:00.001-07:00

Andie (Briana Evigan) is a member of the 410 crew, she goes around showcasing her talents illegally.Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum)one of her oldest friends from her younger years, understands her love for street dancing to save her from being sent away to texas he gets her an audition for MSA - Maryland School of Arts. she gets in but only by the kindness of one guy Chase (Robert Hoffman) also a student at MSA. However, not only is he the most popular guy in school but his brother is it's new director.

In Andie's first class she is told to improvise, only used to upbeat music, she panics and makes a fool of herself, then when told to do it again she messes up again.Only this time catching the eye of Chase.she is made to attend after school classes- at the same time as the 4 1 0 's dance rehearsal .After the lesson she heads down to rehearse with the crew, and she's late not impressing her fellow crew members. After being late yet again and after mssing most rehearsals Andie is kicked out of the 410 crew and now cannot battle in 'The Streets'.

On realising that she needs a crew Chase comes to her rescue, saying that under the radar in MSA there are a lot of people who would be skilled enough to join a crew. They find 10 people to join them in their crew, the MSA crew. They start practising and realise that they aren't good enough to battle at 'the Streets' yet. So after embarassing themselves at the dragon in a dance battle against her old crew one of Andie's fellow 4 1 0 ers decides to help them out. She helps them realise they have what it takes and make a prank, something that will help them get noticed. They stage their prank in the home of the lead member of the 410 crew. It doesn't go down to well. But Chase and Andie are drawn together by their unavoidable attraction, they flirt and almost kiss while at a family barbeque being thrown by missy a former 4 1 0 member.

After this things go bad, the 4 1 0 track down chase after he leaves the barbeque leaving him with a black eye, they head down to MSA and trash the school. The director finds out and orders the students to come forward if they know anything. However, he knows that Andie is somehow responsible and calls her to his office, where upon a discussion he expells her and she is left shattered...

A few days later while the school is hosting a fundraiser they all recieve the text message telling them where 'The Streets' is being held. Andie chooses the ignore this but the other feel it nesessary to take part and go call on Andie, upon convincing her they head down the 8th and Main. Upon arriving they feel unwelcome and are told they don't fit in by the 410 crew. Andie doesn't appreciate this as she knows that the true meaning of the streets is about bringing something new to the floor. So she leads them all outside for 1 last showdown..........
Step Up 2 The Streets Step Up 2: The Streets [Blu-ray]

The Eye

2008-09-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

Sydney, a young, blind violinist is given the chance to see for the first time since childhood through a miraculous corneal transplant. As Sydney adjusts to a dizzying new world of colors and shapes, she is haunted by frightening visions of death itself capturing the doomed and dragging them away from the world of the living. Terrorized and on the brink of insanity, Sydney must discover whose eyes she has inherited, and what secret visions they have held.

Sydney Wells is an accomplished concert violinist who has been blind since a childhood tragedy. Sydney undergoes a double corneal transplant, and her sight is restored. But Sydney's happiness is short-lived as unexplainable shadowy and frightening images start to haunt her. Are they a passing aftermath of her surgery, Sydney's mind adjusting to sight, a product of her imagination, or something horrifyingly real? As Sydney's family and friends begin to doubt her sanity, Sydney is soon convinced that her anonymous eye donor has somehow opened the door to a terrifying world only she can now see.


Also Known As:	The Eye (remake)

Production Status:	Released

Genres:	Science Fiction/Fantasy, Suspense/Horror, Thriller and Remake

Running Time:	1 hr. 37 min.

Release Date:	February 1st, 2008 (wide)

MPAA Rating:	PG-13 for violence/terror and disturbing content.

Distributors:	Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate

Production Co.:	Applause Pictures Cruise/Wagner Productions (C/W Productions) Vertigo Entertainment

Studios:	Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures

Financiers:	Co-Financier: Paramount Vantage, Lionsgate

U.S. Box Office:	$31,397,498

Filming Locations:	Albuquerque, New Mexico USA

Produced in:	United States

Mad Money

2008-09-08T11:43:00.001-07:00

Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) is shocked to learn that she is on the verge of losing her home and comfortable upper middle class lifestyle when her husband Don (Ted Danson) is downsized from his job of 30 years. Don has been looking for a job for a whole year with no luck. Armed only with a decades old English Lit degree and years as a dedicated mother and corporate wife, Bridget is forced into the unfamiliar labor market with no job skills. Finally, she takes the only position she can find as a janitor at the Federal Reserve Bank in Kansas City.

The one-time suburban mom soon discovers she has more in common with her new co-workers than she thought. Bridget forges an unexpected bond with Nina (Queen Latifah), a hard-working single mom with two kids to raise who shreds old money all day, and Jackie (Katie Holmes), an exuberant free spirit with nothing to lose who moves the old money cart. Every day the bank shreds over a million dollars. Caught up in a system that underestimates their talents and keeps their dreams just out of reach, Bridget, Nina and Jackie set out to even the score.

