Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith splitting up?

According to InTouch Weekly, their online publication is reporting that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are splitting up.

There has not been any comment from their reps at this time.

The celebrity couple were recently featured in “Architectural Digest” for the September issue.

UPDATE: The Smith’s have released the following statement:

“Although we are reluctant to respond to these types of press reports, the rumors circulating about our relationship are completely false. We are still together, and our marriage is intact.”

Willow Smith’s musical debut with “Whip My Hair”

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have seen their son Jaden’s acting career blossom but this time their 9-year-old daughter is going to get some of that spotlight as she debuts with song “Whip My Hair”. Pretty cool track! Here is the music video!

The Smith’s promote “The Karate Kid” in Berlin

U.S. actor and producer Will Smith poses for photographers with his wife Jada Pinkett Smith (L) and their children Jaden (R) and Willow as they arrive for the premiere of The Karate Kid in Berlin, July 19, 2010. The movie opens in German cinemas on July 22. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz (GERMANY – Tags: ENTERTAINMENT). Content © 2010 Reuters All rights reserved.

The Smith family at the UK premiere of “The Karate Kid” in London

Jayden Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith and Willow Smith attend the UK gala premiere of The Karate Kid held at The Odeon Leicester Square on July 15, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Getty Images). Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Bad Boys (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

If you were a big fan of “Bad Boys”, then the upgrade to Blu-ray is more than worth it with better PQ and also a wonderful lossless soundtrack.  Definitely much better than its DVD counterpart.

Images courtesy of © 1995 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Bad Boys

DURATION: 119 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English, French, Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese

COMPANY: Columbia Pictures

RATED: R (For Intense Violent Action and Pervasive Strong Language)

RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2010

Directed by Michael Bay

Story by George Gallo

Screenplay by Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, Doug Richardson

Executive Producer: Lucas Foaster, Bruce S. Pustin

Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer, Don Simpson

Music by Mark Mancina

Cinematography by Howard Atherton

Edited by Christian Wagner

Casting by Lynn Kressel, Francine Maisler

Production Design by John Vallone

Art Direction by Peter Politanoff

Set Decoration by Kate J. Sullivan

Costume Design by Bobbie Read

Starring:

Will Smith as Mike Lowery

Martin Lawrence as Marcus Burnett

Tea Leoni as Julie Mott

Joe Pantoliano as Captain Howard

Marg Helgenberger as Alison Sinclair

Tcheky Karyo as Fouchet

Theresa Randle as Theresa Burnett

From director Michael Bay (The Rock, Armageddon) and the production team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun) comes a thrill ride of explosive action from beginning to end. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence team up as partners in crime, crime-fighting that is, in this action-packed flick about a couple of good guys who are real BAD BOYS! One hundred million dollars worthof confiscated heroin has just been jacked from police custody. Once the career bust of Detective Mike Lowery (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence), the missing drugs now threaten to shutdown the narcotics division of the Miami Police Department. When the drug investigation turns deadly, the murderers kidnap the only witness, a beautful police informant (Tea Leoni) and close friend of the boys, which makes things get personal! Fast cars, a gorgeous woman and non-stop action make BAD BOYS a guaranteed good time!

Trailer

In 1995, director Michael Bay made his directorial debut with “Bad Boys”.  Featuring a story by George Gallo and a screenplay by late show writers Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland and Doug Richardson (“Die Hard II”, “Money Train”) and  produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, despite being shot on a very low budget ($19 million), the film was a huge box office success making over $141 million in the box office .

“Bad Boys” would further the onscreen status of then-television show leads Will Smith and Martin Lawrence into movie stardom and would solidify Michael Bay’s status as an action director.

The film revolves around two best friends and detectives Marcus Burnett (played by Martin Lawrence) and Mike Lowrey (played by Will Smith) who both work in the narcotics division of the Miami-Dade Police Department.  One night, a mysterious group managed to steal all the heroin seized by the police department and stolen from a secure police vault, Captain Howard (played by Joe Pantoliano) suspects an inside job.  To make things worse, Internal Affairs warns that if the Miami PD does not find the drugs, the narcotics division will be shut down and the detectives will be reassigned.

