Five Reasons We Love Denzel Washington

One of the year's most anticipated films is American Gangster and it features two of cinema's most respected actors. While Russell Crowe gets a ton of deserved credit as an actor, he doesn't get the love. That's Denzel's department. Here's why:1.) His non-cry cry
In almost every Denzel movie he has a scene where he is trying like hell not to cry. His face turns to stone and he starts a staring contest with someone or something. But eventually it's Niagara Falls. He never oversells the cry (unlike this guy). This is a D.W. special right here.

2.) He's not afraid to switch it up
I think Denzel is really underrated in this regard. When you really look at the roles on his resume, he's played a corrupt cop, a (possibly) lunatic conspiracy theorist, a homophobic lawyer and an angel, not to mention a little Shakespeare. I never really catch myself saying, "Oh, it's Denzel doing another one of his (fill in the blank) roles." He just chooses smart projects and he's a reliable box office force because of it.

3.) He never gets DUIs
It's refreshing to see a media figure stay clear of trouble. You never hear so much as a whisper about Denzel's personal life and that's how I like it. He keeps his nose clean. While some other guys are beating up cameramen, Denzel's hitting up a crossword puzzle in his den somewhere. Although, I understand he did make a ruckus at one of his restaurants (Warning: foul language). I should also note that I will here forthwith refer to Mr. Washington as "Zel."

4.) He only works with the best directors
For the most part, 'Zel is pretty savvy when it comes to which directors to work with. Strong directors and good screenplays are key to any actor's career. Just consider some of the directors he's gotten in front of the camera for: Spike Lee, Jonathan Demme, Alan J. Pakula, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, Edward Zwick and lest we forget, himself.

5.) Oh yeah ... he's a great actor!
I once watched an interview with one Thomas Jeffrey Hanks where he said 'Zel was one of the best actors he's ever seen and that he steals from him every chance he gets. Well, hell, if Tom Hanks thinks he's great...

Seriously, can you think of one 'Zel movie you walked out of where you were like, "Man, he really killed that entire thing for me." Usually, it's quite the opposite. Wasn't Out of Time a lot less of a drag because he was the one walking you through the generic plot? Didn't he add real legitimacy to Remember the Titans? Yeah, it's a good sports flick but you know everyone was stepping up their game because 'Zel was on set. He kept that house in order, I think. He even makes He Got Game watchable. It's one of Spike Lee's most seriously flawed movies but it's always been one of my favorite performances by the guy (that one-on-one basketball scene at the end is one of my favorite scenes in like any movie, uh, ever).

I didn't even mention his five Oscar nominations, two wins, 15(!) Image Award nominations and 11(!) wins. Jeez. I wonder if he still shows up to the Image Award ceremonies. How many times can you thank the Image Award people for the same thing? Is it a drag? Does he ever feel like going Training Day-'Zel on them? Nah, of course you don't, 'Zel. You're too classy for that. And that's why we love you.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Surefire Ways to Get a Limited Release

So you've made yourself a fine little film. Maybe you made it on a small budget, or maybe just small in Hollywood terms – something like $15-20 million, the money you would find under the cushions of Michael Bay's couch. Either way, without a major financial investment from the studio, some bean counter has weighed out the cost verses both the best and worst case scenarios at the box office. And now they're talking about either making it direct to DVD or perhaps giving you a limited release. How did this happen?When you were shooting this movie you dreamed of the day it would debut on over 2,000 screens. You smiled thinking of the film playing down the street from your mom's house, across from your old high school, and at the Cineplex in the mall where the girl who wouldn't give you the time of day from homeroom now manages the Lane Bryant. Now it looks like at best you'll have an art house run in New York City, Los Angeles and maybe, just maybe, if you're a good little boy, they'll play it in Chicago so Roger Ebert can watch it. Maybe.

What went wrong? Well my friend, here are three signs your movie is going into limited release.

1.) No explosions
Did you remember to blow something up? And I mean blow something up real good? No? Then there's a good chance you're getting limited release. If there weren't explosions did you put ghosts? Pirates? Pirate ghosts? Hot car chases? Robots? Aliens? Alien robots that transform into hot cars and chase each other? No? Oh dude, no wonder. You've taken your first step towards limited release.

