mimblr.com

If “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” isn’t the bravest movie ever made about current Arab-Israeli relations, it’s at least the bravest movie ever made about current Arab-Israeli relations featuring a former Mossad agent who shags Lainie Kazan.
Nothing freaks the filmmakers out. Adam Sandler, as the agent, catches fish with his derriere, while John Turturro plays a Palestinian terrorist mastermind who opens a fast-food shack. The movie pretends this is all perfectly normal for almost two blissfully arbitrary hours.
Zohan is a celebrated government assassin who, tired of fighting Palestinians, fakes his death and flees to Manhattan to realize his dream of doing American hair. On the trip west, Zohan gives himself a makeover that turns him from a shaggy Hacky Sack enthusiast into a goateed Ben Affleck look-alike. Rejected from one of Paul Mitchell’s salons (he drools over “The Lexington” and other haircuts in an ancient Mitchell style book), Zohan seeks work in a Palestinian-run salon, managed by a no-nonsense beauty (Emmanuelle Chriqui). The parlor’s on a street split between Israelis and Arabs.
Lest anyone know he’s alive, Zohan works under the name Scrappy Coco and moves in with Kazan and her grown baby of a son (Nick Swardson). At the salon, he starts sweeping up hair and, after his big styling break, winds up the star of the shop, the lines of women out the door testifying as much to Zohan’s way with a flamboyantly ugly haircut as to his lascivious determination to sex them up afterward. He never admits it, but his hero appears to be Warren Beatty in “Shampoo,” not Mitchell.
Alas, the hair isn’t all that’s a mess. The film has a drab, budgetless look, and thdirector Dennis Dugan, making his fourth Sandler picture, shows a kind of negative aptitude for filmmaking. It’s all he can do to keep the jokes afloat. But the movie’s grubbiness actually makes the winking, sub-Hong Kong action sequences (Sandler delivering a flying kick sideways in real time, for example) surreally funny. The movie’s visual tackiness accessorizes nicely with its hero’s.

boston.com

WOBURN, Mass. - (Business Wire) Gotuit, the Video Metadata Company, today announced that Lifetime Networks, the only media company offering a singular branded 360-degree experience for women, has selected Gotuit to power Lifetime Movie Mash-ups, an innovative broadband video application on www.myLifetime.com.
At myLifetime.com, whose page views soared 70 percent last year, visitors can access an initial library of 15 full-length Lifetime Movies — the most popular original movies on basic cable among women — and create Movie Mash-ups using scenes from the original content.
“ Lifetime Movie Mash-ups fundamentally changes how we can engage our broadband video viewer and promote our Lifetime movies, ” said Kimberly Dobson, VP Business Development, Digital Media, Lifetime Networks. “ Our viewers can have fun producing and creating their own video experiences by mixing Lifetime scenes into mash-ups that they can send to fellow users and fans of our movies. Using Gotuit to unleash our content is an ideal way to deepen our relationship with the broadband viewer. ”
All the presentation, navigation, and mash-up features are enabled using Gotuit ’ s PowerVideo Suite which harnesses a new level of video metadata. New movies will be added each month.
“ Lifetime wanted to optimize their broadband video library, ” stated Mark Pascarella, CEO, Gotuit. “ Gotuit ’ s patented technology enables publishers to take full advantage of the broadband platform by making the content easier to find, more enjoyable to watch, more motivating to share, and more valuable to monetize. Combining Lifetime ’ s unique programming with the creativity of their passionate audience will set a new benchmark for success with broadband video. ”
Lifetime Movie Mash-ups is free to all registered users of myLifetime.com and is supported by targeted in-page and in-stream advertising.
myLifetime.com (www.myLifetime.com), the ultimate digital destination for women ’ s entertainment and escape, is a site where more than 2.5 million women per month (comScore Media Metrix) connect, play and share. myLifetime.com offers lifestyle content in Beauty & Style, Home & Crafts, Entertainment, Health, Relationships, and Astrology channels, original broadband video series, and full episodes, behind-the-scenes content and features that enable women to engage deeper with Lifetime ’ s television programming. The site ’ s games channel offers hundreds of compelling online and downloadable games, and ranks among the top 25 online gaming sites for women. The site also features a vibrant community of more than 2.5 million members who connect with each other via an array of social networking tools. Combined with the reach of the Lifetime Networks, myLifetime.com provides national sponsors an unrivaled opportunity to reach women with targeted cross-platform experiences.

