Month: June 2010

Catch up with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz this weekend in Knight and Day

Knight and Day centers on a lonely woman (Diaz) whose seemingly harmless blind date suddenly turns her life upside-down when a super spy (Cruise) takes her on a violent worldwide journey to protect a powerful battery that holds the key to an infinite power source. Grace is playing Diaz’s sister, who is getting married, excited that Diaz will take the place of their late father and walk her down the aisle. .

The Story
A woman is caught between a covert agent and those he claims set him up. As their globetrotting adventure erupts into a maze of double-crosses, close escapes, false identities, and head-spinning romantic snafus, they come to realize that all they can count on is each other.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Romance and Thriller

Running Time: 1 hr. 50 min.

Release Date: June 23rd, 2010 (wide)

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of action violence throughout, and brief strong language.

Distributors: 20th Century Fox Distribution

See Full Details

Cast and Credits

Starring: Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Maggie Grace, Marc Blucas, Paul Dano

Directed by: James Mangold

Produced by: E. Bennett Walsh, Joe Roth, Gregory Goodman

Box Office Charts
Weekend Box Office Estimates (U.S.)
Jun 18 – 20 weekend

1. Toy Story 3
2. The Karate Kid
Sony Pictures Releasing
3. The A-Team
4. Get Him to the Greek
5. Shrek Forever After
6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
7. Killers
8. Jonah Hex
9. Iron Man 2
10. Marmaduke

22 Jun 2010 12:00 Africa/Lagos

Synopsis

Cruz Montoya (Kuno Becker) is a rock star on the West Coast poetry circuit, where audiences from San Diego to Seattle gather to hear him perform. Just off the road from such a tour, he gets an unexpected phone call alerting him that his father, Senior (Rubén Blades), is fatally ill.

Cruz rushes home to his dying father, a reclusive former schoolteacher still leading a traditional life in their once bucolic mountain valley, now ravaged by poverty, drug abuse, and violence. Once home, Cruz retreats to his old life, managing a Santa Fe hip-hop club owned by local crime boss, Emilio (Miguel Sandoval), who Senior used to run with back in the day. Seduced by the fast action and easy money, Cruz loses his poetic voice, his identity, and almost his life, before he finds a way to heal his relationships with his family, his community, and himself.

A scene from the film

Spoken Word depicts the edgy collision of old and new worlds, and explores how families can move beyond words, both spoken and unspoken, to share the language of their hearts.

Independent Film, SPOKEN WORD, Featuring Ruben Blades Picked up by Variance Films

NEW YORK, June 22 /PRNewswire/ — Variance Films is proud to announce the acquisition of US theatrical rights for SPOKEN WORD, the latest feature from director Victor Nunez, featuring acclaimed actor, Ruben Blades.

Ruben Blades

SPOKEN WORD stars Kuno Becker (“From Mexico With Love”, the “Goal!” trilogy) as Cruz, a San Francisco spoken word artist who returns to New Mexico to care for his dying father, played by legendary actor and Grammy-award winning recording artist Ruben Blades (“Assassination Tango,” “Once Upon a Time in Mexico”). Aided by shady nightclub owner Emilio, played by Miguel Sandoval (“Bottle Shock,” CBS’ “Medium”), Cruz quickly finds himself slipping back into the dangerous life he tried to escape. Seduced by the fast action and easy money, Cruz loses his poetic voice, his identity, and almost his life, before he finds a way to heal his relationships with his family, his community, and himself. The film was directed by Victor Nunez, who also directed the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning drama “Ulee’s Gold.”

Variance, in conjunction with Santa Fe-based Luminaria, will release SPOKEN WORD in New York at Big Cinemas Manhattan on July 23rd, followed by runs in Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Chicago, and additional cities to be added in the weeks following.

In a statement, Luminaria’s William T. Conway said, “Written and developed in New Mexico to tell a universal story in a very specific place, SPOKEN WORD has attracted an amazing team of international film artists led by director Victor Nunez and stars Kuno Becker, Ruben Blades and Miguel Sandoval to help bring that story to life. As we embark on our theatrical release, Luminaria is excited to welcome Dylan Marchetti and Variance Films as part of that talented team.”

Variance Films President Dylan Marchetti added, “Victor, Kuno, Ruben, Miguel, and the Luminaria team have put together a fantastic film, with great performances and a wonderful balance of emotion and warmth. Audiences are going to walk out of theaters absolutely glowing.”

