Wickedfacts

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises Early Review

As the name implies, The Dark Knight Rises is a sequel of the last Batman movie, The Dark Knight. It is set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight. The late Harvey Dent is remembered as the hero who rid Gotham of evil and Batman is known as the murderer who killed him. Batman went into exile after the Harvey incident and has never been seen since. However, Batman returns again after Gotham is under threat of a fearful criminal, Bane (Tom Hardy).

The movie starts with the apparently impossible escape made by Bane from an airplane. He threatens to destroy peace and take over Gotham City. The only person who can stop him is the Dark Knight.

However, Bruce Wayne has gone into exile, but he soon makes a comeback when his mother’s precious pearl necklace is stolen by Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway). Selina also warns Wayne about a storm that will hit Gotham. Her words convince Wayne to return.

Another part of the plot involves Wayne trying to save his business from destruction. He hands over his business to a philanthropist, Miranda Tate played by Marion Cotillard. Wayne’s butler Alfred and his executive Lucius remain loyal to him, no matter what he does.

Wayne needs all the help he can get to defeat Bane. He gets help and support from Commissioner Gordon and John Blake. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the role of John Blake, who is a beat cop that knows the gravity of the situation. He was also orphaned as a child and can sympathize with Batman.

Bale, as always, does well as Batman and, most importantly, as Wayne. He wants to give up being Batman but struggles to do so. Gordon played by Oldman gets more time on the screen, which is always welcome.

Going on to the newcomers, Anne Hathaway is amazingly good at playing the role of Selina. Meanwhile, Gordon-Levitt plays the role of a Batman’s ally, John Blake. Gordon-Levitt is also good at playing Blake. The one left is Hardy as Bane. Hardy’s Bane is compared to Heath Ledger’s Joker, which is both unfair and unavoidable. Hardy is quite good at his role, but he couldn’t live up to Ledger’s Joker.

People have a lot of expectations for The Dark Knight Rises, more than any other movie. This is mostly due to the high standard Nolan set by his last Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

For the most part, The Dark Knight Rises live up to the expectations. It’s a grand finale of Nolan’s Batman trilogy with stunning set pieces and breathtaking action. Nolan did his best to tie up all loose ends while producing a thrilling movie.…

Planet Hulk, the Movie

Planet Hulk is a surprisingly emotional journey for the big green menace. Earth’s heroes have determined that the Hulk is too dangerous. They decide that they have to send him into space to live on another planet. Unfortunately, Hulk’s ship is sucked into a wormhole on the journey and he lands on Sakaar.

As soon as the Hulk crashes on the planet he is captured and made a slave to fight in the gladiatorial arena. Due to his incredible size and strength, he is a natural fighter and quickly slays many opponents. He quickly becomes a crowd favorite, and for the first time he is respected for his savage brutality instead of feared.

One of Hulk’s fellow gladiators is the daughter of a senator and part of the resistance against the Red King, the ruler of Sakaar. The resistance attempts to recruit Hulk, but he is not interested, he is only fighting for his survival.

The intriguing aspect of this movie is it is about just the Hulk. Bruce Banner does not make an appearance at all in the movie. This makes the Hulk’s emotional and personal growth in this movie even more remarkable. We get to see the savage beast grow into a person. The main catalyst for this growth is the people around him on this new planet. On Earth, the Hulk was always treated as a monster and feared. On Sakaar he is treated as a man and through his actions he is respected. He can by no means be called a genius, but he becomes a lot more intelligent and articulate.

The fighting and action sequences are superb. The animation quality of super hero cartoon movies has risen in recent years. The motion is fluid and the coloring and shading is gorgeous. The artists that did this movie paid a lot of attention to coloring and how it affects the mood of each scene. The end result is a beautiful piece of art.

In conclusion, for any Hulk fan Planet Hulk is a must see movie. The story is rich and intriguing. The artwork is gorgeous. It’s Geektime gives Planet Hulk a 9 on the d10 of superheroes.…

Top Disney Movie Easter Eggs

If you are reading this article thinking that we are talking about chocolate eggs you get in April with a picture of Mickey on the side, you are going to be disappointed. No we are talking about the hidden messages and in jokes that the Disney animators include in their much loved movies to amuse themselves and reward eagle eyed movie viewers. Here are some of our favourites.

