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Reply #30 posted 10/17/14 6:42pm

JoeBala

Scarlett Johansson set for first major TV role in Edith Wharton period drama

The Avengers actress will take the lead in The Custom of the Country series

Scarlett Johansson is set to star in a new period drama for her first major TV role.

The Lucy actress, 29, will play the lead in a limited series adaptation of Edith Wharton's classic 1913 novel, The Custom of the Country, according to Deadline Hollywood.

Johansson will also executive produce the eight-episode run, which Atonement's Christopher Hampton is writing from his original screenplay.

Hampton first wrote a feature-length script based on the book almost twenty years ago, but it never reached screens and was instead published in his 2002 collection of screenplays.

It remains unknown when the series will air but it is thought to be intended for US cable TV.

The storyline follows ruthless heroine, Midwestern girl Undine Spragg, as she struggles ambitiously to rise to the top of New York City’s upper social circles in the early 20th century.

Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellowes has reportedly cited The Custom of the Country as inspiration for his hit ITV drama, despite it not being one of the acclaimed US novelist's best-known works.

Wharton's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Age of Innocence reached cinemas in 1993, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and directed by Martin Scorsese, while The Reef and The House of Mirth were adapted for the screen in 1999 and 2000.

Johansson will next be seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, before starring in spin-off movie Black Widow and Disney’s live-action CGI remake of The Jungle Book.

She has starred briefly in TV before, with stop-motion animated series Robot Chicken in 2005.

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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon team up again for new TV drama Incorporated

The espionage drama will debut on US cable channel Syfy

After starring in Gone Girl, Ben Affleck is keen to sink his teeth into another thriller.

The actor is developing a futuristic spy thriller with Matt Damon via their production company Pearl Street Films for US cable channel Syfy.

The drama, Incorporated, is set in a world where corporations have seemingly unlimited power, and will be the story of one man’s efforts to beat the system.

Damon and Affleck set up their film production company in October 2012, and made US drama movie Promised Land in the same year.

The company currently has four more on-going projects in the pipeline, including new film Live by the Night set in the Prohibition Era that will be directed by Ben Affleck.

The actors first starred together in their film Good Will Hunting in 1997, alongside the late comedian Robin Williams.

Matt Damon with Ben Affleck after winning the Oscar for ‘Good Will Hunting’ in 1998

Matt Damon with Ben Affleck after winning the Oscar for ‘Good Will Hunting’ in 1998 The two have been friends since childhood, and rose to fame after winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the Nineties film. They previously appeared in TV adverts as children for TK Maxx.

Incorporated will be written by filmmaker brothers David and Alex Pastor, with The Good Wife’s Ted Humphrey serving as executive producer.

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Susan Sarandon to Play Marilyn Monroe's Mother on Lifetime's Biopic Miniseries

Susan Sarandon to Play Marilyn Monroe&#39;s Mother on Lifetime&#39;s Biopic Miniseries

Getty Images

“Marilyn” is a four-part biopic about the Hollywood legend based on J. Randy Taraborrelli's “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe”

Susan Sarandon has joined the cast of Lifetime's four-part miniseries biopic on Marilyn Monroe, playing her mother, TheWrap has learned.

“Marilyn,” based on J. Randy Taraborrelli's book “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe,” the film purports to reveal for the first time everything that the blonde bombshell was able to keep from the public. The film will portray her as both a personification of sex, whose first marriage ironically collapses because of her frigidity, and a fragile artist who seeks the approval and protection of men.

Sarandon will play Gladys, Marilyn's mentally ill mother whom she loves, hates and wants desperately to save. The role of Marilyn has not yet been cast.

Produced by Asylum Entertainment, “Marilyn” will be executive produced by Jonathan Koch, Steve Michaels, Keri Selig and Stephen Kronish. It is written by Kronish and will be directed by Laurie Collyer.

Sarandon can be seen opposite Kevin Kline and Dakota Fanning in “The Last of Robin Hood.” On the TV front, she had a recurring arc on Showtime's “The Big C” and CBS’ “Mike and Molly,” and she is developing the sitcom “Growing Ivy,” set to co-star real-life daughter Eva Amurri.

UTA represents Sarandon.

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Aparecium! JK Rowling releases Harry Potter fans from spell by revealing Twitter riddle

The answer to the anagram refers to Newt Scamander, the lead character in 'Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them', not Harry Potter

JK Rowling has revealed the answer to her cryptic Twitter message after sending Harry Potter fans into a flurry yesterday.

The author tweeted “Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won’t tolerate this nonsense”, sparking speculation she may be working on a new Harry Potter novel.

But many fans soon realised the author was talking about her upcoming Harry Potter spin-off film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Dedicated fans on Reddit soon discovered that the words “New York” and “Newt Scamander” were hidden as anagrams in the post.

A fan called Emily Strong later solved the puzzle, tweeting JK Rowling to say: “Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours…#anagram.”

Newt Scamander is the writer of JK Rowling’s 2001 book Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them, a copy of Harry Potter's textbook of the same name mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

The magizoologist stars as the lead character in the forthcoming film adaptation to be written by Rowling, which will be set in New York 70 years before Harry Potter’s story starts.

The film will be the first in a new trilogy of spin-off movies produced by Warner Bros. It has also been rumoured that Rowling’s Quidditch Through the Ages will be adapted for the big screen.

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Foo Fighters' "Something From Nothing" Review: New Song Roars with Unadulterated Power Thanks to Steve Albini [LISTEN]

Oct 16, 2014 05:35 PM EDT

Foo Fighters at "Sonic Highways" HBO Premiere (Photo : Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

Foo Fighters' new HBO series Sonic Highways and the accompanying new album are right around the corner and in anticipation of the premiere date, today (Oct. 16), Dave Grohl and co. released the record's lead single, the crawling "Something From Nothing."

Hardcore fans of Foo Fighters will find certain aspects of "Something From Nothing" comfortably familiar. The burning, sliding guitar riff in the first verse has been used frequently in trailers for Sonic Highways. But soon, the track takes a swift left turn into funk and heavy metal territory with a guitar riff straight out of Black Sabbath's playbook.

Like the best rousing Foo Fighters singles ("The Pretender," "Best of You"), "Something From Nothing" is all about the buildup. Before going into the hook-filled rolling funk territory at the two-minute mark, the song begins quietly. A haunting duet of guitars bop between two notes as Grohl whispers into the microphone. There comes in that sliding guitar and a bit more volume.

But before you know it, "Something From Nothing" explodes into a flurry of pure rock 'n' roll. With each passing minute of the nearly five-minute song, the Foos gear up for battle, with increasing volume, intensity and anger.

By the end of the song, Grohl is in full-on blast off mode. "I'm something from nothing / You are my fuse / It goes oh, oh, oh," he screams near the song's end. And then he lets out a yell so intense it sends chills down your spine.

The buildup and eventual destruction of your speaker system should be no surprise from this single: it was recorded for Sonic Highways in Chicago with legendary record producer Steve Albini, who previously worked with Grohl during his time in Nirvana.

"Something From Nothing" is a powerful lead single, not equipped for the world of pop radio. But Sonic Highways is all about American rock, and this song is nothing but that.

The new Foo Fighters' single "Something From Nothing.

Foo Fighters' new album Sonic Highways will be released Nov. 10.

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Reply #31 posted 10/17/14 6:59pm

JoeBala

David Bowie premieres new song: Listen to 'Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)'

The track was premiered by Elbow’s Guy Garvey during his Radio 6 show Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour earlier today

David Bowie has debuted new song "Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)" for the first time.

The track was premiered by Elbow’s Guy Garvey during his Radio 6 show Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour earlier today (listen to a YouTube rip from the show below).

Bowie announced the exclusive first play of the single on Thursday.

The dramatic, jazz noir track was recorded in New York this summer with Tony Visconti and the Maria Schneider Orchestra.

It features on the singer’s forthcoming three-CD compilation album Nothing Has Changed.

Bowie posted the lyrics to the new track shortly after it was first played on his official Facebook page.

"Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)" is set to be released on 10-inch vinyl and in digital download from 17 November. The vinyl version will also feature 2014 recording “Tis A Pity She’s A Whore”.

The compilation album, Nothing Has Changed, will be available to buy on 17 November.

The track listing for it is as follows:

CD 1:

“Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)”

“Where Are We Now?”

“Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA Edit)”

“The Stars (Are Out Tonight)”

“New Killer Star (Radio Edit)”

“Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (Edit)”

“Slow Burn (Radio Edit)”

“Let Me Sleep Beside You”

“Your Turn To Drive”

“Shadow Man”

“Seven (Marius De Vries Mix)”

“Survive (Marius De Vries Mix)”

“Thursday’s Child (Radio Edit)”

“I'm Afraid Of Americans (V1) (Clean Edit)”

“Little Wonder (Edit)”

“Hallo Spaceboy (PSB Remix)” (with Pet Shop Boys)

“The Heart’s Filthy Lesson (Radio Edit)”

“Strangers When We Meet (Single Version)”

CD 2:

“Buddha Of Suburbia”

“Jump They Say (Radio Edit)”

“Time Will Crawl (MM Remix)”

“Absolute Beginners (Single Version)”

“Dancing In The Street” (with Mick Jagger)

“Loving The Alien (Single Remix)”

“This Is Not America” (with Pat Metheny Group)

“Blue Jean”

“Modern Love (Single Version)”

“China Girl (Single Version)”

“Let's Dance (Single Version)”

“Fashion (Single Version)”

“Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (Single Version)”

“Ashes To Ashes (Single Version)”

“Under Pressure” (with Queen)

“Boys Keep Swinging”

“Heroes (Single Version)”

“Sound And Vision”

“Golden Years (Single Version)”

“Wild Is The Wind (2010 Harry Maslin Mix)”

CD 3:

“Fame”

“Young Americans (2007 Tony Visconti Mix Single Edit)”

“Diamond Dogs”

“Rebel Rebel”

“Sorrow”

“Drive-In Saturday”

“All The Young Dudes”

“The Jean Genie (Original Single Mix)”

“Moonage Daydream”

“Ziggy Stardust”

“Starman (Original Single Mix)”

“Life On Mars? (2003 Ken Scott Mix)”

“Oh! You Pretty Things”

“Changes”

“The Man Who Sold The World”

“Space Oddity”

“In The Heat Of The Morning”

“Silly Boy Blue”

“Can’t Help Thinking About Me”

“You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving”

“Liza Jane”

Bjork's 'Biophilia Live' set for DVD release

The film will come out on 'audio visual formats' on November 24

Bjork's 'Biophilia Live' set for DVD release

Photo: Press

Bjork's film Biophilia Live is set for release on DVD and Bluray on November 24.

Biophilia Live was filmed during the final night of Bjork's tour at London's Alexandra Palace in September 2013. It was directed by Berberian Sound Studio director Peter Strickland with Nick Fenton, editor of Arctic Monkeys' At The Apollo DVD. The release comes with extra footage which was filmed at Japan's Miraikan Museum during Bjork's residency at the venue.

The singer cancelled her appearance at the premiere of the film earlier this month in order to work on her new album. Organisers of the London Film Festival confirmed that Bjork would appear at its premiere at The Odeon West End on October 9. However, a statement on Bjork's Facebook page said: "We are so sorry, but since Bjork is already working on her next album (out in 2015!) she cannot come to the 'Biophilia Live' premiere at the London Film Festival this week. Many sorries, and be well."

Kanye West producer Arca recently announced that he is to co-produce Björk's new album, which follows 2011's 'Biophilia'.

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By NME News Desk , October 17, 2014 15:17

Snoop Dogg working on new album with Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder

The record will be Snoop's first on Pharrell's I Am Other imprint

Snoop Dogg working on new album with Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder

Photo: Getty

Having released 'Reincarnated' under his Snoop Lion alias last year, Snoop Dogg has now signed to Pharrell Williams' I Am Other label for his next rap record.

The yet-untitled album will be produced by Pharrell himself, who has previously worked with the rapper on tracks like 'Beautiful' and 'Drop It Like It's Hot'.

As reported by Billboard, the record – which currently has no due date confirmed – will also feature guest spots from the legendary Stevie Wonder and Charlie Wilson, who recently collaborated with Kanye West on 'Yeezus'.

It'll be Snoop's 13th studio album to date and the first under his better-known moniker since 2011's 'Doggumentary'.

Pharrell has recently worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Paloma Faith, Kylie Minogue and Schoolboy Q.

Snoop Dogg made headlines earlier this week after engaging in an online feu...ggy Azalea, of whom he made several unsavoury comments about on social media. The rapper has since apologised for his role in the argument.
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'God Only Knows' how the BBC got this lot together: Auntie's star-studded new single is a slick yet charmless affair

Pharrell Williams, One Direction and Kylie join forces for BBC's The Impossible Orchestra cover of Beach Boys classic

In the face of cuts and questions over the licence fee the BBC is probably hoping that the rather less-than subliminal messaging in a star-studded new cover version of “God Only Knows” (which continues “What I’d Be Without You”) it released last night will remind us all just how necessary the corporation is.

The reworking of the Beach Boy’s 1966 classic includes more celebrities than your average night in Funky Buddha. The 27 big names, including Dave Grohl, Elton John, Pharrell Williams, Paloma Faith and Emeli Sande, have joined forces to mark the launch of BBC Music, an initiative described as “an ambitious wave of new programmes, innovative partnerships and ground-breaking music initiatives that amount to the BBC’s strongest commitment to music in 30 years.”

The video, which aired across the BBC’s digital, radio and television platforms simultaneously last night, is dripping with high production value and sleek celebs decked out as the various players in a rather fantastical orchestral pit, accompanied by a real 80-piece BBC Concert Orchestra. Think Moulin Rouge meets The Royal Albert Hall. Jamie Cullum floats in a hot air balloon, Elton brushes butterflies off his suit and Kylie floats above the musicians in a giant bubble in an impressive display of the BBC’s CGI might.

But what of the song? The classic B-side to the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” is a beautiful, if irritatingly catchy tune. And in comparison to the BBC’s most memorable musical release to date, a megastar cover of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” in 1997, the voices it has gathered together can each be heard individually rather than as one hoary mass. But the high production value hasn’t produced the charm of “Perfect Day”, with each individual star inserting maximum oof and definition into their brief line or (in Jake Bugg’s case) set of “la la las” - a result which some might find rather cringe-inducing. There are plenty of pleasing arrangements, but too much trembling vibrato for my taste.

Video: Watch the full video here

Like “Perfect Day”, which raised 2 million for Children in Need, the BBC’s new single will go on sale to fundraise for the children’s charity. But unlike “Perfect Day”, which evoked a media storm after Auntie seemingly failed to recognise the implications of Lou Reed’s tribute to the drug heroin, “God Only Knows” is free of murky overtones and innuendo. The corporation has done well to showcase the breadth of musical talent it can access and this beautifully produced, if rather anodyne single, is likely to be a crowd-pleaser. Even if it is trying to get us to question, rather too explicity, quite where we’d be without the Beeb.

Who's who of 'God Only Knows' collaborators

BBC Concert Orchestra - Led by Principal Conductor Keith Lockhart

Martin James Bartlett - BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014

Pharrell Williams - N*E*R*D front man, solo artist and producer

Emeli Sandé - 2012’s bestselling artist in the UK

Elton John - International award-winning performer

Lorde - Youngest singer to top the Billboard Hot 100 in a quarter-century

Chris Martin - Multi-award winning Coldplay singer and songwriter

Brian Wilson - The Beach Boys founding member and front man

Florence Welch - Florence and the Machine’s leading lady and BBC Introducing alumni

Kylie Minogue - Aussie pop star and actress

Stevie Wonder - Motown’s biggest selling artist

Eliza Carthy - Yorkshire born international folk star

Nicola Benedetti - Former BBC Young Musician of the Year and international selling violinist

Jools Holland - Later… host, Radio 2 presenter and Squeeze pianist

Brian May - Queen’s lead guitarist and rock legend

Jake Bugg - BBC Introducing graduate and solo star

Katie Derham - BBC Radio 3 and BBC Arts presenter

Tees Valley Youth Choir - Young North East collective

Alison Balsom - Trumpet soloist and former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist

One Direction - Global boy band phenomenon

Jaz Dhami - Birmingham born Bhangra sensation

Paloma Faith - British pop songstress

Chrissie Hynde - The Pretenders founding female

Jamie Cullum - Modern Jazz vocalist/pianist and host of Radio 2 jazz show

Baaba Maal - Senegalese Pulaar singer and guitarist

Danielle de Niese - Renowned Australian lyric soprano

Dave Grohl – Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age rock god

Sam Smith - BBC Sound of 2014 winner and transatlantic No.1 selling artist

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Daley Performs Live Acoustic Cover of Sia’s “Chandelier”

Daley-Chandelier

British soulman Daley has been touring the world since the release of his excellent debut album Days & Nights. With more U.S. dates coming up this November, the singer/songwriter brings us a new acoustic performance, as he covers Sia “Chandelier” for a live session at ‘The Joint’ in London.

Known for his impeccable tone, Daley flexes his falsetto over a single grand piano, delivering a riveting rendition of the pop hit.

Peep the performance video below, and check out his upcoming tour dates here.

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Premiere: Newcomer Kiki Rowe Releases “Be Alright” Music Video

Kiki-Rowe-1

Many of today’s most prominent and exciting young artists have emerged from outside of the U.S., and our northern neighbors have birthed a large amount of these acts. A brand new name to add to the list of Canada’s rising stars is Kiki Rowe, who will be releasing her self-titled debut album on October 28.

Featuring songs produced by the likes of DJ Mustard and Ivan Barias (of Carvin & Ivan) the 8 song mini album is recommended for fans of smooth, yet powerful ambient R&B a la The Weeknd and Frank Ocean. The album has been preceded by the lead single, “Be Alright,” which instantly intoxicates with its lush production as Kiki professes the power of the love she is willing to give to her man.

“Babe, wait, listen to the words I’m sayin, it seems like me and you be fadin, this ain’t a little game I played in,” she softly coos. The cinematic visual plays off the songs commanding allure and emotion as a camera follows Kiki around the balcony of her building at dawn.

http://www.canadiandope.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/kiki-rowe.jpg

Born Keandra Shan Lal and raised in Mississauga, Kiki’s given name draws origins from the term “inspirational writer.” In addition to songwriting, which draws heavy influences from Usher and Tori Kelly, Kiki is also an accomplished pianist, taking first place in Ontario’s Conservatory of Music for Best Piano Composition in 2009.

Kiki Rowe will be available for free download October 28.

Check out the premiere of her new video below!

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Faith Evans Talks New Album, Journey Within The Industry, Memories of Biggie, And More

Faith-Evans-The-Breakfast-Club

If you think you really know what the ’90s encompasses of, then you have to know that Bad Boy reigned supreme for a vast majority of it. Not only with Diddy’s supreme business skills or Biggie’s lyricism, but in the artists that the developed and introduced to the world.

One artist that was on the roster of definite talents was that of Faith Evans. Arriving on the scene in 1995 with her self-titled debut album, the seasoned songstress has had her share of triumphs as well as failures. From the loss of Biggie and rumors of drug abuse to the success of the R&B Divas franchise, Faith has been a driving force in the R&B community and music industry.

Sitting down with Power 105’s The Breakfast Club, the famed singer and mother discussed her upcoming album Incomparable – which is due out on November 24 – as well as the rumors that surround her past and her and Biggie’s son, CJ. In addition, the timeless talent touched on her last encounter with former Bad Boy rapstress, Lil’ Kim, her connection with Biggie, working with Keyshia Cole, and more.

Watch as she keeps the Faith below:

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #32 posted 10/17/14 8:36pm

JoeBala

He's a mixture of Stevie, Maxwell, GM, James Morrison and TTD. Check him out!

New Music: JP Cooper – Satellite

jp cooper



It's been 15 years since the dreadlocked JP Cooper first started sharing his gift with the world, and it's been a slow burner for the Manchester-hailing singer. But where (an abundance of) talent, perseverance, and a bit of luck collide, the fire of success has no choice but to ignite. Having inked a deal with Island Records earlier this year, followed up by the release of the supremely well-received Keep The Quiet Out EP last month, JP Cooper seems to be fast on the road to combustion.

Enjoy this exclusive premiere of the JP Cooper track "Satellite," and read our interview with him below.

ALYA MOORO: Was there a particular moment where you realized music is what you wanted to do?

JP COOPER: It came towards the end of high school. Initially I wanted to be in sports; I was always a stubborn person, I never wanted to do things by halves—I wanted to be an Olympian. Then music kind of got its claws into me. I was just playing around with friends, but even at that point, I used to moan at the guys if they turned up late or if the drummer hadn't been rehearsing. They were like, "We're 15... we're not exactly going to be the next Green Day," or something like that, and I was like, "Who says that?!" Even then, I had the attitude that nothing was too big a dream.

MOORO: Your latest EP is very different from your previous offerings. How do you think your sound has developed?

COOPER: It was kind of a conscious idea to do that. My rough plan was to do three EPs and then hopefully by that point have enough money to do the album. We didn't, so at that point I started to record another one and I purposefully thought, "Okay, because it's not of the three, I'm going to experiment a little bit. And maybe people won't just put me in that box of like, ‘JP is this very traditional songwriter who works with live instrumentation and strings...'" It's [still] the heart of me, but I'm interested in a lot of things; I wanted to run with it and show people another side of me.

MOORO: Which part of the creative process do you enjoy most?

COOPER: The thing about being in the studio and writing is that when I'm finished something, it's like a physical thing, whereas with a gig, you're in it, then it's gone. You have these little flashes of moments of memory, but you can't really remember what happens. I love the studio because I can sit back and orchestrate things and I can make it perfect, but I love live [too], that's the kind of payday where you get to share it with people.

MOORO: What kinds of things inspire you?

COOPER: Everything comes out the way I'm feeling at that moment, or it might be a hindsight kind of thing or a conversation I have with a friend or something that I've heard in a bar. I used to work in a bar, and sometimes I'd write little things down and try and go into that, elaborate on that a little more or make up my own stories behind the idea. A lot of it is quite personal; it's like a diary to me. Particularly now [as] I'm trying to write a lot more, I like to think of little ideas rather than it all having to be pulling my heart out every time, because that gets a bit heavy.

MOORO: Is music quite a release for you?

COOPER: Yeah, there's something about sitting in a room as four friends—particularly as adults, a lot of the time you don't do that [anymore] unless you're drinking—and thinking about ideas and creating together. I don't think that's something that many people do and I think it's an amazing thing for your mind; it's a very beautiful thing.

MOORO: Other than great songs, what do you think is one thing that all great artists need?

COOPER: Patience and persistence. I started this journey 15 years ago, and I never saw any commercial success, and I've seen so many relationships fall apart and I've lost so many jobs and I've been broke for so long. A lot of my friends did music and then they stop because life is challenging, life asks a lot of you and sometimes music doesn't really have the answers to everything. Luckily I've been stubborn enough to push on through and I've got an opportunity now to make something work.

MOORO: What is it that keeps you motivated?

COOPER: I've always seen progression and growth, so I've always wanted to continue; I never felt like it got to a point where I was kind of plateaued. You do something you've never done before, or you write a song and think, "That's so much stronger than anything I've done before..." That inspires me. I've gone this far; it could just be round the next corner. I wouldn't want to quit at the last hurdle. I'm not here for the lifestyle; I want this.

MOORO: You've had some pretty awesome moments, too! What was it like touring with Angie Stone? Anything in particular you picked up from watching her?

COOPER: That was really special for me. The band was fantastic and the show was really beautifully put together, but one thing that I really picked up from her is the way that she cared so much about the show. I remember at one point she'd gone overtime at this venue and the stage manager was telling her, "You need to finish!" and she came to the side of the stage and she was genuinely really pissed off with him, not in a diva kind of way but like, "You're messing my show up! I'm trying to give here!" There was a real sort of honesty that after all these years that she still really wants to give.

MOORO: What's one thing you've learned over the last 15 years?

COOPER: The power of writing in general. When I started out I thought that if I was a great singer or if the band had the right look or the right attitude, if we had this cool sound, that was the way to do it. The older I get, the more I realize the importance of great songs and of honesty; being honest in the way that we share.


JP COOPER'S EP KEEP THE QUIET OUT IS OUT NOW. HE WILL PLAY AT LA SCALA IN LONDON ON OCTOBER 13. FOR MORE ON THE ARTIST, PLEASE VISIT HIS FACEBOOK PAGE.

Well this is a nice surprise.

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This past summer we introduced you to an artist by the name of JP Cooper with his EP Keep The Quiet Out, but he’s been a little silent himself since then.

It seems as if the quiet spell is over though as the talented Island Records singer has released a new song titled, “Satellite“. Singing out, “Back against the wall for you, I’ve never felt so small,” the UK crooner belts out about the only woman for him.

Interviews: http://www.mobo.com/news-blogs/jp-cooper-mobo-interview

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http://fortheloveofmoi.blogspot.com/2013/04/interview-with-jp-cooper.html

Take a listen to the song below!

Mini Concert:
Cover:

[Edited 10/17/14 20:37pm]

Just Music-No Categories-Enjoy It!
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Reply #33 posted 10/20/14 4:37pm

JoeBala

Tim Hauser, the Founder of the Manhattan Transfer, Dies at 72

Tim Hauser Credit Georgios Kefalas/Keystone, via Associated Press

Tim Hauser, a singer and showman who founded the Manhattan Transfer, a Grammy-winning vocal group that brought four-part harmonies to several decades’ worth of American popular songs, died on Thursday in Sayre, Pa. He was 72.

The cause was cardiac arrest, said his sister, Fayette. She said he had been taken to a hospital in Elmira, N.Y., with pneumonia shortly after arriving in nearby Corning for a scheduled performance and was later moved to a hospital in Sayre, where he died.

Begun in 1972 when Mr. Hauser was making ends meet as a New York City cabdriver, the Manhattan Transfer became known for its jazzy treatment of a wide spectrum of musical styles, from gospel and swing to doo-wop, pop and rhythm and blues; for stylish and sophisticated arrangements; and for a razzle-dazzle stage presence featuring slick costuming and arch choreography.

The group’s wide repertoire embraced different eras. It included Louis Armstrong numbers from the first half of the 20th century; “Tuxedo Junction,” which had been a hit for Glenn Miller in 1940; “Route 66,” Bobby Troup’s 1946 paean to the great American highway, which had been covered by Nat King Cole, Chuck Berry and others; the gospel tune “Operator,” recorded by the Friendly Brothers in 1959; the Rascals’ 1967 pop hit “Groovin’ ”; and soul songs like “The Boy From New York City,” a remake of a 1965 hit by the Ad Libs that was the group’s only Top 10 single.

Before Mr. Hauser’s death, the Manhattan Transfer had the same four members — the others were Janis Siegel, Alan Paul and Cheryl Bentyne — since the late ’70s, when Ms. Bentyne replaced Laurel Massé, who had been Mr. Hauser’s first recruit for his new vocal group but who had been injured in a car accident. By then the Manhattan Transfer had earned a substantial following, touring extensively, recording for Atlantic Records and headlining a summer variety series on CBS in 1975.

Still, the years between 1979 and the early 1990s were the group’s heyday. During that time they recorded their best-known albums — among them “Extensions,” which included a vocal version of the Weather Report song “Birdland,” which became one of their signatures; “Vocalese,” a collection of songs with lyrics (written by Jon Hendricks of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross) set to previously recorded jazz instrumentals; and the samba-tinged “Brasil” — and won multiple Grammys in both jazz and pop categories.

In addition to providing a midrange voice and crisp diction to the group’s renditions, Mr. Hauser was in charge of its public image, of which he was very conscious. Always flashily dressed onstage — sometimes with casual extravagance, now and then in formal wear — the Manhattan Transfer employed showbizzy dance steps in live performances, a Hollywood or even Las Vegas touch that appealed to many fans but that critics sometimes found irritating.

“On the one hand,” the New York Times critic Robert Palmer wrote in 1980, the four vocalists “are genuine aficionados of pop music’s many vocal-group idioms.” But, he added, “they’ve built their following with the help of a liberal amount of flash and often their jive talk, costume changes and showy stagings have tended to overwhelm the more musicianly qualities in their work.”

Timothy DuPron Hauser was born in Troy, N.Y., on Dec. 12, 1941, and grew up mostly on the Jersey Shore, in Ocean Township and Asbury Park. His father, F. Jackson Hauser, was an insurance adjuster; his mother, the former Theresa Butters, was a school secretary who later opened her own travel agency. She died earlier this year.

Mr. Hauser went to high school in Belmar, N.J., and studied economics at Villanova University. He was interested in vocal pop music from an early age and sang in his high school glee club.

In 1956, he met the members of the doo-wop group Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.

“I heard them warm up a cappella in the dressing room before a concert, and that did it for me,” Mr. Hauser recalled in a 2012 interview for the Archive of Music Preservation. “I would say karmically, that was God hitting me with that lightning bolt, going, ‘Here it is, kid; if you miss it, it ain’t my fault.’ ”

When he was still in his teens, Mr. Hauser and a friend started a singing group called the Criterions, recording several songs and appearing on the same bill with groups including Dion and the Belmonts. He later sang in a folk trio, the Troubadours Three.

After graduating from Villanova in 1963 and serving in the Air National Guard, he worked for a time in advertising and in the marketing department of Nabisco. In 1969 he started a singing group, a quintet with a country and rhythm-and-blues bent that he called the Manhattan Transfer. (The name comes from the title of a 1925 novel by John Dos Passos.)

They recorded one album, “Jukin’,” for Capitol Records before disbanding. In 1972, Mr. Hauser was driving a cab to pay the bills when he picked up Ms. Massé, then a waitress and aspiring singer, as a fare, and the second iteration of the Manhattan Transfer began to gestate. Several weeks later, another fare brought him to a party, where he met Ms. Siegel. Mr. Paul, who was performing in the original Broadway production of “Grease,” was a friend of Ms. Massé’s boyfriend.

Mr. Hauser, who lived in the Los Angeles area, recorded a solo album, “Love Stories,” that was released in 2007.

He also appeared as an actor in the 1991 film “The Marrying Man,” whose soundtrack he helped produce.

His first two marriages ended in divorce. In addition to his sister, he is survived by his wife, Barb Sennet Hauser; a son, Basie; and a daughter, Lily.

Manhattan Transfer will perform despite loss of founding member

Posted: Monday, October 20, 2014 3:07 pm

The Manhattan Transfer has decided to keep their shows going despite the loss of founding member Tim Hauser on Oct. 16.

The group is scheduled to perform an intimate show called “The Living Room Sessions” on Oct. 25 at Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St., Greensboro.

A statement from the group says, “We are all deeply saddened at the loss and passing of Mr. Tim Hauser on Oct. 16. As you know, Tim was the founder of The Manhattan Transfer, a phenomenal artist and musician. In addition, he was a genuine friend, and colleague to us all. To honor the legacy that he began, The Manhattan Transfer will continue to tour and honor their commitments. His family appreciates your support, love, and privacy at this time.”

Trist Curless, veteran vocalist, will round out the quartet at the Carolina Theatre. Trist has performed and recorded with M-pact, Straight No Chaser, Take 6, Bobby McFerrin and New York Voices.

Tickets are $10-$59.50 at the box office, by phone at (336) 333-2605 or online at http://www.carolinatheatre.com.

For more information, visit http://manhattantransfer.net.

[Edited 10/20/14 16:39pm]

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Tide is High writer and singer John Holt dies at 67

John Holt
John Holt first released The Tide is High as part of The Paragons in 1967

Reggae vocalist John Holt, who sang the original version of Blondie's hit The Tide is High, has died aged 67.

His manager Copeland Forbes told the Jamaica Observer he died in a London hospital on Sunday. The cause of death has yet to be confirmed.

Holt rose to fame in the 1960s as the lead singer of The Paragons, writing and releasing The Tide is High in 1967.