So, now both Marcus and Mike must do all they can to find the stolen heroin and who is responsible for it.  While the two meet their contacts in the underground, Mike goes to his informant/escort Maxine Logan to find out if she hears or sees anything.

Maxine is hired by a former cop named Eddie Dominguez for some fun and she brings along her friend Julie Mott (played by Tea Leoni).  But Julie is not exactly having fun and goes to the bathroom.  Meanwhile, a French drug kingpin named Fouchet (played by Tcheky Karyo) and his group show up at Dominguez place and while Julie watches from upstairs, she sees them kill both Maxine and Eddie.  She is spotted by Fouchet’s men and they all go after her but she manages to barely escape from them.

Meanwhile, as Marcus and Mike arrive at the scene of the murders, Mike finds out that his friend Maxine has been killed.  Distraught, he goes to the escort owner’s home to find out more information of who may have killed her.  While Marcus is at work, Julie contacts the Miami PD and tells Captain Howard that she was a witness to her friend’s murder and she needs to talk to Mike.  But with Mike gone, Captain Howard forces Marcus to pretend to be Mike and to protect the witness and to find out more information from her.

But the problem is that Fouchet is way ahead of both Marcus and Mike as he has men at the location where Mike is going to and he has his men sent to Julie’s home to kill her.  Can Marcus protect the witness and will Mike found out who killed his friend?

VIDEO:

“Bad Boys” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1).  For the most part, the Blu-ray release definitely marks a much better looking version of the film.  You can see the skin pores on the characters, more detail in the characters as you can see the freckles on Tea Leoni’s face much more clearly.  Blacks are nice and deep.  Outdoor scenes are vibrant and colorful and for the most part, for a 15-year-old film, fans of the film will definitely enjoy the PQ.    I didn’t see any aliasing, edge enhancement or any artifacting.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Bad Boys” shines in the lossless department.  With this film being an action-driven film, there are times where you hear explosions and gun shots whizzing from left to right via the surround channels.  I also noticed some shots utilizing LFE.  But there was one scene where I felt it nearly blew my eardrum off because I had my system pumped up quite loudly.  But the film definitely sounds incredible via lossless.  Dialogue and music is clear and understandable through the front and center channels but there is good use of surround for the action segments.

Subtitles are in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Bad Boys” comes with the following special features presented in standard definition, English Stereo with Spanish or Portuguese subtitles:

• movieIQ™+sync (use logo) and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie!
• Commentary with Director Michael Bay - Featured on the original DVD release, Michael Bay talks about the making of the film, working with the talent and the crew and how certain scenes were created.  Also, talking about his directorial debut, the two main characters inprovising and working with a low budget.
• Putting the Boom & Bang in the Bad Boys Documentary – (23:54) A documentary on how the special effects were created for the film, the various weapons and how certain explosions were made.
• Three Music Videos – Featuring Dana King’s “Shy Guy”, 69 Boyz – “Five-O, Five-O” and Warren G’s “So Many Ways”.

EXTRAS:

“Bad Boys” comes with a cardboard protective slip case.

When “Bad Boys” came out in theaters in 1995, there were many critics who were not too thrilled by the film but the fact is that Martin Lawrence who had his own popular TV series “Martin” and Will Smith who had “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” were popular talents.  Some may find the partnership between the two as just another cliche cop duo film and for the most part, I guess you can see it at that way but if you were a fan of these two, you were going to enjoy their interaction and their humor.  And possible the smartest thing that Bay allowed (because he didn’t like the script all that much) was to give Lawrence and Smith a chance to improvise their lines and have fun with it.

But if anything, “Bad Boys” was that film that lifted director Michael Bay and Will Smith’s names to new heights.  After this film, Will Smith was no longer the TV star but now a bonafide action star and followed up with “Independence Day” and “Men in Black”, while Director Michael Bay would have a string of box office hits with “The Rock” and “Armageddon”.

If this film proved anything, it was that Michael Bay knew what staff to work with because with such a low budget to work with, they accomplished a lot special effects-wise with very little (note: “Bad Boys” was budgeted at $19 million, Bay’s next film “The Rock” was budgeted at $75 million).