In Aladdin, when Jafar’s spell is broken, Rajar the tiger grows Mickey ears briefly in the transformation. You can also spot Sebastian from the little Mermaid causing the Genie a bit of bother at one point.

Most Disney films tend to slip in a Mickey Mouse ears logo or silhouette. There are too many of these to list them all, just keep your eyes out next time you are watching one.

Disney likes to sneak characters from other films into new movies, and you can clearly see Beast from Beauty and the Beast in a pile of toys in the smash hit Aladdin.

Peg from Lady and the Tramp makes an appearance in 101 Dalmatians and can be seen in the pet shop window along with some other dogs.

The same kind of Easter egg can be found in Tarzan, as Mrs Potts and Chip can be seen on a table.

In the recent CGI Disney movie Tangled, you can spot Pinocchio and Pumba hidden in the pub the Snuggly Duckling, a storybook from Sleeping Beauty and other Disney related books in the book store.

In Lilo and Stitch, you can see a Dumbo toy in Lilo’s bedroom. There is also a poster for Mulan on her wall.

Pixar, who are owned by Disney are famous for their references and Easter eggs and include numerous ones in each film.

Boo in Monster’s Inc has a Jessie Doll from Toy Story 2 and Nemo from finding Nemo. This started off the trend of including a character from the next Pixar movie to be released in the previous film.

In Wall-E you can see Hamm the toy pig on the shelves of Wall -E’s home. It is also interesting that John Ratzenberger who voices Hamm has voiced a character in every Pixar release so far.

If you want to see many of these characters brought to life, why not head to the world famous Disney parks. The parks are also well known for having their own hidden Easter eggs around the parks.…

A Shocking Movie That Blurs the Lines of Reality – “Snow On Tha Bluff”

In this article, I will briefly discuss a film that blurs the lines of reality. “Snow On Tha Bluff” is a film that appeared at the annual 2011 Slamdance Film Festival. The movie purports to be about,

“The story of Atlanta robbery boy and crack dealer, Curtis Snow, who stole a camera from some college kids in a dope deal and made a documentary about his life.”

Indeed, the drive-by shootings and the nefarious activity is shockingly realistic. The ‘cinema verite” style film-making proves hard to decipher what is actually real in the film. The Snow On Tha Bluff movie raises many interesting questions; Is this movie a documentary or just a fictional film? Do the filmmakers owe the audience an explanation?

It’s interesting to note, a scene from the movie depicting Curtis Snow’s kid playing in crack cocaine powder caused an uproar at the 2011 Atlanta Film Festival. After watching the controversial scene, a member of the audience caused a disturbance in the theater which resulted in many frightened movie-goers exiting the theater. The movie incites emotion from it’s audience and a host of questions.

Technology has progressed as such, that most of us have video cameras built in our phones ready to capture life’s unfolding drama. Snow On Tha Bluff caters to a new generation that has emerged consuming reality video at lightning speeds. Ordinary people are sharing their stories through a medium that is engaging to a massive audience across the world. Snow On Tha Bluff exposes Atlanta’s west-side neighborhood, “The Bluffs”. Scenes of abandoned homes, drug dealing, shootings, and extreme poverty force us to take notice of “the other side of the tracks”.

Reality television burst onto the scene in the late 80’s with the hit show “Cops”. Since then, the reality formula has surged it’s way through our programming blocks. It seems this medium’s popularity has influenced movies such as “Snow On Tha Bluff”. Are the filmmakers raising important questions for society to answer? Or are they exploiting the scourges of society? The movie’s location is reported by the media to be a notoriously violent hood, with drug activity running rampant. Drawing attention to a neglected war-zone in America may spark change and positive involvement.

