Spirited Away

Spirited Away (Japanese: 千と千尋の神隠し Hepburn: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi?, "Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away") is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli.[2] The film tells the story of Chihiro Ogino, a sullen ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood, enters an alternate reality inhabited by spirits and monsters.[3] After her parents are transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba, Chihiro takes a job working in Yubaba's bathhouse to find a way to free herself and her parents and escape to the human world.
Miyazaki wrote the script after he decided the film would be based on his friend's ten-year-old daughter, who came to visit his house each summer. At the time, Miyazaki was developing two personal projects, but they were rejected. Production of Spirited Away began in 2000. During production, Miyazaki realized the film would be over three hours and decided to cut out several parts of the story for its July 27, 2001 release. Pixar director John Lasseter, a fan of Miyazaki, was approached by Walt Disney Pictures to supervise an English-language translation for the film's North American release. Lasseter hired Kirk Wise as director and Donald W. Ernst as producer of the adaptation. Screenwriters Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt wrote the English-language dialogue, which they wrote to match the characters' original Japanese-language lip movements.[4] The English-language adaptation was released on September 20, 2002.
When released, Spirited Away became the most successful film in Japanese history, grossing over $274 million worldwide. The film overtook Titanic (at the time the top grossing film worldwide) in the Japanese box office to become the highest-grossing film in Japanese history with a $229,607,878 total.[5] Acclaimed by international critics, the film is often considered one of the greatest animated films of all time[6] and it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 75th Academy Awards, the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival (tied with Bloody Sunday) and is among the top ten in the BFI list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14.

Plot

     Ten-year-old Chihiro Ogino and her parents are traveling to their new home when her father takes a wrong turn. Thinking that they have found an abandoned amusement park, her father insists on exploring and they cross a dry riverbed. While Chihiro's parents eat at an empty restaurant stall, Chihiro finds an exquisite bathhouse. She meets a young boy, Haku, who warns her to return across the river before sunset. However, Chihiro discovers too late that her parents turned into pigs and she is unable to cross the flooded river.
After finding Chihiro, Haku has her ask for a job from the bathhouse's boiler-man, Kamaji, a spider yōkai commanding the susuwatari. Kamaji and the worker Lin send Chihiro to the witch Yubaba, who runs the bathhouse. Yubaba gives Chihiro a job but renames her Sen (千?). While visiting her parents' pigpen, Sen finds a goodbye card addressed to Chihiro and realizes that she has already forgotten her name. Haku warns her that Yubaba controls people by taking their names and that if she forgets hers like he has forgotten his, Chihiro cannot leave the spirit world. While working, Sen invites a silent masked creature named No-Face inside, believing him to be a customer. A stink spirit arrives and is Sen's first customer. She discovers he is the spirit of a polluted river. In gratitude for cleaning him, he gives Sen a magic emetic dumpling. No-Face tempts a worker with gold, then swallows him. He demands food and begins tipping extensively.
Sen discovers paper shikigami attacking a dragon and recognizes it as Haku transformed. When Haku crashes into Yubaba's penthouse, Sen follows him upstairs. She reaches Haku, and a shikigami stowed away on her back transforms into Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister. She transforms Yubaba's baby son Boh into a mouse, creates a decoy baby and turns Yubaba's bird creature into a tiny bird. Zeniba tells Sen that Haku has stolen a magic gold seal from her, and warns Sen that it carries a deadly curse. After Haku dives to the boiler room with Sen and Boh on his back, she feeds him part of the dumpling, causing him to vomit both the seal and a black slug, which Sen crushes under her foot.
Firming her resolve to return the seal and apologize for Haku, Sen confronts No-Face, who is now massive, and feeds him the rest of the dumpling. While vomiting, No-Face chases Sen out of the bathhouse before returning to his normal size. Sen, No-Face and Boh travel to Zeniba. Enraged at the damage caused by No-Face, Yubaba blames Sen for inviting him in and orders that her parents be slaughtered. After Haku reveals that Boh is missing, Yubaba promises to free Sen and her parents in exchange for retrieving Boh.
Sen, No-Face and Boh arrive at Zeniba's house. Zeniba reveals that Sen's love for Haku broke his curse, and Yubaba had used the black slug to control Haku. Haku appears in his dragon form and flies both Sen and Boh back to the bathhouse. On the way back, Sen recalls a memory from her youth in which she had fallen into the Kohaku River but was washed safely ashore. After correctly guessing that Haku is the spirit of the Kohaku River (and thus revealing his real name), Haku is completely freed from Yubaba's control. When they arrive at the bathhouse, Yubaba makes a deal with Sen that in order to break the curse on her parents, Sen must recognize them from among a group of pigs. After Sen correctly states that none of the pigs is either of her parents, Sen is given back her real name Chihiro. Haku takes Chihiro to the now dry riverbed and vows to meet her again. Chihiro crosses the river and reunites with her restored parents, who do not remember what happened. They walk back to their car and drive off.

