Valkyrie (2008)

director: Bryan Singer

writer: Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander

starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Tom Wilkinson

genre: Thriller, War

My good friend gamapi had said in his review of Closing the Ring that there are too many WWII stories turned into films. And he is right there is no need and no apparent market for these films. But that time of history has some of the most intriguing stories that have been told that need to be told or inspire to make fictional stories in that era. There will always be stories coming from this time at least we can hope is that they are good ones. Valkyrie happens to be a good one.

Even though we usually think of the Nazis as the bad guys thats not the case here. Valkyrie is about the struggle of some men within the Nazi party and the German political establishment to bring Hitler down. They came close with Operation Valkyrie. The plan is of Colonel Von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) to kill Hitler and set operation Valkyrie in motion which would let the reserve guard take over all the important location in Berlin and blame it all on the SS. He and other co-conspirators all have a job to do in this plot and different motives leading them to these events but as we all know it didn't go exactly as planned.

Going into this film I didn’t have high hopes. Thought it to be just a simple heist setup film which it is and its very well done. The sets, locations, costumes are all perfect to the era. Effects are very good and feel real. All this help to make this Hollywood film more serious for the fact that they never tried to make history documentary but a entertaining thriller. This is something they used to do in Hollywood more often in the old days get great actors all together in films that just with star value lift up the material so we don’t have to pay much attention too the material.

I did enjoy this film but its no different then heist a film or revenge films with extravagant plans but instead of robbing a bank its killing Hitler. The film relied more on the how it will happen and the aftermath instead more of the problems these men had with Nazi Party and themselves participating in atrocities. We hear from Branagh character "they should know that not all of us were the same" but only a few lines here in there don’t make the story go any deeper and more meaningful. It’s like heist film. Why are you stealing the money because I need it. Its that simple and that why film does not go farther than it could. Also why couldn’t the actors learn German accents. It would have been more realistic and made film even cooler to see Tom Cruise do one even though im not sure if he would accomplish it.

The sad fact about this film is the whole controversy with Scientology. Especially in Germany. Tom Cruise I enjoy his performances as actor in many films even though I don’t enjoy how he parades his religion around but that dosent stop me to see his films. Also people claimed that because he’s in the film that Valkyrie would be riddled with Scientology symbols and make people more aware of the so called religion. Well the people who are afraid are actually the ones making people more aware of the religion. There was no interference on any part with Tom Cruise spreading Scientology on a period piece film also there is no proof that he his ever done that expect in his personal time.

In the end Valkyrie is entertaining film with very good performances that gives a story many may not know of except from a episode of the TV show Highlander (yes if you didn’t know Highlander was a part of the plot even though he is not portrayed in the film). Many such stories have yet to be told on film I just hope that next time Spielberg tackles it or Eastwood because they got the chops to make a richer film in many areas instead of grounding themselves to making a fitter product for the masses.

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul

Ce Que Mes Yeux Ont Vu {The Vanishing Point} (2007)

director: Laurent de Bartillat

writers: Alain Ross, Laurent de Bartillat

starring: Sylvie Testud(Lucie Audibert),Jean-Pierre Marielle(Jean Dussart), James Thierree(Vincent)

genre: Drama, Mystery







Μακάρι να μην παρεκτραπώ στην κριτική από τη γλυκόπικρη γεύση που μου άφησε η συγκεκριμένη ταινία…Είναι σίγουρα μια μοναδική αίσθηση το να βγαίνεις από την κινηματογραφική αίθουσα και να επεξεργάζεσαι όλα τα νοήματα και κάποια μικρά αινιγματικά σημεία της ταινίας που μόλις είδες, αλλά όταν αυτό διαρκεί για αρκετή ώρα αρχίζεις να έχεις αμφιβολίες. Αμφιβολίες που έχουν σχέση όχι μόνο με το αν η ταινία ήταν στα νερά σου, αλλά γενικά με το αν άξιζε τελικά να την δεις ή όχι. Μια τέτοια κατάσταση αντιμετώπισα και με αυτό εδώ το φιλμ. Και για να πω την αλήθεια, ακόμα και τώρα δεν νιώθω να «πατάω» καλά πάνω της. Για να την μελετήσουμε κάπως:





Η Lucie είναι μια νέα φοιτήτρια Ιστορίας της Τέχνης. Αναγκάζεται- για να τα βγάλει πέρα- να δουλεύει και να σπουδάζει παράλληλα. Ασχολείται πολύ κοπιαστικά με μια έρευνα σχετικά με το έργο του ζωγράφου Βαττώ(Watteau). Για έναν παράξενο λόγο, ο καθηγητής που επιβλέπει την εργασία της την αποτρέπει συνεχώς από το να την συνεχίσει. Όμως, αυτή με την έμμεση αλλά ουσιαστική βοήθεια από τον Vincent, έναν κωφάλαλο πλανόδιο καλλιτέχνη, φτάνει σε μια τεράστια ανακάλυψη σχετικά με τη ζωή του Watteau η οποία αναμένεται να συγκλονίσει τους επιστημονικούς-ακαδημαϊκούς κύκλους.





