27th April 2012 Dear Take the Flour Back, We have learned that you are planning to attack our research test site on 27th May. Please read the following in the spirit of openness and dialogue – we know we cannot stop you from taking the action you plan, nor would we wish to see force used against you. Therefore we can only appeal to your consciences, and ask you to reconsider before it is too late,… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : RichardDawkins.net Discovery Date : 02/05/2012 01:00 Number of articles : 2
In movie terms, Jason Statham is a man without a country, an actor who fits so conveniently into a certain kind of movie that almost no one can think of him any other way. Where, oh where, can he go from here? Statham is the go-to guy for action movies that require an appealing, thoughtful protagonist who looks great shirtless, and Boaz Yakin ’s Safe is, unfortunately, just more of the same, or perhaps even less of the same. It has neither the Red Bull–fueled crudeness of Crank nor the Frenchified lunatic vitality of the Transporter movies; it’s not even as cheaply entertaining as the generic hit-man retread The Mechanic . Safe shows Statham comfortably treading water, proving all the things he no longer needs to prove – chiefly, that he’s a terrific action performer who moves with more grace than pretty much anyone else in the film world. The picture fails to challenge him. Safe is safer than safe – it’s so relentlessly kinetic that it ends up being dull. Statham plays former New York cop and sometime cage fighter Luke Wright, a guy who first gets on the wrong side of the Russian mob and then pisses off the Triads to boot. Somewhere in there, Luke’s old cop pals get in on the action too: They’re corrupt as hell, and when they finally get a hold of him, they’re all too eager to find ways to dispose of him. All three groups have a stake in one prized piece of property, who happens to be a person: Mei (Catherine Chan) is a child math prodigy who can hold streams of numbers in her head – business figures, safe combinations and the like – thus doing away with all those pesky paper trails. Mei has been whisked away from her home in China and pressed into service by the Triads as a kind of one-person bookkeeping service. Everyone wants the information she has stored in her head, which means she needs to be protected. And you’d think that Statham’s Luke, with his powerhouse brawn, dolphinlike agility and rough-soft kitten’s tongue of a voice, would be just the guy to do it. And he is, sort of. But Safe – written and directed by Boaz Yakin – offers too much mindless gunplay and indiscriminate roughhousing and not enough Statham, even though he’s most certainly the star. The action is ostensibly the movie’s reason for being, yet it’s so chopped up and dizzying it’s practically a distraction, and it pushes the movie into a strange state of inertia. What’s more, the action isn’t cleanly shot or edited – it’s almost impossible to tell who’s coming from where, which, sadly, is pretty much the standard in all contemporary action movies. But it’s a double disappointment given that Statham is such a charismatic star, both in terms of emotional subtlety and in the way his body moves. He has a few astonishing scenes, one in which he shows the deepest kind of sorrow without saying a word. Yakin – who has worked as both a screenwriter ( Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ) and a director ( Remember the Titans , A Price Above Rubies ) clearly knows what Statham is capable of. So why doesn’t he use this movie to blast open more opportunities for this sorely underchallenged actor? Your guess is as good as mine. Statham does have a few wonderful scenes with Chan, who may not be the most relaxed child actor but who nonetheless has a bright, sparkplug intensity. When Luke pumps her for information, Mei grudgingly complies. “Now you know everything. Happiness for you?” she shoots back bitterly, and in that moment you recognize that even though she’s tiny and cute, she’s a much tougher customer than Statham’s Luke is. He’s