Britney Spears 'Damages' Brand's Image

(Courtesy:entertainment.com)

Britney Spears Do Something music video will no longer be played on European TV stations after Louis Vuitton claimed it "damaged their image".
The luxury clothes and accessories brand won an injunction in Paris yesterdayto stop the 2005 video - which shows mother-of-three Britney driving a pink car emblazoned with the company's prestigious 'cherry blossom LV' symbol - from being shown.
Sony BMG and MTV Online were ordered to pay $117,600 each for "damaging" the brand's image, and are expected to pay $1,470 for every day the video remains on the internet.
Louis Vuitton has continuously worked to prevent its goods from being copied, and has fought the ongoing battle in French and other courts.

World Greatest films (20): Shrek The Third (2007)

(Courtesy: Shrek.com)

Shrek the Third is the third film in the series, following Shrek and Shrek 2. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures, and was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007 (June 8 in Mexico, June 22 in Spain, June 15 in Brazil, June 13 in France and June 29 in the UK and Ireland).It was produced with the working title of Shrek 3 the title used could be a reference to Blackadder in which the third series was called Blackadder the Third. Like the first two Shrek films, the movie is significantly based on fairy tale (specifically Grimm's Fairy Tales) themes. The film is rated PG by the MPAA for some crude humor, suggestive content, and swashbuckling action.
Story and Plot Point
Harold has fallen deathly ill and his ogre son-in-law Shrek and daughter Fiona are next in line to be king and queen. Shrek declines, insisting that an ogre as king is a bad idea and that there has to be someone else for the job. With his final few breaths, the king tells Shrek that there is one other heir who can become the new King of Far Far Away: his nephew, Arthur. Shrek sets out to find this new king, along with Donkey and Puss in Boots. As they're sailing off, Fiona runs to the dock and announces to Shrek that she's pregnant. Shocked, Shrek begins to have nightmares about his future children on the journey to Worcestershire Academy, where they eventually discover that "Artie," who is an academy student, is a loser picked on by the other students - even the nerds. Artie is initially thrilled to be the new king, and excited to be on his way to the throne, until Donkey and Puss inadvertently scare him by talking about things like plague and famine. Panicked, Artie tries to take control of the ship and ends up crashing it on an island where they meet Artie's retired wizard teacher, Merlin.
Meanwhile, Charming has gone to the Poison Apple Bar, where he encounters a slew of fairy tale villains including Captain Hook, the Wicked Queen, a Cyclops, Rumpelstiltskin, Mabel the Ugly Stepsister, the Headless Horseman, Stromboli the Puppet Master, and an assortment of black knights, dwarves, trees, and witches. Although they initially despise Charming, he persuades them to join him in a fight for their "happily ever after". The villains feel their side of the story has never been told and now is the time to do it. Charming and the other villains invade the kingdom and pillage for a time before attacking the castle, disrupting Fiona's baby shower. They capture all of Shrek's fairy tale friends (Gingerbread Man, Pinocchio, The Big Bad Wolf, The Three Blind Mice and The Three Little Pigs), Dragon, and Donkey and Dragon's children. Fiona and Lilian try to escape through an underground passage, along with Doris the Ugly Stepsister, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel; the ladies are captured, however, when Rapunzel betrays them and leads them into a trap. They learn that she is in love with Charming, who plans to make her his queen once he claims the throne.
