Movie posters have their own stories to tell. They are mostly among one of the factors why movie-goers watch the movies they advertise. In fact, no blockbuster movie has ever come out without a movie poster preceding it.
But for some reason, year 2013 opens a new chapter for movie poster business. As early as today it has created a trend that only with the sharp eyes would notice.
Check these 2013 movies that seem to follow a new trend of movie posters, with the characters turning their backs away from the audience:
I am not quite sure what's the psychology behind this trend, but I know this strategy makes the poster a little more interesting... intriguing.
Please do share if you have seen a poster that follows the same trend that is not included in the list, because I expect this is not the last of this.
Please pardon the dying terminologies in this post, but it feels like the end of the world (days ahead the Mayan December 21, 2012 prophecy -- or sham). I am dying inside for any Game of Thrones updates and someone must have heard my wish that it finally came true.
Presenting the first vlog from the production of Game of Thrones Season 3. This is a two-minute video that features the thoughts and styles of the people behind the show's art direction, giving glimpses on the future of the series.
Watch the first vlog from the sets of Game of Thrones Season 3:
My goodness! New scenes, new characters and new locations! What more can I ask for. My body feels a little numb because of too much shaking. Even if this video is not the actual show itself, it gave me a little something to hold on to, to look forward to. I just hope it's going to be shown much sooner.
If, like me, you can't get enough of Game of Thrones, here is the production video for this season.
Game of Thrones Season 3 will premiere at HBO on March 31, 2013 and will cover the first half of A Storm of Swords, which is the third book in A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. If only there is a fast-forward button in time, then I would pushed it already...
Get some more updates on Game of Thrones Season 3 from its official The Making Ofwebsite.
After the poster and first trailer the focused more on the action side of the movie, Star Trek Into Darkness unleashes a two-minute teaser trailer to cover the drama side of the story. The trailer started out with a lot of melancholy and depressing chills, telling the tragedy that befell the unfortunate characters.
This trailer instills a little turn of events after some viewers had a chance of watching the 9-minute prologue in some special IMAX screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which by the way wasn't shown in the local IMAX Cinemas, here in SM Cebu City... Thumbs down! I wished they haven't skipped it.
Watch the teaser trailer of Star Trek Into Darkness below.
The local IMAX fiasco was a let down for me and I just can't help but be mortified with the new trailer that features a very nice track of melancholic music. This gets me a little too excited and I can't wait for it's official release in Summer of 2013.
You think you are safe... you are not. → This is still for the local IMAX epic fail!
Book 00063: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell Title: - Black Beauty
First Publication: - 24 November 1877 by Jarrolds & Sons Trivia:
- This is Anna Sewell's only novel, composed in the last years of her life between 1871 and 1877 while confined to her house as an invalid.
- This novel has been adapted into movies and tv series.
- The story is told in the first person (or "first horse") as an autobiographical memoir told by a highbred horse named Black Beauty — beginning with his carefree days as a colt on an English farm, to his difficult life pulling cabs in London, to his happy retirement in the country.
Awards:
- Waterstones The Nation's Favourite Children's Books (1997, No 30)
- BBC's Big Read (Best loved novel, 2003, No 58)
Of all the novels about animals that I have read this is by far the most dramatic, sympathetic and the one that I loved most. Although this is the only novel made by Sewell, the book still exudes the great talent possessed by the author -- take the intricate detail of living in a country, and the vivid pictures created by the main character's (that happens to be a horse) imagination -- and voila you have a masterpiece. I can't stop thinking about Black Beauty's fate when I was reading this that it obviously stirred a unexplainable feeling deep within me. And by the time I finished reading the book all I wanted Black Beauty to have were the best things in life.
About the Book
Black Beauty, first published in 1877, is a realistic animal story that focuses on the animal itself, not on a child’s interaction with an animal like so many other animal tales. Also unique is the presentation of the story using a horse as the first-person narrator; in other words, as if the horse wrote the story. The original title page for the novel read: Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, translated from the original equine, by Anna Sewell. The genre of animal autobiography had been seen in a limited fashion before, but Black Beauty is considered the first novel of this type. The style of presenting an animal as an animal rather than giving it human traits has been followed by similar stories such as Beautiful Joe, The Incredible Journey, and Bambi. Further, Sewell’s novel has been an influence on animal stories of all kinds, including those of popular modern writers such as Beatrix Potter and Kenneth Grahame.
