The ENT BAND ROX for June, 2008 is...............
My Chemical Romance (often shortened to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock quintet that formed in 2001. The current members of the band are Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Frank Iero, Ray Toro and Bob Bryar. Shortly after forming, the band signed to Eyeball Records and released their debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002. They signed with Reprise Records the next year and released their major label debut Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in 2004. The album was a commercial success, selling over one million copies. The band followed this success with 2006's The Black Parade, featuring their hit singles, "Welcome to the Black Parade", "Famous Last Words", "I Don't Love You", and "Teenagers". The band also recently filmed a live DVD in Mexico City, which is due for release on July 1, 2008.
Early career (2001 – 2002)
The band was formed by frontman Gerard Way and drummer Matt Pelissier approximately one week after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Witnessing the planes crash into the World Trade Center influenced Way's life to the extent that he decided to start a band. Way wrote the song "Skylines and Turnstiles" to express his feelings about September 11th. Shortly thereafter, Ray Toro was called up and asked to join the band because at the time Way couldn't sing and play the guitar at the same time. The first recording sessions were done in Pelissier's attic, where the songs "Our Lady of Sorrows" (formerly called "Bring More Knives") and "Cubicles" were recorded. Frank Iero revealed that the band finished the lyrics to "Best Day Ever" moments before they arrived at the studio to begin recording. The band refers to those sessions as The Attic Demos. Mikey Way, the younger brother of Gerard, loved the demo so much that he decided to join the band after dropping out of college. Rumor had it that Mikey learned how to play the bass guitar just to join the band, but Gerard Way set the record straight in the CD/DVD Life on the Murder Scene when he reported that Mikey had been in several bands before joining My Chemical Romance.
Mainstream breakthrough (2003–2006)
In 2003, the band signed a deal with Reprise Records. Following a tour with Avenged Sevenfold, the band began work on their second album, entitled Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Released in 2004, the album went platinum within a year. The band released three singles from the album: "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", "Helena" and "The Ghost of You". It was during this time that the band replaced Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar, after they came back from Japan in July 2004. It was a very controversial time for My Chem fans the world over. Matt left in agreement with everyone in the band; there were issues about his ability to keep time with the rest of the band. It is believed that Ray Toro asked him to try playing with a metronome for a little while, which offended the experienced drummer. Fans who were disappointed with Matt's departure wondered why the drummer, who took some artistic liberties in live performances, was relieved instead of the "pill-popping" lead vocalist. It is well-known that Gerard was at one time incredibly depressed; however, he has been clean and sober since August '05. This, perhaps, is the reason the band does not wish to talk about it often. This information was disclosed in the 2006 CD/DVD Life on the Murder Scene.
The Black Parade (2006–2007)
A biography titled Something Incredible This Way Comes was released, written by Paul Stenning (Published in 2006). It features their beginnings, right through to The Black Parade. On August 22, 2006, the band played a special one-off show at the 1800-capacity London Hammersmith Palais. The show sold out in 15 minutes prompting tickets being sold on eBay well over the tickets' face value. The name of the album they promoted was announced and 20 people dressed in black capes with their faces obscured paraded around Hammersmith, followed by a large group of fans and street team members with signs saying "The Black Parade". Later during the show the album title and the UK release date were confirmed. Prior to the band taking the stage it was announced that My Chemical Romance were unable to play, but they would be replaced by "The Black Parade". After initial crowd hostility it became clear the band were simply performing under a pseudonym in keeping with the theme of the album.
The Future(2008)
In a recent NME interview with Gerard, the magazine said the band's next record would be "a return to punk rock. In addition to that he stated that the band would be taking time off and fans shouldn't expect a new album until late 2009 early 2010." The band recently announced in a blog on their website that they would be going on a final tour in the USA before writing their new album. At the same time, they announced they will be releasing a live DVD/CD collection titled The Black Parade Is Dead! which includes two concerts in October 2007, the final Black Parade Concert in Mexico, and a small show at Maxwell's in New Jersey. The DVD/CD was meant to be released on June 24 in the US and June 30 in the UK, but the date has been postponed to July 1 due to a technical fault with the Mexico concert. In addition to "Stay", My Chemical Romance have also begun to play another new song live which debuted in Hong Kong.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
My Chemical Romance
Monday, February 25, 2008
List: Winners at the 80th Annual Academy Awards
LOS ANGELES — Complete list of winners at the 80th annual Academy Awards, presented Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles:
Best Motion Picture: "No Country for Old Men."
Lead Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood."
Lead Actress: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose."
Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men."
Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, "Michael Clayton."
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
Foreign Language Film: "The Counterfeiters," Austria.
Adapted Screenplay: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, "Juno."
Animated Feature Film: "Ratatouille."
Art Direction: "Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street."
Cinematography: "There Will Be Blood."
Sound Mixing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Sound Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Original Score: "Atonement," Dario Marianelli.
Original Song: "Falling Slowly" from "Once," Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova.