2) Maggie Gyllenhaal
Did you cast Maggie Gyllenhaal? Did you cast Maggie Gyllenhaal? Come on, fess up. You did? Okay, strike number two. Maggie Gyllenhaal is the queen of limited release. I swear there's a limited release shrine to her somewhere in New York complete with a statue that tourists walk by and wonder aloud who the hell Maggie Gi-len-Hale is. New Yorkers love her, but to everyone else she's the sister to that guy that looks like Spider-Man. But what if you didn't cast Maggs? Did you cast Parker Posey? Zooey Deschanel? Or any iteration thereof? If Reese and Angelina passed and you turned to one of these girls to carry your film, prepare for the art house run, my friend.

3.) Your movie is really, really good
The third and final nail in the coffin is that your film is really a damn good movie. And the studio thinks it is too good. They're afraid audiences won't get it, that it will fly over their heads. If the words "deep," "meaningful," "profound" or "life affirming" get used anywhere near your film, you are toast. Critics will laud and praise your movie. But your mom's friends will have never heard of it. It won't play across from your old high school. And that manager of the Lane Bryant will pay her $8 to see The Heartbreak Kid. Again.

Really? One explosion would have killed you?

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

The Russell Crowe Royal Rumble

Here’s one thing I know for sure: If I ever found myself around Russell Crowe, who stars in this week’s American Gangster, the last thing I’d want to do is piss the guy off. He’s kind of a bad ass, but, then again, so are most of the characters he plays. However, as quick as I might run like a girl from these on-screen personas, I can pretty much bet most of them wouldn’t run from each other. This makes me wonder what a royal rumble between all of these characters would be like…“Welcome to the Russell Crowe Royal Rumble Explosion Extravaganza! Today, we’ve used the same nanotech synthetic organism technology that brought Crowe’s SID 6.7 to life in the abysmally laughable Virtuosity to place in the squared circle several of Crowe’s other characters – along with their natural armaments, whatever those might be. Oh, and it looks like things are about to get started.

“The combatants, perhaps in some effort to play fair, are almost all dividing into pairs with similar styles of fighting. There’s Cort, quite a quick-draw in Sam Raimi’s cheesy Western, The Quick and the Dead, facing off against the sadistic Ben Wade from 3:10 to Yuma, while LA Confidential’s angry cop Bud White is already pounding his fists into Cinderella Man Jim Braddock’s hard head.

“Jesus, did you see that at home? Roman Gladiator Maximus just hacked clean through Jack Aubrey’s left arm at the elbow, even though the Master and Commander sea captain, looking quite out of place on land, is treating it only as a flesh wound. These two are military geniuses, but I have to say my money is on Maximus’ experience with edged weapons.

“Looks like Wade is getting anxious out there, folks. He can’t get a read on Cort, who won’t even stand ready to draw his six-shooter. Cort has found God and doesn’t seem to want to fight, but Wade – a thug who likes to imagine himself as an artist, kind of like Crowe – knows how fast the preacher is. Oh, wait, Wade has gone and drawn on Cort and, Christ, Cort’s outdrawn him. Cort has outdrawn him! Check out the playback, which you can thank Raimi for; we can see the wound now, a smoking hole in Wade’s skull, through which we can see Cort on the other side.

“Meanwhile, Aubrey is rolling around on the mat, as limbless as Johnny after he got his gun or the Black Knight in Monty Python’s The Holy Grail. Maximus has made minced meat of the land-locked sailor.

“On the other side of the ring, White has been reduced to a bloody pulp after Braddock, perhaps remembering what he’s fighting for – is it his family, or the Irish poor? – has found his second wind. As White goes down, though, Maximus is on him and, yep, this one’s all over for Braddock, folks. Just like a Roman to bring a sword to a fist fight.

“Cort, amazingly enough, is down, too. It’s A Good Year for whiny stock trader Max Skinner who’s beaten the cowboy’s skull in with his Blackberry and a bottle of 1964 Pinot Grigio from his uncle’s vineyard. That victory proves short-lived, though, since Maximus, a big proponent for Italian wines over French, decapitates him while crossing the ring to face down his only remaining opponent – John Nash from A Beautiful Mind.

“‘What are you waiting for?’ Maximus asks, waving his sword about. ‘Face me.’

“ ‘My friends think you’re a Soviet spy,’ Nash mutters.

“‘I don’t see an friends. What are you, crazy?’

“‘I see mathematical equations everywhere.’

“‘By God, you are crazy.’

“Look at that grin on Nash’s face. ‘The equations all add up,’ he says. ‘The answer is: I’m going to kick your ass with a little help from my friends.’

