JOHN CARTER | Official Characters Descriptions

John Carter official characters descriptions for the 2012 Andrew Stanton directed science fiction film describes characters played by Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, and Ciaran Hinds, amongst others.

John Carter‘s plot synopsis: “John Carter is a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). John Carter is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands.”

John Carter’s official characters descriptions:

THE EARTHMEN – (From the planet Earth of the late 1800s — light years from Barsoom, a.k.a. Mars):

JOHN CARTER (Taylor Kitsch) – “No good’ll come out of me fightin’ your war.” — Born in Virginia, John Carter served as an officer in the Confederate army in the Civil War. He is an honorable and courageous hero, but the ravages of the Civil War have left him broken, dispirited and personally defeated. Accidentally transported to Barsoom (Mars), Carter begins to realize that his strength and jumping abilities are greatly amplified in the low gravity of the planet. Carter reluctantly begins a journey to rediscover his humanity while at the same time saving his newfound world.

COLONEL POWELL (Bryan Cranston) — “Captain, I’m finding it difficult to reconcile the man on this piece of paper with the one I’m looking at.” — Colonel Powell is a seasoned, by-the-book, tough-as-nails U.S. cavalry officer. Powell’s mission is to enlist John Carter to fight the Apaches from his unit’s outpost in the Arizona Territory. He is thwarted in this by John Carter’s abject refusal to have anything to do with the military—or any cause, no matter how just.

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS (Daryl Sabara) — “My mother always said Jack never really came back from the war.” — Edgar Rice Burroughs is John Carter’s inquisitive 18-year-old nephew. Edgar adores his Uncle John and as a child enjoyed listening to wild tales he spun that took him on journeys to places Edgar could hardly even imagine. Burroughs receives an urgent telegram from his Uncle and rushes to him — only to find it may be too late.

THE INHABITANTS OF BARSOOM:

MATAI SHANG (Mark Strong) — “We do not cause the destruction of a world, Captain Carter. We simply manage it. Feed off it, if you like.” — Matai Shang is the Holy Hekkador (King) of the Therns. Using their advanced technology, the mysterious Therns represent themselves as the messengers of the Barsoomian Goddess Issus in order to manipulate their own plans.

DEJAH THORIS (Lynn Collins) — “If you had the means to save others, would you not take any action possible to make it so?” — Dejah Thoris, the beautiful, raven-haired princess of Helium, is a passionate advocate for the Heliumites and their way of life. Dejah is Regent of the Royal Academy of Science, and was trained to rule and fight. She is on the verge of a discovery that could permanently shift the balance of power between her nation Helium and their enemy Zodanga. But time is running out, and Dejah must convince John Carter to enlist in the fight to save Helium.

KANTOS KAN (James Purefoy) — “Hello, ladies.” — Kantos Kan is the Odwar (Captain) of the Helium air navy and is fiercely loyal to Tardos Mors and his daughter, Dejah Thoris. Intelligent, handsome and brave, Kantos will do anything in his power to fight for Helium and protect the royal family.

SAB THAN (Dominic West) — “Death to Helium!” — Sab Than is the Jeddak (King) of Zodanga. He is impulsive, arrogant and aggressive, promoting war and conquest as the Zodangan way of life. With a dangerously calculated charm, Sab will even try to make a deal with the devil to destroy Helium and rule all of Barsoom.

TARS TARKAS (Willem Dafoe) — “When I saw you leap into the sky, I wished to believe it was a sign that something new can come into this world.” — Tars Tarkas is a fierce green Martian warrior who is the Jeddak (King) of the Tharks. The last vestige of nobility runs in his blood and is the only thing that keeps the Thark tribe from turning into beasts. Blessed with a good sense of humor and patience, Tars befriends the earthman John Carter and gives him the Thark name Dotar Sojat, which roughly translates as “my right arms.”

John Carter also stars Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, Thomas Hayden Church, Don Stark, Jonathan Hyde, Raad Rawi, and Willem Dafoe.

Leave your thoughts on the John Carter official characters descriptions in the comments section. John Carter will be released in US theaters on March 9, 2012.

Source: Film Book

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES | Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt NYC set photos

Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt The Dark Knight Rises (2012) NYC set photos are from a Christopher Nolan directed film. The photos feature Christian Bale and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the streets of New York City, Gordon-Levitt in a Gotham City police uniform and Bale with a grey streak in his hair.

