It was leaked. An official version has supposedly been released, but I could not find it. So, here is the awful version, and I will get the official version up ASAP

I had a right geek spazz when a friend of mine posted this link on facebook last night.
Being a good pottermaniac I quickly linked my dear friend Katrine and we both had a geek spazz together and watched it at least 20 times I reckon.
Can’t we get november 2010 now?

Not sure how long it will remain online as Warner Brothers is on youtube taking the videoes down one by one..

’90s alt-rock band Too Much Joy recently posted a remarkably transparent and depressing account of their ongoing financial relationship with ex-label Warner Bros. on their own blog at www.toomuchjoy.com.  Thanks to that band’s Tim Quirk for posting this.  It’s been awhile since Steve Albini’s infamous “The Problem with Music” essay in Maximum Rock’n'Roll first tried to set everyone straight who had record biz dollar signs in their eyes, but here’s a real live example. The days of this kind of investment in unknown bands are long-gone, but it’s interesting to see the insane situations some of these alternative boom prospects get stuck in as the paperwork persists beyond the 15-year mark…

Back in 1992, when TMJ was still a going concern and even the label thought maybe we’d join the hallowed company of recouped bands one day, Warner made a $10,000 accounting error on our statement (in their favor, naturally). When I caught this mistake, and brought it to the attention of someone with the power to correct it, he wasn’t just befuddled by my anger – he laughed at it. “$10,000 is nothing!” he chuckled.

If you’re like most people – especially people in unrecouped bands – “nothing” is not a word you ever use in conjunction with a figure like “$10,000,” but he seemed oblivious to that. “It’s a rounding error. It happens all the time. Why are you so worked up?”

These days I work for a reasonably large corporation myself, and, sadly, I understand exactly what the guy meant. When your revenues (and your expenses) are in the hundreds of millions of dollars, $10,000 mistakes are common, if undesirable.

I still think he was a jackass, though, and that sentence continues to haunt me. Because $10,000 might have been nothing to him, but it was clearly something to me. And his inability to take it seriously – to put himself in my place, just for the length of our phone call – suggested that people who care about $10,000 mistakes, and the principles of things, like, say, honoring contracts even when you don’t have to, are the real idiots.

Check out Quirk’s entire post here.

Quinton Aaron and Sandra Bullock air out their dirty laundry.

(Warner Brothers) Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Kathy Bates, Lily Collins, Jae Head, Kim Dickens, Adriane Lenox, Catherine Dyer, Andy Stahl, Tom Nowicki, Libby Whitmore, Brian Hollan, Ray McKinnon. Directed by John Lee Hancock

Accidents happen. There are no accidents. Accidentally on purpose. Is anything really random chance, or is there a destiny for all of us?

Michael Oher (Aaron) has very little going for him other than he’s big and athletic. He can barely read and write his own name, his mother is a crack addict and his father is God knows where. The father of a friend of his works as a janitor at an exclusive private school in Memphis and gets the idea to bring the two of them before the football coach to see if he can get them into Wingate one way or another. Salivating at the chance to get the raw talent onto his team, the coach (McKinnon), almost salivating, convinces the school’s trustees to admit the disadvantaged boy.

However his presence on his friend’s couch has put a strain on them, so Michael is left to his own devices. He moves from place to place, silent and sad, a big sorrowful man-child without any hope or any joy. He doesn’t fit in at his new school, and his old neighborhood is becoming increasingly dangerous.

One cold night he is walking on the side of the road, trying to get into the school gym before it is locked so that he can have a warm place to sit for awhile when by chance the Tuohy family drives by. Its matriarch, Leigh Anne (Bullock) orders her husband Sean (McGraw) to stop the car and in her typically abrupt and no-nonsense manner interrogates the boy. Do you have a place to go? Don’t you dare lie to me! Oher admits he has nowhere to sleep and on the spur of the moment, Leigh Anne decides to bring the boy home and put him up for the night.

Her children SJ (Head) and Collins (Collins) range from enthusiastic (SJ) to not so much (Collins) about the new houseguest as one night stretches into several and then into weeks and at last, months. Leigh Anne drives Michael to his old home to pick up some clothes but they find that his mother has been evicted and nobody knows where she is. Instead, Leigh Anne drives Michael to the nearest Big and Tall store where Michael shows signs of life when offered a rugby shirt in his size.

