GENRE: Supernatural teenage drama

THE PITCH: To prevent a frenzy for Bella’s (Kristen Stewart) blood, the Cullens, including her soulmate Edward (Robert Pattinson), cut all ties and leave Forks, Wash. Devastated Bella eventually turns to longtime friend Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) to mend her broken heart, unintentionally stoking Jacob’s fiery passion for her and uncovering his true nature. Unable to forget her first love, Bella sets off a reckless chain of events that ultimately sends her on a mission to save a lovelorn Edward.

MONEY SHOTS: Jacob’s lycanthropic nature is revealed when he morphs into his wolven form to protect Bella from an attack by friend and packmate Paul (Alex Meraz). A savage, snarly, teeth-gnarling fight ensues between the two werewolves.

BEST LINES: Almost anything from classmate Jessica (Anna Kendrick) when talking to dazed Bella during a girl’s night out. As Jessica compares zombies to lepers, she notes, “My cousin had leprosy, so it’s not funny.” Best friend Alice Cullen (Ashley Greene) declares, “I have never known anyone more prone to life-threatening idiocy” when she comes to check up on Bella after a tragic prophetic vision.

WORST LINE: “I guess the wolf is out of the bag,” says Paul as they sit down and explain their tribal secrets with Bella.

Read the full Hollywood Product review of The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

Actors Jamie Campbell Bower (l) and Edi Gathegi (r) entertain questions from twilighters at recent meet and greet at Mall of Georgia.

As the second chapter of the Twilight franchise: New Moon looms on the horizon, die hard fans (or “Twi-hards”) have been lining up across the country to catch a glimpse of the faces behind the stars as they embark on a cross-country mall promotional tour.

Last week, Edi Gathegi who portrays the foreboding, dread-headed vampire Laurent and Jamie Campbell Bower, whose character Caius is introduced in the latest film greeted fans and responded to questions in a Q&A session held at the Mall of Georgia. Gathegi and Bower sat down briefly to discuss the making of the latest feature film and their own fascination with the series. The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens Fri., Nov. 20.

Was it easier to get into character this time around since you’ve played Laurent before?

Gathegi: It was definitely easier but initially it was very difficult because he’s described as having a slightly French accent and French is the accent that is hardest for me. It’s sort of impossible to do a slight French accent when you can’t even do a regular accent, so I had to learn the accent and then scale it back which was a challenge. So for the second film most of the work had already been done, I just stepped in put myself in a new situation and just trusted Chris Weitz’s directing.

Continue reading Speakeasy with Jamie Campbell Bower and Edi Gathegi.

On Thursday evening hundreds of screaming Twilight fans flocked to the Mall of Georgia to meet actors Edi Gathegi and Jamie Campbell Bower from the upcoming film The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Over 500 fans – known as “Twilighters” waited in line at Hot Topic inside the mall for a chance to get New Moon mini posters signed by movie vampires Laurent (Gathegi) and Caius (Bower).

After the autograph session, Gathegi and Bower met an ever growing crowd in the mall’s Village courtyard for a hour-long Q & A session. Most questions were collected earlier from waiting fans but later in the session a microphone was passed for the attendees to ask the actors directly.

It was clear what was on the mind of the screaming Twi-hard adolescent girls who made up the majority of the crowd. Most of the questions mulled within the range of “Would You Marry Me” to “What was it like to work with Robert Pattinson.”  Of course you can’t have a Twilight conversation without asking the most important question for any true Twilight fan: “Team Edward or Team Jacob.” Both Gathegi and Bower declared an affinity towards Team Edward … OME!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens Fri., Nov. 20 in area theaters.

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On Wednesday Dave & Buster’s opened their third fun center in Atlanta. Located at Discover Mills, the new Sugarloaf location is the city’s largest family entertainment arcade. D&B Sugarloaf is a 63,000 square foot facility designed as the ultimate play and sports viewing destination featuring over  200 games, a 16 lane bowling alley and 30 monitors to view eight events simultaneously.

To celebrate the occasion, members from the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and Atlanta Falcons’ Defensive Tackle Jonathan Babineaux cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the center.

Babineaux who consequently had a phenomenal game against the Washington Redskins last weekend with 11 tackles and 2.5 sacks participated in a live radio remote with 680 The Fan’s Buck and Kincade and signed autographs for excited fans.

Dave & Buster’s – Sugarloaf. Discover Mills Mall (former Jillian’s location), 5900 Sugarloaf Parkway, Suite 441, Lawrenceville, GA. 678-847-5400. Sunday-Thursday: 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Friday-Saturday:  11 a.m. – Midnight.

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Why send sample pages of the latest story arc in the Marvel universe when you can send a trailer instead. Lately this has been the comic company’s mantra to promote their signature book events.

Marvel Comics (MC) is pulling out all the stops to create buzz for the next big multi-pub series, The Siege. Here’s how MC describes the upcoming series:

SIEGE is coming! It’s all been leading up to this universe shattering four issue limited series from the superstar team of Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel! Following the events of Dark Reign: The List, Norman Osborn sets his sights set on Asgard and nothing will stop him from completing his mission. But what does he want? How do Loki and Thor figure in? And just how does this relate to the inner strife between the Cabal? Marvel’s greatest heroes unite against the deadliest threat they’ve ever faced, but even they have no idea what’s coming next. It’s time for the most jaw dropping comic book event of the decade begins in December with Siege: The Cabal and continues in January’s SIEGE #1!

I have to admit I’m still playing catch up with the Marvel series. Right now Dark Reign is barely keeping my interest, but the thought of Asgardians raining pain down on the Avengers is just to delicious to miss.

ALL DOLLED UP: Anderson's "Dress Up" is one of many featured in his concept show "Only Dick, No Jane" currently on display at the W Midtown Hotel

This year’s Pride celebration began not with a bang but a statement Wednesday night with a conceptual art exhibit at the W Atlanta -Midtown Hotel. The show entitled Only Dick, No Jane is a series of works by artist Larry Anderson that explores the labels and stigmas projected on gay men through light and somewhat humorous concepts.

As host of the event, W Midtown provided attendees with Asian inspired hor devours, progressive music via the house DJ and Pride-tini’s, a cosmopolitan-based martini drink made with Skyy Passion Fruit vodka, X-Rated liqueur and cranberry juice.

Anderson, who teaches art classes at SCAD in Atlanta compiled this series to inspire candid dialog about prejudices which he eludes to in his show introductory statement as “redefining the argument.”

“To redefine the argument is to take sex out of the equation and just have us be people,” explains Anderson. “The whole religious right thing is over the sex issue and that’s such a small part of our lives. When we’re young its not any part of our lives, its about desire.”

In his works, Anderson positions Dick, a primary character in the Fun with Dick and Jane reading development books of the ’30s in several translations of well known homophobic slurs.

Only Dick, No Jane is on display in the W Atlanta-Midtown Hotel mezzanine throughout Pride weekend, Fri. October 30 through Sun. November 1.

(photos by Edward Adams and Lisa Baxter)

In recognition of his tireless efforts on behalf of Atlanta’s children, filmmaker Libby Spears has dedicated her latest documentary Playground to the memory of the late Fulton County Judge, Sanford “Sunny” Jones. The film premieres as part of a memorial benefit hosted by the Juvenile Justice Fund honoring Jones on Tuesday, October 20th at the Woodruff Arts Center. The event benefits the Center to End Adolescent Sexual Exploitation (CEASE) and Angela’s House, an organization that provides home care services to households with medically fragile children. Jones, who served as Fulton County Juvenile Court judge was killed in small plane crash in Alabama earlier this year.

Playground sheds light on child sex trafficking taking place in the United States. The film profiles former victims and provides a candid look at the legal and social systems that fails to adequately respond to the crisis. Playground was produced by actor/director George Clooney, writer/actor Grant Heslov and director Steven Soderbergh, the team behind the Oscar-nominated film Good Night and Good Luck.

Judge Jones helped to create the Juvenile Justice Fund in Atlanta in 2001. The fund provides constructive alternatives to youth detention and programs to reduce the number of children returning to unsafe, abusive and destructive homes.

Memorial Benefit for Judge Sanford Jones. Tuesday, October 20, 2009 – 6:00pm. Woodruff Arts Center Symphony Hall. 1280 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309. General admission $25, premiere and VIP pre-reception $125. Tickets can be purchased online at www.woodruffcentertickets.org or by phone, 404-733-5000.

