Category: Film News

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Drink Beer Day 9/30

 

Beer - one of the world’s oldest and most widely-consumed beverages. From beer halls in Germany to U.S. college bars, it is one of the most popular beverages of all time. Though its popularity, it has become a part of the culture of many nations. With celebrations such as beer festivals, anniversaries of breweries, and games including this drink, it has become an important part of society. Today is Drink Beer Day and was commemorated to celebrate drinking beer and the wonderful variety of this delicious drink. Throughout time, it has evolved and people have been able to create hundreds of flavors of beers. There are also many different types of beer depending on how it is fermented the different ingredients involved. The many types of beer include:

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  • Pale Ale: Predominantly comprised of pale malt and uses a top-fermenting yeast.
  • Stout/Porter: Darker beer using roast barley or roasted malts. They usually have slow fermenting yeast when brewed. Included in this category are sub-varieties such as dry stout, imperial stout, and Baltic porter.
  • Mild Ale: Made predominantly with a malty palate, it has an abv of 3%-3.6%.
  • Wheat Beer: Contains a significant amount of malted barley but is brewed with a large proportion of wheat.
  • Lambic: Naturally fermented using wild yeasts, rather than cultivated.
  • Lager: Cool fermented beer using a cool bottom-fermenting yeast.

Aside from celebrating with the use of this alcoholic beverage, alcohol can also be used as a toast of commemoration or remembrance, as seen in this scene of the film Red Roses and Petrol.  The film is available on DVD and digital download courtesy of World Wide Motion Pictures Corporation.

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Where are Robbie Kay and Ella Purnell now?

 

Back in 2010, actors Robbie Kay and Ella Purnell became more visible to American audiences with the release of the film Ways to Live Forever, but now, they are both well-established actors with their careers expanding further than anyone could ever dream for them!

Since Ways to Live Forever, Robbie Kay has worked on many projects on the big screens and on television. Robbie was the Cabin Boy in 2011 for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, assisting Captain Jack Sparrow find the fountain of youth. He then moved on to the 2013 release of Rita, a television movie about a private-school teacher struggling to raise her three children, along with becoming Peter Pan on Freeform’s (formerly ABC Family) hit television series Once Upon a Time. Playing Rumplestiltskin's father in the series along with being the main antagonist for nearly an entire season, Kay has taken the hearts of many across America. If being the main antagonist on Once Upon a Time wasn’t enough for Kay, he soon became the main protagonist in Heroes Reborn, playing Tommy Clark, the son of Claire from the beloved Heroes series. The spinoff of Heroes showcased Kay learning to use his powers and attempting to save the world with his character’s sister.

Although most of his appearances on television are coming to an end in early 2016, he has a new film coming out this year called Cold Moon where he plays Ben Redfield. Not much is known about the film currently, but with an all-star cast including Josh Stewart, Candy Clark, Frank Whaley, and Christopher Lloyd alongside with Robbie Kay, the film is sure to be a success!

Ella Purnell, unlike Robbie, started her career in 2010 with Ways to Live Forever and Never Let Me Go playing Kaleigh and Young Ruth, respectively. Her career slowly started with these two films as she continued her career with Candy, a short, and Intruders in 2011. It wasn’t until 2013 where she made her appearance in Kick-Ass 2, as Dolce, when her career started to pick up. After that appearance, she took a turn and played the teenage Maleficent in Disney’s Maleficent in 2014, the tragic backstory of the “evil” queen. She ended her 2014 year as the main lead in Wildlike, a drama about a teenage girl running away from home. Entering the 2015 year, Ella starred in Cyberbully, a television movie about a girl being blackmailed into doing an anonymous hacker’s bidding. Her next project was no surprise after her appearance in Disney’s Maleficent, as she starred in The Legend of Tarzan, as young Jane alongside with Ways to Live Forever’s Ben Chaplin, who played Robbie Kay’s father in the film. However, the 2016 year is not over for Purnell as she has four featured films coming up in late 2016 - early 2017.

