Edmonton shoppers earn their Boxing Day deals

FIFA 15 | PACK OPENING 6.0 BOXING DAY | DoctorePoLLo

Despite fears that increasing competition from online retailers would temper the Boxing Day chaos, stores across Edmonton were packed with customers looking for big savings.

Youve maybe got to park a little further away from the store, bear the cold and the long lines, but if youre going to save some money, you have to pay the price somehow, said Darrick Aube, who was still smiling about saving $400 on his new 60-inch flat screen television as he loaded it into the back of his truck with help from his father, Brian Aube.

Both say they usually avoid the chaos of Boxing Day shopping, but the savings this year were simply too good to pass up.

It was busy in there, but it wasnt bad, said Brian, outside of the Best Buy on Stony Plain Road. We were in and out of there in maybe 15 or 20 minutes.

The lines of cars trying to get into West Edmonton Mall stretched for blocks in all directions, but shoppers at Kingsway Mall managed to cut through the crowds to rack up some savings.

I call this a suicide walk, laughed Angus Cameron, feeling lucky to get out in one piece as he helped Tammy Steeves pick up a Doctor Who themed mini-fridge for Steeves daughter.

Sisters Madison Mercer, 12, and Summer Mercer, 16, were more than willing to brave long lines and crowds in order to help stretch their Christmas spending money.

I think its worth running through people rather than spending twice as much, said Madison, whose best score of the day was purchasing pair of pants for $19 that usually retail for $55 dollars.

I didnt think it was going to be this good for deals, added Summer, who spent her budget on clothes and gift cards. It was crazy, but it was fun.

Danielle Duguay seized the opportunity to purchase a new pricey winter jacket she has been coveting at half the price.

I saw it a while back, but it was too expensive. Then they put it on a really good deal, she said, adding that in order to take full advantage of Boxing Day sales, patience is the key.

Debbie Delorme and 13-year-old Izabella Delorme, have turned Boxing Day shopping into an annual mother-daughter tradition.

I knew where I wanted to go so we didnt have to waste time, because I dont like big crowds, said Izabella, grinning ear-to-ear while showing off a new pair of winter boots bedazzled with rhinestones that she got for a fraction of the regular cost.

You can still get some pretty good deals, you just have to look around sometimes, said Debbie, who recommends staring early and knowing where you want to go to get the most out of your shopping experience.

PARKING . . . I"LL PASS

While Boxing Day sales werent hard to find at West Edmonton Mall on Friday, parking definitely was, with lines of cars stretching for blocks in all directions.

You should have hired police officers to direct traffic. Its insane, tweeted a frustrated @whoisalbert.

While stores in North Americas largest mall open two and a half hours early to accomodate seasoned bargain hunters, @DKSkittle39 tweeted out a warning about parking just past 7 a.m.

Already a line up to park at [West Edmonton Mall]! Wonder if any of the expectant mother spots are still open, she posted.

Oh, its not THAT busy, tweeted @Conal_Mac, using the sarcastic hashtag #ClosestParkingSpotWasInSpruceGrove.

Despite the fact that West Edmonton Mall boasts the largest parking lot in the world, with enough space to accomodate 20,000 vehicles, the promise of big savings at over 800 stores was easily enough to overwhelm them, with the @Official_WEM twitter account suggesting overflow parking early in the afternoon.

Im #insane thats the only reason I would be at west edmonton mall on #BoxingDay, tweeted @MissyHollyAnn.

@Claire Theobald

claire.theobald@sunmedia.ca

Source: http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/12/26/edmonton-shoppers-earn-their-boxing-day-deals

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Reviews of "Unbroken" and "American Sniper"

10 Questions with American Sniper Chris Kyle

NEW YORK (WABC) --

He was one of a generation often called America"s greatest and this is the story of how Louie Zamperini survived a crash and spent 47 days at sea, and spent 2.5 years in a Japanese prison camp and remained "Unbroken"

Is an epic in the grand tradition of World War II movies.

The book that inspired this brought tears to my eyes but the film didn"t move me quite as much though. I find it remarkable that Angelia Jolie, a movie star with just one film to her credit as a director, can make a movie of such depth, complexity, and scope.

"I wanted to know how he grew as a man and how he endured," Jolie said.

Jack O"Connell as "Louie" heads a fine cast, and the film benefits from having so few of the actors be well known to us and makes it all the more believable.

Never more so than with the inspired choice of Japanese rock star Miyavi to play the evil "Watanabe"

More than half a century separates this one from the conflict in Iraq, but "American Sniper" is an equally compelling war movie and it also tells a true story.

"I"m willing to meet my creator and answer for every shot I took," said Chris Kyle, in the movie.

