Watching an old episode of ‘Friends’ the other night – the one where Ross says the wrong name during his wedding to Emily -  I was reminded of the night I played some songs in front of Jennifer Saunders. Jennifer’s daughter was playing that night too as it was an open mic night at a local bar. I was due to go on after her and it only dawned on me as I was checking my guitar was in tune over in a quiet corner that Jennifer was in the front row, having come to watch her daughter’s performance. She looked softer than her ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ persona and seemed to be enjoying the evening. When I stepped out onto the stage for my slot I tried not to stare directly at her as I knew it would make me feel nervous. I don’t know why, there was a time when I kept randomly bumping into celebrities. Then again, when it is random you don’t ever really get a chance to get used to the idea. I mean you can’t wonder around life think ‘Oh I’m Mr Planet, I bump into famous people.’ Not unless you want people to use the word ‘arrogant’ when they describe you.

But it is true that I’ve encountered celebrities in unexpected situations. Once I was heading to a band rehearsal and walking over a bridge in town. Coming the other way was a blond chap who seemed a little familiar. ‘He looks like David McCallum out of ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’,’ I thought to myself as he drew nearer. “You’re David McCallum,” I suddenly said. “Yes I am,” he replied, “And who are you?” “Oh I’m just a bloke on the street hassling you,” I said, realising that it was really rather rude of me to just blurt out my thoughts at him. He extended his hand and said “Hello bloke on the street.” “Hello David McCallum.” He then pointed at my guitar case and said “You playing tonight?” “Rehearsing with my band,” I told him. “You any good?” he wanted to know. “I’m not bad.” He smiled and said “Well I’m not bad at acting so you never know.” And that was that. He had to go, I was late for rehearsal and I forgot to ask him the most important question which was, ‘What are you doing in this two-bit nowhere town I call home?’

Some years later, when I was at university, I was standing at the queue for the ATM with my son, who was probably about eight or nine years old at the time. There were two ATM machines and the guy alongside me in the other queue looked familiar. Oh my word, he was Dave Davies, guitar player of The Kinks, one of my favourite sixties bands. “Hello guitar man,” I said. He turned round and smiled and said something quite softly. I remembered as he spoke that he’d suffered a stroke a few years back so he might not want people bugging him on the street. So I just gave him the thumbs-up, which he returned. We both stepped forward to the cash machines at the same time and when he’d done he tapped me on the shoulder and said goodbye with another thumbs-up. “Who was that?” asked my son. “He was in a huge band in the sixties.” “Bigger than McFly?” he asked (for the Americans, McFly were the equivalent of the Jonas Brothers over here for a year or two). “Well sort of,” I replied, “But even bigger and much more talented.” “Cool.” And I had to agree, how very cool to just bump into Dave Davies while waiting to draw some money out of the bank.

In similar fashion I have met Donald Sutherland, David Suchet (who plays Poirot over here in the UK), Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers, Tony Robinson (Baldrick from ‘Blackadder’), and several other minor celebs. But the famous person I refused to get excited about was a member of the royal family. It was my first year at university and I was walking down a corridor talking with a friend. My shoulder brushed against the shoulder of somebody coming the other way. “Sorry,” I said and carried on walking. My friend was agitated. “Oh my god! Do you know who that was?” “Nope,” I said, as I hadn’t even looked up. “That’s Peter Philips.” “Er, and he is?” “Princess Anne’s son. The Queen’s grandson.” I wondered what my friend expected me to do with this information. Run after Peter Philips and throw myself prostrate before him uttering profuse apologies? I grinned. “I doubt very much he’ll have me sent to the tower for brushing his shoulder, especially as I’ve said sorry. He probably likes being treated like a normal person anyway.” My friend still looked doubtful but, as my head was still attached to my shoulders, I assumed I was right and carried on walking.

Watch Dawn French exploring the relationship between Beauty and Comedy

I’ve been watching Saturday Night Live for longer than I care to admit.   It’s on my list of all time favorites.  But this week, Halloween weekend, I skipped it.  Cuz I’m bored with it. 

Where are today’s Blues Brothers?  Wayne and Garth. Toonces the driving cat.  Remember the Church Lady playin’ the drums?  Or how about Molly Shannon’s Mary Katherine?  There are too many to mention, but I have to give nods to Chris Farley’s Matt Foley, Adam Sandler’s Red-Hooded Sweatshirt song, and Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin.

The last few years have had their ups and downs, but right now it’s mostly down.  I think SNL needs an injection of funny. New blood.  Ever since Tina left, I keep falling asleep right after the monologue.  You guys totally wasted Drew Barrymore!  You didn’t even get her on skates, or have her beating up on anybody!  And right after Whip It! came out. Sigh. 

Save me from Saturday Night Snoring, Lorne Michaels! 

