Final Destination 5 Spoiler

The Final Destination series is a series of horror films based on an unproduced script written by Jeffrey Reddick for the X-Files television series. Distributed by New Line Cinema, all four films are centered on the themes of determinism, predestination, and precognition, in relation to death (i.e. how to foresee, avoid or control it). In a less abstract sense, each film features a group of people dying in a series of elaborate, often gory death scenarios that frequently resemble Rube Goldberg machines in their complexity. The franchise has also spawned a related book series (published by Black Flame) and comic series (published by Zenescope Entertainment Inc).

Premise

The premise of each film or book in the franchise is essentially the same: A group of people are gathered together at a public venue, when suddenly a member of the group has a premonition of a disaster that will kill most/all of the people present, for example a plane crash. Horrified and motivated by the vision of impending doom, the person with the premonition then tries to prevent the incident by warning the others to leave the scene. The other members have doubts over the incredible claims but the visionary is persistent, fracturing the group into hostile skeptics, dubious believers, or those that had no choice but to accompany the visionary. Soon afterward, disaster strikes as foreseen, proving to the survivors that the visionary was right, and their attitudes change drastically.

Over the next few days, weeks or months, the same survivors begin to die in a series of gruesome and unlikely accidents. The same visionary is made aware of this and concludes that, although they survived the initial disaster, they are all still destined to die. The killer responsible for the accidents, although invisible, is assumed to be the personification of Death itself. The visionary usually teams up with a fellow survivor of the opposite sex, and, determined to cheat Death once again, they devise various plans to stay safe. Although they are sometimes able to protect each other from fatal incidents, their attempts almost always ultimately end in failure as everyone dies in the end.

However, each movie and book leaves a legacy for new generations of survivors: each disaster is noted by the media, law enforcement agencies, paranormal fanatics, and disaster survivors who notice the similarities between the incidents. The survivors of each story use whatever they learn from past disasters, or enlist the aid of a survivor of a previous disaster, in order to postpone their inevitable deaths.

Cheating Death

A recurring theme in each film is the inevitability of death and the impossibility of truly defeating it. Death is portrayed as a sadistic, supernatural entity intent on killing the main characters in each book or film. When the victims learn of this plan and manage to disrupt it, Death pursues them all individually, killing them off in the same order they would have died if they had not been forewarned.

If Death is thwarted during the second attempt on a survivor's life, it ignores the survivor and moves onto the next victim. When it has finished attempting to kill all the survivors in order, it restarts its attempts from the beginning again, sometimes waiting a number of months while the survivors are lulled into a false sense of security.

The films have yet to explain what is sending the premonitions and omens to the protagonists, and more importantly why. One exception is the protagonist from the first film, Alex Browning (Devon Sawa), who suggests that they are messages from someone, hinting at Death's designs. It seems it does no good to escape the particular accident hinted at, since Death subsequently attacks the survivors.

Films

In 1996, screenwriter Jeffrey Reddick sold his treatment for Final Destination to New Line Cinema. The treatment was based on an The X Files spec script Reddick wrote in order to get an agent. In an interesting twist, television director James Wong, who worked with Reddick on The X Files, ended up co-writing and directing the first film. David R. Ellis directed the second film after Wong dropped out, but Wong returned to direct the third film and intended to shoot it in 3-D, but was unsuccessful due to insufficient budget. The third film was intended to be the final installment of the series, but Ellis returned again to direct the fourth installment, which was filmed in New Orleans, Louisiana and shot in 3-D. After releasing the fourth film, producer Craig Perry announced that the fourth film was the final installment of the series, and decided not to make the fifth installment. All four films received an R rating by the MPAA. Critics' rates were going down since the second film for "lack of ideas" and "gory scenes".

Novels

Throughout 2005 publishing company Black Flame released a series of Final Destination books which faithfully follow the premise of the films, with each involving a group of people who find themselves targeted by Death after surviving a catastrophe of some sort due to a character experiencing a precognitive vision. Set in Los Angeles the first novel, entitled Dead Reckoning, has punk rocker Jessica Golden saving herself and several others from the collapse of Club Kitty, earning Death's ire.[Novels 1] Set in LA as well Destination Zero has magazine employee Patricia Fuller and few others survive a train bombing and afterward, while being stalked by Death, Patti learns this is not the first time her family has been hunted by the entity.[Novels 2] End of the Line has a group of New York subway crash survivors, led by twins Danny and Louise King, trying to escape Death, who uses an unknowing agent to hasten its acquisition of the survivors.[Novels 3]

In Dead Man's Hand a group meant to die in the crash of a Las Vegas glass elevator are stalked by both Death and the FBI, the latter believing the group's savior Allie Goodwin-Gaines was responsible for the elevator crash.[Novels 4] Looks Could Kill has beautiful New York model Stephanie "Sherry" Pulaski stopping her friends from boarding a yacht when she has a vision of it exploding, but is left horribly disfigured and comatose by flying debris moments afterward when her vision comes true; eventually awakening the embittered Stephanie makes a deal with Death, aiding it in claiming her friends in exchange for having her good looks restored.[Novels 5] After the run of the original series of books Black Flame released novelizations of the first three films in January 2006.[Novels 6][Novels 7][Novels 8] Black Flame's last Final Destination novel was Death of the Senses released in mid 2006. Taking place in New York the book has a homeless man named Jack Curtis saving policewoman Amy Tom from a maniac after having a vision of Amy's death; Amy's attacker is later revealed to be a serial killer who was meant to murder six other people (representing the first five senses and a sixth) who Death begins targeting as Jack and Amy rush to find and warn the intended victims.[Novels 9] A tenth novel, subtitled Wipeout and written by Alex Johnson, was planned, but cancelled; the book would have featured a pair of surfers and several others, after surviving a plane crash in Hawaii, being hunted by Death and the survivor of another disaster, an unstable soldier who had nearly died in an ambush in Afghanistan.

Death Race Spoiler

Death Race is a 2008 science-fiction-action film produced, written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. The film is a remake of the 1975 film Death Race 2000, based on Ib Melchior's short story "The Racer", and stars Jason Statham in the lead role. The remake had been in development since 2002, though production was delayed by disapproval of early screenplays then placed in turnaround following a dispute between Paramount Pictures and the producer duo Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner. Death Race was acquired by Universal Studios, and Anderson re-joined the project to write and direct. Filming began in Montreal in August 2007, and the completed project was released on August 22, 2008.

Plot

In 2012, the United States economy collapses. Unemployment and crime rates shoot through the roof. The imprisoned population becomes so vast that private corporations buy the prisons and run them for profit. In a federal prison called the Terminal Island Penitentiary, "Death Race", a gladiator-like fight-to-the-end racing competition is held to raise funds. It becomes the most-watched television/internet event around the world.

The film begins by showing a race near its end. Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson) and a famous masked driver known as Frankenstein (original Death Race 2000 star David Carradine) engage in a bloody battle in which Frankenstein wins, but at the cost of heavy injuries and eventually death. Six months later, Jensen Ames (Jason Statham), an ex-racecar driver and former steel mill worker, is framed for his wife's murder. Ames is sent to Terminal Island where he immediately becomes enemies with an Aryan brotherhood gang, led by Pachenko (Max Ryan). He is taken to Hennessey (Joan Allen), the penitentiary's warden, who tells him that the gang will kill him without her help. Thus he is coerced by the warden to become the new driver of the late Frankenstein's car. The warden tells Ames that she knows about his baby daughter left in foster care. She also states that prisoners are freed upon winning five Death Races, but since the legendary Frankenstein had 4 wins at the time of his death, he would only require a single win. He agrees to race. Hennessey then takes Ames down to the auto shop to meet Coach (Ian McShane) and his assistants Gunner (Jacob Vargas), a car repairman, and Lists (Frederick Koehler), a data collector.

"Death Race" consists of three different stages. The first two stages are elimination rounds with the sole goal being to come out alive and to eliminate as much of the competition as possible. In each race, there are three activation switches, Swords, Shields, and Death Heads. These power-ups are in the form of lights on the ground that are activated when passed over by a car. Swords activate offensive weapons, shields activate defensive weapons, and death heads activate a spiked wall that impales the car and the racers inside. The wall then goes back into the ground, killing anyone inside. Before the race, Ames is introduced to Case (Natalie Martinez), his new female navigator. In the first race, Grimm is killed by Joe by being struck as a "pedestrian", resulting in a gruesome "head-exploding" shot. Jensen survives the race, killing one racer but coming in last place after Machine Gun Joe rammed into his car. It is then revealed that Hennessey had Pachenko murder Jensen's wife and frame him for it, in order to bring him to Terminal Island and make him the new Frankenstein. During the second race, the goal is again to survive. At the green signal, all but Ames race. He forces Case to come clean with the truth: Case sabotaged his rear weapons in exchange for a full pardon. She also states that Hennessey is plotting against Frankenstein, hoping to use his popularity to keep ratings up. A furious Ames then chases down and kills Pachenko. Later in the event, much to the dismay of the racers, a gigantic 18 wheel tanker armed with a tank turret, called the Dreadnaught, is released. After killing multiple racers, the truck is destroyed when Joe and Ames team up to activate a Death Head that destroys the Dreadnaught. Hennessey is furious while Frankenstein is hailed a hero.

In the third stage, Joe and Ames must race one final time to the winner. Prior to the race Hennessey has a bomb planted under Frankenstein's car, and then manipulates the race to favor Joe. However, her plans are ruined when Joe and Ames escape, blowing an opening in a weakened section of the prison wall which Jensen had discovered while studying footage of Grimm's death. Hennessey sends all her police force in pursuit, and when

Ames manages to foil the police cars chasing them, Hennessey attempts to blow up his car with the bomb earlier planted. But Ames' crew apparently had discovered the bomb before the race, removed and deactivated it. Furious, Hennessey deploys the prison helicopters and succeeds in capturing Frankenstein's car. However, Ames had escaped from his car, leaving Case (who had already received her walking papers) at the wheel, dressed up in his costume. Joe and Ames hitch a freight train ride and escape to Miami. Meanwhile, after disguising the bomb from Frankenstein's car as a congratulatory gift and having it delievered to Hennessey's office, Jensen's crew chief Coach blows up the entire upper office, killing both Hennessey and Captain of the Guards Ulrich, then turns to the camera and breaks the fourth wall, saying, "I love this game". Six months later south of the border, Ames has his daughter back and Joe is working on living a clean life free of crime. As the two work on a car in their new home, a car pulls up and Case steps out to join the two. Ames then narrates that despite all the problems he had in the past, no one could love his daughter more than he could.

