Judge to Uma Stalker -- Stay Away for Five! & other: June 2008

Monday 23 June 2008

Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Hudson coming to BET Awards

LOS ANGELES —

The BET Awards keeps getting more talent under its umbrella.

Rihanna will take the stage June 24, the show announced Thursday. Also added: Ne-Yo, Jennifer Hudson, Terrence Howard and Gabrielle Union.

The lineup had already included Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Nelly and Usher.

Hudson, Howard and Union will help present awards recognizing the year's best musicians, music videos, actors and athletes.

Jill Scott will perform a tribute to BET's Lifetime Achievement Award winner Al Green, and Quincy Jones will receive the network's Humanitarian Award.

D.L. Hughley is set to host the show, which is to be broadcast live from the Shrine Auditorium.

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On the Net:

http://www.bet.com/specials/betawards08/

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Monday 16 June 2008

Jack Black's animated turn in 'Kung Fu Panda' a bright surprise

Ah, the panda.

There's no cuter member of the animal kingdom, so why has he taken so long to land a starring role in Hollywood? The truth is, we like our cartoons to be the less attractive eccentrics: mice, rats, whatever Gonzo is.

But in "Kung Fu Panda," Jack Black's panda isn't cuddly; he's an overweight dreamer who has more in common with Nacho Libre than Hsing-Hsing. He puts the giant in giant panda.

The adaptation of such a delicate creature to the summer blockbuster habitat - a zoo if ever there was one - could have resulted in a bloated bore of a film. But "Kung Fu Panda" is surprisingly fun and light. It's also easily the best DreamWorks computer animation yet, far surpassing the look of "Madagascar" or even "Shrek" - not quite on Pixar's level, but close.

"Kung Fu Panda" begins with a stylish, brilliantly coloured dream in which Po (Black) imagines he's part of the Furious Five, a group of elite kung fu fighters. They are like a Noah's Ark of warriors: Angelina Jolie is Tigress (who looks a bit like Tony the Tiger's sister); Seth Rogen is Mantis, an insect whose skills exceed his size; David Cross is the bird Crane; Lucy Liu is the snake Viper; and Jackie Chan is Monkey, whose species you can guess.

When Po wakes up, though, he's far from their ranks and can't even conquer a flight of stairs. He's the son of a noodle shop owner, a goose voiced by James Hong. How a bird fathered a panda is a genealogy jokingly alluded to in "Kung Fu Panda," but never resolved.

"I don't dream about noodles, Dad," Po says. "I love kung fu."

The Furious Five are led by the Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) whose own guru, the turtle Oogway (Randall Duk Kim), fears their nemesis Tai Lung (Ian McShane) will return and destroy their Chinese valley. All Oogway wants, like Loretta Lynn, is peace in the valley.

Their Chinese town is populated by pigs and geese and no humans, which might sound like an updated "Animal Farm." But the closest thing here to Big Brother is an old turtle.

To defend them, Oogway must find the "Dragon Warrior" to fulfil an ancient prophecy. As you might guess, Po is unexpectedly thrust into this role despite any evidence of talent, and the movie is essentially about whether he can live up to this destiny.

The plot is standard martial arts stuff, but at every turn, the serious gravity of the kung fu archetype is contrasted by the extreme oafishness of Po. Take, for example, this lesson bestowed on Po by Shifu: "Panda, we do not wash our pits in the Sea of Forgotten Tears."

He's plucky, but it's not Po's grit that's endearing; it's his casual good-naturedness. The Furious Five resent his undeserved opportunity, but when they crush him in training, Po, ever the fan, collects the rubble as a souvenir.

Though most around him have no sense of humour, Po disarms them with his lack of intensity. His name, after all, means the soul, materialized. The fool in over his head is far from a new story, but "Kung Fu Panda" finds life in the old gag.

The elaborate fight sequences (a memorable one is with chop sticks) are as inventive as anything in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." But the comedy of "Kung Fu Panda" lies in the deadpan looks and perfect pauses.

Co-directors Josh Stevenson and Mark Osborne, both animation vets helming a major film for the first time, ensure that the comic timing is exact and that their cartoon creations have well-animated eyes. The right eye-roll (and there are many) always trumps a punchline.

The voice work is good all around, particularly from Black, McShane and Hoffman, whose part as tiny guru - a red panda - takes on a shade of Obi-Wan Kenobi with an attitude. Jolie is entirely forgettable, but it's surely a sign of success that the A-listers recede as the movie rolls.

The most enjoyable character, though, is a small supporting role voiced by Dan Fogler ("Balls of Fury"). As the palace envoy Zeng, he's a Muppet-like bird so jittery that no flap of his wings is without hazard.

As summer movies get bigger and bigger, they often make us, the audience, feel smaller and smaller. The bright "Kung Fu Panda" is a simple and lighthearted exception. Three stars out of four.

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Saturday 7 June 2008

David Cook: I'm No Sex Symbol!

He's the new American Idol, but don't call David Cook a sex symbol!

