May 31, 2011
U2 were in need of a spelling lesson at a weekend concert in Winnipeg, according to the CBC.
The superstar rock band was playing for more than 50,000 fans at the capital city’s Canad Inns Stadium on Sunday night, and unfortunately, someone on the crew had spelled the city’s name wrong on the big video screen.
A scrolling message, played before the band came on, referred to the city as “Winipeg.” The screen also incorrectly labeled Manitoba as a state and not a province.
Some people took to Twitter to good-naturedly point out the errors.
“So, according to #U2, the city name is Winipeg and Manitoba is a State. I’m learning so much today,” wrote one person. “U2 spelled Winnipeg wrong on the jumbotron (winipeg) and referred to Manitoba as a state,” wrote another. “Oh well, we will forgive them for that.”
When the band took the stage, frontman Bono acknowledged the mistakes, greeting the crowd with, “Hello Winnipeg, with two Ns.”
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May 31, 2011
Is Tupac Shakur alive and living in New Zealand? That was the claim made in a news story posted on American TV network PBS’s official website.
The blatantly untrue story – Tupac was murdered in Las Vegas in1996 – was posted by hackers angered over a recent report on the PBS program Frontline about Wikileaks.
Billboard reports that PBS has confirmed their site for the PBS NewsHour program had been hacked. The program’s Twitter account posted: “If you missed it: our site has been accessed by hackers. Thanks for staying with us.”
A group calling itself LulzSec has claimed responsibility for the hack, claiming the attack was a response to Frontline’s profile of Wikileaks and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
“From our point of view, we just see it as a disappointing and irresponsible act, especially since we have been very open to publishing criticism of the film … and the film included other points of view,” Frontline executive producer David Fanning tells Billboard.
“This kind of action is irresponsible and chilling.”
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May 31, 2011
Is Johnny Depp the greatest star of his generation?
That’s what director Rob Marshall thinks – and he should know, as the pair worked long hours together on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
Immediately after wrapping that picture, Marshall asked Depp to star in his upcoming remake of the classic detective story, The Thin Man. The director tells the Los Angeles Times he did so because Depp has the star quality of Hollywood’s greatest leading men.
“He’s as vivid as those great stars of the past, Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable and Errol Flynn,” Marshall tells the paper. “Many, many, many years from now, when people look at this generation of Hollywood, he will be considered the great star of this era.”
Marshall says what sets Depp apart from the rest is his willingness to take chances and his command of the craft of acting.
“He’s his own thing and he takes major chances every single time he makes a film,” he says. “He’s like a Rudolph Valentino. He has such a command of expression without words. The humour and the feelings he can convey with his face alone is extraordinary.”
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May 31, 2011
One of the most controversial films of all time is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a special edition release on Blu-ray.
Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange shocked audiences when it debuted in 1971, with accusations that the film’s violence might incite impressionable viewers. Though regarded by many today as a classic, viewers remain divided over its depiction of the rapes and murders committed by its protagonist, Alex, played by Malcolm McDowell.
To commemorate the anniversary, Warner Home Video is releasing a 40th Anniversary Edition of the picture on Blu-ray, stacked with new bonus features, including the documentaries Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures and O Lucky Malcolm!
McDowell tells ComingSoon.net that when he was shooting the picture, he never realized how controversial it would end up being.
“I didn’t even think it was that controversial,” he tells the site. “This was such a great book and of course when you’re making it, you’re not really thinking that it’s very violent. I wasn’t anyway. People say, “Well, when you were kicking the tramp…” Well, it was actually a stuntman and I’m just making sure I hit the pad, so you’re just thinking of the technical side of it, you’re not really thinking of the emotional side. But it does pack a big punch.”
The 40th Anniversary Edition of A Clockwork Orange is available now.
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May 31, 2011
Peter Jackson has finally revealed the subtitles for his upcoming epic Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit.
The director has already let it be known that he plans to split J. R. R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel into two parts – creating new titles for each half. Now Empire Online reports that the full titles for both halves have finally been chosen.
Part one, which is due to be released December 14, 2012, will be called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Part two, scheduled for release the following year on December 13, 2013, will be known as The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
Jackson has also begun to fulfill a promise made to fans by answering their questions about the upcoming adventures on his Facebook page.
Responding to a query regarding whether the fabled “White Council” will appear in the flicks, Jackson replies that the esteemed circle of Elves and Wizards who keep the peace in Middle Earth will in fact, appear in the film.
“I’m not going to say just what and when, but I will confirm that both the White Council and Dol Guldur will feature in the movies,” Jackson writes. “And not just in one scene either. Just how to visualise it has been a challenge, but fortunately Alan Lee and John Howe went crazy with ideas, and it should look pretty cool.”
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May 31, 2011
Incarcerated rapper T.I. is either feeling generous or gunning for brownie points. Either way, 14 of his fellow inmates at the Forrest City Correctional Facility in Forrest City, Arkansas, reaped the benefits when he sponsored a bus trip for 46 of their family members to visit the prison for Memorial Day weekend.
T.I., who is serving 11 months for a probation violation after an L.A. drug arrest, explained the decision to help out in a statement obtained by MTV News.