Chris Kyle became one of the most famous sharp-shooters in American history and one of the best over four tours of duty that produced a best-selling book about his experiences.

Bradley Cooper gives one of his best performances as a man caught between his duty to his country and to his wife played by Sienna Miller.

(Copyright 2014 WABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Source: http://7online.com/entertainment/reviews-of-unbroken-and-american-sniper/451160/

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"Into the Woods," "Selma," "American Sniper," "Unbroken": Editors on This Week ...

American Sniper - Official Trailer 2 [HD]

Some high-profile Oscar contenders have Christmas releases this year, including director Rob Marshall"s musical Into the Woods;Ava DuVernay"shistorical drama,Selma;Clint Eastwood"s biographical film American Sniper; and Angelina Jolie"s Unbroken. Here, the editors of these movies describe their work. (Warning: Some spoilers follow.)

For Unbroken, editors Tim Squyres and William Goldenberg said they had to find a balance while telling the heroic true story of WWII vet and Olympian Louie Zamperini. That included balancing epic and quiet moments, and in the case of a tricky scene during which Zamperini is lost at sea on a raft for more than a month, conveying "tedium and boredom without being tedious and boring."

"There was a lot more stuff on the raft. You have to hit the action beats and suggest the stuff in between," says Squyres, who brought experience trimming a film about someone lost at sea he earned his second Oscar nomination in 2012 for Life of Pi.

Read more Oscars: "Boyhood," "Whiplash" Editors Reveal Their Secrets

Squyres added that the pace of the scene also had to fit into the overall structure of the film, which includes scenes of Zamperini with his family, buddies on the base and at various POW camps. "[The raft scene had to] give you time to get one feeling, or the transition to another feeling wouldn"t be meaningful."

The editors also had to calibrate scenes that take place at Japanese prison camps, which needed "enough brutality shown or implied so that you understand he"s overcoming it but not so much that the experience of watching the film becomes brutal," Squyres explains, adding, "We took some away; we played some off camera."

Goldenberg added that the editing was also about letting the audience experience the story from Zamperini"s point of view, which benefited from the performance of Jack O"Connell. "There was so much story depth [in the performance]," said Goldenberg, an Oscar winner for Argo. "He"s a super talented guy."

Wyatt Smith, who cut Rob Marshall"s adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods, explained that "the challenge of editing anything musical is it"s very unnatural to be singing. Rob tries to work with the actors to make it most natural. The hardest is entering the song, finding the moment. You have to pace it so it comes naturally. Also, the dialogue should never double up on what"s in the song."

Read more "Into the Woods": How Disney Tiptoed Around Johnny Depp"s Creepy, Sexualized Song

Into the Woods features various fairy-tale characters in interweaving storylines, something Smith said was a "blessing and a curse" when it came to the editing. "The first song is a 15-minute musical number," he said. "All of the storylines and characters come at you incredibly quickly, almost at an action pace.

"The movie naturally moves so quickly, and you reach what you would think is the end, happily ever after," he continued. "Then it gets very slow and very dark, so pacing was tricky. [If the change is too abrupt,] it could feel like you were watching a different movie and take you out of the film."

"We went to dark visually and with the performances," Smith said, adding that multiple departments contributed to the transition. "We reordered some scenes and added narrative, and musically there were some [new] arrangements. And visual effects did a transition shot."

Selma centers on Martin Luther King Jr. and the voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Ala.

"If you pick it apart, it"s a real human story within this historical drama," says editor Spencer Averick. "It"s a story about a man and his inner conflicts and his fight for human rights. It was important to balance personal, intimate filmmaking in this epic story."

To do this, the big "action" sequences maintain a lot of close-ups. "Specifically on the bridge scene, on b****y Sunday, getting inside the characters as they are running for their lives," Averick said.

See more Making "Into the Woods" With Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt

This sequence was filmed on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the police attacked demonstrators during the 1965 march, but Averick and DuVernay strayed from the script when editing to give it added emotion. "Originally, we had b****y Sunday, and then after [the scene was] finished, we showed people watching on their TVs at home," Averick explained. "It was good, but there was something missing. Ava and I are constantly rewriting in the editing room. We decided to see how we feel if we intercut the scenes sort of time jump around with people watching it and their reaction to each club and hit. Once we juxtaposed a few images together, it was evident quickly that this was the way to do it."

American Sniper opens with the subject of the film, Navy SEALChris Kyle whose skills as a sniper made him a hero by saving countless lives in Iraq at his post when he observes a woman and children walking, then notices the woman is concealing something, then sees her hand a grenade to a 10-year-old boy, presumably intended for use to attack nearby American troops.