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He went solo in 1970 and went on to become one of the biggest stars of reggae music in Jamaica.

Musicians paying tribute to the singer have included Jamaican rapper Shaggy, who tweeted: "We have lost a legend. Very instrumental part of our reggae history! You'll be missed."

Fellow Jamaican artist Sean Paul said: "RIP Sir John Holt. You have served your culture well. I salute you."

UB40 added that Holt was a "massive inspiration and will be sorely missed".

Born in 1947 in Kingston, Jamaica, Holt penned a number of The Paragons' hits including Tonight, I See Your Face and Ali Baba as well as The Tide is High.

Although the track was popular in Jamaica, it only went mainstream when US band Blondie topped the charts on both side of the Atlantic with their version in 1980.

It went on to be covered by a number of other artists including Atomic Kitten, Maxi Priest and Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall.

As a solo artist, Holt's 1972 track Stick By Me was the biggest-selling Jamaican record of the year.

His only success in the UK came with his 1974 cover version of Kris Kristofferson's Help Me Make It Through the Night, which spent 11 weeks in the top 40 and peaked at number six.

Holt went on to release almost 40 albums over his career, mostly through Trojan Records.

The record company paid tribute to the singer, calling him "a huge talent and a true gentleman".

His last solo album, Peacemaker, was released in 1993.

John Holt performing

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Paul Craft, Songwriters Hall of Famer, dies at age 76

Peter Cooper, pcooper@tennessean.com 6:14 p.m. CDT October 18, 2014
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Paul Craft, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Famer whose sparkling wordplay was a reflection of his intelligent, irony-drenched, amiable personality, died Saturday morning at Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital after years of deteriorating health.

Mr. Craft was 76. His songs traded on humor and heartache, with lyrics that often elicited chuckles and sighs.

"Leave me alone, don't try and ease me," he wrote in the ballad "Walking Home In The Rain," his personal favorite of his hundreds of compositions. "I'm not too lonesome to handle the pain/ Too few lovers don't leave me/ I'm getting used to walking home in the rain."

Though "Walking Home In The Rain" was Mr. Craft's favorite self-penned song, it was far from his most successful. In the bicentennial year of 1976 alone, country artists released seven of his songs as singles, and two of those songs — "Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life" and the wry and rare football-themed gospel number, "Dropkick Me, Jesus (Through the Goalposts of Life)" — earned Grammy nominations.

His "Brother Jukebox" was a No. 1 hit for Mark Chesnutt in 1991, and he also wrote Top 10 songs for T. Graham Brown ("Come As You Were"), Gail Davies ("Blue Heartache") and Moe Bandy (the aforementioned "Hank Williams, You Wrote My Life"). Ray Stevens charted with Mr. Craft's "It's Me Again, Margaret," a howler that became one of Stevens' signature songs.

The Eagles recorded Mr. Craft's "Midnight Flyer" for their "On The Border" album and Linda Ronstadt memorably performed his "Keep Me From Blowing Away" on her "Heart Like A Wheel" album.

Singer-Songwriter Paul Craft.

Singer-Songwriter Paul Craft.(Photo: Art from Talent Agency Publicity Photo (From Tennessean Library File))

Mr. Craft is also among the most-successful bluegrass songwriters. Alison Krauss sang his "Teardrops Will Kiss The Morning Dew," The Osborne Brothers sang his "Fastest Grass Alive," Charlie Sizemore sang "Nothing Happening Every Minute" and The Seldom Scene — the progressive-minded group that just entered the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame — recorded standout versions of his "Raised By The Railroad Line," "Through the Bottom of the Glass" and "Keep Me From Blowing Away."

With the exception of "Nothing Happening Every Minute" (penned with Pat Alger), all of those songs were written solely by Mr. Craft, not carved out as collaborations.

"Back then you didn't need to tell anyone you wrote a song 'by yourself,'" he wrote in 2002, in the liner notes to his "Raised By The Railroad Line" album. "This was before the current Nashville practice of 'co-writing.' Some of the reasons for this activity I can only guess at. But I can't help feeling that if Ernest Hemingway had been forced to 'co-write' 'The Sun Also Rises,' it wouldn't be the same book and that would be a shame."

Mr. Craft knew his Hemingway, and plenty more. He was the rare roots musician to join American Mensa, an organization only available to those who score in the top two percent of the general population on an intelligence test.

That intelligence, and Mr. Craft's unique — even quirky — perspective showed in his lyrics. "If you're gonna walk around my mind, honey take your high heels off," he wrote. In another song, he wrote that the only family he had left were Brother Jukebox, Sister Wine, Mother Freedom and Father Time.

He wasn't interested in sheer cleverness, though: Mr. Craft dealt in poetic specificity.

Singer-Songwriter Paul Craft.

Singer-Songwriter Paul Craft.(Photo: Art from Record Label Publicity Photo (From Tennessean Library File))

"The clickety sound of the southbound freight and the high-speed hum of a passenger train/ Becomes a part of the soul and the heart and the mind/ Of the boy that's raised by the railroad line," he wrote. And in his Ronstadt-recorded sinner's prayer, he wrote "Lord, if you hear me, touch me and hold me/ And keep me from blowing away."

Born in Memphis and raised in Arkansas, Mr. Craft taught himself to play various instruments as a kid. In his early 20s, he paused his studies at the University of Virginia and went on the road playing banjo with Jimmy Martin's Sunny Mountain Boys. He also served six years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve, graduated from UVA, attended law school, recorded with Martin for Decca Records, managed a Memphis music store, played in a band and, at age 28, began writing songs.

While in Memphis, Mr. Craft found kindred spirits in Dickey Lee and Allen Reynolds, who formed a publishing company and began publishing Mr. Craft's songs. In 1968, they placed Mr. Craft's "Somewhere With Me Sometime" with country star Skeeter Davis, and Mr. Craft was, officially, a professional songwriter.

In Virginia, he'd met banjo player Ben Eldridge and singer-songwriter John Starling, and when those two formed The Seldom Scene with Mike Auldridge, John Duffey and Tom Gray, they began recording Mr. Craft's songs. The first cut on the Scene's first album, 1972's "Act One," was Mr. Craft's "Raised By The Railroad Line." And other Craft-penned songs were recorded by Sam the Sham, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jack Greene, The Osborne Brothers and others.

In 1975, Mr. Craft moved to Nashville, formed his own publishing company and recorded for RCA, signed to the label by Chet Atkins, who became a dear friend. But Mr. Craft's songwriting success eclipsed his recorded work, as he became an in-demand song-scribe, with 35 recordings of his songs in his first Music City year. He also succeeded as a publisher, ultimately publishing four top-charting country songs.

A 1978 Associated Press profile by Joe Edwards described Mr. Craft as "a cross among Tom T. Hall, Steve Martin and Lenny Bruce," and that rings true through the years: Mr. Craft shared Hall's storytelling sensibilities, Martin's elevated sense of absurdity and Bruce's tendency toward satire and, at times, sacrilege.

After many Music City years, Mr. Craft came to be considered among modern country and bluegrass music's most inventive and impacting writers. An up-and-comer became a veteran, and Mr. Craft's peers came to consider him as Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame material. He was nominated numerous times for the Hall, and was finally voted in this year, along with Gretchen Peters, John Anderson and Tom Douglas.

On Oct. 5, Mr. Craft arrived at the Music City Center for his Hall of Fame induction. He had his photo taken with his fellow inductees, then was rushed to Saint Thomas Midtown after falling ill. He died 13 days later.

Paul Craft at the 2014 Nashville Songwriters Hall of

Paul Craft at the 2014 Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame inductions.(Photo: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame)


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Holy snail mail, Batman! Caped Crusader nabs his own stamps

Who needs the Bat-Signal when you can send letters using these collectible Batman stamps from the US Postal Service?

batmanstamps.jpgThese new stamps are geektastic! USPS

Batman saved Gotham from everyone from the Joker to Bane, but now thanks to these limited-edition Forever stamps from US Postal Service the Dark Knight could be saving snail mail from being boring.

To celebrate Batman's 75th anniversary, there are multiple variations of DC Comics' Caped Crusader with eight designs which include four eras of Batman costumes and four Bat-Signals per sheet of 20 stamps.

The first row of stamps shows a muscular Batman from the Modern Age of comics. The second row features Bronze Age of comics Batman alerted by the Bat-Signal.

The third row displays Silver Age Batman jumping into action with his signature cape swooping behind him. The bottom row highlights Golden Age Batman envisioned by creator Bob Kane.

The background illustration on the sheet features a silhouette of Batman standing on a bridge with Gotham's skyline looming above. The reverse side of the sheet displays two illustrations of Batman as well as a short history of the beloved superhero. USPS Art Director Greg Breeding designed the stamp sheet.

"The US Postal Service has a long history of celebrating America's icons, from political figures to pop culture's most colorful characters," said Nagisa Manabe, USPS ...es officer, in a statement. "We are thrilled to bring Batman off the pages of DC Comics and onto the limited-edition Forever Batman stamp collection, marking his place in American history."

A sheet of 20 Batman stamps retails for $9.80 plus shipping and handling and is available now on USPS.com.

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Rachel Ann Weiss

8/26/2014

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Listen: http://rachelweiss.bandcamp.com/


Earlier this summer UNTUCKED sat down with songstress Rachel Ann Weiss at Mohawk Bend Restaurant in Echo Park, CA. After spending an hour and a half chatting about everything and anything and exchanging various recommendations for books, movies, and music, it was decided that maybe we should all buckle down, turn on the recorder, and talk shop. The official interview, like our casual conversation beforehand, was easy and fun and much different than any we’d ever done before. In fact, our server was quite taken aback when she realized that we had just met Rachel and that this was indeed a work lunch and not just a social one. Rachel’s ease and charm allow her to quickly form bonds and bridge potentially awkward gaps with a smile and a Doctor Who reference.

Rachel’s soulful approach to life is apparent in the way she performs. She’s this glorious East Village version of Adele or Amy Winehouse with just enough New Yorker thrown in to really send it home. She’s very good at connecting with her audience, and with such personal yet relatable songs she draws the crowd in and keeps them mesmerized for the duration of her set.
Most of her songs are based on people in her life, and that authenticity paired with her vocal talent and stage presence is key to her approachability. As she told us during our interview, “I genuinely really write from the heart. I tend to write about personal experiences. Whoever enters into any kind of relationship with me should expect to be written about. But I think that really brings people in, because we all have times where we are completely drowning in emotions, whatever they may be, good or bad or ridiculous. That tends to be what I write about, what my songs come out of.”

Out of the dozens of songs Rachel has written over the years her personal favorite is off of her first album, Dear Love. “The Ballad of Joshua David Paul” came out of a time where Rachel was shoved “into what felt like a pit of emotional despair.” She doesn't remember actually writing the song, but rather walking into a rehearsal room at Hampshire College and turning off the lights to sit at a piano (an instrument she never actually learned how to play). “It came out of such a viciously dark time that there are so few things that can redeem those few months of my life. But that song in a nutshell is basically why I consider myself to be a musician and a songwriter. I wrote something I’m so proud of in a time that I so hate to think about that it actually makes all of that pain and struggle worthwhile because I created something and so to me that’s why I do this, that’s why I write. I can take something that I feel too immensely or I’m uncomfortable with and put it into a context where I create something that I consider beautiful and it validates even the worst moments of struggle in my life.” Rachel is an artist that is clearly very connected with the work she does and how it relates to her world. She does this work with such intentionality and grace that it’s really quite inspiring.

Rachel was lovely and welcoming as soon as we met her. However, her extroverted persona is something she’s cultivated over the years out of necessity, although there are limitations to that gregarious demeanor. She’s terrified of falling in love yet desperately wants it, perhaps explaining her penchant for falling for band members she can’t really have. Also, because she’s so terrified of being vulnerable in that way, she’ll write a song expressing her feelings rather than directly discussing them (which she doesn’t recommend, by the way). Take “Dear Love”, the title track off of her first record, as an example, “I wrote it because I was trying to write a letter to the man I’d been in love with and to say, because I dropped out of Hampshire after third year, ‘I’m leaving and I don’t know how to tell you that I love you but I’ve got to get out of here.’ So I ended up writing “Dear Love” at the top of a notebook page. Part of why I do what I do is because I write these songs when I’m in desparate need to say something to somebody that I can’t bring myself to say in person and hope that other people out there have similar experiences and can relate to it. It’s really nice not to feel so alone, especially when you’re on the crazy train. When you're pining away for someone and can’t seem to stop or see through it, you just gotta ride it out and hope that somebody else doesn't think you're as crazy.”

At least twenty songs in Rachel’s repertoire were written about a specific guy from her past and, surprisingly to us, he knows it. They've stayed close and because of this, the songs have a great scope. They show the entire life of a relationship. From first pings of a crush to the headstrong swoony flares of a new relationship through to the break up and finally a place where the relationship can be looked back on fondly. Two of her newest tracks, one from her new EP Always and one from her upcoming EP Never are about him. When she discusses writing songs about him she says, “It’s funny. I’m a firm believer in that if you really ever truly love someone you never stop loving them, the way you love them just changes. The way that I love him is not that obsessed whole hearted madness that I did years ago. It’s just that I do truly love him as an individual. And that’s a great thing to write songs about.” Rachel says “Dark is Coming Soon", a song about both him and one of her favorite musicians, Jeff Buckley, “was written about that night sitting next to him and remembering how it was…sitting there being so comfortable…that’s a sweet song about remembering how things were.” The other song about this man that will be released soon is “There’s Always Something to Be Loved” which Rachel explained by saying, “I clung to the idea that I was in love with him long after I actually stopped being in love with him. Because it’s safer to feel like your heart is tied up in someone that you can’t have than it is to risk being vulnerable again. And so until you make the decision to stop putting things in between yourself and the rest of the world, you’ll always find a reason not to find someone to be in love with. If you decide that’s what you want. So I wrote “Always Too Something to Be Loved”. You’ll find as many reasons as you want to and you’re always too something, it doesn't matter what something. That was my song of like, get over it bitch. Move on…you can make any excuse you want, but it doesn't make it valid.”

Rachel’s emotional connection to her work is so obvious when she performs live and on her records. She has this magical ability to really make you feel while not completely overwhelming you. As Rachel explained to us, “I’m going to break my heart against you.” With her meaningful lyrics, beautiful melodies and rich voice, we very much believe her. Needless to say, we at UNTUCKED have formed quite a musician crush on our new friend Rachel and can’t wait to see her in action again. We expect that this is just the beginning of a long and beautiful career for this exquisite soul.

Rachel's music can be streamed below via SoundCloud, or you can find her music here on iTunes.
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Article by Annie Bigelow.
Images courtesy of Rachel Ann Weiss.

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2014 NCLR ALMA Awards - Winner's Walk

In This Photo: Charo

Honoree Charo poses with the Ricardo Montalban Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Winner's Walk during the 2014 NCLR ALMA Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on October 10, 2014 in Pasadena, California.

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Smashing Pumpkins "Being Beige" Review: Listen to Billy Corgan & Co.'s Emotional New Single

Oct 20, 2014 11:52 AM EDT

Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins (Photo : Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Smashing Pumpkins are due to release two new albums in the next year or so, and fans of the longtime alt-rock outlet now have the first sampling of Billy Corgan and co.'s new album, Monuments to an Elegy. Today (Oct. 20), Smashing Pumpkins released its first single in two years, the slow burning ballad "Being Beige."

Smashing Pumpkins took things down a few notches for the lead single. "Being Beige" begins with the soft, familiar strum of an acoustic guitar, touches of a piano and a soft, touching drumbeat courtesy of none other than Tommy Lee.

Though the song begins slowly and softly, it doesn't stay there for long, in typical Smashing Pumpkins fashion. The first chorus explodes into a swell of loud guitars, ripping drumbeats and emotional pleas from Corgan, though don't ask him to explain the meaning behind "Being Beige" too much.

Despite seemingly heartbreaking lyrics such as "Yes, I loved you / As a matter of fact / Your fires are wrapped up / And that is that" and "You once made me smile / Then you strayed," Corgan isn't sure whether or not there is much "honesty" in the song's lyrics.

"People always ask me to explain songs, and honestly I can't," Corgan said in an interview with Rolling Stone. "But if there's honesty in this lyric, it's that there's something amiss in our cosmos. Yet still, we must love."

"Being Beige" is a far cry from the heyday of Corgan and Smashing Pumpkins' career, but it still manages to tug at some sort of heart and emotional plea, so it's still a successful nugget of alternative rock.

Listen to Smashing Pumpkins' new single "Being Beige" below:

"Being Beige" is the lead single from Smashing Pumpkins' upcoming album Monuments of an Elegy. The album is due for release on Dec. 9.

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Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz, Miguel Perform at Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala

By Leila Cobo, Miami | October 19, 2014 7:48 PM EDT

Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz, Miguel Perform at Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala

David Bisbal performing at the second annual La Musa Awards presented by the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Manny Hernandez

David Bisbal, Jencarlos Canela and Diego Torres hit the stage as well, honoring Latin songwriters and Latin music champions

The second annual La Musa Awards presented by the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame was an eminently musical and emotional affair whose elegant execution bodes well for its future and growth. While last year’s inaugural event featured a smorgasbord of talent, this year’s event at the ballroom in the Ritz Carlton in Miami Beach was smaller but far more impactful, and featured a string of outstanding performances from the likes of Alejandro Sanz, David Bisbal, Jencarlos Canela, Diego Torres, Jon Secada and R&B Singer Miguel, who was awarded the Triunfador (Champion) award.

“I appreciate that you've included me in such a prestigious event,” said Miguel, whose father is Mexican American. “I'll try to do my best to honor the Latin community.”

Gloria Estefan Tribute Planned at Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala

And the evening was a wide-reaching celebration of that community, ranging from emerging bright stars who have already found remarkable chart success like Canela, who received the “Luchador” (Fighter) award, to Sanz, a 15-time Latin Grammy and three-time Grammy winner.

Jencarlos Canela, who received the “Luchador” (Fighter) award, at the second annual La Musa Awards.

Four composers -- Gloria Estefan, Omar Alfanno, Lolita de la Colina and Rafael Pérez Botija -- were inducted into the LSHOF. Although the mainstream may only be familiar with Estefan (who as a songwriter has penned many of her greatest hits, along with tracks for Shakira, Secada and Celia Cruz), the others have also penned some of the most memorable music in the Latin songbook, and were celebrated with performances by Bisbal (for Perez Botija) and ranchero singer Rafael Negrete (for de la Colina). Estefan was serenaded by Puerto Rican star Ednita Nazario, who was later joined by Secada and a gospel chorus, performing Estefan’s life-changing hit “Coming Out of the Dark.”

“Music has helped me in some of the toughest moments of my life,” said Estefan in her acceptance speech, no doubt referring to that particular song, which she wrote after the traffic accident that almost left her paralyzed in 1990.

Gloria Estefan, Ricardo Arjona Among Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame 2014 Inductees

On his end, Alfanno, who has had over 300 songs recorded in his career, performed a medley of hits along with friends Beatriz Luengo, Luis Enrique and Angel López of Son by Four, the group that originally recorded “A puro dolor” in 2000. The track was Billboard’s Latin song of the decade based on airplay. Also honored was salsero Marlow Rosado with the La Musa Elena Casals award.

The gala not only acknowledged music-makers. Zach Horowitz, the legendary record executive who was most recently Chairman/CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group, was given the Publishers award for a career that long supported Latin music and Latin music makers. Horowitz, who was instrumental in growing Universal’s Latin division was serenaded Oscar-award winning producer and artist Gustavo Santaolalla.

“He has promoted Latin music like no other executive from the mainstream world has ever done,” said Santaolalla. “It is because of Zach Horowitz that I’m here and I mean it in the most profound way.”

Miguel performing at the second annual La Musa Awards.

Honored posthumously with the Desi Arnaz Pioneer Award was the late media mogul Pablo Raul Alarcon, founder of the powerful SBS radio network and media company. His son Raul Alarcón, SBS’ current chairman/CEO accepted the award with an emotional speech that reminded the room of the real reason for celebration.

“My father loved music,” he said. “He loved musicians. When I was little, we used to live in New York and he would come home after work every nigh with a bunch of vinyl records under his arm arm, and regardless of the time he'd put those records on and crank the volume. He was a music man, my father.”

All told, said Alarcón, songs have played more than 34 million times over SBS stations since the network was created in the mid 1980s.

Gloria Estefan,Emilio Estefan, Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala (LA MUSA Awards) - Arrivals

Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization founded by renowned songwriter/producers Desmond Child and Rudy Pérez in 2012 to honor and celebrate Latin music creators. Created under the auspices of the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, its nominating committee is comprised by songwriters, performers, musicians, producers, engineers, music critics, and industry executives. The La Musa (The Muse) award was inspired by Child’s mother, poet and songwriter Elena Casals.

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Glen Campbell Doc Director on the Alzheimer-Stricken Country Star: 'I Want Taylor Swift Fans to Know How Important He Was'

By Phil Gallo | October 20, 2014 4:08 PM EDT

Glen Campbell 1970
MPTV Images

Having produced the 2005 Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line, James Keach was cautious when meeting with Glen Campbell and his producer Julian Raymond, not wanting to be typecast as a guy who makes films about country singers. But their sit-down, when Campbell was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, was about making a film that examined the relationship between the brain and music that would be shot during the singer's planned five-week tour in 2011.

"How does a man walk onstage, play for an hour-and-a-half and then not know how to find the bathroom in his own house?" asks Keach, director-producer of Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, which starts its theatrical rollout Oct. 24 in New York. That five-week tour turned into a 151-show, two-and-a-half year trek, and "the best decision I ever made as a filmmaker," he says.

The movie is being pegged as a serious awards contender alongside two other films about aging entertainment figures coping with illness: Life Itself, about thyroid cancer-stricken Roger Ebert, and Keep On Keepin' On, about diabetic trumpeter Clark Terry.

Glen Campbell Sets Releas...orded Song

I'll Be Me equally addresses a legendary musician's legacy and a disease that affects more than 5 million people in the United States (according to the Alzheimer's Association) and shows no signs of abating. It includes intimate scenes with Campbell and his wife, Kimberly, receiving a doctor's definitive diagnosis of the disease, moments when he struggles with his memory and a 2012 Grammy Awards salute 10 months prior to his final concert in Napa, Calif.

Campbell's Career: A Glimpse At The Numbers

"Live in the moment -- Glen taught us that," says Keach, who has recently traveled with the film to the Hot Springs, Ark., Documentary Film Festival and a convention of 5,000 aid workers in Nashville. "He felt safe, nobody was embarrassed, so it became a journey of how to behave with somebody who has this disease. We agreed let's not try to make it look good when it's not. Let it be Glen and still show the pain of the people around him."

Glen Campbell Releases Hi...ou': Watch

Recently, Campbell, 78, and his family were featured on NBC's Nightly News and Today a week after Big Machine released an EP of songs from the film, including Campbell's final recording session, which yielded the single "'I'm Not Gonna Miss You."

"I want Taylor Swift fans to know how important he was," says Keach, 66, who financed the film through his PCH Films company. "It became not so much the story of Glen Campbell but the story of the gift that is being taken away from him. And us."

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Leslie Jones Named ‘Saturday Night Live’ Cast Member

leslie-jones-snl

EXCLUSIVE: Saturday Night Live loves to promote from within, and the late-night sketch show has done it again, pinning featured player stripes on a member of the writing staff. Starting with this week’s show hosted by Jim Carrey, Leslie Jones will be joining the cast of SNL, where she has been a writer since early 2014.

Actress-comedian Jones took part in the talent search for a new SNL cast member last fall. She was one of 12 finalists invited to audition on the SNL stage and was in serious contention for the spot that ultimately went to Sasheer Zamata. But Lorne Michaels and his team liked Jones too and brought her in as a writer. She quickly established herself not only off- but also on-screen with appearances on Weekend Update. Her bit on slavery in May made a lot of noise, and she also was featured in the SNL season premiere last month. (Watch the video below.)

Like Jones, new Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che also started as a writer on SNL, a long-standing tradition on the show. Jones, who will continue to write on SNL, joins Pete Davidson as the second new featured player this fall. She is repped by APA, Integral Management and Pierce Law Group.

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Gerard Parkes, Fraggle Rock actor, dead at 90

CBC
7 hrs ago
Fraggle Rock TV show

Gerard Parkes, the Irish Canadian actor, best known for his roles on the hit children's series Fraggle Rock and the American crime movie The Boondock Saints is dead.

He died Sunday morning in a Toronto retirement home, four days after his 90th birthday, his niece and agent have confirmed to CBC News.

Born in Dublin in 1924, Parkes came to Canada and launched his show business career on CBC Radio in the 1950s, before landing roles in TV, film and stage.

Parkes appeared in the 1960s CBC-TV adventure series The Forest Rangers, and popular children's shows The Littlest Hobo and Shining Time Station.

Canadian actor Gerard Parkes is seen in this 1977 portrait from the CBC Still Photo Collection. © Ruth Springford/CBC Still Photo Collection Canadian actor Gerard Parkes is seen in this 1977 portrait from the CBC Still Photo Collection.

Winner of a Canadian Film Award for his performance in the 1968 feature film Isabel, Gerard also won a Dora award for his performance in a 1999 theatre production of Kilt and several awards for radio dramas.

'A magical man'

Despite his lengthy and diverse achievements, Parkes is probably best known for playing "Doc" on Jim Henson's popular TV series Fraggle Rock.

The grey-haired, bespectacled character, with the dog named Sprocket, was the only human to regularly appear on the 1980s children's program about a colony of colourful creatures who live under Doc's house.

When asked what Parkes would think about being remembered most for acting with puppets, Gerry Jordan, Parkes' agent of 30 years said "he'd love it."

"He had a thrill doing that show," Jordon told CBC News. "We got loads of fan mail from kids and adults around the world."

Gerard Parkes as Doc on Fraggle Rock. "He had a thrill doing that show," says Parkes' agent Gerry Jordan. © Alliance Films Gerard Parkes as Doc on Fraggle Rock. "He had a thrill doing that show," says Parkes' agent Gerry Jordan.

"He was a magical man and a terrific performer."

Gerard Parkes is survived by his partner of two decades, Sheelagh Norman.

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Former 'American Idol' Contestant Joanne Borgella Dies of Cancer

The 32-year-old had reached the top 24 on season seven

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cu4bVoB5zx4/TAG-IurE34I/AAAAAAAAA10/3rMVIUF9cGg/s1600/Joanne.jpg
Associated Press

American Idol season-seven contestant and plus-size model Joanne Borgella has died from a rare form of cancer.

The Long Island, New York native was 32 and had been battling endometrial cancer, which she revealed in a video posted to her Facebook page a year ago had "spread to her chest."

Borgella, who was living in Hoboken, NJ at the time of her 2008 audition, made it all the way to the top 24, but was eliminated after a performance of "I Say A Little Prayer."

Prior to her stint on the Fox singing show, she was the winner of Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance pageant as “Miss F.A.T.” in 2005. A Wilhelmina model, she was also featured as a cast member on the second season of Curvy Girls on NUVO TV.

American Idol musical director Michael Orland offered his condolences on Twitter, writing, "So sorry to read about the passing of @JoanneBorgella. She was one of those special people that came through the @AmericanIdol doors. RIP."

It has been a sad year for the season-seven cast. Top 10 finalist Michael Johns passed away this August.

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Ox Baker, Pro Wrestler Turned Actor, Dies at 80

4:16 PM PST 10/20/2014 by Mike Barnes
Courtesy of The Price is Right

The memorable ring villain fought Kurt Russell’s Snake Plissken in 'Escape From New York'

Ox Baker, a reviled pro wrestling heel who grappled with Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken in the 1981 sci-fi film Escape From New York, died Monday of complications from a heart attack. He was 80.

A 6-foot-5 bald giant from Waterloo, Iowa, with impressively bushy eyebrows, Baker started in pro wrestling in the early 1960s and was known for the "heart punch" that took his opponents' breath away.

"Just got the sad news that my friend and wrestling great, Ox Baker, passed away a couple of hours ago. RIP OX," WWE color commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler wrote on Twitter.

See more The Rock and 5 Other Wres...wood Stars

In John Carpenter's post-apocalyptic classic Escape From New York, Baker played the savage warrior Slag whom Plissken kills with a baseball bat to the head.

Baker gave stuntman Dick Warlock all he could handle during rehearsal, and Warlock offered this piece of advice to Russell before his scene with the big guy: "Good luck."

Baker (real first name: Douglas) also appeared in Jackie Chan’s Battle Creek Brawl (1980), was a Russian wrestler in Blood Circus (1985) and played The Butcher in an installment of the horror anthology Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear (2013).

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‘Love, Rosie’: Rome Review

The Bottom Line

But you say he’s just a friend

Venue

Rome Film Festival (Gala)

Cast

Lily Collins, Sam Clafin, Christian Cooke, Tamsin Egerton, Suki Waterhouse

Director

Christian Ditter

Lily Collins and Sam Clafin headline this adaptation of Cecelia Ahern’s bestselling book

A schmaltzy, mildly satisfying Anglo take on the BFFs-to-bedfellows subgenre that’s been seen recently in romantic comedies like “No Strings Attached” and “Friends with Benefits,” Love, Rosie offers up another longwinded reason why two best buddies in a platonic relationship should just shut up and do it already. That’s in any case the obvious moral of the story in this contrived, if intermittently charming, adaptation of Irish novelist Cecelia Ahern’s bestselling book, brought to the screen by German director Christian Ditter in an overtly polished adaptation that features a Best Of soundtrack and two engaging leads whose good looks take the place of good writing.

Financed by the Munich-based outfit Constantin Film, and making its international premiere as a gala screening in Rome, the Lionsgate U.K. release should see decent coin on its home turf and modest action abroad, especially with female audiences. The Film Arcade will distribute stateside sometime early next year, though Rosie will likely find more love when Paramount Home Media puts it out on the small screen.

A gushy cute opening introduces us to Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Calflin), two lifelong friends who grew up in a picturesque English town and seem to be inseparable until their lives – especially their sex lives – start getting in the way. About to graduate high school and still both virgins (although the actors playing them look much older, and about as virgin-like as Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth), they find themselves pulled apart by circumstance and their failure to confess their true feelings for one another.

Alex hops across the Atlantic on a full scholarship to Harvard Medical School (somehow he managed to skip undergraduate studies), while Rosie plans to attend nearby Boston College (or is it University – the film mentions both) until a major monkey wrench is thrown in her direction: she accidentally gets pregnant after sleeping with the class jock (Christian Cooke) and “losing the condom in her vagina” – in one lengthy prom night sequence that’s meant to provoke major laughs.

With abortion out of the question (“My parents are Catholic,” she explains), Rosie decides to stay home and raise the child herself, all the while keeping it a secret from Alex. That fact that she manages to actually do this in our Internet age (the film takes place between 2002 and now) is just one of several head-scratching twists in the script by Juliette Towhidi (Calendar Girls), which relies on any number of movie mix-ups and quid pro quos to keep Rosie and Alex apart for more than a decade.

Stuck in Boston and hitched to a tall blond American ice queen (Tamsin Egerton) with whom he’s settled down into a life of domestic misery (wait, how old are these people again?), Alex begins to long for Rosie just as she gets stuff in order, taking a job as a chambermaid and reconnecting with the baby daddy who messed things up in the first place. A slew of other coincidences lead to a race-against-the-clock last act, and one in which anyone who’s read the rom-com rulebook will know what happens.

The material mined is nothing new, and both the writing and direction are of a rather generic order, with standardized lines like “I know boy-girl friendships can be quite complicated” meshed in with numerous crane shots showcasing the two photo-friendly settings (with Toronto standing in for Boston, and Ireland for England). Ditter has made a handful of popular comedies (The Crocodiles, French for Beginners) in Germany, and while he’s able to maintain a certain rhythm and polish, there’s ultimately nothing in Love, Rosie that distinguishes it much from your average in-flight movie.

