Don’t Dream It, Be In it

Posted on 05. Jan, 2010 by James Pynn in Entertainment

We can’t help it. We’re trained to watch, listen, and make instant snap judgments. It’s a survival mechanism, a powerful hold-over from our more nomadic beginnings. If you could spot a predator in the brush or an enemy tribe lying in wait, you could adjust you route, change your mind, and survive. The modern movie is now the open savanna. Now, we watch to see what actors and writers and directors want us to see. We watch them move, love, and laugh and all the while we’re taking note.

The growth of film as an industry was, then, inevitable. As we couldn’t (and still can’t) get enough of watching ourselves, making money as a result of providing these moving pictures was a matter of course. If companies could provide great entertainment, appealing actors, and better and better production quality, why shouldn’t they enjoy tremendous box office success? It’s an all-American idea: great ideas win big and greater ideas win bigger. So, of course, the blockbuster was born.

We can’t but see ourselves as actors in our own movies. Our trial and triumphs are processed as new plot twists, new cliffhangers, and the people that come and in our lives are all supplied by some great Cosmic Central Casting service. Some of us strive to become one of the scions of the screen — the rest of us take the screen and turn it into something more personal — we turn it into our own movies, the movies of our lives.

How to Light Green Screen Studios: Brief Guide

Posted on 03. Jan, 2010 by Phillip Guye in Entertainment

Green Screen for the Aspiring Filmmaker

Green Screen Studio

So instead, you will choose the green screen alternative and have your actors enact a specific scene in front of the green screen only to modify it with a different background in revising. Another way of taking a look at it is that your film has an amazing budget and you have the luxury to use green screen studios to film your actors in an impressive Sci Fi setting which is impossible to do in reality. Irrespective of the reason is, you are looking for green screen studios to shoot your film.

However, before shelling out a strange amount of cash in order to rent a green screen studio or quite probably, make one yourself, you should be familiarized with the different limitations and challenges of shooting in a green screen studio.

Another thing that you’ve got to pay most attention on is the lighting. In a green screen studio, it’s vital that light is evenly and correctly distributed all across the backdrop. The lighting is all. In a typical eventuality, the most time will be spent on positioning the lights. If you are not precisely a pro in setting up lights, the whole process will take you longer than you would like to give it credit for.

However, if you don’t set it up correctly, you’ll be left with terribly poor videos and the most extreme case is that you have got to do a re-shoot solely to patch everything up. Don’t be afraid to spend on four hundred watt lights since you will find a lot of them on the web anyways.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – One of The Most Anticipated Movie of 2009.

Posted on 03. Jan, 2010 by Saisha Jones in Entertainment, Movie Reviews, Video

G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a 2009 American live-action film adaptation of the G.I. Joe toy franchise, the story follows two American soldiers, Duke and Ripcord, who join the G.I. Joe Team after being attacked by MARS troops. Filming took place in Downey, California and Prague’s Barrandov Studios, and six different companies handled the visual effects.

The plot of the movie begins with the Scotsman Klan McCullen being accused of selling weaponry to both the Scots and French. The jury brands his face with a white-hot mask in order to humiliate him, rather than executing for treason. In the near future, weapons expert James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) creates a nanotechnology-based weapon capable of destroying an entire city. His company MARS sells four warheads to NATO, and the U.S. Army is tasked with delivering the warheads. Duke and Ripcord are rescued by Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Snake Eyes (Ray Park) and Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) are delivering the warheads when they are ambushed by the Baroness (Sienna Miller), who Duke recognized to be his ex-fiance Ana Lewis. The warheads are taken to The Pit, G.I. Joe’s command center in North Africa, and upon arriving rendezvous with General Hawk (Dennis Quaid), the head of the G.I. Joe Team. Hawk takes command of the war-heads and excuses Duke and Ripcord, only to be convinced to have them join his group after Duke reveals that he knows the Baroness.

The filming of this movie began on February 11, 2008, in Los Angeles, California. The Downey sound-stage was chosen as Paramount needed a large stage to get production underway as soon as possible. The first two levels of the Pit were built there, to complement the rest of the building which would be done with special effects. Downey also housed Destro’s MARS base in the Arctic, his legitimate weapons factory in an ex-Soviet state, as well as various submarines interiors, including a SHARC (Submersible High-speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft) manned by two G.I. Joes.

Digital Domain which handled the Paris action, sequences and the opening convoy sequence was the most prominent of the six different visual effects companies who worked in The Rise of Cobra. For the Eiffel Tower destruction, a special code for depicting how the crumbling metal works was written. The technicians had access to the original building plans, and built a digital model so complex that could not fit in a single file to create the digital Eiffel Tower. The nanomites used two different proprietary software for their depiction, one by Digital Domain, and another by, which also created tools to generate 3D cloud and sky environments for the aerial scenes. The landing platform of the Pit, the Cobra ice caverns, and the final underwater battle were the scenarios which were almost fully developed by computer-generated imagery.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a record-breaking movie with all the latest effects & adventures. G.I JOE was a mass enthralling movie which ruled the box office for years & its sequel is creating a widespread trend all over.

