In 2005, the only thing hurting Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez more than his face from a recent bike accident was his pressing need for story ideas. That is when he discovers Nathaniel Ayers, a mentally ill, homeless street musician who possesses extraordinary talent, even through his half-broken instruments. Inspired by his story, Lopez writes an acclaimed series of articles about Ayers and attempts to do more to help both him, and the rest of the underclass of LA have a better life. However, Lopez's good intentions run headlong in the hard realities of the strength of Ayers' personal demons and the larger social injustices facing the homeless. Regardless, Lopez and Ayers must find away to conquer their deepest anxieties and frustrations to hope for a brighter future for both of them. IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0821642/
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The.Soloist.720p.BluRay.x264-iNFAMOUS
Format : mkv Runtime : 117 min Director : Joe Wright Genre : Drama | Biography | Music Video : 1280×528 | x264 | 4706 kbps Audio : English | AC3 5.1 | 640 kbps
"Watchmen" is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion - a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers - Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity... but who is watching the Watchmen?".
A genius of dread, known for his unnerving horror films and eerie thrillers, the wildly prolific Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa tends to ply his trade with spooky silences, a lived-in feel for everyday, droning life and a sense of social unease. Though his latest to hit the American big screen, “Tokyo Sonata,” looks like a family melodrama — if a distinctly eccentric variant on the typical domestic affair — there is more than a touch of horror to its story of a salaryman whose downsizing sets off a series of cataclysmic events. — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times. Full New York Times Review »
Tokyo Sonata (2008) Trailer [ENG SUB]
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Tokyo.Sonata.2008.720p.BluRay.x264-CiNEFiLE
Format : mkv Runtime : 120 min Director : Kiyoshi Kurosawa Genre : Drama Video : 1280×688 | x264 | 6317 kbps Audio : Japanese | DTS 5.1 | 1536 kbps Subs : English Rating : 7.9/10 (631 votes) iMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938341/
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A video released Thursday showed Michael Jackson vigorously practicing a song-and-dance routine days before his death, supporting accounts he had been in good health.
In footage obtained by AFP, the pop legend performed at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 23, two days before he died, as he prepared for a 50-date set in London starting in July.
Jackson, while thin, is seen dancing with energy in a tightly choreographed sequence with a group of performers. Jackson sings on a headset and at one point pushes back his jacket to reveal his red shirt underneath.
In the footage, Jackson switches sharply in styles in a medley of some of his hits. The video starts with Jackson dancing wildly in front of a rock 'n' roll guitarist before a pause for dramatic effect.
Jackson then shifts to a snippet of "Billie Jean," one of his greatest hits, before singing, "They Don't Care About Us," one of his most controversial tracks in which he brought in a hip-hop influence.
The set ends with a sample of a car horn. The stage then fades to black as an outside voice instructs, "Hold for applause."
Associates of Jackson have described the 50-year-old pop star as being in good form, including at another rehearsal just hours before his death.
Jackson collapsed and died on June 25 at his rented Los Angeles mansion. Speculation has focused on whether Jackson was taking painkillers or other medication.
Jackson's voice coach Dorian Holley said Jackson was in an upbeat mood in the days before his death, joking around with his wardrobe and makeup staff.
"My friends call and ask, 'Was Michael sick? Was he weak? Was he ill?' It's the absolute opposite of that," Holley told CNN.
"He was very energetic, he was happy. He was even more playful than he normally was at rehearsal," he said.
Holley said Jackson, 50, did not show his age.
"I'm sure that he was in pain after some rehearsals. But I got to tell you something -- the guys and girls dancing with him were all in their 20s," he said.
"When Michael was on stage with them, there was only one person that you could watch and that was Michael Jackson," he said.
A similar account came from Kevin Mazur, who was attending the rehearsal sessions as a photographer.
"He was like an expectant father pacing up and down the stage," Mazur told Britain's Sun tabloid.
"He was just so focused. Between songs, he burst into laughter and joked around with his dancers and the director. I have never seen him so happy," Mazur said.
Jackson had planned a series of concerts at London's O2 Arena starting on July 13, part of a comeback for the King of Pop whose personal and financial life had sharply deteriorated in the past decade.