Costume: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."
Documentary Feature: "Taxi to the Dark Side."
Documentary Short Subject: "Freeheld."
Film Editing: "The Bourne Ultimatum."
Makeup: "La Vie en Rose."
Animated Short Film: "Peter & the Wolf."
Live Action Short Film: "Le Mozart des Pickpockets (`The Mozart of Pickpockets')."
Visual Effects: "The Golden Compass."
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Academy Award winners previously announced this year:
Honorary and technical Oscars: Robert Boyle; Eastman Kodak Co.; David A. Grafton.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
A message from: hornsorhalo@yahoo.com
Unfortunantly, I dont think a campaign is going to work.
ENT Crew's Response:
While we do realize that a campaign is not going to work, at the same time this is the best we can do to let Britney know that her fans are still there by her side. Tat we will always be there, no matter what! Thanks for your message though!
A message from: janolapin77@yahoo.fr
i'm glad to see that Britney is getting better by now
of course, she must continue her treatment but it's so good to see her happiest!
go on Brit
Special Thanks to:
Jean (John) Lopez
britney_spears_ultimate_fans@yahoogroups.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
A message for Britney from: Leo Zarazowski Jr.
HEY BRITNEY,
PLEASE GET SOME HELP, US FANS DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU TURN INTO ANOTHER ANNA NICOLE SMITH, AND COMMIT SUICIDE. WE ALL LOVE YOU VERY MUCH, SO PLEASE DO IT, SO WE CAN ENJOY MORE MUSIC FROM YOU, AND ALSO TOUR.
YOUR BIGGEST FAN
LEO ZARAZOWSKI JR
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Prince of Intensity With a Lightness of Touch
A portrait of inarticulate love and thwarted desire, Ennis is a rich, complicated character succinctly sketched in Annie Proulx’s original short story and brought to heartbreaking life by the film’s screenwriters, Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry; by its director, Ang Lee; and above all by Mr. Ledger himself.
Outwardly, Ennis presents a familiar image of rough-hewn Western masculinity, and the longing that surges under his taciturn demeanor does not so much contradict this image as help to explain it. Ennis’s love for Jack Twist, whom he meets tending sheep on a Wyoming mountaintop in the early 1960s, takes Ennis by surprise and throws him permanently off balance. His lifelong silence, the film suggests, is less a sign of strength than of cowardice, a crippling inability to acknowledge or communicate the truth of his own feelings.
What made the performance so remarkable was that Mr. Ledger, without betraying Ennis’s dignity or his reserve, was nonetheless able to convey that truth to the audience. This kind of sensitivity — the ability to signal an inner emotional state without overtly showing it — is what distinguishes great screen acting from movie-star posing. And while Mr. Ledger was handsome enough, and famous enough, to be called a movie star, he was serious enough, and smart enough, to be suspicious of deploying his charisma too easily or cheaply.
In retrospect the best thing that happened to him — the lucky break for his admirers, at any rate —may have been his disinclination to realize his apparent movie-star potential. He was the most likable of the young things in the “Taming of the Shrew”-derived teenage comedy “10 Things I Hate About You,” with his curly hair, high forehead and the permanent intimation of a smirk on his thin-lipped, angled mouth. And as often happens with young actors in Hollywood, his good looks and easy charm looked like a ticket to the commercial big time. Dutifully, but also with sparks of playful, eager energy, he played period golden boys in “The Patriot” and “A Knight’s Tale,” a misbegotten (but not entirely unenjoyable) entry in the ever-silly costume-action genre.
It is hard to know exactly when Mr. Ledger discovered his range, and set about trying to explore it, but it is clear that he covered a lot of ground in a very short time. He had a taste for portraying troubled, brooding, self-destructive young men, it’s true — the anguished third-generation prison guard in “Monster’s Ball,” the heroin addict in “Candy,” the unhappy film star in “I’m Not There,” in addition to Ennis — but the temptation to blend their fates with Mr. Ledger’s own should be resisted at all costs. Those roles should be seen less as expressions of some imagined inner torment than as evidence of resourcefulness, creative restlessness and wit.
Those same characteristics are abundantly evident in less well-known movies that should not be overlooked.
Ennis Del Mar is complemented and complicated by Casanova, whom Mr. Ledger played in Lasse Hallstrom’s unfairly neglected biopic-as-sex-farce, which came and went too quickly in late 2005, during the ascendancy of “Brokeback Mountain.” It’s not just that the flamboyantly heterosexual Casanova is Ennis Del Mar’s opposite in obvious ways. He is also a creature of pure whimsy, a lighter-than-air confection of licentiousness and gallantry.
Which is not to say that Mr. Ledger’s performance is frivolous. Rather it required intelligence, restraint and a tricky lightness of touch. Mr. Ledger had an unusual ability to mix lightness and gravity, an emotional nimbleness he displayed most fully in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There.” Of the six avatars of Bob Dylan in that film, his, an actor named Robbie Clark, is the most remote from Mr. Dylan’s various personae and closest to the prosaic world of love, fame and ambition. Robbie starts out full of youthful energy, heedless and in love, and finds himself a decade later adrift and disappointed, robbed of the happiness that early success had seemed to promise.