The most anticipated film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children showcases Ella as Emma Bloom. Her other three films that do not have a release date yet are Access All Areas, Churchill, and The Journey is the Destination. Not much is known about these three films either, but after Miss Peregine’s, Ella’s expected to be a big star in the film industry!

Congratulations to the Ways to Live Forever stars; they both have gone a long way since 2010, when the film was first released in the United States. Six years later and they have established their names into films, shorts, and television. We can’t wait to see how far they will go.

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7 Movies With Iconic Grandparents

 

Grandparents Day is filled with love and joy. In celebration of National Grandparents Day 2016, we have created a list of well-known movies with awesome grandmas and grandpas.

The Godfather

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Vito Corleone is one of the most ruthless, violent bosses of New York’s biggest crime syndicate. He is wise and intelligent, an excellent reader of others’ intentions, and a smooth, subtle talker, able to convince with words, not only bullets.Though a cold-hearted criminal, Vito is also a warm, loving grandfather; he’s a family man who loves playing hide-and-seek with his grandson, Anthony. Although the movie is three hours long, it absorbs us so effectively, it never has to hurry, and is worth watching.

The Proposal

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Betty White nails it again, playing yet another awesome Nana in The Proposal. Playing Grandma Annie in the film, White’s acting alone is worth watching this romantic comedy. Gammy definitely takes the spotlight during her 90th birthday party weekend, innocently budding the romance of Andrew and his boss, Margaret.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

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Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a well-loved movie based on the book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Parents love it, children love it, everyone loves it. In both versions of the tale, it’s pretty clear who is number one in Grandpa Joe’s mind. He decides he must accompany Charlie to the chocolate factory and nonetheless they were tempted by the Bubble Room. But really, wouldn’t anyone be?

The Nightingale

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This movie is the epitome of a “family movie,” and would be great to watch on National Grandparents day. No other movie portrays such a light-hearted relationship between grandfather and granddaughter. Watch as Zhu Zhi Gen takes his granddaughter, Ren, on an adventure to discover her roots in the country.

Parenthood

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Frank Buckman experiences quite the transformation throughout the movie, Parenthood. Back in the day, he had always been seen as quite the neglectful father, being unable to emotionally relate to his four children. Amid all conflict that went down in the family, Frank had to step up and dramatically change into the most wonderful grandparent. A combination of drama and comedy, this cutting-edge classic would be a delightful way to celebrate family life in all its imperfection.

The Princess Diaries

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Who wouldn’t want the fabulous Queen Clarisse Renaldi as their grandmother? When her son dies, her majesty grooms her daughter, Mia, into the princess of the fictional country of Genovia that she is today. This movie depicts the realm of many girls’ fantasy - from having a royal makeover, to becoming a princess, to living happily ever after. It is an entertaining, warm-hearted story that every grandmother/granddaughter duo would enjoy.

Ways to Live Forever

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Sometimes, being a grandparent can be hard. Phyllida Law played Sam’s grandmother, who has to endure the hardships of having her grandson diagnosed with leukemia. This touching film addresses the extremely difficult topic of incurable, terminal diseases. It asks many of the big questions about life and death and reasons through them in a simplistic, childlike sort of way that is thoroughly logical from the perspective of a 12-year-old. This is a simply-made drama, but everything about it is absolutely solid.

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Happy Women’s Equality Day 08/26/2016

 

Considering most leading roles are played by men, having women play strong roles in films continues to be a highly relevant topic in the movie industry. Women are not only underrepresented as actresses, but also in the director's chair. Only around 8% of directors are women, however it is funny what happens when women are put in the director's chair: they seem to hire more women.

On this Women's Equality Day, we're putting the spotlight on both female directors and actors, who are not only exceptional at what they do, but also are raising their voices for women everywhere.

One of the first that comes to mind is the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow, who directed the film The Hurt Locker, and is also known for the film Zero Dark Thirty. Bigelow said in a statement to TIME that she believes that directors should be judged only based on their work, not by their gender, which continue to stigmatize the industry. She emphasizes that “gender neutral hiring is essential”.