Η ροή της ταινίας ήταν κάτι ανάμεσα στο κανονικό και στο γρήγορο, αλλά κάποιες φορές κούραζε αρκετά. Ο σκηνοθέτης σε εισάγει «αναίμακτα» σε όλο αυτό τον βαθύ κόσμο της τέχνης και ξεχνάει συχνά να σου πετάξει κάποιο σχοινί. Ο θεατής πρέπει να είναι αρκετά συγκεντρωμένος για να παρακολουθήσει την όλη πλοκή, πράγμα διφορούμενο και επίφοβο. Σε πολλές σκηνές κρύβονται σημαντικότατες πληροφορίες οι οποίες σου προσφέρουν στοιχεία-κλειδιά για την εξέλιξη της ταινίας, αλλά το μειονέκτημα αυτής της τακτικής είναι το ότι τα εν λόγω μέρη αυτών των σκηνών διαρκούν κάποια μόνο δευτερόλεπτα. Παρόλα αυτά, κοιτάζοντας «στεγνά» μόνο τα πλάνα του φιλμ, ο σκηνοθέτης παίρνει έναν πολύ καλό βαθμό. Πολύ καλή χρήση υπολογιστή για την παρουσίαση των πινάκων του Watteau, η οποία αναδεικνύει κάθε τους λεπτομέρεια και σε κάνει να κατανοήσεις την εμμονή της Lucie στο να τελειώσει επιτυχώς την εργασία της.





Ως προς την ηθοποιία, δεν έχω να πω κάτι το αρνητικό. Όχι πολύ μεγάλος αριθμός ρόλων, σωστή ερμηνεία με αρκετή σταθερότητα και συναίσθημα. Ευτυχώς, δεν υπήρχε αυτή η αίσθηση του υπερβολικού και, συνάμα, ψεύτικου πάθους με τον ρόλο. Αυτά τα λίγα..!





Σε γενικές γραμμές θα χαρακτήριζα την ταινία «έτσι κι έτσι». Λέω πάλι, και υπογραμμίζω, ότι ενώ σε άφηνε να μπεις και να αφομοιώσεις κάποια από τα νοήματα που προσδοκά ο σκηνοθέτης να περάσει, ένας μεγάλος αριθμός ιδεών χάνεται στην απόσταση μεταξύ της οθόνης και του θεατή. Δεν είναι ταινία που θα την θυμάστε για καιρό και, επίσης, δεν νομίζω να σας ενοχλεί αυτό..! Από’ κει και πέρα, δεν ξέρω αν θα πρέπει να σας την προτείνω ή όχι. Γι’ αυτό το λόγο, αφήνω την επιλογή σε εσάς.





Καλό φιλμ..!

Προσωπική Βαθμολογία:

Review by Sanm

Two Movie Guys

2MG review "UP and DRAG ME TO HELL" from Ryan Bellgardt on Vimeo.

Bob's Toy Box

Bob's toy box, an adult sex toy shop?
No, it's a hole Bob dug in the backyard.
I found it today full of chewed up bits of plastic and "Oklahoma Frisbees" the plastic tops of a Folders coffee cans.
Bob thinks they're still toys, only smaller.
He likes it if you try to take it from him.
He growls, does a figure eight thing with his head and slings slobber all at once.
I don't know if Bob would even bother a burglar unless he tried to get one of his pieces of plastic.

Flashback Saturday (forgot yesterday)

On the front porch

Iran: Gunmen wound 3 at president's campaign site

Yahoo News had the same headline and this pic below it on the right side, for just a millisecond it blew my mind.

Fire breaks out on Italian fairy, all safe

ROME – Fire broke out Friday on an Italian fairy.
Vincenzo Florio was traveling from the mainland port of Naples to Palermo, the Sicilian capital, when he erupted into flames.
"I just kept shouting, someone put that man out!" passenger Stefano Frisco told Sky 24 television "I heard one cruel comment about a REAL flaming gay!"
The cause of the fire was still being investigated.

Tyson (2009)

director: James Toback

writer: James Toback

genre: Documentary, Sports

Life treats people in a odd fashion sometimes. You get everything you ever wanted and then you lose it. We forget sometimes that money isn’t everything and that rich people go through bad times as well. But some these people in the end realize there shortcoming and change and stride for a better life. Tyson is one of those people hoping now for a better life.

The whole film is the rise and fall of Mike Tyson. We see his beginnings as a kid being beat up and made fun of for his speech impediment. In juvenile jail he found the love for boxing to get his anger out and got his ticket to brighter road where he met later his first manager and father figure. But after his death it seems that his life just got derailed. From a being the youngest world champ to having a terrible marriage, going to jail and then biting Evander Holyefield ear. All the most important moments of Tyson career are captured.

After seeing this film I hope people who are pretty hateful to Mike Tyson will change their mind. Not knowing the whole story you can easily mislabel people. People have to understand that sometimes life is worse for others and not everybody learns all the valuable lessons in life till later on. I mean yes he did do stupid things and he did say pretty racy and horrific things as you can see in the film. But not all of us have the benefit of having strong characters or a education. Tyson had no other way to protect himself from things he didn't know how to face except with anger example his mentors death, mangers and wife backstabbing him. Also there are a lot of interesting info in the film about Tyson. How he got the first heavyweight title while he was suffering from a STD.

