Cinema Releases - Christmas 2008

The Christmas season is fast approaching, and so is the anticipation and expectation for the movies that will be released in cinemas these holidays. Watching movies, whether in cinemas or on DVD, has become a tradition of the holidays and is an aspect that increases the charm of the holiday season. Some movies are released a little before Christmas while there are others that are released during the Christmas holidays.

This year there are many films that have been scheduled for release during the Christmas holidays. There are many films that are to be released in the month of December. Let's take a look at some of the cinema releases on Christmas Day.

Marley & Me starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson is the story of a family who have a dog. The release date is December 25th, and this is one of those cute family movies that you don't want to miss at Christmas. The other movie set for release on the 25th is Bedtime Stories. The film stars Adam Sandler, whose life changes because of bedtime stories coming true. These are the stories he tells his niece and nephew at bedtime. This movie contains some of the magic that people want to have in Christmas movies.

Four Christmases is a movie that has a Christmas-related theme, along with a good cast. It is being released in November and looks promising. The film stars Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, a couple trying their best to meet their four divorced parents on Christmas. The release date for the release is November 26th.

If you are in the mood for a more serious kind of movie, there are some good choices available. For the Tom Cruise fans, the wait is finally over and his movie Valkyrie is going to be released the day after Christmas. The movie is based on the plot of the assassination of Adolf Hitler. The other movies being released in December are The Spirit on the 25th, and The Revolutionary Road on the 26th. The Revolutionary Road is the movie for those who have waited all this time to see Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet together again on screen.

Another cute movie for Christmas is the animated The Tale Of Desperaux. The release date is December 19th, and the movie is about a mouse that falls in love with a Princess. Jim Carrey's Yes Man is also due to be released on December 19th.

Other interesting cinema releases due prior to Christmas are Twilight, Australia, Quantum of Solace, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Bolt, The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

All cinema releases this Christmas sound very intriguing, and some of them even have the potential to become Oscar nominations. The best thing about all these movies is that there is a great mix of several genres and there are films from every category. There is a wide choice for many age groups and tastes and preferences.

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Solitary Man (New Movie Review)

Solitary Man (Brian Koppelman, 2010) - Why in the world is this out now? This is usually a pretty lousy time of year for this kind of movie. Solitary Man is an intelligent drama that mixes veteran stars and literate, adult storytelling, with a decent budget and a lean to the mainstream. It could have been released in October or November and given an Oscar campaign, a la Up in the Air. So, why was it released in the middle of summer blockbuster season? Solitary Man is not quite "best picture", but it deserves a lot more praise than it's going to get. I certainly will be rooting for Michael Douglas to get some kind of recognition during award season for his performance here.

Douglas has been this good before, many times, so it really shouldn't be a surprise to see him knock a leading role out of the park (though, with all that is going on in his personal life recently, it is heartening to see such a game effort - I look forward to Wall Street 2). This is a role for which he has a great instinct - an aging ladies man who loves the sound of his own voice and runs frantically from his demons as quickly as he kicks his one-night-stands out of bed. Ben Kalman was a big-shot who had it all and flushed it away. He's got a gambling addict's personality, and he treats his life like a game of roulette and all his chips are on black 23. Kalman's only comfortable in the extremes, where, he says with an earned bitterness, you are always alone. His attempts to save his career and broken relationship with his daughter are thwarted by his reckless tail-chasing, but Douglas never lets his character become a two-dimensional scumbag, showing us with his nuanced performance how he is a victim of his own psychological fears.

Solitary Man bears a striking resemblance to 2002's Roger Dodger, Dylan Kidd's fantastic debut feature starring a never-better Campbell Scott in the troubled douchebag role, the difference being that Campbell's Roger is not nearly as successful in business (and less so with the ladies) as Kalman, yet the running-from-home self-justifying male neurosis is equally on-point. The two films even share some overlap in casting, as the brilliant Ben Shenkman and Jesse Eisenberg turn up in Solitary Man as well (although Koppelman criminally underutilizes them). The male leads from both films have a "high verbal ability" for never-ending bullshit emanating from their mouths that is their Achilles heel.