Cast

* Jason Statham as Jensen Ames, a prisoner coerced to drive in the arena, taking the name "Frankenstein" from the man who came before him.[1][2]
* Joan Allen as Hennessey, the sadistic prison warden.[2]
* Tyrese Gibson as Joseph Mason (aka "Machine Gun Joe"), a sociopathic racer who looks to use Death Race as a means to escape from prison. He is unique as he alone uses male navigators, because his navigators are often killed leading to falling ratings due to women being killed.[2]
* Ian McShane as Coach, Frankenstein's loyal head mechanic.[2]
* Natalie Martinez as Case, Frankenstein's navigator.[3]
* Jacob Vargas as Gunner, Frankenstein's car repairman.
* Frederick Koehler as Lists, another member of Frankenstein's pit crew and a compulsive data collector.
* Jason Clarke as Ulrich, Hennesey's right hand man.
* Robert LaSardo as Hector Grimm (aka "The Grim Reaper"), a certified psychopath driving in the race. Had three consecutive life sentences, killed six men off the track and another thirteen on it.
* Justin Mader as Travis Colt, a disgraced ex-NASCAR driver seeking to rebuild his career by winning the race.
* Robin Shou as 14K, a tenth-generation Triad, sent to business school, held a degree from MIT, and killed four men off the track.
* Max Ryan as Pachenko, a rival driver Ames clashes with several times, responsible for killing Ames's wife, killed nine men on the track and unknown off.
* David Carradine as Frankenstein, the most popular driver in the history of Death Race. (cameo voice-over, reprising role in original 1975 film Death Race 2000) He has apparently crashed so many times that he has to wear a mask to cover his disfigurements. He possesses an almost reckless desire to win, leading him to take risks in his final race, that ultimately led to his death on the operating table. In his career he killed 20 men on the track.


Cars

The cars in the movie are real vehicles that have been heavily-modified with armor plating, machine guns and defensive weapons

* Frankenstein's Monster - A Fifth-generation Ford Mustang armed with 2 M134's, smokescreen, napalm and oil slick for defense, [4] as well as a 6-inch thick steel plate on the rear bumper called "The Tombstone."
* Dodge Ram - Machine Gun Joe's truck, armed with a cowcatcher, 4 hood-mounted Browning M1919, 2 side-mounted Vulcan cannons and Russian RPG-7s.
* Porsche 911 - Driven by the Chinese convict 14K. With 2 WW2 German MG-42 belt-fed general purpose machine guns and 4 hood-mounted missiles with 4 on the roof. Destroyed by the Dreadnought.
* Pachenko's chop top - A chop top, 1966 Buick Riviera armed with 4 German hood-mounted MG-34s and 2 internal PPSh-41 submachine guns also with 2 Uzis mounted in the grille. Crashes into a beam after being blinded by smoke from Ames, and Pachenko is later killed by Ames by snapping his neck.
* Pontiac Trans Am - Carson's Car. Has a M134 aiming backwards for defense, and a .50 caliber turret on top of his car which is operated by his navigator. It is destroyed by the Dreadnought.
* 1972 Buick Riviera "Boat tail" - Riggins' car. Is blown up in the 2nd stage, along with Carson caused by The Dreadnought. Caltrops for Defense and twin Browning M1919 machine guns in the passenger side windscreen.
* Jaguar XJS - British sports car driven by Travis Colt with 2 .50 cal M2 Browning machine guns. Set on fire by Ames and loses control, being tossed in the air after being T-boned by Joe.
* Chrysler 300C - Luxury sedan driven by Grimm armed with 3 hood-mounted FN MAG58s with no stocks and a missile on the passenger side roof and an oil slick for defense. It loses control after hitting caltrops from Riggin's "Boat Tail" and is blasted off the track by 14K's missile launcher.
* BMW E32 - Siad's car. Armed with a single M134. Destroyed after driving into a Death Head while pursuing Grimm.
* The Dreadnaught - A semi-trailer built by Hennessy with .50 caliber Browning heavy machine guns, flame thrower, spikes on the wheels, bulldozer blade, caltrops and a M1A1 tank turret. Destroyed after running into a Death Head activated by Ames and Joe.

* 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS - Custom muscle car driven by Case, arriving at the junkyard in Mexico City, before the ending.


Production

In March 2002, director Paul W.S. Anderson revealed that he was directing a remake of Death Race 2000 (1975) entitled Death Race 3000 at Paramount Pictures (which owns television and internet rights to the original, with the former currently being handled on Paramount's behalf by Trifecta Entertainment & Media) based on a script by J. F. Lawton. The remake would be produced by the producer pair Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner. Anderson described the remake as a riff on the first film. "It's not a straight remake at all. The first movie was an across-America race. This will be an around-the-world race. And it's set further in the future, so the cars are even more futuristic. So you've got cars with rockets, machine guns, force fields; cars that can split apart and re-form, a bit like Transformers. Cars that become invisible," the director explained.[5] Two years later, Roger Corman, the producer of Death Race 2000, elaborated that he had an option agreement with producer Tom Cruise, and that Cruise would portray the lead role. The director said that Cruise had not been happy with the first two screenplays and that a third one was underway.[6] In June 2006, producer Jeremy Bolt reported that Anderson would direct the remake of Death Race 2000 after completing Resident Evil: Extinction (2007). The producer described the remake's new tone: "We've basically taken the idea of reality television and extended it twenty years. So it's definitely a comment on society, and particularly reality television, but it is not as much a parody or a satire as the original. It's more straight."[7] The following August, Paramount ended its relationship with Cruise/Wagner Productions, and Death Race was placed in turnaround. According to reports, when the project was discovered available, Universal Studios acquired it. Cruise and Wagner resumed their roles as producers, and Anderson returned to write and direct the film.[8]

In April 2007, actor Jason Statham entered negotiations to star in Death Race, with production slated to begin in late summer or early fall.[8] Anderson described that Death Race would take place in a prison, and that the film would be "super-violent" like its predecessor. "It has little echoes of the original – a lot of people get run down, but rather than having the points system, which had no pay off anyway, it’s a pure race. It’s more like Gladiator, with the last person standing – or driving, winning," explained the director.[9] Filming on Death Race began in Montreal in August 2007.[2]

Dark Shadows Spoiler

Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis, who tells of a dream he had in which a girl takes a long train ride to visit a large mansion. The story "bible," which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements. It was considered daring (and unprecedented in daytime television) when ghosts were introduced about six months after it began.

The series became hugely popular when, a year into its run, vampire Barnabas Collins, played by Jonathan Frid, appeared. In addition to vampires, Dark Shadows featured werewolves, ghosts, zombies, man-made monsters, witches, warlocks, time travel (both into the past and into the future), and a parallel universe. A small company of actors each played many roles and, as actors came and went, some characters were played by several actors. Major writers in addition to Art Wallace included Malcolm Marmorstein, who created the character of Barnabas Collins, Sam Hall, Gordon Russell, and Violet Welles.

Dark Shadows was distinguished by its vividly melodramatic performances, atmospheric interiors, memorable storylines, and an unusually adventurous music score. Now regarded as somewhat of a camp classic, it continues to enjoy intense cult status among its followers. Director Tim Burton and pop icon Madonna have both gone on record as fans of the series. As a child Johnny Depp was so obsessed with Barnabas Collins that he wanted to be him, and is collaborating with Tim Burton on a theatrical film adaptation, in which he will play the character.

Brief synopsis

Victoria Winters: episode 1 (June 27, 1966) to 127 (December 20, 1966) Victoria Winters arrives at Collinwood as governess for David Collins and encounters strange goings-on in the old mansion. Elizabeth Collins Stoddard has a secret and never leaves the Collinwood estate. Her daughter Carolyn is staying out to all hours. Roger Collins, David's father, is afraid that someone is trying to kill him. And Burke Devlin has returned to Collinsport.

The Murder of Bill Malloy: episode 46 (August 29, 1966) to 126 (December 19, 1966) Bill Malloy, Elizabeth's right-hand man, threatens to publicly reveal hushed-up details about the feud between Roger Collins and Burke Devlin, and involving Sam Evans. Malloy's body is then discovered floating in the waters at the base of Widow's Hill. Victoria's curiosity of the murder leads her to get kidnapped by the murderer, Matthew (a servant to the Collins). The ghost of Bill Malloy appears to Victoria Winters, and later the ghost of Josette du Pres emerges from her portrait at the old house. The spirits of wailing women are heard from Widow's Hill.

Laura the Phoenix: episode 128 (December 21, 1966) to 192 (March 21, 1967) Young David Collins' mother Laura returns after a ten year absence, searching for her son. She is an immortal phoenix, and wishes to have him join her in the sacred fires of the Egyptian god Ra. The storyline is derived from H. Rider Haggard's novel She .

Jason McGuire: episode 195 (March 24, 1967) to 275 (July 14, 1967) Jason McGuire, an old friend of Elizabeth's long-missing husband Paul Stoddard, shows up and insinuates himself into the Collins household. He knows a dark secret about Elizabeth's missing husband and, much to the family's dismay, she submits to his demands, which includes allowing his violent drifter friend Willie Loomis to stay at Collinwood.

Barnabas: episode 211 (March 22, 1967) to 365 (November 17, 1967) Barnabas Collins, a nearly two-hundred-year-old vampire, is released from his coffin by Willie Loomis and brings terror to Collinsport. Doctor Julia Hoffman is called to investigate the strange kidnapping of Maggie Evans, a Collinsport waitress whom the vampire believes to be the reincarnation of his long lost love, Josette du Pres.

1795: episode 366 (November 14, 1967) to 460 (March 29, 1968) A séance is held in the great house at Collinwood, during which Victoria Winters travels back in time to the year 1795. In that era, Barnabas is still an ordinary human being, but becomes the object of desire for a deadly witch Angelique Bouchard, who invokes the vampiric curse upon him. Meanwhile, Victoria is accused of witchcraft by the paranoiac Rev. Trask. She's defended in court by Peter Bradford, a man who follows her back through time to the 20th century.

