Canon XH-A1S 3CCD

Canon XH-A1S 3CCD HDV High Definition Professional Camcorder with 20x HD Video Zoom Lens III

You might want to make your own movie, this is one of the best video cameras on amazon. I'll write a review for you.

I love this camera. If you don't have a lot of experience with prosumer cameras (as in my case), the first look may be a bit intimidating (a friend said, "It looks like you're filming tv news"). Especially as I added a Rode shotgun mike (not sure it does anything other than make the sound louder, but...still checking it out). 


If you like the video camera below then  you can grab this at amazon, I have a 20% discount and I want to share it with you. Just CLICK HERE.
You can't rest the camera on your shoulder, but the image stabilizer helps and the grip and buttons are all well designed and easy to reach. I struggled through the manual, but fortunately bought Dan Curran's dvd about the xh-a1 which appears to be almost identical. This was a -huge- help. I can't recommend it enough if you are at all unsure of what you're looking at. He goes through the simplest things (putting the shoulder strap on) to some very technical settings that you can do. The dvd saved me -so much- learning time and also prevented some careless mistakes (like letting sunlight through the viewfinder). 

This camera feels like a terrific tool that can do whatever you need and the picture quality--even on Auto--is beautiful. Having the two XLR terminals will make a big difference, too. The versatility and design really meets such a variety of needs--way too much machine/expense for "home video" (it's not the kind of camera people forget is pointing at them), but great if you want to shoot training films, web videos, independent films. 


If you like the video camera below then  you can grab this at amazon, I have a 20% discount and I want to share it with you. Just CLICK HERE.
Technology has changed so much in the 20 years since I was in film school--and it's still hard for me to believe that such a great camera, capable of such a quality product, is available for under $4000. 

Very impressed. Highly recommended.


If you like the video camera below then  you can grab this at amazon, I have a 20% discount and I want to share it with you. Just CLICK HERE.

Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry will play the main character of Alex Cross. I just finished watching the old version of the movie and I loved it, for sure I will love this new version even more.

When I first read the headline that Tyler Perry was set to play literary detective Alex Cross in a new film -- taking over the role from Morgan Freeman and Idris Elba -- I assumed it was an April Fools' joke. Granted, a very early April Fools' joke.

One week later, there's still no "Gotcha!" or "Just kidding!" to be found. Believe me, I checked.

So, yes, in an intriguing bit of casting, Tyler Perry, the prolific writer-director and creator of one of today's most popular screen characters -- the gun-toting, trash-talking grandma Madea -- apparently really is set to play Dr. Alex Cross in a feature adaptation of "I, Alex Cross," authorJames Patterson's 16th novel to feature the sleuth.

Filming is set to begin in June, with love-him-or-kinda-not director Rob Cohen ("The Fast and the Furious") at the helm, reports Entertainment Weekly.

Freeman, now 73, portrayed the character in 1997's "Kiss the Girls," opposite Ashley Judd, and 2001's "Along Came a Spider," co-starring Northeast Ohio native Monica Potter.

Rogers and CowanIdris Elba

Meanwhile, it was announced last fall that Elba -- the sexy, 38-year-old English actor from HBO's "The Wire" and BBC's "Luther" -- would take over the role as a much-younger Cross in a franchise reboot. David Twohy ("Pitch Black," "A Perfect Getaway") was to direct that film, based on Patterson's novel "Cross."

Now, Elba and Twohy are out, and Perry and Cohen are in.

Why?

"When we came on, we looked at it freshly, and just built it from the bottom up," said Bill Block of QED International, the production company behind films including "District 9" and Olive Stone's "W."

"Sure, Idris is a great actor; Tyler Perry is a phenomenon," Block said. "Tyler Perry is one of the most significant entertainers in all of media. He is a huge cross-media talent and presence -- and he's a terrific actor whose range is going to be shown here."

Perry has acted before, almost exclusively as Madea, both on stage and on the big screen. However, he's actually been a warm presence in non-Madea roles in his dramas "Why Did I Get Married?," "Why Did I Get Married Too?" and "The Family That Preys." He also had a small but pivotal role as a Starfleet admiral in 2009's "Star Trek" reboot.

ParamountMorgan Freeman as Alex Cross in "Along Came A Spider."

"You're going to see Tyler Perry like you haven't seen him," Block said. "He's 6 feet 5, he is a linebacker. He is an awesome physical presence and is just going to tear it apart here. It's an intense, dramatic role."

Block also told EW that the original script, written by Patterson and Kerry Williamson, is being retooled for Perry and Cohen by the screenwriter of "Along Came a Spider," Marc Moss. The new film -- a "kick-a--, crusading action picture" -- will be the first of several planned, Block said.

"This is going to be the new Tyler Perry franchise, a worldwide one," he Block. "That's the other thing: Tyler Perry is going to take this to the worldwide audience. It's just a very different, much bigger opportunity."

In the meantime, Perry's Madea character is returning to screens April 22 in "Madea's Big Happy Family," an adaptation of the Perry stage play that was supposed to play in Cleveland last November before its surprise cancellation.

Balthazar Getty

Getty was born as Paul Balthazar Getty in Tarzana, California and raised in San Francisco before being sent to private school in Britain, where he was enrolled at Gordonstoun School, an elite boarding school that has educated three generations of the British Royal Family.

John Paul Getty III - a scion of the Getty oil dynasty whose kidnapping made headlines in the 1970s when his family refused to pay a ransom until they were sent his severed ear - has died.

Getty died on Saturday in Buckinghamshire, England, after a long illness, according to a statement from his son, actor Balthazar Getty. He was 54.

Left nearly blind and a quadriplegic after a drug-induced stroke in the 1980s, Getty was known largely for his misfortunes. The grandson of American oil magnate J. Paul Getty, he was kidnapped in Rome when he was 16. His grandfather

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and father believed the kidnapping to be a hoax, until young Getty's severed right ear was sent to a newspaper.