Saw (Film)

Saw is a 2004 American[note 1] independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, Michael Emerson, Ken Leung, Whannell and Tobin Bell. It is the debut of Wan and Whannell and the first installment of the seven-part Saw film series.
The film's story revolves around Adam (Whannell) and Lawrence (Elwes), two men who are chained in a dilapidated subterranean bathroom and are each given instructions via a microcassette recorder on how to escape. Adam is told he must escape the bathroom, while Lawrence is told to kill Adam before a certain time, or Lawrence's family will die. Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to find the victims' location and apprehend the mastermind behind this "game" and several other similar incidents.
The screenplay was written in 2001, but after failed attempts to get the script produced in Wan and Whannell's home country, Australia, they were urged to travel to Los Angeles. In order to help attract producers they shot a low-budget short film from a scene out of the script. This proved successful in 2003 as producers from Evolution Entertainment were immediately attached and also formed a horror genre production label Twisted Pictures. The film was given a small budget and shot on a short schedule of 18 days.
Saw was first screened on January 19, 2004. Lionsgate picked up the rights and released the film in the United States and Canada on October 29, 2004. Critical responses were generally mixed and divided. Compared to its low budget, Saw performed very well at the box office, grossing more than $103 million worldwide and becoming, at the time, one of the most profitable horror films since 1996's Scream. The success of the film prompted a green-light of a sequel soon after Saw's opening weekend, which was released the following October.[4]


Plot
     Adam (Leigh Whannell), a photographer, awakens in a full bathtub in a disused bathroom along with Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes), an oncologist, who turns on the lights. Both men are chained at the ankle to pipes at opposite ends of the room. Lying between them is a corpse in a small pool of blood holding a revolver and a microcassette recorder. Adam and Lawrence discover tapes in their pockets, and Adam manages to take the tape recorder. Adam finds out that he must escape the bathroom, while Lawrence must kill Adam before six o'clock, or his wife Allison and daughter Diana will be killed, and he will be "left to rot." They also learn that the corpse was another victim who shot himself before he could succumb to a deadly poison in his blood. Using clues, Adam finds a bag in the toilet, containing two hacksaws, though neither is able to cut through the chains. Lawrence realizes that the saws are not meant for their chains, but for their feet, and tells Adam that they have been captured by the Jigsaw Killer.