Collins (The Mortal Instruments) and Clafin (The Hunger Games) provide ample eye-candy and create a decent amount of chemistry, even if the relationship portrayed often feels more serendipitous than real, while their characters actually look younger as time passes, as if they were both stricken with Benjamin Button disease. But there’s no denying an innate desire to see these two find happiness and finally get it on, and it’s that magnetic attraction which holds the movie together more than anything else.

Tech credits are slick in all departments, with Ditter’s regular DP Christian Rein capturing the shenanigans through magic hour lighting and nonstop lens flares. A soundtrack working on overtime includes a playlist of hits ranging from Elton John to Beyonce, not to mention Salt-n-Pepa’s 1987 jam “Push It” – which the filmmakers include in the scene where Rosie goes into labor. Get it?

Production companies: Constantin Film, in association with Canyon Creek Films
Cast: Lily Collins, Sam Clafin, Christian Cooke, Tamsin Egerton, Suki Waterhouse
Director: Christian Ditter
Screenwriter: Juliette Towhidi, based on the novel “Where Rainbows End” by Cecelia Ahern
Producers: Robert Kulzer, Simon Brooks
Executive producer: Martin Moszkowicz
Director of photography: Christian Rein
Production designer: Matthew Davies
Editor: Tony Cranston
Composer: Ralf Wengenmayr
Casting director: Gail Stevens
Sales agent: Mister Smith

No rating, 102 minutes

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Zoë Kravitz's Debut LOLAWOLF Album Is Deep In The Late Night Zone

Lolawolf

photographer Eric Feigenbaum
New York electronic pop trio LOLAWOLF, fronted by Zoë Kravitz and named after the singer's sister and brother, release their debut album Calm Down tomorrow on Innit Recordings but you can listen to it right here, right now. Full of smoky vibes and lyrical asides, it digs deep into 3am feelings and a broader palette of sounds then their self-titled first EP. "We made this record in the Bahamas and Las Vegas, and it comes through in the sounds: hip-hop beats, tribal elements...electronic rhythm and vibe," the band told The FADER over email. Dig in below and get your hands on it here.

https://soundcloud.com/lolawolf

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Fashion Designer Oscar de la Renta Dies at 82

October 20, 2014 | 06:32PM PT

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Legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, who dressed generations of celebrities in red carpet and evening gowns, has died after battling cancer at 82.

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He first came to fame dressing Jackie Kennedy, and founded an influential New York fashion house. Among the actresses who appreciated his glamorous red carpet gowns were Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Oprah Winfrey, Kristen Stewart, Penelope Cruz and Jessica Chastain. One of his most recent commissions was Amal Clooney’s wedding dress.

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His name was so synonymous with high fashion that an entire “Sex and the City” episode was based on the idea of Carrie Bradshaw receiving a knee-length red poufy dress from her boyfriend Aleksandr Petrovsky.

PHOTO: Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta speaks onstage next to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2013 CFDA Fashion Awards at Alice Tully Hall, June 3, 2013, in New York.

Though his ruffles and slinky satin dresses were undeniably feminine, he told Elle magazine, “I hate pretty. It’s a very empty word. It gives a bad name to beauty.”

His designs were a favorite of first ladies — he dressed Nancy Reagan in the 1980s and then provided inaugural gowns for Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Hillary Clinton introduced a recent retrospective of his designs, saying, “His name alone evokes elegance and timeless beauty. And his designs give each of us a chance to feel like we’re special, too.”

Born in the Dominican Republic to a powerful family, de la Renta went to Spain to study painting and apprenticed with Cristobal Balenciaga before moving to Paris to work at Lanvin and Balmain. He moved to New York where he worked with Elizabeth Arden before launching his ready-to-wear label in 1965.

He married Francois Langlade, editor of French Vogue, who died in 1983.

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His second wife, who survives him, is philanthropist Annette Reed.

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Famed Elvis photographer Alfred Wertheimer has died

USAToday 4:01 p.m. EDT October 21, 2014
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Alfred Wertheimer, the photographer whose photographs of Elvis Presley documented the start of a legendary career, has died. He was 85.

Wertheimer's editor and gallery curator, Chris Murray, said Wertheimer died of natural causes at his New York apartment.

Wertheimer was 26 and Elvis 21 when he was hired in 1956 by Presley's record label, RCA, to take some publicity shots of the then-unknown singer.

He traveled with Elvis for one week in 1956 and produced a series of now-famous black and white photos that were the subject of exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution and the Grammy Museum, as well as private art galleries.

Among the most famous shots is The Kiss, a photo of Elvis nuzzling a woman fan, later revealed as Barbara Gray, backstage at a concert in Richmond, Va.

Priscilla Presley, Elvis' ex-wife, said Tuesday that no photographer was able to get as close up and personal with Elvis ever again.

"Elvis keeps me young," Wertheimer told USA TODAY in an interview in 2010. "Every time I pore over those negatives, I discover something new."

Wertheimer instantly liked his subject and decided to stick around. The resulting candid images captured the crooner on the still-innocent cusp of global stardom.

"This was just another assignment," Wertheimer said in 2010. "But those days with Elvis, before he was Elvis, have become a huge part of my life."

Contributing: Linda Deutsch, Associated Press

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Annie Lennox Talks Feminism, Frowns Upon Twerking

Oct 21, 2014 12:30 PM EDT

Annie Lennox (Photo : Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

Although Annie Lennox's new album, Nostalgia, is rooted in hits of the past, the singer continues to take aim at women in the present day.

During an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep, Lennox strayed away from promoting her new album, out today (Oct. 21), and decided to address more issues with contemporary artists and feminism. Inskeep asked the former Eurythmics member why she's been calling modern music by female artists "over-sexualized."

"Well you've said it in the question," she said. "The reason why I've commented is because I think that this overt sexuality thrust -- literally -- at particular audiences, when very often performers have a very, very young audience, like 7 years older, I find it disturbing and I think its exploitative. It's troubling. I'm coming from a perspective of a woman that's had children."

Lennox recently called Beyonce's form of feminism "feminist lite" and "tokenistic." Inskeep asked about the remarks. "Well, I didn't specifically criticize Beyoncé," Lennox said. "I was being asked about Beyoncé in the context of feminism, and I was thinking at the time about very impactful feminists that have dedicated their lives to the movement of liberating women and supporting women at the grass roots, and I was saying, 'well that's one end of the spectrum, and then you have the other end of the spectrum.'"

Before the pair got back to Nostalgia, Lennox summarized everything perfectly with one final sentiment. "Listen," she said. "Twerking is not feminism. That's what I'm referring to. It's not -- it's not liberating, it's not empowering. It's a sexual thing that you're doing on a stage; it doesn't empower you. That's my feeling about it."

Nostalgia is the singer's sixth solo effort.

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Nina Tassler Admits To Lack of Diversity on CBS

“The reality is we have to look at making the best choices, hiring the best actors. And if we don’t get the level of diversity we’re happy with going into the fall, we look for every opportunity through the course of the entire year to add it.” Nina Tassler, CBS Ent. President

As small screen juggernaut, CBS Corporation, made its presence known at this Summer’s meeting of the Television Critics Association (TCA), new programming was introduced on all three of its venues—CBS Entertainment, The CW and cable outlet, Showtime. For Latino viewers hoping to see their faces more often this season, there was mediocre news from CBS, really good news from CW and no news from Showtime.

Nina Tassler.490

Nina Tassler

When Nina Tassler, Chairman, CBS Entertainment—the highest profile Latina in network television—addressed the members of TCA, she confirmed that none of the Eye Network’s new fall shows would feature a Latino as a series regular, stating, “The reality is we have to look at making the best choices, hiring the best actors. And if we don’t get the level of diversity we’re happy with going into the fall, we look for every opportunity through the course of the entire year to add it.”

Tassler, who is of Jewish and Puerto Rican heritage, projected to 2015, which will see the premiere of Dovekeepers, an ensemble mini series, featuring Cote de Pablo. Tassler continued, “So that was an opportunity for us to say, look, we didn’t get the level of diversity in some of the fall shows, but let’s make a big statement and cast Cote in
our event series.”

Cote de Pablo, whose departure from CBS’s NCIS was not popular with series’ fans, has signed on to star in the four-hour miniseries, based on Alice Hoffman’s historical novel set in ancient Israel, focusing on the intersecting lives of four women at the time of the Roman siege of Masada. The project is exec produced by Roma Downey and Mark Burnett. Dovekeepers air date is to be announced. It’s obvious Chilean-born de Pablo will not be returning to NCIS.

Jane.KeyArt.Latino action certainly perked up during The CW’s segment of TCA. The debut sitcom series, Jane the Virgin—loosely adapted from the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la Virgen, created by Perla Farías—has a plethora of Latino series regulars, including Gina Rodriguez (Jane), Andrea Navedo, Yael Grobglss, Ivonne Cole and Jaime Camil.

Set in Miami, the series focuses on the comical tribulations of Jane Villanueva, a religious young Latina whose plan to keep her virginity intact until marriage gets sidestepped when she is accidentally artificially inseminated during a checkup. For Rodriguez, who was also offered a series regular slot on ABC’s Devious Maids, the choice to star in The CW’s new series was compelling, not so with Devious Maids.

Rodriguez recalled, “I didn’t find the story possibilities on Maids as rewarding. I have many family members that have fed many of their families on doing that job, but there are other stories that need to be told. And I think that the media is a venue and an avenue to educate and teach our next generation. And, sadly, right now the perception they have of Latinos in America are very specific to maid, landscape, pregnant teen, even though I am playing pregnant teen, but not in the usual way.”

Raised in Chicago, of Puerto Rican heritage, Rodriguez has two older sisters, one of whom is an investment banker, the other is an actor. Rodriguez affirmed, “Growing up, I never saw us portrayed on television. I would look at the screen and think, well, there’s no way I can do it, because I’m not there. Well, now I am there and I can do it.”

Jane the Virgin premieres Monday Oct. 13 (9pm). It is exec produced by Jennie Snyder Urman, Ben Silverman, Gary Pearl, Jorge Granier and Brad Silberling.

CarlosVAldes.Superhero

Carlos Valdes

The CW’s other Latino friendly series is The Flash, developed by writer/producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns, based on the DC Comics character Flash (Barry Allen), a costumed superhero crime-fighter who was created by Robert Kanigher, John Broome and Carmine Infantino, scheduled to premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 7 (9pm). Series regulars include Grant Gustin (Barry Allen), Candice Patton, Rick Cosnett, Danielle Panabaker and Broadway star Carlos Valdes who portrays Cisco Roman, named after the civilian identity of the DC Comic character, Vibe. Valdes’ role on Once the Broadway musical stage show based on the 2006 film of the same name.

“I am the youngest member of this team of scientists turned superheroes,” says Valdes, who was originally introduced in CW’s earlier superhero series, Arrow. “My character is a super smart math whiz but not very socially adept. I actually relate to this character a lot. He’s a complete dork, as am I. And I think he’s actually a very sensitive character. That sensitivity allows him to become enraptured by mathematics and the patterns in nature and the patterns in his life. And I really resonate with that. More than just being a mechanical engineering genius or a dork, he is also a very lovable and sensitive person. At least I believe that.”

CBS’s cable presence, Showtime, presented a miniscule schedule at the Summer TCA gathering. Here’s hoping the Winter meeting will be more Latino forthcoming.

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Greg Garcia To Produce NBC Comedy With Sebastian Maniscalco Eyed To Star

Sebastian Maniscalco

My Name Is Earl creator Greg Garcia is back at NBC with a new comedy project he is executive producing through his CBS TV greggarciaStudios-based Amigos De Garcia Productions. It is inspired by the live of comedian Sebastian Maniscalco who is expected to star. Written by Austen Earl, writer-producer on Garcia’s CBS series The Millers, and produced by CBS Studios, the untitled comedy follows newlywed Sebastian as he attempts to stay true to his blue-collar roots while adjusting to a world full of people he finds increasingly offensive. Earl and Maniscalco, who are friends, executive produce along with Garcia, Judy Brown-Marmel, Norman Aladjem and Alix Jaffe.

This marks the second consecutive season that NBC has developed a comedy starring Maniscolco and based on his standup/life. Garcia and his Amigos De Garcia Prods have sold a number of projects, including a single-camera comedy at ABC penned by Eric Falconer, as prolific creator Garcia has focused on supervising other writers this year.

Maniscalco, whose comedy special Aren’t You Embarrassed will premiere on Showtime on November 14, is repped by UTA, LEG and attorney Gregg Gellman. Garcia is with CAA.

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‘Bachelor Party’ Comedy Series Inspired By Movie Set At ABC As Put Pilot

Bachelor Party Mule

Bachelor Party, a half-hour comedy anthology series loosely inspired by the 1984Jason Winer movie, has landed at ABC with a big put pilot commitment. The project hails from 20th Century Fox TV, whose feature sibling produced the film, and two 20th TV-based companies, Jason Winer’s Small Dog Picture Co. and The Walcott Co., , the shingle of New Girl star Jake Johnson and director Max Winkler.

Image (1) winklerjohnson__121022222045-275x252__130710225253.png for post 538500

Co-created by another New Girl duo, writer-producers JJ Philbin and Josh Malmuth, Bachelor Party examines relationships and the institution of marriage through the lens of three couples: one about to get married, another recently divorced and a third just falling in love. They experience the trial by fire that is the modern day, co-ed Bachelor/Bachelorette extravaganza. The series is envisioned as an anthologyImage (1) philbin__120922003905.png for post 665143, with each season focusing on a different wedding party. Philbin is executive producing with Winer, Winkler, Johnson and Small Dog’s Renate Radford. Malmuth co-executive produces, with Walcott’s Mary Lee serving as producer.

With two directors among its executive producers, Winer and Winkler are set to alternate directing duties if the project goes to series. Schedule permitting, Winer will direct the pilot.

This project needs a few more executive producers.
Joe Israel’s 1984 comedy Bachelor Party starred Tom Hanks as a groom-to-be at an epic bachelor party full of temptations. It spawned a straight-to-DVD 2008 sequel.

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"The Flash"

Credit: The CW












The CW orders full seasons for 'The Flash,' 'Jane the Virgin'

As expected, both freshman successes will stick around

Hot on the heels of premieres that have set recent network highs and dramatically boosted time period averages, both "The Flash" and "Jane the Virgin" have been picked up for full seasons by The CW.

Try not to look surprised.

"The Flash" premiered two weeks ago and drew 6.1 million viewers in Live+3 DVR figures and delivered the network's highest-rated series premiere among adults 18-49 since the 2009 premiere of "The Vampire Diaries." The DC Comics adaptation slipped only slightly in its second week, averaging 4.27 million viewers and doing a 1.7 rating among adults 18-49 in Live+SD ratings.

While "Jane the Virgin" wasn't nearly as successful, the expectations weren't nearly as high for the telenovela adaptation, especially airing in the bleak wasteland that has been The CW's Monday. The "Jane" premiere drew 1.605 million viewers and did a 0.6 rating among adults 18-49 in its Live+Same Day debut, drawing the most viewers in the time period since February 2012. The dramedy, which earned some of the fall's best reviews, seems to have held up well in its second airing, though we'll see what the numbers look like when a football preemption is taken out of the equation. [UPDATE: "Jane" slipped a little in its second week, but The CW's Monday standards are so low that it remains a triumph.]

"We have had a fantastic start to our season this year, with 'The Flash' launching as our most-watched series premiere ever, and 'Jane the Virgin' recognized as the best new show this season by critics across the country," blurbs CW President Mark Pedowitz. "Over the past three seasons, we have made it our mission to grow and to broaden out our audience, and to keep raising the bar with the quality and impact of our new shows, and 'The Flash' and 'Jane' have both exceeded our expectations on all counts. I'm thrilled to announce full season orders for both of these terrific new series."

Thus far, "Black-ish" and "Gotham" are the fall's only new shows to receive full season orders including additional episodes. ["How To Get Away With Murder" received an odd confirmatory order for the originally intended 15 episodes.]

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Gena Rowlands wins career achievement honor from L.A. Film Critics

Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands will receive a career achievement award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn.
Film Critic Leonard Maltin will also be honored by the association.

Gena Rowlands will be honored next year with the Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. Career Achievement Award.

Best known for her work with her late husband, director and actor John Cassavetes, the 84-year-old Rowlands will be feted at the association's award dinner Jan. 15 at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City.

Behind-the-scenes Classic Hollywood | Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster

"In her collaborations with her late husband, John Cassavetes, and in many other memorable performances for film and televison over the last 55 years, Gena Rowlands gave us women who lived every moment with a fierce, sometimes terrifying individuality," association President Stephen Farber said in a statement.

He added, "In doing so, Rowlands revolultionized the art of screen acting, particularly for the female actors who followed in her footsteps."

Rowlands was nominated for an Academy Award for her leading roles in Cassavetes' "A Woman Under the Influence" and "Gloria." Other credits include "Faces," "Another Woman," "Tempest" and "The Notebook."

She is a three-time Emmy winner: two for lead actress in a movie or miniseries for "The Betty Ford Story" (1987) and "Face of A Stranger" (1992), and one for supporting actress in a movie or miniseries for "Hysterical Blindness" (2003).

The critics group will also present critic and former President Leonard Maltin with a special citiation for "more than four decades of tireless, unparalleled service to lovers of cinema the world over."

Voting for the L.A. critics' awards for the year's films and performances takes place Dec. 7.

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Chris Brown, Jodeci, Jeremih & More to Perform at 2014 Soul Train Awards

soul-train-awards-2014

Following last week’s nominations announcement, CENTRIC has now revealed the surprise lineup of hit-making performers and presenters for the 2014 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS.

For his first ever Soul Train Awards performance, Chris Brown, who leads the show with seven nominations, will take the stage for a special performance medley. In addition, the reunion many have been waiting for is going down as platinum selling group Jodeci is scheduled to sing a medley of hits before ending with a preview of their upcoming new single, “Nobody Wins.”

Chart-topping international fan favorites Aloe Blacc and Nico & Vinz will keep the audience entertained with upbeat performances of their catchy sing-a-long hits. Jeremih, Lisa Stansfield, Kem and Liv Warfield round out the list of rhythm and soul singers set to captivate viewers during this year’s show.

Presenters Trey Songz, Boris Kodjoe, Laila Ali and Wolf Blitzer will join host Wendy Williams on stage at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on November 7. The show airs on CENTRIC and BET on November 30 at 8PM ET/PT.

“This slate of performances is another example that SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2014 is the only place where soul music lovers can find the diverse combination of current chart-topping performers and reunions from their favorite hit-making groups,” said Paxton Baker, General Manager and Executive Vice President, CENTRIC. “We are pulling out all the stops this year and are thrilled to have Chris Brown and Jodeci lead the big surprises we have in store.”

This year’s theme will celebrate the history of dance, from the classic Soul Train line and the electric slide, to the Dougie and this year’s breakout, the Nae Nae. To bring the dance theme to life, SOUL TRAIN AWARDS 2014 has brought in award-winning choreographer Fatima Robinson and her 12 seasoned dancers to lead the show. Additionally, Grammy Award-winning producers 1500 or Nothin’ are back again as music directors for the show and will keep the party rolling throughout the night.

To see the full list of nominations, click here.

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In 'Catch Hell,' Ryan Phillippe examines, and toys with, his image

Ryan Phillippe talks about his directorial debut, "Catch Hell"
Over Skype, Ryan Phillippe discusses directorial debut 'Catch Hell'
In new movie, Ryan Phillippe mocks his own career mishaps

Skype interviews are weird.

I had one a couple of weekends ago with the actor Ryan Phillippe. It was a Sunday afternoon and he was in New York, doing a day of press to promote his directorial debut, “Catch Hell.” I was in my bedroom in Los Angeles, wondering if he'd judge my duvet cover.

Suddenly, he popped up on my computer screen. He was wearing a white T-shirt and navy ball cap, framed perfectly between two nondescript hotel lamps. He is 40 now, which seems impossible if you’re a millennial like me who grew up watching him in teen films such as “Cruel Intentions” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” He also has two kids with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon -- Ava, 15, and Deacon, 11. So he is very much 40. But he doesn’t look it. He still has a head full of tiny blond curls not unlike 'N Sync-era Justin Timberlake.

It was just a situation I didn't want to be in. I was sold a bill of goods and it turned out to be something different, which is often the case in this business. - Ryan Phillippe

Before Phillippe’s face appeared on my laptop, I hadn’t seen much of it in the last few years. Since rising to fame alongside Freddie Prinze Jr. and Josh Hartnett in the late '90s, Phillippe attempted to make a name for himself as a serious actor. He had a role in Clint Eastwood’s 2006 World War II drama “Flags of Our Fathers” and two years later acted in another war picture, Kimberly Peirce’s “Stop-Loss.”

But save for a strong supporting turn in “The Lincoln Lawyer” opposite Matthew McConaughey, he’s mostly acted in little-seen indies over the past five years. Which isn’t what he wants, of course.

“I did this terrible movie with 50 Cent,” he told me, referring to the 2011 heist flick “Setup” -- which as far as I can tell, was never even released theatrically. “It was just a situation I didn’t want to be in. I was sold a bill of goods and it turned out to be something different, which is often the case in this business.”

The experience was so negative that it stuck with him, in part inspiring “Catch Hell,” which came out in a few theaters earlier this month and is currently on video-on-demand. He directed the film from a script he and his friend, Joe Gossett, wrote together in a few months -- and he's also its star. It was a lot of work, he said, but the acting didn't take much effort -- he kind of plays himself.

In the film, there’s an actor, Reagan Pearce (the initials are hardly an accident) whose career has hit the skids. Flight attendants still ask him for his picture, but he can’t land any good gigs. “What the hell happened to my career, man?” he asks his manager. He also wonders in vain: “Did we hear back on the [James] Cameron movie?”

'Catch Hell'

“We need that game changer that is gonna get you back on those studio lists,” replies the manager--played by David Schiff, Phillippe’s real-life representative.

Desperate for money, Reagan decides to head to Shreveport, La., to work on a sketchily financed indie. That’s when matters take a slightly different turn than they did for Phillippe in real life. He’s kidnapped by a pair of rednecks, who tie him up in a dilapidated shack infested with alligators. The kidnappers then hack Reagan's social media accounts and write racist, homophobic things that are picked up by a number of entertainment outlets. (Seriously.)

As it turns out, Reagan's kidnapping en route to the set was inspired by Philippe's own flight of fancy in Shreveport. A little while back, he was filming a movie called “Straight A’s” with Anna Paquin in the city. One day, in order to practice some horseback riding for the film, he was picked up at his Holiday Inn by two production staffers he’d never met before.

“I just started messing with myself, saying, ‘What if these guys weren’t who they said they were?’” He said. “You blindly just hop into a van with people you’ve never met. Back in L.A., an actor or actress of any fame has video cameras and gates and a guard and then on location, you kind of let all that stuff down.”

He was curious what this would mean given the public's perception of him. If he disappeared, after all, it wouldn’t land in the same way as if, say, Brad Pitt disappeared.

“This guy goes missing? It’d be a blurb,” he said. “It’d be like, this guy with a bad reputation has gone off the reservation.”

Acting alone doesn't sustain me the same way it used to ... Which I think is completely OK if you've done something for 20 years. Trying something else becomes really appealing. - Ryan Phillippe

Which isn’t to say Phillippe has resorted to self pity. “It’s certainly not a lament of mine that I’ve fallen out of favor in Hollywood,” he explained. Over the last couple of years, he said, he took a step away from acting. He wanted to be with his kids, and making his own movie allowed him to do that.

“I’ve made 30-plus films over 20 years,” he said. “And in my opinion, five of them are good. So you slave away and you work hard and you want to make something great, and a lot of times you end up disappointed. There are a lot of elements that are beyond your control when you’re an actor for hire. So this is kind of the beginning of my wanting to take a little more control and be a little more involved.”

In a way, the entire movie is about exerting control, an “I’ll take aim at myself before you can take aim at me” kind of thing. But during the 19-day shoot, he also remembered some of the reasons he got into the business in the first place--how much he’d liked making silly monster movies as a kid, for instance, or about his experiences working with Eastwood and Robert Altman, who he repeatedly referred to during the interview as his “biggest influences.” Directing felt right, unlike acting, which he admits he's lost some passion for.

“Acting alone doesn’t sustain me the same way it used to,” he said. “Which I think is completely OK if you’ve done something for 20 years. Trying something else becomes really appealing.”

Which is kind of an odd thing to say, considering that he's currently in the middle of filming what he calls his most challenging acting gig to date. It's the upcoming ABC murder mystery "Secrets & Lies," which he stars in opposite Juliette Lewis and which he's been working on in North Carolina for the past few months. But he’s already planning to make another film -- he calls it "a dark comedy in the vein of 'Raising Arizona'" -- this winter, which he says he will not star in.

And what if, I asked, people come away from “Catch Hell” thinking Phillippe is desperate to regain his fame and fortune?

“I love it bleeding together and being a question of how much is directly related to me or isn’t,” he said. “I’m proud of this movie. I came in on time and under budget. I got it done, and it is what it is. It’s not giant. But I can’t wait to do the next one -- especially since I won’t be required to be on-camera the whole time.”

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LeAnn Rimes Covers “Silent Night”, Offers Up ‘One Christmas: Chapter 1′ Tracklisting: Idolator Premiere

LeAnn Rimes is having quite a year in music: After dropping her fabulous new set of dance floor-ready remixes with Dance Like You Don’t Give A… earlier this summer, the Grammy Award-winning country-pop darling is at it again — and in a much more angelic state of mind this time around — with her upcoming holiday themed record, One Christmas: Chapter 1, due out on October 28.

The forthcoming EP will include 6 songs, made up of both classics (and more unconventional seasonal offerings) including “Silent Night,” “Carol Of The Bells” — even “I Want A Hippopotamus ...istmas.” Check out the full tracklisting, as well as the premiere of “Silent Night” after the jump.

As you might have already gathered from the album title, One Christmas: Chapter 1 is also only the beginning of a very festive set of records to come. From LeAnn:

I made a Christmas record a long time ago, and this time, I decided I wanted to spread it out over three years so I didn’t have to stop making Christmas music. We had so much fun making this first EP. I tried to play around with it as far as things you don’t typically hear me do. A lot of the vocals sound very live, and it’s just a really cool piece of music. It’s very exclectic. It has a lot of soul, and it sounds really organic.

One Christmas: Chapter 1
1. Silent Night Holy Night
2. I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas
3. Blue Christmas
4. Someday at Christmas
5. Hard Candy Christmas
6. Carol of the Bells

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Filmmaker, actor and USA Film Festival founder L.M. Kit Carson, ‘one of the greats,’ is dead at 73

Long ago I referred to L.M. Kit Carson as “perhaps the most influent... filmmaker,” and with good reason: He more or less birthed the mockumentary in 1968 with the film David Holzman’s Diary (which he wrote and starred in), co-founded the USA Film Festival in 1970, landed on the National Film Registry, co-wrote Wim Wenders’ beloved Paris, Texas (co-starring Kit’s son Hunter) and helped young comers named Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson turn a short film into the debut feature known as Bottle Rocket. And he was once married to ac...aren Black, Hunter’s mother. Those are but the best-known highlights.

We revisit them this morning with a heavy heart: Kit Carson died at 11:34 last night at the age of 73 after a long illness. As Austin Chronicle founder Louis Black puts it in an email this morning, “One of the greats has left us.”

As the narcissistic filmmaker David Holzman in the 1968 film that more or less birthed the mockumentary

This is what Hunter wrote on his Facebook page:

“RIP dad. Your light was and always will brighten the pathways of our future. It will never be extinguished. You did everything the way you wanted and never let anyone else do less than they were capable of doing. You mentored, taught, learned, fought, excelled as both athlete and student. I loved and loved and will love every moment we spent together. Thanks for everything. See you in the movies.”

To call his career eclectic is understatement. The University Park-born, Irving-raised Carson, a product of the University of Dallas, was an actor, his filmography ranging from Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty to an episode of Miami Vice in which he soared. He co-wrote Jim McBride’s 1983 remake of Breathless starring Richard Gere, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II three years later. He served as inspiration ...an Coppola, son of Francis and maker of the movie CQ, which was partially cribbed from David Holzman, a black-and-white parody of cinema verite. He was an art-house-hold name.

“I met Kit on Paris, Texas, he was there as writer and father of the young co-star,” writes Allison Anders on Facebook this morning. She wrote and directed such films as Gas Food Lodging and Grace of My Heart, and went on to direct several episodes of Sex and the City. “He was later of one my advisors at the Sundance Lab and from there, a friend. I only discovered later all the incredible things he had done before Paris Texas, as a filmmaker and writer. He wrote some of the best pieces on pop culture in the late 60s for Eye Magazine and later Rolling Stone. So glad to have known him.”

Writes Anders, Kit’s was “a life truly lived on his own terms.”

Among Kit Carson's writing credits: the 1983 remake of Breathless starring Richard Gere (Irwin Thompson/Staff photographer)

I got to know Kit — born Lewis Minor Carson, the grandson of a Texas Ranger with whom he shared the name — quite well about two decades ago, shortly after the wandering filmmaker moved back to Dallas. He’d gotten involved in the Deep Ellum Film Festival, the first to fete the local-born great. In 1999, we spoke about why he fou...m Festival with Bill Jones, the SMU film professor: because he needed a place to show his movie, simple as that. During his brief ride there, the fest was among the most influential in the country.

“Back in 1971, the organism started in Dallas with people who were kind of interested in movies but didn’t know much about movies,” Carson told me in 1999. “There were no film fests in this country devoted to the American independent film. I said, ‘There’s no film festival for Marty Scorsese or Brian De Palma, so let’s start one, because this stuff is happening and no one is saying this is happening.’”

It was Carson who introduced Wes Anderson and the brothers Wilson (Owen, Luke and Andrew) to the world of filmmaking. The brothers’ family was close to Kit, and he and his wife, producer Cynthia Hargrave, took the Wilson boys to Sundance in 1992, where they more or less planned what became the Bottle Rocket short film.

“They were movie maniacs,” Kit told Matt Zoller Seitz in the Dallas Observer in 1995. “Their father [Robert Wilson] had asked me over for dinner for the express purpose of talking them out of a career in movies. I figured out pretty quick that there was no way anybody could talk them out of it.”

Years later, for his book The Wes Anderson Collection, Seitz and Anderson revisited Kit’s influence on the making of Bottle Rocket. Here is an excerpt from that Q&A:

Did you know who Kit Carson was as a filmmaker before you met him?

I’d sort of heard of him. I don’t remember exactly what I knew about him, but I’d heard of him. I feel like maybe he’d done a Q&A in Austin or something that I’d just missed. But right after I met him, there was a screening of David Holzman’s Diary at the Dallas Museum of Art, and I saw it and loved it. I thought, “This is really a good movie.”

Did Kit have any effect on you as a budding filmmaker? Were there any useful pieces of advice he gave you, any suggestions for films you should see that might prove useful?

He gave us so much advice and so much input I couldn’t even begin to know where to start. He was our guide. I don’t know if I can think of movies he turned me on to, exactly. Owen and I were both big movie watchers already. Owen was less interested in movies with subtitles. I showed him really old movies, and he showed me not quite as old movies.

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Kelly Clarkson Covers Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me”: Watch

It seems like everyone is jumping on the Sam Smith fan bandwagon, with the latest artist being Kelly Clarkson! The singer and new mother covered the “Restart” crooner’s smash hit, “Stay With Me,” during her concert performance in Chicago last weekend. Her vocals are already stunning, but the soulful ballad highlighted them even more.

