Tag Archives: bbc

SF Film Fest Winners, Cannes Bashes, Kutcher Kerfuffles, Overpaid Execs: Biz Break

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The San Francisco International Film Festival honored its winners and two first-ever celeb-filled bashes are planned for Cannes (or Cannes adjacent). Also in Thursday morning’s Biz Break, a list of way overpaid media heads, Ashton Kutcher lands in hot water, a cinema chain goes up for sale, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk moments, a ‘Screamin” sale and more. 55th San Francisco International Film Festival Prize Winners Portuguese director Gonçalo Tocha’s It’s the Earth Not the Moon won best documentary feature at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival Wednesday night, while Israeli director Nadav Lapid ( Policeman ) won the festival’s New Directors Prize and Eran Kolirin won the critic-centered FIPRESCI award for The Exchange . SFIFF, the oldest film festival in the Americas, awarded over $70,000 in prizes to its winners. For a full list of winners, visit their site . President Clinton and Prince Albert’s Big Bash Headed to Cannes this year? If so, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and the William J. Clinton Foundation are throwing a benefit ball at the Hotel de Paris in the principality on May 23. The party, titled “Nights in Monaco” will “transport guests back to an era of allure and prestige – an era known as the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood,'” organizers said. The ball will be a fundraiser for both foundations. Cannes to Honor Sean Penn and Others for Haiti Charity Work If you can’t make the Prince Albert/President Clinton soiree, then perhaps check out a Cannes-sponsored fund raising event (a festival first). “Haiti: Carnival in Cannes” will support charities in the earthquake- and cholera-ravaged Caribbean nation supported by Sean Penn (J/P HRO), Paul Haggis (Artists for Peace and Justice) and Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova (Artists for Peace and Justice). Around the ‘net… Ashton Kutcher’s ‘Racist’ Ad Dropped An online potato chip advertisement featuring the 34-year-old actor in brown make-up portraying a Bollywood film producer was removed from YouTube and Facebook following viewer complaints, BBC reports . Cablevision Puts Clearview Up for Sale The company plans to sell its Clearview Cinemas which includes 45 locations and 230 screens, Variety reports . Media Moguls with “Out-of-Whack” Compensation Deadline has released its second annual list of media CEO’s who receive disproportionately high salaries compared to other top execs at their companies,and those riding high include Discovery Communications’ David Zaslav, AMC’s Joshua Sapan, Dish Network’s Joseph Clayton, Martha Stewart Living Optimedia’s Martha Stewart and CBS’ Leslie Moonves. See the full list for more details. Avengers star Ruffalo Claims to Having ‘Hulk Moments’ It’s never a bad marketing plan for actors to claim a likeness to their characters, especially in the superhero department. Mark Ruffalo told the AP “When I was a young actor, if you came to my apartment, you would have seen pictures and photos hung in the most bizarre places, where they were covering holes in the wall from auditions that I didn’t get…” The Scream Fetches $120M Norwegian painter Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ sold for $119,922,500 at Sotheby’s on Wednesday. Only eight other works have sold at auction for more than $80 million, the AP reports .

The rest is here:
SF Film Fest Winners, Cannes Bashes, Kutcher Kerfuffles, Overpaid Execs: Biz Break

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Strange Fruit Tells the Epic, Enthralling Story of The Beatles’ Failed Apple Records

