Part 1(4/21/14--6/20/14)Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/406964

Part 2(6/20/14--8/3/14) Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/4...?&pg=1

Part 3(8/4/2014--10/4/2014) Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/409550

Part 4(10-4/2014 --11/30/2014) Here: http://prince.org/msg/8/4...?&pg=1

Part 5 http://prince.org/msg/8/412806

Part 6: http://prince.org/msg/8/414118

Part 7. Org members please feel free to add any articles on any upcoming newsworthy music or movie releases.

Halsey is the New Kid on the Pop Block and She's Doing Exactly What She Wants

By Ilana Kaplan

[Edited 6/6/15 7:31am]

Frances Bean Cobain on Life After Kurt's Death: An Exclusive Q&A

Cobain's daughter speaks publicly for the first time about her father, her complex relationship with Courtney Love and 'Montage of Heck'

Frances Bean Cobain speaks publicly for the first time about her father in David Fricke's new cover story. David LaChapelle

One summer a few years ago, Frances Bean Cobain worked as an intern in the New York offices of Rolling Stone. Frances – the daughter of Nirvana singer-guitarist Kurt Cobain and an executive producer of the new HBO documentary on his life, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck – was "a 15-year-old Goth kid, so stoked," she recalls with a laugh during a recent interview for the cover story in our new issue. She remembers providing research assistance on a cover about the Jonas Brothers – and working in a cubicle across from a wall with a giant painting of Kurt. "Yeah," Frances says with a grin and mock-exasperation, "looking at my dad every day."

That is one of many stories and revelations that come out over almost three hours late one afternoon in early March, as Frances, now 22 and a visual artist, speaks publicly for the first time about her father; life after his death; her complex relationship with her mother, Courtney Love; and the new film, written, directed and produced by Brett Morgen. "Kurt got to the point where he eventually had to sacrifice every bit of who he was to his art, because the world demanded it of him," Frances says bluntly at one point. "I think that was one of the main triggers as to why he felt he didn't want to be here and everyone would be happier without him."

But "in reality, if he had lived," she goes on, "I would have had a dad. And that would have been an incredible experience."

What follows are additional excerpts from a remarkable – and moving – conversation.

Watch Mark Seliger share his memories of photographing Kurt in his "Corporate Magazines Still Suck" shirt and David Fricke talking about his first and last conversations with Cobain:

How would you describe Montage of Heck?
It's emotional journalism. It's the closest thing to having Kurt tell his own story in his own words – by his own aesthetic, his own perception of the world. It paints a portrait of a man attempting to cope with being a human. When Brett and I first met, I was very specific about what I wanted to see, how I wanted Kurt to be represented. I told him, "I don't want the mythology of Kurt or the romanticism." Even though Kurt died in the most horrific way possible, there is this mythology and romanticism that surrounds him, because he's 27 forever. The shelf life of an artist or musician isn't particularly long. Kurt has gotten to icon status because he will never age. He will always be that relevant in that time and always be beautiful.

There is, with any great artist, a little manic-ness and insanity. Tropic of Cancer is one of my favorite books. And [author] Henry Miller had this work ethic, where he would get out of bed every day and force himself to write five pages. It taught me that if you do the work, you progress. So many people are content to settle. My dad was exceptionally ambitious. But he had a lot thrown on him, exceeding his ambition. He wanted his band to be successful. But he didn't want to be the fucking voice of a generation.

Do you remember the first time you heard a Nirvana record – and knowing that was your father? I've talked to Sean Lennon about this. He had a few more years with his dad that you did. But for him, the records were a road into understanding his father after he was gone.
I don't really like Nirvana that much [grins]. Sorry, promotional people, Universal. I'm more into Mercury Rev, Oasis, Brian Jonestown Massacre [laughs]. The grunge scene is not what I'm interested in. But "Territorial Pissings" [on Nevermind] is a fucking great song. And "Dumb" [on In Utero] – I cry every time I hear that song. It's a stripped-down version of Kurt's perception of himself – of himself on drugs, off drugs, feeling inadequate to be titled the voice of a generation.

The irony is that he wrote it before Nirvana made Nevermind.
I know. It was projection, to something. There's no way anyone can wrap their minds around that.

Did you feel awkward as a teenager, not being that interested in the music Kurt made?
No. I would have felt more awkward if I'd been a fan. I was around 15 when I realized he was inescapable. Even if I was in a car and had the radio on, there's my dad. He's larger than life. and our culture is obsessed with dead musicians. We love to put them on a pedestal. If Kurt had just been another guy who abandoned his family in the most awful way possible . . . But he wasn't. He inspired people to put him on a pedestal, to become St. Kurt. He became even bigger after he died than he was when he was alive. You don't think it could have gotten any bigger. But it did.

After the first screening I attended, there was a guy who said Montage of Heck was a very interesting film about people he didn't like.
[Laughs] That's a pretty good description.

I found it interesting that the way Morgen told Kurt's story didn't evoke any sympathy for that viewer – that Kurt's art did not resonate with him. All he saw was a personalty he didn't like.
That is an interesting perspective. For me, the film provided a lot more factual information about my father – not just tall tales that were misconstrued, misremembered, rehashed, retold 10 different ways. It was factual evidence of who my father was as a child, as a teenager, as a man, as a husband, as an artist. It explored every single aspect of who he was as a human being.

What was it like hearing his voice?
I've been hearing his voice forever, through his music.

He wanted his band to be successful. But he didn't want to be the fucking voice of a generation.

I was thinking more of his speaking voice.
His speaking voice is sort of similar to mine. It's sort of a monotone. The depth to it is similar to the way I speak. I don't know what the fuck that is. I wasn't even talking when he was around.

Don't mistake the power of genes.
It's very weird how genes are. Dave [Grohl], Krist [Novoselic] and Pat [Smear] came over to a house where I was living. It was the first time [the ex-Nirvana members] had been together in a long time. And they had what I call the "K. C. Jeebies," which is when they see me, they see Kurt. They look at me, and you can see they're looking at a ghost. They were all getting the K. C. Jeebies hardcore. Dave said, "She is so much like Kurt." They were all talking amongst themselves, rehashing old stories I'd heard a million times. I was sitting in a chair, chain-smoking, looking down like this [affects total boredom]. And they went, "You are doing exactly what your father would have done."

But I was glad they came over [smiles[. It was a cool experience, like having a Nirvana reunion minus one. Except for his spawn.

What do you want to do next, now that this film is coming out? In being one of the executive producers, you're stepping into the public at almost the same age your father was when he made Nirvana's first album. The timing is . . .I like to think of it as poetic.
Coincidental, yeah. Oddly enough, being 22, it's the first year a fire has been lit under my ass – not because of the documentary, just personally. I have this motivation and ambition that I didn't have before: "I want to go paint this painting." The hardest part of doing anything creatively is just getting up and doing. Once I get out of bed and get into my art room, I start painting. I'm there. And I'm doing it.

Louie

EXCLUSIVE: Aimee Carrero Talks ABC Family's 'Young & Hungry' and Growing Up in Miami!

By Priscilla Rodriguez

If you're a fan of FX's The Americans, you may recognize Aimee Carrero as Lucia from season two, the smart yet impulsive Sandinista freedom fighter who was willing to go to any lengths to support her cause.

Now, the lovely Puerto Rican and Dominican actress is starring in ABC Family's new comedy Young & Hungry as Sofia Rodriguez, the best friend of protagonist Gabi (played by Emily Osment).

Young & Hungry follows Gabi, a feisty, young food blogger hoping to land a job as a personal chef for a wealthy, young tech entrepreneur named Josh. With the help of her best friend Sofia and Josh’s housekeeper, Yolanda, Gabi turns a difficult situation into an opportunity for employment and maybe even love.

We got a chance to speak with Carerro about her Young & Hungry character, growing up in Miami, Latinos in Hollywood she'd love to work with, and more.

Read it all in our exclusive interview below:

Tell us about your character Sofia in Young & Hungry.

Well, the show is about this girl who starts to work… has the opportunity to work for a very rich kind of tech guy as her personal chef and she sort of lively and whimsical, and I play her roommate. Sofia is very type A and goal-oriented and sort of, I like to say, the Ricky Ricardo to Gabi’s Lucy.

Have you found yourself being able to relate to Sofia in any way?

Well, Sofia is kind of the girl I want to be. She is very dedicated. I mean, I am too, but I think because it is a show we don’t see her ever binging out on the couch, eating like donuts…which is what I like to do all the time. I wish I had that amount of energy. And she sort of holds herself by the bootstrap, constantly, so I really admire that about her.

What do you think viewers will love most about Young & Hungry?

Well what I love about it is that it’s really the story of a girl who isn’t perfect, and her whole life doesn’t revolve around meeting a guy and being in love with him. I think these are stories that girls that are maybe a little younger than I need to hear. You know, these are the two characters, two main girls, Sofia and Gabi, are very career-oriented and have other things going on. Sure dating is a part of the story, like it is a part of life, but it’s not their whole life. I really like that they are two imperfect, yet empowered girls who have their own agency and they’re just kind of who they are and I really love that.

Sounds awesome! So, you were born in the Dominican Republic, how old were you when you arrived to the U.S.?

Well my parents had lived in the states for 13 years before. My dad started a construction company and they moved out to Santo Domingo because I think they had this dream like living on an island and having that sort of lifestyle. I moved here when I was six ‘cause I think after being there for a few years, they were like we had the opportunity to go to school in the states and we feel like we want to give our kids a chance. So they moved to Miami and that’s where I was raised.

And what was it like growing up in Miami and being surrounded by tons of fellow Latinos?

Well it’s great and its funny because I’m Puerto Rican and Dominican, but I feel very Cuban because I grew up around all [of] them. In Miami, out of all the Latin people, I want to say that 60 percent of them are Cuban. So when I talk in Spanish, tengo como un acento cubana (I have like a Cuban accent). It’s very confused. You know, some of it is Puerto Rican-Dominican and some of it is Cuban. And so it’s funny because people assume I’m Cuban when I speak to them in Spanish. But yeah, it’s wonderful and what is really great is that I never felt like a minority there. I never grew up with a chip on my shoulder. I never grew up thinking I couldn’t do the same thing anybody else did. So when I moved to L.A. and I would ask my agent, “Why can’t I go into this part?” They’re like, “Well they’re not really looking for an ethnic choice,” and I’m like shocked ‘cause when I look in the mirror I don’t see color. I see a girl, an American who grew up in the states.

I never grew up ever feeling like I was different from anybody else because everybody looked like me. I think that gave me a confidence moving out in L.A. that maybe other minorities don’t come with. I never had that sort of insecurity I guess, until I moved here [Laughs]. They were like well we’re not looking for ethnic choices. I’m like, that’s weird. I don’t consider anything but who I am. It’s definitely interesting.

Definitely. Do you ever gather inspiration from your heritage for characters you play?

Well I think that there is sort of an innate passion and it’s true what they say it’s almost like a hot-bloodiness you grow up with…I think it’s a cultural thing. I don’t know if it’s a Latin thing or a Caribbean thing or what, but there is definitely a spark there that I don’t have to dig that deep to find, you know? Maybe because of the way I was raised, but I think it’s also like a cultural thing.

As far as like playing characters, I’ve played characters that are Nicaraguan, I played characters that are Mexican. One of the things I love about being an actor is that I could totally suspend my disbelief [and] really try to feel how [it] feels to be other people and be in somebody else’s shoes. It’s not something that I kind of fall back on. So I think I approach every character differently. In The Americans I played a Nicaraguan and I definitely had to, more than most characters, consider my heritage and consider where I was from and try to find the place that she live. And I think that playing a Latina woman from Nicaragua in the 1980’s, that’s a very specific time and place and a very specific sort of political situation that you have to have some knowledge of and opinions about in order to play that character.

Right, of course. Looking a bit into your career beginnings, was there a Latino in Hollywood who influenced your decision to go into acting?

You know, it’s really funny because sometimes I look at Latin people in the industry and I think to myself, “this is really great, we are making strides,” but I think my goal, really I think the goal of any person that’s part of a minority or a majority that feels marginalized, is for it not to even be a thing. You know what I mean? For me to walk into a casting office and for them not to see anything… or see me for the work that I do and not what I look like, that’s the dream. You know what I mean? When I look at someone like Desi Arnaz, I think to myself, this man invented the sitcom…he invented it. Invented how to do the cameras, invented the style and the format and he very rarely gets credit for that. So, I think as a little kid watching I Love Lucy I thought, “wow this is really someone”… and it wasn’t until later when I read his autobiography that I realized how much racism played a role in his career. But from the outside you think wow this is a guy, un cubanito…you know what I mean—moved to Miami, moved to LA, and created this style that we are still using today. We wouldn’t have Friends without Desi Arnaz. We wouldn’t have even like Cheers, or any of these great sitcoms that we love if it wasn’t for a Cuban guy who played the bongos. So, I think that it was more so the contribution in spite of the prejudices of people like Desi Arnaz, Chita Rivera, that I look to and say, you know what I can only imagine how hard it was for you to get there and the doors that you opened for people like me. That’s really… monumental.

Yeah. That’s an awesome answer by the way. Is there any Latino in Hollywood now that you would love to work with at some point in your career?

Oh my god. I mean, if I could just be in a room with Salma Hayek I think I would faint. I just think that she’s so wonderful. I would love to work with a really great director like Robert Rodriguez. I would love to work with Michelle Rodriguez because I think I have a girl crush on her, [Laughs] so that would be great. Also someone like Penelope Cruz who is technically not Latina, but is Hispanic. I think what she is able to do…she is such a talent, her and Javier Bardem. I think they are really great and they are doing amazing work and it’s not just like, hey, look how funny I can be with my accent, you know what I mean? It’s beyond that. It’s about not playing into stereotypes. Those are the types of actors and industry people that I sort of look to and say thank you for doing that because now it’s not just a minstrel show, it’s something we can all be proud of.

Yes, for sure! Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Just watch the show, [Laughs] I think it’s really great. And hopefully my work will speak for itself.

Season 2 Young & Hungry is on ABC Family!

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7 Questions With…Emily Osment

By Rebecca Strassberg | Posted March 19, 2015, 11 a.m.

