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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

F3Sports: Jordan Burroughs helps youth Beat the Streets in Los Angeles

Film Flam Flummox


One of the most charismatic and memorable personalities to emerge from this past summer's Olympics in London, freestyle wrestling gold medalist Jordan Burroughs, continued his post-Games rounds of giving back to communities across the country by hosting aclinic for youth organization Beat the Streets Los Angeles on Friday, December 7. The session encompassed the expected photo ops and autograph signings for the participants, who ranged in age from early middle schoolers to soon-to-be high school graduates, to stories about how Burroughs got involved in the sport and his career thus far, to, of course, teaching the students a few of the physical fundamentals that helped him enjoy such an illustriously decorated career thus far.

While learning winning wrestling maneuvers from one of the world's best was clearly the main drawing card for the youths in the gym that day, watching them in action as they broke into smaller groups after each lesson revealed the deeper purpose beyond mere grappling. One might understandably be led to expect, even in an organized situation such as this, that the younger kids would mostly fall into more disorganized horseplay that would be less at home on a wrestling mat than a playground. However, everyone made sincere, and quite often impressive, efforts at actually performing the maneuvers taught by Burroughs as well as throwing in some from their own solid repertoire. Everyone's naturally rambunctious, youthful energy was, in large part, channelled with a clear sense of control, engaging their respective opponents with the proper tools within the rules.

This rather revelatory observation underscores what Burroughs and the Beat the Streets organization clearly set out to do in their work with youngsters and reinforces the effectiveness ofo their methods. Wrestling may not be the first sport to come to mind as a tool to teach and guide any American youth, let alone potentially at-risk youth in underserved communities, most especially given its fairly low mainstream profile outside of Olympic years and the ongoing "sports entertainment" circus of pro wrestling. But what Beat the Streets does with its various chapters in cities nationwide is rather clever, if not downright ingenious. The sport and art of wrestling teaches one to harness one's strength (especially the rapidly maturing strength of an adolescent)--and with that, possible aggression--with a sense of mental discipline and focus. "Mind over matter" is such a trite cliché, but it's all too truthfully applicable in this case. Beyond the obvious physical requirements and demands, it is the how most quickly, sharply thinking grappler employs the right moves and strategies while constantly standing his or her ground that ultimately wins the matches and the medals. Who knows how many of the youths who participated in the clinic that evening will continue to pursue the sport in any formal manner in the years to come, but whatever lessons imparted by Burroughs and the Beat the Streets teams nationwide will certainly in some way be applicable to their worlds beyond the wrestling circle and in adulthood--as certainly exemplified by Burroughs, still quite young and playfully energetic at the age of 24 but possessing a mental poise and no-nonsense work ethic that belies his chronological years.






Special thanks to Jordan Burroughs and Brian Guerrero and Yero Washington at Beat the Streets LA.


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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

F3PR: 2013 CinemaCon Passepartout Award to be presented to David Kornblum

Film Flam Flummox

PRESS RELEASE

“2013 CINEMACON PASSEPARTOUT AWARD”
TO BE PRESENTED TO
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES
INTERNATIONAL’S DAVID KORNBLUM

WASHINGTON D.C. (December 11, 2012) – David Kornblum, Vice President of International Theatrical Sales and Distribution Asia Pacific and Russia for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, will receive the "2013 CinemaCon Passepartout Award" at CinemaCon's International Day Luncheon, it was announced today by the convention’s managing director, Mitch Neuhauser. The "CinemaCon Passepartout Award" is presented annually to an industry executive whose dedication and commitment to the international marketplace is unparalleled. CinemaCon, the official convention of The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), the largest and most important gathering of cinema owners and operators from around the world, will be held April 15 - 18, 2013 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The International Day Luncheon will take place on Monday, April 15, 2013, where more than 800 industry executives from the international market are expected to be on hand.

“With an infinite passion and love for this great industry, and having left his own indelible mark on the world of distribution and exhibition from a global standpoint, David Kornblum is the ideal recipient of our annual Passepartout Award," said Neuhauser. "His dedication to the international marketplace over the past 23 years is unequalled and is clearly evident to everyone in the industry. We are truly delighted to honor such an accomplished professional and to single him out before his peers at CinemaCon 2013."

David Kornblum has worked for the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International distribution team for over 23 years. Over the course of his career, David has been involved in the distribution of more than 500 titles across all genres throughout the international marketplace, including the very successful releases of the record-setting Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Marvel’s The Avengers, Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3, all of which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide and chart amongst the biggest releases in industry history.

In his current role, he oversees the international theatrical distribution of all Disney Studios, Marvel, Pixar, Walt Disney Feature animation and Dreamworks titles in 15 markets including Japan, Australia, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, New Zealand and India. The APAC-Russia region is the fastest growing region in the world and historically accounts for over 40% of the annual international box-office revenues. In addition to his distribution focus on the APAC-Russia region, he oversees all international acquisitions for the division and has been responsible for distributing them throughout the international marketplace.

