Alfred Vargas Blog

Actress Anne Hathaway is no stranger to starring in movies with a fairytale theme. The 27 year-old star of “Ella Enchanted” and “The Princess Diaries” is set to play the lead role within the upcoming movie “One Day”. The movie will be based about the well-liked British novel by David Nicholls.

The movie is reminiscent of Cinderella and tells the story of working-class Emma, played by Hathaway, who meets a rich and charming boy named Dexter about the day of their high school graduation in 1988. The pair bumps into one another each and every day for the following 20 years. The role of Dexter will probably be played by Jim Sturgess, a British actor who has starred in the movies “Across the Universe” and “21″, as well as “The Other Boleyn Girl”.

The novel by Nicholls was a best-seller in England, and also the author will also write the screenplay for the film. Oscar nominated director Lone Scherfig will direct the film for Focus Features. Scherfig is familiar with film adaptations, as her previous work has included the film “An Education”, based on the memoir by Lynn Barber. Filming for “One Day” will begin this summer and is scheduled to be released in theaters next year.

E-Canada Now

Blockbuster Inc. (BBI, BBIB) Chief Executive Jim Keyes on Wednesday acknowledged the movie-rental chain is seeking short-term financing to stay afloat in bankruptcy should the organization fail to restructure outside of court. In an interview, Keyes described the discussions as "contingency planning." According to people familiar with the matter, Blockbuster is in discussions with senior bondholders about up to $150 million in so-called debtor-in-possession financing that would assist the chain operate were it to file for bankruptcy. Keyes declined to discuss the specifics of any discussions. He described the talks as one of "a quantity of options" Blockbuster is weighing to rework its much more than $900 million in debt. The company's "preferred option" would be to get new cash from 1 or much more strategic investors, Keyes said. He declined to name any possible partners. Keyes emphasized that "speed is of the essence" in any restructuring the organization pursues. According to a individual common using the matter, Blockbuster would likely try to file a "prepackaged" or "prearranged" bankruptcy if it has to restructure in court. In such bankruptcies, a organization lines up approval for a bankruptcy strategy from numerous creditors in advance of a filing, having a goal of limiting its stay in court. "Our objective would be to improve our balance sheet as quickly as feasible," Keyes said. "This is really a dynamic industry," he said. "This isn't a time to sit on the sidelines for six months while the technology side of our business is dramatically changing daily. The balance we're trying to achieve now is to have the fastest transaction, ideally out of court, that leverages new strategic investments." Blockbuster has been in talks with lower-ranking bondholders owed roughly $300 million about converting their debt to equity and giving the organization new money, according to people common with the situation. Those bondholders had offered to give Blockbuster $30 million, but the organization wants at least $100 million, leading the talks to break down. The discussions are continuing but haven't made much progress in recent weeks, people familiar using the matter have said. The people mentioned that Blockbuster would try to get those bondholders to convert their debt to equity in concert with a money infusion from a strategic partner. Ought to Blockbuster fail to reach a deal on that front, it would most likely file for bankruptcy having a strategy for senior bondholders owed some $630 million to convert some of their debt to equity, people common using the matter have mentioned. Blockbuster has more than $40 million in financial debt payments due July 1. As of April, it had about $110 million in money and cash equivalents. It posted a $65.4 million loss within the first quarter. Keyes declined to say whether Blockbuster would make the payments due July 1. "We have satisfied all of our obligations within the past and..
.we have been working very aggressively on our liquidity and cost savings to ensure we have adequate liquidity to satisfy our obligations," he mentioned. "The payment's not due until July 1. We're working on numerous various options and we're in active discussions with our bondholders correct now." Blockbuster has restructured before only to face financial debt concerns anew. Within the fall, Blockbuster raised $675 million in high-yield bond debt. Investors attracted to the bonds' higher 11.75% interest rate helped Blockbuster issue about twice the debt it had originally sought. The organization used the proceeds to repay its bank obligations. But at the begin of the year, Blockbuster reported disappointing financial results and that financial debt started to trade at distressed levels. The company soon re-engaged its longtime restructuring advisers at investment bank Rothschild Inc. and tapped law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, which has a prominent bankruptcy and restructuring practice. Keyes declined to comment on comparable-store sales trends since the organization reported first-quarter results on May 13. "I can tell you our results now are somewhat mixed," he said. Blockbuster has seen "favorable results" from movies for which it enjoys a 28-day distribution advantage over rivals Netflix Inc. (NFLX) and Coinstar Inc.'s (CSTR) Redbox service, he said. Blockbuster has had "some less favorable results" for movies that rivals can release the same days as Blockbuster. The company doesn't anticipate closing more stores than it has already outlined, Keyes mentioned. Keyes continues to believe Blockbuster can sell its international businesses--with or without a resolution to its balance-sheet questions. "It's a path we're still on," he said. "That process will continue regardless from the path we take on the balance sheet." He said the sale process isn't being delayed by efforts to recapitalize. "This isn't a fire sale," he said. The Wall Street Journal

