Updated 9:29 AM ET, Fri April 22, 2022
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Indie Action Comedy ‘Green Ghost & the Masters of the Stone’ Trailer
Indie Action Comedy ‘Green Ghost the Masters of the Stone’ Trailer
by Alex Billington
March 17, 2022
Source: YouTube
“It’s going to be a little bit difficult to take you seriously…” Gravitas Ventures has released an official trailer for Green Ghost the Masters of the Stone, a campy action comedy formerly known as The Green Ghost. This originally premiered in 2018, and an updated version was shown at the 2021 L.A. Latino Film Festival last year. It’s finally opening in theaters this April – don’t forget to get a big bag of popcorn. In the style of comedy-horror martial-arts movies of the 1970s ’80s, director Michael D. Olmos’ Green Ghost the Masters of the Stone is a comedic anti-hero action movie filled with adventure for the entire family. A secret group of Mexican superheroes, known as “El Trio de la Luz“, are forced by destiny to include an adopted gringo into their group to fight to save humanity. Will the car salesman and local TV personality carry his weight and transform from the Gringo into the “Green Ghost”? We shall see… Introducing Charlie Clark as “The Green Ghost”, with Kuno Becker, Marko Zaror, Renée Victor, Sofia Pernas, Elpidia Carrillo, Pepe Serna, and Danny Trejo. It looks super dumb, but also super fun. At least I hope it’s fun.
Official trailer for Michael D. Olmos’ Green Ghost and the Masters of the Stone, from YouTube:
In a Texas border town, car salesman Charlie (Charlie Clark) moonlights as a masked Lucha librewrestler going by the name “Green Ghost.” When assailants arrive seeking an otherworldly emerald, Charlie discovers that he has super powers. As he learns to fight from the unconventional Master Gin (action film legend Danny Trejo), Charlie is told that he’s part of a secret warrior “triad of light” with his childhood friend Marco (Kuno Becker) and Marco’s sister (Sofia Pernas) led by La Nana (Renee Victor). Together, they’ve been chosen to protect humanity from Drake (Marko Zaror), the embodiment of the Mayan apocalypse. As a stargate is opened in a Mexican pyramid, Drake seeks the power to destroy humankind — and Charlie, linked to the power of the emerald, is the only one who can stop him. Charlie must harness both his physical and mystical strength to save humanity and go from Gringo to Green Ghost. The film is directed by filmmaker Michael D. Olmos, of the films Splinter, Bedrooms, Filly Brown, and Windows on the World previously. The screenplay is by Charlie Clark, Brian Douglas, Michael D. Olmos, Rafael Antonio Ruiz. Gravitas will debut The Green Ghost in select US theaters starting on April 29th, 2022 this spring.
Another Terrible Bruce Willis Film – ‘Fortress: Sniper’s Eye’ Trailer
Another Terrible Bruce Willis Film – ‘Fortress: Sniper’s Eye’ Trailer
by Alex Billington
March 3, 2022
Source: YouTube
“I must make you suffer.” Lionsgate has revealed a trailer for yet another straight-to-the-trash Bruce Willis action movie, which he keeps churning out more more of recently. This latest one is Fortress: Sniper’s Eye, apparently a sequel to the action cyber-thriller Fortress from last year; they found a different director for this one. Which didn’t seem to help much. Retired CIA agent Robert Carter Michaels and his son Paul have committed themselves to rebuilding their relationship after their epic last encounter spent protecting the highly secure secret base: the Fortress. When Paul’s wife, Melissa, is abducted, he and Robert embark on a deadly journey through the rugged mountains in hopes of saving her. The movie stars Jesse Metcalfe, Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, Ser’Darius Blain, Kelly Greyson, Natalie Burn, Welker White, and Gabrielle Haugh. As forgettable as they come. I think even nodded off watching the trailer.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Josh Sternfeld’s Fortress: Sniper’s Eye, direct from YouTube:
Starring Bruce Willis, this action cyber-thriller continues the adventure begun in Fortress. Weeks after the deadly assault on Fortress Camp, Robert (Willis) makes a daring rescue to save Sasha, the widow of his old nemesis Balzary (Chad Michael Murray,). But back in the camp’s command bunker, it appears Sasha may have devious plans of her own. As a new attack breaks out, Robert is confronted with a familiar face he thought he’d never see again… Fortress: Sniper’s Eye is directed by the American producer / filmmaker Josh Sternfeld, director of the films Winter Solstice and Meskada previously. The screenplay is written by Alan Horsnail, from a story by Emile Hirsch and Randall Emmett. Lionsgate will debut Stenfeld’s Fortress: Sniper’s Eye in select US theaers + on VOD starting April 29th, 2022 this spring. This is worth skipping.
