Kim Kardashian, seen above with a Dr. Phil look-a-like during a break from shooting her breakthrough role in Disaster Movie, has signed on to co-star in Tyler Perry's latest film adaptation of one of his plays, The Marriage Counselor....
Movies New Releases Hindi Movies New Kids Movies Newest Movies Movies Free Online
In a new RAND working paper, authors Claude Berrebi and Jordan Ostwald use international data to argue that countries which experience a major natural disaster are more likely to have an increase in terrorism activity afterward. In the abstract they write:
?Using a structured methodology and detailed data on terrorism, disasters, and other relevant controls for 167 countries between 1970 and 2007, we find a strong positive impact of disaster-related deaths on subsequent terrorism deaths and incidence. We find that, on average, an increase in deaths from natural disasters of 25,000 leads to an increase in the following year of approximately 33 percent in the number of deaths from terrorism, an increase of approximately 22 percent in the number of terrorist attacks, and an increase of approximately 16 percent in the number wounded in terrorist attacks, holding all other factors constant.
The authors use examples from Asia to South America and make clear that the terrorism/disaster link is not limited to one type of disaster or one area of the world. Typhoons in the Philippines can disrupt a society?s politics much like a flood in Pakistan. However, certain types of disasters seem to create a higher level of terror than others. They write: ?In particular, geophysical and hydrological disasters prompt a more sustained and escalating effect on terrorism than climatologic or meteorological disasters.?
Before everyone starts yelling about correlation and causation, the authors explain that natural disasters do not cause terrorism in and of themselves. After a disaster, a government must redirect its resources to cleaning up and rebuilding. �This leaves them more vulnerable than they would otherwise be, and terrorists usually prefer ?soft? targets. In the clean-up process, money and resources are often given to the least-vulnerable parts of the country in efforts to rebuild, which often greatly angers the most vulnerable. Natural disasters, then, reveal pre-existing fractures that are easily exploited by terrorists. The authors make an almost poetic parallel when they write:
It is said that terrorism does not arise in a vacuum (Shughart 2006). Similarly, natural disasters are not, in and of themselves, defined by the physical shocks which induce them. A large earthquake, far from human civilization, may be felt only by a few individuals inhabiting that area and is not likely to constitute a disaster. Pre-existing vulnerabilities, both political and societal, largely determine the extent to which an environmental shock induces destruction
Perhaps one could go so far as to say that it?s the combination of heavy development and lack of infrastructure in third world countries that makes natural disaster damage that much worse and the likelihood of terrorism that much greater.
Movies Now Online Movies Free Online Free Movies Movies 2010 Fundango Movies
~*~
And here's today's Music Video Monday! :)
Sung by my favorite country singer...
One of his best.
<3
Latest Movie Releases Black Swan Movie 3 Idiots Movie Megamind Movie Kites Movie
I love how serious the entire cast is about this wedding scene, because you know when you?re in the theater, most of the audience will be laughing. �I think that?s why ?The Twilight Saga? receives such low scores from critics all around the world, because it takes itself a little too seriously. �As I?ve said in previous posts, I?m a fan of the books, and I enjoy them for what they are, but as a film adaptation, most of these scenes come off as corny. �It seems like the director may be going for his second Oscar here, but I doubt that will happen. �With that being said, I will still be there with millions of other people seeing how ?Breaking Dawn Part 1? turns out. �What do you think?
-David Griffin (Follow @griffinde on Twitter)
Movie Releases Movi Movie Review Catfish Movie Latest Movie Releases Black Swan Movie 3 Idiots Movie Megamind Movie Kites Movie Marmaduke Movie
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
Free Movies Download Current Movies Local Movies Tangled Movie Burlesque Movie Movie Releases
A power struggle between a young independent woman and her arrogant boss never comes to life in Tahmineh Milani?s preachy film about sexual politics in Iran.
Tahmineh Milani
Bahram Radan, Danial Ebadi, Anna Nemati, Samaneh Pakdel, Elsa Firuz Azar, Honmyoun Ershadi, Sara Khoeyniha
A man and a woman stake out their positions and attempt to outflank each other in Principles, Iranian writer/director Tahmineh Milani?s stilted polemic, which reduces its adversaries to mouthpieces in a battle between female autonomy and male dominance in a repressive, patriarchal society. Though Milani, at some risk to her own safety, has directed a number of controversial, persuasive films about feminist issues and women?s rights-- or the absence of them-- in her native Iran, here she has made an argument instead of a movie. With its didactic lecturing, flat visuals and two-dimensional acting, her Principles doesn?t have a future outside of the festival circuit.
Sara (Samaneh Pakdel, looking too mature for the part), an outspoken young architect, lands a job at a firm headed by Babak (Bahram Radan), a self-impressed manipulator into mind games who toys with seducing her from the moment they meet. As he continues to pursue and bully Sara into going out with him, it?s apparent his objective is to compromise rather than woo her. Sara is somewhat drawn in by his persistence through her resistance, and doesn?t have a handle on office politics let alone how to deal with sexual harassment. To her credit, she?s more enthusiastic about a national arts exhibition she?s hired to design. But, after the project literally goes up in flames, she quits.
�Surprisingly, Sara?s father (Homayoun Ershadi), presumably a member of an older, tradition-bound generation, supports his daughter?s independence and encourages her to stand her ground. Their relationship has genuine warmth and would?ve been an interesting area to explore. Another problem is that the inner workings of an architecture company don?t make for compelling drama; however, the setting is merely incidental to Milani?s agenda, which evidently doesn?t require flesh and blood characters an audience can relate to.