This hood film blurs the lines of reality, and it’s important to take an assessment of films that reflect a controversial subject. Films that impact culture from an underground level often prove to further influence artists and our surrounding culture. Is “Snow On Tha Bluff” a future cult classic or a shocking stunt for the masses?…

Twilight – A Short Review

Watching movies has been my fashion. Have you seen the movie Twilight? I have been a fan of this series for a long time. I have been reading the books of Stephanie Meyers and I have been so thrilled about watching it on the theater.

The characters did not fail my expectations. Bella and Edward were simply the best couple. Once you see it you would surely wonder how it would be like to be a vampire. Though there are a lot of fans with the two of them and a lot of them are wishing how it would be like to fall in love with a vampire.

Truly the movie is very romantic where a teenage girl Bella Swan fell in love with a vampire played by Edward Cullen. She was willing to risk her life and accept entirely the person that she loves, although they had a lot of problems with being together because of the danger of Bella’s life. Edward is very protective of Bella that he would do anything to keep her safe.

What made Edward fall in love with her is because of her scent. That makes it hard for him to resist. Another is that Edward has this certain gift of reading people’s mind and he can’t do it with Bella. That triggered Edward’s curiosity with this girl. She is just an ordinary human but could somehow resist a vampire’s gift.

It is a very good movie to watch. You should try watching it. Well if you are fond of watching movies that are romantic or adventure. This would be a great film. Though this movie is still the first part of the four series, it would be great to see all of the parts. It has great effects and you will see the great powers of vampires. Though the werewolf has not shown in this story yet you better not miss this part.…

Small Talk About the Existence of 3D Movie Trailers

A movie could be advertised and made known to the public in a lot of different but equally creative ways. It could be advertised through the distribution of posters and other forms of print ads. To get the attention of all the very busy passers by, these prints are usually accented by very vibrant colors and often featuring common faces. Another way, is by using the more advanced movie trailers. According to its definition, a trailer is a series of scenes from the movie compressed in a video clip so that the viewers will have an idea what that certain movie is all about.

Before moving on, let us direct our attention first on some of the most interesting facts about 3d movie trailers or trailers in general, the term ‘trailer’ came about because trailers were originally shown right after a feature movie in the past. But this set up was not that successful and beneficial to both the viewers and the movie companies. This is because people usually leave the movie houses the moment the credits start rolling. To put a solution to this problem, slight adjustments were made and movie trailers started to be shown before the start of any feature film. In this way, it seems that the advertisers get more and the target population is really hit. This should be enough to explain why, even if we still call it ‘trailers,’ 3d movie trailers are being shown before the start of feature films. They are even independently shown in some hosting websites such as YouTube.

Speaking of which, YouTube is perhaps the first website that comes into mind when the conversation finds its way to short videos and movies. And it is just something that we should not wonder much about. YouTube has been in existence for almost five years and a half now. And within that span of time, it never failed to entertain us with a lot of videos that really keep the stress, at least a part of it, away! This website also has a host of movie trailers to show us. Some of them are the official trailers of 3d movies while others are just those made by fanatics who just can’t get enough of what the movie companies are giving them. This should mean to say therefore that YouTube is just one of the best sites to visit when trying to look for quality 3d movie trailers.

Now, since this is a written article, obviously, we would not be able to show you examples of the 3d movie trailers. Despite that, maybe we have given you enough information about the topic in hand. So feel free to find your own 3D Movie Trailer samples.…

Contemporary Art – Review of a Kansas City Museum Dedicated to Nothing But This Period

Many large art museums have special sections for contemporary art. But not many specialize in it the way an art museum in Kansas City, MO, does. This well-supported all-free galleries and parking museum offers something for all ages.

What is contemporary art?

One internet definition says it is “the art that has been and continues to be created during our lifetimes.” That is, it is the art relative to us now. Another definition says it is all the art made since World War II. Still another one says it is the art from the 1960’s or 70’s up to now.

In other words, it is the art created after the so-called Modern Art period, which runs from the latter half of the 1800’s up to about the 1970’s. Certain art historians see 1970 as a distinctive cutoff year for the beginning of contemporary art. About then is when the world seemed to have tired of modern art. About then is when new emerging movements of unclassified art began, and possibly exploded to a degree. Also, about then, many more artists came onto the scene with works that were done much faster than much of the older traditional types.

