I got home from work this evening and wasn’t ready to tackle the undertakings of homely chores, so instead I made myself some hot chocolate and sat down for a movie night. After a browse through the movie collection, I went with A League of Their Own. A baseball classic (everyone knows the story so I won’t go into details) with a host of stars involved. Madonna has a few great lines and Tom Hanks does a superb job as Jimmy Dugan, the Rockford Peach manager. I don’t think I need to go into my rant about how much I love Tommy, but he’s pretty much awesome in everything he does. It’s a perfect movie to half-heartedly watch on a Tuesday night
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Movie Tuesday
Monday, December 28, 2009
Not S**t, Sherlock?
Stop the press. Guy Ritchie in New-Film-Not-Crap schocker. Cor Blimey, Guv-nor. Granted, it’s Batman Begins transplanted to 19th century London (plot to destabilise social fabric by chemically terrorising the establishment, reveal of master villain at conclusion to set up a sequel, preternaturally gifted detective whose attendant is more socially capable and reasonable than he is…), but it moves at a good pace and remains just about old-fashioned enough to entertain without “re-imagining” (that noxious neologism beloved of marketing copy-writers eager to play down the shafting they’ve just given to a famous name) the Holmes franchise.
The first thing that you’ll notice is the bitter-chocolate colour palette that makes everything a bit muddy. Publicity stills from the film cover this up, brightening the tone and colourising its murk. Initially, it felt like the dirtiest, ugliest-looking mainstream blockbuster I’d seen in years (I mean that in a good way), but it’s very effective in breaking many associations with other depictions of 19th-century London. Even if it doesn’t convey a strong historical sense through verisimilitude, it manages it through strangeness and the refusal to dress up like a BBC Dickens series or a Tim Burton fantasised tour of London streets. It’s all let down a little by the contractual obligation to end on a famous landmark (the partially built Tower Bridge, which is signposted at various points in the movie), but for the most part there’s an impressive continuity of visual tone.
The plot, alarmingly, concerns a secret religious sect planning to seize the reins of British power by supernatural means. It’s a bit much, when a more intimate bit of murder mystery would have done for starters, but it allows for an interesting clash between Holmes’ extreme, if eccentric rationalism and the spectre of superstitious terror against a backdrop of a newly industrialised England. I wish they’d explored that angle further, but you can’t have everything, right?
Robert Downey Jr was a wholly logical choice for Holmes, the fictional character more frequently portrayed onscreen than any other (IMDB lists more than 200 portrayals); he’s a distinctive, charismatic presence enough to distinguish himself fearlessly from all the other Holmeses, giving the detective an obsessive compulsive energy that serves as an explanation for his brilliance: he just can’t help trying to explain unresolved phenomena that pass before his sensorium, sorting them into stories that make sense. Arthur Conan Doyle’s books eulogise Holmes as an intellectual genius; this version reclaims his abilities as closer to other movie superpowers – useful, but accursed. An early scene shows him alone in a restaurant, struggling to still his twitching impulses to study the people around him, fighting his compulsion to examine the sounds and gestures that assail his eyes and ears. It’s a highly efficient way of getting to the nub of the character and describing his need to surround himself with people who “get” him, even if it compromises his integrity. Downey Jr seems to have been channeling his energy away from substance abuse and self-destruction and into these kinds of nervy, big-gesture acting jobs, so there was always a danger that he wouldn’t inhabit the role of Holmes, but rather straddle it like Slim Pickens on a nuke, kicking it to giddy-up. Thankfully, he pitches it just right, staying charmingly unhinged, believably driven, without tipping over into Jack Sparrow panto-damery (although they share a puzzling penchant for guyliner).