Instead of using a dummy, Tobin Bell lay on the floor for the entire time of shooting and only got up while Wan was shooting Elwes and Whannell in the room.[5]
Flashbacks reveal that while Lawrence was talking with students about a patient named John (Tobin Bell), who suffers from an inoperable frontal lobe tumor, an orderly named Zep Hindle (Michael Emerson) interrupts, referring to the patient as a person with a name and a personality. Dr. Gordon was then approached by Detectives David Tapp (Danny Glover) and Steven Sing (Ken Leung) about his penlight being found at the scene of a Jigsaw "game." He viewed the testimony of Amanda (Shawnee Smith), a heroin addict and the only known survivor of Jigsaw's games, who believes that Jigsaw helped her. Other Jigsaw victims include Paul (Mike Butters), who was trapped in a cage filled with razor wire, and Mark (Paul Gutrecht), who had to obtain an antidote for the poison in his body from a safe, the combination scrambled on the room's walls, with only a candle for light while himself being covered in a flammable substance and having to walk over broken glass.
Meanwhile, Lawrence's wife and daughter, Alison and Diana (Monica Potter and Makenzie Vega), are being held captive in their home by a man who is also watching Adam and Lawrence through a camera behind the bathroom's mirror. The house is simultaneously being watched by Tapp, who was discharged from the force and is now stalking Lawrence. He and Sing had previously found Jigsaw's lair using Amanda's tape and saved Jeff (Ned Bellamy) from a drill trap; however, Jigsaw fled after slashing Tapp's throat, and Sing was killed by a shotgun booby trap while pursuing him. In the bathroom, Lawrence finds a cellphone that can only receive calls. He receives a call from Alison, who is being held at gunpoint, warning him to not trust Adam. Adam later admits that he had been paid by an individual to take photos of Lawrence, whom Lawrence later realizes that individual to be Tapp. Lawrence later claims that Tapp, after the death of his partner, had spent a considerable time harassing him, believing that Lawrence was the Jigsaw Killer.
They also find a photo of Zep in Lawrence's house, revealing that he is holding the Gordons captive. Unfortunately, the clock hits six as they realize this.
Zep moves to kill Diana and Alison, but Alison manages to overpower him. However, as Alison speaks to Lawrence on the phone, Zep attacks her and the gunshots from the struggle get Tapp's attention. He arrives in time to save Alison and Diana, but Zep escapes and Tapp follows, eventually pursuing him into the sewers, where Tapp is shot dead after a brief struggle. Lawrence, who only hears gunshots and screaming, is shocked by electricity and loses reach of the phone. Deeply angered at Zep and in desperation to save his family, he saws off his foot and shoots Adam with the corpse's revolver. Zep enters the bathroom intent on killing Lawrence, only to be tackled down and beaten to death by Adam with a toilet tank cover.
After Lawrence crawls from the bathroom with the promise of help, Adam searches Zep's body for a key and finds another recorder, which reveals that Zep was also a Jigsaw victim; he was forced to hold the Gordons captive to obtain an antidote for the slow-acting poison in his body. As the tape ends, the corpse rises to its feet and reveals itself as John, Lawrence's lobe tumor patient, and the true Jigsaw Killer. John informs Adam that the key to his shackle is in the bathtub, but when Adam woke up earlier, he pulled the stopper, which resulted in the key being drained along with the water. Adam tries to shoot him with Zep's gun, but John delivers an electric shock and he loses reach of the gun. John then turns off the lights and seals the bathroom door, leaving a screaming Adam to die.
source:Wikipedia

71: Into the Fire plot

71: Into the Fire is a 2010 South Korean war film written by Lee Man-Hee and directed by Lee Jae-han. The film was made in commemoration of those who fought during the Korean War, to raise awareness of the existence and importance of the student-soldiers during that period.

Plot

     The film is based on a true story of a group of 71 undertrained and undergunned student-soldiers of South Korea during the Korean War, who were mostly killed on August 11, 1950, during the Battle of P'ohang-dong. For 11 hours, they defended P'ohang-dong girls' middle school, a strategic point for safeguarding the Nakdong River, from an attack by overwhelming North Korean forces. These 71 teenagers, most of whom had never shot a gun before, managed to hold out against the advancing North Korean army for 11 hours. Their heroic defense of the area was actually a turning point in the Korean War. 71: Into the Fire tells the story of these student-soldiers over the course of that fateful day.
Oh Jang-beom is forced into becoming the leader of the student-soldier unit, simply because he is one of only three of the students who has combat experience (his combat experience was ammunition running between stations - not actual fighting). The rest of the student-soldiers have not even fired a weapon - that's how little training these young men had. This lack of experience and training makes the story even more amazing and inspiring.
100,000 South Korean students volunteered to fight in the war. This film was made as a commemoration of their sacrifices and was released during the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians

Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a pentalogy of adventure and fiction books written by Rick Riordan. The Lightning Thief is about a twelve-year-old dyslexic boy, Percy Jackson. Once when after returning home from his boarding school, Percy and his mother Sally Jackson, decide to go to the beach in Montauk. After a series of tragedies at Montauk beach, including loss of his mother, Percy finds out that he is a demigod, and son of Posiedon, the God of Sea. He also discovers that he is accused of stealing the weapon of God Zeus, the lightning bolt. Now, to clear his name off this thievery, and to save the world of World-War-III, he must find the real thief and return the lightning bolt to Zeus. Thus Percy Jackson, along with two companions, Grover Underwood, a satyr and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, start on a journey to the Underworld and the God of death, Hades.
More than 20 million copies of the books have been sold in more than 35 countries.[1]
As of October 28, 2011, the series has been on the New York Times best seller list for children's book series for 223 weeks.[2] The first book was adapted into a film titled Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2010, which was commercially successful, but received mixed reviews. An adaptation of The Sea of Monsters, titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, is due to be released in 



