Branded, Posits A Near-Future Dystopia Where Corporate Brands Have Been Taken Over

Among those helping to pour the content into our willing consumer brains is ad executive Misha Galkin (Ed Stoppard). But a tragic accident on one of his commercial shoots sends his career into a tailspin and leads him to retreat from the world. When he returns, the scales drop from his eyes and he’s plagues by visions of weird creatures that can directly influence our thoughts. And there’s an even more sinister plan at work. But can he save us from our own appetites? The cast also features Leelee Sobieski, Max von Sydow and Jeffrey Tambor.

The Branded set in a dystopian future where corporate brands have created a disillusioned population, one man's effort to unlock the truth behind the conspiracy will lead to an epic battle with hidden forces that control the world.

Release Date: September 30th, 2012

Director: Alexander Doulerain, Jamie Bradshaw

Writers: Alexander Doulerain, Jamie Bradshaw

Actors: Andrey Kaykov, Atanas Srebrev, Ed Stoppard, Emma Stickgold, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Jeffrey Tambor, John Laskowski, Leelee Sobieski, Lyubo Yonchev, Mariya Ignatova

Genre: Drama

MPAA Rating: R

Distributed by:Roadside Attractions

MPAA Rating:Rfor language and some sexual content.

Genres:Drama Thriller Mystery

Synopsis: A surreal, dystopian society where corporate brands have unleashed a monstrous global conspiracy and one man seeks to discover the truth and ultimately battle the hidden forces that really control the world.

Stars Were Shining On The 2012 Billboard Music Award

The stars were out and shining Sunday night for the 2012 Billboard Music Award sin Las Vegas.

Despite our red carpet faves like Beyonce, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj skipping the event, there were enough style standouts to keep us happy -- and this year cute couples ruled the red carpet (which was actually white this year).

Fellow Mary Jane enthusiast Miley Cyrus, wearing a dangerously low cut and short white hybrid jacket-dress (seriously, this was a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen), presented the award to Wiz.
　　
He chuckled as he took the mic, then thanked “God first, because God is amazing — so amazing. I want to thank my mom, my dad, my family, everyone who let me do what I do to get to this point.” Khalifa then thanked his label, radio reps, the DJs who spun his hits and, of course, “My beautiful fiancee, she puts up with all my crazy stuff.” Too cute! The camera panned over to Amber Rose, who blushed, clapped and giggled. They really are adorable together. And believe it or not, her white dress was actually more modest than Miley’s.

Wiz was clearly moved by the victory, even admitting, “I’m shakin’ up here!” Unfortunately, though it appeared he had more people to thank, he was cut off by music and show runners. Come on guys, Zooey Deschanel‘s iPhone commercial can wait! Let the man speak.

There Is A Possibility That Joss Whedon Will Direct Avengers 2

At the end of "The Avengers," the members of the crime-fighting team head off in different directions. But they'll certainly be back.

The Los Angeles Times got some time with Avengers director Joss Whedon just before the film's premiere two weeks ago, but only now has an intriguing titbit come to light online about the possibility of him directing Avengers 2.

“You know, I’m very torn. It’s an enormous amount of work telling what is ultimately somebody else’s story, even though I feel like I did get to put myself into it."

"Iron Man 3," "Thor 2" and "Captain America 2" are all slated for the big screen during the next two years. And the speculative hype for additional projects has skyrocketed in light of "The Avengers' " staggering $200 million opening weekend.

"We're not shy about believing that all our characters have great stories to tell," says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.

Iron Man will be the first to return with a solo project as his third installment begins production next month in North Carolina. Robert Downey Jr. and director Shane Black will bring back wise-cracking Tony Stark for a May 3, 2013 release.

FOR those of you who haven't yet had chance to see The Avengers - or Marvel Avengers Assemble as it's known in the UK - we are about to enter the world of spoilers so here's your one and only warning.

If you are among the masses who have watched the film - and propelled it to record-breaking heights at the box office - you will be aware that there is a teaser scene amid the credits that gives us the first onscreen look at the cosmic baddie Thanos.

We see The Other, leader of alien race the Chitauri (who Loki recruits as his otherworldly army), telling his shadowy master that attacking Earth "would be to court death". The master then turns and gives an evil smile.

With some rumors before the film's release claiming Captain America archenemy Red Skull was in The Avengers, the reveal of Thanos (see below) at least explains where that notion came from - although the comic book version is sometimes depicted as blue or purple.