Talent is found all over the world, especially in the French director Claire Dennis and has produced such films as White Material and 35 Shots of Rum. She is often given the high praise of being the best French director alive.

Yet another woman breaking records is director of our own Red Roses and Petrol Tamar Simon Hoffs, became the first woman to receive the triple director/writer/producer credit on a major studio feature film, The All Nighter.

Not only is Mira Nair coming to play a center stage role in film as a director, but also take the cake in learning, hailing from the alma mater of Harvard. Most renowned for her award-winning documentary Saloam Bombay, and owns her own production company, Mirabai Films, which is based in New York.

A Tony Award-winning director, Julie Taymor, has been recognized for her work on Broadway in the production of the Lion King, becoming the first woman to win a Tony for a musical. She has also directed stirring films like Frida, showing that women can not only direct movies well, but also tell other women's stories well.

And it's not just directors, but actresses too, who are speaking out concerning women's rights and what it meant be a confident and modern woman.

Daryl Hannah, from the documentary Welcome to Eden, was listed by the Huffington Post as one of “5 Powerful Women Who Are Making a Positive Difference,” and is renowned for her contributions not only as an actress but also as an environmentalist and powerful voice against human trafficking, giving a voice to people and topics that perhaps would be often overlooked.

Salma Hayek's advice to young girls is simply to “Stand out, don't blend in,” and encourages women everywhere, “to really be profound thinkers that are excited about their differences and explore what they are and who they are and what can come out of the new.” Hayek has advanced such ideas in fundraising events for charities such as “Chime for Change”.

The currently highest-paid actress, Jennifer Lawrence, has spoken out against the gender pay gap, when she discovered that she had negotiated a smaller deal than her male counterparts in the hit movie American Hustle.

Lastly, we give you one of the most outspoken advocates in recent years for women's equality, British Harry Potter star Emma Watson. In conjunction with various organizations, she has built up quite a reputation for women's equality and feminism in general, encouraging men to come alongside women.

“I want men to take up this mantle.” Watson said. “So their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice, but also so that their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human too — reclaim those parts of themselves they abandoned and in doing so be a more true and complete version of themselves.”

Happy Women's Equality Day!

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Show your Appreciation on Be An Angel Day which is on 8/22/2016

 

Some of the key factors in our lives are the people we surround ourselves with. But it’s not everyday that we take the time to appreciate them and show them the love that they deserve. August 22nd, is Be An Angel Day, where people can show others just how much they care about them! In 1993, Jayne Howard Feldman decided to create a national day to encourage people to help those in need with random acts of kindness. Throughout your day, try to perform random acts of kindness for people around you, whether it’s volunteering in your community, helping your family around the house, or even setting up a Lure for strangers at the nearest PokeStop in the mobile app, Pokemon GO.

 
Films offer a lot of perspectives on types of angels, from spiritual or symbolic to real life physical representations. In the classic film, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), starring actor James Stewart and actress Donna Reed, tells a story of a guardian angel who shows a man the world if he had never existed. The story focuses on the meaningful and helpful things people do to affect the people around them. Another relatable film, Inspired by Angels (2014), shows real life experiences of people who have made contact or believe they have been affected by Angels in their lifetime. This film includes interviews with spiritual leaders, professors, and other Angel enthusiasts. The meaning of an Angel is different between individuals, and people can express them through various types of art. You don’t have to be an Angel from the heavens to show people that you care, so take some time today to show people just how much they mean to you.

inspired by angels

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Suicide Squad or Batman: Assault on Arkham?

 

Before there was the release of Suicide Squad, the DC animated universe released Batman: Assault on Arkham in 2014 debuting the New 52 versions of the anti-heroes. With the DC cinematic universe starting in 2013 with Superman: Man of Steel and expanding towards one of the most anticipated films of 2017, Justice League, its animated counterpart has released 9 films since Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox in 2013 with its latest project Batman and Harley Quinn recently announced with no release date, it is clear to see that the animated universe has been expanding at a faster rate than the cinematic universe.