As the days go by, Oher begins to respond to his academic environment although he is unable to learn in the traditional way. Instead, he picks up on what is told to him verbally. Leigh Ann hires a tutor (Bates) to help him get his grades up and soon he gets his average to the point where he can try out for the football team. The coach’s joy turns to disappointment when Oher turns out to be far too soft and unskilled to be much of a force. It is only when Leigh Anne, to whom Michael has become very attatched to, gives him a pep talk that Michael begins to show what he’s capable of and that is becoming an All-American offensive tackle. However, when he makes a choice for his future, the motivations of his family are called into question and the relationship between Michael and his new family becomes imperiled.

Director Hancock is something of a true sports movie expert, with The Rookie to his credit and again he pulls out all the stops with this one. His best move was casting Bullock in the lead role and she nails the role of Leigh Anne who could intimidate Kimbo Slice if she had half a mind to. She’s tough as nails, suffers no fools but is fiercely loyal to her family with a soft spot for underdogs. There are a surprising number of women like her in the South and if the region has any greatness at all to it, it’s because of them.

McGraw, whose easygoing charm translates nicely to the screen, is solid as the dad, a role he has begun to be attractive to casting agents in. While Head is a bit over-the-top in places as SJ the spirited son, he at least has a great smile and a good sense of comic timing for an actor his age. In fact, all of the actors who play the Tuohy family do a good job of creating a believable onscreen family.

If there’s a problem with The Blind Side it has to do with the script. True sports stories have tended to follow a very similar format in recent movies; an underdog gets inspired in the pursuit of a goal and that inspiration leads to overachievement. When the goal is in reach, something happens to jeopardize the achievement of the goal but in the end the team/individual pulls it together at the last minute to triumph over adversity.

Some of the adversity that is shown here feels scripted and not terribly authentic. Just because a movie says it’s based on a true story does it mean that everything in it is true. Something tells me that some incidents were embellished to create dramatic tension and normally I don’t have a problem with that, but in this case it didn’t feel organic. I think it’s possible that we’ve overdosed on the genre since it felt like I’ve seen it all before and in fact I have.

And that’s not to denigrate Michael Oher or his story in any way. I think it could have been handled a bit differently and written better is all I’m saying. Still in all despite my quibbling this is still a solid movie that I can recommend without hesitation. It gets you in all the right places and makes for a fine cathartic afternoon. Still, the best reason to see this is to watch Bullock at her very best.

REASONS TO GO: Bullock does some of the best work of her career. The family dynamic is believable even if S.J. is too cute to be believed.

REASONS TO STAY: The plot is a bit formula and some of the elements feel scripted instead of true-to-life. Aaron as Oher gives us little insight into his character.

FAMILY VALUES: Some language and some minor violence but otherwise okay for families.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: There are cameos from several Southeastern college football colleges playing themselves, including Phil Fullmer, Nick Saban, Lou Holtz and Tommy Tuberville.

HOME OR THEATER: This can easily fit on the small screen.

FINAL RATING: 6/10

TOMORROW: Terminator Salvation

I’m not sure who Too Much Joy is, but they look like another band that’s gotten Fleece Johnson’ed in the butt by the majors. Albeit, they haven’t been signed to a major since the 90’s, but after five years on iTunes, their three albums have pulled in a whopping $62.47.

Since they’re contract ended with Warner Brothers, they’ve released four independent albums, which during the same 5 years, they sold a total of $12,000 in digital download sales. Something seems terribly wrong with Warner Brother’s math. Is the WB frog in charge of accounting over there???

I understand that when an artist or band is signed, they are given an advance. This advance is essentially a merchant loan, which the band or artist then pays back in album sales. Depending on the amount of the loan, and contract stipulations, the artists may not see an actual royalty statement for a few years. It is also up to the label to drive sales and advertise their “product”, (ie. their artist or band) so they can recoup their money.

This is a classic case of the major labels either not doing their job, or thinking that the artists won’t figure it out. Unfortunately, some artists never do, and that’s why you see huge superstars go broke in a few years.

Be independent. That’s all for today’s lesson.

Variety’s BFDealmemo is reporting that Warner Brothers has acquired the rights to the first of a five-part book series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl entitled “Beautiful Creatures”.