Synopsis
     The Lightning Thief is the first book in the series. It was released on June 28, 2005.
A 12 year old demigod named Percy Jackson lives in New York with his mother, Sally Jackson. During a field trip to a museum, Percy is attacked by a "Fury" disguised as his Pre-Algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds, and he vaporises her with a sword given to him by Mr. Brunner, his Latin teacher. After Mrs. Dodds is killed, no one in his school remembers knowing her. The rest of the school year passes with strange weather. When Percy gets frustrated from studying for his Latin exam (Percy, as a demigod, has both ADHD and dyslexia), he goes to Mr. Brunner for help, and overhears a conversation between Mr. Brunner and his best friend, Grover. The two are discussing Percy's safety at the school, and when Percy accidentally drops his book and retreats into an empty classroom, he notices that the shadow of the creature searching for him is much larger than either his teacher or his friend. At the end of the school year, Percy attempts to leave for his home when Grover insists on seeing him to his destination. During the bus ride, the bus breaks down, and as the passengers get off the bus while the driver attempts to fix it, Percy notices three old ladies across the highway that cut a strand of electric blue yarn. The duo board the bus once more, and after Grover starts acting weird from witnessing the cutting of the string, Percy ditches him at the bus station and takes a taxi up to his mother's apartment. His mother, Sally, reveals that the two of them are going to spend time at a cabin in Montauk. The two leave for the cabin, and that night Percy has a strange dream of a horse and an eagle attempting to kill each other while a dark voice from underneath him urges them on. Percy is awoken by the arrival of Grover, who reveals himself to be a satyr (half goat, half man), and a hurricane. Percy tells Grover and his mother about Mrs. Dodds while his mom races them to Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for demigods like Percy. While heading to the camp, the storm continues to rampage, and they are attacked by the Minotaur, also known as "Pasiphae's son." While the Minotaur is, at first, unable to catch up to the trio, a blast of lightning knocks the car they are travelling off the road, knocking out Grover in the process. Percy's mother and Percy make it out of the car and start carrying Grover to the boarder of Camp Half-Blood as the Minotaur destroys the car. Eventually they reach the boarder, but Sally is unable to cross and is taken by the Minotaur. She turns into a shimmer of gold and is believed to be dead. Fueled by his anger, Percy manages to break one of the Minotaur's horns off and kill the beast with it just before passing out from exhaustion. When he wakes, he finds himself at Camp Half-Blood. He sees his former Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, who turns out to be Chiron (a centaur), along with Annabeth Chase (Daughter of Athena). Percy is soon claimed by his Olympian parent, Poseidon (God of the Sea). Later on, he is accused of stealing Zeus' master lighting bolt. Although Percy insists that he didn't do it, Zeus (King Of The Gods and Lord of the Sky) doesn't believe him. If Percy doesn't prove Zeus wrong, there will be a massive war between the gods. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover are given a quest to retrieve Zeus' stolen lightning bolt as Zeus believes Percy stole it. After they get the quest, the trio initially believes Hades (God Of The Underworld) to be the thief, and they travel across the United States to Los Angeles, the entrance to the Underworld, while facing numerous mythological monsters, including Medusa, Echidna, and the Furies. The trio come face to face with Hades, who accidentally reveals that his Helm of Darkness has also been stolen. The three then escape the Underworld, and Percy fights Ares (God Of War) and retrieves the stolen items. In the end, they learn the real thief was Luke Castellan (Son of Hermes), a camper who'd befriended Percy when he first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. Luke stole the bolt to allow Kronos (the king of the Titans, the Titan Lord, or the Lord of Time) the chance to rise again.
The book was adapted into a film by Chris Columbus and 20th Century Fox, under the title Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief on February 12, 2010.
source: Wikipedia

The Walking Dead (TV Series)

