Maleficent: Experienced Costume, Makeup & Hair Design

Anna B. Sheppard, Costume Designer

Two-time Oscar nominated costume designer Anna B. Sheppard (Schindler’s List, The Pianist, Inglorious Basterds, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Book Thief) will be designing the costumes for Maleficent, set to be released in theaters May 30th. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Poland and by all accounts now makes her home in London.

Sheppard was nominated for Academy Awards for Schindler's List and The Pianist, and nominated for the Critics Choice Award and won the Saturn Award for Inglorious Basterds.  Sheppard was also nominated for the Saturn Award for Captain America: The First Avenger.

Angelina Jolie as Maleficent

The costumes for Maleficent are already getting a lot of attention.  This Disney film, starring the Oscar-winning actress, Angelina Jolie (Girl, Interrupted and Changeling) as the title character, will tell the tale of how the famous villain of Sleeping Beauty became so evil and cruel.  

Jolie, in both the trailer and pre-released photos, appears be the perfect visual selection for the wicked character, and finally we'll learn Maleficent's story.  Now an actress, producer and director, Jolie is very respected in Hollywood and chooses the films she does carefully.  

Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora

The supporting cast seems very capable, with Elle Fanning (Dejavu, Super 8, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) as Princess Aurora, Brenton Thwaites (The Blue Lagoon, The Awakening) as Prince Phillip, Sharlto Copley (District 9, Elysium, Oldboy) as Stefan, Juno Temple (Atonement, The Dark Knight Rises) as Thistletwit, and Ella Purnell (Never Let Me Go) as a Teen Maleficent. The film will also be introducing Vivienne Jolie-Pitt as the Toddler Princess Aurora.

Take a look at the latest trailer here:

Rick Baker,  Makeup Artist

Seven-time Academy Award-winning makeup artist Rick Baker will be leading the makeup team on Maleficent.  He's won Oscars for his incredibly unique and industry-changing makeup on the following films, and he certainly has the experience and talent to win another Oscar for this one:

           Rick Baker's Oscar Wins:

•  An American Werewolf in London, 1982
•  Harry and the Hendersons, 1988
•  Ed Wood, 1995
•  The Nutty Professor, 1997
•  Men in Black, 1998
•  How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2001
•  The Wolfman, 2011

In fact, after his work on An American Werewolf in London in 1982, the Academy created a new category for "Best Makeup and Hair Design"; Baker was the very first winner.  It's been 32 years ago, and it's still arguably the best werewolf transformation ever.  Haven't seen it?  Watch it below:

In November of 2012, Baker received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his exemplary career to date, and it's located directly in front of the Guinness Book of World Records. His star's located there because he's in the Guinness Book of World Records twice; once for having the most Oscar wins, and again for having most Oscar nominations for "Best Achievement in Makeup".  He's been nominated a total of twelve times has seven wins.

Jolie shows her power as Maleficent

Maleficent is one Disney movie that is sure to have lots of action, as can be seen in the previews.  However, it may be a bit darker than some of the previous Disney films.  It is rated PG for action, adventure and drama.  The PG rating comes as a result of "sequences of fantasy action and violence, including frightening images," according to IMDB. 

There's one thing we can all count on; Sheppard and Baker and their team of experts will give us quite a visual show.  I'm really excited to see this one and see what kind of costume design and special effects the team brings to the table. How about you? 

 
            pictures and movie rating/release date information courtesy of IMDB.com               

pictures courtesy of www.walkoffame.com, www.hollywood.com

preview and transformation scene courtesy of YouTube.com

 

 

 

God's Not Dead - A Powerful Movie with a Talented Cast

Willie & Korie Robertson co-star in the film

We live in a world where the Christian faith is being put to the test routinely; Christians are condemned around the world every day.  I find it truly exiting that there are four faith-based movies that are being released within two months of one another: Son of God (Feb. 28th), God's Not Dead (Mar. 21st - in theaters now), Noah (Mar. 28th) and Heaven is for Real (April 16th).  After seeing God's Not Dead, I would say if you are not a Christian or you are on the fence, of these movies I just mentioned, this one may be the one you want to see, especially if you missed Son of God (which was incredible-go back and watch it).

Shane Harper as Josh Wheaton

Shane Harper (of Good Luck Charlie & High School Musical 2 fame) plays Josh Wheaton, a college freshman whose beliefs are put to the test by his atheist Philosophy professor.  As the movie plays out, Josh must defend his faith in front of his entire class and prove the existence of God, while Professor Radisson, played by the incredibly talented Kevin Sorbo, throws contradicting arguments at him

Kevin Sorbo as the Professor, threatening Josh

like darts to discredit his theories.  What unfolds could be likened to a classic showdown of good vs. evil.  We have a Christian student with a Bible trying to convince a room full of college kids that God is real, and an angry atheist that will do anything to convince all of them that God is Dead; not real.

