Happy Birthday: Alfonso Cuarón

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alfonsocuaron.jpgAlfonso Cuarón

Born: November 28, 1961 in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

[on ‘Gravity’] The camera is a third astronaut, and that astronaut is the audience. The audience is floating in space, following these characters who are bonded by the loss of physics in zero gravity, floating and rolling and spinning. The idea is to immerse the audience so that your emotional experience is projected onto the screen in a primal way.

The most important thing for us is that all of this stuff, and all of this technology, are only tools to achieve the cinematic experience and cinematic moment. For us, the conceptual aspect behind it and the theoretical aspect of what we were trying to convey was more important. All of the technology was in service of that.

GRAVITY
2013
dir. Alfonso Cuaron
Stars:
Sandra Bullock
George Clooney

 

CHILDREN OF MENChildren of Men
2006
dir. Alfonso Cuar�n
Cast
Clive…

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Happy Birthday: Alan Ritchson

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alanritchsonAlan Ritchson

Born: November 28, 1984 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA

Married to: Catherine Ritchson (May 2006 – present) (3 children)

Anytime you have an opportunity as an actor to really grow along with your character, I think that’s a real gift.

I would definitely like to continue playing Aquaman. Playing a superhero is a lot of fun. Creating these stories is a lot of fun. I do what I love. And what I love is entertaining people.

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE
2013
dir. Francis Lawrence
Stars:
Jennifer Lawrence
Josh Hutcherson
TEENAGER MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
2014
dir. Jonathan Liebesman
Stars:
Megan Fox
Will Arnett

FIRED UPFired Up
2009
dir. Will Gluck
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Happy Birthday: Johnny Simmons

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johnnysimmonsJohnny Simmons

Born: November 28, 1986 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA

His big break came on only his second feature film audition, Evan Almighty (2007), in which he played Dylan Baxter, opposite Steve Carell and Lauren Graham. Since then, he has had major roles in many Hollywood films, including Hotel for Dogs (2009), Jennifer’s Body (2009), 21 Jump Street (2012), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), and The To Do List (2013).

21 JUMP STREET
dir. Phil Lord
Chris Miller
Stars:
Jonah Hill
Channing Tatum
HOTEL FOR DOGSHotel for Dogs
2009
dir. Thor Freudenthal
Starring
Emma Roberts
Jake T. Austin
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
dir. Edgar Wright
Stars
Michael Cera
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
The SpiritThe Spirit
2008
dir. Frank Miller
Starring
Gabriel Macht
Samuel L. Jackson
Eva Mendes

EVAN ALMIGHTYEvan Almighty
2007
dir. Tom Shadyac
Starring
Steve Carell
Freeman
JENNIFER'S BODY Movie PosterJennifer’s Body
dir. Karyn Kusama
Starring
Megan Fox
Amanda Seyfried
Adam Brody
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Happy Birthday: Aimee Garcia

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aimeegarciaAimee Garcia

Born: November 28, 1978 in Chicago, Illinois, USA

To me, acting is like tennis. You’re only as good as the person you’re playing with, so if you’re playing with Michael C. Hall, what do you have to worry about?
Latinos are the fastest growing minority, and we’re obviously not going anywhere. We’re extremely loyal as a people, and I think Hollywood is starting to recognize that. It’s very rare for a major studio to nationally distribute a film with Latino talent, not only in front of the camera, but also behind the camera.

VEGAS
Review of the 2012 action drama
MOVIE POSTERROBOCOP
2014
dir. Jose Padilha
Stars:
Joel Kinnaman
Douglas Urbanski

TOP 100 DEXTER SCENES!
Best of the HIT TV show!
TV POSTERDEXTER SEASON 7
Best of the series
MOVIETHE GOOD GIRL
2002
dir. Miguel Arteta
Starring
Jennifer Aniston
Jake Gyllenhaal
TV CONTESTSUBMIT your TV PILOT or TV SPEC Script
Voted…

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Happy Birthday: Mary Elizabeth Winstead

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maryelizabethwinstead.jpgMary Elizabeth Winstead

Born: November 28, 1984 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, USA

Married to: Riley Stearns (9 October 2010 – present)

It seems like when women are kicking ass it’s because we have some superpower. What’s so great about Ripley, from Alien (1979), is that she’s just a kick-ass woman. For younger women like myself growing up in the 1980s, to see something like that was really empowering so I really want to find roles like that for that same reason, so that other girls will be able to say, “Wow, she is a totally relatable woman who’s able to be strong and kick butt.”

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
dir. Edgar Wright
Stars
Michael Cera
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARDLive Free of Die Hard
2007
dir. Len Wiseman
Starring
Willis
Justin Long
Pulp Fiction
1994
dir. Tarantino
starring
John Travolta
Samuel L. Jackson
MOVIE POSTERTHE THING
dir. Matthijs van Heijningen…

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Happy Birthday: Karen Gillan

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karengillan.jpgKaren Gillan

Born: November 28, 1987 in Inverness, Scotland, UK

[discussing Amy’s relationship with the Doctor] She (Amy Pond) doesn’t take his (the Doctor’s) word as gospel and she’s always happy to challenge him. If he tells her to do something then she won’t necessarily do it, she might go off and do her own thing which can sometimes create a rift between the two of them! They are best pals though and it’s a very up and down relationship because they are both very passionate people.