Captain Hook and some of his pirates track Shrek and company to Merlin's island, where they attempt to capture Shrek and kill the others. Shrek and Artie tag-team them effectively, however, and send the villains running, but not before Hook mentions "King Charming" and the takeover of Far Far Away. Concerned for his wife and their child, Shrek urges Artie to return to the safety of Worcestershire; Artie, however, has other ideas. He cons Merlin into coming out of retirement long enough to use his magic and send them all back to Far Far Away; the spell works, but accidentally causes Puss and Donkey to switch bodies because they were touching each other. They find that Charming is bent on revenge against Shrek for 'stealing' his "happily ever after," and plans to kill Shrek in a play later that night. Charming's men arrive shortly, but another clever ruse by Artie tricks the knights into not taking them into custody. Instead, they break into the castle, where play rehearsal and set design are in full swing. In Charming's dressing room, Shrek menaces the would-be king, but Charming is able to summon his men, who burst in and take the four captive.
In an effort to save Artie, Shrek tells Charming that Artie was just a patsy to take his place as King of Far Far Away. Charming believes Shrek and decides not to kill the boy. Artie, who had just been growing to trust Shrek, is crushed by this and runs away. Donkey and Puss are thrown into the tower with Fiona and the other ladies, where Fiona is growing frustrated with the other princesses and their lack of initiative. Queen Lilian grows fed up when Snow White calls her an old lady, and successfully smashes the stone wall of the prison. While the women launch a rescue mission for Shrek, who is being held captive elsewhere, Donkey and Puss work to free Gingy, Pinocchio, the wolf and pigs, Dragon, and Donkey's babies. As they prepare to enter the castle and join the ladies, they encounter Artie, and Puss and Donkey explain to him that Shrek lied so Charming wouldn't kill him. Artie seems hesitant to believe them.
As the kingdom watches, Charming stages a theatrical performance in which he heroically rides to the rescue of Rapunzel in her (fake) tower and sings, somewhat badly. To Charming's profound annoyance, the chained Shrek wins the audience's support by ridiculing his singing and acting. Just as Charming is about to kill Shrek, Fiona and her friends, along with Puss, Donkey and the Fairy Tale characters, leap onto the stage to confront the villains. It goes awry, however, as the villains largely outnumber the heroes and take them prisoner again. In the nick of time, Artie arrives and convinces the villains to stop and turn over a new leaf, proving himself to possess effective leadership skills. The villains drop their weapons and release their captives. Charming, furious at having been thwarted by this boy, lunges for him with his sword. Shrek blocks the blow and appears to take it in his own chest, leading Charming to exult; the attack missed, however, and the sword is lodged harmlessly under Shrek's arm. Shrek informs Charming that he needs to keep looking for his own happily ever after, "because I'm not giving up mine." Dragon slyly knocks over Rapunzel's tower, which traps Charming as it lands on him, and the crowd cheers. Charming's crown is sent rolling across the stage by the impact and is caught by Artie. Shrek tells him that the throne is his if he wants it, but it is his decision to make. Artie lifts the crown toward the audience, who cheer him loudly, then sets it on his own head. While the kingdom celebrates their new monarch, Merlin appears and restores Puss and Donkey to their proper bodies, though their tails remain switched.As Far Far Away is left in the capable hands of young King Arthur, Shrek retires with Fiona to their swamp. The end shows that Fiona has given birth to triplets, two boys and a girl; Queen Lilian is visiting with them, or else has left Far Far Away to live with them. Their home is overflowing with good-natured chaos, thanks in part to visits from Puss, Donkey, and the Dronkeys, and Shrek and Fiona are exceedingly happy in their new roles as parents.