At times, the film suggests this is one of those stories of romantic antagonists who resist their mutual attraction and would fall in love if only they weren?t as well defended but, in this context, the conceit doesn?t fly. Babak is a transparent, arrogant jerk, abusing his position in the workplace and the threatening power males wield in Iranian culture, while Sara?s penchant for lecturing is irritating-- she has an annoying habit of wagging her finger at him during their conversations. These exchanges, which occupy much of the movie, lack the buoyancy, charm or wit of the best on-screen male/female jousting, where lightness alternates with zingers and strategically aimed verbal blows. Hepburn and Tracy they are not. And in contrast to that irresistible pair, we?re not rooting for these two to overcome their differences and get together.
Towards the end, as Sara is leaving, a thwarted Babak chases her around the room in a menacing scene that plays like rape not seduction. Trying to escape, she falls from a second floor balcony to the street below. When she finally comes to her senses, one wonders why it took her so long.
Venue: Mill Valley Film Festival
Production companies: Arta Bin
Cast: Bahram Radan, Danial Ebadi, Anna Nemati, Samaneh Pakdel, Elsa Firuz Azar, Honmyoun Ershadi, Sara Khoeyniha
Director: Tahmineh Milani
Screenwriter: Tahmineh Milani
Producer: Mohammad Nikbin
Executive producer: none listed
Director of photography: Alireza Zarrindast
Production designer: Mohammad Nikbin, Azita Milani
Music: Karen Homayounfar
Costume designer: none listed
Editor: Tahmineh Milani, Siavash Saraj Zahedi
No Rating, 88 minutes
Online Movies Free Online Free Movies Movies 2010 Fundango Movies Local Movies Listings Movies Coming Out Movies New Releases Hindi Movies New Kids Movies Newest Movies
These things!
Paranormal Activity 3
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Starring: Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Christopher Nicholas Smith, Ghosts!
Good if you want to see: a special retro edition of Paranormal Activity, in which the crew lets lose the Paranormal Prank House's WILDEST pranks yet on an unsuspecting family from 1988--and our hidden cameras were there to capture it all!
The Three Musketeers
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Logan Lergman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Orlando Bloom, Christoph Waltz, Milla Jovovich
Good if you want to see: explosions, airships, clanging, slow-motion, and Milla Jovovich sliding through corridors on her knees, because this is a Paul W.S. Anderson film, after all.
Johnny English Reborn
Director: Oliver Parker
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West
Good if you want to see: another Johnny English movie--one with less Natalie Imbruglia, and even more genital injury gags. (Parts of Europe apparently do want to see such a thing.)
And in limited release...
Martha Marcy May Marlene (limited)
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson
Good if you want to see: the newest model Olsen sister in an acclaimed performance that shows just how hard it can be to break free from a cult. Sure, tell me that now, Elizabeth Olsen.
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (limited)
Director: Constance Marks, Philip Shane
Starring: Kevin Clash
Good if you want to see: the man whose falsetto voice and fur-covered hand-motions are what we have all come to know and love as Elmo. It turns out this mustached guy is who you've been accommodating with tickles all these years.
Margin Call (limited)
Director: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, The Mentalist
Good if you want to see: an impressive cast stare in disbelief at computer screens, shout on phones, and mutter things about "figures," thereby explaining the financial crisis.
Revenge of the Electric Car (limited)
Director: Chris Paine
Starring: Electric Cars, Tim Robbins
Good if you want to see: a sequel to Who Killed the Electric Car? that shows a resurgence in electric cars, giving hope to environmentalists and sending the oil industry a clear message that they've clearly gotten lax on kidnapping and threatening electric car innovators.
Le Havre (limited)
Director: Aki Kaurism�ki
Starring: a political fairy tale about a port-side French shoeshiner harboring an illegal African refugee.
Good if you want to see:
Norman (limited)
Director: Jonathan Segal
Starring: Dan Byrd, Emily VanCamp, Richard Jenkins
Good if you want to see: the kid from Easy A pretending to have terminal cancer, when really it's his father dying of cancer--Easy A himself has only tried to commit suicide in the wake of his mother's death, so clearly he deserves none of that sympathy.
Klitschko
Director:Sebastian Dehnhardt
Starring: Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko
Good if you want to see: a documentary about boxing, Ukranian brothers. Or, if you prefer, there's also a movie about fucking ROBOTS boxing each other. Your choice.
List Of Movies Movie Movie Theater Recent Movies Movis Kids Movies Movies 2011 Movies Times Online Movie Movies Online Free
Ignoring the Prince song that happened last time Tim Burton designed a parade float, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade commissioned a new balloon design from the director, and the results pictured above will be floating above the streets of New York next month. With an utter disregard for breakdancing culture, Burton has dubbed the creation "B. Boy," and according to the New York Times, there's an entire backstory behind the bloated, seemingly-drowned, floating child. His scarred skin represents the pilgrims and natives coming together with the stitches of cooked bird! Just kidding, it's some typical Tim Burton shit:
Assumedly, Johnny Depp will anchor the balloon, while Helena Bonham Carter will tie herself to one of the cables and just sort of let it drag her along.According to an origin story dreamed up by Mr. Burton, B. was created, Frankenstein's monster-style, from the leftover balloons used in children's parties at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Forbidden from playing with other children because of his jagged teeth and crazy-quilt stitching, B. retreated to a basement lair, where he obsesses over Albert Lamorisse's film "The Red Balloon" and dreams that he, too, will be able to fly someday.
"There's always been something about balloons," Mr. Burton said, by way of explaining his B. Boy character. "You see them deflated and you see them floating. There's something quite beautiful and tragic and sad and buoyant and happy, all at the same time."
(via!)
