Cast: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac Director: Ridley Scott Release Date:14 May 2010 Genre: Action | Adventure | Drama
Description: In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. And whether thief or hero, one man from humble beginnings will become an eternal symbol of freedom for his people. "Robin Hood" chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self-preservation, from his service in King Richard's army against the French. Upon Richard's death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion, a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff. With their country weakened from decades of war, embattled from the ineffective rule of the new king and vulnerable to insurgencies from within and threats from afar, Robin and his men heed a call to ever greater adventure. This unlikeliest of heroes and his allies set off to protect their country from slipping into bloody civil war and return glory to England once more.
Cast: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, Oleg Taktarov Director: Nimrod Antal Release Date: 9 July 2010 Genre: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller
Description: Royce, a mercenary, reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realize they've been brought together on an alien planet... as prey. With the notable exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers -- mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members -- human "predators" that are now being systemically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien Predators.
Briana Banks (born Briana Bany; May 21, 1979) is a German-American pornographic actress and model.
Career In 1999, she responded to an ad in the newspaper to do nude modeling for adult magazines. The photographer put her in a pornographic film. Her first film was University Coeds 18, for Dane Entertainment, in which she performed opposite Brandon Iron. She entered the industry under the name "Mirage", but began calling herself "Briana Banks" in 2000, after having the first of two breast enlargement operations. Having had aspirations of being a supermodel, she chose the professional surname "Banks" after model Tyra Banks. Her first appearance using the new name was in the film Decadent Whores 9. She was Penthouse magazine's Pet of the Month in June 2001. The same year, she signed with Vivid Entertainment.
Banks claims to have the longest legs in the business (36"/91cm inseam). She has a ribbon tattoo on her lower back. For several years, her regular boyfriend was pornographic actor Bobby Vitale, but they broke up in 2006.
In 2002 Banks was one of the first pornographic actresses to have an action figure made in her likeness, by Los Angeles based company Cyber F/X and Sota Toys. Banks was a contributing author in the 2004 book How To Have a XXX Sex Life: The Ultimate Vivid Guide, in which she and other Vivid contract stars give advice and tips about sex, as well as relate anecdotes from their personal sex lives.
On October 13, 2006, Banks reportedly filed a federal lawsuit seeking more than US$75,000 in damages against Doc Johnson Enterprises charging that they had created unauthorized products from molds of her genitals. more on: Wikipedia
Filmography: Briana Extreme (2009) Flashback (2009) Touch Me (2008) Briana Banks AKA Living Legend (2008) Where the Boys Aren't 19: Arabian Nights (2008) Perfect Match (2007) Where the Boys Aren't 18 (2007) Fantasy All-Stars 2 (2006) Max Does the Stars 2 (2006) Jenna Loves Justin (2006) Layout (2006) More Bang for the Buckxxx (2006) Auditioning (2005) Backyard BBQ (2005) Best Deep Throat on the Planet (2005) Best of the Best (2005) Blondes DeluXXXe (2005) Blush (2005) Hot Blondes Rock My Cock (2005) No, No, Briana (2005) Stunner (2005) Tarot (2005) The 69 Club (2005) The End Game (2005) Time for Briana (2005) Deviant Divas (2004) Max Does the Stars (2004) The Dark Side of Briana (2004) Patient, Patients, Patients (2004) Head Nurse (2004) Fists of Fury 3 (2004) Farmer's Daughters Do Vegas (2004) Aftermath (2004) Blond and Blonder (2004) Foot Work (2004) Key Party (2004) Last Girl Standing (2004) Matrix Pornstars (2004) My Favorite Babysitters 2 (2004) Sextacy (2004) Super Size Meat (2004) The Contestants (2004) Ticket 2 Ride (2004) Full O' Spunk (2003) 10 Magnificent Blondes (2003) Caught Stealing (2003) Girls Eat Girl (2003) Happily Ever After (2003) Happily Never After (2003) Night Stick (2003) Pretty Girl (2003) Real Female Orgasms 4 (2003) Ring Me Up! (2003) Sessions (2003) Titsicle (2003) Tricks (2003) Where the Boys Aren't 16: Dark Angels (2003) Where the Boys Aren't 17 (2003) Young Buns 7 (2003) Charlie's Little Devils (2002) Heart Breaker (2002) All There Is (2002) Bankable (2002) Deep Inside Briana Banks (2002) Double Air Bags 6 (2002) Slick (2002) Slick II: Trained and Drained (2002) Gallery of Sin 3 (2001) Briana Loves Jenna (2001) Bridgette's Hellions (2001) Vegas or Bust (2001) American Nymphette (2001) 2001: A Big Bust Odyssey (2001) American Nymphette 2 (2001) American Nymphette 3 (2001) Big Fat F.N. Tits 5 (2001) Devil Girl (2001) Director's Cut (2001) Erotic Eye (2001) In Your Face (2001) Island Fever (2001) Jail Babes 19 (2001) Porn O' Plenty 1 (2001) Sodomania Slop Shots 10 (2001) Sodomania Slop Shots 9 (2001) Taboo 2001: A Sex Odyssey (2001) Tails of Perversity 8 (2001) The Best of Briana Banks (2001) The Best of Brianna Banks 2 (2001) The Madam's New Maid (2001) The Violation of Mirage (2001) The Vision (2001) Titty Mania 3 (2001) Up the Wahzoo (2001) V-Eight (2001) Where the Boys Aren't 14 (2001) Where the Boys Aren't 15 (2001) White Panty Chronicles 17 (2001) The Fiesta (2000) Looking for Love (2000) The Violation of Amber Lynn (2000) Puppeteer (2000) Taxi Dancer (2000) Blowjob Adventures of Dr. Fellatio 23 (2000) Ass to Mouth (2000) ATM: Ass to Mouth (2000) Babewatch 12 (2000) Bend Over and Say Ahh 2 (2000) Charlie's Devils (2000) Coed Cocksuckers 19 (2000) Cumback Pussy 29 (2000) Emerald Rain (2000) Gag Factor (2000) Gangbang Auditions 5 (2000) Gutter Mouths 17 (2000) Hardcore Schoolgirls 14 (2000) Initiations 2 (2000) It Had to Be You (2000) Kelly the Coed 6: Double Secret Probation (2000) Kelly the Coed 8 (2000) Liquid Gold 4 (2000) Liquid Gold 5 (2000) Little White Chicks Big Black Monster Dicks #6 (2000) Naughty Little Nymphos 3 (2000) Pimped by an Angel (2000) Pure Max 1 (2000) Pussyman's Big Tit Paradise (2000) Pussyman's Decadent Divas 8 (2000) Pussyman's Decadent Divas 9 (2000) Red Vibe Diaries 3: The Garden of Transgression (2000) Sex Spell (2000) The Babysitter 5 (2000) Weekend in Diego (2000) White Trash Whore 16 (2000) Wicked Wishes: Reflections on the Life of a Sex Therapist (2000) Young and Anal 17 (2000)
Deep Oral Ladies 3 (1999) Fresh Hot Babes 20: Put Something in My Ass (1999) Kelly the Coed 5 (1999) North Pole #12 (1999) University Coeds 18 (1999) Virtual Sex with Jenna Jameson (1999)
Like most of the interviewees in the eye-opening new documentary The Other City (now playing in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC), I was surprised to learn that our nation's capitol now has the highest number of HIV infections in the US. 3% of the citizens in the repository of American ideals and values have HIV/AIDS, compared with the previous national high of 4% in San Francisco during the height of the pandemic in 1992. The Centers for Disease Control considers 1% of any given population with an infectious disease "a generalized and severe epidemic."
In The Other City, director Susan Koch and Huffington Post senior contributing editor Jose Antonio Vargas introduce us to various Washingtonians haunted by the specter of AIDS. They include J'Mia, an HIV-positive single mother of three young children who is suddenly faced with homelessness; Jose, who was infected when he was 17 and now educates teens about HIV/AIDS (young people ages 13-29 now account for more than a third of new infections each year); the staff and residents of Joseph's House, a filled-to-capacity AIDS hospice; and Ron, a recovering drug addict who today distributes clean needles to other users.