Clarkson isn’t the first (and probably not the last) to cover Smith’s tune. Jessie J, Ed Sheeran and FKA Twigs both tried their hands at it, while Mary J. Blige joined him for a duet version. Listen to Kelly Clarkson’s rendition after the jump.

Kelly Clarkson recently announced her first-ever annual Christmas benefit concert called Miracle on Broadway in Nashville on Saturday, December 20. She’s bringing guest artists like Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Garth Brooks, Ronnie Dunn, Kacey Musgraves, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Charles Esten and Meghan Trainor along for the ride.

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Kiesza’s ‘Sound Of A Woman’: Album Review

After the whirlwind that was last year’s Q4 pop album releases (including Katy Perry‘s Prism, Lady Gaga‘s ARTPOP, Britney SpearsBritney Jean and Beyonce‘s Beyonce), the music industry seemed to fade into a boring lull once 2014 hit. But fast forward to the current season, and it appears that pop has had a musical resurgence – thanks to artists like Canadian pop-house maven Kiesza. The flame-haired singer first made waves this past, chilly winter with her smash single, “Hideaway” and now her debut LP Sound Of A Woman arrives today (October 21).

Kicking off the record is the song that started it all: “Hideaway.” We first got wind of the track back in February when the official video dropped, and added it to our Spring “Hottest Imports” playliss. The song is an ode to the deep house jams of the ’90s, and doesn’t skimp out on the synthesized drum beats or powerful vocals. To put it simply, it makes you feel damn good. When placed into the realm of current pop, “Hideaway” manages to stand out on its own without the help of a 4-on-the-floor blueprint or a crashing bass drop with standard synths.

Next up on the album is “No Enemiez,” the bigger and bolder sister to “Hideaway.” This song is strictly made for underground clubs – due to its throbbing beats that seems to draw from more European influences. The biggest highlight of the track is Kiesza’s vocals (as it should be – take note wannabe pop stars). Her glossy voice transcends over the heavy production, providing a juxtaposition that makes for totally fun listen.

Tracks like “Losin’ My Mind” and “So Deep” prove that Kiesza cannot be pigeon-holed into a strict dance category; her distinctly airy voice can also shift to be edgier and far more soulful. The former is a commanding mid-tempo number with a late ’80s underground hip-hop flavor (which is amped up thanks to Mick Jenkins‘ feature), while the latter takes you to space with its dreamy rhythms and breathy vocals that tease the eardrums as she whispers, “Baby I can’t never find the need / I’m still loving you right now, right now, right now.

In certain instances on Sound Of A Woman, the deep house trend becomes a bit trite, as with songs like “Vietnam” and “Over Myself” for example. But one cut manages to push through the album’s sometimes-overwhelming walls of ’90s dance mania, and that’s “Bad Thing.” Already released as a buzz track, it’s a welcome surprise that cuts right in the middle of the album. Whether it was a strategic move or not, this gritty track gives the listener a breather coaxes out a more mellow version of the Canadian singer. Assisted by young Brooklynite Joey Bada$$, “Bad Thing” has a swagger that many pop stars have tried to pull off with other rap features, yet this one seems more genuine.

Another surprise on the album is the singer’s version of Haddaway‘s 1993 dance smash, “What Is Love” — and it is a stunner. Kiesza manages to transform the classic party tune into a heartfelt ballad, which gives the song an entirely different meaning. Her decision to slow down the tempo allows the listener to connect to the moving lyrics; it’s a pretty genius move. After the “lighters in the air” moment that is “What Is Love,” Kiesza wipes her tears away and becomes defiant in the album’s title track. The tone is unapologetical vengeful, with her singing, “One more time, I’ll ask why/You let me waste all those nights/Had I known, I’d have not let you step into my life.”

While “Hideaway” is indeed a ’90s throwback, “The Love” gives it a run for the money. The difference between the two is this: the latter is more of a tribute to the decade as a while, and “The Love” sounds like it was lifted directly from German-American Eurodance group La Bouche‘s recording studio — and we mean that, of course, in the best way possible. Another close contender to “The Love” is the LP’s second UK single, “Giant In My Heart.” Like the greats that came before her (Haddaway, Robin S. and Crystal Waters), Kiesza takes the theme of pain, heartbreak and loneliness and places it along a lush bed of ’90s house beats. The classic combination makes for a song that you would not be afraid to belt out every word to while grooving on the dance floor.

Once EDM was introduced to us en masse, it seemed like that ear-draining techno beat would never escape. Thanks to modern producers like Avicii, Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Afrojack and will.i.am (ugh), the techno craze seeped through all genres of music. To be honest, it was getting extremely redundant and boring almost at the onset, so much so, that a new wave of artists (Disclosure, Duke Dumont, Gorgon City, Clean Bandit, etc.) have looked to the beloved era of ’90s house to get dance music re-energized. There’s no question that among the bunch, Kiesza has been a dominating force that should help influence others to shed the robotic nature of EDM and return to emotion- and vocal-filled house music.

Best Song That Wasn’t The Single: “Losin’ My Mind,” arguably the sultriest tune off the album. It shows Kiesza in a different light, as she digs into the subtle erotic grooves made famous by acts like Madonna and Janet Jackson during their heydays.

Best Listened To When: You’re getting ready for a night on the town with your best guy or girl friends, having zero cares in the world and want the perfect soundtrack that feeds your ’90s nostalgia.

Idolator Score: 4/5

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Tatiana Maslany of ‘Orphan Black’ to Star Off Broadway in Neil LaBute Premiere

Christopher Polk/Getty Images

October 21, 2014 | 11:00AM PT

Gordon Cox

Legit Editor @GCoxVariety

Tatiana Maslany, the critically adored star of BBC America series “Orphan Black,” will make her New York stage debut this spring in the world premiere of Neil LaBute’s “The Way We Get By,” starting performances in May at Second Stage Theater.

She’ll topline the two-hander with Thomas Sadoski, the theater alum (“Other Desert Cities”) who’s a regular on HBO’s “The Newsroom,” in a production helmed by Leigh Silverman, nommed for a Tony earlier this year for the Broadway revival of “Violet.”

Maslany has earned a cult of fans playing about a dozen characters, and counting, in “Orphan Black,” the sci-fi saga about cloning. Two years in a row supporters have taken to the Internet to voice their ire over her perceived snubbing by the Emmys.

In “The Way We Get By,” Maslany will play Beth opposite Sadosky’s Doug, two sexual predators who hook up at a wedding and wake to an awkward morning-after encounter.

Maslany recently finished production on the Weinstein Co. film “The Woman in Gold,” Simon Curtis’ drama that stars Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. Sadoski is now at work on the NBC miniseries “The Slap” alongside Zachary Quinto, Peter Sarsgaard and Mary-Louise Parker.

Previews of “The Way We Get By” kick off May 12. The show is skedded to run through June 28, with an exact opening date still to be set.

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Syfy Renews Zombie Drama 'Z Nation'

The cable network gives a nod to the series, halfway through its freshman season

Z Nation
Z Nation

Syfy is staying put in Z Nation. The cable network has announced a second season of the zombie drama, set for a 2015 return.

The news comes just halfway through the series' freshman season. Its proven to be especially competitive on Friday nights, averaging just under 1.5 million viewers and a 0.5 rating among adults 18-49 in live-plus-same day showings.

Z Nation comes to Syfy from producers The Asylum, the studio behind many of its popular b-movies that also run on Friday nights — including the Sharknado franchise.

Syfy has been loading up on original dramas of late. It has renewed Dominion, Defiance and Helix, and is filling the cupboard with 13 episodes of Gale Anne Hurd drama Hunters and the long-gestating miniseries based on Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End.

Z Nation, the network's response to the popularity of The Walking Dead, stars Harold Perrineau and Tom Everett Scott. It takes place in the U.S., three years after the country was ravaged by zombies.

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Ringo Starr to Star in 2015 Skechers Ads

2:42 AM PST 10/21/2014 by Colin Stutz, Billboard
Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Ex-Beatles drummer will star in a series of comedic television spots

Ringo Starr and Skechers announced a new partnership Monday that will have the former Beatles drummer appearing in the footwear company's global marketing campaign for its Relaxed Fit line, starting in spring 2015.

Starr will appear in comedic new television spots that will be part of a campaign that has previously included sports celebrities Joe Montana, Mark Cuban, Joe Namath and Pete Rose, with content spanning media realms to print, outdoor, online and point-of-sale materials through June 2016.

"We are incredibly excited to be working with such an amazing world-renowned artist as Ringo Starr," Skechers president Michael Greenberg said in a statement. "Ringo possesses the charm, cool charisma and instant global recognition that will elevate awareness for our popular Relaxed Fit footwear collection both in the United States and especially around the world. And his recent modeling gig with a high-end designer shows Ringo is not only a music icon, but also a style icon. As we move from the sports world to the music world with this campaign, Ringo is the perfect ambassador to illustrate how our comfortable footwear helps keep you relaxed in any situation."

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'Shameless' Adds Singer-Actress for Season 5

Annie Little boards the Showtime series in a guest role

Annie Little - H 2014
Mira Adwell/ Courtesy of Annie Little
Annie Little

Shameless is ramping up for season five.

Singer-actress Annie Little has boarded the Showtime series for a multiepisode arc.

Little will play Elizabeth, sister to Bianca (Bojana Novakovic), who is a bit of a square and uptight. She will appear in at least two episodes.

Little is repped by Hervey/Grimes and McKeon-Myones. Her past credits include roles in Argo, Dexter, Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23, Southland and 90210.

Little and her husband, Marcus Ashley, comprise Los Angeles-based duo Little & Ashley. The pair recently signed a co-publishing deal with Razor & Tie and will release their first full-length album, Dreamy Happy Sexy, on Nov. 18. The duo, whose songs have been featured on national Amazon Kindle TV commercials, have booked a Hotel Cafe performance ahead of the album release on Nov. 6.

Shameless, which welcomes Dermot Mulroney for a major, season-long arc, returns Jan. 11 on Showtime.

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'Back to The Future' to Receive Live Orchestra Accompaniment for 30th Anniversary Rerelease

Composer Alan Silvestri will add 15 minutes of new material to the score

UNIVERSAL PICTURES/COURTESY NEAL PETERS COLLECTION

Where they’re going, they don’t need roads — but, as it turns out, full orchestral accompaniment is a whole other story.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the much-loved time travel adventure Back to the Future, the Robert Zemeckis-directed film is headed back in a way most would never expect. IMG Artists and the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency announced a new partnership with Universal Pictures on Tuesday that will see the movie return to venues in 2015 across the globe, accompanied by a live orchestra performing Alan Silvestri’s score.

Read more London Secret Screening O...e' to L.A.

Silvestri, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his score to the 1985 classic starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson, will provide approximately 15 minutes of new material as part of the performance tour, which will debut with a screening and performance in Lucerne, Switzerland in May of next year.

The new series of orchestral screenings will actually be the second anniversary celebrations for the movie to center around music. In January, it was revealed that Zemeckis, screenwriter Bob Gale and theater director Jamie Lloyd were collaborating on a stage ... the story to debut in London at some point during 2015. That musical is also expected to feature new contributions from Silvestri.

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Corner Office: Afo Verde, Head of Sony Latin, on Ricky Martin, His Producer Roots and Argentine Pride

By Leila Cobo | October 20, 2014 11:46 AM EDT

Corner Office: Afo Verde, Chairman/CEO of Latin America, Spain and Prtugal at Sony Music Entertainment

Afo Verde, Chairman/CEO of Latin America, Spain and Prtugal at Sony Music Entertainment in his Miami office on Spet. 23, 2014.

The 50 or so ­employees at Sony Music Entertainment’s Miami headquarters are used to seeing Afo Verde walk briskly, fitting for a part-time soccer player. But today, he limps, still recovering from a 3-month-old ankle fracture sustained during his company’s weekly soccer match. “I’d love to say I was scoring a goal but the truth is, I stepped in a pothole,” Verde admits. That’s not to say the sporting tradition will stop. The Friday evening bouts have been in place for years and draw such soccer-­loving acts as Carlos Vives, Michel Telo and Chayanne when they’re in town.

That mingling between artists and executives defines the culture of Sony’s Latin music operations since Verde, 48, a former musician-turned-producer in his home country of Argentina, was named president of Sony’s Latin region in 2009. Three years later, he was upped to ­chairman/CEO, adding Spain and Portugal to his portfolio of 12 regional offices and 20 countries (more than 600 employees report to him regionwide). Now supervising a roster of 500 acts, including such superstars as Shakira, Ricky Martin and Romeo Santos, Verde works closely with sister labels RCA, Columbia, MasterWorks and Epic on a variety of projects, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup official album.

Calle 13 Lead Latin Grammy Nominations

His impact on SME’s business is undeniable: Its Latin market share grew from 28.4 percent in 2012 to 30.5 percent in 2013 (among albums) and 38.8 percent to 44.6 percent (single downloads), according to Nielsen SoundScan. And growth is foremost on Verde’s mind, as he notes new offices in Peru and the consolidation of all countries in the region under one umbrella. Another career accomplishment: Verde will receive the T.J. Martell Foundation’s Lifetime Music Industry Achievement Award on Oct. 22, which in its 39 years has been given to Clive Davis, Irving Azoff, Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy. “When [RCA ­president] Tom Corson called me and said T.J. Martell was going to honor a Latin for the first time in 39 years, I said, ‘Who is it?’ ” says Verde with a laugh. “It’s an amazing cause.”

How have you applied your background as a musician to your job?
What has helped most is the years I worked as a producer [for the likes of Diego Torres and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs]. I would get together with the executives and I felt some were very close to the music and others not at all. My dream was to create a team that came entirely from the musical side. I feel a little like an infiltrator in this position, because after so many years, I understand each of [the artists’ and producers’] philosophies. That’s what it’s about: Understanding.

You started your label career in A&R, then left to work as an independent producer. What convinced you to return to labels in 2005?
It was a time when piracy really affected our markets in a major way. And while I worked in the studio, touring, producing, I came to understand the business models artists needed, and that was a 360 model. Yes, publishers run publishing, agents run touring, but an artist needs a global vision. When Sony asked me to come back [in 2005], my only condition was: “OK, but only if we change the business model.”

Corner Office: Afo Verde

Brian Smith

What did changing the model entail?
Even back then, we signed 360 deals and occasionally incorporated members of the artists’ teams into Sony’s Latin American companies. For example, I hired the manager of [Argentine rock group] Los Fabulosos Cadillacs to be part of the company. Fernando Travi, the current senior vp of our live music department, was Gustavo Cerati’s manager. I have entire management teams in the region. Artists don’t have to use them, but they’re available.

You collaborate with so many of Sony’s labels, like Columbia, Epic and especially RCA. How does that work?
We [label heads] meet every four months to talk about music and new projects. For example, that’s where I first presented Marc Anthony’s “Vivir Mi Vida” [Which was the longest-running No. 1 single of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart in 2013]. It’s the way Edgar [Berger, Sony Music chairman/CEO of international] generates a healthy conversation about music and about the different territories’ commitments to artists. For example, in one of our meetings, Dennis Handlin [chairman/CEO of Sony Music Australia and New Zealand and president of Asia] said he wanted to do something with Ricky Martin, but we didn’t have an album at the time. So he got him to be a coach on The Voice Australia. A couple months later, Ricky is touring arenas in Australia and he doesn’t even have an album out. That’s the kind of relationship we have.

How closely do you work with [SME chairman/CEO] Doug Morris?
It depends. Shakira we worked very closely on. In fact, we went to Barcelona together when we were renegotiating her contract. He’ll see something from our world that impresses him on the charts and he’ll call me. He’s an extremely elegant chairman.

Corner Office: Afo Verde

Brian Smith

Do you see more opportunities for Latin acts today than in the past?
I believe so. It’s our ­responsibility to take “local” artists like [Argentina’s] Vicentito, [Colombia’s] Choc­quibtown and [Spain’s] Ismael Serrano and make them transcend, like we did with [Mexican pop group] Camila. What we need to do is internationalize this music more and better each time.

The music for the World Cup was a ­major priority for you in 2014. Was the atmosphere in the Miami office super-­competitive during the World Cup games this summer?
Yes. I have people from all over the world, and those that weren’t ­represented in the World Cup had to choose sides. We made a deal where the team that was leading could make everyone else take a selfie with the country’s T-shirt and put it up on Facebook. There are few things more spectacular for an Argentine like me than to see a Brazilian with an Argentina tee on.

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Latin Mixx Conference to Honor Johnny Ventura, Jellybean Benitez

Photo: Johnny Ventura

Click Here to Enlarge Photo

Dominican singer Johnny Ventura and famous disc jockey John “Jellybean” Benitez, who has worked with artists like Madonna, will be honored on Thursday at the 9th Latin Mixx Conference in New York.

The 74-year-old Ventura will receive a lifetime achievement award for introducing the native merengue sound of the Dominican Republic to countries around the world, conference founder Kevin Montano told Efe.

This is only the second time the organization has bestowed this honor, Montano said.

Benitez will be given the Icon Award by the Latin Mixx Conference.

Panamanian singer-songwriter Ruben Blades received the award last year.

Nearly 300 disc jockeys who work in radio, online and in clubs are attending the conference, which started on Wednesday, in New York.

The event was created “to recognize what Latino DJs have done all year,” Montano said.

Prizes are handed out in 14 categories, including awards for the best DJs on the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest and South, the biggest honors at the even.

Montano, a former teacher, said he created the prizes to honor his cousin, Jason “Threat” Campbell, the first Dominican DJ on popular New York City station Hot 97.

Campbell was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2001, Montano said.

“I felt it was necessary to keep his name and work alive. I created the conference to raise the name of the Latino DJ to another level,” Montano said.

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Spanish Singer Raphael Labels Himself an “Indie” Artist

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Photo: Raphael

Spanish singer Raphael is facing the fact that others are thinking about his retirement, even though he is heading out on the latest tour in his decades-long career, a tour on which he will perform at the Sonorama music festival before a new audience: namely, “indie” fans.

“‘Indie’ doesn’t mean anything but independent. What I ask myself is how I didn’t go there before, because if there’s an artist who’s always done what he felt he had to do and has been his own boss, it’s me,” the 71-year-old singer said in an interview with Efe.

Raphael will kick things off in Cambrils, Tarragona, in northeastern Spain, next Sunday, calling this “De amor & defamer” (About love & lack of love) tour his “most forceful,” while he continues to seek an apex to his performances that “is very high” and which still is not in view.

The singer will release an album with the same title on which he will collect his “repertoire of love and lack of love” with many of his past hits revised with the help of Jacobo Calderon, the son of Juan Carlos Calderon, along with the input of his own relative Manuel Martos and accompanied by the RTVE Symphony Orchestra.

“I’ve put even more value into them, although that might seem to be incorrect,” Raphael said, citing a “spectacular” version of his number “En carne viva,” as well as “Provocacion,” “Que sabe nadie,” “Amor mio,” “No puedo arrancarte de mi” and songs by Jose Luis Perales like “Me estoy quedando solo.”

The tour will run from August to December and will wrap up in Madrid.

The singer said that in January he will once again record new songs with the help of young composers like Vega, with whom he recently sang “Wolverines,” which is included on her latest album.

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Reply #42 posted 10/22/14 8:31am

JoeBala

biggrin See the Beatles, Bob Dylan Beatbox in Stunning, Innovative Video

Roy Kafri's "Mayokero" clip, directed by Vania Heymann, features classic album covers forming a beatboxing posse

By Daniel Kreps | October 21, 2014

In Roy Kafri's innovative music video for "Mayokero," we discover what your album covers do when nobody's looking: They form an all-star beatboxing posse. The video seamlessly animates classic covers like the Beatles' Revolver, David Bowie's Aladdin Sane and Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline and Highway 61 Revisited to give the appearance that they're collectively singing the Kafri track (via A.V. Club).

Israeli director Vania Heymann created the "Mayokero" video, and this isn't the first time the young filmmaker has drawn raves for his creative use of the medium. Last year, Heymann unveiled his interactive music vid...ng Stone," which allowed viewers to literally flip channels during the duration of the song. On one channel, comedian Marc Maron was lip-synching, while another was fashioned after a nightly news program. Even the set of The Price Is Right got involved in the video, which had Rolling Stone applauding Heymann for turning a song from 1965 into one of the best music videos of 2013.

"Mayokero" is also reminiscent of this hilarious, ultraviol... from 2007. (Both videos make notable use of the cover of Lionel Richi...tled album.)

As the Kafri video works backwards in time, we find out that all the record sleeves are strewn all over the street because their original owner put them curbside after throwing down $350 for a Sony Mini-Disc player. The moral of the music video might be digital music is killing album art or maybe to hold onto your old vinyl, but either way the visuals are incredible.

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Reply #43 posted 10/23/14 7:20am

JoeBala

When I started college at UC Santa Cruz in the fall of 1979, my first act was to hang a poster of Linda Ronstadt on the closet door of my room. This was the era of “Back in the U.S.A.” and “Mad Love”. Ronstadt wasn’t a celebrity in today’s mold of boisterous, in-your-face public personas trying to master all media. Rather, Ronstadt was a musician and in her “musical memoir”, she provides ample evidence of her passion for her craft.

Now 67, and no longer singing, Ronstadt’s memoir clearly begs the age-old question, “Do we ever really grow up?” Although the book spans her musical career, from the earliest moments of singing in her home in the ‘50s, to her final concert and her own reflection on maturity, what comes across is not the voice of a old singer reminiscing about times past, but an ardent musician still very much telling stories that feel contemporary and meaningful, full of youthful enthusiasm and hope. Outside of a few rough encounters over the years, and the deaths of close friends, readers will find Ronstadt’s voice remains that of the young woman that first captivated listeners on “Hand Sown…Home Grown” when she sang “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”.

For fans, and even those who just remember her music fondly, Simple Dreams, provides background not only on Ronstadt, but on the entire American music scene in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Ronstadt lived, played and often just hung out with what we now consider the elite of American pop music: Jim Morrison, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, John David Souther, Neil Young, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Warren Zevon, Jackson Brown, David Geffen, Dolly Parton, Emmy Lou Harris and scores of others.

Though rich on details of such musically-oriented encounters, the book is scant on material that makes for juicy “must read” celebrity tell-alls. Of John David Souther, whom Ronstadt dated and lived with, we receive the following introduction: “He had the flint-eyed, dusty-wind squint of the Texas Panhandle, where he was raised.” They met when he was playing drums for Bo Diddley.

Ronstadt’s reserved detail, however, doesn’t detract from the story, but rather sets her apart in a way from her friends and acquaintances who experimented with drugs or suffered from overuse of alcohol. She clearly admits to her “hippy” leanings, but she succinctly puts to rest any rumors of personal drug use with the humorous quote from Janet Stark, her friend and long-time assistant: “When I smoke pot, it makes me want to hide under the bed with a box of graham crackers and not share.” There is almost a third-person detachment that makes for a better book.

Although Ronstadt remained a powerful performer after pairing with Nelson Riddle in for 1983’s “What’s New”, her musical meanderings become increasingly eclectic, and off the beaten path of the pop cannon.

But the post-1983 eclecticism wasn’t new, it was foundational. From her earliest stories she writes of a grandfather playing Puccini. Her singing aunt Luisa Espinel. Singing and music define Ronstadt. Her father, known as Gilbert, “had a beautiful baritone singing voice that sounded like a cross between Pedro Infante, the famous Mexican matinee idol and singer, and Frank Sinatra.”

In a poetic passage, Ronstadt says that her “favorite place for music was pachanga,” a late afternoon into late evening Mexican picnic. In the next paragraph she writes:

Around sunset, someone would uncork a bottle of tequila or the local bacanora, and people would start tuning up the guitars. The stars blinked on, and the songs sailed into the night. Mostly in Spanish, they were yearning, beautiful songs of love and desperation and despair…The music never felt like a performance, it simply ebbed and flowed with the rest of the conversation.

It is too bad Ronstadt didn’t take up the pen more often to write her own lyrics.

Ronstadt never married, though she famously dated then Governor Jerry Brown (also current Governor) of California and Pete Hamill (“with whom she was “keeping steady company” in the early ‘80s). The relationship with Brown generated much pop culture speculation back in the day, perhaps because of the privacy-oriented nature of both parties. It’s a good example of where Ronstadt clearly makes the choice between memoir and autobiography.

She ends the relationship in a single paragraph, with the very cordial statement, “Neither of us ever suffered under the delusion that we would like to share each other’s lives. I would have found his life too restrictive, and he would have found mine entirely chaotic. Eventually we went our separate ways and embraced things that resonated with us as different individuals.”

At 200 pages (with an additional 47 pages of discography and index), Simple Dreams is a quick read. Some of the chapters, all of which start with a picture, run less than a page. As satisfying and engaging as the book is, there are clearly stories that still haven’t been told, or at least details that haven’t been communicated. I’m not talking about the salacious stuff, but about collaborations and processes.

The book would have benefited from an occasional moment of reflection, a slowing down, to explore the mire of a recording session. On page 63, for example, she relays a story about the discovery of old cassette tapes recorded in her living room in 1976. Jackson Brown is teaching her “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”, and JD Souther schools her in Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou”. The paragraph ends with “That was a profitable evening,” as both songs ended up on her mega-hit album, Simple Dreams. I would have appreciated more detail about that evening, about how the two were different teachers, and what she learned from each—how they approached songs and how she approached their teaching.

Despite that minor disappointment, Ronstadt has crafted a fine book. She is a beautiful writer and an adept storyteller. Her stories bring you into her world with sparse orchestration. You are in her moment, and she is in that moment with you. It’s very good to see that despite physical difficulties brought on by Parkinson’s disease, Ronstadt’s spirit speaks with a still youthful vibrancy. If Simple Dreams was an album, it would be an “unplugged” version, where the voice of the artist soars above the instruments.

Rating:

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Reply #44 posted 10/23/14 7:35am

JoeBala

America's Pop Music Hall of Fame Nominees

Are you a fan of Paul McCartney, Glen Campbell, the Jacksons or the Guess Who? It's time to rally the fans - and the fan clubs - to vote your favorites into America's Pop Music Hall of Fame.

Now through October 31, you can vote for up to 10 artists for induction in the 2015 class. The nominees are, in alphabetical order, Glen Campbell, Chubby Checker, Cher, the Dave Clark Five, Bob Dylan, the Eagles, the Four Tops, the Grass Roots, the Guess Who, the Jackson Five, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, the Righteous Brothers, Johnny Rivers, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Johnny Tillotson.

And these artists are on the ballot yet again, awaiting your support: Paul Anka, Dion & the Belmonts, the Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Three Dog Night, Frankie Valli & Four Seasons and Andy Williams.

Vote Here: http://www.americaspopmus...ffame.org/

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Reply #45 posted 10/23/14 7:45am

JoeBala

Video Of The Week:

Wingspan Docu.

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Reply #46 posted 10/23/14 8:04am

JoeBala

Baker Street saxophone player Raphael Ravenscroft dies

Raphael Ravenscroft

The musician behind one of the most recognisable saxophone solos - on Gerry Rafferty's hit Baker Street - has died.

Raphael Ravenscroft, 60, who found fame almost overnight following the release of the 1978 track, died following a suspected heart attack early on Sunday.

He was reportedly paid only £27 for the session with a cheque that bounced while the song is said to have earned Rafferty £80,000 a year in royalties.

In a radio interview in 2011, Ravenscroft said the song annoyed him.

"I'm irritated because it's out of tune," he said.

"Yeah, it's flat. By enough of a degree that it irritates me at best."

Raphael RavenscroftRavenscroft was described as "an absolute genius"

Scarlett Raven, Ravenscroft's daughter and a contemporary artist, said it was "incredible" to see how many people her father had inspired.

The musician behind one of the most recognisable saxophone solos - on Gerry Rafferty's hit Baker Street - has died.

She said: "He is an absolutely incredible man. You could tell from the way he played that he put his heart and soul into his music.

"He touched your soul and made you want to better yourself. I think he was very proud of Baker Street and that it made people feel good.

"I'm sure a lot of people will put on Baker Street and smile today."

Ravenscroft, who was born in Stoke-on-Trent, had already appeared on Maxine Nightingale's album, Right Back Where We Started From, in 1976, as an arranger but emerged as one of the industry's most prominent saxophonists.

Baker Street reached number three in the UK charts and number two in the US.

Raphael Ravenscroft

Ravenscroft also played with artists such as Pink Floyd, Abba and Daft Punk

Its famous solo became wrongly attributed...ockbusters, with radio presenters Stuart Maconie and Tommy Boyd - as well as Ravenscroft himself - claiming responsibility for the false story.

Mark Travis, a musician, made a recording with Ravenscroft after the two met on the music scene in Exeter, Devon, where the saxophone player lived in later life.

Mr Travis said: "He was an absolute genius, not just musically but also his presence in the studio. He was such a character.

"When we were doing the recording we talked a lot about his career and in particular Baker Street and how the song, in his eyes and in Gerry Rafferty's eyes, was not anything special until the sax was put on it.

http://www.funkybongo.com/fb/images/376_a132.jpg

Recorded tribute

"His addition of what he called a fairly straightforward riff really made the song."

Ravenscroft went on to work with icons such as Pink Floyd, Abba and Marvin Gaye. More recently worked as a session musician for artists Daft Punk and Duffy.

In 1990 Ravenscroft, also a former tutor of music at York College, published a successful instruction book, The Complete Saxophone Player.

In 2011, he recorded a tribute to commemorate the funeral of Rafferty called Forgiveness, which combined his saxophone playing with the voices of Grammy-nominated choir Tenebrae.

This summer he organised a charity gala concert in memory of a local schoolgirl who died after falling from a wall.

Raphael Ravenscroft, Baker Street, Gerry Rafferty

Raphael Ravenscroft with daughter Scarlett Raven, 2012 Photo by Getty Images

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Reply #47 posted 10/23/14 8:20am

JoeBala

Billy Preston, George Harrison, Gerald Ford

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Billy_Preston,_George_Harrison,_Gerald_Ford,_Ravi_Shankar.jpg

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Ravi Shankar & Jack Ford

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At the invitation of President Gerald Ford's son, Jack, George Harrison visited the White House on December 14, 1974. Accompanying him were Ravi Shankar and Billy Preston. It was the day of big hair. Even the back of Gerald Ford's hair almost touches the top edge of his shirt collar (for shame!). This isn't quite as surreal as when Elvis met Nixon, but it's still odd.

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Reply #48 posted 10/23/14 11:48am

JoeBala

Dee From What’s Happening Reveals Cancer Diagnosis and Smithsonian Honor

Former child star Danielle Spencer opens up about her health issue but also shares good news.

Posted: Oct. 22 2014 6:46 AM

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Danielle Spencer as Dee in the ’70s sitcom What’s Happening; Spencer today

ABC; Danielle Spencer

One of the most memorable lines from the ’70s sitcom What’s Happening came from Raj’s bratty little sister, Dee. In at least every episode, Dee, played by Danielle Spencer, had her “Ooh, I’m gonna tell Momma” moment. What’s Happening had a successful run and even a spinoff called What’s Happening Now, but Spencer stepped away from the spotlight to focus on her education and career. She attended Tuskegee University, where she majored in veterinary science, and then became a veterinarian. Her career had her focusing on the health of animals, but now she’s focusing on her own.

In an interview with BlackAmericaWeb, Spencer discussed her recent breast-cancer diagnosis, which took her by surprise. “Surgery is definitely one of the options,” she said. “I’m trying to get as many opinions as possible, but it does look [like] that is what I’m going to do. Hopefully after that, there won’t be any chemotherapy or radiation. With everything that I’ve been through with the spinal cord injury, I know God is not going to give me another affliction. So I was completely shocked when the doctors told me.”

The injury Spencer referred to is from a car accident during her time on What’s Happening, which affected her 26 years later and caused her to have a bout with paralysis.