Here’s how.  You’ve already got a Host and a Musical Guest each week, how about adding a Guest Writer?  Like when you bring in Tina for a week & she goes back to 30 Rock.  Fresh faces to hide off screen and sit around the writer’s table drinking coffee with the SNL writers and cast.  My suggestions are below:

• Drew Curtis.  The guy who brought us Fark.com.  Drew is awesome, witty, and has great one-liners.  He’s also well-versed in stupid human news.  Go Drew!
• Ellen Degeneres.  Do I need to say more?
• John Irving.  Okay, hold on.  Let me explain.  He is intimately familiar with sneaking in a specific set of symbols into a wide array of plot lines.  Dancing bears.  Flatulence.  Boxing.  Embarrassing sexcapades.  Naughty older women. And I totally bet Seth Meyers could do a great impersonation of Owen Meany’s tiny, gravelly voice.
• Ab Fab’s Jennifer Saunders.  She’s the bomb!  She created Edina and Patsy, and that makes her a pro.
• Natalie Portman.  You know she’s awesome from when she hosted SNL.  But did you see her recently on Top Chef?  Her and all her friends going ’round the table making oral sex jokes?  That girl has some witty things to say, and a little snark as well.  And she’s hot.
• Speaking of snark, how about McSweeney’s Dave Eggers?  He’s really smart too.
• And me, Chris Witwer, creator of the Felsputzer Blog.  Cuz it would be fun!

In the meantime, please stop doing those stupid Gilly skits!  Ugh!

Coraline is a visually stunning film with a dark, but entertaining story.

My rating

One of the great things about film is that you can create any world imaginable. You are only limited by your imagination. Very few directors understand this, however Henry Selick is a master at creating worlds that both amaze and scare the color out of you. He creates worlds out of thin air using a very old method of movie production, stop-motion animation. It is a real shame that this is a dying art. Stop-motion animation is rapidly being replaced by faster and easier rendering CGI. While I have nothing negative to say about CGI, there is something to say about the elegance of stop-motion animation. With this style of filming the audience can relate more to the characters because they feel real. People know fake when they see it, they may not know it, but they feel it. That’s why you don’t see many good movies like these done with CGI, it just doesn’t have the same reaction with the audience.

When I sit down to watch a movie like Coraline, I like to give it the special attention that directors like Henry Selick give to their movies. It may sound silly, but these people put their hearts and souls in these movies and it shows. Coraline is stunning! It’s a beautiful picture. The level of detail is remarkable. When I watch a movie like this, I always put myself in the director’s shoes, then I quickly take them off. I cannot imagine the daunting task it is to take on a project like this. So when a movie like Coraline comes along, I savor every scene, every character and every single detail. This is movie making at its core and at its best. Bravo!

Of course a movie’s look and feel wouldn’t be any good if it didn’t have a great story to go along with it. You must have both and Coraline does have both. The story is a little off the deep end. It’s not quite a kid’s story and it’s not quite an adult story either. To be honest, it isn’t really anything in between. Coraline is something completely different. This film is for film lovers. Henry says that this movie’s audience are brave children. I couldn’t agree more.

Coraline is about a bratty little girl whose parents are workaholics and never have time for her. She’s an only child, but she struggles to make friends because of her nature to be mean to new people. The family just moved in to a new house and the new neighbors are really strange. Coraline prefers to be left alone so she explores the house instead of playing with one of the kids in the neighborhood. When she finds a strange door that just happens to be blocked she is very taken and puzzled by it. Later in the night while she slept, she was woken by sounds coming from that door. However, when she opened it this time, it wasn’t blocked. This time it had a tunnel that took her to the same house, but in some sort of alternate universe where everyone had buttons sewn into their eyes.

At first everyone was very nice and pleasant to Coraline and she enjoyed stopping by to say hello every night. She felt as though these were her real parents instead of the others in the real universe. However, one night a secret was revealed that changed Coraline’s perception of this new world. She now saw that this new world was a jail, a slave camp and if she stayed she would be trapped for ever.

The story is quite gripping and dark. It is like nothing you have ever seen. However, the most fascinating feature of this movie it’s the detail, the film making aspect of this movie. While the average movie goer might think Coraline was just okay, the film enthusiast will love this film, especially if he or she appreciate stop-motion animation.

One of the great things about film is that you can create any world imaginable. You are only limited by your imagination. Very few directors understand this, however Henry Selick is a master at creating worlds that both amaze and scare the color out of you. He creates worlds out of thin air using a very old method of movie production, stop-motion animation. It is a real shame that this is a dying art. Stop-motion animation is rapidly being replaced by faster and easier rendering CGI. While I have nothing negative to say about CGI, there is something to say about the elegance of stop-motion animation. With this style of filming the audience can relate more to the characters because they feel real. People know fake when they see it, they may not know it, but they feel it. That’s why you don’t see many good movies like these done with CGI, it just doesn’t have the same reaction with the audience.

When I sit down to watch a movie like Coraline, I like to give it the special attention that directors like Henry Selick give to their movies. It may sound silly, but these people put their hearts and souls in these movies and it shows. Coraline is stunning! It’s a beautiful picture. The level of detail is remarkable. When I watch a movie like this, I always put myself in the director’s shoes, then I quickly take them off. I cannot imagine the daunting task it is to take on a project like this. So when a movie like Coraline comes along, I savor every scene, every character and every single detail. This is movie making at its core and at its best. Bravo!