DC's city leaders are shown throughout to be woefully ineffective at either halting the spread of HIV or addressing the needs of those already infected. The film reveals that any progress made in this regard has more often than not been achieved by those living with the virus. The Other City serves as a severe indictment of those chiefly charged with providing political and moral leadership in the US.
The film also serves as a needed reminder that HIV/AIDS is still killing people and isn't going away. It is most moving when following the plight of Jimmy, a 35-year old resident of Joseph's House for whom the AIDS "cocktail" medications have simply stopped working. We watch as he and his family slowly lose their joint struggle of 17 years against the virus.
How many more deaths — and documentaries — will it take before US leaders and citizens learn that AIDS doesn't discriminate and continues to decimate our nation and world?
Jenna Haze (born February 22, 1982) is an American pornographic actress. She entered the adult film industry in 2001 at the age of 19. Between 2002 and 2005, she was a contract girl for the film company Jill Kelly Productions. During most of her time at the company, she performed exclusively with women, out of loyalty to her then boyfriend, an industry cameraman. She returned to working with men in the 2006 multi-award winning release Jenna Haze Darkside, produced by Jules Jordan. Haze herself has won numerous adult industry awards, including the 2003 AVN Award for Best New Starlet and the 2009 AVN Award for Female Performer of the Year.
Film career Haze's first scene was for The Oral Adventures of Craven Moorehead 8 with her agent Slim Shady (Dez) and his best friend, Moorehead. It was intended to only be an oral scene, but in the heat of the moment she had intercourse with both. The next day she shot a scene with Miles Long in Joey Silvera's Service Animals 4. A few months later, she realized that she did not need an agent and started to represent herself. For just over a month, Haze dated Simon Dope from the nu metal band Dope. They met in 2002 on the set of Taste of a Woman, her first feature film and her first lead. She briefly followed his band on tour until the relationship ended.
In February 2002, Haze appeared in a scene for Jill Kelly Productions (JKP), directed by Jill Kelly herself. Kelly was impressed by her performance and JKP offered Haze an exclusive performing contract. This was soon followed by offers from other companies, but in April 2002 Haze decided to sign with JKP, as they offered the extra flexibility she needed to make money and build her career. The company to her was more than just a business, but a family too. She also enjoyed the idea of having a group of girls around her and working for a company run by a woman. Soon after signing with JKP, she formed a serious relationship with an industry cameraman and began a three-year period of performing exclusively with women. At the 2003 AVN Awards ceremony, Haze was named Best New Starlet and her masturbation scene in Big Bottom Sadie was awarded Best Solo Sex Scene. In 2004, she appeared on the HBO show Pornucopia, a six-part documentary on the pornography industry in California. Haze became a free agent in April 2005, after deciding not to renew her contract with JKP, partly because Jill Kelly had recently left the company. After leaving JKP and splitting with her boyfriend, Haze returned to working with male performers. The April 2006 release Jenna Haze Darkside featured her first boy-girl scenes in over three years, along with her first interracial scene with Mr. Marcus. The film was produced and directed by her new boyfriend Jules Jordan. Later in the year, she began writing a sex advice column for the pornographic magazine, Fox. She also started feature dancing, represented by the agency Lee Network. The first achievement in her feature dancing career was a nomination for Best Feature Entertainer at the 2007 Night Moves Awards. Her film work was also rewarded in 2007, with AVN Awards for Best Oral Sex Scene (Video) and Best Group Sex Scene (Video), as well as a nomination for Female Performer of the Year. In April 2007, Jenna Haze Oil Orgy became the first adult movie to be released on Blu-ray format. Meanwhile, in the same month, her official website was launched by Premium Multimedia. In the 2007 mainstream comedy film, Superbad, Haze made a short appearance in the role of Vagtastic Voyage Girl #2. She was also among the adult stars featured in the erotic photography book Naked Ambition: An R-Rated Look at an X-Rated Industry, published in November 2007. The special edition of the book included a fine art photograph of Haze signed by the photographer Michael Grecco. In January 2008, her scene with Manuel Ferrara in Evil Anal 2 won the AVN Award for Best Couples Sex Scene (Video). In August 2008, Haze achieved the first feature dancing award of her career winning Adult Movie Entertainer of the Year in the 11th annual Adult Nightclub and Exotic Dancer Awards. On January 10, 2009, Haze and Belladonna hosted the 2009 AVN Awards, and Haze won Female Performer of the Year.
