Starship Enterprise Gets Its Own Poster And Some Stills From Star Trek Into Darkness

In two weeks time, USS Enterprise takes flight once again in Star Trek Into Darkness. Onboard are Commander Spock, Captain James T Kirk and his ever loyal crew. But we don't have to wait this long before we could finally have an official look of said starship, because here in our midst is a poster featuring the famous USS Enterprise.

In the same way that I would like to share the poster, here are some exciting new stills from Star Trek Into Darkness, featuring everyone's favorite and few yet to be "known" characters:

Mark your calendars on May 17, 2013 for the coming of USS Enterprise in Star Trek Into Darkness.

Team Blake And Team Usher Strengthens The Competition With Their Final Live Playoffs Acts

If you think Blake and Usher will let Adam and Shakira grab an easy win on The Voice Season 4, then you are probably in for a bad mood. Team Blake and Team Usher makes the competition a hard one by choosing the best in their teams to proceed to the Live Playoffs. Check if your favorites made it through!

Team Blake

After winning in two straight years, country folks are definitely crossing their fingers fot team Blake to win once again. Should Blake make it as a grand slam with any of these talented acts? Who's your bet among Justin Rivers, Holly Tucker, Danielle Bradbery and The Swon Brothers?

Team Usher

Usher maybe new to the show, but he is definitely new to the industry. It would be a lot more exciting since he still has the element of surprise since we haven't seen much of his style on the show, unlike with Team Adam and Team Blake. Who among Josiah Hawley, Michelle Chamuel, Vedo and Cáthia will make it to the finals?

The Live playoffs will start on Monday, May 6, 2013 to Wednesday, May 8, 2013. This round will determine who will become the Top 12 contenders that will be qualified for the finals. This will be more exciting since public votes will be a big factor.

Catch The Voice Season 4 Live Playoffs on said dates only at NBC.

Monsters Are Brooding In New The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Full International Trailer

The long wait for the latest The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones trailer is over and it's nothing less than rewarding. The wait is definitely worth as new and revealing scenes as been featured. The danger has become more apparent and the visual effects and palette are definitely superb.

See for your self the trailer of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones with a surety you'd wish you are one of the Mundane yourself.

Plot Synopsis:

Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray, discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother, Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series.

Discover a hidden world on The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, showing August 23, 2013.

Team Adam And Team Shakira Complete Their Contestants For The Voice Season 4 Live Play-Offs

After the intense competition in the Knockout rounds, the contestants for Team Adam and Team Shakira have been named. Four contestants for each team have been chosen after facing a fellow contestant in a battle that could make or break the artist's tenure on the show.

Team Adam

Presenting Amber Carrington, Caroline Glaser, Judith Hill and Sarah Simmons for Team Adam. I am crossing my fingers for Judith Hill on this lot and I hope Adam will redeem his crown by winning this season.

Team Shakira

Team Shakira diverse team is surely on the fighter side! Garrett Gardner, Kris Thomas, Karina Iglesias and Sasha Allen are surely on their way to triumph together with this newcomer coach. I just love Shakira, that's all. She's getting better and better every time she appears on the show.

Team Blake and Team Usher will have to completed tomorrow during the last leg of the Knockout rounds. Who do you think will fill in the ranks of these two teams? Find out on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at NBC.

Watch The Book Trailer Of Inferno By Dan Brown, Plus A Trivia On Book's Publish Date

Come May and we'll all gonna have a field day for the publication of yet another hit conspiracy thriller from master Dan Brown. This time around Dan Brown will be shying away from the religious scene (would he?) and brings another perspective on one of the greatest author of all time and his well-celebrated literature.

Inferno brings famous symbologist Robert Langdon into the mystery of Dante Alighieri's first part to Divine Comedy, popularly known as Inferno. Watch the book's trailer below and join in with the anticipation:

Here is the cover of the American edition if you haven't seen it yet:

Inferno by Dan Brown will be released on May 14, 2013, which according to the publisher's representative is not just a random date. According to Suzanne Herz, a Doubleday senior vice president, the date "is written 5-14-13, which read backwards 3.1415– the value of Pi." How do you connect that? No one knows yet of the connection of this algebraic value to the plot, but I hope it has a significant impact on the story.

Will Animation Kill the Movie Star?

The rise of the movie star has been one of the most major stories in film in the 20th century. But according to some, the rise of new techniques like increasingly realistic animation could threaten the movie star dynamic in film, but of course this is quite controversial.

