2012 Movie - End Of The World Film

2012 movie review, 2012 end of the world: it is an engrossing experience

2009-11-16T02:16:00.003-08:00

November 14: 2012 movie review, 2012 end of the world: it is an engrossing experience. Director Roland Emmerich has done a marvelous but ridiculous job in 2012! These contradictory epithets describe well the disaster movie that outshine all the of a decade’s similar Hollywood movies put together.

Enduring blow-ups and bloodbaths, crumbling skyscrapers, and a set of fairly compelling characters that fight all the horrible things neither they nor the audience can even imagine.

At bottom, the disaster flick is all about the saga of the unsuccessful and scruffy novelist Jack Curtis who first doesn’t bother a bit about his comely ex-wife Kate and their two kids, but later gets closer to them thanks to the outbreak of quakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. John Cusack and Amanda Peet play the hubby and wife.

Characterization is where the writer-director Emmerich and co-writer Harald Kloser applied good wit and deserve praise.

That said, the eye-bulging visual effects that can shake your sense to the bottom will fetch them more praise.

Reviewers across the media say in unison that 2012 is essentially an outrageous flick that can surely satisfy its very own kind of audience.

What else verdict can they give a movie that vows and amuses you with scenes of tsunami waves climbing the Himalayas?

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2012 Movie Review: A big effects blockbuster this holiday season

2009-11-16T02:16:00.001-08:00

Volcanoes! Earthquakes! Tsunamis! 2012 throws it all up on the screen in an epic scale. Literally, it may be the most grandiose destruction movie ever created. The mother of all disaster films for sure. However, is the visual splendor enough to detract from the film’s shortcomings? Let’s put it this way; you have been warned.

The flimsy plot really just barely connects this sprawling, two-hour film. Basically, the Mayans predicted back in ancient times that the world as we all know it would cease to exist in 2012. Sadly, those premonitions are now coming true. As explained by scientists in the beginning of the film, the heat from the sun has become so intense that the earth’s core is overheating in an extreme manner, bleeding out into the crust and causing the whole thing to quake, break, and melt away.

When all of the turmoil strikes first in California, Jackson is one of the many scrambling to get his family to safety before the world literally falls out beneath him. With knowledge that a select group of Americans (including government officials and millionaires) are on their way to China to board a spaceship that will save them, Jackson rents a plane and heads towards salvation.

One thing that can be said about 2012 is that it delivers with special effects! Unlike other movies of its kind, audiences won’t have to wait until the climax for the big effects moment. Oh no, director Roland Emmerich is not satisfied with that notion. Instead, he offers up no less than four huge set pieces, spread out through the span of the film. The special effects in each moment are spectacular and exhilarating, using superb effects and displaying the horror in a very vivid manner.

Still, it’s a shame it couldn’t be more fun. By the time the audience watches the third land mass get wiped off the screen, 2012 has become exhausting. The initial breathtaking erosion of California withstanding, the movie dissolves into a series of iconic cities collapsing and mass death. Furthermore, even though director Emmerich knows the disaster film like the back of his cliched hand (Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow), he also forces half-baked drama and corny dialogue on the viewer. No one really cares about any of these poorly drawn characters or situations, and any likability comes from the actors’ natural charms (who couldn’t love John Cusak!?).

As 2012 moves past the two hour mark, it becomes clear that the filmmakers were out to make some kind of disaster movie to end all disaster movies. Almost tipping into parody, the climax is still reasonably exciting, but as mentioned, any kind of fun has long since been drained from this flimsy, effects driven extravaganza. Still, one can not argue the movie delivers on its most intended level in spades. Just don’t expect anything else from 2012.

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'2012' spells doom for its competition at the box office

2009-11-16T02:12:00.000-08:00

The end-of-the-world epic takes in $65 million in the U.S. and Canada and $225 million worldwide. Disney's 'Christmas Carol' finishes a distant second.

Even the Maya would have struggled to forecast an opening weekend this big.

Sony Pictures' "2012," the latest end-of-the-world epic from disaster director Roland Emmerich, took in $65 million in the U.S. and Canada and an earth-shattering $160 million elsewhere for a worldwide weekend total of $225 million.

The 162-minute thriller, based on a purported Maya prophecy that the world will end Dec. 21, 2012, will easily make back its production and marketing costs for Sony long before that date rolls around. The movie cost about $200 million to make and tens of millions more to market. Most industry observers and pre-release forecasts had "2012" opening above $50 million domestically.

It has yet to open in several major international markets, including Japan.

"It's going to be a very big success for our studio," said Rory Bruer, Sony's distribution president.

For Emmerich, "2012" had his second-biggest domestic opening, behind his 2004 disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow," which opened to almost $70 million. However, that end-of-the-world movie was released on a three-day holiday weekend.

Walt Disney Co.'s "A Christmas Carol," which did not have the best of starts last weekend, had a strong second week, pulling in $22.3 million. That's a decline of only 26% and a good sign that the holiday remake should have a healthy theatrical run. About 14% of the movie's box-office take came from Imax screens.

"It absolutely played the way we thought it would," said Chuck Viane, president of domestic distribution for Walt Disney Studios. Though last week's $31-million opening was by no means small, the consensus was that it should have opened bigger and that perhaps moviegoers weren't quite in the holiday spirit a mere week after Halloween. Viane said the studio wanted to get six weeks on 3-D screens before 20th Century Fox's "Avatar" premiered.

The indie movie "Precious," which Lionsgate bought at Sundance for about $5.5 million, took in about $6.1 million in just 174 theaters in nine cities for an impressive $35,000 per-screen average. The drama, with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry as executive producers, will expand to 600 theaters in 100 markets next weekend. It finished fourth, just behind Overture's George Clooney comedy "The Men Who Stare at Goats," which took in $6.2 million in wide release.

"The exit polls from last weekend indicated strong word-of-mouth," said David Spitz, Lionsgate's executive vice president who oversees distribution. "Precious," about a Harlem girl trying to overcome an abusive family, is already seen as a big Oscar favorite.

Also having a strong opening in limited release was 20th Century Fox's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," which made its debut at four theaters in New York and Los Angeles and took in $260,000, for a $65,000 per-screen average. It will open wide the day before Thanksgiving.