Michael Tait, Lead Singer for Newsboys

During the film, several side stories are taking place; some heart-wrenching and sad (bring tissues), some with people doubting God's existence and some very uplifting.  An appearance by the super-popular Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty and his beautiful wife Korie will surely excite fans of the

Newsboys about to pray with a sick woman

show.  The brilliant and incredibly talented Newsboys, who not only give a concert performance but have speaking parts and pray for a cancer-stricken woman, really add a lot to the movie.  The power experienced through Christian music in this film really shined through for me.

Other co-stars in the film include Dean Cain, David A.R.

Hadeel Sittu as Ayisha

White, Trisha LaFache, Paul Kwo, Hadeel Sittu, Cory Oliver, and Benjamin Onyango.  Hadeel Sittu, Cory Oliver and Benjamin Onyango gave standout performances.  For more on the cast and the movie, go to: 

God's Not Dead Movie

Don't miss the trailer here:

To quote a Children's Pastor that, coincidentally, was in the same showing of the film that I attended, "The acting in God's Not Dead was better than any other faith-based film that has come out yet."  My thoughts, exactly.  For having the low budget this film had, the film is doing surprisingly well and took in 8.5 million in its opening weekend (Friday-Sunday), and come in 5th place.  I have a feeling it will continue to do well, and look forward to seeing more movies like this in Hollywood.

Kevin Sorbo, who plays Professor Radisson, told the Christian Science Monitor in an interview on March 24, 2014: 

The silent majority is starting to get annoyed with what’s going on . . . I think more people need to start speaking about it instead of just sitting there and taking it . . . It’s happening; you’re getting attacked; you need to stand up for yourself and your beliefs.

If your faith were to be questioned, would you know how to defend it?

". . . Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."  (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)
 

Christians - I recommend this film so highly.  You will be thrilled with it. If you are not a Christian - I recommend this film even more, gently and respectfully.  I love and respect all people for who they are, no matter what race, color, creed, orientation, political view or religion.  This is just a great film and I would not want anyone to miss out.
 

I give God's Not Dead ★★★★☆ 

Drama/Fantasy

(thematic material, brief violence and an accident scene) Running Time: 113 Mins.

Sex           ☆☆☆☆☆

Nudity     ☆☆☆☆☆
Language      ☆☆☆☆☆
Violence     ★☆☆☆☆
Alcohol/Drugs     ☆☆☆☆☆

"How far would you go…to defend your belief in God?"

(Pictures & above quote courtesy of godsnotdeadthemovie.com, rating/cast information courtesy of IMDB.com, and verse courtesy of BibleGateway.com)

     

Divergent: Great Casting, Suspenseful and Fast-Paced ★★★★☆

I had the privilege of seeing Divergent last night at the Thursday night premiere in my hometown.  My excitement built all day, as I've been waiting for this one for a while.  I love the book, and I wanted to see how the movie would stand up to Veronica Roth's #1 New York Times Bestseller. So many times I've been disappointed by the movie version of a great book or book series, and I wondered how it would go.  Would the characters be what I'd imagined as I read the book?  Would they really bring the book to life?  

Popcorn in hand, I headed into the theater early and got a great seat, impatiently sitting through the warm up pre-show and then anxiously tapping my foot to a TON of previews, waiting for Divergent to begin.

Shailene Woodley as Tris (right) &

Zoë Kravitz as Christina (left)

Finally it started and the images from my head came to life.  A post- apocalyptic Chicago with a huge walled structure built around it came up onto the big screen.  My next thought was that they couldn't

Tris, Dauntless & Learning to Fight

have cast a better Tris than Shailene Woodley.  In the beginning of the film, her minimalist look (hair, makeup, wardrobe), since she was being raised up in the Abnegation Faction, was plain perfection.  Woodley played Tris delicately when necessary and with fierce boldness once she gained her confidence in the Dauntless Faction. 

Oh, The Costumes!