taken aback by her precociousness and her perceptiveness, but you can see he respects her, too. That’s the thing about Statham: He has the face of a careful listener, to the extent that his gloriously sculpted body almost seems like an afterthought. The picture could use more scenes like that one, although perhaps Yakin didn’t want to make a retread of Luc Besson’s crazy-wonderful Léon , which paired Jean Reno’s hitman with the littlest hitgal, played by an astonishingly young Natalie Portman. But Safe would be so much better if it followed Léon ’s lead, at least in terms of giving Statham a multidimensional character to play. Statham does his damnedest, but mostly, he just looks a little weary. Those of us who love Jason Statham will just have to wait until someone figures out what the heck to do with him. (So far, Roger Donaldson has come the closest, with his 2008 heist thriller The Bank Job .) For now, Safe is all we’ve got, and you can bet it’s not taking any risks. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
If the Tremor brothers were slightly less-deranged they might be the Southern-fried antiheroes of The Baytown Disco , whose trailer reveals a startling lack of disco and copious amounts of gun-battling, yee-hawing, and evil Billy Bob Thornton . (Oh, evil Billy Bob! How I love you.) Watch as Eva Longoria taps the trio of redneck bros to kidnap her godson — and in the process, invite road warriors, Thornton’s “whore assassins,” and Stefan from The Vampire Diaries to hunt them down — in Baytown Disco ‘s Smokin’ Aces -meets- Gigli trailer. The Oodie brothers are played by Clayne Crawford (who actually battled the Tremor bros. in the direct-to-video sequel Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball ), Daniel Cudmore ( Twilight , X-Men ), and Travis Fimmel; The “Southern whip-ass extravaganza” is directed by Barry Battles from his Black List ’09 script with Griffin Hood and also stars Andre Braugher (!), Meagan Good, Michael Rapaport, Paul Wesley, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Zoe Bell, and Agnes Brucker. The synopsis: The rousing rebel spirit of a family of Southern thugs takes off at breakneck speed in “The Baytown Disco” — a wickedly playful, high-velocity action-comedy in which three infamously ruthless Alabama brothers find themselves on the wrong side of crooked cops, relentless Feds, mad mobsters, road pirates, tomahawk-wielding bikers, tricky femme fatales and an unforgettable cast of characters as colorful as they are lethal when they finally try to do a single good deed. Academy Award® winner Billy Bob Thornton and Golden Globe winner Eva Longoria headline this wildly explosive, yet ultimately moving, tale of honor breaking out among thieves with madcap results. It all starts when the fetching Celeste (Longoria) has a falling out with her nefarious ex-husband Carlos (Thornton) who kidnaps her beloved son, Rob (Thomas Brodie Sangster). Knowing her ex can be a maniacal psychopath, not to mention a bit trigger-happy, she turns for help to the most bad-ass, lawless hit-man trio in Alabama: the Oodie Brothers. Ringleader Brick (Clayne Crawford, “24,” “The Glades”), mute wrestling phenom Lincoln (Daniel Cudmore, “The Twilight Saga”), and the baby of the brothers, the kick-ass G.I. McQueen (Travis Fimmel, “The Beast”) are known for being mean as a bag of rattlesnakes –and measly kidnap rescues are not on their menu of services. But when Brick is unexpectedly moved by Celeste’s plight, what he thinks is going to be an easy smash-and-grab job turns out to be the most hair-raising and hilariously intense adventure of his and his brothers’ harrowing careers. Suddenly the Oodies have their hometown Sheriff (Andre Braugher, “Men of a Certain Age,” “Salt”), in a tangle; a pesky DEA Agent (Paul Wesley, “Vampire Diaries”) on their trail, and Carlos and his heinous assortment of henchman out for their hides. With no one quite who or what they seem, they are headed for a showdown — and a shot at redemption — they never saw coming. The Baytown Disco is seeking distribution, release TBA.