Lost at sea was "Pirate Radio" from Focus Features, which made just $2.9 million at almost 900 theaters. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, the movie about illegal radio stations in Britain boasts a great soundtrack but apparently wasn't exactly what the iPod generation was looking for this weekend.

source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-box-office16-2009nov16,0,2718075.story

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FX Makes Date for "2012"

2009-11-16T02:11:00.000-08:00

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - FX has snapped up TV rights to "2012," the disaster movie that just enjoyed a blockbuster $225 million opening weekend worldwide.

Appropriately, the Roland Emmerich-directed Sony movie will premiere on the basic cable network in the beginning of 2012.

In addition to "2012," FX has acquired another Sony film that opened at No. 1 this fall, the horror-comedy "Zombieland," which will be available at the end of next year.

The license fee for both movies is said to be standard, about 12% of their domestic box office.

If "2012" crosses the $200 million mark in North America, as expected after its big $65 million opening weekend, it could fetch as much as $24 million. For the Woody Harrelson starrer "Zombieland," which grossed $73 million domestically, the price tag is estimated to be $8 million-$9 million.

Hit movies, especially big, special effects-heavy disaster flicks, have done well on FX, including the Emmerich-directed disaster duo "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day."

source: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9092094

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2012 Movie Review: CGI Porn For The Masses

2009-11-16T02:10:00.000-08:00

Roland Emmerich returns to the big screen with a sequel of sorts to his hit blockbusters Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. Some reviews will mention Godzilla, but given how few people saw that movie, it shouldn’t be considered because 2012 is the really the end of the trilogy that started with Independence Day.

My expectations going into the movie were mixed: on one hand, reviews said it is what it is, and it does it well, while others said it’s somewhere close to Transformers 2, but without the soft porn provided by Megan Fox.

I’m happy to report that it was the former. Unlike Transformers 2, 2012 shamelessly suffers its lack of serious plot and acting by overwhelming the senses with CGI porn; Transformers 2 looks like something my son plays in his bedroom by comparison.

John Cussack takes the role as the lead in the trilogy in the footsteps of Bill Pullman and Dennis Quaid before him, but brings a decidedly Gen X take to the role. Here’s a character in his mid to late 30s, divorced with a hot ex wife and some kids who struggles to keep up with his now ex-family.

Fortunately…or unfortunately I just described most of the 30 minutes of the movie, well throw in Woody Harelson as a grade A nutter and some global conspiracy theories for good measure. No, Ron Paul didn’t direct, but he would have been proud.

All you need to know about the first 30 minutes is the world is going to end, then the CGI porn flows from about that point, and by god it is the CGI equivalent on Heidi Klum taking it in a twosome…but even hotter.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ll get some of the rough idea. As a visual treat 2012 is the world ender when it comes to a disaster movie, because no other movie will ever be able to beat the CGI and story concept again: how after all can you beat the end of the world?

If I had to criticize, it’s that Emmerich softly decided only to destroy American and Christian icons, as opposed to being truly global (and unbias) in his vision of the end of the world; apparently he was worried about a jihad or something, which says soft to me.

If you love your CGI, you’ll love 2012. If you want to see a movie with a serious story line, stay well away.

3 1/2 stars.

source: http://www.inquisitr.com/47838/2012-movie-review/

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2012: Movie Review By Lexi Feinberg

2009-11-16T02:07:00.001-08:00

The world is ending yet again, and this time it's because the planet is melting at the core. The ancient Mayans knew that Earth would cease to exist in 2012 (not really, as it turns out, but shh) yet government officials couldn't be bothered to explore such things or warn the people of their imminent demise. They were too busy mastering the art of being totally useless.

This is essentially the premise of "2012," the latest ridiculous apocalypse movie from hack writer/director Roland Emmerich ("Day After Tomorrow," Independence Day"). While the film contains eye-dazzling special effects -- courtesy of a bloated $265 million budget -- it's nothing short of horrendous. It may be cool to watch buildings fall like dominoes and to witness the Sistine Chapel implode, but the film clocks in at an "are-you-kidding-me?" 2.5 hours, and much of that is surprisingly low on action.

When mass destruction isn't reigning supreme, there's a whole lot of tedious filler involving a failed novelist (John Cusack), his estranged wife (Amanda Peet) and their two irritating kids. On the political side, there's a government-advising geologist (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who warns the chief of staff (Carl Anheuser) and president (Danny Glover) of the world's coming expiration. Oh, and let's not forget the crazy prophet (Woody Harrelson, this time not hunting for Twinkies) who broadcasts his conspiracy theories on the radio.

Emmerich obviously isn't seeking brownie points for originality or, gasp, effort, but would it kill him to make a halfway decent movie? Every line is more baffling than the last (writer Harald Kloser is also to blame) and the dramatic tension is nonexistent. "2012" a long, lackluster exercise in bad filmmaking, featuring an occasional massive tidal wave or out-of-control fire beam. It's like a drawn-out Playstation 3 challenge without any of the fun. Game over.

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Improbable movie moments: outrunning stuff

2009-11-13T06:06:00.000-08:00

Run! Run! RUN! Go! Go! GO! Don't look back! NOW!

Have finer words been spoken in the history of the motion picture? If so, I have not heard them. Yes, today, let us salute the long, improbable, unappreciated history of outrunning stuff in film. Which, it must be noted, is not the same as running away or merely jogging. A true outrunning-stuff moment requires remaining a step ahead — a step, inches from failure, the hot breath of fate at your neck.

Film history may be marked with technical innovation and aesthetic breakthroughs so seamlessly assimilated its value is taken for granted — the birth of sound, the hand-held camera shot, the Technicolor process. But why spend time swooning over middling innovations like those when Roland Emmerich has a new disaster movie coming out? "2012" opens Nov. 13, and will feature, as most of his films have, virtuosic scenes of characters outrunning all sorts of stupid stuff. Indeed, Emmerich, the German-born auteur who made "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day" and that remake of "Godzilla," and a bunch of other entertaining junk tailor-made for 3 a.m. on a Tuesday, has raised the device to an art.