In the end you see the catharsis and feel for tragedy his life is. He accomplished most of his dreams, didn’t die young like others in the ghetto as he mentions in the film. But he did the worst thing he let himself down and his fans. Mike Tyson was a god in the ring but he knew he couldn’t control himself. The lifestyle, the women, the money it’s sad to here him talk about all these things and now realize the mistakes he’s done after he’s lost everything. But it was nice enough for make it his life purpose to live for his kids.

I saw a tragic story in Tyson. One of the greatest boxers to pass and see him talk about it and go into to tears over his life is touching. Director James Toback did a swell job by letting Tyson tell the story with interviews and stock footage of his life. If your interested Tyson is a truthful and interesting documentary that shows Tyson life to its fullest and how even a knockout king can hit rock bottom.

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul

Charley Browns Tomato Plant

I didn't get around to getting my tomato and pepper plants until last weekend. I could have gone to Wally-World but I'd rather go to a local business.
So I went to one out in the country. (No city taxes)There were very few plants left to choose from. I had to get Roma tomato plants, skinny little plants. I also got some little pepper plants. A woman asked if she could help me, she was attractive, I bought more plants and soil than I had intended to.
Sorry no pics right now but if Charley Browns Christmas tree was a tomato plant...

My Bloody Valentine (2009)

director: Patrick Lussier

writers: Todd Farmer, Zane Smith

starring : Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Tom Atkins

genre : Horror

Ιστορία :

Ο Tom επιστρέφει στην πόλη που γεννήθηκε, 10 χρόνια μετά απο μια σειρά αποτρόπαιων φόνων που είχαν γίνει τη μέρα του Αγίου Βαλεντίνου από έναν εργάτη των ορυχείων. Όταν αρχίζει νέος κύκλος παρόμοιων φόνων, οι υποψίες στρέφονται στον Tom, και η μόνη που πιστεύει στην αθωότητα του είναι η πρώην του.

Κριτική :

Ξεκινώντας να δω την ταινία, δύο πράγματα με απασχολούσαν. Πρώτον, αν θα ανταποκριθεί στο είδος ψυχαγωγίας που περιμένει το κοινό της, σπλάτερ, αγωνία, και όλο το πακέτο μιας τέτοιας ταινίας χωρίς να κουράσει ή να προκαλέσει- πολλά- γέλια. Δεύτερον, αν όλα αυτά μπορεί να τα περάσει χωρίς τη δυναμική του 3D, που είναι το δυνατό χαρτι, και δυστυχώς το μόνο στις περισσότερες περιπτώσεις, των ταινιών που το υποστηρίζουν, καθώς εγω και όσοι δεν την έχουν δει ακόμα, μάλλον θα αρκεστούν στο dvd τους.

Απο νωρίς η ταινία δείχνει οτι θα είναι η χαρα του σπλατερά. Κεφάλια, καρδιές, αίμα και λοιπά ανατομικά προιόντα δίνουν και παίρνουν. Το σενάριο σίγουρα δεν είναι το δυνατό της σημείο,αλλά σε τέτοιες ταινίες δεν περιμένεις κάτι καλυτερο. Η σκηνοθεσία επίσης είναι σχετικά καλή και καταφέρνει σε αρκετές σκηνές να σε βάλει σε ένα κλίμα αγωνίας και φόβου, αν και σκηνικά όπως το ορυχείο ή το δάσος είναι έτσι κι αλλίως αβανταδόρικα για τέτοιο κλίμα. Ένα άλλο θετικό στοιχείο είναι οτι δεν υπάρχει κάποια χαρακτηριστική κοιλιά, εκτός από κάποιους περιττούς διαλόγους. Αυτό που μπορεί να ενοχλήσει είναι η έλλειψη ρεαλισμού σε κάποιες σκηνές, κυρίως όταν η ταινία πλησιάζει στο τέλος της. Και επειδή το τέλος είναι τις περισσότερες φορές το σημαντικότερο κομμάτι και αυτό που σου μένει, προσωπικά δε μου άφησε και την καλύτερη εντύπωση, όχι τόσο όσο αφορά στην υπόθεση, άλλα δίνει μια αίσθηση οτι γυρίστηκε πρόχειρα.

Οι ηθοποιοί σε γενικές γραμμές κυμαίνονται σε ανεκτά επιπεδα. Πιο αναλυτικά, ο Jensen Ackles, στο ρόλο του Tom τα πάει αρκετά καλά, και οι Jaime King και Kerr Smith, που συμπληρώνουν την πρωταγωνιστική τριάδα ως Sarah και σερίφης Palmer αντίστοιχα, είναι επαρκείς στους ρόλους τους. Ευχάριστη έκπληξη είναι η πάρουσια του βετεράνου του είδους Tom Atkins, στο ρόλο του παλιού σερίφη, που με τη χαρακτηριστική φυσιογνωμία του αποτελεί μια ρετρό πινελιά στην ταινία. Τέλος, αναμφίβολα η πιο ενδιαφέρουσα φιγούρα της ταινίας είναι ο δολοφόνος. Με τη στολή του ανθρακωρύχου και ειδικά τη μασκα με το φακό είναι αν μη τι άλλο επιβλητικός και έχει μια μεταφυσική αύρα, ενώ η αξίνα σαν όπλο είναι ότι πρέπει για το είδος της ταινίας (αν και στην πιο εντυπωσιακή σκηνή θανάτου χρησιμοποιεί φτυάρι).