Of course a movie’s look and feel wouldn’t be any good if it didn’t have a great story to go along with it. You must have both and Coraline does have both. The story is a little off the deep end. It’s not quite a kid’s story and it’s not quite an adult story either. To be honest, it isn’t really anything in between. Coraline is something completely different. This film is for film lovers. Henry says that this movie’s audience are brave children. I couldn’t agree more.

Coraline is about a bratty little girl whose parents are workaholics and never have time for her. She’s an only child, but she struggles to make friends because of her nature to be mean to new people. The family just moved in to a new house and the new neighbors are really strange. Coraline prefers to be left alone so she explores the house instead of playing with one of the kids in the neighborhood. When she finds a strange door that just happens to be blocked she is very taken and puzzled by it. Later in the night while she slept, she was woken by sounds coming from that door. However, when she opened it this time, it wasn’t blocked. This time it had a tunnel that took her to the same house, but in some sort of alternate universe where everyone had buttons sewn into their eyes.

At first everyone was very nice and pleasant to Coraline and she enjoyed stopping by to say hello every night. She felt as though these were her real parents instead of the others in the real universe. However, one night a secret was revealed that changed Coraline’s perception of this new world. She now saw that this new world was a jail, a slave camp and if she stayed she would be trapped for ever.

The story is quite gripping and dark. It is like nothing you have ever seen. However, the most fascinating feature of this movie it’s the detail, the film making aspect of this movie. While the average movie goer might think Coraline was just okay, the film enthusiast will love this film, especially if he or she appreciate stop-motion animation.

Here comes another weekly Lady Business segement, Video of the Week. This week, our video comes from the third season of French and Saunders, one of the few comedy shows helmed by women, in this case Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

In this video Jennifer Saunders parodies basically any movie with Doris Day in it, and sings about what women really want from life: a husband.

No TV and no beer make Homer go crazy in "The Simpsons".

October 17, 2009

by Joel Crary

After getting up early to see “Where the Wild Things Are” at South Keys I made my way back downtown and got on a shuttle headed for the Museum of Civilization, where I was promptly far too early to see writer/director David Silverman in conversation as part of the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In addition to co-directing Pixar’s “Monsters Inc.” and Dreamworks’ “The Road to El Dorado”, Silverman is best known for his directorial work on “The Simpsons”, where he has 23 episodes to his credit in addition to “The Simpsons Movie”.

I went to high school during the 4th-8th seasons of “The Simpsons”, the prime cut of Silverman’s time spent there and in my opinion the best years of the series. Without “The Simpsons”, I’m not sure how my friends and I would have carried on conversations. The first words out of our mouths every Monday morning were Simpsons quotations from the new episode that aired the night before. We laughed at the same jokes over and again and never, ever seemed to get tired of them.

That’s why I understood it when Silverman brought out his laptop and played examples of show clips from episodes that everyone in the auditorium had seen a thousand times and they were met with brand new laughter. It was to show appreciation for the work of Silverman and the early writers of the show in person. The “land of chocolate” bit or the Halloween episode where “no beer and no TV make Homer go crazy” are seen in a different light when the guy who directed and animated them is sitting right there after all these years.

Needless to say, Silverman was shown a lot of love. Clad in jeans and a light blue, long-sleeved Simpsons t-shirt featuring a classic Homer quotation (“You’ll have to speak up, I’m wearing a towel”), he took the crowd through his early work at UCLA, where he went to grad school only in order to finish the film he started in his undergraduate years. He showed some of his old work while talking about his influences, which include poet Ogden Nash. He reminisced on what it was like to work with paint on cells and adopted an old man “back in my day” Grandpa Simpson-esque delivery when he knew he was showing his age.

Clips of the Tracy Ullman Simpsons shorts were shown to illustrate how the original drawings developed significantly over a very short period of time. Lacking a design team, the animators and writers were dramatically deadline driven until the show took off as a series, which thankfully caught on right away. Silverman talked about his early days with creator Matt Groening and mentioned that he was about to give up on animation altogether before the Simpsons came along.

He talked about his move after the show to Dreamworks, a company where he had no sooner accepted a job than Steve Jobs called him up on the phone to offer him a place at Pixar. That move finally happened for Silverman about two years later, when he was given “Monsters Inc.” to work on, grateful for how visually alive its concept was. Silverman took a round of questions (“Simpsons 2″ is not currently in the works; he is currently at work on a live action project) and it was easy to tell that his heart was in his craft as he gave young animators pieces of invaluable advice. One piece of advice: Make it up as you go along. That was the reason he gave for “The Simpsons”‘ continued success, a show he thought might make it a year or two in the beginning, tops.

Coraline has a front row seat to a parallel world of wonders in "Coraline".

I took the shuttle back downtown afterward and caught the gala screening of Henry Selick’s “Coraline” at the Bytowne Cinema. It was my first time viewing the picture and Selick was in attendance, taking a brief bow before the lights went down. As recent readers will know, I’m a huge fan of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline” offers more astounding stop-motion work with a much brighter colour palette overall.

Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, Coraline (Dakota Fanning) has just moved out to the Oregon sticks with her parents. Mom (Teri Hatcher) and Dad ( John Hodgman) are too busy putting work into writing a garden catalogue and Coraline is looking for ways to entertain herself. She stumbles across an old well and a young neighbour named Wybie (Robert Bailey Jr.), who comes barreling out of nowhere looking like an undead Hell’s Angel. He has found a doll that looks oddly like Coraline, with giant buttons for eyes and her unmistakable blue quaff.

No one seems to pay attention to Coraline long enough to even pronounce her name correctly, including her kooky neighbours, a Russian gymnast named Bobinsky (Ian McShane) and aging theatre mavens Spink and Forcible, who are voiced by the British comedy team of Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French. They live in the basement of the Pink Castle apartment complex with their lineage of deceased Scottish terriers and collections of decades-old taffy.

Coraline discovers a small doorway in the new house that opens to a brick wall until nightfall, when it provides passage to an alternate world. In that “other” world, her “other” mother and “other” father are expecting her enthusiatically, with luxuriant meals, rousing songs and a heavenly garden. In the other world, Bobinsky’s trained mice put on intricate circus acts, Wybie isn’t nearly as mouthy and Spink and Forcible reveal their aging bodies to be disguises as they swing to and fro reciting Shakespeare over extravagant dance numbers. Even the cat talks, and if I had a cat that was able to speak, I’d damn sure want it to sound like Keith David. To Coraline, the other world has everything her normal life lacks. So what if its residents all seem to have buttons for eyes?

Coraline’s wish to remain in the other world backfires once she realizes that there is a pretty morbid catch. This is where the film derails somewhat, as the other world begins to seem not so ideal and Coraline must go through the motions of a plot comprised of too many tangles. Though I found the narrative needlessly complicated, the film is undoubtedly awe-inspiring to look at. The animation surpasses certain elements of Selick’s previous work and treads some truly dark and scary territory. Most impressive is when the crew strip away their model landscapes, leaving a completely blank canvas for their characters to inhabit one moment and a torturous concave spiderweb for them to escape the next.

There’s a lot of beauty to “Coraline” that makes up for its puzzling developments. I’d think twice about showing it to young children, who might be frightened by its more intense scenes. However, for the kid inside us, it’s quite the visual collision of wonder and nightmare.

“Coraline” movie trailer:

 July 21, 2009

Coraline

PG – Thematic elements, scary images, some language and suggestive humor

Director – Henry Selick Starring – Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, & Ian McShane

Theater Release Date – February 6, 2009

Special Features – Includes both 2-D and 3-D versions, director and composer commentary

Length – 1 hour 41 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “Coraline Jones is bored in her new home until she finds a secret door that leads her into a world that’s just like her own… but better! But when this fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her ‘other’ Mother tries to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resources and bravery to get home.”

Ratings - Rotten Tomatoes: 7.6/10, 88%    IMDB: 8.0/10

Watchmen

 R – Strong Graphic Violence, sexuality, nudity, and language

Director – Zack Snyder

Starring – Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson

Theater Release Date – March 6, 2009 Length – 2 hours 42 mins.

Cover Synopsis – “Someone’s killing our super heroes. The year is 1985 and super heroes have banded together to respond to a murder of one of their own. They soon uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger. The super heroes fight to stop the impending doom, only to find themselves a target for annihilation. But if our super heroes are gone, who will save us?.”

Ratings - Rotten Tomatoes: 6.2/10, 64%  IMDB: 7.9/10

Be careful what you wish for…

Be among the first in Melbourne to see Coraline – a fairy-tale nightmare steeped in classic storytelling, craftsmanship and moviemaking magic.

Join us for a very special Melbourne Writers Festival fundraising event, which will be –

• Introduced by Shaun Tan (award-winning creator of The Arrival)
• Screened at Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton on Tuesday 21 July 2009 at 6.30pm sharp
• Raising money for the MWF Schools’ Program

Coraline is created by cult author Neil Gaiman, directed by famed stop-motion animation expert Henry Selick, and voiced by the talents of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French.

In Coraline, a young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life – a better version. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her “Other” parents try to keep her forever Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination and bravery to get back home.

Tickets are $20 ( $3.50 per transaction) and available from
http://www.mwf.com.au/2009/content/mwf_2009_home.asp?name=Coraline or 9999 1199

Official release date 6 August 2009

raise ur glasses for Jennifer Saunders who just turned 51. way to go, darling.

if there is a heaven, all of my favorite books will be available as in-person narrations provided by my favorite people like Morgan Freeman, Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Saunders, and we would sit under a gigantic Willow tree atop a hill, on a balmy, eternal Spring afternoon reading Stephen King, Sarah Waters, Emily Dickinson, Dorothy Parker and the likes…

Titolo originale: Coraline

Regia: Henry Selick

Cast: (Voci originali): Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane, Keith David, Jennifer Saunders, John Hodgman, Dawn French, Robert Bailey Jr, Aankha Neal, George Selick,  Marina Budovsky, Harry Selick, Hannah Kaiser, Emerson Hatcher, Jerome Ranft

Distribuzione: Universal Pictures, USA, 2008

Guarda il trailer

 La piccola Coraline Jones si trasferisce assieme ai suoi genitori nella nuova casa. Durante un giro di esplorazione scopre  una porta segreta dietro cui si cela una versione alternativa, e molto più interessante, della sua esistenza. Coraline inizierà a passare gran parte del suo tempo nel mondo parallelo ma, ben presto, la bizzarra avventura inizierà a diventare pericolosa. Per salvare se stessa e i suoi genitori, Coraline dovrà contare sulla sua forte determinazione e sul suo grande coraggio, ma avrà anche a disposizione l’aiuto di alcuni vicini e di un gatto nero parlante.

