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Will Smith Opens Flick in Tokyo

47 minutes ago

By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer

TOKYO - As long as the crowds keep coming, actor Will Smith will be ready to ride the red carpet.


AP Photo



Two months after "I, Robot," his latest summer hit, opened in theaters across the United States, Smith was in Tokyo Tuesday for yet another gala premiere.


And it wasn't even his last.


"When people are enjoying the movie, you don't ever want to stop doing premieres," he said in an interview. "You want to be going to different cities and countries and continents all over the globe. We have another one in South Africa."


"I, Robot," started off as another of Smith's trademark summer blockbusters.


Following up on such hits as "Independence Day," "Men in Black," and "Bad Boys II," the movie quickly rose to bump "Spider-Man II" from the top box office slot in the United States after opening in July and has already grossed more than US$100 million.


The release time-lag means "I, Robot" has missed the summer season for Japan, which is typical. U.S. movies often open several months later in Japan as local distributors uncork their own advertising campaigns, figure in local holidays and prepare the subtitles.


But Smith, who has a solid following here, said he expects crowds to connect to the movie's futuristic dystopia.


"It's a film that has a powerful story and an interesting concept at the center, but also has the ability to capture the world audience," he said. "You never can say exactly why something works. I'm happy our films do well in Asia, but I can't say exactly why."


In "I, Robot," Smith plays a detective in 2035 who suspects a robot has murdered the reclusive scientist responsible for technological innovations that have populated the world with machine servants vaguely resembling humans.


It's a physical role, heavy on the action — familiar territory for Smith.


"I started off as a comedian," he said. "But I look back at my life, and think, `I've been doing a lot of action movies.' I'm 35 now. But I've got a few more years of action movies before my knees and my back stop doing it."


Smith said his next movie, tentatively titled "Hitch," a romance comedy, is due out in February. He is also planning to release a new album worldwide in January.


"This is pretty much the first time in my career that I feel I can go in any direction," he said. "I'm looking for a really complete film. Movies with a great character at the center, but one that will also have big wonderful ideas connected to it. Powerful performances, powerful story."


And, of course, it must "make tons of money at the box office."
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[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20040907/t/r3072048031.jpg[/img]

[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20040907/t/r2300034669.jpg[/img]



[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040907/thumb.tok10309070828.japan_will_smith_tok103.jpg[/img]


[img]http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040907/thumb.tok10209070731.japan_will_smith_tok102.jpg[/img]
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HAVE MOVIE, WILL TRAVEL: As long as the crowds keep coming, Will Smith will be ready to walk down the red carpet to promote his latest movie. Two months after "I, Robot," his new summer hit, opened in theaters across the United States, he was in Tokyo for yet another gala premiere.

"When people are enjoying the movie, you don't ever want to stop doing premieres," the actor-rapper said in an interview. "You want to be going to different cities and countries and continents all over the globe. We have another one in South Africa."

Smith, star of the "Men in Black" films and "Independence Day," has been doing mostly action films. But he also starred in the '90s TV comedy "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."

"I started off as a comedian," said Smith, who was in Tokyo Tuesday for the premiere. "But I look back at my life, and think, 'I've been doing a lot of action movies.' I'm 35 now. But I've got a few more years of action movies before my knees and my back stop (me from) doing it."

Smith said his next movie, a romantic comedy tentatively titled "Hitch," is due out in February. He's also planning to release a new album worldwide in January.
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I posted this before but some how it got deleted so I will do it again





Where there's a Will



Chris Betros




Will Smith clowns around in Tokyo on Tuesday.


TOKYO — Will Smith loves three things with a passion — sushi, gadgetry and Japanese women. The 36-year-old star of "I, Robot" was in great form this week on his sixth visit to Japan, during which he stuffed himself with sushi and walked the red carpet at Roppongi Hills with the likes of the Kano sisters, Yumiko Shaku, Erika Haneda and Don Konishi.

"This is a really complete film. It's got laughs, drama, a powerful and intellectual story at its center and the greatest special effects possible," he said of "I, Robot," a high-tech murder mystery based on the book of short stories by Isaac Asimov.

The year is 2035 and robots are an integral part of everyday life. Detective Del Spooner (Smith) doesn't like them and starts getting bad vibes when one of the more sophisticated models is suspected of killing a human, which is supposed to be impossible according to their programming.

Spooner is an old-fashioned cop who still listens to Stevie Wonder and prefers human interaction any day. "I'm the opposite," said Smith. "I love technology. I gotta have the latest, state-of-the-art gadgetry 100%. I really like the idea of robotic technology in our lives. That's what sets this movie apart from other movies where robots take over the world. This film looks at the limits of human logic, the parameters of what distinguishes a human from a robot. I'd love to have a robot, preferably a woman who I could go on long walks with, or a golf caddy."