When I wrote my review of Breaking Upwards, I failed to mention Olivia Thirlby. This was an oversight. Thirlby is a talented young actress who hopefully does not become the next Kristin Stewart, and so far she shows a tendency for the independent and intelligent, which is good. I first took notice of her in David Gordon Green's Snow Angels, from 2008. (I saw New York, I Love You, in which she starred, and fully intended to review it but never did out of sheer laziness - I apologize - it wasn't very good). The best scene in Solitary Man, the one that pushes the film to a higher level, is the one Douglas shares with Thirlby at a frathouse party on a Massachusetts college campus. She's the only other female actor in the film who can hold her own with Douglas, and she delivers a dressing-down we've been waiting for. Crucially, Koppelman allows Douglas the parting, devastating, line. I would have been too easy for her to be allowed to simply get on a soap-box and put Kalman in his place.

This is the second directing gig for Koppelman, after Knockaround Guys (which I haven't seen). In Solitary Man, Koppelman shows his screenwriting roots quite clearly (this is the guy who wrote Rounders, by the way). The entire film is motivated by and generated with words flying out of people's mouths. The upside is you get great scenes like the one I described above, and you have the potential to get a great, Oscar-worthy performance from an actor who can turn the well-turned phrases into spoken word poetry. The downside is that often something quality on the page doesn't necessarily translate to quality on the screen. As strong as the script is, there is something schematic about it. While it's satisfying to see lines repeated that carry different loaded meanings in different scenarios, Koppelman doesn't always hide his devices with enough truism. One such device - Kalman swallows baby aspirin every morning - is dramatic because it reminds us of his heart issues, yet doesn't quite jive with Kalman's reckless personality.

It is unfortunate Jenna Fischer is such a limited actress, because she is given such an important and deep role as Kalman's patient yet exasperated daughter, for which she shows very little feel. She is actually quite terrible, and often grinds the impulse of the picture's themes to a halt. Another problem in the film is the overly explanatory final scene. Douglas sits down and chats with his ex-wife and proceeds to unnecessarily explain everything we just saw, and introduces a barely-dramatized element to the story that is suddenly given central attention. It feels forced and unsatisfying.

While not perfect, this is the kind of film I take special pride in pointing out to those who tend to beat up on Hollywood, presumably for being populist and trashy, as evidence that every piece of garbage Hollywood puts out is worth it because the really big earners make it possible for studios to support midbudget projects such as this. "One for them, one for me" can work for studios, too, not just directors, although the ratio isn't exactly one-to-one. For example, Millenium Films, responsible for Rambo, Righteous Kill, and the upcoming The Expendables (not to mention countless direct-to-DVD action titles), also helped make the superb The Grey Zone, Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and now Solitary Man. The extra 10 or 15 million dollars big producers give to small dramas like this make all the difference, allowing talented filmmakers to assemble the cast they want, scout the proper locations, and ultimately do justice to the material without having to find financial shortcuts at every turn. Yes, there are compromises and strings attached when you take the money, and you have to make something at least somewhat commercial. But is that always such a bad thing?

Maxwell Anderson is an avid film watcher and blogger. He is also a freelance assistant video editor in New York City. You can contact him through his blog Ecstatic Text: http://ecstatictext.blogspot.com

Home Cinema in the Advance of Technology

If you desire to find a movie but you are lazy to go out, home cinema is the well option for you. Home cinema is a way seeing a movie within your home without going out to the cinema. It becomes so popular right now; it becomes a well choice to enjoy finding a movie.

The big size and the improvement of technology of television could be utilized as home cinema. With contributing of the comfort of furniture in the living room, you can see a movie in your home and at the same time you can also produce an amusement in your home.

The Improvement of Technology

The advance of technology is increasing year by year and so does with the advance of television. The improvement of technology of television could be determined from the improving of the size that is being as large as eighty-two inches; the big size of the television causes cinema at home becoming more attractive than a big theater halls.

There is two great points why home cinema becomes famous. Firstly, modern television sets give the same kind of clarity as is found in big cinema halls, so you do not need to go out for seeing a movie. Second, you can love superior sound including surround sound which will offer movie-theater like audio experience.