“I don’t know what’s happening, folks, but Maximus is being hit from all sides. I think this means that the schizophrenic Nash did indeed bring his friends and they’re getting the best of the gladiator. And, and, oh God, folks, Maximus hass gone down. He’s on his back – and Nash is on top of him, shoving his pocket protector down the gladiator’s throat. Maximus is choking, he’s choking, look at the way his leg is kicking, folks.

“Wait, wait, he’s getting still. He’s blue. I think he’s…he’s…yes, he’s dead, folks. Nash and his imaginary friends have kicked Maximus’ ass. This means that, of all of Russell Crowe’s many ass-kicking characters, it’s ultimately the vast intellect of mathematician Nash that couldn’t be beaten by crude weapons and firearms. John Nash is Crowe’s most ass-kickingest character!”

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Designer Says Jennifer Lopez Is Pregnant

Roberto Cavalli has confirmed, perhaps inadvertently, that Jennifer Lopez is pregnant. Asked what types of clothing he designs for celebrities, the fashion designer told People magazine: "Well Jennifer Lopez, at this moment, she requests something very special because she is waiting for the baby." "It is so complicated because every week she is getting bigger," Cavalli said in a story posted Tuesday on the magazine's Web site.

Cavalli, known for his attention-getting designs, created free-flowing outfits for Lopez, who has been on tour with her husband, Marc Anthony.

His comment came after weeks of speculation, tabloid baby-bump pictures and raised eyebrows. Lopez, 39, has declined comment.

A telephone message left Wednesday for her publicist, Nancy Ryder, wasn't immediately returned.

"The thing about Jennifer Lopez, she is a singer, she is a dancer," Cavalli said. "Most of the time when I prepare something for the tour, the performer, they want something very soft so they can dance and so they can move free."

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Rowling Sues to Block Harry Potter Book

NEW YORK Author J.K. Rowling and the maker of the "Harry Potter" films are suing a small publisher in Michigan over its plans to release a book version of a popular Web site dedicated to the boy wizard.

The suit, filed Wednesday by the author and Warner Bros. in federal court in Manhattan, claims that RDR Books will infringe on Rowling's intellectual property rights if it goes ahead with its plan to publish the 400-page "Harry Potter Lexicon" on Nov. 28.

According to the publisher, the book contains much of the same material already found on http://www.hp-lexicon.org, a fan-created collection of essays and encyclopedic material on the Harry Potter universe, including lists of spells and potions found in the books, a catalog of magical creatures, and even a "who's who in the wizarding world."

In the past, Rowling has expressed support for such fan-driven efforts and has singled out the Harry Potter Lexicon Web site and its editor, Steve Vander Ark, for high praise.

But in the lawsuit filed on Halloween Rowling claimed that the print version of the Lexicon would improperly interfere with her plans to write her own definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia, one that would include new material not in the novels.

"I cannot, therefore, approve of 'companion books' or 'encyclopedias' that seek to pre-empt my definitive Potter reference book for their authors' own personal gain," Rowling said in a statement, released by Warner Brothers.

RDR Books Publisher Roger Rapoport said the suit dismayed him but vowed that he wouldn't allow it to block plans to release the Lexicon next month.

He described the book as a "critical reference work" and dismissed any notion that it could compete with any official encyclopedia written by Rowling.

Rapoport said Vander Ark was a middle school librarian who started the Web site in his spare time in 2000, then watched its popularity grow to the point where Rowling herself gave it a Fan Site Award in 2004.

"He cannot understand why she wouldn't be supportive now," Rapoport said.

Warner Bros. has also involved Vander Ark in its Potter marketing campaigns in the past. An interview with Vander Ark is even slated to be included in the special features section of the next Harry Potter DVD, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

An e-mail seeking comment that was sent to Vander Ark at an address provided on the Web site was not immediately returned.

The lawsuit doesn't seek action against the Web version of the Lexicon, but criticizes it for numerous sections that it said "regurgitate Ms. Rowling's original creative expression with minimal additional commentary."

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Swanson Skates on Assault Charge

"Skating with Celebrities" star Kristy Swanson got her assault charge put on ice.

It was withdrawn Wednesday in the Ontario Court of Justice at the request of a prosecutor, according to the Crown attorney's office and Swanson's lawyer.

"The Crown and I worked together in the best of all parties to resolve the matter," Swanson attorney Constance Baran-Gerez said.

"I am thrilled and excited that the charge has been dropped," Swanson said. "This never should have happened and our family can move on."

