I see dead people. I see lots and lots of dead people. If you don’t get this joke then I am not sure we can be friends any longer. Of course with that said I am stupidly excited about this film. It is heading into post production now and we will have it for the 50th Anniversary next year.

The Giver was one of my favorite books that I read in school and I have been super excited about it being turned into a movie. The first trailer for it looks good so far and it is scheduled to be released on August 15th this year. Anyone else looking forward to it or is it just me?

So..everyone who knows me knows I sometimes go a little nutty with the movie news here is some more that came down the wire today!

LOS ANGELES and CANNES, France, May 16, 2014

LOS ANGELES and CANNES, France, May 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Sycamore Entertainment Group, Inc. (SEGI), is pleased to announce it has closed a co-financing deal for the film MANTIVITIES, produced, written by, and starring Chris Pine (STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, INTO THE WOODS).  The move to co-finance gives Sycamore ‘first look’ at domestic distribution rights of some of the top film projects at an early stage‎.‎

“MANTIVITIES is a great script with great actors; this project is shaping up to be one of the hottest comedies of the year,” says Edward Sylvan CEO of Sycamore Entertainment Group.  He goes on to say “This film’s audience appeal is unquestionable; that along with Chris Pine’s cumulative worldwide box office approaching $2 Billion dollars, it was an easy decision for us to be a part of this project.”

Chris Pine adds “I’m incredibly passionate about MANTIVITIES and so lucky to have been able to work with my unbelievably talented friends to tell a story that reflects the adventures we’ve experienced together. We’re a group of guys that wrote a funny story about a group of guys and I think many people will relate and laugh along with us.”

Pine, Sarah Babineau, and Haven Entertainment’s Kevin Mann (UNDER THE ELECTRIC SKY) with Jordana Mollick (LIFE PARTNERS) are producing MANTIVITIES, Val Hill and Ian McGloin from 16:14 Entertainment will executive produce, and their partner Sycamore Entertainment Group, led by CEO Edward Sylvan, will co-finance. Olivier Rossmann, CEO of Locamatel LLC, is the other co-financier and will be an executive producer. Haven Entertainment’s Mauricio Betancur and Brendan Bragg will also executive produce.

MANTIVITIES is written by Pine and his real-life friends Robert Baker, Ian Gotler, Will Greenberg, Drew Howerton, and Tony Liebetrau – also collectively known as The Button Factory – who also co-star.  Principle photography begins in early fall.

Sycamore Entertainment Group will be attending the Cannes Film Festival along with its producing partners to support the launch of the international sales of the film.

Source

So I did a shout out for Star Trek 2009 I will do one for the second in that series as well. One year ago today Star Trek Into Darkness came out.

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth.  In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.

As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

 

Is it good that the first thing I said when looking at the pictures was OMG THATS INTRO DARKNESS ON THE MOVIE SCREEN!!!? *laughs* seriously though wicked cool house.

This Internet mogul wants to sell his house, and he’s asked his real estate agents to make it so.

Former CEO of the networking site FriendFinder Marc Bell is selling his gorgeous Florida home to the tune of $35 million. His incredible Mediterranean mansion includes eight bedrooms, 16 bathrooms and a couple of Star Trek-themed entertainment rooms — including a detailed recreation of the Starship Enterprise that serves as a home theater.

See also: Beam Them Up, Kitty: Artist Draws Adorable ‘Star Trek’ Cats

“We built this house to have fun. We wanted the home to be hands on and all about enjoying life,” Bell states in a listing from Douglas Elliman Real Estate. “My philosophy is that you only live once, so why not make the most of where you live?”

If your spouse is forcing you to move here, don’t worry. There are plenty of rooms for non-Trekkies to seek refuge, including some that pay homage to some other nerdy fandoms.

So it is finally out there and being talked about on the public wire…a New director has been picked.

After weeks of rumblings that Roberto Orci was the frontrunner, sources have told Variety that Skydance and Paramount have indeed tapped Orci to direct Paramount and Skydance’s “Star Trek 3.”

Orci is currently writing the story with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay and had been campaigning to replace J.J. Abrams as director for some time. Abrams is busy with directing the next installment of the “Star Wars” franchise and will only be producing this pic.

Par, Skydance and his reps had no comment.

Plot details are unknown, but cast members including Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are expected to return. Abrams will produce along with his producing partner Bryan Burke and Skydance’s David Ellison.

The news comes after Orci and longtime writing partner Alex Kurtzman decided to go their separate ways on future filmmaking endeavors (although their TV production company is staying intact). Sources had told Variety that both were looking to direct more pics and that going solo would be in the best interest of both parties.

Orci is repped by CAA.

source

Happy Anniversary to Star Trek 2009. 5 years ago this film came out! Hard to think right? You have some that are haters and don’t like the reboot but I for one and I know I am not the only one, love it. It gave a new life to a cherished favorite. Congrats to the team and everyone involved.

Now lets see the next one!

Nothing is so classic in people’s minds as the sound of music both for the stage production and the film. So I like many was excited when I heard there would be a live musical done of this. I however proceeded to cringe some when I heard Carrie Underwood would be playing Maria. Do not get me wrong I enjoy her music in her genre, but I just could not picture her as Maria. I was a little happier with some of the other casting, Stephen Moyer as Captain Von Trapp, Christian Borle as Max and Audra McDonald as Mother Abbess all good choices. So why did that pick Carrie Underwood for Maria? She is just not a Broadway singer her voice has far too much twang to it. Still I thought okay, breath I will give it a try and see if I like it.

Well that was a mistake. In the big opening song for Maria, The hills are alive with the sound of music! It should have been a triumph and set the tone for all of it. Well the song did set the tone alright, lackluster. To me her delivery was just wooden and not as big of an impact as it should have been. The twang in her voice is indeed mostly gone, so that helps but overall it was just flat as were all her other songs. Now let us touch on the part that made me flinch from the get go the acting. I am going to be harsh here but in my opinion Carrie Underwood cannot act her way out of a paper bag. If you are going to take on a role that Julie Andrews did you really need to bring you’re a game and I am not sure she brought any game at all.

Again I enjoyed the rest of the cast for the most part in this. At times Moyer seemed a little to wooden but for the most part I liked his portrayal of the stiff proper Austrian Von Trapp. The moment when he sang with his children and hugged them was perhaps my favorite of the whole piece. Borle plays the perfect Max and you can really tell he has put in his time and chops on the Broadway stage because he delivered it just like you would expect to see in a stage production.

So my overall thought was if you did not see it you weren’t missing anything really. It was a bit mediocre and honestly I have seen better productions on High School stages.

I was in an ATC profile swap a little bit back and my partner was a broke back and Heath fan, so this is what I came up with.