New Kids Movies Newest Movies Movies Free Online English Movies Online Local Movies Showing Kid Movies Movie In Theaters Free Movie Websites Download Free Movies Movies Out Now
As readers of this blog know, I like the NFL quite a bit (although not, for whatever reason, college football). I have written about players from the past like John Unitas and Franco Harris; I also love to follow the modern NFL and all its tricky issues.
So I?m thrilled to be hosting a new segment on the NFL Network called ?Football Freakonomics.? We did a short program together for the NFL Draft, called ?The Quarterback Quandary,? and now we?re partnering up for an ongoing set of segments. The first Football Freakonomics feature will air this Sunday on the network?s ?NFL GameDay Morning.? We?ll explore all kinds of issues ? winning/losing, performance, salaries, etc. ? and we?ll lean on original research as well as the insights of many brilliant people from sport, academia, and beyond.
The first segment is titled ?Is Momentum a Myth?? (If you?ve read the fine book Scorecasting, you may know where we?re headed with this one.) I haven?t seen it yet but all the NFL folks I?ve been working with in production are absolutely top-notch, so I?m sure they?ve come up with something great.
Fair Game Movie Insidious Movie Movies Playing Now Movie Rating Rated R Movies New Comedy Movies Movie Finder Movies In Theatre The Movies New Films Coming Soon
Warner Bros. has just unveiled the poster and banner artworks for ?Happy Feet Two?, the sequel to ?Happy Feet?. In the film, Mumble The Master of Tap has a problem because his tiny son, Erik is choreo-phobic. His son is reluctant to dance and one day runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven ? a penguin who can fly. Mumble has no hope of competing with his new found friend but things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father?s ?guts and grit? as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures to put things right. Catch the banner artworks (be sure to click the banners to see it in full-res) after the break.
Movies 2011 Movies Times Online Movie Movies Online Free Latest Movies Watch Movie Online Movies On Line Movies On Dvd Watch Free Movies Movies Now
18911No Responseshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.thinkhero.com%2F2011%2F10%2F20%2Famerican-horror-story-murder-house-episode-3-video-review%2FAmerican+Horror+Story+%22Murder+House%22+Episode+3+%28VIDEO+REVIEW%292011-10-20+08%3A32%3A39Dennishttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.thinkhero.com%2F%3Fp%3D18911 to ?American Horror Story ?Murder House? Episode 3 (VIDEO REVIEW)?
Rio Movie Standing Ovation Movie Cinemark Movies Movie Schedules Movies Download Movies Movie Times New Movies Upcoming Movies Top Movies
Anthony Ciccone is the brother of one of the richest entertainers in history, yet his address is currently under a bridge in Traverse City, Michigan.
Madonna's sibling claims that he has been homeless for over a year since he's been out of work after he lost his last job at his father's vineyard.
How did he fall that hard in life? He says the following:
"My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time."
"You think I haven't answered this kind of question a bazillion times - why my sister is a multibazillionarie, and I'm homeless on the street?"
"I guess it's true, never say never. This could happen to anybody. I don't have any income, I've got to go collect bottles and cans, do odd jobs."
Madonna's relationship with her brother is not explained in any detail in this article and should be explored in order to understand the situation.
But it's sad in any case.
[Photo: WENN.com]
Movi Movie Review Catfish Movie Latest Movie Releases Black Swan Movie 3 Idiots Movie Megamind Movie Kites Movie Marmaduke Movie Conviction Movie
Premiering this last Saturday on HBO was 2010?s ?Gulliver?s Travels?, starring Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Jason Segel Amanda Peet and Chris O?Dowd.
Did you ever prejudge a movie, only to find out you were wrong?
You know, you see the trailers and the commercials or you read the reviews, and you think, ?This movie looks terrible,? but then when you actually watch it you find yourself liking it and you have to admit it?s not all that bad?
Well, you don?t have to worry about that here, ?Gulliver?s Travels? is every bit the steaming pile of crap you imagine it is.
Jack Black stars as a mailroom clerk who fibs his way into a travel writing assignment while trying to impress the travel editor at the publication he works for. Whilst on this assignment (boating solo through the Bermuda Triangle), he runs into a ?Perfect Storm? level storm, and his boat gets caught in an enormous water spout. When he?s awakened, he finds himself roped down on a beach, by Lilliputians ? miniature people ? a la the classic tale.
Unfortunately, that?s the only time the word ?Classic? should be used in conjunction with this movie.
Once he lands in Lilliput, Gulliver quickly becomes a hero by urinating a giant stream of urine on a fire that threatened the life of the King. Yup, you heard me. Of course, he promptly becomes their hero, and a celebrated figure in the realm. Of course, he feeds that adulation by regaling the Lilliputians with exaggerated tales of his exploits, stolen from famous movies. The tiny people rebuild their culture around his BS, but of course, eventually the truth comes out, and Gulliver is forced to prove his worth for real.
This movie is brimming with stilted performances, horribly pathetic attempts at comedy, and G rated lame level action sequences. It?s laden with pop culture references it doesn?t deserve to use. This movie is not worthy to use a Kiss song, or include Star Wars references so prominently.
Jack Black is in Jack Black mode here. Doing all of the schtick you?ve come to know and love, rocking back and forth from foot to foot in that side to side hopping he calls dancing, playing air guitar, ?winging it? by making up nonsense stories? He even gets to ?sing?. The funny thing is, you can tell his heart isn?t in it. Normally, I?d call such a performance ?mailing it in?, but it was so obvious he had no enthusiasm for the role, I wonder what the true story of how he got involved with this dung pile is. Watching him in this movie, I felt as if someone had a gun trained on him and was telling him, ?Be funny, Clown??