His struggle to make a quick decision as to whether he should pull his trigger provides plenty of character development as well as tension in the film"s first minutes. "It"s built by the performance of the actors and the length of the cuts. The tension really picks up when you see the women hand the boy the grenade and then cuts back to a close-up of Kyle (Bradley Cooper) watching," said Oscar-winner Joel c*x (Unforgiven), who edited the film with Gary Roach, an Oscar nominee and fellow longtime Eastwood collaborator.

Added Roach: "Kyle"s checking with his superior people, asking if they see what going on. They say its up to him [whether to fire]. In the story of Chris Kyle, this is maybe going to be his first kill and he is looking at a 10-year-old boy and [presumably] his mother. And he is struggling, trying to balance his emotions with what he is trained to do."

Email: Carolyn.Giardina@THR.comTwitter: @CGinLA

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFHO_PXqBIloHae05C5FA6h0PP6tw&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52778693112217&ei=BvedVIipKePR8wGvgoHwDA&url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/woods-selma-american-sniper-unbroken-759438

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Openings | "American Sniper"; "The Imitation Game"

The Imitation Game - clip #3 - Alan Turing explains "Christopher"
The Virginian-Pilot December 26, 2014

AMERICAN SNIPER

Bradley Cooper stars as Chris Kyle, the famed Navy SEAL often called the most lethal sniper in Navy history. Clint Eastwood directs this tale of Kyles war exploits and the challenges of escaping the war once he returned home. R (132 mins.)

BIG EYES

Tim Burton takes us through this true story of Margaret Keane, the artist whose paintings of big-eyed women made her family rich and notable. The catch: Her husband took all the credit. PG-13 (105 mins.)

THE IMITATION GAME

Alan Turing was the genius who cracked the Nazis Enigma Code during World War II. The British mans life became more troubled than triumphant after the public learned he was gay. PG-13 (114 mins.)

UNBROKEN

Louis Zamperini has the life story of an epic movie: The American was an Olympic running champion who survived a plane crash into the Pacific during World War II, was rescued by Japanese soldiers and tortured in a POW camp. Angelina Jolie directs the film thats been teased on TV for what feels like months. PG-13 (137 mins.)

WILD

Reese Witherspoon shed the glamour she was known for a decade ago to play a woman trying to escape her troubled romances and drug habits by hiking 1,100 miles up the West Coast. R (115 mins.)

Pulse staff

Source: http://hamptonroads.com/2014/12/openings-american-sniper-imitation-game

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"Unbroken" Skips Over Louis Zamperini"s Post-War Struggles

Academy Conversations: Unbroken

The movie is based on the 2010 nonfiction book by Laura Hillenbrand about a U.S. Olympic track star who survives a plane crash during World War II only to be taken prisoner by the Japanese.

Copyright 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Now to a current movie - when a book sells as many copies as Lauren Hillenbrand"s "Unbroken" has sold, you had to think a film was coming. And the day has arrived. Here"s Kenneth Turan"s review.

KENNTH TURAN, BYLINE: The true story of Louie Zamperini"s life is filled with so much incident and drama. It seems that it couldn"t all have happened to one man. It did. But all the incidents haven"t made it into the film version of "Unbroken," and that creates a problem. The film, briskly directed by Angelina Jolie, begins with Zamperini"s h**l raiser childhood. As played by top young British actor Jack O"Connell, Zamperini channels his fury into distance runner and gets good enough to make the 1936 U.S. Olympic team. As he starts the journey to Berlin his brother gives him some advice he took to heart.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "UNBROKEN")

ALEX RUSSELL: (As Pete) Louie, a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory. Remember that.

TURAN: World War II derails Zamperini"s running dreams. As an Army Air Corps bombardier, he is shot down over the Pacific and endures a soul-destroying 47 days on a raft before a Japanese vessel picks him up and sends him to the first of a series of nightmare-ish prison camps. The black heart of that nightmare was the Japenese soldier known as the Bird, played by Japanese rockstar Miyavi, a man who made inflicting an endless series of beyond-sadistic punishments on Zamperini his life"s work.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "UNBROKEN")

MIYAVI: (As Mutsushiro) You are enemies of Japan. You will be treated accordingly. Look at me. Look me in the eye.

TURAN: In real life, Zamperini"s postwar story has a tremendous ending. He endures years of alcoholism and PTSD before a religious awakening, inspired by Billy Graham, changes his life. Yet, the film relegates this drama to a few brief seconds of text on screen. This decision wreaks havoc with the stories equilibrium making "Unbroken" into a drama about torture, not redemption. The result is a film we respect more than love, and that"s a wasted opportunity.