The size of the speakers of home cinema is large when it appears for the first time, so it is a cumbersome thing. The identical form of audio as well as video experience will be made by a good cinema system as you ask when you step within a theater. There is a wrong assumption that cinema at home revolves only around high definition television sets because more amusement could be gotten for you by picking out to use DLP projectors.

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High Tension - A Movie to Die For

High Tension (2003)

Tagline: "Hearts will bleed."

Every time I go to the video store, I'm assaulted by a new wave of low-budget horror flicks. Many have slick packaging and can boast either an award or critical praise, while others look like they were put together in the dark by rabid monkeys. Either way, the outside of the film often has very little to do with what's on the inside. That neat-looking movie nestled in between Moulin Rouge and Runaway Bride may be a major disappointment, while the one on the bottom shelf of the back row may be surprisingly good. You rolls the dice and takes your chances.

This was my dilemma when I came across the French film High Tension. On the surface, it had all the elements that would drive a horror fanboy wild. Buff chick on the cover? Check. Buff chick holding a weapon capable of mutilation and carnage (in this case an industrial buzzsaw)? Check. High-quality design and clearly marked "Unrated"? Check.

And if that wasn't enough, just look at some of the critical blurbs printed on the front and back of the case: "It will scare the hell out of you!" exclaims Dennis Dermody of Paper. "The best horror movie of the year!" cries Shawn Edwards of Fox-TV. "A must-see!" screams Time Out New York.

Nevermind the fact that I've never heard of Paper or Time Out New York. What did I really have to lose, besides an hour and a half of my life? With that thought in mind, I picked up High Tension and took it home. Hours later, the movie was in, and the lights were out.

To begin with, I guess I should give credit to the filmmakers for keeping things nice and elementary. The plot is so simple that even a child or small animal could follow it. In a nutshell: Marie (Cecile De France) and Alex (Maiwenn) are college classmates and best friends. Hoping to study for exams in peace and quiet, they travel to the isolated country home of Alex's parents. The girls arrive late at night, say their hellos, then go to bed. Soon afterwards, a deranged killer (Philippe Nachon) shows up at the front door and rings the bell. After that, well, I think you get the general idea. And this is all in the first fifteen minutes. The rest of the movie consists of Marie trying to catch up with the killer, who has abducted Alex and thrown her in the back of his would-only-be-owned-by-a-serial-killer van.

Very little seems to happen in High Tension besides a series of murders and chase sequences, but somehow they're able to stretch it out to an hour and a half. Luckily, the movie is still short enough to keep from seeming repetitive, and the audience is whisked along with precious little time to catch their breath. No doubt, just what director Alexandre Aja was shooting for.

I could complain that the characters are one-dimensional, but what would be the point? This is a movie which deals with in-your-face terror and graphic violence. When the axes start swinging, the characters themselves aren't even that important. They're just there to provide a target for all the sharp cutlery.

Still, the psychological aspect of the film would have been more successful if the audience were allowed to get to know Alex and Marie a little better. We get a brief amount of banter to start the picture, but five or ten more minutes would have been nice (especially considering the turn that their relationship takes towards the end of the film). And the other victims of the killer? Well, they're so underdeveloped that I felt absolutely nothing when they bought the farm. Of course, developing all these characters would have cut into the time allotted for bloody mayhem, so maybe it's for the best in the long run. Besides, underdeveloped victims are a staple of the horror genre. We watch this sort of film to see people get dismembered, not quote Shakespeare.

And fans of dismemberment have plenty to cheer about. There's some really brutal stuff in the unrated version of High Tension. Take, for example, a scene in which the killer buries an axe in the chest of an unlucky victim. First, we're treated to the sounds of the victim's breastbone cracking and splintering as the killer twists and pulls on the handle. This is where lesser gore movies would stop. The killer would pull the axe free, and the victim would drop lifelessly to the floor. But not High Tension. The victim falls face-first onto the floor, the axe still embedded in his chest. Then, the killer places his big work boot on the victim's back and presses down, forcing the axe blade to penetrate even deeper into the now-ruined chest cavity. That, gore fans, is how you shoot a murder scene! Of course, some top-notch special effects help punctuate the killings, adding a further sense of gory realism to the proceedings.