Dream Curse/Adam and Eve: episode 461 (April 1, 1968) to 637 (December 3, 1968) Angelique, a witch who tricked Barnabas into marrying her in the 1790s, returns. At the same time, Barnabas and Dr. Julia Hoffman explore the possibility of freeing Barnabas from his curse, by giving life to an artificial being called Adam. The plotline is based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Werewolf/Quentin's Ghost: episode 638 (December 4, 1968) to 700 (February 28, 1969) A werewolf (Chris Jennings) is loose on the Collins estate and the ghost of Quentin Collins is terrorizing the children, David Collins and Amy Jennings. The source material is Henry James' The Turn of the Screw.

1897: episode 701 (March 3, 1969) to 884 (November 13, 1969) In order to save the imperilled David and unravel the mystery of Quentin's ghost, Barnabas travels back in time using the I Ching. He encounters Angelique, the phoenix Laura Collins, a gypsy curse, lycanthropy, and the severed hand of the dreaded Count Petofi. The character of Rachel Drummond is based on Jane Eyre.

The Leviathans: episode 885 (November 14, 1969) to 980 (March 27, 1970) An ancient Lovecraftian race of beings coerce Barnabas into joining their ranks. Together they attempt to enslave the Collins family and bring the town under the thrall of their mysterious leader, Jeb Hawkes.

Parallel Time: episode 981 (March 30, 1970) to 1060 (July 17, 1970) In a closed-off section of the house, Barnabas and Julia discover a doorway to a parallel universe, where the master of the house Quentin Collins has recently married Maggie Evans, who finds herself threatened by the vengeful spirit of Quentin's first wife, Angelique. Elements of this plot line are derived from the novel Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.

1995: episode 1061 (July 20, 1970) to 1070 (July 31, 1970) Barnabas and Julia travel forward in time to a Collinwood that has been destroyed and the Collins family either dead or mad.

Gerard Stiles: episode 1071 (August 3, 1970) to 1109 (September 24, 1970) Ghosts from the 1840s possess David Collins and Hallie Stokes. Barnabas and Julia try to find a way to prevent the future destruction of Collinwood. The basic plot line here is again based on The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.

1840: episode 1110 (September 25, 1970) to 1198 (January 27, 1971) Using a stairway through time hidden within the walls of Collinwood, Julia travels back to the 1840s to unravel the mystery of Gerard and Daphne Harridge. When Barnabas joins her they find an unexpected ally in their old foe, Angelique.

1841 in Parallel Time: episode 1199 (January 28, 1971) to 1245 (April 2, 1971) In a parallel universe Bramwell Collins returns home to find that his true love, Catherine Harridge, has married his wealthy cousin, Morgan Collins. The Collins family is under a curse that requires them to hold a lottery, the loser to spend the night in a room that will leave them either dead or insane. Elements of this plot line were derived from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, as well as The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

Main cast See also: List of Collins family members

* David Ford played Sam Evans
* Humbert Allen Astredo played Nicholas Blair, Evan Hanley, and Charles Dawson
* Conrad Bain played Mr. Wells, the hotel clerk
* Nancy Barrett played Carolyn Stoddard, Millicent Collins, Charity Trask, Carolyn Loomis PT, Leticia Faye, Melanie Collins PT, and Amanda Collins PT.

* Lee Beery played Joanna Mills.
* Joan Bennett played Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Naomi Collins, Judith Collins, Elizabeth

Collins Stoddard PT, Flora Collins, and Flora Collins PT.
* Chris Bernau played Philip Todd.
* Clarice Blackburn played Mrs. Johnson, Abigail Collins, and Minerva Trask.
* Don Briscoe played Tom Jennings, Christopher Jennings, Timothy Shaw, and Chris Collins
* Kathy Cody played Hallie Stokes, Carrie Stokes, and Carrie Stokes PT.
* Terry Crawford played Beth Chavez and Edith Collins.
* Joel Crothers played Joe Haskell and Nathan Forbes.
* Thayer David played Matthew Morgan, Ben Stokes, Professor Timothy Stokes, Sandor, Victor Fenn-Gibbon/Count Petofi, Timothy Stokes PT, Mordecai Grimes, and Ben Stokes PT.
* Roger Davis played Peter Bradford/Jeff Clark, Ned Stuart, Dirk Wilkins, and Charles Delaware Tate.
* Louis Edmonds played Roger Collins, Joshua Collins, Edward Collins, Roger Collins PT, Daniel Collins, Amadeus Collins, and Brutus Collins PT.
* Elizabeth Eis played Nelle Gunston, Buffie Harrington PT, and Mrs. Mildred Ward.
* Dana Elcar played Sheriff Patterson.
* David Ford played Sam Evans and Andre du Pres.
* Conard Fowkes played Frank Garner.
* Jonathan Frid played Barnabas Collins and Bramwell Collins PT.
* Anthony George played Burke Devlin and Jeremiah Collins.
* Robert Gerringer played Dr. Woodard.
* Grayson Hall played Dr. Julia Hoffman, Natalie du Pres, Magda, Julia Hoffman PT, Julia Collins (a.k.a. Dr. Julia Hoffman), Julia Collins PT, and Constance Collins PT.
* James Hall played Willie Loomis (episodes 199-205).
* David Henesy played David Collins, Daniel Collins, Jamison Collins, Daniel Collins PT, and Tad Collins.
* Kate Jackson played Daphne and Daphne Harridge PT.
* John Karlen played Willie Loomis (from episode 206), Carl Collins, William Hollingshead Loomis PT, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young PT.
* Jerry Lacy played Tony Peterson, Reverend Trask, Gregory Trask, Mr. Trask PT, and Lamar Trask.
* John Lasell played Dr. Peter Guthrie.
* Marsha Mason played Audrey, the female Leviathan.
* Donna McKechnie played Amanda Harris/Olivia Corey.
* Diana Millay played Laura Collins, the phoenix.
* Alexandra Moltke played Victoria Winters.
* Denise Nickerson played Amy Jennings, Nora Collins, and Amy Collins PT.
* Lara Parker played Angelique Bouchard/Cassandra Collins/Valerie Collins/Miranda Duval, Alexis Stokes PT, Angelique Stokes Collins PT, and Catherine Harridge PT.
* Dennis Patrick played Jason McGuire and Paul Stoddard.
* Christopher Pennock played Jeb Hawkes, Dr. Cyrus Longworth PT/John Yaegar PT, Sebastian Shaw, Gabriel Collins, and Gabriel Collins PT.
* Addison Powell played Judge Matigan, Dr. Eric Lang, and Judge Wiley.
* Keith Prentice played Morgan Collins PT.
* Lisa Richards played Sabrina Stuart and Sabrina Stuart PT.
* Robert Rodan played Adam.
* Mitchell Ryan played Burke Devlin.
* Frank Schoefield played Bill Malloy.
* Geoffrey Scott played Sky Rumson.
* Kathryn Leigh Scott played Maggie Evans, Josette du Pres, Rachel Drummond, Lady Hampshire/Kitty Soames, and Maggie Collins PT
* David Selby played Quentin Collins (1897, 1969-1970, 1995, 1970), Grant Douglas, Quentin Collins PT (1970 PT), Quentin Collins (1840), and Quentin Collins PT (1841 PT).
* Craig Slocum played Noah Gifford and Harry Johnson.
* Sharon Smyth played Sarah Collins.
* Alex Stevens played The Werewolf.
* James Storm played Gerard Stiles and Gerald Stiles PT.
* Michael Stroka played Aristede, Bruno, Bruno PT, and Laszlo Ferrari.
* Virginia Vestoff played Samantha Collins and Samantha Drew PT.
* Marie Wallace played Eve, Jenny Collins, and Megan Todd.
* Donna Wandrey played Roxanne Drew PT and Roxanne Drew.

A more extensive list can be found on TV.com's Dark Shadows Cast & Crew page.

During the past thirty years, Dark Shadows has developed a large and loyal fan following. This is due largely to the willingness of former cast members to participate in several gatherings each year, notably the Dark Shadows Festival held alternately in California and New York and a Halloween fright fest centering around the mansion used in taping the stock outdoor footage. Several cast members have written books, and several have appeared on Dark Shadows audio dramas.

Series production

Working within the constraints of the live-to-tape format — with almost every scene done in one take — Dark Shadows displayed an unusually inventive use of costume, make-up and, in particular, special effects. Both time travel and ghosts allowed characters killed in earlier sequences to return, often in period clothing. Séances held in the old mansion were often visited by ghostly apparitions of quivering ectoplasm. Dream sequences included colorful psychedelic spectacles superimposed over ethereal, fog-filled fantasies. Individuals of normal appearance were transformed into hideous creatures of the netherworld.

However, the special effects were limited by the technology of the time. When judged against today's special effects, they pale in comparison. The difficulty of keeping up with the demanding schedule of a daily half-hour show manifested itself on screen. In addition to sets wobbling unintentionally, actors — especially Frid and Bennett — often struggled with their lines. Occasionally a stagehand could be spotted wandering onto the back of the set. Other times the microphone boom appeared in the frame (giving the show the unintentional nickname "Mic Shadows"), or a fly hovered around the head of an actor. In retrospect, however, the actors — who effectively formed a repertory company as they played many different roles — created memorable characters, and overcame the challenge of daily scripts combined with brief and demanding rehearsals.

Of particular note is Robert Cobert's inspired music score, which broke new ground for a television program. The original soundtrack cracked the top 20 of Billboard's national album chart in 1969 and still ranks as one of the top-selling TV soundtracks ever. The spoken-word instrumental track "Quentin's Theme", for which Cobert earned a Grammy nomination, was recorded by the Charles Randolph Grean Sounde. The single peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (and number 3 on its Easy Listening chart) in summer 1969, when Dark Shadows was perhaps at the peak of its popularity.

Dark Shadows has the distinction of being one of the few classic television soap operas to have all of its episodes except one survive intact, although a handful of early episodes are available only in 16 mm kinescope format. For the one lost episode (#1219), only a home audio recording of the episode exists. The home video version and cable reruns of this episode were reconstructed from this soundtrack, the closing scene from the episode #1218, the opening scene from episode #1220, and from video still frames sourced from other episodes.

1,225 episodes were produced, but during the course of its run, the show was preempted 20 times. ABC would compensate for this by sometimes double numbering, and in one case triple numbering, episode numbers in order to keep a show ending in a 5 or 0 airing on Fridays. This is why the last episode produced has #1245 when in actuality it was only the 1,225th episode produced.