In his previous position at Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, he was the Vice President of International Theatrical Sales and Distribution where, as the home office sales lead, he focused on sales planning, strategy and analysis. During his tenure, the company reached the $1 billion annual box-office threshold for the first time and has now crossed this plateau for 18 years in a row – a consecutive record unmatched by any other distributor. He played an integral role in propelling the company to a new performance record in 2010 when the company attained $2.3 billion in overseas box office. The $2 billion milestone was also crossed in 2011 and 2012.

About CinemaCon

CinemaCon will attract upwards of 5,000 motion picture professionals from all facets of the industry -- from exhibition and distribution, to the equipment and concession areas -- all on hand to celebrate the moviegoing experience and the cinema industry. From exclusive Hollywood product presentations highlighting a slate of upcoming films, to must-see premiere feature screenings, to the biggest stars, producers and directors, CinemaCon will help jumpstart the excitement and buzz that surrounds the summer season at the box office.

CinemaCon is delighted to have both the International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) and National Association of Concessionaires (NAC) as its tradeshow partners. CinemaCon is also delighted to have as its official presenting sponsor, The Coca-Cola Company, one of the industry’s greatest and highly regarded and respected partners in the world of the movies. Additional information on CinemaCon, the Official Convention of NATO, can be found at www.cinemacon.com.

About NATO

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, representing more than 30,000 movie screens in all 50 states, and additional cinemas in 57 countries worldwide. NATO’s membership includes the largest cinema chains in the world and hundreds of independent theatre owners, too.


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Monday, December 10, 2012

Movie Music Monday: Priyanka Chopra's indelible "Erase"

Film Flam Flummox


While her worldwide legion of fans still await the premiere of the music video for her debut single, the NFL-adopted "In My City," Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra has quietly released a follow-up, officially credited to New York-based producers/DJ duo The Chainsmokers. As that credit would suggest, "Erase" is, like her first release, a dance single, but the similarities pretty much begin and end there, for if "In My City" fell squarely in the more pop/mainstream end of the spectrum, "Erase" occupies a darker, harder-edged underground club vibe--and the more aggressive and adventurous production also bleeds into Chopra's vocal performance. As she effortlessly glides between a slinky, sensual purr on the verses to an urgent, climactic wail as The Chainsmokers' beats pulsate and percolate to an epic electronica explosion, Chopra displays a vocal abandon akin to the all-in fearlessness she routinely displays in her acting roles--a sense of liberation and exhilaration that is nowhere in evidence in her fun but rather safe debut single. While "In My City" did make me initially interested in what Chopra does as a recording artist, "Erase" makes me more invested in the greater potential of how she develops musically as she experiments and fuses with sounds that lie more on the fringes. (Now, more than ever, I am clamoring for a collaboration, both in film and in music, between Chopra and Driis/7Wallace...)



Buy The Chainsmokers and Priyanka Chopra's "Erase" single here.
Buy Priyanka Chopra and will.i.am's "In My City" single here.

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Monday, November 12, 2012

Movie Music Monday: Les Misérables international trailer

Film Flam Flummox


While the same teaser for Tom Hooper's film of the wildly popular musical version of Les Misérables continues to run on screens in the States, cinemas overseas are now getting a longer trailer that reveals more beyond some scattered images and Anne Hathaway's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream." A taste of that trademark tune does appear again here, but--owing to this film's unusual-for-movie-musicals all-live-on-set-vocals approach--in a wildly different take than has been heard in the Universal's CinemaCon reel, the theatrical teaser, or the live singing featurette; what is widely known and recognized as a powerful but pretty tune is radically transformed into something much more unpolished and emotionally raw, a melancholy lament now taken the next level as an anguished wail of raging bitterness and anger. Who knows what other surprising twists on Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's score lie in store in the finished film, but this trailer offers more traditional-sounding performances of other familiar songs: the gentle, lulling "Castle on a Cloud"; the rousing anthem "Do You Hear the People Sing?"; and, most revealingly, the thrilling full company act one finale "One Day More!"--offering audiences the first taste of Russell Crowe's singing voice as the piece's lead antagonist Inspector Javert. My initial gut reaction? Well, at least everyone else sounds wonderful. But, again, as I've said before, benefit of the doubt until I've seen the entire film.

Les Misérables opens in cinemas on Christmas Day.


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Friday, November 9, 2012

AFI Fest presented by Audi 2012 Reviews

The Movie Report


  • Amour ***
  • The Central Park Five *** 1/2
  • Hitchcock ***
  • Holy Motors ***
  • The Impossible ***
  • John Dies at the End **
  • Life of Pi *** 1/2
  • On the Road **
  • Paradise: Love (Paradies: Liebe) ***
  • Reality ***
  • Rise of the Guardians ***
  • Room 237 ***
  • Rust and Bone (De Rouille et d'Os) ***
  • The Sapphires ***
  • Silver Linings Playbook ***
  • Simon Killer **
  • Tchoupitoulas ***
  • West of Memphis ** 1/2

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