Disney brought a little taste of Christmas to Atlanta this morning as Disney’s A Christmas Carol Train Tour rolled into town. The seven car train features a museum, gallery and interactive, multimedia experiences.

Passengers on the tour saw personal belongings from Charles Dickens on loan from the Dicken’s Museum in London, original props and models used in the film, featurettes explaining the technology behind the CGI feature film and an interactive photo booth where passengers’ images were morphed into characters from the movie. Outside the train, Disney set up a 25-foot 3D movie theater including snow to watch 10 minutes of scenes from the film.

The Christmas Carol train has been traveling across the country since Memorial Day weekend. The tour started in Los Angeles, CA and will end in a few weeks in New York City, NY. You can find out more about the train tour and its upcoming scheduled stops on the tour’s website.

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Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Rated-PG. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Stars Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Robin Wright Penn. Opens nationwide Friday, Nov. 6.

SHAWTY WHAT YOUR NAME IS: Snow White greets her new BFF's in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Disney celebrates 72 years of Sleepy, Sneezy, Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Bashful, Dopey and of course Snow White this year with the release of the Diamond Edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Artists, not dwarfs remastered over 120,000 animation cells to restore the film to a pristine quality better than the original version. According to Disney Animation Curator, Lella Smith, reflections of camera men on individual cells as well as their fingerprints covered the original theatrical version of the film. Smith shared insights about the development of Disney’s first animated feature film in an online presentation about the dwarfs and the long journey animators took to produce the movie.

Ok, so fingerprints and ghostly images may not peak your interests, but here’s a couple of little known facts Smith shared about the film available in behind-the-scene features on the Diamond Edition:

1. Snoopy was considered as a name for one of the seven dwarfs in the film. Other names considered were Wheezy, Baldy, Lazy, Tubby and Jumpy.
2. In early concepts of the dwarfs, they were drawn as tall as Snow White.
3. It took two years to come up with the seven dwarfs we know today.
4. Snow White was the highest grossing film until it was surpassed by Gone With the Wind in 1939.
5. Snow White was the first film to have an accompanying soundtrack released.
6. Snow White and Dopey were motion modeled by the same person, famed dancer Marge Champion.
7. There’s a total of 60-million illustrations archived from the Snow White project in the Disney library.

Disney’s Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs – Diamond Edition. Rated G. Available on Blu-Ray and DVD Tues. October 6.

By popular demand, Paramount Pictures announced screenings of their underground horror flick Paranormal Activity midnight tonight at Atlantic Station.

Over 230,000 people have requested the studio release the film through an innovative distribution promotional website, paranormalmovie.com. On the site, users “demand” the showing of the film selecting their city or by adding their city to the growing list. Los Angeles and New York topped the list, while Atlanta ranked 10th in total demand requests followed by Miami and Las Vegas.

In Paranormal Activity, a young couple tries to figure out what’s causing the strange occurrences in their home each night, especially while trying to sleep. Armed with a video camera and low-tech recording devices they soon capture evidence they’re not alone in the house when something forcibly make its presence known to them.

From viewing the trailer, its clear the film was shot as a mocumentary in the same vein as its low-budget predecessor, The Blair Witch Project. According to various reviews and viewer comments, the film is truly unnerving, and the website bloody-disgusting.com describes it as “one of the scariest movies of all time.”

While that remains to be seen, there are reports that director Steven Spielberg had his own account of paranormal activity while viewing the movie. In the Paranormal Activity Wikipedia entry, its noted that Spielberg witnessed a bedroom door inexplicably close and lock from the inside while he viewed the film. He returned the screener in a garbage bag stating that his copy was haunted.

Paranormal Activity, Screening October 2, 2009 12:01 am, Not Rated, Directed by Oren Peli, Stars Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat. Exclusive midnight showing at Regal Atlantic Station.

In an effort to inform and educate the public on issues surrounding gay marriage, Virginia Highland Church is running a six-part lecture series titled “Marriage Equality: A Free Conversational Series” starting this Sunday.

The Marriage Equality series offers views on the controversial subject of gay marriage through open discussions from church leaders and religious writers who advocate for the legality of same sex marriage. The series is scheduled to run each week at 9:30 a.m. week beginning Sunday, September 20, through October 25. The lectures in this series are free and open to the public.

Series Schedule:

September 20: “Straight Talk: Allies Declare Their Advocacy.” Presented by Rev. Dr. Rich & Marilyn Wall, Rev. Dr. Bill & Kathy Stayton.

September 25: Film screening, So The Bible Tells Me So. Documentary discussing homosexuality and the church.

September 27: “Deconstructing & Reconstructing Marriage.” Hosted by Rev. Chris Glaser Author, As My Own Soul: The Blessing of Same-Gender Marriage.

September 28: Book signing, Rev. Chris Glaser. 7:30 p.m. Outwrite Books, 10th & Piedmont

October 4: “A Catholic View of Sacrament & Grace.” A discussion led by Dr. Daniel Helminiak, Author What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

October 11: “Coretta Scott King’s LGBT Advocacy.” Presented by Mr. Winston Johnson his lecture is a first-person tell-all on how Johnson led Coretta Scott King to become LGBT ally.

October 18: “A Transgender View.” An introspective discussion lead by Rev. Dr. Erin Swenson,  Therapist, activist, Presbyterian minister.

October 25: “An African-American View.” Presented by Rev. Dr. Kathi Martin,  UCC minister, The Victory Church.

On Friday, September 25, as a bonus to the series, Virginia Highland Church will show the documentary For the Bible Tells Me So, a film by Daniel Karslake exploring the conflicts between homosexuality and religion. For the Bible Tells Me So was an official Sundance selection in 2007 and won the Documentary Audience Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Virginia Highland Church is located at 743 Virginia Avenue. For more information about the series, visit their website at www.vhchurch.org.

It’s hard to peg down the message in director Doug Pray’s latest documentary Art & Copy. There’s no cause to champion, no historic precedence, not even a controversial notion. Instead, the audience is engaged in a brief, candid discussion on the ad industry’s evolution and the successes that the changes spawned through a series of anecdotal interviews.

Art & Copy is essentially a series of one-on-one interviews with some of the ad industry’s innovators and trendsetters. Pray masterfully stitches together an open forum on creativity, its genius, and its impact with past and present ad directors and copy writers who were responsible for some of the world’s most popular ad campaigns. While the faces, names and companies may draw a blank for the average viewer, one immediately connects with the dialogue about their various successes.

Continue reading Art & Copy misses its own point

(Photo courtesy of Seventh Art Films)

Geeks and jocks may argue about what’s the coolest event going on labor day weekend, but most ATL insiders know this weekend is all about Drive Invasion at the Starlight Drive-In.  Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of the throwback-styled festival – an eclectic mix of indie music, b-movies and hot rods.

This year Drive Invasion features live performances from 11 bands  including Wanda Jackson, Los Straitjackets, Detroit Cobras, Deadbolt and local bands, The Woggles, Gargantua and Psycho Devilles.

If these bands don’t sound familiar, worry not, I got you covered. Here’s a couple of videos from some of the bands featured to whet your appetite for this weekend’s music line up.

Los StraitJackets performing “Casbah”

Wanda Jackson performing “Funnel of Love”

Detroit Cobras bang out “Cha Cha Twist”

Deadbolt, the self-proclaimed “scariest band in the world” perform “You Don’t Scare Me”

The Woggles, “Its Not About What I Want”

Psycho Devilles, “Psycho Cadillac”

After you’ve finished your own modern version of the “mosh pit peppermint twist”, cop a squat and check out the gourmet cheese fest of b-movies scheduled to screen at sundown including The Blues Brothers, Zardoz, Frogs, Shanty Tramp and a surprise “secret selection.”

10th Annual Drive Invasion, Sunday, September 6, 2009, Starlight Six Drive-In Theatre, 2000 Memorial Avenue, 11am until, $28 Adults, Children (9 and under) $5. tickets online at ticket alternative.

Marvel Comics released a trailer of their upcoming motion comic Astonishing X-Men: Gifted today. The story was written by Buffy series creator Joss Whedon and illustrated by John Cassaday (Captain America series).

The story according to Marvel:

Cyclops and Emma Frost re-form the X-Men with the express purpose of “astonishing” the world. But when breaking news regarding the mutant gene unexpectedly hits the airwaves, will it derail their new plans before they even get started? As demand for the “mutant cure” reaches near-riot levels, the X-Men go head-to-head with the enigmatic Ord, with an unexpected ally – and some unexpected adversaries – tipping the scales!