     The Walking Dead is an American horror/drama television series developed by Frank Darabont. It is based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The series stars Andrew Lincoln as sheriff's deputy[1] Rick Grimes, who awakens from a coma to find the world dominated by flesh-eating "walkers", resembling zombies. He sets out to find his family and encounters many other survivors along the way. The eponymous title of the series refers to the survivors, and not the zombies.[2]
The Walking Dead premiered on October 31, 2010, on the cable television channel AMC in the United States.[3] It premiered internationally during the first week of November 2010 on Fox International Channels.[4] Based on its reception, AMC renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes, which premiered on October 16, 2011.[5][6] Two episodes into the second season, AMC announced that the show would return for a third season, which began airing on October 14, 2012.[7] On December 21, 2012, AMC renewed The Walking Dead for a fourth season.[8]
The series has been well received[9][10] and has received many award nominations, including a Writers Guild of America Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Television Series Drama.[11][12] The series has also attained strong Nielsen ratings, beating various records for a cable series, including receiving 12.3 million viewers for its mid-season three premiere to become the most-watched basic cable drama telecast in history.[13]

Series overview
     Based on the comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead tells the story of a small group of survivors living in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.[14] Most of the story takes place in the Atlanta metropolitan area and then the surrounding countryside of northern Georgia, as the survivors search for a safe haven away from the shuffling hordes of predatory "walkers" or "biters" (as the zombies are referred to in the show), who devour any living thing they catch, and whose bite is infectious to humans. The plot is focused primarily on the dilemmas the group faces as they struggle to balance their humanity with their survival against the zombie horde, and later, how they cope with members being killed and deal with other human survivors they encounter, many of whom are dangerous and predatory themselves.
The group is led by Rick Grimes, who was a sheriff's deputy[1] before the zombie outbreak. At every turn they are faced with the horror of the walking zombies, the changing dynamic of their group, and hostility from the scattered remains of a struggling human populace who are focused on their own survival now that the structures of society have collapsed.


Season 1 (2010)

Main article: The Walking Dead (season 1)

The series begins with sheriff's deputy[1] Rick Grimes waking up from a coma in an abandoned and badly damaged hospital. Leaving the hospital, Rick discovers a post-apocalyptic world overrun with zombies (or "walkers", as they are often referred to in-show). Rick also discovers his wife and son are missing, and encounters two survivors — Morgan and his son Duane — who explain the situation to him. Acting on a rumor that the two had heard, he arms himself and begins a perilous journey to Atlanta, Georgia, where the CDC is said to have set up a quarantined safe-zone in the city. Upon reaching Atlanta, he soon discovers the city has instead been overrun by the walkers.

A few miles outside the city, Rick's wife Lori and son Carl have been hiding from the walkers with Shane Walsh, Rick's partner and best friend, who has fallen in love with Lori. They have established a camp with a small group of fellow survivors. After being rescued from Atlanta by members of the group and reunited with Lori and Carl, Rick assumes command with Shane. A band of walkers eventually attacks the camp and kills several people. The remainder flee to seek aid from the CDC.

In the CDC, all but one staff member, Dr. Edwin Jenner, have either fled or committed suicide. Dr. Jenner explains that his research into the infection has not yielded a cure, and he has not been in contact with anyone for a long while. Lack of fuel for the emergency generators soon initiates the building's safety protocols, which will trigger an explosion designed to destroy the facility and prevent the escape of deadly diseases. Jenner and Jacqui, a member of Rick's group, decide to stay and end their struggle. Dr. Jenner whispers something into Rick's ear, and the group escapes just as the CDC is incinerated in the explosion.

Season 2 (2011–12)

Main article: The Walking Dead (season 2)