The number one stupid complaint individuals give within the midst of this sequel/remake craze, besides the fact that they shouldn’t do them, is that as well numerous movies from our childhood are being ruined. I never understood that logic. You like the films you like, for whatever reason it may be. No matter how bad it is, nothing that comes after it's enough to take away whatever it was that made you like it within the very first place. The franchise might be tainted, but the movies within that canon that you loved aren’t impacted. For instance, if this Ghostbusters 3 movie ever gets off the ground and sucks, the very first one will nevertheless be a classic.

I’ve reexamined a lot of my favorite movies from my youth lately and realized that a lot of them really aren’t that great. I liked them at the time and that has carried more than to me still liking them, but usually for nostalgic reasons. I am unapologetic about it, but truth be told, they are what they're. That said, comparing a current remake to one we hold dear from back within the day doesn’t generally have a fighting chance for that really reason.

Then there’s the new The Karate Kid.

We internet types possess that sense of entitlement where we can complain up one side and down the other about everything from script to screen, but when it comes time to watch the film, we have to judge it based on a finished product. And I’ll be damned if I didn’t like it more than I ever thought possible despite each and every unfair inclination to the contrary.

The original story is all but unchanged. Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mother (Taraji P. Henson) relocate to China simply because of her job and Dre has difficulty adjusting to his new surroundings. He finds a girl that likes him, a bully that doesn’t, and spends a good deal of time obtaining his ass handed to him every time he steps out of his house. He finally turns to Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who reluctantly befriends him and teaches him how to defend himself. And so goes the quest for respect.

Look, The Karate Kid is not perfect. It paid homage without having copying every last detail and there were some nice nods to the source without having being too cute, however it is about a half hour as well long, it’s brimming with cheesy sentiment about each and every 15 minutes, and technically the film isn’t even about karate; it is kung fu. You know, technically. But it works for the exact same cause the original did. They're both as predictable as the day is lengthy and the backbone of just about every 80s movie you love is about rooting for the underdog, but these movies are about the relationships between the student and also the teacher. The fighting was pretty cool, but Daniel and Mr. Miyagi’s friendship was the foundation for that original film. Exact same goes here. Mr. Han and Dre are the heart of the new film.

It was excellent to see Jackie Chan really acting rather than letting his usual more than the top repertoire of unfunny humor and martial arts carry him. His performance won’t ever end up being as iconic as Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi, but he downplayed it sufficient, and with sufficient subtly, to make certain you didn’t hate him for trying. The jury is still out on whether or not Jaden Smith’s career will end up more like Ralph Macchio or his famous father, Will Smith. For now, I vote for the latter because the kid’s got some chops.

So you're saying following all that complaining about the cast and also the trailers, when you actually see the film it turns out that we web snobs do not always know what we are talking about? I do not know if I would go that far, but it is nice to be surprised occasionally, isn’t it?

Geeks of Doom

“Jonah Hex” has never been a Batman or Superman style property. In fact, according to Josh Brolin who stars as the post Civil War avenger in Friday’s film version, the graphic novel has in no way been stable as a story as various writers and time refashioned it.

All that became clear at a Four Seasons Hotel press conference this past Sunday in L.A. exactly where Brolin often joked as if he was at a midnight poker table with buddies. While he dominated the proceedings, he wasn’t accompanied by director Jimmy Hayward, producer Andrew Lazar and Megan Fox, who costars as Lilah, the hard-working whore who is Hex’s comfort zone after his wife and son are brutally murdered within the film’s opening moments. Jonah is an irresistible force, of course, bent on vengeance but he also has a supernatural element exactly where he can touch a corpse and, briefly, bring it back again to life for a conversation.

I had been surprised by “Jonah Hex,” that is fast (under 90 minutes), stylish and enjoyable. The shock is seeing Brolin as Hex whose entire right cheek is really a symphony of melted flesh including a piece of skin that stretches from his upper lip to his lower, type of a like a rubberband over his mouth. Believe Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name meets Dark Man.

