The Forgiveness of Blood (Albanian: Falja e Gjakut) is 2011 Albanian-American drama film directed by Joshua Marston. The film premiered In Competition at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival and competed for the Golden Bear. Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj won the Silver Bear for Best Script.
The film was originally submitted as the Albanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film, but it was rejected due to protest of Bujar Alimani, the director of Amnesty, that The Forgiveness of Blood shouldn't be eligible due to American artists' input on the project. AMPAS disqualified it and Albania submitted instead Alimani's film.
The film deals with the issue of an Albanian family feud.
Starring: Josiah Patkotak, Frank Qutuq Irelan, Teddy Kyle Smith, Adamina Kerr, John Miller, Rosabelle Kunnanna Rexford, Sierra Jade Sampson
Genre: Drama, Suspense
MPAA Rating: R (for language, some drug content and violence)
Official Website: OntheIcethemovie.com
Plot Summary: Directed and written by Andrew Okpeaha Maclean, "On the Ice" is a suspenseful feature-length drama about two teenage boys who have grown up like brothers in the comfortable claustrophobia of an isolated Alaskan town. Early one morning, on a seal hunt with another teenager, an argument between the three boys quickly escalates into a tragic accident. Bonded by their dark secret, the two best friends are forced to create one fabrication after another in order to survive. The shocked boys stumble through guilt-fueled days, avoiding the suspicions of their community as they weave a web of deceit. With their future in the balance, the two boys are forced to explore the limits of friendship and honor.
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is an American 3D adventure film directed by Brad Peyton and the sequel to the 2008 film Journey to the Center of the Earth. Following the first film, the sequel is loosely based on a Jules Verne novel, this time The Mysterious Island.
The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens, Luis Guzmán and Kristin Davis. The story was written by Richard Outten, Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn, and the screenplay by Brian and Mark Gunn.
Plot
Sean Anderson is caught by police escaping from a satellite research center where he was attempting to access a signal broadcast that was too faint to pick up outside of the facility. Escorted home by his stepfather, Hank Parsons, he eventually reveals that the mysterious broadcast he was attempting to access was a set of indistinguishable words that he is trying to decode. Hank, in an attempt to bond with his stepson, solves the code which tells them to look for Treasure Island, Gulliver's Travels and Verne's Mysterious Island and Sean suggest that they were all based on the same island. Hank then tears out each page with a map in each book and shines a light through them to make one map that reveals the islands co-ordinates. Sean believes that his long lost grandfather was the one behind the transmission, and that he has discovered the island. Sean and Hank immediately set out for the island of Palau. Both Hank and his wife, Liz, don't believe anything that Sean is convinced of, such as the fact that the Mysterious Island could exist and that his grandfather discovered it, but after Hank considers that this trip could help bring him closer to his usual anti-social step son, the couple decide it would be ideal. Once arriving at Palau, they board a private helicopter run by Gabato and his daughter Kailani, whom Sean immediately develops a crush on. The four travel to the co-ordinates until their helicopter is hit by a freak storm, causing them to crash on the island, where every big animal in the world is small and every small animal is giant (inspiring Jonathan Swift to write Gulliver's Travels). They are then chase through the forest by a giant lizard until they finally meet Sean's grandfather. He leads them back to his hut where they spend the night. Once it is determined that a radio signal for a distress call can only be sent once a fortnight, it is decided that the group will stay put until then.
The next day the five travel to the lost city of Atlantis, buried far back in the jungles. There Hank finds evidence to believe that the island is slowly sinking. It is revealed through Sean’s grandfather that the island sinks underwater once every 140 years or so due to shifting tectonic plates, and that they still have years before the next cycle begins. Hank’s recent discovery, however, shows that Sean’s grandfather’s calculations are wrong and that the island will sink in a few days. From there the group set out to Captain Nemo’s tomb, which contains his journal holding the whereabouts of the legendary submarine, The Nautilus, their only hope of escaping on time. Once the journal is uncovered, they set out towards Nautilus, encountering various obstacles in their path. Sean’s foot is dislocated after a dog fight involving a giant bird, and the group is slowed down. The next morning it is discovered that Gabato has left the group to return to a previously passed volcano of gold (inspiring Robert Louis Stevenson to write Treasure Island), which he believes is his and Kailani’s only hope of living a decent life. Kailani and Sean’s grandfather set out to find him while Hank and Sean continue to look for the Nautilus.
Once at the submarine’s entrance, the two are disheartened to find that the rising sea level has buried the cave underwater and that they must dive to where it is located. Using a simple breathing device, they manage to reach the submarine and open the entrance hatch, narrowly avoiding a nasty encounter with a giant electric eel.