The second season begins with Rick and his group of survivors' escaping the CDC. They decide that Fort Benning will be their next destination. Along the way, they encounter a traffic jam of abandoned vehicles on Interstate 85. The group loots several vehicles but is forced to hide under them as a large herd of walkers approaches. A walker chases Carol's daughter, Sophia, out from her hiding spot and, with another walker, pursues her into the woods. Rick finds her but loses her again after drawing off the walkers. The remaining group deals with interpersonal relationships while various searches for Sophia are conducted. A hunter named Otis accidentally shoots Carl during the initial search. To get help for Carl, Otis leads Rick and Shane to a large, isolated farm owned by a veterinarian named Hershel Greene, then helps Shane look for medical supplies; after getting them, Shane hurts his leg and sacrifices Otis to the walkers so he can get away. The survivors then move to the farm while Carl recovers, trying to coexist with Hershel's family, but dangerous secrets and disagreements over leadership cause tensions to rise. Lori is revealed to be pregnant (she is not sure whether Rick or Shane is the father), and Glenn builds a romantic relationship with Maggie, Hershel's elder daughter. Glenn also discovers that the barn is full of walkers, some of whom are Hershel's family members. After Shane releases the walkers to be exterminated, Sophia appears as one of them and Rick reluctantly shoots her.

Hershel disappears to grieve for his family and is found by Rick and Glenn drinking at a local tavern, where they meet two other survivors. The situation rapidly turns sour and Rick kills the two men in a gunfight. The dead men's group quickly finds and opens fire on Rick, Hershel, and Glenn at the bar. The noise attracts a large herd of walkers, and one of the attackers, Randall, is injured and left behind. Rick and the others take him back to the farm, where they realize Randall is likely to reveal the farm's location to his former group. As Rick's group deliberates what to do with Randall, a walker fatally wounds Dale, forcing Daryl to euthanize him. The group later conducts a search for Randall, whom Shane had secretly released and murdered in the woods. Daryl and Glenn find him — as a walker — and kill him. Daryl concludes that a broken neck caused Randall's death and subsequent reanimation, rather than a walker's bite or scratch. Meanwhile, Shane and Rick confront each other — the former having planned the fake search so he could murder Rick. Rick gets the upper hand and stabs Shane in the torso, killing him. Carl arrives just in time to see Shane revive as a walker, and shoots him down.

The gunshot attracts a large herd of other walkers, who quickly overrun the property. In the ensuing battle and escape, Jimmy and Patricia are devoured, and Andrea is left behind. Andrea survives on her own, and is later rescued by a hooded woman accompanied by chained, armless walkers. The remaining survivors regroup but are forced to make camp due to lack of gasoline. After hearing of Randall's fate, Rick finally reveals what Jenner whispered to him at the CDC: every survivor is infected with the walker virus. As the group questions Rick's leadership later that night, a large prison looms in a pan out of the final scene.

Season 3 (2012–13)

Main article: The Walking Dead (season 3)

The third season begins several months after the group escaped the farm: Lori is in the final days of her pregnancy, and they stumble upon an overrun prison which they begin converting into their new home. While searching the place for supplies, Hershel is bitten by a walker and Rick is forced to amputate his leg. They soon meet a new group of survivors, who are prison inmates. In exchange for food, Rick's group clears out a different cellblock for the inmates (most of whom end up killed) to reside away from Rick's group. A walker breakout then splits up the group. T-Dog is bitten in the struggle and sacrifices himself to save Carol. Lori goes into labor and insists that Maggie perform an emergency Caesarean section to save the baby. The operation kills Lori, and Carl is forced to shoot her to prevent reanimation. After several days of mourning, Carl and Rick name the baby Judith.

Meanwhile, Michonne and Andrea are taken to the town of Woodbury, a safe haven from the walkers. They meet the Governor, the town's leader, and learn that Merle Dixon - Daryl's older brother - has taken refuge there as well. Michonne is immediately suspicious of the Governor and the settlement and decides to leave, but Andrea refuses to go with her. Merle is ordered to hunt down Michonne, but only manages to wound her; he subsequently captures Maggie and Glenn while they are out scavenging. Michonne, who witnessed their abduction, eventually arrives at the prison, then guides Rick, Daryl, and Oscar (one of the inmates) back to Woodbury on a rescue mission. The team saves the couple, but Oscar is killed and Daryl is captured. Michonne stays briefly and attempts to slay the Governor, only to kill his undead daughter Penny (whom the Governor had kept chained in a back room of his apartment) and stab him in the eye with a piece of broken glass during a scuffle. In the aftermath, the Governor calls an assembly and publicly accuses Merle of treason, reuniting him with Daryl in front of the angry mob. Rick and Maggie come back and rescue them, but after regrouping outside of town Daryl decides to leave with Merle.

