Monday, February 2, 2009

PUSH

Two current "buzz" movies with the same title? Believe it!

Dakota Fanning, "Push"


Sci-fi thriller "Push" involves a group of young American ex-pats with telekinetic and clairvoyant abilities, hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency.

There are special people in this world that have been born with psychic powers. In 1945, government agencies set up for psychic warfare, trying to turn those people with abilities into soldiers. After the war, governments began to set up divisions with agents trained to hunt them down like animals, test and categorize them. There are a bunch of different types of psychic abilities: A watcher can see the future, A mover is telekinetic, Sniffers who can see the history of an object, Shifts can temporarily change the shape of things, Wipers can wipe your memory, and pushers can put thoughts in other peoples heads. The divisions are trying to develop a drug which would allow normal people to develop psychic abilities, but apparently every test so far has been fatal. Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a watcher, teams with a young man named Nick Grant (Chris Evans), to take on a clandestine agency in a race against time the will determine the future of civilization. The film also stars Camilla Belle and Djimon Hounsou.

"Push" opens theatrically this Friday, February 6th. Check out the official Push site for more information.




Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire


From left, Mariah Carey, director Lee Daniels, Mo'Nique and Paula Patton
at the Sundance Film Festival premiere of award-winning
"Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" (Matt Sayles/Associated Press)

"Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" (now that's a mouthful), won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival as is about an overweight, illiterate African-American teen in Harlem who is about to give birth to her second child when she is accepted into an alternative school.

Directed by Lee Daniels from an adapted script by Damien Paul, “Push” became only the third film in Sundance history to win the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Awards in the U.S. Dramatic Competition last month. Film stars newcomer Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz.

"Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" also earned a special jury prize for acting for comedian Mo'Nique, who portrayed the girl's mother.

'This is speaking for every minority that's in Harlem, that's in Detroit, that's in Watts, that's being abused, that can't read, that's obese and that we turn our back on'—Push director Lee Daniels

"This movie made us laugh, made us cry and basically blew our minds," writer/director Mike White, a member of the five-person jury that picked the movie, told the audience at the awards ceremony on Saturday night in Park City.

"This is so important to me because this is speaking for every minority that's in Harlem, that's in Detroit, that's in Watts, that's being abused, that can't read, that's obese and that we turn our back on," said the film's director, Lee Daniels, as he picked up the audience award.

"And this is for every gay little boy and girl that's being tortured. If I can do this ... y'all can do this."

Based on the 1996 first novel by the poet Sapphire, the film also stars Mariah Carey and Paula Patton alongside newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, who portrays pregnant 16-year-old Precious Jones.

Lionsgate has purchased North American distribution rights to "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire." Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry will support Lionsgate's distribution through their respective motion picture companies, Harpo Films and 34th Street Films.

Source: Variety.com, cbc.ca


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