C-3PO tells the story of the Rebellion to the Ewoks
After trying to get to the root of readers’ satisfaction with a story, I found that a better understanding of what a story is might be in order. On its face the answer to the question “what is a story?” is intuitive and straightforward, but pinpointing what exactly separates a story from a bunch of sentences slapped together is not so easy. Obviously, “character,” “plot” and “theme” are necessary. However, a story must have other ingredients, both as its building blocks and as forces that tie it together. In the following, are notes on the subject, compiled from John Truby’s The Anatomy of Story, Libbie Hawker’s Take Off Your Pants!, Gwen Hayes’s Romancing The Beat, Shawn Coyne’s The Story Grid, and Dwight. V. Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer.
Story Core: All stories are about desire vs. danger, what one did to get what he wanted and why. A story tracks what a person wants, what he’ll do to get it, and what cost he’ll have to pay along the way.
Simplistically, it can be deconstructed as:
- A Character who is affected by and reacting to external events, and fights against danger.
- A backdrop of troubles that forces the character to act.
- A Desire, because a character without desire cannot be endangered.
- An Opponent who fights back. The opponent personifies the obstacles the character has to overcome.
- A Disaster, the character must face before s/he is off the hook.
Once a character has a desire, the story “walks” on two legs: acting and learning. A character in a pursuit of a desire takes actions to get what s/he wants. In the process, the character learns new information about better ways to get it. New information causes the character to make a decision and change the course of their action.
Everything about the character’s journey can be a part of the story, but to make it at least somewhat entertaining, a storyteller must select, connect and build a series of intense moments, so charged that the listener feels he is living them himself. What tools, beside innate talent, a storyteller has?
Theme is the story’s unifying concept. It tells us something about the storyteller’s outlook on the world, or on human behavior, about right and wrong actions and what those actions do to person’s life. Story characters, be they opponents or allies of the hero, deal with the same moral problems, but they do it in different ways. Whenever a character uses some means to reach an end, there is a moral predicament, a question of right action, an argument about how best to live.
Story world is life as we imagine it could be, life condensed and heightened. It is everything surrounding the characters all at once, representing simultaneous elements and actions. The story world is usually a physical expression of who the hero is and how he develops. Different kinds of worlds embody, highlight or accentuate the hero’s needs, values, desires (both good and bad) and the obstacles he faces. A world of slavery often expresses or even exacerbates the hero’s great weakness. In fantasy, the hero starts in a mundane world, where his psychological or moral weakness is set. This weakness is the reason the hero cannot see the true potential of who he can be.
Setting: Natural setting carries a multitude of meanings because locations such as island, mountain, forest, plain, have an inherent symbolic power. Mountains, for example, are often associated with greatness, whereas a forest brings to mind a frightening place where people get lost. Man-made spaces can be a microcosm of the hero and the society in which he lives. The House, for example, is a nest, the home of the family, a place for intimacy. The warm house is a big, cozy and diverse shelter, infused with memories of childhood. The terrifying house, on the other hand, is not a cocoon. It might be a prison, a cramped pressure cooker, an outgrowth of hero’s great weakness, a manifestation of his biggest fear.
Passageways Between Worlds is a popular story technique to move characters between extremely different sub-worlds (like a passage from the mundane world to the fantastic). A passageway literary gets the character from one place to another, but it’s also a kind of decompression chamber, that prepares the listeners to a big change in the story world rules between one place to another.
Technology magnifies the character’s power, tools allow him to manipulate the world and maneuver through it. In science fiction, specific technology highlights those elements of society that the story is set to explore.
Arena marks physical boundaries of the story world. It’s a single unified place surrounded by some kind of wall, with everything inside that space is part of the drama and everything outside it isn’t part of the story.
Some stories start with a large umbrella, which a storyteller then crosscuts and condenses. The largest scope is usually described somewhere near the beginning, and as the story progresses, the focus shifts to the smaller worlds within the arena. Alternatively, characters journey through generally the same area.
In a “fish out of water” stories, the hero jumps from one world to another world. The character starts in one arena, where he shows his special talents, then jumps – without traveling – to second arena where the main story takes place.
Foto Ennevi/Fondazione Arena di Verona
The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre built in the first century AD. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind, still in use today for the large-scale performances.


The angel Islington goes crazy and destroys Atlantis. He gets locked up for thousands of years, and the key that can set him free is held by this monklike group called the Black Friars. In presentish day London, Islington is reached out to by Portico, a man with the power to open doors. Portico wants to unite London above and London Below (an alternate dimension/reality London). Islington wants Portico to release him so he can conquer heaven. Obviously Portico is like hell no, so Islington hires two super evil, maybe immortal goons named Croup and Vandemar. The goons kill Portico and his family, except for his daughter Door, who also has the same door opening powers. They leave a note that imitates Portico telling Door to trust Islington.
Meanwhile in London Above, a regular joe named Richard runs into an injured Door who is running from the goons. Richard helps her and then becomes a part of London below; people above do not recognize him anymore. Richard and Door recruit a bodyguard, a girl named Hunter, as they run from the goons and seek Islington. They are also helped by the Marquis, a seedy guy who owes Portico a favor.
Richard, Door, and Hunter eventually meet Islington who instructs them to get the key from the Black Friars. They each succeed in a challenge, most notably Richard who is made to think he is crazy and imagining the whole thing. Meanwhile, Marquis is purposely tortured and ‘killed’ by the goons so he can learn their, and Islington’s, plan.
As Richard, Door, and Hunter head back to Islington, Hunter reveals she is a traitor and surrenders Door to the goons. All she wanted was a spear that would help her slay the Beast of London, a boarlike creature with a legendary and gruesome reputation. The Marquis joins Hunter and Richard and they head towards the labyrinth where the Beast dwells and is, coincidentally, another path to Islington. Even though hunter betrayed them, they still need her to get past the beast.
Through dumb luck, Richard ends up killing the beast as Hunter dies. He attains knowledge of the labyrinth and leads himself and the Marquis to Islington. The Angel tortures Richard in order to make Door open the way to Heaven using the Black Friars’ key. She opens a door with a copy of the key and it turns out to be a gateway to Hell; Islington and the goons are sucked away. Door uses the real key to send Richard back to London Above.
Richard’s brief happiness in being home fades to melancholy as he misses his adventures and friends from below. The story ends with Richard using Hunter’s knife to open a door from which Marquis pops out.
//Missing the rats, Anaesthesia, Lamia, Hammersmith, Jessica, the Earl, Old Bailey, and much more


Kent is a filmmaker from Richmond, Virginia. He's best known for his 2010 no-budget feature film, Bad is Bad, and his 2019 short, Will "The Machine", which both went viral with millions of views.
He is based in Los Angeles, where he also runs his YouTube channel, Standard Story Company, with over 100k subscribers. His goal on YouTube is to help filmmakers improve their storytelling at any budget level.
About BL Creators
BL Creators is a series of content pieces where we get personal with industry pros like photographers, cinematographers, creative directors and producers, among many other creative fields.
Discover more Creators here.
1. Is there a single project, photo or video that thrusted you into the next level?Definitely. When I was 20 I directed my first feature film, a $6,000 home invasion thriller called Bad is Bad. I’d made a bunch of short films before, but for me this was a biiiig step up from those projects in every way. It was one of the first feature films to be shot entirely on DSLR and to be put online on YouTube/Vimeo for free. Today it’s been watched over 7 million times on different platforms. Check out the Bad is Bad trailer here.
2. What is one trade secret you are willing to share with the public?Maybe not a secret… but start your film with a bang or a question. Audiences today have too many choices and no patience for a slow opening.
3. How do you stay creative? What are things you do to get inspired?Watching movies, especially films from the 70’s get me excited to write and create. It was an era of bold, fresh filmmaking. And to create such amazing movies without the aid of the technology we have today inspires and reminds me that story and artistry are what make films timeless. Since I’m usually working with a small budget, I find that very comforting.
4. Do you feel threatened by all the chatter about Artificial Intelligence and image-making? What are your thoughts about the future of the industry?
It’s very exciting, kind of like the next evolution from analog to digital. AI video is already well on the way, and at the current pace I think in five years you’ll essentially be able to direct a movie in Microsoft Word. It will never take the place of human artists behind and in front of the camera, but it will be a means of further democratizing movie-making for those without the means to bring their stories to life. I think AI tools will especially make VFX more accessible to low-budget filmmakers.
5. Who are some notable people that you learned from? What did you learn?I studied creative writing at USC and had some great writers teaching me, like T.C. Boyle (who also taught Jason Reitman). Other than that I mostly learned from trial and error and studying my favorite films.
6. When and how did you know you wanted to be an artist?I’d been making short films with friends throughout middle and high school. At 17, a few of us got serious, hustled/saved to buy a Canon XL1 and boom mic, and made a big horror short film. We held a pretty packed screening in our high school auditorium, and after hearing the screams from the first jump scare I was hooked.
7. Please share recent work that you are most proud of. Why is this important to you?Probably my short film Will “The Machine”. Besides being my most professional and expensive film, it was a totally character-based story. We shot more than we needed, and it was really tough to find the balance we needed to make the story land. We ended up basically rewriting the ending in post, and finally it all worked as we originally intended. Also, my co-writer/producer/star was the guy I started making short films with back in middle school, and we shot it in our hometown of Richmond, Virginia. So for us to bring Los Angeles talent back to our hometown and make that film felt really full circle.
8. What is some bad advice you hear given in your field?That you need to buy this or that piece of gear for your work to look professional. You can make a great film on miniDV, it’s all about the aesthetic you choose! Also, you can put more money on the screen by just renting the specific gear you need for a project right here 🙂
9. What is something that you always have on set? Why?A red sharpie to check off my shot list as I finish each shot. So satisfying.
10. What is the most under-rated skill in your field? What is the most over-rated?Screenwriting is 75% of filmmaking. If you can’t write great scenes and stories for actors to bring to life, you can’t make a good film. But a lot of novice filmmakers focus on cinematography to the exclusion of everything else, which I think is a trap. Audiences forgive weak visuals much more quickly than weak storytelling or even audio.
11. What is something people in your field should try to avoid?Don’t focus on the results or the end goals too much. Find the joy in the day-to-day process of filmmaking. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
12. Who is someone you would like to spotlight for the audience?
My buddy Dan Chen directed an excellent documentary called Accepted that premiered at Tribeca and is out now. I’m excited to see what he does next. Find him on Instagram @thedchen
13. Anything you wish to share with the world wide web?Pleasing visuals are a commodity. Your voice as a storyteller is what sets you apart.
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Chicago acting coach Stef Tovar is a great alternative to expensive on camera acting classes in the Chicago area. If you are looking for a simple, results oriented coaching with an on camera technique that is easy to execute, schedule a session today. On camera acting classes can be expensive and last weeks. Stef’s on camera technique can be taught over one or two sessions. After working with Stef initially, half-hour coachings are available as well.
If you’re looking for on camera acting coaching in Chicago, contact Stef today. Stef’s students book jobs.