To be honest, I wasn’t really a huge follower of Doctor Who (1963) before I got this part. I mean I knew it was huge, but … I was nothing like my mum, who’s a proper diehard Whovian. She’s got a Tardis money-bag, and Dalek bubble-bath. But having read the first episode I was utterly smitten, and with the character. Amy’s a sassy…

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Died Today: Christopher George (1931–1983)

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christophergeorgeChristopher George (1931–1983)

Born: February 25, 1931 in Royal Oak, Michigan, USA
Died: November 28, 1983 (age 52) in Los Angeles, California, USA

Sam Troy doesn’t like authority. He doesn’t want anyone trying to control his life. He wants to guide his own destiny — and in that desert patrol, he’s found a way to do it. That desert patrol is Sam Troy’s world. Anything that comes near it, that will endanger it, he destroys. He’s absolutely dedicated to his own values. He’ll shoot an enemy cold-bloodedly if it’s necessary, to protect these values. {Christopher George on “Sam Troy” in The Rat Patrol (1966)].

MOVIE POSTERPIECES
1982
dir. by Juan Piquer Sim�n
Stars:
Christopher George
Lynda Day George
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Died Today: Leslie Nielsen (1926–2010)

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leslienielsen.jpgLeslie Nielsen (1926–2010)

Born: February 11, 1926 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died: November 28, 2010 (age 84) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

Married to: Barbaree Earl Nielsen (2001 – 28 November 2010) (his death)
Bobbye Brooks Oliver (13 November 1981 – 5 December 1984) (divorced)
Alisande Ullman (10 September 1958 – 1974) (divorced) (2 children)
Monica Boyer (28 December 1950 – 9 June 1957) (divorced)

[on the part of his career when he played almost exclusively villains] The best part is always the heavy. And the meaner and crueler and the worse you are, the more vicious you are as the heavy, the better the hero looks when he whips you. So, the heavy is liable to be a very dramatic, fine acting part. I told my agent at that time, “I want to play heavies who are really vicious and cruel and terrible. I want them to know that…

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Film Review: LION (Australia 2016)

lion_movie_posterLION (Australia 2016) **
Directed by Garth Davis

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Dev Patel

Review by Gilbert Seah

When a feel-good story as in LION is made into a film, filmmakers often still feel the need to add on additional sweetness. PLAY IT LIKE BECKAM, BILLY ELLIOT and the more recent QUEEN OF KATWE are examples of films that fall into this trap.

Audiences do not seem to mind as observed in the box-office success of the first two aforementioned films though QUEEN OF KATWE bombed. Critics, however are never impressed with sugar-coated feel-good films. Unfortunately, LIONS falls into this category. Director Davis is still not ashamed to show a tear or two dripping from the face of the main protagonist, Saroo (Dev Patel), not once but twice.
Dev Patel (THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE), Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman star in the true story of Saroo Brierley, who was adopted by an Australian couple after being separated from his family in India at the age of five, and then located his original home using Google Earth 25 years later.

The film begins with overhead shot of Tasmania, Australia before settling, oddly in India. Here, the audience sees precocious five-year-old Saroo Khan (Sunny Pawar) in a very poor family. Over-eager to help his older brother Guddu with any odd job that will provide their family with much-needed money, Saroo follows Guddu everywhere he goes. One night the two boys are separated on a train platform in their native Madhya Pradesh, and Saroo winds up nearly a thousand miles away in Calcutta where he is fortunately taken in by a government orphanage. When an Australian couple (Kidman and David Wenham) adopts him, he is taken to live with them in Hobart, Tasmania. It’s not until Saroo leaves that island as a young Australian man (Dev Patel) that he begins to wonder what became of his first home and the family he so adored. Saroo falls into romaine with an Australian (Rooney Mara) in an awkward romance. It does not take a genius to figure out that Saroo will eventually be united with his mother in India through the help with Google earth.

Adapting Brierley’s own book, A Long Way Home, screenwriter Luke Davies and first-time director Garth Davis infuse the story with just too much heartbreak. Nothing is gained or learnt from this predictable true tale made worse with its tear jerking at every possibility. This is an example of the worst of a based on a true story, tear at your heart-strings film.

The reason the film is called LION is revealed at the very end of the film. Not that it matters any. The film LION arrives with much less than a roar.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ns9XjWKws&t=7s

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Happy Birthday: Robert Goulet (1933–2007)

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robertgoulet.jpgRobert Goulet (1933–2007)

Born: November 26, 1933 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA
Died: October 30, 2007 (age 73) in Los Angeles, California, USA

Married to: Vera Goulet (17 October 1982 – 30 October 2007) (his death)
Carol Lawrence (12 November 1963 – 1981) (divorced) (2 children)
Louise Longmore (1956 – 8 March 1963) (divorced) (1 child)

It would be difficult to decide in my roller coaster existence, just when I had my ‘Best Day.’ Perhaps it was when I married my present wife, Vera. Or the day when my three children were born. Certainly the day I came away cancer-free from a prostate operation stands near the top. For now, everyday seems as if it should be the best day of them all. I like to think of them as such.

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