 Stop-motion e animazione 3D per la prima volta insieme,  in questo  film di Henry Selick, regista di  Nightmare before Christmas insieme all’amico-socio Tim Burton,  tratto dal racconto di successo di Neil Gaiman.
Coraline è un’undicenne curiosa e determinata che si annoia nella nuova casa perché è lontana dai suoi migliori amici e i genitori sono troppo presi dal loro lavoro di scrittura di cataloghi di giardinaggio e non hanno tempo per lei. Conosce i vicini: Wybourne, il nipote della padrona di Pink House, la nuova casa della ragazzina, le signorine Spink e Forcible, due ex attrici ossessionate dal loro passato e dai loro cani, e il bizzarro signor Bobinsky, artista circense e allenatore di topolini salterini.
Un giorno, vagando per casa, nota una porticina murata, ma che di notte si apre e la conduce in un mondo parallelo, in cui tutto è come nel suo mondo ma è più bello e più divertente: i suoi “altri genitori” sono gentili, la riempiono di regali e le cucinano ogni cosa lei desideri, c’è sempre il sole, i topolini del signor Bobinsky fanno spettacoli solo per lei, Wybourne non è logorroico come nella realtà… L’unica differenza è che tutti hanno dei bottoni al posto degli occhi… Coraline trascorre sempre più tempo nella sua “altra casa” fino a quando la sua “altra madre” le chiede di restare per sempre lì con loro e di farsi cucire i bottoni sugli occhi. Quando lei rifiuta scoprirà quanto sia illusoria e falsa quell’altra realtà, e per salvarsi dovrà fare affidamento su se stessa e su alcuni amici speciali.

La pellicola si presenta come una versione dark, gotica, di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie, con Coraline che segue il topo salterino e si ritrova in un mondo fantastico, che sembra perfetto, ma in realtà si dimostra di gran lunga peggiore e più pericoloso di quello che sta vivendo. Il film non è propriamente per bambini, in quanto forse è un po’ troppo dark e angosciante per un pubblico di bambini, ma risulta decisamente interessante e piacevole per un pubblico di adolescenti e di adulti: gli adulti in questa favola moderna non fanno una bella figura: i genitori di Coraline e i suoi vicini sono incapaci di ascoltarla, di capirla, troppo presi dai loro problemi, dalle loro piccole ossessioni, da un passato ormai lontano; al contrario, gli “altri genitori” di Coraline sembrano perfetti, ma in realtà sono perfidi e malvagi.
Il messaggio è quello di diffidare dalle apparenze, che appaiono false e futili. Per i genitori è sicuramente quello di ascoltare i propri figli e di non trascurarli.

In definitiva un film d’animazione davvero ben realizzato, che diverte e fa riflettere, ricordando le atmosfere di Nightmare before Christmas.

Conclusione: Da vedere.

Voto: 8

French & Saunders är fantastiska:

(För bra för att bara ligga i kommentarfältet.)

Hello. How are you? I am very well thank you. My day has been very productive, and by this i mean i have done sweet fuck all. Really, it comes to something when you spend your days looking forward to the night’s episode of Big Brother. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE IT! I really do, it makes me happy inside. I just don’t really seem to understand it. There’s the one that looks like a prepubescent Will Mellor, or the one that everyone has fallen in love with (both guys and girls, like seriously in love) who isn’t even that hot, or the wolverine man, or the… well i could go on, but i will spare you that.

I used to like Rodrigo but all he does is sit and look pretty, oh ever so pretty. Now i cannot decided between Angel (who i feel a little sorry for, thinking Norine wants her like she wants Norine) or Siavash, because, well, look at him. Either way if Marcus and Sree don’t go soon, there WILL be hell to pay. OK, so I’m not going to do anything at all but i draw the line at watching perverts circle Norine all day everyday, whilst systematically dribbling on her tits. No, thank you.

If it carry’s on i shall be watching “Dawn French’s Girls Who Do Comedy” instead. Sarah Silverman, Catherine Tate, Jennifer Saunders, Meera “hottie” Syal. What more could you ask for?!

I like to think i could be a stand up comic, and Tor tells me i could be. This is, however, usually after 15 joints in three hours, 22 shots of sherry and a bag of “shrooms”. But alas, i believe her, because otherwise I’ll cry when i realise my life is going nowhere but to a disastrous bitter end. Fuck.