F
. Bookmark the
.
Cyrus Movie All Movies Due Date Movie Latest Movie Beastly Movie Current Movie Reviews Karate Kid Movie Local Movie Theaters Movie Sites Movie Red
Don't cry, Jennifer Lopez. American Idol will soon be back on the air.
Fox has released the first official preview for season 11 of its monstrous hit, as the following video features J. Lo, Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest and Steven Tyler strolling down the street and inviting slack-jawed onlookers to join them for auditions.
And when will these new auditions kick off? On January 22. Mark your calendars and prepare for a couple weeks of bad singing and sad sob stories before we get to the talented meat of live episodes. Watch the full-length trailer now:
New Kids Movies Newest Movies Movies Free Online English Movies Online Local Movies Showing Kid Movies Movie In Theaters Free Movie Websites Download Free Movies Movies Out Now
Unaware that working with some of the most reliably talented directors around will only encourage my stalking, the lovely Carey Mulligan has entered talks to work with both the Coen Brothers and Spike Jonze on their upcoming feature projects.
For the Coens, Mulligan would be taking the female lead in Inside Llewyn Davis, a film said to look at the '60s folk scene in Greenwich Village. If negotiations work out, she'll join the already-cast Oscar Isaac, who just played Mulligan's shit head husband in Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. Thus, the stars are again aligned: time to throw another hot dog at a golfer, crazy people.
On Jonze's film, Mulligan would star alongside Joaquin Phoenix in what's been described as "a satire about how world leaders gather to figure out all the seismic events that will take place in the worlds, from oil prices to wars that will be waged." The script was written by the always-genius Charlie Kaufman, so figure on it being brilliant. Also count on Mulligan looking so darling in it that she'll completely justify regularly sifting through her trash in the hopes of gathering enough bleached hair strands to weave a haunting pillowcase. It's like her eyes are ASKING me to, officer.
2010 Movies Movies Theaters New Release Movies Movies Online Movie Listings Bollywood Movies Movie Theatres Google Movies List Of Movies Movie
Last summer, a court ruled in favor of Pfizer?s patent on Viagra, extending its monopoly on the product through 2019. Many jokes were made when Viagra was first marketed, with Jay Leno remarking that it would keep comedians in business for years. With the patent extension, the price of Viagra will remain high for another 8 years.
There are many implications of this, but my question is the narrow one: What�related markets will be affected by the absence of a generic equivalent of Viagra and the product?s continuing high price, and how?
Movie Sites Movie Red Jane Eyre Movie New Movie Release Movie Releases 2010 Robin Hood Movie Movie Listing Easy A Movie New Releases Movies Movies Reviews
When Joss Whedon isn't busy shooting 'The Avengers' on an iPhone, he's apparently getting some friends together to film secret movies. At least that's what appears to have happened, following a tweet on Sunday night from frequent Whedon collaborator Nathan Fillion which directed his followers to a website heralding Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing,' "based on a play." Like the Shakespeare play? Let's run with that!Little to nothing is known about the project, beyond what's offered on the site. "Bellwether Pictures is proud to announce the completion of principal photography," it offers, before running down the cast list: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Reed Diamond, Ashley Johnson, Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Tom Lenk and Fran Kranz among others. Pictured below that is apparently Kranz ('Dollhouse') wearing a scuba mask and holding a martini glass. Obviously.
Whether 'Much Ado About Nothing' is a feature length film (probably not!) or a short like 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog' (probably!) remains to be seen. Obviously, geeks around the Internet will be waiting with baited breath to find out.
[via CinemaBlend]
[Photo: Getty]
RELATED
Movie Search 127 Hours Movie Recent Movie Releases Movie Schedule New Dvd Movies Latest Hindi Movies Movies In Theater Sanctum Movie Tinseltown Movie Theater Movies In Theatres
The sordid failure of "The Change-Up" is so ingrained in its design that only a total overhaul would have saved it. First, doing another body-switching film is a pretty dangerous venture. How many twists and turns can you really do in a film genre like this? Second, the humor is dirty, cheap, crude and really, really dirty. Sure, it makes you laugh at times but those cheap thrills and a story that's so used-up (and without any semblance of effort on their part to actually change the formula) will turn that smile into an instant frown once you realize you have been robbed. "The Change-Up" just doesn't make any sense and it is a film that should never have seen the light of day."The Change-Up" has problems left and right (and areas that are key to a movie) that it feels like that they just pushed this film because they felt that this will sell. No surprises that the story is plain-average. If you have ever watched a body switching film then you would know how it ends and all the moral lessons attached to it. And worse, there are times that the points that the film tries to tackle actually sound senseless. The next thing that we always look for in a film like this are the lead actors. Are they believable in their "switching"? Was it natural? For this one, it is another failure. Jason Bateman feels like Jason Bateman and vice versa. For example, saying "f*ck" in every sentence doesn't make you the character you are portraying. Finally, do not expect that the humor will sell every single time. Most of it are dirty and crass which equates to meaningless laughs. "The Change-Up" is more like a soft porn film (we're surprised that MTRCB didn't cut the countless nudity scenes - that's a first for them!) mixed with A-list actors, a bad, formulaic story and cheap comedy. There's really no reason to watch it, buy it or rent it in the future. It's simply unjustified.
Rating: 1 and a half reels
Why you should watch it:
- cheap laughs may float your boat - not us!