"For decades, Mark Gil has been biting into apples threateningly, letting audiences know that our heroes will only fade against his gaze. In recent years, he’s become the face of quiet dignity in our films, playing men whose histories have driven them to retreat from the world, carrying their burdens in silence.
"And now, he’s going to be cooking your dinner.
"On Friday, April 24, legendary actor Mark Gil will be cooking a special menu that he designed at Mogwai Cinematheque. Gil, a well-known foodie and gastronomist, will be in the kitchen, preparing the dishes himself, based on his own favorite recipes. He will also be on hand that night for a special Q&A session follow a screening of Mike de Leon’s immortal Alpha Kappa Omega: Batch ’81.
"Leading up to the event, Mogwai will be screening two of Gil’s latest films. On Wednesday, April 22, Mogwai will play host to the original Cinemalaya cut of Rotonda, where Gil plays a disillusioned tabloid reporter who’s planning to commit suicide. On Thursday, come and see Alon, the Cinema One Original where Gil plays Fiel, a lonely man living in a remote seaside village who forms a relationship with a vacationing seventeen year-old girl.
"You’ve seen his films, now taste his food.
Screenings begin at 8pm. Mogwai Cinematheque is at Cubao Expo.


All movies are on DVD and have English subtitles. All movies are black & white, except where noted.
Yiddle With His Fiddle. (Yidl Mitn Fidl) Poland. 1936. 92 minutes. Comedy. The most financially successful Yiddish film ever made. Starring Molly Picon, the top comedienne of Yiddish movies, theater, and vaudeville. This is the story of an impoverished girl who dresses as a boy in order to get an education and make money. Yiddle became the basis of several later Hollywood movies, including 'Yentl' starring Barbara Streisand.
Tevye. (Tevye the Milkman) (Tevye der Milkhiker) United States. 1939. 96 minutes. Drama. Tevye is the central character in a number of stories by Sholem Aleichem. This movie centers on Chave, one of Tevye's daughters. Chave marries a Christian and is shunned by Tevye, who cannot accept the marriage. The Tevye stories later became the basis for 'Fiddler on the Roof.'
Green Fields. (Grine Felder) United States. 1937. 95 minutes. Drama. The most critically acclaimed American Yiddish film. Winner of the Best Foreign Film Award in France in 1938. The story of a traveling scholar who travels through Lithuania in search of 'true Jews.'
The Jester. (Der Purimspiler) Poland. 1937. 90 minutes. Drama. The story of a lonely wanderer and the daughter of the town's shoemaker, who tries to marry her off into a wealthy family. Contains lively Jewish vaudeville music and set pieces. Most of the film's crew and actors were killed in the Holocaust.
Jolly Paupers. (Freylekhe Kabtsonim). Poland. 1937. 62 minutes Musical comedy. The famous Jewish comic duo Dzigan and Shumacher believe that they have struck oil in a local field. The whole town finds out leading to a comedy of error, including millionaire investors, American schemers, and insane asylums.
The Light Ahead. (Fishke the Lame) United States. 1939. 94 minutes. Drama. Impoverished and disabled lovers Fishke and Hodel dream of life in the big city of Odessa, where they will be free from poverty and where they imagine there is no anti-Semitism. Made on the eve of World War 2, the movie is painfully conscious of the danger about to engulf the Jews of Eastern Europe.
Mamale. (Little Mother) Poland. 1938. 100 minutes. Musical comedy. A wonderful musical comedy with upbeat songs, nightclubs, unemployed Jews, gangsters, and religious Jews celebrating Sukkot. Includes Molly Picon's trademark theme song 'Abi Gezunt.'
Unser Kinder. (Our Children) Poland. 1948. 68 minutes. Drama and comedy. My personal favorite Yiddish film. The last Yiddish film ever made in Poland. Features the famous Yiddish comedy duo Dzigan and Shumacher, who play all the parts in a Sholem Aleichem story staged for an audience of children who survived the Holocaust. Both funny and grim, the children tell stories of their experiences during the Nazi occupation of Poland.
The Cantor's Son (Dem Khazns Zundl) United States. 1937. 90 minutes. Musical drama. The reverse Jazz Singer. The story of a Jewish immigrant from Poland to the U.S. who becomes a successful and well-known singer and then returns to Poland to his family and childhood girlfriend. Contains the famous Yiddish 'Mayn Stetele Betz.' (My Little Village Betz)
The Cowboy United States. 1968. 11 minutes. A bizarre little movies. An old Western was dubbed into Yiddish with hilarious dialogue.
Back to Other Subjects


(Image: From DramaTech Theatre’s 2007 production of Macbeth: Michelle Hendrickson, Brittany Roberts, Lee Smith as the Weird Sisters. Much closer to the original “three women fairies or nymphs” reported by Simon Forman in 1611.)
In exploring my reactions to Middleton’s alterations of Macbeth, I find my thoughts falling neatly into two boxes: one labeled “Witches,” and the other, “Everything Else.” I suppose that’s only appropriate: Gary Taylor himself notes the most significant change Middleton made was “to transform into witches the three characters who are identified as ‘weird sisters’ in Shakespeare’s chief historical source and in passages clearly written by Shakespeare.”
We’ve talked about the specifics of that change already: spells, song, dance, and the superfluous character of Hecate.
Probably the core of her argument is that Middleton’s passages “give the play a new dimension of theatrical magic,” but I would argue that this “new dimension” is at odds with what makes Macbeth such a chilling exploration of the darker places in the human soul. As she puts it, the effect is to make the drama “less focused on the moral self-destruction of Macbeth, and to shift the emphasis on to the witches as being in command, free and unbounded.” Which is exactly the problem: if Macbeth becomes nothing more than a kind of voodoo doll (as he becomes explicitly in the Orson Welles stage and film productions of the last century), why should we ultimately care? What can we take away from such a play—“stay away from witches?” If that were all there was to Macbeth, I doubt we’d still care about it.
In my own condensation of Macbeth for DramaTech Theatre’s 2007 production, I cut the witches deeply, removing not only most of Middleton’s additions, but a fair slice of Shakespeare, too (on the theory that even he “witched up” the characters, possibly to impress King James). Since the two things everyone in the audience knows from Macbeth are, “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow,” and, “Double, double, toil and trouble,” I devoted a large portion of my program notes to explaining why they wouldn’t be hearing one of those lines. I thought I’d quote from those notes in making my rebuttal:
Of all the cuts we made, perhaps the most missed will be all the witches’ rhymes and spells. So, we might as well get it out of the way up front: tonight’s production of Macbeth will be strictly cauldron-free. No eye of newt, nor tongue of frog, not even the tiniest fillet of a fenny snake.
The witches have been crowd-pleasers for four hundred years, and especially in a Halloween production of Macbeth, their cut lines are conspicuous. But our aim was to strip away those haunted-house trappings and make these characters something much bigger and more powerful, and, yes, scarier than three old crones cackling over a pot. No one in the play or in Shakespeare’s sources ever calls these beings “witches:” they, along with everyone else, call themselves “the weird sisters,” from the Anglo-Saxon wyrd, or “fate.” At bottom, they are the Goddesses of Fate, the Norns, the beings who know what was, and what is, and what shall be:
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!”
“All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!”
“All hail, Macbeth—that shalt be King hereafter!”
As always in myth, one of the most terrible things that can happen to you is to catch a glimpse of Fate: it is too big and terrible for a human mind to process; it comes to us in seeming riddles that we interpret, foolishly, by hearing what we want and ignoring the rest. The Sisters never tell Macbeth, “You will be King tomorrow,” or, “You will be King if you kill
Even in Shakespeare’s day, Macbeth was being “witched up” with all the haunted-house trimmings, but I think this makes the play a smaller thing. In 21st-Century
And that, in a nutshell, is my case against the Witches…and for the Weird Sisters, spinning their threads of destiny, not even deigning to feel contempt or pity for us mortals. Witches may be powerfully dramatic, even in this age that we flatter ourselves to call “rational”, but I’ll take the Sisters of Fate any day.
Footnote: DramaTech Theatre is the student-run theatrical company of the Georgia Institute of Technology,


Golden Gate Theatre | San Francisco, California
This Tuesday 13th December 2022, you could be one of thousands who have gone to see the awe-inspiring Broadway musical Beetlejuice – The Musical! This show represents one of the top musical productions to come to Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, California this December. And if you act now, you will be able to enjoy this ghoulishly fun production that features music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect. Based on the 1988 film, this show brings some of the top names in musical theater together for an experience that you will not want to miss. This production features sets that are hauntingly imaginative with awe-inspiring designs that is absolutely going to send shivers down your spine!
Bringing the energy, creativity, and wonder of any of Tim Burton’s films to the Broadway stage may sound like a big production. Director Alex Timbers is ready and eager to fill the role with his production of Beetlejuice the Musical. This Broadway production has creative set designs by David Korins that fans of the film or the animated series will instantly recognize and love. The angular and strange design has earned an award for Best Set during the off-broadway trial run, and fans are still coming back for more even in its latest production. But you can’t have magnificent set designs without finest performers to fill the space, which is why Alex Brightman and Presley Ryan were chosen for the leading roles of Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz. Their star power and command of the stage breathes life into the story of the ghost with the most. The writing has also been praised for being punchy, funny, and rapid fire leaving audiences little room between laughs. You are sure to have spooky fun with this production!


