Well, who doesn’t enjoy a bit of dreams and fantasy. I have been dreaming of getting myself an owl, not as a pet but for passing information from here to there (who wants the internet anyway?). I always wanted an Invisibility Cloak, a Wand and if possible a Broom. Call me a romantic or a child not grown up, I enjoy travelling into the world of werewolves and witches, where reality and dreams merges and separates as easily as ever and where an ordinary broom can become a luxury car and a book can hold untold mysteries.

Here is my list of best fantasy movies of all time:

• The Harry Potter Series: I have grown up watching Harry Potter and his two friends, Hermione and Ron. This is perhaps the most famous fantasy movie to ever hit the screens. The books, by the same name, written by J.K. Rowling went on to become so famous that serpentine queues were seen outside famous stores selling these books. The stories, though, focused on Harry and how he defeats Lord Voldermort (He Who Must Not Be Named!), there was something for the children to learn from. It inspired many to actually get back to reading.
• Avatar: The magnum opus of sorts of James Cameroon, was an Oscar winning movie. Some movies manage to take us to different worlds and different times, but this movie went a step ahead. It took us to another planet altogether. The planet in question is Pandora. The movie, though, exceptionally great to look at, brought a greater meaning. It made us question ourselves and the manner in which we are treating the world and its beings.
• The Pirates of the Caribbean Series: This is a great movie to watch anytime of the day. It is funny and comes with many nail-biting moments as well. Jack Sparrow is perhaps the world’s most loved Pirate and his ship the best looking ship ever. Jack Sparrow, played to perfection by Johnny Depp, is a treat to watch.

These three movies manage to take us to a world of imagination and make us wonder at reality. Sometimes, the reality is so much boring that it doesn’t hurt to dwell in the world of dreams.

Jane Got a Gun is either cursed or somebody’s making sure that the movie never gets made, which is weird considering how it isn’t based upon a notorious character or a controversial topic (if you don’t count the word Gun in the name, that is). It’s merely a Western flick on a lady striving to protect her criminal husband.

Natalie Portman, or Jane Hammond in the movie, is the doting wife here. When her husband returns home one fine day, riddled with bullet wounds, Jane then takes it upon herself to defend her husband and her land, when the one’s responsible for injuring him, return to finish him off. So how does she do that? Well, by calling on her next knight in shining armor of course. Here it’s her ex-lover who she hasn’t been in touch with in over 10 years, but has no qualms over asking him to take a few bullets for her, now.

Okay, so maybe there’s more to the movie than just that, and she may have a more valid reason for calling on him. However, we don’t know that yet as that’s the only part of the plot that’s been made public so far…and may possibly be that way for a while more considering the constant problems it’s been facing since the start.
Initially, the move was set to also star Michael Fassbender as the ex-boyfriend, and Joel Edgerton as the bad guy who’s hunting Jane’s husband down.

However, due to a busy schedule owing to his role in the new X-Men movie, Fassbender had to opt out of Jane Got a Gun, although rumor has it that the real reason was a fall-out with the director.

In an attempt to replace him, Jude Law was then signed up for the movie, but was later given the character of the villain instead, with Edgerton now set to play the ex-boyfriend.
That, however, was just the beginning.

Soon after that conundrum was fixed, director Lynne Ramsay decided to not show up on the very first day of shooting, and left the film soon after, surprising and disappointing the rest of the cast and crew.

Ironically, Ramsay’s manager is supposed to be the daughter of Scott Steindorff, who’s also the producer of the movie. Ramsay’s decision not only cost her, her reputation, but also a manager as Jessica Steindorff decided to put family first, and refused to work with Ramsay anymore.

Less than 24 hours after her exit, Ramsay was replaced by Gavin O’Connor, thus bringing the filming of the movie back on track.

Unfortunately, it didn’t end there. Exactly a day after Ramsay left, Jude Law decided to opt out too, for no apparent reason apparently.

No replacement has been cast as of yet, throwing the making of the movie into turmoil once again. If it continues in this pattern, one doubts it will ever get made.

At a time where sequels for animated movie are all the rage, movies that came about years ago now seem eager to jump onto the bandwagon.