One of the few traces of Guy Ritchie’s previous form (the others being a number of mockney thugs and a slow-fast-slow-fast camera during action scenes) is the complete lack of interest in the agency of women. Poor Rachel McAdams, made up to look uncannily like Kylie Minogue on the promotional poster, and a bit more like Brooke Adams in Days of Heaven in the film. Her Irene Adler is meant to be a feisty, brilliant match for Holmes, her former lover, but she is used mainly to prove his heterosexuality in the face of an obvious dependency on Watson that might otherwise have spilled over adventurously into sexual ambiguity, and finally as a bargaining chip between enemies. Similarly, Kelly Reilly (who I’m told is a fabulous, acclaimed stage actress yet to find a role to adequately show off her talents) is used only as a pivot point for the Holmes/Watson relationship.
I can’t be the only one who was surprised to see Hans Zimmer’s name on the soundtrack album, because it’s mostly excellent folky jigs that keep step with the lo-tech approach to the story, but there are some excesses of rhythm and synths towards the end, in sympathy with the visuals’ inevitable slide into ropey CGI and vertiginously placed showdowns. That the film survives these compromises without too much stink is a sign of Ritchie’s grasp of the material – there is still way too much brawling for my taste, when the real pleasure of Holmes stories was always the baroque mental intricacy of his deductions, but at least it is built not on franchise frameworks of conventional plot developments but on the steady banter of two lead actors (I still can’t muster the enthusiasm to say a lot about Jude Law, but he’s perfectly solid here, unstretched and all the better for avoiding any grandstanding attempts to bring Watson to the fore or even give him a strong personality – he knows enough to let Holmes play the star attraction). It’s not a great film, more of a trial run for a possible series of more interesting sequels (acknowledged in the way they save the big reveal of the obvious star villain for the follow-up…), but could it be that Ritchie has deliberately spent the last decade knocking out worthless, parasitic movies in order to soften up audience expectations for his mainstream breakthrough? No. But it’s a thought. Certainly, it would be nice to think that his separation from Madonna freed his mind and allowed him to … Hey! We don’t do celebrity gossip here at Spectacular Attractions. Let’s just say that Guy Ritchie no longer being a stooge for the Kabbalah cult makes it newly OK for him to make a film in which a religious con artist and his secret sect attempts to take power in London and gets his ass kicked by a bit of rational inquiry.
Sherlock Holmes
Wow! Divorcing Madonna has had a salutary effect on Guy Richie’s film-making. This steam-punk version of the famous detective has Holmes and Watson as a pair of sexually charged crime-fighters. Clever camera angles, jump cuts, forward-reverse and slow-motion scenes help build dramatic tension and accelerate the pace but the deus in machina is seamless and slick, never self-consciously arty.
The industrial revolution settings bring to life the “dark satanic mills” as awesome scenes for high-octane action, until the machinery and machinations therein become a character themselves. For the first film in years, Jude Law seems awake and fully engaged by his role as Watson, while Robert Downey junior is deranged and disheveled – yet physically, pumped and ripped to perfection – claiming the brilliant yet tormented Holmes as his character by right of brilliant acting. While I’m hanging out for the sequel, I’ll curb my cravings by seeing this one again and again.
Can;t wait to see it again – and totally forgive him for Swept Away. Hope that clunker was taken into account in the divorce settlement. She owes Guy more than one for that.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tips for the week
The guys at Madrid Me Mata have proposed a little market of Design for this week. A little thing sponsored by a nice brand of gin we an use to look at clothes and, on top of that, to get a little tipsy.
"Sometimes, war is necessary." Wut...?!?
What we most like about their page? Well, that if you want more they’ll give you maps and favorite places suggested by the locals. And oh, yes, we do love maps!
Mmmmadonna
… And besides that…(it looks like it’s Madonna’s week) we discovered today The Queen’s new photos for Dolce & Gabbana. Is she the Mamma or isn’t she? Meeowww!
Madonna Dolce & Gabbana
Note: Next week we’ll be on a diet if you want, we can understand why so many people get tired of hearing about her.