Johnny Mo was the leader of the Crazy 88, serving under the leadership of O-Ren Ishii.
Working With O-Ren Ishii
After the Massacre at the Two Pines chapel, O-Ren took control of major Japanese corporations; causing her to control some of the Japanese Yakuza, including the Crazy 88. Since she controls the Crazy 88, Mo must follow her orders and he and his group become her main army of Yakuza fighters.
Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves and presumed Death
After Beatrix Kiddo woke from her four-year long coma, she hungered for revenge on the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and wanted to kill all of the members within the Squad. Beatrix traveled to Tokyo, Japan, to kill O-Ren Ishii first. While Beatrix was fighting against some of O-Ren's guards and Gogo Yubari at the House of Blue Leaves, O-Ren secretly tipped off the Crazy 88 to arrive and kill Beatrix. Mo battled alongside the Crazy 88 to try to kill Beatrix. He fought the Bride one-on-one three times. He is a more proficient fighter than the rest of the gang, nearly tipping the scales in their favor and holding his own against the Bride for several minutes alone while fighting her on top of a balcony railing. However, Beatrix eventually chops off both of his legs, and he falls into a pond from that second floor balcony and is presumed dead thereafter.
- His weapon of choice is a pair of shōtō.
- Michael Madsen was Quentin Tarantino's original choice to play Mo.
- According to the script, the character was a huge fan of "hammer and sexploitation" films of the 1970's.


Girl recruits her God
by Ami Sakurai
Translator: Nobu Nakagawa
Cover Photo: Doll Face
Cover Design: Doll Face
Release Date: December 21, 2016
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This is an amazing novel-movie joint project from Ami Sakurai!!
This includes all chapters of "Girl recruits her God", the second work from Ami Sakurai, whose debut novel "Innocent World" has been translated into many languages, and who directed the movie version in 2016.
By entering the secret password written at the end of the eBook, readers of this novel can watch the movie version of "Girl recruits her God" (35 minutes 58 seconds) on the Internet.
Yuri, a high school girl student, continues the 'hunting' to socially execute the 'preys', by using her 'enjyo kousai' (compensated dating) trap. When she encounters Makigami, her nemesis, she is entangled with his dark side. She tries to escape from Makigami, by wreaking vengeance while endangering herself. Can she reunite with Kenji, her classmate, who waits for her?
At the end of the eBook, an interpretative article "A Painfully Innocent, Ferocious, and Madly Beautiful World", written by Ryusui Seiryoin (Chief Editor of The BBB), is available.
This is the English version of "Girl", published from Gentosha in 1997.
Works List at The BBB


Position: Theatre Teacher
School: Tuscarora High School
School District: Loudoun County Public Schools
City, State: Leesburg, VA
Music that Describes Justin
Justin Daniel was nominated by his colleague, Mary Hayes.
Mr. Daniel has taught drama/vocal instruction since 2003. He loves sharing his knowledge and expertise with Tuscarora's finest, especially those who are Broadway-bound. He previously worked at both Belmont Ridge and J.L Simpson Middle school as the drama sponsor.
Mr. Daniel also founded the Northern Virginia Preparatory Theatre Company, a select group of secondary students who are preparing for professional careers in the Theatre Arts. Over the course of his career, he has directed over forty shows, including productions of Steel Magnolias, Little Shop of Horrors, Into the Woods, Seussical, Once on this Island, Sound of Music, Bye, Bye, Birdie, Children of Eden, High School Musical, Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Carol, A Raisin in the Sun, Annie, CATS, and Sister Act. His recent honors include directing the highest ranking productions at the Virginia Theatre Association's Young People's Competition two years in a row against 13 middle schools across the state. He has also coached Odyssey of the Mind teams, who have won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the Regional and State Tournaments and 7th place in the WORLD competition. Mr. Daniel obtained his B.F.A. Music Theatre degree from Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA and pursued his Masters in Theatre Education during his time at Tuscarora.
Mr. Daniel is dedicated to his craft and students at Tuscarora. Watching his students collaborate to provide the student body and community with a quality performance is amazing, especially given the 90 minutes every other day Mr. Daniel has with them.
Mr. Daniel is effective with his students, and he provides a safe space for students to be themselves. His students range from being outgoing to introverted, and some have special needs and emotional challenges. Each student, however, finds their own talent in the theatre department and evolves to be an important part of the team. Some students, who might not feel like they fit in, shine in the theatre department.
"I have seen Justin's plays transform people, build relationships and shift the entire atmosphere of this school," said Hayes. "About three years ago, Justin announced that he selected the play 'Sister Act' for the big spring play. It was his vision to incorporate staff in the play as extra nuns. He conducted auditions for staff and students. I was part of that process. For a minute, Justin took heat because of the play he chose, but the claims did not merit stopping the play. Instead, I witnessed a unity forming. Students and teachers bonded. Teachers and office staff who never interacted on a day to day basis learned more about each other. A true sisterhood was formed from 'Sister Act.' The following year, one of our staff members took ill and passed away, but we all fondly remember this bond we formed. It's funny - even in school, we still refer to each other as sister. It is still the play many of the staff remember and talk about often."
Mr. Daniel's leadership shines in the many extra hours he spends after school making sure that each performance is better than the previous. He does not ask his students to do something he would not do himself. If he asks the students to come early and/or stay late, he is there with them. Mr. Daniel is right there assisting students with costumes, lighting cues, setting the stage, building sets, etc. Many of his students have won prestigious awards and have moved on to pursue theatre in college. Some students have become professional performers and have active acting careers.
"There is no doubt in my mind of Justin's dedication to his students and work," said Hayes. "I have no doubt that Justin would use the LifeChanger recognition and award winnings to get much-needed supplies for the theatre department - from tools to build sets and a sewing machine to make costumes, to helping students with fees for financial obligations."


WOMEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (WIFF)
Women Through Film brings you Pakistan’s first Women International Film festival (WIFF), which will be held on the 11th and 12th of March, 2017. WIFF is our flagship project that aims to present an opportunity for women to network, screen their films, and appreciate the accomplishments of fellow women, while at the same time, bringing awareness by highlighting women’s multifaceted roles in the society.
The film festival will showcase the films made by women, about women, to highlight their social issues. It will serve as a confidence boost by celebrating the filming efforts by females and will help in reconnecting them for a greater cause.
WIFF is going to be a two-day event showing films received by female filmmakers from around the world on the themes of Gender Equity, Violence Against Women, and Women of Wonder, in the form of short films, documentaries, public service announcements, and animated films. The event will be divided into the following segments:
➢ 48-hour shoot-out competition
➢ Films’ Screening
➢ Panel Discussion
➢ 2-Day Grand Exhibition
➢ Closing Musical Concert


