“Home is now behind you. The World Is Ahead,” Ian McKellen , as Gandalf, says in voiceover in this latest official trailer from Peter Jackson’s first installment of The Hobbit trilogy, which is subtitled, An Unexpected Journey. The movie is set for release on Dec. 14, and the trailer offers glimpses of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, McKellen as Gandalf, a CGI-assisted Andy Serkis as Gollum, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and Hugo Weaving as Elrond. And what would a Hobbit trailer be without lots of swordplay, dwarf comedy and portentous pronouncements from the always-top-notch McKellen as Gandalf. My favorite: “Why Bilbo Baggins? That is because I’m afraid — and he gives me courage.” Must be the hairy feet. Behold, ye hirsute bi-peds: Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Cannes , Sundance , Toronto , Berlin , San Sebastian, Hong Kong, New York , Telluride – and Pyongyang? The end of Summer brought on the annual big tentpole festivals in Venice and Toronto as well as industry and celeb-heavy Telluride, ushering in the annual awards race and many of this year’s fall releases. But don’t expect North Korea’s international film festival, which opens Thursday to factor too deeply into Oscar. In fact, Americans are apparently banned. Held every two years, the Pyongyang International Film Festival is a chance for residents of the so-called Hermit Kingdom to view foreign films on the big screen. One romantic comedy, Comrade Kim Goes Flying actually had its world premiere at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. The joint North Korean and European production took almost seven years to make. The romantic comedy centers on a coal miner who dreams of becoming an acrobat. North Korean filmmaker Kim Gwang Hun shot the film in the country, which is considered one of the world’s most isolated, which is still considered in a “state of war” with its nearby democratic rival South Korea. “It’s not what you expect from North Korea, and it’s not something people have seen before,” British filmmaker Nicholas Bonner,” told A.P. about the film, which took three years to get the script both “entertaining and palatable” to authorities for viewing in North Korea. “In the end, you’re dealing with professionals. They do their job. You’re in the film world, and we’re all making a film.” The event’s first edition took place in 1987 under the country’s late founder – who holds the lofty title in the country as the “Eternal President” – Kim Il Sung. Then known as the Pyongyang Film Festival of the Non-aligned and Other Developing Countries, it came back in 1990 and is now a biennial event. Though in 2008 the event showed 110 films from 46 countries, the titles are often censored and emphasize themes of family values, loyalty and the vices of money. Its mantra reads: “For Independence, Peace and Friendship” and the event hosts a Feature, Documentary and Short film competition. Though tightly controlled, North Koreans are reportedly film-crazy. The late “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il was an avid film fan, reportedly owning a huge library of films in his private library, including American titles. When he was seven, he saw his first film, My Hometown , the first pic made by the government-run Korean Film Studio. It centers on a young man who returns to his village after it is liberated from Japan. The late leader wrote On the Art of the Cinema in 1973, which cites filmmaking as a method to “aid the people’s development into true communists,” according to A.P. Along with Comrade Kim Goes Flying , audiences in Pyongyang (which will also include some foreigners) will have the chance to see another North Korean production – made along with a Chinese studio – aptly titled, Meet in Pyongyang . Like their late leader, well-off North Koreans are film fans, paying as much as $5 at official exchange rates to see new releases from the Korean Film Studio as well as fare mostly from Russia and China. Television stations, however, have offered some past popular features that made big box office returns in the West, including Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Bend It Like Beckham . This year’s edition of the Pyongyang International Film Festival takes place September 20 – 27. [ Sources: A.P. , Wikipedia ]
The ACLU is going hard for this isht, ehh? The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Georgia on behalf of The Clan. The suit was filed late Thursday afternoon in Fulton County Superior Court. At issue: the Georgia Department of Transportation’s denial of the Clan’s application to put its name on an Adopt-A-Highway sign. The Triple K wants to put its name on the Adopt-A-Highway sign at mile marker 1 on Highway 515 in Union County. The state Department of Transportation turned down the application in June on the grounds that the Klan’s history of violence might trigger social unrest. Now, the ACLU is suing the state on behalf of the clan, defending the Triple K’s right to sponsor a sign and its right to free speech. “The point is the government may not choose what is and is not acceptable. It’s called viewpoint discrimination,” said Debbie Segraves of the ACLU. The DOT told Channel 2′s Diana Davis 173 community and civic organizations are involved in the Adopt-A-Highway program. Those with signs clean up litter on about 200 miles of roads. SMH. Source