Back at the prison, Carl meets another band of survivors — led by Tyreese — and allows them to take shelter, but being cautious he locks them in a section of the prison. Rick gets back to the prison and talks to Tyreese's group, but while they are speaking Rick believes he sees his dead wife Lori, causing his sanity to crack in front of everyone; Tyreese's group is expelled soon after. The Governor and a small team attacks the prison the next day, killing Axel and breaching the outer fence before retreating. Merle and Daryl, having decided to rejoin the group, return and help. Andrea leaves Woodbury for the prison to attempt a peace deal, only to learn of the Governor's evil nature from Rick and the others; she sleeps with the Governor that night, but hesitates when having a chance to kill him. Tyreese's group has also arrived in town and have volunteered to help the Governor fight Rick.

Season 4 (2013–14)

It was announced on December 21, 2012 that The Walking Dead has been renewed for a fourth season.[8] Scott Gimple will replace Glen Mazzara as the series' showrunner for the season.[15] The season will premiere in October 2013 and consist of 16 episodes.[16]

source: Wikipedia

Taylor Lautner Biography

Synopsis
     Taylor Lautner was born on February 11, 1992, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He studied karate from a young age and won several championships. Lautner made his film debut in Robert Rodriguez's The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. In 2008, he first played Jacob Black in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight film series. Lautner was voted one of People magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" in 2009.

Early Life
    Taylor Daniel Lautner was born on February 11, 1992, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has one sibling: a sister named Makena. Lautner is best known as an actor in the role of Jacob Black in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight movie series.

Lautner began studying karate at the age of six, and began winning tournaments within a year. After, Lautner began training with seven-time world karate champion Mike Chat. In 2004, at the age of 12, Taylor represented the United States in the 12 years and under division in the World Karate Association. Lautner went on to win the Junior World Forms and Weapons championship during the competition, as well as three gold medals. In 2003, Taylor Lautner was ranked No. 1 in the world for NASKA's Black Belt Open Forms, Musical Weapons, Traditional Weapons and Traditional Forms. By the age of 12, Lautner had won three Junior World Championships.

Foray into Show Business
     Taylor Lautner got his show business start at the age of seven, when he auditioned for a part in a Burger King advertisement in Los Angeles, which he did not get. He would continue to audition, unsuccessfully, for other roles over the next three years. At the age of 10, Taylor and his family relocated to Los Angeles in order to pursue his acting career. Since then, he has landed roles on television shows My Wife and Kids and The Bernie Mac Show in 2001, and Summerland and The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour in 2004.

In addition to acting, Lautner also did voiceover work during this time. He landed a recurring voice role as Youngblood on the cartoon Danny Phantom and recorded two episodes on What's New, Scooby-Doo? and He's a Bully, Charlie Brown. He is also a series regular on Which Way Is Up? and as the voice of Silas on Silas and Britany.

Commercial Breakthrough
     Lautner got his big break when he landed the role of Shark Boy in The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D. The film was a full-length feature directed by the famous Robert Rodriguez. Lautner spent nearly three months on location for the film in Austin, Texas. Months after wrapping his first film, Lautner auditioned and won the part of Eliot, the son in Steve Martin's family in Cheaper by the Dozen 2. The film was released in 2005. In 2008, Lautner landed the role of Jacob Black, a Native-American character in the teen hit Twilight, based on the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer. Also in 2008, Taylor played the son of Christian Slater's character in the short-lived television series My Own Worst Enemy. The show was canceled after only nine episodes.

Twilight Saga
     After the success of 2008's Twilight, Lautner enjoyed near instant celebrity status along with his co-stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Stewart plays Bella in the films who finds herself in a love triangle with Jacob Black (Lautner), a werewolf, and Edward Cullen (Pattinson), a vampire. Many fans lobbied their support behind Lautner's character, calling themselves "Team Jacob." Other fans formed "Team Edward."

This epic story of love and conflict between humans, vampires and werewolves spanned five hugely successful films. In total, the Twilight movies made more than $3 billion worldwide, according to the Box Office Mojo website. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 was released in 2012, marking the end of this popular series.

During his Twilight years, Lautner tried to branch out into other roles. He appeared in the 2010 ensemble comedy Valentine's Day, which stars Jamie Foxx, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Gardner. The following year, Lautner starred in the action drama Abduction. Unfortunately, this film didn't make much of an impression on critics or movie-goers.