Τελικό συμπέρασμα: Η ταινία κυλάει αρκετά στρωτά και δεν κουραζει ιδιαίτερα τον θεατή. Επιπλέον έχει τα στοιχεία που θα ικανοποιήσουν τους φίλους των ταινίων τρόμου και σπλάτερ, όσοι δεν ανήκουν σε αυτή την κατηγορια ας μην κάνουν καν τον κόπο. Από την άλλη, δεν είναι απο τις ταινίες που θα δεις 2^η φορά, ή που θα θυμάσαι μετά από ένα μήνα. Γενικά είναι μια μέτρια προς καλή ψυχαγώγικη ταινία, με την οποία μπορείτε να περάσετε περίπου μιάμιση ωρα αν δεν έχετε κάτι καλύτερο να κάνετε.

Πίσω από τις κάμερες :

* Η ταινία ειναι remake μιας όχι ιδιαίτερα επιτυχημένης ομώνυμης ταινίας του 1981.

* Τα γυρίσματα έγιναν στην Πενσυλβάνια, λόγω των φορολογικών ελαφρύνσεων που ισχύουν στην περιοχή για τη δημιουργία ταινιών.

* Ο σεναριογράφος Todd Farmer, έχει τον μικρό ρόλο του φορτηγατζή στο μοτέλ.

Προσωπική βαθμολογία:

Review by Harvester

Crossing Over (2009)

director: Wayne Kramer

writer: Wayne Kramer

starring: Harrison Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Jude, Jim Sturgess, Cliff Curtis και πολλοί άλλοι

genre: Drama

Το Crossing Over αποτελεί μια συνέχεια της ανερχόμενης μόδας του Hollywood για ταινίες που διαπραγματεύονται το ζήτημα της μετανάστευσης και της ξενοφοβίας, που έχει κυριαρχήσει στην Αμερική μετά την 11η Σεπτεμβρίου.

Εφτά ιστορίες ανθρώπων ξεδιπλώνονται με μερικές να συναντώνται και άλλες να τραβάν ξεχωριστά μονοπάτια. Όλες όμως έχουν έναν κοινό γνώμονα: Την μάχη για την παραμονή στην σύγχρονη γη της επαγγελίας. Από την Αυστραλή ηθοποιό που πουλάει το σώμα της για μια πράσινη κάρτα μέχρι την Μεξικάνα που αναγκάζεται να αφήσει το παιδί της πίσω καθώς αυτή απελαύνεται, κάθε ιστορία δείχνει και μια άλλη οπτική του τεράστιου αυτού προβλήματος που λέγεται παράνομη μετανάστευση.

Σε γενικές γραμμές η σκηνοθεσία είναι καλή αν και πολλές φορές πληρώνει τα λάθη του μεγάλου σεναρίου. Ακόμη και τις 2 ώρες τις ταινίας πιστεύω ότι ο σκηνοθέτης/συγγραφέας Wayne Kramer προσπάθησε να χωρέσει όσες περισσότερες ιστορίες μπορούσε με αποτέλεσμα να το κουράσει ιδιαίτερα σε κάποια σημεία.

Στα θετικά της ταινίας είναι σίγουρα η ηθοποιία του μεγάλου cast. Πολλά γνωστά ή και πιο άγνωστα ονόματα παρελαύνουν στην οθόνη ερμηνεύοντας σωστά και μερικές φορές πολύ σωστά τους χαρακτήρες τους. Ο Harrison Ford επιτέλους σε έναν ρόλο σύμφωνο με την ηλικία του προσφέρει μια ήσυχη και σιωπηλή ερμηνεία. Η εμφάνιση όμως που ξεχώρισα ήταν της νεαρής Summer Bishil ,η οποία πέφτει θύμα της απάτης που λέγεται ελευθερία του λόγου και αναγκάζεται να αποχωριστεί την οικογένειά της με σπαρακτική αποκορύφωση τον αποχωρισμό με τα αδέρφια της.

Η ταινία είναι αρκετά καλή με αρκετά σημεία που θα προκαλέσουν τη σκέψη σας αλλά δυστυχώς και πολλά που θα σας κουράσουν. Το τέλος της είναι πάρα πολύ ωραίο με άλλες ιστορίες να τελειώνουν θετικά και άλλες τραγικά. Όμως ότι και να λέει η ταινία δεν παύει να είναι μια προσπάθεια αντιγραφής του άκρως επιτυχημένου φίλμ Crash που είχε σαρώσει τα Όσκαρ το 2004. Συνεπώς η σύγκριση είναι αναγκαστική όχι μόνο με το Crash αλλά και με άλλες ταινίες σχετικού περιεχομένου που βγήκαν φέτος (The Visitor, Gran Torino κλπ).

Εν κατακλείδι η ταινία είναι κάτι που σίγουρα αξίζει να δείτε και να ξοδέψετε ένα δίωρο γι’αυτό.

Καλή προβολή!