“The End You’ve Always Feared Is Coming. It’s Coming, And The Blood Will Be On Your Hands…”
With screenplays for the likes of The Usual Suspects and Edge of Tomorrow on Christopher McQuarrie’s cinematic CV, it seemed only natural that McQuarrie would soon helm the US’s most longstanding and successful contemporary action franchise, where the transition from sole screenwriter to director has formed a winning partnership with Tom Cruise since the release of Jack Reacher in 2012 and the critically acclaimed Rogue Nation three years later. Returning to the fold this week with Fallout, the sixth Mission: Impossible release, McQuarrie reunites with the majority of his cast from Rogue Nation including Rebecca Ferguson (Life), Simon Pegg (Star Trek) and Alec Baldwin (The Departed) as Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is tasked with retrieving stolen plutonium cores before they fall into the hands of “The Apostles”, a terrorist cell with connections to “The Syndicate”, the primary antagonists from Rogue Nation which featured Sean Harris as their treacherous and anarchic leader. With spectacle in abundance, a barrage of breathless action sequences and an editing pace which holds your head in a storm of jaw-dropping disbelief, Fallout is the ultimate summertime blockbuster, an action movie which mixes style and substance as the best genre movies always do and a shining example of how a series can expand and improve when made with such precision and expertise.
With the franchise in general being more and more renowned for Cruise’s lust for practicality when it comes to stunts and set pieces, Fallout features some of the series’ best examples yet of Cruise at his most insane and death-defying. Whether it be a high-speed The Dark Knight inspired vehicle heist, a Casino Royale and Jason Bourne-esque rooftop chase, or a concluding aerial helicopter pursuit which channelled the opening act of Sam Mendes’ Spectre, Fallout perfectly blends the lines between fiction and reality, offering high-octane action on a constant basis in front of beautiful cinematography by Rob Hardy (Ex Machina, Annihilation) which makes you question how exactly a film which sees Cruise being put through the absolute wringer can be made without an over-reliance on digital effects. With an opening thirty minutes which does strangely drag after being bulked down with a crescendo of generic spy-genre exposition, Fallout isn’t perfect but is undoubtedly saved by the remaining two hours which provide a cracking amount of evidence for being the best example of the genre since Mad Max: Fury Road, and with Cruise and co. so obviously enjoying exploring the capacity for how far the action genre can be pushed to the limit before certain death, from an audience perspective, long may it continue.
Overall Score: 8/10
“I’m Putting Together A Team Of People With Special Abilities. I Believe Enemies Are Coming…”
Whilst it may seem that we are now in a world where every month bears witness to oh yet another superhero blockbuster, with Thor: Ragnarok still making significant moves at the box office, the release of Justice League is a particularly interesting beast. With the DC Universe already significantly tarnished to say the least thanks to the likes of Suicide Squad and Batman V. Superman, the release of Wonder Woman earlier this year proved that the series was somewhat heading in the right direction, and whilst the DC universe seems to always be playing catchup to Marvel’s respective ongoing movie franchise, Justice League seems to be the real kicker in deciding the future success of the series as was The Avengers for Marvel, a film whose successes led the chance to delve deeper into the more subversive characters within Marvel’s respective comic history. Helmed once again by long-term DC collaborator, Zack Snyder and overseen for completion by the steady hand of Marvel aficionado, Joss Whedon, Justice League forges together characters both old and new in a popcorn laced team-up tackling the threat of Ciarán Hinds’ Steppenwolf, and whilst one would have hoped the latest addition to DCEU would follow the success of Patty Jenkins’ work on Wonder Woman, Justice League is an unfortunate giant explosive leap in the wrong direction, one which seems to not have learnt at all from the failings of its’ predecessors and that alone makes Snyder’s latest an agonisingly painful botch-job experience of the highest order.
With Superman gone and the world in mourning, Ben Affleck’s grizzy Bruce Wayne seeks to bring together a team of highly skilled superheroes in a bid to defeat the threat of the wholly uninteresting and lifeless Steppenwolf, who like every CGI-based villain in cinematic history, seeks to bring Earth under his apocalyptic control. Adding to the eclectic cast of characters therefore, Justice League brings Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa and Ray Fisher into the fold as The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg respectively, and whilst it is cheap and easy to compare the DCEU with the MCU everytime either has a new release, Justice League fails on a fundamental level of not having even the slightest of backstory for any of its’ leading characters before mangling them all together, resulting in a complete absence of empathy or willingness for them to succeed in their battle against evil. This of course is down primarily to the heavy handed approach of Warner Bros’ willingness to spurt out the next release as quickly as possible and completely disregard the Marvel approach of taking adequate time in developing its’ leading stars before mixing them into the bigger picture with Justice League just the icing on the cake for a universe which, aside from Wonder Woman, will be tarnished with a reputation of being the laziest big budget franchise in the history of cinema. Harsh you say? Not at all, with Justice League the type of movie which makes Suicide Squad look like The Dark Knight, with obvious weaknesses presenting them all over the place ranging from a non-existent storyline to cringe-laden chemistry between the titular team of indestructible heroes who come together simply for reasons of monetary incentives.
With a villain in the form of the poorly digitally designed Steppenwolf, a character who ironically does somewhat improve on the blood curdling awfulness of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, Justice League’s main antagonist is the epitome of the film’s issues, with heavy plot exposition acting as the character’s only limited development for a villain who too often resorts to Viking-esque growling and cliched fight scenes to come across as anything other as sleep-inducingly dull, and for a character who seems to strike fear into the heart of many of the film’s heroic protagonists, it comes at no surprise that Snyder has once again forged a wholly forgettable leading threat which at not one point manages to match the scale of even the most camp carnival esque qualities of DC’s wacky TV show, Gotham. With too many characters and not enough script for anyone to expand out of their 2D, cardboard box cutout performances, Justice League ultimately wastes its’ extensively impressive cast, with the likes of J.K. Simmons, Jeremy Irons and the outstanding qualities of Amy Adams simply being resorted to window dressing in favour of the likes of Ray Fisher and the inevitable return of Henry Cavill who are simply not good enough in their respective superhero roles. Justice League is seethingly awful, and for a movie which features the worldwide branding of Batman and Wonder Woman, Snyder’s movie is a farce of the highest order and one which laughs in the face of its’ fans by utilising beloved characters simply for reasons of box office projections, and with not enough redeemable aspects in sight, Justice League is the movie which I would think puts the DCEU finally to bed. Thank god for Patty Jenkins.
Overall Score: 2/10
After the ridiculous amount of cash Marvel’s Deadpool has taken since it’s release date all the way back in February, the world’s fixation on live-action comic book blockbusters clearly has hit an all-time high with it being only a mere month before the release of the latest superhero cash-cow, DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a film which not only has a hell lot of future investment riding on it, with it essentially being a stepping stone for the creation of the DC Universe in which films like Wonder Woman and Justice League can exist, but also suffers fundamentally from an extreme amount of hype and expectation deriding not only from hardcore fans but from the head executives at Warner who know if Dawn of Justice goes down the pan, the optimistic future, one in which is obviously a frivolous attempt at rivalling the overly addictive and highly successful Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, may start to look as dark and murky as the colour palette that embraces Zak Snyder’s behemoth of a blockbuster. With The Dark Knight trilogy’s Christopher Nolan to help him out, Snyder clearly had the blueprint of Man of Steel to follow on from with Dawn of Justice yet the sad and underlying truth of Dawn of Justice brings with it a deep sense of disappointment, with Batman v Superman being a incoherent and bloated CGI-fuelled mess, something of which doesn’t come across as the tent-pole of the future it was indeed meant to become.
Let’s start with the good shall we? The set-up of the underlying plot behind Dawn of Justice, one in which the ambiguity of Superman’s capabilities forces Batman to engage in means to stop him, urged by the Iago-esque doings of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor and the chaos that occurred during the final act of Man of Steel in which Metropolis was well and truly given a hammering by our Krypton visitors, is definitely an interesting concept, one which gets to introduce the newest incarnation of Batman, with Ben Affleck’s take on the caped crusader being a riveting success. Where Affleck succeeds is unfortunately where Cavill fails, with his performance as Clark Kent being one of dire and utter dullness. Wet fish anyone? Cavill aside, Dawn of Justice only lessens in quality throughout it’s 150 minute run-time, a run-time which in itself results in a film bloated with extreme plot lines, plot lines that either make no sense whatsoever, with endless dream sequences set to leave many scratching their heads, or plot lines that seem to be there only for dramatic effect rather than any real purpose or meaning, with the scene in which Lois Lane discards and then attempts to get back the Kryptonite spear being rife with utter stupidity to say the least.
Where Man of Steel eventually began to lose steam was indeed during it’s final climactic act, one in which attempted to use as much CGI as possible in order to come across as epic but ultimately resulted in a 40 minute period of intense boredom and brain-melting digital effects. Well if Man of Steel was painful to watch at times, that has nothing on Dawn of Justice, a film so reliant on CGI effects to portray its’ action, you simply beg for for George Miller to come in and beg for proper real-life thrills, thrills that were evident within Nolan’s The Dark Night trilogy yet remain completely absent throughout the entirety of Snyder’s snooze-fest. When we finally arrive at the titular battle at around the two-hour mark, its’ sheer laziness and sleep-inducing reliance on CGI is just poor and wholly underwhelming. Oh yeah, and we then have an extra 30 minute fight scene featuring a CGI monster. Wow. What else is poor? Wonder Woman is on-screen for all of 5 minutes, whilst both Jeremy Irons and Diane Lane are criminally underused, yet the real crime is the sense of Nolan having no say on this film whatsoever as producer and the film being controlled completely by the effects ridden mind of Snyder, a man who simply cannot continue as the spearhead of DC’s project of the future. Batman v Superman is not exactly Fantastic Four, it just seems like it is for now, with the heavy sense of disappointment leaving me with a strange sense of pessimism regarding the future of live-action DC movies, a genre which still has the credence to declare The Dark Knight as the best of the best. As for Marvel, they are most definitely still in control. Let’s see what Captain America: Civil War brings. Excellence, I can only hope.
Dan’s Score: 4/10
So we know Dan hated it. I however felt it lived up to my very minimal expectations. I really enjoyed Man of Steel but Zak Snyder is as constant as a broken clock and he really did a number on this one. So let’s rattle off what is good about BvS. Firstly, Batfleck. His structure, costume and general portrayal was one of the more true to life Batmen that I’ve personally seen and he doesn’t sound like he needs a lozenge and some honey tea (Apart from the laughable bat scene). Gal Gadot was a brilliant Wonder Woman, albeit for only a short period, and she really did kick ass with her costume really being on point, unlike her back story, which wasn’t so much whilst, as we are all aware, Doomsday makes an appearance, one that is once again fantastic one that looked pretty damn good. I could sit here and rattle off a few more characters and names of those I’ve enjoyed as there is very little else that really made the movie. Sure, the action was good but the story was a mess of comic book Meta with events that are left unexplained and severely confusing for those out of the loop.
For instance (COMIC BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD), we know that Robin is dead, killed by the Joker. Or so we thought. The reality is that the recent Arkham Knight game reveals all and its’ main villain is actually Robin himself who felt betrayed by Batman and seeks revenge. So his appearance bursting out of a screen in a dream sequence in a costume that looks like Red Hood/Arkham Knight was jarring to say the least (Turns out it was The Flash for some fucking bizarre and ridiculous reason but I preferred my view). Everyone knows of the Joker and a lot may know of the Injustice series. The fighting game illustrates this series well as the Joker blows up Metropolis with a nuclear bomb killing many of the Justice League and Lois Lane. Superman goes ape shit and takes over the world and puts it under martial law while Batman leads a resistance against him, thus explaining the desert scene and all of the crazy costumes and military tech. Without rattling on more, you see that Zack isn’t looking at the typical consumer. He was targeting the followers of the comics which in a way is great but financially, is not viable and still requires prior knowledge to a film that is launching a new series.
As a general consumer, what else are the issues? My biggest gripe sits with Hans Zimmer. A fantastic composer who has done some astonishing pieces of work but his work on BvS was awful. It felt like cheese was leaking from the speakers, with a corny guitar rift ruining the atmosphere of what should have been an incredibly tense and violent action sequence. Visually, the movie was alright, Doomsday looked bad-ass and his special effects were pretty good but Batman’s movements didn’t look human in the slightest and looked more like Spider-man with a permanent blur across him whenever he had to make any semblance of haste. Also, why does have to approach people in desperate need of help in an overly dramatic and incredibly slow fashion? Alright, Clark. Pack it in you prick. This house is about to float down the river. I can’t quite understand the need to constantly portray yourself as a god but complain when people see you as just that. But Clarky boy has nothing on the particularly annoying Lex Luthor. Sure, it may have been a decent performance but I’d like to clarify that I don’t ever remember seeing Lex Luthor act so bizarre. Perhaps he was doing his best impression of the Riddler and was trying to reinvent himself as a clown without make-up. The sharp, slick and calculated psychopath that I remember has become a crazy Joker goon with incoherent babbling at the top of his agenda.
Thus we come to the story; A convoluted mess with links so frail, a fart from the most petite of butterflies would send them careening through the museum of very expensive, fragile artefacts of a long lost world with the discretion of Russia in the Ukraine. Think of it as an origin movie. Something to whet the appetite for the future stories within the universe and yes, it does set that ground well but for 150 minutes, it sure did drag on. I look forward to seeing Jason Mamoa tackle Aquaman and finally (hopefully) give the character justice for the years of ridicule and watching Gal Gadot’s take on Wonder Women in what will be a very important milestone in her career. Not to say I didn’t enjoy it, it was a fun movie and hopefully it’s just a minor hiccup that will give the next instalment a bump in motivation to produce a better, more flowing piece. But this is Snyder, so piss in a bucket and call it Granny’s peach tea for all he cares.
PS – If anyone has that damn sexy note the Batmobile makes I want it now. Kthxbye.
Pete’s Score: 6.5/10
Overall Score: 5.25/10
From Russia With Love
With gun’s and gangster’s auteur Guy Ritchie seemingly popping off the radar recently, even after the release of the two Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes films, which let’s face it, were rather forgettable affairs in comparison to the much better BBC series, his decision to return with a cinematic release of the famous U.S television series The Man From U.N.C.L.E was a strange one to say the least. Yet after promising trailers and a superb cast including Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill, The Social Network‘s Archie Hammer, and queen of 2015, Alicia Vikander who has starred in everything this year from Ex Machina to Seventh Son, Ritchie’s latest cinematic offering was something I was rather excited for yet its’ final product ultimately is something unfortunately much more forgettable with only rare flashes of brilliance in what can only be regarded as great idea not fulfilled to its’ full potential.
After news of a potential nuclear threat is made by business mogul and suspected criminal Victoria Vinciguerra (Elizabeth Debicki), American agent Napoleon Solo (Cavill) is tasked with teaming up with Russian agent Illya Kuryakin (Hammer) in order to combat the supposed threat, aided by Russian defector Gaby Teller whose missing father may or not be aiding such developments. With moments of sheer entertainment, particularly in regards to the banter-esque relationship between our two main heroes, and scenes of high comedic value, with the late torture scene coming first to mind, The Man From U.N.C.L.E shows signs of how Ritchie could have potentially found an overly winning formula for such a film, but is ultimately let down by an overly cliched plot, a shocking lack of overall threat, and a desire to retreat to flashbacks to spoon-feed details of the plot. A missed opportunity? Possibly, but for the time it was on, The Man From U.N.C.L.E was reasonably harmless, just not overly memorable.
Overall Score: 6/10
Its here! For the love of god its finally here!
Comic book movies have been on the rise for many years and the Dark Knight trilogy cemented itself into a market that was predominately dominated by Marvel. With Man of Steel, DC hit the nail on the head and created a truly great Superman movie, even though previous iterations sucked just as bad as Paris Hilton and her musical career. Though this time around, Superman has taken on a persona very reminiscent to that of the Injustice comic/game series.
Failed as a god by the world for his powers, it appears that Gotham’s Dark Knight doesn’t take to much of a shining to the false prophet and comes to bring justice to his ass. Although I couldn’t see a shoutout to Aquaman or Wonder Woman, I honestly cannot wait to see their role in all of this and finally see Aquaman beat out his crappy reputation! Along with rumours of the Flash popping up and a confirmed Cyborg appearance, this looks to be the start of a very exciting path for the universe
Let us know what you think of the trailer down below!