Srivenkat

All time greatest films in the world (19): star wars (1977)

(Courtesy:starwars.com)

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (originally released as Star Wars) is a 1977 space opera film, produced, written, and directed by George Lucas. It was the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga; three later films precede the story in the series' internal chronology. Ground-breaking in its use of special effects, this first Star Wars movie is one of the most successful films of all time and generally considered one of the most influential as well.
Set far in the past, the movie tells the story of a plot against an oppressive Galactic Empire by a group of freedom fighters known as the Rebel Alliance. Seeking to make their authority absolute the Empire has recently completed its ultimate weapon: the Death Star, a moon-sized battle station capable of destroying a planet. Even so, spies have managed to obtain schematic plans of the station in the hope of finding a weakness. Rebel Leader Princess Leia Organa is racing to transport these plans to the rebel base when her ship is attacked and she and the crew are captured by Imperial forces. In a desperate attempt to complete her mission, Leia hides the plans within one of her two servant androids and records a quick message to former military general and rebel sympathizer: Obi-Wan Kenobi. Explaining her circumstances she begs Kenobi see that the plans are delivered safely to the base. The androids are then launched, in an escape pod, to Obi-Wan's home planet of Tatooine, where they come into the possession of teenaged farmer, Luke Skywalker. The secret message is soon discovered and Skywalker sets off to locate Kenobi and find a way to help the Princess.
Inspired by films like the Flash Gordon serials and the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa, as well as such critical works as Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Lucas began work on Star Wars in 1974. Produced with a budget of US$11,000,000 and released on May 25, 1977, the film became one of the most successful of all time, earning $460 million in the United States and $337 million overseas, as well as receiving several film awards, including 10 Academy Award nominations. It was re-released several times, sometimes with significant changes; the most notable versions were the 1997 Special Edition and the 2004 DVD, which were modified with CGI effects and recreated scenes.
Story and Plot Point
An opening crawl reveals that the galaxy is in a state of civil war. The Rebel Alliance has stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a space station capable of annihilating a planet. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan has possession of the plans, and before she is captured by the Empire, she hides them, along with a holographic recording, in a "droid" named R2-D2. The small droid escapes with his humanoid partner C-3PO to the surface of the desert planet Tatooine below. On Tatooine, the droids are captured by Jawas, who sell them to moisture farmer Owen Lars and his nephew, Luke Skywalker. While Luke cleans R2-D2, he accidentally triggers part of a holographic message, in which Princess Leia requests the help of "Obi-Wan Kenobi." The only Kenobi he knows is Ben Kenobi, a hermit who lives in the nearby hills, but Uncle Owen dismisses any connection.
Later, R2-D2 escapes, causing Luke and C-3PO to go out after him. Luke is attacked by Tusken Raiders. Along the way, they meet the "old wizard" Ben Kenobi, who reveals himself to be Obi-Wan. He takes them back to his hut and tells of his days as a Jedi Knight, and explains to Luke about a mysterious energy field called "the Force". He also tells Luke about his father, Anakin Skywalker, gives him his father's lightsaber, and tells him that Anakin had been "betrayed and murdered" by Obi-Wan's former pupil, Darth Vader. Obi-Wan then views Princess Leia's message, in which she begs him to take R2-D2 and the Death Star plans to Alderaan, where her father will be able to retrieve and analyze them. Obi-Wan asks Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and to learn the ways of the Force. After discovering that his home has been destroyed and his aunt and uncle killed by Imperial stormtroopers, Luke agrees to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan, and to learn to become a Jedi like his father. At the seedy Mos Eisley Spaceport, the group finds a smuggler named Han Solo and his Wookie friend Chewbacca, who agree to transport them on their ship, the Millennium Falcon. Attacked by stormtroopers as they board the ship, they make a hasty escape and prepare for a hyperspace leap to Alderaan.