Why you shouldn't watch it:
- nothing new was made to the body-switch formula
- bad acting for the lead actors
Fred The Movie Free Download Movies Full Movies Online Streaming Movies Fango Movies Hindi Movies Online Movie Websites Hop Movie Movie Tickets Movies On Demand
Your weekend box office:
1. Paranormal Activity 3 - $54 million, marking the biggest fall opening ever, as well as the highest opening gross ever for a pure horror film. And by "pure horror," I mean "pure American's Funniest Home Videos gags being attributed to specters."
2. Real Steel - $11.3 million, still proving tough to beat in its third week, like a resilient underdog boxing robot that, in this case, actually cost more than all the other robots.
3. Footloose - $10.9 million. Paramount, if you're thinking about a sequel: first they invited dance into their community... now, IT WON'T LEAVE. Pretty good, right?
4. The Three Musketeers - $8.8 million. I think we all know who should be SHAMEd for this failure.
5. The Ides of March - $4.9 million. Though the film dropped a spot, watching George Clooney pretend to be a political candidate on film still remained vastly more popular than watching any of the actual candidates in any context whatsoever.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Cinemark Movies Movie Schedules Movies Download Movies Movie Times New Movies Upcoming Movies Top Movies New Movies 2011 Movie Theaters
Good news or bad news, depending on your feelings about film technology: cinematographer Seamus McGarvey says he did not actually shoot portions of 'The Avengers' on his iPhone. "I was talking about how up and coming film makers have access to a whole range of new technologies which expand our options as filmmakers," McGarvey told THR about the interview he did with Irish Film and Television Network. "I mentioned that the iPhone and the Canon 5d Mk2 were devices currently used on many Hollywood productions. I used the Canon on some shots on Marvel's 'The Avengers' movie. Unfortunately, this was edited to read that I shot some of the film with the iPhone. This is not true."
McGarvey was quoted by the publication as saying he not only shot scenes for the Joss Whedon-directed film on his smartphone, but that the scenes were in the trailer. "On 'The Avengers,' I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie. In fact, they are in the trailer! I understand that sometimes there is no choice and you have to go for the cheapest option, but if you are limited for choice, you can still make poignant decisions that will effect the look of the film," IFTN apparently misquoted him as saying.
Disney also confirmed that none of 'The Avengers' was shot on an iPhone. Alas. Fingers crossed that Whedon's double secret probation project was?
[via THR/Heat Vision]
[Photo: Paramount]
RELATED
Upcoming Movies Top Movies New Movies 2011 Movie Theaters Movies In Theaters Movies Coming Soon New Movie New Movies Out Movies Out Good Movies
Giuliana Rancic's road to recovery has begun.
The E! News personality announced Monday that she has breast cancer, and two days later had a double lumpectomy to remove it, hopefully for good.
Thankfully, husband Bill told the Today Show Thursday that Giuliana is "doing well" post-surgery. That said, "It was kind of a long day," Bill explained.
"There's many steps in the process if you go through this. Since it was on both breasts, the morning started with a two hour MRI where they had to put a guide wire in so the surgeon knew exactly what area to remove."
After a mammogram of the other breast and repeating the process, "we went into the surgery [which] lasted about two hours," Bill said. "She's a trooper."
"She pulled through it and was kind of relieved to get it over with and get the cancer out. At this point she's doing well at home and recovering."
"I wish I could take some of the pain away," he said. "Watching her being wheeled into that operating room was heartbreaking for me ... I'm just doing everything I can to support her and make sure that she's comfortable."
Thankfully, the prognosis is good for 37-year-old Giuliana. "We're viewing this as a gift," Bill said. "It was caught accidentally, very, very early."
Giuliana's doctor insisted she get a mammogram before going through her third round of IVF treatments, and that was when it was discovered.
"I will be okay, because I found it early," she reassured fans Monday on Today. Following her surgery, she has "radiation for six and a half weeks."
And the spouses of four years are determined to continue in their attempts to conceive once Giuliana's medical issues are resolved.
"I'm not gonna give up," she said. When she does get pregnant, "That baby will have saved my life," she mused. "There's some master plan."
Keep up hope and stay strong, G!
[Photo: WENN.com]
It needs to be said again: Looper is seriously on!
Following another public sighting of Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lopez, Us Weekly quotes sources who say these two are engaged in more than just a fling.
The actor is "really trying to woo Jennifer in a big way. He has been after Jennifer, calling her, for ages," claims an insider, while another adds: "They've been talking on the phone and texting a lot."
Need more evidence? On October 15, Cooper and Lopez were seen pulling out of his driveway - with the actress looking "disheveled!!!" - and heading for J. Lo's Hidden Hills property. A source says they were "laughing" and concludes:
"Considering how depressed she has been since her breakup, it's no surprise that she has finally decided to let him in. For the first time since the split, she is allowing herself to go with the flow."
Gabrielle Union Garcelle Beauvais Genelle Frenoy Georgianna Robertson Georgina Grenville
Un. Believable. Lindsay Lohan was turned away from the L.A. County Morgue this morning after showing up late for community service. Way to go, girl!
The star, who was briefly cuffed and jailed yesterday, was supposed to be there at 8 a.m. At 7:40, her assistant called to say she'd be there in 10 minutes.�
When did she roll up in her $80,000 Porsche? Not until 8:40.
Linds in court for the 29,391st time yesterday.
Her publicist claims she was late "due to a combination of not knowing the entrance to go through and confusion caused by media waiting for her arrival."
Always excuses with LiLo, and Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter thinks this story has more cracks than Lindsay's teeth, since she's been there before.
Winter just told reporters there's NO WAY Lindsay was confused about anything, given that his office provided step-by-step directions on where to go.
More likely, she was strung out on meth ... KIDDING. Well, probably. You never know.
Lindsay was met at the door by Coroner's officials who turned her away. Her probation office was notified; Judge Stephanie Sautner will hear about it.