Movie Stars Sell Movies

It's pretty hard to overstate just how important movie stars were to selling movies in the past few decades. In many cases, people are drawn to movies in the first place based on which actors are attached to the project. Fans of stars like Jim Carey, Morgan Freeman, Julia Roberts and so on will see any movie they are in. And even beyond the hardcore fans, it's the name recognition that's often what decides people on whether to see the movie or not.

Arguments that Animation is Replacing Actors

The arguments in favor of this idea say that what matters with actors is seeing them onscreen. This is because this is the main way in which they are recognized. People might not always even know the name of stars, but they will sure recognize them from previous movies that they enjoyed. As a result, if a movie is all animated, then no movie stars are shown. If these types of movies become more and more prevalent, then eventually the power of the movie star will fade since their face recognition will fade. People will recognize the animated characters and not associate movie stars with them.

Avatar: One of the movies that used motion / performance capture technology

If 2013 is any indication, the number of animated films seems to be on the rise and even more popular than ever. They include the following list.

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Ironman Rise of Technovore
• Batman the Dark Knight Returns Part 2
• The Adventures of the Red Airplane
• Many others

Arguments That Animated Films Still Use Movie Stars

On the other hand, it's also possible to say that the reason why animated films become popular in the first place is by being associated with movie star actors who lend their voices to the characters. So the idea is, that even if animated films become increasingly popular, they will still need famous actors to do all of the important acting parts with their voices. After all, this is what lends true characterization to the characters.

So Who's Right?

Obviously there's plenty of evidence in either direction. Certainly, it's hard to deny that movie stars get less on screen time during animated sequences. But by the same token, it's also hard to say that movies like Rango,” would be as popular without star power like Johnny Depp. After all, a movie about a tiny talking lizard would be pretty hard to pull off straight by Johnny Depp just wearing some kind of strange costume.

One in-between position is that the role of the star will shift to more vocal rolls as computers do more of the heavy lifting in feature films. One way or another, animated films tend to be quite popular and well received critically, so they are probably here to stay. As a result, one thing that is absolutely true is that actors will have to continue to adapt their skills to changing technology in order to ensure that they stay relevant to the modern film industry.

Writer Biography

This is a guest post by Lindsey Mcmahon. Her interests are entertainment, television, parenting and health but she is constantly extending her field of view to incorporate interesting news suggested to her by her readers. She currently works for DirectTVDeal.com.

Watch The Preview Of Game Of Thrones Season 3 Episode 6: The Climb

I haven't even watched the fifth episode of the show entitled Kissed by Fire, but here I am disregarding the biggest spolier that the preview of Game Of Thrones Season 3 Episode 6: The Climb will cause me.  Before I watched the preview and knowing the title of the episode, the Magnar and a select number of Wildlings came to mind... the contest... and the tragic deaths.

I definitely can't wait for Jon Snow's good turn of fate. And it's quite a spoiler also of having read the books, and a little annoyed after seeing a few changes (I am not telling so you better read the books), but eventually gave in knowing it would be for the better.

Enjoy the pivotal scenes from the preview of Game Of Thrones Season 3 Episode 6 entitled The Climb:

Here are the recent recap and insider look for the last episode of Game of Thrones Season 3:

Watch Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 6: The Climb on May 5, 2013 at HBO.

Red 2 Gets Dangerously Bloody With New Trailer And 6 Fiery Character Posters

Exclaiming "bloody hell" might just be an understatement for the follow-up to the 2010 movie hit Red. Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, and Helen Mirren return in Red 2 to reprise their roles of an unlikely mixture of ex-CIA bad-asses with dangerous and uncontrollable laugh-out-loud moments. They will be joined by newcomers Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lee Byung-hun and Anthony Hopkins.

Dean Parisot takes over the directorial seat of the movie sequel based on the screenplay of Jon and Erich Hoeber. It will be loosely based on the comic book series of the same title created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner and published by DC Comics.

Check out the cackling trailer for Red 2 that is definitely not for the faint-hearted:

Immerse yourself in the bloody and fiery character posters from Red 2:

Bloody comedy and action start rolling out on wide screens come August 2, 2013.

Kernel's Library: The Beast And Badass Of All High Fantasies

Book 00089: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

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Title:
- A Game of Thrones

First Publication:
- 6th August 1996 by Bantam Spectra

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Trivia:
- A television series adaptation is popularly celebrated by fans and is currently aired at HBO.
- Each of the book's chapter is focused on the third person limited point of view of one character. - Aside from the minor character's point of view in the prologue, the book has eight main characters' point of view.
- The book has a limited edition published in 2000 by Meisha Merlin, featuring intricate illustrations by Jeffrey Jones.
- This book belongs in A Song of Ice and Fire series, which has seven book all in all. Only five books have been published at the moment with he sixth, entitled The Winds of Winter, coming soon.