About The Dark Knight Rises production:

The Dark Knight Rises is the highly anticipated final installment of Warner Bros and DC Entertainment’s new Batman film franchise. Christopher Nolan has returned to direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by himself and David S. Goyer. Details about the film’s storyline are scarce, but it has already been established that one of villains set to take on the Batman (Christian Bale) will be the powerhouse known as Bane (Tom Hardy). Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), better known to comics fans as Catwoman, will also have a central role in the movie. The will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

The Dark Knight Rises‘ cast also includes Anna Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine,Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Stewart, Daniel Sunjata, Burn Gorman, Diego Klattenhoff, Josh Pence, Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Joey King, Alon Aboutboul, Nestor Carbonell, Brett Cullen, and Juno Temple.

Leave your thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt NYC set photos below in the comments section. The Dark Knight Rises opens in US theaters on July 20, 2012.

Source: Film Book

CAREY MULLIGAN | Dragged into the underworld in “DRIVE”

One of the most talented young actresses working today, Oscar Best Actress nominee Carey Mulligan (“Never Let Me Go,” “Money Never Sleeps”) stars opposite Ryan Gosling in FilmDistrict's critically acclaimed thriller “Drive.” 

Winner of the Best Director prize in this year’s Cannes Film Festival, “Drive” will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3 & Trinoma) starting Nov. 9. The film is directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and adapted from James Sallis's 2005 novel of the same name.

In the film, Driver (Gosling) is a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can't help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac).

Mulligan had been a fan of Refn’s past films “Bronson” and “Valhalla Rising” and had even mentioned to her agent that she wanted to work with a director like Refn, but it was only after she expressed interest in the script that she learned who was helming “Drive.”

The actrees’ enthusiasm was matched by Refn's, who immediately ordered small rewrites of Irene's backstory so he could cast Mulligan. In the novel, ‘Irene’ is a Latina. Director Refn confirms, “Originally I was looking for a Latina actress. I hadn’t seen Carey’s films, but the minute she walked in the door, I knew we had our ‘Irene.’ It just cemented the love story in a much more interesting way. It made it more of a ‘Romeo & Juliet‘ kind of love story without the politics that would in this day and age be brought into it if you had different nationalities or different religions.”

Mulligan explains her interest in the part: “Irene's character was a challenge because she's really the pivot point for the film's secondary plot, which is literally about the love triangle between her, Driver and Irene’s husband Standard but dramatically is about where they'll all end up in the most meaningful sense. And it's not an easy decision for her. Driver certainly seems like Irene's knight in shining armor, but Standard is drawn very sympathetically, as someone who's made mistakes but is genuinely trying to turn his life around. Plus she's loved him since she was 17. So to be able to play those two impulses off of one another, especially after Standard and Driver form an uneasy alliance, gave me so much to work with.”

Says Refn: “Since I was a teenager, I've been a big fan of `Sixteen Candles.’ I've always wanted to remake that film one way or another and, in a very unlikely way, I've done that with `Drive.’ Carey has all the intelligence and charm of a young Molly Ringwald. The romantic scenes she has with Ryan make for a very delicate and beautiful contrast to the brutality in the rest of the film.”

THE LORAX | Stars voices of Danny DeVito, Zac Efron & Taylor Swift

Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda‘s The Lorax (2012) stars Zac Efron, Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, and Betty White. 

The Lorax‘s plot synopsis: “In this version of The Lorax, a boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world from a greedy entrepreneur as he strips a forest of its stock of Truffula trees to manufacture clothing.”

Great CG animation here and the Dr. Seuss story is cute, not great, cute. The humor is good though e.g “she’s a woman?” The film boasts the resplendent colors of a Hayao Miyazaki film.

The Lorax also stars Willow Smith, Rob Riggle, and Sherry Lynn.

Watch The Lorax movie trailer below and leave your thoughts on it in the comments section. The Lorax will be released in limited US theaters on March 2, 2012.

Source: Film Book

Box office update: 'Puss in Boots' the cat's meow on Friday with $9.6 million

Dreamworks Animation’s Shrek-spinoff Puss in Boots got off to a decent start at the box office on Friday, scratching up the competition and topping the chart with an estimated $9.6 million.