Sewell’s intention in writing the book was to promote the humane treatment of horses. Called the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin of the Horse,” Black Beauty is credited with having the greatest effect on the treatment of animals of any publication in history. The book resulted in legislation protecting horses and a changed public attitude about animal pain and the traditional and fashionable practices that caused suffering for horses.
Black Beauty was the only book that Sewell wrote, and she sold the manuscript for only twenty pounds. It is still one of the most widely read books in the world, with numerous translations and multiple media versions. Barely a year goes by without a new print edition being published, thus continuing the life of this timeless classic.
The great thing about the author is the fact that she was invalid by the time the novel was written. It simply shows that there's really use to make up some excuses if you have the will to follow your dreams, share you vision, and make your ideals known.
Remember that girl with angelic voice on The X Factor last year? She was once then known as Drew Ryniewics, who was eventually christened as Drew by Simon Cowell during the entire duration of the show. Despite not winning the whole thing and landing only up to the Top 7, Drew releases her very first EP composed of 5 tracks mostly to serenade your Christmas holiday season.
Drew was my favorite on the first season of The X Factor US when she shattered me with ner unearthly rendition of It Must have Been Love on the Judge's House.
Here are the details of her new EP entitled Hello It's Me:
1. Let Me Down
2. Baby
3. Baby’s It’s Cold Outside
4. Silent Night
5. You and Me
You can download Drew's Hello It's Me EP on iTunes.
I've been keeping track of the Women Murder Club book series by one of the most prolific writers of today's generation. It's not only because it's starred by female characters written by a male writer (with collaboration, of course -- Maxine Paetro), but also because each page races with excitement and cliffhangers that won't allow you to stop reading.
To push the story of the Women Murder Club forward, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro join forces once again to web the stories of the heroines of the series in a familiar sounding title, 12th of Never. I am not really sure how it was related with Johnny Mathis's song of the same title, but it's so creepy a coincidence that it's impossible Patterson didn't really incorporate the song into the novel.
Check out the not-so-revealing cover of 12th of Never by James Patterson:
Synopsis:
It's finally time! Detective Lindsay Boxer is in labor—while two killers are on the loose.
Lindsay Boxer's beautiful baby is born! But after only a week at home with her new daughter, Lindsay is forced to return to work to face two of the biggest cases of her career.
A rising star football player for the San Francisco 49ers is the prime suspect in a grisly murder. At the same time, Lindsay is confronted with the strangest story she's ever heard: An eccentric English professor has been having vivid nightmares about a violent murder and he's convinced is real. Lindsay doesn't believe him, but then a shooting is called in—and it fits the professor's description to the last detail.
Lindsay doesn't have much time to stop a terrifying future from unfolding. But all the crimes in the world seem like nothing when Lindsay is suddenly faced with the possibility of the most devastating loss of her life.
The book will be released on April 29, 2012 and will be published by Little, Brown and Company.
Taylor Swift has been getting more and more artistic and revealing with her crafts lately. Even her I Knew You Were Trouble music video is not an exception. Not only is she making her love life known through her songs, but she's making sure that everyone recognizes who she's referring to in every song with the help of the accompanying music videos.
I Knew You Were Trouble is definitely describing one of her dark relationships, but I am not gonna share with whom. The song is a story of a great realization and somehow an immeasurable regret, but despite all these Taylor seemed not able to go away from it.
Watch I Knew You Were Trouble music video and guess who is the famous star referred to in the song:
The music video premiered over MTV Video Premieres. After a few hours of it's release it already gained a lot of viewership, proving Taylor Swift's still strong pull to her fans, which I was once a part of, then had a little cool off and then together again after Red proved to be so good and irresistible. I am not sure if Taylor would take me back after she shouted at me with We Are Never Ever Going Back Together, but I must keep on trying... just kidding.