Let us not mince words: He is the Orson Welles of outrunning stuff —the standard bearer. He did not originate the cliche, though. Movie characters have been outrunning stuff since the earliest Tarzan adventures, since the Keystone Kops first gave chase, since (sorta) silent-film comedian Harold Lloyd first stepped unwittingly out of the way of certain death. As connected as the idea is to the impossible, however, outrunning stuff didn't really take fruit until the 1950s, when special effects gained in prominence. There are a pair of two classic precedents from this period: a town running from "The Blob" (1958) and Cary Grant running from a crop duster in "North by Northwest" (1959, pictured below). Beginning with Sean Connery, James Bond has outrun the bullets aimed at his feet for decades. And of course, Indiana Jones famously outran an enormous boulder in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981).

Still, those are tangible things. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis perfected the art of outrunning the fireball. "Star Wars" (1977) and "Alien" (1979) popularized the idea of outrunning shock waves. So, yes, characters have even outrun physics for decades. But Emmerich, I believe, made it safe for Hollywood to consider the outrunning of truly insane things — a breeze (" The Happening," 2008), a sunrise ("The Mummy Returns," 2001) and a black hole ( "Star Trek," 2009). He also imbued his sequences with a sweaty, breathless, albeit impossible, sense of scramble such moments often lacked. And so, what follows is a brief history of outrunning stuff in Roland Emmerich movies — arranged not in cinematic but geological order, sorta.

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Hot new movies in November: 'Twilight: New Moon,' '2012' and 'A Christmas Carol'

2009-11-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

Courtesy PhotoRobert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, left, and Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."Vampires, Armageddon and humbug: Name something these three things have in common.
Usually, the correct answer is nothing. But this month they do.
All three will invade theaters in hotly anticipated films opening in November.
Perhaps none more so than "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" which, if you'll pardon the awful pun, has its fans all moony and howling for its arrival. The second chapter of the vampire/teen girl/werewolf love-triangle soap-opera saga -- which has turned Grand Rapids-born actor Taylor Lautner into a megastar -- debuts in less than three weeks, so the hype frenzy is beginning to reach its apex.
"Moon" almost certainly will join end-of-the-world action extravaganza "2012" and the latest version of "A Christmas Carol" at the top of the box office charts this month.
Here's what to expect from this blockbuster trio (and other flicks on the November schedule):
"The Twilight Saga: New Moon" (PG-13)
The plot: In a nutshell, the sequel to "Twilight" finds teenager Bella's (Kristen Stewart) relationship with sparkly vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) hitting the skids. Heartbroken, she turns to Jacob (Lautner) who turns out to be a shapeshifting wolf/boy. She sure can pick 'em, can't she?
The hype: It's deafening. The shrieking of the series' legion of female fans, that is. Some of this is fueled by the trailers and posters for the film, which have us believing that Lautner -- who had only three scenes in "Twilight" and has a much more substantial role here, physically and script-wise -- may be shirtless for most of the movie. Chris Weitz ("The Golden Compass") took over directing duties after Catherine Hardwicke helmed the first one. "Moon" is the second of four films in the franchise based on Stephenie Meyer's gazillion-selling series of novels. Expect "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" roughly a year from now.
Opening: Nov. 20

IF YOU GO
Coming soon to UICA Independent features opening in November at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, 41 Sheldon Blvd. SE (454-7000 or uica.org): "The Way We Get By" (not rated) -- Documentary about three senior citizens who, over the last six years, have greeted 1 million U.S. troops at a Maine airport. (Opens Friday) "Act of God" (not rated) -- Documentarian Jennifer Baichwal's metaphysical exploration of people who have been struck by lightning. (Nov. 13) "Big Fan" (R) -- Comedian Patton Oswalt directs and stars in this unsettling story about a troubled diehard New York Giants fan. (Nov. 20) "Found Footage Festival" -- Comedians Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher's national tour includes live comedy and a series of strange videos discovered in garage sales, thrift stores, etc. (7 p.m. Nov. 22 only)

"2012" (PG-13)
The plot: Some prognosticators believe the world will end in 2012. This does not bode well for Earth or its inhabitants, and the planet doth crumbleth.
The hype: Director Roland Emmerich has wrecked CGI landscapes before in "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Independence Day," but "2012" might be his largest-scale smiting of scenery yet. Somewhere amid the earthquakey carnage is an all-star cast, including John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor. One assumes the biggest names from this bunch will play the folks who survive the longest.
Opening: Nov. 13
"A Christmas Carol" (PG)
The plot: Charles Dickens, yada yada yada, Scrooge, etc. etc., humbug and Tiny Tim, you know. If you're not familiar with the classic story of a Christmas curmudgeon's comeuppance/change of heart by now ....
The hype: Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis uses his trademark motion-capture technique ("The Polar Express," "Beowulf") to turn Jim Carrey into several incarnations of Scrooge, not to mention the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future. Some have deemed Zemeckis' neo-realist animation style weird and creepy, but the results are admirable technical achievements. "Carol" will be presented on 2D, 3D and 3D IMAX screens -- quite possibly the only reason to see the umpteenth version of the same story. If it's even half as impressive as the 3D IMAX version of "Beowulf," it will be quite a spectacle.
Opening: Friday
Here's a look at the rest of the November schedule:
Opening Friday
"The Box" (PG-13) -- "Donnie Darko" director Richard Kelly's high-concept thriller about a couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) faced with a strange moral conundrum via a box with a button. Pressing it would give them $1 million, but result in an unknown person's death.
"The Fourth Kind" (PG-13) -- Will Milla Jovovich be a convincing Alaska-based psychotherapist investigating alien abductions? Mmmmmaybe.
"Men Who Stare at Goats" (R) -- Off-the-rails comedy stars Ewan McGregor as a reporter tipped off by a psychic (George Clooney) who claims to work for a top-secret U.S. military unit. Also stars Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges.
"More Than a Game" (PG) -- Cameras were running when basketball star LeBron James was in high school, capturing his team's championship run for this doc.
Nov. 13
"Fantastic Mr. Fox" (PG) -- Wes Anderson ("The Royal Tenenbaums") tackles a different style and genre: Stop-motion animation, in an adaptation of Roald Dahl's kid's book about a sly fox facing off against a farmer. With the voices of George Clooney, Bill Murray.
"Pirate Radio" (R) -- Offbeat comedy stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a radio DJ in 1960s England who, facing censorship, broadcasts from a ship in the North Sea.
Nov. 20
"The Blind Side" (PG-13) -- Heartwarming drama about homeless African-American teen Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) taken in by a white couple (Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw), who foster his football career.
"Precious" (R) -- A gritty drama, highly acclaimed at the Toronto Film Festival. It's set in 1987 Harlem, about a 16-year-old African-American girl (Gabourey Sidibe) contending with illiteracy and a tyrannical mother (Mo'Nique).
"Planet 51" (PG-13) -- Cartoon flips the alien-invasion template: The green-skinned inhabitants of Planet 51 freak out when a human from outer space lands. With voices by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jessica Biel.
Nov. 25
"Ninja Assassin" (R) -- The title's pretty much self-explanatory, but I'll elaborate and say it's about a lone ninja who turns on his clan after he's betrayed.
"Old Dogs" (PG) -- Robin Williams is a sad-sack divorcee. John Travolta is a freewheeling bachelor. They're best buds. Add a set of twins to the equation, and you have instant wacky comedy.
"The Road" (R) -- Adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's haunting bestseller stars Viggo Mortensen as a man trying to keep himself and his son alive in a post-apocalyptic ruin.
Release date TBA
"Gentlemen Broncos" (PG-13) -- "Napoleon Dynamite" director Jared Hess helms this comedy about a teen sci-fi geek whose idea is stolen by a famous fantasy writer. With Jemaine Clement, Jennifer Coolidge.
"A Serious Man" (R) -- The Coen Bros.' highly eccentric tragicomedy is set in 1967, and about Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor contending with several life crises at once.

