Category: Film News

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Ben Mendelsohn stars in Star Citizen

 

In recent years video games have become the highest grossing entertainment industry.  In one weekend of sales, Fallout 4 generated more revenue than record breaking Hollywood blockbusters.

This financial growth has generated the interest of the media companies that control film and tv studios, to the extent that they now have their own video game divisions. It's not surprising that this has also led to contributions of known directors and actors in video games. Following his successful blockbuster, Avatar, James Cameron made a video game that takes place in that fictional world, but which expands the events in the story. Kiefer Sutherland voiced the protagonist in Hideo Kojima’s 5th installment of the Metal Gear Series. Kevin Spacey contributed his likeness, physical performance (achieved through motion capture technology), and voice to a character in an installment of the popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.

Slowly but steadily famous actors are trickling into the gaming industry. Until now, there’s only been single A-list actors contributing to a game. However,  The list includes Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Gillian Anderson, Sophie Wu, Liam Cunningham, among others. Even Ben Mendelsohn who starred in World Wide Motion Picture Corporation’s Amy, and who has had a fantastic year in his career, has a role in “Squadron 42”, though details about his character have not yet been released.

What is known about the game is that it is a sci-fi game that revolves around the Navy and their endless battle with a space race called the Vanduul. The game play will involve control of the Navy’s ships, and within the Squadron 42 storyline there will be cut-scenes that will display the likenesses of the several actors involved in the project. The game is scheduled to be released sometime in 2016.

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San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium

 

The 2015 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium is being held December 8-12 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. About 7,500 researchers and medical experts from 96 countries are expected to attend.

This event is designed for researchers, physicians, health professionals, patient advocates, and others who share the mission and interest of battling and conquering breast cancer.

The Symposium gives researchers the chance to present their latest findings, work with other scientists, and collaborate ideas.

Battling with breast cancer doesn’t just involve finding a cure, but it is also important to make a positive effort and difference in the lives of people affected by breast cancer.

In the World Wide Motion Picture film, The Lovely Patient, Leonard discovers the true importance in family and the community revolving around breast cancer. He struggles to help his mother get past breast cancer and meanwhile learns it is not limited to just females.

Large reflective international studies of male breast cancer are presented at the Symposium each year and are understudied because of its rarity. However, it is a mission for researchers to inform the public of the unique characters male breast cancer patients have compared to women.

Don’t forget to check out the heartfelt film, The Lovely Patient. Even though it might make you tear up, you will surely feel the genuine love and bond Leonard creates with different cancer patients.

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Happy Thanksgiving, watch Welcome to Eden!

 

Thanksgiving is a time for food and family, but for some of us we would rather be on our digital devices. I have found a perfect way to combine films with Thanksgiving. Most films about Thanksgiving are about the family disaster that happens during the meal. These movies are funny, but you’ve seen them hundreds of  times. What you really need is a film like Welcome to Eden. It has nothing to do with Thanksgiving exactly, it’s a documentary which will make you thankful for every mouthful of food you have eaten. That extra helping mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie will even more appreciated, after watching Welcome to Eden. This documentary focuses on a local urban farm in LA that is being forced to shut down. Many activists, including Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, and Daryl Hannah, were there to lend their support.

Thanksgiving is a time for sharing what you have with those less fortunate. There are 2.6 million children who will die as a direct result of hunger. The native Americans helped the colonists survive the long winter with food. The world has enough food to feed everyone, but it's unprofitable. Try something new this year and get everyone to watch Welcome to Eden, they will be better people for the watching.

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Happy International Aura Awareness Day!

 

November 22nd is International Aura Awareness Day, a day to help create awareness of the vital role auras have in our lives. Auras exist as an energy field around living things, and there are different types of auras depending on your emotional, or physical state. Many people are still skeptical about auras, which maybe why this holiday was first celebrated in 2002. Aura’s have been a part religions for hundreds of years. In Christianity, auras have been depicted in paintings as a gold halo around an individual's head, like in portraits of Jesus, above. There are many examples of the “holy halo” in the Bible; mostly it is referred to as a light. "The Lord is the source of my light and my safety, so whom shall I fear?" Psalm 26:1 In India, scholars of the Buddhist and Hindu religions think that there’s a link between Auras and Chakras and Kundalini energy. These are specific point on the body that energy flows through and to. There are seven Chakra points on the human body from the The Crown Centre, which is above the head to the Muladhara or Base Centre, at the base of the spine.

Aura’s come in many different colors that mean different things. For example, dark auras are an indication of physical, emotional or psychological problems and trauma. British occultist W.E Butler found that clairvoyant individuals can see and accurately diagnose a person's state of mind, and well being, by the color of their auras. Each color has a positive and negative aspect, for example a red positive aura indicates good health or good circulations, while a negative red aura means anger, anxiety, and/or fear. A positive blue aura means the individual is at peace, and spiritually open, and a negative blue aura is a fear of telling the truth. An orange positive aura signifies a perfectionist, while a negative one means you have a lack of ambition. Getting an accurate reading takes a trained seer and an openness to the spiritual energies. If you are interested about this subject you should watch the documentary Inspired by Angels, which goes into more detail on the angels and auras, distributed by World Wide Motion Pictures Corporation.

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Veteran’s Day : Citizen Soldier

 

Veteran’s Day is coming up and what better way to spend it than climbing on the couch with a loved one to watch a movie? Dean Stockwell stars in “Citizen Soldier,” a compassionate tale about a Vietnam veteran who learns to deal with his past and gains hope for his future.  If you’re looking for something less dramatic and bit more surreal, catch Stockwell, along with Michael Cera and John C. Reilly in their new film, “Entertainment,” following the life of an old and aging comedian looking to revamp his career. While it won’t teach you much about compassion, it’s sure to entertain. Each movie follows the protagonist in a crucial point in his life, one just returning from war and feeling suicidal, and the other at the end of his career and feeling lost. Despite their prickly pasts and bleak futures, each looks for some sort of change and with the help of family and friends, they may just do that.

Enjoy your Veteran's day, and thank a Veteran!

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Dia de Los Muertos

 

Halloween is over, but don’t put those candles out just quite yet, because November 1st is the beginning of the two-day Mexican holiday, Dia de los Muertos. A ritual that dates back 3000 years.

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a day to remember, honor, and celebrate the lives of lost loved ones.

Day one is dedicated to, and honors the lives of children who have died. It is known as, Dia de los Inocentes. Friends and family members decorate the graves of children who they have lost with white orchids.

Day two is Dia de los Muertos, and it honors adults by decorating their graves with bright orange marigolds.

Along with decorating graves, friends and families put out ofrendas, which are personal altars that honor a person. People put out flowers, candles, food, drinks, photos, and personal mementos of the person  being remembered.

It is a celebration of life festival that pays respect to the deceased. Much like the Chinese film, “The Nightingale.”

In China’s 2015 submission to the Academy awards, “The Nightingale” tells the story of a grandfather and granddaughter on a journey through China with a bird that they want to set free at the grandmother's grave to honor a promise that the grandfather made to the grandmother before she passed away.

“The Nightingale” is set to release in select US theaters on Friday, November 6th.