Haze made a short appearance in the action/thriller film Crank: High Voltage as a porn star on strike. more on Wikipedia
Filmography: Bad Girls 3 (2010) Monster Dicks for Young Chicks 6 (2010) Meow! (2010) Sexual Blacktivity 2 (2010) This Isn't The Twilight Saga: Eclipse - The XXX Parody (2010) Naughty Book Worms 19 (2010) Rebel Girl (2010)
Teachers (2009) Sunny's Slumber Party (2009) Spin the Bottle (2009) This Ain't Star Trek XXX (2009) Interactive Sex with Jenna Haze (2009) The Office: A XXX Parody (2009) Teagan vs Jenna (2009) The Brother Load (2009) It's a Secretary Thing! 2 (2009) The F!ve (2009) Top Ten 2 (2009) This Isn't Twilight: The XXX Parody (2009) Pornstar Workout (2009) Performers of the Year 2010 (2009) Cum-Spoiled Sluts (2009) Anal Academics (2009) Rawhide 2: Dirty Deeds (2009) My Dad's Hot Girlfriend (2009) Glamour Girls (2009) Naughty Nanny 2 (2009) Pump My Ass Full of Cum 2 (2009) Fly Girls (2009) Sexual Blacktivity (2009) Cum-Spoiled Brats (2009) This Isn't 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon': The XXX Parody (2009) Girl Crazy (2009) Suck It Dry 6 (2009) Addicted 5 (2008) This Ain't the Munsters XXX (2008) Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge (2008) Fallen (2008) Not Bewitched XXX (2008) Cums in Her Mouth Not in Her Hands (2008) Cheaters Caught or Not (2008) Fantasy All-Stars 8 (2008) Addicted 4 (2008) Ass Stretchers POV (2008) Full Streams Ahead (2008) Watch Your Back (2008) Bet Your Ass 6 (2008) Pretty as They Cum (2008) Alexis Texas Is Buttwoman (2008) No Swallowing Allowed 15 (2008) Fetish Fucks 2 (2008) Control 10 (2008) Apprentass 8 (2008) Top Shelf (2008) Open Ended (2008) Cum Buckets! 8 (2008) Jenna vs. Courtney (2008) Gape Lovers 3 (2008) Secretary's Day 2 (2008) Sporty Girls (2008) Performers of the Year 2009 (2008) Slutty & Sluttier 5 (2008) Oil Overload (2008) Finger Licking Good: Volume 5 (2008) XXX Box (2008) Jenna Haze & Naomi: Battle of the Sluts (2008) Nurses (2008) Load Warriors (2008) Meet the Fuckers 8 (2008) Anal Asspirations 8 (2008) Anal Cavity Search 6 (2008) The Creamery 3 (2008) Spunk'd 8 (2008) Stoya: Atomic Tease (2008) Massive Facials (2008) Jesse Jane: Kiss Kiss (2008) Evil Pink 4 (2008) Teagan: Video Nasty (2008) Flying Solo (2008) POV Cock Suckers 8 (2008) Pure Sextacy 3 (2008) Operation: Desert Stormy (2007) Fantasy All-Stars #5 (2007) The Predator (2007) Broken (2007) Fantasy All-Stars 4 (2007) Apprentass 7 (2007) Playgirl: Heavenly Heat (2007) Kick Ass Chicks 48: Brunettes (2007) Hand to Mouth 5 (2007) Spunk'd 7 (2007) Real Female Orgasms 7 (2007) Bikini-Clad Cum Sluts (2007) Screen Dreams (2007) Celebusluts (2007) Girls Will Be Girls (2007) Suck It Dry 4 (2007) Control 8 (2007) Big Wet Asses 12 (2007) Pussy Cats 2 (2007) Filth Cums First 3 (2007) Face Invaders 2 (2007) DreamGirlz (2007) Gobble the Goop 3 (2007) Lex the Impaler 3 (2007) Evilution 3 (2007) 1 on 1 (2007) Ass Stretchers POV (2007) P.O.V. Centerfolds 6 (2007) Girls Girls Girls (2007) The Doll House (2007) Performers of the Year (2007) Internal Injections 2 (2007) All by Myself 2 (2007) Myplace 3: A Space for Whores (2007) Dirty Divas (2007) Cum Shots 10 (2007) N' 2 Deep (2007) Lord of Asses 10 (2007) Seymore Butts: Jenna 9.5 (2007) Sweet Cream Pies 3 (2007) Jack's All Stars (2007) Trophy Whores 3 (2007) Totally Fucked (2007) Kick Ass Chicks 35: Pigtails (2006) Service Animals 24: The Kandee Man (2006) Blow Me Sandwich 9 (2006) Who's Your Daddy? 