Personal Rating:

Review by Gamapi

Sleeping Beauty Famous Animated from Walt Disney

Sleeping Beauty Famous Animated from Walt Disney

Sleeping Beauty poster

Sleeping Beauty Wallpaper

The Dark Knight (2008)

director: Christopher Nolan

writers: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan

starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

genre: Comics, Crime, Drama

Here is by far the best comic book film ever made and my favorite film of 2008. This film accomplishes what other films tried for years to do and failed miserably. This is the quintessential comic book film filled with thrills, action, suspense, and drama. But it’s not only that as it shows that the superhero genre can go toe to toe with standard dramas that come out ever year for the Oscars.

The story continues where we left off in Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) has already become the symbol he wanted to be with criminals too afraid to go out on the streets at night. All seems good for Gotham to go back to its former glory. But Batman and Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) see that only themselves can’t save Gotham and try their luck on District Attorney Harvey Dent. In the midst of this the Joker (Heath Ledger) makes his presence known throughout Gotham and the underworld as the man to bring the city to its knees and kill the Batman. While Batman sees the hope for Gotham in Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) as he is Gotham's beacon of hope and Batman’s ticket to a normal life with Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal). But his hopes are too high. While Joker shows the whole city that they need to be introduced to a little anarchy and that even the brightest among us can fall.

What in my opinion the best thing about this film is how filmmakers took the best elements from the comics from stories like The Killing Joke, The Long Halloween and a few other places and at the same time put some new elements that lift up the story and situations for the characters and still stay true to comic’s origins. Many just take the origin of a comic book character and then make up their minds on the direction instead of staying true and respectful. All this is due to the sensational filmmaker Christopher Nolan. Giving him the reigns to a Batman film was the best thing to have happen. Already having made Memento and Insomnia we already see that he knows well to go deep into minds of twisted and sane characters alike and show what they truly are. Here he shows us who Batman is. A dark soul who no matter what he wants he knows in the end he is Gotham’s Dark Knight and he has to protect her.

The Dark Knight must have been one of the most hyped films in years. After a great first film everybody knew it and felt that the second would top the first. And it did. It got great recognition from critics being on many best film lists of the year and at the box office became one of the highest grossing films in history. But what it didnt get was nominations (Oscars,Golden Globes) . How can this film not get nominated for best film and best director. The film accomplishes so many things as ive mentioned before. But what Nolan does in my opionion is far greater than for example Danny Boyle did in Slumdog Millionaire. Meaning that comic book films is one of the most difficult genres to tackle and Nolan made such a film that no else has made. He has raised the bar in filmaking of this genre instead Boyle made a film of a subjectg matter that many have tackled and managed to make good films and does nothing new to the genre but make the film a easy crowd pleaser. Hope you understand that this why the film should be acclaimed this much.

One of the reasons though that the hype went so ballistic and why the film was so good was Heath Ledger. His performance of Joker did give the film a flair. Im not going to go as far and say that he was the only thing that made the film good. That would be not respectful to the whole cast and crew of the film that did a bang up job. The effects are seamless and realistic, soundtrack eerie and unsettling at times to makes us feel the anarchy and chaos that is happening. Also the great performance of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent that sells the character incredible and I see it as his film. The tragedy of Harvey Dent. In total if any of these components were missing it would have been the film it is.

Films like Dark Knight are hard to come by. Don’t shy away from this film if you haven’t seen it because it had great revenue at the box office or just because everybody loved Heath Ledgers performance. The Dark Knight is much more than a superhero film but a film about how the best of us can go down the road of evil, how everybody in society has rights, that in the end anarchy may bring chaos but chaos brings us together to fight for the common good and that one must sacrifice himself for justice to prevail.

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul

Time's a Pretzel

What if time isn't the straight line that we think of it as?

It was Friday, we do most of our laundry on Saturday and Sunday so the hamper was full and there were some clothes on the floor by it. I was going to toss a dirty shirt into the laundry room. I pulled back my arm then hesitated, which was odd.
Why did I hesitate? It didn't matter if the shirt landed on the hamper or in the floor but I had an unusual hesitation anyway. So I threw the shirt. It landed exactly halfway in between with part of it on the hamper and part of it on the pile of clothes in the floor.
Then I had a deep thought. What if the outcome influences our decision? 99 times out of 100 (at least) I would not have hesitated when tossing the shirt and also 99 times out of 100 it would have either landed on top of the hamper or on the floor, not in between.
Maybe time is shaped more like a pretzel than a pretzel stick.

Daniel Hauser

(NaturalNews) You see it in newspapers and websites across the 'net: People insisting that 13-year-old Daniel Hauser must be injected with chemotherapy in order to "save his life," and that anyone refusing to go along with that is a criminal deserving of arrest and imprisonment.

What's most astonishing about the mainstream reaction to the forced chemotherapy of Daniel Hauser is not merely that they believe states now own the children, but that they believe in the entire world there exists but one single treatment for cancer, and it happens to be the one that makes pharmaceutical companies the most money. The arrogance (and ignorance) of that position is mind boggling.

There was once a time when western medical doctors believed that the heavy metal mercury was a medicine, too. They methodically used mercury to treat hundreds of different diseases and conditions, oblivious to the fact that they were actually poisoning people with this toxic heavy metal.