"I, Robot," which Smith also produced, is yet another in his list of special effects-laden films. "These films are really a long process," he said. "Some scenes are more than 90% CGI. Sometimes there is nothing there but me. The enjoyment for me comes when you see it all put together months later. I get to watch it like a fan."

Smith, known for playing happy-go-lucky guys who save the day, said he had three rules for choosing projects. "It must be a movie that people want to see; I have to play a character who has problems; and I have to be naked in the first scene," he joked.

Smith has been so busy with his film career of late that he has been neglecting his music which launched him on his showbiz career as a high school senior. Will we still be listening to his rap music in the year 2035 like his character does with Stevie Wonder in "I, Robot?" "Are you kidding? It's only 2004 and a lot of my music isn't around anymore," he said ruefully.

What is around him, though, are lots of Japanese women. "I love Japanese women," he gushed. "Wait a minute, I can just see the headline on CNN tonight: ?eWill Smith goes crazy in Japan,' and my wife will see it. Let's just say I love how respectful Japanese women are of my marriage."

September 8, 2004
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Will Smith to visit Jozi
Karen Whitty
Posted Wed, 08 Sep 2004

They better make sure they've got the barricades up; local fans will be clamouring to get a peak of their favourite action hero and comedy man Will Smith next week. Smith will walk down a red carpet to attend the South African premiere of his latest flick 'I, Robot' at Monte Casino in Johannesburg on Tuesday 14 September as part of a promotional tour for the film, due for local release three days later.

The 36-year-old Academy Award nominee is on a whirlwind world tour that has seen him flitting from the Far East to way down South.

Will Smith stars as Detective Del Spooner in the high-tech thriller 'I, Robot', suggested by the book of short stories by visionary author Isaac Asimov. In the year 2035, technology and robots are a trusted part of everyday life. In this film, that trust is broken and only one man, alone against the system, sees it coming.

The film is direted by Alex Proyas ( of 'The Crow' fame), who creates futuristic Chicago — circa 2035 — where robots are a part of society.

"What attracted me to this film is the concept that the robots aren't the problem," says Will Smith. "The technology is not the problem. It's the limits of human logic that is the problem, and essentially we are our own worst enemy."

"For me it's interesting to play a troubled character, because I've been so successful playing happy-go-lucky guys that save the world. I generally haven't played characters that have deep emotional scars and trauma, and I loved diving into the mind of a troubled character. So it's a different twist for me."

While in South Africa, Will Smith will also continue to show his support to the Nelson Mandela Foundation. To commemorate the superstar's visit, a pledge line will be opened and so that South Africans can give money for the treatment, prevention, care and support of HIV/Aids victims, as well as for the research and development of a vaccine for the disease.
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Court To Hip-Hop Nation: No Free Samples



A federal appeals court ruled yesterday (Sept. 7) that rap artists should pay for every musical sample included in their work -- even minor, unrecognizable snippets of music.

Lower courts had already ruled that artists must pay when they sample another artists' work. But it has been legal to use musical snippets -- a note here, a chord there -- as long as it wasn't identifiable.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati gets rid of that distinction. The court said federal laws aimed at stopping piracy of recordings applies to digital sampling.

"If you cannot pirate the whole sound recording, can you 'lift' or 'sample' something less than the whole? Our answer to that question is in the negative," the court said. "Get a license or do not sample. We do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way."

Some observers questioned whether the court's opinion is too restrictive, especially for rap and hip-hop artists who often rhyme over samples of music taken from older recordings.

"It seems a little extreme to me," said James Van Hook, dean of Belmont University's Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. "When something is identifiable, that is the key."

The case at issue is one of at least 800 lawsuits filed in Nashville over lifting snippets of music from older recordings for new music.

The case centers on the NWA song "100 Miles and Runnin," which samples a three-note guitar riff from "Get Off Your Ass and Jam" by 1970s funk-master George Clinton and Funkadelic.

In the two-second sample, the guitar pitch has been lowered, and the copied piece was "looped" and extended to 16 beats. The sample appears five times in the new song.

NWA's song was included in the 1998 movie "I Got the Hook Up," starring Master P and produced by his movie company, No Limit Films.

No Limit Films has argued that the sample was not protected by copyright law. Bridgeport Music and Westbound Records, which claim to own the copyrights for the Funkadelic song, appealed the lower court's summary judgment in favor of No Limit Films.

The lower court in 2002 said that the riff in Clinton's song was entitled to copyright protection, but the sampling "did not rise to the level of legally cognizable appropriation."

The appeals court disagreed, saying a recording artist who acknowledges sampling may be liable, even when the source of a sample is unrecognizable. Noting that No Limit Films "had not disputed that it digitally sampled a copyrighted sound recording," the appeals court sent the case back to the lower court.

Richard Busch, attorney for Westbound Records and Bridgeport Music, said he was pleased with the ruling. Robert Sullivan, attorney for No Limit Films, did not return a phone call to his office.
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