9 (2006) L.A.Vice (2006) Fantasy All-Stars (2006) Secret Desires (2006) Goo 4 Two 4 (2006) Carmen & Austyn (2006) Dirty Little Stories (2006) Fashionistas Safado: The Challenge (2006) Jenna Haze Is Ravaged (2006) Head Case (2006) Grand Theft Anal 9 (2006) All American Girls (2006) All Alone (2006) Stick It (2006) Jenna Haze: Dark Side (2006) Semen Sippers 5 (2006) I Love Dana & Jenna (2006) Spunk'd 6 (2006) Top Notch Bitches 5 (2006) Whack Jobs (2006) No Cocks Allowed! 2 (2006) Crack Addict 6 (2006) The Greatest Cum Sluts Ever! (2006) Bring Your A Game 3 (2006) Cumstains 8 (2006) Vamps (2006) Evil Anal 2 (2006) Sex on the Beach (2006) Strip Tease Then Fuck 8 (2006) Internal Cumbustion 10 (2006) Pretty Pussies Please 2 (2006) Promises of the Heart (2006) Pussy Worship 2 (2006) Faith's Fantasies (2005) Sweet Lolita (2005) Babes Behind Bars (2005) Girlvana (2005) Dear Celeste... (2005) Industry (2005) It Girls (2005) Perfect Pink 20: Seduction (2005) Kick Ass Chicks 22: Superstars (2005) Boy Toys (2005) Best Butts in the Biz (2005) Belladonna: Fetish Fanatic 2 (2005) Girls Love Girls (2005) Spend the Night with Cindy (2005) Top 40 Adult Stars Collection (2005) Anal Princess Diaries (2005) Educating Jenna (2005) 100% Blowjobs 34 (2005) Lipstick, Lingerie & Lesbians (2005) Tyra's Runway Rendezvous (2005) Full Exposure (2005) Cum Buckets! 4 (2005) Slut School (2005) Crushed & Plushed (2005) 100% Blowjobs 35 (2005) Cum Buckets! 3 (2005) Strap It On, Slip It In (2005) Best Breasts in the Biz (2005) Back to School Special (2005) Penetration Nation (2005) Gonzo Jenna Haze Style (2005) Miss Strap On (2005) Jenna Does Carmen (2005) Under the Cover of Darkness (2004) Young Hot and Horny Girls 2 (2004) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 14 (2004) 100% Blowjobs 28 (2004) Perfect Pink 19: Saints & Sinners (2004) Ashton's Auditions 2 (2004) Jenna Loves Threesomes (2004) Innocence Lost (2004) Anal Intentions (2004) JKP Hardcore 3 (2004) Shades of X (2004) Love Thy Neighbor (2004) Lonely Housewives (2004) Urban Angels (2004) Jenna's Juicy (2004) Perfect Pink 18 (2004) Wicked Divas: Stormy (2004) Portraits of a Porn Star (2004) Barely Legal All Stars 2 (2004) Down and Dirty (2004) I Know What You Did Last Night (2004) Girls Night Out (2004) JKP All Latin 3 (2004) Graced 2 (2004) The Best of Cherokee (2004) JKP All Asian 3 (2004) Sexual Rhythm (2004) 100% Blowjobs 27 (2004) Dark Intent (2004) Best of Alexis Amore (2004) JKP Hardcore 4 (2004) All Natural Beauties (2004) Double Team Dream (2004) Brunette Beauties (2004) Jenna Haze Stripped (2004) Sorority Hazing (2004) Lovin' Porn (2004) Ultimate Dream Team (2004) Jkp Sex Camp (2004) 100% Foursomes 2 (2004) Ashton's Auditions 3 (2004) Horny Girls (2004) Tyra's Little Secrets (2004) The Hunger Within (2004) Jenna's Obsession (2004) Dirty Little Girls (2004) A Venus Affair (2004) All Tied Up (2004) All Anal 3 (2004) Strays (2004) Jenna's Harem (2003) Sex and Marriage (2003) Women of Sin (2003) Indecent Desires (2003) Jane Millionaire (2003) Screwless (2003) Deep Trouble (2003) Graced (2003) Club TropiXXX 2 (2003) Cock Crazy