What happened today is not a violation, as the judge only required Lohan put in 16 hours at the morgue by November 2, when she's due back in court.
But for a colossal f*%k-up who can't get it together, and whose penchant for thumbing her nose at authority is well-known ... not a good PR move.
Lohan was on probation for her necklace heist until Judge Sautner revoked it yesterday. Lindsay posted $100,000 bail, freeing her until November 2.
She may be sentenced to jail then. Should she be?
View Poll �Busy Philipps Cameron Diaz Cameron Richardson Camilla Belle Carla Campbell
Back in May, French video game developer Ubisoft gave us the heads up that all those popular games they've made--specifically Assassin's Creed and anything with a "Tom Clancy" prefix--would eventually be dealt the disservice of being turned into feature films. At the time, they were reportedly about to meet with studios and attempting to "identify the DNA of each game," but because that statement is essentially meaningless, it was uncertain exactly how long any of this would take. Now, it seems DNA identification must be complete, and Sony Pictures is close to a deal that will see the studio developing a film based on the Assassin's Creed series.
If you've seen commercials or screenshots from Assassin's Creed but haven't actually played it, you may suspect that the series is about this awesome guy in a white cowl who stabs people. That is largely a correct assessment, except that you're missing out on all the incredibly convoluted aspects. See, the parts where you're awesome white hood guy are actually ancestral memories of a modern-day bartender who, after being kidnapped by an evil corporation, is forced to relive past-life memories so that he may find some powerful artifacts. Even that description simplifies things, but it's something like that. That and sneaking around stabbin'.
While many software developers just sell off their movie rights and let Milla Jovovich handle the rest, Ubisoft's deal with Sony will allow them more creative control, as the company "views adaptations as a way to turn its games into larger brands that will get the titles in front of more consumers while creating lucrative new revenue sources for the company." This isn't just a movie, everyone: this is brand enlargement and new, lucrative revenue production! Like when cartoons get made into cereal.
Alicia Keys Alicia Witt Amanda Bynes Amanda Detmer Amanda Marcum
A new working paper from the Brookings Institution?s Metropolitan Opportunity series examines a major demographic shift in housing voucher recipients from the cities to the suburbs. Authors Kenya Covington, Lance Freeman and Michael A. Stoll write: ?Just as the suburbanization of poverty has gathered momentum, Americans who use housing choice vouchers (HCV) to help pay for their housing have increasingly moved into suburban areas as well.? �The authors studied data from 2000 to 2008 to see how this shift has taken place.
They found that:
The real estate bust has likely worsened this problem, having left millions of people in the suburbs underwater on their mortgages. As much as things changed over the last eight years, the coming decade could bring with it even more pronounced shifts in suburban poverty.
Arielle Kebbel Ashanti Ashlee Simpson Ashley Greene Ashley Olsen
As the death toll from listeria in cantaloupe reached 25 this week, marking the deadliest outbreak of foodborne illness in a quarter-century, some industry insiders are placing blame on the local foods movement. On economic grounds, they may have a point.
The contaminated melons were traced to a self-described small farm in Colorado that the FDA said had ?poor sanitary? conditions. The FDA reported Wednesday that it found listeria in numerous areas of the farm?s packing facility, including a floor drain, a produce dryer, and a conveyor belt. Standing water and poorly designed equipment created ?the perfect environment for listeria growth and spread,? according to one FDA expert. The farm claimed to have passed an outside audit just days before the outbreak that has sickened more than 100 people and devastated the cantaloupe industry. Farmers in California are plowing their crops under because of the collapse in demand.
That the outbreak occurred on a small farm selling principally to regional buyers is an obvious point, but also an important one because this kind of food contamination is less likely to occur at the large-scale farming operations that locavores love to hate. Consider first that local food systems largely ignore the important role comparative advantage plays in agriculture. Comparative advantage explains why corn is grown in Iowa, almonds in California, and winter vegetables in Florida. The different regions, with different soils, land qualities, climates, and opportunity costs specialize because they can produce their respective crops better than other regions. Comparative advantage implies significant gains from interregional and international trade. And it isn?t just relevant to costs of production and farm yields. It applies also to food safety.
Some regions are just safer places to grow certain crops than others?a point made recently by long-time food industry observer Jim Prevor at his ?Perishable Pundit? website. Colorado, he notes, is a particularly unsafe place to grow cantaloupes, which are particularly susceptible to contamination because bacteria can hide out in the crevices of the melon?s rough skin. Rains splatter mud on the melons in Colorado, requiring them to be washed post harvest, a process that can lead to cross contamination among melons and create the moist conditions in which bacteria thrive.
In contrast, dry summers in California and Arizona create safe conditions for cantaloupe production because the crops are watered by drip irrigation and are much less likely to get dirty. Consequently, California cantaloupes bypass the rinsing phase and are packaged dry, sometimes right in the field. But the local foods movement kicks comparative advantage to the curb, favoring foods grown within a certain distance over foods grown in the best conditions.
The small farm is also likely to invest less in preventing food contamination than the big farm because its losses and legal exposure from any outbreak will be smaller. Even if the contaminated farm in Colorado grew half of the state?s 2,200 acres of cantaloupe, its loss from pulling its harvest is only $4 million in revenues. (The total U.S. harvest in 2010 was valued at $314 million.)
A larger farm has much more at stake, both in terms of lost harvest revenues and reputation. Reputation is critical to firms in the food industry as health scares can dramatically reduce demand well into the future. To large firms in the industry, an outbreak can mean hundreds of millions of dollars in foregone sales and liability. This creates a big incentive for these firms to invest in equipment, procedures, and testing to minimize the risk of food contamination at farms and packing sheds. Further, geographic concentration of production allows farms to work jointly and cooperatively to achieve food safety for their mutual protection.