Derived from the personification of death, Thanatos - a daemon from Greek mythology - Thanos was the diabolical child of writer-artist Jim Starlin. First appearing in Iron Man 55 in 1973, the god-like villain is a member of a race called the Eternals. He hails from Titan, a moon of Saturn, and strives to extinguish all life in the universe as tribute to his one true love, Death herself.

More women in big action movies? Sounds like a good thing – as does another Whedonesque Avengers 2, to be honest.

For more details on The Avengers and Marvel's ongoing plans for the characters that appear in it, be sure to listen to our Avengers spoiler podcast with Marvel studio head Kevin Feige below.

Dark Knight Rises May Compete With The Avengers

The Dark Knight Rises is soon coming to theatres in July and the hype is already on as to whether the movie will be able to break its own record for The Dark Knight.

Recently, a new leaked image of Bane was revealed by the Total Film Magazine during an interview with Christian Bale and Tom Hardy. The image showed Bane in his mask.

It's the question on everybody's lips. If you use Twitter, you will have no doubt seen various film writers and box office analysts discussing whether or not The Dark Knight Rises will be able to topMarvel's The Avengers at the box office later this year. It's not hard to understand why either, especially as The Dark Knight was the first comic book movie to gross $1 billion (after being re-released that is). Now, Joss Whedon's superhero ensemble has smashed every record set by Christopher Nolan's last Batman movie, and analysts are currently predicting that it will ultimately take the #3 spot on the list of all-time highest grossing movies. So, the question now is, will The Dark Knight Rises be able to topple The Avengers? Here's your chance to share your thoughts on this controversial subject...

"It's not as bad as you might think. You just put it on. Work out where you drool goes. That's it. Mask work is good fun. This one wasn't painful; there was the stunt mask and there was the up-close on for the sexy glam shots," said Tom Hardy during an interview with Total Film Magazine.

The end of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises has been set eight years after "The Dark Knight" and features new characters of Selina Kyle played by Anne Hathaway has also revealed her role as the Catwoman.

"It's an incredible role. It's one of the most famous comic-book characters for a woman. But, also, it's Catwoman In this franchise. It's hard to talk about Selina Kyle because she's intensely private and mysterious. She has her own ethics, which can involve doing things other people might consider questionable," said Anne Hathaway and as reported in Flicksandbits.

"THE DARK KNIGHT RISES footage was as awesome as you'd expect. Saw footage of "The Bat" in action. IMAX stuff looks sick. Nolan is amazing," as per a tweet by Steven Weintraub, Editor-in-chief of Collider.com.

The footage screened at the CinemaCon included Batman in his new Batcave, and slight reveals of Catwoman played by Anne Hathaway.

"A new, atmospheric Bat-score was used here, music that slowly built in tension and eeriness the way Joker's theme did in The Dark Knight. There was plenty of images of Batman and Catwoman in action here, lots of Batpod stuff, brawling and explosions", described IGN.com.

Footage showed an epic battle scene between Bane, the film's main villain, and Batman. Bane's merc army and the Gotham City Police Department also brawl in the streets of Gotham City. The clip also reveals footage of The Dark Knight Rises' new character John Blake.

"In the scenes shown Blake flashes a badge and is quickly seen wielding a shotgun, but the most interesting cut featured a giant bridge crumbling in an explosion and then a reaction shot from Gordon-Levitt. Just as with trailers, it's hard to know if that will actually be the cut in the final film or if it was done for dramatic effect, but it most definitely had the latter", according to Cinema Blend.

It would also mark nearly one year since the marketing team from Warner Bros. first launched The Dark Knight Rises official website in May 2011. TDKR's viral marketing campaign utilized encrypted audio that sounded like chanting. Once fans decipher the code, it provides a link to a Twitter page where the first official image of Bane was revealed.
　　
Additional marketing materials have surfaced since then including a leaked prologue trailer featuring Bane. The upcoming trailer may reveal even more footage of Bane, offering fans a closer look at the Dark Knight's foe. Looking from past released trailers, Bane appears systematic in his terrorist plots and also a physical threat to Batman.
　　
Fans also got a glimpse at another popular Batman character Catwoman in its second trailer along with leaked photos. Actress Anne Hathaway portrays the caped crusader's sexy rival Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle who dances with Bruce Wayne in TDKR's second trailer.
　　
The latest news would shoot down past rumor that the new TDKR trailer may be attached to Tim Burton's Dark Shadows. No word yet on when the trailer will be available online. For those planning to see The Avengers, you will be sure to get a little extra value for your movie ticket.