Lion King seems to have triggered the trend after releasing a sequel in 1998, after its initial release in 1994. Then there was Toy Story in 1995 that came up with a new plot in 1999 with Toy Story 2, and again in 2010 with Toy Story 3.

Now, we have Monsters Inc. , which was first released in 2001. The movie introduced the world to Sully and his side-kick Mike Wazowski…two loveable characters who revolutionized the very concept of monsters by proving them to not be as scary as popular belief would have you believe.

The first part played around the concept of being every child’s worst nightmare, or the common claim of having a ‘monster in their closet’.

The movie was set in the little town of Monstropolis, that’s completely inhabited by monsters of all kinds, including Sulley and Mike. The 2 work for Monsters Inc… a factory that generates electricity for the town, by collecting the screams of human children, without ever touching them as the latter were considered to be highly toxic.

Later, when a little girl, Boo, breaks into their sleepy little world, what ensues is a hilarious string of events as Sulley and Mike strive to put her back where she came from, before she’s discovered by the wrong people. Her presence changes everything they’ve ever been told about humans, with the two developing a strong bond with the adorable Boo. Their world is now completely chaotic, eventually succeeding in taking her back home at the expense of closing down their factory.

Now, Mike and Sully are back once again, but this time around, there are no little girls, screams or unemployment worries, just a lot of partying and good old-fashioned college rivalries.

Yes, this time we’ll be taken back in time, when the two first met…in college.

Disney/Pixar first released the trailers to Monsters University back in 2012, much to the delight of former fans. The trailer never gave out much on the plot, apart from imparting the notion that it’s all about college fun and nothing more.

Now, they’ve released the new trailer to give fans more insight into the story…one that may come as quite the surprise. Turns out the two best friends were…wait for it…arch rivals back then.

Before we knew them as best buds, in college the two were constantly competing against each other, with Mike being the bookish, serious monster, and Sulley the party animal, both majoring in scaring in Monsters University.

The creators have gone all out to market the movie, even creating a university website to shed more light on the institution.

So if you’re a furry, fanged individual, with multiple hands or a horn or 2, you can check the site out and enroll in Monsters University. For the rest of us…we’ll have to settle of the movie. It’ll be released on June 21.

Gordon Ramsay is on spotlight with his fierce rage all the time. Nevertheless, his skills on the kitchen front with a strong hotel management education elevate him to the level of mastering successful hotels and shows. Based in Great Britain, the raucous chef is however an image of uniqueness.

Having served as a strict host on shows like “Hell’s Kitchen” and “MasterChef”, the chef has heated up the whole media through a fight with his father-in-law.

While Ramsay said to the press that he was snubbed by his father-in-law, Christopher Hutcheson, one of his co-partners in launching multiple restaurants. An unknown rift was created between these two with a little suspicion which rose to a great problem and grew to become private.

Gordon Ramsay also while being interviewed by the Men’s Journal, opened up many things.  He said the magazine that his father-in-law wasn’t true to the business and was backing up another family secretly. He said that the news had shocked him and made him correspond to a decision of dismissing him from the duties. Also, Ramsay complained an unethical intrusion of his personal side alongside the major issue.

Recently, a popular magazine released news that the problem has concluded with a payment from both sides. While the case has been settled and Ramsay was left with $392,875 from the lawsuit he filed. He got a positive judgment. Even when talking about him, Ramsay remembers that his biological father had never taken good care of his family. He left Ramsay and his mother to continue a living with another family held clandestine. He is also said to have died while around 52 due to excess consumption of liquor. As an opening statement, Ramsay clearly states that his father dumped him first and then his father-in-law takes his turn.

All the information about Christopher Hutcheson was unveiled through a personal officer whom Ramsay hired exclusively to keep a watch on the alleged man. Ramsay has previously had problems with celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay and Cat Cora, who are popular chefs. He continues to stress the fact that he has a solid reason for what he quarreled with them.

Actress Valerie Harper, who famously played Rhoda Morgenstern in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its next series Rhoda, has terminal cancer. The actress released a statement on Wednesday morning. Friends and supporters poured their sympathies and good lucks to the beloved sitcom star. The last time she was seen in public was in January during “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. She had kept forgetting her lines during the rehearsals and seemed struggling with herself. The playwright crew also said that it was strange that she kept forgetting the lines. It soon became so obvious it just couldn’t be ignored any longer.

