Month: April 2010

Date Night is a Thrilling Screwball Comedy

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Have you seen Shawn Levy’s screwball comedy Date Night? It would have been better to call it Mr. & Mrs. Foster with Steve Carell and Tina Fey doing their best to thrill the viewers. The movie is more entertaining than Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler in The Bounty Hunter. Steve Carell has more juice than Gerard Butler and of course Tina Fey has more passion and soul than Jennifer Aniston.

Tina Fey’s parody of Sarah Palin on the Saturday Night Live was off the hook and unforgettable. Go and see her in Date Night and you will not regret it.

The Story:
Phil and Claire Foster are a sensible, loving couple with two kids and a house in suburban New Jersey. The Fosters have their weekly “date night” — an attempt at re-experiencing the spice of the dates of yesteryear, involving the same weekly night out at the local Teaneck Tavern. Their conversations quickly drift from barely-date talk to the same chore-chat they have at the dinner table at home. Exhausted from their jobs and kids, their dates rarely end in fore- or any other kind of play, let alone romance. After seeing two of their best friends — another married couple with kids in suburban New Jersey — split apart from living the same life they themselves lead, Phil and Claire begin to fear what may lie ahead: a state of bland indifference and eventual separation. In an attempt to take date night off auto-pilot, and hopefully inject a little spice into their lives, Phil decides a change of plans is in order: take Claire into Manhattan to the city’s hottest new restaurant. The Fosters, however, don’t have reservations. Hoping to be seated sometime before the clock strikes twelve, they steal a no-show couple’s reservations. What could it hurt? Phil and Claire are now the Tripplehorns. The real Tripplehorns, however, it turns out, are a thieving couple who are being hunted down by a pair of corrupt cops for having stolen property from some very dangerous people. Forced on the run before they’ve even finished their risotto, Phil and Claire soon realize that their play-date-for-parents has gone awry, as they embark on a wild and dangerous series of crazy adventures to save their lives — and their marriage.

date_night_movie_poster_steve_carell_tina_fey_01

Production Status: Released

Genres: Comedy and Romance

Running Time: 1 hr. 28 min.

Release Date: April 9th, 2010 (wide)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference.

Distributors: 20th Century Fox

Production Co.: 21 Laps Entertainment

Studios: 20th Century Fox

Box Office: $95,659,488

Filming Locations: New York, New York, USA

Produced in: United States

Zoë Saldaña Graces the Cover of April Essence Magazine

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Hollywood screen beauty Zoë Saldaña is glowing on the April cover of Essence magazine. She talks about power, sex and guilty pleasures.

She is ecstatic about sex as she enthused excitedly:
“Love it, love it, love it – can’t live without it! I love sex. I love skin. I don’t believe the body is something to hide.”

Well, she must be having regular dose of sex since she has been dating Keith Britton for the past ten years.

zoe-saldana

Zoe Saldana Knows her Limits

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“I don’t mind using my physical assets as a weapon, but there’s a limit.”
~ Zoë Saldaña

The pretty and sexy Hollywood star Zoe Saldana who played Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar refused to act nude as Elaine in the new film Death at a Funeral (2010), and also refused to see her co-star James Marsden strip before her.

Zoe Saldana

Read more here.

Death at a Funeral is a comedy about a chaotic and hilarious event at the funeral of a beloved husband and father of an American family. Shocking disclosures chilling resentments, bare-faced threats and a misdirected corpse turn the funeral into a mayhem for the bewildered mourners.