More recently, Lautner began working on the 2013 Adam Sandler comedy Grown Ups 2.

Personal life
     Lautner has been romantically linked to such other celebrities as Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift. In his free time, he has been known to make home movies with his friend and Shark Boy co-star, Taylor Dooley. Lautner was voted one of People magazine's "100 Most Beautiful People" in 2009.

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source: http://www.biography.com/people/taylor-lautner-504528?page=1

Logan Lerman Biography

Early life

     Logan Wade Lerman (born January 19, 1992) is an American teen actor. He began appearing in U.S. television commercials the mid 1990s, moving to work in feature films and series television in the early 2000s. He is best known for his roles in the TV series Jack & Bobby (2004-2005) and the feature films The Butterfly Effect (2004) and Hoot (2006), Lerman gained further recognition in large part due to his role in the 2007 western 3:10 to Yuma, his recent work in the 2009 films Gamer and My One and Only. His next film, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, will be released in February 2010.

Acting Career

     Lerman was born in Beverly Hills, California. His family is involved in orthotics and prosthetics. Lerman decided that he wanted to be an actor at the age of five. He subsequently appeared in two commercials, and made his film debut in 2000′s The Patriot, playing William Martin, one of the children of Mel Gibson’s character. The same year, he appeared in What Women Want, a hit comedy also starring Gibson. Lerman’s next feature film roles were in 2001′s Riding in Cars with Boys, playing the younger version of Adam Garcia’s character. In 2004, Lerman played a younger version of Ashton Kutcher’s protagonist in the thriller The Butterfly Effect.

Lerman’s role in the 2003 made-for-television film, A Painted House, won him a Young Artist Award for “BestPerformance by a Leading Young Actor” in a television production. In 2004, he was cast in the television series, Jack & Bobby, playing the title role of Robert “Bobby” McCallister, who was destined in his future life to become President of the United States, and younger brother of Jack, who predeceases him. The show ran on The WB TelevisionNetwork during the 2004–2005 season, and was subsequently canceled, though Lerman won another Young Artist Award for his performance.

Continuing his feature film work, Lerman appeared in Hoot, in which he played the lead role of Roy Eberhardt. The film opened on May 5, 2006 and netted him a third Young Artist Award win. This time for Best Performance in a Feature Film -Leading Young Actor (2007).

In 2007, Lerman appeared in The Number 23; in which he plays Robin Sparrow, the son of Jim Carrey’s character, Walter Sparrow. That year, he also appeared in the critically-acclaimed western 3:10 to Yuma; where he plays William Evans, son of Dan Evans, played by Christian Bale. For his work in 3:10 to Yuma, Lerman was again nominated for the Young Artist Award – Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor (2008). It was the second consecutive year he received a nomination in that category, although this time he did not win.

In 2008, he played the role of “The Kid” in Meet Bill (Lerman’s character is never referred to by name).

In the summer of 2009, Lerman appeared in the science-fiction film Gamer. He plays Simon, a teenage gamer who controls one of the characters in a video game played with live human subjects. The film’s North American release came on September 4, 2009. He also has a leading role in the Renee Zellweger comedy feature My One and Only, playing a young George Hamilton. Lerman portrays an earnest aspiring writer, who after his parents abruptly split, accompanies his mother and brother on a cross-country trip of misadventures, eventually landing in Hollywood.

Lerman is set to portray the character of Percy Jackson in the upcoming film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief based on the book by Rick Riordan.

Personal


Lerman became good friends with fellow actor Dean Collins, who played his best friend on Jack & Bobby, and they remained close after the series’ cancellation; working together again on Hoot, where Collins had a supporting role.

In their spare time, the two collaborate on comedic short films. As well as acting, they write, direct, and shoot the videos; often enlisting the help of family and friends. The shorts are then uploaded to YouTube under the joint account name of “monkeynuts1069″.

In 2006 Collins and Lerman have also formed a band, along with musician Daniel Pashman. Collins sings lead vocals, Lerman plays keyboard, and Pashman plays guitar and drums. At one point, the band had to change its name to Puzzles. Now it is back to its original name, Indigo.

source: http://logan-lerman.com/information/bio