Photo Source: Matthew Lyn

With her ABC Family show “Young and Hungry,” about food blogger Gabi, who works as a personal chef to a tech guru, back March 25, Emily Osment (“Hannah Montana”) chats about her biggest acting crush, her most challenging role, and what she’s learned throughout her career thus far.

Tell us about “Young and Hungry.”
This has been a really great experience for me. I thoroughly enjoy sitcoms; the schedule that comes with them and the camaraderie you feel with a certain group of people when you’ve been working together for a long time. I did a show for five years and took a little bit of a break, went to college, did some music. And then my first pilot season back from all that, I read this script and loved it and went in, and by a very big stroke of luck I got pretty far in the process. I realized I really do love this type of comedy.

What have you learned about yourself on “Young and Hungry”?
I never really get to play a character who’s my own age. I kind of look a little bit younger for my age. When this came about and I was actually playing 23…a lot of the time the storylines are things that I’ve experienced or completely understand, or I’ve been there before and it makes it easier to connect. For so many years I’ve been playing younger characters, so it opens up a completely different acting bracket for me—that I can actually play someone who’s had these experiences in real life.

On whom do you have an acting crush?
Well, Julianne Moore, for sure. Oh my God, I remember when I saw “Boogie Nights” for the first time. I might have been too young to realize everything that was going on, but that was one of those movies where you sit there and you just watch her because she’s so good. She’s like a chameleon in every scene. I remember being so inspired by how real she was and how brave she was to do a role like that. [She’s] one of the bravest actors you can find.

How do you typically prepare for an audition?
I’ve always been one to want to memorize everything and just be confident that I know all of the lines, but that changed. After college I realized it’s not as much about being off-book as it is about completely understanding the character and, more so, getting into the mind of your character. By putting yourself in that position, it’s always more beneficial than just sitting down and memorizing the lines.

Which of your performances has left a lasting mark on you?
I did an ABC Family movie called “Cyberbully” a couple years ago, and it was unlike any movie I’d ever done before. I remember just reading the script and thinking, OK, she cries in every scene. I remember going through my iPod and finding 50 different songs that made me feel the way I wanted to feel in a particular scene, and mapping out the script through songs. I said, OK, for this day I’m going to listen to this song, and this day I’ll listen to this one. I remember being so proud every day and being prepared, and getting on set knowing I was prepared and knowing that whatever the director wanted to do, I could do it.

I’m so proud of that movie. Most people say, “Bullying happens every day. What are you gonna do?” But there is a fix, and the more we talk about it and make it apparent in schools and show these films in schools—I think they show “Cyberbully” in high schools now. [It’s important] to make everybody aware that words are really powerful, more so than you think.

What do you wish you’d known before you started acting?
I’m in an interesting place because I’ve been acting as long as I’ve kind of been doing everything else in my life. I started really young, as did my brother [Haley Joel Osment], so there wasn’t really a conscious part of me that was, like, “What am I getting into? What’s going to come of this if I keep doing it for a long time?” I started acting the same time I started riding a bike, and when you’re riding a bike you’re not thinking, Oh God, what if I fall? Or, maybe you are. But it’s just one of those things that it’s so exhilarating and it’s so fun, you don’t think about all of the ramifications of it—or you don’t think about the process. You don’t think about the longevity of the career; you just think about it there in that moment when you’re 6 years old and there’s craft services right there and you get to meet cool people, and you’re running around and skipping school.

What is your worst audition horror story?
Well, I have a funny one, actually. I remember being a kid, like 11 years old, and telling my dad to wait in the car. Like, I’m going to go up there and do this myself—I’m going to check in, I’m going to figure out where the room is, I’m going to sign my name. So I went up there and went into the complete wrong room, wrote my name down for an oatmeal commercial, and sat in a room with a bunch of little girls. ’Cause I thought, Well this is where I’m supposed to be; I look like them. And they called me in and they said, “OK, so just hold the box of oatmeal and smile, and say, ‘I love Quaker Oats.’ ” And I’m like, “Wait this isn’t the ‘Secret Life of Bees’ audition. I think I’m in the wrong room.”

America Ferrera’s New TV Role on NBC

Posted by admin on April 10th, 2015 06:52 AM |

Golden Globe winner America Ferrera has been laying low since her sitcom Ugly Betty ended in 2010, but NBC is hoping the 30-year-old actress will make a big comeback in her new role as the floor supervisor in the comedy Superstore, a single camera pilot about a disparate group of employees working in a department store in middle America and a love story that develops for Ferrera’s character.

After Ugly Betty Ferrera made the choice to focus on her film career, turning down multiple TV pilots offered to her since then. She worked was the voice of Astrid in the popular How to Train Your Dragon and the sequel and on camera she has starred in films such as Our Family Wedding, Cesar Chavez, and End of Watch. She has also put her producer hat on and along with husband Ryan Piers Williams, who directed, both produced and starred in the indie film X/Y. On television, Ferrera did several guest star appearances, most notably in CBS’ The Good Wife and reprising her voice role in Cartoon Network’s Dragons, the animated spinoff of How to Train Your.

Actually it not actually love at first sight, when Ferrera’s character Amy as the floor supervisor at Cloud 9 meets a new employee who she deems egotistical and a clown. In spite of her initial feelings they quickly bond and the romance begins. Mad Men‘s Ben Feldman will play Jonah Ferrera’s love interest.

This time around, Ferrera takes her duties behind the camera as well as she will also be a producer on the show. The Office‘s Justin Spitzer will write the script and executive produce along with David Bernard with Ruben Fleischer on board as director. Lauren Ash, Colton Dunn, Mark McKinney, Nico Santos and Nichole Bloom co-star in the pilot

Ferrera is repped by CAA, Authentic and Peikoff Mahan.

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5 Latina-Directed Feature Films Breaking out in 2015

Posted by admin on April 10th, 2015 07:28 AM

Reprint from

Chicana From Chicago Blog

I am happy to see more people vocalize demand for Latina representation onscreen and the resurging interest in solving this messed up disparity issue (Thank you Gina Rodriguez Golden Globes acceptance speech). However, the representation issue I find ten times more urgent to address is the anguishing miniscule percentage of Latina CONTENT CREATORS in film and television.

I give you 5 bomb Latina DIRECTORS who are are at the helm of brand new feature films coming out this year, women who are striking through the hostile mass media industry to escape the rule of homogeneity (white male perspective). Now that is something to celebrate. It’s not surprising that three of these are documentaries. The percentage of women directed films in documentaries is higher than in fiction. Now I can’t say with total certainty these 2 Latina directed U.S. fiction feature length films are the only ones out there this year…actually yes I can…..until someone reaches out to correct me ….and I really do hope to be corrected because only two???????

LOS 33

Director: Patricia Riggen
Writers: Mikko Alanne, Michael John Bell, Craig Borten, Jose Rivera
Producers: Robert Katz, Edward McGurn, Mike Medavoy
Cinematographer: Checco Varese
Music: James Horner
U.S. Distributor: TBA
Cast: Rodrigo Santoro, Antonio Banderas, Cote de Pablo, James Brolin, Juliette Binoche, Gabriel Byrne, Lou Diamond Phillips, Kate del Castillo, Tenoch Huerta
Social Media: @The33Pelicula

Logline: Based on the incredible real-life story of the 33 survivors of a copper-gold mine in Chile that collapsed and trapping them 700 meters underground for 69 days until their rescue.

Add Riggen to the exclusive ranks of women who fought for and have proved they got the chops to direct big action, Hollywood type genre movies like Katheryn Bigelow, Mimi Leder. The trailer for Los 33 that dropped last week reveals an epic dramatization of the intensely emotional struggle to survive the Chilean mine disaster. The English language film carries a sweeping score by none other than James Horner (and naturally you can hear Violetta Parra’s classic song, Gracias Por La Vida). Add to that a big hero performance by Antonio Banderas who leads an ensemble cast of well known international actors (including hottie Mexican star of Güeros, Tenoch Huerta!!). Riggen, who was born in Guadalajara but moved to the states after graduating Columbia’s film school in NY, made a splash with her 2007 film, Under the Same Moon starring a back-then-virtually-unknown-in-the-U.S. Eugenio Derbez, and Kate del Castillo. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival then was picked up by Pantelion, the studio she later worked with on the Eva Mendes starrer Girl in Progress.

Domestic distribution and release stateside is yet to be confirmed. Meanwhile Twentieth Century Fox will be releasing the film in Chile in August, marking the fifth anniversary of the incident, before rolling out the film throughout Latin America including Mexico. For an in-depth account of Los 33, check out current best-seller, “Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine and the Miracle That Set Them Free” by Hector Tobar.

ENDGAME

Director: Carmen Marron
Writers: Hector Salinas, Carmen Marron
Producers: Sandra Avila, Bonnie Emerson, Carmen Marron
Cinematographer: Francisco Bulgarelli
Music: Brian Standefer
Cinematographer: Francisco Bulgarelli
U.S. Distributor: TBA
Cast: Rico Rodriguez, Efren Ramirez, Justina Machado, Jon Gries
Social Media: @GoForIt_Carmen
Facebook

(L-R) Justina Machado, Ivonne Coll, Rico Rodriguez

Logline: Shot in Brownsville and inspired by true events, Endgame is a coming-of-age story about a young boy who joins the school chess team, and with the help of his coach, embarks on a journey of self-discovery, team spirit and the importance of family.

Another talented genre director (and fellow Chicana from Chicago, HEYYY) whose tenacity and talent make her primed to be our Latina Ava Duvernay success story (of course that depends on whether the public (and gatekeepers) support her to make the change to the system to demand her spot in the national mainstream). I wrote about Carmen’s tireless spirit before, mentioning her first film which she shot, wrote, directed and produced in Chicago called Go For It (which incidentally was Gina Rodriguez’s first feature role). Her latest film is Endgame starring the precocious Manny from Modern Family, Rico Rodriguez, and Efren Ramirez from cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, Justina Machado (Six Feet Under) and Ivonne Coll (Jane the Virgin). Endgame is one of those irresistible competition, underdog, against-all-odds stories.

Efrain Ramirez

Ramirez portrays the galvanizing Brownsville public elementary school teacher and chess afficionado, J.J. Guajardo, who in 1989, upon seeing his 6^th grade class take an interest in his chess board, began to teach them on the regular. The class excelled and entered regional competitions, going on to enter and win state championships against schools with far more resources. Echoing the positives of disrupting a broke educational status quo with simply offering access to advanced mental cognition building tools, the film echoes another real life story and seminal Chicano film, Stand & Deliver. Big difference; that movie was not directed by a Latino/a.

The film is world premiering at the Dallas International Film Festival April 12 &13. Distribution is yet to be confirmed for theatrical/VOD but stay tuned via the Facebook page.

NOW EN ESPAÑOL

Director: Andrea Meller
Producers: Aaron Woolf, Andrea Meller
Music: Camara Kambon
Cinematographer: Charlie Gruet
U.S. Distributor: PBS/Latino Public Broadcasting
Cast: Marabina Jaimes, Marcela Bordes, Gabriela Lopetegui, Ivette Gonzalez, Natasha Perez
Social Media: @NowenEspanol, website

Logline: Follows the trials and triumphs of the small group of Latina actresses who dub “Desperate Housewives” into Spanish.

Currently hitting the festival circuit in such reputable festivals as Santa Barbara, Chicago Latino Film Festival, CineFestival, ahead of its showing on PBS Voces, Now en Espanol is such an effective and distinct balance of humor, serious-ness and insider look by Chilean-American Andrea Meller.

Profiling Marcela Bordes, Ivette Gonzalez, Marabina Jaimes, Gabriela Lopetegui and Natasha Perez, the film is quite plainspoken and sympathetic about the struggle of the actor in Hollywood. Like the comedy fiction film (also directed by a woman!) In a World, by Lake Bell, the film offers a rare behind the scenes and insight into the voice acting industry. Few actors make make careers out of this, others pick it up for income, but in the end it is a highly distinct skill to dub millions of shows. It’s really fascinating perspective on the representation of Latinas onscreen and off. What I love most about this film on top of it being an important tool for dialogue and change, is that the filmmaker injects a whimsy tone (apropos Wisteria Lane) which makes sparking this conversation and call to action so much more effective. You have no reason to miss this as it premieres on Friday, April 24, 2015, 10:00-11:00 p.m. (check local listings) as part of VOCES, Latino Public Broadcasting’s arts and culture series on PBS.

For the rest of the Latina directors and their project go to ChicanaFromChicago.

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Karina Noelle: An Unconventional Actress

Posted by eesparza on April 10th, 2015 05:56 AM |

She’ll Either Break Your Heart Or Kick Your Butt

By Victoria Geddes

Actress Karina Noelle has spent the past couple of years working hard at her craft in a variety of projects, which include theatrical productions, web series, and independent films. She has purposely kept herself under the radar until she was ready to confidently say, “I’m so ready to tackle what ever roles come my way—roles that are challenging and roles where my execution can powerfully impact audiences.”

Noelle has already tackled a few of those challenging roles, roles ranging from wardrobe mistress, Martina in the comedic webseries Empty Space to a hard knocks young Chicana gangbanger in Arkasha Stevenson’s AFI short El Cucuy.

L_R: Karina Noelle in “Empty Space” and “El Cucuy”

We’ll soon see Karina playing a therapist in the new season of East Los High 3, the critically acclaimed award-winning Hulu drama series which just received three Daytime Emmy nominations. She is also featured in director Todd Rohal’s Uncle Kent 2 sequel, which recently took the audience favorite award at SXSW 2015. Karina was thrilled to make her feature film debut starring opposite the late Corey Haim (Lucas, The Lost Boys) in the film Decisions playing Det. Rosas.

However, Karina keeps her connection to the theater, always honing her craft, as a resident member of the Downtown Repertory Theater which not only produces classical theater but original new media and film content. She is inspired by careers that vary in range from Jessica Chastain to Michelle Rodriguez, strong female characters that travel off the beaten path.

Recently, I met Karina at Joey’s Café in West Hollywood where we munched on sweet potato fries as she talked about being a thespian living through the ups and downs spearheading her acting career.