Indian cinema has always been welcomed with immense love and appreciation by the Middle East. They have pursued Indian cinema for its art and the artists with all their hearts. What they really enjoy in Indian films, including Bollywood films, are strong story lines with a strong emotional connection. People have been associating Indian cinema, films, and artists with their personal lives. With so many admirable, influential, and unforgettable artists passing away in the last few years, Middle Eastern filmgoers have no choice but to remember them. Here is a humble attempt to remember our treasures that are still resonating in our hearts.
A veteran actor, who entertained the audience through more than 100 supporting characters in various Bollywood films, including Anupama, Gumrah, and Khubsoorat. At the age of 88, the soul departed us on April 4, 2021.
The legendary actor is considered one of the best actors in the world of Bollywood. Since the start of his film industry career in 1944, he gave numerous blockbusters, including, ‘Mughal-E-Azam’, ‘Karma’ and ‘Kranti’. He received the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his movie ‘Madhumati’. Due to prolonged illness, he took his last breath on July 7, 2021.
He began his Bollywood career in 1983 with the movie ‘Ek Jaan Hai Hum’, and then continued to entertain his audience through many more films, including ‘Lover Boy’, ‘Zalzala’ and ‘Zimmedar’. He is mostly remembered for his remarkable performance in ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’. With progression in his career, he entered as a director and producer in the film industry for various movies including ‘Prem Granth’ and ‘Aa Ab Laut Chalen’. Just when he was about to make his comeback in ‘Toolsidas’, he passed away of a heart attack on February 9, 2021.
She is considered the epitome of playback singing in the industry. She has lent her voice to more than 5,000 songs in Hindi and other regional languages. Her impact on the Indian music industry is unparalleled. Being called as the Nightingale of India, she is acknowledged as one of the most influential vocalists across the globe. On a sad note, she left us on February 6, 2022, from multiple organ dysfunction syndromes.
He, as a singer, composer, and record producer, has given abundantly terrific soundtracks to the industry and his fans. Not only in Hindi, but he also gave big hits in Bengali, Telugu and Kannada movies. The beats of his music cannot ever be forgotten. He passed away on February 15, 2022, at the age of 69.
One of the most loved singers in the industry, entertained audiences in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, and many more languages. He began to sing commercially in jingles and then got a chance to debut in a film with an A.R. Rahman composition. With countless hits, he has made a special space for himself in the hearts of people around the world. In an unfortunate turn of events after a live event in Kolkata, he was pronounced dead on May 31, 2022.
The legendary actor and director has acted in more than 220 films covering the Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Bengali film industries. He is the only Indian actor to have the most films submitted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In February 2018, he entered politics by launching his own political party.
Though feeling a little mellow towards the end, we feel extremely grateful to have witnessed art coming from the finest talents above. Taking their memories forever in our hearts, we will always remember them in love and joy.


New website coming soon
The idea for the film Galloping Mind was born after I’d made a performance with thirty kids called ‘Message to the Population’. That was about ten years ago.
After attemps to shoot the film in Chile and South Africa, we began considering Hungary and Romania. In these countries they know about horses and they know about filmmaking. So I started spending long periods of time there, casting kids, looking for horses and meeting actors until I became really immersed and had created an acting crew of horse riding kids.
Galloping Mind is also about kids who live without parents and I felt the need to go and visit youngsters who really live in those conditions. Of course they didn’t all know how to ride horses but some were mind blowing in their natural acting skills. The gang was growing, with different backgrounds and different talents. A kid is a kid, wherever they come from. Natural talent proves its believability and new futures can open up, especially for the less fortunate ones who could improve their lives by getting out of an institution through having a goal... to act in a movie!
Last year this amazing cast of kids was ready to act, alongside professional actors from Hungary, England, Belgium, Romania, France, Vietnam... Everybody was super motivated and they believed in the film. But suddenly bad news: three weeks before the shoot we had to stop everything.
It was quite a disappointment, but now we know that the film will be made next year. Especially with the help of 150 supporters.
The proof of your co-production will shine for years and years on a wall in your home, studio or office as well as on the credit roll of the film.
Thanks a lot in advance and see you in the cinema!
Director, choreographer and photographer Wim Vandekeybus was born on June 30th, 1963, in Belgium.
In 1986, Wim withdrew to Madrid for several months with a group of young, inexperienced dancers, and founded his company Ultima Vez. Since his first performance, What the Body Does Not Remember, which premièred in 1987, Wim Vandekeybus has created more than twenty dance and/or theatre pieces with changing international casts, and has made nearly as many film and video productions.
This website turns the spotlight on Wim Vandekeybus' talent as an analog photographer.
Please send us an email for more information.
When a nurse discovers that her partner is the father of newborn twins, she decides to steal one of the babies. She hides the girl from her brother, who grows up in a street gang, but ten years later the childrens' paths cross again. They are attracted to each other and discover their common destiny, imposed on them by adults. But neither of them is able to escape their past.
Director & writer: Wim Vandekeybus
Producer: Bart Van Langendonck - SAVAGE FILM (B)
Co-producers: Peter Bouckaert - EYEWORKS (B), Olivier Rausin - CLIMAX FILMS (B), Laszlo Kantor - UJ BUDAPEST FILM STUDIO (H), Petra Goedings - PHANTAVISION (NL), VRT/CANVAS
With the support of: Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF), the Media Development Program of the E.U., The Belgian Taxshelter for Film financing, the Hungarian tax rebate system, The Netherlands Film Fund, Commission du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuelle de la Communauté Française de Belgique et de VOO and the Hungary Film Fund.
In association with: Sciapode (FR) and Ultima Vez (B).
Tentative release date: Spring 2015


Young Creations is a voluntary-led, not-for-profit, inclusive theatre group.
The group provides creative opportunities for people with and without disabilities to participate in the arts. Regular sessions develop self-esteem, confidence and teamwork.
Young Creations' and Northgate School Arts College's annual pantomime is written, produced and directed by the participants, making the show accessible to all ages and abilities.
Sessions take place on Saturdays (11am-3pm) and throughout school holidays on various days at:
The Beehive, Harborough Road, Northampton NN2 8LR
For more information, please contact Sophie Howe on 07810 397273 or firstname.lastname@example.org


Academy releases updated rules for upcoming 2016 Oscars
In a press release issued today by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the entity that produces the yearly Academy Awards, has issued a few changes to the rules regarding the Oscars on Wednesday, June 24, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. Some anticipated that the Academy may return to limiting the Best Picture nominations to five, instead of the mystifying nomination process in place now that can produce five to ten nominations depending on the nomination voting. But that rule was not touched. Instead, the Academy changed rules regarding the short film nominations, producer nominations and the visual effects category.
For Best Picture nominees to be considered for a nomination as producer, the filmmaker must have met eligibility requirements for the Producer Guild Awards. This is another way that the Academy has been working towards bringing Oscar rules in line with the various guild awards. A producer may also be eligible if they were not recognized by the guild and had appealed to the PGA (Producers Guild of America) for eligibility.
Now, if you were wondering how films like Tomorrowland, Jurassic World, Terminator: Genisys and the upcoming new Star Wars would all be able to compete with other film vying for a visual effects Oscar, you were not the only one. In anticipation of a year with many possibilities in the visual effects category the Academy has increased the number of the first round of short-listing to be increased to a number not to exceed 20 films.
All short film categories have undergone a few changes. First, all short film categories: live action, animated and documentary will now feature a total of five nominations. The first series of short-listings for the Documentary Short Subject category will be increased from eight to ten films. Live Action and Animated Short films (which have been released into select theaters over the last few years after final nominations), will now have to have a theatrical release in the Los Angeles County area for at least seven days (consecutively) and with at least one screening per day. The films also must including in the theater's published showtimes listings.


