Kinky ‘Fifty Shades’ stokes fantasy, not reality, says author

LOS ANGELES | E.L. James, the British author and producer of the erotic “Fifty Shades of Grey” novels and film franchise, knows that her story about an attractive couple engaged in a kinky relationship is very much a fantasy.

In the “Fifty Shades” trilogy, Christian Grey is a young handsome billionaire entrepreneur with a penchant for bondage, discipline, dominance, submission and sadomasochism (BDSM) who introduces the beautiful but naive Anastasia “Ana” Steele to his world of whips and sex toys.

“It’s a wish fulfillment piece that you can escape into, you can become Ana, you can see where you can go to with this guy and change him to be a far better human being, and of course, that’s just a fantasy,” James, 53, told Reuters.

James’ trilogy, born out of fan fiction that she had written inspired by young adult vampire love story “Twilight,” has sold more than 150 million copies worldwide since its 2012 release. It became a pop culture phenomenon, making erotic literature mainstream, and spawned a film franchise for Universal Pictures.

The “Fifty Shades of Grey” film, starring Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, grossed $560 million worldwide in 2015. The sequel, “Fifty Shades Darker,” debuted in theaters on Friday.

After the first film ended with Ana and Christian driven apart because she couldn’t commit to his desires, “Darker” sees the two reconcile, but on her terms. James said Ana is now “empowered and strong” and that it is Christian who finds himself under her spell.

Ana and Christian’s relationship, in which he exhibits controlling and stalker-ish habits, fueled a domestic abuse debate after the books were released. When the first film came out, a grassroots movement urged people to donate to women’s shelters rather than see the film.

“What I find really annoying about these people is that women are entitled to their fantasies too, and it’s a far safer place to explore things in a book,” James said.

“This does not encourage domestic violence, it’s not about domestic violence, they’re completely missing the point – however it’s an important issue so I’m glad it’s out there,” she added.

The film franchise wraps up next year with the release of “Fifty Shades Freed” and James said she’s already written another book exploring a young adult love story – with no sex.

“If you can make people fall in love with your characters and care about them, then that’s a huge achievement,” she said.

source: interaksyon.com

Fans to get sneak peek at new ‘Hobbit’ film in London, NY, LA, Wellington

WELLINGTON | Hobbit fans will get a sneak peek at the second film of the trilogy — “The Desolation of Smaug” — after director Peter Jackson announced a global live presentation next month.

Cinemas in London, New York, Los Angeles and Wellington will be satellite-linked on November 4 for an event including a question and answer session with cast members, Jackson said on his Facebook page.

The time difference means it will be November 5 for Kiwi fans.

Jackson did not say who would be involved, but the official Hobbit website on Monday said cast members would include Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans and Andy Serkis.

Additional cinemas will be set up in select locations worldwide where fans can gather to watch the event live. It will also be streamed on the Internet.

Jackson, a New Zealander, said further details on locations and timings would be released in coming days on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is not due to be officially premiered until December 13.

The first film in the series, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, was released in December last year with the final chapter “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” scheduled to come out in July next year.

According to the Hobbit website, production of the the trilogy has so far cost US$561 million. “An Unexpected Journey” took in just over US$1 billion at the box office.

source: interaksyon.com

'Dark Knight Rises' Director Inflicts Pain Upon Batman

No pain, no gain. If that old saying can be taken literally, then Batman is about to gain a lot in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Indeed, all three of the films in the critically acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy hang their hats firmly on certain forms of anguish. For "Batman Begins," it's fear: the story of billionaire Bruce Wayne overcoming his childhood traumas to become the hero he was born to be. For "Dark Knight," it's chaos: the Joker strives "to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are," and Batman and the people of Gotham City are around to show him how wrong he is.

Fear, chaos ... what's next? "Rises," by all accounts, seems to center on pain. It's at least in part a reflection of the viciously violent villain Bane, but examine the rest of Gotham and you'll see other tortured souls, too — Bruce nursing his wounds from losing Rachel Dawes and demonizing Batman for the death of Harvey Dent, as just one example.

Speaking with MTV News at the "Dark Knight Rises" junket, director Christopher Nolan agreed that pain is a very present theme in his third and final Batman movie.

"Yeah, in a way," he answered when asked if pain was "the guiding theme" of the new Batman movie. "Or consequences. There's a lot about the consequences of actions [in 'The Dark Knight Rises']."

"There's a lot about being true to where we left things and where we left the characters at the end of 'The Dark Knight,' " he continued. "[We really tried] to push that forward, saying, 'OK, where would that really go if we carried that story on?"

The answer to Nolan's question, to hear it told by a certain pain-afflicted and pain-inflicting masked maniac, is very painful indeed. And call us masochists, but we can't wait to see just how badly Batman gets beaten before the legend truly ends.

source: mtv.com