To say Karina is disciplined, dedicated and committed as an artist is an understatement. She is after all the daughter of veteran actor Enrique Castillo and Publisher/Media CEO Bel Hernandez.

Victoria Geddes: Do you feel any pressure being compared to your father as an actor?

Karina Noelle: In a word: No. Most people who know my father and his work aren’t aware of us even being related. There’s also a benefit to being a different gender that precludes me from any direct comparisons. I think my brother [Sol] probably felt more pressure.

VG: At what age did you know you wanted to be an actress?

KN: I was 10. My dad was directing a stage production and I went to all of the rehearsals. I completely fell in love with the process.

VG: Have your parents always supported your decision to go into the business?

KN: Yes, and each individually in their own way. My mom has always been the one motivated to pursue any and all avenues that could help my career, and has been the one to turn to for the business of being an actor. She’s naturally very proactive and a go-getter so she has always been the one pushing me to try new things. She’s also been the most vocal about what she sees for my future. My father was the one who laid the foundation of my love of the craft. He shared his knowledge and passion for technique, the narrative structure, film production, the stage, and experiences in his own career. He’s supported my decision to carve my own path and as I’ve grown older he’s become not only someone to aspire to be like, but also someone to share my experiences with as an artist.

“I can’t take any direct credit for the choices Karina has made in building an acting career except to say that, she grew up around the craft. She was practically a toddler when we were doing the stage production “Veteranos: A Legacy of Valor.” Growing up she was surrounded by talent on and off the stage– interacting with talented film and television people in a social and professional manner.

She’s often inquired and discussed with me the nuances of working in front of a camera whether on film or television. Later she auditioned and was accepted into Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. She was very aware at a young age that it isn’t enough to be a beautiful girl, which I must admit I have a bias in that respect; She knew she needed to master the craft and learn to appreciate and respect every aspect of what it takes to have a career in the entertainment industry. As far as that goes, she’s miles ahead of both myself and her mother. She’s much better prepared as an artist and knowing the “business” of entertainment than her mother and I were when we started. She’s making very positive career choices based on preparation, talent, experience and reasonable deduction. Based on that, there is no doubt in my mind that she will attain whatever goals she sets for herself.” – Enrique Castillo

VG: Your first feature film role was in the movie Decisions with the late Corey Haim — how was it to work with him?

KN: Almost all of my scenes were with Corey. He was very nice to me and very supportive given my small level of experience at the time. This film was a lot of firsts for me. It was the first feature I was involved in as a primary character, my first time dying on screen, my first time using guns, my first sex scene, and it was my first time being on a film poster. That’s a lot of scary things to get out of the way all at once!

VG: If you had the opportunity to recreate a role in a movie, which one would it be?

KN: I’m so sorry, there’s too many! Anita in West Side Story, anything in a Joe Swanberg film, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Penny Lane in Almost Famous, Sabrina in Sabrina, Ilsa in Casablanca, Leeloo in The Fifth Element, Ripley in Alien, Sally in When Harry met Sally, Rob in High Fidelity, Rachel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Anna/Anne in Funny Games, Evey in V for Vendetta, Andy Dufraine in Shawshank Redemption, Princess Buttercup in The Princess Bride, Clementine in Eternal Sunshine, Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs, Karen Hill in Goodfellas, The Narrator in Fight Club, Carol in Repulsion; and not even to attempt to come close to a fraction of his genius but just for fun: Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.

VG: That is quite a range of roles!

KN: I feel like the only way I would be happy in my work as an actor is to continually challenge myself. Roles like these are the kind that scare me the most to tackle, which is all the more reason I would want to do them. It’s more fun that way.

VG: If you could go back to your first audition, what do you wish you had known beforehand?

KN: To relax, and know that the “Yes” is coming as quickly as it can.

VG: Why acting?

KN: It’s the family business " />

VG: Your favorite Actor? Actress? And why?

KN: Angelina Jolie. There is a stigma to admiring her because of her persona outside of her work, which is precisely why I do admire her. It’s very easy to only focus on the headlines of her career under a negative filter: she was a troubled youth, drug addict, seemingly promiscuous, adulteress, dark, violent, and all around “strange.” What I see is a strong, intelligent and talented actor, director, wife, mother, and philanthropist who is human. Where most of us cower from the decisions we’ve made she not only moves forward, but carries them with her as badges of honor in her continued quest for personal evolution. She’s been through her own personal depths of hell and back again, taken on the supreme challenge of being a mother, has branched on to creative positions beyond being a Hollywood starlet, and has used her celebrity to give back to not only those who need it but has dedicated her life to making sure she leaves the world a better place. That, to me, is what makes a woman a bad ass bitch. She doesn’t exist to be a cog in the machine. She exists to experience. She exists to live.

VG: Well we look forward to following your career and watching your career blossom as you move onward with the same passion that drives your love of acting and humanity.

Karina Noelle is repped by Edgar Alvarez/Envy Agency, Ivan Rivas Manger/Elkins Entertainment, Publicist/Always Evolving PR

Follow Karina Noelle on Social Media:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/...lleactress
Twitter: @karinanoelle
Instagram: ActuallyItsKarina
Website: www.karina-noelle.com

HBO

HBO dropped a teaser trailer on Thursday for the highly-anticipated second season of True Detective, Nic Pizzolatto’s dark and moody crime drama. While much of what will happen this time around is shrouded in secrecy, you can’t stop the internet from internetting, and we’ve compiled all the facts that have leaked thus far regarding one of the best shows on HBO.

HBO

The Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, and the rest of the gang from Season 1 are out. Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, and Taylor Kitsch are in as the new detectives, while Vince Vaughn and Kelly Reilly play a married couple embedded deep in the criminal world.

The Crew: Series creator Nic Pizzolatto is still writing and producing the show, while perennial Season 1 director Cary Fukunaga is being replaced by Fast & Furious director Justin Lin (!!!) for two episodes before the show moves to a revolving door of directors.

HBO

The Location: True Detective is leaving the creepy rotten corpse feel from last season’s Louisiana to create a bleached skeleton in the hills of California vibe. Those who think the Golden State isn’t sketchy enough for a show like this have obviously never followed Apple Maps directions off the Maricopa highway at night.

The Music: T Bone Burnett returns as the musical supervisor, which already has people buzzing about the song used for the just-released teaser. Some claim it was an exclusive track by Fiona Apple, while many others are crediting Lera Lynn for the tune. In typical True Detective fashion, the truth remains a mystery for now.

HBO

The Plot: Here’s the official synopsis from an HBO press release…

A bizarre murder brings together three law-enforcement officers and a career criminal, each of whom must navigate a web of conspiracy and betrayal in the scorched landscapes of California.

Colin Farrell is Ray Velcoro, a compromised detective in the all-industrial City of Vinci, LA County. Vince Vaughn plays Frank Semyon, a criminal and entrepreneur in danger of losing his life’s work, while his wife and closest ally (Kelly Reilly), struggles with his choices and her own.

Rachel McAdams is Ani Bezzerides, a Ventura County Sheriff’s detective often at odds with the system she serves, while Taylor Kitsch plays Paul Woodrugh, a war veteran and motorcycle cop for the California Highway Patrol who discovers a crime scene which triggers an investigation involving three law enforcement groups, multiple criminal collusions, and billions of dollars.

The Orgy: There’s apparently going to be a massive orgy scene this season, and considering this is HBO we’re talking about, I don’t doubt it will be sprawling and decadent.

Ski Mask Guy: You won’t find out til the show airs.

The Premiere Date: Sunday, June 21, 2015.

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Ryan Gosling in talks to brave Guillermo del Toro's 'Haunted Mansion'

Ryan Gosling is in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro's "Haunted Mansion" movie. (Jack Plunkett / Invision/AP)

By Oliver Gettell contact the reporter

Ryan Gosling might be taking up residence in Disney's "Haunted Mansion."

The actor, director and meme-inspirer is in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro's supernatural film based on the studio's spooky theme park ride, The Times has confirmed. The Wrap first reported the news.

"Haunted Mansion" has been in development for several years and was first announced at Comic-Con in 2010. At the time, Del Toro — whose Gothic-inflected films include "Pan's Labyrinth," "Hellboy" and the upcoming "Crimson Peak" — said he and his collaborators were "reintroducing the mythology in the mansion." He noted, for example, that the ride's Hatbox Ghost character would play a prominent role in the movie adaptation.

Del Toro also pledged, "We're making it scary and fun. But the scary will be scary."

A creepier tone would help distance Del Toro's version from Disney's previous film inspired by the attraction, the 2003 Eddie Murphy comedy-fantasy "The Haunted Mansion."

D.V. DeVincentis ("High Fidelity") is penning the latest draft of the new film.

For Gosling and Del Toro's part, the two have become quite chummy lately. At SXSW last month, Del Toro moderated a chat with Gosling about his directorial debut, "Lost River," during which Del Toro said they share the same "esoteric" taste in film. "We love some twisted, weird, strange stuff," he said.

Perhaps even more tellingly, Del Toro acknowledged his and Gosling's shared love of the Happiest Place on Earth, where they were recently spotted by paparazzi.

"We are united by a very strange love of Disneyland," Del Toro said.

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Report: ‘R&B Divas’ Creator Eyes Ashanti & Elle Varner for New York Spinoff

Posted on April 9th, 2015 by ThisIsRnB in NEWS

TV One’s ‘R&B Divas‘ has found great success in Atlanta and Los Angeles, and shined some much needed new light on many singers. After a successful two seasons in Atlanta, the show was granted it’s first branch, which was the Los Angeles edition, currently airing Wednesday nights at 10pm.

Now, as the show continues to grow, creator Phil Thornton is already eyeing his next move, which could very possibly be New York City.

Recently speaking with ThatGrapeJuice, Mr. Thronton shared some surprising aspirations for the show, if it were to head to NYC next.

“We’ve talked about branching out into new cities but I’m satisfied with Atlanta and L.A. because those are very music based cities,” said Thornton. “There are a lot of divas in NYC and I’d love to skew it younger if we moved there so I’d love to include more emerging ladies like Tiara Thomas, Elle Varner and a more established artist like Ashanti. there are so many things we could do with the show out there. Right now, I’ve been working on a new pilot and I hope to announce its pickup date soon.”

WOW! Ashanti, Elle Varner, Tiara Thomas, that would make for a very interesting cast! While, this is all still speculation and early ideas, it doesn’t sound bad at all. We love the idea of the show adding a youth appeal, and everyone knows Ashanti has a great personality for TV.

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Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo Launching 35th Anniversary Tour CD/DVD

Posted on April 9, 2015 by admin

Rock superstars Pat Benatar and Neil “Spyder” Giraldo are celebrating their latest musical milestone with the release of the CD/DVD set, Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: The 35th Anniversary Tour on April 28. The 14-track commemorative package features their greatest and groundbreaking hits. Their lead-off single from the live CD, “Promises in the Dark,” will be released to radio this week. It originally rocked airwaves in 1981 as part of the hit album, Precious Time, and was co-written by the iconic duo. Pre-orders of the double CD include free instant downloads, “We Live for Love” and “Promises in the Dark” on iTunes. Fans can also pre-order the set at Amazon.“We are thrilled to be releasing this live version of “Promises in the Dark” from our 35th Anniversary Concert Tour. Promises has special meaning for us. It was the first song we wrote together, about our own relationship. A little awkward at first, to be sure! It has become one of our signature compositions and a favorite to play live,” Benatar and Giraldo explain.Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: The 35th Anniversary Tour CD/DVD set kicks off with “Shadows of the Night,” which was a Top 10 hit for the couple on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart in 1982. Other hit singles include “Love is a Battlefield,” “We Belong,” “Heartbreaker,” and “Hell is for Children.” Together, Benatar and Giraldo, have 19 Top 40 singles and multiple Top 10 singles. They have scored two RIAA-certified Multi-Platinum albums, five RIAA-certified Platinum albums, and three RIAA-certified Gold albums.

In addition to the CD/DVD, the acclaimed duo will launch the 35th Anniversary Tour on Friday, April 10 in Jackson, California.Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo: The 35th Anniversary Tour CD/DVD Track Listing

Shadows of the Night
All Fired Up
Invincible
We Live for Love
So Sincere
Sex as a Weapon
Promises in the Dark
We Belong
Hell is for Children
You Better Run
Hit Me with Your Best Shot
Love is a Battlefield
Let’s Stay Together
Heartbreaker35th Anniversary Tour Schedule (more dates to come)
April 10 – Jackson, CA @ Jackson Rancheria Casino
April 11 – Temecula, CA @ Pechanga Resort & Casino
April 14 – San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
April 16 – Bakersfield, CA @ Fox Theater
April 17 – Beverly Hills, CA @ Saban Theatre
April 18 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
April 21 – Springfield, MO @ Gillioz Theatre
April 22 – St. Charles, IL @ The Arcada Theatre
April 24 – Northfield, OH @ Hard Rock Rocksino
April 26 – Lancaster, PA @ American Music Theatre
April 28 – Zanesville, OH @ Secrest Auditorium
April 29 – Albany, NY @ Hart Theatre @ The Egg
May 01 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
May 02 – Portland, ME @ Maine State Pier
May 03 – Lynn, MA @ Lynn Auditorium
May 05 – New Bedford, MA @ Zeiterion Performing Arts Center
May 06 – Englewood, NJ @ Bergen Performing Arts Center
May 08 – Port Chester, NY @ The Capitol Theatre
May 09 – Ocean City, MD @ Springfest
May 10 – Morristown, NJ @ Mayo Performing Arts Center
May 13 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium
May 15 – Richardson, TX @ Wildflower Festival
May 16 – Baton Rouge, LA @ L’Auberge Baton Rouge
May 19 – Saint Petersburg, FL @ The Mahaffey
May 21 – Hollywood, FL @ Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
June 26 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
June 27 – Lawrenceburg, IN @ Hollywood Casino – Lawrenceburg Event Center
June 30 – Newport News, VA @ CNU Ferguson Center for the Arts
July 01 – Durham, NC @ The Carolina Theatre
July 03 – Salamanca, NY @ Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel -Seneca Events Center
July 04 – Mount Pocono, PA @ Mount Airy Casino Resort — Sherman Summer Stage
July 07 – Verona, NY @ Turning Stone Resort Casino – Showroom
July 13 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Meijer Gardens Amphitheater
Aug 22 – Lancaster, CA @ Antelope Valley Fairgrounds
Aug 31 – Monroe, WA @ Evergreen State Fair

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Julien’s Auctions Announces Property From The Life and Career of Davy Jones

Julien’s Auctions, the world’s premier entertainment and music memorabilia auction house, announced the “Property From The Life and Career of Davy Jones” to be auctioned May 15 – May 16, 2015 during the highly anticipated Julien’s Auctions “Music Icons” auction which will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe New York.