Madonna Offers To Adopt All Of Angelina Jolie And Brad Pitt's Children
Madonna was in Pimlico visiting an old high school friend who manages Lady MacBetty’s Pole Dancing Lounge, Pub, and Crumpet Shoppe.
Naomi Bickerlow, said that she had not seen Madonna since they had graduated from Chief Rain-in-the-Face High School in Bay City, Michigan a little over 30 years ago.
Both had been cheerleaders and Bickerlow said that her senior year, Madonna, or Donnie as she called her was voted, “Girl Most Likely To Put Out At The Senior Prom.”
Bickerlow said that Donnie was also secretly voted “Student We Would Most Like To See Stand on Her Head While Wearing A Dress.”
When the principal found out about that particular vote, he called all of the male teachers into his office and said that he was shocked that they would even consider saying such a thing.
He scolded them and said that it was one thing for the male student body to say that, but it was an entirely different thing for the male teachers to carry on in that way.
Lately it seems that Madonna has been competing with Angelina Jolie to see who can adopt the most children from the most unusual place.
CONTINUE…Monday, December 21, 2009
Cheryl is 4th most-written-about celeb of 2009
Madonna-the-pop-goddess (as opposed to the religious version) has been mentioned in 45,633 articles in the British press over the past 10 years, almost 17,000 times more than her nearest rival, Robbie Williams.
Researches found that the first half of the decade was so dominated by Madonna stories that even when her publicity popularity peaked in 2007, she had still accrued enough media coverage to win the overall race by a clear margin.
So who will dominate the tabloids for the next decade? If Cheryl Cole’s recent omnipresence is anything to go by, the singer looks sure to be in with a chance of pole position come 2020.
Thanks to her primetime role as a judge on The X Factor, and the tabloid press’s increasing fixation with her at the expense of her fellow Girls Aloud bandmates, Cole has seen her newspaper stocks skyrocket.
In 2007 there were “just” 884 articles written about the Geordie singer but in 2008 – the year she joined The X Factor – the number of articles mentioning Cole jumped to 2,241. This year she has appeared in 3,745 articles, making her the fourth most written about celebrity of 2009.
Source
Dolce & Gabbana S/S 2010 Ad Campagin w/ Madonna
Madonna is on her **** right now. Check out her debut for D&G in the Italian Vanity Fair magazine.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Madonna for Dolce & Gabbana
Madonna is featuring in Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring/Summer 2010 ad campaigns shot by Steven Klein. There’s a sneak preview of it in this week’s Italian edition of Vanity Fair. What do you think? Me like…
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Entertation Index: December 14
Cox, Brian — You already knew actor Brian Cox was awesome; now witness him teaching Hamlet’s famous soliloquy to an exceptionally adorable 2 year-old. Sure, that’s okay, I guess, but does he know the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V? No? Amateur.
Link: Brian Cox Teaches 2 Year-Old Hamlet (FilmDrunk)
Flash, The – The creators of a new Flash comic says that the story arc for the new narrative is somewhat of a beginning from the ground-up. Writer Geoff Johns called the new plot “a very basic concept — it’s superhero CSI.” This is great news; I’ve always wondered how much more quickly a murder could be solved if David Caruso could get a DNA sample back to the lab really, really fast.
Link: Barry Allen Is Back With a Flash (Gamma Squad)
Madonna — 51 year-old Madonna has been dropped as a spokesperson for designer Louis Vuitton and replaced by 25 year-old model Lara Stone. Said a Louis Vuitton spokesperson: “We like our spokespeople to reflect our product — and our product is new bags.”
Link: Madonna Dropped by Louis Vuitton (OK)
Potter, Harry — Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows director David Yates tells The Telegraph that Daniel Radcliffe may appear nude in at least one scene of the upcoming installment. I’d just like to thank David Yates and the Telegraph for running this story, using the words “Harry Potter,” “Daniel Radcliffe,” “nude” and “naked,” allowing us to synopsize it here and ensuring that this particular Entertation Index gets google hits from weirdos from now until the end of time. Thanks, pervs!