Here are a couple of highlights:
Question: JOSH, You are Functioning From a SCRIPT Along with a GRAPHIC NOVEL BUT WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BRING A Kind OF SUPERHERO Towards the SCREEN THAT HADN’T BEEN FILMED Before? AND MEGAN, WHAT WAS IT LIKE To obtain AWAY FROM THE ROBOTS?
BROLIN: What robots? Oh, that is a various one. At least stemming from a comic guide that is had three lives and wasn’t necessarily really successful I just loved the idea that it refused to die. It had been a survivalist comic guide. But that allowed us to take luxuries and do what we wanted to complete as long as we had the blessing of the comic guide artists. The core of the character is there but then we kind of go off on all these various tangents, were allowed to.
FOX: I like working on action films. I like functioning on films which are comic guide based, that have this type of theme because you will find points which i watched or loved when I was a kid. So it wasn’t really about obtaining away from the robots, if that’s what you were saying. I enjoyed producing both films.

Query: JOSH CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE CHALLENGES From the MAKEUP AND WHAT It had been LIKE DEALING WITH THAT PROSTHETIC ON A DAILY BASIS?
BROLIN: It was a pain in the ass. It is not even that we didn’t have the money but that we chose to go practical with it. Lon Chaney

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Animation, particularly when it comes out of the Disney/Pixar stable, is 1 of those areas of filmmaking that regularly inspires the phrase, "They don't make them like they used to." Within the case of Toy Story 3, nevertheless, it's much more accurate to say, "They have in no way created them like this." It's certainly not unheard of for an animated movie to be good, for a Pixar film to be excellent, or for that third film in a trilogy to become outstanding (though that's the rarest of the three), but in the situation of Lee Unkrich's movie, the sheer degree at which it exceeds at all 3 is not just rare, it's unprecedented.

Eleven years have elapsed since Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen) and all of Andy's favorite playthings' had their last adventure. Or, rather, eleven years have elapsed because Andy stopped playing with his toys. Buoyed by Woody's never-failing devotion, the gang are all optimistic that Andy will elect to bring them with him to his first year of college, but as that fateful, empty-nest day approaches, it becomes clearer and clearer that the only toy that will be making the trek to school is Woody. The rest are all, by a series of unfortunate events, consigned to reside out their remaining days at Sunnyside daycare. Things are actually looking up for the neglected entertainers until they realize just how careless the ankle-biters are when it comes to playing with toys.

Unfortunately there is no escape in sight for that lovable personalities Pixar has been refining for over a decade. Lotso Huggin' Bear (Ned Beatty) runs a tight ship at Sunnyside; the new toys are just going to have to be sacrificed to the aggressive toddlers so the old veterans can have a relaxing time with their much more mature counterparts. Eventually Woody catches wind of what type of life his old pals are being forced to reside and Toy Story 3 quite brilliantly becomes a riff on classic prison escape movies as Woody seeks to breach Lotso's security measures and bring his bunch back to Andy where they belong. And while this on-the-run chunk from the movie is some of the most thrilling material Pixar has ever delivered, it is also some of probably the most touching.

Unlike most sequels, not a moment of Toy Story 3 feels artificial. There's no sense that Pixar decided to make a third film simply because they knew that the box office would gladly support another entry; no sense that this is a cash grab (unlike a certain green Ogre's most recent trip towards the big screen). All of those typical sequel pitfalls are carefully avoided by a swelling sense of finality. Toy Story 3 isn't just another adventure with these characters-- there's no doubt that this really is their final adventure, their final hoorah together. Director Lee Unkrich and screenwriter Michael Arndt meticulously lead the audience along with baited breath the entire time, culminating in a life-or-death scenario for the toys that's much more heartfelt and genuine than most live-action films can ever muster.

It is astonishing how the creative team at Pixar can make you forget that what you're watching is all a bunch of digital wizardry. Maybe it's the 3D this time around, maybe it is that this is their most accomplished technical feat to date (you will find single shots at a landfill that pack in richer detail than the entirety from the pioneering first movie) that makes Toy Story 3 such an immersive experience, or perhaps it's simply simply because Pixar treats its property, which is ostensibly for kids, with the utmost sincerity. The result is an overwhelming success, the rare kind of movie that, were it a human becoming, would be your greatest friend.

1 could reasonably make the situation that Toy Story 3 may be the single best animated film ever made. I wouldn't outright agree with such grandiose claims, but it's definitely not a baseless proposition that you'd be laughed at for bringing up. However, with part 3 now tucked under Pixar's belt, 1 could present an even much better case that Toy Story may be the best film trilogy ever created; a claim I am far more comfortable signing on the dotted line for.

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