Davy Jones, singer, actor and music icon, originally found fame as a member and teen heartthrob of the pop group “The Monkees.” In 1964, Jones was a Broadway performer who starred as “Oliver.” As the Broadway character, Davy appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show the same night The Beatles made their American debut and he had stars in his eyes from that day forward. He went on to star in the television show of the same name, The Monkees, alongside bandmates Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and Mike Nesmith.

The show debuted on television in September of 1966. It was Davy Jones who attracted a lot of attention from fans because of his enormous charm, warm sense of humor and boyish good looks. “The Monkees” topped the music charts with cover hits like “I’m A Believer,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer.” The group’s albums sold millions of copies and the band were one of the most famous bands of the decade. Some can even say that “The Monkees” were a cultural phenomenon who performed for screaming fans around the globe. Any fan of The Monkees will never forget the famous scene where Davy visits Marcia on the iconic television show The Brady Bunch. That episode went down as one of the highest rated shows of the season. Jones also wrote several autobiographies including his 1987 They Made a Monkee Out of Me. Davy Jones passed away of a heart attack in 2012.

Julien’s Auctions will offer “Property From The Life and Career of Davy Jones” at Music Icons 2015. Highlights span both Jones’ career as well as his personal life. They include Davy Jones’ Hollywood Walk of Fame plaque commemorating The Monkees being placed on the prestigious star-filled famous walk in Hollywood (Estimate $1,000-$2,000), a Davy Jones Carvin Acoustic Electric guitar with red quilt finish (Estimate: $800-$1,200), Davy Jones Monkees stage worn shirts (Estimate: $600-$800), Davy Jones Gold Record award for selling over 1,000,000 copies of the hit “Daydream Believer” (Estimate: $600-$800), several Davy Jones stage worn ensembles and suits (Estimates are various and range between $400-$1,200), Davy Jones driver’s license and wallet (Estimate: $400-$600), a Davy Jones owned and played Epiphone Casino guitar (Estimate: $1,000-$2,000), a large stage used “The Monkees” neon sign (Estimate: $1,000-$2,000) and Davy Jones tour used road cases ($300-$400).

Other highlights of the collection include a Vaudevillian striped red and white coat worn by Davy Jones in concert (circa 1987) which is a costume reminiscent of the costumes worn on “The Monkees” television program (NBC 1966-1968) when the band sang “Cuddly Toy” (Estimate: $300-$500), a Davy Jones denim suit with guitar pattern ($200-$400), a collection of studio equipment used by Davy Jones including guitar stands, music stands and a microphone boom (Estimate: $200-$400).

Also included are a red director’s chair with “The Monkees” logo across the back stretcher (Estimate: $200-$400), a collection of framed vintage posters featuring the members of “The Monkees” (Estimate: $200-$400), a pair of RIAA certified record awards, one Gold and one Platinum for the “The Monkees” album “Then and Now…The Best of the Monkees” (Estimate: $200-$400), a pair of framed record awards presented to Davy Jones to commemorate the sale of more than 100,000 copies of “Hey, Hey! It’s the Monkees Greatest Hits” (Estimate: $200-$400), a green suit worn by Davy Jones in the ABC television film “Hey, Hey It’s the Monkees” (Estimate: $200-$400), a pair of framed vintage posters from “The Monkees” film “Head” (1968) (Estimate: $200-$400), a collection of seven framed posters featuring the members of the “The Monkees” (Estimate: $200-$400), a Crate GX-40C guitar amplifier with levels marked off with tape and a label on the top that reads “Davy” (Estimate: $100-$300), a Stradivarius copy violin inscribed to “David – Happy Birthday! – December 30, 1998” Love Wayne accompanied by a hardshell case (Estimate: $100-$300), a Big Mouth tambourine marked in black ink “The Monkees/Peter Tork/David Jones” (Estimate: $100-$300) and much more.

The Property From The Life and Career of Davy Joness will be offered on Saturday, May 16, 2014 at 10:00 a.m., which is the first session of that day of the Music Icons auction presented by Julien’s Auctions.

Registering to Bid
Registration is required to bid in this live auction and can be done in person at the exhibition and auction, or online before the sale at the JuliensAuctions.com Registration page to bid by phone, proxy or in person, or online at JuliensLive.com to bid live online, or by calling (310) 836-1818.

Placing Bids
There are four ways to bid in this sale:

1. Bid through Julien’s Auctions Online Live in Real Time at JuliensLive.com.
2. Place bids in the room by attending the auction.
3. Bid over the telephone through an auction house representative, who sits in the room and conveys the bid to the auctioneer.
4. Enter Absentee bids. Absentee bid forms are printed in the back of each catalogue, and are also available by calling Julien’s Auctions at (310) 836-1818 or online at our Register to Bid page.

About Julien’s Auctions
With expertise specializing in entertainment memorabilia, Julien’s Auctions has quickly established itself as the premier auction house in high profile celebrity sports and entertainment auctions. Julien’s Auctions presents exciting, professionally managed and extremely successful auctions with full color high quality auction catalogues unlike any other auction company. Previous auctions include the collections of Cher, Michael Jackson, U2, Barbara Streisand, the estate of Marilyn Monroe, Bob Hope, Les Paul and many more. Official website is www.juliensauctions.com.

HBO Acquires "I'll Take You There" Singer Mavis Staples' Documentary Following SXSW Premiere

Mavis Staples (Photo : Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

A documentary on gospel singer and civil rights activist, Mavis Staples, has recently been acquired by HBO. The Jessica Edwards' documentary, Mavis!, on the "I'll Take You There" singer, was well received at its premiere at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in March.

According to Billboard, HBO has all television rights for Mavis! and Films We Like has acquired the rights for the documentary for Canada.

Mavis! will feature the life of Staples and her family group the Staple Singers. The documentary's site states that the film will feature: "...dynamic live performances, rarely-seen archival footage and conversations with friends and collaborators like Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy, Levon Helm, Chuck D, Al Bell, Julian Bond, Sharon Jones and more. Mavis! reveals the struggles and successes of her journey. Through a 60-year career crossing music genres and societal shifts, Mavis has managed to transform herself as she goes, yet never alter. She occupies a singular place in American music: a soldier of love and peace whose fight continues. At 75, she's making the most vital music of her career, and her message of equality is needed now more than ever."

The now 75-year-old artist sang at the documentary's world premiere in Austin at SXSW. In a statement captured by Billboard, the singer revealed that although she had been touring since 1954, the premiere of her film was her first film festival, period. "I am so grateful, knowing all these young people--whole new generations--they want to hear my songs and my family's story and what I have to say... I'm really blessed," Staples said.

Brooklyn-based production company, Film First, produced the documentary. Staples is completing a tour in Australia and will perform in Brooklyn on April 28. Billboard reported that Staples will join Patty Griffin to tour in July.

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Genres - Rock

Elvis Gone Metal: Covers from Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Danzig and More

by Ryan Book, The Music Times Aug 18, 2014 16:21 PM EDT

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Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley...Masters of Darkness (Photo : Getty Images)

Metal fans (and hopefully music fans in general) were thrilled to hear today that Glenn Danzig—frontman for his self-titled band, Samhain and The Misfits—will be releasing an Elvis Presley covers album during 2015, tentatively titled Danzig Sings Elvis.

The connection is obvious, especially considering that Danzig is oft referred to as "Evil Elvis." Vocally, the pair are similar. Physically...the pair have started to become similar. Heck, if Danzig combed back and styled his black hair, they'd even look alike (nothing ever in the universe will get the metal vocalist to smile like Elvis however. Small loss).

It got us thinking: There are way too few Elvis covers out there played by metal bands. Discounting a band that's whole schtick is being half metal, half-Elvis (Volbeat), it's tough to find worthwhile Elvis covers in the metal world. We, for one, totally hope this changes.

Here's a short list of what we've found:

05) "Blue Suede Shoes" by Black Sabbath

The godfathers of heavy metal played this track as a warm-up for a German gig and were surprised when it ended up on TV. As guitarist Tony Iommi later attested, "Ozzy (Osbourne) hasn't got a clue what the words are." It's heavy to be sure, but moves too quickly to be "Iron Man" heavy. As Osbourne hardly knows one verse, most of the video is dedicated to Iommi's guitar theatrics, something would never see in a show where Presley was the spotlight figure. The video is now available on Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978).

04) "Trouble" by Danzig

Danzig gives into the comparisons that people have been making for years during his live album Demonsweatlive. As usual, the vocalist has worked himself into a sweat and he takes the verses easy for a break. His delivery of the song's hook is spot on however and it's interesting to note how lyrically well-suited for metal this Presley original was. Original band guitarist John Christ makes this cover as heavy a blues track as you could hope.

03) "An American Trilogy" by Manowar

Heavy metal band Manowar gets bonus points for having more in-depth knowledge of the Elvis discography than the rest of the tracks on this list. "An American Trilogy" is a medley combining "Dixie," "All My Trials" and "The Battle Hymn of The Republic" into essentially the most American song outside of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA." Presley didn't come up with the idea of pairing the songs—that honor belongs to Mickey Newbury—but he made it famous, performing it at nearly every live show he performed later in his career. Vocalist Eric Adams has the pipes for such an epic track, but the instrumentation only occasionally dives into thick riffing.

02) "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Red Fang

This track came in a four-song EP assisting the Portland Timbers Community Fund, featuring four Oregon bands covering Presley's class... in Love." Red Fang's is certainly the most atypical version on this set, with slow, heavy riffs you'd expect from a sludge metal band, coupled with bassist Aaron Beam's eerily echoing vocals. It certainly turns the track on its from being romantic to being outright creepy.

01) "Blue Suede Shoes" by Motörhead

Brandy Norwood - Singer / Actress Set to Make Her Broadway Debut in 'Chicago'

by Erika Benton-Martin Apr 10, 2015 15:31 PM EDT

Brandy Norwood (Photo : Getty Images)

Actress-singer Brandy Norwood is slated to make her Broadway debut in Chicago later this month. According to TheGrio, Norwood will play Roxie Hart, a woman behind bars, starting April 28 at the Ambassador Theatre. Chicago, a Tony Award-winning musical, is now in its 19th year at the theater. Norwood will star in an eight-week, limited run.

Chicago is set in the 1920s and offers a scathing satirical look at how show business and the media make celebrities out of criminals. The musical features Bob Fosse-inspired choreography, skimpy outfits and classic songs including "All That Jazz" and "Cell Block Tango."

Brandy Norwood earned a Grammy in 1999 and had hits with "I Wanna Be Down" and "The Boy Is Mine" featuring Monica. She began her recording career at 14 and also starred on the sitcom Moesha from 1996 to 2001. She starred in Disney's TV film Cinderella alongside the late Whitney Houston and made history as its first black princess.

More recently, Norwood plays Chardonnay Pitts on BET's (formerly CW's) series, The Game.

In other news, Norwood's younger brother, Ray J, will star on an upcoming season of Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood with his longtime girlfriend, Princess Love. Last month, there were reports that he'd quit the show, opting to reconcile with Love following domestic violence reports.

Ray J and his girlfriend appeared on the first season of the Hollywood spinoff, which premiered last fall.

The producers of Love & Hip-Hop reportedly met up with Ray J and he's had a change of heart. The first season of Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood also starred Soulja Boy, producer Teddy Riley's daughter, Nia, Omarion, Lil' Fizz, Yung Berg and Masika Tucker.

5 Ways Muddy Waters Changed Music: Amplified Blues, Chuck Berry and More (A 100th Birthday Tribute)

by Ryan Book, The Music Times Apr 4, 2015 11:38 AM EDT

Muddy Waters (Photo : Getty Images)

Today marks what would've been the 100th birthday of blues legend McKinley "Muddy Waters" Morganfeld. Kind of. Different sources have indicated different birth dates and years for the music icon. The guitarist himself claimed in interviews that he was born during 1915 and his tombstone bears the same date. Other sources, such as his application for a social security card and his marriage license, suggest that the true date was during 1913. Although the latter is generally considered to be the correct date, this site didn't exist during 2013 to celebrate it, and we'll take any chance we can get to celebrate one of the most influential performers of all time. Still waters run deep, but Muddy Waters runs deeper. Here are 5 ways modern music would be different without the legend:

01) Guitar amplification

Muddy Waters did not invent the electric guitar or the amplifier. His use of those products however, would alter the face of the music industry. The blues had a tremendous influence on rock 'n' roll of course, however it wasn't until after the rock revolution of the mid-'50s that the blues finally got loud. If you want to categorize the genre as loosley as possible, the blues can be separated into the Delta blues and Chicago blues eras: The former, from the birth of the genre on, featured acoustic instruments. The latter variety, more familiar to modern listeners, emphasized the electric guitar and raucous playing that would influence every genre from psychedelia to heavy metal. The birthplace of electric blues is suggested to be Waters' 1958 English tour. No records suggest how crowds reacted to the sound, but considering the bedlam Bob Dylan's adoption of the electric instrument caused, it must have upset purists greatly. Billy Gibbons—guitarist for ZZ Top—explained the thought process while writing an essay on Waters for Rolling Stone when it ranked the bluesman the no. 17 greatest artist of all time: "People call his sound raw and dirty and gritty, but it wasn't particularly loud. It just sounded that way. A guitar amplifier in the Fifties was maybe the size of a tabletop radio. To be heard over a party, you had to crank that thing as loud as it would go. And then you left behind all semblance of circuit design and entered the elegant field of distortion that made everything so much deeper. If you didn't have a big band with 20 guys, you had 20 watts." Blues would never be the same.