Although throngs of girls have been fanning themselves over the 25-year-old during the show's run, the singer says that's not what he wants out of his newfound fame.

�It�s nice and flattering for people to say, but I want to be more than just that," the modest rocker tells OK!. "I want to be an artist. You hear stories about groupies in hotels. I don�t want to get caught up in that.�

Certainly, AI alum Kimberly Caldwell, 26, would approve of David's approach. The two recently went out on date after the Idol champ asked the season two contestant out live on television on her show Idol Tonight. And while they were totally in tune, don�t expect a permanent duet.

�We had a good time,� he says. �If schedules warrant it, we may hang out again.�

With the AI tour coming up � starting July 1 � David will have very little time for dating, much less working out! The Blue Springs, Mo. native dropped 15 pounds over the run of the show.

�I cut out drinking and eating the foods I shouldn�t have been eating,� he explains.

But David admits he�s still a little soft around the middle: �That�s where the work comes in!�

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Thursday 5 June 2008

Federic Galliano and The African Divas

Artist: Federic Galliano and The African Divas

   Genre(s):
Other

Discography:

Federic Galliano and The African Divas

Year: 2002
Tracks: 13

Jason Statham Plays Vengeful 'Bad Boy Turned Good' In 'Death Race' Reimagining

MONTREAL — If you imagined yourself engaging in something called a Death Race, the setting would probably look a lot like this dilapidated, abandoned train factory miles away from the cosmopolitan center of Montreal. Throw in a bloodied Jason Statham and some badass cars that would make Mad Max feel right at home, and you've got the makings of something that will clearly be its own testosterone-heavy animal come August 22 when "Death Race" opens nationwide.

Let's get the burning question of faithfulness to the source material out of the way up front. Sure, Roger Corman's name is on the producer list and Statham's character is called Frankenstein, but don't expect any David Carradine or Sylvester Stallone cameos in this reimagining of the 1975 postapocalyptic cult classic. "[Director] Paul [Anderson] said to try not to pay too much attention to [the original]," Statham said. "It is an homage to that, but this is not a carbon copy in any stretch of the imagination. This is something completely different."

The setting is a prison of the future, presided over by a nefarious warden, Hennessy (Joan Allen), who has created the so-called Death Race as a spectacle for a hungry worldwide audience (think "The Running Man").

Meanwhile, there's Statham's Jensen Ames, a vengeful antihero if there ever was one. "Something happens that he gets sent to prison," the "Transporter" star explained. "It's all to do with the murder of his wife. His young daughter gets taken into foster care. And so he is in prison trying to clear his name. And the only way he can find a way to exit that hellhole is to win five races." In the film, Statham's character quickly adopts the Frankenstein moniker — the name of the previous crowd favorite of the Death Race.

The Statham encountered on the set is a much leaner figure than fans of "The Transporter" series are used to seeing (Statham explains that he's sworn off alcohol in the interest of his new physique), but then this character's brand of fighting is different too. "He's a bit of a bad boy turned good from his misspent youth," he said. "I don't think he had much skills with the military or in a martial-arts environment. He's a bit more of a brute or sort of street-fighting sort of guy. We're picking out weapons instead of doing roundhouses."

And the biggest weapon at the leading man's disposal in this film is undoubtedly his car. One of nine modified cars driven by the Death Race competitors, Statham sits behind the wheel of a 2006 Ford Mustang GT called "Monster." Statham relished every moment. "It's great to be able to drive something as potent as one of these things," he said. "This is so unique. I've never seen anything like it. You have got mini-guns on there that fire out 4,000 rounds a minute. One of those can tear a car into smithereens within a couple of minutes." He added that he considers himself "a massive car geek."

"We are in a race that is life or death," said co-star Natalie Martinez. "So you go around this crazy course. There are booby traps, people are firing guns at you, there are missiles flying at your head, there is this huge 18-wheeler with machine guns."

Perhaps what sets this Statham vehicle (pun not intended) apart most is the choice of villain, or really the fact that the villain is worth mentioning at all. (Anyone remember who he tussled with in "Crank"? Yeah, didn't think so.). Here, it's no less than Oscar nominee Joan Allen filling the shoes of the warden, Hennessy. Statham's usual cheekiness turns to reverence at the mention of his co-star. "I tell you, she's a cold, chilling villain," he said. "You don't get the Oscar for being average. She is as good as they come. So to act across from somebody as great as she is, for me, is a major step forward."

Check out everything we've got on "Death Race."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Inquest reveals Radio 1 DJ Kevin Greening died from drugs overdose

A coroner has recorded Radio 1 Breakfast DJ Kevin Greening's death as misadventure.

The inquest heard that Greening died from a drugs overdose last year (December 29 2007) after taking part in a gay bondage session.

As previously reported
Greening, who presented the Breakfast show with Zoe Ball from 1997 to 1998, was found dead in his partner's home in Wandsworth.

Coroner Paul Knapman said: "He was found dead having indulged in unorthodox sexual behaviour involving restraint equipment and illegal drugs."