That opening number puts Puss well behind other Dreamworks pictures like Kung Fu Panda 2, which started with $13.1 million on its way to a $47.7 million weekend, and How To Train Your Dragon, which earned $12.1 million on Friday and scored $43.7 million in its opening frame. If Puss in Boots can score a similar 3.5 weekend multiplier (which may be difficult with a giant snowstorm hitting the Northeast), it could pull in $34 million this weekend, and while that is an impressive-sounding number, we must remember that Puss in Boots came with a hefty $130 million pricetag.

In second, last weekend’s chart topper, Paranormal Activity 3, dropped by a scary 75 percent to $6.5 million on Friday, but given how inflated its opening day was last week, that drop should level out to about 60 percent over the rest of the weekend — pretty standard for a horror sequel. Paranormal Activity 3 may have earned about $20 million by Sunday’s end, which would lift its total to $82 million.

Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried’s psychological thriller In Time started off in third place with $4.3 million, which is well below the $6.8 million that Timberlake’s last film, Friends With Benefits, earned on opening day. The $40 million film is looking at a lackluster $13 million frame.

Speaking of lackluster, Johnny Depp’s latest, The Rum Diary, earned only $1.9 million yesterday. Depp’s $50 million vehicle may begin with just $5.5 million. Someone get that guy a drink! Close behind in fifth, Footloose grossed another $1.8 million, and it could be headed to a $6 million weekend, which would bring its cume to just under $40 million.

The weekend’s other new opener, Anonymous, grossed $315,000 out of 265 theaters. The Shakespeare speculation piece is looking at a $1 million weekend. Maybe Sony shouldn’t have gone with a platform release strategy for this one

Source: Inside Movies | Grady Smith

Rachel McAdams & Channing Tatum | 'The Vow' poster!

Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams get close in this poster for their upcoming film,The Vow.

The film centers around a newlywed couple recovering from a car accident that leaves the wife in a coma.

When she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband tries to win her heart again, while a former fiance enters the picture and also tries to win her back.

The Michael Sucsy-directed romantic drama hits theaters February 10, 2012.

Source: Just Jared

Michelle Williams | Marilyn Monroe approves of my movie

Michelle Williams knows her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in the upcoming My Week With Marilyn would make the iconic blond bombshell proud.

Um, how would she know that?

Monroe has apparently given her stamp of approval from beyond the grave...

"While we were filming, something came out in the National Enquirer that a psychic had spoken to her and that she approved of what we were doing and she thought I was doing a really good job," Williams told us at the Hollywood Film Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. "So maybe she likes it!" (Guess this is one of the rare cases when a celeb actually likes getting some ink in the supermarket tabloid!) 

Perhaps Monroe allowed the 31-year-old Oscar nominee to channel her off screen speaking voice.

"I studied tapes," Williams said. "There's really nothing that exists of her, that I could find anyway, that exists of her having a conversation with a friend...So there wasn't a template that existed for her everyday vocal pattern, so at a certain point you have to make it imaginatively."

Whether it was through research or imagination, Williams obviously nailed the late Hollywood legend's signature style.

"I do remember one moment of being all suited up as Marilyn and walking from my dressing room onto the soundstage practicing my wiggle," Williams recently told Vogue. "There were three or four men gathered around a truck, and I remember seeing that they were watching me come and feeling that they were watching me go...I thought, ‘Oh, maybe Marilyn felt that when she walked down the beach.'"

Source: E! Online | Marc Malkin & Brett Malec | Just Jared

True Blood's STEPHEN MOYER | On his double jail time, True Blood’s camera tricks and the reason he won’t do a Rom-Com

American audiences came to love English actor Stephen Moyer as sexy, small-town vampire Bill Compton on HBO’s hit show True Blood. But when the award-winning Alan Ball series goes on hiatus — as it is now between its fourth and fifth seasons — the accomplished stage actor fits in as many film projects as he can. The latest being The Double, Michael Brand’s directorial debut which co-stars Moyer as a Soviet psychopath assassin who is locked behind bars with only a gruesome facial scar and a secret — a secret that Richard Gere and Topher Grace try to wheedle out of him as they investigate the murder of a senator in this political thriller.

In anticipation of The Double’s release, Moyer met with Movieline in Beverly Hills this week to discuss why he volunteered for solitary confinement on set, the art of eating a battery and his dream to direct.

What made you want to play a Russian psychopath?