The book revolves around high schooler Ethan Wate who despises his boring, small town. That is, until he meets 16-year old witch Lena Duchanne (no word on how to say that name yet). Duchanne’s family has moved back to town for the exact reason Wate dislikes it- it’s mundane.

Duchanne’s family is haunted by a curse and it is up to her and Wate to unravel the mystery while their relationship blossoms.

The first of the books was released yesterday.

This appears to be more of a love story compared to the currently popular “Harry Potter” series that WB is behind. Even the upcoming fantasy epic “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” (2010) appears to be similar only in the fantasy elements.

I won’t go as far to claim it is the next “Twilight”, but who knows what is to come right now. “Creatures” certainly is a romance based fantasy series.

LaGravenese

Scripting and directing duties have been given to Richard LaGravenese of “P.S. I Love You” fame. LaGravenese also has a number of other writing credits to his name, including “The Bridges of Madison County”, “The Horse Whisperer”, and the upcoming Narnia film “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”.

“I love supernatural stories that have well drawn mythologies, and I liked that this book has all the basic elements of a classic first love story with a supernatural layer over it,” LaGravanese said. Hit the jump for more plot details that might also be spoilers.

*POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

“So the first time they hear the words boyfriend and girlfriend, they accidentally overhear each other telepathically. Their first kiss comes after he saves her life and their first date is part of a bigger adventure that leads to the unraveling of the mysterious curse that haunts her family.”

The following Christmas ornaments are currently for sale at Books From A Rose:

The following Toys are currently on sale at Books From A Rose:

It’s been a good run. I won’t take down the blog for a few days, but the blog is ending- it’s just time, ya know…

It began on 4-3 and it’s ending on 11-29 so those numbers don’t match up at all, but that’s ok.

Also- to my very small readership: to those of you creepy internet people who read and never ever commented…. you will always be a cyber mystery (to me). and you will always remain a real life creep.

One last Happy Birthday shout out to the Muse today; the initial inspiration and the blog you should continue reading. LINK

Bye Bye Blogger

Check it out!! Warner Brothers recently released Exclusive NA Videos!!

“Restricted Clip” URLs:

http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/uk/movies/ninjaassassin/ninja_clip_redband_qt_high.mov

Rain Training Sizzle Reel URLs:

=======================================================

http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbol/uk/movies/ninjaassassin/ninja_rain_training_sizzle_qt_high.mov

Thank you to Justine Yu@WB Theatrical Marketing for sharing!!
-Chong

Billy Bob Thornton wants to be an astronaut when he grows up.

(Warner Brothers) Billy Bob Thornton, Virginia Madsen, Tim Blake Nelson, J.K. Simmons, Bruce Dern, Max Theriot, Mark Polish, Jon Gries, Bruce Willis. Directed by Michael Polish

For as long as he could remember, Charlie Farmer (Thornton) wanted to be an astronaut. The son of a Texas rancher, he joined the Air Force and became a test pilot, the better to join the space program, which he did. After his dad’s suicide, however, Charlie left the program to take care of his family, a decision he regretted the rest of his life.

Now, Charlie Farmer is building a rocket in his barn. His kids – including son Shepherd (Theriot) are behind him, his beautiful wife Audie (Madsen) supports him, even as she works as a waitress in a diner to help make ends meet. Even his father-in-law (Dern) respects him. Most of the rest of the people in town think he’s a whacko.

Unfortunately, the feds get wind of his scheme when he tries to buy 10,000 square pounds of rocket fuel and decide to shut down this amateur Buck Rogers. The bank, to whom Charlie has already fallen terribly behind in mortgage payments, has initiated foreclosure proceedings. Charlie is this close to losing everything. Still, he has his family dreaming together – and that in itself is a very powerful thing.

There can be some extreme corniness at times, with emphasis on family unity and pursuing dreams nearly at the expense of all else. You can see why it didn’t resonate with a younger audience, a virtual kiss of death at the box office today. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a good movie. It has all the elements of a family movie, but the character exposition might be a bit too much for younger audiences, who could conceivably be bored.

There are some moments that will wake you up, like most of the launch sequence scenes. Some nice visuals too, as early on Billy Bob in full spacesuit regalia chases a stray calf while riding a horse. Talk about cowboys and aliens.