After a lifetime of playing by the rules, the three join forces and devise a plan to smuggle soon-to-be destroyed currency out of the supposedly airtight Federal Reserve. As the unlikely crime syndicate amasses piles of cash, it looks like they have pulled off the perfect crime until a minor misstep alerts the authorities. With more money than they know what to do with, the women are pushed to the limits of their ingenuity to stay one step ahead of the law!
Mad Money

X-Men: The Last Stand

2008-09-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It is directed by Brett Ratner, who took over when Bryan Singer dropped out to direct Superman Returns. The movie revolves around a "mutant cure" that causes serious repercussions among mutants and humans, and on the mysterious resurrection of Jean Grey, who appeared to have died in X2. The film is loosely based on two X-Men comic book story arcs: writer Chris Claremont's and artist John Byrne's "Dark Phoenix Saga" in The Uncanny X-Men and writer Joss Whedon's and artist John Cassaday's six-issue "Gifted" arc in Astonishing X-Men.

The film was released May 26, 2006 in the United States and Canada. Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans, the film did well at the box office. Its opening-day gross of $45.5 million is the fourth-highest on record while its opening weekend gross of $103 million is the fifth highest ever.

A pharmaceutical company called Worthington Labs announces that it has developed an inoculation to permanently suppress the X-gene that gives mutants their powers, offering the so-called "cure" to any mutant who wants it. While some mutants are interested in the cure, including the X-Men's Rogue, many others are horrified by the announcement. In response to the news, the X-Men's adversary Magneto raises an army, warning his followers that the cure will be forcefully used to exterminate the mutant race.

Cyclops, still heartbroken about the loss of Jean Grey, returns to Alkali Lake, where Jean sacrificed herself to save the X-Men. Jean appears to Cyclops, and as the two kiss, Jean changes and appears to kill Cyclops. Sensing trouble, Professor Charles Xavier sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate. When they arrive, the two X-Men encounter telekinetically floating rocks, Cyclops' glasses, and an unconscious Jean. Meanwhile Magneto ambushes a military transport and frees Juggernaut, Mystique and Multiple Man, during which Mystique blocks a shot of the mutant cure aimed at Magneto, only to be left behind because she is not "one of them" anymore.

Xavier explains that the majority of Jean's power is seated in her unconscious mind and that, as a result, her powers are largely fueled by instinct, and not under her complete control. In fact, when Jean was a little girl she was so powerful that he had to put telepathic blocks on her mind to help keep her powers under control. Her bottled up powers manifested themselves as an id-like alternate personality called the "Phoenix" — a purely instinctual creature, ruled only by its own violent desires. Wolverine is disgusted to learn that Xavier has kept Jean in check telepathically, but when Jean awakens, he realizes she is not the Jean Grey he knew. Wolverine asks about Cyclops, but she cannot remember and fears she killed him. Jean pleads with Wolverine to kill her before she harms anybody else, but when he refuses, the Phoenix surfaces and telekinetically slams Wolverine into a wall. She then flees to her childhood home. Magneto, also aware that Jean's powers are loose, meets Xavier at Jean's house. The two men plead for Jean's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces, unleashing her devastating power. Furious at being caged within Jean's subconscious for twenty years, she destroys her family's house and engages in a psychic battle with Xavier. She eventually overpowers and disintegrates Xavier then leaves with Magneto, temporarily weakened.
Jean Grey unleashes her power
Jean Grey unleashes her power

Following the losses of Xavier and Cyclops, Rogue decides to take the mutant cure. The X-Men regroup and confront Magneto's army, which is attacking the pharmaceutical company's laboratory on Alcatraz Island. The battle begins when Magneto moves the Golden Gate Bridge to land at Alcatraz Island, which is being guarded only by a company of soldiers. The Brotherhood's first charge is ineffective as Magneto is unable to destroy the soldiers' plastic weapons. The first group of mutants, which Magneto refers to as "pawns", are hit with the cure cartridges and depowered. Arclight destroys the weapons with her shockwave, as the X-Men arrive. During the battle, Kitty Pryde leaves to save Leech and at the end of the battle, Beast injects Magneto with the cure, nullifying his mutant powers. After this, Wolverine nearly coaxes Jean back to sanity. However, soldiers arrive and fire upon Jean. The Phoenix quickly emerges and begins to disintegrate everything and everyone around her, vaporizing the soldiers. While the other X-Men flee to safety, Wolverine fights his way to Jean, relying upon his healing abilities to save him from her destructive power. Momentarily gaining control, Jean begs Wolverine to save her. Telling Jean he loves her, Wolverine reluctantly kills her with his claws.

Despite the X-Men's losses, life goes on. The school will continue, even without Xavier. Rogue returns and tells Iceman she had to take the "cure." The two reconcile and continue their relationship now able to touch each other. Magneto, now an ordinary man, sits at a chessboard and reaches out toward a metal chess piece that trembles slightly — indicating that the cure might not be as permanent as originally thought. Following the closing credits, Dr. Moira MacTaggert checks on a comatose patient who greets her with Xavier's voice, implying that he has transferred his mind into this new body.
X-Men - The Last Stand (Widescreen Edition)X-Men - The Last Stand [Blu-ray]X-Men (Widescreen Edition)X2 - X-Men United (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)