Kailani and Sean’s grandfather eventually find Gabato and convince him to return to the submarine. Once there, they are distraught to discover that Hank and Sean are nowhere in sight. Unbeknownst to them, the pair are attempting to start the submarine, although the batteries are long exhausted. Hank devises a plan to use the eel to conduct enough electricity to kick start the Nautilus, and equipping a basic diving suit, exits the sub to confront the eel and throw a harpoon at it.
Once the submarine starts, they quickly travel to the surface and retrieve the other three. Six months later, Gabato is head of a successful tourism movement on Palau, and has enough money to send Kailani to the United States where she is dating Sean and attending college. At Sean's birthday, his grandfather gives him a copy of From the Earth to the Moon, and proposes another journey (to the moon), as a family. The film ends with Sean, Kailani and his family reading the book together, and a view of the moon.
Cast
Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons, Sean's stepfather.
Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson
Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani, Sean's love interest and a tour guide.
Michael Caine as Alexander Anderson, Sean's grandfather.
Luis Guzmán as Gabato, part of a father-daughter tour guide team.
Kristin Davis as Elizabeth "Liz" Anderson, Sean's mother.
Production
After the commercial success of the first film, Walden Media and New Line Cinema purchased Richard Outten's spec script, Mysterious Travels, in March 2009 to serve as the basis for the film. In the story, the characters embark on a journey to a mysterious uncharted island thought to have informed the writing of three literary classics: Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn were chosen to revise Outten's script.
In May 2010, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema announced that Journey 2: The Mysterious Island will release on February 10, 2012.
Casting
Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem will not return due to scheduling issues, but Hutcherson will reprise his role. Jane Wheeler also did not return to play Liz, Sean's mother and was replaced in the part by Kristin Davis. Dwayne Johnson will play Sean's stepfather who is forced to accompany Sean on the trip to find his missing grandfather, played by Michael Caine, on a mythical and monstrous island. In October 2010, it was announced that Vanessa Hudgens will play Hutcherson's love interest.
Filming
The film was filmed at eight locations on Oahu, Hawaii, but predominantly in various parts of Waimea Valley and Kualoa Ranch. Filming also took place in Wilmington, North Carolina from January 10 to February 10, 2011.
Short film
The theatrical release of the film is preceded by a Looney Tunes short film titled Daffy’s Rhapsody. The short features Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd in the first CG or 3-D depiction of these specific Looney Tunes characters. The short film's director, Matthew O’Callaghan, notes that “Daffy Rhapsody was originally recorded in the early 1950s as part of a kids’ album.”
Release
Box office
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released in Australia on January 19, 2012 where it grossed $2,002,193 on its opening weekend. On the same date in was released in Hong Kong where it grossed $1,058,670 and in South Korea $2,452,674 over a three-day period. It was released also in Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand and United Arab Emirates on the same date. It was released in India on February 3rd. As of February 12, 2012, it has earned $74.5 million overseas.
In its U.S. debut, the film earned a strong estimated $6.5 million on its debut Friday, and an estimated $27.6 million over the weekend, coming in third place behind The Vow and Safe House. That was about double the amount analysts were expecting, and was a much higher debut than the original Journey to the Center of the Earth ($21 million). It is the second film in 2012 to cross the $100 million mark after Underworld Awakening..
Reception
As of February 10, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island has a rating of 43% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 70 reviews, with 31 positive reviews and 39 negative. The website's consensus is: "Aggressively unambitious, Journey 2 might thrill tween viewers, but most others will find it too intense for young audiences and too cartoonishly dull for adults". Lisa Schwarzbaum, a top critic form Entertainment Weekly said: "The movie flies by pleasantly, and is then instantly forgettable. Perhaps Jules Verne can explain the science of that". Roger Ebert from Chicago Sun-Times said: "It isn't a "good" movie in the usual sense (or most senses), but it is jolly and good-natured, and Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson are among the most likable of actors". Randy Cordova from Arizona Republic said: "Johnson can't save the movie, directed by Brad Peyton, from being a sloppy skip from one seemingly unrelated idea to the next".It also has a 78% audience approval rating. Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 41 based on 14 reviews.
Big Miracle is an upcoming romantic drama film starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. The film, directed by Ken Kwapis, is based on the 1989 book Freeing the Whales by Tom Rose, which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to rescue gray whales trapped in ice near Point Barrow, Alaska. The film is scheduled to be released on February 3, 2012.
Synopsis
Main article: Operation Breakthrough
A nonprofit aid worker and a government worker spark romantically as they work together in the effort to free three California gray whales who have become trapped in a hole in the ice of the Arctic Circle.