Crank: High Voltage Spoiler

Crank: High Voltage, sometimes promoted as Crank 2: High Voltage on some regions and on DVD, is a 2009 American action/thriller film, and sequel to the 2006 action film, Crank. It picks up shortly after the first film left off, retaining its "real-time" feel and adding surrealism. Crank: High Voltage was written and directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who both wrote and directed the previous film. The film was released in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2009,[2] one day prior to its North American release date.

Plot

The film opens with a sequence designed to look like a classic video game, depicting Chev Chelios's fall from a helicopter during the final moments of the original film. Immediately after his fall, he is scooped off the street via snow shovel by a group of Chinese medics and removed from the scene.

He wakes up in a makeshift hospital and sees doctors removing his heart while Johnny Vang (Art Hsu) watches. The doctors place Chelios's heart in a white cooler with a padlock, and place a clear plastic artificial heart in his chest. Chelios passes out. He wakes up, three months later and escapes. He notices a yellow battery pack is attached to him. After a gunfight and interrogation of a thug, he learns the location of Johnny Vang - the Cypress Social Club.

Chelios calls Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam), who tells him that he has been fitted with an AbioCor Artificial heart. Once the external battery pack runs out, the internal battery will kick in and he will have 60 minutes before it stops working. He crashes his car right after the conversation, destroying his external battery pack. In order to keep going, Chelios has the driver of another car use his jumper cables on him, and runs to the Club.

He loses Vang at the club but picks up a hooker named Ria (Bai Ling) who sends him to a strip club where Vang is hiding out. In the club, Chev finds Eve (Amy Smart), now a stripper. A group of Mexican mobsters show up, wanting to find Chelios for reasons unknown. After a gunfight, Chelios learns that a mobster named "El Huron" ("The Ferret") wants to kill him, but he doesn't find out why.

Back outside of the strip club Chev is accosted by a gang of police officers who begin mercilessly beating him down with nightsticks. He is about to pass out when one of them inadvertently charges Chelios with a stun gun. This gives him a burst of superhuman strength and speed which allows him to escape.

Another stripper tells Chelios that he should look at the Hollywood Racetrack for Johnny Vang. They encounter a group of porn stars protesting low wages, and Chelios is again forced to flee, leaving Eve in the back of the cruiser. Chelios is picked up by Venus (Efren Ramirez), who reveals himself to be Kaylo's brother. It is revealed he also has "Full Body Tourette's." At first, Chelios tells Venus that he killed everyone responsible for his brother's death, but this prompts Venus to leave. Wanting his help, Chelios tells Venus that El Huron was involved but escaped.

At the horse track Chelios begins losing energy again. He learns that the heart can be charged through the skin by means of friction. Eve shows up and they have wild animal sex on the racetrack while the crowd cheers, and Chelios is restored to full power. Chelios spots Vang and once again leaves Eve behind. Vang escapes, and Chev is about to be subdued by security when Don Kim picks Chev up in his limo. He informs Chev that there is a leader in the Triads named Poon Dong (David Carradine), who was in need of a heart transplant. When he heard of Chelios's ability to withstand the Chinese adrenaline poison, he put out an order for Chelios's heart. Don Kim then tells Chev Chelios that he wishes to return him to Poon Dong for a reward. Upon hearing this, Chev kills all of Don Kim's henchmen, including the limo driver, and shoots Don Kim several times. Meanwhile, Eve is arrested, and Venus calls in Orlando (Reno Wilson) to assist in tracking down El Huron.

While driving, Chev is cut off by an ambulance. He boards the ambulance and is surprised to see the EMTs are working on one of Don Kim's bodyguards. He demands a new battery pack for his artificial heart, and the EMT is forced to stop working while he hooks it up. Chelios exits the ambulance upon seeing Johnny Vang on the street outside. Vang tries to escape in a car, but the car drives off without him, and Chev chases Vang to an electric plant, where there is a Godzilla-inspired fight between Chelios and Vang. Upon winning, Chev discovers that Vang's red cooler contains something other than his heart. Chelios learns via cellphone from Doc Miles that his heart has already been transplanted into Poon Dong. Johnny Vang is shot and killed by Chico as Chelios interrogates him, after which somebody knocks Chelios unconscious.

There is a dream sequence showing Chelios as a youngster, with his mother (Geri Halliwell) on the Luke Canard show talking about his violent tendencies as a boy. Eve is interrogated by police but refuses to rat him out. Doc Miles uses his assistant and sometime hooker "Chocolate" to lure Poon Dong in to his trap.

Chelios is awakened by electric shocks to his testicles and is dragged by speedboat to an island where El Huron awaits. El Huron explains to Chev that he is the third Verona brother, and is very upset that Chelios killed Ricky (Jose Pablo Cantillo) and Alex Verona (Jay Xcala). He reveals Ricky Verona's head being kept alive in a tank by a group of scientists, speaking in an electronic voice. Chelios is whipped for Verona's pleasure and is about to die when Orlando, Venus and Ria show up, each with their own group of gunfighters, and then all hell breaks loose.

Verona's tank is smashed open by Ria's gunfire and Chev kicks Verona's head into the swimming pool but starts to slow down. He climbs a nearby telephone pole and grabs a pair of live wires to recharge. He is flung off the pole and set on fire as well by the massive charge. Venus is fighting El Huron and is about to lose when Chev reappears. He beats El Huron to death and throws his body into the pool next to Ricky's head. In a hallucinogenic state, Chelios then tries to hug Ria (thinking she is Eve) but accidentally sets her on fire as well, and she runs off screaming. His flesh burning and his face melting, Chelios walks towards the camera, giving the middle finger to the audience in the final moment of the film.

As the credits roll by Doc Miles replaces Chev Chelios's heart. At first it looks like a failure but after everyone leaves Chelios's eyes open wide and his heart monitor indicates normal activity.

Cast

Main article: List of Crank characters

* Jason Statham as Chev Chelios/High Voltage
* Amy Smart as Eve Lydon
* Efren Ramirez as Venus
* Dwight Yoakam as Doc Miles
* Reno Wilson as Orlando
* Clifton Collins, Jr. as El Huron
* Bai Ling as Ria
* Art Hsu as Johnny Vang
* David Carradine as Poon Dong
* Geri Halliwell as Karen Chelios
* Jenna Haze as herself
* Ron Jeremy as himself (cameo)

Former child actor Corey Haim has a supporting role in the film. Also appearing in the film are porn stars Ron Jeremy, Ed Powers, Jenna Haze, Nick Manning, Lexington Steele, Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Glenn Howerton (both of whom had appearances in the first film), Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan, former Nine Inch Nails member Danny Lohner, UFC fighter Keith Jardine, actress Lauren Holly and the founder of Troma, Lloyd Kaufman. John de Lancie, of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame as Q, also appears at the start of the film as the newscaster.

Production

Mike Patton, of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle fame, produced the score for Crank: High Voltage.

Lions Gate Entertainment handled North American distribution of the film, while Lakeshore Entertainment handled international distribution.

Filming started in April 2008. The production budget was less than $20 million. In order to help keep costs low, the filmmakers took advantage of low-cost prosumer HDV cameras such as the Canon XH-A1, as well as a consumer model, the Canon HF10.[3]

Crank: High Voltage received an R rating by the MPAA based on an interview with Amy Smart. She was photographed brandishing taped nipples and disclosed that her character Eve has become a pole dancer.[4]

Soundtrack
Main article: Crank: High Voltage (soundtrack)

Linkin Park's song, "Given Up", was featured in the trailer for the movie, but not in the movie itself (lead singer Chester Bennington has a cameo in both films). Furthermore, one of Linkin Park's earlier songs was also entitled "High Voltage". Coincidentally the title of Crank 2. The majority of the soundtrack was done by Mike Patton.[5] The soundtrack received an "Incredible" 9.5/10 from IGN.

Original songs not scored by Mike Patton that appear in the film are as follows:

* "Keep On Loving You" by REO Speedwagon
* "The Stroke" by Billy Squier
* "Heard It In A Love Song" by Marshall Tucker Band

Cowboy Bebop Spoiler

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (劇場版 カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉, Gekijōban Kaubōi Bibappu: Tengoku no Tobira?, titled Cowboy Bebop: Heaven's Door in English), known internationally as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, is a 2001 animated film directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. The screenplay was written by Keiko Nobumoto, based on the Cowboy Bebop television series created by Sunrise. The plot centers on Spike Spiegel and his crew as they find a criminal who is planning to release a virus on Mars. The title of the movie is taken from the Bob Dylan song of the same name. The character Vincent is based around the musician.[1]

Opening on September 1, 2001 in Japan and in the U.S. on August 11, 2002, the film grossed over $3 million in Japan[2] and received positive reviews.

Plot

The year is 2071, a few days before Halloween. A deadly virus is being released on the populace of Mars and the government has issued a 300 million woolong reward, the largest bounty in history, for the capture of whoever is behind it. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop; Spike, Faye, Jet and Ed, take the case with hopes of cashing in the great bounty. But the mystery surrounding the man responsible, Vincent, goes deeper than they ever imagined, and they aren't the only ones hunting him; the original creators of the virus have dispatched Electra to deal with Vincent and take out anyone who may stumble on the truth behind him. As the hunt for the man with no past and no future continues to escalate, the fate of mankind rests with the Bebop crew, a responsibility they aren't so sure they can handle.