Inspired by RSS, CASA, a Christian outfit in Kerala is gaining popularity with love jihad interventions
A little-known organisation until a few years ago, Christian Association and Alliance For Social Change (CASA), now seems to be at the forefront of every controversy related to Christianity in Kerala – be it regarding a movie titled ‘Eesho’ (Jesus Christ in Malayalam) or over allegations of ‘love jihad’ and ‘halal food’. CASA is once again in the spotlight with the recent controversy over an interfaith marriage of a Christian nurse and a DYFI leader. CASA offered its support to the family of the woman right by organising a march to the police station and also assisted in filing a habeas corpus petition in the Kerala High Court. Strongly aligning with the views of RSS-BJP, Kochi-born CASA has spread its wings to Canada, Australia, Israel etc. Though CASA’s Facebook posts often carry polarising and vicious statements, it is gaining support among the Christian community.
Speaking to this reporter, CASA president Kevin Peter, a Kochi native, explained their activities, plans, politics and more. Peter, 48, is among the seven founders of CASA, which now has over 5,000 members. Peter said that four of its initial founders have seen their daughters marrying Muslim men. He said Christian priests, former police and intelligence officers, who do not wish to be named, are part of their advisory team. Members of 17 Christian denominations in Kerala, except Jehovah’s Witnesses are also part of CASA.
Here are the edited excerpts from the interview.
What is CASA? What are your activities and plans?
CASA became an active organisation after registering as a society in 2019. However, its origin happened in connection with the execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006. If you remember, there was a hartal (shutting down of shops, offices as a mark of sorrow or protest) in Kerala in connection with the execution. The hartal supporters, led by former MLA V K Ebrahim Kunju, disrupted the functioning of Cochin carnival. A disappointed group started the carnival heritage protection council, which later became CASA. However, it soon became inactive. The idea of forming an RSS-model organisation for Christians led to its revival during the ‘love jihad’ campaign in 2018. Though I mentioned RSS, we have no plans to use arms like them. Our motto is “My country, my beliefs”, which means we value our belief as well as our land. We have 17 Christian denominations under us, which include Syro Malabar, Latin, Orthodox, Jacobite etc, except the Jehovah’s Witnesses which is theologically different. We accept members only after carefully scrutinising their ID, parish details and their social media accounts to ensure that they are not anti-national or too communal. We have over 5,000 members, of which 2,000 are active. We don’t have direct links with the Church, but have priests, former police and intelligence officers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals in our advisory committee. Currently the founding members contribute funds for activities. We have got offers of funds from abroad. We will complete the licensing process for that soon.
What are the major initiatives of CASA?
We have intervened in over 200 ‘love jihad’ cases in the state and were able to save around 90 girls. We also check the details in websites (Registration department used to publish notices containing details of couple under special marriage act) to identify ‘love jihad’ cases and alert the local priests. With their help, we meet their families and save girls. From my understanding, in 8 out of 10 cases, girls regret their decision. Also, parents often face ostracism and humiliation. There is only one Bindu Sampath (mother of Nimisha Fatima who joined ISIS) or Ashokan (father of Hadiya who married Shefin Jahan) among thousands. Others are not ready to pursue the fight considering the future of their remaining kids. So we launched a ‘Mission Recall to Christ Love’ to bring back these girls. We brought back around 12 such girls. Of these, we were able to marry off two girls with eligible men from within their communities. These are happening in a secretive manner, we don’t publish such details.