"The Avengers" Seems To Be In The Running For The Most-talked-about Superhero Film

The Avengers seems to be in the running for the most-talked-about superhero film of the year. Fortunately, we're only in May, and a raft of other similar films released in the next few months, including, but not limited to, a reboot of Spider-Man and the final Batman, will easily challenge this particular end-of-the-world superhero fantasy.

What makes The Avengers mildly interesting is the combination of superheroes and the inevitable banter between them - especially any scene in which the ever-witty Robert Downey Jr. appears as Iron Man. Downey comfortably extends his run as the billionaire Tony Stark who is amicable with or without his technologically superb suit of metal.

But the film has many flaws, and at nearly two and a half hours, there are plenty of opportunities to tune out completely. Most significantly, until the final two or three reels of the film, the action seems to take place in another world that is completely alien to the viewer.

Joss Whedon, the occasionally surly genius behind Buffy, Angel, Firefly and to a lesser degree, Dollhouse, has done it. He's created an ensemble superhero film that actually works.

Ever since Iron Man teased us with a cameo from Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D., propositioning a reticent Tony Stark to join 'The Avengers initiative', fans have been understandably worried. It's hard enough to get one superhero right, let alone a team of them. So how did Whedon manage to make a film that hits harder, faster and cleaner than any of the individual elements (Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, and so forth) combined?

The Avengers is an idea that never seemed particularly promising until it was announced Whedon would be writing and directing it. Prior to this, many were excitable over the prospect, but felt it smacked of corporate grandstanding -- an idea taking place whilst suits scrambled to find someone who could make a convincing cash-cow; someone to clumsily jam various heroes from smaller cash-cows into what would probably be a spectacular piece of artistic diarrhoea. Whedon, however, does no such thing.

First off, it's worth seeing the films which have thrown their hats into the ring here: Iron Man is uniformly excellent, with Robert Downey Jr. absolutely nailing every facet of Tony Stark's simultaneously arrogant and noble personality, a personality which didn't get any evolution in Iron Man 2, but here, gets an unbelievable amount of time and space to breathe and develop. Chris Hemsworth does a fantastic job as Thor; Thor is, again, worth seeing, and is a fairly faithful translation of just how much cheese and chivalry a Thor movie should have. Captain America was a brilliant portrait of patriotism, jingoism and loyalty painted in big, bold, broad strokes, with Chris Evans front and centre as the titular hero. You can, however, probably afford to skip both abortive attempts at bringing The Hulk to the big screen: here, Mark Ruffalo is given the mantle of Bruce Banner. In short, you'll feel each tiny eddy of this story all the more keenly if you've seen the individual films, but Whedon is enough of an artisan to convey a weight of backstory for those new to this universe regardless.

As we've mentioned, Nick Fury (Jackson) and his shorter, whiter, almost humourless counterpart Agent Coulson (played superbly by Clark Gregg) have been scouring the earth for heroes to form a team called The Avengers, whose job would be fighting the battles that mere mortals aren't capable of fighting. The initiative never took off. The Avengers kicks off with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) invading S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, as a precursor to an all-out invasion of Earth. It compels Fury to form the kind of group Whedon excels at portraying: a hyperactively disparate and dysfunctional family unit. The film then begins to revolve around scene after scene of bickering, in which our heroes ricochet off one-another, forming alliances, incessantly hectoring each others weaknesses, and, eventually, forming frighteningly realistic and deep relationships. The Avengers really does become a story about a family comprised of lonely gods.

This might be why Whedon has succeeded with The Avengers; he's focused on the humanity of the characters. For example: Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johannsen as Hawkeye and Black Widow respectively, both bring more depth than anything thought possible to two characters who could have been peripheral, but here become just as pivotal as The Hulk, Cap, Stark or Thor. Whether we're watching the two 'human' Avengers unravel, or their bigger, badder, apparently stronger cohorts, they all have the same problem: they're on the outside looking in. Good superhero stories always convey a core truth: it's not the power you have, it's what you do with it. Whedon has these titans whittling away at one another, being petty, curmudgeonly, wonderful arseholes over niggling personality issues, while the world teeters on the brink of destruction.