The music video was directed by Anthony Mandler, director of many of today's music videos like Diamonds by Rihanna, Starships by Nicki Minaj and a lot more. It was filmed in Los Angeles, California way back in November and features Reeve Carney as Taylor's love interest.
The Wolverine is definitely taking a whole new direction and is somehow running away from its Origins predecessor. In fact, everything about the movie looks different, except for Logan (Full Name: James Howlett), who was portrayed by Hugh Jackman since the very first live-action X-Men movie.
The movie is trying to be cool and wanted to erase from the movie-goers's memories the not-so-successful remains of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The marketing stunts were so cool I had almost mistaken the new poster of the movie for a new comic book arc.
I do believe in the future that 3D animated posters will become a great trend, but for now enjoy this 2d animated poster of The Wolverine:
Gavin Hood, the Ogirins director, stepped down and let James Mangold do the cool directing. The story was based on the comic book arc by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, and was adapted to screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie and Mark Bomback.
The Wolverine finds Logan, the eternal warrior and outsider, in Japan. There, samurai steel will clash with adamantium claw as Logan confronts a mysterious figure from his past in an epic battle that will leave him forever changed.
Expect a new set of characters since Logan will be heading over to Japan. This is another way to make sure we won't remember... the... you know... sorry I have already forgotten what I'm going to say. For the meantime, let's all wait and do something else before the movies' release on July 26, 2013.
You can visit The Wolverine official movie site here.
Book 00062: Tales from Shakespeare by Charles & Mary Lamb Title: - Tales from Shakespeare
First Publication: - 1807 Trivia:
- The book reduced the archaic English and complicated storyline of Shakespeare to a simple level that children could read and comprehend.
- Mary Lamb was responsible for the comedies, while her brother wrote the tragedies; they wrote the preface between them.
I always wanted to read the Shakespeare plays, but I am not equipped to understand the Old English used in the poetry. But thanks to Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare I was able to grasp a somewhat faithful overview of at most 20 Shakespearean plays.
The 20 stories adapted from the selected plays were:
1 - The Tempest (Mary Lamb) 2 - A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mary Lamb) 3 - The Winter's Tale (Mary Lamb) 4 - Much Ado About Nothing (Mary Lamb) 5 - As You Like It (Mary Lamb) 6 - Two Gentlemen of Verona (Mary Lamb) 7 - The Merchant of Venice (Mary Lamb) 8 - Cymbeline (Mary Lamb) 9 - King Lear (Charles Lamb) 10 - Macbeth (Charles Lamb) 11 - All's Well That Ends Well (Mary Lamb) 12 - The Taming of the Shrew (Mary Lamb) 13 - The Comedy of Errors (Mary Lamb) 14 - Measure for Measure (Mary Lamb) 15 - Twelfth Night (Mary Lamb) 16 - Timon of Athens (Charles Lamb) 17 - Romeo and Juliet (Mary Lamb) 18 - Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Charles Lamb) 19 - Othello (Charles Lamb) 20 - Pericles, Prince of Tyre (Mary Lamb)
Synopsis
No better introduction to William Shakespeare's dramatic masterpieces exists than the delightful prose adaptations of Charles and Mary Lamb, first published in 1807. The two selected 20 of Shakespeare's best-known plays and set out both to make them accessible to children and to pay enthusiastic homage to the original works. Together the Lambs distilled the powerful themes and unforgettable characterizations of Shakespeare's plays into elegant narratives--classic tales in their own right. Charles took responsibility for such powerful tragedies as Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear, while Mary worked on the comedies: brilliant fantasies like A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest, and thought-provoking plays like Measure for Measure, Cymbeline, and The Merchant of Venice. As the authors point out in their Preface, their versions of the tragedies tend to rely on the language of the original plays, while the comedies are more freely adapted. But all of the Lambs' stories--with their clear, supple, and rhythmic prose--reward any reader, whether encountering Shakespeare for the first time or revisiting his work.