Although Spencer was diagnosed with cancer a month ago, she is also focusing on the positive. Recently she became the only child star to be inducted into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. As part of her induction, when the museum opens in 2015, she will be included in the permanent exhibition of the museum.

“I still can’t believe it,” she said. “That’s something people can look at for years to come, long after I’m gone.”

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JoeBala

Alice Braga 'La Reina Del Sur' Remake: USA Finds 'Queen Of The South' Star For Telemundo Telenovela Adaptation

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Teresa Mendoza will live once again, but this time Alice Braga will be 'La Reina Del Sur' in the U.S. remake. Reuters

Alice Braga has been cast as the lead of USA's remake of "La Reina del Sur," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The 31-year-old Brazilian actress that was born in São Paulo will give life to Teresa Mendoza in the "Queen Of The South" adaptation of the Arturo Pérez-Reverte best-seller. The novela had been succesfully adaptated by sister network Telemundo as a 63-episode telenovela with Kate del Castillo as the titled character.

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The story follows Mendoza, who after her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico, is forced to go on the run and seek refuge in America. There, she teams with an unlikely figure from her past to bring down the leader of the same drug trafficking ring that has her on the run. In the process, she learns the tools of the trade and strategically positions herself to become the leader of the cartel.

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The script for "The Queen Of The South" will be written by M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller and executive produced alongside David Friendly ("Little Miss Sunshine") and Pancho Mansfield ("Damien"). "We are excited to bring this global best-selling thriller to our viewers,” USA president Chris McCumber said. "'Queen Of The South' is a suspenseful twist on a dramatic tale of love and betrayal that examines the desperate choices people make when lives are on the line."

News of this comes months after NBC and USA announced they would be developing adaptations of "El Señor De Los Cielos" and "Señora Acero," respectively. The former finished off a successful sophomore season on the Spanish-net, with a third season already underway. The latter series just premiered this with with Blanca Soto as the star, and has had a healthy launch.

Latin Grammy Performances 2014: Ricky Martin, Jesse & Joy Among Performers

First Posted: Oct 23, 2014 03:51 PM EDT
Ricky Martin
(Photo : Instagram/Va Por Ti)

The 15th Annual Latin Grammy awards is quickly approaching, and as such, more details have been released about the event.

Ricky Martin, Pablo Alboran, Camila, J Balvin, Jesse & Joy, La Arrolladora Banda El Limon De Rene Camacho and La Original Banda el Limon de Salvador Lizarraga are all set to perform at the awards.

Organizers are planning a big show for its 15th go around, or its quinceañera.

There will be a year-long celebration, said Gabriel Abaroa Jr., the CEO and president of the academy, notes Voxxi.

"We're thinking about beginning beginning the festivities on the day of the awards and continuing to celebrate them during the entire year up to the 16th anniversary," Abaroa said. "Just a while ago, [the gala] was a little girl whom we were carrying and whose diapers were were changing, and suddenly 15 years is before us."

This year the ceremony won't be held in its usual location, The Mandalay Hotel in Las vegas. Instead, it will take place at the MGM Grand Arena, which is a bigger venue. Eugenio Derbez will serve as the host.

"We are seeing what we will do to have the best Latin Grammy possible," Derbez said.

J Balvin, who will be performing and is nominated for the show, recently opened up about his nomination.

He said that he found out early, at around 6 a.m., and that he was just overcome with feeling.

"I've dreamt about this for many, many years -- I think since I decided to become an artist," he said. "It's one of my biggest dreams, and well, we'll have to see what happens. We're still working. That's what important, to work and keep moving."

He's already thinking of his next dream, such as singing to a sold-out crowd in Madison Square Garden in the next couple of years.

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Martin Scorsese to Exec Produce Grateful Dead Doc

4:10 PM PST 10/23/2014 by Seth Abramovitch
AP Images/Invision

Timed for the band's 50th birthday, director Amir Bar-Lev ('The Tillman Story') will weave archival footage with new interviews

The Dead are rising.

A new documentary from executive producer Martin Scorsese about landmark psychedelic rock group the Grateful Dead is headed our way.

Set to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the legendary jam-band led by Bob Weir and the late Jerry Garcia, the career-spanning retrospective will be directed by Amir Bar-Lev (2010's The Tillman Story). Bar-Lev has been trying to get the film off the ground for the better part of a decade.

The yet-to-be-titled documentary will pull from a half-century's worth of footage collected by longtime band archivist David Lemieux, who also serves of the film's music supervisor.

Vintage interviews, backstage color and live concerts will interweave with new interviews with surviving Dead members Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Phil Lesh, as well as other trippy characters from the Haight-Ashbury scene of late-1960s San Francisco.

Read more HBO, Martin Scorsese Prep... TV Series

“The Grateful Dead were more than just a band," Scorsese says in a statement. "They were their own planet, populated by millions of devoted fans. I’m very happy that this picture is being made and proud to be involved."

The band couldn't be happier that Scorsese is driving the project. "From The Last Waltz to George Harrison: Living In The Material World, from Bob Dylan to the Rolling Stones, he has made some of the greatest music documentaries ever with some of our favorite artists and we are honored to have him involved," Weir, Hart, Krueutzmann and Lesh said in a joint statement.

Alex Blavatnik is financing through his AOMA Sunshine Films. Eric Eisner, Nicholas Koskoff and Justin Kreutzmann will serve as producers. Executive producers are Scorsese, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Andrew Heller, Sanford Heller and Rick Yorn.

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Courtney Love Joins Fox's 'Empire'

The singer's recurring gig comes on the heels of a 'Sons of Anarchy' appearance

Courtney Love SOA - H 2014
AP Images
Courtney Love

Courtney Love has been bitten by the TV bug. The Hole singer and sometimes actress has booked a role on Fox's upcoming hip hop drama Empire.

Considered a recurring guest star, Love takes on the role of hard rocker Elle Dallas — part of the titular record label's stable of musicians.

This marks Love's second TV gig after booking a recurring role on the final season of FX's Sons of Anarchy earlier this season. Her previous acting credits are all in film and include '90s flicks 200 Cigarettes and Basquiat.

Set for a midseason bow, Empire comes from The Butler's Lee Daniels and counts Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Gabourey Sidibe among its stars.

Love is repped by UTA.

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AFM: Ethan Hawke to Play Chet Baker in 'Born to Be Blue'

6:00 AM PST 10/23/2014 by Scott Roxborough
Austin Hargrave
Ethan Hawke

The ‘Boyhood’ star is ready to get lost in the jazz trumpeter biopic

Ethan Hawke has signed on to play Chet Baker in a new biopic about the legendary jazz trumpeter.

Born to Be Blue picks up with the Baker story late in the musician’s life, when, after years of drug abuse, he stages a comeback.

Robert Budreau (That Beautiful Somewhere) is directing Born to Be Blue from his own screenplay. Hawke has worked closely on the development of the project, which will largely shoot in Sudbury, Ontario. Born to Be Blue is the second big jazz biopic to hit the market, following Don Cheadle's Miles Davis project Kill the Trumpet Player, which co-stars Ewan McGregor and Zoe Saldana.

Carmen Ejogo (The Purge: Anarchy) and Callum Keith Rennie (Fifty Shades of Grey) co-star in Born to Be Blue. Producers are Jennifer Jonas and Leonard Farlinger of New Real Films; Jake Seal of Black Hangar Studios and Budreau through his Lumanity Productions. Executive producers include Andrew Chang-sang of Productivity Media, William Santor, John Hills, Adam Moryto, Stefan Jacobs, D. Matt Geller and Gurpreet Chandhoke.

Read More Ethan Hawke on 'Boyhood' Children

K5 International has picked up world sales rights for the project and will be pitching it to buyers at the American Film Market next month. eOne has acquired the Canadian rights.

Hawke is repped by CAA, The Schiff Company and attorney George Sheanshang. Ejogo is repped by ICM and Authentic. Budreau is repped by Brooke Ehrlich Artist Management.

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'Archie' TV Adaptation Lands at Fox

One-hour drama hails from 'Arrow's' Greg Berlanti

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Courtesy of Archie Comic Publications, Inc.

Archie may be coming to TV.

Fox is getting into business with Archie Comics, putting into development the modern-day one-hour drama Riverdale based on the popular Archie characters from prolific TV producer Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash).

Riverdale follows the main crew of Archie, Betty, Veronica and their friends, as they explore the surrealistic twists of small-town life, in addition to the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale's wholesome facade. Set in the fictional town of Riverdale, N.Y., the drama will focus on the love triangle of Archie Andrews, girl-next-door Betty Cooper and rich socialite Veronica Lodge.

The entire cast of supporting characters, including Reggie Mantle, Archie's rival; Jughead Jones, Archie's best friend; Kevin Keller, a popular gay character; and Josie and the Pussycats, also will be featured.

Warner Bros. TV-based Berlanti Productions will produce the project, with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Glee, Looking) writing.

For Aguirre-Sacasa, who serves as chief creative officer at Archie Comics, this marks his first sale this development season. He spent three seasons as a writer on Glee for Fox and has experience re-adapting popular titles as he did with 2013's Carrie remake and the Broadway-bound American Psycho.

Berlanti, a self-proclaimed fan of the Archie comics, has been busy this development season, executive producing The CW's Arrow and The Flash as well as NBC's The Mysteries of Laura. News of the Archie adaptation comes on the heels of Berlanti's Supergirl project, which is at CBS with a series commitment. Berlanti also has supernatural procedural The Things They Left Behind at CBS, based on a Stephen King story, and FBI thriller Blindspot at NBC.

"This is a historic moment for Archie Comics, and we couldn't be happier to partner with Fox, Warner Bros. and Greg Berlanti to bring our characters to television," said Archie Comics publisher/co-CEO Jon Goldwater. "Greg and Roberto are experts when it comes to making great, compelling television and bringing beloved comic book creations to life on the screen. They're the perfect team to welcome viewers to Riverdale."

"This is something we've been working on for awhile now, figuring out the best way to bring these characters to life for what will be, essentially, the first time," Aguirre-Sacasa said. "The entire team working on Riverdale is as passionate about Archie as Jon and I are, so it feels like the stars have finally aligned for Archie and the rest of the gang."

Comic book adaptations continue to be a big bet, with producers crediting built-in brand equity and technological advancements with visual effects to enable the telling of fantastical storylines on a TV budget.

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Cheech Marin Talks About Working With El Rey's Robert Rodriguez, 'Book of Life'

First Posted: Oct 22, 2014 03:36 PM EDT
Cheech Marin and Robert Rodriguez
Cheech Marin and Robert Rodriguez (Photo : Cheech Marin and Robert Robert Rodriguez/Facebook)

Many people know comedic actor Cheech Marin for his stoner comedy "Cheech & Chong" films in the '70s and '80s, but he's also made his mark as a director, writer, musician and a Chicano advocate and art collector. He's starred in feature film comedies and animated movies and has made bestselling bilingual children's music albums.

Marin recently spoke to Latin Post about his role in the animated fantasy-adventure "The Book of Life," directed by Jorge Gutierrez and produced by Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro, who Marin said "was a part of that Mexican cadres of filmmakers that were coming up."

During the Latin Post exclusive interview, Marin also reminisced about his early days in the industry and recalled other Latino trailblazers in film, including filmmaker and fellow Mexican-American, Robert Rodriguez.

Marin and Rodriguez have been collaborating for years and have worked together in several films, including the "Spy Kids" trilogy, "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Machete," "Desperado" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico."

Marin has seen Rodriguez evolve from aspiring filmmaker to become a founder of his own English-language El Rey Network (which features the popular TV series "From Dusk Till Dawn," "Matador" and "El Rey Network Presents: The Director's Chair").

"It has been wonderful, man. I have known him from the very beginning. He had just come from the University of Texas, and he had made a student film, called 'Bedhead.' It was a little short, and he made it with his brothers and sisters. It was about adventures of this little kid," Marin told Latin Post. "You saw the visual style that he was working on -- and it was fully formed already."

"Bedhead," a 16mm short, went on to become an award-winning "family-comedy-fantasy film" that "chronicles the amusing misadventures of a young girl whose older brother sports an incredibly tangled mess of hair that she cannot tolerate."

When Marin was working on his children's music album, "My Name is Cheech, the School Bus Driver," someone suggested he work with Rodriguez. At the time, Marin said he initially thought, "What? Are you nuts! He's about blood and guts," since Rodriguez is known for his campy, grindhouse style and cult-like film following. "But they said, 'No, he has this kids thing.' And then 'Spy Kids' came out."

Rodriguez had another side to him and a child-like thrill for adventure. "Spy Kids" became so successful and well-received that it spawned two sequels. "When 'Spy Kids' came out, it was like, 'That's what I'm talking about, you morons!'" Marin said.

"Robert and I were friends from the beginning. He would come over the house with his wife and stay with me, he's like family. He knew that he could always call on me if he needed this or that," he said. "We have this direct communication. ... He's looking through the lens, the viewfinder and he's talking to me."

Also a longtime friend and collaborator of Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez reportedly grew up shooting action and horror short films on video and editing on two VCRs. In the fall of 1990, his entry in a local film contest earned him a spot in the film program at the University of Texas (where he made "Bedhead").

"[Rodriguez] was the first digital director. He wasn't afraid of it. ... He had this reverence for film, because it came from when he was in high school and he had a job in a camera store. When the first digital cameras first came out, the store owner said, 'Well you're going to be selling this, so here's the camera, take it home for the weekend and use it.'" Once he saw what Rodriguez could do, according to Marin, he said, "'You have talent, don't be afraid of digital technology,'" so he used it, and he was much better right away."

Marin Behind the Mic, Lens and Animation:

In "The Book of Life," which hit theaters Oct. 17, Marin voices the hysterical Pancho Rodriguez, one of Manolo's (voiced by Diego Luna) mariachi friends, the "Rodriguez brothers" (also voiced by Gabriel Iglesias and Ricardo "El Mandril" Sanchez). In the film, they sing "fun, though hardly romantic versions of Rod Stewart's 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' and Biz Markie's 'Just a Friend' -- the latter to the accompaniment of a toy piano."

The film's themes include a love triangle, the strength of the human spirit and the celebration of Mexican culture, including its vibrant holiday, the Day of the Dead (el Dia de Los Muertos).

In addition to his other roles, Marin also provided his voice for several Disney animated films. In addition to "Oliver & Company" (1988), he voiced roles as Banzai in "The Lion King" (1994) and Ramone in "Cars" (2006) and "Cars 2" (2011). He also reprised the Banzai role in "Kingdom Hearts II." He also appeared in "Ghostbusters II" and the hit TV series "Lost" as Hurley's father.

Marin has released two bestselling, bilingual albums for kids:, "My Name is Cheech, the School Bus Driver" (1992) and "Coast to Coast" (1997). In July 2007, Marin added children's book author to his list of accomplishments with the release of "Cheech the School Bus Driver," which was illustrated by Orlando L. Ramirez. In 2005, Marin appeared as the character Juan Bobo in Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer series in an episode titled "A Crown for King Bobo."

As mentioned, Marin was part of the wildly successful comedy duo Cheech & Chong. While he and Chong went their separate ways, Marin is still close friends with Chong, who is currently starring on "Dancing with the Stars." According to Marin, there is a new "Cheech & Chong" film in the works, but they are still finalizing the details.

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Reply #50 posted 10/23/14 6:34pm

JoeBala

Alvin Stardust dead aged 72

Alvin Stardust, glam rock singer, dies aged 72

Singer Alvin Stardust has died aged 72 after a short illness.

He had recently been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and died at home with his wife and family around him, his manager said.

Born Bernard Jewry in the East End of London in 1942, his hits included My Coo Ca Choo, Jealous Mind and I Feel Like Buddy Holly.

The former glam rock star had been due to release his first studio album in 30 years on 3 November.

He recently announced the record, titled Alvin, was finished and would represent "a new and exciting departure" of which he was "immensely proud".

The singer had performed on stage at the Regal cinema in Evesham, Worcestershire on Saturday.

Stardust grew up in Mansfield and started playing guitar as a schoolboy. He met one of his biggest influences, Buddy Holly, at a gig in Doncaster and played backstage with the singer and his band the Crickets.

He signed his first record deal in 1961 as the frontman of Shane Fenton and the Fentones, though the band struggled to get in the charts.

In 1973 he signed with Magnet Records and took on the name that would make him famous.

"It started off as Elvin Starr, because they wanted a kind of rocky, country name," he recalled in 2010.

"But [a woman] who was doing promotion for us said it wasn't 'glam-rocky' enough, so it became Stardust and then Alvin."

My Coo Ca Choo, the debut song under his new guise, peaked at number two in the UK singles chart.

Known for his rockabilly quiff, sideburns and black gloves, he projected a glowering persona he said he adopted because he was nervous and "didn't want to be found out".

His success led to him being part of a Green Cross Code road safety campaign in 1976, which saw him instructing children to look both ways before they crossed the road.

That success continued into the 1980s with Pretend, I Feel Like Buddy Holly and I Won't Run Away all making the top 10.

Once described as "the Godfather of British Rock 'n' Roll" by Rolling Stone Keith Richards, he made sporadic acting appearances in Hollyoaks, The Grimleys and Doctors.

He also appeared on stage in such musicals as Godspell, The Phantom of the Opera and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium, in which he played the fearsome Child Catcher.

Stardust was married three times. His first wife was Iris Caldwell, with whom he had two sons, Shaun and Adam.

His second wife was the actress Liza Goddard, with whom he had a daughter named Sophie.

"RIP Alvin Stardust," Goddard tweeted on Thursday. "Thank you for our beautiful daughter and granddaughter."

Stardust went on to marry Julie Paton, an actress and choreographer, with whom he had a daughter, Millie.

Shaun is now a headmaster of a school in Reigate, while his brother is a producer and DJ who records under the name Adam F.

DJ Tony Blackburn remembered the singer as "a great showman" who would be "sorely missed". "Performing was his life," added the veteran broadcaster.

"He had this bad boy image, but he was not like that at all," Blackburn continued. "On stage he was brilliant, but off stage he was just an ordinary guy."

Stardust, a committed Christian, was also remembered as "a great bloke" by his former Hollyoaks co-star Jeremy Edwards.

"RIP Alvin Stardust, the original landlord of the Dog in the Pond," the actor wrote on Twitter, referring to the Channel 4 series' fictional public house.

"I may not have known him long, but even in that short time he proved to be one of the most genuine and likeable men I've ever met," said the singer's manager Andy Davies.

"His passing is a huge and sad loss."

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Celia Cruz Biopic Telenovela In The Works 10 Years After The Queen Of Salsa's Death

Celia Cruz
A Celia Cruz biopic telenovela is in the works since September, 2014. Reuters

Braise yourselves, guys! A Celia Cruz biopic telenovela is in the works and we couldn’t be more excited. Production started late this past September and the series will be 80 episodes long, going through all of the diva’s life, from when she was young to the height of her fame. Fox Telecolombia Network is developing the show with Canal RCN, and it’s been said we are likely to see many different actresses portray the Queen of Salsa, for every different stage of her life. It was announced in January that former Colombian pop star, Isa Mosquera López, will be playing la Reyna in her early career, followed by Jeimy Osorio, who we’ve previously seen in “Fast Five” and “Maid in Manhattan.”

Modesto Lacén will be portraying Cruz’s husband of over 40 years, Pedro Knight. Lacén is no stranger to the part since he’s played him before on stage in “The Life and Music of Celia Cruz.” The last part of Celia Cruz’s life will be played by non-other than Cuban singer and Latin Grammy nominee known as “La Sonera del Mundo,” Aymée Nuviola. Other members of the cast that have been confirmed include Jonathan Islas, Carolina Gaitán, Abel Rodríguez and Judy Henríquez.

Locations so far have been set in Bogotá, Cartagena and Miami, and it hasn’t been confirmed if Celia Cruz’s native Cuba, will be included further on. The plan for the show is to air in its entirety in Latin America at first, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for American networks like HBO Latino to pick it up.

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Reply #51 posted 10/24/14 3:43pm

JoeBala

Chris Rock Looks Back at 'Purple Rain': '30 Years Later, There's Nothing Remotely Close'

By Chris Rock | October 24, 2014 3:31 PM EDT

Prince, 1984

Prince performing on the Purple Rain tour in 1984.

Richard E. Aaron/MPTV

"When Purple Rain came out, I was a DJ with guys on my block, playing block parties. That summer, the big thing was Run-D.M.C. -- Born in the USA, blah blah blah, the streets were playing "Sucker MCs" and "It's Like That." I remember "When Doves Cry" mixed into "It's Like That" perfectly, and even at a block party, when all we wanted to hear was hip-hop, "When Doves Cry" was so hardcore, such an amazing record. "Take Me With U" is probably my favorite on the album, it's just a beautiful song. But those drums on "When Doves Cry?" With no bass? And the lyric was not corny at all. It makes all the sense in the world, and it makes no sense. You can't write a song like that now -- music today has no metaphors, it's all literal. Now they would make you say, “When love dies" or something.

1984: From Prince to Huey Lewis

There's not a bad record on Purple Rain. Thriller is allegedly the best album of all time, and that has at least two bad songs on it. There's no "Baby Be Mine" on Purple Rain.

Prince Returning to 'Satu...n November

I remember seeing the movie two or three times the first day it came out. It was mind-boggling. Prince was funny. He was really cool -- he's one of the last guys with a real mystique. We were all like, "Where the fuck is Minneapolis? Who are these guys?" I saw the Purple Rain tour from the last row of the arena. It was one of my first concerts. We all wore purple. I forget which girl I went with, but I didn't get laid. Anyway, I've been lucky to sit in the last row and to sit on stage with the guy. He's the best there is. Thirty years later, there's nothing remotely close." – As told to Alan Light.

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Jennifer Carpenter's 'Death Class' Lands at NBC With 'Dexter' Producer

Based on the book by Erika Hayasaki

Jennifer Carpenter Sara Colleton - H 2014
AP Images/Invision
Jennifer Carpenter and Sara Colleton

NBC is staging a Dexter reunion.

Former Dexter star Jennifer Carpenter is teaming with Sara Colleton to adapt former Los Angeles Times writer Erika Hayasaki's book Death Class: A True Story About Life for NBC, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Read more TV's Remake Craze: Who Ge...he Rights?

Carpenter, who starred as Debra Morgan for eight seasons of the Showtime drama, optioned the book, with producer George Stelzner, in April. NBC and Universal Television have boarded the drama, with Colleton also signing on to the project. A search is underway for a writer.

Death Class centers on nurse Norma Bowe, who, when she decides to teach a class on death at a college in New Jersey, never expected it to be popular. But year after year students crowd into her classroom and the reason is clear: Norma's "death class" is really about how to make the most of what poet Mary Oliver famously called our "one wild and precious life."

Carpenter is not attached to star but will exec produce alongside Colleton, who served in the same capacity on the Michael C. Hall serial killer drama. Carpenter most recently signed on to star in USA Network's drama pilot Stanistan.

Former Hallmark Entertainment exec Stelzner oversees West Egg Studios, a banner that focuses on literary adaptations.

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'Agent Carter' Enlists 'Nikita's' Lyndsy Fonseca

As a friend to Hayley Atwell

Lyndsy Fonseca Horizontal - H 2014
AP Images
Lyndsy Fonseca

ABC's Agent Carter continues to hit the casting out of the park.

The midseason "bridge" show has enlisted Nikita favorite Lyndsy Fonseca, Marvel announced on Friday.

Based on the one-shot on the Iron Man 3 DVD, the drama, from showrunners Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas (Resurrection), stars Hayley Atwell and takes place a year after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. It follows Steve Rogers' (Chris Evans) girlfriend Agent Carter (Atwell) as she builds her career as a secret agent while the hero is frozen in ice.

See more Faces of Fall 2014

Fonseca will recur and play Angie Martinelli, an aspiring actress who befriends Peggy (Atwell). The role marks the latest post-Nikita part for Fonseca, who in September was tapped to co-star in Amazon's comedy pilot Down Dog.

In Agent Carter, she joins a cast that includes Dominic Cooper, who will reprise his role as Howard Stark, as well as Chad Michael Murray, Enver Gjokaj, James D'Arcy and Shea Whigham. From ABC Studios and Marvel Television, Agent Carter will fill the gap between the first and second half of Agents of SHIELD's sophomore run during the winter. A formal premiere date has not yet been determined.

Fonseca, whose credits include How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives and feature Kick-Ass 2, is repped by ICM Partners, Management 360 and Morris Yorn.

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Damian Lewis, Paul Giamatti to Star in Showtime's 'Billions'

'Divergent's' Neil Burger will direct the pilot

Paul Giamatti Damian Lewis Split - H 2014
AP Images/Invision
Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis is returning to Showtime and he's bringing Paul Giamatti with him.

Homeland alum Lewis and Oscar-nominated Giamatti have been tapped to star in Showtime's drama pilot Billions, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Billions is a fictional drama that takes a forensic look at the world of high finance by tracking the approaching collision between two titanic figures — the hard-charging, whip-smart U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhodes (Giamatti), and the brilliant, ambitious hedge-fund king, Bobby "Axe" Axelrod (Lewis).

Read more Showtime Orders Drama Pil...oss Sorkin Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Divergent, Limitless) will direct the pilot, which will film in New York in early 2015.

Billions is written and executive produced by Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Squawk Box's Andrew Ross Sorkin, and was picked up to pilot in March.

The role marks a return to the premium cable network for Lewis, who won a Golden Globe and Emmy for his portrayal of Nicholas Brody on Showtime's Emmy-winning drama Homeland. His credits include Band of Brothers and PBS' upcoming Wolf Hall. The casting comes after Showtime president David Nevins fought hard to keep Lewis' Brody on Homeland after season one when the character was originally envisioned as having a shorter run on the series. He's repped by UTA, Markham Froggatt and Jackoway Tyerman.

Read more 'Homeland' Star Damian Le...d All Fans

The casting also reunites Giamatti with Koppelman and Levien, who produced The Illusionist, and with Sorkin, whose book Billions inspired HBO's Too Big To Fail. Giamatti's role in the latter earned him an Emmy nomination.

The prolific actor's credits include his Oscar-nominated turn in Cinderella Man as well as an Emmy-nominated role in Downton Abbey. Should Billions go to series, it would mark the actor's first small-screen regular role. He most recently starred in the FX pilot Hoke, which did not move forward. Giamatti is repped by UTA, Perri Kipperman and attorneys Robert Offer and Shelby Wieser.

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Usher on How He Gets Tough With Justin Bieber and Why He's Not Ready for a New Album

1:00 PM PST 10/24/2014 by Jonathan Ringen, Billboard
Miller Mobley
Usher

"Shit, I'm singing love songs that went on to be baby-makers, and now the damn babies are in the audience — talk about a family reunion"

There Are Segways, and then there's Usher Raymond IV's Segway. Usher's scooter is a custom-built, gold-plated number with rims that look like they were lifted from Rick Ross' Maybach. It shines like Louis the XIV's jewels as he zips through the hallways of the Philadelphia arena in which he's rehearsing for an upcoming tour on a mid-October day. He's wearing a cozy blue hoodie sweater (hood up) with a bejewel-ed plastic crown canted over it, like he just got back from partying with the monsters in Where the Wild Things Are. As he joins his band — already shaking the empty arena with depth-charge blasts of bass-heavy funk — it's hard to believe that anyone on the planet is having more fun.

And why not? During a two-decade career, Usher, 36, has sold nearly 24 million records in the United States alone, won eight Grammy Awards and, with 2004's Confessions, scored the top-selling album of the 2000s. He has acted on Broadway (Chicago in 2006), starred in movies (he'll play Sugar Ray Leonard opposite Robert De Niro in the forthcoming Hands of Stone) and coached two seasons on NBC's The Voice, winning the second time around. He has a profitable perfume line and owns a small piece of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers. (Just to be clear: Last season, Usher did not lobby his buddy LeBron James to come home, because that would be against NBA rules.) He has played the Super Bowl and Michael Jackson's funeral, and discovered Justin Bieber, provided him with the Usher playbook and set him loose upon the world.

Or, as Usher describes these things: "I get to see life through rose-colored glasses a lot of the time." Then he laughs.

Usher lives in Atlanta with his sons Usher V, age 6, and Naviyd Ely, 5. He won primary custody of them when he divorced their mother, Tameka Foster, in 2009, after two years of marriage. When he's not with them, he spends most of his time with his manager — girlfriend Grace Miguel, who, at 44, is eight years older than Usher and has been part of his career for three years. "I have an incredible partner and manager," says Usher. "She has helped me through some of the hardest times in my life and my career."

Usher often alludes to challenges to overcome, to crises that left him smarter and tougher. One is clearly his acrimonious relationship with Foster, who was Usher's stylist before they married, and now stars on the VH1 reality show Atlanta Exes. (In October 2013, she sued for temporary full custody of their sons after the older child was caught in a pool drain. Usher's aunt had been watching them, and the boy was unhurt. Usher kept custody.)

The hard times aren't necessarily behind him, although they are perhaps of a less personal nature. There's the existential issue, common to superstar artists in 2014, of making the transition from diamond-certified albums and near-annual No. 1 hits to struggling to even score gold records. Usher's last album, 2012's Looking 4 Myself, has sold 504,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan — 800,000 fewer than the one before it, 2010's Raymond vs. Raymond. This fall, he was supposed to release his eighth album, but unexpectedly — and indefinitely — pushed the record back. "I just ain't ready," he explains. "Meaning I have more that I want to say and more that I want to do. My process is pretty different. L.A. Reid will tell you, it takes two albums to make one with Usher."

It's also possible that it's just not Usher's exact time anymore. The brand of male R&B he mastered isn't exactly dominating — among the current top 20 singles, only Jeremih and Jason Derulo represent the Usher school. Drake, this decade's reigning urban-radio loverman, isn't even a singer, exactly, and makes the more traditional soul-based ballads that Usher is so great at seem even more old-fashioned. Then again, his biggest hits, from "Yeah!" to "Climax," were so unconventional as to rewrite the language of pop. And he could well have a pocket full of them. (There's a reason he has been in the studio with Skrillex and Diplo.) If Usher is worried about any of this, he's not letting on. "Marketing is more important than it has ever been," he says. "But I'm trying to tear the layers back and make it not so contrived. I think people just want entertainment. For certain artists it might be hard, but they don't have the show."

For now, Usher is taking a look back, delving deep into his own music and legend. For the last week, he has been camped out at Temple University's Liacouras Center, prepping for the Nov. 1 launch of a world tour he's calling the UR Experience — a celebration of "20 years of music and entertainment." The arena's hoops and hardwood are stowed away, swapped for a vast spaceship-ish stage, Metallica-ready P.A. system and an entire Guitar Center's worth of shiny gear. The show will include elaborate choreography, megatons of pyro (stored behind a door marked with warnings not to smoke near it) and a killer 13-piece band that Usher refers to as his "funk-soul orchestra."

"Most tours cater to the specific launch of a project — not this time," he says emphatically. "The focus this time is the music. Going all the way back to the beginning."

Earlier that day, just after 8 a.m., Usher wanders out of his dressing room, marked with a sign reading "Keyser Soze," in search of breakfast. "I'm not a morning person, but I've become one as the result of having kids," he says, settling down at a large round table in the crew catering room. "The morning is my private time to spend with my boys. The music industry doesn't allow you to go to bed until five in the morning anyway. You have to just keep rolling."

Usher speaks with a honeyed drawl, and has an easy, thoughtful vibe. He's not exactly modest, tending to refer to himself in the third person and at one point comparing his music to Picasso's Blue Period, but he's not off-puttingly self-aggrandizing. He's quick to give credit to his team and praise other artists. He has a deep knowledge of everything from classic soul and commercial rock to cool indie acts like Grizzly Bear and Sinkane. And partly because he has been the center of attention since he was a teenager, he has learned to wear his celebrity lightly.

