RIP Paul Walker, 1973 - 2013

Confirmed just over an hour ago, actor Paul Walker - likely best known as Brian O'Connor in the FAST & FURIOUS movies - died in a car crash in Los Angeles on Saturday, 11/30. He was a passenger, the car was a Porche belonging to a friend, they were apparently leaving a charity event. He was only 40 years old.


I doubt anyone would try and argue, even now, that Walker was one of the great actors or noteworthy movie-stars of his day. He was always one of those performers who seemed to have come up in the wrong era, and would've worked continuously in the 50s or early-70s when essentially looking like a walking Ken Doll and affecting unironic sincerity garaunteed you steady leading-man work (see: Alan Ladd.) By all accounts he was one of the good guys, and the FAST movies were among those that (eventually) knew exactly how to put him to good use - it's very possible that Vin Diesel's "exotic" pan-racial ubermensch character wouldn't have "popped" so notably in that franchise without Walker onhand as the "regular guy."

But he had an active career beyond that series, one that yielded as couple of bona-fide (if little-seen) classics that suggest he would've had a strong career heading into middle age as a character actor "handsome mature badass" type;" the unquestioned masterpiece of which was 2006's mind-bending pitch-black crime thriller RUNNING SCARED:



I'm also very partial to "EIGHT BELOW," where he played the main human component in what's effectively a wilderness-survival movie primarily starrting a group of dogs trapped alone at the South Pole.



He also had HOURS due out for mid-December, which if nothing else features a particularly novel twist on the "ticking clock" in the form of a baby hooked up to a life-support device that needs to be manually re-charged once every three minutes:



He was also active advocate for the preservation of endangered shark species, and operated the humanitarian aid group Reach Out World Wide.

Costume Players

When Ami and her step-brother, Hiroshi embrace one another in bed, the phone rings; telling them of their parents’ death. A year later, Ami lives with Hiroshi and his wife, Mariko. Seemingly, they look happy but there is undeniable tension between Ami and Mariko. One day, Mariko gets mad at Ami for always coming into their bedroom without permission. Losing her temper, Ami blurts out that she has a relationship with Hiroshi…

Breath of A Woman - NO Subs

Escape to The Movies: FROZEN

This is the year when something genuinely subversive got made in the form of a Disney Princess(TM) movie.

Spoiler-free review HERE (and embedded below.)

And here's where we start spilling ink on all those BIG SPOILERS:

The Escapist : Escape to the Movies : Frozen

All Three AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Villains (Possibly) Revealed...

...and do I even need to say it?

I'm putting the actual image (which if fake is a pretty good fake scooped from Twitter by ComicBookMovie) after the jump, because one of the three is still not "officially" announced even if it's the least surprising thing possible. Suffice it to say, sanding The Rhino and Electro - two of the most interestingly-designed iconic Spider-Man villains, easily - down to "Man In Hoodie" and "Boring Robot" is kind of an accomplishment in and of itself. "Different" is one thing - this is just boring.

Hit the jump for the "spoiler"...

Part of why I'm disinclined to think of this as a fake is the work that'd have to go into it: Make the fake image, print it out onto parchment-style poster and hang it in a plausible location.

In this case, the wallpaper screams "hotel conference room," which would suggest this was probably snapped at a merchandising meetup - i.e. "here's what you'll be putting onto lunchboxes and party-plates." Therefore, it's possible for this to be a "real" poster but not a final poster. I imagine it's pretty close, though.

The less said about Electro the better, at this point. I know that Rhino is here being drawn from Ultimate Marvel's R.H.I.N.O. concept... and I don't like it here, either. It really is amazing that the entire "Ultimate" experiment didn't yield a single not-shit new idea outside of the Samuel L. Jackson gag. Speaking of which, it looks like you can see a closer shot of Green Goblin's face on the billboard/screen in the upper right-hand corner - the gossip on this one is that A.) it's actually Harry Osborn who becomes the Goblin this time, and B.) this will be "Ultimate" Green Goblin - who's basically a less-interesting version of The Abomination.

Battle of the Year

Battle of the Year attracts all the best teams from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years. Dante enlists Blake to assemble a team of the best dancers and bring the Trophy back to America where it started.

The Expatriate

An ex-CIA agent and his estranged daughter are forced on the run when his employers mark them both for termination as part of a wide-reaching international conspiracy.