Characters and voice cast
Main article: Cowboy Bebop characters

When asked by an interviewer which character he empathized with "the best" or on which character he could "best project yourself" Watanabe responded by saying "That's a difficult question." He added that he empathized with all of his characters and that he has to simultaneously "keep them all at arm's length" or else he could not "create with them." Watanabe added that there are "bits of me" in every single character.[3]

Original English dub Role
Kōichi Yamadera Steven Blum Spike Spiegel
Megumi Hayashibara Wendee Lee Faye Valentine
Unshō Ishizuka Beau Billingslea Jet Black
Aoi Tada Melissa Fahn Ed
Tsutomu Isobe Daran Norris Vincent Volaju
Ai Kobayashi Jennifer Hale Electra Ovilo
Mickey Curtis Nicholas Guest Rasheed
Yuji Ueda Dave Wittenberg Lee Sampson

Coriolanus Spoiler

Genre:

Drama/Thriller/War

Directed by:

Ralph Fiennes

Coriolanus is an upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy Coriolanus directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes. It marks Fiennes' directorial debut.[1] Shooting began 17 March 2010 in Belgrade, Serbia,[1] and the film is expected to open the 2011 Belgrade International Film Festival.[2][3]

Cast

Ralph Fiennes as Coriolanus

Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius

Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia

Brian Cox as Menenius

Jessica Chastain as Virgilia

Dragan Mićanović as Titus

Paul Jesson as Brutus

James Nesbitt as Sicinius[4]

Ashraf Barhom as Cassius[4]

Lubna Azabal Tamora[4]

Harry Fenn Young Martius

John Kani and Slavko Štimac have also been announced as part of the cast, though currently in unspecified roles

Conan Spoiler

Conan the Barbarian is a 1982 action/adventure fantasy film by director John Milius and is recognized as the acting breakthrough of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had previously been a famous bodybuilder.

The film is loosely based on the Conan the Barbarian stories by Robert E. Howard and was written by Oliver Stone and John Milius, set in the mythical Hyborian Age. It was followed in 1984 by a lighter, more child-friendly, but less successful sequel, Conan the Destroyer. Both it and its sequel are sword and sorcery epic tales that include magic, monsters, and fantastical events.

Plot

The film is set during the prehistoric Hyborian Age. A yet-unseen Wizard (Mako) narrates the story. As a young Cimmerian boy, Conan witnesses the destruction of his village at the hand of three Vanir warlords: Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones) and Doom's lieutenants, Rexor (Ben Davidson) and Thorgrim (Sven-Ole Thorsen). Conan's father (William Smith) valiantly fights the bandits, but Thorgrim and Rexor mortally wound him, finally killing him with their pack of trained dogs. Doom himself hypnotizes and then decapitates Conan's mother (Nadiuska). The battle standard carried by the invading Vanir - two snakes facing each other over a moon and a rising sun - is burned into the memory of young Conan.

Sold into slavery along with the other children from his village, Conan is forced with others to push a human-powered mill, The Wheel of Pain. Reaching adulthood as the sole survivor, he has become broad and strong, (at this point the viewer is introduced to an adult Conan via the massive back and stoic stare of a 33-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger). After a period of enduring the elements, a lone horseman appears. Conan, it appears, is purchased on the premise that his size alone is enough to qualify him to fight as a gladiator. The Wheel of Pain that he has pushed for so long becomes his symbol, worn around his neck and on a standard which his "purchaser" holds. After success competing in the gladiator arena, as Akiro describes, Conan discovers his own worth. His owner sees such potential in Conan that he is later taken to the Far East. There Conan is trained as a swordsman by "War Masters." While still a slave, Conan studies language and writing including poetry and philosophy. After many successful fights, he was still but a slave. He eventually however is set free by his master and soon discovers a sword from an ancient Atlantean king in a tomb. Conan thus dedicates his life to vengeance.

During his travels, Conan meets two thieves: Subotai (Gerry Lopez), a Hyrkanian archer; and Valeria (Sandahl Bergman). The trio learn that a doomsday cult has arisen, one which makes extensive use of snake symbolism. While breaking into one of the cult's fortified temples in Shadizar, Conan discovers Rexor overseeing a human sacrifice, a confirmation of the cult's connection to Thulsa Doom. The thieves succeed in making off with (among other things) a large jewel famously dubbed "The Eye of the Serpent," and a jade amulet in the shape of Thulsa Doom's Vanir battle standard; the emblem of the Snake-god Set. In the process, Conan and his fellow thieves are forced to kill Thorgrim's pet, a giant snake guarding the treasure.

As the three enjoy their stolen wealth, Valeria becomes Conan's lover. The wealth is their undoing; drunk with excess, Conan and his companions are captured by soldiers of King Osric of Ophir (Max von Sydow). Initially appearing enraged, he then reveals his respect for their exploit in challenging the snake cult, and offers them a fortune to return his daughter (Valérie Quennessen), who has been seduced into joining the cult. He shows them a dagger, the "Fangs of the Serpent", with which a father was killed by his cultist son plunging it into the father's heart, and Osric fears a similar fate awaits him.

Valeria's expressed desire is to settle down, so Conan makes off on his own in the night, without Valeria knowing, pursuing his family's killer to Set's Mountain of Power. He happens upon the Wizard Akiro (the story's narrator). Akiro is a recluse who watches over the Mounds: a haunted Stonehenge-like cemetery. Conan is respectful of the Wizard's status, and the two become friends almost immediately.

Arriving at the Mountain of Power, Conan mugs a priest for his robes and uses the snake-amulet he stole from Rexor's tower in Shadizar as a pass to reach the head of the worshippers. However, a guard becomes suspicious and shows it to Thorgrim and Rexor. Conan is captured, beaten and brought before Thulsa Doom. He explains that in his youth he was searching for steel. Doom tells Conan the "Riddle of Steel": "Steel isn't strong: flesh is stronger." To prove his point, Thulsa Doom bids one of his followers - a beautiful young girl - to jump from a high ledge to her death, which she promptly does. Doom charges that his flesh, as a weapon, is much more potent than any sword. Doom orders that Conan be crucified in the desert, on the Tree of Woe.

Conan is found by Valeria and Subotai, near death. They bring him to Akiro, whom Valeria orders to revive Conan. In response to his technique, Akiro tells Valeria, the Gods of the Mounds will exact a terrible price on whoever asks for such. Valeria tells him that she "will pay them!" Akiro's spells ward away spirits to ensure Conan's survival. As Conan's broken body heals, Valeria tells him that - if need be - she will rise against death itself to fight by his side.

Conan and his fellow adventurers enter the Mountain of Power to rescue King Osric's daughter, where they witness the cult's orgy: a bizarre feast, at which the cult members dine upon a green stew consisting of human body parts. Thulsa Doom at this point transforms into a giant snake. The thieves battle Thulsa Doom's guards, who are led by Rexor and Thorgrim. They sweep into Doom's orgy room, scatter the snake-lord's harem and grab the princess. Valeria is mortally wounded during the escape when Thulsa Doom shoots her with an arrow created from a venomous snake. She dies in Conan's arms. Conan brings Valeria back to the Mounds. Despite Akiro's claims that no fire will burn there, Conan cremates his lover on a funeral pyre.

Before the approaching battle, Conan prays to Crom, a deity of the Hyborean Age, to help him gain revenge against Doom's warriors, and that if he does not listen, then to hell with him. Thulsa Doom, Rexor and Thorgrim lead their small army of "Vanir" riders to recover Osric's daughter. The Vanir are killed one by one and Thorgrim is killed by a clever trap. Rexor, angered at his friend's death, charges at Conan, almost catching him by surprise. The two engage in a fierce battle with Conan on the defensive. Rexor gains the upper hand and just as his sword is about to slay Conan, it is blocked by the heavenly sword of Valeria, who quickly strikes Rexor in the face. Having kept her vow to return should Conan ever need her, she says to him "Do you want to live forever?" and vanishes.

As Rexor recovers from the blow, he resumes his attack on Conan. Conan parries his blows easily, cleaving through the sword that Rexor stole from Conan's father, and kills him. Thulsa Doom, the battle lost, attempts to kill the princess with another enchanted snake-arrow, but it is deflected by Subotai's leaping shield. The princess calls out for her father, and Doom's spell over Osric's daughter is broken at last. Conan, staring at his father's broken sword, realizes the meaning of the Riddle of Steel.

Later at night, a torch-bearing Thulsa Doom preaches to his cult members, who also bear torches: the gleam in the eye of Set, as it were. Conan, led by Osric's daughter, kills a cult sentry, then emerges from the shadows behind Doom. The snake-lord attempts to hypnotize the barbarian, as he hypnotized Conan's mother years ago. But Conan is too strong-willed for him; he beheads Doom with his father's broken sword. The barbarian casts Doom's head from the temple balcony, down the steps leading up the Mountain of Power. The severed head of their leader comes to rest at the feet of Set's followers... along with the broken sword of Conan's father. The awakened "Orphans of Doom" drop their torches into a ceremonial fountain at the base of the Mountain, then vanish into the darkness for home. Conan takes a hanging fire lamp and throws it at the Mountain of Power igniting it. By dawn the fire has engulfed it as Conan carries the princess home.

The film's epilogue shows an aged Conan sitting upon a throne, crowned as King. A narration by Akiro tells the epilogue of the tale. In an alternate DVD release of the film, the final line, both written on screen and spoken by Akiro is "... in time, he became a king by his own hand... [and] this story shall also be told."

Cast

For a large budget film, the cast of Conan the Barbarian includes an unusual number of then-inexperienced actors. Dancer Sandahl Bergman and surfer Gerry Lopez were cast in major supporting roles as Conan's closest companions. In addition to Schwarzenegger, the cast also included several famous bodybuilders including William Smith, Sven-Ole Thorsen and Franco Columbu, as well as former Oakland Raiders star Ben Davidson. Schwarzenegger was paid a salary of $250,000 for his role in the film.[1]

Actor Role

Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan

James Earl Jones Thulsa Doom

Max von Sydow King Osric

Sandahl Bergman Valeria

Ben Davidson Rexor

Gerry Lopez Subotai

Cassandra Gava The Fire Elemental

Mako The Wizard Akiro / Narrator

Valérie Quennessen The Princess

William Smith Conan's father

Franco Columbu Pictish Scout

Jack Taylor Priest

Sven-Ole Thorsen Thorgrim

Erik Holmey Turanian War Officer

Jorge Sanz Young Conan

Nadiuska Conan's mother

Breaking Down Spoiler

Genre:

Fantasy/Thriller/Romance

Directed by:

Starring:

Kristin Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner

Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final novel in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan's perspective and the second is written from the perspective of Jacob Black. Breaking Dawn was released on August 2, 2008 at midnight release parties in over 4,000 bookstores throughout the US.[1] From its initial print run of 3.7 million copies, 1.3 million were sold in the first 24 hours of the book's release, setting a record in first-day sales performance for the Hachette Book Group USA.