The dismaying sense of loss and waste at Mr. Ledger’s death at 28 comes not only because he was so young, but also because his talent was large and as yet largely unmapped. It seems inevitable that he will now be inscribed in the cult of the beautiful stars who died too young, alongside James Dean, Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe. Even before his death he had been ensnared in a pathological gossip culture that chews up the private lives of celebrities, and Tuesday’s news unleashed the usual rituals of media cannibalism.
Mr. Ledger’s work will outlast the frenzy. But there should have been more. Instead of being preserved as a young star eclipsed in his prime, he should have had time to outgrow his early promise and become the strange, surprising, era-defining actor he always had the potential to be.
No Drugs on Heath's $20 Bill
As the search for answers in the tragic death of Heath Ledger continues, new evidence has emerged in the case.
Although no visible drug residue was found on it, the bill was to be taken to a lab for testing, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday at a Manhattan news conference.
Hours later, police announced that the bill had come up negative for illicit substances, scuttling the theory that the actor had been snorting drugs before his death.
Police said that bottles of prescription sleeping aids were found nearby, leading them to question whether Ledger died of an overdose.
In all, six types of prescription medicines were discovered in the apartment, including sleeping aids, antianxiety drugs and an antihistamine, sources close to the investigation said. Three of the medications were prescribed in Europe.
New York's CBS affiliate cited sources close to the investigation who said several packets containing an unknown substance were found in the apartment. It was not clear whether the mystery packets belonged to Ledger.
The 28-year-old Oscar nominee was found Tuesday afternoon by his housekeeper and a masseuse, lying naked and unresponsive on his bed.
He was declared dead by officials who arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.
Officials have said there were no signs that the actor committed suicide, nor any sign of foul play.
An initial autopsy was completed Wednesday morning but proved inconclusive, with the medical examiner stating that additional tests, including toxicology screens, would be required to determine the cause of death.
Ledger's family has called the death an accident and requested privacy as they come to grips with the loss of the Brokeback Mountain star.
"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life, but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him," his father, Kim Ledger, said in a statement.
"He was a down-to-earth, generous, kindhearted, life-loving and selfless individual who was extremely inspirational to many."
Larry Williams, father of Ledger's onetime fiancée Michelle Williams, called the actor a "great talent" and a doting father to his two-year-old daughter, Matilda.
"I think Tennyson got it right in the poem when he described someone as having died at a young age but burning the candles at both ends, and oh what a beautiful flame he made. That was Heath, what a beautiful flame he made and a great talent," the elder Williams told the Melbourne Herald Sun.
"My heart goes out to everyone in his family and my family."
Meanwhile, Oscar winner Ang Lee, who directed Ledger in Brokeback Mountain, said "working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life."
"He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined—a thirst for life, for love and for truth and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking," the filmmaker said in a statement.
Lee Daniels, who produced the Ledger-starring film Monster's Ball, disputed the notion the actor had drug-abuse issues.
"They're saying it's drug-related. I don't believe that. We know the partiers and he wasn't that guy," Daniels told the Philadelphia Daily News.
The actor's rep said Wednesday there were no plans, as of yet, for a memorial service in either the United States or Ledger's native Australia.
Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=73b86298-5681-4729-8cdc-3782e9390584&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories
Britney Bolts, Commish Vetoes Kid Visits
Britney Spears apparently couldn't decide if it was better late or never. In the end, neither worked in her favor.
The proceedings themselves got off to a less than promising start for Spears, who arrived nearly 25 minutes tardy to Los Angeles County Superior Court. A half hour later, after going through the security checkpoint, Spears informed sheriff's deputies she wanted to leave the premises and split without even entering the courtroom.
While court spokesperson Allan Parachini originally said Spears was expected to return to the courthouse later today, that now seems unlikely.
"Any future proceeding would have to include counsel for both sides," he said outside court. "Many of you saw how this went down. This was an unusual situation. Our primary concern here is the children."
Inside the courtroom, Spears' bolting appeared to take even her attorney, Anne Kiley, by surprise. Asked by Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon if her client was going to be present for the hearing, Kiley responded, "I don't know."
"I don't want to delay the hearing," she added.
The hearing had originally been slated to begin at 8:30 a.m. Spears managed to appear at the courthouse free of her usual fanfare by entering via a basement parking garage. (A source said earlier she would be chauffeured to the downtown complex accompanied by manager pal Sam Lutfi.)
"When you're trying to convince a judge that previous orders are not necessary, the court has to have the opportunity to observe, to hear from and to assess the demeanor of the person," Federline attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said outside court.
"I'm here personally ready to go whether the other party appears or not."