He’s just a great character. It’s so interesting — in the [True Blood] hiatus we get five months. This year, I think it was only four and a half months to try and do something that is different from what you have been doing and to weave a tapestry. In this particular year, I also did a film with Rachelle Lefevre called The Caller in which I was playing a very straight character. I played a British politician in a British series called Ice and I also did some work for Anna [Paquin]’s brother in another thing. I wanted to broaden my horizons. Who wouldn’t want to play a Russian psychopath? It’s an awful lot of fun. You got to chew the scenery a little bit and learn some stuff.

What did you learn?

I learned about this form of fighting called Systema which I had no knowledge of before. I got to play with that which was great and I got to work with Richard Gere and Topher.

How does one get into the mindset of a Soviet psychopath?

A lot of my friends would tell you that I did that quite easily. Every situation is different. You have to learn what makes your character tick. If you imagine being locked up for 15 years, 10 of those in solitary confinement, which is what I was playing with, it’s going to make you pretty mad. When you see the window of opportunity to talk to people or to get out or to somehow twist the situation, you’re going to do that. I can’t imagine spending one week in one of those cells.

Did you film in a real prison?

We were shooting in a real prison actually — a working prison in Michigan. You have to go through all of the procedures of actually getting in and them closing the doors behind you. I asked them to lock me in a cell that was very close to where we were shooting. So basically, I was in this cell near where we were shooting and every time they would do another take, they would unlock me and I’d come out and do a take. It was fun and gave me that sense of the cramped, locked-in conditions that are fascinating to play. It’s just another area for a warped mind like mine.

How long were you confined total?

I think the first day, when they were setting up lighting, I was in there for a few hours. And then after that, I would spend five or 10 minutes in there between each take and 20 when they were resetting.

Halloween-themed first-look: “FRANKENWEENIE”

Disney has just unveiled the first photos of Tim Burton's upcoming animated feature, “Frankenweenie” which hits Philippine theaters October next year, just in time for Halloween 2012.

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D, which will elevate the classic style to a whole new experience.

With a screenplay by Burton and John August, the film's voice cast is lead by Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan and Atticus Shaffer.

True Blood's Alexander Skarsgård | Sizzling sexy in darkest behavior in “STRAW DOGS”

In Columbia Pictures' new suspense thriller “Straw Dogs,” a Hollywood screenwriter (James Marsden) and his actress wife (Kate Bosworth), return to her small hometown in the deep South to prepare the family home for sale after her father’s death. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, including the wife's ex-boyfriend (Alexander Skarsgård), leading to a violent confrontation.

Directed and screenplay by Rod Lurie, the film is based on the 1971 movie of the same title written by David Zelag Goodman and Sam Peckinpah who adapted the novel The Siege of Trencher’s Farm by Gordon Williams.

When Rod Lurie set about the task of revisiting Peckinpah’s controversial 1971 film “Straw Dogs,” foremost in their minds was capturing the scary intensity of the story and its exploration of the darkest human behavior, but also reconfiguring its horrific contours for the realities and moviegoing sensibilities of a new generation.

“Peckinpah had a very definite point of view of human beings and how they behaved,” says Lurie, of the original film’s shocking violence. “He was very much a pessimist, and I believe I’m an optimist. So I thought it might be an interesting experiment to see whether or not you can do the same story, but tell it from a different point of view.”

Working more from Gordon William’s novel, The Siege of Trencher’s Farm than from Peckinpah’s film, Lurie felt that updating the story and bringing its special psychological terror into the classic American setting of a small Southern town -- where life was ruled by how the football team performed on Friday night and the townspeople’s roles were a clearly defined hierarchy -- would bring a modern edge to what is at heart a powerful and ultimately terrifying examination of a relationship being incomprehensibly tested and torn apart.

Lurie then set about regrounding everything in William’s novel, shifting the location to a small fictional Southern town steeped in traditions of brutality, and transforming the characters into roles within that classic American setting.

“It’s not so much that it’s the South,” explains Lurie. “What I wanted to define was a culture where violence was a part of their everyday life, where they’re hunting, where there’s football – which I adore – and where their people solve things through fights. Where machismo rules.”

One thing Lurie insisted should not change, was the central core of the story’s menacing buildup, which forces a reluctant hero to use violence in order to defend his wife, his property and both of their lives – and whether after being shattered, his marriage could ever be rebuilt.

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Straw Dogs” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.sonypictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games. Like us at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.