Could there be a hit on the horizon? Frenchie Davis ‘ new dance track broke out on the airwaves and we’ve got the vid for you to check out. The song was born when Frenchie teamed up with international songwriter Janice Robinson (Ashley Tisdale, Deborah Cox), who wrote the dance track with Frenchie in mind, saying only her voice could make the record come alive. Accompanied by an electrifying Mad Max-inspired video directed by Ch’an Andre and Brian Friedman (Britney Spears), the video for “Loves Got A Hold On Me” sets a perfect tone of what is to be expected from the already loved Diva, Frenchie Davis. “I feel that it’s coming together wonderfully, almost divinely. Everything is happening the way it’s supposed to,” says the songstress. With over five years of performance experience on Broadway as a cast member of Rent and the Grammy nominated revival of Ain’t Misbehavin, as well as a stint on American Idol that launched Frenchie’s amazing voice onto national television, she is making the daring move to step out on her own. Her new song and video “Love’s Got a Hold On Me” is slated to dominate the Dance World and Charts like never before. When speaking on the release of the video, Frenchie Davis said, “I want to live my life to inspire people to be brave and courageous, to believe in themselves and never take no for an answer.” We all know Frenchie can sing her azz off…what do you think of the new track? Images via Youtube/WENN
Big Bill couldn’t have been any cooler unless he broke out his saxophone after his speech! Our former Pres was calm and collected as he spit fact after fact…checkin’ Robney and Lyan for misleading voter’s with all the isht they’ve been spitting. Here’s an excerpt from President Clinton’s speech: We’re here to nominate a President, and I’ve got one in mind. I want to nominate a man whose own life has known its fair share of adversity and uncertainty. A man who ran for President to change the course of an already weak economy and then just six weeks before the election, saw it suffer the biggest collapse since the Great Depression. A man who stopped the slide into depression and put us on the long road to recovery, knowing all the while that no matter how many jobs were created and saved, there were still millions more waiting, trying to feed their children and keep their hopes alive. I want to nominate a man cool on the outside but burning for America on the inside. A man who believes we can build a new American Dream economy driven by innovation and creativity, education and cooperation. A man who had the good sense to marry Michelle Obama. I want Barack Obama to be the next President of the United States and I proudly nominate him as the standard bearer of the Democratic Party. In Tampa, we heard a lot of talk about how the President and the Democrats don’t believe in free enterprise and individual initiative, how we want everyone to be dependent on the government, how bad we are for the economy. The Republican narrative is that all of us who amount to anything are completely self-made. One of our greatest Democratic Chairmen, Bob Strauss, used to say that every politician wants you to believe he was born in a log cabin he built himself, but it ain’t so. We Democrats think the country works better with a strong middle class, real opportunities for poor people to work their way into it and a relentless focus on the future, with business and government working together to promote growth and broadly shared prosperity. We think “we’re all in this together” is a better philosophy than “you’re on your own.”Though I often disagree with Republicans, I never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate President Obama and the Democrats.When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better. After all, nobody’s right all the time, and a broken clock is right twice a day. All of us are destined to live our lives between those two extremes. Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn’t see it that way. They think government is the enemy, and compromise is weakness. I like the argument for President Obama’s re-election a lot better. He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery, and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs, vibrant new businesses, and lots of new wealth for the innovators. Are we where we want to be? No. Is the President satisfied? No. Are we better off than we were when he took office, with an economy in free fall, losing 750,000 jobs a month. The answer is YES. President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. No President – not me or any of my predecessors could have repaired all the damage in just four years. But conditions are improving and if you’ll renew the President’s contract you will feel it. I believe that with all my heart. Barack also made a quick appearance out on the stage after Bill wrapped things up and, in case you didn’t know, this is the first time a former President has nominated a President. Period. If this didn’t get you amped up then we don’t know what will. Source Images via Getty