Thornton excels at these kinds of roles, the low-key salt of the earth family man, and he doesn’t get to play them too often. He carries himself with great dignity, but loses his cool just often enough to put you a little bit on edge around him. Madsen as his long-suffering wife continues to be impressive with almost every role she plays. Willis, in an uncredited turn, plays an old friend of Charlie’s who made it on into “the program” after Charlie dropped out, and went on to fly the space shuttle.

I liked the underlying current of the role of civilians in space. I believe that you will start to see more civilians playing larger roles in future space missions especially as the commercial possibilities of space become more lucrative.

All that aside, I found this to be a charming movie that I became engrossed with. Occasionally, the writers strained credulity a bit – they painted themselves into a few corners and used some shall we say, novel approaches of getting out of them. However, those moments are few and far between. I was completely taken with Charlie Farmer’s story, and I think a lot more people will be too, once they give it a chance. For the record, the DVD is a little difficult to find in stores, but it is available generally on premium cable and video-on-demand services.

WHY RENT THIS: Unexpectedly charming. Low-key without being sleep-inducing. Message is one we rarely hear these days outside of the occasional Disney movie.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Paints itself into corners plot-wise and doesn’t resolve every challenge in a satisfying manner.

FAMILY MATTERS: A little salty language and some perilous situations but otherwise suitable for all audiences.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: Just as Farmer is about to launc h, Shepard says “Cleared for launch at zero hour, 9am” in an homage to Elton John’s “Rocket Man.”

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: None listed.

FINAL RATING: 6/10

TOMORROW: Australia

+++ Apologies for the lack of blogging this month: there are busy times, there are less busy times, and I’ve had the former for the last few weeks +++

Yes, that’s right, my Oxford college’s JCR has finished off the 2009 committee session with a set of light-hearted motions in the final General Meeting of the term, faithfully minuted by me in my function as outgoing JCR Secretary, one of which involved the renaming of the JCR to ‘Gryffindor’ from the Harry Potter books and films, as well as the equivalent renaming of Christchurch College to ‘Slytherin’, Merton to ‘Ravenclaw’ and St Hugh’s to ‘Hufflepuff’.

The Cherwell (Oxford’s independent student newspaper) broke the news first, followed by the Telegraph and now the BBC. It really is going national! I wonder how long it is until (a) it gets brought up in PMQs or (b) someone from Warner Brothers complains that we’re in breach of copyright…

Just to clarify: the motion is only, and can only ever have been, a bit of humour to lighten up the end of a JCR session in which a lot of serious and unwieldy constitutional reforms were pushed through. To actually rename the JCR we would have to rename Magdalen College itself – and the fellows almost certainly wouldn’t allow that, however amusing it would be. The copyright issues would only be the first of a whole host of obstacles that would prevent this gentle whimsy from becoming legal, binding reality.

I’m glad some people got a kick out of last week’s list of Top Seven Worst Cartoon Ladies, because now it’s time for the sequel.

A solid female character in animation is hard to find.  If you are able to extract their likes and dislikes from their gender (they like shopping BECAUSE THEY’RE GIRLS!  They hate getting messy BECAUSE THEY’RE GIRLS!) you’re still stuck with having to make them look ‘cute’ or ’sexy’, and have a role beyond Love Interest or Nagging Psychobitch.  These seven characters all have a degree of depth and thoughtfulness in their creation.  Their qualities came first, and their gender second.

Let’s get rolling, shall we?

7.  Dora The Explorer:  Love or hate Dora, you have to admit that she is a pretty stellar example for young girls.  She’s bright, she’s friendly, she’s willing to scrape her knees and get dirty, and she sticks to her guns in the face of adversity.  And by adversity I mean cunning foxes who steal her monkey’s sandwiches, or whatever.  I put Dora at seventh on this list because her redesign to appeal to an ‘older’ crowd makes me cry tears of rage.  She went from clever adventurer to mall-haunting pre-teen overnight.  Oh, Dora of yore!  How I miss thee!

Dora, before and after. Now she solves mysteries, like Which Boy Is The Cutest Boy?

