Drop The Needle [FILM]

I bought tickets so many events here. I sold tickets for event through here. I bought music here. Drake and I bought a DJ starter kit from here because we had to have DJ equipment to launch a career in Hip Hop. Play De Record was ground zero for Toronto vinyl lovers and the documentary Drop the Needle recounts Eugene Tam’s role in developing Canada’s hip-hop and dance music scene through his Toronto store Play De Record.

Helmed by first-time director Rob Freeman and conceived by freelance sportswriter Neil Acharya, the film provides a fascinating look at the evolution of the underground urban music scene that was all but ignored by the vanilla Canadian music industry, and Tam’s role as a catalyst in its development through Play De Record.

Now screening. Get your tickets HERE.

Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell [TRAILER]

Every legend has an origin story. Christopher Wallace, AKA The Notorious B.I.G., remains one of Hip-Hop’s icons, renowned for his distinctive flow and autobiographical lyrics. This documentary celebrates his life via rare behind-the-scenes footage and the testimonies of his closest friends and family.

A documentary on the life and career of The Notorious B.I.G. is officially coming to Netflix, and the streaming service unveiled the first trailer.
Biggie: I Got a Story to Tell is executive produced by the late legend's mother Voletta Wallace and his friend and collaborator Diddy, both contributing candid interviews to the film.

Watch it March 1st on Netflix.

Coming 2 America [FILM]

Set in the lush and royal country of Zamunda, newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his trusted confidante Semmi(Arsenio Hall) embark on an all-new hilarious adventure that has them traversing the globe from their great African nation to the borough of Queens, New York – where it all began. 

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, KiKi Layne, Shari Headley, with Wesley Snipes and James Earl Jones. Also starring John Amos, Teyana Taylor, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Paul Bates, Nomzamo Mbatha, Bella Murphy

Available March 5th on Prime Video.  

Screenplay by: Kenya Barris and Barry W. Blaustein & David 

Sheffield Story by: Barry W. Blaustein & David Sheffield and Justin Kanew 

Directed by: Craig Brewer 

Based on characters created by: Eddie Murphy 

Produced by: Kevin Misher and Eddie Murphy 

Costumes by: Ruth E. Carter.

Hot Docs Film Festival 2013 [FILM]

For its 20th year (that's two decades in decade terms), the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival is pulling out all the stops.

With almost 250 documentaries chosen for this year's slate, the movies feature 44 world premieres and 45 Canadian-made films. From the opening night documentary "The Manor," which focuses on an Ontario strip joint and a family that has worked there for 30-odd years, to the enthralling "12 O'Clock Boys," about a juvenile street gang in urban Baltimore, Maryland, this year's selection offers a variety of topics.

As always, the Hot Docs Festival seeks to make its audience its number-one priority, and is still offering free tickets to daytime screenings for students and seniors. Last year's festival brought in two times the expected audience, and thousands of people around the world descended on Toronto to watch the films.

A special event this year is Hot Docs 20, in celebration of its anniversary, which will feature the top 20 fan favourites and winners from previous years, and will be screening for the five weeks leading up to the festival.

Hot Docs runs from April 25 - May 5, 2013. Single tickets and packages are now available. For complete information including Special Presentations, galas and the complete screening schedule, please visit the Hot Docs official website.

Wah Do Dem [FILM]

Gotta love indie films. Gotta love Jamaica. I need to see this! Music & Appearances by: MGMT, Yeasayer, Santigold, The Congos, Suckers, Myskal Rose, Mr. Lexx and Sean Bones

In WAH DO DEM, young Brooklyn musician Max (Sean Bones) decides to go on a Caribbean cruise alone when his girlfriend Willow (Norah Jones) dumps him cold two days before the trip. Once in Jamaica, Max quickly escapes the tourist zone for more "authentic" surroundings and in the process is robbed of his possessions and is stranded, and literally misses the boat. As Max sets out for the American Embassy in Kingston on foot, Jamaica is waiting to meet him with unexpected and extraordinary encounters, including a full-moon celebration with the legendary reggae group The Congos, and a dreamy stay with a Rasta prophet (Carl Bradshaw, THE HARDER THEY COME).

via WAH DO DEM

Babies [MOVIES]

Using the momentum from the previous post, it reminded of a trailer I seen last week that I wanted to post. A documentary entitled "Babies". It is a story that simultaneously follows from birth, four babies around the world, from Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo. You your along for a ride that is their first year of life, and journey into humanity. Watching the trailer you can't help but smile at what is unique yet so universal.