When his breakfast arrives it's just a couple of fried eggs and some bacon on a paper plate — a far cry from his vegan period a few years ago, when he traveled with a private chef. "That was opulent as hell," he says. "It was just difficult to find people who can make vegan food taste great."

If you couldn't tell from his renowned music-video torso, not to mention dance skills mostly unrivaled in pop or R&B today, fitness and health are major areas of interest for Usher, who turned 36 earlier this month. (He jokingly bristles when his regimen comes up: "Are you asking that because of my birthday? You saying I'm getting old?") In addition to boxing, Usher gets major cardio during rehearsals. "I sweat like a hooker in church when I'm onstage!"

Through the years he has tried pretty much every diet, from Paleo and Atkins to macrobiotics. "These days, I try to eat for my blood type when I'm not eating for the fat kid inside me," he says. His blood type? "A doctor I know came up with it, but hasn't released it yet, so I don't want to tell you too much about it," he explains. "But the idea is to eat the foods that work best for your body. For my blood type the meats I can eat are pork, beef and fish."

Usher's first fan was his mom, Jonetta Patton, who raised him with his stepfather, Terry Patton, and younger half-brother, James Lackey, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (Usher never really knew his father, who died of a heart attack in 2008. Jonetta and Terry eventually divorced.) Convinced of his talent, Jonetta moved with her sons to Atlanta, where Usher was discovered and signed by Antonio "L.A." Reid when he was 14.

Mentoring is a key part of Usher's identity. It explains Bieber, the appeal to him of The Voice and the way he promotes within his organization (one of his choreographers used to be a dancer, for instance). "My mom always says, ‘You talk to everybody like they're your kids,' " he says. "I'm like, ‘I'm sorry, I was born to be a dad.'"

Usher is realizing there are limits to his influence, especially when it comes to Bieber's current behavior. "Our relationship is more man-to-man now," he says. "He's making his own decisions and it's important to show support. I can say I'm not happy with all the choices my friend has made, but I'm supportive of him. I try my hardest to give as much positive reinforcement as I can. I'll punch him in the f---ing chest when I need to, and give him a hug and kiss when I need to. It's more than just mentoring. I love the kid."

Usher's own mentors include a Bad Boy-era Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs — Reid sent Usher to live with Combs in New York as a teenager, with the idea of toughening him up. "I'd say I earned my stripes in New York City," says Usher. "My time with Puff, it gave me chutzpah." As the youngest member of the extended Bad Boy family — they called him Baby Huey — Usher received, as he has openly discussed, an all-access pass to sex, drugs and some of hip-hop's greatest stars. "I got to see performers like Tupac Shakur," he says. "Redman, Method Man, Ice Cube. I got to perform onstage with The Notorious B.I.G., be in sessions with him and Craig Mack. I got to be part of the driving force that was Bad Boy, that was Puff."

He has been thinking about his past a lot, in part because of the in-progress record. "Every album I've made represented a specific thing that was happening in my life," he says. "And not until now did I think to look back at my life and take inspiration from my own music." He has dozens of finished songs, including the tracks he has worked on with Skrillex and Diplo. Three singles have already debuted: "Good Kisser," a No. 2 R&B hit; the retro-soul "She Came to Give It to You," featuring Nicki Minaj; and the recently leaked "I Don't Mind" — a bouncy, surprisingly tender ode to a stripper ("Shorty I don't mind/If you dance on a pole/It don't mean you're a ho") that has been racking up airplay on hip-hop stations across the country.

"Artists like Usher, you can't pin them down," says Diplo, who produced Usher's 2012 top 20 hit, "Climax." "That's what leads them to be successful and have longevity. If Usher brings in 20 R&B writers, they're going to do a certain kind of 'Usher' song. But Usher really wants to do something. Like, last album, he worked with Luke Steele of Empire of the Sun to write records like theirs, not 'Usher' records."

Usher sees the UR Experience tour as a journey through his entire varied career, from his start as Michael Jackson-channeling teen sensation through his reign as R&B's biggest star to his current place as one of pop's elder statesman. "This will be one of my freest tours," he says. "Shit, I'm singing love songs that went on to be baby-makers — and now the damn babies are in the audience." He cracks up. "Talk about a family reunion."

That afternoon, Usher wraps a dance rehearsal and joins the band to work out some rough parts. He glides over on his golden Segway, straps on a Fender Jazz Bass — playing it is a new interest — and kicks off a Prince-inspired funk jam. His part is a simple two-bar up-and-down groove, but it sounds good against the band's sleek perfection.

The show's "acoustic portion," meanwhile, is especially important him. "There's something magical about the Dave Matthews Band," Usher says. "Even though [Dave Matthews is] playing for a huge audience, he's bringing them into his own private space." Accompanied by guitar, keyboard and percussion, Usher sings a soaring version of his 2010 ballad "There Goes My Baby." He works closely with the three backup singers, drilling down on each harmony part. At one point the Rhodes keyboard tone gets a little hammy. Usher shoots the player a look and half-jokes, "Sounds like a baseball game, son!"

At 9:30 p.m., more than 12 hours after Usher arrived, the house lights snap off and a full concert run-through bursts into Technicolor life. For the first time all day we see the singer, who first appears silhouetted in classic Michael Jackson style, really dance. Even though it's just a rehearsal, and he's got whatever internal dial controls these things set at maybe 70 percent, it's still a rush. Nine songs in, during the Confessions banger "Caught Up," he spins twice, quickly, and sweat flies off his face in sheets.

Earlier that week, Usher celebrated his birthday in New York with Miguel. They wanted to see the Jeff Koons exhibit at the Whitney Mu...erican Art, but when they got there, the museum was closed. "We asked if there was any way to open the museum for me, and ended up going through the whole thing with the curator explaining shit to me," he says. "The theme of the show was luxury and degradation — it was pretty cool."

He was especially interested in a period where the artist — now the celebrated creator of, among other things, enormous balloon animals in mirror-polished stainless steel — was rejected by the art establishment over sexually explicit work he made with an Italian porn star named Cicciolina, whom he married and divorced a year later. Shortly after their split, she gave birth to their son, Ludwig, and moved with the infant to Rome without Koons' consent. The resulting custody battle raged on for more than a decade. "When the art industry comes against you, or any similar industry, they can really try to destroy your career," says Usher. "Who are they to decide what is art? But then out of adversity comes something that creates not only strength but perspective."

It's hard to believe he's not really talking about himself. Some fans, especially R&B traditionalists, haven't been comfortable with what Usher considers the most important thing about his career — musical diversity. "I've always wanted to be an artist who was recognized for versatility, which is why I began to play with EDM, I began to play with pop, with rock, with Latin music," he says. "Those things make up what I am as an eclectic artist."

Miguel, a former Island Def Jam executive, clearly supports Usher in pursuing his many directions. She's an impressive presence herself: attractive, stylish, off-the-charts smart. "She's someone who has been able to support and understand all of who I am," he stresses. "Not just as a dancer or as a performer or as a singer, but as a humanitarian and a businessman and as a person."

And she's a great travel companion, opening up Usher to the world in a new way. "One thing that has come from having a great partner like Grace is being able to cherish the places that I've gone," he says. "We see the monumental sites, go to the museums, eat in the best restaurants. I'm that guy now! In the past I'd do what I have to do and get on the bus to the next city. Life has become a vacation."

This article originally appeared in the Nov. 1 issue of Billboard.

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Film & TV

Michael Shannon On ‘Young Ones,’ Alcoholism, and Recovering After Sandy

October 20, 2014

In Young Ones, a unique genre pastiche of sci-fi and Western, Michael Shannon once again proves that no one does stone-cold quite as good as him. The actor plays Ernest, a recovering alcoholic and hardened father of two who’ll do anything to protect his two children (Elle Fanning and Kodi Smit-McPhee) and his land. The film, directed by Jake Paltrow, is set in a future where water is scarce, and Ernest—who in the opening scene shoots an intruder trying to steal what little water he does have—is suspicious of a young man (Nicholas Hoult) whose intentions are unclear. We spoke to Shannon recently about the film, exploring alcoholism as an actor, and staying put after Hurricane Sandy.

How’s everything going with your band, Corporal?
Why, have you seen us?

No but I ran into you at a party a few months back and you had just gotten back from playing a show in New Orleans. You seemed excited by it.
Yeah, at One Eyed Jack. I don’t know if this will make it into whatever you’re writing, but we’re playing November 9 in New York at Bowery Electric.

I’ll definitely come check you guys out! Let’s talk about Young Ones. Your character in the film struggles with an alcoholic past. Do you find the battle against alcohol an interesting road to explore as an actor?
Well it’s certainly pervasive in our culture. I keep seeing articles about how binge drinking is at an all-time high. I guess it’s mostly young people, but it seems to be a pretty big problem. In terms of Ernest in particular, it’s part of the bigger picture. I think he started drinking heavily when his land started drying up. So the way I see it, it’s a way of how people are going to deal with the increasing stress of living in this world as our problems escalate. I heard on the radio the other day, a woman talking about how there’s never been so many crises all at the same time, as right now. There’s so many stressful things to deal with, so it’s hard not to feel sorry for Ernest to a certain degree, because he’s only trying to deal with his situation.

Young Ones is part Western, part sci-fi. Which genre did you place it in?
I like that it’s a combination of those genres. That’s one of the points that drove me to do it in the first place, that you couldn’t quite put your finger on what it was. And that despite all of the style of the film, it’s actually also very grounded and about real people. The style I don’t think overwhelms the film. They work together hand in hand. Without the relationships and the story–the style only gets you so far.

Screen Shot 2014-10-20 at 12.25.32 PM

There’s a robotic mule in the film that follows you guys around and functions as a pet. It looks very real but is obviously CGI. What did it look like on set?
When we were on set, the back of the robotic mule was there, and for the legs, they had these two fellas who would put the little bed on their backs and they would walk around. They had motion capture suits on–they were basically the legs. So that was a very hard job for them.

The movie is set in a futuristic world, but it takes places in a rural corner of that society. We only get glimpses of advanced technology and what that society might actually look like. Did you ever try and visualize what that world’s large cities might look like?
We would speculate about it. I think it was important for us to know what we were not being included in and what we were missing out on. There weren’t any drawings or anything, it was mostly our imagination. Basically the idea is, where we are there is not any water, and if we were somewhere else there might be. But we don’t want to leave our home, because it’s our home. It’s easy to say if something happened we would just leave, but I live in Red Hook and people didn’t just leave after Superstorm Sandy. They wanted to stay and they spent months trying to build it back up knowing that it may happen again. That’s how people are wired.

Your character has a rebellious teenage daughter played by Elle Fanning. As a father of two young girls, did her character set off any alarm bells for you?
Oh yeah, it’s natural, the course of life. My eldest is already very stubborn, but it’s a beautiful thing. I’d rather have a kid who stands up for themselves than a pushover. She gets it from her dad I guess.

You shot this movie in the middle of the South African desert, which seems like an exotic location reserved for larger movies. What was it like traveling all the way there to make what is a relatively small film?
It was amazing. I’m so glad that we did it that way, that we went so far away to a place where there’s really nothing else happening. It really brought us together and it felt like its own separate world, which was very helpful.

Why did you travel so far?
Jake wanted to find a truly distinct environment. I feel like it looks different than anything else I had seen in a movie. You would think certain landscapes would not be identifiable but if you see them in enough movies… There’s also some South African financing behind the film.

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Elisabeth Moss on ‘Listen Up Philip’ and the Myth That Women Like Assholes

October 17, 2014

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Next year, Mad Men will finally end and Elisabeth Moss will have completed one of the great character arcs in TV history. And if her recent filmography is any indication, Moss’ post-Peggy Olson career will be dotted with idiosyncratic characters in smart movies. Her latest is Listen Up Philip, the terrific new film from Alex Ross Perry in which she plays an esteemed photographer forced to deal with the pangs of a recent breakup with her narcissistic novelist boyfriend (played Jason Schwartzman). We spoke to Moss this week about her upcoming project with Cate Blanchett, breaking up in New York City, and the myth that women are attracted to assholes.

I’ve been told that you are in Australia.
Yes, I am in in Australia. That is not a lie.

I assumed the publicist wouldn’t lie to me. What are you doing there?
It’s very far. It’s very far way. I’m in Sydney. I’ve been here three times and I’m kind of familiar with it. Great food, great shopping, the weather is kind of like San Francisco weather. I’m doing a film here with Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford called Truth.

Wow, Redford and Blanchett.
Yeah that’s pretty much how I felt. I wanted to be in this film so badly because it’s such a great script and the two of them are involved. I definitely have moments where I sort of look up and think, “My god that’s Cate Blanchett and she’s talking to me. This is so crazy.” She’s just one of my absolute idols and she has been for like 10 years. And she’s lovely, nice, and normal. It’s trippy though. I try to act normal around her. But it’s one of those things where I feel like everything I say around her sounds stupid. Like I’m around the most coolest, beautiful woman in school and I’m the dork.

Unrelated to Blanchett, what initially drew you into the character of Ashley upon reading [Alex Ross] Perry’s script?
There were a couple things that I really liked about Ashely. One, I liked that the film picks up with the relationship not going well and tells the story of the end of the relationship. So often in films everyone is so concerned with establishing the relationship, and see the good times and show why these people were together in the first place. And I like that this movie was just like, “No, we’re not telling that story. This is a different movie.” This is about the end. It’s story of ballsy.

Also, I spent my 20s in New York and I have lived in New York for 13 years. I’ve gone through a couple of breakups during the summer in the city and I felt this was an incredibly accurate representation of that. It’s a very specific thing. Summer in New York. It has a lot of promise, but it can also be really oppressive. It’s a very specific time and place, post-breakup: Getting dressed up and going out to bars, and then sort of spending time on your own for the first time in awhile, getting a pet. Reexploring of things that you used to do before the relationship. Reconnecting with your friends. Going to the park. All of those things were very real.

Your storyline in the film seems to be about rebirth in a way—figuring out who you are again after the relationship ends.
Exactly, and when she’s really done she’s not even mad at him [Philip] anymore, which I though was really done well. She knows that she is actually over him and that she’s moved on. When he comes back, she’s not angry with him.

She just wants him to get the hell out.
Yeah, which I think that was a line that I made-up, which may or may not be in the movie because of the narration. She says to him at the end at the door, “I’m not even angry with you anymore. I just don’t want to be with you. I’m better on my own.” I thought that was pretty interesting.

And pretty accurate. When she says those words you believe it. She probably is better off without Philip.
And think that’s interesting when he goes away she’s upset at first, and then after a little while she realizes, “Oh, my life is actually not that different without him, and actually it’s kind of better.”

Isn’t that a strange concept? You often hear that idea that “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” In this case distance just gives her the time and space to realize how much she doesn’t need him.
Yeah, and I think it’s fascinating to show that kind of relationship that really does happen. Where the person leaves and you’re kind of like, “Oh, I’m happier without you.” I love the idea that she got that cat and that sort of fulfills that good things that Philip gave her without the bad. The cat kept her company and she could talk to him and she didn’t have to be alone, but she didn’t talk back and she wasn’t an asshole.

Have you ever gone out with a guy who was big of an asshole as Philip?
Maybe not so overtly dickish and misanthropic.

Overtly.
(Laughs) Yeah I think that Philip is very overtly asshole-y. We actually had a discussion when we were rehearsing and the boys (Alex and Jason) were asking, “Aren’t girls attracted to that right? They’re attracted to assholes right?” And I was like, “No, no we’re not.” We don’t like assholes. That’s one of the great myths of the sexes. That women like that. It’s not that that we like. Maybe the mystery or the idea that you are the one who is going to be nice to you. Maybe that’s something. But no, straight up asshole behavior is not attractive.

Why has that myth been perpetuated?
I don’t know! It’s something that I’ve definitely encountered with men who are like, “Aren’t women attracted to men who are mean to them?” And I keep saying “No!” People in general don’t want people to be mean to them.

I think that’s about the line between confidence and arrogance.
Absolutely. You don’t want a wet blanket. You don’t want somebody who you can just walk all over. You want somebody who was confidence. I think it’s also perpetuated constantly by the women out there who are attracted to that. And those women are ruining it for everyone.

I’m glad we’ve solved this problem.
Yeah, me too. I’d like send a message to all those ladies to please spread the word that we do not like assholes.

After centuries of this myth being perpetuated we have figured it out in 12 minutes.
(Laughs) Yes, we have finally put it to bed. You’re welcome world.

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Warner Wants A Woman To Direct The Wonder Woman Movie

By Nathan Birch / 10.24.14
gammasquadww

Warner Bros.


So, as part of their ridiculously ambitious plan to suddenly start making two major superhero movies a year, Warner Bros. finally broke down and decided, what the hell, let’s do that Wonder Woman movie everyone wants. Great news! Except, given Wonder Woman’s heavy involvement in Justice League, many had the gnawing fear that Zack Snyder might be heavily involved in the movie, and you really don’t want Zack Snyder anywhere near your lady-starring action movie [side-glances at Sucker Punch].

Well, more good news – according to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Is looking for a woman to direct Wonder Woman’s first movie. Of course, the decision is partially WB covering their W-Butts…

“Oh, nobody watched the Wonder Woman movie? Way to screw it up, ladies.”

…but still, it’s the right choice, and a nice, high-profile opportunity for a female director.

That said, there’s some question as to who could step into the role, as there aren’t really a lot of women directing blockbuster summer action movies. Of course, the top name being thrown around is Kathryn Bigelow, but it seems like she’s into slightly more cerebral fare these days. Angelina Jolie is another strong contender – if she was a few years younger, she’d probably be playing Wonder Woman, and she’s got solid directing chops. My personal pick would be Mary Harron, the director of American Psycho and lots of episodes of your favorite cable dramas. Ultimately though, I’m going to guess a former Disney/Pixar animation director gets poached for the job. Jennifer Lee, the co-director of Frozen, perhaps?

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OZZY OSBOURNE Says BLACK SABBATH Will 'Disband' After Next Studio Album, Tour

OZZY OSBOURNE Says BLACK SABBATH Will 'Disband' After Next Studio Album, Tour

Ozzy Osbourne says that BLACK SABBATH will "disband" after completing the next album and touring cycle, leaving him to focus entirely on his solo career.

The singer released a solo retrospective called "Memoirs Of A Madman" earlier this month. The collection features 17 of Ozzy's greatest hit singles compiled in one place for the first time in his career.

Asked why he decided to release "Memoirs Of A Madman" now, Ozzy told The Times-Picayune: "A lot of people are asking me, with the success of the reformation of BLACK SABBATH, am I going to do any solo stuff any more? The answer is yes. I am going to continue to do my solo stuff, but I can't do the two at the same time. This 'Memoirs Of A Madman' package is to let everybody know that I haven't abandoned my solo career."

He continued: "I'm doing one more BLACK SABBATH tour, one more BLACK SABBATH album, and then we're disbanding the name, I believe. And then after that, I'll be doing my solo stuff."

Ozzy added: "In a way, I'm glad that I did the things with BLACK SABBATH. No. 1, it was the first time we ever had a No. 1 [album] in America. No. 2, hopefully we'll end on a happy note. The only sad note about it is that [original drummer] Bill Ward didn't do the last tour, for reasons that I guess have something to do with financing or something. I don't know.

"It would be great for him to get it together and sort all the problems out for the next tour. It would be a great way for the four of us to end such a wonderful experience of being BLACK SABBATH, and what we achieved.

"Tommy Clufetos [the drummer in Osbourne's solo band] did a great job [filling in for Ward on the most recent tour]. He's a great drummer. But he ain't Bill Ward, you know?"

Ward was announced as part of the band's reunion in late 2011, but dropped out early the following year due to what was assumed to be a dispute over his contract.

Since that time, however, the other three original SABBATH members — Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler — have hinted that Ward was not physically up to the task of recording a new album and embarking on a lengthy world tour.

Ozzy said as much when The Pulse Of Radio asked about Ward's absence a while back. "Bill Ward has got the most physically demanding job of the lot of us, 'cause he's the timekeeper," he said. "I don't think personally he had the chops to pull it off, you know. The saddest thing is that he needed to own up to that, and we could have worked around it, whether we had a drummer on the side with him or something. But I suppose it was something to do with finances as well."

Ward underwent surgery last year for perforated diverticulitis, a gastrointestinal condition in which the walls of the intestine have become perforated.

For the recording of its 2013 reunion album, "13", SABBATH used RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE drummer Brad Wilk, while Clufetos handled the drums on tour.

Ozzy recently told Metal Hammer magazine that Rick Rubin, who produced last year's "13" album, will likely be back for the next project.

Asked if he has started writing songs for the new BLACK SABBATH album, Ozzy told Esquire magazine: "No. Although I texted [guitarist] Tony [Iommi] the other day. I said, 'It would be a great idea if you could send me some musical ideas so I can try and work some melodies around so we don't have to go searching for the song structure.' So I'm not starting from a cold block, you know?"

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METALLICA's JAMES HETFIELD Still Finds 'Some Kind Of Monster' Difficult To Watch

METALLICA's JAMES HETFIELD Still Finds 'Some Kind Of Monster' Difficult To Watch

METALLICA will release a 10th anniversary two-disc Blu-ray edition of the band's 2004 documentary, "Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster", on November 24. The new edition of the film will be available digitally and via VOD for the first time. It will also contain a new bonus feature, "Metallica: The Monster Lives", a 25-minute follow-up segment filmed at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival during the premiere of the band's second film, "Metallica Through The Never".

The segment features interview footage with the band and "Some Kind Of Monster" co-directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky in which they all look back at the decade since the release of the film.

Originally released on July 9, 2004, "Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster" followed the band through the three most turbulent years of their long career, during which they battled through addiction, lineup changes, fan backlash, personal turmoil and the near-disintegration of the group during the making of their "St. Anger" album.

Asked by morning radio talk show host Elliot Segal earlier today (Thursday, October 23) if the raw and brutally honest film was still tough for him to watch, Hetfield said: "Yeah, it [is]. Hearing yourself, watching yourself, seeing the mirror back at what other people see. Especially where Joe and Bruce, the directors of this, they ended up being pretty much fly on the wall, so you really kind of forget the cameras are there and you're being yourself. And a lot of times I'm not really comfortable with myself and seeing myself in the situations, but, man, I learned a lot about what I don't like about me. Which was good — it was a good mirror. And I think everyone involved in that movie pretty much felt the same way about themselves."

In other news, METALLICA will release a limited 12-inch vinyl single of the new song "The Lords Of Summer" on Record Store Day Black Friday, November 28.

The single will feature the "first pass" studio version of the song as well as a live take recorded in Rome in July. This collectable vinyl will only be available through independent record stores and Metallica.com.

METALLICA is reportedly getting back to work this fall on its 10th studio album, due out sometime in 2015.


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This Hilarious Web Series Probes into the Cluelessness of Single Life

Kate Hakala Oct. 21, 2014
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alex

Many people before her have attempted to inspect the genus of the modern date — from Kirra Cheers’ intimate portraits of her Tinder dates, Connor Hines’ Tinder-inspired “Local Attraction” series, to the now-aged pantheon of Sex and the City episodes. But few borrow so freely and candidly from their own personal lives as writer and performer Alex Kern.

In her new web series SingleDumb, which premieres today, Kern welcomes the camera into the follies and triumphs of her dating life. Delivered in bite-size three-minute episodes, SingleDumb tells the story of Alex, your typical single twenty-something urbanite, as she stumbles through a litany of fun, bizarre dates. Within the early episodes, Alex encounters a motley crew of single guys — from a man who won’t take off his dirt-stained skinny jeans in bed to a dude deadset on falling in love by date two.

Around two years ago, Kern began accepting the invitations of set-ups from friends and took on the world of online dating. Before that, she had never dated, really. Kern tells me, “it was like a shit storm of bad dates. I mean dates that were so horrendous, they couldn’t possibly be true, but, oh, they were. For example, on a first date at the movies, one guy offered me a hard-boiled egg during the opening credits. I was horrified but I didn’t leave! I can’t leave at the beginning of a movie.”

It took her a while to realize that not only were her dates not going well, but she herself needed help dating. “I wasn’t being honest with myself, I wasn’t really listening to myself, I was being a little ‘dumb,’ so to speak. Like, if the guy is a jerk, leave, you don’t owe him anything [...] My lack of social intelligence was profoun,d hence the title SingleDumb. I know that there are many of us out there who have no idea how to do this whole dating thing. I am certainly one of them, now perhaps a more improved version of my former dating self,” Kern admits.

The idea broke ground on the standup circuit, where Kern collected her stories, turned them into scripts, and began shooting the series in an experience she calls “very cathartic and much cheaper than therapy.” Kern started in traditional theater. After college, she moved to New York to go to The New Actors Workshop, a two year acting conservatory. In the last three years, she’s joined classic comedy theater troupe Upright Citizens Brigade, during which she’s found inspiration from comedy luminaries like Lena Dunham, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer of Broad City, and the folks behind “High Maintenance.” Her comedy roots are alive within every detail of the series — typical episode of SingleDumb borrows from the traditional Seinfeld format with a split between Kern’s standup and her fictional performances. “I’m just going to start saying yes to everything,” she proclaims in the premiere episode, and then proceeds on a date with a man who prefers whisper-quiet cafés to true romance.

Each episode comes from a place of truth for Kern, who really did endure some of the more mortifying experiences from her series. The premiere, she says, was “pretty much identical to what happened to me. It was one of my first OkCupid dates at a coffee shop in the East Village. I felt like I was in a library and we whispered the entire time.” While Kern sings the praises of dating both on and offline, she thinks the trap of contemporary dating lies in the paradox of choice. “It’s easy to get lost in the whole ‘what does it all mean’ thing today,” she tells me. “Do you like someone? Do you want to get in his or her pants? Do you want to hang out with him all the time? Okay, great. Then you should go for it. Don’t send him a snail emoji — that is just confusing.”

What was it like reliving even her worst dates? Kern took it all in stride, finding the rearview web series evolved her singledom into something, well, less dumb. “It was a thrill to have my imagined world come to life especially when the origins of the event were real. It also allowed to me to look back with a completely new perspective. Basically, I was experiencing it all over again with an intelligence that I hadn’t previously had. That was exciting.” If only we all could be so lucky.

New episodes of SingleDumb premiere every Tuesday.

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Watch: Spike Lee’s Great 16-Minute Documentary 'I Throw Like A Girl' About Little League Phenom Mo’ne Davis

The Playlist By Kevin Jagernauth | The Playlist October 24, 2014 at 9:17AM

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I Throw Like A Girl

While his features continue to be hit and miss affairs, Spike Lee's documentaries still rank among his best work, and that's no different with his latest, "I Throw Like A Girl."

This terrific, 16-minute doc turns the camera on 13-year-old Mo'ne Davis, the Little League pitcher and phenom who managed to bump NBA star Kobe Bryant off the cover of Sports Illustrated following her performance in the Little League World Series this past summer (she was the first girl to pitch a shutout in the series). With insights from her coach and family, Lee's film not only profiles Davis' accomplishments on the mound, but her talent on the basketball court, and her natural ability and work ethic (she's on the honor roll too) that paints a bright future for the athlete, who already has eyes on the WNBA. Even if you don't know your curveball from a three-pointer, this is inspiring stuff, and well worth a watch, so check it out below. [The Root]
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Culture Club, Heaven, London: Boy George is in fine voice at his old haunt

For their first gig in 12 years, Culture Club return to the first London venue they ever played

Boy George clearly means a lot to a lot of people. At Culture Club's first live performance in 12 years, Heaven was packed with the band's most hardcore of fans - original vinyls were held, memorabilia phone cases were carried, supportive T-shirts worn and a banner waved with the words "Duran Duran who?"

The setting, the legendary gay club hidden under the arches of Charing Cross station, also had significance; Heaven was the first London venue the band played at back in 1982.

The band opened with the surprisingly upbeat given its title "Church of the Poison Mind", and from the outset it was clear that Boy George's voice sounds as great as it ever did - a tender tenor sound that still resonates.

On stage, George, now 53, is the perfect mix of serious and playful. He is serious about his music and was in complete control of his skilled band, but still playfully interacted with his audience without ever seeming desperate for approval.

The band performed a mix of their older hits and new material from their forthcoming album, Tribes, including the country-inspired "Runaway Train" chosen as the finale track. Old classic "War Song" was deconstructed, the tempo slowed and then restored to its original pace. "Karma Chameleon" was a reminder of what a truly great pop song should be, and "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" still nigglingly catchy. The show lost some of its energy in the second half, as a series of slower tracks were performed with less punch.

George was occasionally almost aloof with his crowd, at one point chastising two members of the audience for talking while he was performing, then pointedly singing "More Than Silence". But, then again, Boy George has always possessed an out-of-reach allure.

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Jessica Chastain interview: Interstellar star on acting without 'thinking of the paycheck first'

With brilliant performances in both Interstellar and A Most Violent Year, this year's Best Actress Oscar could well be Chastain's for the taking

What was odd about Jessica Chastain’s ascent in the age of internet teen stars was that, in 2011, when she seemed to come out of nowhere to become a sensation, she was already in her mid-thirties having carved out a career in character roles.

Her overnight success was in fact the culmination of years of graft – attending acting classes at Juilliard, stage work, travelling to film festivals, meeting film-makers and then waiting for the famously meticulous Terrence Malick to finish The Tree of Life, the Palme d’Or winner that would finally bring her to wider attention.

Now after two Oscar nominations – a Best Supporting Actress nod for her hilarious turn as a working-class outcast married to a socialite in The Help and in 2013 a place on the Best Actress shortlist for playing an agent on the trail of Osama bin Laden in Zero Dark Thirty – she is in her most high-profile role yet, starring in her first bona-fide blockbuster, Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

In a year when no sure-fire Best Picture favourite has emerged from the Venice or Toronto film festivals, many are expecting Interstellar to be the horse that gallops home. Nolan’s first film since he completed his Batman trilogy is a space opera in which Matthew McConaughey plays an astronaut charged with finding a new planet for humans to inhabit. Chastain plays his daughter Murph, or the older version of her, a smart scientist. While McConaughey is out in space, time is distorted; an hour for him is years on Earth so he must act fast before his children’s generation dies out. Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentley and Casey Affleck also star in a film that Chastain cryptically describes as a “love story”. It’s likely that she means it is a film about a father’s love for his child but she remains firmly vague on details.

Jessica Chastain in Interstellar (Hand out press photograph/film still from Interstellar/Warner Bro's/Melinda Sue Gordon)

Jessica Chastain in Interstellar (Hand out press photograph/film still from Interstellar/©2013 Warner Bros/Melinda Sue Gordon)
In any case, Chastain doesn’t think of Interstellar as a blockbuster. “It’s something different. It was great because Christopher Nolan is an independent film-maker who happens to work at a studio. Yes, Interstellar is a big budget film, but it’s his voice, you feel completely like it’s his movie all the way. When I’m on a film the only thing I don’t want is 20 people directing me. I don’t want everyone showing up to the hair and make-up test, where the director doesn’t have a say on what I look like and what I should wear. That’s not so exciting to me, because then it feels like I’m making a movie for a corporation.”

The sense that she works for the art and not for the money or fame is something that Chastain reinforces throughout our interview: “I’ve been very lucky when I choose a film, I don’t think of the paycheck first. I think, when we end the film, how are we going to be more enriched as human beings? For me I’ve never taken a role and thought that I’ll get something out of this. If you think, ‘I’ll get recognition’, often the opposite happens.”

Interstellar sees Nolan venturing into Stanley Kubrick territory. “He’s so capable, it’s scary,” says Chastain admiringly of Nolan. “It’s one of those things. He’s so much more capable at anything – like life in general. He doesn’t believe in wasting time. We finished the movie two weeks early.” Nolan is just one of many Brits Chastain has worked with recently and she admits to finding the class system baffling. “It’s a really strange thing to me, like who your parents are, where you come from, is it a good home? In the US they cheer you on if you come from nothing and achieve success. With a lot of my friends in England it’s the tall-poppy syndrome, you come from nothing and get success and they try to cut you down.”


