Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Negative ads may decide Iowa
NAS -- Concert Promoter Claims He Was Kidnapped After Rapper No-Showed in Angola
TMZ
NAS -- Concert Promoter Claims He Was Kidnapped After Rapper No-Showed in Angola
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2012/01/03/nas-kidnapping-angola-new-years-eve/
'In The Land Of Blood And Honey': The Reviews Are In!
'No one should be surprised that Angelina Jolie is as capable behind the camera as in front of it,' one critic says of globetrotting Oscar winner.
By Kara Warner
Zana Marjanovic in "In the Land of Blood and Honey"
Photo: GK Films
For her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," Angelina Jolie chose to helm a harrowing, unrelenting drama set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that highlights the horrors of the ethnic conflict that ravaged the region in the 1990s. To say that it is not a feel-good film is an understatement.
The critics are almost completely divided on whether Jolie's effort, which scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film, is a success. Read on as we sift through the reviews of "In the Land of Blood and Honey."
The Story
"Eight years ago Jolie starred in a film, 'Beyond Borders,' in which she sashayed around global hot spots in elegant outfits like a fashion model on a shoot. Almost as if in atonement, 'Blood and Honey' is nothing like that, quite the contrary, in fact, as it centers on the queasy relationship between a captor, a Serbian army officer responsible for rounding up Muslims or otherwise making them disappear in Bosnia, and a female prisoner, a woman he was interested in prior to the war and is now able to exploit, but also protect, as his 'personal property.' " — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
The Direction
"Because Jolie is known for her very public passions, which have progressed from the relative simplicity of the carnal to a globally-oriented expression of the maternal, the relatively sedate tone of 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' is unexpected. The systematic use of rape as a weapon of war is depicted with discretion (the brutality was far more vivid in 'The Whistleblower,' another 2011 Bosnian war-themed release). Jolie might show a shrieking woman being carried away by a soldier in the background, but she keeps much of the horror offscreen, at a remove from Ajla. Meanwhile, her scenes with Danijel read as lovers taking pleasure in each other's company, legs and limbs tangled languidly in the sheets. ... No one should be surprised that Angelina Jolie is as capable behind the camera as in front of it; why wouldn't she be? Here's an Oscar winner who travels the world on behalf of the United Nations listening to horror stories from refugees; processing pain is a regular sideline for her." — Mary Pols, Time
The Performances
"Jolie's actors [Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Vanesa Glodjo], all from the former Yugoslavia and unknown in the West except for the superb veteran character actor Rade Serbedzija, give magnetic, raw performances. Their commitment helps us through a movie that is often harrowing, never less than intense but important, one unafraid of moments too many have chosen to forget." — Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News
The Final Word
"Considering the historical, ethical and technical challenges in the mix — a first-time director recreating a war of ethnic cleansing on a bombs-and-bullets level, with charged issues or power and abuse, along with the challenge of shooting in a second language in a foreign land — it is not patronizing to suggest that Ms. Jolie's first film is an ambitious step forward that promises more, and better, in the future. The film may have more in ambition than it does in execution, but it deserves to be taken seriously as a debut by someone who may yet be as natural and assured behind the camera as she seems to be in front of it." — James Rocchi, MSN.com
Check out everything we've got on "In the Land of Blood and Honey."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676450/in-the-land-of-blood-and-honey-reviews.jhtml
Year in Review: Science Stories of 2011
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/30/144485202/year-in-review-science-stories-of-2011?ft=1&f=1007
Monday, January 2, 2012
Conversation Starters: 2011's Top 5 Book Club Picks
dow jones industrial... bank of america stoc... kate gosselin
Review: Galaxy Nexus is top Android phone, but you'll need big hands
Source: http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/News/Samsung-Galaxy-Nexus-review/?kc=rss
'War Horse': The Reviews Are In!
Steven Spielberg's holiday offering is a 'litmus test' for moviegoers' feelings about the director, one critic says.
By Eric Ditzian
Tom Hiddleston in "War Horse"
Photo: DreamWorks
The Christmas holiday offers a staggering array of fresh cinematic choices. The last two weeks have given us films about chipmunks and tigers, 19th-century detectives and 21st-century spies, motion-captured adventurers and motorcycle-riding hackers. Shoot, there are not one but two Steven Spielberg flicks to choose from when all of your presents have been opened and that post-holiday-meal coma has set in.
The most recent is "War Horse," which nabbed two Golden Globe nominations and is likely to garner a slew of Oscar nods, including Best Picture and Best Director (even if the reviews are mixed). The movie, which hit theaters on Sunday (December 25), isn't polarizing so much as it is, in critic Bill Goodykoontz's lovely phrasing, a "litmus test" for moviegoers' feelings about Spielberg's films in general. Some reviewers have lauded the beautiful cinematography and stellar cast, while others have taken issue with the film's overly sentimental tone.
Read on for a deep dive into "War Horse" reviews.
The Story
"The film deals with the relationship between Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) and his horse, Joey. It's a sprawling story that uses the background of World War I as a framework, but it's really a very direct journey. Albert's father (Peter Mullan) buys a horse, Albert falls in love with it, WWI begins, the horse is sold to Captain Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston), and Albert decides to enlist so he can find his horse and keep him safe. The film follows Joey from owner to owner, using the horse's journey as a way of dipping into a number of stories along the way, and eventually reaching a rousing and nakedly tear-jerking finale. It is an episodic film, and how you feel about the movie as a whole will depend largely on whether or not you are moved by the various stops along the way." — Drew McWeeny, HitFix
The Performances
"The cast is exemplary down the line, with both names and newcomers delivering expansive, emotional and almost entirely sympathetic performances. Neither side in the conflict is ennobled or demonized; like Joey (and a striking black steed who's his companion for a while), the grunts are just pawns in the hands of unseen manipulators of countless fates. Irvine is the very picture of a sturdy, well-intentioned, ruddy-faced English country lad of a hundred years ago and Mullan and [Emily] Watson look to have come from the earth they tread. Tom Hiddleston cuts a striking figure as an English officer who understands Joey early on, setting an example for the many others who briefly come and go through the horse's life as the war grinds on." — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
The Action
"Spielberg's battle scenes are a marvel of sight and sound — the latter literally shakes the theatres from the pop of rifles and the thunder of cannons. Spielberg tugs at the heart strings, but he's also not afraid to smack you upside the head with combat that realistically shows the madness of war. He interrupts the action too often, perhaps fearing a punitive censor rating. There are long stretches of 'War Horse' where Joey passes from hand to hand like the precious golden circle of 'The Lord of the Rings,' as this barnyard Balzac further demonstrates its wisdom and stoicism while dispensing silent life lessons." — Peter Howell, Toronto Star
The Dissenters
"[It's] overlong, painfully earnest and sometimes even hokey. Clearly, Spielberg intended 'War Horse' as a throwback, an homage to good, old-fashioned, heartrending storytelling, full of recognizable types and uplifting themes. The skies are so impossibly colorful in such a retro way, they look like hand-painted backdrops on a soundstage. And the dialogue is so frequently on-the-nose and repetitive, it might just make you cringe." — Christy Lemire, The Associated Press
The Final Word
" 'War Horse' is a sort of litmus test for how you feel about Steven Spielberg's films. It's a beautiful movie, stunning to look at, with echoes of film history all throughout, reaching back to 'Gone With the Wind,' 'The Searchers,' Spielberg's own 'Saving Private Ryan' and more. It's also unapologetically sentimental. Spielberg all but begs you to cry, and unless you're a heartless cad, you probably will." — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic
Check out everything we've got on "War Horse."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676446/war-horse-reviews.jhtml