6.  Gretchen and Spinelli from Recess:  Recess is a show that centers around schoolyard stereotypes.  In the main cast, we have the Fat Sensitive Kid, the Mischievous Kid, the Smart Kid, the Tough Kid, the Sporty Kid, and the Awkward Wimpy Kid Who Is Only Occasionally Useful.  The charm of a show like Recess is that the kids realize their labels, and regard them with a resigned sort of malice.  I’ve picked Gretchen and Spinelli out here because really, out of those main cast members I’ve mentioned, which are the girls?  Guesses?  Guesses?  Gretchen and Spinelli were created as schoolyard archetypes, not as schoolgirl archetypes, and that I can appreciate.

It's a veritable Who's Who of unfair labeling!

5.  Kim Possible:  Much like an aged version of a Powerpuff Girl, Kim Possible saves the world before curfew, trying to do her homework and get a date along the way.  Kim is in every way a girl’s girl.  She idolizes a clothing chain.  She gets embarrassed in front of boys.  She hates her little brothers and uses the Puppydog Pout to get something she wants.  The reason I’m including her on this list is that Kim likes what she likes…because she likes it.  Too often animators will create a character that is supposed to exemplify a Successful Modern Woman.  She’s smart!  She’s capable!  She owns her feminity, and yet, she is completely defined by societal expectations and all of the males around her.  Kim defines herself, and while she has the normal teenage tendency to worry about what other’s think of her, it doesn’t shape her life.

You guys, this plays on the Disney channel at 10:30 PST. Why haven't you watched this, you guys?

4.  Gadget from Rescue Rangers:  Some…times!  Some…crimes!  Go slipping through the cracks, but these…two!  Gum…shoes!  Are picking up the slack, there’s no case too big, no case too small!  If you need help just call…Gadget, apparently.  Rescue Rangers centers around some rodents who solve mysteries.  It’s pretty simple.  The titular characters receive most of the credit, serious Chip and goofy Dale, but every kid who watches that show knows that Gadget is the real hero.  It’s always Gadget who makes the machines that get them out of trouble, Gadget who sees through the scam, Gadget who crafts the master plan to solve the crime.  And you know what’s appealing about Gadget?  They don’t try to hide her brilliance behind a (heh heh) mousey facade.  She is just a genius.  No glasses.  No gimmick.  No social awkwardness.  All of the things that are typically associated with the smart girl are conspicuously absent, and they let her play the hero just as much as the boys do, even if the show is named after them.  It’s a nice change of pace.

Aaugh, Gadget. Why does Google have so many fanarts of you having sex with power tools??

3.  Gosalyn from Darkwing Duck:  Gosalyn, put simply, is a kid.  She’s not a smart kid, or a dumb kid, or an athletic kid, or a sensitive kid, or a tough kid, or a wimpy kid.  She’s just a kid who lives with her dad, who happens to be a Bruce Wayne-esque fly-by-night  crimefighter.  Sometimes she worries about him, sometimes she wants to join in on the fun, but at the end of the day, she’s just…well.  She’s a kid.  The simplicity of her character without relying on overused tropes is what gets Gosalyn on my list.  It’s not easy to craft a character that doesn’t rely on a stereotype that we are already familiar with, while still making her appealing and instantly familiar.  She could ride in my sidecar anyday.

Why is it always ducks? What does Disney have with ducks? People don't even like ducks that much.

2.  Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender:  I could take almost anyone from Avatar and point to them as a model for outstanding character development, but Azula is here for a very specific reason: she is a crazy bitch.  She is a crazy bitch with fire powers and mommy issues, and she will eff you up the a, if you so much as look at her funny when she’s got her crazy hat on.  I’m a big fan of villains.  It’s tough to make a villain who doesn’t seem like a moustache-twirling Dick Dastardly or a hulking inferno of unspecified fury.  Villains need motivations too, you guys!  Something has to make them interesting, and worth our time.  With lady villains, it is almost always sexuality.  She’s evil!  What else is evil?  Uhh, sex?  Yeah.  Sex is evil.  So let’s make her very sexy and she can even make untoward advances at the disinterested protagonist!  Sounds like a plan.  Gladly, Azula doesn’t rely on these things to make her a stellar baddie.  From the start of the series, her intentions are clear.  She’s not evil, necessarily.  She just went round the bend several years ago, and never came back.  Good for her.