Concert promoters AEG Live, who released the video, are offering full ticket refunds for the concerts.
British media reports said about 50 million pounds (59 million euros, 83 million dollars) has been spent on 750,000 tickets.
In 1965, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara resigns from his Cuban government posts to secretly make his latest attempt to spread the revolution in Bolivia. After arriving in La Paz, Bolivia late in 1966, by 1967, Che with several Cuban volunteers, have raised a small guerrilla army to take on the militarist Bolivian movement. However, Che must face grim realities about his few troops and supplies, his failing health, and a local population who largely does not share his idealistic aspirations. As the US supported Bolivian army prepares to defeat him, Che and his beleaguered force struggle against the increasingly hopeless odds.
Format : mkv Runtime : 135 min Director : Steven Soderbergh Genre : Biography | Drama | War Video : x264 | 5414 kbps Audio : Original | DTS 5.1 | 1536 kbps Subs : English Rating : 7.0/10 (3,771 votes) iMDb : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374569/
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The Argentine, begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
If you are hoping to learn everything about Che Guevara from these two films, you will be disappointed. If you read about Che on Wikipedia or the most excellent book by Jon Lee Anderson, Che Guevara, A Revolutionary Life before coming to these two films, you will love what you see. I was hoping for more history other than how they took Cuba and what happened when Che went to Bolivia. I was hoping director Steven Soderbergh and producers Benico Del Toro and Laura Bickman, who produced Traffic, would have taken us on a journey beyond Cuba and Bolivia. Che Guevara
I was hoping to see Che in Africa, his relationship with the existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, and his relationship with his second wife, Aleida, who he met on the revolutionary trail in Cuba. I was hoping to see more of Che's complex relationship with Fidel. Che Guevara in Africa with President Nasser of Egypt, Pan-African News Wire
Instead, the films takes place primarily in the mountains of Cuba and the jungles of Bolivia.
There is some footage of Che's trip to the United Nations in New York, the interview with a journalist played by Julia Ormand, and the party he attended at her apartment full of New York intellectuals later that evening. Che Guevara on Meet the Press, 1964, Pan-African News Wire
I did stay long enough through the credits to see that they did indeed use Jon Lee Anderson as their chief consultant. Excellent choice. I wonder if Soderbergh read the 754 page book and then decided to make this film.
The Anderson book is a thoroughly researched biography that reads like great fiction. I knew what happened to Che in the end, but cried all the same. The book gives such great little insights I never knew. Like how Che was banging the maid in the kitchen when he was very young in his upper class home.
Che's motorcyle
How the motorcycle trip he took through South America is what turned him away from his bourgeois existence and into a revolutionary. He could have easily finished his studies and lived a comfortable life as a doctor, married with children, and mistresses.
A side note, if you have not seen the film, Motorcyle Diaries, I highly recommend you rent it. The film is a perfect depiction of this defining time in Che's young life.
After his trip through South America, Che returned to Buenos Aires to finish his medical studies in record breaking time of three years. He took another trip up through South America into Central America and ended up in Mexico City. This is where he met Fidel. They spent many a late night discussing poetry, philosophy, and the revolution. Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in Cuba after the revolution
As a matter of fact, they start the film in Mexico City at a dinner party.
And near the end of the film there is a flashback of the boat ride to Cuba. Fidel and Che managed to buy an old fishing boat and convince 80-100 recruits to join them on this revolutionary journey. Che looks at Fidel standing at the other end of the boat. A look to me that said he wasn't sure he trusted Fidel. Fidel and Che in heated discussion
Many think Che was betrayed by Fidel and abandoned in Bolivia. We get some indication of this in Part Two when Che is in need of funding and asks a journalist to get a letter to Jean-Paul Sartre and Betrand Russell telling them he needs more financing for his revolution. Benicio Del Toro, photo uploaded on Flickr
Benicio Del Toro does a great job in his film. Fidel is played by the actor who plays the mayor of Tijuana in the Showtime Series Weeds. It is shot in a docudrama style by Soderbergh. He often shoots his own films under the name Peter Andrews.
I am glad this film was made. I hope it sparks an interest in Che Guevara's life other than his image on t-shirts and posters that adorn many a college dorm room. It is an important part of history that sadly did not make my high school history books.