earthtimes.org

May 19, 2008 - Thrilling movies are fun to watch, especially with the comfort of knowing they’re works of fiction. But when something is based on events that have occurred off-screen, in the real world, suddenly it becomes even scarier. Inspired by true events, The Strangers – starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman – is a terrifying suspense thriller about a couple whose remote getaway becomes a place of terror when masked strangers invade. To coincide with its upcoming release, we highlight some other films based on all too true events.
Originally a best-selling novel, the story of The Exorcist finds its origins in the demonic possession of a little boy in Cottage Town, Maryland. While many of the elements were embellished in the translation to film, the core of the story – that a young child was freed of demonic possession by a Catholic priest through the ancient ritual of exorcism – was a real event. It wasn’t until the story was detailed in newspapers nationwide that William Blatty was inspired to write a fictionalized account of the story.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Coming out shortly after The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre quickly took the title of “most terrifying movie ever”. But was it as grounded in supposed fact as The Exorcist was? Surely a chainsaw-wielding psychopath didn’t actually hunt down and cannibalize a group of youth in Texas. In reality, the story was made up, but it and the character Leatherface, were both based on the real cannibalistic farmer Ed Gein, who robbed graves, engaged in necrophilia, and killed two women in the 1950s. A chainsaw, however, was never involved in his crimes.
Though the film never claimed to be based on real-events, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller Psycho does indeed borrow real-life elements. In particular, the main villain Norman Bates is based on the same killer, Ed Gein, who was also the inspiration for Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The similarities, however, are subtle: both men bore feminine features and an unnatural attachment to their mothers.

movies.ign.com

Anchorage: Niagara Rhythm Section series featuring John Mays, Saturday. 186 Ricardo St., Niagara-on-the-Lake, 905-468-2141.
ANGEL INN: The Smoothies, tonight and Saturday. Regent Street, Niagara-on-the-Lake, 905-468-3411.
blue mermaid seafood and steakhouse: Ed Pizzo, piano lounge, Court Room, tonight and Saturday. 10 Market Square, 905-684-7465.
buffalo wings & pizza co.: Acoustic jam sessions, Sunday, 5 to 8 p.m. 448 Welland Ave., 905-704-0222.
CARLEY’S PUB: The Wheelers, Saturday. 338 Merritt St., 905-680-1275. cat’s caboose: Hemitone, tonight; Jazz Express (3:30 to 7:30 p.m.), The Spinz (night), Saturday; The K.B. Blues Band, with special guest Ned Green, Sunday, 6 to 9 p.m. 224 Glenridge Ave., 905-682-0139.
CHRISTINA’S: Dunn, tonight; Dan Dyer, Saturday. 260 Lakeshore Rd., 905-937-6224.
DOG POUND: Polyester Groove, Saturday. 455 Merritt St., 905-984-6598.
FAT TONY’S (CAPONE’S NIGHT CLUB): Eastern Bloc, tonight, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Bluesafire with Bill King, Saturday, 3 to 7 p.m. 131 King St., 905-988-3663.
FRESCO’S BAR AND GRILL: Goodfellows, tonight. Ridley Plaza, Fourth Avenue, 905-687-8088.
GOLDEN PHEASANT (THE DUCK): Redline, tonight; More Bad News and the Horns from Hell, Saturday; Tim Hicks, Sunday. 244 Ontario St., 905-687-9505.
irish harp pub: Vox Violins, tonight; Honest Frankie, Saturday; Vox Violins, Sunday, 1 to 4 p.m. 245 King St., Niagara-on-the-Lake, 905-468-4443.
JOrdan house tavern: James Doolin and the Mob, tonight; That 70s Rock Show, Saturday; Bill Culp (matinee), Sunday. Entertainment 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. 3751 Main St., Jordan, 905-562-9591, ext. 2.
LION TAVERN: British Invasion Band, tonight; Odyssey Blues Band with Paul James (matinee), Mod Squad (night), Saturday; Phatstick, Sunday. 615 Lock St., Port Dalhousie, 905-935-4406.
LONDON ARMS/Kahunaville: Wilbur James Blues Band, tonight. Pen Centre, 905-688-0228.
MANSION HOUSE: Marantz Project, tonight; The Smoothies, Saturday. 5 William St. 905-685-5651.
MERCHANT ALE HOUSE: Mr. Rick and the Biscuits, Saturday; Scott Normandy, Sunday. 98 St. Paul St., 905-984-4060.
Moose ‘n goose: Krista Blondin, Janis Joplin tribute, (matinee), Chris Murphy (night), Saturday. 54 Front St., Thorold. 905-227-6969. On 81: LMT Connection, Sunday. 81 James St., 905-704-4549.