She will grind your bones up and wear the powder on her face like a fine foundation. AWESOME.

1.  My number one choice for awesome lady cartoon comes from a classic conundrum: how to make girls funny.  Sometimes they just aren’t, and that’s okay.  The same things that are hilarious coming from a man may not induce the same belly-laughs from a chick.  Some female comedians have resorted to giving up their girliness to get a more masculine sense of humor, but I don’t think that’s necessary.  A gal can be funny in a skirt.  A purple skirt.  With a yellow sweater, and bows on her ears:

I think I still have a sweater like that.

Babs Bunny was created as one of the two main characters of the Warner Brothers’ hit, Tiny Toons.  The animators noticed a significant underrepresentation of ladies in the original Looney Tunes, and so when its ’sequel’ began, they decide to split the character of Bugs Bunny into two halves.  The male half, Buster Bunny, contains all of Bugs’ sly charisma and mischievous smooth-talking mannerisms.  The female half, Babs, got all the screwball humor, and I couldn’t be happier about that.  Babs is a tornado of comedy, constantly lampooning the other characters in the show, doing spot-on impressions of pop-culture icons, or just inserting a quick, 1930’s era one-liner into the mix.  Unlike her counterpart, the loathable Lola Bunny, Babs can go toe to toe with her male companions and come out with the top joke.  She’s zany, over-the-top, and endlessly appealing.

All while wearing a skirt.  Who’d-a thunk it?

Warner Brother’s release of Gay Purr-ee is a classic example of Chuck Jones produced work (Jones most notable to American audiences for his work with the 1960’s prime time Bugs Bunny show) with a cast of characters and voice talent that made it a unique piece of entertainment. Judy Garland and Robert Goulet utilized their stellar singing voices in this musical adventure which reminded me of the Perils of Pauline…the helpless damsel always just missing true happiness with the one she loved. The songs aren’t too thick, although true showtune/musical buffs will appreciate this one more than most. Mel Blanc also uses his talents in this picture (most noted for being the ‘Man of 1,000 voices).

The story takes you from Provence France to Paris to Alaska following Mewsette (Garland) as she searches for the life of sophistication, leaving her beau Jaune Tom (Goulet) for the big city. It doesn’t take long before Meowrice (picture of Meowrice above-voice of Paul Frees) whisks her away to Paris (1895) to have famous artists like Monet, Degas, Van Gaugh to paint her picture and…well I won’t ruin it for you. This is a call back to an earlier time when show tunes and musicals were still fashionable, but I applaud this film as a classic.

This week, one of my more amusing reads has been “Complete and utter Zebu” by Simon Rose and Steve Caplin (to find out what Zebu is, you’ll have to buy the book). It’s a catalogue of the sometimes scary lies told by businesses, politicians and publicity gurus to part us from our money, our morals, or our votes. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable read.

It seems odd for me to pull a business lesson out of a book which spends much of its time holding a sceptical eye up to some of big business’ more dubious tactics; but towards the end of the book I found a delightful chapter devoted to quotes from some of history’s most influential businesspeople and inventors- getting things wrong. And because they’re quotes, I can repeat some of them here for you.

“The Phonograph has no commercial value” - Thomas Edison

“This ‘Telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us”- Western Union Memo

“That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced”- Scientific American, 1909

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”- Harry Warner, head of Warner Brothers, 1927

“Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.”- Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, 1946

“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.”- Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment, 1977

So – you can rightly giggle to yourself at these pontificating pronouncements from the great and the good. Edison, of course, is forgivable for many of these comments – he successfully patented a raft of inventions; and watched several more reach a mass audience with somebody else long after he had discarded them.

Several more of these comments, though (particularly Warner and 20th Century Fox) are paradigm examples of big companies sticking their heads in the sand when a new, threatening technology comes along; hoping the danger will go away.

The quote from Scientific American about cars is also by no means alone – in the 1800s, the British Society, then the world’s foremost platform for scientific discourse, almost closed its doors, claiming that “everything there to be discovered has been discovered”.

What makes these comments so interesting is that we’re all experts when we’re armed with hindsight. In the fray of business, these big players are at an inherent disadvantage. They move slowly and ponderously. It’s small, agile companies which create game-changing new business models. Some smarter large businesses see this, and create innovation labs to check out new ideas. They fund offshoots without the burden of the big corporate architecture, to accelerate new ideas to fruition.