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The film : Strange Fruit: The Beatles’ Apple Records (2012), available on DVD via Chrome Dreams Why It’s an Inessential Essential : Clocking in at a mammoth 162 minutes, Strange Fruit: The Beatles’ Apple Records is an exhaustive new documentary about the short-lived record and film label that the Beatles used to release such artists as Badfinger and James Taylor. And while the absence of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney and the lack of archival interview footage of the Beatles is striking (John Lennon only chimes in around the 135-minute mark), that’s also sort of liberating: The film takes a semi-critical look at why Apple, a label that was meant to have established artists promote new artists, never really took off. One could easily accuse talking heads like The Iveys’ bassist Ron Griffiths of having an axe to grind. Griffiths bad-mouthed Apple and said he was disappointed in their non-existent promotion of the band. But others, like Mojo Magazine’s Park Paytress, Apple biographer Stefan Granados and Beatles biographer Chris Ingham, all clearly know their stuff and hold no grudges. They also all have their own unique takes on the artists and history of the Beatles (Paytress is especially fond of Yoko Ono’s debut album Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band). Ultimately, Strange Fruit works because the filmmakers don’t have to be beholden to the Beatles’ sides of the story. That approach is almost immediately rewarding, too: The film quickly establishes that part of the reason why Apple was created was to help the Beatles pay less tax money than they otherwise would have had to. Apple Records’ financial failure is, after all, mostly due to creative mismanagement. It’s great to see Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland defuse tension by saying that he’s not mad at the Beatles but rather at the music industry in general. But it’s also more directly the Fab Four’s fault for not following through on their ideas and leaving almost all of their new artists in the lurch by not properly promoting them. How the DVD Makes the Case for the Film : There’s an interesting supplementary feature on the DVD where Stephen Friedland (aka: Brute Force) provides an emblematic example of why Apple artists like himself never really had a chance. Friedland was mystifyingly approached by George Harrison in 1968 to release “King of Fuh,” a bratty and deliberately button-pushing song that Friedland thought, at the time, was a sign of his “genius.” Along with McCartney, Harrison at the time was the only Beatle to take Apple’s mandate to discover and develop new talent seriously. But, after basically stumbling upon Friedland’s album thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend, Harrison casually called up Friedland, saying, “‘Hello, this is George Harrison. Just want you to know that you have a record on Apple Records.’” Because of the song’s risqué nature (Geddit? “Fuh King?”), both the BBC and FCC refused to play it. So as the documentary filmmakers relate through intertitles, even though Harrison “add[ed] string arrangements from the London Philharmonic,” EMI, the Beatles’ own record label, “refused to press or distribute [the single],” and, “it remained unreleased for years except for a small pressing by Apple of 3,000 copies.” Other Interesting Trivia : Of Strange Fruit ’s many interesting anecdotes, some of the most interesting are the ones about the artists that crossed paths but didn’t make establish any kind of working relationship with Apple or the Beatles. For example, apparently David Bowie and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were both considered to be Apple acts but didn’t quite make it that far. In the long run, that may not be such a bad thing… PREVIOUS INESSENTIAL ESSENTIALS The Last Temptation of Christ The Sitter Citizen Ruth The Broken Tower Dogville Night Call Nurses Simon Abrams is a NY-based freelance film critic whose work has been featured in outlets like The Village Voice, Time Out New York, Vulture and Esquire. Additionally, some people like his writing, which he collects at Extended Cut .

See more here:
Strange Fruit Tells the Epic, Enthralling Story of The Beatles’ Failed Apple Records

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Hobbit 48 FPS Preview Divides Audiences at CinemaCon

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Unveiling 10 minutes of Hobbit footage in 3-D at the revolutionary frame rate of 48 frames per second (vs. the standard 24 fps), as Warner Bros. did Tuesday at CinemaCon, should have been the first big buzz moment for Peter Jackson ‘s return to Middle Earth. The immediate reaction to the presentation, however, was anything but good news for the studio or for proponents of the kind of cutting-edge high frame rate cinema technology Jackson and folks like James Cameron and Douglas Trumbull have been championing as the future of film. Instead, it left members of the blogger corps. calling it ” jarring ,” ” non-cinematic ,” and ” like a made for television BBC movie ,” predicting that audiences will be split in embracing the brave new advance. The footage, preceded by a taped introduction by Jackson, drew breathless raves for portions of aerial footage whisking, in the style of an IMAX nature doc, over wide landscape shots that seemed to prompt unanimous praise. Then came the character footage, which told another story: At its increased frame rate, Jackson’s 48-fps scenes were reportedly almost too realistic, approximating what many compared to an HD TV or television soap-like quality. Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci described the effect thusly : …Here’s what The Hobbit looked like to me: a hi-def version of the 1970s I, Claudius . It is drenched in a TV-like – specifically 70s era BBC – video look. People on Twitter have asked if it has that soap opera look you get from badly calibrated TVs at Best Buy, and the answer is an emphatic YES. Slashfilm’s Peter Sciretta concurred : The movement of the actors looked… strange. Almost as if the performances had been partly sped up. But the dialogue matched the movement of the lips, so it wasn’t an effect of speed-ramping… It didn’t look cinematic. Variety’s Josh Dickey was a bit more reserved in his reaction: 48 fps has an immediacy that is almost jarring. And lighting it just right will be a learning process, as 3D was and still is…48 fps also, unfortunately, looks a bit like television. But it does bring 3D to a different level. And The L.A. Times’ Amy Kaufman called the feel of 48fps “hyper-realistic,” quoting one anonymous projectionist in attendance (“It was too accurate — too clear”) as well as an unnamed film buyer who wasn’t quite ready to discount The Hobbit ‘s playability: “The question is if people want to watch movies that really look real or not. I was expecting a subtle difference, but this was dramatic,” he said. “Might that work against a narrative? I don’t know. But I’m not going to judge it based on 10 minutes.” Stay tuned for more from the Hobbit camp as Warner Bros. and Jackson regroup from the CinemaCon blow, and in the meantime sound off below: Does 48 fps still seem like the future of cinema?