Directed by Neil LaBute
Produced by Sidney Kimmel, William Hordberg, Chris Rock, Share Stallings, Laurence Malkin

Written by Dean Craig

Starring

Chris Rock
Martin Lawrence
Luke Wilson
Tracy Morgan
Danny Glover
Regina Hall
Kevin Hart
James Marsden
Zoe Saldana
Loretta Devine
Ron Glass
Peter Dinklage
Columbus Short
Music by Christophe Beck
Cinematography Rogier Stoffers
Editing by Tracey Wadmore-Smith

Kick-Ass‎ is no Jackass at the Box Office

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Against top rated movies Kick-Ass has proved many box office followers wrong as the film adapted from a comic book of the same title has made over $19 million so far and was the #1 movie in America last week after showing at 3,065 theaters, averaging $6,444 per theater. So Matthew Vaughn is no jackass director.

If you love comics and you think you can be a superhero, then go and see the movie for the fun of it.
Brad Pitt is one of the co-producers and Nicolas Cage and Chloe Moretz are in it.

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Please, this movie is for adults only.
MPAA:Rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some drug use – some involving children.

Idi Nasiru makes Student Academy Awards History for Nigeria

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Idi Nasiru makes Student Academy Awards History for Nigeria

Idi Nasiru 2

Nigerian film student Idi Nasiru has become the first Nigerian to compete for the Student Academy Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

His entry Far from Utopia is among the record number of 61 entries from 36 countries and will be competing with 497 entries from 122 U.S. colleges and universities for the 2010 Student Academy Awards.

“It’s a film I made about a young beggar boy of about 10 on his struggle for a day as he is confronted by the twin challenges of hunger and his bully colleagues. It’s really an emotional short story. The most amazing thing about the story behind the story is I lost the most interesting part of the footage during post production,” said Nasiru.

Nasiru is a student at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) TV College in Jos, Plateau state, in the middle belt region of Nigeria. He took part in the 2010 Berlinale talent campus in Berlin and has been selected for another one coming up in July in Durban, South Africa.

Ije’s Triumphant Journey On The Festival Circuit

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Chineze Anyaene’s thriller Ije: The Journey is having a triumphant journey on the film festivals circuit since it was premiered in the U.S. last year.

Xandria-Productions-Ijeh1

The film was an official selection in 18 film festivals and has won 5 coveted awards so far.
Ije has won the following awards so far.

Canada International Film Festival
Excellence in Filmmaking
2010

Treasure coast international film festival
Best Editing
2010

Hawaii International Film festival
Excellence in filmmaking
2010

Arizona Black Film Showcase
Best Feature Film
2010

Las Vegas International Film Festival
Golden Ace Award
2010

Record Foreign Entries for 2010 Student Academy Awards®

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April 19, 2010

A record 61 entries from 36 countries, along with 497 entries from students representing 122 U.S. colleges and universities, are in competition for the 2010 Student Academy Awards. This year’s pool of submissions includes a first-ever entry from Nigeria.

Record Foreign Entries for 2010 Student Academy Awards®

Beverly Hills, CA — A record 61 entries from 36 countries, along with 497 entries from students representing 122 U.S. colleges and universities, are in competition for the 2010 Student Academy Awards. This year’s pool of submissions includes a first-ever entry from Nigeria. The competition – now in its 37th year – will culminate in the awards presentation, which will include screenings of the winning films, on Saturday, June 12, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards and corresponding cash prizes may be presented in each of four categories: Animation, Narrative, Documentary and Alternative. Additionally, one film is selected each year to receive the Honorary Foreign Film award.

Last month, at the 82nd Academy Awards, former Student Academy Award winner, Pete Docter, took home the Oscar® for Best Animated Feature Film for “Up.” Gregg Helvey, a 2009 Student Academy Award winner, was a nominee in the Live Action Short Film category for “Kavi.” Since the program’s inception, Student Academy Award winners have gone on to earn 40 Oscar nominations and won 7 Academy Awards.

A complete list of schools and countries represented in the competition is available at http://www.oscars.org/awards/saa/entrants.html.

The 37th Annual Student Academy Awards ceremony on June 12 is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required. Tickets will be available beginning on April 28. Tickets may be obtained online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office or by mail. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.