And yet, imagine if authorities had arrested parents for not treating their children with mercury. Imagine if they threw parents in prison for refusing their "mercury medicine." That would be equivalent to today's arrogant, misguided and extremely dangerous campaign to outlaw saying "no" to chemotherapy.

A brief history of medical quackery
It was mercury, in fact, that led to the term "quack." Mercury is called "quicksilver," and those doctors who prescribed it were eventually discovered to be pushing toxic chemicals rather than any real medicine. They were initially called "quicks" and then later "quacks."

The quackery of those doctors prescribing mercury wasn't hard to miss: People taking the mercury would get extremely ill. Their hair would fall out. They would lose their appetite and experience extreme loss of body weight. Many would simply die from the toxicity.

Remarkably, these are the same side effects produced by chemotherapy. And today, chemotherapy doctors describe these side effects in precisely the same terms as the mercury quacks of a century ago, claiming the effects are "part of the healing process" and encouraging patients to find the courage to "just go through with it."

But let's pull our heads out of the muck here and acknowledge the obvious: Poisoning patients -- whether with mercury or chemotherapy -- will never produce healing. And the prescribing of such toxic chemicals to patients is little more than sophisticated quackery, backed by seemingly convincing data (which is actually based on scientific fraud) along with the urgings of cancer doctors who rely on highly manipulative fear tactics to corral patients into treatments that will only harm them.

Do parents have the right to protect their children from poison?
Today, the mother of 13-year-old Daniel Hauser is on the run, having skipped out on the Minnesota court that ordered her to poison her own child. She is now considered criminally negligent by the state -- a parent who belongs behind bars and will likely be imprisoned when she is arrested at gunpoint.

And yet, I ask you this: What else could she have done? To appear in court and submit her child to chemical injections of a toxic substance would amount to child abuse. She is doing what any sensible parent would do: She's protecting her child from the poisons of the world, and standing up against the tyrants of modern medicine who so desperately seek to exploit her child for profit that they have actually turned to enforcing their business at gunpoint in order to do so.

It is interesting that pharmaceutical medicine is the only industry in America that's forced to recruit its patients at gunpoint.

I call it Gunpoint Medicine, and it is exactly as it sounds: The enforcing of medical quackery at gunpoint.

Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Phillip Duke of Edinburgh

Prince Phillip Fight against witch

Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora

Flashback Friday

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather in Princess Aurora

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather in Princess Aurora

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather A good hearted woman

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather Shepherd Aurora

Temari Shippuuden

Now is Temari's turn, She is the oldest child in Gaara's family. Temari is so beautiful and smart, just like Shikamaru but please never ever disturbed her because she could be a tigress when she was angry. Temari's behaviour not much changing from her childhood but Temari's style was totally different. Temari's child was wearing white clothes, but on Naruto Shippuuden, after Temari has been grow up, she is wearing black clothes. not only that, Temari's shoes model also changed to be more girly and she looks so feminim with that shoes. About her headband, if we usually see that on her neck, now Temari use her headband on the right place. Last, with gauntlet, Temari looks more classy and very suitable with her arm (giant fan). I hope from this post you will know about difference between Temari's child and Temari when she was grow up. If there is another difference from Temari's child and adult which didn't yet I mention, please tell me about it, so I can add more information detaily.

Alright I have new collection from Temari Shippuuden Wallpaper that I wanna share to you all Narutofans. Just click on image to get the real pixels and save it. I'm still waiting your opinion about Temari's feeling. Thanks for your visited here.

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Kankuro Shippuuden

As we knew Kankuro is Gaara's brother. When Kankuro was child, he always obey Gaara's desire because Kankuro was afraid if Gaara angry. In fact, Kankuro not truely accepted that condition because he was older than Gaara. But after they have been adult and Gaara has changed, Kankuro become more respect and love his little brother (Gaara). Now let talk about his style, is there any changing from his style? Yes there is, If Kankuro's child always brought his puppet and wrapping it with cloth, Kankuro's adult brought his puppet into scrool and summoned them when he need it. Kankuro's child brought arm bag on his leg and Kankuro's adult didn't bring it. And last difference is we didn't see anymore picture (a circle with two colour, brown and orange) on Kankuro's adult clothes. Maybe there is another difference from Kankuro's child and adult which didn't yet I mention? Please tell me about it, so I can add more information detaily.

Just like my previous post, I have new collection from Kankuro Shippuuden Wallpaper that I wanna share to you all Narutofans. Just click on image to get the real pixels and save it. I'm still waiting your information about Kankuro. Thanks for your visited here.

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Gaara Shippuuden

From this post you will know about difference between Gaara's child and Gaara when he was grow up. What did you know about Gaara? Gaara's child was very cold and cruel, he didn't understand about friendship untill he met and fought with Naruto. But Gaara was totally different on Naruto Shippuuden anime series. He become calmdown and has being known about friendship and bond. Gaara also become Kazekage and used his power to protect villagers of the sand. And how about his style? There isn't much changing on his style, he is still bring his sand jar. But we can see the difference on his pants and his clothes. Gaara use pants with chasuble and clothes with long arm when he was grow up. Gaara's adult doesn't use white shawl anymore to bring his sand jar. Maybe there is another difference from Gaara's child and adult which didn't yet I mention? Please tell me about it, so I can add more information detaily.