Read the original here:
The Hobbit 48 FPS Preview Divides Audiences at CinemaCon

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Justin Bieber Writes Song About Paternity Scandal

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘I wrote about that situation,’ singer admits during an album listening session Tuesday. By James Dinh Justin Bieber Photo: Lester Cohen/ WireImage Justin Bieber isn’t leaving behind last year’s paternity scandal until he shares his two cents on the allegation — musically, at least. Just a day after his Twitter jab at 20-year-old Mariah Yeater , the pop superstar held a listening session for his new album, Believe, and revealed that the paternity case is just one of many subject matters he covered on the project. According to the BBC , Bieber said his inspirations included “that girl — Mariah Yeater — who said she was going to have my baby,” adding: “I wrote about that situation.” When asked to choose his favorite song on the June 19 release , Bieber struggled to answer. “Every song has a piece of me; it’s hard to pick,” he said. “I wrote almost all of them or co-wrote them.” Yeater definitely played a big part in Bieber’s 2011. The California woman kept the singer at the top of the headlines when she alleged he was the father of her then-3-month-old child. Bieber’s baby-mama-drama track is just one of 40 songs he’s recorded for the LP, which also reportedly features collaborations with Taylor Swift, Ludacris and Kanye West. In another interview during his promotional blitz, the singer dished details about his duet with Drake, even revealing the title of the star-studded track. “The song’s called ‘Right Here’ and it’s a smash!” he told Capital FM . “People are gonna love it. It just rides so smoothly.” Two acts Beliebers won’t see on the album are One Direction and the Wanted, as the star denied rumors of hitting the studio with the teen heartthrobs. What do you think Justin’s album is going to sound like? Share your thoughts below! Related Artists Justin Bieber

Here is the original post:
Justin Bieber Writes Song About Paternity Scandal

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hollywood, Music

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

The Muhfuggin Side-Eye: Rugby Player Says Having A Stroke Made Him Gay…

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Child please. *Ochocinco voice* Rugby Player Claims Suffering A Stroke Made Him Gay A year ago, Chris Birch, 26, was a 19st beer-swilling athlete from the Welsh valleys who loved motorbikes and was engaged to marry his girlfriend at the time. However, after suffering a stroke, he woke up to realise that he was no longer attracted to women. He has since slimmed down, quit his job in a bank to become a hairdresser and is engaged to another man. Reflecting on the dramatic change, Mr Birch, from Caerphilly, told the BBC: “The Chris I knew had gone and a new Chris sort of came along. I came to the realisation that the stroke had turned me gay. “I’m happier now than I ever have been, why would I want to change?” So, prior to having this stroke, you never considered having man meat in your mouth?? GTFHOWTBS! There are few known cases of a stroke turning a straight person gay, and major personality changes in stroke sufferers are rare. A change in sexual orientation in a stroke sufferer is a controversial issue that divides scientific opinion. Even Jak Powell, Birch’s fiancé, believes his partner may always have been gay. See there, even your MAN knows you need more people! Dr Qazi Rahman, an expert in human sexual orientation who has researched the neurological differences between gay and straight people, invited Mr Birch to undergo tests to see if he may have been born gay. He found that in half the tests, Mr Birch performed in the “expected direction” for a gay man, and for the other half was within the range of a straight man. “Expected direction”?? Wonder what GLAAD will have to say about this. Source More On Bossip! They Ruined It: Famous Attractive Men That Most Normal Women Still Wouldn’t Want To Chop Down Making It Rain On Them Hoes: Forbes Magazine Announces The Top 5 Wealthiest Artists In Hip-Hop Baby Mama Drama: Is Royce’s Ballin’ Boo Thang Creepin’ With His Baby Mama??? A Lil Tuesday Sultriness: Rihanna Puts Her Bikini Bawddyyy On Full Blast [Photos]

See the original post:
The Muhfuggin Side-Eye: Rugby Player Says Having A Stroke Made Him Gay…

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Hollywood, Hot Stuff

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Scissor Sisters: ‘Only The Horses’ Single Premiere!