Quickies 3 (2003) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 12 (2003) 100% Blowjobs 15 (2003) All Anal 2 (2003) Break the Chains (2003) Perfect Pink 17: Pink Matters (2003) The Oral Adventures of Craven Moorehead #19 (2003) Backside Story (2003) The Best of JKP Couples (2003) 100% Girls (2003) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 10 (2003) Auditions (2003) The Best by Private 50: Lesbian Games (2003) The Best of Haven (2003) The Best of Brittney Skye (2003) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 11 (2003) Blushed (2003) 100% Anal 2: Welcome to Jezebelle (2003) Sodomania: Slop Shots 13 (2003) 100% Natural 2 (2003) 100% Blowjobs 20 (2003) 100% Blowjobs 14 (2003) All Anal (2003) 100% Anal 3 (2003) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 13 (2003) Dirty Pretty Secrets (2003) 100% Blowjobs 18 (2003) Friends and Lovers (2002) Your Time Is Up (2002) Fast & Female (2002) Real Female Orgasms 3 (2002) Trained Teens 2 (2002) Covergirls Vol. 3 (2002) Experiment in Sex (2002) Feeding Frenzy (2002) Flesh Hunter 2 (2002) Unforgettable (2002) Pin-up Girls (2002) Big Bottom Sadie (2002) Hot Showers 2 (2002) Straight to the A (2002) Initiations 9 (2002) Flesh Hunter (2002) Soloerotica (2002) Lewd Conduct 12 (2002) Anal Angels 3 (2002) Eat at the Pussy Cafe 6 (2002) Kick Ass Chicks 2: Jenna Haze (2002) Skate Trixxx (2002) 100% Natural (2002) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 9 (2002) Sex on Film (2002) Fem: Aria (2002) Kung Fu Girls 2 (2002) 100% Anal (2002) Flesh Hunter 3 (2002) A Cum Sucking Whore Named Kacey (2002) Dripping Wet Sex 1 (2002) Inferno (2002) Perfect Pink 12 (2002) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 8 (2002) Beautiful Couples (2002) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 7 (2002) Barely Legal 20 (2002) Please Cum Inside Me 8 (2002) Behind the Scenes of 'Dripping Wet Sex' (2002) Barefoot Confidential 18 (2002) Splendor (2002) Sodomania Slop Shots 12 (2002) Sticky Side Up (2002) Cum Dumpsters (2002) The Oral Adventures of Craven Moorehead #15 (2002) Four Finger Club 20 (2002) Rampage 4 (2002) Whack Attack 12 (2002) When the Boyz Are Away the Girlz Will Play 6 (2002) Wishful Thinking (2002) Please Cum Inside Me 7 (2002) Hearts & Minds (2002) Men Are from Mars (2002) The Taste of a Woman (2002) Upskirt Diaries (2002) Nasty Girls 26 (2001) Fast Times at Deep Crack High 4 (2001) Internally Yours (2001) Service Animals 4 (2001) Nasty Girls 25 (2001) Nasty Nymphos 32 (2001) The 4 Finger Club 19 (2001) The Morgan Sex Project 5 (2001) Up and Cummers 98 (2001) The Morgan Sex Project 6 (2001) Specs Appeal 3 (2001) Backseat Confidential (2001) Grrl Power! 7 (2001) Chica Boom 10 (2001) North Pole #25 (2001) 18 and Nasty 24 (2001) Immoral Sisters (2001) Hot Bods and Tail Pipe #20 (2001) I Love Lesbians 10 (2001) Anal Addicts 6 (2001) New Girls in Town 2 (2001) Oral Adventures of Craven Morehead 8 (2001) Young as They Cum (2001)
Tina Turner has done it. So has Cher... sort of. Now, Andrew Lloyd Webber's mega-musical The Phantom of the Opera is ending its touring career, and the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles will host the 17-year old company's final stop beginning tonight. After the frighteningly appropriate date of October 31, Halloween, theatergoers will only be able to see the original production on Broadway, in London or in its truncated incarnation at The Venetian Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.