02) Chuck Berry

So Waters began amplifying his guitar after the advent of rock 'n' roll...that's not to say that he didn't have a dramatic impact on its history as we know it. Waters was ranked the no. 17 greatest artist of all time on Rolling Stone's list, but if it weren't for his influence then perhaps the no. 5 artist on that same list may have never come to the attention of the rock-hungry nation. Chuck Berry was a talented, lightning-rod performer—he didn't need any help learning how to handle the instrument. He needed a record label to find him however. He travelled to Chicago, then the capital of blues, during 1955 and met Waters. The icon thought Berry had what it took, and he put the young guitarist in touch with Leonard Chess of Chess Records. Interestingly, Chess liked Berry's country covers more, and the guitarist recorded a cover of Bob Wills' "Ira Red," which would be titled "Maybellene," now considered to be in the Top 100 songs of the 20th Century. Again, Berry had the talent by himself, but it takes good fortune to land a record deal. Without Waters, who knows how this story might have changed?

03) Oh, and all the other greatest guitarists of all time

Berry felt the direct impact of assistance from Waters, but many of the best felt his influence in their own style. Although Gibbons hinted that Waters was not intentionally attempting to create the amplified, distorted monster that he did, that sound became something desirable, that future guitarists would actively seek out. One such guitarist was Jimi Hendrix, now regarded by most to be the greatest in the history of the instrument for both his talent and experimentation. He famously described his first encounter with Waters' music: "The first guitar player I was aware of was Muddy Waters. I first heard him as a little boy and it scared me to death." Eric Clapton professed that "all [he] ever wanted to do was play like Muddy Waters. The blues legend played his last show ever with Clapton, who had also served as his best man at his wedding in 1979. "It's going to be years and years before most people realize how greatly he contributed to American music," B.B. King said, following Waters' death. It may not have taken as long as he thought.

04) The Rolling Stone lore

Perhaps you've noticed how rife the history of rock 'n' roll is with references to a certain boulder-in-motion. Waters didn't come up with the traditional wisdom that a "rolling stone gathers no moss," but he did record the 1950 single "Rollin' Stone," a song that inspired a group of young, British rockers to adopt the name during the early '60s, and that would also inspire journalist Jann Wenner to name his new music magazine the same thing during 1967. It's tough to argue that the imagery of the "Rolling Stone" didn't play a role in influencing Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone," especially considering how heavy it was in comparison to the folk performer's previous work (like Waters did on his '58 tour). The same applies to the 1971 Temptations classic "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone."

05) Dozens of songs you already know

Jeff Beck Releasing a Live Album, 'Jeff Beck Live+,' in May; Adds New Tour Dates

by Alyssa Ladzinski Apr 9, 2015 22:33 PM EDT

Jeff Beck (Photo : Larry Hulst / Getty Images)

Though he has already embarked on a spring tour, Jeff Beck added various dates to his agenda and announced that he will release a live album, Jeff Beck Live+, in May,

The album will feature the renowned guitarist's two innovative tracks, "Tribal" and "My Tiled White Floor" — his newest songs since 2010. Rhino imprint, Atco Records, will release the album which features recorded songs from countless venues that Beck toured throughout 2014, on May 5.

Beck's cover of the Beatles' "A Day In the Life," as well as original tracks spanning his career, like "Morning Dew," "Big Block" and "Superstition," are all featured on the live album. Guest vocals appear on the newest tracks from both Ruth Lorenzo and Veronica Bellino. A 17th career LP is expected to drop later this year.

According to his official website, The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York will kick off Beck's previously announced road tour starting April 14. Last year, ZZ Top bassist, Dusty Hill, endured a hip injury, forcing the co-headlining tour with Beck to come to a halt. They'll reunite once more at the end of the month to perform rescheduled tour dates and from there, Beck's solo shows will commence.

Aside from the vigorous writing, recording and touring lifestyle, Beck will pen two new books — an autobiography and a limited edition book — with Genesis Publishing group, notes Rolling Stone.

Jeff Beck Live+ Track Listing:

01. "Loaded"
02. "Morning Dew"
03. "You Know You Know"
04. "Why Give It Away"
05. "A Change Is Gonna Come"
06. "A Day In The Life"
07. "Superstition"
08. "Hammerhead"
09. "Little Wing"
10. "Big Block"
11. "Where Were You"
12. "Danny Boy"
13. "Rollin' And Tumblin'"
14. "Going Down"
15. "Tribal"
16. "My Tiled White Floor"

JoeBala said:

I see Centennial on youtube how is it? Death Valley Days (never heard of it) where do you watch it on antenna TV or cable?

It's on Encore Westerns. I had never seen the show before but I heard of it. I've heard that it hasn't been on TV since the 1970s. I think it was the last thing Ronald Reagan did as an actor. Death Valley Days is based on true stories. It's not about set characters like most TV shows, although you might see the same actors on different episodes. Kinda like Twilight Zone, each episode is about a different thing and people, and it usually has a host at the the beginning like "The Old Ranger".

MickyDolenz said:

JoeBala said:

I see Centennial on youtube how is it? Death Valley Days (never heard of it) where do you watch it on antenna TV or cable?

It's on Encore Westerns. I had never seen the show before but I heard of it. I've heard that it hasn't been on TV since the 1970s. I think it was the last thing Ronald Reagan did as an actor. Death Valley Days is based on true stories. It's not about set characters like most TV shows, although you might see the same actors on different episodes. Kinda like Twilight Zone, each episode is about a different thing and people, and it usually has a host at the the beginning like "The Old Ranger".

Nice. I guess that's a cable station huh? No cable.

Pixar's The Incredibles Is Finally Getting the Sequel It Deserves

by Jessica Roy | Apr 10, 2015 8:58 PM EDT

Presley in 1970.

Chick and Alicia

Director Richard L. Bare has died

Mica Paris To Star In Love Me Tender On Tour

Mica Paris is to star as Sylvia in Love Me Tender

It has been announced today that Mica Paris will star as Sylvia in the upcoming tour of Love Me Tender – the new musical inspired by and featuring the music of Elvis Presley.

Mica Paris is one of the UK’s most respected female singers with a career of Top 10 hit singles and albums worldwide. The range, power and beauty of Mica Paris’ singing made an immediate impact on the UK music scene in 1988 when she released her debut, platinum-selling album, ‘So Good’ from which she had her first top ten hit, ‘My One Temptation’. More worldwide hit albums and singles followed including ‘Black Angel’, ‘Stay’ and ‘Carefree’. Mica has collaborated with, and been a special guest for many respected artists including Prince, Michael Bolton, Dionne Warwick, Paul Rodgers, David Gilmour and Jools Holland.

From the producers of Hairspray, Jersey Boys and West Side Story Love Me Tender is a hilarious feel-good musical featuring Elvis Presley’s greatest hits. In a small town in 1950s America, a guitar-playing, hip-swivelling stranger rides his motorbike into town. Is he The Devil in Disguise or a Hound Dog in his Blue Suede Shoes? The townsfolk are about to be All Shook Up and could be headed for Heartbreak Hotel, but for Natalie, the love-struck, tomboy mechanic, it really is Now or Never.

Producer Adam Spiegel said: “I’m a huge fan of Mica Paris and as soon as I heard her audition I knew she was perfect for the role of Sylvia. Her incredible, powerful voice and presence does true justice to the greatest hits of the one and only King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley”.

Eduardo Galeano Dead, Prolific Writer Was 74

Award-winning Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano and leading leftwing intellectual has died, El Pais reported.

He was 74.

Galeano was best known for his 1971 anti-imperialist work, "Open Veins of Latin America," which details Latin America's exploitation at the hands of foreign powers, beginning with Spanish colonization five centuries ago and continuing to the present with the United States.

The book was banned for years by military dictatorships in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Galeano himself was arrested and exiled after a military coup lead by Juan Maria Bordaberry took over Uruguay in 1973.

“Open Veins” received renewed attention in 2009, when Venezuela's leftwing former President Hugo Chávez gave a copy to President Barack Obama at the Summit of the Americas and urged him to read it. Within hours of the event, the book soared to number 11 ...llers list.

The book has been widely praised and has been translated into at least 20 languages. In 2009, the Guardian called Galeano "one of the most well-known and celebrated writers in Latin America."

"We have a memory cut in pieces," he once told "Democracy Now. "And I write trying to recover our real memory, the memory of humankind, what I call the human rainbow, which is much more colorful and beautiful than the other one, the other rainbow. But the human rainbow had been mutilated by machismo, racism, militarism and a lot of other isms, who have been terribly killing our greatness, our possible greatness, our possible beauty."

Though the book remains required reading for both fans and critics who strive to understand Latin America’s political development, in his later life Galeano became more self-critical of the work, describing it as an example of an exuberant youth writing without the benefit of a solid grounding in economics.

“‘Open Veins’ tried to be a book of political economy, but I didn’t yet have the necessary training or preparation," Galeano said last year at...in Brazil, according to The New York Times. “I wouldn’t be capable of reading this book again; I’d keel over. For me, this prose of the traditional left is extremely leaden, and my physique can’t tolerate it.”

Born in the capital of Montevideo in 1940, Galeano worked as a facto...ler before emerging as a man of letters and a political thinker.

A prolific writer with more than 30 books under his belt, Galeano penned poetry and journalism as well as political analysis. One of his most famous works, “Soccer in Sun and Shadow,” is an ode to Latin America’s favorite sport.

“I think the purpose of the writer is to help us see,” Galeano once said, according to Argentine daily Clarín. “The writer is someone who can perhaps have the joy of helping others see.”

Galeano had been diagnosed with cancer twice and, according to El Pais, was admitted to the hospital on Friday related to his illness.

Newly released ODB interview for MTV (circa 1995/96)

[Edited 4/13/15 11:57am]

For a brief moment in 1970, Bird of the Iron Feather was one of the most-talked about programs on local television.

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Produced by Chicago public television station WTTW, Bird was television's first black soap opera. But the program dodged the usual soap opera plot conventions and took an unflinching look at the harsh realities of ghetto life. Race. Poverty. School desegregation. Police brutality and corruption. Set in Chicago and coming on the heels of late 1960s racial unrest here and across the country, Bird was as topical as the evening news.

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But the show was canceled after a few months. And episodes of Bird have been rarely seen and never aired since.

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Here's a 2010 discussion of the show

Only 2 episodes known to still exist.

Jet articles:

Oct 30, 1969 pg. 72

June 18, 1970 pg. 62

Mar 12, 1970 pg. 54-55

Frances Farmer

Frances Farmer (September 19, 1913 – August 1, 1970) was an American actress of stage and screen. Farmer is better known for sensationalized and fictional accounts of her life, and especially her involuntary commitment to a mental hospital. Farmer was the subject of two films, three books, and numerous songs and magazine articles.

Frances Farmer

Frances Farmer 1937

Frances Farmer (1937)

Frances Farmer

Frances Farmer in “Come and Get It” (1936)

Frances Farmer in “The Toast of New York” (1937)

Frances Farmer with Bing Crosby on “Rhythm on the Range” (1936)

The Nirvana song "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle", written by fellow Washington native, Kurt Cobain, was named after Farmer and appears on the band's 1993 In Utero album. Cobain also named his daughter Frances Bean, after The Vaselines' singer and guitarist, Frances McKee

In 1984, Culture Club placed in the #32 position of the UK Single Charts for "The Medal Song," a song that featured the actress on the sleeve of its 12-inch vinyl release though Virgin Records.The promotional video for the song featured an actress playing Farmer in a brief depiction of her life.

Movies About Her

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MickyDolenz said:

For a brief moment in 1970, Bird of the Iron Feather was one of the most-talked about programs on local television.

.

Produced by Chicago public television station WTTW, Bird was television's first black soap opera. But the program dodged the usual soap opera plot conventions and took an unflinching look at the harsh realities of ghetto life. Race. Poverty. School desegregation. Police brutality and corruption. Set in Chicago and coming on the heels of late 1960s racial unrest here and across the country, Bird was as topical as the evening news.

.
But the show was canceled after a few months. And episodes of Bird have been rarely seen and never aired since.

Thanks Mick I'll check those out. Never knew this excited, whoa.

April 12, 2015 6:47pm PT by Lesley Goldberg

MTV's 'Scream' Trailer Debuts — Plus Meet the New Sheriff

Courtesy of MTV 'Third Watch' alum Jason Wiles has replaced Joel Gretsch in the drama, debuting June 30.

MTV used Sunday's Movie Awards to unspool the first footage of its long-awaited Scream TV series.

Actress Bella Thorne, who has a cameo in the pilot, introduced the footage, which included a new premiere date of June 30.

Additionally, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Third Watch alum Jason Wiles has replaced Joel Gretsch (The 4400) in the show's central role of Sheriff Clark Hudson after the role was retooled. The character was previously described as a good guy who is father to Kieran (Amadeus Serafini). David Arquette famously portrayed the lovable sheriff in Kevin Williamson's features. Wiles is repped by Paradigm and Link.

Wiles becomes the latest cast shake-up for Scream after the series cast Arrow favorite Bex Taylor-Klaus to replace the previously set Amy Forsyth in the role of Audrey, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. She's described as an artsy loner who aspires to be a filmmaker.

The new premiere date marks a significant change as MTV previously planned to debut the series pegged to Halloween in October.

The new series is based on the Dimension feature of the same name. The series kicks off after a cyberbullying incident results in a brutal murder, with the shocking violence stirring up memories of a killing spree from the past that has haunted some, intrigued others and maybe just inspired a new killer. It centers on a group of new teens — with two old friends struggling to reconnect at its heart — who become lovers, enemies, suspects, targets and victims of a killer who's out for blood.

Jamie Travis (Faking It) directed the pilot for the series, which hails from Dimension TV and The Weinstein Co. Jill Blotevogel (Ravenswood) and Jaime Paglia (Arrow) will executive produce and serve as showrunners, with John Shiban (Breaking Bad) onboard as a consulting producer. Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin (Revenge) wrote the original script. Harvey and Bob Weinstein also executive produce alongside Wes Craven, Tony DiSanto, Liz Gateley, Marianne Maddalena and Cathy Konrad.

Willa Fitzgerald stars as Emma Duvall, a classic beauty whose looks and popularity hide a natural shyness and intellectual nature. Her new life with the "in crowd" leaves her estranged from her childhood best friend, Audrey.