It?s not just that the benefit of food safety investments (i.e., avoided losses) is lower for small farms. Their costs of achieving a given level of risk are often higher, too.�Large firms exploit economies of size to achieve food safety standards more cheaply than small firms.�A simple example is fencing a field to avoid animal intrusions and fecal contamination. The cost of fencing per unit area is decreasing in the size of the field. At $10 per foot, it costs $4000 to fence a�10,000 square-foot field. The cost of fencing a field 100 percent larger is only $5,650*,�less than 50 percent more.
More generally, because of the fixed costs associated with prevention efforts, large firms have an advantage in mitigating against food contamination. They can spread the costs of equipment and personnel over larger quantities of output to lower their average costs. Thus it is no surprise that research by economists at UC Davis, and the USDA found that large food operations have lower costs for complying with food safety standards and are more likely to invest in equipment and pathogen testing to reduce contamination risk. Large firms also often hire food safety specialists to oversee food safety protocols and testing for contamination.
Because the costs of achieving low levels of contamination risk are so high for small farms, they were exempted from stricter food safety standards required by Food Safety Modernization Act signed by President Obama earlier this year. The act calls for the USDA to issue tighter standards for preventive measures and testing on farms and elsewhere in the food supply chain.
Food-safety costs are also greater for the taxpayer when dealing with small-scale, geographically scattered farming. The cost of monitoring regulatory compliance is smaller the fewer and more concentrated the farms become. In the locavore utopia, federal inspectors would have to travel to hundreds of local food sheds and inspect dozens, perhaps hundreds, of farms in each one. As the number of commercial farms increases, either the costs of labor and transportation associated with inspection go up, or the compliance level falls. The local foods movement, then, makes it more costly for the government to assure the food supply is safe.
Finally, assuming small farms are not inherently safer than large farms, then as food retailers endeavor to meet the demands of locavores by sourcing meats and produce from local farms, they must compromise on other priorities, like reducing contamination risk. Food retailers have many objectives in securing produce from suppliers, including minimizing cost and maximizing flavor. The many potentially conflicting objectives impede the retailer?s ability to achieve any one objective to the greatest degree possible. The retailer faces tradeoffs. Sourcing local food from smaller farms that are less effective in mitigating contamination risk almost surely comes at the cost of food safety, a point also made by Mr. Prevor.
The recent listeria outbreak highlights the risk posed by accidental food contamination to consumers and farmers alike. Twenty-five dead. Hundreds sick. And millions of dollars of cantaloupe plowed into the ground. It?s a painful reminder of how much we rely on a safe and secure food system. And it is worth asking if a local food future will put us at greater risk.
*An earlier version incorrectly read, ?At $10 per foot, it costs $4000 to fence a 1000 square-foot field. The cost of fencing a field 100 percent larger is only $6,000, a mere 50 percent more.?
'Well, let's just stay till the next showing!' was Michael's suggestion.
We hung out at Starbuck's and walked around Bridgeport until the movie started.
When it did, there were only about 14 other people in the theater (besides our group)...which made it all the more fun to be loud (laughing and crying).
Well, anyway...on to the review. ;)
His character in this movie was strong...calm...respected...and funny.
I think he fit the part very well.
And it's not like it's totally focused on him, either.� Because in Flywheel and Facing the Giants, Alex was more of the 'star' of the movie.
In Courageous, there are 5 stars...and he is only one of them.
Ben Davies as...
I really liked this guy!
I thought he was a good character.� I liked his story.� And Ben did a good job playing it.
He was my #2 Favorite character.
Ken Bevel as...
Enters the best character!!
You may remember Ken from Fireproof - in which he played Michael (the lieutenant at the Albany Fire Station...he played opposite Kirk Cameron).
It may be because I loved his character in Fireproof...
or it may be because his characters always remind me of my Daddy.
But Courageous was no exception.
Ken/Nathan was the best!! :)� My #1 Favorite character.
��(Okay, this might sound terrible, but I like this guy's cleft in his chin. :D� I just kept noticing it throughout the movie.)
He was my #5 Favorite character.
He's a great actor, but...
I don't want to spoil the movie for you, so I'll just end it there. :)
Robert Amaya as...
haha This guy kept me laughing!!� There is this one scene in particular that the whole theater was just erupting with laughter!
| PS:� A GREAT family movie!!!� Though I wouldn't recommend it for children under 10. |
Ashley Greene Ashley Olsen Ashley Scott Ashley Tappin Ashley Tisdale
'Well, let's just stay till the next showing!' was Michael's suggestion.
We hung out at Starbuck's and walked around Bridgeport until the movie started.
When it did, there were only about 14 other people in the theater (besides our group)...which made it all the more fun to be loud (laughing and crying).
Well, anyway...on to the review. ;)
His character in this movie was strong...calm...respected...and funny.
I think he fit the part very well.
And it's not like it's totally focused on him, either.� Because in Flywheel and Facing the Giants, Alex was more of the 'star' of the movie.
In Courageous, there are 5 stars...and he is only one of them.
Ben Davies as...
I really liked this guy!
I thought he was a good character.� I liked his story.� And Ben did a good job playing it.
He was my #2 Favorite character.
Ken Bevel as...
Enters the best character!!
You may remember Ken from Fireproof - in which he played Michael (the lieutenant at the Albany Fire Station...he played opposite Kirk Cameron).
It may be because I loved his character in Fireproof...
or it may be because his characters always remind me of my Daddy.
But Courageous was no exception.