Federline, 29, was also present for the hearing, having arrived on time with Kaplan. Spears' former mister was sworn in just prior to the media being cleared from the courtroom, though Parachini was hesitant to confirm that the "America's Most Hated" rapper testified during the quickie hearing.
"It depends on what you call testimony," he said of Federline's participation in the courtroom. "A couple of questions were posed to Mr. Federline, sitting at a counsel table, and he responded very briefly—as in one or two words—to the questions he was asked."
As a Spears source told E! News Tuesday, the "Gimme More" singer initially planned to ask Gordon to restore her visitation rights for sons Sean Preston, 2, and Jayden James, 1. Gordon stripped her of monitored visits on Jan. 4, the morning after her forced hospitalization and hours-long custody standoff with police, in which she refused to hand over her children to Federline's bodyguard.
Spears, 26, has not seen or been in contact with her children since the incident. She was expected to spend supervised quality time with her kids in a "therapeutic setting," i.e., under the watchful eyes of medical professionals.
Kaplan said after court on Wednesday that he is not yet comfortable with that proposal.
The hearing comes in the wake of Spears' appearance at Kaplan's office for a deposition Monday. After skipping several appointments outright, she finally submitted to about 40 minutes of questioning and is scheduled to return for more in the coming days.
Kaplan has said that while he only managed to ask her a fraction of his questions, the session went better than on Jan. 3—the day of her standoff—which lasted just 14 minutes.
Her newfound compliance, however, was apparently short-lived.
Barring any more emergency hearings, attorneys for both Federline and Spears are due back in court Feb. 4, the previously announced date for the next scheduled hearing in their custody battle.
Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=10abf12d-681d-40d1-93bf-9a3f009745f3&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories
27 Dresses
Starring: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Judy Greer, Edward Burns
irected by: Anne FletcherCassandra's Dream
Bernard and Doris- Rolling Stone Review
Directed by: Bob Balaban
This stunner of a movie is so far under the radar you'll have to go to HBO to find it. Get crackin'. It's the hip antidote to multiplex junk such as Mad Money and Meet the Spartans. Susan Sarandon is at her scrappy, sexy best as tobacco heiress Doris Duke – think Paris Hilton with brains and genuine hotness. And this is Ralph Fiennes like you've never seen him, as Bernard Lafferty, a secretly alcoholic, furtively gay Irishman who stumbles into a job as her butler.The time is 1987. Six years later, Doris is dead and Bernard, out of rehab, controls her billion-dollar estate. Was it murder? So went the rumor, but the charges didn't stick. The deft script by Hugh Costello cheerfully admits, "Some of the following is based on fact and some of it is not."
In reality, Bernard resembled Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Doris looked like, um, hell. But you won't care. Get Emmys ready for Sarandon and Fiennes, who transcend everything tabloid in the material. They create an intimate love story that manages to be hilarious and heartbreaking, often at the same time.
How fitting that they duet so movingly on an S&M ballad from Peggy Lee (Bernard's former employer) called "I Love the Way You're Breaking My Heart."
All praise to director Bob Balaban, who doesn't miss a beat or a nuance in bringing us in, close as a whisper, to what might have been.
Source: http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/18068033/review/18068043/bernard_and_doris
Lil Wayne's Borderline Drug Bust
At least Lil Wayne posted bail in time to make the 3:10 out of Yuma.
The rap star was arrested Tuesday night after Border Patrol officers allegedly found marijuana, cocaine and Ecstasy in his tour bus while it was stopped at a checkpoint in southwestern Arizona.
Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., was stopped at about 11:30 p.m. and booked into Yuma County Jail at 6 a.m. Wednesday on suspicion of possession of dangerous drugs, narcotics and drug paraphernalia, according to Yuma County Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Eben Bratcher.
The self-proclaimed "Best Rapper Alive" was released a little before 2 p.m. Wednesday on a $10,185 bond after being arraigned via video at Wellton Justice Court, about 35 miles east of Yuma, E! Online has confirmed. Wayne will find out whether he's going to face criminal charges at a hearing set for Friday in Wellton.
‘‘He is looking forward to his day in court. That’s all I can say right now,’’ Wayne's Yuma-based attorney, James Tilson, told the Yuma Sun. Two members of Wayne's 11-person entourage were also busted for alleged marijuana possession. Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Ramona Sanchez said nearly four ounces of pot, nearly an ounce of cocaine, 41 grams of Ecstasy, miscellaneous drug paraphernalia, $22,000 in cash and three guns were recovered from the suspects' bus. After the bus was pulled over for a routine check on Interstate 8, a drug dog alerted officers to the presence of possible substances.
While two of the firearms were legally registered to two of Wayne's friends, officers also turned up a .40-caliber pistol registered to Wayne in Florida, where he has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Authorities are investigating whether the hip-hopper violated Arizona weapons laws, Sanchez said.
Also still plaguing Wayne is a pending drug case in Atlanta, gun and pot charges in New York and a lawsuit brought by a Miami jewelry company that claims he has yet to pay for $146,000 worth of bling he purchased in October.