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New 2012 DVD breaks with doomsday trend

2009-11-11T06:05:00.000-08:00

The newly released '2012: Mayan Prophecy and the Shift of Ages' DVD, released by Reality Entertainment and distributed in the US by Warner Home, breaks with current trends and argues that 2012 is not about the end of the world, but instead is about the nature of time and the shift of calendars. If we are to believe the Mayan prophecies, 2012 is presenting the world with evolutionary opportunities.

In '2012: Mayan Prophecy and the Shift of Ages', Philip Coppens and Geoff Stray take the viewer on a journey into the Mayan mysteries to uncover a startling perspective on 2012: the lost meaning of the great cycle of the ages. They challenge the doomsday prophets and argue that 2012 is not the apocalyptic end of times, but that it is in fact only the beginning. Time will never be the same again!

Coppens states: “the upcoming 2012 movie, to be released on November 13, is the biggest budget movie of all times – a staggering 200 million dollar. It focuses on the Mayan prophecies about 2012 and argues the world will end.” Promotion for the 2012 movie is indeed all about doom. “Mankind's earliest civilization warned us,” the narrative in one trailer argues, “this day would come.” That day is December 21, 2012, the end date of the Mayan calendar.

Coppens observes: “As the movie is so high profile, commentators have argued there is no reality to such doom-mongering. Though I agree 2012 is not about doom, 2012 is a genuine phenomenon, at the core of the Mayan calendar system. You simply cannot deny that.” Coppens instead presents a radically different interpretation: “Rather than about doom, 2012 is about evolutionary opportunities – on par with the Age of Aquarius so popular in the 1960s and 1970s – but this time, for real. And that is what is lacking: a proper understanding of what the Mayan calendar system was all about. It is not about the end of the world, but the beginning of a new world.”

Specifically, Coppens feels the world should properly look at the Mayan calendar. Its emphasis is on the final period, which runs from April 1993 until December 21, 2012. It was a period in which tremendous change was forecast – and this has indeed happened. “The world of 1992 is totally different from today’s. The computer is omnipresent. As is the internet. People have never been this mobile and for the first time in human history, the world has become a global village. Tremendous change has occurred, but it is clear that we are only in the beginning phases of a much bigger global revolution, and it is within that context that the true Mayan prophecy should be seen.”

'2012: Mayan Prophecy and the Shift of Ages' thus offers a unique perspective on the 2012 phenomenon, taking in some of the leading thinking on the nature of time, the importance of 2012 for the Mayan civilisation and the world as a whole, and much more.

More information about the DVD can be found at http://www.reality-entertainment.com/films/titles/mayan-prop....

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Evolver Long Beach hosts “counter screening” to 2012 movie

2009-11-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

Two days before the release of director Roland Emmerich’s 2012 disaster epic, 28 cities around the globe will host “counter-screenings” to discuss the positive transformations postulated for the Mayan Calendar’s end date on December 21, 2012.
While Hollywood spends $250 million on the aesthetics of planetary annihilation, members of the local Evolver Long Beach community will discuss how 2012 could represent the coming-to-consciousness of the human species, in which we take responsibility for our role as agents of conscious evolution.
Entitled “2012 or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Dimensional Shift,” the worldwide counter-screening is hosted by the online social network Evolver.net and the media outlet Disinfo.com.
From Stockholm to Seattle, Capetown to Chicago, Evolver Regionals will show a 10-minute teaser of Mangusta Productions upcoming feature-length documentary “2012: Time for Change,” directed by Joao Amorim and starring “2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl” author Daniel Pinchbeck, along with a section of Disinfo’s DVD “2012: Science or Superstition,” produced by Disinfo’s president Gary Baddeley.
Bestselling author John Major Jenkins (“Maya Cosmogenesis 2012”) will also give a short video presentation for those participating in the screenings. The event will also include performances from local artists Sirena Serpentina tribal fire bellydance group, Caravan to Pollenland, and DJ Pur One, as well as live visual artists to be announced.
The 2012 counter-screening will take place at 8 p.m. at Pollen, located at 1332 Gladys Avenue.
“A 5,125 year cycle of the Classic Maya ends on December 21, 2012, representing a shift from one ‘World Age’ to the next,” says Evolver.net co-founder and ‘2012’ author Daniel Pinchbeck. “It is up to humanity to decide if this transition is destructive or celebratory, depending on our actions. ‘2012’ is an opportunity to disseminate a new paradigm of cooperation and interdependence, along with a new system that promotes equal access to resources and elevated consciousness, while recognizing the importance of indigenous cultures for our shared human future.”
The event is part of Evolver Long Beach’s monthly “Spore” gatherings, which bring together members of the community to discuss issues like food security, alternative money systems, holistic health, peak oil, and renewable energy. Evolver Long Beach is helping to catalyze a growing movement of cooperative networks that can provide sustainable solutions to our currently unsustainable economic and political systems.