Just like my previous post, I have new collection from Gaara Shippuuden Wallpaper that I wanna share to you all Narutofans. Just click on image to get the real pixels and save it. I'm still waiting your information about Gaara. Thanks for your visited here.

Please share and enjoy:

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

director: Louis Leterrier

writers: Zak Penn, Edward Norton (Uncredited)

starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt, Tim Roth

genre: Action, Comics

From all the Marvel characters Hulk is the one that we demand the simplest thing for him to smash. And here the filmmakers accomplish this with flying colors while the Hulk smashes whatever he finds and gets really angry.

The film is not so much of a sequel to the first film Hulk but a semi reboot. It gives a brief summary of the Hulk’s origin which we saw in Ang Lee’s Hulk but continues to Bruce Banner in hiding and containment of the Hulk. While in Brazil in hiding Banner is detected by General Ross (William Hurt) who has created a special team led by Emile Blonsky (Tim Roth) to capture the Hulk. But as we all know what can a measly team do to the Hulk? After the failure of the mission Ross experiments on Blonsky the old Super Soldier Serum that had been used on Captain America. After some bad side effects Roth transforms into Abomination and Hulk has to protect his love Betty (Liv Tyler) at all costs and defeat the Abomination.

What made me happy with this film was the adrenaline of the action scenes and the finesse in special effects especially the Hulk and Abomination effects. Also the film continues in the continuity of the Marvel films and connects in a special way with Iron Man. Also the respect the creators had for the original Hulk series is ever present with the lonely man theme and Banner constantly on the run that gives a different feeling compared to the first film of Banner searching for the connection with his father.Change was needed in the franchise with the bad performance the first film had. Even though in my opinion it was a very good film and actually made not that much diffrent money in the box office than this one. Here they went for a more mainstream approach which was not a bad choice because it works in areas better and worse in others. The choice Louis Leterrier who has already experience in action films seemed as the right choice for the big guy.

As good as the film is it lacks in the area of emotion. As a Hulk film I have to compare it to the first. And the first was an incredible father son story with great scenes and powerful drama courtesy of Ang Lee. Here it’s too little but only affordable for what the film needs and nothing more than that. Also Leterrier style of direction is conventional in difference to Lee’s incredible methods in filmmaking and simulating comic book panels.

In the end Hulk continues Marvel Studios run of success by creating entertaining films for geeks and casual fans. If your looking for big fights, huge explosions and puny humans the Incredible Hulk is just right up your alley.

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul

State of Play (2009)

director: Kevin Macdonald

writer: Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy

starring: Russel Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams

genre: Drama, Mystery

Αν έλεγα πως είχα πολύ καιρό να δω μια τέτοια ταινία, με ροή που να τρέχει τόσο, μα τόσο καλά, «ταιριαστή» σκηνοθεσία, πολύ καλή ηθοποιία και αιχμές για το όλο σύστημα που μας πλασάρουν και εμείς το δεχόμαστε χωρίς καμιά απολύτως αντίρρηση, θα έλεγα μάλλον ψέματα…Το θέμα, όμως, είναι ότι όλα όσα ειπώθηκαν ισχύουν στο ακέραιο. Ας μπούμε λιγάκι στο θέμα μας:

2+1 θάνατοι, ένας εκ των οποίων είναι και αυτός της παράνομης σχέσης του πολιτικού Stephen Collins(Ben Affleck), δίνουν αφορμή στους ρεπόρτερ Cal McAffrey(Russel Crowe) και Della Frye(Rachel McAdams) να προσπαθήσουν να ερευνήσουν σε βάθος την υπόθεση και να βρουν την αρχή του νήματός της. Το μέγεθος, όμως, της συνομωσίας που κρύβεται πίσω από τους εν λόγω θανάτους, είναι τόσο μεγάλο που οδηγεί στην απόλυτη ανατροπή.

Το στυλ του φιλμ απαιτεί έναν συγκεκριμένο τρόπο σκηνοθεσίας ο οποίος θα σου αποκαλύπτει σιγά-σιγά κάθε της πλευρά. Κάθε περίπτωση που δεν άπτεται πλήρως σε αυτόν τον κανόνα θα οδηγούσε, κατά την γνώμη μου, την ταινία σε μια δυσαρμονία και μια αίσθηση ατέλειας. Ε, λοιπόν, μπράβο στον σκηνοθέτη..! Η ταινία είχε ακριβώς την πλοκή και την διάρκεια σκηνών που θα έπρεπε. Η ιστορία ξετυλιγόταν πολύ όμορφα χωρίς να σε κουράζει. Σε αυτό βέβαια, βοηθούσε και το σενάριο. Μπορεί να θυμίζει, σε γενικές γραμμές, κάτι το τετριμμένο…Αυτό θα ήταν λογικό να ειπωθεί από κάποιον. Πάντως, είχε κάτι το ιδιαίτερο μιας και είχε την δύναμη να αναδείξει με λεπτεπίλεπτο και, παράλληλα, υβριστικό τρόπο την σαπίλα του πολιτικού συστήματος, αλλά και την κατάντια-ώρες ώρες- των «ανθρώπων».