Meanwhile, Leia has been imprisoned on the Death Star and has resisted interrogation. Grand Moff Tarkin, the Death Star's commanding officer, destroys her home planet of Alderaan as a means of demonstrating the power of the Empire's new weapon. The planet's destruction is felt by Obi-Wan aboard the Millennium Falcon while he is instructing Luke about the Force. Arriving at the coordinates for the planet, they are bombarded instead by rubble from the explosion. Following a TIE Fighter toward what appears to be a small moon, they are captured by the Death Star's tractor beam. Using hidden compartments to surprise Imperial stormtroopers and donning their armor as disguises, Han and Luke escape to a command room to wait while Obi-Wan attempts to disable the tractor beam. While they are there, R2-D2 discovers that Princess Leia is scheduled for termination. Han and Luke stage a rescue on the cell block, but they are forced into a garbage chute when their escape route is cut off. Making their way back to the Millennium Falcon, their path is cleared by the spectacle of a lightsaber duel between Darth Vader and his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Warning the dark lord that he will become "more powerful than you can possibly imagine," the old Jedi allows himself to be struck down as the others escape toward a hidden rebel base. A beacon hidden aboard the ship allows the Empire to track their route.
After landing on Yavin IV, the Death Star plans are analyzed by the Rebel Alliance and a potential weakness is found, one which will require the use of single-man fighters to slip past the Death Star's formidable defenses. Luke joins the assault team while Han collects his reward for the Princess' rescue. The attack proceeds as planned but suffers heavy losses without a successful torpedo hit in the small thermal exhaust port which would create a chain reaction. During Luke's run, Darth Vader engages the Rebels in ship-to-ship combat, but before he can destroy Luke, the Milennium Falcon appears and destroys one of Vader's wingmen while the other wingman shouts "Look out!" and attempts to veer away from the Falcon but instead veers into Vader's fighter and is destroyed crashing into the trench wall. Vader is last seen spinning out of control into outer space. Guided by the voice of Obi-Wan to "use the Force," Luke shuts off his targeting computer and fires the successful shot which destroys the Death Star seconds before it could attack the Rebel base. At a grand ceremony, Princess Leia awards medals to Luke and Han for their heroism in the battle.
Box office records
Charles Lippincott was hired by Lucas' production company, Lucasfilm Ltd., as marketing director for Star Wars. Because 20th Century Fox gave little support for marketing beyond licensing T-shirts and posters, Lippincott was forced to look elsewhere. He secured deals with Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Marvel Comics for a comic book adaptation and with Del Rey Books for a novelization. Wary that Star Wars would be beaten out by other summer films, such as Smokey and the Bandit, 20th Century Fox moved the release date to Wednesday before Memorial Day: May 25, 1977. However, few theaters ordered the film to be shown. In response, 20th Century Fox demanded that theaters order Star Wars if they wanted an eagerly anticipated film based on a best-selling novel titled The Other Side of Midnight.
The film became an instant success; within three weeks of the film's release, 20th Century Fox's stock price doubled to a record high. Before 1977, 20th Century Fox's greatest annual profits were $37,000,000; in 1977, the company earned $79,000,000. Although the film's cultural neutrality helped it to gain international success, Ladd became anxious during the premiere in Japan. After the screening, the audience was silent, leading Ladd, Jr. to fear that the film would be unsuccessful. He was later told that, in Japan, silence was the greatest honor to a film. Meanwhile, thousands of people attended the ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, where C-3PO, R2-D2 and Darth Vader placed their footprints in the theater's forecourt. Although Star Wars merchandise was available to enthusiastic children upon release, only Kenner Toys—who believed that the film would be unsuccessful—had accepted Lippincott's licensing offers. Kenner responded to the sudden demand for toys by selling boxed vouchers in its "empty box" Christmas campaign; these vouchers could be redeemed for the toys in March 1978.
In 1978, at the height of the film's popularity, Smith-Hemion Productions approached Lucas with the idea of The Star Wars Holiday Special. The end result is often considered a failure; Lucas himself disowned it. Lucas entered into a wager with long-time friend Steven Spielberg during the production of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Lucas was sure Close Encounters would outperform the yet-to-be-released Star Wars at the box office and bet 2.5% of the proceeds of each film against each other. Lucas lost the bet, of course, and to this day Spielberg is still receiving proceeds from the first of the Star Wars movies.
The film was originally released as—and consequently often called—Star Wars, without Episode IV or the subtitle A New Hope. The 1980 sequel, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, featured an episode number and subtitle in the opening crawl. When the original film was re-released in 1981, Episode IV: A New Hope was added above the original opening crawl. Although Lucas claims that only six films were ever planned, representatives of Lucasfilm discussed plans for nine or 12 possible films in early interviews. The film was re-released theatrically in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1997.