The actress took the call about Interstellar while she was on set filming an adaptation of Miss Julie, directed by Liv Ullmann. The pared-down version of the play, which Ullmann has moved from Sweden to 19th-century Ireland, stars Chastain as the lead, Colin Farrell as the valet John and Samantha Morton in fine form as Kathleen. Chastain’s admiration for Nolan is nothing compared to her infatuation with Ullmann, the woman who appeared in 10 Ingmar Bergman films. “I just wanted to hang out with her for two months,” chimes Chastain. “She’s such an important part of film history. And I knew it would be an experience that I would always remember, like working with Al Pacino. I love the partnership that she had with Ingmar Bergman. Most people say that she was his muse, but I wonder if he was her muse, because he probably inspired her as much as she inspired him.”

Chastain took her research for the role seriously. First came homework on the character, Miss Julie, which involved going to every theatrical production that she could find, reading every book on the play she could lay her hands on and watching recordings of other productions, including her first exposure to the August Strindberg play – a video tape of Helen Mirren performing the role in a 1972 TV film directed by John Glenister and Robin Phillips. Then, almost more important, it seems, was her research on Ullmann: “I loved the documentary Liv & Ingmar... it’s so beautiful. I read her books, which are amazing, she has one called Changing where I read about her whole experience living on the island [of Faro] with Bergman and making the films.”

It was Malick who first told Chastain that she resembled Ullmann. “He told me I looked like her, when we were shooting together. And that was the most beautiful compliment anyone could have ever given to me.” That said, she admits to getting “embarrassed” when people give her compliments. A latecomer to the A-list, she says that she often has to pinch herself when she thinks about her success: “I don’t get used to it, I feel like I’ve found a place in the industry, but that I’m observing everyone. That I’ve got into the coolest concert ever, and I’m backstage and I get to hang out with the Stones. I don’t feel like I’m part of a band,” she says.

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty. (AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Jonathan Olley)

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty. (AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Jonathan Olley)
Chastain was raised in Sacramento, California. Her mother is a vegan chef and her stepfather a fireman. A keen dancer and thespian, she appeared in stage plays in San Francisco and studied classics before winning a scholarship provided by Robin Williams to attend Juilliard. It was there that she met Jess Weixler, her best friend, who plays her sibling in her next film The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. “My family consists of not just my biological family, but my best friend – she’s like a sister to me – and all the people in my life that help me through this craziness.”

The big change in her life came when she worked on stage with Al Pacino, a collaboration that is central to his 2011 documentary film Wilde Salomé. It was Pacino who first told Malick about her.

She now craves a relationship with a director that mirrors the one that Ullmann had with Bergman: “I hope to some day have a film-maker where we are each other’s muses and we have a collaboration that can go on for years.” That film-maker was almost Ned Benson, the director of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby – three films dealing with a single relationship, each one told from a different perspective – Him, Her and Them. Benson’s script started as a story about a break-up told from a man’s perspective and made it onto Hollywood’s Black List, the annual line-up of the best scripts that have not made it to production. Then Benson met Chastain at a film festival and the pair began dating. She encouraged Benson to write a version of the script from Rigby’s perspective, which remained on the page until Chastain became Hollywood’s most talked-about actress and the project finally received the green light.

Director of Silver Linings Playbook David O Russell poses with actors Jessica Chastain and Bradley Cooper inside the Beverly Hilton.

Director of Silver Linings Playbook David O Russell poses with actors Jessica Chastain and Bradley Cooper inside the Beverly Hilton (Getty)
James McAvoy was cast as her love interest and the two films showed back-to-back in a 190-minute version at the Toronto Film Festival last year. At different screenings, “Him” and “Her” were shown in different orders. Harvey Weinstein bought the film, but the question of whether audiences would sit in the cinema for over three hours has proved a tricky one. At the London Film Festival this month a mash-up called Them was shown which, Benson told me, “isn’t how I want people to see the film”.

In the meantime, Chastain and Benson broke up but they remain on good terms and promoted the film together at Cannes. She is now dating the dashing fashion executive Gian Luca Passi de Preposula and spends her time between New York and her beach house in Santa Monica. Yet she hasn’t forgotten the years of struggle and often takes to social media to campaign for more female participation in cinema both on- and off-screen.

“It’s silly we don’t have more female directors,” she states. “I don’t feel different working with a woman than a man. I think a good director is a good director. A lot of times when I’m talking to the press and say that there are not many roles for women, I’m not talking about myself, I know that I have a great choice of roles, I’m talking about actresses I want to see act, like Samantha Morton and Viola Davis.”

Jessica Chastain with Octavia Spencer in The Help (AP)

Jessica Chastain with Octavia Spencer in The Help (AP)
If Interstellar doesn’t give Chastain her hat-trick of Oscar nominations, the word is that she gives another stellar performance in crime drama A Most Violent Year, from All Is Lost director JC Chandor. It will be released in America on the 31 December just in time for Academy Award consideration. It seems the Best Actress Oscar could well be Chastain’s for the taking.

‘Interstellar’ is out on 7 November; ‘A Most Violent Year’ on 25 January. ‘Miss Julie’ and ‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby’ will be out in 2015

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Don’t Let the Leather, Heels & Glitter Fool You “Justice Woman” is a Warrior for Justice

JWonStairs

Award-winning Justice Woman Season 3

Premieres Oct. 28th
www.JusticeWoman.com

Actor/Filmmaker Vanessa Verduga’s Justice Woman is back for season 3 and is bringing its unique blend of comedy and suspense back to the real world. Justice Woman is an iconoclastic series in a time where police dramas, comedy crime capers and courtroom thrillers present a united front of self-congratulatory success.

Justice Woman, in contrast, has a darker perspective—a show that reveals corruption at the lowest level and highest level, taking inspiration from the Occupy movement, and ripped-from-the-headlines stories involving judicial and political corruption.

The series follows the adventures of Sofia Escala (played by Verduga), as costumed vigilante Justice Woman, and spunky Assistance District Attorney by day. Robert Gallion, played by Lee J. Kaplan, is her best friend at the D.A.’s office and cross-dressing sidekick Roberta. Together, they wage war against a corrupt legal system where innocent people are victimized and people in power get away with murder.

JWNYCC2014-2

Despite the heavy subject matter, Verduga has always been intent on the series playing up its comedy and camp. Season 3 promises more laughs, as well as creative visuals including motion comic sequences. “Sometimes the best way to make people think is to make them laugh and that’s why we add elements of comedy to the drama. It makes the show more accessible and unique from all the other legal shows on television,” she said.

Citing inspiration from a variety of shows, including Will & Grace, Law & Order and even Latino telenovelas, Verduga makes it clear she really does believe in superheroes. “We live in an age where superheroes dominate movies and TV shows. And yet people are still afraid to stand up to injustice. That’s why I want our show to be about real life superheroes…situations we can all relate to and empowering everyday people to stand up for what’s right.”

The show has recently tackled some controversial subjects, including domestic violence, immigration, homophobia in the workplace and abuse of power from government and judicial officials. Today’s super villains are less quirky and far more menacing, but Justice Woman’s recurring theme about confronting life altering challenges by tapping into one’s own superhero or super-heroine powers to influence change remain timely.

DSC_0062

The show’s themes of female empowerment has helped the web series win a bevy of awards for seasons 1, and season 2 garnered further mainstream attention, including two 2014 Rome Web Awards in the categories of “Best Sexy Actress” for Verduga and “Best Original Score” for TJ Kross’ music. In addition, the series has been made an Official Section of the 2014 Miami Web Festival and the 2014 Campi Fiegrei Web Series Festival in Italy. The award-winning web series has enjoyed a steady viewer increase that currently surpasses 1.5 million.

Justice Woman joins an onslaught of internet-based entertainment shows, that dare to push further and features more independent-minded filmmaking than the network standard, with a quality level equal to cable series.

The web series’ increasing popularity, and the recently launched Justice Woman comic book has made scheduling demands on Verduga, who is now bi-coastal, travelling from New York to Hollywood. However, the thrill of networking with the show’s fans at comic conventions makes it all worthwhile.

“When little girls tell me how they want to grow up and be a super-heroine, it really makes my day. We all need role models who exhibit positive self-confidence and self-esteem. And, without ever having to sacrifice our femininity to prove we are strong, wise and fearless,” said a beaming super-heroine.

Verduga recently participated in the highly acclaimed “Women of Color in Comics” panel hosted by the NYC Women in Comics Collective at the 2014 NY Comic Con. “I’m so proud to be a part of a movement that sheds light on the issues faced by diverse women as we strive for equal representation in the comic book industry.”

In the tradition of Wonder Woman, Hit-Girl and Rogue, Justice Woman is a super-heroine who represents something bigger than just a leather-cladded glittering crime fighter.

Justice Woman Season 3 premieres on October 28th on its YouTube Channel:

http://youtube.com/JusticeWomanSeries

For more about Justice Woman visit: http:// JusticeWoman.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/JusticeWomanSeries | Twitter: @JusticeWoman1

You can watch all of Seasons 1 and 2 online

SEASON 1 ►http://tinyurl.com/lk5snkn

SEASON 2 ►http://tinyurl.com/khfxu8z

Vanessa Verduga

Vanessa Verduga

Vanessa Verduga is an actor, writer, singer, director, producer and lawyer committed to examining social issues for their impact on the underprivileged and disenfranchised. She is the creator and star of the popular award-winning web series “Justice Woman”, which follows the story of an Assistant District Attorney, by day, who becomes a defender of truth and justice at night. Vanessa also stars and produces “H.O.M.E.”, a feature film that examines the loss of communication told through the immigrant’s perspective, and is in pre-production for a comedy feature film she wrote and will star in entitled “The Implications of Cohabitation.” For more on Vanessa, visit: http://www.VanessaVerduga.com

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Roberto Orci To Direct “Star Trek 3″ While Committed to FOX’s Sleep Hollow


orci-startrek

Roberto Orci was named “one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood” by The Hollywood Reporter in 2007. As of that year, Orci—born of a Mexican father and Cuban mother—had a string of co-writing film credits that included The Legend of Zorro, Mission Impossible III, and Transformers, as well as writer/producer status on such small screen affairs as Xena: Warrior Princess, Jack of All Trades, Fringe and Alias. Since then, Orci has risen quite a few notches up HR’s Latino list and for any list in Hollywood for that matter, accruing a slew of film credits, including Star Trek Into Darkness, The Amazing Spider Man 2, the TV series, Hawaii Five-O on CBS, Matador for El Rey Network and CBS’s debut drama, Scorpion. And for FOX, he is now launching the second season of the fantasy drama, Sleepy Hollow, serving as co-creator/executive producer, along with Alex Kurtzman and Len Wiseman.

SleepHollow2

“I’m looking forward to this season,” Orci exclaims. “It is all about war.” The first season of Sleepy Hollow established that the legendary Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow is actually the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, named Death. This season establishes the second Horseman, War, who had been introduced in the first season as townsman Henry Parrish (John Noble), but is actually Jeremy Crane, the son of Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and his wife Katrina (Katia Winter) and also the second of the apocalyptic Horsemen. All three had been transported from the Revolutionary War of the late 18th century to modern day Sleepy Hollow.

Orci affirms, “War obviously is coming to town, literally as personified by Mr. Noble. We are going to be carrying through the theme that something like war can tear not only a town apart, but a family apart. This is about Katrina and Crane and how they will react to the potential conflict. Can they redeem their son or not and how do the people around them deal with this? Sometimes you have to just go at evil the hard way.”

Forty-one year old Orci, who was raised in Los Angeles, attended Crossroads School in Santa Monica where he was a classmate of his future writing partner Kurtzman. He then attended University of Texas at Austin prior to launching himself as a screenwriter. He recalls, “As a writer, I didn’t start out to be so involved in heroic fantasies, but that’s the way it has turned out.”

Nicholas Gonzalez as Det. Morales

Nicholas Gonzalez on Sleepy Hollow as Det. Morales

Orci’s first major credit was the American/New Zealand TV series, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (1997-98). He has come a long way since then. Aside from all his other commitments, Orci was all set to exec produce The Power Rangers movie for Lionsgate this year. He had to drop out because he got a better offer. Orci is now writing and directing the upcoming Star Trek 3 feature film for Paramount. He also affirms he is not slighting Sleepy Hollow, which began its second season on Monday October 20 (9pm) and will run for 18 episodes.

“Obviously, there is a bit of time management involved in all this,” Orci admits. “But I am just as committed on keeping Sleepy Hollow up to the standard we established during its first season.” The series, which is very loosely based on Washington Irving’s 1820 short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, also features Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones and Lyndie Greenwood as series regulars and Nicholas Gonzalez in his recurring role of Detective Morales.


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Reply #54 posted 10/24/14 7:47pm

JoeBala

Tom Jones writing autobiography

Veteran crooner SIR TOM JONES is reportedly set to lift the lid on his lengthy career by writing a tell-all book.

Published: Sun, October 12, 2014

The Welsh singer has signed a lucrative deal with a U.K. publishing house, and is expected to reveal all about his friendships with stars including Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, according to the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

The book is reportedly set for release in autumn 2015.

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Mick Jagger Talks James Brown, Elvis & Making Movies

By Associated Press | October 23, 2014 10:53 PM EDT

Mick Jagger attends "Get On Up" premiere

"Get On Up" roducer (and Rolling Stones frontman) Mick Jagger attends the film's premiere at The Apollo Theater on July 21, 2014 in New York City.

Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Song credits won't be the latest place to feature Mick Jagger's name. Instead, look to upcoming films and TV shows.

The Rolling Stones frontman has been busy producing projects, from this year's James Brown biopic "Get on Up" to a not-yet-titled HBO series directed by Martin Scorsese.

Jagger is also behind the HBO documentary Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, which debuts Monday (9 p.m. EDT). The rock icon said he was asked to produce the documentary before the film.

Mick Jagger & Chadwic...nes Biopic

"I was really interested, but I was kind of a bit documentary-ed out at that point," the 71-year-old said with a laugh, explaining that he was asked to produce Mr. Dynamite around the time he finished working on the 2012 Stones' documentary, Crossfire Hurricane.

"It's very time-consuming ... but I said, `Yeah and I'd really like to do the documentary.' Then I woke up the next morning and thought a feature film would be a great idea."

Jagger asked Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney to work on the documentary, which takes an overarching look at the Godfather of Soul's life. Brown died in 2006, at 73.

"The fact that we were doing it after Mr. Brown had passed allowed people to be a little bit more free about talking about him," Gibney said.

The Rolling Stones Return... In Norway

Gibney, whose credits include Taxi to the Dark Side, said he enjoyed collaborating with Jagger.

"I heard some things that made me nervous, but I had a great time. He's a good producer," he said. "I just heard rumbles ... but I didn't find that to be the case. Just the opposite."

Jagger's other upcoming production projects include the films Tabloid and The Tiny Problems of White People with Colin Firth. He'll play rescheduled dates with the Stones in Australia starting Saturday, and said in a recent interview that his production duties have helped him deal with his tumultuous year following the suicide of his longtime partner, L'Wren Scott

.

AP: What was your relationship with James Brown?

Jagger: I'm not claiming that we were buddies (laughs), but I met him early on in my career. When I first came to New York ... I went to the Apollo and I spent the day there ... I introduced myself to him, I'm sure he had no clue (who I was) ... But he was very, very nice to me. Very generous.

How influential was Brown?

He was such a big influence on all kinds of music. He was influential on performers that came later like Michael Jackson, Prince, and then the beginning of hip-hop and so forth. But he was also influential (on) every band, every rock band, (they) didn't necessarily play all James Brown numbers, but we all knew them.

The documentary focuses on his music and activism, but it also touches on domestic violence, which was glossed over in the film.

I think Alex wanted to concentrate really on the two areas (music and activism) ... without ignoring the other areas. We could have made a whole movie (on), `Was James Brown a drug addict and wife abuser?' but that's the negativity and I don't think you want to be ... white-washing people, but you don't want to be turning up their negative side. And really we wanted to explore James Brown the musician, the performer. We wanted to explore James Brown the activist, because those we really interesting times. A lot of people obviously didn't live through them and a lot of people forget, me included, so we didn't heavy-hand the negativity of it.

What other musicians would you like to do a documentary about?

I have been asked to be involved in producing a movie on an adolescent Elvis ... so that's in the works. And I'm doing a series on HBO which is very much music-orientated. It's fictional drama. The lead character is the owner of a record company and it's about his life.

Are you going to appear on the HBO series?

I'm not in it. It's a story I worked on with Marty (Scorsese). ... It was going to be a movie and then we made it into a TV series. ... The action starts in 1973 in New York so it's a kind of a weird time because it's like the beginning of punk, the very beginning of hip-hop and so a lot is going on.

This has been an emotional year for you. How are you doing?

I'm doing fine. ... Everyone's been kind to me. My family's been very supportive, you know. I've had a lot of work to do so that's kept me, you know, in a good way. So I'm fine.

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[Edited 10/24/14 20:28pm]

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JoeBala

Dolly Parton Q&A: The Country Legend on 50 Years in Nashville and Why She Supports Her Gay Fans

By Deborah Evans Price | October 24, 2014 2:08 PM EDT

Dolly Parton, 2014.

Dolly Parton photographed on Sept. 29, 2014 at Nashville’s NorthStar Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

Joe Pugliese

This year marks the 50th Anniversary since 68-year-old international icon Dolly Parton came to Nashville. The fourth of 12 siblings who shared a one-room cabin, the East Tennessee native was so poor growing up that her father paid the doctor who delivered her with a bag of cornmeal. The day after her high school graduation, Parton left the Smoky Mountains for Music City, where she shepherded her career from singing on The Porter Wagoner Show, a syndicated music-variety series that aired from 1960 to 1981, to winning seven Grammys and scoring 25 No. 1 songs on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart -- a record for a female artist.

Dolly Parton: The Billboard Photo Shoot

On a recent fall afternoon at Nashville's NorthStar Studios, Parton is an animated conversationalist, throwing her head back and laughing often. In person, the legendary entertainer possesses a down-home, self-effacing charm -- disarming for someone who helms an empire that includes the Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based Dollywood theme park, which annually hosts nearly 2.5 million visitors, and a valuable publishing catalog of such songs as "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," which she took to No. 1 long before Whitney Houston. In 2014 alone, Parton's 42nd studio album, Blue Smoke, debuted at No. 2 on Top Country Albums and No. 6 on the Billboard 200 -- marking her highest-charting solo album on the latter list -- and wrapped a successful world tour that included performing for 170,000 at the United Kingdom's Glastonbury Festival.

Here, the self-described "Backwoods Barbie" sits down with Billboard to talk business, her 48-year marriage to husband Carl Dean and leaning in.

How are you different now from the girl who came to Nashville in 1964?

I'm more successful now than I was then, but I still feel like the same girl. I'm just a working girl. I never think of myself as a star because, as somebody once said, "A star is nothing but a big ball of gas" -- and I don't want to be that.

What do you think about how people revere you?

I'm sure there's lots of people out there who'd like to smack my head off, but we won't talk about them. (Laughs.) I've lived a lot and I've done a lot. I've been around so long that I think people just kind of feel like I'm a member of their family -- like a favorite aunt or an older sister. People relate to me because I grew up poor and in a big family. They know I understand all the hardships.

What were you thinking when you looked out and saw 170,000 people at Glastonbury?

I was very honored. I was a little bit nervous at that show because I'd never done it before. I thought it was more for a rock crowd, and I just hoped that I would fit in. I was standing backstage all nervous and thinking, "Oh, I hope they like me. I hope that everybody's right that this is a good thing to do." And then I heard them say my name, "Dolly! Dolly! Dolly!" and I thought, "I guess they do know who I am."

Nashville's Studio A, where you recorded "Jolene" in 1973, was recently in danger of demolition. [At the last minute, Tennessee businessman Aubrey Preston saved the property.] What memories do you have of that studio?

The first time I ever got a new car was also the first time I was going to be recording with Porter [Wagoner]. I went down to Studio A and I didn't know how to drive. I ran right through the wall and tore a bunch of bricks out that fell on top of my car. I just got out of the car because I was running late. I didn't see anybody so I locked my car, went in and did the session. When we all came out, someone said, "Damn, somebody ran into the wall." [I said], "That was me" and then I called my father-in-law, Carl's dad, to come down.

What kind of car was it?

It was blue. I didn't get my Cadillac until I had more money, but I think it was a blue station wagon. I think it was a Chevrolet because Carl, at that time, only drove Chevrolets. It was our first family car and we had just been married about a year or so. Anyway, it left a hole in the wall where some of the bricks fell out. They replaced those bricks, but there was always a little bit of discoloration in the brick. When [Studio A] used to do tours, they'd go around and say, "This is where Dolly Parton ran into the wall."

Dollywood attracts lots of church groups, but it has also become a draw for the LGBT community. What does that say about you?

It's a place for entertainment, a place for all families, period. It's for all that. But as far as the Christians, if people want to pass judgment, they're already sinning. The sin of judging is just as bad as any other sin they might say somebody else is committing. I try to love everybody.

Dolly Parton Longs for 'H...eo (Watch)

You have a large gay following. To what do you attribute that?

They know that I completely love and accept them, as I do all people. I've struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood. I've had to go against all kinds of people through the years just to be myself. I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love. I don't think we should be judgmental. Lord, I've got enough problems of my own to pass judgment on somebody else.

A portrait from 1965.
As a Southern woman, how do you speak your mind and take care of business but remain likable?

I'm open and I'm honest. I don't dillydally. If there's something going on, I just say it. Sometimes if I get mad, I'll throw out a few cuss words just to prove my point. I've often said I don't lose my temper as much as I use it. I don't do either unless I have to because I love peace and harmony, but when you step in my territory, I will call you on it. People say, "Oh, you just always seem so happy." Well, that's the Botox. (Laughs.)

What advice do you give women going into business?

You need to really believe in what you've got to offer, what your talent is -- and if you believe, that gives you strength. In my early days, I would go in, and I was always overmade, with my boobs sticking out, my clothes too tight, and so I really looked like easy prey to a lot of guys -- just looked easy, period. But I would go in, and if they were not paying close attention to what I was saying, I always said, "I look like a woman, but I think like a man and you better pay attention or I'll have your money and I'll be gone." (Laughs.)

Dolly Parton Mulls Record...l Mud Song

Are you familiar with Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In?

What is it?

Lean In -- it's a book. Have you ever "leaned in"?

I've leaned over. (Laughs.) I've leaned forward. I don't know what "leaned in" is. Lean in to God.

Family has always been very important to you. Do you regret not having kids?

No. I used to think I should regret it. Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids. We weren't doing anything to stop it. In fact, we thought maybe we would. We even had names if we did, but it didn't turn out that way. Now I say, "God didn't mean for me to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine." I'm very close to my family -- five of my younger brothers and sisters lived with me and Carl for many years -- and we're very close to our nieces and nephews. Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, "Aren't you glad we didn't have kids? Now we don't have kids to worry about."

You've been married a long time. What's the best marriage advice that you have?

I've been married 48 years, going on 49. But I think it's true of all relationships -- no matter what they are -- you have to respect each other. We make each other laugh.

Dolly Parton Planning LGB...ance Album

Do you have an office at home?

I have an office everywhere, but I usually work on the couch. I also work in the kitchen. I have all these offices -- just like I have all these swimming pools, and I never swim. I have offices, but I just work wherever I'm at. I just pile my stuff on my bed and work. I have files of my music in every house.

How many houses?

We have a place in [Los Angeles] and a couple places here [in Tennessee]: on the lake, then we have the office complex, and I have the old [East Tennessee] place up home. It's investments. It's not to say, "Hey, look at me." I'd rather buy property than play the stock market.

Do you have any guilty pleasures? What makes you happy?

I love to read. I love to cook. I love hanging out with my husband, riding around in our little RV. Even when I get off the road after traveling thousands of miles, I'll say, "Get the camper; let's go somewhere." He'll say, "Are you kidding? Ain't you tired of riding?" "No, I'm a gypsy. I want to do that." My life is fairly simple when I'm out of the limelight.

When you go somewhere public like Cracker Barrel, do you go in full makeup or in disguise?

I hardly go out much anymore. I just send somebody after the stuff I like. But if I go anywhere, I go in full disguise. I'm afraid somebody will recognize me and say, "Oh, did you see Dolly? She looked like hell." I'd rather them say, "Did you see Dolly? She's so overdone."

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Reply #56 posted 10/25/14 4:15pm

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JoeBala said:

Dolly Parton Q&A: The Country Legend on 50 Years in Nashville and Why She Supports Her Gay Fans

By Deborah Evans Price | October 24, 2014 2:08 PM EDT

Dolly Parton, 2014.

Dolly Parton photographed on Sept. 29, 2014 at Nashville’s NorthStar Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

Joe Pugliese

This year marks the 50th Anniversary since 68-year-old international icon Dolly Parton came to Nashville. The fourth of 12 siblings who shared a one-room cabin, the East Tennessee native was so poor growing up that her father paid the doctor who delivered her with a bag of cornmeal. The day after her high school graduation, Parton left the Smoky Mountains for Music City, where she shepherded her career from singing on The Porter Wagoner Show, a syndicated music-variety series that aired from 1960 to 1981, to winning seven Grammys and scoring 25 No. 1 songs on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart -- a record for a female artist.

Dolly Parton: The Billboard Photo Shoot

On a recent fall afternoon at Nashville's NorthStar Studios, Parton is an animated conversationalist, throwing her head back and laughing often. In person, the legendary entertainer possesses a down-home, self-effacing charm -- disarming for someone who helms an empire that includes the Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based Dollywood theme park, which annually hosts nearly 2.5 million visitors, and a valuable publishing catalog of such songs as "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You," which she took to No. 1 long before Whitney Houston. In 2014 alone, Parton's 42nd studio album, Blue Smoke, debuted at No. 2 on Top Country Albums and No. 6 on the Billboard 200 -- marking her highest-charting solo album on the latter list -- and wrapped a successful world tour that included performing for 170,000 at the United Kingdom's Glastonbury Festival.

Here, the self-described "Backwoods Barbie" sits down with Billboard to talk business, her 48-year marriage to husband Carl Dean and leaning in.

How are you different now from the girl who came to Nashville in 1964?

I'm more successful now than I was then, but I still feel like the same girl. I'm just a working girl. I never think of myself as a star because, as somebody once said, "A star is nothing but a big ball of gas" -- and I don't want to be that.

What do you think about how people revere you?

I'm sure there's lots of people out there who'd like to smack my head off, but we won't talk about them. (Laughs.) I've lived a lot and I've done a lot. I've been around so long that I think people just kind of feel like I'm a member of their family -- like a favorite aunt or an older sister. People relate to me because I grew up poor and in a big family. They know I understand all the hardships.

What were you thinking when you looked out and saw 170,000 people at Glastonbury?

I was very honored. I was a little bit nervous at that show because I'd never done it before. I thought it was more for a rock crowd, and I just hoped that I would fit in. I was standing backstage all nervous and thinking, "Oh, I hope they like me. I hope that everybody's right that this is a good thing to do." And then I heard them say my name, "Dolly! Dolly! Dolly!" and I thought, "I guess they do know who I am."

Nashville's Studio A, where you recorded "Jolene" in 1973, was recently in danger of demolition. [At the last minute, Tennessee businessman Aubrey Preston saved the property.] What memories do you have of that studio?

The first time I ever got a new car was also the first time I was going to be recording with Porter [Wagoner]. I went down to Studio A and I didn't know how to drive. I ran right through the wall and tore a bunch of bricks out that fell on top of my car. I just got out of the car because I was running late. I didn't see anybody so I locked my car, went in and did the session. When we all came out, someone said, "Damn, somebody ran into the wall." [I said], "That was me" and then I called my father-in-law, Carl's dad, to come down.

What kind of car was it?

It was blue. I didn't get my Cadillac until I had more money, but I think it was a blue station wagon. I think it was a Chevrolet because Carl, at that time, only drove Chevrolets. It was our first family car and we had just been married about a year or so. Anyway, it left a hole in the wall where some of the bricks fell out. They replaced those bricks, but there was always a little bit of discoloration in the brick. When [Studio A] used to do tours, they'd go around and say, "This is where Dolly Parton ran into the wall."

Dollywood attracts lots of church groups, but it has also become a draw for the LGBT community. What does that say about you?

It's a place for entertainment, a place for all families, period. It's for all that. But as far as the Christians, if people want to pass judgment, they're already sinning. The sin of judging is just as bad as any other sin they might say somebody else is committing. I try to love everybody.

Dolly Parton Longs for 'H...eo (Watch)

You have a large gay following. To what do you attribute that?

They know that I completely love and accept them, as I do all people. I've struggled enough in my life to be appreciated and understood. I've had to go against all kinds of people through the years just to be myself. I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love. I don't think we should be judgmental. Lord, I've got enough problems of my own to pass judgment on somebody else.

A portrait from 1965.
As a Southern woman, how do you speak your mind and take care of business but remain likable?

I'm open and I'm honest. I don't dillydally. If there's something going on, I just say it. Sometimes if I get mad, I'll throw out a few cuss words just to prove my point. I've often said I don't lose my temper as much as I use it. I don't do either unless I have to because I love peace and harmony, but when you step in my territory, I will call you on it. People say, "Oh, you just always seem so happy." Well, that's the Botox. (Laughs.)

What advice do you give women going into business?

You need to really believe in what you've got to offer, what your talent is -- and if you believe, that gives you strength. In my early days, I would go in, and I was always overmade, with my boobs sticking out, my clothes too tight, and so I really looked like easy prey to a lot of guys -- just looked easy, period. But I would go in, and if they were not paying close attention to what I was saying, I always said, "I look like a woman, but I think like a man and you better pay attention or I'll have your money and I'll be gone." (Laughs.)

Dolly Parton Mulls Record...l Mud Song

Are you familiar with Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In?

What is it?

Lean In -- it's a book. Have you ever "leaned in"?

I've leaned over. (Laughs.) I've leaned forward. I don't know what "leaned in" is. Lean in to God.

Family has always been very important to you. Do you regret not having kids?

No. I used to think I should regret it. Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids. We weren't doing anything to stop it. In fact, we thought maybe we would. We even had names if we did, but it didn't turn out that way. Now I say, "God didn't mean for me to have kids so everybody's kids could be mine." I'm very close to my family -- five of my younger brothers and sisters lived with me and Carl for many years -- and we're very close to our nieces and nephews. Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, "Aren't you glad we didn't have kids? Now we don't have kids to worry about."

You've been married a long time. What's the best marriage advice that you have?

I've been married 48 years, going on 49. But I think it's true of all relationships -- no matter what they are -- you have to respect each other. We make each other laugh.

Dolly Parton Planning LGB...ance Album

Do you have an office at home?

I have an office everywhere, but I usually work on the couch. I also work in the kitchen. I have all these offices -- just like I have all these swimming pools, and I never swim. I have offices, but I just work wherever I'm at. I just pile my stuff on my bed and work. I have files of my music in every house.

How many houses?

We have a place in [Los Angeles] and a couple places here [in Tennessee]: on the lake, then we have the office complex, and I have the old [East Tennessee] place up home. It's investments. It's not to say, "Hey, look at me." I'd rather buy property than play the stock market.

Do you have any guilty pleasures? What makes you happy?

I love to read. I love to cook. I love hanging out with my husband, riding around in our little RV. Even when I get off the road after traveling thousands of miles, I'll say, "Get the camper; let's go somewhere." He'll say, "Are you kidding? Ain't you tired of riding?" "No, I'm a gypsy. I want to do that." My life is fairly simple when I'm out of the limelight.

When you go somewhere public like Cracker Barrel, do you go in full makeup or in disguise?