The Cold Light of Day

After his family is kidnapped during their sailing trip in Spain, a young Wall Street trader is confronted by the people responsible: intelligence agents looking to recover a mysterious briefcase.

Final Destination 2

When Kimberly has a violent premonition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few others meant to die, safe...Or are they? The survivors mysteriously start dying and it's up to Kimberly to stop it before she's next.

Final Destination 3

In this third installment of the Final Destination series, a student's premonition of a deadly rollercoaster ride saves her life and a lucky few, but not from death itself which seeks out those who escaped their fate.

Dorian Grey

A corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty eternally, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.

The Grey

After their plane crashes in Alaska, six oil workers are led by a skilled huntsman to survival, but a pack of merciless wolves haunts their every step.

Thick as Thieves

A veteran thief recruits a younger crook to help him pull off one final job in order to repay his debt to the Russian mob.

Green Chair Conceptually - No Subs

Moon-hee is an attractive woman who runs an art academy after returning from the States. She lives apart from her husband who won't divorce her and enjoys a free relationship with In-gyu, her lover of long time and Professor Yoon whom she's been privately involved with for a long time.

The Other Guys

Two mismatched New York City detectives seize an opportunity to step up like the city's top cops whom they idolize -- only things don't quite go as planned.

Jobs

The story of Steve Jobs' ascension from college dropout into one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of the 20th century.

BIG PICTURE: "Dog, Gone"

So here's a thing that happened:

The Escapist : The Big Picture : Dog, Gone

I Spit on your Grave

A writer who is brutalized during her cabin retreat seeks revenge on her attackers, who left her for dead.

Triangle of Desire - No Subs

The Transporter 1

This film is about a man whose job is to deliver packages without asking any questions. Complications arise when he breaks those rules.

86th Academy Awards Live Action Shorts Shortlist

From 120 films that originally qualified in the category here are the 10 that advance in the voting process for an opportunity to get a nomination.

The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting at screenings held in Los Angeles. Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in December.

Only one really calls my attention for the images, Helium but know story will be hard to see; perhaps worth watching are the shorts from Canada and UK.

The 86th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 16, 2014, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Shorts in alphabetical order.

Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn't Me), Esteban Crespo, Spain,23 minutes

The short film tells the story of Paula y Kaney, two characters -an African child and a Spanish woman- who don´t have anything in common, but who will unite their lives due to a gunshot. Kaney is a child soldier from an African country. Along with many other children, he obeys a man´s order that has become a father, the General of the Rebel Army. Paula (Alejandra Lorente) is a Spanish volunteer worker who goes to Africa with his boyfriend, Juanjo (Gustavo Salmerón) with the goal of helping and rescuing the child soldier who live there. At a border post Paula and Kaney meet for the first time and that is the starting point of this dramatic story, in a fear, violence, terror and redemption scenario.




TRAILER Aquel no era yo from quieneslala on Vimeo.

Avant Que De Tout Perdre (Just before Losing Everything), Xavier Legrand, France, 29 minutes
Grand Prix winner at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.

A young boy pretends going to school and hides under a small bridge. A teenager in tears waits at a bus stop. A woman picks them up and drives them to the parking lot of a supermarket. They step out of the car. The woman takes a big trash bag out of the trunk. All three rush inside the store...

Making of

Tournage AQDTP from bertrand PICAULT on Vimeo.

Dva (Two), Mikey Nedimovic, Croatia and Germany, 26 minutes

Croatia, 1993. Two marksmen - Robert, a Croat, and Stojan, a Serb - wander aimlessly through the desolate countryside. When their paths unexpectedly cross, the enemies immediately try to shoot each other. The first 'click', however, is not coming from a gun barrel, but from the ground beneath them: the enemies stepped on a landmine at the same time. One foot in the grave, they are involuntarily bound together by common destiny - the death of one means the death of the other. But not just their apparent differences make it difficult for them to overcome their dilemma. Nature, too, offers some challenges to test the soldiers' solidarity and survival skills.

Helium, Anders Walter, Denmark, 23 minutes

"Helium" is the story of the young boy Alfred who is seriously ill in the hospital. He becomes good friends with the eccentric cleaning man Enzo and together they develop a magical fantasy world named Helium.



Kush, Shubhashish Bhutiani, India, 20 minutes
Winner of Best Short Film at 2013 Venice Film Festival Horizons Award.