FACT #1: I’m no fan of Take That.
FACT #2: I’m going to a Take That concert tomorrow. Hell yeah.

You see, the beautiful people that are Tash and Dave (Tor’s friend from home and her boyfriend) had two spare tickets to see them in my city tomorrow and they gave them Tor so she and i could go so we get to see each other for the night.
HOW FUCKING NICE IS THAT!?
I think that is so amazingly nice of them both, that i might rape them with praise when i see them tomorrow. Not physically of course. For one thing praise is not a physical thing and it would just end up with me and my hand… and well, yes.

I’m going to Tor’s for a while next Wednesday too, can’t wait.

I think at this point i should just mention that i met Tor at university, that’s why we live so far apart during summer. During term time we live together. I didn’t meet her on the Internet or anything seedy like that. I can’t stand people that do that. Phew! Glad that’s all cleared up… kinda like Tor’s warts. BA-BOOM! Ha! nahhh joke.

Koralaina
3D animācijas filma
2009
Režisors: Henry Selick
Lomās: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ian McShane

Kādu dienu ziņkārīgā un garlaicības māktā mazā meitene Koralaina nokļūst noslēpumainā pasaulē, kas slēpjas aiz kādām nelielām durvīm. Šajā pasaulē viss ir citādāk – jautrāk, krāsaināk un aizraujošāk nekā tur, kur dzīvo viņa kopā ar saviem mūždien aizņemtajiem vecākiem. Te viņa sastop savus otrus vecākus – mīļus un gādīgus, kuri ikreiz viņu sagaida ar gardiem ēdieniem un dažādām izklaidēm. Koralaina arvien vairāk laika sāk pavadīt šajā visnotaļ dīvainajā, bet tik bezrūpīgajā pasaulē. Drīz viņa atklāj, ka viņas īstajiem vecākiem draud briesmas. Lai izrautos īstajā dzīvē, Koralainai būs jāliet lietā apņēmība, drosme un apķērība.

Video: Koralaina (Coraline)

Ik zit een beetje zonder inspiratie, dus plaats ik maar enkele leuke French & Saunders-filmpjes.

NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ:  It’s official — National Ballet chief Karen Kain confirmed yesterday that ballerina Bridgett Zehr, who danced both a tragic Giselle and a sizzling Carmen this season, has been promoted from First Soloist

MERCER: fearless

to Principal Dancer … Tracey Erin Smith returns as your favourite stripper evangelist — “saving souls one lap dance at a time!” — in her Fringe hit The Burning Bush this week for 10 nights only at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts … The Marcus Trio play a rare hometown gig this Thursday at The Smiling Buddha … the 2009 CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival opens tonight at the Bloor Cinema with a program of Award Winners From Around The World,  followed by a glam after-party at C-Lounge … and I guess Rick Mercer didn’t receive that Stars Never Get Their Hands Dirty memo. Last Friday night the fearless TV icon, who will brave the most daunting conditions for a laugh, was the Guest Of Honor at the North Battleford, Saskatchewan Kinsmen Club fund-raiser and drew a sizeable crowd — so sizeable that the Kinsmen’s volunteer bartenders couldn’t keep up with the demand for liquid refreshments. According to a report from one of the Kinsmen, Mercer sized up the situation, leaped over the bar and helped the besieged bartending team keep the beverages flowing. “This,” they report, “was a memorable night.” You said it.

TUBE TALK: The first version with Roseanne Barr and Carrie Fisher didn’t work, and the new and retooled American version of Absolutely Fabulous, this time with Kirsten Johnson (Third Rock From The Sun) and Kathryn

SAUNDERS: she's still Fab. but ...

Hahn (Crossing Jordan) didn’t make the cut either, despite what was reportedly a splendid pilot exec produced by the original series star and creator Jennifer Saunders. Maybe because it’s hard to get all excited about what got us all excited more than a decade ago? And wasn’t it Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley who we were really excited about? … coming soon to a living room near you: Current TV, a joint venture between Al Gore’s Current TV channel and the CBC. The network is a hybrid television channel and web site that airs both content submitted by users and professionally produced content. CBC will request approval from the Treasury Board in order to proceed with launching the channel … FashionTelevision has picked up the Ashton Kutcher-produced behind-the-scenes modeling soaper The Beautiful Life with Mischa Barton (The O.C.) … and just in case you still can’t get enough Hollywood gossip, Star! Is adding Extra! to its two-hour programming block with E-Talk, TMZ and Access Hollywood.

QUOTABLE QUOTES: “A sobering thought: what if, at this very moment, I am living up to my full potential?”

The speaker? Lily Tomlin’s brilliant partner in comedy crime, writer Jane Wagner, who also notes: “Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself.”

Gotta love her. I know I do.

QUOTABLE QUOTES: “Holt Renfrew haiku: Eight sales staff doing nothing. Yet I don’t exist.”

COUPLAND: Holt's shopper

The author? Author Doug Coupland, sharing his thoughts with his Tweeple. And judging from some of his other comments, Holt’s may not be the ideal place for him to shop. “No matter what I do to my body I never look modern. I look like an Antarctic explorer from the 1940s … I still look old-fashioned no matter what I do. Like I should be on a postage stamp. When I try looking modern it just looks wrong.”