Variance Films, www.variancefilms.com, is a privately held, full-service theatrical distribution company designed to bridge the gap between self-distribution and traditional theatrical distribution. Luminaria, LLC, www.luminariafilms.com, is a New Mexico based film and television production company, and acts as the production arm of New Mexico Media Partners.

Source: Variance Films

CONTACT: Contact for the film: Dylan Marchetti, Variance Films,
+1-212-537-6769, dylan@variancefilms.com or Neyda Martinez, +1-917-656-7846,
monserrat536@msn.com

Web Site: http://www.variancefilms.com/
http://www.luminariafilms.com/

Not many people know that the first African Nobel Laureate in Literature Prof. Wole Soyinka whose corpus promotes the Yorùbá religious tradition is a professional actor and director on stage and the silver screen. His movies are Kongi’s Harvest in 1970 and Blues for a Prodigal, in 1984 and he is returning to play a leading role in a new feature Letter to the Prof by Chike Ibekwe.

The Story
Set in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, Small Boy is based on a true story of a Sunny, 10 year old boy and his treacherous journey of survival. Living in Africa’s most densely populated slum, he witnesses his father’s regular physical abuse of his mother. Living in fear of his father, he tries to protect his mother but ends up in the crossfire.

He runs away terrified and ends up on the streets of Lagos beginning his journey of survival. Wondering the streets he meets a street kid, Deola, and becomes part of his gang. Sunny soon discovers the world of drugs, violence and must learn how to survive or perish

About the Director

Michelle Bello is one of the hottest young filmmakers in the Nollywood film industry today. Hailing from Adamawa State, Bello’s debut movie Small Boy, won two awards at the 2009 African Movie Academy Award (AMAA 2009). The film was also part of the Federal Government delegation to the Israeli Film Festival. Her movie Small Boy tells the riveting tale of a 10-year-old boy who runs away from home to the streets of Lagos because of physical abuse by his parents. This true-to-life story won the awards for Best Art Direction and Best Performance by a Child Actor at the 2009 African Movie Academy Awards. Ms. Bello is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C. where she earned a degree in Mass Communication, specializing in Visual Media. Michelle Bello is the daughter of respected arts promoter, Mrs. Sylva Bello, of the Masoma Foundation. During the 2007 Abuja Film Festival, Bello launched the ‘Movie Directory,’ containing information about artists, directors, and producers informing Nigerians about the up and coming talents in Nollywood. Bello also has past experience producing music videos, but her true love is film.

What pulled the crowds to the theatres for Karate Kid, Jaden Smith or Jackie Chan?

It is a simply linear plot of a romantic boy (Jaden Smith) who likes a young girl, but he has to fight over her with a bully who beats him silly at the beginning. But he learns kung fu from a master (Jackie Chan) and returns to beat the bully and becomes the hero of his sweetheart.

The film was shot in Beijing, China, from July to October last year and released last Friday.
The film cost $40 million and made over $19 million in its first weekend at the box office and definitely would rake in more millions from China, Japan and South Korea where Jackie Chan is a mega super star and can actually pull more millions of moviegoers to the cinemas and make Jaden a martial arts super star and his parents richer than ever before.

The new Karate Kid has mixed reviews as reported by the CNN and compared to the first one made in 1984 and the sequels. Apparently Mr. and Mrs. Smith have financed this remake to give their darling son wider wings to soar like an eagle to greater heights in Hollywood. And thanks to Jackie Chan.

The Story

Twelve-year-old Dre Parker could’ve been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying — and the feeling is mutual — but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre’s feelings make an enemy of the class bully, and kung fu prodigy, Cheng. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han, who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.

Directed by Harald Zwart
Produced by Jerry Weintraub
Will Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith
James Lassiter
Ken Stovitz
Written by Screenplay:
Christopher Murphey
Story:
Robert Mark Kamen
Starring Jackie Chan
Jaden Smith
Taraji P. Henson
Music by James Horner
Cinematography Roger Pratt
Editing by Kevin Stermer
Studio Overbrook Entertainment
JW Productions
China Film Group
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) June 11, 2010 (2010-06-11)
Running time 139 minutes
Country United States
China
Language English
Budget $40 million
Gross revenue $56,000,000