Gifted is Marvel Comic’s second motion comic release. Last month, Marvel launched its first series, Spider-Woman on August 19th.

Astonishing X-Men: Gifted is scheduled for release on October 26, 2009. Marvel motion comics are available for download exclusively on iTunes.

Oh shit, its another Michael Moore film!

Once again Moore points a spotlight on the topic du jour -  this go round, it’s about the all mighty dollar in his upcoming release, Capitalism: A Love Story.

In the trailer, we get to ask “show me the money!” to Congress and the big wigs on Wall Street as Moore tries to make sense of the recession and the bail outs, asking those parties responsible to ‘fess up and pay up.

It would seem Moore has turned his particular type of documentary-styled filmmaking into a successful formula; add one part American tragedy to one part government bureaucracy. Add a dash of public outrage and a pinch of easy-to-find victims. Stir in some humor, skewed opinion and public flogging of parties responsible to the mix. Shake well and spread thick on the conscious of the concerned and you get yet another “controversial” Moore film.

As much as I think Moore makes a killing by pandering to the lowest common denominator – public fear and skepticism in the system and American culture, let me be fair in saying he does bring the sentiment and voices of John Q Public to the podium. If nothing else, he tries to help some of his fellow Americans by champion the causes they desperately need answers to.

Capitalism appears to be haphazard walk into the bowels of the recession and the greed that created it. I sincerely hope Moore casts an objective light on the subject to spark a real debate amongst the people he intends to snare and enrage.

Yeah, right.

Capitalism: A Love Story (not rated) in limited release September 23, 2009.

BLUE MAN DUPED: Sully (Sam Worthington) gets schooled on nightlife on Pandora by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) in Jame Cameron's Avatar.

On Friday, August 21, over 400 Atlantans made their way to AMC Theaters to view 15 minutes of the James Cameron’s upcoming epic, Avatar. As part of “Avatar Day,” viewers were given an exclusive look at scenes from the film in IMAX 3D.

Long lines in the hundreds formed at both AMC Southlake Pavilion and AMC Barrett Commons as eager fans waited to see the screening of the Avatar preview. Attendees reserved their seats by registering online at www.avatarmovie.com.

Cameron introduced the preview welcoming the curious crowds to a sneak peek of the out of this world film. In the preview, we’re introduced to Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a crippled war veteran given a second chance by being downloaded into the body of a Nav’l, a native humanoid species on the hostile planet Pandora. Once linked to his avatar, Sully embarks on a journey of adventure and self discovery.

Across the blogosphere, the preview received mixed reviews. Around the web, people have begun calling the film Dances with wolves in space. After the screening, twitterers couldn’t wait to share their opinions of the preview.

Rubber_Rabbit: After meeting James Cameron at E3 and watching the #Avatar teaser I’m adding it to the must watch list. #movies http://ow.ly/l5Xv

Geekanerd: A: I agree with Degan. The #Avatar trailer looks wretched. Advanced Haterism begins now.

Aminojaku: Watched the #Avatar teaser trailer last night on iTunes. Holy crap. OMFG my head exploded does not even begin to describe it.

johnnycocaine: is afraid #avatar is going to basically be Return of the Ewoks.

kclynL: just went to see the screening of #AVATAR… now i’m getting excited for december…wooohooo!!! beyond our imagination movie…

Kneon: Is it just me, or does #Avatar look like a video game? For all the hype I thought the CGI looked fakey.

osulop: #Avatar CGI looked way more convincing in the preview on the big screen in 3D. Only thing I’m not too taken with is the shakycam.

andyroyal: saw the James Cameron #Avatar teaser on Friday, all I can say is O M G!!! I cannot wait for this film to come out or the game from @ubisoft

Cameron’s Avatar is a 3D spectacle but looks and feels at times like a bad acid trip. The blue skinned Nav’l mannerisms do remind you of images of Pre-Colonial Native Americans and even in the 15 minute preview, you get the sense that Cameron is trying to ram a message about humanity down your throat. Cameron proved he’s a genius at sci-fi story telling, but can he pull off a story about blue people on another planet?  I’m hopeful but not sure if he’ll sell this flick to the masses firmly planted here on planet Earth.

Avatar (not yet rated) stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana. Film opens nationwide December 18, 2009

While it remains to be seen if Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will be one of the all time best animated series, Its interesting that the show creator and director Craig Kyle thinks so. In a post on GeekTyrant, Kyle shared his excitement and explains why he feels this will be one of the greatest series to date.

It’s going to be the best show ever made. I am so excited about “Avengers” I can’t even tell you. It is the comic book put on screen. It is the classic team set in modern day. They’re not fighting communists or anything. It is going to be big. It’s Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Ant-Man and Wasp. It’s the team. It’s what you know and love put right on the screen. We are well on our way. It’s definitely in heavy production right now as for a premier I do not know? It may be tied to the future film, it may not, I just don’t know… With “Hulk Vs.” we really got controls taken off as far as violence goes with Wolverine and the Hulk. But I got to tell you, working on “Avengers,” that’s a cool show. As a comic book fan, I’m so excited about it. I think the reason that animated series get the edge now [over direct-to-DVD features] is because when they’re good, you get a lot of more of them. “Hulk vs. Wolverine” was what, 33 minutes? So with shows like “Armored Adventures,” “Wolverine and the X-Men” and the upcoming “Avengers,” if they’re good you get like thirteen hours of them.

No specific date has been given for the 2011 premiere of the animated series, but people around the net are enthusiastic about its release.

The Avengers have manifested four times in the past in both series and film formats. They make their first appearance on the small screen in 1966 on the Captain America cartoon series. Later, the Avengers get their own series on Fox Kids in 1999 with Avengers United They Stand which received poor marks from the Avenger fan base. Marvel Animation created a winning combination with the release of their direct to DVD Ultimate Avengers animated features in 2006. They followed up the popular movies with a new imagining of the popular franchise with Next Avengers in 2008, a film featuring the children of some of the most popular Avenger heroes.

Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will be penned by Chris Yost (Next Avengers, Wolverine and The X-Men) and produced by Ciro Nieli (Teen Titans, Transformers Animated), animation will be done by Film Roman, the production company for King of the Hill, The Simpsons and The Oblongs.

Has this ever happened to you – you get to the theater early, grab a large $10 soda, engage in witty convo with your movie buddy, survive 15  minutes of coming attractions. Then just as the movie gets well underway, your bladder starts screaming for release. As you walk down the dark corridor out of the auditorium, you hear roaring laughter or screams or my favorite, “oh Hell naw!” You get back later with your friend telling you, “you missed the good part.”

Well worry no more, now you can know exactly when to step away to “pay the water bill” with a quick visit to runpee.com before heading to the movies.

Runpee.com flushes all colorful commentary and gives its readers the facts – what times and what scenes should movie goers head to out to take a bathroom break. What I like most is the interface. There’s no reviews to wade through, no fussy graphics – just a easy-to-use panel showing how many four minute breaks and at what times are essentially worth skipping. If you wanna know what happened while you were out. hit the “unscramble” button and scene spoilers are decrypted.

The “pee times” are submitted solely from the site’s registered users and thus subject to some scrutiny. That said, new movies and previously submitted updates are consistently added. Registration is free and movie updates are not moderated so they appear on the site immediately.

Recently, the Runpee’s creator/developer, polyGeek announced the release of a mobile version. Runpee is available for download for Apple iPhones for $.99.

Instead of reaming the annals of the new movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, I thought it may be better to give potential movie goers a G.I. Joe primer and let them be their own critics for a change.  As all Joe fans know, “Knowing is half the battle,” so here’s all you need to know about G.I. Joe and the movie’s relation to the long running comic and various animated series.

G.I. Joe and Cobra organizations FYI
First off, G.I. Joe isn’t America’s elite covert strike force anymore. Instead they’re some NATO empowered military group that doesn’t have a clue of what’s going on in the world around them. Believe it or not, this is not that far of a stretch.  In Devil’s Due Publishing’s (DDP) G.I. Joe: Cobra Reborn, Cobra rises and makes surgical strikes around the U.S. and at that point in time, there is no Joe team to combat them. The Joes, a group of active and inactive military specialists are recruited and get organized in the follow up book G.I. Joe: G.I. Joe Reborn.