The New Orleans native has pleaded not guilty to three counts of possessing a controlled substance stemming from his August 2006 arrest in Atlanta after police allegedly found marijuana and more than 100 Xanax and hydrocodone, or cough suppressant, pills in his hotel room after being tipped off by a hotel employee.
In the meantime, the mix-tape master, who lately has made a career of guest-rapping on other artists' albums, is putting the finishing touches on Tha Carter III, which now has a Mar. 18 release date. Wayne was named MVP of the Year at the 2007 BET Hip-Hop Awards in October and shared the Alltel People's Choice Award with Birdman for their collaboration on the single "Stuntin' Like My Daddy."
Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=a00be515-7fac-49a6-8fb1-b795a0dd509e&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories
Writers Drop Demand and a Picket Plan
In a major step toward ending a 12-week walkout, Hollywood’s striking writers on Tuesday dropped their demand for extended jurisdiction over reality and animation work and agreed to extend informal talks with Hollywood production companies, even as they decided not to picket next month’s Grammy Awards telecast.
The decision to drop the jurisdiction demand removed a major impediment to reaching a deal similar to last week’s settlement between the production companies and the Directors Guild of America. In a letter to members, leaders of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East said they would continue efforts to organize reality and animation writers, but would do so apart from the contract negotiation.
In a vote disclosed Tuesday, the West Coast guild also elected not to picket the Grammy ceremony, scheduled for broadcast by CBS on Feb. 10, though it is unclear whether writers will be allowed to work for the show.
The decision set off a collective sigh of relief from the beleaguered music industry, which had feared that picket lines would deter artists from performing on or attending this year’s Grammies, a crucial promotional platform for record labels and artists, and for CBS.
The writers’ vote follows a fierce — and public — campaign by Neil Portnow, the chief executive of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which organizes the awards, to allow the show to proceed unimpeded.
“This really creates a comfortable environment for everybody to come,” Mr. Portnow said. Though the writers guild had not reached a separate interim agreement that would allow its writers to work on the Grammy telecast, Mr. Portnow said, “we’ve got time” until the Feb. 10 program and added that, “with all due respect to the writers, we’re really about the music.”
Formal negotiations between writers and producers broke off more than six weeks ago. Since last week, ferocious debate has swirled within the writers’ guilds as to whether they should pursue an immediate agreement patterned on the directors’ deal.
Writers as prominent as John Wells, a former president of the Writers Guild of America West, have argued in favor of the directors’ agreement, which addresses issues similar to those facing writers, especially regarding compensation for digital media. But leaders of the writers’ guilds and of the allied Screen Actors Guild have cautioned against knee-jerk acceptance of the directors’ terms, which, among other things, pegged the residual for electronic downloads of films and television shows at roughly double the rate paid when programming is distributed on DVD.
Patric M. Verrone, current president of the West Coast guild, had been a staunch advocate of the demand for reality and animation jurisdiction. But production companies argued that they were powerless to grant it, in part because many writers in that area are already covered by other unions.
At Paramount Pictures’ lot on Melrose Avenue, an all-day writers’ march on Tuesday sought to associate the guild’s fight with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s union struggles. As of 10 a.m., about 200 writers and supporters were walking a 35-minute circuit around the studio’s perimeter. Pickets had been asked by their leaders to bring drums, guitars, tambourines and American flags to the march, to give it what the guild’s Web site called a “festive” air. At midmorning, however, most marchers carried only their standard placards.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/business/media/23strike.html?ex=1358830800&en=5b2c79be4074ef0b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
‘No Country’ and ‘Blood’ Lead Oscar Nominations
Roll out the black carpet. A lineup of films bleak in tone and worldview will take center stage at the 80th annual Academy Awards next month, with critical darlings like “There Will Be Blood,” “No Country for Old Men” and “Michael Clayton” dominating the nominations, including the best picture category.
“It’s tapping into a generalized fear that people have about the state of the world they are living in,” said Scott Rudin, the veteran producer who has credits on both “No Country for Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood.” He added, “There is just that zeitgeisty thing that happens sometimes. It is more alchemy than planning.”
“No Country for Old Men,” about the ruthless aftermath of a botched drug deal, and “There Will Be Blood,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a scheming oilman in an epic about American capitalism, each nabbed eight nominations. Besides best picture, both movie’s directors — Joel and Ethan Coen for “No Country for Old Men” and Paul Thomas Anderson for “There Will Be Blood” — received nominations.
Warner Brothers pulled off a coup with seven nominations for “Michael Clayton,” which stars George Clooney as a corporate fixer mired in dirty dealings. The movie captured nominations in almost every major category, including best picture, best director (Tony Gilroy), best actor (Mr. Clooney), best supporting actor (Tom Wilkinson), best supporting actress (Tilda Swinton) and best original screenplay (Mr. Gilroy).