What is the final verdict? Is it a “watcher”, “keeper” or “filer”? A “watcher” is a movie that you could watch one time, it was good once but you could live without seeing it again. A “keeper” is a movie that you have-to-have in your movie collection for all time to pass down to your children and your children’s children. And a “filer” – well you have probably heard of “File 13″ that place designated for trash. It’s a “why did I waste my money on it once movie – I hope nobody saw me coming out of the movie theater or dvd rental store with that movie” a “I wouldn’t wish that on my neighbors dog movie and I don’t even like my neighbors dog”.

Sherlock Holmes is a Smash Hit

Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by M.L. Zupan in Entertainment, Feature, Movies

Sherlock Holmes Takes On a New Life

A winner for Sherlock Holmes and a must see.

From the opening sequence to the closing credits, Sherlock Holmes keeps you on the edge of your seat. But if you are looking for the old Sherlock Holmes that you may have grown up with – forget it!

Robert Downey Jr. takes on Sherlock Holmes like Daniel Craig took on James Bond. The scenes are mixed with old England as you would expect in the foggy, dirty London of yesteryear, but the scenes are filled with the kind of explosive action that you would expect in a James Bond film. And Robert Downey Jr. carries if off with his easy on-liners and natural gift of acting.

Downey’s version of Holmes is portrayed as a much more action oriented person as opposed to the egg-headed thinker. He is not as dapper or as clean cut, but he has wit, he has charm and just the right amount of humanity to thrill audiences across the country.

Jude Law as Watson, is no less of a character in this version of Conan Doyle’s classic. From being the stepped on, shadow of a side-kick in past versions – Jude Law brings Watson to life as a strong asset and indispensable partner in our heroes continuous antics and knack for getting into trouble.

The only downside is that it is a shame it comes out on Christmas Day when so many people have made commitments to family. The week before or even two days after I believe would bring greater opening day viewers – but you do have the whole holiday time through New Year’s.

Overall – our review of Sherlock Holmes is a must see. Right until the very last scene – the movie will leave you hanging.

Taylor Swift Turns Twenty

Posted on 13. Dec, 2009 by Kirsten Daly in Celebrity, Country Music

Former teen country music heart throb turned twenty today. In New York City for a photo shoot, she has been seen around town with her friend Emma Stone.

Happy Birthday Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift Turns ‘20′

New York is a great place to celebrate anything – but turning 20 in the Big Apple has got to be a special day for country music singer Taylor Swift.

In Billboard’s country charts this week, Taylor Swift and Antebellum are still heating up the #1 spots. Swift with her album Fearless, which has already sold over 5 million copies and Lady Antebellum with the No. 1 song “Need You Now”.

Related Country Music Articles:

Taylor Swift Sweeps Country Music Awards – CIDANews.com
Charts Chill Down, but Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum Are Still Cooking – CMT.com
Carrie Underwood – Where’s the Country – CIDANews.com

Sigourney Weaver Attends World Premiere of “Avatar”

Posted on 13. Dec, 2009 by Kirsten Daly in Celebrity, Movies

‘Avatar’ – the newest sci-fi extravaganza by James Cameron premiered Thursday in Leicester Square in London. The movie stars Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver who, among others, attended the premier event.

The Queen of Sci-Fi Sigourney Weaver

“This is the 30th anniversary of Weaver’s career breakthrough with her role as Ellen Ripley in the first “Alien” film. But far from resting on her laurels, the 60-year-old actress is again on extraterrestrial active duty with “Avatar,” the James Cameron sci-fi epic that opens Dec. 18.” — LA Times: ‘Avatar’ star Sigourney Weaver as queen of sci-fi: ‘Outer space has been good to me’

Sigourney Weaver was not the only female sci-fi star on the set. Zoe Saldana, who many remember in her role as communications officer Uhura in the blockbuster Star Trek movie is planning on returning to the final frontier in the up-coming ‘Star Trek’ sequel next year.

We look forward to hearing more about that as things develop.

Hollywood Actress Amy Adams is Expecting!

Posted on 05. Dec, 2009 by Kirsten Daly in Celebrity

Actress Amy Adams is Expecting her 1st

“LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4 (UPI) — Hollywood actress Amy Adams is pregnant with her first child, People.com reported exclusively Friday.”

Adams, who is now 35, began her career in dinner theaters. She landed her first screen debut in the 1999 comedy film Drop Dead Gorgeous. Adams is most recently known for her in “Enchanted (2007),” “Doubt (2008),” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009),” and most recently – “Julie & Julia (2009)” – which has just come out on DVD for the Christmas season.