Bella Thorne Is Fast Becoming Hollywood's New It Girl—Here's Why

Being a 17-year-old multi-hyphenate helps.

Getty

Bella Thorne has come a long way since her Disney beginnings. The redhead—who is by now a mainstay on Fashion Week front rows—has designed clothing, is working on the third book in her YA trilogy, has released a slew of successful pop music, has just finished promoting her newest movie The DUFF, and has now signed on to star in a new ABC Family series. In other words, she's taking over the world and she's only 17. Her father was of Cuban descent, and Thorne has stated that she also has Italian and Irish ancestry.

Here, a look inside the life of the teen multi-hyphenate, and where she's going next.

It was just announced that you've been signed on for the TV adaptation of young adult novel Famous in Love for ABC Family— from the same creator/producer as Pretty Little Liars, Marlene King. What can we expect?
"I had read the book and I loved the book—it's about this girl who goes to a regular school, UCLA, and she's basically plucked from obscurity to be in the next, you know, Twilight saga-type series. She's trying to handle the media and deal with this new crazy life and she's also pulled between two love interests. When I heard Marlene King was attached, I knew it would be crazy good."

You're a YA author yourself—what's the message of your trilogy Autumn Falls?
"You know, and I hope this doesn't come off wrong because I've tried to explain this to people before, but it's just about knowing that in your life, you have to be yourself and know that life is the way it is for a reason. You can't waste your time trying to be perfect because it's going to backfire. You have to trust yourself. That's really what the book is about."

It's in the YA genre, but as we know, the genre has attracted more and more adult readers. Who were you writing for?
"Honestly, I was writing for me, first. And eventually, I was writing for my fans and followers, too. But, I think anyone can read and understand and relate to this book."

Do you hope your series goes the Hunger Games/Divergent route—as in, do you want to see it as a movie?
"I've actually been approached by two studios, and we'll see. I would definitely be excited to see that happen."

You've come out with a line of Quinceañera dresses, you wrote a book, you're an actress, you're a singer—what's something that's on your list that you haven't done yet?
"I definitely want to study directing and film writing. That's on my list."

Would you want to direct Autumn Falls, the movie?
"[laughs] No, not yet. I'm not ready for that yet. Honestly, I know I have to direct a couple probably shitty films before I make a decent one. I want to really learn everything I can before I even get behind the camera."

You recently starred in The DUFF, a movie about teen popularity, and you play the mean girl. Do you like playing those types of characters? Are they more fun?
"It was fun, but I'm actually trying to steer away from those types of roles now. I definitely want to do something different."

What would be your dream role to play?
"I'm not really sure. I don't think I would know what I want until I see it. When I read a script, I fall in love with it, and it all depends on that. But I'd love to do something more indie or grungier. A part I just read for had a character who lives in a trailer park, who grows and reacts and is different than anything I've ever played, and that would be really cool."

Soul singer Percy Sledge dies aged 74

Percy Sledge died at home in Baton Rouge

US soul singer Percy Sledge, famed for his song When a Man Loves a Woman, has died aged 74.

Steve Green from talent agency Artists International Management Inc confirmed to the BBC that he died at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday.

"He was one of my first acts, he was a terrific person and you don't find that in this business very often," said Green. "He was truly a standout."

Sledge had surgery for liver cancer in January 2014 but soon resumed touring.

Sledge appeared on BBC Two's Later with Jools Holland in 1994

Sledge's debut single When a Man Loves a Woman reached the top 10 twice in the UK and topped the US Billboard chart for two weeks in 1966, when it also got to number four in the UK chart.

During an interview for the the 2013 documentary Muscle Shoals, he recalled his first recording of it.

"When I came into the studio, I was shaking like a leaf. I was scared," he said, adding that it was the "same melody that I sang when I was out in the fields. I just wailed out in the woods and let the echo come back to me".

'Signed away the rights'

He told BBC Radio 6 Music's Craig Charles in a 2011 interview that he came up with the melody for When A Man Loves A Woman, but signed away the rights of the song to Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, because "I didn't know any better".

"I had the melody in my mind so I gave that song to them," he said, adding they then created the lyrics.

Sledge did not contest the agreement, saying: "I felt like if God fixed it in my mouth to give it to them I won't change anything about it.

"I'm satisfied with what I wrote but I cut my kids out of so much because I gave it to someone else - I just wasn't thinking."

BBC Radio 2 DJ Tony Blackburn was among those paying tribute on Twitter, and said: "Sad to hear that Percy Sledge has died. I wonder how many times I've played When A Man Loves A Woman. RIP."

Musician Bootsy Collins paid tribute on his Facebook page with the words: "Just lost another legend funkateers, Mr Percy Sledge."

Sledge performed at his induction into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in March 2010

Paul Gambacini told the BBC that When a Man Loves a Woman was "one of the all time classic songs".

With Esther Phillips and Wilson Pickett.

"This was the essence of soul, dripping with feeling. It never had a time, it was in a world of its own, so it was timeless," he added.

The track reached number two when it was re-released in the UK in 1987 after appearing in Oliver Stone's film Platoon, and was featured in several other films such as The Big Chill, The Crying Game and a 1994 Meg Ryan drama named after the song itself. It was also the soundtrack to a Levis advert in 1987.

'Transcendent moment'

It was the first US number one recorded at Alabama's Muscle Shoals studio, where Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones would later record.

The track also scored a first gold disc for Atlantic Records, whose executive Jerry Wexler called the song "a transcendent moment" and "a holy love hymn."

It remained Sledge's biggest hit and helped sustain a long touring career in the US, Europe and South Africa, averaging 100 performances a year. His other chart successes included Warm and Tender Love, It Tears Me Up and Take Time to Know Her.

The song found new life in 1991 when Michael Bolton's cover of the song topped the Billboard chart.

Before his music career, Sledge worked in the cotton fields around his hometown of Leighton in northwest Alabama, before taking a job as a hospital nurse in the early 1960s.

A patient heard him singing while he worked and recommended him to record producer Quin Ivy.

The singer was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 and was a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

He is survived by his wife and children.

A remarkable piece of mesmerizing science-fiction, and one that should be buzzed about for months to come.

Within the film world, a year is a very long time. There are roughly 52 weekends that feature multiple wide-released movies and countless limited releases. There are still hundreds of films left to be seen in the next eight and a half months, but I’m confident that by the time December 31st rolls around, Ex Machina will still be considered one of the best movies of the year, potentially topping my end-of-year list.

The directorial debut of 28 Days Later and Sunshine screenwriter Alex Garland, the story begins as a young programmer named Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is selected as the winner of a lottery at his company, and his reward is that he gets to fly out and visit the extremely exclusive research facility belonging to his boss, Nathan (Oscar Isaac), an eccentric, billionaire genius. It is only once our protagonist arrives at the remote location, however, that he discovers the reason behind his summoning: Nathan has created the world’s first ever artificial intelligence – an android named Ava (Alicia Vikander) – and he wants Caleb to perform a Turing Test that will determine the full extent of the A.I.’s capability.

Over the course of a week, Caleb sits down with his subject through multiple sessions, asking questions to determine thought process, emotions, intelligence, and more before reporting back to Nathan. But it is here where Ex Machina’s real brilliance is revealed: the film is both about and is a test. Over the course of the narrative, it becomes clear that there are some very important truths that are being kept hidden, and through this fact, Garland sets up a brilliant mystery that is utterly captivating at every turn. A fascinating dynamic is established between Caleb, Nathan and Ava, forcing the audience to untangle what may or may not be a web of deceit and dishonestly, and ultimately question what is real and what is just misdirection. It’s a mind-fuck of the highest order – sold by three perfect performances – and it’s an utter thrill to get lost in the puzzle.

Alex Garland has shown us time and time again that he is one of the most gifted sci-fi screenwriters working today, but Ex Machina also displays that the filmmaker has an exciting eye as a visual artist, as the movie is as beautiful as it is captivating. Inside the walls of the highly secure research facility, the director does a stunning job matching theme to aesthetic, making constant use of mirrors - both representing Ava’s existence as a reflection of humanity, and the distortion of realty that can be found at odd angles. There’s also a wonderful application of CGI – primarily in Ava’s design – as its more subtle usage both lends a beauty to the advanced technology, while also maintaining a sense of grounded reality – which is only driven home further when we see Caleb and Nathan travel outside the facility into the breathtakingly gorgeous wilderness that surrounds the remote location.

Even on a broader level, Ex Machina deserves accolade for committing to a realistic, hard sci-fi concept and selling the drama within it. Complicated, though not confusing, the film never talks down to its audience; handling abstract ideas and complex concepts, but never forcing it into expository dialogue or unnatural moments where it feels like things are being explained. Of course, none of this is truly a surprise given Garland’s extensive and fantastic work in the genre, but the movie does help one understand why his stories work as well as they do.

Ex Machina is the kind of film that causes you, as the credits roll, to sit back in your chair, breath a bit more shallow, and whisper “Wowwowwowwow,” into the darkness. I can say this, because it was the exact reaction it caused me to have. We will be very lucky if we get another movie either as good or better this year. It’s truly a remarkable piece of mesmerizing science-fiction, and one that should be buzzed about for months to come.

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Interview

Photo: Julian Broad

There will be no escaping Alicia Vikander in 2015: there are no fewer than eight films scheduled for release this year in which the 26-year-old Swedish actress has substantial roles. The sudden demand for Vikander hasn’t come entirely out of the blue. Some critics said she outshone Keira Knightley in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina in 2012, playing the naive 18-year-old Kitty; and she was heartbreaking as the 18th-century Queen Caroline Mathilde in Nikolaj Arcel’s historical drama A Royal Affair in the same year.

Neither film was in Vikander’s native Swedish. Anna Karenina was her first English-language film – the eight coming up are all in English – and for A Royal Affair she learnt Danish in two months. ‘I was terrified waking up every day,’ she says. ‘It was tough. If I have two glasses of wine I do dare to speak Danish, but then you are a bit more relaxed. In fact the dialogue coach told me I should go out and drink every night as it would come more naturally.’ Any anxiety she felt was clearly channelled into her performance. The film was nominated for best foreign language film at both the Golden Globes and the Oscars in 2013, and Vikander was shortlisted for the Bafta rising star award.

The first of her extraordinary run of films to be released is Testament of Youth. To prepare for the role Vikander had tea at the House of Lords with the Lib Dem peer Baroness Williams, better known as Shirley Williams. ‘That freaked me out,’ she says, laughing. Vikander portrays Williams’s mother, Vera Brittain, in the film, which is based on Brittain’s First World War memoir of the same name. ‘I was intimidated,’ Vikander says. ‘She had just voted about five minutes before. But it was lovely to get her input. We spoke about her mother and their relationship and me taking on this role.’

Alicia Vikander as Vera Brittain in 'Testament of Youth'

Testament of Youth is the story of a girl, rebellious and wise beyond her years, who has ambitions to go to university and to be a writer, but whose life is catastrophically changed by the war and the personal losses she suffers. ‘I fell in love with Vera. [She is] a very strong character,’ Vikander says. ‘It reminds you how much women’s history has changed in 100 years.’

It is directed by James Kent, who cast Vikander after seeing her in A Royal Affair. ‘I thought she was amazing in that,’ he tells me on the phone a few days before I meet her. ‘She may not have been speaking English but there is a luminosity to Alicia that struck me immediately. She has a very cinematic energy, with quite minimal facial expressions, but an awful lot of detail in that face and those eyes that are so expressive.’

It is the eyes that strike me when I meet Vikander in a cafe in north London just before Christmas. She is petite and incredibly pretty. Dressed in a big jumper and jeans, she is friendly and talkative and makes jokes, but she has the ability to unnerve you with one glance. She certainly seems equipped to deal with anything fame might throw at her. I ask her if she feels prepared for her year ahead. ‘I am quite happy that I got the time to go deep into my work and at the same time see what the industry is like,’ she says. ‘I am very fortunate to work with people I have seen on the screen so many times and admired, and they are in the public eye and I have seen how they handle it. There are definitely ways to just keep on enjoying the profession and the work. Other people tell me that things are going to change. I guess I can’t really comprehend it.’

Her Testament of Youth co-star is Kit Harington, the Game of Thrones heartthrob whom Vikander got to know while working on the fantasy film Seventh Son (set for release in March), which also stars Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Vikander had returned a few days earlier from an intense three-month shoot in Australia and New Zealand with Michael Fassbender (they are rumoured to be dating) for The Light Between Oceans, Derek Cianfrance’s adaptation of the ML Stedman novel about a lighthouse keeper and his wife who rescue a baby from a lifeboat and raise it as their own. Vikander says working with Cianfrance was a particular honour. ‘Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines are two of my favourites from the last couple of years,’ she says of his previous two films. Before that she spent two months in Britain filming Tom Stoppard’s adaptation of Tulip Fever with Christoph Waltz

Alicia Vikander and Mads Mikkelsen in 'A Royal Affair' Photo: Magnolia Pictures/Everett/REX

The following week she was due to begin rehearsals for The Danish Girl with Eddie Redmayne, which starts filming in this month. ‘It is about the first ever sex change in the world, based on a true story,’ she explains. ‘I am carrying around books about transsexuals at the moment.’ She is playing the wife of Redmayne’s Einar Wegener, who becomes Lili Elbe. Basically she has been working back to back and it doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.

Vikander grew up in Gothenburg. Her mother is a stage actress and her father is a psychiatrist. They split up when she was five months old, but remain good friends. She has five siblings on her father’s side. She says she got the best of both worlds, growing up as an only child with her mother, then being surrounded by a big family when she went to her father’s house every second week. When her mother couldn’t find a babysitter, she used to take her daughter to the theatre and Vikander would fall asleep in the wings. ‘I used to cry when my mum wouldn’t take me,’ she says.

Her parents have read every script that she has ever been interested in. ‘My dad read The Danish Girl and fell in love with it,’ she explains. ‘He told me, “You need to do this film.” ’ She may be close to her parents and rate their judgment about her work, but Vikander is very independent. She trained with the Royal Swedish Ballet School from the age of nine in Gothenburg and at 15 moved to its upper school in Stockholm where she lived on her own. ‘They have a boarding school now but they didn’t have back then,’ she says. ‘I lived in a tiny flat. It was like half a room with a tiny kitchenette. I even had a minibar because it didn’t have a fridge. It was in an old house, beautiful, with wooden floors, but it was basically a big closet.