But apparently even Oscar has his limits when it comes to dark and depressing. “Into the Wild,” a lengthy look at a man’s journey to the Alaska wilderness and ultimate death by starvation, was largely shut out, despite aggressive campaigning. The film, directed and written by Sean Penn, received a lone nod in the major categories, for Hal Holbrook as best supporting actor. (The Oscar nomination was Mr. Holbrook’s first.)
A little sunshine did manage to break through. “Juno,” the runaway independent hit ($87.1 million and counting) about a sardonic teenager who gives her baby up for adoption, secured four nominations, including best picture, best director, best actress and best original screenplay.
“The producers are just crying,” said Jason Reitman, the film’s director, from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be sitting here and have my named called.”
Reached in London, Ellen Page, the 20-year-old star, said of her nomination: “It’s crazy! It’s absolutely crazy!”
“I act because I love to act,” she added, “and when something like this happens, it just obviously helps me immensely.”
“Atonement,” a British romance about lives that are altered (mostly for the worse) by a lying teenager, received seven nominations, including best picture. It was shut out of most of the other major categories, however.
The bulk of the nominations were not a surprise. Mr. Day-Lewis, whose gritty portrayal of an oil man in “There Will Be Blood” has already won him a wheelbarrow full of accolades, continued his march to the ultimate awards podium with a best actor nomination.
He will square off against Mr. Clooney; Johnny Depp, nominated for his murderous barber in “Sweeney Todd”; Viggo Mortensen, singled out for his murderous Russian-mob chauffeur in “Eastern Promises”; and Tommy Lee Jones, noted for his “In the Valley of Elah” portrayal of a police officer grappling with the aftermath of his son’s return from Iraq.
Julie Christie, of “Away From Her,” and Marion Cotillard, of “La Vie en Rose,” will vie for the academy’s top female acting honor. (They won best actress plaudits at the Golden Globe Awards for those films.) Joining them will be Ms. Page; Cate Blanchett, nominated for her royal reprisal in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”; and Laura Linney, for her role in “The Savages” as a self-involved single woman who must deal with her father’s deteriorating health.
Ms. Blanchett is the first actress to be nominated for playing the same person in two different films, according to the academy. On Tuesday she was also the only acting nominee to pop up in multiple categories, receiving a best supporting actress nod for playing Bob Dylan in the Weinstein Company’s “I’m Not There.”
Commercial success mattered little to voters, a shift from some recent years. For example, “American Gangster,” the Ridley Scott epic starring Denzel Washington as a Harlem heroin kingpin, received attention in only two categories: best supporting actress (for the veteran Ruby Dee) and art direction.
In the historically male-dominated field of screenwriting, four women made the cut this year. “It’s a huge sign of progress,” said Nancy Oliver, nominated for best original screenplay for “Lars and the Real Girl.” Of her nod, Ms. Oliver said: “Two things that I think are fundamental to human experience are loneliness and kindness. Both are absolutely at the heart of the movie.”
With the exception of Ms. Dee and Javier Bardem, singled out for best supporting actor for his creepily cold killer in “No Country for Old Men,” the nomination roster notably lacked diversity. The nominations are the opening pistol shot for the movie industry’s most important contest. As always, the Oscars have the power to catapult a niche film into the mainstream and rewrite Hollywood’s pecking order.
“We will have a solid month where these nominations will make a significant difference in the potential for these films, both domestically and internationally,” said Daniel Battsek, the president of Miramax. The studio, a division of the Walt Disney Company, received 21 nominations across four movies: “No Country for Old Men,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Gone Baby Gone” and “There Will Be Blood” (for which it holds international distribution rights).
But for the first time in decades nobody is certain what the terrain ahead, never mind Oscar’s finish line, will look like.
The screenwriters’ strike, now in its third month, has thrown the road to the Oscars into chaos. The Golden Globes imploded earlier this month after the Writers Guild of America promised to picket the ceremony, frightening away nominees and presenters and forcing the organizers to hold a glorified news conference instead. The guild has promised to give the academy the same treatment.
The academy on Tuesday said its show would go on, although it was not sure in what fashion. Sid Ganis, president of the academy, said several contingency plans were being considered in case the writers’ strike was not settled (or at least nearing settlement) in time for the ceremony, but declined to provide details.
The selections made for a bad day at ABC, which is scheduled to broadcast the ceremony on Feb. 24, with Jon Stewart, the political satirist and star of “The Daily Show,” as host. The network has already been on tenterhooks over how the writers’ strike will play out. Now it faces a nightmare situation of persuading viewers to celebrate a batch of difficult films that most have never seen. (The expected pontificating on the strike from the podium probably won’t help increase audience excitement.)
In general, the telecast’s success in the ratings turns on the popularity of the movies the academy chooses to honor. When the low-budget film “Crash” won the big prize in 2006 — also the first year Mr. Stewart served as host of the ceremony — about 38.9 million viewers watched, one of the smallest turnouts for the so-called Super Bowl for Women since Nielsen Media Research started delivering overnight ratings. In contrast, when the immensely popular “Titanic” swept the awards in 1998, more than 55 million people tuned in.