A large crowd of spectators including eager students, and teachers gathered around at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Creative Arts Department, waiting to witness how their fellow students would put all the learned theories into action.
Performing a theater act of one of Nikolai Gogol’s most beloved play, ‘The Government Inspector’ by the first year students taking a degree in theatre arts, film and television at the UDSM; who had no prior practice of acting, they managed to put together an outstanding show.
From the beginning to the end of the performance, the actors were able to engage people into responding and cheering. Their beautiful and exotic performance clearly portrayed the message.
The performance had smooth scene changes, a clear focus, and a cohesiveness that was impressive.
They narrated perfectly and the students were able to depict and expose all the injustices occurring with some comic sense into it, which left the entire audience in laughter and satisfaction.
The overall plot of the play centered on mistaken identity set in a rural town in Russia. The officials happen upon a dapper fool arriving in town and mistake him for the inspector from the government.
They entice, and pamper him in an attempt to distract him from the evils of the administration.
The officials succeed, and the dapper fool leaves town. Just then the real inspector appears, much to the chagrin of the officials.
This play is a wellknown farce. In it, Gogol shows his distaste for the overall politics in Russia at the time.
Theatre arts teacher at UDSM Creative Arts College, Novetha Kigombe said that the students are being taught the foundation and basics in acting.
They start by learning the theory parts of it and once they are done they put what they learnt into action.
“You cannot point out that a person is good at acting without seeing them in action, how they can immerse themselves in the character, how they take command of the theater space and are heard on the theatre,” Kigombe said.
Among the things that are observed is how they become one with the character and if their voice and body gestures portray the message and attract the audience, she explained.
“The students did an excellent job, they have been able to really become the character and portray the message needed, especially considering that they are just fresh from A levels and have never had any prior training of the field,” she commended.
Preparing for a role is the process of getting into your character’s head, embodying them the best you can.
Where an actor refuses to break character on set; in between takes, they stay in the role, trying to fully inhabit the character so that they are always perfect when playing the role, she said.
“And that is what my students did.” The play was written in 1836 and is acted today by our youth after almost two millenniums, it’s a long history that still carries its importance, she commented.
“They chose (students), this play because currently Tanzania is fighting against a lot of things including corruption, misuse of government property, and misconduct of the civil servants; which is in line with what our current government is doing now,” she noted.
She further advised parents to stop being choosers of their kids’ talents, instead become supporters of what their children want to study.
“Every child has their own talent, so give them an opportunity to pursue what they want to study, a parent is to give them guidance, advice and support on how to achieve it. But if you deny your child, he or she may do it in hiding while still studying what you chose for him or her,” she asserted.
Adding that in the end of the day the child may end up failing both. The Director of Russia Tanzania Cultural Center (RTCC), Maria Pateev said that the famous play was written in Russia in 1836. Gogol became popular by writing novels full of satire and irony.
“Even though the play was written a long time ago but it is still of present context and people still get entertained and learn something from the play,” she commented.
The play has been translated into several languages including Swahili ‘Mkaguzi wa Serikali’ and was edited in the language by the coordinator at RTCC Rifat Pateev in 1999.
Gogol had his heart set on an illustrious career in literature. Unfortunately, he met with failure after failure in his early adulthood.
For him literature was more than just entertainment. Many of his works fall under the realm of satire, which is using criticism, irony and dark humor to point out the inconsistencies or injustices in society.
Gogol’s personal goal was to use literature, particularly laughter, to reveal abuses in the real world, hoping to trigger a more righteous way to live.
His plays, in particular, had a major influence in Russian literature. The Government Inspector is his first play and perhaps Gogol’s finest work.
A quote from Gogol himself outlining his goal in writing this masterpiece ‘’I resolved to gather into one heap everything that was bad in Russia…all the injustices being perpetrated… and tried to hold them all up to ridicule… Through the laughter, which I had never before vented with such force, the reader could feel my deep sorrow.’’
The Government Inspector, which satirizes a corrupt society was regarded by Nabokov as the greatest play in the Russian language and is still widely studied in schools and universities. Gogol’s other plays include Marriage and The Gamblers.


Here are the winners of the 7 competitions of Tempo 2013;
TEMPO DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Tempo Documentary Award 2013 goes to BELLEVILLE BABY by Mia Engberg.
HONORY MENTION TEMPO DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Honory mention Tempo Documentary Award 2013 goes to MY STOLEN REVOLUTION by Nahid Persson Sarvestani.
Tempo Documentary Award is arranged with support by the Swedish Film Institute and the city of Stockholm.
STEFAN JARL INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award goes to STORIES WE TELL by Sarah Polley
Sarah Polley evokes her late mother in a documentary that could almost be considered a detective thriller. It is a movie that never stops surprising us, as it uncovers secret after secret, adding layer upon layer of life and colour, until the image of a whole human being emerges. Here is a lost life to preserve, a question to answer and a paternity to prove. STORIES WE TELL is playful and loving, insidious and forgiving and never ever dull.
Stefan Jarl International Documentary Award is presented in cooperation with The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.
TEMPO SHORT AWARD
Tempo Short Award 2013 goes to KÄRLEKSFÖRMEDLINGEN by Martina Carlstedt.
Tempo Short Award is arranged with support by the Swedish Film Institute and Filmregion Stockholm-Mälardalen.
New Doc 2013 goes to STADEN OCH JAG by Moa Junström
Honory mention New Doc 2013: LISAS KÄNSLA by Saga Gärde.
Honory mention New Doc 2013: TJUVGODS by Gustav Ågerstrand och Lucas Grind
New Doc is arranged with support by Filmbasen/Film Stockholm.
TEMPO RADIO AWARD
Tempo Radio Award 2013 goes to KOM IGEN GUBBAR! By Louise Jacobson.
Presented in cooperation with Stockholms Dramatiska Högskola.
SHORT DOX RADIO
Short Dox Radio 2013 goes to PLATSERNA by Sara Villius.
Tempo Pitch 2013 går till TYSTNADENS SPRÅK av Frans Huhta Karlsson.
Tempo Pitch is arranged with support by Filmregion Stockholm-Mälardalen, SVT Dokumentär and the Swedish Film Institute.
Thanks to all participants and Congratulations to all the winners!


Engage creative thinking skills and spark the imagination with this idea for a classroom theater production!
Grade Level: 3-6
Story Preview: Little Gerry Green Thumb wants to become a member of Nursery Rhyme Kingdom. To reach his goal, Little Gerry must pass the scrutiny of a committee of current characters. At first, some members of the panel have reservations about admitting someone with his unique appearance. After they meet Little Gerry -- and see his special talent -- they view him in a different light.
Roles: Narrators 1 and 2; King of Hearts; Little Gerry Green Thumb; Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary; Old Mother Goose; Little Nancy Etticoat; Muffin Man; Jack Be Nimble; Peter Piper; Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
Setting: present day, a faraway kingdom
Theme: diversity, nursery rhymes
Props: (Optional) table; several chairs; several folders with a few sheets of papers inside each one; student-made large thumb shape created from green construction paper or paper colored green or a green plastic thumb; tape; two potted plants (real or plastic) or two student or teacher-made pictures of potted plants, one wilted, one green
Follow-Up Activity: Discuss the meaning of the word “diversity” as it is used in the play. Then arrange the class into small groups to edit the play. Ask each group to create another new character with a different physical feature and unique skill. Then have each group write a rhyme for the new character. Ask groups to share their changes with the class. You also might have the class re-read or perform the play using the students’ revised versions.
Additional Notes: There are numerous nursery rhyme sites on the Web. You might want to start with Enchanted Learning’s Rebus Rhymes, which contains the texts for many popular nursery rhymes along with printable and online activities.
Click here for a printable script.
Article by Lois Lewis
Copyright © 2007 Education World


A mysterious outsider’s quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds… [Continuer la lecture]
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ack Reacher: Never Go Back (also known as Jack Reacher: Never Look Back) is an upcoming 2016 American action thriller film directed by Edward Zwick and co-written with Richard Wenk… [Continuer la lecture]
A priest named Father Burke is sent to Rome to investigate the mysterious death of a nun. Download .torrent You need uTorrent for downloading .torrent files.
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Beatrice Prior must confront her inner demons and continue her fight against a powerful alliance which threatens to tear her society apart with the help from others on her side…. [Continuer la lecture]
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A father is accused of a crime he has no memory of committing. Download .torrent You need uTorrent for downloading .torrent files.