Cast
John Krasinski as Adam Carlson
Drew Barrymore as Rachel Kramer
Kristen Bell as Jill Jerard, a news reporter
Vinessa Shaw as Bonnie Mersinger
Stephen Root as Gov. Haskell
Ted Danson as Liam Peterson
Dermot Mulroney as Tom Carroll
Rob Riggle as Dean Glowacki
Michael Gaston as Porter Beckford
Megan Angela Smith as Sheena
Tim Blake Nelson as Umizoomi
James LeGros as Karl Hootkin
Mark Ivanir as Dimitri
Andrew Daly as Don Davis
Jonathan Slavin as Roger Notch
Gregory Jbara as General Stanton
Tom Clark as Morton Heavey
Production
Big Miracle is based on the 1989 book Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World's Greatest Non-Event by Tom Rose, and an episode of Untamed and Uncut which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to rescue gray whales from being trapped in ice near Point Barrow, Alaska. The film is directed by Ken Kwapis based on a screenplay by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. Warner Bros. bought the screenplay by Amiel and Begler in April 2009, and in the following June, Kwapis was attached to direct. In September 2010, with Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski cast in the starring roles, filming began in Alaska. It had a production budget of $30 million. The crew constructed sets in Anchorage to resemble places in Barrow during the 1988 whale rescue. Filming lasted for 10 weeks.
Post-production
Visual effects on Big Miracle were created by Rhythm and Hues Studios and Modus FX.
Red Tails is an upcoming 2012 action drama film directed by Anthony Hemingway, from a screenplay by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder. The story, written by Ridley, is inspired by true events. George Lucas serves as the executive producer for the project. It is based on the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African American U.S. service members during World War II, and is the first Lucasfilm production since Radioland Murders (1994) not associated with the Indiana Jones or Star Wars franchises. This movie stars Cuba Gooding, Jr., who previously starred in another movie title based on The Red Tails called The Tuskegee Airmen on HBO. It is Gooding's first theatrical release in five years.
Cast
The following have been confirmed by Lucasfilm
Cuba Gooding Jr. as Major Emanuelle Stance
Terrence Howard as Col. A.J. Bullard
Bryan Cranston as Col. William Mortamus
Nate Parker as Martin "Easy" Julian
David Oyelowo as Joe "Lightning" Little
Tristan Wilds as Ray "Ray Gun" Gannon
Ryan Early as Captain Bryce
Method Man as Sticks
Kevin Phillips as Leon "Neon" Edwards
Henry Garrett as Hart
Robert Kazinsky as Chester Barnes
Rick Otto as Flynt
Lee Tergesen as Maj. Col. Jack Tomilson
Andre Royo as Chief "Coffee" Coleman
Ne-Yo as Andrew "Smoky" Salem
Elijah Kelley as Samuel "Joker" George
Marcus T. Paulk as David "Deke" Watkins
Leslie Odom Jr. as Walter "Winky" Hall
Michael B. Jordan as Maurice "Bumps" Wilson
Jazmine Sullivan as Deborah "Love Bunny" Gannett
Edwina Finley as CeCe
Daniela Ruah as Sophie
Stacie Davis as Mae
Aml Ameen as Bag O'Bones
Gerald McRaney as General Luntz
Jesse Williams
Don Cheadle
Production
George Lucas began developing Red Tails around 1988[8] with a scheduled release in 1992. He compared it to Tucker: The Man and His Dream as "a story too good to be true". Thomas Carter was his original choice to direct. A number of writers worked on the project until John Ridley was hired in 2007 to write the final screenplay. Lucas held discussions with Samuel L. Jackson regarding Jackson possibly directing and acting in the film. Although Jackson praised the script, he did not commit to either role. Anthony Hemingway was finally chosen to direct in 2008. In researching the film, Lucasfilm invited some of the surviving Tuskegee Airmen to Skywalker Ranch, where they were interviewed about their experiences during World War II. Lucasfilm was also given access to the original mission logbooks used by some of the pilots.
Production began in March 2009. High-definition Sony F35 cameras were used for principal photography, which took place in the Czech Republic, Italy, Croatia and England. While shooting in the Czech Republic, the actors underwent a "boot camp" program, during which they lived in similar conditions as the actual Tuskegee Airmen. Editing began while the production was in Prague. Avid editing systems were used simultaneously in a Prague studio and at Lucasfilm. A vehicle was fitted with a "technical center" so that the production could quickly move between locations. In March 2010, Lucas took over direction of reshoots, as Hemingway was busy working on episodes of the HBO series Treme. Hemingway will have final approval over the footage.
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