Tuesday 26 October 2010

New Daft Punk- 'Derezzed'- Tron Legacy


A new Daft Punk track entitled 'Derezzed' from the forthcoming soundtrack for Tron Legacy has just been previewed in the video above to promote the film.

In the new clip Daft Punk are also featured in their DJ role from the movie. All looks very exciting. Soundwise it's a continuation from Human After All. Can't wait for the full soundtrack which should hopefully leak soon.

Family Guy Creators Feature Debut- Ted

Seth Macfarlane, the creator of Family Guy, part time singer and full time multi millionaire is to make his directorial debut in the movie feature world with Ted.

The project is described as a dark comedy about a man whose teddy bear comes to life and in typical Macfarlane style the bear is a marijuana smoking, rude, misogynistic, video game playing menace. So basically your average American college kid.

The big news is that the production has managed to get Mark Whalberg to play the lead role a character described as  “an average Boston guy, normal except for the childhood wish he made that his teddy bear could come to life — and it did. Years later, the boy is an adult, and the bear is still his best friend. But the bear, a carousing, irresponsible slacker, is getting in the way of his buddy committing to adulthood and the girl he loves.”


I have every confidence that Macfarlane will be able to pull this off, anyone who wants to doubt his directorial chops needs to check out the season 9 premiere episode of Family Guy 'And Then There Were Fewer' which is based around a murder mystery and is very competently done, with heavy references to Hitchcock pulled off well. 


The budget is set at a whopping $65 Million so Universal must also think it's a sure bet !

Julianne Moore's Stunning Allure Spread




Julianne Moore is on the cover of Allure's Novemeber issue photographed by the amazing Tom Munro. The photos are slightly daring but also very tasteful and it's great to see a woman of Moore's age gracing the magazine cover.

She's one of those actresses I adore, not only because she's amazing at her job but because she is so beautiful and yet so down to earth. In the interview she is very self depreciating and refers to herself as the '100 year old model' but I think as you can clearly see from the images she looks anything but.

She calls out other actresses who indulge in botox and the like by saying "I don't believe it makes people look better. I think it just makes them look like they had something done to their face, and I don't think we find that instinctually appealing."

Pic Of The Day - Greta Garbo


I was just browsing through pictures of old Hollywood film stars and I came across this picture of Greta Garbo. I have only seen one of her films, Mata Hari from 1931, but purely as a visual she was certainly a striking person and this photo struck a chord with me. Love the lighting and black and white photography.

From what I've read about her she was quite a secluded person and informally retired from acting very early in the late 40's however I think younger stars today could learn a thing or two from her in how to conduct oneself.

Nicki Minaj Feat Will I AM- Check It Out Video


Nicki Minaj is being hailed as the saviour of female rappers and with the absence of Lil Kim, Foxy Brown and Missy Elliott a void sure needs to be filled.

Her latest single features Will I AM on guest vocals and also production. As such the track kinda sounds like a BEP leftover with the usual euro synth hip hop beat along with retro sample but it is sorta catchy.

I haven't been the biggest fan of Minaj's single releases, all of which fall short of her mixtape tracks and feature appearances (see Kanye West's Monster, where she manages to out do Jay Z). Her new album is due to drop next month so hopefully she can still pull something out of the bag for her own release.

Natalie Portman Black Swan Controversy


The Daily Mail is reporting today that Natalie Portman's father has issues with her latest film Black Swan. The films 'graphic' lesbian sex scene with actress Mila Kunis has apparently caused the problem and he feels that by engaging in such things she is degrading herself.

Since the source is the Daily Mail I'll treat the news with the usual level of cynicism reserved for that paper however I think any parent would be uncomfortable watching their child naked on screen simulating sex.

There is a big difference between porn and art. Without having seen the film I don't yet have an informed opinion however judging from the trailers and press reviews it hardly seems like an exploitative movie but rather a probing and intelligent thriller.

At least she's willing to engage in difficult material and isn't starring in a series of forgettable romantic comedies like her peers ( hello Jennifer Anistion !).

Monday 25 October 2010

Trailer- Nicole Kidman- Rabbit Hole


The film has been getting a lot of buzz over the net from recent reviews that have started cropping up. For a while now Nicole Kidman has had a problem being taken seriously as an actress due to her inability to properly move her face. Also audiences don't find her likeable like they used to, she comes off cold and robotic.

This looks set to change with her new film Rabbit Hole, Nicole Kidman looks to be displaying facial movement and as a result seems to actually be acting.

It looks like a real tear jerker due to the subject matter and as a Nicole Kidman fan I will be first in line to watch this, since the last film of her's I actually remember enjoying was Moulin Rouge back in 2001.

Welcome back Nicole ! Your likely Oscar Nom awaits you !

Georgia May Jagger's New Chanel Campaign


Here are a selection of shots from the new Chanel Cruise campaign starring Georgia May Jagger, who you may know as 'that gap toothed Rimmel girl' or as the daughter of Jerry Hall and Mick Jagger.

Personally I like her aesthetic, she has a Kate Moss quality to me that distinguishes her from the bland models we usually see in magazines.

The series was shot by Uncle Karl of course who handles all of Chanel's campaigns these days, I swear there is nothing this man cannot do.

Photo Cred: Purple People

Top Gun 2 Is Actually Happening...........


I know Hollywood is really short on ideas at the minute, with all the remakes and reinventions of older franchises from the 80's that keep popping up, however, I have to ask myself, who out there is really crying out for a Top Gun sequel. Totally a product of it's time (its popular as a guilty pleasure for macho guys and ironically gay men for all the homo eroticism) but do we really need to see what Maverick and co are up to these days.