Plot summary

Breaking Dawn is split into three separate parts. The first part details Bella's marriage and honeymoon with Edward, which they spend on a private island off the coast of Brazil. Two weeks into their honeymoon, Bella realizes that she is pregnant and that her condition is progressing at an unnaturally accelerated rate. After contacting Carlisle, who confirms her pregnancy, she and Edward immediately return home to Forks, Washington. Edward, concerned for Bella's life and convinced that the fetus is a monster as it continues to develop with unnatural rapidity, urges her to have an abortion. However, Bella feels a connection with the child and refuses.

The novel's second part is written from the perspective of wolf shape-shifter Jacob Black, and lasts throughout Bella's pregnancy and childbirth. Jacob's Quileute wolf pack, not knowing what danger the unborn child may pose, plan to destroy it, also killing Bella. Jacob vehemently protests this decision and leaves, forming his own pack with Leah and Seth Clearwater. Bella soon gives birth, but the baby breaks many of her bones and she loses massive amounts of blood. In order to save her life, Edward changes her into a vampire by injecting his venom into her heart. Jacob, who was present for the birth, almost immediately "imprints"—an involuntary response in which a shape-shifter finds his soul mate—on Edward and Bella's newborn daughter, Renesmee. This ends the enmity between Jacob and the Cullens, leading Edward and Jacob to regard each other as brothers.

The third section of Breaking Dawn shifts back to Bella's perspective, finding her changed into a vampire and enjoying her new life and abilities. However, the vampire Irina misidentifies Renesmee as an "immortal child", a child who has been turned into a vampire. Because "immortal children" are uncontrollable, creating them has been outlawed by the Volturi. After Irina presents her allegation to the Volturi, they plan to destroy Renesmee and the Cullens. In an attempt to survive, the Cullens gather other vampire clans from around the world to stand as witnesses and prove to the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child. Upon confronting the gathered Cullen allies and witnesses, the Volturi discover that they have been misinformed and immediately execute Irina for her mistake. However, they remain undecided on whether Renesmee should be viewed as a threat to vampires' secret existence. At that time, Alice and Jasper, who had left prior to the confrontation, return with a Mapuche called Nahuel, a 150-year-old vampire-human crossbreed like Renesmee. He demonstrates that the crossbreeds pose no threat, and the Volturi surrender. Edward, Bella and Renesmee return to their home in peace.

Development

The title, Breaking Dawn, is a reference to the beginning of Bella's life as a newborn vampire. The cover is a metaphor for Bella's progression throughout the entire series; she began as the physically weakest player on the board, the pawn, but at the end she becomes the strongest, the queen.[3]

The plays The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream both influenced Breaking Dawn. Originally, Meyer wrote a book titled Forever Dawn, which was a direct sequel to Twilight.[4] While the basic storyline remained the same, Forever Dawn was narrated completely from Bella's point of view, the werewolves and Jacob were "only sketchily developed", Victoria and Laurent were both alive, and there was an epilogue.[3] Meyer went on to say that she "may post some extras someday if I ever have time to go back through the Forever Dawn manuscript—it's just as long as Breaking Dawn."

In regard to Renesmee's unique name, Meyer wrote that she "couldn't call her Jennifer or Ashley. What do you name the most unique baby in the world? I looked through a lot of baby name websites. Eventually I realized that there was no human name that was going to work for me, so I surrendered to necessity and made up my own."[3] Meyer decided to include the pregnancy in her story while she was researching vampires and came across the legend of the incubus, a demon who could father children.[3]

Meyer states in regard to ending the series that:

"The Twilight Saga is really Bella's story, and this was the natural place for her story to wind up. She overcame the major obstacles in her path and fought her way to the place she wanted to be. I suppose I could try to prolong her story unnaturally, but it wouldn't be interesting enough to keep me writing. Stories need conflict, and the conflicts that are Bella-centric are resolved.

Publication

Prior to the novel's release, the first three Twilight books had already sold 8.5 million copies throughout the US[2] and over 2 million copies in the UK.[12] Breaking Dawn was one of the most anticipated book of 2008 with The Guardian noting, "Teenagers across the world are anxiously awaiting the next instalment of author Stephenie Meyer's vampiric series of novels."[1] To meet the high demand, Little, Brown Books added a printing of 500,000 additional copies just prior to publication of the title, bringing initial print run to 3.7 million.[2]

The book sold 1.3 million copies in the US[2] and 20,000 copies in the UK in its first 24 hours of release,[13] as well as 100,000 copies in Canada during its first weekend.[14] Breaking Dawn debuted at #1 on USA Today's top 150 best sellers list and has gone on to spend over 58 weeks on the list.[15] It was also the biggest-selling children's book of 2008 with over 6 million copies sold.[16]

A special edition of Breaking Dawn was released on August 4, 2009, containing a DVD of the Breaking Dawn Concert Series and a poster of Bella and Edward.

BioShock Spoiler

BioShock is a horror first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games[15]—then under the name 2K Boston/2K Australia—and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for the Windows operating system and Xbox 360 video game console on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia.[16] A PlayStation 3 version of the game, which was developed by 2K Marin, was released internationally on October 17, 2008 and in North America on October 21, 2008[17] with some additional features.[1] It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007.[18] The game was also released for the Mac OS X operating system on October 7, 2009.[19] A version of the game for mobile platforms is currently being developed by IG Fun.[20] A sequel, BioShock 2, was released on February 9, 2010.

Set in an alternate history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game incorporates elements found in role-playing and survival games, and is described by the developers and Levine as a "spiritual successor" to their previous titles in the System Shock series.[21][22] The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews, which praised its "morality-based" storyline, immersive environment and Ayn Rand-inspired dystopian back-story.

Setting

BioShock is set during 1960, in Rapture, a fictional underwater dystopian city.[33][35] The history of Rapture is learned by the player through audio recordings as he explores the city. Rapture was envisioned by the Randian business magnate Andrew Ryan, who wanted to create a laissez-faire state to escape increasingly oppressive political, economic, and religious authority on land. The city was secretly built in 1946 on a mid-Atlantic seabed, utilizing submarine volcanoes to provide geothermal power.[36] Scientific progress flourished in Rapture, leading to rapid developments in engineering and biotechnology thanks in part to the brilliant scientists that Ryan brought to the city. One such advancement was ADAM, stem cells harvested from a previously unknown species of sea slug, which were discovered by Dr. Bridgette Tenenbaum to have the ability to regenerate damaged tissue and rewrite the human genome. Tenenbaum joined with businessman and mobster Frank Fontaine to create the plasmid industry, which offered superhuman physical enhancements to its customers. Tenenbaum found that ADAM could be mass-produced by implanting the slugs in the stomachs of young girls ("Little Sisters"), taken from orphanages founded by Fontaine.

As time passed, the gap between rich and poor increased. Frank Fontaine established charity organizations to support the underclass (an act antithetical to Ryan's philosophy). His motives were far from altruistic; his ultimate goal was to use his charity organizations to manipulate the underclass. He also established a smuggling operation to supply citizens with forbidden items from the surface, such as religious material. These, along with his control of the plasmid industry, made him immensely powerful. He tried to overthrow Ryan, but the revolt was violently crushed and Fontaine was reportedly killed. Ryan seized control of Fontaine's plasmid business. Within a few months, a new figure named Atlas rose as the leader of the disgruntled lower class. On New Year's Eve of 1959, Atlas and his ADAM-infused followers began a new revolt against Ryan that spread throughout Rapture.[37] Ryan in turn began splicing his own forces, and his paranoia had reached such a level he was hanging dozens of people, mostly innocent, in Rapture's main square. In order to solve ADAM shortages, the Little Sisters were mentally conditioned to wander the city and extract ADAM from the dead, recycling it into raw ADAM in their stomachs after swallowing it. "Big Daddies", enhanced and mentally sterilized humans in armored diving suits, were created by Dr. Suchong, the scientist behind many plasmids, to protect the Little Sisters in their work.[33]

A drawback of ADAM is that a user must take regular infusions or suffer mental and physical degeneration. As the war disrupted production and supply, every ADAM user in the city eventually went violently insane. By the time the player arrives, only a handful of non-mutated humans survive in barricaded hideouts.

Story

At the start of the game, player-character Jack is a passenger on a plane that goes down in the Atlantic Ocean in 1960,[40] after ordered society in Rapture has collapsed.[41] After surfacing, Jack finds himself the only survivor of the crash, and swims to a nearby towering lighthouse on an island, where he finds a bathysphere which he uses to descend into the ocean and enter the city of Rapture.[42] An Irishman named Atlas uses the service radio found in the bathysphere to assist Jack in making his way to safety. Meanwhile, Ryan, believing Jack to be an agent of a surface nation, uses Rapture's automated systems and his pheromone-controlled Splicers to try to kill Jack. Atlas tells Jack that the only way he can survive is to use the abilities granted by plasmids, and that he must kill the Little Sisters to extract their ADAM. Overhearing Atlas' words, Dr. Tenenbaum intercepts Jack, and urges him to save the Little Sisters instead, giving him a plasmid that will displace the embedded sea slugs in each Sister.[43] Atlas says his wife and child have been hiding on a submarine and directs Jack towards it. Just as Jack and Atlas reach the bay where it is located, Ryan has it destroyed; an enraged Atlas asks Jack to kill Ryan.

Eventually, after completing tasks like saving an artificial forest from dying and helping an insane artist build his sculpture, Jack confronts Ryan in his office, where the latter is casually playing golf. Ryan reveals a truth that he has pieced together. Jack was actually born in Rapture a mere two years ago, genetically modified to mature rapidly. He is Ryan's illegitimate son by an affair with Jasmine Jolene, a dancer. When Jolene became pregnant with Jack, she, in desperate need of money, had his embryo surgically removed and sold it to the highest bidder. She had not realized it was Frank Fontaine who purchased the son, leading to her death by an enraged Ryan. Ryan further reveals that, after purchasing Jack's embryo, Fontaine designed him to obey orders that are preceded by the specific phrase "Would you kindly..." Jack was then sent to the surface when the war started to put him beyond Ryan's reach. When the conflict between Fontaine and Ryan reached a stalemate, Jack was sent instructions to board a flight with a package and to use its contents, a revolver, to hijack and crash the plane near the lighthouse, enabling him to return to Rapture as a tool of Fontaine. Because Jack was Ryan's son, he could freely use Rapture's bathysphere network, which had been locked out to everyone except those within Ryan's "genetic ballpark". Finally, Ryan has Jack kill him, wanting to die on his own terms. With Ryan's death, Jack realizes too late that Atlas has also been using the trigger phrase to control him. Atlas reveals himself as Fontaine, who faked his death to throw Ryan off his trail and take control of the city, leaving Jack at the mercy of the reactivated security systems. Dr. Tenenbaum and her Little Sisters help Jack escape through the vent system, where he falls and loses consciousness.