‘Now when I see 15-year-olds I think, how did I do it?’ she adds. ‘But it was worse for my mum. I felt horrible leaving her.’

Alicia Vikander as the android Ava in Alex Garland's 'Ex Machina' Photo: Rex

Vikander’s ballet career was ended by niggling injuries. That coincided with her getting a role in a Swedish television series directed by Tomas Alfredson, who directed Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. ‘When I did that TV series with Tomas Alfredson I realised that I had a strong passion that was beyond what I felt for dancing,’ she says. She had acted on stage as a child at the Gothenburg Opera House – in The Sound of Music and Les Misérables – but for a long time her main aim was to make it to principal dancer. Every director that has ever spoken about Vikander seems to say that she has a discipline and focus that comes from training as a ballerina. Kent says she is ‘formidable’ – a quality he also felt was very Vera Brittain. ‘[Alicia] launched herself on to the set with a fearless courage and for someone to do that in a foreign language it is remarkable,’ he says. Vikander tells me that when she goes to the ballet now, she sees a determination and force in the dancers that makes her think to herself, ‘I couldn’t have done it my whole life.’

She has got that dancer’s stoicism. She’s pretty tough, Alicia, and it is not an affectation Alex Garland

Vikander’s role in Alex Garland’s director...Ex Machina, also out this month, could not be more different from Vera Brittain. She plays a robot called Ava. The film is a three-hander about a computer coder (Domhnall Gleeson) who wins a competition to go and stay with the CEO (Oscar Isaac) of the company he works for. It turns out Gleeson’s character has been lured there to test his boss’s new experiments involving artificial intelligence. Vikander says it is one of the best scripts she has ever read and was a role she wanted badly. ‘I recorded a tape [for Garland] before I had even spoken to him and I made it when I was on set doing another film [Son of a Gun with Ewan McGregor],’ she says. ‘The crew helped me between 2am and 5am after we had finished for that day. I really wanted this part.’

She says that her dancing definitely helped her with that performance, and Garland agrees. ‘One thing that Alicia brought over and above her straight acting ability – and she is a phenomenal actress – is her training as a ballerina,’ he tells me. ‘That role involves quite a complicated physical performance where you are playing a machine, but you don’t want to telegraph that you are a machine. You don’t want it to be any stronger than a sense of otherness. That’s something that a dancer who has trained in a particular way is suited to provide. It is such subtle things in terms of posture or the way you walk across a room. Of course we know acting is not just about control of face and intonation of speech, it is physical, but there is something about her training as a dancer that informs what she does and helps to elevate it.’

Garland also thinks, ‘She has got that dancer’s stoicism. She’s pretty tough, Alicia, and it is not an affectation. Somewhere in her she is hard as nails.’

She may not have been there much in the past 12 months, but Vikander bought her first flat, in north London, in the autumn of 2013. ‘I haven’t spent much time in Sweden during the last four years,’ she says. ‘This year I have only been there three days and I won’t return for very long at Christmas.’ She did her flat up while she was filming Guy Ritchie’s The Man from UNCLE, drawing up plans for the kitchen and bathroom in her trailer when she had breaks, and arranging for her builders to come round at 4.30am in the morning. She doesn’t look fazed in the slightest as I congratulate her on getting builders to arrive so early in the morning. ‘They were cool; they listened to opera,’ she says.

Her love of London began in 2012 when she lived for five months in Notting Hill with her girlfriends the Swedish DJ duo Icona Pop and another friend. ‘We lived in a flat with rats; four girls sharing two single beds,’ she says. ‘The area was great, but the flat was the dirtiest bachelorette pad! We had a big pile of clothes in the middle of the room and we just shared everything.’ She is now rumoured to be the next brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton, which should mean she need no longer worry about borrowing clothes.

She says it would never have even crossed her mind that she would be able to buy a flat in north London two and a half years later. Everything has been happening to her so fast. ‘In one way I did not dream at all of what I am doing now,’ she says.

‘I knew how tough the industry was in Sweden and it wasn’t ever in my wildest dreams that I could take the step and work abroad.’

By Nick Venable 16 hours ago

The success of the podcast Serial and the HBO documentary series The Jinx have made true crime something of a sexy subgenre again, despite the awfulness behind the subject matter. And instead of going with one of the many thousands of intriguing murder cases that haven’t gotten widespread coverage over the years, The Weinstein Company has acquired the TV rights to Truman Capote’s formative classic In Cold Blood, and they plan on turning it into an event series. Is there anyone out there who doesn’t know this story by heart at this point?

Though it has been adapted into three feature films, an acclaimed miniseries, and a 2005 graphic novel called Capote in Kansas, In Cold Blood has somehow never been turned into a full-length series yet. It’s not at all clear what network this might end up at, but I’d sincerely hope for the cable side of the TV spectrum to get involved. This could easily be a future season of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story on FX, or the beginning of another crime-based anthology series for whatever channels don’t have one lined up yet.

The second highest selling true crime book ever published, In Cold Blood was the product of six years’ work on behalf of author Truman Capote. The story takes place in Kansas, where former (and future) convicts Dick Hickock and Perry Smith erroneously attempted to rob a farmer named Herbert Clutter, eventually murdering him and the rest of his family. They were later arrested, and Capote took it upon himself to travel to the town and interview everyone involved with the case. (To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee, a childhood friend of Capote’s, went with him.) One of the book’s major draws was the friendship that formed between the author and the killers, whom he interviewed after they were convicted.

TWC’s TV division, which will eventually get sold to the U.K.’s ITV for a giant sum, is working with Gary Oldman and Douglas Urbanski’s Flying Studios for this project, and the latter company will be producing. According to Deadline, currently attached to write the script is playwright Kevin Hood, probably best known for penning Julian Jarrold’s Jane Austen biopic Becoming Jane, with Anne Hathaway in the title role. Hood also wrote for such U.K. series as The Echo and Grange Hill.

The first film adaptation of In Cold Blood was Richard Brooks’ Oscar-nominated 1967 version, with Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as the killers. Next up came Anthony Edwards and Eric Roberts as Hickock and Smith, respectively, for the 1996 TV miniseries. Then we had Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Oscar-winning performance as Capote for Bennett Miller’s 2005 drama Capote, which was followed up a year later by Douglas McGrath’s Infamous, with Toby Jones in the role of Capote, and Daniel Craig and Lee Pace as Smith and Hickock, respectively.

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Dean & Jerry

It took almost 25 years before they talked to each other and it was on the Jerry Lewis Telethon in the 76. First time I see the full version:

New Upcoming Music

......................................................................................Paula Cole – 7

..........................................................Nadine Shah - Fast Food

Beth Hart has made quite a name for herself in the 15 years since her single “LA Song (Out of This Town)” gained her an international following and garnered her placement on an episode of Beverly Hills 90210. With several songs topping the blues charts, collaborations with assorted superstars, and various Grammy nominations to her credit, Hart’s success seemed assured.

From the beginning, Hart seemed to have it all—an uncanny ability to write hit songs, a major label affiliation, lengthy tour itineraries, and plenty of positive publicity. An accomplished musician since the age of four, she clearly commanded a future that was flush with promise. Sadly though, she was done in by her demons. Haunted by the specter of drug abuse and undiagnosed bi-polar disease, she slipped into an abyss that threatened to derail both her career and the rest of her life as well.

Fortunately, she managed to triumph through sheer tenacity, and after spending time in a sanitarium and kicking her drug habit, she subsequently got married and resumed her successful trajectory. She’s been engaged in some all-star alliances, including collaborations with guitarists Jeff Beck, Slash and Joe Bonamassa, elevated herself to headliner status in Europe, found herself receiving kudos for her spotlight performance at a recent Kennedy Center Honors program, and, featured prominently as part of Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Fest at Madison Square Garden. She’s also touting an excellent new album, Better Than Home, her fifth recording of the past three years.

These days, with her struggles mostly behind her, Hart appears happy, satisfied and committed to a relentless work routine. It’s notable then that on Better Than Home she makes good on that promise, delivering a veritable tour-de-force that highlights her remarkable prowess as both a singer and songwriter. The album gets a good sendoff with opening track “Might As Well Smile”, an excellent example of Hart’s current state of unbridled optimism. (“I woke up this morning / With a smile on my face / I threw out those stones / That stood in my way.”) Of course, Hart’s no Pollyanna, but maintaining a lowered gaze isn’t in keeping with her style either. While succeeding songs take a more subdued turn, from the troubled tone of “Tell ‘Em to Hold On” to the moving, melodic ballads “St. Teresa” and “Better Than Home”, Hart’s assurance and determination are never in doubt. When, in the defiant “Tell Her You Belong to Me”, she implores an unfaithful lover to reject her would-be rival’s advances, she remains resolute (“No she’ll never win / ‘Cause I’m not giving in…”).

As of now, Hart’s placed herself on a pedestal, one that distinguishes her from scores of contemporaries who have all attempted to occupy her turf. Hart’s songs sound like standards, and Hart herself goes to great lengths to establish singular stardom. She succeeds on all counts, but ultimately it’s the music that matters and on that score Hart’s got her credence covered. Better Than Home is the kind of album that define a career, and simply put, that’s better than most.

Tammi And Marvin

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With Julio Iglesias

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Watch Tracy Chapman Perform 'Stand By Me' on 'Letterman'

By Lars Brandle | April 17, 2015 5:58 AM EDT

Tracy Chapman performs "Stand By Me" on the Late Show with David Letterman, Thursday April 16, 2015 on the CBS Television Network.

Whenever Tracy Chapman takes the mic, you just know a pin-drop moment is coming. The Grammy winning singer was on rare pin-drop form when she appeared overnight as the musical guest on The Late Show With David Letterman for an acoustic performance of Ben E. King’s "Stand By Me."

In his intro, Letterman explained there were two songs that he loved as a kid, Simon & Garfunkel’s "America", and King’s classic. A clearly grateful Letterman later thanked Chapman, “it means a great deal to me. I’m so happy you could do this for us.”

Letterman, of course, is in the final straight before he retires from his legendary late night stint after 33 years. Watch the clip below.

Clarkson Covers Chapman.

Session guitarist Dennis Coffey (Scorpio) has a website where he posts about differnt acts he's worked with, including at Motown. http://denniscoffeysite.com

Host Don Francisco will stay with network beyond Sep. 19’s final episode

Adios, “Sabado Gigante”: Univision is ending its top-rated variety show after a staggering 53-year run.

Host and creator Don Francisco (his stage name, real name Mario Kreutzberger) will stay with the network beyond “Gigante’s” final episode, which is set to air on Sept. 19 — the end of the broadcast network’s 2014-2015 television season. The face of the Saturday night show plans to host entertainment specials and campaigns, such as “TeletonUSA,” which is held every year to benefit disabled children.

He will also take part in Univision’s ongoing efforts to discover and develop new on-air talent and professionals, the network said on Friday.

“Sabado Gigante” first launched in 1962 on Chile’s Channel 13.

“During my 40 years in the industry I have met few people with the same energy, creativity and passion for television and the audience as Mario, and I join in celebrating him and his team at ‘Sabado Gigante’ for the great success and the milestones achieved in broadcast television,” said Randy Falco, president and chief executive officer of Univision Communications Inc.

“I’m excited to share with the audience this announcement, with which we’re starting to bring to a close the 53-year cycle of ‘Sabado Gigante,’ 30 of which were possible thanks to Univision in the United States,” said Kreutzberger. “There is no doubt that they have been fundamental in my professional development and in my personal and family life.”

“I have no words to thank our viewers for the support, loyalty and enthusiasm with which they have honored us through the years and which have allowed the show to become an unprecedented success in the history of this medium,” he continued. “Special and warm thanks to the outstanding production team, technicians, artists and behind-the-scenes collaborators, because without their efforts and sacrifice, we would have never reached this impressive goal.”

Kreutzberger concluded: “When we began in the United States in 1986, we told them that we were ‘separated by distance and united by the same language.’ Today I can say with great pride and satisfaction that that distance turned into closeness and affection. To all those who joined us by tuning in to ‘Sabado Gigante’ with their constructive criticism, work and loyalty, I would like to say from the bottom of my heart and in capital letters, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.”

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ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

Sarah Jessica Parker is hooking back up with HBO to explore the complexities of breaking up.

“Sex and the City” alum Parker has received a series order from the premium cable channel for her comedy “Divorce,” which will tell the story of a very, very long dissolution of a marriage.

Parker, who serves as an executive producer on the series, will also star as Frances, a woman who suddenly begins to reassess her life and her marriage, and finds that making a clean break and a fresh start is harder than she thought.

The actress is joined in the cast by Thomas Haden Church, who plays Frances’ husband Robert; and Molly Shannon as Frances’ high-strung friend Diane, who has a successful husband, a beautiful house, and no children. Talia Balsam is also among the cast as Dallas, Frances’ close friend, who has been both widowed and divorced.

The series is created and written by Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe,” “Dead Boss”), who also serves as executive producer. Jesse Peretz (of HBO’s “Girls”) is the pilot director.

Paul Simms, Alison Benson and Aaron Kaplan are also on board as executive producers.

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Getty Images

Alloy Entertainment is producing the indie movie, which was written by Kyle Jarrow

Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez (“Jane the Virgin”) is attached to star in Alloy Entertainment’s “Purple Hearts,” which will be directed by Ben Lewin (“The Sessions”), the company announced Thursday.

The project was commissioned internally by Alloy Entertainment Features and written by Kyle Jarrow.

“Purple Hearts” is a deeply affecting love story about an aspiring musician and a soldier who marry under false pretenses, but eventually find true love.

Elysa Dutton and Les Morgenstein of Alloy Features will produce alongside Amy Baer and her company Gidden Media.

“We’re extremely passionate about this story, and are confident we have the perfect team in place to bring it to life as a movie,” said Les Morgenstein, president of Alloy Entertainment.

