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Kickin' It Star Leo Howard

Leo Howard – a name most are not familiar with.

But beware, because over the next few years you’re going to hear a lot about this 14-year-old extraordinary young man.

Let’s start with the basics:

Leo Howard was born on July 13, 1997 in Newport Beach California and lives near San Diego today.

From a young age Leo was fascinated by the martial arts, karate and kobudo and has studied the arts since he was just a child.

Today, Leo is a black belt master in the field of karate, Shorei Ru, and Wu Shu, and has stunned audiences since he was just 8-years-old with his karate, martial arts, and stunt skills.

Watch Leo do a Karate kobudo Demonstration


Leo’s acting career started when he was just 8-years-old with a small role as the front desk clerk in the television documentary “Camp Hollywood”.

From there, Leo got his big break on the TV series “Monk” playing the role of a young karate expert. From that one appearance, Leo Howard’s acting career took off.

Black Belt Karate Master

His mix of acting ability combined with his karate expertise is amazing, and producers and talent scouts took notice and started beating down his door.

2009 was a breakout year for Leo as he appeared in six different movie and TV projects that propelled him into a fast track Hollywood vocation.

First was the movie “Aussie and Ted's Great Adventure” about a lovable Australian dog who embarks on a mission to return his young owner's missing Teddy Bear.

Next was the movie “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” working alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sienna Miller and Dennis Quaid – a story about an elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe that takes on an evil organization led by a disreputable arms dealer. Leo performed all of his own stunts and impressed the director and audiences alike.

With two movies under his black belt, Leo completed his third movie titled “Shorts” working with Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, and James Spader.

“Shorts” told the story of a young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock that causes pandemonium in the town of Black Falls and the jealous kids and cunning adults that try to steal it from him.

“Shorts” was the big break for Leo and showed he could hold his own in a large movie project. But his celebrity status was just starting to be noticed.

Disney got wind of Leo and cast him in his own show in 2009 called “Leo Little’s Big Show” where he appeared in thirteen episodes about him and his sister Amy who host a show about Disney stars, shows, and movies from their family room.

After appearing in two episodes of “Zeke and Luther” about two best friends who want to become the world's greatest skateboarders, Leo was hired for his first starring role in the movie “Logan”, about two brothers who have their minds set on an impossible task.

Watch Leo Howard in "Logan" Movie Trailer


“Logon” showed Hollywood that Leo had the staying power to not only carry a feature length movie but also work the long hours necessary for a television series while performing action sequences and his own stunts at the same time. Leo Howard was becoming a star.

But his big big Hollywood break came in 2011 when the Disney XD network cast Leo in the role of Jake in the network’s karate action TV series “Kickin’ It” working with Hanna Montana veteran actor Jason Earles.

The series is set at the Bobby Wasabi Martial Arts Academy - a strip mall martial arts studio and the worst dojo in the nationwide Bobby Wasabi chain.

The plot revolves around a motley crew of endearing misfit teens who welcome a hotshot skateboarder named Jack who teaches them about life, karate, and how to just plain kick it.

Watch Leo in "Kickin' It" Interview


“Kickin’ It” was one of Disney’s highest rated new shows and forever cemented Leo’s star on Hollywood.

Leo also scored a major role as the young Conan in director Marcus Nispel’s “Conan the Barbarian” where again he performed all his stunts and karate moves while in heavy movie makeup and shirtless barbarian period costumes.

“Conan” tells of the quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the warrior but soon turns into an epic battle against colossal rivals, horrifying monsters, and impossible odds.

Watch "Conan" Movie Trailer


It’s clear that at only 14-years-old Leo Howard is going to be around for a long time. His combination of acting, humor, martial arts, karate, and teen idol appeal along with the marketing might of Disney tells us his star has just began to rise over Hollywood.

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Top Five Stoner Movies to Celebrate April 20 Cannabis Day – And What Is All This Stuff About 420?

By now you have probably seen all the references to 420 and may be wondering what the deal is.

The term was created by a group of teenage pot smokers in San Rafael, California in 1971. They called themselves the “Waldos”, because their favorite place to hang-out was a wall outside the school.

The group first used the term in connection with a plan to search for an abandoned marijuana crop they had heard about. The Waldos designated the Louis Pasteur statue on the grounds of San Rafael High School as their meeting place, and 4:20 p.m. as their meeting time.

The Waldos referred to this plan with the phrase "4:20 Louis”

While the teens never found their pot of gold, the phrase eventually evolved into just “420”, a code word used to mean pot-smoking or being part of the pot culture in general.

So to celebrate this cannabis day on April 20, 2011, we have compiled a list of the five best stoner movies ever made.

5 - Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
4 - Cheech and Chong “Up in Smoke”
3 - Richard Linklater's “Dazed and Confused”
2 - Reefer Madness
1 – Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Watch Sean Penn Get High In Fast Times At Ridgemont High


Watch Reefer Madness Trailer

China Tells Television and Film Producers – ‘Don’t Go Back In Time Please’

In case you were every wondering why the United States is the greatest nation on earth – here is one reason.

While the U.S. has laws that regulate certain “words” or “situations” of broadcast television, we don’t generally try to censor the plot.

China, on the other hand, has in no uncertain terms just laid down the law for film and TV producers in their country. And when the “State” owns all the networks and newspapers, well – whatever they say goes.

New guidelines issued last month discourage plot lines that contain elements of fantasy, time-travel, random compilations of mythical stories, bizarre plots, absurd techniques, even propagating feudal superstitions, fatalism and reincarnation, ambiguous moral lessons, and a lack of positive thinking.

The government thinks the media shouldn’t have characters that travel back in time and rewrite history. They say this goes against Chinese heritage, they also say that myth, superstitions and reincarnation are all questionable.

Yea, like this is the biggest problem they have in China.

Oh well, guess I won’t be able to watch “Star Trek” reruns during my next visit. That's okay - I couldn't understand then anyway.

‘The Hobbit’ Finally Starts Filming In New Zealand – New Set Photos

It is finally happening!

After almost two years of delays and problems, Peter Jackson has finally started filming on the new multi-part 3D epic companion to the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy titled “The Hobbit”.

The decision to film “The Hobbit” in 3D was a difficult one, and slowed pre-production and set development.

The $500 million epic project has been plagued with problems that at times seemed close to destroying the idea of seeing middle earth on the big screen again.

Several script problems needed to be worked through and a labor union dispute slowed production to a crawl. MGM Studios faced serious financial problems and the team lost famed writer and producer Guillermo del Toro after he had already put two years of work into the project before it even got off the ground.

Current director Peter Jackson spent time in the hospital for stress related problems, and the earthquake in Christ Church caused further delays in New Zealand.

But after overcoming all these obstacles, filming has now started and the project is on track.

“The Hobbit Part 1” stars Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood as Frodo, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and a possible appearance by Leonard Nimoy as Smaug.

Part one tells the continuing story of Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, who journeys to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug.

Along the way there are adventures with trolls and elves, a battle with goblins, the naming of Bilbo's sword as “Sting” after a battle with some spiders, escaping from Wargs, and a barrel ride in a river.

Of course there is a great battle, “The Battle of Five Armies”, which includes men, dwarves, elves, goblins with Wargs, and more.

The journey leads Bilbo Baggins into the “Riddles in the Dark” where he meets Gollum and receives a powerful ring that will have a great impact on the future of their world.

General release is slated for Christmas 2012 - assuming no more delays, and if the real world has not been destroyed by Orcs, or the impending 2012 end of the world prophecies.

J.R.R. Tolkien would have been proud.