Srivenkat

All time greatest films in the world (18): Spiderman (2002)

(Courtesy:spiderman.com)

Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The film is the first in the Spider-Man film series. The film was written by David Koepp, and directed by Sam Raimi. It stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe.
The film begins with Peter Parker, a high school student, being bitten by a genetically altered spider. After misusing his newly given abilities, which indirectly caused the death of his Uncle Ben, he becomes the heroic Spider-Man. Peter hopes to win the heart of Mary Jane Watson, the girl he has loved since he was a boy, and battles the villainous Green Goblin, who is the father of Peter's best friend, Harry Osborn.
After being stuck in development hell for nearly 25 years, the film was released on May 3, 2002 to good reviews from critics, went on to break box office records, and became the highest grossing film of 2002. The success of the film led to two sequels, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. This led the films to being a trilogy in the Spider-Man film series.

Story and Plot Point
Peter Parker, his best friend Harry Osborn, and secret crush Mary Jane Watson visit a genetics laboratory with their high school class. While taking photos in the laboratory, Peter is bitten on the hand by a genetically engineered "super spider", and arrives home and passes out with the bite wound considerably swollen. Meanwhile, Norman Osborn, Harry's father, attempts to preserve his company's military contract from a rival firm, personally experimenting with his company's new but unstable performance-enhancing chemical vapor to increase his speed, strength, and stamina. Afterward, he goes into an uncontrollable rage and kills his assistant. The next morning, Peter finds that his previously impaired vision has improved to 20/20 and that his body has metamorphosized into a more muscular physique. When Peter goes to school, he finds himself producing webbing and having the quick reflexes to avoid being injured in a fight with Flash Thompson. Peter escapes from the school and realizes that he has acquired spider-like abilities from the spider bite. Peter quickly learns to scale walls, long jump across building rooftops and swing via webs from his wrists.
Lying to his aunt and uncle about where he is going, Peter decides to enter a wrestling tournament to get money to buy a car and impress Mary Jane. During an argument, Uncle Ben advises Peter, "With great power comes great responsibility." Peter lashes out at his uncle and leaves for the tournament. Peter wins, but is cheated out of the contest money. In retaliation he allows a thief to escape with the promoter's gate money. Afterward, Peter finds his uncle has been carjacked and killed. Peter tracks down the carjacker only to find out it was the same thief he allowed to escape earlier. During the struggle, the carjacker falls out of a window and dies. Upon graduating, Peter decides to use his abilities to fight injustice, and dons a new costume and the persona of Spider-Man. Peter is hired as a freelance photographer when he arrives in newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson's office with the only clear images of Spider-Man.
Norman, upon finding out that Oscorp's board members plan to sell the company, attacks them at the World Unity Fair. Although he successfully murders them, Peter engages him as Spider-Man and drives him off as he threatens Mary Jane. Jameson quickly dubs Norman as the Green Goblin. The Goblin offers Spider-Man a place at his side as he sees how the authorities mistrust him, but Spider-Man refuses, knowing that it is the right thing to do. The Goblin commits arson to engage him with a final offer, which Spider-Man refuses, and the Goblin becomes set on killing him. At the Osborn and Parkers' Thanksgiving dinner, Norman notices Peter's wound from the masked confrontation and leaves shortly thereafter. Feeling betrayed by Peter, and having found a personal annoyance with Aunt May, he attacks her. While she recovers in the hospital, Mary Jane admits she has a crush on Spider-Man, who rescued her on numerous occasions, and asks Peter whether he ever asked about her. Peter reflects on his own feelings, during which Harry enters. Feeling betrayed by his girlfriend, Harry tells his father whom Peter loves the most, unintentionally revealing what is Spider-Man's biggest weakness.The Goblin strikes, holding Mary Jane and a tram car full of children hostage on top the Queensboro Bridge where Spider-Man arrives. The Goblin tells Spider-Man to choose who he wants to save, and when Spider-Man refuses to choose, the Goblin drops his hostages. Spider-Man manages to save both Mary Jane and the tram car, whilst the Goblin is pelted at by civilians, showing loyalty to Spider-Man and proving him wrong by telling the Goblin that if "you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." The Goblin then grabs Spider-Man and throws him into an abandoned building where he begins to beat him. The tables turn as the Goblin boasts of how he will later kill Mary Jane, and an enraged Spider-Man dominates over him, forcing the Goblin into being unmasked. Norman begs for forgiveness, but his Goblin persona attempts to remote-control his glider to impale Spider-Man. The superhero evades the attack, causing the glider to impale Norman instead, and he dies asking Peter not to reveal his secret to Harry. At Norman’s funeral, Harry swears vengeance toward Spider-Man, who he believes is responsible for killing his father, and asserts that Peter is all he has left. Mary Jane confesses to Peter that she’s in love with him, but Peter, feeling that he must protect her, hides his true feelings. As Peter leaves the funeral, he recalls Uncle Ben's words, "With great power comes great responsibility." The film ends with Spider-Man web-swinging through the city he vows to defend.

Box office performance
Spider-Man was commercially released in the United States on May 3, 2002 in 3,615 theaters. The film earned $114,844,116 during its opening weekend and became the fastest theatrical release to reach $100 million, crossing the milestone in three days. The film's three-day record was later surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in 2006. Spider-Man also set an all-time record for the highest earnings in a single day with $43,622,264 on May 4, 2002, a record later surpassed by Shrek 2 in 2004. In the U.S. box office, Spider-Man became the highest grossing film of 2002 with $403,706,375, defeating The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Spider-Man currently ranks #7 in the all-time U.S. box office. The film also grossed $821,708,551 worldwide, currently placing it #14 in worldwide box office ranks.
Awards
The film has won several awards ranging from Teen Choice Awards to the Saturn Awards, and was even nominated for two Academy Awards ("Best Visual Effects" and "Best Sound"). While only Danny Elfman brought home a Saturn Award, Raimi, Maguire, and Dunst were all nominated for their respective positions. It also took home the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Motion Picture."