When Jack awakens, Dr. Tenenbaum has already deactivated some of his conditioned responses (such as the trigger phrase itself) and assists him in breaking the remaining ones, among them one that would have eventually stopped his heart. When it becomes clear to Fontaine that he is losing control of Jack, Fontaine points out the peculiar fact that Tenenbaum has survived both World War II as a Holocaust victim and the battle in Rapture, insinuating that she has a secret agenda of her own. With the help of the Little Sisters, Jack is able to track down Fontaine. Fontaine, having been cornered, injects himself with vast amounts of ADAM and becomes an inhuman monster. Jack battles Fontaine, eventually prevailing and allowing the Little Sisters to subdue and extract the ADAM from Fontaine, killing him.

Three endings are possible depending on how the player interacted with the Little Sisters, all narrated by Dr. Tenenbaum. If the player harvested no Sisters or only one Little Sister (thereby saving their lives), the ending shows five Little Sisters returning to the surface with Jack and living full lives under his care, including their graduating from college, getting married, and having children; it ends on a heart-warming tone, with an elderly Jack surrounded on his deathbed by all five of the adult Little Sisters.

If the player harvested (and thereby killed) all or almost all of the Little Sisters, the game ends with Jack turning on the Sisters after defeating Fontaine, presumably killing them all and taking their ADAM.[44] Tenenbaum narrates what occurred, condemning Jack and his actions, voice thick with anger and contempt. Later in the second ending, a George Washington class submarine carrying nuclear missiles comes across the wreckage of the plane and is suddenly surrounded by bathyspheres containing Splicers. The Splicers kill all hands aboard the submarine and take control of it.[45]

If the player killed more than one Little Sister, but not enough to obtain the previous ending, the ending is visually identical to the second one, although the tone of Tenenbaum's voice is a sad one, as opposed to angry and there are minor dialogue changes.

Bel Ami Spoiler

Bel Ami is a German film version of Guy de Maupassant's novel Bel Ami directed by Willi Forst and released in 1939.

Plot

In Paris, in about 1900, George Duroy, just returned from Morocco, spends a night with the singer Rachel, who is rehearsing the song Bel Ami. Later at a party he tells the newspaper editor Forestier about Morocco. At the request of the ladies present Duroy is engaged by Walter, proprietor of La Vie Française, as a journalist.

Forestier's wife Madeleine, who is also the mistress of the Député Laroche, whom she allows to exploit her in order to influence the newspaper as Laroche wishes, helps Duroy in the composition of his texts. Forestier becomes jealous of Duroy and divorces Madeleine.

The Minister for the Colonies, who has campaigned for a restrained foreign policy, is obliged to resign. His successor is Laroche, who initially stands for inverventionist policies, because of his ownership of land in Morocco, is seen through by Moroccan nobles and blackmailed. In order to give his change of position an acceptable public appearance he asks Madeleine to marry Duroy, who has meantime risen to editor-in-chief. She does so, but the marriage does not last long.

Duroy saves Laroche's daughter Suzanne when her horse bolts. Without introducing themselves they arrange to meet at the opera ball that evening. There, thanks to Rachel, who for a long time has been performing the song Bel Ami in a plush revue, Duroy learns the truth about Laroche's intrigues, which he publishes in his newspaper. Duroy is in love with Suzanne and divorces Madeleine to marry her. Laroche resigns, and Suzanne urges Duroy to enter politics. As minister Duroy prevents his former boss Walter from continuing the crooked intrigues of Laroche. He takes leave of his former wife Madeleine, Rachel and Frau von Marelle, in order to devote himself to his marriage with Suzanne.

Other film references

In the film Bei dir war es immer so schön (1954, directed by Hans Wolff) Willi Forst plays a film director who together with two musicians (played by Georg Thomalla and Heinz Drache), composes the lyrics of the hit song Bel Ami, which finally he sings.

DVD publication

The film is listed in the printed edition of the "Lexikon des internationalen Films", 1987, with a runtime of 100 minutes and an age restriction of 16 and over. The DVD published by Kinowelt in 2007 contains a version about 2 minutes shorter and free to the over-12s.

Bad Boys II Spoiler

Bad Boys II is a 2003 action comedy film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Martin Lawrence and Will Smith. It is a sequel to the 1995 film Bad Boys.

Plot

Eight years after the events of the first film, Detective Mike Lowrey and Detective Marcus Burnett are investigating the flow of ecstasy into Miami. Their surveillance of boats coming in from Cuba leads them to a KKK meeting/drug drop in a swamp, Mike accidentally shoots Marcus in the buttocks which leads Marcus to further question if he still wants to partner with Mike.

Meanwhile, a neurotic Cuban kingpin named Johnny Tapia, who supplies Miami's drug traffic, tells his men to change the boat's schedules once again. Two members of the Russian Mob, Alexei and Josef, receive drugs from Tapia to run their nightclub businesses, but end up giving nearly half of their profits to Tapia. Alexei and Josef go to negotiate with Tapia to recoup some of their profits, but this ends in Josef's murder by Tapia's men and Alexei's forced surrender of his Russian nightclubs after his wife and son are threatened by Tapia.

Meanwhile, the relationship between Mike and Marcus' sister, Syd, who also happens to be undercover with the DEA as a money laundering agent for the Russians, continues to develop from an earlier rendezvous in New York. During her first assignment, a Haitian gang attempts to hijack the transport and kill Syd. A massive fire fight ensues between the gang members and the Miami Police/DEA and devastates the local area. Marcus and Mike learn of Syd's actual work, which makes Marcus unhappy.

Marcus and Mike go to confront the Haitian gang leader, which results in a firefight and the leader revealing that his information about the transport came from his friend's camcorder. After viewing the footage, Marcus and Mike find out that the Spanish Palms Mortuary, a business owned by Tapia's Mother, is possibly being used as a front. Disguised as pest terminators, they penetrate Tapia's mansion and find out that Tapia is using dead bodies in the mortuary to smuggle his drugs and money to Cuba. Syd, still undercover with the DEA, has successfully charmed Tapia but is found out, captured and taken to Cuba. During the escape, Alexei, out to avenge Josef's murder, defeats most of Tapia's guards but is shot and killed by police in a standoff.

Mike and Marcus, along with their voluntary SWAT team, prepare a plan to recover Syd from Tapia. A long gunfight ensues and eventually the Cuban military arrive. As Tapia's newly built house is destroyed with his mother and daughter inside, Mike, Marcus and Syd manage to escape, pursued by the infuriated Tapia. After a lengthy pursuit, they end up at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. As Marcus and Syd plead with the soldiers, a gunfight erupts between Tapia and Mike. Marcus gets the opportunity to fire his last bullet and shoots Tapia in the head, killing him. Tapia's body falls on a mine and his corpse explodes.

Later, at the Burnett house, Mike has bought Marcus a new pool, and Marcus finally makes peace with Mike dating Syd. He even tears up the transfer papers he was going to put in, which would have ended their partnership. However, the pool breaks again, washing the two into the river, as they sing the "Bad Boys" theme song from 'Cops'.

Cast

Will Smith as Detective Mike Lowery

Martin Lawrence as Detective Marcus Burnett

Gabrielle Union as Sydney "Syd" Burnett

Jordi Mollà as Hector Juan Carlos "Johnny" Tapia

Otto Sanchez as Carlos

Jon Seda as Roberto

Peter Stormare as Alexei

Oleg Taktarov as Josef Kuninskavich

Michael Shannon as Floyd Poteet

Theresa Randle as Theresa Burnett

Joe Pantoliano as Captain C. Howard

Jason Manuel Olazabal as Det. Marco Vargas

Yul Vazquez as Det. Mateo Reyes

Jai Law as Courier

Treva Etienne as "Icepick"

Kiko Ellsworth as "Blondie Dread"

Timothy Adams as DEA van agent

Ben Brocklehurst as Street Bum (Extra Uncredited)

Henry Rollins as TNT Leader

John Salley as Fletcher

Mike Manee as Club Kid (Extra Uncredited)

Director Michael Bay makes a brief cameo in the film as the driver of the run-down compact car the main characters attempt to commandeer before deciding on a 'nicer' vehicle nearby (a luxury Cadillac driven by Dan Marino.)

Critical reception

The film received mostly negative reviews. Based on 149 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 23% of critics gave Bad Boys II a positive review, with an average rating of 4.1/10.[1]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film one out of a possible four stars, especially offended by one scene involving a teenage boy and the use of the word "nigga", citing, "The needless cruelty of this scene took me out of the movie and into the minds of its makers. What were they thinking? Have they so lost touch with human nature that they think audiences will like this scene?"[2] On an episode of At the Movies with Ebert & Roeper, film critic Richard Roeper named it 1st place on his list of the worst films of 2003, he placed notorious bomb Gigli at number 3.

Among the more positive reviews Seattle Post-Intelligencer critic Ellen A. Kim wrote that the film was "mindlessly fun... If you like this type of movie, that is." The film was also praised by a few critics and viewers for its deftly handled action sequences and visual effects.

ox office

The film was a financial success in the United States Box Office. It made $138 million domestically and $273 million worldwide, almost twice the gross of the original film.[3]

Awards

At the MTV Movie Awards 2004 the film was nominated for "Best Action Sequence" for the inter-coastal freeway pursuit, but lost to The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence won the award for "Best On-Screen Team."

Tintin Spoiler

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is a motion capture 3-D film based on The Adventures of Tintin, a series of comic books created by Belgian artist Georges "Hergé" Remi, and scheduled for release on December 23, 2011. It will be directed by Steven Spielberg and the script is based on four of the stories; The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Shooting Star,[citation needed] The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure.[2]

Spielberg first acquired rights to Tintin after Hergé's death in 1983, and re-optioned them in 2002. Filming was due to begin in October 2008 for a 2010 release, but release was delayed to 2011 after Universal opted out of producing the film with Paramount, who provided $30 million on pre-production. Sony chose to co-produce the films. The delay resulted in Thomas Sangster, who had been cast as Tintin, departing from the project. Producer Peter Jackson, whose company Weta Digital is providing the animation, intends to direct a sequel. Spielberg and Jackson also hope to co-direct a third film.[3]

The film is currently in post-production. The scoring sessions started in October 2009 and the main sessions will end in summer 2010. Composer John Williams has just completed the score.