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'2012': The disaster filmgoers can't wait to happen

2009-11-09T06:04:00.000-08:00

The buzz on director Roland Emmerich's doomsday film is at a fever pitch ahead of its Nov. 13 release.

ON THE RUN: Amanda Peet is flanked by Morgan Lily, left, and Liam James in the doomsday epic Â2012.Â (Columbia TriStar)

There's spirited debate about whether the ancient Maya calendar really predicts much of anything, particularly the world's end in three years. But there's little argument in Hollywood about the accuracy of an even more significant doomsday forecast: “2012” is going to be a blockbuster.

Ever since director Roland Emmerich's apocalyptic thriller landed on pre-release audience surveys last Thursday, "2012" and its positive prospects have become a hot topic among movie marketing executives. Although the Sony Pictures release doesn't premiere until Nov. 13, moviegoer attention already is running way ahead of "A Christmas Carol," which opens a week earlier and looks to be a hit in its own right, and narrowly better than Nov. 20's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," one of the year's most anticipated sequels.

Given not only how aware audiences are of "2012" but also how much "definite interest" they have in actually buying tickets, it's possible that the John Cusack-led film could deliver the biggest opening weekend ever for Emmerich, whose cinematic specialty is day-of-reckoning disaster dramas.

Five years ago, the director's "The Day After Tomorrow" premiered to ticket sales of $68.7 million, topping his previous best first weekend set by 1996's "Independence Day," which grossed $50.2 million in its opening. The moviegoer survey data connected to "2012" suggest the movie might approach the premieres of 2007's "I Am Legend" ($77.2 million) and this April's "Fast & Furious" ($70.9 million).

Even though Emmerich's a favorite target for movie critics, with the exception of last year's underachiever "10,000 B.C.," all of his last five movies have grossed more than $100 million in their domestic runs.

In addition to selling "2012" with a trailer and television spots filled with spectacular devastation (one notable sequence has a tsunami-surfing aircraft carrier taking out the White House), Sony has hardly discouraged potential ticket-buyers from confusing fiction and fact, conflating the movie's made-up premise with historical portents or scientific possibilities. There is even a week-of-release Discovery Channel special tied to "2012" that knocks down -- but doesn't quite bury -- the film's underlying concept.

"Mankind's earliest civilization warned us," the text in one Sony trailer cautions, "this day would come." Reads one current billboard: "We were warned." And the notice for the Earth's catastrophic "crust displacement" is mighty specific in the movie: Dec. 21, 2012.

Along the same lines, just as the novel and movie "The Da Vinci Code" (also a Sony production) were promoted by emphasizing links between storytelling fantasy and spiritual beliefs, the "2012" campaign -- like the movie itself -- has taken advantage of religion-inspired prophesies. The advertising materials make clear that even if the world is ending, there's a Noah's Ark about to pull up anchor. After all, Sony ultimately has to sell "2012's" survival story, as no one will pay $10 to see mankind annihilated.

But it's not just Christian fables. "The Mayans warned us," read the message on posters at this year's Comic-Con International Convention in San Diego that were purportedly placed by a made-up entity called the Institute for Human Continuity, and not Sony (wink wink).

CNN, as seen in one "2012" trailer clip, has given Lou Dobbs a day off from patrolling the border to run headlines over a crowd at Mecca saying that "Preachers Claim End of the World Imminent" and "Across the Globe Millions Gather in Prayer." There are as many shots of alarmed religious leaders in the film's teaser and first trailer as there are of Cusack's science-fiction-writing dad.

By some measures, the "2012" campaign follows the promotion used with the studio's "District 9," with its cryptic entreaties on bus benches to report non-human activity. In digital marketing parlance, it's called an alternate reality game, where it's not immediately clear who -- or what -- is behind the promotion.

There might be contests, websites and phone lines all aimed at creating mystery around -- and interest in -- an upcoming movie. It's not unlike what Paramount Pictures did around "Paranormal Activity," where the audience wasn't given specific clues about whether the story was real.

Sony says consumers understand the advertising is promoting a fictional film, and even a cursory glance at the websites associated with the movie reveal that Sony is behind not only the Institute for Human Continuity but also a jokey end-of-the-world blog,www.thisistheend.com. Indeed, at the top of the "2012"-related websites you'll find the text, "Part of the '2012' movie experience."

Yet a review of some of the tens of thousands of comments posted by the millions of interested parties who have watched the "2012" trailer on YouTube suggest a handful of people still believes it's not all Hollywood hokum.

"when this happens there will be 3 days of darkness on christmas day it will be over the sun will stablize the sun is born again on these 3 days of darkness the 12 planets will be alligned," reads one post in the mangled syntax typical of Internet chatter.

Opined another: "2012 is real. NASA announced they found something in 1983 and two weeks alter said ity was a mistake. It wasnt. This is the what theyre hiding with the global chemtrails every day. it is causing all the recent quakes and volcanos and is why the govt is now classifying all asteroid events secret."

Of course, those spelling-challenged commentators could very well be Sony secretaries urged by their marketing bosses to feed the prophesy flames.

If so, they're not doing half-bad.

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EXCLUSIVE: Chin Han Survives the Year 2012

2009-11-08T06:03:00.000-08:00

Roland Emmerich is gearing up to destroy the world yet again in his epic film 2012, which is based on the predictions of the Mayan calendar. Actor Chin Han, best known for his role as Lau in The Dark Knight, returns to the big screen this November as Tenzin, a Tibetan Monk desperately trying to save his family from an encroaching tidal wave that has ripped apart most of the world. We recently caught up with Chin Han, and this is what he had to say about Emmerich's latest film:

Tell us about Tenzin? What sort of dynamic does he add to the film, and how does his presence play an important role in the events that transpire throughout 2012?

Chin Han: Tenzin is a Tibetan who, by virtue of where he lives and what he does, finds out a secret that the governments of the world have been keeping from the people. And then he sets out about saving those he loves. But might eventually have bitten off more than he can chew.

For you personally, what is the scariest 2012 scenario realized in the film?

Chin Han: Because I now live in Los Angeles and have personally felt the tremors here over the last 2 years, the earthquake sequence is pretty scary. The giant tsunami in the movie is very disturbing as well because I was actually in South East Asia when the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 struck and caused so much destruction and loss of life in Thailand and Indonesia. Being in Singapore at that time and so close to it, had a profound effect on a lot of friends and myself.