She also had roles in Catch Me If You Can, Junebug, and Sunshine Cleaning.

She and Actor/artist Darren Legallo have been together for seven years and got engaged in July 2008.

Amy & Le Gallo met in an acting class in 2001 and started dating about a year after that.

What is coming up for Amy Adams?

A new movie entitled “Leap Year” should be released in 2010 and possibly a film director David O. Russel entitled “The Fighter” with Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale.

Taylor Swift Sweeps Country Music Awards

Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by Kirsten Daly in Country Music

Taylor Swift Sweeps CMA

43rd Annual Country Music Awards

What a night for Taylor Swift as she received one award after another. She was named female vocalist of the year. Her “Fearless” CD won the album of the year prize and “Love Story” won the award for music video of the year.

The biggest moment of the night came when Taylor Swift was awarded the top honor and named “entertainer of the year”. She became the youngest performer ever to receive the top CMA award.

“I would like to call up the musicians who stand on that stage every single show with me … this is my band, y’all,” Swift said to the audience as the musicians hugged her.

Lady Antebellum was named vocal group of the year, while their song “I Run to You” won the CMA gong for single of the year.

Carrie Underwood – Where’s the Country?

Posted on 03. Oct, 2009 by Kirsten Daly in Country Music, Feature

Carrie Underwood's new (soon-to-be) hit single

Carrie Underwood’s new single – Cowboy Casanova

Anybody who likes country music surely likes Carrie Underwood. What is not to like? She has a voice that can knock you off your feet, she’s young, talented, smart and attractive – she has everything going for her. And now, she has a new single – Cowboy Casanova!

I like Carrie Underwood! I think her music is great and I could listen to it all day long – who can forget ; “Last Name” and “So Small”?

However, I like my country to be country. So I have to ask again – Carrie, what happened to the country in Cowboy Casanova?

Cowboy Casanova

Carrie Underwood’s new single is hot, sultry and even a little provocative. The song has a good beat and strong rhythm.

In her music video, Carrie looks like a madam and/or call girl in a parlor of iniquity who is coaching her ladies not to fall for this so-called cowboy casanova. The style makes you think of the 1920’s or perhaps she is trying out for a role in a remake of “Chicago” instead of the wild west or even the recent west.

Cross Musical Boundaries

Carrie Underwood’s music does have a way of cutting across traditional musical boundaries – and I see the same thing happening to this song. I give it a solid eight out of ten in my hits list. It would have been a nine at least if there had even been a cowboy hat in the music video. You can’t will them all.

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment, we would love to hear from you. I predict that “Cowboy Casanova” is going to be another tremendous hit for Carrie Underwood. We will have to just wait and see.

Until next time – this is Kirsten Daly with CIDA News Music Review

Danny Gans – Las Vegas Entertainer Dies at 52

Posted on 03. May, 2009 by Kirsten Daly in Celebrity, Hot Topics

Danny Gans – The Man of Many Voices

It was a sad day in Las Vegas when the world heard about the death of Danny Gans, a legendary performer on the Las Vegas strip.

Danny Gans - Entertainer of the Year

Gans is best known for his time at The Mirage where he performed for eight years. His show was a ‘must see’ while in Vegas and as far as I know; for my almost eight years living in Las Vegas – he never had a show that was not sold out.

When his contract at The Mirage was up, he once again joined Steve Wynn; the man who brought him to The Mirage; at his new venue – The Encore.

But who was the man behind the marquee?

Danny Gans was a man of giving. He gave of his talents to the world. He also gave his time and talents to help those in his community. As an avid golfer, he formed the Danny Gans Junior Golf Academy to help raise money for The First Tee of Southern Nevada golf program. A program help youth ages 6 – 17 to learn the fundamentals of golf, life skills and core values for life. The program was fun & competitive, and at the end of each session kids learned and were able to demonstrate proper life skills and golf etiquette.

Each year Danny Gans put on several charity golf events to raise money for The First Tee Program. Recently, one of our dear friends participated in Danny Gans golf fundraisers at Lake Las Vegas and was able to ride with Gans during the whole round.  What a thrill & encouragement for a 10 year old girl. She said that he was: “very nice and really funny the whole round”.

Tributes to Danny Gans

If you would like to read some of the things that other people have to say about Danny Gans – Donny & Marie, Cher, Celine Dion & more… there is a wonderful article entitled: Tributes to Danny Gans Begin to Pour In that is a must read.

A true entertainer has left us, but his memory will not be forgotten. Like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Al Pacino, George Burns and the myrid of others that he brought to life on stage – his memory will live in the hearts and minds of those who new him and saw him & whose lives were touched by him.

Danny Gans – you will be missed. God Bless your wife and children with peace as you go ahead of them and entertain for the Father.

Danny Gans 1956-2009

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