The Adventures of Tintin will be the first Spielberg film to be shot digitally. Although Spielberg is not completely unfamiliar with digital cinematography--having directed a scene in Revenge of the Sith--the director has firmly stated that he still prefers working with film.

Premise

Combining the stories of The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Shooting Star, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, the film depicts Tintin's (Jamie Bell) first encounter with Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and the discovery of a clue to the treasure of his ancestor Sir Francis Haddock. They set out to find it with protection from a prison escapee who tried to get the treasure as well as Detectives Thompson and Thomson (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost).[2]

Jackson, a longtime fan of the comics,[22] had used motion capture in The Lord of the Rings and King Kong. He suggested that a live action adaptation would not do justice to the comic books and motion capture was the best way of representing Hergé's world of Tintin.[2] A week of filming took place in November 2006 in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California, on the stage where James Cameron shot Avatar.[23] Andy Serkis had been cast, while Jackson stood in for Tintin.[8] Cameron and Robert Zemeckis were present during the shoot.[2] The footage was transmitted to Weta Digital,[23] who produced a twenty-minute test reel that demonstrated a photorealistic depiction of the characters.[21] Spielberg said he would not mind filming it digitally because he saw it as an animated film, and reiterated his live action work would always be filmed traditionally.[24]

An official announcement about the collaboration was made in May 2007, although both filmmakers had to wait to film it: Spielberg was preparing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Jackson was planning The Lovely Bones.[21] In October 2007, Steven Moffat was announced as having signed on to write the screenplays for two of the Tintin films.[25] Moffat said he was "love bombed" by Spielberg into accepting the offer to write the films, with the director promising to shield him from studio interference with his writing.[26] Moffat finished the first script,[27] but could not complete the second because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. He then became executive producer of Doctor Who, leading Spielberg and Jackson (the latter of whom is a fan of the show) to allow him to leave and fulfil his duty to the series.[28] Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish rewrote the script.[5]

More filming took place in March 2008.[8] But in August 2008, a month before principal photography would have begun, Universal turned down their option to co-produce the film, citing the low box office of Monster House and Beowulf as well as the directors' usual request for 30% of the gross. Paramount Pictures (DreamWorks' distributor) had hoped to partner with Universal on the project having spent $30 million on pre-production. Spielberg gave a ten-minute presentation of footage, hoping they would approve for filming to begin in October. Paramount offered to produce if the directors opted out of their gross percentage deals: Spielberg and Jackson declined,[1][15] and negotiated with Sony to co-finance and distribute the first film by the end of October.[29][30][31] Sony only agreed to finance two films, though Jackson said a third film may still happen.[2]

Filming began on January 26, 2009, and the release date was moved from 2010 to 2011.[5] Spielberg wrapped his film – after 32 days of shooting – in March 2009. Jackson was present for the first week of filming and supervised the rest of the shoot via a specially made iChat videoconferencing program.[22] Simon Pegg said Jackson's voice would "be coming over the Tannoy like God."[32] During filming, various directors including Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Daldry and David Fincher visited. Spielberg would try to treat the film like live-action, moving his camera around.[2] He revealed, "Every movie I made, up until Tintin, I always kept one eye closed when I've been framing a shot," because he wanted to see the movie in 2-D, the way viewers would. "On Tintin, I have both of my eyes open."[33] Jackson took the hands on approach to directing Weta Digital during postproduction, which Spielberg will supervise through videoconferencing. Jackson will also begin ideas for the second film which he will be officially credited as director on.[6] Spielberg says "there will be no cell phones, no TV sets, no modern cars. Just timeless Europe."[34] His cinematographer Janusz Kamiński serves as lighting consultant for Weta, and Jackson said the film will look "film noirish, very atmospheric". Spielberg finished six weeks of additional motion-capture filming in mid-July, by which time the script and animatics for Jackson's film were almost done.[2][35]

Alvin and the Chipmunks Spoiler

Alvin and the Chipmunks is an animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual; and Theodore, the chubby, impressionable one. The trio is managed by their human father David Seville. In reality, David Seville was Bagdasarian's stage name, and the Chipmunks themselves are named after the executives of their original record label. The characters were an unprecedented success, and the singing Chipmunks and their manager were given life in several animated cartoon productions, using redrawn, anthropomorphic chipmunks, and eventually films.

The voices of the group were all performed by Bagdasarian, who sped up the playback to create higher pitched voices. This oft-used process was also not entirely new to Bagdasarian, who had also used it for two previous novelty song projects, including "The Witch Doctor", but it was so unusual and well executed it earned the trio two Grammy Awards for engineering. Although the characters were fictional, they did release a long line of actual albums and singles, with "The Chipmunk Song" becoming a number-one hit single in the United States. After Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.'s death in 1972, their voices were performed by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman in the subsequent incarnations of the 1980s and 1990s.

In the 2007 CGI/live-action movie adaptation and its 2009 sequel, they were voiced in dialogue by Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney, respectively. Bagdasarian, Jr. and Karman continue to perform the singing voices for Alvin, Theodore and the Chipettes, but Steve Vining now does Simon's singing voice. They are one of the most successful music groups of all time, earning five Grammy awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award, two Kids' Choice Awards, and have been nominated for three Emmy awards.

History

The Witch Doctor

In early 1958, Bagdasarian released a novelty song (as David Seville) about being unsuccessful at love until he found a witch doctor who told him "What To Do" to woo his woman. The song was done by Bagdasarian in his normal voice, except for the "magic" eyes, done first in Bagdasarian's pitched-up, pre-Chipmunk voice, then in a duet between his pitched-up voice and his normal voice. The words are nonsense: "Oo-ee, oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang". The "Walla Walla" part of the song was just thrown in as a reference to Bagdasarian's uncle who lived in Walla Walla, Washington.

The song was a major hit, holding Number 1 for three weeks in the Billboard Top 100, a predecessor to the Billboard Hot 100 chart which would be introduced that August, and the Witch Doctor's "magic words" were sung by kids in many countries.[1] Nothing makes any reference to chipmunks, but the song is sometimes included on Chipmunk compilations, as if the Chipmunks had provided the voice of the Witch Doctor. Bagdasarian did record a "Chipmunks" version of "Witch Doctor", which appeared on the second Chipmunks album, Sing Again with The Chipmunks, in 1960.

The song gained new attention when it was sung by Homer Simpson in an episode of The Simpsons in 2006.

A followup song was recorded by Bagdasarian titled "The Bird on My Head" with Bagdasarian (again as Seville) singing a duet with his own sped-up voice as the bird. It also reached the Top 40, peaking at

The Chipmunk Song
Main article: The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)

The Chipmunks first officially appeared on the scene in a novelty record released in late fall 1958 by Bagdasarian. The song, originally listed on the record label (Liberty F-55168) as "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)", featured the singing skills of the chipmunk trio. One phrase in the chorus has Alvin wishing for a hula hoop, which was that year's hot new toy. The novelty record was highly successful, selling more than 4 million copies in seven weeks, and it launched the careers of its chipmunk stars. It spent four weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from December 22, 1958 to January 12, 1959. It also earned three Grammy Awards and a nomination for Record of the Year. At the height of its popularity, Bagdasarian and 3 chipmunk hand-puppets appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, lip-synching the song. "The Chipmunk Song" appeared on the Chipmunks' debut album, Let's All Sing with the Chipmunks, in 1959, and was repeated on Christmas with the Chipmunks, released in 1962. The song also has been included on several compilation albums.

The Alvin Show (1961–1962)

The first television series to feature the characters was The Alvin Show. The cartoon gave more distinctive looks and personalities to the three chipmunks than just their voices, and an animated portrayal of Seville was a reasonable caricature of Bagdasarian himself. The series ran from 1961 to 1962, and was one of a small number of animated series to be shown in prime time on CBS. Unfortunately, it was never an immediate success in prime time and was canceled after one season, only to find new life in syndication.

In addition to Alvin cartoons, the series also featured the scientist Clyde Crashcup and his assistant Leonardo. Those characters did not feature prominently on any of the later series. Crashcup made a single cameo appearance in A Chipmunk Christmas, and in an episode of Alvin and the Chipmunks. The television series was produced by Format Films for Bagdasarian Film Corporation. Although the series was broadcast in black and white, it was produced and later re-run in color. 26 episodes each were produced for the Alvin and the Chipmunks and Clyde Crashcup segments, along with 52 musical segments.



Awards and nominations
* 1959, won three Grammy Awards for Best Recording for Children, Best Comedy Performance, and Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical for the song "The Chipmunk Song." (Was also nominated for Record of the Year, but did not win.)
* 1960, won a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical, for the song "Alvin's Harmonica."
* 1961, won a Grammy Award for Best Album for Children for the album Let's All Sing with The Chipmunks. (It was also nominated for Best Engineered Record, Non-Classical.) The song "Alvin for President" was also nominated for both Best Comedy Performance – Musical and Best Engineered Record – Novelty, making two nominations in the latter category.
* 1962, was nominated again for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Record – Novelty for the television tie-in album The Alvin Show.
* 1963, was nominated again for Grammy Awards for both Best Album for Children and Best Engineered Record – Novelty for the album The Chipmunk Songbook.
* 1966, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children for the song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".
* 1985, was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime)."
* 1987, the second television series was nominated for a Young Artist Award in the category "Exceptional Family Animation Series or Specials."
* 1987, was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime)."
* 1988, was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Animated Program (Daytime)* 1988, was nominated for a Young Artist Award in the category "Best Motion Picture – Animation" for the movie The Chipmunk Adventure.
* 1988-1990, won The Kids' Choice Awards in the category "Favorite Cartoon"
* 2000, won the Golden Reel Award in the category "Best Sound Editing – Direct to Video – Sound Editorial" for the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein.
* 2008, Jason Lee won The Kids' Choice Awards in the category "Favorite Movie" for the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks
* 2008, Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack won the American Music Award for "Best Movie Soundtrack"
* 2010, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel won The Kids' Choice Awards in the category "Favorite Movie".

There were five Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award, and two Kids Choice Awards in total.