Link: “Very Sexy” Nude Scene for Harry Potter in New Film (Telegraph)
Reid, Tara — The American Pie actress made her Playboy debut in the January/February issue, meaning she’ll grace the coffee tables of college males everywhere for a month; and it probably won’t be the first time she’s been burned by cigarettes and had tequila spilled all over her.
Link: Tara Reid’s Playboy Cover Photo (Huffington Post, Safe for Work)
Saldana, Zoe — The sultry actress and Avatar star told Esquire magazine that she wants a clumsy, imperfect “asshole” with flaws. Okay, Zoe, I get it. Please, please stop calling me.
Link: Zoe Saldana Wants Imperfect Love (Esquire via Contactmusic)
Television, in the 2000′s — New York Magazine is currently running a very thoughtful piece on how the 2000’s should be remembered as the decade where television became art. I couldn’t agree more; I’ve been trying to get people to recognize According to Jim as a modern, dadaist portrait of the deluded American family and its disjointed ideals and values for years. I am vindicated!
Link: When TV Became Art (NY Mag)
Friday, December 11, 2009
I'm a product of my generation
I’m not proud of this.
Today, my mom and I were out doing some Christmas shopping and stopped by the post office because I needed to get stamps for my Christmas cards. When I got up to the counter, I asked the girl for a book of stamps. She said, “All I have right now is Madonna.” And I said, “It’s OK, it doesn’t matter, I just need stamps. I really don’t like Madonna but I’m not worried about it.”
However, as soon as she handed me the book of stamps, I realized I’d just assumed she meant Madonna the singer. Oh no. She meant Madonna as in, Madonna and Child. Madonna, as in the depictions of the mother of Jesus. And there I was saying, “I don’t really like Madonna, but whatever.” Who knows what she thought of me after that..
Please don’t remind me how horrible I am. I’m coming to terms with it. On the plus side, they really weren’t Madonna the singer stamps, which is a good thing, because she’s the one I don’t like.
"Celebration" goes vinyl for Xmas!
At
Time to give your favourite turntable the Christmas present it deserves! Just click here to pre-order from Amazon.
from madonna.com
Celebration
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of the Decade
Rolling Stone Magazine picked the 100 Best Songs of the Decade chosen by more than 100 artists, critics and industry insiders. Madonna made the list with 2 songs, “Hung Up” is at #76 and “Music” at #66.
Needless to say that she should’ve been at least in the top 10 of the list but what can you do! =) To see the whole list go here!
The Isomniac's Blog
This is just a random blog packed full of weird but whacky things
As you all know I am a self confessed twitter addict and twitter whore depending on how you look at it but I don’t know why I gets so addictive after you have tweeted 50 times continuesly it makes you go ahead to tweet 100 tweets and then twitter suspends you for like 1 hour or so because you can only tweet 100 tweets in one hour so that’s like 2400 tweets a day if you did that but who has the time and or means to do that shit.
I seriously think I have a drinking disorder because. Am always thirsty(and that claim gets me in trouble) no I’m not like always thirsty by I do get thirsty ever 30 mins or so but do you know that I drink like 3 liters of tea 2 liters of Pu-Erh tea and 1 liter of Oolong tea and also I can’t drink tea in school reason
1)Some of the teachers already think I am crazy
2) We are only allowed to drink water on the school premiseses
The main reason why that was brought in was because people were spilling soda on the floor and stuff and it was getting well sticky and they finally had enough but I seriously do want to bring the tea to my school because I am so thirsty when I come home from school that its not even funny.