“Bad Boys” was like your usual copy duo films.  May it be “Lethal Weapon, “Beverly Hills Cop”, “48 Hours” (two friends/partners who have their own problems with one another) but when you have two African American talent who can play off each other so well, it made the film very entertaining.  The comedy and action was just right and I understand the critics feeling the film doesn’t break any new ground but in 1995, I felt the timing was right for the film and for the most part, movie watchers agreed with the pairing as seen with the massive amount of money that “Bad Boys” had made.

As for the Blu-ray release, the Blu-ray definitely looks much better than the DVD and the lossless soundtrack is awesome.  But if there is one thing where the special DVD slightly has an edge over the Blu-ray edition is that it does have the “Damage Control” which used angles to analyze special effects explosions and also an isolated music score which are not included on the Blu-ray.  So, if you enjoy those special features, you may want to hang on to your special edition DVD version.  But otherwise, the Blu-ray release of “Bad Boys” is much better than its DVD counterpart.

Overall, if you are a fan of “Bad Boys”, definitely give this Blu-ray release a chance!

Trey Smith, actor Jackie Chan, actor Will Smith, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, actor Jaden Smith and Willow Smith arrive at Nickelodeon’s 23rd Annual Kid’s Choice Awards

Trey Smith, actor Jackie Chan, actor Will Smith, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, actor Jaden Smith and Willow Smith arrive at Nickelodeon’s 23rd Annual Kid’s Choice Awards held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on March 27, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images). Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Will Smith arrives at the AFI FEST 2009 Screening of “Precious”

Will Smith arrives at the AFI FEST 2009 Screening Of Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire on November 1, 2009 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Content © 2009 Getty Images All rights reserved.

SEVEN POUNDS (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“Powerful, inspiring, moving but yet a tragic film about sacrifice and redemption.  ‘SEVEN POUNDS’ is another wonderful collaboration between Director Gabriele Muccino and Will Smith since ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’.  Another magnificent performance by Smith!”

Images courtesy of © 2008 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. and Beverly Blvd LLC. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: SEVEN POUNDS

DURATION: 123 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 2:40:1, English, French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English, English SDH, French and Spanish Subtitles

RATED: PG-13

COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2009

Directed by Gabriele Muccino

Written by Grant Nieporte

Produced by Todd Black, James Lassiter, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, Will Smith

Executive Produced by David Crockett, David Bloomfield, Ken Stovitz, Domenico Procacci

Director of Photography: Philippe Le Sourd

Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Editor: Hughes Winborne, A.C.E.

Costume Designer: Sharen Davis

Music by Angelo Milli

Cast:

Will Smith as Ben Thomas

Rosario Dawson as Emily Posa

Woody Harrelson as Ezra Turner

Michael Ealy as Ben’s brother

Bary Pepper as Dan

Elpidia Carrillo as Connie Tepos

Robinne Lee as Sarah Jenson

Joe Nunez as Larry (Hotel Owner)

Bill Smitrovich as George Ristuccia

Tim Kelleher as Stewart Goodman

Gina Hecht as Dr. Briar

Andy Milder as George’s Doctor

Judyann Elder as Holly Apelgren

Academy Award® nominee Will Smith (2006, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, The Pursuit of Happyness) stars as Ben Thomas, a man at a crossroads searching for a way to redeem his heavy conscience. He discovers he has the power to change the circumstances of seven strangers who deserve a second chance. But when one of them captures his heart, he must decide if he should reveal his secret — even if it means giving up on his plan. From the creators of The Pursuit of Happyness, SEVEN POUNDS is an “emotionally charged, captivating mystery with a soulful, tender love story and a tearful but joyfully inspiring ending” (MOVIEGUIDE®).

Powerful, inspiring and moving.  Another wonderful collaboration between director Gabriele Muccino and Will Smith since “The Pursuit of Happyness”.  Will Smith is absolutely magnificent in this film!

“God created the world in seven days.  In seven seconds, I shattered mine.”

The film starts off with a man named (Will Smith) who calls 911 and will be committing suicide.

We are now watching a flashback of Ben Thomas, a man who works in the IRS and is currently auditing several people and trying to judge their character if they are good or if they are bad and if he is willing to help them or not.

For Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson), she has a bad heart and is in need of a transplant but after being hospitalized, you see Ben trying to audit her and trying to get to know her.

For Ezra Turner (Woody Harrelson) who is blind, Ben is rather mean to him in regards to his blindness on the phone.  Ezra wonders how this guy knows about him, but Ben hangs up on him.

For Connie Tepos (Elpidia Carrilo), she is an abused mother, which Ben is trying to help out.

Throughout the film, you see Ben as he tries to help all these people but the question is, why is someone working for the IRS going so far to get involved in the personal lives of these people?  Ben starts to become part of the life of Emily who she becomes attracted to  and why he continues to watch seven people and learn about their personal lives is a mystery. Ben becomes instrumental in these people lives in some way.

If anything, no one knows why Ben is behaving this way or why he is helping them.  But when they try to understand, he shuts off his emotions and doesn’t want to explain anything about himself.

You then start to see flashbacks of Ben where he works at a major corporation and happy in life with his fiance, an accident and Ben’s fiance laying bloody and obviously dead from a car accident, you then see conversations with Ben and his brother (Michael Ealy) about Ben taking something of his.   You get a sense that the way Ben is now, something bad has happened and made his life so tragic.

And you realize that Ben may not be the IRS agent that these people thinks he may be.  Who is he?

Unfortunately, I can’t go into the story much further than that because it would spoil the whole film but what I can say is that Will Smith’s performance as this man who has suffered so much in his life is wanting to give back, but give back to these seven strangers in his own way, is absolutely magnificent in this film.

Working together with director Gabriele Muccino who directed Smith’s last emotional film “The Pursuit of Happyness” (which Smith received an Oscar nomination), the two definitely have good chemistry because of all the films that we have seen of Smith, both films directed by Muccino has brought out a side of Smith that is not usually seen in his action movies.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“SEVEN POUNDS” is featured in 1080p High Definition with an aspect ratio of 2:40:1.  The film utilizes a lot of darkness with blues and blacks to showcase the life of Ben Thomas, while the life of Tim Thomas is showcased with vibrant colors.

The scenes shot outdoor are quite colorful and you can see how the character of Emily (Rosario Dawson) tries to bring Ben out of the darkness into her world which is vibrant and colorful.  Despite the fact that Emily has a bad heart, she’s able to enjoy her life and the fact is, Ben has brought her happiness and thus, picture quality showcases the transcending of dark to colorful vibrancy.  But then reverting back to the dark and painful life that Ben has lived.

Overall, the picture quality was well done and it was captured well on film and in high definition.

As for audio, audio is presented in Dolby True HD 5.1 (for English and French).  The film is pretty much dialogue-based but there are some instances where you can hear outdoor ambience of people through your rear channel speakers.  There is usage of classic music during the film which also comes out clear but overall, the film is a dialogue-based film that comes out clearly through the front channel.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

For the special features of “SEVEN POUNDS”, the following features are included:

• Commentary with Director Gabriele Muccino - Listening to the commentary, you learn that Muccino is a gentleman and appreciative of what his crew has done for him.  You learn a lot about his filmmaking style and what he wanted to accomplish in the film.  But if there was one caveat about the commentary, Muccino speaks with a heavy Italian accent with some broken English and thus is difficult to understand a little but otherwise, really good insight on the film.
• Seven Views on Seven Pounds - This segment features seven views from those who worked on the film.

THE WRITERS -  In this four minute segment, writer Grant Nieporte talks about how he was inspired to write about the film.  He got the idea from a man he met at a party who was so sad and killed himself.  He came to learn that the man died because he was responsible for a disaster and never recovered from it.

THE PRODUCERS -  A three minute segment featuring interviews with producers Jason Blumenthall, Todd Black and James Lassister of reuniting with the team behind “The Pursuit of Happyness” and also Will Smith’s first role as a producer.

THE DIRECTOR -  A six minute segment on Gabriele Muccino and working together with Will Smith again.

THE LOCATION MANAGER -  A six minute interview with Kei Rowan-Young who was the location manager and trying to find various locations to shoot and behind hired early, so she can find the right beach house in So. Cal.