Roland Emmerich is a director known for his disaster movies. Were you at all shocked at some of the stuff that happens to the planet in this movie? Which scene do you personally find most jaw dropping?

Chin Han: Absolutely, in spite of his incredible success with disaster movies, I think this movie surpasses anything I've seen Roland do. It is one thing to read a few lines in the script describing California slipping into the ocean, it's another to actually witness it happening. I must say the wave going over the Himalayas is pretty jaw dropping for me - the weight and the ferocity of that massive body of water juxtaposed with the fragile old monk is pretty memorable.

Is it ever difficult to imagine some of this stuff in your head while filming against a blue screen? Were you ever overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the imagination going into this project at every given turn?

Chin Han: Definitely. Which is why I think it was wonderfully astute of Roland to always have storyboards and pre-viz shots for us to see and reference before filming. Because when you are imagining a visual effect, everyone in the scene may have a different take on the shape and size of whatever you are looking at. So our lines of sight and reactions might be different. But it's not all blue screen though, some of the sets were huge as well. I remember going on set my first day and it was up in the mountains of British Columbia and they had built an entire Tibetan village with about 600 authentic Tibetan extras. That's when you know you're in a Roland Emmerich movie.

2012 is a film full of spectacular effects. How important was it for you to keep it grounded in reality? Did you come at your character as a true dramatic presence, or did you feel a little inclined to amp him up and make him slightly hyper-realistic?

Chin Han: It was very important to keep it real because visual effects are not effective unless you feel empathy for the characters. Like in The Dark Knight, which I did before 2012, you had a man dressed as a bat and another made-up like a clown. But both were playing it for keeps. 'Ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances' is a good rule-of-thumb to live by in these hyper-realistic films.

You have some great co-stars in this film. What was it like coming on set knowing you had such a great ensemble to back you up? And whom were you most exited to work with?

Chin Han: It's always comforting to know that you have great co-stars to work with because there are so many elements to be mindful of when you're filming a movie like this - from the complex action moves, to the multiple camera set-ups with cranes and helicopters - the last thing you want to worry about is someone else or yourself messing up a line in a giant water-tank that you have spent the last 8 hours shooting in. But everyone brought their A-game so it just made filming easier. I've always loved Cusack's work from The Sure Thing to The Grifters to his latest Grace is Gone, so I was excited to be working with him, among others.

The events of 2012 are quite devastating to say the least, and could give lots of people nightmares. How important was it to keep an element of humor running throughout the film?

Chin Han: It's a fine balance, but an important one. We all have our coping mechanisms and humor is of course a big part of it. But in this movie, I believe the laughs are more from relief than from the kind of funny one-liners you find in action movies from the late 80s and 90s.

With events changing in the world so quickly and so drastically, especially with our erratic Weather changes and the Swine Flu, did anything occur while shooting that went into or changed the script at all?

Chin Han: Nothing that I can immediately recall, but I remember having finished filming in December last year and being home for Christmas and suddenly seeing in the news a series of tremors in Yellowstone Park and I immediately thought of our sequence with the super volcano in Yellowstone.

Where do you personally stand on 2012? Do you think any of these events will truly transpire, or do you believe that this is just a fun piece of fiction that should be taken lightly?

Chin Han: I think every generation has its own end-of-the-world scenario so the only way for me to see this is metaphorically. It may be the end of a way of thinking and a shift in social consciousness or spiritual awareness, but mostly this movie, with all its flash and mind-blowing visual effects, is mainly about the things that are important to us, as humans, in times of great adversity.

Would you want to go out with everyone else? Or, if 2012 does turn out to be the End of the World, do you hope to stick around and fight through the apocalypse?
Chin Han: Oh, I would absolutely stick around because there is something about me that just likes to go up against huge challenges. Besides have you seen the crowds and ridiculous lists you have to fight through to get into Hollywood's latest hotspots? That should prepare you for anything (laughs)...

2012 arrives just in time for the Thanksgiving Holiday on November 13th, 2009. See it before the end of the world becomes a reality!

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Emmerich reveals fear of fatwa axed 2012 scene

2009-11-07T06:02:00.000-08:00

Roland Emmerich, the director of the 'end of days' disaster movie, had wanted to depict the destruction of Islam's holiest site, but was persuaded not to

Islam's holiest site … Muslims circle the Kaaba inside the Grand Mosque in Mecca during the hajj pilgrimage. Photograph: Ali Jarekji/Reuters

He blew up the Empire State Building and the White House in Independence Day, sent a giant monster careering through the heart of Manhattan in Godzilla and destroyed the famous Hollywood sign in The Day After Tomorrow. But it seems there are places even Roland Emmerich will not go - the German film-maker has revealed he abandoned plans to obliterate Islam's holiest site on the big screen for fear of attracting a fatwa.

2012
Production year: 2009
Country: USA
Cert (UK): 12A
Runtime: 157 mins
Directors: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Amanda Peet, Chin Han, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Jimi Mistry, John Cusack, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson
More on this film

For his latest disaster movie, 2012, the 53-year-old director had wanted to demolish the Kaaba, the iconic cube-shaped structure in the Grand Mosque in Mecca that Muslims the world over turn towards every day when they pray and which they circle seven times during the hajj pilgrimage.
But after some consideration, he decided it might not be such a smart idea, after all.
"I wanted to do that, I have to admit," Emmerich told scifiwire.com. "But my co-writer Harald [Kloser] said I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie. And he was right.
"We have to all, in the western world, think about this. You can actually let Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have ... a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is.
"So it's just something which I kind of didn't [think] was [an] important element, anyway, in the film, so I kind of left it out."
But Emmerich acolytes need not fear that the film-maker is pulling his punches on 2012, which arrives in UK cinemas on 13 November. The movie depicts a global doomsday event supposedly predicted by the Mayans more than a thousand years ago – in order to highlight his opposition to organised religion, the director decided to use CGI to destroy the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro instead. For good measure, he also blew up the Sistine chapel and St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, plus, on a secular note, the White House (again).

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Best Buy launching digital movie service with CinemaNow

2009-11-06T06:03:00.000-08:00

One of the nation's biggest sellers of DVDs is making a leap into movie downloading.

Best Buy Inc. is expected to announce today that it is partnering with online video provider CinemaNow to create a movie downloading service that would be integrated into most devices the electronics retailer sells that can be connected to the Internet, including televisions, DVD players, computers and phones.

