“Winfrey, Tyler Perry push new film 'Precious' - Asbury Park Press” plus 4 more |
- Winfrey, Tyler Perry push new film 'Precious' - Asbury Park Press
- 'Bad' is good enough to top box office with $23.4M - Rapid City Journal
- Movie review: Those glorious ‘Basterds’ - Lompoc Record
- Childhood with circus prompts filmmaker to make movie - Salisbury Post
- Detective’s movie-star status helps support local charities - Daily Texan Online
| Winfrey, Tyler Perry push new film 'Precious' - Asbury Park Press Posted: 15 Sep 2009 01:03 AM PDT Lee Daniels has an Oscar-winning movie to his credit, but he still needed some big-time help to draw attention to his latest film about a girl who overcomes crushing abuse. He got it from Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. They are the executive producers of "Precious,'' which had a premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival over the weekend. In an interview with The Associated Press, Winfrey said she was happy to help bring more attention to the film. "Everyone needs someone to help them navigate,'' the TV talk-show host explained. "I had Bill Cosby, Quincy Jones, Sidney Poitier and Maya Angelou who I look to. You can't do that on your own. Someone has to show it to you.'' Daniels, who directed "Precious,'' produced "Monster's Ball,'' which won Halle Berry an Oscar for best actress in 2002. "Precious'' was adapted from Sapphire's novel "Push.'' It tells the story of an illiterate black girl who manages to rise above poverty, sexual and mental abuse. The film, which stars Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton and others, won the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and has been generating Oscar buzz. Still, Daniels believes the cachet of Winfrey and hit filmmaker Perry will help the film, which comes out Nov. 6, build a greater audience. Perry's latest movie, the comedy "I Can Do Bad All by Myself,'' opened at the top of the box office this weekend. Besides directing and writing the film, based on his stage play of the same name, Perry co-stars as his brash, cross-dressing alter ego, Madea. Perry's "Madea Goes to Jail'' also opened at No. 1 in February. "My movies are art films. So many people don't see art films. People do see Oprah and Tyler's movies and they do hear Oprah's word, so it is really good,'' Daniels said. Carey, Patton and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, who plays the title role, gathered at a private cocktail reception prior to the movie's Toronto premiere where they later joined Winfrey on the red carpet. "I couldn't wait to get here because I love it so much and I couldn't wait to see it again. I am just really excited,'' said Carey.
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| 'Bad' is good enough to top box office with $23.4M - Rapid City Journal Posted: 15 Sep 2009 01:39 AM PDT Tyler Perry has a good thing going at the box office, with his latest comedy, "I Can Do Bad All By Myself," opening at No. 1 with $23.4 million. Among the other new releases this weekend, the animated "9" came in at No. 2 with $10.7 million. Since its opening last Wednesday _ on 9-9-09 _ it's made just over $15 million.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Movie review: Those glorious ‘Basterds’ - Lompoc Record Posted: 15 Sep 2009 12:34 AM PDT Watching the opening credits while being serenaded by the classic Western film theme "The Alamo," from 1960, one knows one is not going to be seeing a typical World War II film of yesteryear.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Childhood with circus prompts filmmaker to make movie - Salisbury Post Posted: 15 Sep 2009 12:49 AM PDT Childhood with circus prompts filmmaker to make movie
By Emily Ford eford@salisburypost.com KANNAPOLIS — Michael Knox, 35, lived with the circus as a child. For several summers in elementary school, Knox traveled with the Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus, riding elephants, helping put up tents and making cotton candy. His family worked for the circus, serving in every position from welder to clown. When Knox learned that the circus was in danger of closing, he did what he could to help save it. He made a movie. "This was the best part of my childhood," said Knox, an Asheville filmmaker. His first full-length feature film, a documentary called "Tearing Down the Tent," will debut at the Modern Film Fest at the Gem Theatre in downtown Kannapolis. Knox's film will screen at 7 p.m. Sept. 25. The film festival, the brainchild of Knox and co-director Ben McNeely, will offer 15 films in three days. From Sept. 25 to 27, the event will take over the historic Gem Theatre near the N.C. Research Campus, featuring films as varied as the cult classic "Night of the Living Dead," the star-studded "Gigantic" and the animated online hit, "Sita Sings the Blues." "The line-up of films is very diverse," Gem Theatre owner Steve Morris said. "They've got something that will appeal to a broad range of the community." Morris said he enthusiastically agreed to host the festival. "As our community becomes more diverse and a lot of new folks are coming in with the Research Campus, this is a great way to offer something a little bit different," he said. The festival kicks off at 5 p.m. Friday with "Sons of Cuba," but "Gigantic," starring Ed Asner, John Goodman and Jane Alexander, likely will draw the bigger crowd at 9 p.m. A zombie costume contest begins at 10 p.m. Friday in front of the Gem in preparation for the 11 p.m. screening of the original version of George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead." The best dressed zombies will win free tickets to the entire festival. Tickets cost $4 per film or $42 for the whole weekend. Saturday will feature free admission for veterans to the noon screening of "The Way We Get By," a