The film portrays a magnificently nuanced series of moral wrestling matches; in which the stalwart, vintage idealism of Captain America is pitted against the bracing but reckless whimsy of Tony Stark; the baffling but endearing reticence of Banner against… well, everyone. Whedon knows that it's all well and good to have superb fight sequences (and they are superb: each fight is like a martial ballet, especially as the movie progresses), but unless you're deeply invested in those doing the fighting, you may as well be watching Clash of the Titans.

Also, The Avengers is, at times, hilarious. And somehow, the 3D doesn't actually detract from the experience. There are perhaps only two flaws with this film. Firstly, you can't please everyone. Comic fans will find flaws with what was or wasn't done to their liking, and this is well within their wheelhouse, so we can't and shouldn't fault them for this. Comics are long-running, immersive narratives, and if you'd been reading a constantly evolving story for decades on end, you'd be irate if someone didn't do it justice. Secondly, the film doesn't leave a great deal of room for those who don't like superheroes. Which might sound stupid, but many critics are… well, stoic people. And stoic people don't usually like films brimming with required knowledge, or explosions of awesomeness.

"Sound Of My Voice" Was One Of The Few Slow Burning Dramas

Even if you know a lot about cults, there's a mystery at the heart of cult psychology that is singular in its creepiness. And that's the mystery of identity: What happens to people as their personalities bend and waver and recede under the influence of the leader and the group? Do their identities change? Or do they, in effect, become ghost versions of who they were? Sound of My Voice, the story of two Los Angeles bohemians who infiltrate a cult to make a documentary exposé about it, is a small-scale, shot-on-DV movie that, in its stripped-down low-budget way, gets deeper into the fascination — the mental horror — of cults than Martha Marcy May Marlene did.

At the start, the two doc filmmakers — Peter (Christopher Denham), owlish and ironic, and Lorna (Nicole Vicius), docile and sincere — are blindfolded and driven to a drab suburban basement, where an elaborate secret handshake — it lasts 30 seconds — allows them to be led to an inner sanctum. There they meet Maggie, the white-robed cult leader, who claims to be from the year 2054. She's played by Brit Marling with a mix of sensuality, hostility, and all-knowing attitude that is freakishly captivating, not to mention a little scary. The rituals are scary too — notably a group regurgitation that looks like something out of a very sick porno. It's all about breaking down who people are, but does Peter get broken down too? Sound of My Voice doesn't follow through on everything it sets up, yet it has a hushed and revealing psycho-intensity. It also has an oh-wow Twilight Zone ending that truly made me go, ''Oh, wow.'

Whether this alleged emissary from 2054 is lying—and if she is, whether she’s doing so with malicious intentions—is left just murky enough to begin causing doubt even in the markedly logical mind of an amateur documentarian (Christopher Denham) who has personal reasons for wanting to prove Marling a fraud. He and his girlfriend (Nicole Vicius) have patiently infiltrated the group and found their way into the inner circle, but aren’t prepared for what they find. Warm but unforgiving, fragile but steely, Marling is a fascinating presence, and Denham is drawn to her for reasons beyond just needing to take her down. Every ominous note the film sounds about the group—a spontaneous lesson in target practice, an insistence on fasting and purging—is answered by another “Well, maybe…”

The film, directed with efficiency by first-timer Zal Batmanglij, is a little too lean, filled with strong scenes that bump up against one another with no space to expand or resonate and an ending that’s unavoidably abrupt. But Marling provides a grave, otherworldly center around which everything else orbits—a wispy blonde apparently dying from her contact with our present, she speaks with a vague, New Age-y mysticism, but is also capable of being grounded, funny, and nothing like a sci-fi martyr. In the film’s best scene, she’s asked by her followers to sing a song from her time. The one she comes up with is familiar, and so audacious a choice viewers will likely think she has to be faking—and then that she couldn’t possibly be passing it off with such sincerity if she was. Who’s to say what will seem new again in the future? Or what vulnerable people will swallow?

If you are looking for pure entertainment then this isn’t the film for you as you’ll be required to think a little bit, but the payoff is both wonderful and frustrating.  The ending will leave you extremely puzzled and your brain may hurt for a bit because the finale can be interpreted in two distinct ways. SPOILER The first way is tsound of my voice still 300x168 Sound of My Voice Review and Red Carpet Interviewso believe that she is actually from the future and what Peter witnessed validates that prospect. 

The second way is to believe that the entire thing was a con and that everybody involved, including the Justice Department and the kid, were in on it from the get go. This is where my brief conversation where Brit comes into play.  She said I should go the romantic route and think positively, so I’m bound to settle on the first theory.