How can you raise allegations of ‘love jihad’ without the support of any facts? In the case of Joisna, who married the DYFI leader, or Jesna Maria James, who has gone missing and is being investigated by the CBI, CASA has alleged ‘love jihad’ angle without any proof. Even the Union Home ministry told Parliament that there was no case of love jihad.
It was not any Hindu or Christian organisations, but Justice K T Sankaran of Kerala High Court who mentioned it first. Also the Union Ministry cannot regsiter a case in the absense of a legal definition for ‘love jihad’. In Joisna’s case, CASA never officially alleged ‘love jihad’. It wasn’t love but a trap. Same gang of people are supporting the couples in all cases, including Joisna’s. Jesna’s missing case was revived only when CASA became a co-petitioner in the Habeas Corpus originally filed by her family. We strongly believe that Islamic groups are behind Jesna’s disappearance.
Several facebook posts of CASA are highly communal and polarising, be it ‘spit jihad’ or ‘love jihad’. Doesn’t this have serious implications on society?
We have never done anything illegal and there aren’t any cases against me, except one related to a Clubhouse discussion. Take for example the case of Easho movie, we registered our protest with the director and requested him to change the name. However, we never threw stones at the houses of actors or the director, we did not organise a protest march or did anything illegal. After exploring all peaceful means, we approached the court. The High Court said they can’t prevent anyone from giving names of gods to films. There wasn’t any protest march like the one by the Islamic organisation after the Hadiya verdict. We accepted the verdict. Yes, our words may be a bit strong, but we engage only in conflict of ideas.
Use of weapons is not the only form of violence. Words too can lead to violence. Why do you think communalism is an answer for communalism? Isn’t it hypocritical to use provocative titles for your short film with a clear intent to trigger religious animosity while you oppose titles like ‘Easho’?
In Kerala, several films had changed names when there was criticism that it would hurt religious sentiments. However, the High Court did not consider our case against the film Easho, even though there was merit in our petition. All organisations, including DYFI and Youth Congress, hailed the verdict. We announced the short film (with a provocative title) when the court said that it can’t prevent use of religious names. The short film was based on a real life child abuse that happened in Assam. However, we didn’t release it. We expected someone to move court against us, but nothing happened. We only wanted to expose double standards in society.
Regarding the contents on the Facebook page of CASA, we believe that attack is the best defence. Why isn’t a world war happening? Why doesn’t Russia attack America or vice versa? They know that the other party has nuclear weapons. Similarly, our posts are our defence. We only try to expose unethical issues in our society. Only extreme step we have taken was regarding the short film, but our intention was to make the court aware of such issues.
Many of the posts of CASA are similar to the stand often taken by BJP-RSS. You have supported NDA during the last Assembly election. Are you in alliance with RSS-BJP?
If someone would raise a question in the 1950-60s, they were tagged a Communist. Now if someone protests against something, they will be termed ‘Sanghi’. Having said that, CASA and Sangh parivar have similar opinions on issues such as CAA-NRC, farmers’ strike, surgical strike etc. Even we feel that reports of attacks against Christians in North India are exaggerated.
We openly stood with the NDA during the last Assembly election. We also supported non-NDA candidates who contested against Muslim League, as we were fed up with issues like the fifth minister controversy. There was a pro-BJP trend during the initial days of election and we expected that we would get one or two Christian MLAs.
Forget any favour, none of the Christian politicians stood for justice in the past few years. P C George is an exception. He can be the leader of Christians in Kerala, but he has his own political ambitions.