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

http://www.youtube.com/v/SyiNc1JvjyQ

Read more here:

Check out the premiere of the Scissor Sisters‘ brand-new single “Only The Horses!” Lead singer Jake Shears called into BBC Radio 1 to debut the track on Fearne Cotton‘s show just moments ago. The upbeat number will serve as the groups first official single off their forthcoming album, Magic Hour, due out May 28th. Co-produced by Calvin Harris and Alex Ridha of Boys Noize, the piano driven and synth-heavy… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : ALI’S BlOg Discovery Date : 06/04/2012 01:31 Number of articles : 2

Scissor Sisters: ‘Only The Horses’ Single Premiere!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hot Stuff, TV, Videos

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

World Leaders Voice Their Fears Of Nuclear Terrorism

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

http://www.youtube.com/v/UJXXI3AEPU0

More here:

World Leaders: Nuclear Terrorism A ‘Grave Threat’ — BBC World leaders have called for closer co-operation to tackle the threat of nuclear terrorism at a summit on nuclear security in Seoul. A communique at the end of the summit reiterated a joint call to secure “vulnerable nuclear material”. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said nuclear terrorism remained a “grave threat”, while US President Barack… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : War News Updates Discovery Date : 27/03/2012 03:18 Number of articles : 2

World Leaders Voice Their Fears Of Nuclear Terrorism

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hot Stuff, TV, Videos

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Katy Perry Ditches The Crown And Bros Down In London

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Bigger Than the Sound takes you behind the scenes with Katy before her ‘Part of Me’ video debuts tonight at 7:23 p.m. on MTV. By James Montgomery Katy Perry in her “Part of Me” music video Photo: Capitol You might not see Katy Perry when she arrives on set, but you definitely hear her — and the whirl of humanity that surrounds her every step of the way. There are publicists and managers, stylists and makeup folks, at least one assistant, the odd journalist and a few rather fashionable gentlemen whose roles are not clearly defined (though they smoke cigarettes and usually speak French). And on Monday, when I met up with Katy in London, there was also a documentary crew in tow — two camera guys, a director and a field producer — bringing the sum total of her posse to 15. And they make their presence known from the second they descend on the scene, snapping Polaroids, hanging wardrobe, moving furniture, gabbing, texting, dabbing, smoking, quietly judging (I am nothing if not insecure). It’s a whoosh of activity that not only announces her arrival, but makes you realize that it truly takes an army to make the Katy Perry machine operate on a daily basis. At the center of it all, of course, is Katy herself, who today strides into the penthouse of London’s Corinthia Hotel wearing sunglasses, singing about fish filets (she’d just covered Jay-Z and Kanye’s “Paris” on BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge). Probably due to the past two years of her life, in which she rose from curio-case pop star to one of the most famous people on the planet, she seems completely oblivious to everything transpiring around her (or at least is used to it), and as she is encircled by her team, she’s still singing, her blue hair the only part of her that’s visible in the crowd. At this point, having spent enough time around the Britneys and Gagas of the world, I’m used to entourages — though Katy’s struck me as different. Maybe it’s the fact that her personal life has become very public, or that her every gesture is discussed ad infinitum on the Internet, but they seemed less like hired hands as an actual army, determined to protect their leader at all costs. They’re kind of like the Secret Service, only, you know, way more fabulous. Katy definitely knows this, as she explained during our interview — we’re premiering her brand-new “Part of Me” video tonight, which was the impetus for this chat — most of her favorite memories all involve her team. A recent one being the night she was reunited with some 40 members of her California Dreams Tour crew for a dinner that quickly devolved into an impromptu dance-off, which is why her neck was totally killing her on this day. She may be the queen bee, but she’s definitely not opposed to getting down and dirty with her drones. Not as if she’d ever refer to them as such. Though it’s impossible to truly get a read on anyone in an hour, I will say this about Katy Perry: Unlike Britney Spears or Lady Gaga — both of whom are plenty nice — she still seems like a pretty normal person, albeit one with blue hair. She screws around a lot (she jokingly threatened to punch me in the face if I kept screwing up my lines), displayed an impressive acumen for swearing and even worked the word “bro” into our conversation on at least six occasions. She spoke with great pride about the rigorous boot-camp training she underwent for the “Part of Me” video, even extolling the virtues of the MRE rations she dined on during production (“they tasted like a McRib!”). She can play the piano surprisingly well, as she displayed on the baby grand in our penthouse and openly pined for McNuggets (and if you’re keeping score at home, that’s the third time she referenced McDonald’s during our interview). She is, at this juncture in her career, still trying very hard to remain close to her roots, to the point where she keeps mentioning them when talking about making the follow-up to Teenage Dream. And she still seems determined to prove that all this success was not a fluke, mostly through sheer work. She’s currently promoting the reissue of Dream and has a 3-D concert film on deck after that. The next open spot in her schedule seems to be this summer, at which point she may “pull on a beanie and backpack across Europe” before getting to work on album number three. “Tireless” doesn’t seem to do her justice. Perhaps “driven” is the right term. Of course, one could wonder just how long all this normalcy can last, especially given everything that goes along with it (most folks I know certainly don’t travel with a documentary crew, after all). I’d wager she’s aware of that and hell-bent on proving that it can be done; that she can still have her McNuggets and eat them too. I wouldn’t bet against her, because she knows she’s got plenty of folks counting on her, and she’s determined to reciprocate their level of dedication. Just like you or me, she doesn’t want to let her loved ones down. Can Katy pull it off? We’ll all just have to wait and see. But if she does, the next time I catch up with her, there’s a pretty good chance her entourage will have doubled in size, meaning that you’ll know she’s arrived before she’s even in the building. And at that point, not only will she probably own several McDonald’s, but she’ll be able to staff them too. A girl can dream, after all. Don’t miss “MTV First: Katy Perry” tonight, when the pop star will debut her long-awaited video for “Part of Me” at 7:23 p.m. ET on MTV. Then head over to MTV.com for an exclusive 30-minute interview with Katy herself! Related Videos Get Ready For ‘MTV First: Katy Perry’ MTV News Extended Play: Katy Perry Related Photos The Evolution Of: Katy Perry