Reborn successfully depicts the world of Joe in a more realistic and believable setting. In the series, Cobra’s maniacal attempts to take over the world are stripped away and replaced with a leaner, more plausible right-wing group set on destroying America and the democracy Cobra believes ruined this country. This is very similar to the movie except for the America part. Cobra is once again an international terrorist group hell bent on ruling the world, but acts more like a shadow organization causing calamity and manipulating governments to bend to their will.

Meet the Joes
I scoured a couple stacks of Joe comics and cartoons to figure out where the hell these characters were derived. At the top there’s the General Hawk (Dennis Quaid), who helms the team. Hawk’s home base was split between the Pentagon and the U.S.S. Flag and had very little to do with team operation and focused more as a liaison between the government and the team. Quaid’s Hawk is very much a hands-on leader which incidentally manifests more in this manner in the DDP comic series.

Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is an enigma to me in the movie. He was introduced in the Joe series in the early 90’s and is a heavy ordinance trooper, that equates to being a big dude with a big gun. In the film, he’s the field team leader FROM ENGLAND who seem to get there a little too late in most instances. In the animated series, G.I. Joe Sigma Six, he’s still just a trooper with big guns so where how HD ends up taking point on missions is confusing.

Scarlett (Rachel Nichols) character really gets under my skin. In the film, Scarlett is a type-A know it all who doesn’t even know she has a feminine side let alone know what to do with it. Nichol’s portrayal of the team’s favorite red head is oblivious to human interaction and faults her strict upbringing for her cold fish demeanor.  In the cartoon series and the books, Scarlett is a counter intelligence, martial arts prodigy whose weapon of choice is the crossbow. Scarlett gets her name from her red hair and being an ATLANTA NATIVE (Scarlett O’Hara, get it) which is completely loss in this movie. Scarlett is Duke’s on again off again girl until later comic series when Scarlett and Snake Eyes make a go of it, unsuccessfully. In the film, she takes a reluctant shine to Ripcord (Wayans).

Next we meet Breaker (Siad Taghmaoui), he’s the Joe’s FRENCH chief communications officer and intellectual heavyweight during the movie. You know how it is, he’s the one who defuses the bombs, figures out ways to cypher cryptic messages and solve technical anomalies. Taghmaoui’s character is necessary since you need brains on any team, but here’s the problem I have – HE’S DEAD IN THE G.I. JOE SERIES! There’s several other living Joes they could have drawn from for the role. For example, in G.I. Joe Sigma 6, they used technogeek High Tech to deliver the smarts for the team, he created the gauntlets, vehicles and artillery the team used to combat Cobra. Did they just pull his name from a hat, I think so.

The coolest and deadliest member of the Joe team is and will always be Snake Eyes (Ray Park). Dressed in his visored ninja bodysuit and wielding his katana sword, he is THE commando you want in your corner to get things done. In the series, Snake Eye’s is disfigured and mute from a helicopter crash but in the film he’s taken on a vow of silence as a promise to exact revenge on his nemesis Storm Shadow, who murdered is marital arts sensai. In the later versions of the comic book series, Snake Eyes removes his mask revealing a huge scar across his face.

The last members of the movies assault team are Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) who get recruited to help fulfill G.I. Joe’s first mission against the soon-to-be-identified Cobra organization. Tatum’s Duke lacks the focus you’d expect from the cartoon and comic’s field leader, especially when confronted with his lost love/fiancee Ana, who turns out to be The Baroness, one of the bad guys. Ripcord is a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jumper in the comics but its pretty obvious Wayans is the designated comic relief for the movie. His lighthearted attempts to take the edge off the action and multiple but whoopings falls flat. Wayans’ action scenes are ok even though he doesn’t engage in much hand to hand combat. One plus on Ripcord’s character in the film is a scene where he makes a HALO jump after destroying a warhead in the upper atmosphere.

The Bad Guys
James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) is head of MARS corporation, a technology company responsible for most of the worlds defensive weaponry. Little do his NATO customers know, he’s also Destro, a known weapons dealer who sells the same arsenal to NATO’s enemies to fund his shadow organization (soon to become Cobra). In the earlier books and the cartoon series, Destro is portrayed as a brilliant but scorned scientist who partners with Cobra making the world his laboratory. In later books (Cobra Reborn) we see Destro as McCullen who believes it’s his destiny to stongarm the world into submission and deliver the much needed order only he can provide.

Ana (Sienna Miller) is the Baroness, a ruthless assassin and McCullen’s right hand man. The Baroness is cold and calculating martial arts master who’ll stop at nothing to complete her mission. The film’s re-imagining of this character is probably the most disappointing. In the books and cartoon, she’s a sports a thick German accent and a master of disguise and espionage. Her character role takes a true Hollywood twist towards the end that will make true Joe fans moan out loud.

Like the Joes, Cobra has its own resident ninja to take care of business - Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee). Unlike his good guy counterpart Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow craves the spotlight and tends to make bold statements, like using throwing stars (his calling card) when sent on a kill. Shadow’s beef with Snake Eyes is in line with the comics and cartoon. They both attended the same martial arts school and as their skills developed Shadow’s jealosy of Snake Eye’s prowess drove him down a dark path of validation and revenge. Lee’s portrayal of Storm Shadow is pretty good, he shows his mastery of his choice weaponry and delivers the same deadpan tone you’d expect from a ninja.

Zartan (Arnold Vosloo) is probably the most dramatic departure from his original Cobra character. In the animated version and earlier comic versions, Zartan was a master of disguise who had a particular skin abnormality which made him sensitive to light. When in contact with bright light/sunlight, his skin would turn dark blue and painful. In the later Reborn series, Zartan is reinvented as simply a master chameleon with a twisted murderous tendency. Vosloo’s version of Zartan is clearly culled from the new comic’s vision and strays very little from the what you see in the book.

The last member of the team is the mysterious Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a creepy deformed husk of a man hidden behind goggles and a breathing mask. Not much is known about the Doctor until his true identity is revealed and he dons the mantle of Cobra Commander. In the series and earlier comics, Cobra Commander has had multiple origins in several story arcs. The most memorable origin is from G.I. Joe – The Movie in which he’s a brilliant scientist from the secret mutate land of Cobra-La. After a being disfigured from a forbidden lab accident he sets out to fulfill his destiny to take over the world. In the book Cobra Reborn, The Commander is merely a small businessman whose world is torn asunder from government bureaucracy and vows to fight the oppressive American government by taking power through his secret group, Cobra.

The Lowdown
As a longtime fan of the animated series and comic books, I straddled the fence on this one, trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t.  The CGI vehicles throughout the movie resemble plastic instead of metal at times so it feels like you’re looking at retail grade toy models instead of cool, realistic metal arsenal. Overall its entertaining and a relatively good thrill ride, but gets corny and sadly laughable with some of the relationships and plot twists.

What’s Missing

Check out this parody of the animated series classic PSAs. Its actually funnier than what Marlon Wayans does in the movie.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Rated PG-13, In theaters August 7, 2009, Directed by Stephen Sommers

The Cast of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

There’s a lot of grumbling and groans about the upcoming film G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra floating around the web and for while I’ve been trying to keep my cup of “Joe” half full. But after watching the latest trailer for the movie, I too had to start jeering this re-imagining of one of my favorite childhood cartoons.

In this trailer, we see Duke (Channing Tatum), Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) and Scarlett (Rachel Nichols) show some skin as they work out. The antics are just laughable and goes against the tone of the previous clips which focus more on the Joe’s fight against the terrorist exploits of Cobra.

Earlier trailers for the movie featured amazing disaster sequences with explosions and destruction reigning around the world. It sets up the need for an elite U.S. covert ops team, the Joes to come save the day. From there is a lot of foot-to-ass fight sequences and car chases which always make me eager to buy a ticket. For future reference,  cars+explosions+kickass = ed happy, but this new trailer is just bad – its venomous crap and makes the movie seem more of a farce than most fans originally anticipated it to be.

The film is seems to be inspired loosely by Hasbro’s G.I. Joe Sigma Six franchise which appeared in comics, cartoons and of course action figures. In Sigma Six, the Joes use special gauntlets which activate special devices, artillery and armor to thwart their foes. This is a far departure from the original animated series and 80’s serial comic book which portrayed Cobra as a blundering corp of egotistical villains. The movie trailers don’t seem have that tone and more importantly, evolved the group into a worldwide organization that knows how to put the terror in terrorist.