Rodriguez, who will star opposite Mark Wahlberg in Peter Berg‘s “Deepwater Horizon,” is represented David Guillod at Intellectual Artists Management (a division of Primary Wave) and Carlos Carreras of APA.

Lewin’s “The Sessions” earned strong reviews out of Sundance and its leading lady Helen Hunt earned an Oscar nomination for her performance. He’s represented by Loeb & Loeb and CAA, the latter of which also reps Jarrow along with Rohner & Walerstein.

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Ryan Gosling in Negotiations to Star in ‘Blade Runner’ Sequel

Movies | By Jeff Sneider on April 16, 2015

Harrison Ford will co-star in the film, which Denis Villeneuve is directing for Alcon Entertainment

Ryan Gosling is in negotiations to star in Alcon Entertainment’s sequel to “Blade Runner,” which is being directed by Denis Villeneuve (“Prisoners”) and executive produced by Ridley Scott, the company announced on Thursday.

Harrison Ford will co-star as Rick Deckard, the role he portrayed in the original film directed by Scott.

Principal photography is set to start in summer of 2016. Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the original) and Michael Green have written the original screenplay, based on an idea by Fancher and Scott.

The story takes place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original. Alcon is not revealing story details or Gosling’s character.

Alcon Entertainment acquired the prequel and sequel film, television and ancillary franchise rights to the iconic science-fiction thriller “Blade Runner” in 2011 from producers Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin, who will serve as producers on the sequel along Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEOs of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.

Gosling will be seen next in Shane Black’s “The Nice Guys” opposite Russell Crowe, and in Terrence Malick’s “Weightless.” He’s currently filming Adam McKay’s “The Big Short” with Christian Bale, Brad Pitt and Steve Carrell.

Gosling recently confirmed TheWrap’s exclusive report that he’ll star in Guillermo del Toro’s “Haunted Mansion” for Disney. He’s also in talks to join Emma Stone in Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” which is slated to film this fall.

Villeneuve’s upcoming feature film “Sicario,” a drug-trafficking drama from Black Label Media starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, has been recently announced in Competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Villeneuve previously worked with Kosove and Johnson as the director of Alcon’s critically acclaimed thriller “Prisoners.”

Adapted from Philip K. Dick‘s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” the original “Blade Runner” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.

Gosling, who earned an Oscar nomination for “Half Nelson,” is represented by Anonymous Content, LBI Entertainment and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

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Paramount Promotes Elizabeth Raposo to Executive Vice President

Movies | By Debbie Emery on April 15, 2015

Raposo’s new title marks the latest executive move at the studio

Paramount has promoted Elizabeth Raposo to Executive Vice President, an individual with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap.

The former Senior Vice President now shares the same title as Geoff Stier and they are both on par with Peter Kang, who is also EVP, Production.

It is the latest executive move at the studio after Marc Evans was named head of Paramount’s Motion Picture Group last month.

Evans replaced Adam Goodman and his ascent had been speculated as soon as Goodman was let go a few weeks earlier. Evans is a 12-year veteran of the studio and a well-respected creative executive who most recently served as the president of production. He now reports to Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures.

On Mar. 23, Paramount announced plans to absorb its microbudget genre label Paramount Insurge into the main studio and strip President Amy Powell of her film responsibilities. The move appears to be part of Paramount’s ongoing consolidation, according to insiders.

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Tribeca Film Festival Makes Big Move … to Tribeca

Movies | By Steve Pond on April 15, 2015

Tribeca Film Institute

With construction no longer clogging downtown streets, the festival can return to the neighborhood that inspired it

Moviegoers who attend this year’s Tribeca Film Festival will get to see something largely absent from the festival in years past:

Tribeca.

That’s right, after spending many years in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, the Tribeca Film Festival event has moved back to the Lower Manhattan neighborhood in which it was born. Beginning with its Wednesday-night kickoff, a gala screening of the “Saturday Night Live” documentary “Live From New York!,” Tribeca (the festival) will have a hub in Tribeca (the neighborhood).

“That’s been a dream of the festival from the time when Jane and Bob started it,” said Tribeca Film executive vice president Paula Weinstein of the festival started by Jane Rosenthal and Robert DeNiro in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

“And now we finally have a central place in Tribeca where filmmakers and press and the public can hang out and experience the festival in every way.”

The problem in the past, Weinstein told TheWrap this week, is that the very thing that moved DeNiro and Rosenthal to launch a festival celebrating the downtown arts community made it hard to locate too much of the festival in that community.

“There was a lot of construction going on, so we had to move,” said Weinstein of the festival’s decision to head farther uptown. “But now the Freedom Tower is open, it’s not a construction site anymore, and the whole idea is to embrace the community and the action down here.”

The festival program itself is typical of Tribeca, mixing narrative features and documentaries with strong music and sports programming, a hefty dose of transmedia and technically innovative programming, and special events that include outdoor “Drive In” screenings and a 25th-anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese’s “GoodFellas” on closing night.

“We started to talk about it in May of last year, right after the last festival was over,” said Weinstein of the programming. “What we wanted to do was have storytelling of every kind … We wanted people who are breaking new ground with their storytelling, people who are eclectic and agnostic with the way their work is shown.

“There are no walls between forms of storytelling anymore,” she added, “and that’s what we want to explore.”

So the program includes more than 60 world premieres, and includes experimental, multi-media installations, but also conversations between George Lucas and Stephen Colbert, Christopher Nolan and Bennett Miller, and Brad Bird and Cary Fukanaga.

“It’s all within the scope of, what feeds your imagination, what leads you to explore new areas,” Weinstein said. “That’s really the prism within which we’ve programmed.”

Senior programmer Cara Cusumano added that TFF programmers didn’t start with the idea of specific themes or types of films. “It’s up to us to recognize trends and amplify them as opposed to pushing for what we want,” she told TheWrap.

And what trends did they recognize this year? “More than 25 percent of the feature directors are female, which is a record for us,” she said. “And we also found a really strong theme of fatherhood this year — a lot of films looking at flawed fathers, surrogate fathers, particularly from female directors.”

She laughed. “I’m hesitant to say what that means, but it’s interesting when a theme like that pops up.”

The underlying tension at any film festival these days, though — both festivals that cater to the film business, like Sundance and Toronto, and ones that are more “public-facing,” as Weinstein called Tribeca — is the question of the value of festivals at a time when it’s never been easier to get a movie shown somewhere, and never harder to make money doing it.

“It’s a confusing time in the film business, but it’s also a thrilling time,” Weinstein said. “The world is changing so quickly, and how are we going to experience it? What’s going to take us to the next stage? Because out of this are going to come new voices and new works and new experiences, but all with a human story at their center.

“It’s a thrilling, unclear path, and it’s our obligation to curate it.”

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‘Wonder Woman’ Finds New Director in Patty Jenkins

Movies | By Linda Ge on April 15, 2015

Warner Bros.

Michelle MacLaren recently left the project over creative differences

Patty Jenkins will direct Warner Bros.’ DC comic book adaptation “Wonder Woman,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

The new hire comes days after the studio parted ways with Michelle MacLaren, who had previously been set to direct the film, over creative differences.

Gal Gadot is set to star in the comic book movie. Her character will be introduced in next year’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” The solo “Wonder Woman” movie is slated to hit theaters in 2017.

“Wonder Woman is arguably one of the most powerful female characters of all time and a fan favorite in the DC Universe,” said “Batman v Superman” director Zack Snyder at the time of Gadot’s casting. “Not only is Gal an amazing actress, but she also has that magical quality that makes her perfect for the role. We look forward to audiences discovering Gal in the first feature film incarnation of this beloved character.”

Jenkins and MacLaren share a similar background, as Jenkins was hired by Marvel to direct their superhero property “Thor 2” before vacating the chair due to “creative differences.”

Jenkins is an Emmy nominee for her work on “The Killing” but is perhaps best known for directing Charlize Theron to her Oscar win in 2003’ “Monster.” She is represented by CAA and Anonymous Content.

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Kellie Pickler’s CMT reality show reminiscent of “I Love Lucy” and "Friends"

Sherryjane Cooke

Country Music Examiner

April 16, 2015 10:28 PM MST

Play

Kellie Pickler's Hilarious Fire Ant Story - Ellen Degeneres has a hard time following the zany Kellie!

Ellen Degeneres You Tube

When Kellie Pickler captured our hearts and the crown of American Idol, fans knew she would go above and beyond her incredible music. She has that cute, quirky but smart humor showing that she can hold her own with seasoned comediennes as well. CMT (Country Music Television) recognized that potential and has agreed to a reality show based lives of Kellie Pickler, the former American Idol and Dancing With the Stars star and her dreamy songwriter husband, Kyle Jacobs. The perfect mix for a reality show with the unofficial title I Love Kellie Pickler may actually be in it for the long haul.

Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for CMT

Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for CMT

The show is to begin its run in September 2015. Filming for Kellie and Kyle’s series will begin this month of April, yet no official air-date is announced at this time. CMT News reports that I Love Kellie Pickler is produced by Ryan Seacrest Productions. Joining Seacrest, Pickler and Jacobs, as executive producers are Eugene Young and Rabih Gholam. Jayson Dinsmore and Morgan Selzer executive producers for CMT.

It’s no accident that the name bears a spin-off likeness from the iconic title I Love Lucy. Recognized and beloved for her quirky personality reminiscent of Gracie Allen or Lucille Ball, Kellie’s uniquely hysterical witticisms and Southern charm will prove to be a hit for CMT. “Kellie’s series will follow her marriage to Kyle Jacobs — her complete opposite.” says CMT.

Kellie explained to RS Country, “We laugh so much. We have Redneck Supper Club dinner parties at our house and grill out. I was a huge fan of Lucille Ball and her funny shenanigans with (Vivian Vance) Ethel (Mertz) that poor Ricky (Ricardo) (Desi Arnaz) would have to get her out of. We want to play off that type of comedy — lighthearted but natural situations that I get into — and marry that with a Friends-type feel.”

“Kellie has always been the object of our desire for a show," CMT president Brian Philips tells USA Today. "But you won't see any deviation from music being at the core of our DNA. She emanates a natural charisma; she entertains wherever she goes."

You won’t see a focus on Kellie’s music but more on her friends, acquaintances as well as hubby Kyle and their very crazy life. She married Kyle Jacobs in 2010. "Most people that are familiar with me kind of know what I do," she says to Rolling Stone Country. "This is more what goes on behind the curtain, not just in music but personally. We want to keep it upbeat, light and comical."

Kellie’s husband Kyle Jacobs also told Rolling Stone Country, “We did a little sizzle reel, and when we went to pitch the sizzle reel, we were just so lucky to go forward straight to a series [without a pilot].” We know that luck has nothing to do with it…CMT has always had a keen eye on the best, what works and what doesn’t, so there was no pilot necessary with CMT’s discretion in shows.

Although Kellie and Kyle’s reality show’s name is yet to be set in stone, CMT is set to air the 30-minute show in10 episodes. Cameras will follow Kellie and Kyle from their home in Nashville to the studio. The inevitable mishaps and adventures in between can only be imagined, but you know they are going to be just as funny as Lucille Ball’s situations.

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Book review: 'The Clint Eastwood Westerns' by James L. Neibaur

April 17, 2015 11:36 AM MST

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Watchmojo as we take a look at the career of award-winning actor and director Clint Eastwood.

on.aol.com

The Clint Eastwood Westerns

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In 1964, Sergio Leone’s “A Fistful of Dollars” exploded onto theater screens, changing the western genre as we know it. And that was in no small part due to Clint Eastwood’s portrayal of the film’s protagonist, the Stranger. Gone was the conventional do-gooder with a moral code. Eastwood’s Stranger was an anti-hero who acted with no regard to the law, and who wasn’t above using violence to reach his ends. “A Fistful of Dollars” popularized both the spaghetti western genre and Eastwood, who prior to this film was primarily known for his portrayal of Rowdy Yates—a conventional cowboy who was about as opposite from the Stranger as you could get—on the television western series “Rawhide”. From then on until 1992’s “Unforgiven”, Eastwood starred in—and eventually directed—a string of western movies, quickly becoming one of the icons of the genre. These films, and their importance to both Eastwood’s career and the western genre, are chronicled in film historian James L. Neibaur’s latest book, The Clint Eastwood Westerns.

United Artists

In The Clint Eastwood Westerns, Neibaur devotes a chapter to each of Eastwood’s fourteen western movies, which range from Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy to the musical “Paint Your Wagon” to the Civil War melodrama “The Beguiled”. Each chapter summarizes and analyzes the film in question, with emphasis on how every film fits into the western genre and how they furthered Eastwood’s career. It’s particularly fascinating to read how Eastwood’s career developed beginning with the chapter on “High Plains Drifter”, the first western that Eastwood directed as well as starred in. The evolution of his directorial style can be seen as the chapters progress, and Neibaur points out and analyzes in detail specific stylistic choices that Eastwood makes as a director and how they impact the film.

There are also bracketing chapters that further enhance the experience. The introduction provides a brief overview of the western genre, while the first chapter describes Eastwood’s early life and career, including his stint on “Rawhide”. There are several more chapters throughout the book titled “Between the Westerns” that discuss the movies Eastwood made outside of the western genre, like what is perhaps his most iconic role, that of Detective Harry Callahan in 1971’s “Dirty Harry” (and a string of sequels). That role, as Neibaur points out, defined the antihero persona Eastwood had developed in films like the “Dollars” trilogy more than any of his other characters, and was a major influence on his future western films despite not belonging to that genre. A final chapter titled “After the Westerns” details Eastwood’s career since his Oscar-winning final western, “Unforgiven”. These chapters, while not specifically about Eastwood’s western movies, provide the reader with a greater understanding of his career as a whole, and how his westerns and non-westerns influenced each other.

Sprinkled throughout the book are many lovely images ranging from lobby cards to behind-the-scenes photos, while excerpts from Neibaur’s own interviews with such people as director Ted Post provide further insight into the films and Eastwood’s method of working. With an abundance of fresh material and intriguing film critiques, The Clint Eastwood Westerns is an engaging read for film fans and the definitive book on one of the western genre’s biggest icons.

The Clint Eastwood Westerns by James L. Neibaur is available now on Amazon.