Srivenkat

Marion Cotillard wins AAFCA AWARD as best actress

(Courtesy:hollywooddotcom)

French actress Marion Cotillard has won the best actress award from the African American Films Critics' Association for her performance as a tragic singer, Edith Piaf, in La Vie En Rose. Don Cheadle has won the best actor award and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons has been adjudged for the best director award. Ruby Dee and Chiwetel Ejifor have been chosen for the best supporting actor and actress award for their performance in American Gangster. The Great Debaters, directed by Denzel Washington, was chosen for the best film award for 2007. The movie, scripted by Suzane-Lori Parks and Robert Eisele, produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions, starring Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker, Gina Ravera and Jurnee Smollett, will be released in the U.S. on December 25.

All time greatest films in the World (17): Independence Day

(Courtesy:independenceday.com)

Independence Day is an Academy Award winning science fiction film directed by Roland Emmerich. The film's plot is about an attempted alien invasion of Earth. The film's success was partially credited to an extensive marketing campaign which began in the United States with a dramatic commercial during the Super Bowl XXX. It is the first movie to advertise during Super Bowls. Fox spent $1.3 million to promote the film during the Super Bowl. The movie was scheduled for release on July 3, 1996, but due to the high level of anticipation for the film, many theaters began showing it on the evening of July 2, 1996, the same day the action in the film begins. The movie's total worldwide gross was $816,969,268 - the 18th highest worldwide gross for a movie all-time, and rated the 49th best sci-fi movie of all time.

Story and Plot Point
When Earth comes under attack from an advanced extraterrestrial species, the survivors must band together to repel the invaders.
On July 2, an alien mothership enters orbit around Earth, deploying several dozen smaller spacecraft to hover over many of the world's major cities. Satellite transmissions from the craft are discovered, by scientist David Levinson (Goldblum), to be a timer which he believes is a countdown to a coordinated attack by the aliens. Having made his way to the White House with his father, he warns President Thomas J. Whitmore (Pullman) of the impending attack. After three US Air Force helicopters are shot down by an alien spacecraft while attempting to establish communications, the president orders the evacuation of affected cities. Before the countdown reaches zero, he flees the White House aboard Air Force One with his staff and Levinson. At zero point, the hovering alien spacecraft open fire upon their targets with advanced directed-energy weapons, incinerating entire cities and killing millions.
The United States counterattack is coordinated from El Toro and sees the alien spacecraft assaulted by Marine Corps fighter aircraft. The attacks are useless, as both the larger craft and individual fighters launched from within are protected by seemingly-impenetrable force fields. After leading his unit of fighter pilots in an attack against the aliens, Captain Steven Hiller (Smith) is involved in a dogfight with an alien fighter which sees both crash in the desert. Having parachuted to safety, Hiller subdues and captures the injured alien. As the El Toro airbase has since been destroyed, Hiller takes the alien in the direction of the nearby Area 51 base, where the president and his remaining staff have also landed. There, they discover a top secret facility housing a captured alien fighter and three alien bodies recovered from Roswell in 1947.
When lead scientist Dr. Brackish Okun (Spiner) examines the new alien specimen, it attempts escape and takes control of his mind. When questioned by President Whitmore, through a telepathic connection it reveals that its species travels from planet to planet, destroying all life and harvesting the planet's natural resources, before moving on to the next conquest. The alien attempts a psychic attack against Whitmore and is killed by military personnel. Whitmore orders a nuclear attack on one of the larger alien spacecraft which is hovering over a by-now-evacuated Houston, but as the craft is still protected by its force shield, the attack fails.
Levinson devises a plan to gain access to the interior of the alien mothership in space in order to introduce a computer virus and plant a nuclear device on board. This, it is hoped, will cause the shields of the Earth-based alien craft to fail long enough for the human resistance to destroy them. Hiller volunteers to fly the captured alien fighter and Levinson accompanies him to upload the virus. With satellite communications knocked out, the Americans use morse code to coordinate an attack with the remaining air forces around the world, timed to occur when the invaders' shields are set to fail. With the successful implantation of the virus, President Whitmore leads the US fighter jets against an alien spacecraft on approach to Area 51. The attack is initially unsuccessful and the fighters soon exhaust their supply of missiles. The underside of the alien craft opens up as its primary weapon of mass destruction is prepared to fire on the base. Russell Casse (Quaid) finds that he possesses the one remaining missile. The firing mechanism damaged, he pilots his jet into the opening in a kamikaze attack. The ensuing explosion causes a chain reaction which destroys the alien spacecraft. Human resistance forces around the world use the same weak point to destroy the remainder of the alien ships, while the nuclear device planted by Hiller and Levinson destroys the alien mothership. Hiller and Levinson escape unharmed, crash-landing their captured alien fighter in the desert close to Area 51.