For those of us who enjoyed the tongue and cheek 80’s cartoon, G.I. Joe, Season 1.1 was released last week. The 4-disc set features some the series’ multi-part, serial episodes as well other memorable individual episodes.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra hits theaters in wide release August 7, 2009

Nick Cage has decided that he’ll muddy the water’s once again with sequel to the 2007 bomb Ghost Rider with a sequel, Ghost Rider 2 (no colon and subtitle as of yet).

According to brief interview with MTV during the promotional tour for his latest film G-Force, Cage mentioned he would like to deviate from the “western” feel the first movie had and steer it towards a more “international” view.

In Ghost Rider, Cage plays Johnny Blaze, a daredevil motorcyclist who at a young age sold his soul to the devil. In return for Satan’s favor, he’s impervious to harm and channels an inner demon who acts as a bounty hunter for fugitive demons.

According the IMDB, no information is available for the project, meaning Cage is still fishing looking for a writer and director to helm the project.

Here’s the MTV interview where Cage spoke briefly on the subject and what he’d like to see happen with the direction of the franchise.

STRIKE A POSE: Noah Ringer portrays Aang in The Last Airbender

Paramount released the first teaser trailer of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender earlier this week. The film is a live-action adaptation of the Emmy Award-winning animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender which ran three seasons on the Nickelodeon kid’s network and continues in reruns on Nick and Nicktoons channels.

In the animated version, Avatar tells the story of Aang, a young boy with the ability to control the elements of water, fire, earth and air. Instead of accepting his avatar mantle, Aang runs away and due to an accident, he’s encased in ice for 100 years. Once awakened,  Aang learns he’s the last of his tribe and starts on a journey to fulfill his destiny, and restore balance to the world that has been overrun by the Fire Nation.

The Live-Action version of the film was written by the animated show’s creator, Michael Dante DiMartin and stars newcomer Noah Ringer as Aang.

The Last Airbender is scheduled for release on July 2, 2010.

You Go Girl! Jada Pinkett Smith makes history as Nurse Christina Hawthorne in TNT's Hawthorne.

The phone rings, a hurried conversation and Nurse Christina Hawthorne dashes to the hospital, avoiding security and helping a wandering elderly patient as she rushes to console a friend and fatally ill cancer patient from jumping off the roof. She fails. Soon after, she’s arrested under protest for roughing up the security guard. So goes the first few minutes from the pilot episode of TNT’s latest drama, Hawthorne starring Jada Pinkett Smith.

As the episode progresses we’re given a day-in-the-life of a hospital from the views of the often unsung heroes – the nurses. While much of the show involves the often trivial tasks that take place throughout the day, the supporting characters and their stories slowly start to manifest peaking your curiosity and drawing you in.

We meet the boyish chief of surgery, Thomas Wakefield (Michael Vartan, Alias) who glides in a out of scenes with Smith who feels more like an extra than a co-star. Then there’s hard as nails nurse Bobbie Jackson (Suleka Mathew, Men In Trees), who acts as Hawthorne’s right hand and delivers the much needed shoulder most of the more inexperienced nurses turn to.

Unfortunately, the often unnatural dialog and predictable plots makes the field of nursing seem not only lackluster but boring. There’s not a lot of action, extensive medical jargon or unusual medical conditions to beef up the mystique of hospitals as most of these divisive medical dramas tend to use. Instead you’re giving solemn and often unrewarding views that build up to syrupy emotional payoffs as each episode concludes.

The saving grace (pun intended) of the show is its main character who anchors as medical maverick and mother hen to her many charges while trying to keep the same focus with her teenage daughter, Camile (Hannah Hodson).

Smith is always a delight to watch. Her chiseled features and steely glazes makes you want to take the hour long ride, throw you hands up and hope for the best. As always, she tends to waffle between her “girlfriend” shtick and an over-enunciating soccer mom, which hits and misses with each episode. But as whole, her various personas give the show a much needed injection of personality and charm that makes the show worth watching. Also, be on the lookout for the scene stealing guest appearances that make the show more bearable amongst its many slow points.

Its not surprising to learn the show is penned by veteran writer John Masius who’s no stranger to TV medical dramas. Masius was a writer and producer of the Emmy winning series St. Elsewhere, L.A. Law, Showtime’s Dead Like Me and Providence among others so Hawthorne isn’t a far cry from his bread and butter style of story telling.

Personally, I am glad to see Jada Pinkett Smith return to television. This is her first appearance on the small screen in over 13 years after her stint on the Cosby spin off A Different World. Consequently,  Hawthorne sets a television milestone as the second series featuring an African-American female lead. Not since Diahann Carrol’s show Julia in the late 60’s has this occurred.

Hawthorne seems to stall out the gate, but has a trump in the fiery yet seductive energy of Smith which may make it a must-see as the series progresses.

Grade: B-
Hawthorne airs Tuesday nights at 10pm on TNT.

June 5, 2009 was officially proclaimed “Daughter’s Day in Atlanta with a huge celebration held at Atlantic Station to mark the event.

The proclamation was made by 11 Alive’s Senior Sports Anchor, Fred Kalil and his daughter Alex. Families who attended the event were treated to food and fun and even an advanced screening up the upcoming film Imagine That starring Eddie Murphy. Imagine That arrives in theaters, Friday June 12, 2009.

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As part of the official movie site for Fox’s upcoming teen film, I Love You, Beth Cooper, Hayden Panettiere encourages teens to submit their own video confessions or “Moments of Truth” to be featured in an upcoming commercial for the film.

You can go to the official movie website and click “submit” to post your own video, view submission or if you prefer to be anonymous, you can tweet your moment of truth via the Twitter interface on the page.

According IMDB Here’s what ILUBC is all about:

A nerdy valedictorian proclaims his love for the hottest and most popular girl in school – Beth Cooper (Panettiere) – during his graduation speech. Much to his surprise, Beth shows up at his door that very night and decides to show him the best night of his life.

Definitely one for teens, but the moments of truth submissions (Twitter and YouTube) are pretty interesting.

Ryan Reynolds is scheduled to star in upcoming Deadpool feature film.

Twentieth Century Fox announced that it will begin production on an X-Men franchise spinoff featuring Marvel’s bad guy gone good, Deadpool. This brings up a lot of questions considering in the early releases of the film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool, played by Ryan Reynolds is horribly mutated and (spoiler alert!) beheaded.

According to Variety, there’s an easter egg ending to the Wolverine movie in which Deadpool emerges from the rubble and gestures a “shhh” to the viewing audience. Most people saw the ending where Logan appears at a bar in Japan drinking in lament of his now hidden past. This sets the film up for the anticipated sequel which was officially announced on Monday.

For you noobs, Deadpool, aka Wade Wilson is a soldier for hire, who when diagnosed with cancer enlists into the Weapon X program. What emerges is an indestructible nut job with talent for klling and the gift for gab. Wade’s weapon of choice are two katana swords, but in Wade’s hands, really anything is a weapon.

Reynolds portrayal of Deadpool seems to be a natural fit, he’s been playing the quick-witted funny man since his stint on Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. But this isn’t the first time Reynolds has wielded a sword in an action film. In Blade: Trinity he plays Hannibal King, a snarky member of the vampire hunting team, The Nightstalkers.

The film will be produced by Lauren Shuler Donner (X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) in conjunction with Marvel. Its also reported that Marvel has also greenlighted two additional spinoff projects from the X-Men franchise; X-Men Origins: Magneto (2011) and X-Men: First Class (TBD). Rumors are still circulating about Halle Berry’s Storm project but nothing confirmed at the moment.

Atlantans love a good party and last week people came out to groove for a good cause.

On Thursday, April 30, people headed to Johns Creek, Ga for a special benefit screening of Screen Media’s upcoming film, Love N’ Dancing. Afterwards party-goers enjoyed a night a great food and dancing as part of the star-filled event at the Daza Dance Ballroom Academy. Portions of the proceeds will benefit The Creative Coalition, a non-profit arts advocacy organization.

According to the studio release, Love N’ Dancing adds a new twist to traditional dance-to-romance movies:

LOVE N’ DANCING is the story of a bored-with-life English teacher who meets a West Coast Swing champion dancer, who have an instant connection. Both feel that the other can fulfill what was missing in their lives. But Jessica’s got a workaholic fiancée who’s not a bad guy when he’s not on his Blackberry, and Jake’s got his former partner Corinne, who just won’t let Jake away from the dangling carrot of a rekindled relationship. Jake and Jessica must try to elude all obstacles, romantic or otherwise, to stay focused on the goal – winning the World Title and winning each other. Will they give in to the pressure or come out like champs?