Slash Film have a full report on it along with quotes from original director Tony Scott.

God save us all.

Kate Moss- Over Zealous Photoshop


Another week, another photoshop controversy. News outlets still seem to think that the public has no comprehension of the tricks that advertisers use in their campaigns and need to constantly point it out to them. Has Kate Moss been shopped in the above picture, yes obviously ! Take a look at any candid photo of her within the past 3 years and there is an obvious difference between the smooth skinned complexion we see here and the reality, a slightly wrinkled but still beautiful 30 something. 


Ad campaigns in fashion mags sell an aspirational lifestyle, I for one don't want to flip through Vogue and see pictures of blemished and tired models. As long as we are well aware that it's a fantasy that's being sold (and most young teens are savy enough to know that) what's the issue really.

Lady Gaga Indulges Anderson Cooper In London


Lady Gaga was spotted over the weekend wandering around London with CNN's silver fox Anderson Cooper for a profile they are currently filming. Like she really needs any more exposure at this point, I think everyone in the civilised world is pretty well versed in everything Gaga. Perhaps Anderson proposed the interview in order to meet one of his idols, it's hardly a secret that he is a big fan of gay icons, sharing screen time with Kathy Griffin and loving every second. I'll watch the interview though, it's fun watching Gaga trying to emulate how another pseudo Italian blonde conducts herself in interviews but not quite pulling it off with the same class. Gee I wonder who that could be..............

Cheryl Cole Accused Of Miming Shocker - Not !


The tabloids today all covered the same story, the controversy over the nations sweet heart Cheryl Cole and the fact she may not have been singing live on Sunday night's X Factor show. Hypocritical because of how the X Factor itself is a singing competition, yes but it's not exactly a secret that this sort of thing goes on, so why are people continually shocked. They auto tune contestants for gods sake, of course they aren't going to have Cheryl Cole sing live. A quick search of Youtube confirms why this tactic was taken, any time she has sang live in the past solo the results have been less than impressive, she only managed to cope in Girls Aloud due to the fact she could rely on the other girls stronger vocals to help back up her thin voice.

She may have a talent for beauty campaigns and dressing well but I don't think anyone is under any illusions that as a musical artist she has no real talent other than image manipulation and picking songs written by other singers for her album. Even then it's probably her record company A & R who actually decides what songs she sings so she doesn't even have good musical taste to fall back on. So don't judge her for her lack of musical credibility, instead focus on how pretty she looks in those L'oreal commercials, that's her real talent.

Film Review - Please Give (2010)



Director: Nicole Holofcener


I had the pleasure last night of viewing a scarcely seen film called Please Give, starring Rebecca Hall, who you might recognise from Woody Allen's middle class Spanish jaunt Vicky Christina Barcelona and Catherine Keener. The film is set in New York and revolves around  Keener's character Kate, who with her husband Alex (played by Oliver Platt) and daughter Abby live in an apartment directly opposite the elderly grandmother of Rebecca Hall's character aptly named Rebecca. We learn early on that Kate has bought the apartment from the ailing grandmother for the purposes of expanding their own already large New York abode. This obviously causes tension between Kate's family and Rebecca as they are effectively waiting for her grandmother to die and the occasional interactions they have in their buildings lift are initially uncomfortable and awkward however one night Kate invites Rebecca, her grandmother and Rebecca's sister Mary (played very well by Amanda Peet) to dinner in celebration of their grandmothers birthday and the event provides an ice breaker where both parties get to know each other a little better.

During the birthday dinner Alex, smitten with Mary and her not so subtle tanning habits, begins to flirt with her and the film then explores the subject of extra marital affairs at middle age with younger women, a common affliction amongst many men of Alex's age who have been married for long periods of time.

It's hard to write too much about the plot as not much happens during the films length however you do feel as though you get a peek into middle class Manhattanite life and it's both hilarious and slightly depressing at the same time. The clear message of the film seems to be about the passage of time and the how the past can come back and haunt us in the present, demonstrated in the film by the 'vintage' furniture Alex and Kate acquire from deceased New Yorkers and then sell on at inflated prices. All of the pieces they sell have a story and in particular Kate seems to question the morality of such a practice. This coincides with her husband's affair and also the faltering relationship between her and her daughter, who is in the throws of adolescence and is staring to rebel against parental authority. The guilt of her business practices makes her consider working with various charities as a volunteer, which Kate is seriously inept at due to her inability to cope with the reality of what those she is trying to help have to live with. She is also semi addicted to giving money to homeless people, in one scene humorously mistaking a black man waiting for a table at a restaurant as homeless due to the way he's dressed. I didn't know whether the writer was trying to make a cynical point about middle class people engaging in charity as part of a mid-life crisis or whether it was being supportive.

Rebecca Hall's character didn't make much of an impression on me, she works her days at a breast cancer clinic, looks after her grandmother and is constantly going on internet dates in order to find a significant other but I didn't feel her character was very fleshed out. She is often out shined by her sister Mary,  she is full of life, is witty\sassy and demands attention because of the way Amanda Peet plays her. Rebecca in contrast becomes part of the furniture, overly cynical and moping around the screen with such lethargy it's almost as though she has been spoon fed Xanax since birth. 

Despite an unlike able lead the film is a recommended watch for anyone who is a fan of Woody Allen's New York based comedies, the script is sharp and funny while the majority of the actors perform well. Much of the comedic moments are supplied by Rebecca's grandmother and Amanda Peet's character, both sassy, no bullshit New Yorkers. The direction is competent for the subject matter and will remind many of a Sex and The City episode, mainly due to the fact that the director\writer also directed a few episodes of that show.

7 Out Of 10