A 61 year-old Detroit immigrant has fought for over 30 years to be officially recognized as a black man . Mostafa Hefny has been trying to get his racial designation changed since he arrived in the United States from Egypt in 1978 and has even reached out to President Barack Obama for help: “As a black man and as an African, I am proud of this heritage,” Hefny told the Detroit News. “My classification as a white man takes away my black pride, my black heritage and my strong black identity.” Hefny was born in Egypt and immigrated to the U.S. in 1978. When he entered the country, he says that he was classified on government papers as a white person – “The government (interviewer) said, ‘You are now white,’” he said. Hefny told the News that he is a Nubian from the northern part of Sudan and the southern portion of Egypt. Nubians are ancient group of Egyptians considered to be more African than Arab. Hefny says that he has been persecuted and denied promotions because of his insistence that he is black. He claims that he lost out on a teaching position at Wayne State University in the early 1990s at because the position is designated for a minority. He says that he did not qualify because he is classified as white. “I have been awarded, inadvertently, the negative effects of being black such as racial profiling, stereotypes and disenfranchisement due to my Negroid features,” Hefny said. “However, the legal demand of my racial classification of ‘white’ prevents me from receiving benefits established for black people.” In all, Hefny, who is currently unemployed and gets help from his family, says that he’s lost five jobs because of his battle to be classified as a black man. He filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in 1997 to be classified as a black man, but that case was dismissed. Hefny has reached out to the Justice Department and the United Nations to try to change his racial status. In June he wrote President Obama seeking help. “I need your help,” Hefny’s letter said. “As you can see in the enclosed photo, I am a black man. My complexion is darker than yours. I was born and raised in Africa and you were not, yet you are classified as Black and I am classified at White.” There is also an online petition trumpeting Hefny’s racial battle. The Association of Black Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Nubian Advocates – an organization that he co-founded – posted the petition and has collected 30 signatures as of Monday. Hefny claims he has missed job opportunities due to being classified as White. that has to be a first. Do you think the government should grant his request? Support Hefny’s peition HERE Source
These militias aren’t playing… The recent arrests of several suspected domestic terrorists, and alleged murderers, who were active in the U.S. army have also revealed shocking ties to the Republican party: Isaac Aguigui, the Army private and alleged ringleader of a plot to assassinate Barack Obama and “take over” Ft. Stewart in Georgia, apparently served as a page at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota. That’s his mug shot after he was arrested for the alleged murder of Pvt. Michael Roark on the left. At right is a 2008 Reuters photo with the caption: “Republican National Convention page Isaac Aguigui watches from the edge of the floor at the start of the first session of the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota September 1, 2008.” Aguigui, according to Georgia prosecutors, financed a plot to kill the president, take over Ft. Stewart and poison apple orchards in Washington state with a $500,000 insurance settlement he got last year after his wife’s death. The group—its numbers are unknown—called itself F.E.A.R., for Forever Enduring, Always Ready. Aguigui is one of four soldiers charged in Roark’s death, allegedly because he was a “loose end” who threatened to foil their plans. According to the AP, Aguigui and his compatriots bore “distinctive tattoos that resemble an anarchy symbol,” but that’s the extent of the reporting thus far on their political motives. What the hell???? Here’s more on their plot via AP reports : Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday. Prosecutors in rural Long County, near the sprawling Army post Fort Stewart, said the militia group of active and former U.S. military members spent at least $87,000 buying guns and bomb components. They allege the group was serious enough to kill two people – former soldier Michael Roark and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany York – by shooting them in the woods last December in order to keep its plans secret. “This domestic terrorist organization did not simply plan and talk,” prosecutor Isabel Pauley told a Superior Court judge. “Prior to the murders in this case, the group took action. Evidence shows the group possessed the knowledge, means and motive to carry out their plans.” One of the Fort Stewart soldiers charged in the case, Pfc. Michael Burnett, also gave testimony that backed up many of the assertions made by prosecutors. The 26-year-old soldier pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter, illegal gang activity and other charges. He made a deal to cooperate with prosecutors against the three other soldiers. Prosecutors said the group called itself F.E.A.R., short for Forever Enduring Always Ready. Pauley said authorities don’t know how many members it had. Burnett, 26, said he knew the group’s leaders from serving with them at Fort Stewart. He agreed to testify against fellow soldiers Pvt. Isaac Aguigui, identified by prosecutors as the militia’s founder and leader, and Sgt. Anthony Peden and Pvt. Christopher Salmon. All are charged by state authorities with malice murder, felony murder, criminal gang activity, aggravated assault and using a