Collectively, though, contemporary art is much more socially conscious than that from the previous periods. Much of it from the last 40 years relates to relevant issues, like, globalization, equal rights, fascism, multicultures, genetic engineering, politics, AIDS or disease relief, green living, saving the planet, religious issues and so on. Thus, viewers of this more recent form could look for the deeper meanings expressed in it even if difficult to see right away.

The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design.

This museum is housed in a modern high-tech low-lying building from the early 90’s. From above, it looks like a large bird in flight. Much of its permanent collection is a gift from its founders, Bebe and R. Crosby Kemper. In addition to the museum’s easy entrance from its two parking sides, it has a large drive-under entrance on the east side for buses, minibuses, and other vehicles in all weather conditions. Another parking lot is also available ½-block further north. Thus, walking is minimized for its patrons.

Most of the modern and contemporary art shown there is from the world over. Besides the ever-growing permanent collection, as many as 12 on-loan exhibits are shown annually. Recently, a traveling collection of paintings by the Wyeths involved both the modern and contemporary art periods because the Wyeths comprise several generations of artists.

A portion of the collection that stands out in the museum’s hallways are the blown glass works by Dale Chihuly. One large piece, which hangs over a doorway inside, is made of select clear crystal. Since the well-known high-end company that provided this crystal is now out of business, this unique piece has become priceless.

This museum has three separate outlets including its main building as follows.

1. Main building. (4420 Warwick Blvd). Provides permanent and traveling exhibitions, installations, performance works, film-video series, lectures, radio broadcasts, and concerts. Gives free group tours and educational programs and similar events for all ages, including family and children’s classes. Gift shop and cafe available here. Hours: Tues-Thurs 10am-4pm, Sat 10am-9pm, Sun 11am-5pm. Closed Monday and on major holidays. Cafe hours: lunch – Tues-Sat 11am-2:30pm, dinner – Fri 5:30pm-9:30pm, brunch – Sun 11am-2:30pm. Admission and parking are free; small donations accepted.

2. Kemper East (200 East 44th Street, 1-block north of the main building). Displays various parts of the permanent collection. Hours: Tues-Fri 10am-4pm. Free.

3. Kemper at the Crossroads (33 W 19th Street). Located in the downtown arts district. Gives special exhibitions and programs, sometimes the works of emerging artists. Hours: Fri 8pm-12-pm, Sat 12pm-6pm. Free.

To learn more about contemporary art itself and this museum, see these sites.…

Where to Start Your Movie Script From?

There are many places and ways by which a story can take form. Is that the same for a movie script? Yes, it is. Although they are not necessary the same form of the craft. A movie script is a story scripted for a movie. That is to say you need to have your story before you can script it.

Even if the story is in the mind you can write a script. Does the story need to be complete? yes. But it can be in any shape; hazy, sharp, mysterious. But it needs to be there.

A good point to start would be to consider the essence of the story. One single story can be perceived very differently by individuals. if the essence of the story is understood by the script writer he/she can move on to the next level of choosing the tone, pitch, speed. Actually the story usually dictates the tone and other elements but they are interpreted by script writers according to their own perceptions.

Finally to start the movie script you need to make a shortest statement about the story. This is not a description of the story. It is a statement exposing the attributes of the movie. For example, ” Marriages are for lovers, weddings are for covers.”

This becomes your guiding mark you do not want to stray away from. It reminds you of what you are attempting to communicate and in what way. Scene by scene your mark is right there for you to measure against.

Remember things will keep changing. Even your perception of the story might change. As long you are happy with the statement stick to it. If you find a better anchoring statement, you need to be careful with it and check all the work already done. It is not unusual to start all over again if during the scripting phase the perceived essence of the story changes.

So go right ahead and pen that “anchor mark” as close to the subject of the movie as possible. An Anchor mark is a rough tool and not a rule or a formatting element. Its function is to help propel the script and keep it well directed.…