'Addiction's way more interesting' & other

Wednesday, 6 August 2008

Costner Swings With 'Vote' and Hard Work

Kevin Costner has been around the cinematic block. He has starred in a spate of blockbuster hits. In the late eighties and other '90s it seemed he was all over: "No Way Out" and "The Untouchables," both in 1987; "Field of Dreams" in 1989; "JFK" in 1991; "Tin Cup" in 1996.
(Touchstone Pictures)

His acclaimed "Dances With Wolves", which he directed, produced and starred in, won heptad Academy Awards in 1991, including deuce statues for Costner for best managing director and charles Herbert Best picture.

The actor recently took time to chat with Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers about his new election comedy "Swing Vote," which opens nationwide on Aug. 1, and his experiences from more than 2 decades on the silver screen on "Popcorn With Peter Travers" on ABC News Now.

"Swing Vote" tells the narration of Bud Johnson, a slacker world Health Organization is unknowingly thrust into the national spotlight when it turns out that his balloting -- chuck by his 12-year-old daughter -- will determine the outcome of an close at hand presidential election.

"The good thing about Bud is that he's non living in the past, he's living in the future," Costner said. "But he'd rather that future be on the bank of a river sportfishing. He doesn't have all the ambitiousness in the world. He's not what I would call a PTA dad."

The fact that the photographic film will be released exactly months before the 2008 presidential raceway is a mere co-occurrence, Costner aforesaid. "I wasn't trying to anticipate an election year, I but simply saw it as a film that makes that travel and does that special thing that I think movies hind end do in one case in for a while: You begin to feel something that you didn't think was possible when you went in."

But Costner certainly isn't unaware of the opportuneness of the movie.

"You cogitate at a certain point that 'my single vote doesn't matter,'" he said. "But I think that's when people ar thinking egotistically. When you think in terms of that you're a fabric of a whole, when our whole democracy depends on this one case, voting. To exercise this one privilege that was clearly fought for, designed for, and one of the outstanding things America stands for that your voice can count."

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Wednesday, 18 June 2008

Pharrell Williams: 'I Made Madonna Cry Like A Baby'

US producer Pharrell Williams claims to have made Madonna cry like a baby when the pair were recording her new album 'Hard Candy'.

Williams says that he was quite nasty to the singer in the recording studio, which caused her to cry so badly he “had to get her a towel.”

"We were alone recording the album and she kept talking a lot of rubbish, so I shouted a lot of rubbish and she started crying her eyes out," he told Shortlist.

Williams said he had decided to speak about the incident after Madonna mentioned it in a recent interview.

"I just said some really nasty stuff, I guess. And yeah, she cried for a really long time actually," he said. "To be honest I can't believe she told someone about it.

“The whole situation was quite intense. It's totally weird to make Madonna sob, but even stranger when she tells everyone, 'Pharrell made me cry'.”

You can see Gigwise's pictures of Madonna performing songs from her new album 'Hard Candy' below...

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Monday, 9 June 2008

Grace for Peter Jackson's chapel

Film director Peter Jackson has two years to start strengthening the lovely bones of a historic Wellington chapel that he saved from property developers.

Our Lady of the Star of the Sea chapel, valued at $10 million, had been listed as earthquake-prone by Wellington City Council when Jackson and his partner, Fran Walsh, bought it last year.

The couple, along with other Seatoun residents, had been upset by moves by the Sisters of Mercy to have the 84-year old chapel removed from the council's list of heritage buildings and the 1.35-hectare site put up for sale.

A consent to strengthen the brick chapel had already been approved when Jackson took ownership but work had to start by June 30. Jackson commissioned structural engineers Clendon Burns & Park, which applied for a six-month extension.

The council's regulatory processes committee decided to allow two years for work to start, a decision that councillor Stephanie Cook said was fair.

"I think it is laudable that they are convinced they can do it in six months. But we don't want to put them in a position where that expectation couldn't be met and they had to come back to us, or be penalised in any way."

Councillor Rob Goulden denied any suggestion that the council was showing favouritism to the Oscar-winning director.

"I don't think the public would be too concerned if we granted this extension because the proposed development that was going to take place there - up to 50 townhouses - was repugnant to the locals."

Committee chairwoman Leonie Gill said the chapel was unoccupied and sat in isolation.

"So there is very little danger to the public of this building falling on top of them [in an earthquake] anyway," she said.

The cost to strengthen the building had not been revealed but is estimated at $900,000.

Jackson said last year that the chapel would be used by his visual effects company, Weta Workshop.

"It will be something with computers.

"The way Weta runs is they often have isolated [independently working] groups. Our goal is to strengthen the chapel and use the surrounding buildings for low-key work and film editing."

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Tuesday, 3 June 2008

BB housemates predict evictions

The 'Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack' housemates have been speaking about the upcoming evictions and trying to predict who will be leaving the house next.
According to the show's official website, Amy and Nathan have been speculating about who is safe and who might be forced to leave.
Speaking about the evictions, Amy said: "I'd rather it be Monday. I can't wait four days."
Nathan replied: "I feel the same way as you but I'm not going to be disappointed."
Amy then said that she "had fears about leaving on the first day" and presumed that she would "probably leave in the middle".
Nathan then suggested that Anthony, John, Amy, Jay and Jeremy would make the final of the show on Monday.
Amy predicted the Calista and Emilia would be evicted tonight.
All of the housemates, except for John and Anthony, are currently facing the public vote ahead of tonight's eviction.
John won immunity from eviction in an earlier task, while Anthony only received one nomination.
For more on Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack read our blog here.