Box office performance
Domestic Total Gross: $306,169,268
Foreign: $510,800,000
Worldwide: $816,969,268
Independence Day took £6.8 million at the box office during its opening weekend in the UK.One factor of The box office success of Independence Day is due to the heavy marketing campaign behind it.

Awards
Academy Award for Visual Effects
Saturn Award for Best Director, Best Science Fiction Film, Best Special Effects
Amanda award for Best Foreign Feature Film
Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Science Fiction, Will Smith
Czech Lions award for box office
Golden Screen award for Golden Screen, Golden Screen with 1 Star, and Golden Screen with 2 Stars
International Monitor Award for Electronic Visual Effects
Kids' Choice Awards Blimp Award for favorite movie
MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
Mainichi Film Concours award for Best Foreign Language Film
People's Choice Award for Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture
Golden Satellite Award for Best Film Editing and Best Visual Effects
Universe Reader's Choice Award for Best Actor in a Genre Motion Picture, Best Cinematography for a Genre Motion Picture, Best Director for a Genre Motion Picture, Best Science Fiction Film, Best Score for a Genre Motion Picture, Best Special Effects in a Genre Motion Picture, Best Supporting Actress in a Genre Motion Picture and Best Writing for a Genre Motion Picture.

Srivenkat

2007’s top five best and worst films in Hollywood

(Courtesy : Hollywood.com)

At the end of each year, the collective quality of the year’s movies usually seems to even out. But just the same, there are always the outliers, the extremes, the very best and the very worst, which is where some of the fun comes in. This year, Atonement proved period romance movies don't have to be sappy, while Sandra Bullock demonstrated her box office appeal is relegated to public transit as the Speed star's thriller Premonition failed to connect with moviegoers.Here is a review of the year that was--and wasn’t--on the big screen, with my picks for ’07.

Hollywood critics Top Five

Atonement

This is this year’s equivalent to The English Patient, a book adaptation that follows the traditions of those sweeping period films romantic saps like me love to sigh over. Even though there are some--like Seinfeld’s Elaine--who would surely balk, I am on the side of the devoutly dreamy, especially when it’s a story about enduring love during war-torn times. But Atonement offers so much more: exquisite cinematography (director Joe Wright outdoes himself), affecting performances (lovers Keria Knightley and James McAvov and the extraordinary new find, Saoirse Ronan), a melodic original score (from composer Dario Marianelli). And most importantly, at the film’s core beats the heart of a writer, trying to find her own redemption through her words. Any writer will relate to that.

Juno

If I had to be a teenager again, I’d want to be just like Ellen Page’s Juno MacGuff--minus the pregnancy, of course. She’s practical, can zing off the snarky comeback lines like it’s nobody’s business, has a thing for the geeky track star and doesn’t apologize for it. And as for getting herself into this wee bit of trouble, she handles the responsibilities with a lot of warmth and humor. Then again, maybe I should just ask Juno’s first-time screenwriter Diablo Cody -a former stripper now a hot commodity in the writing department--to follow me around, writing my dialogue for me. Nah, she’s probably too busy these days. I think instead I’ll just own Juno when it comes out on DVD, so I can enjoy the film’s wry sense of humor and enormous amounts of unpretentious feel-gooiness over and over again.

Michael Clayton

I’m also a sucker for smart legal thrillers that sees an underdog bring down big, bad corporate mucky mucks. The Verdict, Afew Good Men, Erin Brockoyich --the smarter they are, the better. But writer/director Tony Gilroy does something slightly different with his Michael Clayton. All his characters are morally questionable and seriously flawed, so you’re not entirely sure who to root for. Oh, sure, there is definitely a clear-cut bad guy--in the form of a highly motivated corporate climber played near perfect byTilda Swinton. But whether it’s Tom Wilkinson as a top litigator whose conscience gets the better of him or Sydney Pollack as the resigned head of the high-powered law firm orGeorge Clooney as the firm’s beleaguered “fixer” caught in the middle, the film adds new dimensions to one of my favorite genres and is refreshingly top-notch entertainment.

Ratatouille

I wouldn’t call myself a great chef, but I do appreciate good food. Helmed by the ultra-talented Brad Bird, Ratatouille is the delicacy I was waiting for, on par with other excellent food-related movies such as Like Water for Chocolate and Barbette’s Feast. Of course, the film is also a masterpiece in both animation and storytelling. Bird, of The Incredible fame, captures the adults’ imagination with his endearing tale about a little Parisian rat named Remy who knows his way around a kitchen, and then puts it in a fun-filled animated package the kids will enjoy. A win-win situation. I may even want to try the titular title’s main dish someday--in a Parisian café, of course.

There will be Blood

Be prepared for this one, folks. From the opening sequence in which Daniel Day –Lewis, deep in a hole in a Californian hillside, is whacking away at the bedrock with a pickaxe, while a discordant score permeates, There will be Blood hits low and hard. Based on Upton Sinclair’s sprawling novel Oil!, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson incorporates a slow, methodical technique to his adaptation, much like a Terrence Malick film. But while that might indicate a certain level of boredom, There will be Blood is anything but boring, thanks in large part to Day-Lewis’ unrelenting performance as Daniel Plainview, a man corrupted by his greed for more oil, and Paul Dano, a religious zealot who proves to be Plainview’s Achilles heel. Let’s just say, I definitely felt saturated by the black gold before the end of the film--in more ways than one.

And Five Honorable Mentions:

Grindhouse (for the ultimate cinematic B-movie experience); Superbad (I just laughed and laughed and laughed); The Borne Ultimatum (smart, grainy, action-packed--the best of the summer); Before the Devil Knows you’re Dead (gut-wrenching little crime drama that falls like a row of dominoes); and NO country For Old Men (it’s nice to have the Coen boys back doing what they do best)

Bottom Five

Happily N’Ever After

From the producers of the Shrek series comes this annoying Shrek rip-off—a wannabe fairytale spoof with no imagination about what would happen if none of the fairytales had happy endings, and the villains won out instead. I think we have enough CGI-animated films spoofing fairy tales than we know what to do with, so ultimately, it’s probably just best to keep the fairy tale spoofs to the Shrek professionals.

Next

Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas. Sometimes you can hit it out of the park with one of your action films-- The Rock and the first National Treasure come to mind--but more often than not, you fail quite miserably. 2007 was a particularly bad year for a Nicolas Cage actioner: First, there was the tepid Ghost Rider and then Next, a film about a guy who can see 30 seconds into the future and has to save L.A. from a nuclear bomb. I’ll be the first to suspend my disbelief, but this is just about as implausible as it gets (unless you are talking about Premonition see below). Jury is still out on National Treasure-2, so maybe Cage can redeem himself.

Norbit

Like I said in my opening line, Eddie Murphy in another fat suit? What could possibly go wrong with that? Oh, so much. So very, very much. For all of Murphy’s silly, latex-laden, heavily made-up comedies, there has always been a somewhat sweet story at its center, such as in The Nutty Professor and Coming to America. Not so in Norbit it's really only about being mean-spirited--and, well, fat. Great big globs of cellulite thrown at us onscreen at an alarmingly rate. Shiver. Let’s hope there’s never a sequel.

No Reservations

Just as Ratatouille made you want to eat food prepared by a five-star restaurant, No Reservations --about an anal top chef who falls for a renegade chef -makes you want to order pizza at home and watch reruns of Scrubs. No delicacies here, as these two crazy chefs try to make a go of it in the romance department. Add in the “affecting kid role” played by Abigail Breslin and you’ve got something as bland and predictable as a frozen TV dinner.

Premonition

Ah, probably my favorite film to dislike this year. Talk about improbable. You spend most of your time just trying to figure out why this woman, Linda Hanson, is running around like a crazy person, waking up one day to find her husband, Jim, is dead and then the next, that he’s still alive. The movie is exhausting, frankly.

And Five Honorable Mentions:

Freedom Writers (Hilary Swank at her syrupiness); License to Wed (Robin Williams at his most annoying); Wild Hogs (kind of embarrassing for all involved); Death at a Funeral (a calamity comedy at its worst); and Bratz (insipid fluff; just get one of the dolls instead).