“Her speech started to slur one day. With that, everyone agreed it was probably best she go to the hospital,” recalls Matthew Lombardo, the playwright of the famous Broadway. “We were maybe in denial before that. We love her so much. We didn’t want to admit anything was wrong.”

When she went to the doctors, they declared that she has leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. It is a rare and lethal condition in which case the cancer spreads into the fluid-filled membrane that surrounds the brain. The doctors have given approximately three months to live.

Harper had called her costar Moore before sharing the news with the public. Moore had also undergone a surgery to remove a benign tumor from a membrane that surrounds the membrane.

The actress has taken the news bravely and with spirit. She had said, “I was stunned. And in the next minute I thought, “This could draw more attention to cancer research.”

Friends and fans had taken to social media to send her different messages. Cloris Leachman tweeted, “My longtime friendship w/ @ValerieHarper has been 1 of the gr8est gifts of my life. I’m here 4 any/everything she may need one day at a time.” Larry King wrote, “I’ve known Valerie Harper for years- enjoyed intv’ing her & being in her company-wishing her strength & good thoughts.” Many other sent her messages and prayers her way.

Looks like Hollywood will be losing a talented actress soon. Let’s all get together and send her prayers and good health! Hope her final days are peaceful.

Who else watched the premier of Red Widow? It is one of ABC’s women-centric thrillers with Radha Mitchell in the lead. Martha, played by Mitchell, is a happily married woman from a wealthy background. She leads a content life with a handsome well-off husband and three children. However, her world is shattered when her husband is killed during a drug-deal by a dangerous mafia. Even her influential father seems to be afraid of the particular drug lord. Mitchell, as a result is forced to work with them to pay-off the debts left behind by her husband. The story plot is one of those clichés we often see in ABC!

Have you seen the show, Missing previously? All that has changed in the Red Widow is that it is a San Francisco mob here. The plot is still familiar. Perfect life shattered by violence, mom toughening up and becoming the hero. These shows are not boring, but to see the same plot repeated so soon, people are bound to lose interest.

The Red Widow opened amidst much fanfare and was publicized heavily before they were released. However, the opening ratings were not as much as it was expected to be. There were just 6.8 million users which are much less than some of the debuts the network’s show made last spring. Red Widow has now made a new record. It is tied with the network’s Zero Hour as the network’s lowest premier ratings.

I guess ABC is trying unsuccessfully to channelize on the foreign-TV show craze. Red Widow is based on a Dutch series. But, it looks like things didn’t work out for the network. They should have stopped to think how original the plot is. By the time, the two-hour premier was getting I was bored and yawning. They just need to think better on how they are effectively going to utilize their Sunday slots as Red Widow definitely doesn’t seem to work!

Not just the Red Widow, NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice also had the lowest premier ever with just 5.1 million viewers which is 38% less than the previous season. However, shows like The Amazing Race, The Good Wife and The Mentalist rebounded from last week with healthier ratings.

Michelle Obama is ‘absolutely not surprised’ that her appearance at the Academy Awards has provoked a national conversation. Her satellite appearance sparked intense public discussion about whether it was appropriate for the first lady to make an Oscar appearance. Conservatives also criticized Michelle Obama of selfishly crashing the ceremony and attempting to steal the show with her presence.

Michelle Obama went to say that the constant chatter about her appearance at the event can be attributed to the cultural shift in the society. There are thousands of bloggers, tweeters, and just about everyone else who is talking about anything and everything at all times. “Shoot, my bangs set off a national conversation. My shoes can set off a national conversation. That’s just sort of where we are. We’ve got a lot of talking going on,” the first lady said. “It’s like everybody’s kitchen-table conversation is now accessible to everybody else so there’s a national conversation about anything.”

In spite of all the hype and hoopla over Michelle Obama’s Oscar appearance, this is not the first time a first lady has made an Oscar appearance. Mrs. Bush appeared at the awards event via a videotape. In this case, Mrs. Obama was beamed live from her White House residence in to the event ceremony to open an envelope and announce the name of the Best Picture award recipient.

The first ladies of America have been under the public eye which scrutinizes their every move, from their clothes, hair styles, issues they promote and how they bring up their children. The Obamas have only managed to add to the general appeal as they are the first black family to enter the White House. Moreover, they are also a very young couple; Michelle Obama had just turned 49 last month while President Barack Obama is 51.