If the trailer is not enough to convince you to watch Warm Bodies then maybe these 5 new posters will keep you going. Presenting its two main characters, the movie posters follow the same reddish format that could pump some blood into the lifeless undead.
Based on the novel of Isaac Marion with the same title, Warm Bodies chronicles the life (?) of the undead R (brought to life by Nicholas Hoult), who falls in love for the fleshy and certainly alive Julie Grigio played by Teresa Palmer.
Take a pick and be in inspired in this new romantic comedy littered with in-love zombies. Surely, the love never dies in these heart-tingling new posters:
Warm Bodies is directed and adapted to screen by Jonathan Levine, who is best known for the cancer comedy-drama 50/50. It will be produced by Summit Entertainment that brought you another box office hit adaptation of The Twilight Saga.
Have an early and funny Valentine's Day celebration next year by watching Warm Bodies on it's release on February 1, 2013.
Teams Cee Lo and Blake have been rocking The Voice stage. While Christina Aguilera and Adam Levine have been sitting pretty, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton both experience the tension and excitement to know whether one's acts or the other will be named as this season's The Voice.
The Semifinals had been very stressful for the remaining four contestants: Trevin Hunte, Cassadee Pope, Nicholas David and Terry McDermott. All of them gather different kind of followers, but they are very good just the same.
Here are their performances on the Semifinals:
Trevin Hunte:Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler
Cassadee Pope:Stupid Boy by Keith Urban
Nicholas David:You Are So Beautiful by Joe Cocker
Terry McDermott:Let It Be by The Beatles
And after the votes were in, one of the four was eliminated due to the lowest number of votes. A new twist has been added to the voting mechanics. Whenever an artist's studio performance of his or her song on iTunes belong to the Top 10, his or her iTunes votes would be multiplied by 10.
Only three of these contestants were able to belong in the Top 10: Cassadee Pope, Nicholas David And Terry McDermott, leaving Trevin Hunte with lesser number of votes. The Final 3 have sure-locked their way to the Grand Finals, after adding a lot more of votes from texts and phone calls.
The Voice Top 3
I have a feeling that Cassadee Pope will win this competition. She was after all, the only one who made it to #1 in iTunes. She has the complete package, if I might say. But of course, Nicholas and Terry are also bloddy talented, so she better watch out. If she ever make it, then Blake will be ecstatic after winning the Voice twice in a row.
If ever she'd win the competition, then she would be the first ever female and caucasian winner in The Vice US history. I am crossing my finger on this lovely girl, after two of my favorites -- Melanie Martinez and Sylvia Yacoub -- were eliminated early on.
The Grand Finals will be held on December 17, 2012 and the winner will be announced the day after. The performances will air on NBC at 8PM Easter time, while the Finale airs at 9PM Eastern time.
Good luck to Cassadee Pope, Nicholas David and Terry McDermott and also to their coaches Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton.
Melanie Martinez was one of my two most favorite artists on the third season of The Voice. The other one is Sylvia Yacoub. Yes, they were both eliminated, but I am still happy for them because their artistic journey hasn't ended yet.
I was devastated when Melanie was eliminated during the Top 6 performances and I was left in a very bad mood the entire week. But after realizing that she didn't need to really win the show in order to be successful -- Did I hear anyone say Chris Mann? -- then I was calmed down.
After accepting her sad elimination, there is nothing left really but to relive her out-of-this-world performances on The Voice. Let us remind ourselves how this talented this young artist from New York really is.
Here are the complete competition performances by Melanie Martinez on The Voice:
Blind Auditions:Toxic by Britney Spears
The Battles:Lights by Ellie Goulding
The Knockout:Bulletproof by La Roux
The Live Playoffs:Hit the Road Jack by Ray Charles
Top 12:Cough Syrup by Young the Giant
Top 10:Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes
Top 8:Too Close by Alex Clare
Top 6:Crazy by Cee Lo Green / The Show by Lenka
Despite Melanie Martinez's elimination, I still love her. I just hope she hadn't dyed her hair blue on her Swan Song performances because that's maybe the reason she got eliminated. She was jinxed when her identity somehow change because of that stylish and fashion move.