December 27 – January 27, 2019
Everybody, the newest play from award-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who also wrote An Octoroon. Check out my review on An Octoroon here. The story is inspired by the 15th century morality play Everyman, about the path one takes towards death or the afterlife, and at each performance, the role of Everybody is chosen amongst the cast by lottery.
Everybody has come to the end of life, and so begins the revelatory and mysterious journey towards what lies beyond. As relationships, memories, and senses fade away, Everybody is left to travel down the road that leads to the bittersweet truth that we all eventually must face. In this modern, comedic, and heartfelt riff on the iconic medieval morality play, fate decides the roles by lottery each night, so – as is true in life – Everybody could be anybody. And in the end, when it’s your time to go, what will you leave behind and what will you take with you?
Director – Jake Nice
Production Stage Manager – Tiffany Cromwell
Assistant Director – Eric Berg
Technical Director – L. W. Miller
Set Design – Inseung Park
Lighting Design – Tristan Decker
Costume Design – Ryan D. Schaap
Sound Design – David Lanza
Choreography – Danielle Georgiou, PhD
Props/Set Decor – Lynn Lovett
Assistant Stage Manager – Flower Avila
Shop Foreman – Karlee Perego
Master Electrician – Kat Fahrenthold
First of all, let me preface by saying how much I enjoy the risks that Stage West takes. While I fully admit, I’m a toe-tapping, big dance number, musical theater lover for life, I appreciate being gently nudged out of my comfort zone as I see more and more plays. Will I always choose a successful Tony Award nominee or winner over an independent playwright trying to push boundaries and stir up controversy? Probably. Do I fully understand and grasp metaphors and deep subject matter that cause us to reflect on our own lives? No. In fact, most of the time, I politely ask my husband Nathan to explain “symbolism” since he was an English major in college. Stage West presents evocative, thoughtful productions that make the theatrical experience memorable.
Before the curtain call, I take time to read the program to get a better understanding of the plot. I also love reading cast bios – especially to see where everyone went to school and what other shows they’ve been in. For the past 10 years, I’ve been an avid theater-goer in DFW so I enjoy following the careers of local actors.
As patrons were being seated, Nathan and I thought some of the actors were being seated among the audience. The “usher”, Marcus Mauldin, comes out and talks for a while. He’s extremely charismatic as he warms up the audience. Typically they have someone on staff, or a volunteer come out prior to the show and make housekeeping announcements. After a few minutes, we realized that this “warm-up” was part of the show. He wasn’t just any spokesman – he was God. Shortly the man was joined by an older women wearing a red suit, and she was Death (Amy Mills). I thought she was very funny and likable. Not the typical vision you’d have if you are personifying Death. While God and Death talked, there was some activity from the audience, and our assumption was confirmed. The rest of the cast had been planted in the audience. Each was summoned by Death, and this is where it got interesting.. actually, fascinating!
Every member of the cast, other than God and Death, had memorized the lines for each character including Everybody, Friendship, Cousin, Kinship, Stuff, Strength, Beauty, Senses, Mind, Understanding, Love and Evil Shitty Things. The actors lined up on the front part of the stage as Death pulled out various BINGO balls determining what part each actor would play for that performance. There’s literally no was to predict which of the 120 possible casting variations that you’ll see, but that’s what makes it so magical. What unique challenges – major kudos to the incredibly talented cast. Ultimately, Death has summoned Everybody. It’s her time and now, we joined her on the final journey as she tries to take Friendship, Kinship, Stuff, Strength, et al with her. However, as the old phrase goes – “you can’t take it with you when you go”.
What I was most impressed with was the calmness reflected by each of the actors. Facing a lottery to determine your character every performance would be terrifying for even veteran actors. However, each actor not only embraced their role for the evening, but they all truly thrived.
Everybody is playing at Stage West until January 27. This show is not to be missed. In fact, make a date night and enjoy dinner at The Lobby Cafe beforehand. This month’s menu includes melted brie bruschetta and southwestern crepes. Yum!


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Notre Dame junior Maegan Fitzgerald gets a screen role in multi award-winning new film.
Shana Gagnon is an actress and director known for a number of films over the last several years, including "Welcome to Happiness" (2015), "Colorado" (2016) and "Conversations in Cars" (2015). Currently, this native Michigander (Rochester Hills) is enjoying a wealth of great reviews and awards for her latest release, a short movie called "Secret," which she describes as a story of love and loss, the healing power of nature and horses, and the escapism of baseball.
Reviews of her film thus far include the following luminescence:
"Beautiful imagery uplifts our spirits as we transition through this process with Shana, her mother, and her horse, Secret, who all must cross the threshold of love, loss and separation, into healing, hope, courage and renewal."
"Secret unveils a kaleidoscope of minimalist imagery and beautifully simplistic scenes creating a collage of genuine human emotion. Nostalgic, deep, and honest, Secret is both a celebration of perfect love and a tribute to the devastating emotions that surround sudden, tragic loss."
And still more. . .
"Secret spoke volumes to me, right from the opening frame. I can hardly explain how deeply the film touched me. The powerful role nature plays in it, the beautiful emotions on that screen, the barn, the horses, the depth, the stillness. . .every moment was perfect, poignant, and hurt; in the good way. It was a gorgeous cinematic love letter and I felt it at the most interior part of my very being. Truly."
The film, which was produced and filmed entirely in Michigan, has screened in 10 official film festivals across the U.S. so far, including in Boston, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Michigan. It has taken home a Grand Jury Prize – Best Short Film; Best Cinematography, Best Drama – Short; Best Inspirational Short; and The Audience Award from those festivals.
An "excellent" choice
When Gagnon was casting for the film, besides herself in a lead role, she already had a friend and colleague in mind to play a second lead role, and another big role was filled by someone she'd seen over the years at a local horse riding club — Maegan Fitzgerald, who'll be a junior at Notre Dame Prep in the fall.
"I cast my friend and colleague, actor Bill Doherty, Jr., and we flew him to Michigan from LA for his part," Gagnon said. "I knew he was the only actor I wanted cast in his role. As far as the rest of my cast — Maegan Fitzgerald and Dennis Smrcina — I knew I wanted to cast 'real horse experts.' I decided to cast Maegan after a couple of years of observing her excellence as a horseback rider at the same location where my mother boards her horse."
"SECRET" FILM TRAILER: https://vimeo.com/252824647
It seems "excellence" has been a watchword for Fitzgerald when others talk about her equestrian skils, including Theresa Schmid, one of her coaches on the Notre Dame equestrian team.
"Maegan is our team co-captain for the 2018 season and was our reserve high-point rider last year," Schmid said. "She is a great force to have on the team, considering her excellent riding skills, a willing team attitude, and the ability to keep everyone laughing during the long and stressful competitions."
Worth the work
For Fitzgerald, making the film in the beginning was a little more daunting than even those stressful riding competitions.
"I was nervous filming this because I am not a performer," she said. "I have never been the type to be on stage and I am not usually the one to try out for big parts. However, once we started filming, all I had to do was be myself and it was easy to play the role of a young rider who understood how devastating it was to lose a horse."
She said the final product was worth all the work and worry.
"Secret is a great film for everyone, and not just equestrians, because no matter how old you are, everyone has experienced loss," Fitzgerald said. "This film gets in touch with that sensitive side and approaches it head on, without being too aggressive. It deals with the stages of grief, and having just sold a horse myself, this movie was refreshing because it helped me understand that I could be sad and that although moving on is sometimes very hard, it is often the best thing to do."
On a Michigan mission
Gagnon, who now splits her time between Michigan and LA, is "primarily back in the mitten," she said. "I'm also on a mission to bring more film and television to this state. For me, it started with 'Secret,' which is a film for Michiganders, filmed 100 percent in the greater metro Detroit area and which showcases the state's fall colors as well as its unique summertime experience. We also edited the film in Grand Rapids."
"This is a film about the stages of grief a woman must go through after the death of her husband," Gagnon said. "Maegan's character is symbolic and representative of a more innocent younger time in the protagonist's life."
She said Fitzgerald's character represents youth and optimism in the darkness; a light at the end of the tunnel.
"Maegan nailed it," Gagnon said. "I have noticed those in the horse world have great discipline in taking direction – which is what every director needs from their actors. She did a great job."
Fitzgerald's "great job" was not without a lot of hard work and tricky time management, however.
"For my first film, it was pretty crazy figuring out how to tread water and not drown under all the excitement," she said. "It was filmed during school hours, so each day I had under an hour to get all my lines and actions down, which was super stressful. Plus I was nervous how Ava, my horse, would react to all the film equipment. But she took it all in stride and was super co-operative with everything I asked of her."
Fitzgerald also said she thinks the movie is a kind of a tribute to her home state.
"Secret is like a love letter to Michigan," she said. "Sometimes, when living in Michigan, you get caught up in the heavy winters and the unbearably humid, rainy summers. But this film allows one to take a step back and admire just how beautiful Michigan really is."
Comments or questions? email@example.com.
Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org


Split has practically resurrected M. Night Shyamalan’s career, commercially speaking. It has scored number one at the box office two weekends in a row – a feat not accomplished since The Sixth Sense. It seems Shyamalan has found his mojo again, hopefully for keeps.
Split breaks into action when Kevin (James McAvoy) kidnaps Clair (Haley Lu Richardson), Marcia (Jessica Shula) and Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), three teenage girls, and locks them in a room in an anonymous underground compound. As the film progresses, it’s tension is primarily buttressed by showcase performances from McAvoy and Taylor-Joy. They convincingly portray two traumatized characters: Kevin has 23 different personalities, and Casey’s traumatic past is unveiled in a series of flashbacks.
McAvoy revels in each personality: one minute he is dressed in black and bespectacled as Dennis, the next he is in blue athletic apparel and talking like a child as Hedwig, the nine-year-old. One particular character pays homage to Hitchcock’s Psycho when McAvoy wears a maroon dress, transforming into the female Patricia. When he meets with his therapist Dr. Fletcher (played convincingly by Betty Buckley), he is Barry, a gay fashionista.
McAvoy’s blue eyes tease as he playfully, darkly displays his range as an actor, both fascinating and terrifying in his portrayal of evil. Although we never see his other personalities, the vacillation between these four is enough to keep us on our toes.
Against Kevin’s legion self is Casey. Like Clarice (Jodie Foster) from Silence of the Lambs, Casey has a traumatic past. Anya Taylor-Joy, who broke out in 2016’s The Witch, owns her role as the wounded Casey. In one flashback, Casey’s Dad teaches her how to shoot a rifle when she is a young child. This, of course, comes handy near the end.
In Split Shyamalan splinters the archetype of Jekyll and Hyde with dissociative identity disorder: for most of the film, McAvoy moves between the four personalities, but he keeps hinting at his multiple personalities coalescing into the Beast. Kevin eventually transforms into his own menacing Hyde.
Despite Split’s predictable plot, the dynamic between Kevin and Casey provides plenty of suspense and unease. Split wears its theme on its sleeve, and the enigma of affliction is filtered through Nietzsche’s what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Casey and Kevin embody different facets of this maxim.
As the tension and atmosphere build, the climax delivers an intense and riveting finale involving – yes! – a rifle, with a throwback twist at the end. What truly gives this movie it’s pizzazz are the knockout performances by McAvoy and Taylor-Joy.
After a decade of diminishing returns, it seems Shyamalan the auteur is back to play, his talents in full flare.