I also want to give credit to the filmmakers for having the courage to kill a child. True, the actual deed occurs off-screen, but so many movies wimp out and avoid this kind of thing altogether, as if real-life serial killers have never preyed on children. The innocent child ducking and dodging the otherwise unstoppable killer has become almost as big a horror cliche as the virginal girl who always makes it until the end. Well, not in this film!

And let's not forget the much-hyped twist towards the end of the film. It no doubt helped High Tension garner such attention, but don't even bother trying to figure it out during the course of the picture. The revelation comes from left field with nary a clue to speak of (most of those got left on the cutting room floor). Still, the twist is inventive and allows the picture to stand out from among the crowd. You'll probably love it or hate it. Me? I was somewhere in the middle. While I respected the filmmakers for trying to do something different, I also couldn't help but notice that some earlier events seem to make the "twist" impossible. But enough on the subject. Watch the movie and judge for yourself. I don't want to give anything away.

I want to end this review by complimenting Cecile De France on her performance in the film. She bleeds, sweats, suffocates, and swings a barbed-wire club with the greatest of ease, and through it all she looks absolutely stunning. The role of Marie doesn't require her to speak much, but she does a nice job of conveying emotion through simple gestures and facial expressions. If she keeps this up (and turns in a few dramatic performances to boot), we might just be seeing the rise of a French Sigourney Weaver. And as I sit here thinking back to Sigourney Weaver in her prime, that's something I would like to see very, very much.

http://www.cinemathreads.com/

History of Tamil Cinemas

Cinema styles of the olden times are always inspirational to a movie maker. The limited technology did not stop the cine makers from exploring international trends. The typicality of Tamil cinema is still present in the editing style and presentation. The earlier cinemas belonged to the silent movies and theatres were rare. The Electric theatre seemed to be the earliest theatre to showcase movies. Gramophones, tent cinemas and budding Indian talents paved the way for bigger clicks in the Tamil cinema.

The location of the mythological movies was dramatic and the silent movies had a certain charm about Tamil cinema. 1916 is marked as the advent of first Tamil cinema which promised a lot of renaissance in the times to come. The original films like Eratha Tilagam, Maniyosai and Pana Thottam had a distinct South Indian flavor. The feats of Shivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan and Saroja devi is still remembered by all of us.

Tamil film songs are about pure melody concentrating on the classical touch. The music of certain production houses was also typical. The old production houses were Kamala Theatre, AVM productions and Saravana Films. The transition in Tamil cinemas was also gradual and the acting styles also evolved eventually. The recent actors are more honed in westernized dance forms and yet the songs seem to be rendering the vernacular lyrics.

Tamil cinemas nowadays are also much about color and emphasis. The contribution of experimental actors like Kamal Hassan with his performance in Thevar Maghan and Apurva Sarvodagal was inspirational to other regional film makers to remake the films in their respective territories. Award functions in the South are also recognizing the rich contributions of the technical team.

Various collaborated companies in special effects and animation are based in Chennai. Their splendid works are seen in the recent movies and aptly justifies our self reliance in the field of technology. The presence of many cinema halls in Tamil Nadu is proof enough of the growing movie buffs who adore Tamil films. The promotion plans are also characterized with giant cut outs and unique propaganda to reach the film to all centers.

Listen to the latest Tamil songs and read about Indian art on these links.

Movies - Great Pieces of Entertainment

Movies. Cinema. Films. Call it what you want but this mode of entertainment is very popular the world over. The technical definition of movie would be that it is (now) an audio-visual form of communication. It is a sort of art and makes up the motion pictures industry.

Movies have traveled their own evolutionary path before we see them as they are today. The need for entertainment is certainly not a new one. There are records which go back thousands of years mentioning entertainment forms like drama and music which were prevalent in those ages long ago. It was in the 1600s that the first camera was invented. Through the decades and centuries there was of course a lot of technological advancement.