She may not be part of the Grand Finals, but in my heart she's still a winner. Good luck to you, Melanie Martinez. I know that you still haven't shown your best potential yet and the road to stardom is still ahead of you.
I have a stash of Will Smith movies at home. He has proven that he can become a front-liner for any blockbuster hit movie and I am one who bought that fact. I have copies of most his movies and I enjoyed watching each and every one of them.
Add his son to the equation and I am all done. Jaden Smith, who has proven he has his father's chops in Karate Kid, has worked in tandem with his father before in a very moving movie titled The Pursuit of Happyness. And it is undeniable that their father-and-son chemistry is as convincing in the big screen as it is in real life.
Now that all these things are in place wouldn't you be happy that this duo will work together once again in a new Sci-Fi movie titled After Earth? I was ecstatic, of course, but upon seeing a certain name attached to the movie made my heart sink.
Seeing that M. Night Shyamalan is attached on the directorial seat, the previous preceding facts simply vanished into thin air. Has anyone forgotten The Last Airbender and how each and every fan of the original TV series harbor a grudge on it?
But before we all get too emotional, watch the teaser trailer for After Earth. Experience a top-notch fatherly love in After Earth teaser trailer:
I don't wanna go jump over the bandwagon once again, but this movie may be the one that could reinstate Shyamalan in his golden throne once again when he was still awesome -- The Sixth Sense era. He had a few misses in the past, but we can't cancel out his successes and put to the trash how good a writer he really is.
If After Earth will turn out to be really good and not just another attempt to perfect failure, then I'll put back all my M. Night Shyamalan movie stash into my movie shelf once again, together with my Will Smith collection.
Maybe the following synopsis will have a few answers for us on how this movie will turn out:
One thousand years after cataclysmic events forced humanity's escape from Earth, Nova Prime has become mankind's new home. Legendary General Cypher Raige (Will Smith) returns from an extended tour of duty to his estranged family, ready to be a father to his 13-year-old son, Kitai (Jaden Smith). When an asteroid storm damages Cypher and Kitai's craft, they crash-land on a now unfamiliar and dangerous Earth. As his father lies dying in the cockpit, Kitai must trek across the hostile terrain to recover their rescue beacon. His whole life, Kitai has wanted nothing more than to be a soldier like his father. Today, he gets his chance.
After Earth will premiere internationally on June 7, 2013.
Book 00061: The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling Title: - The Jungle Books (The Jungle Book, The Second Jungle Book, and The Third Jungle Book)
First Publication: - 1894 Trivia:
- Kipling is the first Englishman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature; he commands a place amongst the finest of English writers.
What would be more enjoyable than a bunch of quirky poems and fantastic fable-like stories -- that could tease our excitement, fears and anxiety? There is one classic collection of stories that offers these perks: The Jungle Books. Adventure is always a thing for reader who wanted fun, dreaming to relive the story on his own imagination, making himself the main character. This is what I mostly do when I was young: placing myself on the situation of the characters thinking that the story is mine. Yes, I hoped to become a character of classic stories and by reading I could become one.
Here is one of the poems that I greatly enjoyed:
ROAD-SONG OF THE BANDAR-LOG
Here we go in a flung festoon, Half-way up to the jealous moon! Don't you envy our pranceful bands? Don't you wish you had extra hands? Would n't you like if your tails were -- so -- Curved in the shape of a Cupid's bow? Now you're angry, but -- never mind, Brother, thy tail hangs down behind!
Here we sit in a branchy row, Thinking of beautiful things we know; Dreaming of deeds that we mean to do, All complete, in a minute or two -- Something noble and grand and good, Won by merely wishing we could. Now we're going to -- never mind, Brother, thy tail hangs down behind!
All the talk we ever have heard Uttered by bat or beast or bird -- Hide or fin or scale or feather -- Jabber it quickly and all together! Excellent! Wonderful! Once again! Now we are talking just like men. Let 's pretend we are... never mind, Brother, thy tail hangs down behind! This is the way of the Monkey-kind.