Starring Colin Farrell (“In Bruges,” “S.W.A.T.”), Kate Beckinsale (“Underworld,” “Vacancy”), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) and Jessica Biel (“The A-Team,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”). Set in 2084 after the majority of Earth has been ravaged by war and has become totally uninhabitable — with the exception of London, now called “The United Federation of Britain” and Australia now referred to as “The Colony.” The United Federation is a gleaming, sleek and technologically advanced futuristic utopia, while The Colony is the workers realm. Dark, damp and dirty buildings are stacked upon each other, like slums. In this new world, the workers travel to the Federation in a gigantic cylindrical elevator down a shaft that literally goes straight through the center of the Earth. Doug Quad (Farrell), a factory worker from the Colony, is depressed and wants more for himself and his wife (Beckinsale) and is plagued by dreams of him and another woman fleeing — for their lives — from the Federation. Enter “Rekall.” An establishment that will provide any memory desired. The only catch: you can’t have actually done the implanted memory or your brain will be fried.
Doug signs up and decides he wants the memory of a secret double agent. As the memories begin to be implanted, something goes wrong. The man administering the rekall (Harold from “Harold and Kumar” aka John Cho) exclaims that Doug really is a spy and tells them to shut it off before “it takes.” At this moment, a team of Federation troops busts in and shoots everyone dead — except Doug who single handedly kills or incapacitates them all only to escape, back to his apartment and wife. As he explains the situation to his wife she attempts to strangle him and reveals that she is a double agent working for the Federation, and he is, in fact, someone important to the resistance which is trying to keep the Colony free and stop an impending secret invasion masterminded by the Chancellor (Bryan Cranston) of the Federation. Doug fights off his pseudo wife and thus begins the chase that pretty much takes up the rest of the movie.
The film is entertaining and a fun ride, but it plays with a venire of intellect that really isn’t there. The acting and script — while nothing to write home about — are solid enough. The issues come from the movie giving the audience no real down time, once it starts there’s just too much. They overload the scenes with crazy effects sequences, explosions and a convoluted system of future elevators that almost crush someone. But they don’t leave any room to build tension or character. So when it comes down to it you don’t really care if they get crushed or not. Along the way, Jessica Biel is thrown in as the woman from Doug’s dreams/memories and turns out to be his love interest though even that isn’t touched on — with the exception of a couple of lines and two overly dramatic kisses.
However, one could still see it as a good popcorn flick. But they really fall apart with what should be the real question of the film: Is he or isn’t he? From the first scene of the film they build the blueprint that Doug is in fact a spy and his life, as a factory worker, was completely fabricated. There’s never a moment where the audience wonders if maybe everything they’re seeing is because of the Rekall, which is what made the source material, Phillip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” so intriguing. They add a couple of poorly delivered lines attempting to misdirect the audience but it doesn’t work. All that along with terribly under using Cranston I’d have to go with the mind fuck that is Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 version. It may not have made a lot of sense, but it’s got more excitement and intrigue than this fairly flat remake.


Julianne Kelsch is an author and freelance writer who picked up the pen after the birth of her second child. A mother of four, she believes words have a special kind of magic all their own. With a word you can open the heart or break the soul; you can breathe life into love or distinguish the final flame. For her, reading is a place to experience worlds unseen and lives never lived; writing is the place to create them.
For Lily Frost, love is a double edged sword. She craves it, she needs it, but the asking price for love may be her life.
After her mother's apparent suicide, Lily receives a terrible warning: leave California or run the risk of death. Afraid for her life, she flees. Her only hope for safety lies with her father, a man who abandoned her when she was five. But while she searches for him, she discovers love and safety in the arms of James Prescott.
James is a man tormented by his mother's unsolved murder. More than anything he wants to see her killer lifeless, lying in a shallow grave. When Lily enters his life, he realizes that he hasn't been living. Lily shines for him, a light that finally pierces the darkness. For the first time in years, he feels hope. Their relationship blossoms and Lily discovers that she is worthy of love. However, she soon realizes that the safety she craves and the love she's found may be short lived.
The past James carries and the life Lily left behind collide, throwing the couple into the path of the murderer. Secrets long buried come to surface and threaten to destroy everything. Will they face their demons together or will they let the past tear them apart?
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Tiger 3 OTT Release Date: Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif starrer film Tiger 3 has been released in theaters on Sunday, November 12, on Diwali. There was a lot of enthusiasm among the people about this film and the film got a good response. Made with a budget of Rs 300 crore, this film has so far done a business of around Rs 467 crore at the box office.
However, the kind of wonder that the producer expected from this film could not be shown in the cinema. The film received mixed reviews from critics. All the fans of Salman Khan are waiting for the release of this film on OTT. We will talk about the same here. Let us know when and on which OTT platform the film Tiger 3 is going to be streamed.
Director and cast of Tiger 3
Tiger 3 is directed by Maneesh Sharma and the script of the film is written by Sridhar Raghavan. The dialogues of the film have been written by Ankur Chaudhary and the story of the film has been written by Aditya Chopra, along with this the film has also been produced by Aditya Chopra.
The film’s lead cast includes Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, and Emraan Hashmi, with the supporting cast including Kumud Mishra, Vishal Jethwa, Riddhi Dogra, Revathi, Aamir Bashir, and others.
Tiger 3’s Streaming OTT Platform
Amazon Prime Video has bought the OTT rights of Tiger 3, so you can watch Salman Khan’s film on Amazon Prime Video.
What is the OTT Release Date of Tiger 3?
Tiger 3 is still running in theatres, the film will be available to watch online on OTT platforms within a month of the show closing in theatres. To know the release date you can stay connected with us, the release date will be updated here.
Tiger 3 Movie Story
Tiger (Salman Khan) who is an Indian intelligence agent. A Pakistani agent (Emraan Hashmi) who is a terrorist. As part of a conspiracy he tries to prove Tiger as a traitor. Meanwhile, Tiger tries to save his family and prove himself a patriot and foils the Pakistani agent’s plan.
Tiger 3 Box Office Collection
Tiger 3 has collected ₹44 crore nett in India and ₹94 crore worldwide on the first day of its release. When this article is being written, the film is playing in the theatre. It has been 29 days since the film was released in theatres. The total Indian net collection of 29 days is Rs 282.61 crore, gross collection is Rs 339.2 crore and overseas collection is Rs 124 crore. With this, the total worldwide collection of Tiger 3 has reached Rs 463.2 crore.


Chris Orrick - "Your Ambition" Music Video
I starred in the music video for Chris Orrick's "Your Ambition". It was directed by Kris Merc, who is absolutely brilliant and was such a joy to work with. Click on the image to check out the video.
Horror at the Cecil Hotel
I had a leading role in an episode of Horror at the Cecil Hotel, a special event series for Investigation Discovery. I played Dan Hurley, the hotel clerk at the Cecil Hotel. Our episode is focused on the infamous Elisa Lam murder. Click on the screenshot for a link to the episode
TWIMs is a web series of which I am the Co-Creator, Co-Writer, and Star. I created it and write it with my brother, filmmaker Matt Simon. It is about the lives, loves, losses, and larks of Tim, a ruthless actor with no skills and endless confidence, and the ghost of Tim's unborn twin, which haunts him for no reason.
TWIMs Season One Playlist
TWIMs Season Two Playlist
She & Tim
I perform improv/make short films with comedian Jesse Roth as the comedy duo She & Tim. Below are a couple of our videos, with more to come. For info on our improv shows and videos, check out our Facebook page
The Post 2
We were asked to film a sequel to The Post. Here's the trailer.
A redemptive tale of gluttony and violence.


The ability to hear plays such a crucial role in making music that it's almost impossible to imagine how a professional musician feels when they've been diagnosed with a condition called Otosclerosis (progressive deafness). But that is exactly what flautist Elizabeth Petcu is bravely facing. Like Beethoven, Elizabeth is experiencing conductive hearing loss where the bones of the ear fuse together preventing sound from entering and vibrating. Last year, after 25 years as principle flautist, Elizabeth had to leave her job in the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
This documentary lets the audience enter a world where sound plays a crucial but increasingly frustrating role and shows how this musician is dealing with the loss of a vital sense with strength and humour. This is a story of one woman's struggle to express her creativity through sound – despite her limited hearing – and her new relationship with silence.
Hearing Silence has screened at several major film festivals in Ireland and abroad. Upcoming screenings are listed here »
Elizabeth Petcu's Photostream on Flickr: Hearing Silence
Hearing Silence is a documentary that delves into a world where sound plays a crucial but increasingly frustrating role, as we learn how professional musician Elizabeth Petcu is coping with hearing loss. Directed by Hilary Fennell and produced by Martha O'Neill, Hearing Silence premiered in November, 2010, at the Cork Film Festival and is part of the Irish Film Board's Reality Bites fund for short documentaries. More »