firearm while committing a felony. A hearing for the three soldiers was scheduled Thursday. Prosecutors say Roark, 19, served with the four defendants in the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and became involved with the militia. Pauley said the group believed it had been betrayed by Roark, who left the Army two days before he was killed, and decided the ex-soldier and his girlfriend needed to be silenced. Burnett testified that on the night of Dec. 4, he and the three other soldiers lured Roark and York to some woods a short distance from the Army post under the guise that they were going target shooting. He said Peden shot Roark’s girlfriend in the head while she was trying to get out of her car. Salmon, he said, made Roark get on his knees and shot him twice in the head. Burnett said Aguigui ordered the killings. “A `loose end’ is the way Isaac put it,” Burnett said. Also charged in the killings is Salmon’s wife, Heather Salmon. Pauley said Aguigui funded the militia using $500,000 in insurance and benefit payments from the death of his pregnant wife a year ago. Aguigui was not charged in his wife’s death, but Pauley told the judge her death was “highly suspicious.” She said Aguigui used the money to buy $87,000 worth of semiautomatic assault rifles, other guns and bomb components that were recovered from the accused soldiers’ homes and from a storage locker. He also used the insurance payments to buy land for his militia group in Washington state, Pauley said. In a videotaped interview with military investigators, Pauley said, Aguigui called himself “the nicest cold-blooded murderer you will ever meet.” He used the Army to recruit militia members, who wore distinctive tattoos that resemble an anarchy symbol, she said. Prosecutors say they have no idea how many members belong to the group. “All members of the group were on active-duty or were former members of the military,” Pauley said. “He targeted soldiers who were in trouble or disillusioned.” The prosecutor said the militia group had big plans. It plotted to take over Fort Stewart by seizing its ammunition control point and talked of bombing the Forsyth Park fountain in nearby Savannah, she said. In Washington state, she added, the group plotted to bomb a dam and poison the state’s apple crop. Ultimately, prosecutors said, the militia’s goal was to overthrow the government and assassinate the president. It’s not a game people. Domestic terror plots are very real. These guys bought nearly six figures worth of weaponry!!! And to think — this guy was an RNC page just four years ago! SMH @ Aguigui possibly murking his pregnant wife to get the money to fun his evil plot. Source
Clearly Lauryn was “miseducated” about Uncle Sam and the tax system in the United States… U.S. Marshals Release Lauryn Hill’s Mugshot As you may remember, word came down earlier this summer that Fugees frontwoman Lauryn Hill had been arrested and charged with several counts of tax evasion from 2005-2007. The rapper/signer/actress owed the government $1.8 million and they want their money ASAP! For whatever reason, Ms. Hill’s mugshot was not released…until now. What do you think was running through her mind as she was being processed?? Image via U.S. Marshal’s Service
Camilla Alves is the hispanic bitch who locked Matthew McConauhey into marriage and baby making…because that is every hispanic girl’s plan…theey have this Catholic raised need to have fetus inside them at all times and their lives are spent finding a good candidate to make that happen….that is why it is very important to only fuck them without a condom if you’ve been sterilized by the government for various sex crimes…or if you’re wearing a condom…even though condoms suck…cuz if not…you’ll be wearing a fucking baby back pack and walking through the zoo like a fucking sucker who has been trapped by the spic trap…. Here she is pregnant for what is probably the third or fourth time….in a bikini…. To See The Rest of the Pics of Her and Matthew McConauhey at the Beach…. Follow This Link
Spirit Air just got dat azz caught in a crazy lie! The airline was reportedly enforcing phony passenger fees that were disguised as a mandatory Government charge! The lawsuit was filed by a Miami firm and it is asking a U.S. District Court to collect “unspecified civil damages and attorney’s fees” from the shady airline company. The suit claims that between 2008 and August 2011 Spirit violated anti-racketeering laws to charge a passenger usage fee that the airline represented on its website under a list of government-imposed fees. The fee, according to the suit, was simply a scheme to collect more money from passengers while advertising what appeared to be a low base fare. The passenger usage fee ranged from $9 to $17 per flight segment, according to the suit, which also claimed that since 2008 the airline has collected about $40 million as a result of the fee. “Spirit misleads customers to believe that the PUF [passenger usage fee] is an official government tax or fee when in fact the fee is nothing more than additional air fare because Spirit does not provide a bona fide service in exchange for the PUF,” the suit claims. Spirit may offer discounted rates but is one of only two airlines that charges for services like carry-on luggage, which is free on others. We hope these greedy fools and their terrible customer service get what they deserve. Source Images via Twitter