However, which one of these two Suicide Squad films is better, Suicide Squad with Margot Robbie and Ben Affleck or Batman: Assault on Arkham with voice actors Hynden Walch and Kevin Conroy?

Time to break it down!

Let’s start with Harley Quinn, one of DC’s most complicated and beloved characters that has ever emerged, first made her appearance in Batman: The Animated Series in 1992, which is what most of us grew up with.

Assault on Arkham definitely does have a sense of nostalgia to it due to Hynden Walch reprising her role as the Queen of Laughs, along with Kevin Conroy coming back as Batman, but Suicide Squad definitely brings in a sense of freshness to new viewers who have never been introduced to this grouping of anti-heroes before.

The relationship between the Joker and Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad was definitely not what most people are familiar with. Harley and the Joker’s relationship was always seen as one-sided where Harley, completely devoted to the Joker whereas the Joker manipulated this devotion of his own gain, never giving her the love she wanted. The cinematic film showcased the beloved couple, as a caring pair that would go to the ends of the Earth for one another. That becomes one of the issues with the cinematic universe in that it displays and cuts out the scenes where the Joker abuses Harley, romanticizing their relationship to the new viewer base while betraying hardcore fans of the Suicide Squad. By romanticizing their one-sided,manipulative relationship, it takes out the version of Harley Quinn that many people love that caused her to join the Suicide Squad in the first place. Within the comics, after a fall out with the Joker, she was enlisted into the squad. Through many versions of Harley Quinn in the comics, fans have grown to love and sympathize with her as she tells her stories after ending her relationship with him.
The Joker in Assault on Arkham verbally abuses Harley, vocalizing his dominance and possessiveness over her, and here she wants to break free from the chains that latched onto her, showing its fans the Harley and Joker relationship that many people know and love. However, in the cinematic universe the Joker shows a sense of devotion to Harley, showing some type of protection and loyalty, the feeling of love mutual between the both of them, making it, in a sense, uncomfortable for many of its hardcore fans to watch.

One thing that Suicide Squad definitely missed out on was the tension between Deadshot and Captain Boomerang. The duo, even within the comics, were battling over dominance of the team, essentially who should be the leader of the squad. Suicide Squad showcased Captain Boomerang mostly as a slacker, who didn’t really showboat or attempt to impress as the better man with the better aim. Assault on Arkham definitely showcased this power struggle, making the action thriller animated film more humorous to watch.

One of the benefits of watching the animated universe to the cinematic one is that there is so much potential in the films, no limits on CGI or storylines because there is a lot of material and resources that the animation team could use. The Assault on Arkham definitely used a lot of their resources to create an interesting story that draws the audience into the film with all its action and jokes. However, it does not give a real concrete background for many of the characters, that Suicide Squad provided. Assault on Arkham services on audiences that are familiar with the squad members already, whereas Suicide Squad provided the background for all the members for an assumed audience coming to see the movie without any prior knowledge.
However, that became another flaw with the Suicide Squad. Since the cast had a bunch of characters, the background on each character took up a lot of the film’s movie, rushing the action towards the end. Along with brushing some of the characters’ background stories like Katana’s, whose story was spoken about in just a single line of the film. Arguably, most fans enjoyed the first half of the film that introduced all the members of the squad.

Ultimately in the end, both are good versions of the Suicide Squad. Suicide Squad takes a classic tale of the comics and helps introduces the DC cinematic universe. With the cinematic universe barely beginning with even more movies scheduled to be released up until with a Justice League sequel in 2020, Suicide Squad establishes some of the major villains of the DC universe. On the other end, Assault on Arkham, takes the beloved comic stories onto the bigger screens, not the big screens. With the animated series expanding even further with future films like Justice League Dark, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, and Batman and Harley Quinn, the characters tend to follow their comic versions.

Both are recommend watching!