The first lady said she doesn’t give such comments any second thoughts. Instead she would continue to further her larger goals in promoting arts. She also added that she was astonished by the amount of public conversation that buzzed around her bangs. When asked if she was taken aback by the sheer amount of public reaction to her new hairstyle, Mrs. Obama said, “I was, I have to say. I’m like, `it’s a haircut.” Maybe it is high time the nation found something more important and worthwhile to talk about than someone’s hairdos and guest appearances and simply let the first lady be.

A majority of Americans spend their leisure time watching movies. The month of March this year has a lot of movies that are lined up to be released. Here’s a list of the movies that you can watch in cinema theaters near you.

Jack the Giant Slayer
This movie throws light on the legend Jack the Beanstalk. The movie is about how the kidnapped princess is rescued. The people of the kingdom are worried and they make plans to rescue her. A young farmer is given the responsibility to lead an expedition to rescue the princess. They have to struggle and fight with giants in order to set the princess free. Jack the Giant Slayer is directed by Bryan Singer. Running time of this movie is 1 hour and 55 minutes and it has received a PG 13 rating.

The Last Exorcism Part 2
This movie begins where the first part ends. The Last Exorcism Part 2 is a horror thriller. Ashley Bell plays the role of Nell Sweetzer. She finds herself all alone in the woods. She is scared and terrified in the woods. To add on to her worry Nell realizes that she is unable to remember all that she has been through for the last few months. She is the sole surviving member of her family. Just when she decides to let go her past and move on this movie takes an unexpected turn. She is possessed by the same evil forces that once possessed her. This horror movie has elements of violence and terror. It has received a PG 13 rating.

Phantom
In this movie Ed Harris plays the character of captain of a Soviet submarine. He is given the responsibility of leading a mystery mission. He has to leave his family behind to participate in this mission that involves the fate of the entire humanity. Soon he discovers that he has been chosen to lead the mission because it is believed that he will fail.

Also lined up for release this March are movies like ‘Dead Man Down’, ‘The Incredible Burt’ and ‘Wonderstone’ among other movies.

The Oscars has been the subject of much discussion over the past few weeks, with the media creating quite the buzz even after the show ended with a bang. We’ve read about this year’s winners, the ones who should’ve won but didn’t, the outfits, who looked the best and who needed a do-over, and of course Seth MacFarlane’s hosting prowess.

So this time around, let’s take a look at the little things that was happening in and around the Oscars that may be unbeknownst to many.

• Jennifer Lawrence was in such a chaotic state prior to leaving home for the Oscars that the actress forgot to eat before the show. Eventually, she ended up ordering a take-away from McDonalds, on her way to the ceremony.
However, hunger seemed to have been pervading her mind even after reaching the Dolby Theater, when during an interview, all the actress could talk about was why she had forgotten to order fries, too.
Her last words of wisdom before parting from the press were, “Never the McNuggets.”

• Prior to the show, a security guard at the theater suffered a seizure and who should come to his rescue but Charlize Theron herself. The actress happened to be nearby at the time, and rushed to help the man, in a gown and all.

• Kristen Stewart was seen hobbling about the place on a pair of crutches. The Twilight actress was said to have injured herself by stepping on glass. Ouch

• Unlike most actresses who have their outfits picked out months in advance, Anna Hathaway chose hers a mere 2 hours before the show.
The actress was also said to have painted her grandmothers initials on her nails for good luck, which seem to have worked considering she later walked away with the award for Best Supporting Actress, in Les Miserables.

• Charlize Theron’s performance with Channing Tatum was lauded by all, including actress Isla Fisher who decided to tell her that herself. Charlize immediately responded to the compliment with a,
“I’m going to punch you in the face right now!”, as a joke of course.
Do you sense a Monster-like vibe here?

• A few minutes before the glamorous show was set to commence, the lobby at the theater was said to have been flooded, possibly due to a broken toilet. It was hurriedly taken care of by the efficient staff, before the glittering gowns had to mop it all up.

• Actress Sally Fields decided to get comfortable for the after party by switching to a pair of sneakers. Good thing she had donned a long gown.