2012 - The Movie

Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

2012 is an upcoming disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich. The film has an ensemble cast, including John Cusack, Amanda Peet,Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Woody Harrelson. The film will be distributed by Columbia Pictures. Filming began in August 2008 in Vancouver; the film is expected to be released worldwide on November 13, 2009.

• The date December 21st, 2012 A.D. (13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count), represents an extremely close conjunction of the Winter Solstice Sun with the crossing point of the Galactic Equator (Equator of the Milky Way) and the Ecliptic (path of the Sun), what that ancient Maya recognized as the Sacred Tree. This is an event that has been coming to resonance very slowly over thousands and thousands of years. It will come to resolution at exactly 11:11 am GMT.

In this movie,a global cataclysm occurs which leads to the end of the world and has survivors struggling for their lives, while a US government agency called the "Institute for Human Continuity" attempts to use ships to ensure the survival of the human race.

The film is inspired by several hypotheses that state that the ancient Mayan predicted a doomsday event will occur sometime around the 2012northern hemisphere winter solstice.

Director Roland Emmerich and composer-producer Harald Kloser co-wrote a spec script titled 2012, which was marketed to major studios in February 2008. Nearly all studios met with Emmerich and his representatives to hear the director's budget projection and story plans, a process that the director had previously gone through with the films Independence Day (1996) and The Day After Tomorrow (2004). The film was shopped around with a production budget of $200 million.Later that month, Sony Pictures Entertainment won the rights for the spec script, planning to distribute it under Columbia Pictures.The studio planned to make the film for less than the estimated budget.

Filming was originally scheduled to begin in Los Angeles, California, in July 2008, but instead commenced in Vancouver in August 2008 and concluded in December 2008. Due to the possible 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike, filmmakers set up a contingency plan for salvaging the film.Sony Pictures Imageworks was hired to create visual effects for 2012.Thomas Wander co wrote the score with Harald Kloser.

John Cusack

Amanda Peet

Woody Harreslon

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Danny Glover

Oliver Platt

Thandie Newton

John Cusack

A Walk To Remember(2002)

RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2

In A WALK TO REMEMBER, singer and sometimes actress Mandy Moore is an absolute sweetheart. You may remember her from THE PRINCESS DIARIES in which, as a blonde, she played the bitchy leader of the in-crowd. In a completely opposite role, this time Moore plays Jamie Sullivan, a poor, plain Jane brunette who is unpopular and proud of it.

If you suspect that it will be revealed that beneath her old sweater and lack of make-up lurks a diamond in the rough, you'd be right. And if you guess that some good looking, card-carrying member of the local high school's elite will initially ridicule and then fall in love with her, you'd be right again. Want to try to go for three for three and venture a guess about what big revelation will come mid-way through the story that changes the entire tone of the picture? Did I mention yet that Karen Janszen's script is based on the novel by MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE's Nicholas Sparks?

Actually, this little formula film is quite a bit better than you'd expect. Shane West turns in a nice performance as Landon Carter, Jamie's boyfriend, as does Peter Coyote, playing Jamie's strict preacher pop.

The movie makes many needless mistakes. How many high schools are so desperate to cast their plays that they would require a troublemaker to accept the leading part as an alternative to expulsion? Most schools have extremely competitive auditions. There are many other such problems with the script but to discuss them would require giving away the story's one big secret.

My favorite illogical aspect of the production is the movie's location. It occurs in a mythical accent-free small town in North Carolina. Only Peter Coyote fails to get the memo about keeping the accents to be pure newscaster. I've lived in North Carolina, and the film just rings false. Most small towns there are filled with inhabitants who have accents so thick that you can cut them with a knife. Imagine setting a movie in Brooklyn and forgetting about the accents? The only sops the movie throws in for pseudo-authenticity are a few "Heys." This is just needlessly sloppy film making. All of the above notwithstanding, Moore is a real charmer.

A WALK TO REMEMBER runs 1:42. It is rated PG for "thematic elements, language and some sensual material" and would be acceptable for kids around 7 and up.

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