Facing an industrywide decline in sales of physical media such as DVDs and CDs, Best Buy has been making an aggressive push into digital delivery. Last year the company acquired online music service Napster for $121 million.

Best Buy's partnership with CinemaNow, which is expected to be launched late this year or early next year, comes as DVD sales are down about 13% so far in 2009.

"Digital is developing as a channel and we're forecasting that by 2012 it will be a significant, double-digit percentage" of the revenue generated by movies watched at home, said Ryan Pirozzi, director of digital media for Best Buy.

The new movie service has not yet been named. Best Buy plans to load software for it on electronic devices from manufacturers that include Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba.

Legal movie downloads have been available for about a decade, but the business has been impeded by high prices and limitations on availability and consumers' ability to play video on different devices, which have made DVDs and illegal downloads more attractive.

The market has recently become very competitive, however, with rival online movie services from Amazon.com Inc., Netflix Inc. and Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store.

Making online movie distribution simpler for consumers will be a top priority for the Best Buy service, Pirozzi said. The company plans to experiment with numerous business models including purchases, rentals, subscriptions and advertiser support. It also will emphasize the ability to watch movies on televisions as well as computers and mobile devices.

"This is certainly a very crowded space and we're going to work to translate our customer insights into a more compelling service than those out there currently," Pirozzi said.

Best Buy's biggest advantage is its retail locations. The new movie downloading service will be marketed in the company's stores, with employees trained to explain and promote it to customers.

The partnership to be unveiled today expands on one announced earlier this year in which CinemaNow downloads have been available on Best Buy's website and some of the devices the retailer sells. The new partnership, scheduled to last at least three years, would give Best Buy its own digital movie brand.

CinemaNow will run the back-end technology for the service, as it does for Blockbuster Inc.'s similar offering. Best Buy, based in Richfield, Minn., will handle design and pricing. Best Buy will pay CinemaNow, a unit of Sonic Solutions of Novato, Calif., a fee plus a percentage of revenue.

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“2012″ — or, “Driving and Yelling: The Motion Picture”

2009-11-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Do you ever feel like the world’s coming to an end? I know that I feel this way, all of the time. “Oh my god. My latest girlfriend dumped me? IT’S ALL OVER.” Or: “Oh my god. I’m out of cigarettes, and I still have to write a funny article for a website? …This is it, people. IT’S ALL OVER.”

But of course, I am not literally retarded, and neither are you. I don’t ever literally think that the world is coming to an end. And neither do the fine douchetards at Columbia Pictures. But nonetheless, they have provided us with another fine bullshit apocalyptic movie in the fine tradition of bullshit apocalyptic movies. And here is the trailer:

Awesome job, “2012″ trailer, way to go! And congratulations on providing us with the worst Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation in the history of the world. Come on now! I am widely known as being the worst celebrity-voice-impersonator ever, but even I can do a better “Arnold” voice than that.¹ (It’s easy, by the way. Just “visualize” the word “KAL-E-FORN-YA” in your head. Once you’ve got that, then you’re good to go.²)

Also, the bad Arnold imitator in the trailer merely serves to remind me that Arnold Schwarzenegger would be far far better in this kind of movie than John “I Act Too Much with My Hands” Cusack. A Schwarzenegger movie about the end of the world? Sign me up. (“QUICKLY! BEE-HIND YOU! DE END OF DAH WORLD! HURRY! DAH’S NO TIME!”) …A John Cuscak version of the same movie, on the other hand? …Thank you, but no.

To be fair, the movie isn’t all driving and yelling. There’s also some driving and flying thrown in. (So: “DrivingYellingFlying: The Motion Picture.”) Which totally makes sense, because according to the ancient Mayan calender, the world will totally and completely come to an end on December 21st, 2012.³ But naturally, the movie “2012″ cleverly presents this apocalypse as a mere dramatic speed-bump on the road of John Cusack’s life. …Hey, the end of the entire world is here! But no problem: we’ll just FLY our way to safety! Huh? …What the zurg?

By the way, here — for no reason — is the entire trailer all over again, but with all the special effects removed. So that — y’know, you can really concentrate on the acting.

_____

Man, not to dump on the Mayans or anything — after all, they also came up with the really brilliant idea of live human sacrifices — but the whole “2012″ thing has to be the least compelling disaster scenario since the whole “Y2K” argle-bargle. Also, at least part of that last sentence was a lie. I do want to dump on the Mayans. Because the Mayans were a bunch of dopes. They tore people’s hearts out, threw men and women off of cliffs, and their major architectural concept was this: “Hey, let’s make everything all cube-ish and triangular and shit.”

Moreover, the Mayan calendar sucks ass. Here’s today’s date in Mayan, for instance:

12.19.16.14.15

…And that’s dumb. If we’re going to get all Mayan and shit, then we’re going have to start saying stuff like “Looks like someone’s got a case of the 15s!” and “Thank God it’s 19!” (T.G.I.19!). And that is likewise dumb. So let’s not be going around basing shit on the notoriously inaccurate Mayan calender, okay?

But still, even if the Mayan calender is wrong, and even if the Mayans are a bunch of dorks, and even if the Mayans never predicted the end of the world — well, still, it’s all just a harmless blockbuster movie starring John Cusack, right? …Well, not exactly. Apparently the film’s fake “scientific” website has caused widespread panic, and a noted scientist has received more than a thousand inquires from frightened conspiracy nuts — as well as letters from teenagers contemplating suicide after viewing the movie’s marketing campaign. “2012″: Who Will Survive? Well, apparently not dumb young people who can’t figure out the difference between a movie website and a real website.

So anyway: great, groovy, wow. Terrified suicidal teenagers! That is certainly a high level of, um, “buzz” and anticipation for a standard crappy disaster movie. So finally it can be said: “2012″ is the John Cusack movie worth dying for! …Assuming that you’re a retard.

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Movie 2012 set for worldwide release on Nov 13

2009-11-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Finally, the much-hyped and much-awaited Hollywood movie 2012 is all set for worldwide release on November 13. The film has been directed by Roland Emmerich and produced by Roland Emmerich, Mark Gordon, Harald Kloser, Larry J. Franco, Ute Emmerich. The film will be distributed by Columbia Pictures.