Coupland, who is currently finishing the second draft of his book on Marshall McLuhan, is basically an urban explorer. “Met Paul Potts at a radio station,” he notes. “Asked him what advice he had for Susan Boyle.” He also shares his current social observations. “Q: How do you know you’ve had young people over for dinner? A: You don’t get a thank-you email, phone call or note.” But his description of ‘Holt Renfrew haiku” is far more typical of his everyday existence. “The cell phone in my left pocket rang and demagnetized my hotel room card swipe,” he reports.  Sometimes he sounds like he’s reliving Woody Allen’s sophomore years. “Universe looking very large. Me feeling very small,” he confesses on an earlier posting. And on another he fearlessly sums up his past 24 hours: “One great big total sack of shit of a day.”

Hmmm – wonder if he knows that song, Sucks To Be Me …

-/-

Título Original: Coraline

Gênero: Animação

Tempo de Duração: 101 minutos

Ano de Lançamento (EUA): 2009

Site Oficial: www.coralineofilme.com.br

Estúdio: Laika Entertainment / Pandemonium

Distribuição: Focus Features / Universal Pictures

Direção: Henry Selick

Roteiro: Henry Selick, baseado em livro de Neil Gaiman

Produção: Claire Jennings e Mary Sandell

Música: Bruno Coulais e They Might Be Giants F

otografia: Pete Kozachik

Direção de Arte: Phil Brotherton, Jamie Caliri, Tom Prooste e Dawn Swiderski

Edição: Christopher Murrie e Ronald Sanders

Efeitos Especiais: Gentle Giant Studios

Elenco (Vozes) Dakota Fanning (Coraline Jones) Teri Hatcher (Mãe / Outra Mãe) Jennifer Saunders (Srta. Spink) Dawn French (Srta. Forcible) Keith David (Gato) John Hodgman (Pai / Outro Pai) Robert Bailey Jr. (Wybie Lovat) Ian McShane (Sr. Bobinsky) Carolyn Crawford (Avó de Wybie)

 Baseado no livro de Neil Gaiman, Coraline conta a história de uma menina (Dakota Fanning) que encontra uma porta secreta em sua nova casa, e descobre um mundo paralelo. À primeira vista, este mundo se parece bastante com a sua vida real, com a diferença de que é muito melhor. Porém, quando essa fantástica aventura começa a ficar perigosa e seus novos pais tentam mantê-la presa para sempre na nova realidade, Coraline contará apenas com sua determinação e coragem para voltar para casa e salvar a própria família. Coraline adapta a obra infantil homônima, escrita por Neil Gaiman. O elenco de dubladores conta com nomes como Dakota Fanning (Coraline), além de Teri Hatcher e Ian McShane. O longa ainda não tem data para estrear, mas a previsão é para esse ano. Com direção de Henry Selick, o filme mostra a história de Coraline, uma menina que se muda com sua família para uma enorme casa. Explorando as inúmeras portas do local, a menina acaba abrindo uma que dá para outra casa, em outro mundo, cujos habitantes querem mantê-la presa, como sua filha. No Brasil, o livro foi publicado pela Rocco, em 2003.

Sir Ian McKellen calls for more roles for older actresses

If it was even possible, Ian McKellen has gone up even further in my estimation.  Not only an brilliant actor who manages to cross from blockbuster leading roles (‘Gandalf’ in “Lord Of The Rings” – a role he will soon reprise in “The Hobbit”, ‘Magneto’ in “The X Men” series, Sir Leigh Teabing in “The Da Vinci Code”) to independent films (‘James Whale’ in “Gods & Monsters”, ‘Gabriel Finch’ in “Neverwas”, ‘Emile’ in “Emile”), not to mention all his wonderful Shakespearean work on stage and screen and even an appearance on seminal UK soap “Corination Street” (in 2005) – Sir Ian has now taken up a cause very dear to my heart – calling for more roles to be written for older actresses in film, tv and theatre.

Oh yes, Sir Ian!!  I am with you there!  While I am not yet in that age group, I have far too many talented, experienced older actress friends who have either quit the biz or taken on “other” jobs to live due to the lack of roles available – particularly for actresses over 40.

It is a trend that doesn’t make sense when you think about it.  For film, according to a Roy Morgan poll taken in Australia last year, while the largest demographics for cinema attendance are Males & Females  aged between 14-34, the older age groups (35-50+) carry the highest growth rate – and are expected to continue to do so. This information is backed up by a 2008 Neisen poll (taken to discover how many Hispanics are attending US movie theatres) when you compare the total US movie-going population stats and discover the age groups between 25-65+ make up 70% of the total movie going audience! (see .pdf document here)

Theatre attendance has always been the realm of the 40+ audience and TV is now also beginning to follow this trend.  So why aren’t we seeing more TV shows, theatre productions and movies featuring this age group – particularly featuring women?