I hardly go out much anymore. I just send somebody after the stuff I like. But if I go anywhere, I go in full disguise. I'm afraid somebody will recognize me and say, "Oh, did you see Dolly? She looked like hell." I'd rather them say, "Did you see Dolly? She's so overdone."

cool

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #57 posted 10/25/14 7:09pm

JoeBala

25 Years Ago: Terence Trent D’Arby’s ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh’ Undeservedly Flops

You remember Terence Trent D’Arby, right? The guy who unleashed that amazing barrage of hit singles back in 1987 — ‘Wishing Well,’ ‘If You Let Me Stay‘ and ‘Sign Your Name‘?

Ever wonder why he’s not still ruling the charts with those seemingly effortless updates of classic soul styles? Well, it’s because he fell victim to one of the biggest sophomore slumps in modern chart history with the release of his second album, ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh,’ which came out 25 years ago this month.

Taken purely on its own merits, the album deserved a much better fate. Admittedly, it’s sometimes needlessly pretentious, carrying the full title ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh: A Soundtrack of Love, Faith, Hope & Destruction,’ and starting with two minutes of what can best be described as an ambient spoken-word piece before slipping into ‘I Have Faith in These Desolate Times,’ a “you’ll love or hate this” largely a cappella piece adorned only by plucked classical string instruments and bongos.

But compared to its bright, polished and eager-to-please predecessor — ‘Introducing the Hardline,’ which included all the hits mentioned above — the album also features bold steps into darker, more diverse musical territory. For starters, there’s the dazzling ‘Roly Poly,’ which finds D’Arby crooning and testifying over what sounds like a late-night tape-loop studio session attended by both the Beatles and Public Enemy’s Bomb Squad.

Even more impressive is the next track, ‘You Will Pay Tomorrow,’ which finally answers the “What would it sound like if James Brown joined an amazing rock ‘n’ roll band?” question. Obviously feeling very confident in his creative choices, about halfway into this song D’Arby decides to add a very unusual instrument — a kazoo! – into the already potent wah-guitar and soul horn mixture. And damn if it doesn’t work perfectly.

Hear Terence Trent D’Arby Perform ‘You Will Pay Tomorrow’

There’s also a handful of more accessible songs — specifically, the rousing, gospel-tinged ‘I’ll Be Alright‘ and the slinky, insistent ‘Attracted to You‘ — that you could easily picture following ‘Wishing Well’ and the rest right up the charts. So what went wrong?

Well, D’Arby obviously was aiming to be something bigger than a flash-in-the-pan pop star with this album. But in retrospect, it seems pretty clear that it was his own ambitions and methods that tripped him up — including a series of interviews that overshadowed his talent by earning him a reputation both in the public and within the music industry as an unsympathetic egotist.

For example, while promoting ‘Hardline,’ D’Arby ruffled feathers by stating, “I think I’m a genius. Point f—ing blank,” and declaring that the record was better than the Beatles’ masterpiece, ‘Sgt. Peppers’ Lonely Hearts Club Band.’ No doubt this brashness turned off some of the very same potential fans D’Arby was hoping to reach with his later, more serious music.

Regardless, flush with the success of ‘Hardline,’ D’Arby not only turned in a challenging follow-up in ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh,’ he reportedly demanded that his label not release any singles to promote the record. The strategy backfired, and ‘Flesh’ fell off the charts on both sides of the Atlantic within a month. Eventually, the suitably representative, if not immediately catchy, ‘This Side of Love’ was released as a single, but the damage was done and ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh’ was dead in the water.

Surprisingly, years later, D’Arby decided this failure was the best thing that could have happened to him. “At the time of ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh”s non-performance in the marketplace — I believe that’s the expression — every single thing hit me at once,” he told Q magazine. “Legal situations, financial situations, the mother of my daughter and I were splitting up, everything. I was naked, I had no place to go. But now I genuinely feel that ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh’ was not only the best thing that could have happened to me but the only thing that could have happened to me. If it had been successful, I would have missed that opportunity to get on the train that was pulling me out of the situation.”

You’re wondering what train he’s talking about, right? Well, four years later D’Arby would issue his third and possibly best album to date, ‘Symphony or Damn,’ which successfully blended the accessibility of ‘Hardline’ with the experimentation of ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh.’ However, the world at large had turned a deaf ear, and we found out exactly what D’Arby meant by pulling out of the situation.

Eager for a fresh start, after one more underwhelming album — 1995′s spotty ‘Vibrator’ — D’Arby changed his name to Sananda Maitreya, moved to Europe and began releasing albums almost exclusively via his own website. His most recent effort is 2014′s ‘The Rise of the Zubebrian Time Lords.’



Read More: 25 Years Ago: Terence Tre...edly Flops | http://theboombox.com/ter...ck=tsmclip
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Reply #58 posted 10/25/14 7:25pm

JoeBala

Cream bassist Jack Bruce dies aged 71 after a lifetime in blues

Tributes for Scottish vocalist who formed seminal 1960s band with Eric Clapton, and helped turn rock into serious art form
Jack Bruce at home in Suffolk
Jack Bruce at home in Suffolk in 2003. Photograph: Eamonn Mccabe/.

Jack Bruce, the bassist and singer for the seminal 60s rock group Cream, has died aged 71. He had been suffering from liver disease.

A young Jack Bruce with a bass guitar

His death was announced on his official website on Saturday and confirmed by his publicist Claire Singers. “Jack died today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family,” she said.

Trained as a classical musician, Glasgow-born Bruce had a powerful melodic voice and was also a talented, jazz-influenced bass guitarist. He formed Cream with guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker and was responsible, with co-writer Peter Brown, for penning the majority of the band’s songs. Their most famous hits include I Feel Free, White Room, Politician and (with Clapton) Sunshine Of Your Love, which features one of the world’s most frequently played guitar riffs.

Jack Bruce, bassist for Cream, dead at 71

Jack Bruce, center, with Cream bandmates Eric Clapton, left, and Ginger Baker, right.

The group were distinctive for the high quality of their musicianship andplayed a key role in establishing rock as a serious art form in the late 60s. Cream sold 35 million albums between 1966 and 1968 and were awarded the world’sfirst platinum disc for their album Wheels of Fire. A host of artists covered Bruce’s songs including Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and Ella Fitzgerald. Tributes to the singer poured in from the world of rock, including one from his former Cream bandmate Ginger Baker. “I am very sad to learn of the loss of a fine man, Jack Bruce,” he said via Facebook.

Cream in 1966: Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce

Bruce was born in Glasgow on 14 May 1943 and was educated at Bellahouston Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition. Bruce left the academy prematurelyto pursue a career as a jazz and blues musician in London and in 1962 joined Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc with whom Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was the drummer. Later Bruce joined Ginger Baker in the Graham Bond Organisation but left after three years after Baker complained that his playing was “too busy”.

Cream perform on the TV programme Ready Steady Go in 1966

Bruce then played for John Mayall’s Blues Breakers, where he first met Clapton, before joining Manfred Mann for a brief, unhappy stint which Bruce found unacceptably over-commercial. In the end it was Baker who initially asked Bruce to form Cream with Clapton, who insisted that Bruce would be the singer. The band’s driving pace and technical proficiency made them an extraordinarily exciting act, though their tendency to add 15-minute drum or bass solos to live performances also left rock with one of its less attractive legacies. By contrast many of their songs, including Tales of Brave Ulysses and We’re Going Wrong, have become classics.

Cream in the US

Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity in part because Bruce felt they had strayed too far from the music he wanted to play. He recorded several solo albums, including Songs For A Tailor and Harmony Row, which were a synthesis of rock, jazz and classical formats and which featured leading UK musicians such as guitarist John McLaughlin, blues saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith and drummer Jon Hiseman. Bruce also worked as session man on carefully chosen dates with such rock musicians as Lou Reed and Frank Zappa. With the latter, Jack co-wrote Apostrophe, which became Zappa’s biggest selling album.

Cream get fitted out in the latest fashions at the Westerner boutique on Oxford Street, February 1967

For many years Bruce fought addictions, in particular witha long-term heroin problem. In the end he quit the habit though not without a considerable fight. “I went to the clinics, I wasn’t proud, but I’m proof it can be done,” he said in an interview three years ago.

Bruce with his bass guitar

In 2003, Bruce developed liver cancer. He was given a transplant which his body initially rejected and he was left gravely ill. However, he recovered andin 2005 he went on to re-form Cream who played a series of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. Both Bruce and Baker looked painfully thin and fragile during their performances. By contrast, Clapton seemed the epitome of health.

Cream on a boat in Central Park, New York, 1968

Later Bruce toured the world with other projects. In June 2011, he played a special concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary in an evening that marked the 50th anniversary of the blues in Britain. Bruce played with his Big Blues Band. The next year he played at the Gerry Rafferty tribute concert in Glasgow when BBC Scotland recorded a one-hour documentary on Bruce.

Bruce circa 1970s

He leaves a remarkable musical legacy, a point stressed by his family on Saturday: “The world of music will be a poorer place without him but he lives on in his music and for ever in our hearts.”

Playing at the London Guitar festival in 2011

Former Cream bassist Jack Bruce: 'I squandered too much money on drugs'

Former Cream bassist Jack Bruce says he is not ambitious but he did once buy a Scottish island.

Former Cream bassist Jack Bruce talks about money

In the Sixties, supergroup Cream produced a string of classic hits such as I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love and White Room. Bass player Jack Bruce, now 68, wrote most of the songs and so earns the lion's share of royalties from the band's 35m record sales. He lives in Essex with his second wife Margrit, 57, and their youngest son Corin, 18.

How did your childhood experience influence your attitude to money?

Growing up in inner-city Glasgow, it sometimes seemed to me money hadn't been invented. We lived in a council flat, my dad worked in a factory and my mother worked in a baker's shop and scrubbed floors at the local hospital. There was never any pocket money and sometimes we used to go to the local football ground and collect empty bottles to take to the shops for a few pennies to make ends meet. But my parents were able to pay for my music education – my mother took two jobs so they could send me to grammar school, which was unusual for people in my class in those days.

At the age of 16 I started performing with a dance band in the evenings and began earning more money than my father, but he was pleased for me. He had assumed I would join him at the factory and never imagined I could actually make money in music. But my background made me very insecure and ignorant about how to deal with money and when I hit the big time with Cream, I made some blunders.

Did having money make you happier?

Initially yes, it was tremendous fun to be able to buy a house in central London and furnish it without worrying about the cost. And I bought a large country mansion, but I decided I didn't need anything so big so I sold it.

Jack Bruce – 1943-2014

What blunders did you make?

My first mistake was to have a bad manager. He basically used every trick in the book to steal our money and siphon it off into his own pockets. It was easy do with young musicians who were naive and didn't care about contracts. I think it happened a lot in those days. Today there is usually a clause in most contracts warning you to get independent advice, but in those days there would usually be a clause forbidding you to get independent advice.

I managed to recoup some unpaid royalties in the Nineties, thanks to the hard work that Margrit put into resolving the situation, and I am now paid regularly. But my second mistake was drugs – way too much of my money was squandered on that.

Are you cautious with money or liberal with it?

I don't give a damn about it – money has never meant anything to me. Sometimes I have had a lot of it and sometimes not so much, but I have always been able to do what I want. Thankfully I'm not endlessly ambitious, but I have done some crazy ambitious things like buying an island off the west coast of Scotland in the late Sixties. I eventually sold it because they decided to build a nuclear power station within sight of it.

Cream reunion gig at the Royal Albert Hall, London in May, 2005

So are you better at handling money now?

Yes, I got to a stage where I had to become more responsible. It might seem rock-and-roll to be carefree, but I know I need to look after my money. Margrit is better at this than me – she arranges meetings with my accountant and I usually sit in, but then I try to get out of it by going to make the coffee. In 2003 I was diagnosed with liver cancer as a result of my former drug abuse and I had a transplant. I feel I've been given a miraculous extra lease on life, which is a wonderful gift. I can go on playing and touring for as long as people ask me and when they stop asking me, I'll give up.

What would be your advice to other musicians?

I've always had money because of my early success with Cream, so I tell young musicians to aim to write their own material, because owning the composition rights makes a very big difference. I still get a lot of royalties flowing in from radio play and the use of Cream music in commercials and movies, which is a good earner.

How do you invest?

Margrit manages our portfolio of investments along with my advisers and I know she has chosen to invest in a lot of ethical companies and ethical funds. The other thing I do is buy property – I enjoy choosing properties and I like to visit them.

Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, members of the former band Cream are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, 12 January 12 1993

How many properties do you own?

In 1986 I bought our six-bedroom farmhouse near Halstead for £79,000 and we have since spent around £200,000 renovating, moving the kitchen and adding a large conservatory. It is filled with cellos, Hammond organs, grand pianos and guitars.

Twelve years later I bought a small holiday home in Italy for £73,000, because I fell in love with the beautiful artistic village of Dolceacqua, with its winding, cobbled passages and lovely castle ruin. Then after my liver transplant in 2003 I bought a three-bedroom villa on the Canary island of La Palma for around £320,000 because the climate aided my recovery. And in 2005, the Cream reunion earned me enough money to buy a town house in Colchester for £300,000 and we spent around £1m renovating and extending it.

What has been your best buy?

I made a good profit on a small cottage we bought in Wester Ross in the Eighties, which is in one of the most beautiful parts of Scotland. It worked out really well – it was a beautiful place to go and stay in May and September and I only bought it for £30,000, but sold it for double that.

And your worst buy?

I went through a period of buying terrible old cars to restore – Morris Minors and a Jensen FF – but I wasn't any good at it and they would just mould away and rot. I was also involved in starting up a commercial catamaran operation in Majorca which ran aground. I now strongly advise people not to get involved in multihull commercial boating.

How do you prefer to pay – by card, cash or cheque?

I usually use American Express because I can collect points and I like redeeming them flying with Virgin business class. I don't use many other credit cards and I pay my Amex card off every month because I don't believe in paying interest – that's a mug's game.

How easily do you tip?

My mother once worked as a waitress so I am generous because I know how people can rely on tips to make a decent living. But it's amazing the cultural differences – in Japan you don't tip anyone because it would be insulting, whereas in America if you give anything less than 20pc they'll come after you with a meat cleaver. I find it's more difficult to know what to do in Britain because in this country, we're not really geared for service.

What about pensions?

Many years ago I started up a large portfolio of investments that just sat there. It was all very safe – things like Royal Dutch Shell – but it stopped performing, so I stopped putting money in. It was only growing as fast as cash in the bank, so what's the point of that? Investing doesn't excite me – I think it's like gambling, which is not one of my vices. I have now started taking some of my pensions, so at least I'm getting paid.

Do you bank online?

Yes. It's very convenient if you live in the sticks like I do. I'm doing more and more online every year – I hardly ever buy anything in the normal way any more. And I'm downloading all the time from iTunes.

Jack Bruce and his Big Blues Band are touring in March 2012. Book tickets at seetickets.com

The Cream farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, 26 Nov 1968

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Reply #59 posted 10/25/14 8:06pm

JoeBala

Morelia Film Fest: Transgender Drama 'Carmin Tropical' Wins Top Prize

5:52 PM PST 10/24/2014 by John Hecht
Courtesy of Cine Pantera
'Carmin Tropical'

Road movie "Gueros" grabs audience award, best first work

Rigoberto Perezcano's Carmin Tropical, a crime drama that explores sexual intolerance in an unusual Mexican town, won best picture at the 12th edition of the Morelia International Film Festival.

Carmin Tropical unfolds in Juchitan, a southern Mexico town known for its Muxe (transgender) community.

Also coming up big in Morelia was Alonso Ruizpalacios' Gueros, a black-and-white comedy about Mexican slackers on a quest to find a washed-up musician. Gael Garcia Bernal has an associate producer credit.

Gueros won best first feature at Berlin, the Horizons Award in San Sebastian and best cinematography (Damian Garcia) in Tribeca.

Matria, an odd tale about a man who organized an army of Mexican cowboys to fend off a possible Nazi invasion during WWII, nabbed best documentary.

Morelia opened with Alejandro G. Inarritu's Birdman.

International guests this year included Inarritu, Juliette Binoche, Homesman executive producer Michael Fitzgerald, award-winning Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski (Ida), Amos Gitai (Free Zone) and Hubert Sauper (Darwin's Nightmare).

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Watch Intense New Trailer for Fox's Hip-Hop Drama 'Empire'

Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson star in Lee Daniels' midseason soap

Empire - H 2014
Chuck Hodes/FOX
'Empire'

Fox used Game 3 of the World Series to ramp up midseason hip-hop drama Empire.

From The Butler's Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, Empire stars Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon, the ex-wife of Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), who heads the hip-hop record label at the center of the series. Gabourey Sidibe also stars, along with new addition Courtney Love.

Back in May, Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter that he intended "to make a black Dynasty. You sit there and go, 'No, this bitch didn't! Oh my f---ing God!' "

The minute-long teaser opens with Lucious sharing his life story, before it's revealed that he is suffering a life-crippling disease that could change his life in a matter of a few years. "It was the music that saved my life," he says, before the powerful music mogul tells his grown children to "man up" and take charge of his empire.

And as if on cue, Cookie barges in: "Don't forget me baby. I want half my company back!" Looks like Lucious is going to have his hands full.

Empire premieres in January 2015 on Fox.

Watch the trailer below.

'Pale Moon': Tokyo Review

http://movy.com.au/s3/movy-posters-compressed-sydney/5633-pale_moon_jff-158635_full.jpg
Courtesy of Tokyo International Film Festival

The Bottom Line

It's more blessed to give than to receive

Venue

Tokyo Film Festival (Competition)

Cast

Rie Miyazawa, Mitsuyo Kakuta, Sosuke Ikematsu

Director

Daihachi Yoshida

Screenwriter

Kaeko Hayafune

Rie Miyazawa stars as a housewife turned embezzler in Yoshida Daihaci’s fantasy drama

Going from strength to strength, director Yoshida Daihachi (The Kirishima Thing) returns to the themes of conformity and rebellion in Japanese society in Pale Moon (Kami no Tsuki), the story of an obedient housewife who becomes an embezzler to live it up with a young lover. Though seemingly played for straight drama, there are mischievous clues throughout the film that other readings are possible, confirmed in the surprise ending. The fun — and anxiety — lies in watching the delightfully proper heroine overturn the conventions of a highly regimented country, and stage and screen actress Rie Miyazawa is fully up to delivering outrageous behavior in a subtle, almost deadpan performance. One of the strongest competition entries in this year’s Tokyo festival, it should shoot straight to the festival circuit and would make a fine candidate for exotic art house pick-ups. Shociku releases in Japan in November.

Yoshida’s talent for light comedy, seen in his Cannes Critics Week entry Funuke Show Some Love, You Losers!, is kept under wraps here, and there will be viewers who follow the story as a straight immorality play, watching housewife Rika Umezawa (Miyazawa) slip away from her boring, inattentive husband and into a life of daily crime. Her fall from grace is emphasized in flashbacks to her girlhood in a Catholic school and a key episode when she is smitten by a charity drive. The nuns want the kids to donate half their allowances to help needy children, but Rika is so convinced that she steals big money from her Dad’s wallet. When caught, her self-righteous defense is that the ends justify the means.

Read more 'Garm Wars: The Last Drui...kyo Review

The idealist in her is still there under cover when we meet her as a demurely uniformed bank employee, selling bonds and retirement funds door-to-door to her elderly, well-off clientele. At the home of one rich man, she meets his grandson, the college student Kota (up-and-coming young actor Sosuke Ikematsu in a convincing perf), who can’t take his eyes off her. Though mousily attired, Rika really is lovely, but when after being stalked by the lovesick lad she lets him take her to a cheap motel, the film hits its first dizzy turning point.

Kota is a nice boy but is on the verge of dropping out of school because he doesn’t have the money for tuition. His rich grandfather won’t budge and Rika seizes an opportunity to help. She simply makes out a fake cashier’s check for Grandpa and gives $20,000 in cash to Kota as a “loan”. It’s the first of a very long series of switcheroos she performs at the bank, thanks to her impeccable reputation and the assistant manager’s less than impeccable shortcuts, all under the disapproving eye of her suspicious supervisor Mrs. Sumi (Satomi Kobayashi).

Read more 'River of Exploding Duria...kyo Review

With amusement and trepidation, the audience watches the heroine burn more and more bridges as she throws herself into a life of luxury hotels, restaurants, clothes and expensive gifts for her young lover. When her husband is transferred to China, she turns their apartment into a messy counterfeiter’s den. The more she goes against society’s mores and becomes a free and independent woman, the more the noose of coming retribution tightens around her neck. When the day of reckoning finally comes, however, more surprises lay in store in Kaeko Hayafune’s liberating closing scenes, all based on a novel by the award-winning woman author Mitsuyo Kakuta.

From the sterile, spotless bank to the chaos of Rika’s topsy-turvy apartment, everything is pleasantly shot in an elegantly subdued palette by cinematographer Makoto Shiguma. The soundtrack adds its own dose of ironic freedom with Lou Reed’s Femme Fatale. The one sour note to mention is the painfully obvious product placement that crosses the line into blatant advertising.

Production company: Robot Communications
Cast: Rie Miyazawa, Sosuke Ikematsu, Renji Ishibashi, Satomi Kobayashi, Yoshimasa Kondo, Yuko Ohshima, Seiichi Tanabe, Yoshimasa Kondo, Renji Ishibashi
Director: Daihachi Yoshida
Screenwriter: Kaeko Hayafune, based on a novel by Mitsuyo Kakuta
Producers: Fumitsugu Ikeda, Satoko Ishid, Naomi Akashi
Director of photography: Makoto Shiguma
Music: The Velvet Underground, Nico
Sales Agent: Shochiku
No rating, 126 minutes

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Actor, Activist Salma Hayek to Speak at TheWrap's Power Women Breakfast

Actor, Activist Salma Hayek to Speak at TheWrap&#39;s Power Women Breakfast

From left: Gail Berman, Salma Hayek, Arwa Damon

Hayek joins powerhouse producer Gail Berman and Courage Award-winning journalist Arwa Damon

TheWrap is pleased to announce that Salma Hayek, actor, producer and activist, will be a special guest at TheWrap's 6th annual Power Women Breakfast on Oct. 29 to speak about her work as a humanitarian and activist.

Hayek is one of the leading actors, producers and directors of our time. She was the first Latin actor nominated as Best Actress for her role in “Frida” in 2002. In 2014, she produced Kahlil's Gibran's “The Prophet,” an animated children's film adaptation of the book of essays addressing issues of life and the human condition.

Hayek is also a leading humanitarian activist, raising awareness of violence against women and discrimination against immigrants with groups such as Global Green, Youth AIDS, AMFAR and UNICEF.

She joins one of Hollywood's most successful producers, Gail Berman, Chairman and CEO of The Jackal Group, who will be interviewed about her career and the transition from traditional Hollywood to digital entrepreneur.

Berman is one of the most prolific content creators in the entertainment business, having launched award-winning properties for television, film, digital and the Broadway stage. In 2014 she launched The Jackal Group, a new independent production entity formed in partnership with Fox Networks Group.

CNN International Correspondent Arwa Damon, winner of the International Women's Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Awards, will also be honored at the event. Damon has reported on recent history in the Middle East, covering revolutions, popular demonstrations, war and terrorist attacks. Based in Beirut, Damon strives to tell the stories of those living through conflict.

Now in its sixth year, TheWrap's Power Women breakfast is an intimate gathering of Hollywood's leading women executives to connect and be inspired by women inside and outside of the entertainment industry.

The Oct. 29 event will be held the Montage Beverly Hills. The event will feature a silent auction of products generously donated by Ferragamo, Gucci, Montane Designs and Marrin Costello. Jewelry proceeds will go to the International Women's in Media Foundation.

The Power Women's Breakfast is sponsored by Bank Of America and Keurig.

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Olivia Wilde, Kate Hudson, Aaron Sorkin to Honor Fearless Female Journalists

Olivia Wilde, Kate Hudson, Aaron Sorkin to Honor Fearless Female Journalists

Alexandra Trower, Honoree Arwa Darmon, Editor-in-Chief of Le Souverain and honoree Solange Lusiku Nsimire, and journalist and Honoree Brankica Stankovic at the IWMF Luncheon in New York on October 22. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for IWMF)

Death threats, gunfire and roving bands of genocidaires – three women investigate some of the most dangerous stories will get honors from their journalist peers at the Courage in Journalism Awards

CNN correspondent Arwa Damon, Serbian TV reporter Brankica Stanković, and the editor-in-chief of one of the few independent media outlets in the Congo, Solange Lusiku Nsimire, will be honored by their peers at the 25th International Women's Media Foundation's Courage in Journalism Awards at the Beverly Hilton on Tuesday.

The IWMF celebrates the courage of women journalists who overcome threats and oppression to speak out on global issues. In protest of the owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel's policies, the IWMF cancelled their contract with the hotel and moved it to the Beverly Hilton earlier this year.

TheWrap's CEO and Founder Sharon Waxman is a co-chair with Willow Bay, Director of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism. Olivia Wilde and Glamour Magazine Editor-In-Chief Cindi Leive serve as hosts.

A companion event at Cipriani's 42nd Street in NYC took place earlier this week for the same honorees. Norah O'Donnell and Cynthia McFadden hosted the east coast installment.

From information provided in a media release, calling the honorees brave would be an understatement.

Brankica Stanković has been under 24-hour police protection since 2009, while continuing to investigate Serbia's political and economic elites. She is a prominent investigative journalist, and uncovers corruption and crime, earning her explicit death threats.

CNN's Damon has dodged bombs and gunfire while reporting on the revolutions, war, and terrorism across places few in the Beverly Hilton will ever go – Libya, Syria, and Iraq.

Solage Lusiku Nsmire runs Le Souverain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She continued to publish the independent newspaper (meaning independent of corrupt power brokers and bands of Rwandan genocidaires, those who commit genocide) despite enemies bringing their intimidation to her front door, attacking her family home.

Muse singer Matt Bellamy (significant other of Kate Hudson), Jason Sudeikis, “Gone Girl's” Sela Ward, Abigail Spencer, Paula Abdul, and Bo Derek amongst other bold face names will come to shine a light on the work of the above honorees.

Lisa Ling, whose own sister Laura was held captive in North Korea until President Bill Clinton made a special trip to ensure her release, will present one of the awards. Kate Hudson and Aaron Sorkin will also present.

Bank of America, Chevron, and the Los Angeles Times are sponsoring the night, which wil include a performance by Carly Paoli.

Individual tickets starting at $1,000 and tables starting at $10,000 are available at www.iwmf.org/tickets

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Ariana Grande, Pharrell, Maroon 5 Tabbed for Grammy Christmas Special

Album of the Year Grammy nominees will be revealed during the holiday-themed concert

By Daniel Kreps | October 25, 2014

After six years of announcing the nominees of Music's Biggest Night during a primetime concert, the Grammy Awards are mixing things up for the 57th annual ceremony. Gone is Grammy Nominations Concert Live, and in its place comes A Very Grammy Christmas Special, which will air on December 5th on CBS. Ariana Grande, Pharrell Williams, Maroon 5 and Tim McGraw have been recruited for the holiday special, which will conclude with an extra gift for five artists: An Album of the Year Grammy nomination.

The Grammys' primetime nomination concerts kicked off in 2008, but after declining ratings in recent years, the Grammys will now begin announcing their nominees with a morning ceremony on December 5th, the same day their holiday concert airs. Nomination in 82 of the 83 Grammy categories will be revealed over the course of that day, but the artists up for the biggest trophy – Album of the Year – won't be unveiled until the conclusion of the Very Grammy Christmas special.

The holiday-themed concert will feature each of the artists performing their latest hits along with seasonal favorites. Grande, Williams and Maroon 5 will also share their favorite holiday memories as well as discuss what being nominated for a Grammy means to them. The 57th annual Grammy Awards will air Sunday, February 8th, from Los Angeles' Staples Center.

According to Variety, part of the reason the Grammy Nominations Live Concert struggled in recent years is because it was broadcast live with a 10 p.m. start time on the East Coast and a 7 p.m. start in the West, which was both too late and too early. That won't be an issue this year: A Very Grammy Christmas will be prerecorded at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium on November 18th, with a 9 p.m. broadcast on December 5th on both coasts. Tickets for the all-star performance are available now through Ticketmaster. Producers promise additional performers will be announced shortly.

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'Ruined Heart: Another Lovestory Between a Criminal & a Whore': Tokyo Review

'Ruined Heart: Another Lovestory Between a Criminal & a Whore': Tokyo Review
Courtesy of Tokyo International Film Festival

The Bottom Line

For too-cool-for-school fans of Roxanne

Venue

Tokyo Film Festival (Competition)

Cast

Tadanobu Asano, Nathalia Acevedo, Elena Kazan

Director-Screenwriter

Khavn

A wordless digital poem captures the mood of Manila’s mean streets

At first glance a controversial choice for Tokyo competition, Ruined Heart: Another Lovestory Between a Criminal & a Whore is a tone poem that has its own raison d’etre. Prolific Filipino digital pioneer Khavn (aka Khavn de la Cruz), who has carved out a youthful fan base at many Euro festivals, won’t disappoint his followers with this wordless romantic crime tale that surges forward on waves of world music. The story is set in a shabby but colorful rabbit warren of backstreets amid Manila’s violent, live-for-the-instant underworld, where a handful of characters love and murder each other.

It would be a challenge to dredge a meaning, much less a message, out of the events onscreen, but this will probably be a mere detail for Khavn’s fans. Suffice it to say that there is more poetry than narration here. Charged with electricity by Australian D.P. Christopher Doyle of Wong Kar-wai fame, the lush roughhouse lighting and handheld digital camerawork contribute the lion’s share of the film’s atmospheric energy high.

The absence of dialogue makes the backstory a guessing game, but a pre-credit intro – shot like a police line-up – helps to identify the protags. The main faces are the Criminal (Tadanobu Asano, star of Christopher Doyle’s directing bow Away with Words) and the Whore (played by live-wire Mexican newcomer Nathalia Acevedo from Post Tenebras Lux.) Dreamlike jump cuts set them in motion, as the dark-haired hooker goes on the run with the hit man after he leaves his latest victim lying shirtless in a pool of blood. We are somewhere deep in the Manila slums. The only antagonist in sight is an exhibitionist Godfather who appears on stage in a kind of trance reciting “I am the world poem.”

This is a case where excellent casting goes a long way. Acevedo’s exuberant body language and striking costumes and Asano’s sheer gritty physical presence, heightened by a broken arm in a dirty cast, create a world that's both familiar to the viewer from myriad cinematic and literary versions (hence “another” lovestory) and quite distant. Though Doyle’s constantly moving, staggering and tilted camera and production designer Francis Soeder’s densely packed screen blunt the impact of an orgy scene, a long-held shot of the prostitute laughing in extreme close up with semen running out of her mouth is quite uncomfortable to watch. But sex and violence aren’t really what this very physical film is about; it comes closer to a joyful, wild and dizzying engagement with fleeting life, which includes moments of tenderness and various moods of love.

Brezel Goring and Khavn contribute strong musical energy from around the world which guide the tone of each scene. The memorable opening credits are shakily tattooed on somebody’s back.

Production companies: Kamias Overground, Rapid Eye Movies
Cast:
Tadanobu Asano, Nathalia Acevedo, Elena Kazan, Andrew Puertollano, Khavn, Vim Nadera
Director, Screenwriter: Khavn
Producers: Khavn, Achinette Villamor, Stephen Holl
Director of photography: Christopher Doyle
Production designer: Francis Soeder
Editor: Carlos Francisco Manatad

Music: Brezel Goring, Khavn
Casting director: Anthony Cinco
Sales agent: Rapid Eye Movies
No rating, 73 minutes

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[Edited 10/25/14 20:08pm]

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