stcatharinesstandard.ca

(05-09) 22:19 PDT — For 10-year-old Bob O’Neil, the horse-race track they built practically in his San Mateo backyard, Bay Meadows Racecourse, was as magical as Alice’s Wonderland. For Alice to enter her fantasy world, she had to fall through a rabbit hole. O’Neil, to enter his new land of wonder, only had to shinny between the iron bars on the window of the women’s restroom.
Hey, how was young Bob to know that, since his previous visit, workers had switched the men’s and women’s bathrooms?
O’Neil’s parents were a bit concerned that their son was spending every spare minute of his life wandering around a racetrack, but the lad overheard his father say to his mother, “Oh, it’s just a phase. You know how kids are.”
Hell of a phase. Bob O’Neil - known to everyone in California racing as Boots - is 84 now, still stuck in that phase. As of Sunday afternoon, Boots O’Neil will have outlived the track where he fell in love with the roar of the crowd and the smell of the horse manure.
Sunday will be the last day of regular-season racing at Bay Meadows, which opened in 1934 and will give way to development.
O’Neil, the dean of California pari-mutuel clerks, will take his bet-taking skills to an off-track betting site. And he will remain in racing as a small-time owner of several horses.
But he’ll miss this old place, the nostalgic equivalent of Fenway Park or Wrigley Field.
“Sad?” O’Neil says as he sets up his cash drawer before the first morning customers click through the turnstiles. “Absolutely. I’d like to cry; if I was younger I would. It’s my life. I never wanted to be anyplace else.”
O’Neil’s station is the only open ticket window. A small line forms. Most of the customers call him Boots, and he greets many of them by name and all of them with a smile. This is the part of the day O’Neil likes best, when everyone is optimistic, and hope is streaming under the grandstand eaves like the morning sunshine.

sfgate.com

I've been an anime fan for 6 years now. My favorites are the Slayers series (it got me hooked), Ranma 1/2, Full Metal Panic and Love Hina. I went to Otakon (2003-2005), Manganext (06), Animenext (07), and volunteered at New York Anime Fest (07). I'm really into Harry Potter, Harry Potter fanfiction, and fantasy books like Dark Materials series and The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. If anyone is going to COMIC-CON 08 hope to see you there! I'm one of the volunteers!
Viz Media has teamed up with music retail chain Hot Topic to promote the 2-nights only event of the screenings of the live-action Death Note movie. Anyone who buys a T-Shirt or DVD of Death Note in select Hot Topic stores will receive a free ticket to any of the 300 theaters across the U.S. that will be showing the movie (while supplies last). The screenings will take on May 20 and 21. Times and theaters can be found here.
Lauren Rozek, Director of Retail Development for Viz, said, “Hot Topic is an ideal strategic retail partner for VIZ Media and we’re extremely excited to deepen our relationship with them to support the U.S. premiere of the Death Note live-action feature.
Our Naruto campaign proved extremely successful in helping to cultivate the strong fan base that the Naruto brand now enjoys. We invite fans to visit Hot Topic and pick up the latest volume of Death Note on DVD and also get a free ticket to attend this special event.”
Whether you pick up a free ticket from Hot Topic or buy the ticket right at the theater or online at the NCM Fathom store, make sure not to miss out on the event. The next time the Death Note live action film will be out is when it comes out on DVD, which could happen months or even a year from now.

firefox.org

Is it over?
The question seems unavoidable as you top off the tank and the pump readout, in a moment you surely shall remember well into old age, enters triple-digit territory for the first time in your life.
Have we lost the ability to escape?
You can’t help but ask it when you juggle the pieces of your life in an ongoing math computation. The balls in the air: Your stagnant or declining income. The cost of getting to that favorite getaway that lays five hours away, on the coast, near that lake, below that mountain — places, you like to think, that define who you are. And the many increasing costs of living. (Suddenly, no longer defined as the trappings of living, like the size of justifiably affordable memory on one’s iPod, but the cost of basic living: sustenance, shelter, security.)
Dizzy, you squeeze your eyes shut, all the balls bounce on the ground, and you go back to the Jumbleword and leave it for another day.
Are we now stuck in place?
For a society raised on the notion that mobility is to freedom what liquidity is to water, it’s the worst nightmare come true. It’s tempting to add the adjective “unexpected” to any reference of said nightmare, but we’d be kidding ourselves. Did anyone really think the free ride of cheap oil would endure forever?
Well, no. But raise your hand — and be honest — if you thought, selfishly, privately, in the deepest recesses of the me-first cortex of the brain, that the ability to get where you want, when you want, without serious sacrifice would hold out at least until after you personally had slipped the surly bonds of Earth and moved on.
Does that mean — honestly, does it mean — that the best times are all behind us?