Costume Designer Carlo Poggioli did an amazing job with the costumes for all five factions:  Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite.  Simplicity was key, as was color, and he did magnificent work putting the entire piece together in costume.  I kept thinking, "Bravo, Carlo Poggioli!" A lot of what made the book translate to film was the costuming.  You can find out more about the five factions and what each one means here: Divergent Factions

More on the Cast of Divergent

Four & Tris, Weapons Training

Theo James is well cast as Four, a Dauntless leader and instructor who not only trains Tris, but becomes a mentor and friend to her and, eventually, well...no spoilers here.  He is handsome, strong and determined - and has a tormented past that's developed over time in the movie.  

Jai Courtney as Eric, Dauntless Leader

The part of Eric is portrayed in an over exaggerated fashion by the very buff-and-tough Jai Courtney, also a Dauntless leader.  Eric is a much crueler personality than Four, but for me, he overplays the part a bit too much.  The more I've had time to think about it, perhaps it was necessary to get the true nature of the training of the new recruits across.  At times, however, his depiction just seems SO over the top.  He certainly looks the part of Eric, which 
is a plus. 

Kate Winslet plays Jeanine in the film, the cold-hearted Erudite leader with plans to take over the government and kill all Divergents.  She is really deceiving her faction, because the belief of the Erudite Faction, book readers would know, is "a calm mind is a clear mind."  Jeanine is power-hungry and does not want to risk being challenged by anyone that is Divergent.  Always well-dressed and looking neat and beautiful, her beauty is quickly shown to be only exterior.

The supporting cast, Ashley Judd as Natalie Prior, Ansel Elgort as Caleb Prior and Tony Goldwyn as Andrew Prior, all give convincing and engaging performances as a Tris' mother, brother and father (respectively).  Ashley Judd is especially amazing, playing an Abnegation mother and then

Zoë Kravitz as Christina

showing her Dauntless bravery when protecting her daughter in one of the fire-fight action scenes.  Zoë Kravitz shines as one of the Dauntless trainees, bringing life to the screen in every scene she's in.

Tris and others that don't fit into just one faction, or have aptitude for multiple factions (which is rare) are called Divergents.  For instance, Tris was born into Abnegation, however, she has traits of three factions that she must conceal (Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite).  Should anyone find out she's Divergent, she'll be in extreme danger.  Thus, the mystery and intrigue in the movie:  who's Divergent and who's not?  The movie is a thriller and keeps you watching, from start to finish.

The Trailer (for those who haven't seen it)

Changes, but Nothing Earth-Shattering

There are a few subtle things in the movie that are

Divergent Book Cover

either eliminations or changes from the book, but nothing earth-shattering that will upset a real Divergent book fan.  Overall, the movie's a really good adaptation, it's full of action and does a good job of covering Roth's bestseller thoroughly.  I can highly recommend seeing this one, whether you have read Roth's first book or not.

Divergent is directed by Neil Burger, who's known for The Illusionist (2006), The Lucky Ones (2008) and Limitless (2011).

Take a test:  Which Faction Do You Fit Into?

I give Divergent ★★★★☆

Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi

MPAA Rating:  PG-13 

(intense violence and action, thematic elements and some sensuality)

Running Time: 139 Mins.

Sex           ★☆☆☆☆

Nudity     ☆☆☆☆☆
Language      ★☆☆☆☆
Violence     ★★★★☆
Alcohol/Drugs     ☆☆☆☆☆

"What Makes You Different, Makes You Dangerous" 

(Pictures courtesy of trisandfour.com and divergentthemovie.com, book cover picture courtesy of npr.com & director, tagline & movie ratings information courtesy of IMDB.com)

     


   


    

Kate Winslet is Presented Her Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Kate Winslet, Actress

On March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, even after an earthquake hit L.A., Kate Winslet showed up looking beautiful in a perfectly fitted LBD to happily accept her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  Winslet said, "I'm completely overwhelmed by the number of people that there are here today.  I honestly had no idea this was going to be such a well-attended event especially after the earthquake this morning, which frightened me quite a lot."

The six-time Oscar nominated British actress won on her sixth nomination in 2009 for the 2008 film The Reader, where she portrayed Hannah Schmitz, a Nazi war criminal on trial in post-war Germany, eight years

Kate Winslet in The Reader

after an affair with a younger man she nursed back to health.  The actress has also won two BAFTA awards, two Golden Globes, an Emmy award and a Grammy.  Now she just needs to win a Tony Award to obtain the coveted EGOT, which is winning all four major American Awards for Entertainment.

Her Hollywood Walk of Fame star is well deserved, and she is one of the most talented and versatile actresses in Hollywood.  Winslet's latest film, Divergent, opens in

Kate Winslet (left) & Shailene Woodley (right) at Presentation

theaters everywhere this Friday.  Actress Shailene Woodley, who stars in Divergent with Winslet, spoke at star awards presentation about Winslet.