'Bad Boys 3' In The Works! [MOVIES]

Imagine my glee, to awaken to such terrific news! Have I just made your Monday!? I just made mine!

Columbia Pictures is developing a third installment of the high-octane "Bad Boys" franchise, tapping Peter Craig to pen the screenplay.

The hope is to have a script that would reunite director Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. At this point, with the project in the early stages, none has a deal to return.

The "Boys" movies feature Smith and Lawrence as Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, caught up in cases involving car chases and explosions.

The first "Boys," released in 1995, helped launch Bay as a director and Smith as an action star even though it was not a fire-stamped blockbuster -- it grossed $66 million domestically and $141 million worldwide.

Read the whole story at hollywoodreporter.com

"Creation" To Lead Off Toronto International Film Festival [MOVIES]

In somewhat of a coincidence, I was going over Darwin's theories just yesterday, and in a serendipitous nature I wound up viewing the trailer for this film here.

The world premiere of Creation, a drama about evolution theorist Charles Darwin starring married actors Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly, has nabbed the opening night slot at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Organizers announced their selection of the British film on Tuesday morning, as well as 22 more additions to its gala and special presentations lineups.

"We have traditionally opened with a Canadian film, but this year we chose to go a different route. We fell in love with this movie and this is the one, we felt, really sets the tone for the kinds of conversations we hope will happen around the films at the festival," TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey told reporters on Tuesday.

He added that the "tension between faith and reason" seen in Jon Amiel's film Creation — which follows Darwin as he struggles with the views of his deeply religious wife and his world-changing theories — is also emerging in other films programmers have selected.

"This theme of that eternal conflict between faith and reason does seem to be emerging from different parts of the world, in different kinds of films: documentaries, fiction films, big films, small films," Bailey said.

Two American films and a Norse-Danish-German co-production have been added to the gala schedule:

* Precious, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, which won wide acclaim at Sundance.
* Get Low, starring Robert Duvall as a 1930s backwoods eccentric who stages his own funeral.
* Max Manus, a film based on the true story of Norway's famed Second World War resistance fighter.

As well, 18 new and recent titles — from noted filmmakers like Jane Campion, Steven Soderbergh and Johnnie To and featuring actors such as Clive Owen, Eva Green, Matt Damon, Edward Norton and Kristin Scott Thomas — were also added to the TIFF 2009 schedule as special presentations:

* The Boys are Back, Scott Hicks (Australia/U.K.).
* Bright Star, Jane Campion (U.K./Australia).
* City of Life and Death, Lu Chuan (China).
* Cracks, Jordan Scott (Ireland).
* Hadewijch, Bruno Dumont (France).
* The Informant, Steven Soderbergh (U.S.).
* The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson (U.S.).
* Leaves of Grass, Tim Blake Nelson (U.S.).
* London River, Rachid Bouchareb (U.K./France/Algeria).
* Mao's Last Dance, Bruce Beresford (Australia/U.S./China).
* Moloch Tropical, Raoul Peck (Haiti/France).
* Mother, Bong Joon-ho (South Korea).
* Ondine, Neil Jordan (Ireland/U.S.).
* Partir, Catherine Corsini (France).
* Scheherazade Tell Me a Story, Yousry Nasrallah (Egypt).
* Solitary Man, Brian Koppelman and David Levien (U.S.)
* Valhalla Rising, Nicolas Vinding Refn (Denmark/U.K.).
* Vengeance, Johnnie To (Hong Kong/France).
* The Vintner's Luck, Niki Caro (New Zealand/France).

Further titles will be announced in the coming weeks, including this year's full Canadian lineup in August.

via CBC

Robert Rodriguez To Do Live-Action ‘Jetsons’ Movie [MOVIES]

Robert Rodriguez should be able to not let this become something like the Flintstone's live-action move! Though I did like Halle...