“I’ve been blessed to receive tons and tons of mail from my fans, family and friends, as well as get visits on a regular basis. Unfortunately some guys aren’t as fortunate,” T.I. said. “There are a lot of good dudes in here that haven’t been able to see their loved ones in years. Their families can’t afford the trip so I wanted to help out.”
Family and friends who took part in the bus trip, dubbed “To See a Love One,” boarded a chartered bus in Atlanta and Alabama on Saturday, May 28, and visited the prison on Sunday and Monday.
T.I. also served nine months in 2009 after he struck a plea deal regarding a 2007 gun case. In 2010, he and his wife were arrested in Los Angeles for a driving violation and charged with drug possession. The drug charges were dropped, but the rapper was found to be in violation of his probation and sent back to prison.
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May 31, 2011
The family of a stuntman injured during the shooting of The Hangover Part II has blasted the film’s producers for using footage of the stunt that went wrong in the movie’s trailer.
Stuntman Scott McLean was working as a stunt double for star Ed Helms last December when he filmed a scene in which he sticks his head out a car window just before the car is hit by a truck. The accident – the car was intended to swerve – resulted in a brain injury for McLean and a coma that lasted weeks.
McLean’s family tells Australia’s Sun-Herald that using footage of the accident in the trailer is insensitive.
“To have that scene used in the preview is a real kick in the face to all those who know Scott,” says Michelle McLean, the stuntman’s sister in law. “It is sickening to watch, as we all know what happens next.”
The paper reports that McLean is still living in the Royal Rehabilitation Centre in Ryde, Australia and is not expected to make a return to stunt work as he now suffers from seizures.
Nonetheless, McLean’s family and friends remain hopeful about his chances for recovery. “You can never be 100 per cent about what his disability will be as his injury was so severe,” a friend tells the paper. “But we’re not giving up and we are all optimistic.”
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May 31, 2011
Angelina Jolie says her turn as Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra will be far less sexy than the famous performance of Elizabeth Taylor in the same role.
The star says that when she plays Cleopatra in David Fincher’s upcoming retelling of the tale, she’ll be looking to provide a more honest portrayal of the iconic historical figure.
“She has been very misunderstood,” Jolie tells Stella magazine. “I thought it was all about the glamour, but then I read about her and she was a very strong mother, she spoke five languages and she was a leader.”
Jolie says she wants to counter the idea of Cleopatra as a man-crazy sexpot and emphasize the reality of who she was as a leader.
“My performance will never be as lovely as Elizabeth’s. We are trying to get into a different truth about her as a pharaoh in history and not a sex symbol, because she really wasn’t. Even this idea of her having many lovers – it was possible that it was only two. She is very interesting, but she wasn’t a great beauty.”
Jolie and Fincher’s Cleopatra is scheduled to land in theatres in 2013, on the 50th anniversary of Taylor’s beloved picture.
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May 31, 2011
Adam Ant took a tumble off stage during a London comeback gig on Thursday.
The Daily Mail reports that the 1980s pop star was playing before 2,500 fans at the IndigO2 when he fell off the front of the stage. Security rushed to his aid and he rested for a few moments before getting back up to continue his set.
Once back on his feet, Ant apologized, blamed his eyesight for the fall and said he’d cut himself and broken a fingernail. Then he adjusted his pirate suit and continued the show.
The gig was one of an 11-date tour Ant is playing with his band, The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Posse, Ant’s first tour in 11 years.
Ant, 56 (real name, Stuart Goddard) had a period of huge popularity in the UK – and a smaller but still significant popularity stateside – in the late 1970s and early 80s, first with his band Adam and the Ants and then as a solo artist. His best known hit is 1982’s Goody Two Shoes.
In recent years he has battled bipolar disorder and has spoken in interviews about the need for more attention to be paid to mental health.
One 2002 incident saw him arrested for scaring staff at a London pub with a fake gun. And in 2003 he was found lying naked in a cafe basement.
Reaction to the recent shows has been positive. The Mail quotes one reviewer as saying Ant “has lost none of its taste judging by a triumphant gig from Prince Charming himself.”
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May 30, 2011
In Hollywood, a pair of live-action retellings of the classic tale of Snow White are both underway – one starring Twilight’s Kristen Stewart, the other starring Julia Roberts – prompting questions about which will sink and which will swim with audiences.
Meanwhile, in Germany, a similar scenario is heating up, only instead of fairy tales, the race is on between two competing productions of the life story of Baroque music composer Antonio Vivaldi.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Boris Damast’s long-in-the-works biopic of the composer is starting production at the exact same time as director Patricia Riggen’s Vivaldi.
Damast’s picture will feature Season of the Witch star Claire Foy and Red Riding Hood’s Max Irons, while talks have begun with such stars as Neve Campbell, Elle Fanning and Alfred Molina.
Meanwhile, Riggens has reportedly been lining-up such stars as Jessica Biel, Ben Kingsley and Luke Evans for her take on the Italian violinist.
Damast’s story is said to tell the story of how Vivaldi once trained a group consisting of “the illegitimate daughters of courtesans” into an orchestra, while Riggens’ tale focuses on the composer’s struggle between the vows he took as a priest and his love for a woman. (There is actually no evidence that Vivaldi had romantic relationships. Little is known of his personal life.)
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born in 1678. He is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers and his best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons. Though his music was well received, he died a pauper in 1741.
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