Fashion brands even employ young style consultants who are so close to emerging trends that they can spot next year’s playground uber-trend while it’s still incubating in just one urban club.

But if you’re looking for the Next Big Thing, you can do no better than to ask yourself, all the time, “Why does it have to be this way?” By thinking differently, by challenging received wisdom, by questioning the assumed and obvious; that’s where so many innovative new ideas and their subsequent businesses can be allowed to emerge. And that thinking needs no money: just an open mind.

Review: The Blind Side

The trailers for The Blind Side triggered my “oh geez, another sports-related Triumph of the Human Spirit” cynicism, and I might not have seen the film at all if I hadn’t been assigned to review it. That would have been my loss, and I experienced the lovely surprise of having a movie turn out far more enjoyable than I expected. The Blind Side has no twists or gimmicks other than being a very good example of a sports-related family film, with quality performances and writing.

The movie’s title is a football reference, which the voiceover of Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) explains at the beginning. Michael Oher (Quenton Aaron) is sweating out a tough but unspecified situation in an office, when we flash back a few years and meet him as Big Mike. An African-American staff member at a mostly white Christian private school is trying to get his athletic son into the school, and the school’s coach also spots some athletic potential in Big Mike, granting him a scholarship. Big Mike has terrible trouble keeping up in school, and when his friend’s family stops helping him out, he is virtually homeless — sleeping in the school gym, eating popcorn left there after events, wearing the same thin clothes daily.

Although Big Mike is an oddity at the private school, he gets along well with smaller children like S.J. (Jae Head), and thus attracts the attention of S.J.’s parents, Leigh Anne and Sean Touhy (Tim McGraw). The upper-class family takes him in and encourages him — they’re very much into sports both as former participants and current fans, so they encourage him in football and in schoolwork so he can possibly win a football scholarship to college. Will he be able to succeed, or will he return to his neglectful, drug-addicted mother?

The Blind Side is based on the nonfiction account of Michael Oher by Michael Lewis, which was adapted by the film’s director, John Lee Hancock. If you’ve read the book or know about Oher, the outcome of the movie won’t surprise you. But that’s not the point — this is a movie about characters and relationships, and the effects of great acts of kindness. Bullock, Aaron and Head are the highlights of the film; other characters tend to border on stereotypes, but these three have depth and warmth and fit together beautifully. Kathy Bates has a small but amusing role as a tutor.

The real-life basis for the film may explain some of the difficulties with the story. It’s hard to get past the seeming visual message that the African-American community can’t or won’t care for their own, and that the saviors here are rich white conservatives. The movie is more complicated and personal than that, for the most part. However, I couldn’t believe the scene in which the family that knew about Michael’s situation, and offered him a warm place to sleep, suddenly kicked him out and neglected him. It may reflect real life — I can’t tell without reading the book or asking Oher himself — and real life often makes no sense, but it doesn’t work in the context of the film.

And if this were a purely fictional story, I’d wonder why Longview, Texas native John Lee Hancock and current Texan Sandra Bullock had set a film about intense football fans in Memphis and not in Texas. The rhythms of the dialogue often sound more Texas than Tennessee, although the Touhy adults are actually Ole Miss alumni. Hancock does have some fun casting the college football coaches inThe Blind Side — they all play themselves. Some of the coaches are not quite comfortable speaking lines someone else wrote, but then-LSU coach Nick Saban may have missed a calling as a character actor.

If you can get your head past the dicey racial issues — nearly all African-American characters in this film live in the projects, and I know Memphis is far more diverse than that – The Blind Side is a very entertaining family film that avoids the maudlin cliches of “inspirational” films, or at least pads them out with some depth or humor. I’m not fond of football myself, or intense football fans, but the characters appealed to me and I didn’t even mind the long running time (128 minutes). This is a movie I’d love to take my mom to see — she wouldn’t find anything offensive, and we’d both be entertained. Sandra Bullock fans who may have tolerated some stinkers in order to watch their favorite actress will be rewarded with one of her better performances and one of her better movies.

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Why am I fuming about how UNPROFESSIONAL Warner Brothers is, and why they ruined my A-list movie premiere red carpet?