Read more from the original source:
Katy Perry Ditches The Crown And Bros Down In London

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hollywood, Music

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Girl: Toby Jones and Sienna Miller Recreate a Vintage Hitchcock-Hedren Moment, With Key Differences

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The BBC’s biopic The Girl aims to explore Alfred Hitchcock ‘s fascination with actress Tippi Hedren, and from the first image of Toby Jones as Hitch and Sienna Miller as his The Birds and Marnie muse this promises to be an intriguing watch. But mimicry/homage aside — as evidenced by the near-perfect recreation of Hitch & Hedren’s famous Birds promo photo — will The Gir l get everything right about their relationship? Like the fact that, as Hedren has been saying for years now, Hitch stalled her career because she turned him down? Hedren is a consultant on The Girl , one of two Hitchcock-centered features in the works (the other: Alfred Hitchcock And The Making Of Psycho , with Anthony Hopkins and Scarlett Johansson), which is directed by Julian Jarrold ( Kinky Boots , Red Riding 1974 ). Still, the Daily Mail reports , Hedren is worried the film won’t depict the extremes to which she had to be strong in the face of Hitchcock’s dominance and sexual advances. “I admired Hitch tremendously for his great talent and still do,” she said. “Yet, at the same time, I loathed him for his off-set behavior and the way he came on to me sexually…He was a great director – and he destroyed it all by his behavior when he got me alone.” “There were so many wonderful films we could have made together but it was all thrown away because of his mindless lust…I was a highly moral girl. I couldn’t submit to him no matter that he threatened and did ruin my career.” Exactly how deep into the Hitch-Hedren symbiotic relationship The Girl will go remains to be seen, but it would appear Jarrold’s paying painstaking attention to detail to some degree; compare the above first image from The Girl with the vintage Birds promo shot it mimics, from the wrinkle in Hitch’s brow to Hedren’s perfect blonde ‘do. What’s different, beside the angle of the prop bird at their feet and the color of Hedren’s pumps? Jones’ and Miller’s expressions are decidedly not as forcedly sunny as those of their counterparts, and she sits angled away from the director, all of which suggests there’s more stormy unrest behind the scenes between the two than seen in the original picture. [ Daily Mail via The Playlist ]

See the rest here:
The Girl: Toby Jones and Sienna Miller Recreate a Vintage Hitchcock-Hedren Moment, With Key Differences

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

BBC News mashup finds parallel universe between lines

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

http://www.youtube.com/v/j-kbMF1GF2A

More here:

Cassetteboy vs. The News: “There’s been a shocked response around the world to video footage appearing to show U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urinating on Boris Johnson.” [YouTube via Metafilter] Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Boing Boing Discovery Date : 22/02/2012 16:15 Number of articles : 2

BBC News mashup finds parallel universe between lines

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Celebrities, Gossip, Hot Stuff, TV, Videos

Tagged , , , , , , ,