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The Earth is a pretty bleak place for humans in the new science fiction movie, "After Earth." Set 1,000 years in the future, "After Earth" depicts a future in which humanity is forced to abandon Earth in search of a new home. The remnants of the human race travel to and resettle on Nova Prime — a fictional planet located light-years away from Earth.

Director J.J. Abrams' 2009 prequel to the dusty Star Trek property got the space saga out of mothballs and back on the pop culture radar. Star Trek Into Darkness resumes the franchise's penchant for futuristic allegories to modern times. Well, if you consider the Bush years the state of today's foreign policy debates.The '60s series never bludgeoned viewers with its mission statements, and the Star Trek sequel similarly embraces razzle dazzle over speechifying. Abrams is too keenly focused on ambitious action sequences, those maddening lens flares and the bond between the ship's crew that made those prior voyages such a...

I hope this helps: Previous threads STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Opens Strong Internationally 'Star Trek Into Darkness' is lost in space 'Star Trek Into Darkness' review: Energized Star Trek Into Darkness – review ‘Star Trek Into Darkness' movie review Review: Star Trek Into Darkness 'Star Trek Into Darkness' review: Fast and fun IMDb user reviews IMDb external reviews Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic

I admire Stephen Henderson, editorial page editor at the Detroit Free Press, because he is thoughtful in his commentary and has little patience for fiscal waste, but his recent column on Michigan's film incentive program should have applied this standard more strongly. Doing so would yield a clear conclusion: Film subsidies have to go. Researchers across the spectrum agree that film incentives don't create jobs. The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found the economic benefits to be "more fiction than fact," while the conservative Tax Foundation says the film incentives "are costly and fail to live up to...

Iran's Visual Media Institute in collaboration with the American-Canadian company Reel Knights Productions are producing the movie "Airbus"; a movie about the Iran Air Flight 655 , which was shot down by the U.S.S. Vincennes over the Persian Gulf on July 3, 1988.

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A media company that was paid using $1.8 million from taxpayers thanks to Michigan film incentives in 2011 to do post-production work for the movie Spy Kids 4 looks to be out-of-business and has left a series of unpaid bills behind. Speedshape was trumpeted as a company that would use "Michigan-based talent" while doing the work on the movie, according to a March 31, 2011, press release from the Michigan Film Office. The Weinstein Co. paid Speedshape $4.5 million and was reimbursed for $1.8 million by the Michigan film tax incentive. However, Speedshape hasn’t paid $20,296 in personal property taxes...

Raymond Frederick Harryhausen Born: Los Angeles 29th June 1920 Died: London 7th May 2013. The Harryhausen family regret to announce the death of Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects pioneer and stop-motion model animator. He was a multi-award winner which includes a special Oscar and BAFTA. Ray’s influence on today’s film makers was enormous, with luminaries; Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Peter Jackson, George Lucas, John Landis and the UK’s own Nick Park have cited Harryhausen as being the man whose work inspired their own creations. Harryhausen’s fascination with animated models began when he first saw Willis O’Brien’s creations in KING KONG with...

If the state’s film subsidy were a movie itself, it likely would be a riches-to-rags story. Just five years after the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate passed a bill by a combined 145-1 vote that gave huge subsidies to the movie industry, Republican state representatives are proposing to eliminate the film credit completely. Nancy Cassis was a Republican state senator from Novi in 2008 and the only legislator to vote against the film subsidy. "I think the mounting body of evidence that the economic return of using film credits is minuscule and actually a questionable subsidy to the movie...

For the past several months, trailers for this summer's most anticipated films have been hitting the web on a nearly daily basis. But the trailers aimed at getting moviegoers excited for these big-budget releases may be showing off a bit too much.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 05:00 PM (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Eddie Albert Three naval cadets graduate and help each other find jobs. Comedy/1940 TCM, Brother Rat And A Baby

Are you a fan of Orson Scott Card's best-selling young adult science fiction novel "Ender's Game"? Are you eager for the first glimpse of the film adaption that's due in theaters in November? Well, the good news is it's up on line, and don't worry – it won’t take long at all for you to check it out. "Ender's Game" is vying to become the next major movie franchise based on a hot young adult literary property, and while fans will have to wait until May 7 to see the first full trailer, what could be described as a trailer...