On the other hand, there may be pent-up viewer interest in Hollywood glamour because of the absence of the Golden Globes. An ABC spokeswoman declined to comment.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/movies/awardsseason/23osca.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&ei=5088&en=58c8e7f7b80212f7&ex=1358830800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
The Moment of Truth- Extended Preview
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Heath Ledger is found dead in US
Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a residence in Manhattan.
"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," the New York Police Department said, adding that pills were found near the body. Police are reportedly investigating if the Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain, died of a drug overdose.
Father Kim Ledger said that the death of his 28-year-old "dearly loved son" had been "tragic" and "accidental". Speaking in the actor's home town of Perth, in Western Australia, Mr Ledger said that his son had been a "down to earth, generous, kind hearted, life-loving, unselfish individual".
"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life that few had the pleasure of truly knowing him." The 28-year-old was found dead in the flat at 1526 (2026 GMT) on Tuesday.
Split
New York police said they did not suspect foul play and that his body had been discovered with prescription pills nearby. "We are investigating the possibility of an overdose," police spokesman Paul Browne told Reuters news agency. "There were pills within the vicinity of the bed."
The BBC's Matthew Price in New York says the exact cause of death was still being investigated, but suicide has not been ruled out. Police, journalists and crowds of fans are outside the Broome Street apartment in the fashionable SoHo area.
Investigators said Ledger had been due to have a massage at the flat. His family said Heath was "generous" and "life-loving". The housekeeper went to tell him the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon.
The medical examiner's office said an autopsy would be carried out on Wednesday.
In September the Perth-born actor split from his girlfriend Michelle Williams, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter, Matilda. Williams played his wife in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain.
Hollywood Mourning
Hollywood's hierarchy were quick to offer their tributes and mourn Ledger's death.
Terrible to see his young daughter lose her father. I've been looking forward to seeing him in the new Batman movie
Mark, Houston
"I had such great hope for him," said Oscar-winning actor-director Mel Gibson. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss."
In 2001, Mr Gibson had cast Ledger to play his son in the American war of independence epic, The Patriot.
"What a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to his family," said fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman.
American actor John Travolta, who was in Australia at the time of Ledger's death, said the young actor had been one of his favourite performers.
"His abilities are rare...it's a tremendous loss," said Mr Travolta.
Brokeback Breakthrough
Ledger had split up with fellow Brokeback star Michelle Williams. Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee said Ledger's performance had been a "miracle" of acting, echoing a young Marlon Brando.
He won an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy in the film but the award went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his role as Truman Capote. Ledger starred in I'm Not There, as one of several actors in a role representing singer Bob Dylan.
He also plays the Joker in yet-to-be-released Batman film, The Dark Knight. Ledger also starred in A Knight's Tale and The Patriot, and played a suicidal son in Monster's Ball.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
HSM Graduating in Big-Screen Style
Production on High School Musical 3: Senior Year, the first big-screen installment of the smash-hit Disney franchise, is expected to kick off this spring with the entire cast intact, Walt Disney Studios announced Monday.
So, apparently, the pending money matters have been settled and image issues addressed since the wait-and-see period following the record-breaking premiere of HSM2 in August, during which it was unclear whether Disney would rehire Vanessa Hudgens or shell out big bucks for Zac Efron, whose asking price went way up after he became Hollywood's next big thing.
In September, the Disney Channel refused to comment on Hudgens' future with the franchise after a few underage nude self-portraits the 19-year-old took for a boyfriend hit the Internet.
Efron inked a reported $3 million deal in November to return as Troy Bolton for the theatrical sequel, while Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale were also said to have received pay hikes, although they wouldn't dish on the exact dollar amount.
Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and Lucas Grabeel will also be heading back to East High for their senior year, and director Kenny Ortega will once again helm the song-and-dance action.
"We're thrilled to have all of the talented cast members who helped to make High School Musical such an incredible phenomenon joining us for this big screen motion picture event," Oren Aviv, president of motion picture production for Disney, said in a statement.
The threequel will "take these popular characters in some intriguing and entertaining new directions," Aviv continued. "Clearly, the music, spirit and personalities in these films have touched audiences in a very special way, and this latest musical adventure delivers lots of great new entertainment on an even grander scale."
The films, seen by more than 250 million people around the world, have certainly touched people's wallets. The HSM soundtrack was the top-selling album of 2006, and Josh Groban's Noël was the only album keeping HSM2's tunes from the top spot last year.
The tween-friendly saga has also spawned a book series, a concert tour, videogames, an ice show and a well-received stage musical.
HSM3: Senior Year will find Troy and Gabriella stressing out over their impending separation once graduation sends everybody on their merry ways. Sure enough, East High's senior class will stage one last musical "reflecting their experiences, hopes and fears about the future," according to the studio's plot synopsis.
