International Business News - Capsules http://www.ibtimes.com All articles are copyrighted by IBTimes.com 400 100 http://www.ibtimes.com/ http://www.ibtimes.com/images/top_logo_ibt2_3.gif Capsule descriptions of the eight measures appearing on ballots statewide in Arizona's Nov. 4 general election: PROPOSITION 100: This initiative would amend the Arizona Constitution to prohibit the state or local governments from enacting a new tax or fee on real estate sales. Supporters say a real estate transfer tax would weaken the economy, hurt home affordability by hiking home prices and constitute double taxation because of existing property taxes. Opponents say there already are restrictions on imposing new taxes and that the state must keep open its options because of its current budget troubles. Supporters include groups representing home builders and real estate agents. Opponents include the Arizona Education Association. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081013/descriptions-of-arizona-ballot-measures.htm Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:59:25 EDT Capsule reviews of films opening this week: "Pineapple Express"--The formula is pretty familiar by now in these Judd Apatow-produced comedies. A couple of buddies get into trouble, and as they try to bumble their way out of it, their friendship only grows stronger. There's even a word that's been coined for this pop-culture phenomenon: the "Bromance." "Pineapple Express" tries to breathe some fresh life into this comic genre by turning it into a serious action movie. But because it tries to be both, it doesn't completely work on either level. Seth Rogen and James Franco have great chemistry, though--not surprising, since they're both longtime Friends of Judd who co-starred on his TV series "Freaks and Geeks." Rogen also co-wrote the script with lifelong pal Evan Goldberg, with whom he wrote the script for "Superbad," which was inspired by their geeky adolescence. This time, Rogen plays a slightly more functional version of his "Knocked Up" slacker: His Dale Denton is a process server, but he's still dating a high-school girl and makes frequent trips to his pot dealer. That would be Franco's affable space cadet Saul Silver--a wildly different role for the actor, best known as the pretty-boy bad guy in the "Spider-Man" movies. Saul sells an inordinately strong strain of weed called Pineapple Express, which gets him and Dale into trouble when it tangles them up with a dirty cop (Rosie Perez) and a homicidal drug lord (Gary Cole). "Pineapple Express" is at its best when it's about these two guys getting to know each other by talking about absolutely nothing. But then it turns into a generic action picture, full of fist-fights and shootouts and explosions, in an obvious effort to be as broadly commercial as possible. R for pervasive language, drug use, sexual references and violence. 108 min. Two and a half stars out of four. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080805/capsule-reviews-of-pineapple-express-and-others.htm Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:21:20 EDT Capsule reviews of films opening this week: "American Teen"--Nanette Burstein's documentary doesn't tell you anything you didn't already know about high school. It can be a rough time, even if you're pretty and popular. Kids divide themselves into cliques. They can be mean to each other. Pressure can come from all sides--from parents, coaches, fellow students and mostly from within. But the intimate way in which Burstein tracks the lives of a group of seniors in small-town Indiana brings this familiar subject to life, and it should make viewers feel nostalgic, regardless of how long it's been since they walked those crowded, chaotic halls. Burstein follows several traditional types at Warsaw Community High School: a bossy rich girl who runs the school; a basketball star hoping for a college scholarship; a band geek who longs for a girlfriend; an artsy young woman who dreams of becoming a filmmaker; and a heartthrob who falls for a girl outside the popular crowd. If this sounds like a John Hughes movie you've seen a million times before--or all of them at once--you're right. The poster for "American Teen" even features the five young stars arranged in the same pose as actors from "The Breakfast Club," which is probably too cute for its own good. But they're all so engaging, it's hard not to get drawn into their daily dramas. And except for some obvious staging on Burstein's part, their ups and downs, doubts and dreams, all feel vividly real. PG-13 for some strong language, sexual material, some drinking and brief smoking, all involving teens. 101 min. Three stars out of four. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080724/capsule-reviews-of-step-brothers-and-other-films.htm Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:26:34 EDT Capsule reviews of films opening this week: "The Fall" _ This whacked-out fairy tale for grown-ups is as stunning in its beauty as it is in its lack of logic. Indian writer-director Tarsem Singh, who just goes by the name Tarsem, knows how to create some sumptuous visuals, as he did with his similarly gorgeous but pretentious 2000 thriller "The Cell" starring Jennifer Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio. He has quite an imagination, all right, as you would imagine from a commercial and music-video veteran. (Tarsem's best known work is still the clip for R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion," and that was back in 1991.) You just wonder where he's going with it. Too often the images, shot over several years in countries including Bali, Fiji, South Africa and Italy, seem to exist because they're cool-looking and weird, and for no other reason. The convoluted story, which Tarsem co-scripted with Dan Gilroy and Nico Soultanakis, follows the friendship that forms between an injured stuntman (Lee Pace) and a little girl with a broken collar bone (Romanian newcomer Catinca Untaru). Both are stuck in a hospital in 1915 Los Angeles. Every day, Untaru's cherubic Alexandria visits Pace's bedridden Roy and hears pieces of an increasingly wild tale, details of which he draws from his own life. Roy hopes that by charming her, he can talk her into stealing enough morphine so that he can kill himself. (We warned you this wasn't meant for kids.) Pace, the Golden Globe-nominated star of ABC's "Pushing Daisies," would seem to have the right charismatic presence for the job, but it's sometimes tough to tell under the elaborate costumes and fantasies his character has concocted. R for some violent images. 116 min. Two stars out of four. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080508/capsule-reviews-of-speed-racer-and-other-films-this-week.htm Thu, 08 May 2008 15:33:18 EDT