Robert Rodriguez has a lot on his directorial plate. He’s rebooting the “Predator” franchise, he’s gearing up for another go at “Sin City,” he’s pushing forward with a “Grindhouse” spin-off called “Machete” and he’s prepping the sci-fi thriller “Nerverackers.” So we were pretty surprised to hear during a recent conversation with the director about one project he’s hoping to launch as soon as next year: a live-action adaptation of “The Jetsons.”

Rodriguez’s updated take on the futuristic ‘60s-era cartoon has been rumored for awhile, but with all of the other films that Rodriguez is attempting to undertake it seemed quite possible that an ambitious new “Jetsons” would remain on the backburner. Not so, as the man himself told MTV News.

“I’ve been developing [The Jetsons] for awhile,” Rodriguez said, adding that he’s hoping to start shooting “next year.”

While the director did confirm that the film would be live-action, he was predictably mum about other details. Adam F. Goldberg (”Fanboys”) penned an early draft of the script, but it has since been reworked.

“We’re writing the script right now,” Rodriguez said excitedly, before declining to drop any hints about the plot or potential casting choices.

So there you have it. “The Jetsons” is gonna happen — and a lot sooner than you probably thought. And we’ll just be left to speculate about potential casting choices for George Jetson, his boy Elroy, daughter Judy, Jane his wife, as well as George’s ill-tempered boss Mr. Spacely and the family’s robot housekeeper Rosie.

via MTV

Wall Street 2 [MOVIES]

I put out news on this before...and as one of my favourite films I am priding myself on keeping up to date with all things Wallstreet 2. (Props to google alerts) Principal photography starts on August 10th, and the film's release is now planned for February 2010. The tentative storyline by screenwriter Allan Loeb, is as follows:

Michael Douglas, as everyone already knows, reprises his Best Actor Oscar-winning role as Gordon Gekko. But what hasn't been reported is that, as the movie begins, it's 21 years later and Mr. Greed Is Good has finished serving his prison sentence. He finds himself on the fringe of the financial community. ("Kinda like Jim Cramer or Mike Milken after their disgrace," an insider with the pic tells me.) Gekko is cautioning Wall Street that the "end is coming" -- but nobody is listening. So Gordon is obsessed with trying to repair his ruptured relationship with his daughter. That juicy actress role isn't cast yet. (But I'd love it if Oliver had the balls to bring back Sean Young as Mom in spite of their notorious falling out during the filming of the original.)

Enter Shia LaBeouf, who was reported in negotiations and I can now state is set to co-star. (I've said it before, and I'll say it again: one day every Hollywood movie will star this guy who turns 23 on June 11th.) Shia is a young Wall Street trader who's engaged to be married to Gekko's estranged daughter. Shia wants to be a major player, but his mentor unexpectedly kills himself, and Shia thinks a stock-shorting worldwide hedge fund manager is responsible. Shia seeks revenge on this villain, to be played by No Country For Old Men Supporting Actor-winner Javier Bardem. So Shia goes to Gordon saying, "I need your help", and makes a Faustian deal with Gekko who in return wants Shia's help getting back with the daughter. From then on, it's "antagonism" for everyone, my insider says.

via Deadline Hollywood Daily

MacGyver Being Revived As Feature Film

Ahhhhhh snap! LOL

It's going to take more than a paperclip and some twine, but New Line Cinema will be reviving the adventure series MacGyver as a feature film, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

MacGyver, starring Richard Dean Anderson, was a science-oriented adventure series that ran from 1985-92 on ABC, and followed a resourceful secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation who would escape dangerous situations with ingenious creations.

Read the whole story: people.com

via Huffpo

Wayans Bros. "Dance Flick" [TRAILER]

LOL

Paramount Pictures are previewing a sneak peek into Wayans' brothers' parody of popular musical and dance films, 'Dance Flick', through a newly-released international trailer.