Ken/Nathan was the best!! :)� My #1 Favorite character.
��(Okay, this might sound terrible, but I like this guy's cleft in his chin. :D� I just kept noticing it throughout the movie.)
He was my #5 Favorite character.
He's a great actor, but...
I don't want to spoil the movie for you, so I'll just end it there. :)
Robert Amaya as...
haha This guy kept me laughing!!� There is this one scene in particular that the whole theater was just erupting with laughter!
| PS:� A GREAT family movie!!!� Though I wouldn't recommend it for children under 10. |
Gabrielle Union Garcelle Beauvais Genelle Frenoy Georgianna Robertson Georgina Grenville
Forget those reports that Joaquin Phoenix will help with the re-release of his brother River Phoenix's last film. According to Deadline's Nikki Finke, director George Sluizer's claims that Joaquin is planning to overdub River's voice came as news to the Phoenix family. "Joaquin Phoenix and his family have not been in communication with the director nor will they participate in any way," a family spokesperson says. River died at the far-too-young age of 23 from a drug overdose in 1993.
The film in question is called 'Dark Blood.' Sluizer wrote the film's synopsis on IMDb himself:
Sluizer's most famous film is 1990's 'The Vanishing,' a remake of his own Dutch thriller, 'Spoorloos.'Dealing with nuclear testing and its long-lasting deadly effects, the story portrays Boy, a young widower living in the desert on a nuclear testing site. Living as a hermit, he waits for the end of the world carving Katchina [sic] dolls that he believes have magical powers. While traveling on a "second" honeymoon across the Arizona desert,t he car of a Hollywood jet-set couple breaks down. They are rescued by Boy, who holds them prisoners because he desires the woman and wants to create a better world with her.
[via Deadline]
[Photo: Everett Collection]
RELATED
Gisele Bьndchen Giuliana DePandi Giulianna Ramirez Grace Park Gretha Cavazzoni
Singer Adam Levine instigated a full scale Twitter war with Fox News after asking that the "evil f-cking channel" no longer play his songs last night.
It's unclear at what point Fox featured his songs and which one(s), but he apparently didn't take kindly to it, firing off this scathing Tweet Wednesday.
And then all social media hell broke loose.
Several of the network's anchors, surprisingly, hit back: "Dear Adam Levine, don't make crappy f-cking music again," Andy Levy wrote. "Thank you."
Redeye host Greg Gutfeld then took aim at the Maroon 5 frontman: "Why did Maroon 5 cross the road?" he asked. "Because crappy music is legal there!"
Gutfeld then retweeted some of Levine's musings and added some sarcastic commentary. Sample tweet, with his response preceding Adam's original:
Names that sound alike: Maroon 5 and crap. @adamlevine Names that sound alike: @kelseygrammer and @chelseahandler.
Levine has never shied away from stirring up controversy on Twitter, but this is taking it to new heights. From an entertainment standpoint, keep it up!
[Photo: WENN.com]
Coco Lee Connie Nielsen Cristina Dumitru Daisy Fuentes Dania Ramirez
Any time you've got an alien life form that mimics and then kills some poor unsuspecting victims and their dogs in Antarctica, you know you're in for a treat. "The Thing," a prequel and quasi-remake of John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic, hits theaters today starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("Scott Pilgrim vs. The World") and Joel Edgerton ("Warrior"). The new movie sticks closely to the formula from the original, while exploring what happened to the Norwegian team featured in the beginning of the Kurt Russell film.
MTV News' Vanessa WhiteWolf thinks you should definitely see "The Thing," and here are five reasons to check it out in theaters this weekend.
Darker Than Expected
This remake/prequel/homage/whatever is much darker and more relentless than the trailers and TV spots might have you believe. Not just literally darker (which it also is ? for a movie that takes place in snow-covered Antarctica, the sunlit hours are few and far between) but because it?s a tense, violent horror film. Once the killings begin, they don?t stop.
Special Effects
Speaking of the killings ? there are a LOT. And they?re pretty gruesome, on almost an HP Lovecraftian-level. The titular monster latches on to each of the characters in horrific ways as it begins its takeover, and we in the audience are treated to every skin-pulling, cell-splattering, organ-ripping frame. Once you?re captured by The Thing, you?re a goner.
A Killer Cast
It?s always nice to see a female helming this kind of testosterone-fueled scary flick. Mary Elizabeth Winstead does a fantastic and surprisingly believable job as the brilliant researcher-turned-kickass heroine fighting to save as many team members as she can. "Warrior" star Joel Edgerton also turns in a great and scruffy performance, though his helicopter pilot seemed slightly underused. And I might be the only person who saw ?Fired Up? and feels this way, but Eric Christian Olsen is always awesome. In ?The Thing,? he may be screaming for help more than cracking jokes, but he still offers the very occasional bit of comic relief.
Manly Norwegians
The ladies ? and more than a few men ? will be happy to see that the rest of the cast is rounded out with manly, gruff Norwegians. Certainly one of my favorite Scandinavian countries, it seems that Norway is filled with scientifically-minded men who can provide brute force when necessary. And it?s certainly necessary in this film. Sure, they all kind of look alike and it became more difficult to tell them apart as the movie went on. But those knit sweaters? To die for.
Nod To The Original
And though the movie fully stands on its own ? there?s a fantastic nod to the original at the end. Stay during the credits, and you?ll see the final sequence that pays off beautifully for fans of the 1982 film.
Are you seeing "The Thing"? Tell us what you think in the comments section and on Twitter!
Georgina Grenville Gina Carano Gina Gershon Gina Philips Gisele Bьndchen Giuliana DePandi Giulianna Ramirez Grace Park