The earliest avatar of the modern moving pictures was in the late 1800s where the concept of film with people and moving images took hold. All the way through to the late 19th century, movies were only a visual medium despite there being several scientists conducting experiments to incorporate sound to these moving images. And of course the concept of color had still not entered the mix. This silent and Black and White movie era threw up not only some classic films but gave rise to stars like Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin's movies till date are amongst the most popular films in the world.

It was around the 1920s when sound became a component of films. These were distinguished from motion pictures by calling them talking pictures or talkies. The next technological advancement came in the 1960s where color was introduced into the realm of film making. It wouldn't be too long before Black and White films and Silent films would become an obsolete form of mainstream cinema making. BnW's and silent films are made even today but it is more for the novelty factor of theirs in most instances.

The most well known type of movies is feature films. Feature films are usually produced by major motion picture studios. There are also independent movies which are usually financed and produced without the backing of a major studio. Often times if an independent movie shows promise, a major studio might decide to take up its distribution thus opening it up to a much larger viewing audience.

While movies are made all over the world, the most famous is Hollywood. Located in Los Angeles, USA, Hollywood primarily produces English language films. There is also the Mumbai-based Indian Film Industry (Bollywood) which makes the maximum number of films every year in the world.

Hollywood is also home to the best known and prestigious awards for the film industry with the annual presentation of the Academy Awards or the Oscars as they are more commonly known.

Lastly it must be said that according to most people and even across this article, the words film and movie are used interchangeably. Technically however, it must be kept in mind that the word Film is usually used to define this medium from a theoretical, technical and artistic perspective whereas the word Movie refers to the commercial or entertainment aspect of it.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner of http://www.great-movies.info/ - an information resource for all things related to movies including articles, news, movies and more.

For Real Theater Sound, You Need a Home Cinema Receiver

If you are a movie buff and want to more thoroughly enjoy theater like quality and sound at home, then you should install the best audio system you can afford. There are many types of true audio receiver units available in the market that have different features and technology that can separate them from the rest. Just make sure and take some time to decide which package is right for you and will fulfill all your needs.

Make sure to pick an ideal home cinema set-up with the best speakers having the latest amplifiers, audio and the connectivity technology. Remember the home cinema receiver that has lots of functions and benefits which can act as an interface between you and your home cinema. To select the best audio receiver, lets have a look at "Why You Need a Home Cinema Receiver".

You really need one that creates a multi-zoned, home entertainment network for your audio needs. It can act as a powerful hub for your home entertainment by connecting wirelessly to the speakers, listening to tracks from an MP3 player or even a Digital radio station; not to mention photos and HD movies through networking. It allows you to control multiple devices of the home cinema system by just one remote control.
It acts an all-in-one amplifier and AV Processor which gives you a high quality amplified sound at any desired volume and delivers high quality performance which converts your TV and gaming entertainment by giving you superb sound.
The high-end audio brain is engineered and fine tuned to precisely calibrate the audio to acoustics of the movie theater. Home cinema receivers allows you to place the wireless speakers at your chosen place to enjoy the best cinema quality pictures.
Should be able to handle a variety of tasks like powering up speakers, convenient switching between your audio/video components and allows you to tailor the all-around sound to suit your room or preferences. The right decoding from your receiver will allow you to enjoy the movie, TV shows and even the video games real surround sound.
You an add-on to your theater that helps tidy your cables, mess and unsightly wires and to make the home cinema system almost invisible. Some Receivers allow you to connect the system wirelessly with no loss of audio or video quality.
A powerful system can even decipher the complete audio soundtrack from other entertainment sources and make sure that the full cinema experience is transferred to your speakers, TV or projectors without any loss in their quality.

The right audio system will allow you to enjoy the real full movie experience with the best picture and sound quality. Having these receivers is the best way to save space around the room while still enjoying the stunning, crystal clear digital audio and video. If you are building a home cinema system capable of giving you the full at home, theater thrills or exclusively for listening to music then make sure to remember audio is a crucial component of your Home Theater. Make sure that when you search around that you find a robust home cinema receiver capable of meeting your entertainment needs.

If you enjoyed this article post, make sure you visit this home cinema receiver site to learn even more information on helping you choose the perfect audio compliment to your home theater system.