Love N’ Dancing stars Amy Smart, Tom Malloy, Billy Zane, Caroline Rhea and Rachel Dratch. The film opens in theaters Friday, May 8, 2009.  (All photos by Jeremy Adamo).

Amy Smart and Tom Malloy, co-stars of LOVE N’ DANCING, arriving on red carpet at Daza Dance Ballroom Academy

Amy Smart, Robert Royson (choreographer), Liz Chester (co-owner of Daza Dance Academy), Tom Malloy, and Antonio Daza (co-owner Daza Dance Academy) on red carpet.

Liz Chester (4th from left) and guests enjoying dance demonstrations at red carpet after party at Daza Dance Ballroom Academy

West Coast Swing Champions Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman performing at red carpet after party at Daza Dance Ballroom Academy.

Visual Artist Michelle Brotherton paints during outdoor concert Tuesday.

As people sat eating their lunch and enjoying the warm spring day at Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon, Paramount studios offered a free concert experience in celebration of The Soloist release this Friday.

The Instruments, a local experimental music group performed an hour-long show while local artist Michelle Brotherton created a custom art piece inspired by the organic sounds from the band.

From what looks like a hodge-podge group of musicians, The Instruments spun intricate sounds into haunting, memorable songs. Their music has no classification, its a fusion of styles from folk to classical and everything in-between.

While listening to the band, onlookers were mesmerized as Brotherton quickly created a mixed media artwork which she later named “House of Music.” The painting which symbolized the spiritual sound waves emanating outwards features a traditional japanese feudal palace with bright, neon ghostly streams flowing from its windows. After completing the painting, Brotherton will donate the artwork to a local youth charity.

The Soloist, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. opens in wide release Friday, April 24, 2009.

The Instruments’ latest album, Dark Småland is available on Amazon. Find more information about the band on their MySpace Music page.

Michelle Brotherton is participating in the “SK8 or Die IV” exhibit at Young Blood Gallery & Boutique May 2 – 31, 2009.

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Brad Pitt motivates the troops.

During last week’s American Idol competition, Fox aired the latest trailer and exclusive clips from Quentin Tarantino’s latest film Inglourious Basterds.

The movie revolves around an American-Jewish military task force sent to Paris to provoke fear into the Nazis by brutally scalping soldiers. The movie stars Brad Pitt and Diane Kruger.

Check out the official website to view the latest video. Inglorious Basterds hits theaters August 21, 2009.

The Japanese kid channel icon, Domo-Kun has been a favorite of mine for some time now. He’s just so cool, and I can’t figure out why and that’s what makes even all the more hip. I mean seriously, he’s a plush block with tiny legs, knobby arms, beady eyes and the largest mouth I’ve ever seen since the original Japanese monster Gojira.

My fascination aside, Domo has crossed the ocean and made a big splash here in the states. Target has some Domo merchandise and NickToons airs two minute episodes each week. My favorite episodes usually involve big D trying to rock out or dance – it cracks me up. Due to licensing, not many of the NickToons versions of the episodes can be found online, but you can Google fan vids and some official clips as well.

Maybe I’ll try to get a Domo costume for Halloween, there’s several sites to show you how to make them, but like Domo-Kun, I’m probably too lazy for that.

Watch Domo Music Video – Check out Domonation.com in Animation |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

DECI-BELLAS: Twilighters cut loose as they await the release of their faved film on DVD Friday.

Okay, I have to admit – I know nothing about this Twilight phenom. Before Friday, All I knew about the books and movie was that it is a tweener romance series about some angst ridden girl and a hot vamp. Their romance redefines chastity and there’s some butt whoop and smooching peppered throughout. But at the pre-release party held at Blockbuster Video in Brookhaven, devoted fans gave me a brief education about the series.

Here’s what I’ve learned from them:

1. The cutie vamp is named Edward (Robert Pattinson), all that matters is he’s hot.
2. Bella (Kristen Stewart) has a cool truck and she’s awesome.
3. Vampires don’t combust in sunlight – they twinkle. It adds to the cuteness factor as well.
4. Not everyone is in Ed’s camp, some are fans of a Native American shape-shifter named Jacob who’s also vying for Bella’s affections.
5. Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is hot, too.
6. Twilight fans are called Twilighters, their mothers are called Twilight Moms, they tend to be fans of the books as well.
7. Twilight is the greatest movie…ever!

That was enough to wet my appetite until I had a chance to check it out for myself. Their insights gave me several key points of reference when I finally sit down and review the DVD and extras. Since I’m not a pubescent girl swooning over the lead characters, I’m sure my perspective will skew in a different direction.

The two-hour long party was hosted by Star 94’s Street Team. Twilighters and their parents played games and won some cool gear including a poster signed by the cast and crew of the movie.

While fans screamed and swooned in the anticipation of picking up their movie, outside of the store Twilighters were encouraged to give blood and received a pint of Edy’s ice cream for their efforts.

QUEEN BEAGLE: Angel a.k.a. Chloe and handler Mark Anderson greet young fans.

On Friday, Atlantans and their primped pooches paraded downtown at Centennial Park as part of the Disney Dog Tour. Over 40 dogs were in attendance including Angel who recently starred as Chloe in Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua.

The Disney Dog Tour was in town to celebrate the releases of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Space Buddies and their most recent release, Bolt. As part of the festivities, Disney held a casting call for dogs big and small for a walk-on role in an upcoming “Buddies” film.

While cruising the web feeds today, I got wind that Facebook is launching a fresh new design next week. The new page is streamlined and looks more refined and elegant in its presentation – very “2.0″ as my contemporaries like to say. What’s up with the new view? According to their official announcement:

We’ve updated our home page to make it easier to understand what’s going on with the people you care about. Now your friends’ posts are streamed in real-time and you have more control over what you see.

The new Facebook features better filter control, real-time streaming of posts in the news stream and revised publisher settings so its easier to post links, photos, videos and more. Here’s a summary of the publisher improvements:

• Link (add a web address to external content)
• Photos (upload a photo, create an album, or take a webcam photo)
• Video (upload a video or record a webcam video)
• Note (add from Facebook’s Notes application)
• Import (add external blogs or RSS feeds)
• Gifts (add from Facebook’s Gift Shop)

I must admit I’m excited to see the changes. Facebook’s interface is rather cumbersome when adding  any external items, so this new interface is a welcomed improvement. I really like the sleek new skin and realtime updates without hitting the refresh key is just pure candy in my book. Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg sums it up brilliantly in his blog.

There’s an interesting blog post in the LA times that states that Facebook’s changes are a means to combat the growing popularity of Twitter. Well duh, these two have been the only real players in the networking game for some time now. It was only a matter of time before Facebook behaved more like Twitter or vice-versa.  It will be interesting to see how Twitter will responds to its competition.

As a special feature to DC’s latest animated release, Wonder Woman, viewers get a sneak peek at the next release from their comic cavalcade – Green Lantern: First Flight.  According to the DVD featurette, its a retelling of the origin of DC’s most popular ring bearer Hal Jordan.

The film is produced by veteran animator, Bruce Timm (Justice League: New Frontier) and Directed by Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman). Hal Jordan is voiced by Law and Order: SVU’s Christopher Meloni while his mentor turned nemesis Sinestro is voiced by Victor Garber (Alias). Other actors who are lending their voice to the movie include Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer who plays the warrior GL, Boodikka and film actor, Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs) will portray the fan favorite GL – Kiliwog.

Now this doesn’t mean Warner Brothers will not be releasing their live action film version of Green Lantern.  Internet Movie Database still has the release of Green Lantern set for 2011.

Green Lantern: First Flight is schedule for release on DVD, Blu-Ray and On Demand, Summer 2009.

Visit the official movie website.

Geek blogs blew up over the weekend posting the latest images from Guillermo Del Toro’s upcoming film, Splice. The movie is directed by Vincenzo Natali and stars Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley. From what I’ve read on Ain’t It Cool News and Bloody Disgusting, its your typical “renegade geneticist create a new life form by splicing human and animal DNA only to find in horror the error of their ways” movie. Here’s the official description taken from Geeks of Doom:

The film is about Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named Dren, the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators – only to have that bond turn deadly.

No release dates have been given for the film.

One of the larger criticisms of movies adapted from books, especially comic books, is so much of the character, plot and subtext is lost in translation when adapting the story to a general audience.