I believe that people confuse thirst with hunger cause I read that somewhere
I have to do some CD french listening homework and its like 3:16AM and I can’t sleep how bad is that well it doesn’t really matter because I will put 2 sachets of the energy enhanced into my glass in the morning which will give me double the energy and I really do thank that for my energy throughout the day and brings me to about 8PM and I star to get tired and by friday 10Pm seems like 3AM so I am asleep always by 11PM
Gonna go now
Wanna follow me on twitter here’s the link
From Colin
Monday, December 7, 2009
Self esteem and marriage failure
At our men’s breakfast on Saturday, we discussed an article by India Knight on the break up of Madonna and Guy Ritchie.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie
According to Knight, the 7-year marriage followed a typical path:
- Two successful, fulfilled people with lots of self-esteem meet and marry
- The woman continues to be successful whilst the man’s career flounders
- The man suffers an ego crisis, a loss of self esteem
- The woman finds his loss of self esteem unattractive and gets irritated, no longer respecting her man
- The man’s self esteem drops lower
- The woman finds this even less attractive and begins to be repulsed
- The marriage is over
Here’s how Knight put it:
It goes like this. You meet each other. You’re doing well; things are going swimmingly at work for both of you; you feel like equals (when Ritchie met Madonna, he was a hot young director, whose film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was a worldwide success, and of whom great things were expected).
Fast forward a few years and add children, and sooner or later one of you will get to the point where they can’t shake off the feeling that their star is on the wane while their spouse’s continues to rise.
Worse, the wife knows who she is (she’s Madonna!), she’s good at her job, she knows what she wants and she’s not really in the business of playing doormats to soothe wounded male egos. Aside from anything else, she’s busy.
As the months and years pass, her husband’s lack of success – and,sure as eggs is eggs, growing self-pity – do not elicit cooing sympathy, but irritation. The more irritation she displays, the more emasculated he becomes. And the more emasculated he becomes, the more irritated she feels.
No matter what the school of self improvement says, self esteem is evil, it’s only another word for pride. Being proud of our achievements is a recipe for failure, because a high performance which gives self esteem can never be sustained. Pop stars, with the notable exception of Madonna, become passée. Great athletes grow old and start losing. Film directors have a bad run. Company fortunes ebb and flow. Churches grow and shrink. If self esteem is gained by a good performance then self esteem must ebb and flow. When the tide is in then esteem is high and attractive, when the tide is out, self esteem turns to mopping self pity and this is a potential marriage breaker.
So where does our sense of value come from? Not from what we do but what Christ has done for me. Human value is extrinsic to the individual. We are made in the image of God and redeemed by the death of His Son. The love of God in Christ Jesus is the root of personal esteem. I am esteemable because of what I do but because of what Christ has done for me.
Put-together as Hay-ull
Most of the time, I do not much consider myself very badass or even particularly put-together as an adult, because I am mainly fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants and not terribly interested in grown-up rules, but sometimes that immaturity and disorganization goes so far out there that it comes back around in to Being Awesome. It hit me hard when I was making dinner for me and the kidlet tonight.
Yep. That’s right. Dinner was cartoon-character-shaped macaroni and cheese, chardonnay for me, milk for her, and a split Snickers. The kidlet had this Madonna-wannabe headband on and she had fluffed out the lace and pulled it around her face like a fascinator and was lecturing me in a very fancy voice with her hand on her hip about opening the packet of powdered cheese, licking my finger, and sucking off the cheese. She was very chic. I was impressed enough to almost consider not eating more of the cheese.
(Later, instead of digging up a tablespoon, I just eyeballed how much milk and butter I figured I needed. Totally overestimated on the milk. So when it didn’t set up right, I drained and poured some of the runny mix in to a plastic cup from the Olive Garden. I meant to pour it down the sink, probably, but I instinctively drank it instead.)