Awards:
- Winner of 1997 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel
- Nominated for 1997 World Fantasy Award Best Novel
- Winner of 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella for Blood of the Dragon
- Nominated for 1997 Nebula Award Best Novel
- Winner of 2003 Ignotus Award for Best Foreign Novel

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I have to admit I am a late comer to this book series. But the moment I started reading this fantastic story, I fell in love to it right away. Aside from a great story, George R. R. Martin's writing skills hooked me to the very end.

These are some of the reasons -- and more -- why millions of fans love A Song of Ice and Fire books so dearly. We may have read a few similar plots somewhere, but it feels so original. The mythologies, histories and backstories are so well-crafted, making you think Martin lives in his created world rather in this one where we unfortunate souls lived on.

If you haven't read the books yet, A Game of Thrones in particular, better start now. Before the world ends, because winter is definitely coming.

Plot Synopsis

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall. To the south, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself.

Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

Unparalleled in scope and execution, A Game of Thrones is one of those rare reading experiences that catch you up from the opening pages, won’t let you go until the end, and leave you yearning for more.

From a master of contemporary fantasy comes the first novel of a landmark series unlike any you’ve ever read before. With A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin has launched a genuine masterpiece, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill the pages of this magnificent saga, the first volume in an epic series sure to delight fantasy fans everywhere.

Grade: A+

Cannes 2013 Entry: Singaporean Movie Ilo Ilo 爸媽不在家 Directed by Anthony Chen

Updated: Iloilo has won the award for Caméra d’Or in first feature film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

Last year, the movie industry got a buzz when a Filipina indie actress topbills a Singaporean film. After a "crazy" audition on the film, indie film actress Angeli Bayani snagged the role on the film entitled Ilo Ilo 爸媽不在家, written and directed by Anthony Chen.

Just recently same movie has been selected as an entry to the 2013 Cannes Film Festival's Director's Fortnight and in-competition for the Caméra d’Or. Aside from Angeli Bayani, the movie also stars Yeo Yann Yann, Chen Tianwen and Koh Jia Ler, comprising the picturesque family that Bayani will be working on with as a maid.

You could watch the movie's heart-warming trailer below:

Here's the equally touching poster of Ilo Ilo 爸媽不在家, directed by Anthony Chen:

Plot Synopsis:

Set in Singapore, ILO ILO chronicles the relationship between the Lim family and their newly arrived maid Teresa. Like many other Filipino women, she has come to this city in search of a better life. Her presence in the family worsens their already strained relationship. Jiale, the young and troublesome son, starts to form a unique bond with Teresa, who soon becomes an unspoken part of the family.

But this is 1997 and the Asian Financial Crisis is starting to be felt in the region...

Also we get an official and iconic still from the movie, featuring Jiale and Teresa:

The calligraphy "爸妈不在家" in Chinese means "Dad and Mom are not home." According to trivia "auntie" is how kids address their maids -- or locally known as yayas -- in Singapore. Teresa will be a domestic helper coming from my homecity Iloilo. I do wish Hiligaynon and some Philippine locations will be featured in the movie, should the opportunity arise.

Here is what Director Anthony Chen has to say about the title:

"When I was much younger, my mother hired a Filipino maid to look after the children. Teresa was with us for a long 8 years until I was 12 years old. We called her Auntie Terry. When she left to return home, it was hard to bear, but we got used to her absence and somehow lost contact. I believe the universal experience of children growing up with maids is one of having a 'surrogate' mother, a friend and a confidant. The one thing that has stayed with me after all these years is the name of the place she was from, Iloilo, a province in the Philippines. That is how the title of the film came about."

The movie, which gets a limited release on April 23, 2013, is produced by Ang Hwee Sim, Anthony Chen and Yuni Hadi under Fisheye Pictures and Memento Films studios. Until it gets updated, you can know more about Ilo Ilo 爸媽不在家 by visiting it's official website.

Plenty Of Star Trek Into Darkness Character Posters Are Landing On Our Way

As a follow-up to the very explosive trailer and four posters of the main characters, Paramount has released new sets of character posters for J. J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness, the much anticipated sequel to the reboot of the hit sci-fi series.

There are plenty of these posters that already popped-up online -- from Europe, the Latin Countries, to the US -- but I am quite sure we still have a lot more to see. From time to time the movie's official Facebook page is dropping a new poster as if it was an early Christmas present.

Check out Commander Spock, Captain James T. Kirk and his crew in these tantalizing and golden new character posters from Star Trek Into Darkness:

Catch Star Trek Into Darkness at the cinemas nearest you, starting May 9, 2013.