When news of Watchmen, probably the most popular graphic novels of all time was slated to become a live-action feature film, fanboys around the web lit up bulletin boards speculating how on Earth would they be able to pull this off. Watchmen is not one story, but a series of subplots, wrapped around the main plot -  an enigmatic murder of a retired costumed hero. To make it even more conflicting, there’s a completely separate comic book, The Black Freighter wrapped within the book. Watchmen fans were buzzing and practically demanded the essence of their beloved comic not be butchered in Zach Snyder’s version.

Warner Premiere’s Watchmen: The Motion Comic is a modestly animated, unabridged version of the book. The DVD is true to the novel and breaks the story down into twelve chapters on two discs. Every single frame of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s graphic novel has been brought to life with seemingly low-tech finesse reminiscent of cartoons from the mid 60’s circa Marvel’s Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk and The Mighty Thor. Unlike a cartoon, the animation relies on the composition of the comic book cells completely. This includes the original drawings, the text bubbles and even narration boxes to create the illusion.

You definitely appreciate the brevity of film as you make your way through the chapters. The entire series is over five hours long and has a series of lull points where the story meanders during character subplots. Still, the novelty of the concept will hold your interest and get you through the slow spots.

While so much attention is given to the visual elements in the series, its surprising and disappointing that very little depth was added to the audio. Sure, the original soundtrack complements the animation brilliantly and every “zap” and “boom” is there for added effect. However, voice acting range for the characters is unfortunately missing. Instead of the expected movie cast voicing the characters, the entire series is voiced by one person. TV veteran actor Tom Stechschulte lends his talents to define each character which gets a bit unnerving at times as he voices everyone from a pubescent Silk Specter to a middle aged African-American psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Long analyzing costumed vigilante, Rorschach. Eventually his voice blends completely into the canvas of the picture and you rarely notice effort he provided.

I was surprised that no special features were included on the DVD. There are trailers for Warner Premiere’s The Black Freighter, a full length animated feature taken from the Watchmen novel, and the highly anticipated Wonder Woman but there are no interviews or behind the scenes offerings.

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic can be considered a comic book fan’s dream come true, but it offers very little to someone who is not a fan of animation or the book. If you’re not interested in reading the graphic novel, this is a great primer to wet your appetite for the upcoming film.

[rating: 4]

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic, directed by Jake S. Hughes, starring Tom Stechshulte, 325 minutes. Not Rated. List Price $19.99. Blu-Ray $26.99. Individual chapters available on iTunes $1.99 each.

Buckhead finally has a taste of Wunderlust as the W Hotel’s latest location W Atlanta – Buckhead sparked the ATL’s nightlife with their opening party. Several celebrities were invited to hang out with Atlanta’s elite on Thursday, January 22, 2009.

As we near the eve of Barack Obama’s inauguration, all you Obamaphiles may want to swing over to your local comic shop on Wednesday and pick up a copy AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583. In this issue, Spider-Man is in D.C. on Inauguration Day and teams up with the “Yes we can” man himself to stop a plot to thwart the swearing in of America’s 44th president.

Obama has been a long-time collector of Spider-Man comics so it seems only fitting that Marvel will give him some props. Now don’t expect to see Obama in a super suit, but you you’re sure to see an “Obama bop” between he and the web slinger to show up in a frame or two.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #583 hits the shelves nationwide Wednesday, January 14, 2009.  Look for special variant covers featuring the President-Elect and Spider-Man to be featured on nearly half of the printed issues.

W Hotel – Midtown tickles the senses once again with their latest groove, “The Sounds of Wonderlust” – a new music compilation CD produced for W Hotels. Check out the images from the launch party, November 20, 2008.

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Dialog in the Dark is an exhibition that takes people through common experiences the blind encounter in their every day lives in ways that sighted individuals can take for granted.

It is truly a life-changing journey in complete darkness as people learn to see without sight, relying on the other four senses to navigate their way through parks, streets and other urban environments.

I had a chance to experience this myself and interviewed Atlanta resident and tour guide, Nicole Campbell. Campbell discussed the exhibition, common questions and what it means to be blind in Atlanta.

We also search the Georgia Music Directory to listen to “Autumn Leaves” by the After Hours Quartet.

Check it out:

Dialog in the Dark Podcast

Links:

Get info and purchase tickets online: http://www.dialogtickets.com/
International web site: http://www.dialogue-in-the-dark.com/

Last week the W Atlanta Hotels gave the media a sneak peek of their latest locale. The new location is just a stone’s throw away from Lenox Square Mall on Peachtree Street and scheduled to open mid November.

Like all of the hotels in the chain, the W Atlanta – Buckhead will maintain the stark white signature facade while showcasing its own unique decor. According the hotel’s General Manager, Marylouise Fitzgibbon, the theme is “country club chic,” an eclectic mix of southern traditional and modern styles. This is a far departure from it’s sister, W Midtown which features a “retro glam” theme.

Not sure what country club chic looks like, take the virtual tour via YouTube:

Well its Fourth of July and Pride weekend in Atlanta and what better way to celebrate it than to discuss civil liberties. Sure, you’re probably thinking the old addage of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” but today the focus in on something a bit more specific – the right to worship and the apparent lack thereof.

In this episode I speak with Pastor Troy Sanders and Rev. Dr. Kathy Martin of Preach2me.com on the messages in todays churches including the “don’t ask, don’t tell” homosexual policy in the Black church. Sanders and Brown also chime in on the growth of prosperity ministries. This week we feature a track from Levphonic’s upcoming release Urban Jungle which I’ve decided to name, Smooth Mofo.

Enjoy the show and share your thoughts with us by commenting below.

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We were invited to the grand opening of the W Hotel on 14th street last night, and even though we missed His Airness, Michael Jordan, we got a small taste of Tinseltown in the A-town.

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(Image courtesy doyouhavethecrazy.com)

Directed by local filmmakers David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush, The Signal took a while to reach theaters but it’s finally hitting the big screen (albeit in limited-release form) this weekend.

The directors, as well as one of the producers for the movie, Alex Motlagh dropped by the CL offices and sat down to talk cult movies, low-budget horror, and stereotypes.

The movie was shot on location right here in Atlanta, so, even though it might not be suitable for all ages (or tastes, for that matter) go see it. Support the local talent. For a trailer, and to read more about the film, head on over to PopSmart.

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Hello world!

We might as well start off as if this were our first episode. It’s been a while huh? Well we’ve been working waaay too much but we managed to get together for you all another amazin’ episode of Ed Loves Bacon (ELB for short, tho I know how Ed hates that acronym).

Anyway people, this week Ed sat down with Jason Schwartzman who’s in the new film The Darjeeling Limited. He talked to us about the movie, filming in India, a crazy river scene, and he managed to squeeze in some details about his side project, Coconut Records, his one-man band.

He even let us play one of his songs for you, “West Side,” so check that out after the interview.

Show links:

• jason-schwartzman.com
• youngbabyrecords.com – his very own label
• Hotel Chevalier – A sexy short that serves as prequel to The Darjeeling Limited, with Jason and the beatiful Natalie Portman (iTunes link).
• The Darjeeling Limited - Trailer at apple.com

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With the success of his first film, Boyz In The Hood, John Singleton has made a significant mark on Hollywood. His early box office success as a writer and director, can be seen in the films, Higher Learning, Poetic Justice and Rosewood.

Lately, John has jumped from behind the camera and taken the role of producer, with films Black Snake Moan and critically acclaimed, Hustle and Flow. John’s latest project, Illegal Tender, is a fictional tale of a Nyurican gangster’s legacy and one boys journey to find his way out of a maze of secrets and vendettas.

John stops by to discuss his latest project, issues in Black Hollywood and rumors of his makings of The Black Panther and Luke Cage projects.

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Links:

Illegal Tender: The official website for the film
John Singleton’s Wiki: All you need to know about the man
Tego Calderon: Want to know more about the man, check out Tego’s Myspace page

In this episode, Ed sits down with artist, Chris “Kazi” Rolle to discuss “The Hip Hop Project,” which he, and his students are featured. We also chat with the film’s director, Matt Ruskin on the making of this five-year project. Plus you’ll hear tracks from the soundtrack featured in the movie.

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Links:

The Hip Hop Project: Official site to the movie
Art Start: New York arts project that started the HHP
Volunteer Match: Looking to give a hand, why not start here

I’ve been a big fan of actor Charles Dutton ever since his hit show Roc aired on Fox in the late ’90s. Maybe it’s the roles he chooses that I appreciate. He has gone from an Archie Bunker-esque garbage man in Roc to a twisted huntsman who makes sport of the homeless in Surviving the game and everywhere in between. No matter what role Dutton plays, he’s straight on, honest and believable.