‘Joe had a lot of fun working with Bruce on the action scenes,’ Rian Johnson tells MTV News of Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing a young Bruce Willis. By Kara Warner Joseph Gordon-Levitt in “Looper” Photo: Sony Thanks to the highly anticipated debut of the “Looper” teaser trailer Thursday, there is almost two minutes of brand-new, action-packed footage to overanalyze and dissect. We’ve already highlighted five key scenes to watch out for in the teaser, and now, MTV News is proud to bring you exclusive expert commentary from the film’s writer/director, Rian Johnson. Johnson was visibly excited for fans to see the teaser, particularly the first glimpses of the gritty future reality of the film’s setting and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt in action as a young Bruce Willis . “The beginning here is just setting up the premise of the Loopers and what they do, which is the same in the movie,” Johnson explained. “We take some time to get you into the world. You can kind of tell from the look of it that the world is a very grounded science-fiction world; it’s not a big CG world. We did lots of practical stuff and tried to keep it feeling very real and near-future.” With regard to Gordon-Levitt’s makeup to look like Willis, Johnson said, although he looks impressive in the teaser, he can’t wait for fans to see the “Dark Knight Rises” actor’s physical performance in the finished film. “What I’m really excited about is for people to see Joe’s performance in it, because if you just see a photo or quick clips in a teaser like this, the likeness doesn’t come across as well, but when you see Joe’s performance, I think it really hits.” Johnson also hinted that, despite the blink-and-you-miss-it appearance of co-star Emily Blunt, there is more to her role than you think. “You see a quick clip of Emily Blunt, [but] there’s a whole sequence where she had to do some action work and she just kinda kicked ass. I’m excited for people to see it,” Johnson said. “Emily really held her own when it was time to get out the shotgun and do some blasting.” The “Brick” director went on to say that he just had a plain old good time making the film, particularly the action sequences, for which veteran star Willis proved to be a very key component. “It was fun for me. You see flashes of a lot of action in the movie, and this is the first time I’ve been able to do it on that scale, which is really fun, especially working with a veteran like Bruce,” Johnson said. “Joe had a lot of fun working with Bruce on the action scenes. Bruce kind of showed us the ropes. It was pretty awesome.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Looper.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos Get Ready For ‘Looper’ Related Photos Looper Trailer: Five Key Scenes
Much to every celebrity's chagrin, “Punk'd” is back. This time around Hollywood's A-listers are turning on each other as Ashton Kutcher relinquishes his role as Prank King to a different celeb every week. Justin Bieber hosted … Read this article: Five Action Heroes Justin Bieber Should Punk
‘He just had to cancel a couple of shows just so he could get right,’ Royce da 5’9″ tells MTV News in Austin, Texas before SXSW Shady showcase. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Nadeska Alexis Yelawolf Photo: Joey Foley/ Getty Images There’s a Shady party scheduled to go down at SXSW on Friday night (March 16), but sadly Yelawolf will not be performing with his labelmates 50 Cent and Slaughterhouse . The Gadsden, Alabama, MC was hospitalized March 2 with an injury to his spleen after a stage-diving accident in Madison, Wisconsin. “I have [spoken] to him, I spoke to him, I called him and checked on him. I think he stage-dove or something like that,” Royce da 5’9″ told MTV News of Yela’s status when we caught up with the MC in Austin, Texas. “I don’t know if people know this because Yelawolf is such a mild-mannered, laid-back kinda guy, but he gets real rowdy onstage and he doesn’t mind putting his physical health in danger as well as the fans’, which makes for a greater show.” No doubt, Yela has earned a reputation as an energetic performer, mixing both rap and punk-rock elements into his stage show. Unfortunately, after the Wisconsin show, doctors recommended he cancel a number of dates, including a concert at Saint Andrew’s Hall in label boss Eminem’s native Detroit and, of course, tonight’s SXSW showcase. Not that the Shady 2.0 show will be without highlights. 50 Cent is set to perform his 2003 classic debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, in its entirety and Slaughterhouse will take the stage in what is expected to be a lyrical free-for-all. Big K.R.I.T., Schoolboy Q, Action Bronson and XXL freshman Don Trip are also scheduled to hit the stage. As far as Catfish Billy, Royce expects his buddy to make a full recovery. “He’s well, he’s doing well,” he said, “He just had to cancel a couple of shows just so he could get right.” SXSW is under way in Austin, Texas, and MTV News has you covered with all of the action. From the Woodies on March 15 to behind-the-scenes scoop on festival showcases from Lil Wayne, T.I., 50 Cent and many more, stick with us for unprecedented access! Related Artists YelaWolf Royce Da 5’9″