HENRY CAVILL | Man of Steel behind-the-scenes! Need I say more?

Just when you thought there were enough hot photos of Henry Cavill out there.... Suddenly a new set surfaces and proves why he is predicted to be the next hottest leading man. See for yourself. :o)

 

HENRY CAVILL | Why HE IS the hottest IMMORTAL and SUPERMAN!!!

Henry Cavill shows off his fine figure in this shirtless new still from the upcoming 3-D movie, Immortals, out November 11.

The legends of the Greek Gods will come to life like never before in the Tarsem Singh-directed flick, which also stars Mickey Rourke, Stephen Dorff, Isabel Lucas, Freida Pinto, and Kellan Lutz.

Henry, who has been busy in Vancouver shooting Man of Steel, plays the Greek warrior Theseus, who battles against imprisoned titans.

ABOUT THE MOVIE 'IMMORTALS'

Visionary director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall) transports us to a mythical world of treachery, vengeance and destiny in Immortals, a stylish and visually spectacular 3D action adventure. As a power-hungry king razes ancient Greece in search of a legendary weapon, a heroic young villager rises up against him in a thrilling quest as timeless as it is powerful. 

The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army rampage across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king's mission.

As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge his mother, who was killed in one of Hyperion's brutal raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man's future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final, desperate battle for the future of humanity. Immortals is produced by Gianni Nunnari (300), Mark Canton (300) and Ryan Kavanaugh (The Fighter).

 

  

 

‘The Immortals’ Trailer

 

 

 

 

Source: Just Jared

ADAM LEVINE & Anne V | Nude on 'Vogue Russia' cover

Adam Levine and girlfriend Anne V dare to scare naked on the cover of Vogue Russia’s November 2011 issue.

The 32-year-old lead singer of Maroon 5 and his supermodel girlfriend is featured in a generous series of photos for the fashion mag.

Adam’s crew Maroon 5 will guest at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show along with rapper Kanye West, as reported by Rolling Stone.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will air on CBS on November 29.

Adam’s hit show The Voice will return for its second season after the 2012 Super Bowl!

 

 

 

 

 

THE PHOTOSHOOT VIDEO

Source: Just Jared

Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks | Live on SNL!!!

Foster The People performing Pumped Up Kicks on Saturday Night Live. (c) 2011 NBC Studios, LLC

Man of Steel HENRY CAVILL | The Sky's The Limit

After battling Greek gods in Immortals and donning Superman's cape for the series reboot, Henry Cavill can teach you about career climbs.

The superhero began life a chubby little boy.

As a child in England, Henry Cavill was known as "Fat Cavill." "It's definitely a shitty nickname," Cavill says, seated in a Chicago sidewalk cafe. "But kids are kids. Kids are cruel. Whatever. I was fat."

It's hard to admit, but sometimes even cruel kids have a point. In time, Cavill, the lead actor in the current toga-abs epic Immortals and the forthcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel, became as tough on himself as his classmates had been on him. He accepted the harsh reality of his situation—he was "round," as he puts it, and needed to make a change. The rugby, field hockey, and cricket of his boarding-school days weren't enough.

He grew up and out of his pudgy body and then kept going. He became a model and an actor, running for four seasons as fun-loving bad boy Charles Brandon on Showtime's Henry VIII drama The Tudors, a role that required nude sex scenes. (Tough job!) But even that experience wasn't enough to give him confidence in his body. He still thought of himself as overweight until just a few years ago, when he trained for Immortals, the 300-style action flick due out this month. Cavill spent countless hours hoisting weights alongside the throngs of ripped warriors in the cast.

"There was a sense of team and camaraderie," he says. "We all sweated together, we all bled together, we all ate the same highly inefficient food and just kept on going and supported each other." When he felt weak, the group kept him going. "Because they were doing it—and if they could do it, so could I. It's not the end of the world that your feet hurt. Push yourself."

Playing Theseus, a Greek warrior chosen by the gods to save the homeland, Cavill was greased up, ripped, and 25 pounds lighter than he is now. He could have asked director Tarsem Singh to apply the film's extensive CGI to assist him with that eight-pack, but he opted instead to embrace a grueling training regimen designed to create a lean, carved physique. As a result, Theseus's abs are all real, with no digital enhancement. "It's very stressful," Cavill says, "waking up Monday morning and saying, 'Can I still see that vein in my abs?' "