# # #

ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

FOLLOW THE ACADEMY
www.oscars.org
www.facebook.com/TheAcademy
www.youtube.com/Oscars

COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
8949 WILSHIRE BOULEVARD | BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90211-1907
(310) 247-3090 TEL | (310) 271-3395 FAX | PUBLICITY@OSCARS.ORG | WWW.OSCARS.ORG/PRESS

Robin Hood Opens 63rd Cannes Film Festival On May 12

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Film of the Month: Women Without Men

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WOMEN WITHOUT MEN:

We have chosen Women Without Men as our film of the month of April.

The highly esteemed Rotten Tomatoes gave the film four stars, and that means it is a must see.

The film is based on Shahrnush Parsipur‘s magic realist novel of the same title. The novel was banned in Iran in the mid-1990s.

“This has been a labour of love for six years.(…) This film speaks to the world and to my country.”
~ Shirin Neshat

THE STORY:
In her feature-film debut, renowned visual artist Shirin Neshat offers an exquisitely crafted view of Iran in 1953, when a British- and American-backed coup removed the democratically elected government. Adapted from the novel by Iranian author Shahrnush Parsipur, the film weaves together the stories of five individual women during those traumatic days, whose experiences are shaped by their faith and the social structures in place.

With a camera that floats effortlessly through the lives of the women and the beautiful countryside of Iran, Neshat explores the social, political, and psychological dimensions of her characters as they meet in a metaphorical garden, where they can exist and reflect while the complex intellectual and religious forces shaping their world linger in the air around them. Looking at Iran from Neshat’s point of view allows us to see the larger picture and realize that the human community resembles different organs of one body, created from a common essence.

WomenWithoutMen

Acclaimed Series ‘Prison Break’ Returns to Television on Si TV

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PRISON-BREAK
“Prison Break” Returns to television on Si TV weeknights at 10PM ET & PT beginning Monday, April 19. Pictured are series stars Amaury Nolasco (l) and Wentworth Miller as Sucre and Michael, plotting their escape from Fox River. (PRNewsFoto/Si TV) LOS ANGELES, CA UNITED STATES

Acclaimed Series

Prison Break is a suspenseful drama that revolves around two brothers; one has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit, and the other devises an elaborate plan to help his brother escape prison. The series focuses Lincoln Burrows (played by Dominic Purcell), a death-row inmate who is accused of the murder of the vice president. Wentworth Miller stars as his brother Michael Schofield, an engineer who helped design the prison where Lincoln is being held. Michael gets himself arrested and sent to the same prison so, empowered with his knowledge of the building, the two brothers can escape together. However, while inside, Michael discovers a massive conspiracy that is determined to see Lincoln’s sentence carried out.
The series also made a star of Latino actor Amaury Nolasco, who was twice-nominated by the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) prestigious ALMA awards for his work on Prison Break. Nolasco portrays Fernando Sucre, Michael’s complex cellmate.

The 81-episode series ran on the Fox Network from 2005-2009 and continues to have a huge on-line following as evidenced by its 1.5+ million fans on Facebook. In support of the series launch on Si TV, the network has built a robust, interactive site featuring video extras, games, photos and much more at www.sitv.com/prison-break.

About Si TV
Si TV is America’s first media company to reach the millions of 18-34-year-old Latinos who prefer their content in English and seek it across all platforms — including linear television, the internet, video-on-demand and wireless devices. Si TV offers authentic, relevant content that includes Model Latina, Latino 101, and the first-ever Web-to-TV reality series Elle & Tito: The Married Life.
Si TV is available nationwide on Dish Network, and in more than 200 cities and communities across the United States, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco / Bay Area, Dallas, Houston, Detroit, Denver, San Antonio and Las Vegas. For more information about Si TV, please visit www.sitv.com.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100414/NY86646
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN11
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: Si TV
CONTACT: Kim Becker, +1-914-834-0422 or Mark Braff, +1-201-612-0707,
both for Si TV
Web Site: http://www.sitv.com/