THE DESIGNER – A two minute segment featuring an interview with Michael Riva in regards to designs for Will Smith, of his character who is highly organized and clean.

THE EDITOR -  A five minute interview with editor Hughes Winborne about working with Gabriele Muccino but also Will Smith and how the final scene was so difficult and emotional for him to cut.

THE COMPOSER – A six minute featurette with an interview with Angelo Milli and creating music that would show the various layers of Will Smith’s character.  Complex, disturbed and finding beauty.

• Creating the Perfect Ensemble - This 13 minute featurette features interviews with casting director Denise Chamian and how she came to select certain people from their role.  How Gabriele knew Woody Harrelson and stayed with his family in Hawaii and gave him a role on the film.
• Emily’s Passion: The Art of the Printing Press – In the film, the character of Emily collects old vintage printing press.  In this nine minute segment, Mark Barbour, director and curator of the International Printing Museum in Carson, CA gives us a tour of the Internationa Printing Museum in Carson, CA and showing us certain press, especially those used in the film.
  
• The Box Jellyfish: World’s Deadliest Co-Star - A five minute featurette about jellyfish and how people stung by it have died or felt excruciating pain and how vinegar is used by life guards to prevent the stinging cells from clinging to the human body.
• Deleted Scenes - Four short deleted scenes.  The only significant scene was Smith’s character visiting a doctor and the doctor worried about Smith’s character lying to the hospital.

The Blu-ray disc release of “SEVEN POUNDS” also comes with a digital copy of the film.

I was truly moved by “SEVEN POUNDS”.  Will Smith is just magnificent in this film and I have no doubt that people who watch this film will be in tears.  It’s a powerful, inspiring and sad film but it’s also a film that can be thought of as controversial.  I can’t really go into the specifics without spoiling the film but Will Smith and his ability to showcase his acting ability in a role of a devastated man who has lived with torment and now wanting to give back and help others.

Rosario Dawson is definitely no lightweight as Emily, a woman who has a bad heart and knows she doesn’t have much time to live if she doesn’t find a heart donor.  Dawson just owns this role and does a fantastic job.

The storyline is quite moving but viewers can easily figure out of why Will Smith is doing what he is doing halfway before the end of the film.  It’s just watching to see how he goes through this journey of a man in the dark, having to be back in the light but then knowing that for him, to change the life of others, he has to carry out his plan.

The Blu-ray really brings out the different layers of Will Smith’s character by showcasing color in various manners.  These transitions in color look absolutely beautiful on Blu-ray and and during the darker scenes, I don’t recall seeing any artifacts or high noise levels.  So, this film does look good in High-Definition.

Overall, “SEVEN POUNDS” is all about sacrifice and a character trying to redeem himself after a tragic incident in his life that has weighed tremendously in his heart.

Despite it’s lukewarm response by movie critics, personally, I felt “SEVEN POUNDS” was just powerful.  I was ultimately moved and despite the decisions that the character makes, it was a decision that was made in order to help people and change their lives for the best.

“SEVEN POUNDS” is a powerful, inspiring and but yet is also a heartbreaking and tragic film worth watching.    Recommended!

Actors Will Smith and Rosario Dawson pose with director Gabriele Muccino at the Paris Photocall of Seven Pounds

picapp: PARIS – JANUARY 05: (L-R) Actors Will Smith and Rosario Dawson pose with director Gabriele Muccino at the Paris Photocall of Seven Pounds at the Gaumont Champs-Elysees on January 5, 2009 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images). Content © 2009 Getty Images . All rights reserved.

Will Smith hosts a benefit screening of his movie ‘Seven Pounds’ at the Creve Coeur AMC Cinema in St. Louis

PicApp: Will Smith hosts a benefit screening of his movie ‘Seven Pounds’ at the Creve Coeur AMC Cinema in St. Louis to help benefit the St. Louis Food Bank. Smith walked the a red-carpet for the local premiere which opens nationwide on December 19. In ‘Seven Pounds’ Smith plays a troubled IRS agent who is compelled to help seven strangers. Pictured: Will Smith Picture by: London Ent./Splash News

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