seattletimes.nwsource.com

Elvis Presley, the king of rock and roll, set the capital on fire. The hip-shaking, gyrating rock sensation of the 60s and the 70s was in full regalia - his trademark long sideburns, high-collared sequinned jacket - as he belted out favourites like “Jailhouse Rock” and “All Shook Up” in his deep resonant baritone.
Only it was not the King in person. Award-winning Canada-based Elvis tribute artiste Stephen Kabakos took the audience back in time to the swinging 60s and the 70s in the country’s first ever Elvis Presley tribute concert at the Hotel Radisson Wednesday night.
The hour-long gig, a part of Kabakos’ nine-city India tour, was sponsored by United Spirits Limited.
The performer, who was crowned the Grand Champion at the 2001 “Images of the King World Competition” in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the top three Elvis tribute artistes in the world.
For the capital bred on a staple of contemporary western and Indian sounds, the experience, as some members of the audience put it, was “uncanny”. “It is like the King is here on-stage,” said a 50-year-old executive from Gurgaon.
Stephen was true to Elvis Presley. “I do everything that Elvis did on stage and nothing that he did not do,” he told the media. And on cue, the concert began with a high-voltage rendition of the legend’s early number “Blue Moon”.
He followed it with hits like “Jailhouse Rock”, “Good Rocking Tonight”, “Love Me Tender”, “All Shook Up”, “Blue Suede Shoes”, “In the Ghetto”, “Viva Las Vegas” and “Suspicious Minds”. Kabakos was accompanied by a 15-piece string and horn orchestra and background vocals.
The audience cheered, sighed, danced and screamed for repeats.
The concert titled The Way It Was spanned the rock’n'roll legend’s Sun Studio years, his pre-army movie era and the explosive concert years of mid 60s and 70s.

hindustantimes.com

Rosary Recitation at Planned Parenthod, 9:30 a.m. May 10 at Planned Parenthood, 4401 W. 109th St., Overland Park. Silent prayer witness only, led by Archbishop Joseph Nauman, no signs or protest. For information, contact Jennifer Gordon at lifefront@gmail.com; or call (816) 223-0035.
Pentecost Celebration, Mass celebrated by Bishop Robert Finn, 11 a.m. May 11 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, 416 W. 12th St., Kansas City. Sponsored by Kansas City Charismatic Renewal. Reception follows Mass.
Fatima Rosary Rally Devotions, 3 p.m. May 11 at Church of the Ascension, 9510 W. 127th St., Overland Park, Kan. Rosary, benediction and enrollment in the Brown Scapular.
Memorial Mass for Deceased Loved Ones, 8 a.m. May 17 at Cure of Ars Church, 9400 Mission Road, Leawood, Kan. Following Mass the bereavement ministry at the parish will have a monthly support meeting. Discussed will be “Memories and Memorials.” For information, call (913) 649-2026.
Interpreted Mass for the Deaf, 9:30 a.m. May 25 at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 2200 N. Blue Mills Road, Independence.
Mass of Healing and Anointing of the Sick, 8:15 a.m. the first Friday of the month, St. Peter Church, Meyer and Holmes, Kansas City.
Hour for Vocations, 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at Christ the King Church, 85th and Wornall, Kansas City; 7 p.m. the last day of each month at St. Elizabeth Church, 75th and Main, Kansas City; after the 11:30 a.m. Mass the first Sunday of the month at the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Eucharist, 2100 N. Noland Road, Independence; and at 8:30 a.m. the second Monday of the month at St. Matthew Apostle Church, 8001 Longview Road, Kansas City.

catholickey.org

Something for everyone in this crop of releases
Big or low budget. There is plenty to view before Sept. 1
By Roger Moore
Published on Friday, May 02, 2008
Major studio releases dominate the summer cinema season, but there will be lower-budget fare squeezed in between all the action adventures, cartoons, blockbuster comedies and thrillers. And some smaller studio releases are sure to be added to the following schedule as the strengths and weaknesses of the big popcorn pictures become obvious. (All release dates subject to change without notice.)
Redbelt (Sony Classics): David Mamet’s latest is about an honorable, nonviolent martial arts instructor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who gets mixed up in the seedier side of martial arts professional brawling and the movie business.
Speed Racer (Warner Bros.): The Wachowski (Matrix) brothers’ live-action take on the Japanese TV cartoon, with Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci as Speed and his pal Trixie, and John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as Speed’s parents.
What Happens in Vegas (Fox): Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher get
drunk, get hitched and get rich in Vegas, a marriage just waiting for an annulment. But a winning jackpot gets in the way.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Disney): The Pevensie siblings are transported from England to Narnia again, where they fall in with young Prince Caspian and do battle with the evil King Miraz in this sequel to the C.S. Lewis blockbuster.
Son of Rambow (Paramount Vantage): Little British boys — one a punk, the other part of a religious group that eschews popular culture and cinema — resolve to make their own Rambo film and are pestered by everybody they meet to be in it.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount).
The Fall (Roadside Attractions): Music video vet Tarsem Singh (The Cell) directed this fanciful fantasy about the wild adventure tale that one patient, an injured man, tells to another (a little girl) in a 1915 Los Angeles hospital.

ohio.com