Buzz up!
The film 2012 is all about an upcoming disaster in 2012. It explores the idea of a global doomsday event coinciding with the end of the Mayan Calendar's current cycle on or around December 21, 2012. The film, which runs for 158 minutes, has been made with the budget of $200 million.

The shooting of the film 2012 was commenced in Vancouver in August 2008 and was concluded in January 2009. It was originally scheduled to release on July 10, 2009. But the release date was changed to November 13, 2009 to move out of the busy summer schedule into a time frame that the studio considered to have more potential for financial success.

Director Roland Emmerich and producer Harald Kloser have penned the script. Sony Pictures Imageworks has created the visual effects for 2012. Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander have scored music and Dean Semler has cranked the camera for the cinema. David Brenner has edited it. John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Woody Harrelson are in the cast.

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John Cusack learns to play the hero

2009-11-03T06:00:00.001-08:00

For us Brits, the year 2012 means the Olympics, but for the ancient Mayans it signalled the end of the world.

And considering that nothing fuels an action blockbuster like an apocalyptic prophesy, Hollywood has unsurprisingly chosen to sink its teeth into this real-life legend.

2012 is the latest disaster movie from German director Roland Emmerich, the man behind Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow – and its special effects promise to go where no CGI has gone before.

With just days to go before the Mesoamerican Long Count Calender ticks towards its end, sometime around December 21, 2012, there is only one man who can save the planet – divorced writer, Jackson Curtis.

In Emmerich’s spectacular movie, this unlikely hero is played by John Cusack, an actor better known for indie films such as Grosse Point Blank, High Fidelity and Being John Malkovich, than his action movies.

But as John explains, when it came to being cast as a hero, the role sort of chose him.

“I was just at home doing my thing and I get a call saying Roland (Emmerich) wants you to do this movie,” remembers John, 43.

“It was a big movie, so I met him and read the script and it was actually very well written and surprising in lots of ways.

“It wasn’t like a genre disaster movie, it was very different from what I expected, and so it was kind of an easy choice for me.”

For their latest effort, Emmerich and his co-writer Harald Kloser wanted to tell a contemporary version of Noah’s Ark – the myth of the epic flood that will sweep away civilisation. And the Mayan prophecies were the perfect hook on which to hang their story.

The film also plays on our fears about climate change. Emmerich conjures scenes of mass destruction with the sun heating up the earth’s core, making its crust melt and causing enormous earthquakes and tidal waves across the planet’s surface.

“I think a lot of people are already kind of obsessed with the Mayan prophecies,” says John.

“There’s a real fascination for that kind of thing. I know when I first read about Nostradamus it hooked me. Who doesn’t want to read that – it’s endlessly fascinating right? It just trips you out.

“No matter if you want to believe it or you think it’s all crackpot stuff, I think it’s undeniably compelling. Or if you even read prophecies, like The Book of Revelations, just the imagery and the poetry of it is so intense. And if you’re Catholic too, you’re raised with that in your consciousness.”

Besides John, the film boasts a stellar cast including Thandie Newton, as the daughter of the black American President (Danny Glover) and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the President’s scientific adviser, as well as Woody Harrelson as a trailer-dwelling conspiracy theorist.

The film opens with Jackson turning up late at his ex-wife’s house to take his son and daughter camping in Yellowstone. It turns out the national park is the centre of government activities into monitoring the earth’s core.

No sooner have Jackson and his kids been evacuated from the park back to Los Angeles, than the city is engulfed in massive earthquakes, with the family struggling to escape.

As characters from the ensemble cast finally come together, it transpires there are elaborate plans to save the human race. But is there enough time for them to reach safety?

“I really liked the different storylines and I found it surprising, in a good way,” says John who plays father who is struggling for work and missing his kids.

“It’s all at a very human level – you go inside the corridors of power and it’s about the ethics of what you should and shouldn’t tell people. I thought it was much, much better than some kinds of action films.

“When everything starts to happen and the world is facing the ultimate disaster, my character’s own over-riding instinct is to get to his family and try, somehow, to save them. That’s a powerful emotion – it’s a family literally trying to stay alive as these cataclysmic events are happening all around them.”

With so many special effects, you’d be forgiven for thinking the CGI would overshadow the cast, but Emmerich had everything in proportion, says John.

“There were things that I’ve never seen even attempted on film – the scale of it was incredible.

“And I did think, ’Well, will you have time for the acting?’ And he most certainly did. A lot of attention was paid to that all the way through the shoot. The script was all about these very simple, family things and Roland was very focused on telling that story with all of this other, amazing stuff happening as well.”

The action sequences required a lot of effort on John’s part, but he says they were fine as long as he managed the crew’s expectations.

“The underwater stuff was pretty intense, and some of the physical stuff was too. There were a couple of times, like when they have you on a conveyor belt - when your character is running away from some impending disaster – and you’d have to say, ’You understand that we can do this like six times more and that’s fine. But if we have to do this 15 more times I’m going to pull a hamstring and I won’t be able to walk tomorrow. So you do understand that will be your choice?”’ he says, laughing.

“When you do an action movie, you have to let everyone know what’s about to happen. There’s only so much my hamstrings can take!”

The Illinois-born actor can rest his hamstrings for a while, as he has “nothing on the books” for the remainder of the year.

And as to the Mayan prophesy affecting his future career, John’s fairly hopeful that it won’t.

“No, I don’t think the world will end. I think maybe it will just be a change in consciousness in 2012. I think there will be a big shift in consciousness. Either that or it really will be the end,” he laughs. “I obviously hope it’s not.”

2012 is released in cinemas on Friday November 13

EXTRA TIME – JOHN CUSACK

John was born to showbiz family. His dad Dick was an actor, documentary filmmaker and owned a production company. He has appeared in several films with his sister Joan.

He first got into acting as a child when he joined the Piven Theatre Workshop, run by the father of Entourage actor and John’s close friend Jeremy.

He is notoriously tight-lipped about his private life, although he has been linked to several actresses including Minnie Driver and Neve Campbell.

Last year 30-something Emily Leatherman was convicted of stalking him, by throwing packages and letters into the grounds of his Malibu home.

If the world was to end, John says he wouldn’t be sorry to see reality TV destroyed. “I haven’t watched much of it, but what I have watched, I think I’d blow that up!”

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2012 Movie Synopsis

2009-10-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

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.