In theatre's August 14th 2009.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen SNEAK PEAK

The "Transformers" sequel starring Shia LaBeouf And Megan Fox{:)} is out in summer 2009, and new stills show the movie's incredible access to the pyramids of Egypt and visual proof that Shia's hand injury, from a car crash earlier this year, has been written into the film.
Directed by Michael Bay, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" shot some scenes in Giza at the pyramids, the first time the Egyptian government such access has been granted to the 5,000-year-old site.

Other scenes were shot in New Mexico, standing in for Eqypt. Says Bay:

'The Pentagon gave its stamp of approval to the film and allowed production amid the dunes of the Army's New Mexico missile range.

'They let us do the run of things, we have so many military assets. Plus, this is a missile range -- we can just fire into the set. It's a great place.'

Among the equipment used in the movie in the desert sequence alone were two A-10 Thunderbolt II 'Warthog' tank-killing jets, six F-16 Fighting Falcons, 10 armored Humvees, the Army's Golden Knights parachute team; two Abrams tanks, two Bradley tanks, two missile-launcher vehicles, two armoured personnel carriers; and a quarter-mile of the missile testing range, cleared of unexploded ordnance and built into an Egyptian town and temple.

Read the rest of the story here.

"Che" Trailer [VIDEO]

Benicio is the man!

The new 257-minute Che Guevara biopic is being released in two parts in January 2009, but has a special single-picture engagement starting December 12 in New York in LA. The Steven Soderbergh film, for which Benicio del Toro won top honors at Cannes, has a new trailer hype the limited engagement.

via HuffPo

Akira to go live?

So the rumour is out...Warner Bros. picked up the rights to the film, and has gotten Gary Whitta to pen the script. Word that Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon Levitt were to star have seemingly been debunked however. Nonetheless...Akira is going O'Reilly!

MTV and First Showing has more.



Caught this on Ye's blog

New Sherlock Holmes Film Unveiled In London

It will not be the Sherlock Holmes on film many remember - the suave Basil Rathbone to the bumbling Nigel Bruce - but a new big budget action movie will be faithful to Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, its director Guy Ritchie said yesterday.

Shooting is about to begin in London on the Warner Bros movie with Robert Downey Jr taking the lead alongside Jude Law, now confirmed as Dr Watson. Kelly Reilly will play Watson's love interest, Mary, Rachel McAdams has signed on to play the traditional object of Holmes' affections, Irene Adler, while Mark Strong is Blackwood, the "unremittingly evil" baddie.

Yesterday those involved gathered in London's Freemason's Hall - where scenes will also be shot - to talk about the movie, one of two rival planned productions. The other will be a comedy with Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell. Ritchie's film, to be released in 2010, will be based on an original comic book currently being penned by Sherlock Holmes producer Lionel Wigram.

Read the whole story here.

Your request is being processed... Don Cheadle Replaces Terrence Howard In "Iron Man 2"

Don Cheadle is stepping in to replace Terrence Howard in "Iron Man 2," Marvel Studios' sequel to its summer blockbuster.

In the movie, Howard played Jim Rhodes, Tony Stark/Iron Man's best friend and future armor-clad hero War Machine. One scene featured Howard looking at a silver suit of armor and saying "Next time," a line that caused great delight for fans.

But there will be no next time for Howard.

Marvel had no comment, but sources close to the deal said negotiations with Howard fell through over financial differences, among other reasons. Marvel, which had wanted to work with Cheadle, then decided to take the role in another direction and approached the actor, who is shooting Antoine Fuqua's "Brooklyn's Finest" with Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke.

Rhodes is expected to play a larger part in the sequel, which is rumored to go beyond high-tech villains.

Via HuffPo

New Wallstreet Film! [MOVIES]

As Wall Street continues to capture headlines due to market volatility, 20th Century Fox is moving forward with a "Wall Street" sequel.

Allan Loeb ("21") has been tapped to pen the screenplay, which is being fast-tracked by the studio as a Michael Douglas starrer, though the actor is not formally attached.

The modern-day story will again center on Gordon Gekko, who has recently been sprung from prison and re-emerges into a much more tumultuous financial world than the one he once lorded over. The Bud Fox character, played by Charlie Sheen in the original, will not appear in the latest incarnation.

Read the whole story here.