Jun 3, 2008 at Carling Academy, Bristol -
Jun 3, 2008 at Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth -
Jun 3, 2008 at BIC, Bournemouth -
More tickets

Bale's Narrow Batman Escape

Batman star Christian Bale narrowly avoided a grisly death on the set of the new superhero movie, when a plunging helicopter missed him by just feet (metres). The actor didn't realise how close he had come to being decapitated on location at Chicago's Sears Tower - America's tallest building - until he noticed the shocked expressions on the faces of crewmembers. He tells Details magazine, "I've been in situations where things could have gone very wrong. I saw a number of very anxious faces on the Dark Knight when a helicopter came incredibly close to me. I was standing on the corner of the Sears Tower, on the outside 110 stories up. I felt quite oblivious to it. I was looking at the face of the pilot and just hanging there, not fully aware that the blades were actually just feet away from my head."

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Joanie Madden

Artist: Joanie Madden

   Genre(s):
Celtic
   Other

Discography:

Song of the Irish Whistle

Year: 1996
Tracks: 12

Whistle on the Wind

Year: 1994
Tracks: 13

Born in the Woodlawn section of The Bronx, New York, Joanie Madden has ground her musical divine guidance in her ancestral home of Ireland. The showtime American to gain the Senior All-Ireland backup on the tin whistle, Madden is the youngest member inducted into the Irish-American Musicians Hall of Fame. The fall flat and leader of Cherish the Ladies, a band comprised of first coevals Irish-American musicians, Madden has been as successful on her own. Her second album, Song of the Irish Whistle, released in 1996, is the top merchandising whistle album of all time. A second volume was released in 1999.

Madden familial her musical skills from her parents. Her mother, Helen Meade, a native of County Clare, is a dancer of Clare sets. Her don, Joe Madden, world Health Organization hails from County Galway, is an amateur piano accordion player. Although she took basketball team lessons on the pianissimo, Madden didn't name her musical voice until a family friend introduced her to the tin whistle. With money earned by babysitting, she began poring over with Jack Coen, an influential East Galway-born whistle role player world Health Organization lived roughly the street corner, at the age of xIII. Madden took to the instrument in a flash. After encyclopaedism two songs, she began playacting with her father's band. Her skills were further sharpened during jam roger Huntington Sessions with fiddler Eileen Ivers, world Health Organization tended to the same elementary school. Within basketball team age, Madden had become so proficient on the musical instrument that she easily placed arcsecond for the low gear of two straight years in the All-Ireland rival. She received her number one gold medal, in 1983, at the age of twenty-five, the same age that her church Father was when he north Korean won the competition as an accordionist.

Shortly later receiving the atomic number 79 decoration and reversive to New York, Madden received a gratulatory headphone call from Mick Moloney. During their conversation, Moloney explained that he was putt together a series of concerts that would showcase the prima female Irish-American musicians at the Ethnic Folk Arts Center in New York. The series, called "Treasure The Ladies" after a traditional jig, proved a success. An album compiled during the series was named one of the best folks albums of 1985 by the Library of Congress. The same year, an album, Fathers and Daughters, was released which featured each of the women playacting a pas de deux with their father.

A more formal band was unionized in May 1987, sponsored by the Ethnic Folk Arts Center and the NEA. This radical has continued to exercise together and has released five additional albums -- The Back Door in 1992, Out And About in 1993, New Day Dawning in 1996, Threads Of Time in 1998 and At Home in 1999 -- as well as a "topper of" compilation.

Madden has balanced her participation in Cherish the Ladies with solo performances and recordings. Her debut solo album, A Whistle On The Wind, was released in 1994. Madden has performed half a dozen multiplication with the Boston Pops and played on their Grammy-nominated album, The Celtic Album. Madden has besides performed on albums by Sinead O'Connor, Pete Seeger, Andy Cooney, and Eileen Ivers.

Bettye LaVette

BBC announces Grange Hill will end

The BBC has announced that its school drama 'Grange Hill' is to end after 30 years.
At a launch for new and recurring dramas for CBBC today, it was announced the upcoming series of 'Grange Hill' would be the last.
Announcing the end of 'Grange Hill', Anne Gilchrist, Controller, CBBC, said: "Part of CBBC's reputation for reflecting contemporary Britain back to UK children has been built upon Phil Redmond's ['Grange Hill' creator] brilliantly realised idea and of course it's sad to say goodbye to such a much loved institution. The lives of children have changed a great deal since 'Grange Hill' began and we owe it to our audience to reflect this."
She continued: "We're actively seeking out new and exciting ways of bringing social realism to the CBBC audience through drama and other genres. Yesterday we announced two 'Newsround' Specials tackling divorce and knife crime and we will continue to make programmes about the ups and downs of contemporary Britain."
Jon East, Head of CBBC Drama, said: "For 30 years, Grange Hill has become a byword for realistic and contemporary children's drama. It's now time to apply what we've learned over the years to some of the new ideas we're exploring."