Last week, we had the opportunity to speak with Dutton at the 7th Annual Image Awards Gala held at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Instead of doing the usual dog and pony questions, we instead asked his opinion on the Don Imus issue and the backlash against rap music. Dutton has been a long time advocate of civil rights and the state of Black America, so we felt it would be a safe bet that he’d tell it to us straight.

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Links:

Image (Independent Media Artists of Georgia): Creators of the Image awards and the Atlanta Film Festival.

Honeydripper movie clip: Produced and Directed by duo John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, Charles Dutton stars as a club owner in South Alabama during the ’50s. The film will be released in 2008.

The State of Hip Hop: If you think that rap needs to get it’s mouth washed out, learn how to spit your lyrics here.

Recently, Alejandro and I hung out and chatted with Melissa Wolf who’s known to most as the infamous “Mansion Madam” of the exclusive Sugarloaf Country Club in Gwinnett County. The former erotic dancer and Penthouse centerfold is facing multiple charges including racqueteering and prostitution to name a few.

Melissa invited us to check out her million-dollar crib to talk. In return, we gave her the opportunity to explain her side of the story as it has been presented in the local press and several adult web sites.

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Links:
Melissa Wolf’s official website: Learn more about the ‘madam’ and check out some of her…uh…wares or (under)wears.
Department 13: Melissa makes her B-screen debut in Boobie Trap. Check the site out for trailers and other great sleeze scream flicks.
The Erotic Review: It all started here folks. Check out the forum posts and see what’s really going on.

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Ed talks with former FBI investigation specialist, Eric O’Neill (pictured left) and director/writer, Billy Ray (pictured right) about the capture of FBI Special Agent, Robert Hanssen (2001) featured in the upcoming film, Breach. Plus Alejandro shares his views on a few subjects.

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Links:
Breach Official Movie Website: Chronicling the pursuit and capture of this infamous FBI case.
The FBI web site: Find out what they had to say in their own words, including declassified documents about their investigation and what lead to his capture.
CNN’s Special Report: Ted’s people did a great job covering this case. Check out what they have on the case and the inner-workings of Robert Hanssen.

Ed interviews John Dau, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who is featured in the upcoming documentary God Grew Tired of Us. Alejandro has this week’s cover story updates (including Carlton Hargro’s Fantasia user-generated interview)

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Links:
God Grew Tired of Us Official Website: learn more about the Lost Boys of Sudan and about relief efforts.
International Rescue Committee: The organization which provide refuge and relocation for the lost boys
Direct Change: John is the new Director for Sudanese efforts. Find out more about the organization, their projects and how you can help.

Ed chats with Athen, Ga’s own James Ponsoldt on the making of his new feature film, Off The Black starring Nick Nolte. Alejandro gives us the lowdown on the buzz behind Mara Shalhop’s three-part Black Mafia Family (BMF) cover story and podcasts.

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Links:
Off The Black web site: Nick Nolte plays a lonely, drunken baseball umpire. I’m not going say anything else…
The Smoking Gun mugshots: Okay I lied, you gotta check out Nick’s infamous mugshot.
James Ponsoldt’s blog: Delightful editorials from the mind of the director.
MisterMurph’s Myspace page: He’s the man behind our new theme song. Check out his music samples and blog, you won’t be disappointed…disturbed, but not disappointed.
Creative Loafing BMF cover story: Well I guess they weren’t called Black Mafia Family for nothing.

In this episode of EL Bacon (like the nickname), Ed sits down with writer, director, Nick Cassavetes to discuss his views on movie making and his new feature film “Alpha Dog” starring Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake. Alejandro give us a heads up on what going on at the Loaf.

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Links:
Alpha Dog official movie web site: Yeah, yeah it’s got JT in it. He’s bringing sexy back…to crime.
Court TV’s crimelibrary: It’s practically criminal if you don’t find this archive of devious transgressions entertaining.
Internet Movie Database (IMDB): A co-worker thought Nick was a “tall drink of water.” Aside from that, he’s a talented writer and director. Read more about him and his projects on his IMDB profile page.

In this episode, Ed gets the low down on the new film “Harsh Times” from its creator and director, David Ayer. Alejandro is back again with this week’s CL cover story updates.
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links:
Harsh Times: the official movie site
Awesomebale.org: for those people who need to get their “Bale” on.
Street Gangs Recource Center: Interesting info about gangs, especially LA gangs.
NBC’s two-minute replay: Keep your free time, watch abbreviated versions of some of nbc’s weekly prime time shows in two minutes!

Ed chats with author, Augusten Burroughs on his life and the success of his bestselling book, Running With Scissors. Oh, and make way for Alejandro Leal.
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links:
augusten.com: link to Augusten Burroughs’ official website
Running with Scissors: the official movie site.
Comedy Central’s Motherload: finally, let the testicles have their say on Comedy Central’s new show Baxter & McGuire starting November 6, 2006.
Nip/Tuck website: We didn’t mention it much in the interview, but Running with Scissors is directed and adapted to screen by Ryan Murphy, creator of FX’s runaway hit, Nip/Tuck.

Ed discusses comedy and the film business with School For Scoundrels Writer, Director, Todd Phillips.
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Links:
School For Scoundrels site: The official web site for the movie.
New York Underground Film Festival: Todd Phillips’ annual indie film shindig.
The Frat Pack Tribute site: The name sucks, but we all really want to hang with ‘em.

It’s all about unsolved mysteries in the episode of Ed Loves Bacon. Ed goes one-on-one with Author James Ellroy about the subject of his book and upcoming film The Black Dahlia. Plus, learn about some other infamous unsolved crimes.
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links:
theblackdahliamovie.net: link to the official movie site.
ellroy.com: site dedicated to all things James Ellroy.
bethshort.com: you’ve gone this far, find out more about the infamous Hollywood murder mystery.

This week, Ed speaks with director John A. Davis about the upcoming film, The Ant Bully. He also buys a few livestock from Heifer.org
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links:
antbully.com: link to the official movie site
nick.com: Nickelodeon, home to Davis’ Jimmy Neutron and other shows
heifer.org: supply food to needy people world wide.

Ed talks with Writer, Director Kevin Smith about all things Clerks…and our not-so-guilty pleasure Degrassi.
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links:
viewaskew.com: the portal the askewniverse
My Boring-Ass Life: Kevin Smith’s blog
Degrassi The Next Generation Web site: yup, believe the hype!

Take a quick tour of the Bodies Exhibition with Ed!
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Aaron and Ed have a candid discussion with Lucy Hamlet and Thembi Nyandeni from the hit musical Umoja The Spirit Of Togetherness.
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This week Aaron and Ed throw author A.M. Hatter into the ring to discuss the topic, self publishing, cheesy movies and bad hair cuts.
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A special two-part discussion with Young Democrats of Atlanta’s Emily Schunior and Young Republicans of Atlanta’s Jim Elgar. Hear what the future of this city’s political parties have to say about the current state of affairs.
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Download part two

Ed and Aaron speak candidly about race and race relations with Gerald Boyd of the National Coalition Building Institute.
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Ed and Aaron take questions to the street and answer listener’s questions.
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Finally, we find out what Aaron likes. Ed discusses his tempered dislike of NASA along with a few other things. We also find out the power of the bleep button…’nuff said.
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Ed and Aaron discuss issues and sports for people with disabilities with Karin Korb and Maria Portgee of BlazeSports America.
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Aaron and Ed speak with Mozel Spriggs and Dr. Eddie Bradley about “A Night for Dancing and the legacy of Mozel Spriggs.” Interview with show hosts Mykelti Williamson and Victoria Rowell.
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The underground roundtable, featuring Mendez, Murph, Mike, Jabari, Dosa, and Chante, recorded at Django.
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George W, The Supreme Court and why can’t they sell tennis shoes recorded at Taco Mac in Downtown Decatur, GA.
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FEMA, George W. Bush, the Supreme Court, and a visit from the Tequila Fairy, all from F.R.O.G.S. Cantina in beautiful Midtown Atlanta.
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Ed and Aaron discuss the fall movies picks, hits and misses.
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Ed and Aaron talk about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
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Ed and Aaron discuss what they’ll be doing this weekend, along with what’s in the paper this week. Pardon Ed’s profanity!
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Ed and Aaron discuss the price of gas, bands on reunion tours, what happened to the dinosaurs, and how bacon is our future.
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