tear-jerker about three senior citizens who have greeted more than 900,000 returning troops at the Bangor International Airport in Maine. "It's a touching story, and it seems to be getting a lot of momentum all around the country," Morris said. A free panel discussion on the Charlotte area film industry begins at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Core Laboratory Building on the Research Campus. Throughout the festival, which runs until the final 9 p.m. Sept. 27 screening of "Heart of Fire (Feuerherz)," the City of Kannapolis will host bands in between films in Veterans Park, across the street from the theatre. The Research Campus will host a gala reception at Restaurant 46, next door to the Gem, immediately following the 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 screening of "Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes." Gala tickets cost $25 each and include meeting and mingling with the regional film community, hors d'oeuvres and complimentary house wines and beers. Festival organizers, who are all volunteers, had to find a way to retrofit the 1936 movie theatre for a digital projector and soundboard, Knox said. City staff provided valuable expertise and equipment, he said. "We couldn't do this festival without the City of Kannapolis," he said. "The way people have embraced this is great." Knox appears briefly in his circus film, which follows friend Jamie Reel as he joins the circus for the first time. Reel works alongside performers and vendors, doing everything from shoveling animal dung and dressing as a clown to surviving the Motor Globe of Death while a motorcycle races around his head at 35 mph. The movie was filmed in Wilmington over a week. Knox said he hopes the publicity from the movie will help save the circus he loved as a child, now called Cole Bros. As for the film festival, he's moved on. "We're already talking about what we can do better next year," Knox said.
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| Detective’s movie-star status helps support local charities - Daily Texan Online Posted: 15 Sep 2009 01:10 AM PDT In every cell of a comic book's pages, within the text bubbles and beyond a caped hero, there lies the power to invigorate the superhero within children and adults alike. Austin Police Department Detective Jarrett Crippen, also known by his superhero alias The Defuser, raised spirits and money for local charities by selling his comic book and premiering his SyFy channel movie, "Lightning Strikes," at La Zona Rosa on Saturday. In addition to his superhero activities, Crippen runs a charity which raises funds for cancer research, in particular, through funds raised from a haunted house that runs each October. The Defuser is a blue-spandex-clad herald of justice equipped with a utility vest and belt sporting non-lethal weaponry. Crippen created the hero in middle school and revived him for the SyFy channel's 2006 game show "Who Wants to be a Superhero?" "My message is to tell kids that whether it's school, sports, chess — whatever it is — give it 110 percent," Crippen said. "And I want kids to know guns can be dangerous, but they are also just a tool … I think if I can get anything across to kids, it's how to be a hero in your Crippen competed among 25 participants through challenges reflecting superhero encounters, including one where The Defuser fought through 75 feet of a simulated hurricane created by turbo fans coupled with fire hoses. The show was hosted by Spider-man creator Stan Lee, who granted a Dark Horse Comics book deal and an appearance in a SyFy movie to the competitor that survived through all the challenges. Since winning the show, Crippen has made appearances at comic book conventions, parades, boy and girl scout camps, and multiple school functions. At each appearance, he sells Defuser merchandise, including comic books and T-shirts, and donates the profits to cancer-related charities. Crippen used his Defuser appearance Saturday to promote his charity, SCARE for a CURE, and raise funds for The Breast Cancer Resource Center of Texas. The group's assistant director Susan Pratt said the charity raised over $10,000 last year in scholarship money for students affected by cancer. Pratt said the group's main event each year is an interactive extreme haunted house that runs the last two weekends in October. The house is built by volunteers and showcases a frightful tour with volunteer actors in makeup waiting within. Over a thousand volunteer hours have already been put into the haunted house, she said. She said the charity also promotes blood drives and attends events such as Eeyore's Birthday, Bat Fest and the Alamo Drafthouse's Terror Tuesdays. Ian Wolf is a volunteer for the charity who has not only helped build the house, but has also played the part of a crazed doctor with bloodshot eyes for the house's guests. "It's great for the community because all the money that we raise stays here in Austin — it's Austin-bound," Wolf said. "It's building a haunted house to scare people for a good cause — how [much more] weird can you be than that? It screams Austin." Crippen said although he is occasionally recognized by citizens as a result of the SyFy show, his aim is to promote The Defuser's message, which he said has eclipsed himself. He encourages children to be more proactive within their community and adults to be more selfless and use their resources to garnish goodwill. "There are just so many ways to volunteer. You just have to make a decision you are going to get up and do it," Crippen said. "If I can do anything to inspire people to take some of their own personal time and give a little bit, my job's done." Be the first to comment on this article!  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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