Then join our leaping lines that scumfish through the pines, That rocket by where, light and high, the wild-grape swings, By the rubbish in our wake, and the noble noise we make, Be sure, be sure, we're going to do some splendid things!
You know what, another parameter to see whether a book is too good or not is the existence of any adaptations, TV shows, movies and stage plays. Who would forget Disney's take on Mowgli's story.
I've been obsessing my self with Lifehouse's live performance of Storm lately. It was not because of the recent typhoon that ravaged some parts of the Philippines. Nor was it because of the stormy emotions I feel inside despite the Yuletide season.
The madness was simply explained by the excitement I felt because of the upcoming album by the said band. Lifehouse will be releasing their sixth studio album titled Almeria on December 11, 2012 and I wanted to relive my days of old by listening to one of my favorite Lifehouse songs.
Once again, the band is aiming for a simple approach, which works quite perfectly well for me:
The standard edition of the album is composed of 10 tracks with an addition of four more for the deluxe cut.
1. Gotta Be Tonight
2. Between the Raindrops (feat. Natasha Bedingfield)
3. Nobody Listen
4. Moveonday
5. Slow Motion
6. Only You're the One
7. Where I Come From
8. Right Back Home (feat. Peter Frampton and Charles Jones)
9. Barricade
10. Aftermath
Additional tracks for the Deluxe edition:
11. Lady Day
12. Pins & Needles
13. Rolling Off the Stone
14. Always Somewhere Close
And to tease you even more, here is the very first single lifted from the album released a few months ago. Be ready to be inspired and hypnotized by Between the Raindrops featuring Natasha Bedingfield:
Almeria is currently available for pre-order on iTunes until it's official release on December 11, 2012.
First of all, I thank the Almighty for this wonderful opportunity. 2012 has been an incredible ride. To all the hardworking people behind Best Cebu Blog Awards, thank you for recognizing the efforts of each an every Cebu Blogger and especially for believing in Kernel's Corner. It is not actually I that deserves the recognition, but these guys who continue to push trough with the vision of empowering the local bloggers of Cebu. Guys, I salute you!
To the sponsors, you are supporting a community full of inspiring stories and people, who are making a difference. So thank you.
Globe Telecommunication
Insular Square Mandaue
Multiply
TMX Philippines, Inc.
Buddies
GT Cosmetics
Diamond Suites
Orange Brutus
Heart Tea Milk Tea
PR Works
Choi City
Starbucks
Geiser Maclang
Cebu Bloggers Society, Inc.
Alvin Asayas Photography
Event Photographers Cebu
I started Kernel's Corner for reasons common to most bloggers: to share and to express our thoughts and feelings. Of course, it hadn't been an easy journey. I think every blogger would agree with me when I say Blogger's Block is the hardest to deal with on days when an update is a must. Personally I get panicky if I don't get to post at least 5 times a week. That sounded obsessed, but for me it's a labor of love. I just can't stop blogging.
And so I thank Best Cebu Blog Awards for recognizing Kernel's Corner as the 2012 Best Cebu Entertainment Blog. Thank you for bringing out the best in us and for the interesting journey that we all have gone through to make this year's Best Cebu Blogs Awards a success.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation is the sequel to the 2009 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The movie, which was originally sub titled as Cobra Strikes, assembles once again the surviving G.I. Joes with a few new additions to the cast. Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis will be joining the ultimate Joe played by Channing Tatum.
Aside from the dangers of having Cobra around, the G.I. Joes must also face the government as it threatens the team's very existence. In this movie, the team will also cross paths with Zartan, Storm Shadow and Firefly, all serving under the newly released Cobra Commander.
Here are the dudes of G.I. Joe: Retaliation in the new and official theatrical poster:
Jun M. Chu directs the movie based on the writings of the Zombieland scribes, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Aside from the three cast mentioned above, Arnold Vosloo, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, and Lee Byung-hun will also be back to reprise their roles from The Rise of Cobra.
Watch out for G.I. Joe: Retaliation in cinemas on its March 29, 2013 release.