Having first premiered in London in 1986, The Phantom of the Opera (based on the classic novel by Gaston Leroux) has proven to be an unprecedented global phenomenon. It has outlived Cats, Les Misérables and every other long-running stage musical over the past 24 years. One gay member of the farewell tour's cast, Luke Grooms, recently shared his thoughts about the secret of the show's success with Reverend.
"First and foremost is the music," Grooms said. "There are melodies in Phantom that everybody knows. A lot of us, including myself, listened to the music as children." Webber's score includes such memorable songs as "The Music of the Night," "All I Ask of You," "Masquerade," "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" and the anachronistic but danceable, techno (for the 80's) title tune.
Grooms, who is 31 and openly gay, continued to reflect on what has fueled the Phantom phenomenon: "The costumes and sets are lavish; some people say (the touring company has) been around for so long that the sets must be falling apart and the costumes fraying, but that's just not true. Everyone involved puts so much care into the upkeep of this tour and it shows."
The final key ingredient in the show's popularity is, according to Grooms, its moving story of the disfigured Phantom's love for his musically gifted ingénue, Christine. "The Phantom, even though he is an anti-hero, is a great character," Grooms said. Tim Martin Gleason, who has played the secondary romantic role of Raoul longer than anyone else has, plays the Phantom in the touring production. Sean MacLaughlin plays Raoul, while Trista Moldovan and Kelly Jeanne Grant alternate as Christine.
The operatically trained Grooms plays the role of Ubaldo Piangi, the Paris Opera's male star who falls prey to the Phantom's violent tendencies. Born and raised in rural Tennessee, Grooms has earned a name for himself in the opera world singing with such prestigious companies as New York's Metropolitan and City Operas, the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall, and Glimmerglass Opera. I asked him how his participation in Phantom came about.
"The Phantom folks saw me in the New York premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera (for which Grooms was nominated for the 2010 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Performance) two years ago," he recalls. "After that, there were numerous auditions and here I am." Grooms has been with the Phantom tour for six months. He voiced his hope that he will eventually get to play Piangi in the Broadway production. First, though, he is scheduled to play the classic role of the Duke in a Florida mounting of Rigoletto after Phantom comes to an end.
The Phantom of the Opera marks Grooms' first tour and first time performing in Southern California. He spoke fondly of his experience to date. "They are great people to work with," Grooms says of his cast mates, adding, "(Phantom) is truly one of the best musicals ever written." If that weren't enough, he met his current boyfriend during the tour's stop in Baltimore.