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s story has landed in the able hands of Twilight Saga producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. Rodham, placed fourth on the 2012 Black List, focuses on the early, pre-pantsuit career of Hillary when she becomes the youngest lawyer chosen for the House Judiciary Committee to Impeach Nixon. However, the bright-eyed future First Lady/Senator/Secretary Of State/Diplomat finds that she has to make the difficult decision between a destined path to the White House and her lingering yearnings for ex-boyfriend Bill Clinton.

I recently spent 96 mesmerizing minutes viewing the latest film release of the story of Sir Nicholas Winton at the Detroit Film Theatre within the Detroit Institute of Arts complex. “Nicky’s Family” (http://www.menemshafilms.com/nickys-family) portrays the bold actions of a young British businessman who saved 669 Jewish children from almost certain death in the days before World War II broke out on Sept. 1, 1939. The story of determination is amazing. The story of a humble man is inspiring. I am sure some in the theatre were learning of Nicky’s actions for the first time. The film shares the story of...

This is your Turner Classic Movie channel alert with a Ronald Reagan film! Tonight...Brother Rat(1938), 8pm est "A military cadet and his friends try to keep his marriage a secret." Overview & Cast

Wednesday May 1, 2013 at 8 pm (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris A military cadet and his friends try to keep his marriage a secret. Comedy/1938 TCM, Brother Rat

Special Forces Green Beret Master Sgt. John Hartley Robertson had forgotten how to speak English over the 44 years since he was left behind in the Vietnam War. But he never forgot that he was a father, husband and an American soldier, born in Alabama, shot down over Laos in a 1968 classified mission.

1. An Angel From Texas Monday, April 22, 2013 at 08:00 AM (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, Eddie Albert, Wayne Morris A pair of slick Broadway producers con a wealthy cowboy into backing their show. Comedy/1940 TCM, An Angel From Texas 2. That Hagen Girl Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 12:15 PM (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple, Dorothy Peterson A small-town teenager thinks a lawyer is her illegitimate dad. Drama/1947 TCM, That Hagen Girl

This is your Turner Classic Movie channel alert! Tonight...His Girl Friday (1940), 8pm est "An unscrupulous editor plots to keep his star reporter-and ex-wife-from re-marrying." Overview & Cast

Is anyone planning to see this? Has anyone already seen it? If so, what did you think of it? Reviews from Metacritic Review from The Orange County Register: '42' swings for the fences, but it's one, two, three strikesRotten Tomatoes ratingIMDbWikipediaOfficial site

This is your Turner Classic Movie channel alert! Tonight...So Proudly We Hail! (1943), 8pm est "Nurses caught behind enemy lines during World War II fight to survive." Overview & Cast

A 42-year-old actor who claimed she lost out on movie roles after the Internet Movie Database published her real age has lost a landmark lawsuit against the website. Texan Huong "Junie" Hoang had been backed by US acting unions in her bid to sue IMDb for breach of contract after the site used credit information and a third-party verification website to research her true age for its "Pro" subscription site, which is used extensively by Hollywood agents. A Seattle jury found yesterday that the Amazon-owned website had not breached any legal obligations to Hoang following a two-day trial.

Just a few minutes after the lights dimmed and the credits rolled, Chinese censors on Thursday yanked Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" from cinemas around the country. A Shanghai cinema company posted to its official Weibo account this morning that screenings of the film would be delayed indefinitely for "technical reasons." The cinema announced it would reimburse viewers who had already bought tickets. China’s State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) is notorious for its heavy censorship, but filmgoers couldn't remember an occasion when a film was pulled during its premiere.

Ebert, 70, who reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and on TV for 31 years, and who was without question the nation’s most prominent and influential film critic, died Thursday in Chicago. He had been in poor health over the past decade, battling cancers of the thyroid and salivary gland.

Milo O’Shea, an Irish character actor — recognizable by his black bushy eyebrows, tumble of white hair and impish smile — whose films included “Ulysses,” “Barbarella” and “The Verdict,” died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 86.

Michigan subsidizes up to 32 percent of expenditures for film, television, music video, video game and other media projects done in the state. Essentially, this means that select qualified ventures receive a check from the state treasury for production. I recently debated Michigan's film subsidy program on Fox 2 in Detroit. I gave several reasons why the state should not be spending taxpayer money on this private enterprise. Here they are: The Michigan film subsidy program does not create jobs. As James Hohman, a fiscal policy analyst at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy reported in 2010, the initial program...