Assistant Crown Attorney Jennifer Ferguson said through a spokeswoman that she could not comment on the case.

The case stemmed from a confrontation between Swanson and the ex-wife of her boyfriend and skating partner, Olympic medalist and former world champion pairs skater Lloyd Eisler. Swanson, a 37-year-old former Playboy model who starred in the 1992 film "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," was arrested in June in Kingston, Ontario. She was charged with assaulting Marcia O'Brien, Eisler's ex-wife.

At the time, Swanson claimed she was the victim. Swanson said she had accompanied Eisler on a scheduled visit to see his two young children when O'Brien attacked her in front of the children, leaving her with a bruised knee and a scratched arm.

No charges were filed against O'Brien.

Eisler, a 44-year-old former world champion pairs skater, met Swanson last year on the Fox show. He eventually left his pregnant wife. He has a baby boy with Swanson.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Review: Bee Movie Has Familiar Buzz

Following "Antz," "A Bug's Life" "Flushed Away" and this summer's "Ratatouille," "Bee Movie" is yet another animated flick with a starry cast in which a creature that ordinarily would seem pesky is rendered as not just harmless but even lovable and idiosyncratically human.

Enough already.

There is zero life left in this concept, even if it does spring this time from the fertile mind and absurd sensibility of Jerry Seinfeld.

The comic co-wrote, co-produced and stars in this colorful jaunt as a bee named Barry, who dares to leave the tradition and rigidity of New Hive City for the vast unknown of the outside world specifically, the corner of 67th and Columbus on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Seinfeld's longtime stomping grounds on TV and in real life.

Sound familiar? This DreamWorks Animation release shares almost the same premise as Pixar's "Ratatouille," in which Remy the rat left the safety and comfort of hiding with his family and picking through trash to become a gourmet chef in Paris. It's an unfortunate coincidence, because clearly both films were years in the making. But the similarity serves as a reminder of the superiority of Pixar's animated offerings their substance, character development and heart.

What distinguishes "Bee Movie" somewhat is that it's flooded with Seinfeld's sense of humor his trademark observations on the ridiculous minutiae of our daily lives. That should keep his fans, and adults in general, relatively entertained. There are some cute lines here and there (and some amusing cameos from Sting, Ray Liotta and Larry King) but because "Bee Movie" is also for kids who have never been the target audience for "Seinfeld" bee puns all too often prevail.

Barry, a recent college graduate, could go work for the Honex Corp. alongside his nebbishy best friend, Adam (Matthew Broderick), making honey as bees have for millions of years. In a highly detailed set-up sequence, he learns he could be a heater, cooler, crud picker or stirrer like his dad (Barry Levinson; Kathy Bates does the voice of Barry's mom).

"Choose carefully, because you'll stay in the job that you pick for the rest of your life," he's warned, a dig at corporate culture and the closest "Bee Movie" comes to having a point. (Seinfeld concocted the script with Spike Feresten and Andy Robin, former writers on his show, as well as Barry Marder, author of the "Letters From a Nut" books. Simon J. Smith and Steve Heckner provide the speedy direction.)

Instead of settling into a cubicle, Barry boldly goes on a flight with the tough-guy pollen jocks, the only ones allowed outside the hive, who collect nectar and pollinate flowers and look cool in their aviator sunglasses.

After zipping through Central Park, getting stuck to a ball in a tennis match and dodging raindrops in the film's most thrilling sequence, he meets and falls for a kindhearted florist named Vanessa (Renee Zellweger), who spares him from being squished on the coffee table by her meathead boyfriend (voiceover veteran Patrick Warburton, who also played Elaine's boyfriend Puddy on "Seinfeld").

Even though rule No. 1 of bee existence is never to talk to humans, Barry wants to thank Vanessa for saving his life. Vanessa not only talks back, she befriends him (and the humans' expressions are distractingly jerky and artificial compared to the bees' more lifelike characterizations.) Then she helps him sue the entire human race after a trip to the grocery store provides the shocking revelation that people are stealing the bees' honey, putting it in jars and selling it.

There is an actual trial (John Goodman plays the bloviating defense attorney; Oprah Winfrey lends her voice as the judge) with jurors and TV news coverage and Barry taking notes on a tiny legal pad. And this is where the movie takes an irretrievably silly turn, even for Seinfeld's peculiar universe.

"Bee Movie," a DreamWorks Animation release, is rated PG for mild suggestive humor. Running time: 90 minutes. Two stars out of four.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com