As a world, we are ageing because we are living longer.  So while there will always be a teen market for entertainment, writers, directors and producers (and studios) should also be thinking ahead and slating projects for production that also appeal to this older demographic.

As Sir Ian has pointed out in regards to the theatre world: “Look at Calendar Girls and Madame de Sade … Both are so popular – that is very telling. People might have thought ‘Who wants to see plays about older women?’ Well, the general public do. An awful lot of older women and gentleman go to the theatre, and the population is getting older.” (Indpendent, UK)

And the same can be said for TV – recent polls have shown that the growing demographic for TV viewers – worldwide – is older women.  You may scoff at “Foyle’s War” or “Midsummer Murders” (I actually quite like both and have watched them or shows like them since I was in my late teens), but they are growing in popularity, due to these older female viewers.

So, as writers (particularly as female writers – of which I am also one), we have a responsiblity to start thinking about this issue and looking at stories that involve older women roles – and not just older roles, but interesting ones.  And if you think that’s just not possible (shame on you!) there are some wonderful stories out there – just look around your local neighbourhood, or turn to previous films and TV shows that have used older women characters.  I can think of several successful films and TV shows off the top of my head – “The Chronicles of Riddick” (featured Judi Dench), “Harry Potter” series (featured several older British actresses including Dame Maggie Smith, Imelda Staunton, Zoe Wanamaker and Julie Walters), “Gosford Park” (featured Dame Maggie Smith and Helen Mirren, to name just two), “Mother And Son” (with Ruth Cracknell), “Absolutely Fabulous” (starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley), “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” (featuring the fabulous Zoe Wanamaker) and of course the “Miss Marple” series (featuring the wonderful Geraldine McEwan until her retirement after the third series and now played by Julia McKenzie).

Actually, the Brits seem to have it right – well, more right than the rest of the world, when it comes to roles for older actresses.  But there is still an uneven split between older women and older men on screen particularly.

According to a current UK Equity petition on this issue: “Over half the viewing public is female, yet in TV drama for every female character, there are two male characters (35.3 per cent female roles to 63.5 per cent male roles). Whilst leading parts are frequently played by male actors over 45, women in this age group start to disappear from our screens. The message this sends to viewers is distorted and distorting. We call on all the major UK television channels to take action to correct this imbalance.”

To sign the petition, go here (and you don’t have to be in the UK to do so either, so if you watch UK television via your own local networks, voice your support!).

And while they’re calling for balance in the UK television industry – let’s call on all Australian and US TV channels, theatre producers and movie makers to do the same.

Links to articles about Sir Ian McKellen’s call to action:

Let our female stars act their age, McKellen demands
The Independent,  Saturday, 6 June 2009

Sir Ian call for more women roles
BBC News,  Friday, 5 June 2009

Sir Ian McKellen: older women should have more stage and screen roles
Daily Telegraph, Saturday, 6 June 2009

All Google News listings on this subject – here

(And if you’re really into the acting thing, check out these t-shirts & gifts here )

“Tu no eres mi madre, mi madre no tiene bo, bo bo bo…”

“¿Bo bo bo botones? ¿Te gustan? Soy tu otra madre, tonta”

Desde hace varios años la animación está demostrando que su técnica no es en exclusiva para hacer películas de corte infantil, sino que también sirve para narrarnos historias más trabajadas y listas para ser digeridas por un público más adulto. Uno de estos ejemplos es Los mundos de Coraline que ni mucho menos es una película para niños, los cuales salen un poco traumatizados del cine, algo que puedo verificar al haberlo visto en primera persona.

El gato, Coraline y la muñeca.

Esta historia narra las aventuras de una niña desplazada por el trabajo de sus padres la cual busca un mundo de fantasía donde refugiarse, lo que en principio parecerá un mundo ficticio de sus sueños acabará por convertirse en una auténtica pesadilla que deleitará nuestros miedos más íntimos. Sin abandonar el toque infantil de la animación y el diseño la historia se convertirá en algo un poco más serio y terrorífico, donde los botones cobrarán un sentido hasta ahora no imaginado.

Quizá la mayor pega de esta película es quedarse a caballo entre haber hecho una película totalmente para adultos y una para niños. No se ha querido abandonar la estética y ciertos aspectos muy infantiles para atraer a padres y niños a los cines, pero la historia es más para los padres, los cuales es probable que disfruten más de la película que los más pequeños.

Mención especial al diseño de algunos de los personajes como el gato, los ratones saltarines o el saltimbanqui del piso de arriba.

Los mundos de Coraline sigue la estela de Pesadillas antes de Navidad, pero quitando el edulcorante navideño y convirtiendo el terror paródico de Jack en las auténticas pesadillas de Coraline, quizá mejor tendrían que haberse cambiado los nombres, y que se llamarán Los mundos de la Navidad y Las pesadillas de Coraline.

*****

Página oficial

Ficha IMDB

Título: Los mundos de Coraline

Título original: Coraline

Año: 2009

Duración: 100′

Dirigido: Henry Selick

Escrito: Henry Selick y Neil Gaiman

Reparto (voces): Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr. y Ian McShane