Mac Miller, Steve Aoki, Fun. and more will take the stage starting at 2 p.m. ET leading up to the awards show. By MTV News staff Mac Miller Photo: Getty Images You may not have made it down to rock and roll spring break in Austin, Texas, for the SXSW festival, but that doesn’t mean you can’t catch all the action at the inaugural mtvU Woodies Awards Festival. Head over to woodies.mtvu.com right now to catch all the action from a huge roster of performers including A$AP Rocky, Machine Gun Kelly, Dev, Chiddy Bang, Fun. and many more. The tacos may have to come from Trader Joe’s, but the music will be international, including show-opening English sensation Ed Sheeran, as well as Kimbra, blues ripper Gary Clark Jr., Of Verona, party starter Wallpaper., Imagine Dragons and Walk the Moon. The night will get a proper cap-off with the all-star lineup slated to take the stage for the big event starting at 8 p.m. CT. That’s when Mac Miller , Santigold and Steve Aoki will rock the Woodie Awards . The best moments from the Woodies will be featured in a 30-minute special airing on MTV and mtvU at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday. Here’s the schedule of performers for the Woodies Fest:
This week at SXSW Movieline caught up with director Gareth Evans, whose Indonesian martial arts actioner The Raid: Redemption is set to knock your socks off later this month courtesy of Sony Classics. (Haven’t heard of the martial arts form silat? You will, come March 23.) With his film steadily collecting kudos left and right, Evans is already thinking ahead to his Raid sequel (working title: Berandal ), and an insane, dangerous-sounding four-on-one car fight he plans on working into the mix. First up, though, is the U.S. remake currently in the works at Screen Gems. The original film worked with the unique (and relatively new to most audiences) martial arts form silat , employed dynamically in a fairly basic setup: A SWAT team trapped inside a tenement building locked down by a vicious gangster must fight their way out. The American remake will build on the elements of The Raid , with Evans on hand as executive producer and Raid stars/fight choreographers Iko Uwais (who plays hero Rama) and Yayan Ruhian (who steals scenes as the sadistic Mad Dog) working on the remake’s fight choreography. “There will be elements of silat in there, which is kind of cool because there’s a respect for the original,” Evans said. “And I’m curious because the thing is yes, silat is an Indonesian martial art, but it’s practiced all over the world. There are schools of silat in London, there are schools of silat in America, there are schools of silat in France, and they have international championships as well. So there are a lot of people that know silat around the world, so it’s not a far-fetched idea that someone in America could know silat, the same way that it’s not far-fetched for a guy in America to know kung fu or muy thai.” While screenwriter Brad Inglesby has been recruited to script the remake, a director has yet to be found. Whoever it is, Evans isn’t worried about passing the reins to another filmmaker’s vision. “For me it’s like this: the storyline and the central concept is streamlined,” he explained. “It’s a very straightforward action film. So there’s room for improvement, and I think that director, whoever it is, has to be given the kind of creative freedom to push it in whatever direction he wants to push it and not have somebody standing over his shoulder saying, ‘You can’t do this, or you can’t do that.’ I think it should be that person’s decision.” After his Raid promotional tour is done, Evans will turn to pre-production on the sequel, with plans to begin filming next January. But how do you follow a film that’s already packed with non-stop, relentless, wall-to-wall, inventive action? “By going in a slightly different direction,” he teased. “If I try to replicate and copy it’ll fall on its ass, so I want to do something kind of different. We’re going to take the story out now and go onto the streets. So everything that was scary about that building and about that boss is small fry compared to the gangs we meet in the sequel — now we meet the people who let him have that building. And we expand the world out, we explore certain characters that were kind of hinted at in this but not expanded upon, and we ramp up some of the set pieces as well.” Evans’s Raid films will always retain their focus on silat, only showcased within different environments. Like, for example, the limited confines of a moving automobile. “We’ll have one fight scene,” Evans said, “a four-on-one fight inside of a car, and Iko’s going to be kicking people out through the windows, and it’s going to be nuts. What we’re doing now is we have to figure out how to shoot that without killing anyone. “Once we get that sorted,” he continued with a laugh, “then we’ll start shooting that.” Read more from SXSW here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has joined the growing number of Americans uncomfortable with President Barack Obama and the Defense Department’s extensive apology for the unintentional burning of Korans by U.S. forces at a NATO base in Afghanistan last week. Santorum says the action was a mistake that demonstrates the president’s “weakness.” Obama has come under fierce criticism from… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Blaze Discovery Date : 26/02/2012 19:32 Number of articles : 2
Yesterday there was a story of Shakira surviving a Sea Lion attack…resting and covered in bruises…after escaping death like the action figure she is….and today we have Shakira on the beach….proving yet again that celebrity gossip is a pile of shit…but it’s almost tolerable when the celebs are half naked….cuz good or bad looking……half naked is always good…. The again…these could be old pics…and I could have my time line all fucked up and these are just the trials and tribulations of a job that isn’t a job….it’s such hard work for something that doesn’t fucking matter.. TO SEE THE REST OF THE PICS FOLLOW THIS LINK