America Loves Ellen, Denzel
The Harris Poll's annual rundowns of America's favorite TV and film stars is out and, for the first time in six years, Winfrey is not number one in tube nation.
The list was dominated by talk-show personalities and funnymen, with Jay Leno at three, Jon Stewart at five, David Letterman and Stephen Colbert tied at eight and Ray Romano and Homer Simpson tied at nine. Bill O'Reilly, who is funny in his own way, checked in at number eight.
House's Hugh Laurie was the only drama-series star to crack the top 10, holding tight at number four.
Colbert and Simpson were newbies to this year's list, coming at the expense of Kiefer Sutherland and Conan O’Brien.
Over on the movie poll, Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks finished first and second for the second consecutive year.
Powered by his Pirates of the Caribbean finale and Sweeney Todd singing debut, Johnny Depp shot up to number three, from number seven in 2007.
Hanks' Charlie Wilson's War partner Julia Roberts was the highest charting woman at number four, one slot ahead of Will Smith, who just added to his box-office legend with the record-breaking success of I Am Legend.
John Wayne, dead since 1979, continued his posthumous popularity, ranking number six among movie stars. He has registered in the top 10 every year since the poll began in 1994. He beat out alive-and-kicking stars Matt Damon (tied for seventh with the retired Sean Connery), Sandra Bullock (ninth) and Bruce Willis (tenth).
Dropping off the list this time around: Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, George Clooney and Harrison Ford.
The movie poll was conducted between Dec. 4 and Dec. 12 and based on a sample of 1,114 U.S. adults.
Here's a recap of Harris' 2008 favorite TV and movie stars polls:
America's Favorite TV Personality
1. Ellen DeGeneres
America's Favorite Movie Star
1. Denzel Washington
Zac Efron Busts a Surgical Move
Zac Efron's style has been cramped.
The High School Musical star underwent an emergency appendectomy Tuesday at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, E! News has confirmed.
"He had his appendix removed and is recuperating," Efron's rep said.
On Monday, Walt Disney Studios confirmed that the 20-year-old heartthrob and costars Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Monqiue Coleman and Corbin Bleu will be returning for the theatrical sequel HSM3: Senior Year. Production is set to kick off this spring with director Kenny Ortega once again behind the camera.
"I am the luckiest guy in the world, and I know it," said Ortega, who last week scored a Directors Guild of America award nomination for his work on HSM2. "This will be our last time together, and I love working with these kids so much. It's going to be great."
Efron, who already knows his way around the big screen thanks to his breakout role in Hairspray, put his mainstream success into perspective in Details magazine's January-February issue.
"It's weird, I don't feel like I deserve any of the attention," the actor said. "There's really nothing but one audition for a Disney Channel movie that separates me from 2,000 other brown-haired, blue-eyed guys in L.A., you know?"
Former Child Star Renfro Dead
Brad Renfro, the former one-to-watch whose acting work in recent years was overshadowed by reports of drug abuse and legal troubles, was found dead Tuesday morning at his Los Angeles home. He was 25.
Renfro, who made his big-screen debut opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon in the adaptation of the John Grisham bestseller The Client when he was 12, worked steadily over the years but never quite recaptured the buzz that surrounded him as a child star.
There's no word yet on cause of death, but Renfro was known to have struggled with substance abuse in the past.
His most recent public behavior, however, suggested that the Knoxville, Tennessee, native was working hard to get his life back on track.
About a month after agreeing to enter a drug-diversion program in March 2006 in order to avoid jail time on an attempted heroin-possession rap, he told reporters that he had 30 days of hard-won sobriety and was "tired of paying the consequences" for his destructive behavior.
He had previously served 10 days in jail on an unrelated DUI charge.
"It wasn't as bad as I had feared it would be," Renfro said, referring to the court-ordered detox program. "It's helped me greatly. It's definitely been an eye-opener...I'm going to stay clean, and, in turn, it will help me spiritually and with work. It's going to help me in all phases of my life."
The actor had recently wrapped shooting on the feature adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' 1995 novel The Informers, costarring Winona Ryder, Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke and Brandon Routh.
Most recently, Renfro was spied as a troubled murder suspect in a 2006 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and he appeared in the 2005 time-travel thriller The Jacket with Adrien Brody.
Even as a tween star, Renfro tended to stick to the dark side when it came to choosing roles.
After a bright-eyed turn as Huckleberry Finn in the Disney film Tom and Huck, he went on to play a child-abuse victim in Sleepers and a boy who learns that his friendly old neighbor played by Ian McKellen is actually a Nazi war criminal in Apt Pupil.
His other film credits include Bully, Ghost World and a number of lesser-known indie projects.
By
Natalie Finn
Tue, 15 Jan 2008
04:09:55 PM PST
Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=a957c8d8-3439-417c-8b03-5d0dd9ca4756&entry=index&sid=rss_topstories&utm_source=eonline&utm_medium=rssfeeds&utm_campaign=rss_topstories
