- Guillermo Del Toro presided over one
sprawling, wildly overpriced and truly ridiculous edition of “Pacific Rim” and
he’s clearly amped to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on, er, tackle
another one. Del Toro, who recently confirmed a 2017 release date for sequel
to 2013’s bloated, absurd blockbuster that was equal parts disappointing and
excessive, is already working on the follow-up, which won’t hit theaters until
April 2017. The director said he believes fans will thoroughly enjoy the
sequel, which will bring back stars Charlie
Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi. His remarks came in a break from the writing
process he has undertaken with “The Incredible Hulk” screenplay
writer Zak Penn and for those who understand what a cinematic train wreck the
first “Pacific Rim” film was, the words tumbling out of Del Toro’s mouth should
strike terror into their hearts. "I’m hoping to bring the same idea I had
in the first movie,” Del Toro said. "That was to make it multicultural and
humanistic as much as possible, to make characters from many nationalities or
genders, to make them equal in the scope of the adventure, in the day-to-day of
the adventure. So, we’re bringing a few characters that are new, and hopefully
doing good work managing those that survived the first movie." At this
point, the best piece of news about the new film is that it will be a sequel,
rather than the always-dicey prequel that was previously reported to be in the
works. That should create more continuity between the two movies, but Del Toro
insisted that despite their connections, the projects will be separate entities
in many ways. "I don't want to spoil it," he explained, "but I
think at the end of the second movie, people will find out that the two movies
stand on their own. They’re very different from each other, although hopefully
bringing the same joyful giant spectacle.” Uh huh, sure thing, G……….
- Normally, retired military personnel manage to take at
least some part of their sense of honor, duty, country and integrity with them
into their post-service life. Retired Navy officer Edmond Aruffo
seems to have left his share of those qualities on the dock when he walked away
from the job and for that reason, he has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his
role in a worldwide scheme to bilk the Navy out of millions of dollars for port
services. Federal prosecutors say entered the plea Thursday in San Diego and
Arufffo could be headed for as many as five well-deserved years in prison. He retired
from the Navy as a lieutenant commander in 2007 and used connections developed
during his military career to score a gig as manager of Japan operations for
Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a Singapore-based company that serviced Navy ships
and submarines in the Pacific. That sort of lucrative transition isn't uncommon
for those high-ranking military members who have aspirations of bigger things
post-military, but what is unusual is the extent to which Aruffo was willing to
ditch any sense of integrity and decency and chase big money whenever and
wherever he could find it. According to prosecutors, Aruffo and others
overcharged the Navy by as much as $2.5 million for Japanese port service. That’s
a nice chunk of change if you can get it and in addition to bilking the Navy
for cash, Glenn Defense Marine Asia also allegedly bribed Navy officials to win
inflated contracts that cost the Navy more than $20 million. Having that much
money change hands is one of the ways of life for military defense contractors,
but it doesn’t exactly represent what the United States Navy is supposed to be
about……….
- FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke may be the
second-ranking official for soccer’s governing body, but he doesn’t seem to
know much about the sport over which he presides. If he did, then he would not
be making comments like those he uttered after attending several World
Cup matches in Brazil and observing behavior from the face-painting,
obscenity-lobbing maniacs sitting in the stands while draped in flags and
rocking team jerseys. Valcke was asked about his impressions of the games and
the suggestion that maybe there were a few liquored-up lushes in the stands at
games. He said he's "amazed" by the levels of drunkenness in
Brazil's World Cup stadiums and conceded that at "maybe there were too
many people who were drunk" at the matches. Oh, and this Mensa wannabe
also tried to make a questionable connection between inebriation and violence,
which clearly have nothing to do with one another. Intoxicated people are never
belligerent, especially not when national pride and loads of testosterone are
involved. Ironically, there was a large debate over whether alcohol sales
should have been allowed at matches in the first place, with FIFA winning out
over the 2003 alcohol ban at stadiums that Brazil dropped in place in a bid to
curb fan violence. Now, Valcke is pointing in the opposite direction….and
totally missing the point. When tens of thousands of amped-up fans are going to
spend three-plus hours in a stadium in the hot sun watching a game that’s
extremely likely to include no goals being scored and 120 minutes of dudes
running around on a large grass rectangle kicking a small ball back and forth,
drinking is virtually mandatory in order to make it through. To suggest that
booze is suddenly a big problem is to act like you had no clue before, or to
suggest that soccer is somehow tolerable without a beer or six. "If we
think that it is necessary to control (alcohol sales) we will control
them," Valke said. "We would never put the organization of a match at
risk." Yes, the hundreds of international matches marred by lit roads
flares thrown at players from the stands, fans storming the pitch, racist
chants, fires in the stands and riots before, during and after games attest to
FIFA’s unwillingness to “put the organization of a match at risk” for any
reason………
- Tensions are high in Myanmar and the fuse has been lit for
some fireworks in the days ahead. Myanmar police cordoned off Mandalay's Muslim
neighborhood to kick off a combustible weekend and that was a reasonable move
given the presence of hundreds of knife- and sword-wielding Buddhists who were
exactly there to chop up some steaks and do a great juggling act to entertain
their Muslim friends. No, those Buddhists and their knives, swords and bamboo
poles roamed the city on Friday, heightening tensions in the aftermath of communal
riots that killed two people earlier in the week. Inter-religious violence has
been the norm in the country over the past two years in the face of attempted political
reforms initiated by the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein. An
estimated 240 people have been killed and more than 140,000 displaced since
June 2012 and Myanmar's Muslim minority has suffered most of the casualties
during that time. More deaths appear inevitable after the sight of 300 Buddhists
riding motorcycles around Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay on Friday,
shouting death threats. "We're going to kill all the Muslims," some
shouted as they rode through the streets. That very direct and clear statement
came after the bikers attended the funeral of a Buddhist man stabbed to death
on Wednesday night. The man was reportedly beaten to death early on Thursday on
his way to morning prayers. To head off possible violence, police erected
barriers lined with barbed wire to block roads into a predominantly Muslim
neighborhood and prevented the Buddhists on motorcycles from entering. Mix in
officers in riot gear stalking the streets and another on a megaphone demanding
that people clear the streets and tensions were averted for the time being. The
departure of many Muslims in the immediate aftermath of the violence helped as
well, combined with a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. Still, this is a long way from
over………
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