Ηθοποιία: Παρατηρούμε-σε ακόμα μια ταινία- την ιδιοφυΐα η οποία με κόπο κάποιου βαθμού είναι ικανή να επιλύσει δύσκολες καταστάσεις. Θα μου πείτε, αυτός ένας ρόλος είναι. Ναι, σίγουρα. Το θέμα είναι πως και σε αυτόν τον ρόλο ο Russel Crowe δεν έδειξε κουρασμένος και «μπουχτισμένος», αλλά αντίθετα, ήταν πολύ φυσικός και σωστός στον τρόπο «παιξίματός» του. Το ίδιο ισχύει και για τους υπόλοιπους ηθοποιούς. Ειλικρινά, ο τρόπος που έπαιξαν ταίριαζε «γάντι» σε όλο το concept του φιλμ.

Δεν είναι η ταινία που θα σπάσει καρδιές, θα συζητηθεί αρκετή ώρα σε σπίτια με φίλους, θα αποτελέσει υπόδειγμα σεναρίου και σκηνοθεσίας και θα προταθεί απαραιτήτως σε κάποιον τρίτο για να την δει. Παρόλα αυτά, θα σας την συνιστούσα. Δεν θα μετανιώσετε τις, περίπου, δύο ώρες που θα ξοδέψετε για αυτήν. Έχει ανατροπές, έχει ωραία ροή, αλλά μην περιμένετε να είναι η ταινία που θα μπορούσατε να ξεχωρίσετε από τις φετινές.

Καλή ταινία..!

Προσωπική βαθμολογία:

Review by Sanm

Iron Man (2008)

director: Jon Favreau

writer: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Arthur Marcum, Matthew Hollaway

starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard

genre: Action, Comics

How great is it that the company who created their own characters in comic form are able to continue making on them. From now on most of the properties that Marvel Studios still have the rights to will be created into films. And with their first try, Iron Man shows that when it’s original creators are close at hand, that faithful and entertaining adaptations can be made.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a billionaire/genius in arms industry and other scientific equipment. On a trip in Afghanistan showing off some his new weapons to the U.S. army he’s attacked by terrorists. While captive he’s asked to create more weaponry for them and have already a ton of Stark industry weaponry. Instead of helping the terrorist he creates the ultimate weapon a suit to wear to keep himself alive and escape. Returning to the U.S. he makes it his sole goal to find out who was been selling Stark tech weaponry in secret and be the hero Iron Man.

What Iron Man gets right is that from start to finish it’s a entertaining film. It his all of its right beats from Iron Man’s playboy moments or the good close intimate scenes between him and Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow). The choice of Robert Downey Jr. was the smartest thing because he holds this movie together with his performance and nails the whole playboy/genius role. Another positive is Marvel’s tactic to make their films in one universe with continuity something that X-Men film franchise has never heard of. By the end of the film theirs a scene which teases the creation of the Avengers. So one day we will able to see Iron Man the Hulk and many others in the same film fighting.

Dealing with adaptation from comic to film there is absolutely no problem. All changes were for the benefit of the story. Tony Stark instead of getting captured in the Gulf War is now captured in Afghanistan. What’s noteworthy of this film is inclusion of comic book writers and artists by the filmmakers for suggestions and advice on the characters they so constantly write on. All the actors play their roles very well and make you feel the characters come to life. Also the choice of Jon Favreau was interesting coming from background of films like Swingers and Zathura. But shows skill into bringing this unknown to the masses Marvel character and making them love him.

Even though I think of Iron Man is very well made film. I do have some gripes about it. There were parts of the film that needed to be more epic. The villain’s plot was not so much a doomsday save the world story not that i needed to be nesserialy. But the fight between Iron Man and Iron Monger came a little late in the film and everything wrapped up pretty quick. So we never get to really feel the bad guys plot until really too late. Another problem was that the action is far too little. You could say that’s a good thing and this is why it makes this film so unique in storytelling method. But for so little action it did need more character development in pseudo father-son relationship Tony Stark has with Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) or with his pal Jim Rhodes or even with Pepper.

If you still haven’t seen Iron Man its time to check out. Good action, performances and a realistic comic book film adaptation. And if you do enjoy this so much just remember Iron Man 2 is filming already and the promise of another strong film seems like a good guess..

Personal Rating:

Review by Paul

Haruno Sakura Shippuuden

From this post you will know about difference between Sakura's child and Sakura when he was grow up. Sakura grow up become boyish girl, with short pants, gauntlet and boot clearly make her a boyish girl. Sakura clothes colour not many changing, still was dominated by red colour but there is a little additional colour that is pink in her skirt. Big difference is Sakura's bravery increasing rapidly under Tsunade's training. She become stronger girl and has good analys to find the enemies weakness. Sakura wasn't sissy girl anymore, even her thinking become more wisely than before. To protect her friend from injury, Sakura make decision to be medical ninja. How about her feeling? I don't know about that, is she still love Sasuke or has moved to Naruto. Could you tell me about it? Please give me your comment, so I can add more information detaily.

Alright I have new collection from Haruno Sakura Shippuuden Wallpaper that I wanna share to you all Narutofans. Just click on image to get the real pixels and save it. I'm still waiting your opinion about Sakura's feeling. Thanks for your visited here.

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