Currently, Kate Winslet has two movies in pre-production and one in post-production.  I'm most excited about 2015's The Dressmaker, directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse.  IMDB describes the film this way: "A glamorous woman returns to her small town in rural Australia. With her sewing machine and haute couture style, she transforms the women and exacts sweet revenge on those who did her wrong."  This one had me at haute couture style!  It'll be based on Rosalie Ham's best selling novel of the same name.

One thing we can count on is the beautiful and talented Kate Winslet will continue to give fantastic performances in her films.  Divergent, A Little Chaos and Triple Nine are all coming soon, so we'll be seeing her quite a bit.  That, my friends, is a good thing.

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(photos courtesy of eonline.com and hellomagazine.com, and upcoming film/awards information courtesy of IMDB.com)

Need for Speed - Hot Cars, Mind-Blowing Racing & Aaron Paul

Official Need for Speed Poster

I went into Need for Speed with some trepidation.  I never was a huge Fast and Furious super-fan, and the trailer didn’t give me a lot to go on.  I am, however, a BIG fan of Aaron Paul, having watched his masterful portrayal of Jesse Pinkman in the series Breaking Bad on AMC from 2008-2013. 

Aaron Paul as Tobey Marshall

In 2010 and 2012, Paul won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, and in 2014 won the SAG Award (with the entire cast) for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.  There were many nominations from

Shelby Mustang from the film

2008-2013, including Golden Globe nominations and Saturn Awards.  The talented Paul has acting chops, and good ones.  He is a true character actor. This is what really had me interested in Need for Speed; seeing him in a very different role.

Well, I can honestly tell you Aaron Paul does not disappoint in the role of Tobey Marshall in Need for Speed.  He does an incredible job as a man out to avenge the death of one of his best friends and his own false imprisonment, deciding to do so through racing.  Unfortunately for movie goers, some of the story is more than a bit flimsy, there are a few holes in the plot and the actors supporting Paul are mostly mediocre - all leaving me with some muddled feelings on this film.   

With just a few changes, Need for Speed could've been a much better movie. Regrettably, the theatrical release left me feeling as though something was missing, even though Paul did a remarkable job as Marshall.  You may find it interesting that IMDB movie-goers have given this film a 7.3/10 stars so far (at the time of this blog publication), which is much higher than many top critics. 
 

One of many crash scenes in the film

The cars and street racing came across as very realistic, and many times it felt as though I was actually in a car going over 200 mph.  The fact that Director Scott Waugh is a former Hollywood stunt coordinator and filmed the races, both cross-country and the

Some of the hot cars you will see

street racing scenes, using the actors, stunt drivers and live racing, is awesome!  I felt like my hair should have been blowing back with the wind in my face at times.  No fakey-racey going on in this film (aka CGI).  While many have found this to be a negative, I can assure you it’s not. The racing’s the very best part of this film, and there’s a ton of it.

Where the movie loses some speed (pun intended) is with the co-starring cast of characters and a thin plot line.  It is, after all, based on a series of video games that has been around since the early 1990’s and historically these types of movies generally don’t do so well at the box office.  Take, for instance, Max Payne, BloodRayne, Mortal Kombat, and Silent Hill, just to name just a handful.  If you are a gamer and have an interest, I found a great Need for Speed Gaming Retrospective that you might like. 

I'd like to note that both Imogene Poots and Scott Mescudi did a really great job.  Both were funny when they needed to be and they helped carry the movie when the racing was and wasn't going on.  I have nothing bad to say about Dakota Johnson's small role, either.  The

Imogene Poots as Julia Maddon

rest of the cast, however, in one way or another, lacked feeling and the acting felt forced. 

I do recommend seeing this film, but not because it has an excellent storyline. See it for a great couple of hours of entertainment, some mind-blowing racing and a lot of really hot cars, and just for Aaron Paul.  It’s a fantastic ride for those things alone. 

Aaron Paul & the main cast of Need for Speed

I give Need for Speed ★★★☆☆

MPAA Rating:  PG-13 

(for sequences of reckless street racing, disturbing crash scenes, nudity and crude language)

Running Time: 132 Mins.

Sex           ★☆☆☆☆

Nudity      ★★☆☆☆
Language      ★★☆☆☆
Violence     ★★★☆☆
Alcohol/Drugs     ★☆☆☆☆

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Pictures courtesy of screenrant.com, kingroomentertainment.com and IMDB.com.  Movie ratings information and Awards information courtesy of IMDB.com.