Inspired by a true story: In 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards, causing anti-Sikh riots to erupt throughout the country. A teacher travelling back from a field trip with her class of 10-year-old students struggles to protect Kush, the only Sikh student in the class, from the growing violence around him.



Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitaa? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?), Selma Vilhunen, Finland, 7 minutes

A comedy about a chaotic morning in a family with kids, and a mother who is determined that it’s best to take care of everything herself.



Record/Play, Jesse Atlas, USA, 11 minutes

A malfunctioning cassette tape captures more than just audio.

Teaser

RECORD/PLAY: TEASER from jesse atlas on Vimeo.


RECORD/PLAY from jesse atlas on Vimeo.

Throat Song, Miranda de Pencier, Canada, 15 minutes

Throat Song takes place in the small Arctic town of Iqaluit, Nunavut. In the snowy and mystic landscape of the Arctic, Ippik, a young Inuit woman, is caught up in an abusive relationship with her alcoholic husband. When Ippik gets a job with the Department of Justice, prepping victims of crimes for court, she connects with others in her community who are also suffering from pains of abuse. In hearing their stories, Ippik finds the strength to leave her husband and discovers that her voice is not yet entirely diminished.



Tiger Boy, Gabriele Mainetti, Italy, 20 minutes
2013 Nastro d'argento Best Short Film winner.

Matteo, a nine years old kid, builds a mask identical to the one of his hero: a wrestler of a roman suburb called The Tiger. Once the mask is on, Matteo never wants to take it off. What simply appears as a tantrum is in reality a call for help that nobody seems to hear.



The Voorman Problem, Mark Gill, UK, 13 minutes

Doctor Williams is called in to examine the enigmatic Mr Voorman, a prisoner with a peculiar affliction: he believes he is a god. The Doctor must decide on the sanity of Mr Voorman - is he a faker or a lunatic? Diagnose him insane and they can ship him off to the asylum. But before making a decision, the Doctor has several questions in relation to Voorman's claims: why would a god choose to be straitjacketed in a prison, is there a way he can validate his boast and what has any of this got to do with Belgium?

SON OF GOD Trailer Will Make Your Morning

Remember that cheeseball Bible miniseries from Roma Downey and company that the press felt obliged to pretend was a really big deal earlier in the year? Well, they've re-cut and added scenes to the New Testament parts and are releasing the result as a theatrical feature called "SON OF GOD."

The trailer is pretty (unintentionally amusing) on it's own, just for the spectacle of seeing the first Jesus Movie where Christ is being played using all the same "off" verbal tics and affect that people have been using to play "Christ-like" figures (think Neo) for a couple of decades... but... that last line. Oh my... that last line...

Bekikang: Ang Nanay Kong Beki (2013)

Bekikang: Ang Nanay Kong Beki (2013)

Category by FTI Movie House:  Pinoy Movie

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Status Its Complicated

Manny (Jake Cuenca) and Jerry (Paolo Avelino) have been best buddies and housemates for a long time. Manny believes that love, just like sex, should be shared with as many partners as possible. On the other hand, Jerry thinks that he should wait it out for that special someone. They decide to swap lifestyles just to prove whose theory is right.

Nataly

People who have build a wall around themselves. A sculptor Jun-hyeok, an art critic Min-woo, and a modern dance student Mi-ran. A mystery melodrama about the love and secrets of the three people.

The Replicant

Scientists create a genetic clone of a serial killer in order to help catch the killer, teaming up with two cops.

Indecent Woman

Upon knowing that her husband purposefully exchanged her body for business, Lam lost her control and killed her husband and devised a plan to lure her husband business partner and murdered him as well, Lam had a good impression in Ka-Wah and in order to get him in hand, she forced his girlfriend to commit suicide but fortunately she escaped and when the police came they found Ka-Wah was tied up on the bed. Upon arrested Lam, it came to the end of a tragic story

That Was Unexpected

In case you were wondering what the #BRINGBACKBRIAN thing exploding social-media overnight was all about, FoxTV has released this official (unlisted) video (SPOILERS)



So... yeah. Prevailing theory seems to be that this is a long-ball gag to pay off next new episode or maybe some sort of lead-in to the rumored Family Guy feature film.

Godzilla

A enormous, radioactively mutated lizard runs rampant on the island of Manhattan

Manny Pacquiao and Brandon Rios' Full Fight (November 23, 2013) REPLAY

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Pacquiao vs Rios Live stream

Brown Sugar - No subtitles

Kick Ass 2

The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows.