PHITY: April 2012

Rabu, 11 April 2012

UWAIS QORNY ( IKO UWAIS)

Iko Uwais is an Indonesian martial arts actor. Born in Jakarta, Indonesia on February 12, 1983, Uwais Qorny (nickname: Iko) is of the Betawi (native Jakartan) descent. He has been learning Indonesian traditional martial art, Pencak Silat, since he was 10 years old at his uncle's Silat school, Tiga Berantai, which uses the distinctive Betawi style of Silat. In 2003, Iko won third place at the Jakarta Provincial Tournament. In 2005, he won first place at the National Silat Championship as the best performer in the demonstration category.

Apart from Silat, his main interest was soccer. Once a midfielder in an Indonesian B-League soccer club, Iko has stopped his dream of becoming a soccer star after his club went bankrupt. Meanwhile his Silat skill has given him chances to travel abroad in several Silat exhibitions in the United Kingdom, Russia, Laos, Cambodia and France.

In 2007, Iko's talent was discovered by Welsh movie director, Gareth Evans who was filming a documentary about Silat in Iko's Silat school. Iko's natural charisma and great camera presence encouraged Evans to cast him as the leading role for his first martial art movie, Merantau. After signing a five year contract with Gareth Evans and his production company, Iko resigned from his daytime job as truck driver of a telcom company.

In his first acting experience in Merantau, Iko played a role of a young Minang (West-Sumateran) male, led him to learn the Minang style Silat Harimau (Sumateran-tiger style) from Silat Master, Edwel Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam. "Merantau" was released in Indonesia on August 6, 2009. The film was featured in Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea and South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas with highly positive reviews. Merantau won the Best Film award at ActionFest 2010.

Iko's second collaboration with Gareth Evans is a film called Serbuan Maut (known as "The Raid" internationally), which began filming in mid-March 2011 and set to be released on March 22, 2012 in Australia and New Zealand, March 23, 2012 in Indonesia and North America and May 18, 2012 in the UK. The movie has been hailed by critics and audiences in various festivals as one of the best martial art movies in years. Iko also served as the co-fight choreographer of the movie along with fellow actor/martial artist Yayan Ruhian.

Iko has a third movie planned with Gareth, tentatively titled as "Berandal" (Thugs in Indonesian), a sequel to The Raid, which will begin filming at the end of 2012.

source of wikipedia

Selasa, 10 April 2012

The hunger games

The Hunger Games is a 2012 American science fiction action drama film directed by Gary Ross, based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. The film was produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, with a screenplay by Ross, Collins, and Billy Ray. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Sutherland.[5]

The story takes place in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future in the nation of Panem, which consists of a wealthy capitol surrounded by 12 impoverished districts. As punishment for a past rebellion against the government, the Capitol initiated the Hunger Games—a televised annual event in which one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts are selected in a lottery as "tributes" and are required to fight to the death in an arena until there is one remaining victor. When the protagonist Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) hears her younger sister's name called as the female tribute for their district, she volunteers to take her place in order to save her from having to participate. Joined by her district's male tribute Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson), Katniss travels to the Capitol to train for the Hunger Games under the guidance of former victor Haymitch Abernathy (Harrelson), expressing resentment for both the Capitol and its populace for forcing her and her fellow tributes to fight to the death for their own amusement.

The film was released on March 21, 2012, in France and other countries[6] and internationally on March 23, 2012,[7] in both conventional theaters and digital IMAX theaters.[8] After its release, the film set the record for the third best opening weekend box office sales of any movie ($152.5 million) in North America behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($169 million) and The Dark Knight ($158 million)[9] and is the biggest box office debut for a non-sequel.[10]

The Hunger Games was well-received by critics, who praised its themes and messages, as well as Lawrence's performance as Katniss. Like the novel, the film has attracted criticism for its similarities to other works, such as the Japanese novel Battle Royale and its film adaptation as well as the American short story "The Lottery". It is noted, however, that Collins' novel and screenplay possess key differences by drawing on sources of inspiration such as the myth of Theseus, Roman gladiatorial games, reality television, and the Iraq War.[11]The Hunger Games has been the subject of varying interpretations, including allusions to feminist, political and religious allegory.

Source of: wikipedia