Though numbers were not huge, we were able to create a discussion on halal row. Regarding scholarship, appointments etc, the government is into minority appeasement. We are not asking for the share of Muslims to be reduced, but we want the government to treat all as equal. There are a lot of upper caste people, who live in abject poverty. Reservation should be income-based, not caste-based.
US embassy in Moscow finds Brittney Griner ‘in good condition’ after getting consular access
An official from the US embassy in Moscow found US basketball player Brittney Griner to be “in good condition,” after they were recently granted consular access to the American athlete who is being detained in Russia, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN on Wednesday.
The embassy official was granted consular access to Griner on Tuesday, according to Price, the first official government access given to Griner since she had been detained by Russia since mid-February.
“We were able to check on her condition, we will continue to work very closely with her legal team, with her broader network, to see to it that she is treated fairly,” Price told CNN’s Poppy Harlow.
“Our official found Brittney Griner to be in good condition and we will continue to do everything we can to see to that it she is treated fairly throughout this ordeal,” he added.
Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and player for the WBNA’s Phoenix Mercury, was arrested in February at a Moscow airport and accused by Russian authorities of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance. – an offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A Moscow court last week extended the arrest of Griner until May 19, according to Russian news agency TASS.
The investigation is ongoing and a trial date has not been set, a source close to the situation told CNN last week.
Griner’s legal team has had access to her and been able to see her several times a week throughout her detention in Russia.
Earlier this week, US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan met with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday and “demanded that the government of Russia follow international law and basic human decency to allow consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees in Russia, including those in pre-trial detention.”
Russian state agency TASS reported that the US consul has not visited Griner, despite Russian authorities’ willingness to “create all conditions” for a visit.
But the US embassy in Moscow said it had “repeatedly asked” for consular access to Griner and other American citizen detainees “and have consistently and improperly been denied access for months.” US citizens Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed are also being detained in Russia.
Facebook renames its News Feed to just ‘Feed’
Facebook’s “News Feed” is no more. After more than 15 years, the company is officially renaming its central feature, which will now be known simply as “Feed.” The company announced the name change in a tweet.
The change, which comes just months after Mark Zuckerberg announced he was renaming the company to Meta, is yet another sign Facebook is trying to shift the perception of its core products. In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said the new moniker was meant “to better reflect the diverse content people see on their Feeds.” They added that the new name won’t change how the feature works in the app.
Still, the removal of “news” from the name will likely be seen as symbolic of the company’s changing priorities as it looks toward a future centered on the metaverse, not its social networking app. Facebook’s handling of news stories has long been a thorny issue for the company. Company executives have for years argued that news is only a “small percentage” of what people share on the platform, and the company completely reoriented its feed in 2018 to focus on Facebook friends rather than publishers. (That change came with its own unintended consequences, according to Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen. )
More recently, Facebook has tried to counter perceptions that polarizing content, particularly from far-right personalities, dominates its Feed. The company has published reports on “widely viewed content,” that argue political content isn’t that popular. And in response to a widely cited Twitter account that ranks the top Facebook Pages using analytics data from CrowdTangle, the company has published its own take on which publishers have the biggest reach on the platform. Those questions have also been central to researchers’ fight to understand how content spreads on Facebook. Of course, a superficial name change doesn’t resolve any of those issues, but it could help Facebook further bolster its claims that the company is embarking on a new era that won’t be defined by the social networking app now seeing declining engagement.
