Everything you need to know about Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and how it relates to you and the world around you. Includes info on the actors, director, with news, reviews, and photos. This presentation by David Bruce visualhollywood.com
SYNOPSIS Movies Contain the Essence of Being Human Reed (Ioan Gruffudd), Susan (Jessica Alba), Johnny (Chris Evans) and Ben (Michael Chiklis) face an intergalactic messenger who has arrived to prepare Earth for its destruction. While the enigmatic being wreaks havoc around the world, the heroic quartet must also contend with the unexpected return of their enemy, Victor Von Doom.
CAST The Cinematic Arts Have the Power to Transform JESSICA ALBA (Sue Storm / Invisible Woman) fell in love with acting at a very early age, becoming active professionally at the age of 12. She began studying with acting coaches in Los Angeles and, shortly thereafter, landed at the Atlantic Theatre Company, where she studied with founders William H. Macy and David Mamet.
CAST Our Artists Are Our Liberators MICHAEL CHIKLIS (Ben Grimm / The Thing) made his return to series television with a starring role on FX's first original drama series "The Shield," a critically acclaimed one-hour police drama now in its sixth season. His remarkable performance garnered Chiklis a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, an Emmy win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, as well as the Television Critics Association Award for Best Drama Actor. His Emmy win marked the first time that a lead performer in a show airing on a basic cable channel has won in this category.
CAST IOAN GRUFFUDD (Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic) He recently starred in Michael Apted's "Amazing Grace" for Samuel Goldywn Films. The film is based on the life of British anti-slavery pioneer William Wilberforce (played by Gruffudd) during his 18th Century political career. Albert Finney, Rufus Sewell, Romola Garai and Benedict Cumberbatch also star. "Amazing Grace" closed this year's Toronto Film Festival. Actors are Liberators Unaware
CAST In the short time that he has been in Hollywood, CHRIS EVANS (Johnny Storm / Human Torch) has managed to build a name for himself, playing an impressive range of both comedic and dramatic roles. Evans recently starred in "The Nanny Diaries," opposite Paul Giamatti and Scarlett Johansson. Also scheduled to be released this year is the highly-anticipated Danny Boyle sci-fi film, "Sunshine." Evans stars as Mace, one of the eight men and women fighting to save the Earth from a dying sun. Actors help us: laugh, be happy, cry, get angry, and even think. Can there be any better gifts?
CAST LAURENCE FISHBURNE (Voice of the Silver Surfer) has been honored for his work on both stage and screen. In 1994, he earned an Academy Award nomination for his searing portrayal of Ike Turner in the hit biopic "What's Love Got to Do with It." He more recently shared in two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast: one in 2004 for his role in Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River," and another this year as a member of the ensemble cast of the acclaimed historical feature "Bobby." Filmmakers are Revolutionaries
TRIVIA AND NEWS Did you know that in 2007, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman stepped down temporarily from active Fantastic Four duty and relinquished their spots to: The Black Panther (T'Challa), reigning king of the African nation of Wakanda, who has superhumanly acute senses as well as his strength, speed, stamina, and agility at the peak of human development. Movie Making is the Convergence of Many Talents and Art Forms Storm (Ororo Munroe), T'Challa's queen, a former leader of the X- Men superhero team. Worshipped as a Goddess in Africa, she possesses the mutant power to control the weather.
Stories are Transforming ABOUT The Fantastic Four meet their greatest challenge yet in FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER, as the enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction. As he races around the globe wreaking havoc, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben must unravel the mystery before all hope is lost.
All Kids are Born Artistic What is Natural is Essential ABOUT FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER is the second installment of the live-action film series based on what fans around the globe know as "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine. "Fantastic Four" directed by Tim Story and released in the summer of 2005, had a worldwide theatrical gross of $330 million and became one of Twentieth Century Fox's most successful DVD titles ever.
ABOUT Stories Embody the Essence of Being Human The film's main centerpiece from which the story unfolds is the sensational "Wedding of the Century." Familiar to generations of comic book fans, the wedding between Reed Richards and Sue Storm, first depicted in Fantastic Four King Size Annual #3 in 1965, is the comic world's equivalent to the historic wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Di.
ABOUT But wedding plans ultimately go awry with the introduction of the Silver Surfer, when mysterious and destructive anomalies start appearing across the Earth and the Fantastic Four are called into action. Cinematic Story Telling is a Profoundly Humanizing endeavor.
ABOUT Film making is a Community Event. The Silver Surfer, whose real name is Norrin Radd, is revered as one of the noblest and most tormented cosmic entities in the Marvel Universe. With his cosmic-powered board, he can absorb and manipulate the universe's ambient cosmic energies.
CRITICAL OPINION Free Artistic Expression is a Mark of a Free Society Short, cheesy and to the point (3 stars out of 5) --Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel Bigger, better and more polished than the first --Angie Errigo, Empire Magazine 'FF2' falls well short of fantastic - GRADE: C --Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post- Intelligencer * * ½ Let's face up to it: the best bits were in the trailer --James O'Ehley, Sci-Fi Movie Page
FILM REVIEW By David Bruce I am not the Destroyer, the Silver Surfer tells the Invisible Woman. He explains to her what compels his mission: the need to protect the one that I love from the evil Galactus. In other words, the Silver Surfer s bondage to this evil satanic-like force is self-imposed. The Invisible Woman tells him that he has a choice. His has a free will. And the good news is that can serve whomever he chooses. So, what will he choose: Freedom from evil or continued Slavery to it? Art is the Language of Liberation
THE SILVER SURFER AND FREE WILL The Invisible Woman tells him that he has a choice. You must believe in free will; there is no choice --Isaac Bashevis Singer (Polish-born American writer Begin to free yourself at once by doing all that is possible with the means you have, and as you proceed in this spirit the way will open for you to do more. --George Clemenceau (French statesman)
LIFE CONNECTIONS to FREEDOM And you will experience for yourself the truth, and the truth will set you free. --Jesus (Bible, John 8:32) Art is a Liberating Force
WHY MOVIES ARE SO IMPORTANT To Restrict Creativity is to Restrict the very Nature of the Creator "The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions" --Albert Camus (Existentialist thinker). In Movies and the Meaning of Life author Kimberly Blessing points out that movies can help us reflect on five of life s most important questions: 1) What is reality and how can I know it? 2) How can I find my true identity? 3) What the significance of my interactions with others? 4) What s the point of my life? 5) How ought I to live my life? The idea behind Visual Hollywood is that Movies can and must play an essential role helping us explore the meaning of our existence and our life together. No other quest is more necessary or important. Movies are powerful. Movies bring personal meaning, and can contribute to a peaceful world. Cinematic story telling can be a transforming event. Visual Hollywood takes an existential approach to life. We celebrate with human freedom. We use movies and the arts as a means of understanding the human condition and our collective relation to the world around us. Our basic quest is: 1. To know what it means to be human in the world. 2. The pursuit of human freedom.
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