GREENE: That"s the voice of Kenneth Turan. He reviews movies for the Los Angeles Times and also for MORNING EDITION.

Copyright 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR"s prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR"s programming is the audio.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2014/12/25/373038424/-unbroken-skips-over-louis-zamperini-s-post-war-struggles

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Reviews For The Easily Distracted: The Imitation Game

The Imitation Game - NEW Official UK Trailer

Title:The Imitation Game

Could You Pass The Turing Test? I do have steel screws in my ankle, so I"m practically RoboCop.

Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half Leons from Blade Runner out of five.

Brief Plot Synopsis: Genius mathematician breaks enemy code, gets s**t on by government for his troubles.

Tagline: "Behind every code is an enigma."

Better Tagline: "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto."

Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: In the dark days of World War II (before America went over and won the war single-handedly), Allied supply convoys bound for England were routinely ravaged by n**i U-boats. Key to stopping this was the breaking of the German Enigma code. Enter Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch), leading a group of MI6-recruited code breakers including sole woman (and Turing"s eventual wife) Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley). Unfortunately for Turing, his accomplishments were later deemed secondary to his sexual orientation, since "indecency with a male" remained illegal in the UK until 1967.

"Critical" Analysis: The Imitation Game is a very good movie, that"s an average calculation, because it"s two-thirds adequate, one-third phenomenal.

The "adequate" portion consists of just about everything up to the breaking of the code by the team at Bletchley Park (there are also flashbacks to Turing"s childhood), most of which is standard biopic stuff. Turing and company -- including Matthew Goode as Hugh Alexander -- experience setbacks, false starts, and various personality conflicts, largely caused by Turing"s utter lack of interest in making friends. But apart from Cumberbatch"s performance and a few chuckles courtesy of Goode, what director Morten Tyldum gives us is perfectly competent, if not always stirring cinema.

This changes after Enigma is broken. For the first time, the group has to move to theory to application, realizing that even though they"ve solved the greatest cryptographic problem of all time, they"re unable to tell more than a handful of people, and can"t even use the information to save British troops as that would tip off the Germans that their transmissions were being decoded.

But the most powerful scenes come after the war, in the 1950s, when Turing is arrested (and ultimately convicted) for homosexual behavior. His treatment is appalling, as Clarke comes to the grim realization -- which Turing has known all along -- that the life of a "poofter" was one not worth acknowledging, even by the government he helped save from annihilation.

Much of the goings-on at Bletchley and in Hut 8 have been excised/modified to make the narrative more sinewy, but early hardships suffered by Turing as a schoolboy as well as the difficulties he encounters with not just British military leadership (in the person of Game of Thrones" Charles Dance) but his own co-workers help complete our portrait of the man, and Cumberbatch gives a performance that is, by turns, awkward, triumphant, and heartbreaking.

If there"s a real complaint here, it"s the way Tyldum insists on presenting the latter era investigation into Turing as a whodunit: i.e. was Turing a spy? Regardless of your knowledge of actual events, the diversion is unnecessary, and attempts to throw a dramatic curve ball where none is needed.

There are quite a few movies coming out this holiday season, and in my opinion The Imitation Game is the best of the bunch. Engaging, touching, and heavy with real-world consequences, it"s a h**l of a story.

Then again, I haven"t seen The Interview yet, so who knows?

Source: http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2014/12/the_imitation_game_review.php

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Google, NORAD Santa Tracker 2014: New York City, Boston, Charlotte arrival ...

How NORAD"s Santa Tracker tradition got started

If you"ve been tracking Santa tonight you know two things -- he"s over the United States, and you better get to sleep fast.

Children throughout the world have been following Santa Claus on the Google Santa Tracker and the Norad Santa Tracker 2014 today, and the latest radar reports have St. Nick and his sleigh getting closer to the United States.

NORAD tracked Santa on radar near Augusta, Maine at 10:04 p.m. and then on to Atlanta and further south to Birmingham sometime before midnight Christmas Eve.

You can follow Santa"s progress on the NORAD Santa Tracker 2014 here and the Google Santa Tracker here.

As of late Wednesday, Santa had delivered 5,215,694,793 presents to children in cities including London, England, Marseille, France and Kingston, Jamaica, according to the NORAD Santa Tracker 2014.

At 9:50 p.m. (CT) NORAD had a visual of Santa as he left Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

While Santa is on everyone"s radar tonight, the North American Aerospace Defense Command -- which has been tracking Santa"s Christmas Eve flight for 59 years -- estimates that Santa will arrive in Alabama at 11 p.m.

If you"d like to track Santa"s global mission click on the NORAD map below:

Source: http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/12/google_norad_santa_tracker_201.html

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