Grooms intends to make the most of his time in Los Angeles. He will be doing a special cabaret performance called Put Your Junk in Your Trunk at the Gardenia Restaurant & Lounge in West Hollywood on Monday, October 4. The show will feature all-new works by up-and-coming musical theatre composers. For reservations or more information, please call (323) 467-7444.
I asked Grooms if this is truly the farewell tour of Phantom or if there will be a Cher-esque, "Never Can Say Goodbye" encore. He laughed, then said, "As far as the company members know, this is the final tour of this particular production, which is just like the Broadway production." If one wants to save themselves the expense of a trip to New York or London, one had best order tickets now for the Phantom's final appearance in Southern California.
Tickets for the Pantages Theatre can be purchased at BroadwayLA.org or by calling 1-800-982-2787.
I like to think of myself as "green" and am all for recycling, but even the most devoted fan of writer-director Woody Allen has to draw the line when it comes to his current, late-career tendency to resurrect characters and plotlines from his prior movies.
In Allen's latest dramedy opening today, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, viewers will re-meet the older man who leaves his wife for a younger woman (à la Hannah and Her Sisters, Another Woman and Husbands and Wives); the struggling author/artist/surgeon/athlete crossing moral/ethical lines to achieve long-denied success (Crimes and Misdemeanors, Match Point); and the prostitute/muse/needy woman who serves as a much-needed voice of conscience (Crimes and Misdemeanors again, Mighty Aphrodite, Match Point again, Vicky Cristina Barcelona; get my point?). It also marks a return stop on Allen's recent international tour, Great Britain.
But if one who has seen more than a few previous Allen productions can suspend their inherent sense of familiarity about the current proceedings, they will discover a typically well-written, wryly humorous and decidedly spiritual (though not religious) take on such timeless themes as love, fidelity, maturity, art and morality. Fantastic performances from a cast that includes Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and Oscar nominees Josh Brolin and Naomi Watts as well as the startlingly good Gemma Jones and Antonio Banderas don't hurt either.
The pivotal figure in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is Helena (Jones, best known in the US as Bridget's mother in the Bridget Jones movies). After being unceremoniously dumped by her husband of 40 years, Alfie (Hopkins), Helena consults a psychic reader to whom she has been referred by her daughter, Sally (Watts), who works in an art gallery owned by Banderas's character, Greg. Sally's husband, Roy (Brolin) is a gifted doctor who gave up medicine for a writing career before he had even practiced.
After Roy's latest manuscript is rejected by his publisher, he undergoes a vocational-midlife crisis and falls for his younger neighbor, Dia (Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto). He also becomes misguidedly inspired to pass a presumably-deceased friend's first, brilliant novel off as his own. Meanwhile, Alfie becomes engaged to Charmaine (Lucy Punch), a woman he has paid for sex for the past two months.
The all-American Brolin, while good, seems miscast in this Euro-centric exercise, and much of the soap opera-esque plot is related through an irritating narrator, Zak Orth. Fortunately, though, Academy Award-winner Vilmos Zsigmond (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Heaven's Gate) provides typically diffuse lighting and lovely cinematography. Banderas is the most natural and moving he has been in years, and Helena's budding romance with an occult bookshop owner (the charming Roger Ashton-Griffiths) is genuinely touching.
If remixing some of his own material wasn't enough, Allen also borrows from Shakespeare's Macbeth, Ibsen's Ghosts, Lucia di Lammermoor and The Wizard of Oz. "Matrimonial agonies" is the name of the game here... as it has been in virtually every other Allen film. What is a bit unique to the plot of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is its spiritual bent, even if said spirituality is the domain of psychics, occultists and fortunetellers rather than rabbis or "mainstream" clerics. Given Allen's senior status, it seems fitting that he would be questioning spiritual matters (as his colleague, Clint Eastwood, is said to be similarly doing in his new movie, Hereafter, opening in late October).
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is not one of Allen's best. That being said, adults looking for thought-provoking fare could do a lot worse right now at the local Cineplex. Piranha 3-D or The Expendables, anyone?
Reverend's Rating: B-
UPDATE: You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is now available on DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon.com.
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from Amazon.com.