Joey King & Kyle Allen in Afterlife Romance ‘The In Between’ Trailer
Joey King Kyle Allen in Afterlife Romance ‘The In Between’ Trailer
by Alex Billington
January 17, 2022
Source: YouTube
“He’s reaching out to you.” paramount has revealed an official trailer for an emotional teen romance movie titled The In Between, which is not really the typical teen romance as it comes with a supernatural twist. After surviving a car accident that took the life of her boyfriend, a teenage girl believes he is attempting to reconnect with her from the after world. “With the help of her best friend and a newfound belief that love never dies, Tessa attempts to contact Skylar one last time, in order to give their love story the epic ending it deserves.” This sounds a bit similar to The Lovely Bones in some ways, or also a bit like the classic Ghost, but with a spunky modern YA vibe instead of the classic romance feel. Joey King stars as Tessa, along with Kyle Allen, and a small cast including Kim Dickens, John Ortiz, Jeffrey Vincent Parise, Celeste O’Connor. It even has the over-saturated “afterlife” style in a few shots. This looks super cheesy so beware.
Here’s the first official trailer (+ poster) for Arie Posin’s The In Between, direct from YouTube:
A supernatural love story that centers on a teenage girl, Tessa (Joey King), who, after bouncing around in foster homes most of her childhood, doesn’t believe she deserves her own love story. Everything changes after she has a chance encounter with Skylar (Kyle Allen), a senior from a neighboring town who’s a true romantic. As her heart begins to open, tragedy strikes when a car accident takes Skylar’s life, while Tessa survives. As Tessa searches for answers in the aftermath of the accident, she soon believes that Skylar is attempting to reconnect with her from the afterworld. With the help of her best friend and a newfound belief that love never dies, Tessa attempts to contact Skylar one last time, in order to give their love story the epic ending it deserves. The In Between is directed by Israeli-American filmmaker Arie Posin, director of the films The Chumscrubber and The Face of Love previously. The screenplay is written by Marc Klein. paramount releases The In Between streaming on paramount+ starting February 11th, 2022 this winter.
Love & Sex in Paris in US Trailer for Audiard’s ‘Paris, 13th District’
Love Sex in Paris in US Trailer for Audiard’s ‘Paris, 13th District’
by Alex Billington
March 18, 2022
Source: YouTube
“Why are you so unsure of yourself?” IFC Films has revealed a new official US trailer for the French film known as Paris, 13th District in English, originally titled Les Olympiades, which is the French name for the “13 District” neighborhood this takes place in. This is the latest film from award-winning French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, Rust and Bone, Dheepan, The Sisters Brothers) and it premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival last year. The film is a black and white story of young love in modern Paris – following three different stories of people living in the 13th district of Paris. Technically this is an adaptation of the graphic novel” Killing and Dying” by Adrian Tomine, a modern tale of love and friendship, co-written with Léa Mysius and Céline Sciamma. The film stars Lucie Zhang, Makita Samba, Noémie Merlant, Jehnny Beth, Camille Léon-Fucien, Oceane Cairaty, and Anaïde Rozam. I wasn’t a huge fan of this film, though the score rules. It’s a fresh, authentic portrayal of young love in Paris and worth a look. Enjoy.
Here’s the official US trailer (+ posters) for Jacques Audiard’s Paris, 13th District, from IFC’s YouTube:
You can watch the other Australian trailer for Audiard’s Paris, 13th District here for even more footage.
Set in the the 13th District of Paris – Les Olympiades. Émilie meets Camille who is attracted to Nora, who crosses paths with Amber. Three girls and a boy – They’re friends, sometimes lovers and often both. Paris, 13th District, originally known as Les Olympiades, is directed by acclaimed French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, director of the films See How They Fall, A Self-Made Hero, Read My Lips, The Beat That My Heart Skipped, A Prophet, Rust and Bone, Dheepan, and The Sisters Brothers previously. The screenplay is written by Léa Mysius, Céline Sciamma, Jacques Audiard, in collaboration with Nicolas Livecchi. Based upon graphic novel short stories titled “Amber Sweet” / “Killing and Dying” / “Summer Blonde” / “Hawaiian Getaway” written by Adrian Tomine. This initially premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival last year, and it also played at Frameline and AFI Fest. The film already opened in France last fall. IFC Films will release Audiard’s Paris, 13th District in select US theaters + on VOD starting April 15th, 2022 this spring. Cool?