Ghost Rider – ranks as worst movie in years

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For my other column this week, I watched The Garbage Pail Kids Movie. (Editors: now that’s good synergy!) For those of you who missed out on that ’80s fad, the movie is an adaptation of trading cards featuring gross little kids. In 2D still-frame illustration, they’re charming enough. The nasty little guys nobody else wants. In movie form, however, they are little people dressed up in hideously inexpressive mascot costumes who regularly pee, fart and barf all over themselves. Please stop trampling each other! There’s room for everyone in the theater!

Ghost Rider doesn’t do too hot, either. In comic form, the image of a dude in black leather with a flaming skull instead of a non-flaming face is pretty intimidating. On a big screen, “intimidating” is not the right word. Unless that is now a synonym for “ridiculous.” Crazily enough, the guy with the flaming head might be the least silly thing about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Local show times, theaters, trailer

Nicolas Cage is possessed by the Ghost Rider, a vengeful demon who punishes the wicked. That’s exactly why European priest Idris Elba needs his help.

A young boy is in terrible danger. He’s being hunted by the agents of the devil himself. Though Cage has tried to hide from his power, he’ll need every ounce of it to keep the boy safe from a sacrifice that could generally mean bad things for the world. » Read more: Ghost Rider – ranks as worst movie in years

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Indie filmmakers praise China movie deal

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Indie filmmakers gave two big thumbs up to a trade agreement announced late Friday that would allow more U.S. films into China.

The Independent Film & Television Alliance praised the trade deal, saying it would create “unprecedented opportunities” for the U.S. independent film industry.

“For independents, this agreement is momentous,” said IFTA President-CEO Jean Prewitt. “Our sector has been unable to benefit fully from the existing revenue-sharing import quotas and has had limited avenues through which to distribute. For the first time, through this agreement, there is a promise of creating a commercial foundation that will allow independent producers to participate more fully in the Chinese marketplace.”

The agreement announced Friday by the White House would increase the number of foreign films allowed into China under a revenue-sharing agreement by 14, at least for so-called enhanced films that are shown in IMAX or 3-D. The current quota is limited to about 20 foreign films, mostly American. Additionally, the agreement, which stemmed from a longstanding complaint the U.S. filed with the World Trade Organization, also increases the amount of revenue foreign studios can receive under the quota from 13% to 25%. » Read more: Indie filmmakers praise China movie deal

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Whitney Houston’s voice was her best acting talent

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Last weekend, a reporter for CNN hit the streets of New York to tell people who didn’t appear to know already that Whitney Houston had died. You don’t see enough reporters walking up to people and breaking news to them anymore. It felt cruel (more than one person seemed shocked), but it also seemed old-fashioned. Now we have smartphones for that.

When the reporter asked people for their favorite memory of Houston, they didn’t say “The Greatest Love of All’’ or her versions of “The Star-Spangled Banner,’’ “I Will Always Love You,’’ or “I’m Every Woman’’ – well, they didn’t only say that. These people said “The Bodyguard’’ and “The Preacher’s Wife.’’ The CNN anchor Don Lemon even went so far as to say that Houston was a great actress. It’s true that people were all still a little beside themselves that Saturday evening. Houston was 48 and had been discovered in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills. In the shock of grief, it’s possible that everything about Houston seemed great because we were woebegone. » Read more: Whitney Houston’s voice was her best acting talent

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