We’re eating macaroni and watching the live action Scooby Doo now, because kidlet loves the dog and Mommy loves Matthew Lillard. (Did you know he was The Fat Kid growing up, so everyone made fun of him, and it affected him very deeply? Because I know, because I love him.) Sometimes we play Scooby Dooby Doo in the bathtub — she is Scooby and I am Shaggy. The tub is the Mystery Van and we drive in it to solve crimes and say “like” a lot. Not gonna lie: we’re pretty awesome.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Adam Lambert Ignites Change at ABC
After his provocative, envelope pushing performance at the American Music Awards, American Idol alum Adam Lambert was dismissed from his scheduled performances on “Good Morning America,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” Furthermore, ABC is now changing its protocol and requiring scheduled performers to sign agreements not to deviate from their rehearsal performances. There is talk of a double standard in the industry, where Madonna and Britney Spears’ kiss at the VMA awards were accepted but two males kissing is a large ordeal. I would argue that there is not a double standard, but it also comes down to who the performers are. A former American Idol contestant’s first televised performance after Idol being a completely different persona will cause controversy. Despite the current uproar, I think Lambert’s career will be fine in the future because his loyal fans will overlook this performance in continue to support him.
I do not think there is a double standard between homosexual males and females. For the radicals that are writing into ABC right now, homosexuality is a sin no matter who performs the act. I think the issue comes down to venue and entertainer. The Madonna and Britney kiss was broadcast on a cable network which has more flexibility than the broadcast networks. The entertainers were also drastically different. Madonna’s first performance at the VMA’s showed her humping the stage as she sang the words “Like a virgin, touched for the very first time.” Britney’s past VMA performance showed her in flesh colored pants and bra covered in rhinestones in the appearance of a thong. Both performers are provocative and their kiss was a surprise but in no way out of character. As for Lambert, I did not watch him on Idol and do not know much about his prior performances. I do know that Idol is a family show. Many children and teenagers watch the show and create the fan base afterwards. For Lambert to simulate oral sex and kiss another man, he betrayed his younger fans. He has to remember his rise to fame was on the basis of family and personality, not on being provocative like Madonna and Britney.
In the future I think this will not affect Lambert’s career because when it comes down to it, any press is good press. Most people who do not watch American Idol do not know who he is. Now he is making controversy in the major news networks so his name and image is being projected. Also I think being cancelled by the various shows will be a lesson for Lambert. He will learn to express his creativity in a more publically accepted way. Instead of being sexual on stage he will have to create more symbolic performances that will not offend people but impress them instead. Finally I think it will make him work even harder. Sometimes entertainers need a setback to inspire them to create and be more unique in the future. This can serve as an inspiration for the point he does not want to be and how he must persist in the future.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
CHOCOLATE CITY (D.C) READY TO LEGALIZE GAY MARRIAGE?!
“IT STARTED OFF WITH A KISS, HOW DID IT END UP LIKE THIS?! IT WAS ONLY A KISS, IT WAS ONLY A KISS”.
We’re pretty sure most of you are familiar with the little BIG kiss that Adam Lambert exchanged with a band mate at the AMA’S a couple of weeks ago ( talk about stage presence). His unexpected make-out sesh during his performance has stirred up A LOT of controversy within the media. However,we don’t agree, if Britney and Madonna can get away with it, then so can he! We know you’re not supposed to kiss and tell, but theres no way to justify Britney and Madonna’s kissy kissy moment, and at the end of the day we were all created equal; so let that man live. All we’re saying is it isn’t okay to begin with, but it was his performance, and whether he chooses to be gay in public or not is his decision.. ( PUMPS FIST).Sometimes we despise reality television for allowing us ( the audience) to believe these things are okay!
Moving Right along…
With all this man on man action, we’ve just discovered that the city council for the District of Columbia has voted to pass a bill that would make same-sex marriages legal by a count of 11 to 2. For all that were in favor of same-sex marriage, theres obv a huge contrast within the difference of these votes. After skimming through the facts all thats needed is one more vote, and for Congress to review the law, and throw that bad boy into effect. This will be considered a big victory for D.C, and then they would be able to join the line up along with Iowa, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont for same sex marriage!
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