When the third "Transformers" movie was shot in Michigan in 2010, then-Michigan Film Office Director Carrie Jones boasted of the state’s "one-of-a-kind locations" during the filming. However, Michigan wasn’t the only state paying for that feeling. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" also spent $24 million for filming 30 days in Illinois and received about $7.6 million in film tax subsidy money from our neighbor state. The movie also got another $621,000 from Florida's film office for eight days of filming in which it spent $2.4 million. That was on top of the $6.1 million it received from Michigan taxpayers for...

The Michigan film subsidy program is a perfect example of how the traditional media can play into the hands of the government and elected politicians. While virtually no economist or researcher who has looked at the program finds a net benefit for citizens, the media rolls out story after story of positive parts of the program while almost never mentioning the costs. For example, MLive has done dozens of stories about the Disney film, "Oz: The Great and Powerful," but I am unable to find a single recent article that discusses the nuances of the program. The Detroit News and...

Harry Reems, whose starring role in “Deep Throat” in 1972 made him America’s first bona fide male porn star — and whose life, more than most, embodied the time-honored American narrative of fame, failure and redemption — died on Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was 65.

From The Bible: Satan… or Obama… Like, whichever. Daniel Wattenberg, the arts and features editor of the conservative Washington Times, wrote a piece last week chiding Hollywood for being confounded by the ratings success of the History channel’s mini-series The Bible. �Blockbuster ratings for a compilation of bible stories from a reality TV producer taking his first crack at drama? Can’t be,� Wattenberg writes in the persona of a studio exec. “If there was a market for biblical epics, then Hollywood wouldn’t have long ago abandoned the genre. … Makes no sense.� No one can blame Wattenberg for taking...

The Disney blockbuster, "Oz: The Great and Powerful," opens today. The film cost the studio about $200 million to make, but Michigan taxpayers chipped in substantially for the production through the state’s generous film subsidy program. In fact, the state paid more per taxpayer than the average price of a movie ticket — Michigan residents should be seeing the film for free. Michigan has 4.5 million individual taxpayers, and the state gave the film studio $39.7 million to shoot the movie in Pontiac. That works out to a subsidy of $8.82 per taxpayer while average ticket prices nationwide are $7.96....

In 2010, Michigan had an annual unemployment rate of 12.5 percent. Then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm told lawmakers to expect a $1.58 billion deficit in the following year and to expect a $263 per pupil cut for K-12 education. Yet, the state played a part in allowing one of the most lucrative companies in the world to post a record $4.8 billion in profits by handing it nearly $40 million in film tax credits. That was the year Disney made the movie, "Oz: The Great and Powerful," and received $39.7 million of the $75.2 million the state of Michigan handed out to...

When audiences turn out for “21 & Over” in theaters beginning March 1, they’ll see a celebration of a prominent aspect of the American college experience -- the one involving beer pong, pep rallies and sexually liberated sorority girls. The film’s Chinese audiences, however, will be exposed to a different message: the perils of a hedonistic West and the importance of embracing one’s roots. That’s because two different versions of the R-rated Hollywood comedy have been cut. There’s the version that most of the world will see that that takes place entirely in the U.S. and expounds on the joys...

This weekend marks the 85th Academy Awards, which for some cinephiles is the highlight of our current journey around the sun. The event also grants an opportunity for public policy pundits to bemoan the overall statist bent of the entertainment churned out each year by Hollywood studios. Even Jonah Goldberg joined the club this week with an essay on why he believes conservatives should leave the talkies to the liberals. But something else happened this week that should remind and embolden moviegoers who like a little tea with their Oscar party and prefer priestly pugilism to progressive politics: the Blu-Ray...

March 6, 2013 at 7:30 AM (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan, The Dead End Kids A street gang helps the district attorney's son prove his girlfriend's brother innocent of arson. Drama/1939 Angels Wash Their Faces/TCM

This is your Turner Classic Movie channel alert! Film fans, do not miss tonight's movie. A masculine story of a proud, American industrialist. There are some amazing quotes in this film. One in particular is where the main character chastises his wife for claiming European countries are more advanced- by stating that clean schools and borders free from soldiers are more important. And there are others. It's probably my favorite film of all time and gives a rare glimpse into the once great culture of America. Walter Huston is amazing as is the entire cast. Thinking of this film gets...

If you thought some of Seth MacFarlane's Oscar jokes were off-color, you'll never believe that The Onion tweeted about this year's youngest nominee. The satirical news organization has come under fire for posting a nasty tweet about nine-year-old Best Actress nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (you know, the adorable little girl who's been carrying around puppy purses all award season?).

