The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- 'The Thing' returns to movie theatres
- Asia Pacific screen awards nominees announced
- Win What's Your Number? Merchandise
| 'The Thing' returns to movie theatres Posted: 11 Oct 2011 07:36 AM PDT LOS ANGELES: It's been 60 years since alien thriller movie "The Thing From Another World" hit theatres at the height of Cold War paranoia and half that long since horror director John Carpenter revisited its themes in "The Thing." On Friday, a new "The Thing" is back in movie theatres, hungrier than ever, in a version being billed as a prequel to Carpenter's examination of fear that is centered on an alien from another world who is discovered by scientists on Antarctica. Dutch director Matthijs van Heijningen makes his feature film debut with the new movie that has 27 year-old Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("Scott Pilgrim vs. the World") playing paleontologist Kate Lloyd, who is hired as part of a mysterious scientific expedition and ends up battling the alien. Australian actor Joel Edgerton ("Animal Kingdom") co-stars as a veteran helicopter pilot who services the remote Antarctica base where a Norwegian team of scientists has stumbled across the alien and its spaceship buried in the ice. Van Heijningen said he is a fan of both earlier "Thing" films, but he sees his version as "very logically tied-in to the events of...the Carpenter movie." Yet, the new version exhibits a 2011 sensibility with its international cast and female character leading the charge to kill the alien. "Surrounded by all these older men and isolated on this base, maybe she already feels uncomfortable - a bit of an outcast. My reference for envisioning her was actually Jane Goodall. For me, she's the ultimate female scientist," van Heijningen said. Van Heijningen cites the famed British anthropologist as an inspiration, but his character Kate Lloyd seems more akin to the "Alien's" Ripley, the woman portrayed by Sigourney Weaver who battles the otherworldly creature in that 1979 film. "She's very smart, but she's very young and inexperienced, and she gets invited to join this expedition because they (the male scientists) think they can easily control her. That's how she starts out," Winstead said of her character. "But when the very bad things start to happen, she's the one who starts kicking butt and really figuring out what they have to do in order to survive. Not the men," she said. The best horror films are both timeless, yet very much of their time. "The Thing From Another World" (1951) is seen as reflecting America's paranoia about communism, and Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982) has been viewed as a thinly veiled parable about the horrors of AIDS. This new "Thing" could be viewed as a commentary on the present-day threat from the global war on terror, its makers said, but Van Heijningen was quick to add that he didn't set out to comment on modern times. "It's first and foremost a horror film about an alien. But you can definitely make the parallel in the sense that we have terrorists among us, pretending to be good neighbors, while they have a very different, hidden agenda." Winstead agrees there is a timely subtext to "The Thing" dealing with trusting, or not, acquaintances and others But she added that the horror genre allows people to share their fright, perhaps even laugh at it, then shrug it off. "It's a way of living vicariously through terrifying events, and the audience comes through it unscathed. That's what this film does. You live through all the rising tension and paranoia, and then you get to walk away." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Asia Pacific screen awards nominees announced Posted: 10 Oct 2011 09:39 PM PDT The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) announced that 37 films from 19 countries and areas have been nominated in this year's Asia pacific Screen Awards, the region's highest accolade in film. The announcement was made by APSA's International Jury President, Nasun Shi. Films from the Islamic Republic of Iran, People's Republic of China, Turkey and India will vie for the Best Feature Film Awards. The nominees are: Jodaeiye Nader az Simin (A Separation) from the Islamic Republic of Iran; Rang zidan fei (Let The Bullets Fly) – People's Republic of China; Be Omid E Didar (Goodbye) – Islamic Republic of Iran; Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once upon A Time In Anatolia) – Tukey, Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Band Baaja Baaraat (Wedding Planners) from India. A total of 240 films were entered in this year's competition. Thirty-seven have received nominations for the 2011 awards, with winners to be announced at the ceremony on 24 November in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Winners in the 5th APSA will be determined by an international jury headed by leading Hong Kong film producer Nansun Shi. Films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins. Apart from the major awards to be presented in November, two additional awards for outstanding achievement will also be included. They are the International Federation of Film Producers Associations Awards that is given for outstanding achievement in film in the Asia-Pacific region; and the UNESCO Awards for outstanding contributions to the promotion and preservation of cultural diversity through film. The full list of the 2011 nominees is available here. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Win What's Your Number? Merchandise Posted: 09 Oct 2011 08:23 PM PDT Ally Darling is an offbeat young woman who hasn't really been lucky in the love department. Now, looking past the 20 men she has had a relationship with, she's beginning to think maybe one of them could be Mr. Right. Can she find true love? Is he really out there? She's willing to find out and she's bringing her womanizing neighbour, Colin, along for the ride. Catch this hilarious comedy in cinemas this month. In the meantime, eCentral.my and 20th Century Fox are giving away What's Your Number? merchandise. To win some goodies answer these questions: 1. Name the actress who plays Ally Darling and the actor who plays her neighbour, Colin. 2. With how many men has Ally had a relationship with? Email your answers with your details (name, address, IC number and contact number) to ecentralcontest@gmail.com by 12 October 2011. Title the subject WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER? We have acrylic coasters, t-shirts, notebooks, magnetic poetry sheets and double movie passes to give away. Rules & Regulations 1. The contest is open to all Malaysian residents residing in Malaysia only. 2. To qualify for a prize, contestants must include relevant personal details (full name, address, new IC number , contact number). 3. Contestants may only submit one entry each. Multiple entries will be disqualified. 4. One prize is allowed per contestant only. 5. Prizes are not exchangeable for cash and the organizer reserves the right to exchange the prize with that of a similar value without prior notice. 6. Staff of The Star Publications (Malaysia) Berhad, sponsors and their immediate families are not allowed to participate. 7. Judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entertained. 8. Judges will be from The Star Online. 9. For enquiries, please e-mail ecentralmy@gmail.com Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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