1. LINCOLN 2. SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK 3. LES MISERABLES 4. THE IMPOSSIBLE 5. THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER 6. SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN 7. THE HOBBIT 8. A LATE QUARTET 9. ACT OF VALOR 10. WON'T BACK DOWN

William Shatner is a man who has never been shy about expressing his opinion of Star Trek Into Darkness (and future Star Wars: Episode VII) director J.J. Abrams. During a recent press junket to promote Escape From Planet Earth, the original Captain Kirk had a few words for Abrams. During the interview, Shatner discussed Abrams along with his thoughts regarding the possible homogenization of the science-fiction film genre.

The decision to release just two films this year instead of three means all sorts of operating adjustments that could result in cutting as many as 500 positions at the Glendale-based studio, Deadline reports. That would be a 23 percent hit. The trims come after less-than-terrific numbers from last fall's "Rise of the Guardians" (a big write-down is expected). Investors aren't thrilled - not so much at the prospect of layoffs (sometimes Wall Street considers that a good thing), but at changes in the release schedule. "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" is being moved back to Spring 2014 from late 2013,...

Stuart Freeborn, the British make-up artist renowned for his contributions to 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Star Wars films, has died at the age of 98. Largely self-taught, his six-decade career saw him create make-up and prosthetics for such cinematic legends as Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers.

The list of the twenty-five top-grossing films (worldwide) of 2012 has been released, and I believe there are a few important lessons that proponents of free enterprise, limited government, and traditional Judeo-Christian values can learn from its inventory. First, let’s take a look at what types of stories drew the most attention in 2012. The top three – Avengers, Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall – are all superhero/action flicks. At their core, they are “good vs. evil” morality plays. They are about the pursuit of justice and defense of the defenseless. They are about sacrifice and loyalty and love. Of...

We're raising funds to finish our film and release it in theaters by March 2013. Assaulted: Civil Rights Under Fire raised $71,140 here on Kickstart last fall - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/assaulted/assaulted. Since then we completed filming while the issue of guns in America has become the leading political debate due to the tragedy at Newtown. Assaulted - Civil Rights Under Fire When the subject of gun control laws are discussed, rarely are they associated with the civil rights movement and the quest for equal rights for all. This film will compare the historical aspects of gun control targeting the indigenous tribes of...

King's Row Saturday February 2, 2013 at 08:15 AM (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan, and Robert Cummings Small town scandals inspire an idealistic young man to take up psychiatry. Drama/1942 Kings Row, TCM This Is The Army Saturday February 2, 2013 at 10:30 AM (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, George Murphy, Joan Leslie A song-and-dance man's son stages a big show starring World War II soldiers. Comedy/Musical 1943 This Is The Army, TCM

There are movie stars, and then there are actors whose involvement appears more important than the movie itself. Some are so critical to success that studios will pay them tens of millions of dollars to be in their pictures. Johnny Depp just signed a contract to make a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean, and some members of the press are speculating that Depp could earn as much as $95 million. That’s a big paycheck when the most recent Pirates movie grossed roughly $1 billion worldwide.Click here to see the 10 most valuable actors of all timeThere are a small...

Film director and newspaper columnist Michael Winner has died, aged 77, his wife Geraldine has confirmed. Born in Hampstead, London in 1935, he directed more than 30 films, including Death Wish and Scorpio.

The producer of a documentary on the civil right to keep and bear arms has posted a trailer in advance of the film’s release that provides a powerful, timely and resonating counter to the ongoing media frenzy pushing for citizen disarmament edicts. Kris Koenig, Emmy award-winning producer and writer, and founder of Dead Patriot Films, Inc., which is producing “Assaulted, Civil Rights under Fire,” has been the driving force behind an effort to provide an all-encompassing look at the individual right recognized by the Second Amendment, both from an historical perspective and as a contemporary societal necessity. “This film will...

Saturday, January 19, 2013 at 10:45 AM (ET) Starring Ronald Reagan, Margot Stevenson, Eddie Foy Jr. Agent Brass Bancroft and partner nab prison counterfeiters for the Secret Service. Drama, Mystery/Crime 1939 Smashing The Money Ring, TCM

There's so much bad news in the world now, especially for folk on our side of the political spectrum. So it's important to take a few minutes now and then to realise that it is not ALL doom and gloom out there.

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