LONG STORY SHORT:  UNPROFESSIONAL AND RUDE.

Gladly e-mail:  john.lee@warnerbros.com to complain!

For More Pictures Click Above!

Click Picture Above for Video!

Well, for the new Sandra Bullock movie, “The Blind Side”, I had confirmed with them for PRESS PASSES for the night. I spoke to the publicity department and also the people in charge of the photography press.  I was so excited! I arrived with m good friend Elisa and we noticed the line for photography press was huge!  They had two separate lines depending on if you were there to video or photograph.

Looking so young, we were asked a few times if we were with press. I explained what website we were covering it for and we had spoken to people and we would be on the list.  After waiting outside for over an hour in the cold, finally they let the photographers start lining up and given out press credentials.  They could not find our names on the list and we were told we would get in.  Then I showed them an e-mail sent confirming we have a spot.  The lovely man (note “lovely” is sarcastic) John Lee, not only told us we were not approved to get in, but he let in FREELANCE photographers and then proceeded to tell us “there’s no more room”.  Clearly there was room.  He was snide and made sure he talked down to us.  He spent zero time trying to accommodate us.  He seemed like he LOVED the fact he got to turn away SOMEONE.

So…. to add insult to injury, we had to cross the street and wait there in hopes of grabbing a  picture of two.  I wasn’t very successful but I did put together a video and photographs (see above).
We made the best of the situation and we found a few events going on that night…. so we covered:

Enjoy the pictures and video…. totally e-mail john.lee@warnerbros.com!!!!!

November 17, 2009

The Blind Side Movie Premiere
- Sandra Bullock, Faith Hill

American Eagle Store Opening
- Adrian Grenier
- Christian Siriano

A Steady Rain on Broadway
- Hugh Jackman
- Daniel Craig

Microsoft lance,en Belgique, le service Zune au travers de sa console de jeux Xbox 360. Le joueur de Xbox 360 Live pourra désormais downloader des films streaming en qualité HD. Microsoft a un accord avec les principaux distributeurs de film (Paramount, Universal, MGM et Warner Brothers) et devient par conséquent un concurrent direct à Telenet et Belgacom TV. Les video seront disponibles au moment de leur sortie en DVD.

Microsoft lance,en Belgique, le service Zune au travers de sa console de jeux Xbox 360. Le joueur de Xbox 360 Live pourra désormais downloader des films streaming en qualité HD. Microsoft a un accord avec les principaux distributeurs de film (Paramount, Universal, MGM et Warner Brothers) et devient par conséquent un concurrent direct à Telenet et Belgacom TV. Les video seront disponibles au moment de leur sortie en DVD.

 

 

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ห้ามนำไปใช้ใน Website อื่นโดยไม่ได้รับอนุญาต
หากต้องการสอบถามเพิ่มเติมเกี่ยวกับผลงานวง ให้ถามที่ http://board.thaimisc.com/manson

อ่านหน้าอื่น ๆ : ประวัติ วง Marilyn Manson, ประวัติ นาย Marilyn Manson, ประวัติ Twiggy Ramirez, ประวัติ Madonna Wayne Gacy (Pogo), ประวัติ John 5, ประวัติ Zim Zum, ประวัติ Ginger Fish

Frank Kenny (Kenneth) Wilson เกิดวันที่ 28 กันยายน 1966 ใน Framingham ใกล้เมืองหลวง Boston ในรัฐ Massachusetts พ่อของเขาเป็นนักร้องผู้เข้าร่วมเหมือนกับ Frank Sinatra และ Paul Anka และแม่ของเขาเป็นนักเต้นให้ Warner Brothers (ท่านปลาขิงจึงคุ้นเคยกับคำว่า Warner)

Ginger Fish Sleep, Drawing by Sw Eden

ตอนที่ Frank ยังเป็นเด็กอยู่เขาชอบวง Rush และ Black Sabbath วง Neil Pert เป็นวงที่เขาคลั่งมากที่สุด Frank เริ่มตีกลองตั้งแต่อายุยังน้อย นั่นคือ grade 2-3 (ของอเมริกามี grade 1 ถึง 12 grade 1 ถึง grade 6 คือ ป.1 ถึง ป.6 และ grade 7 ถึง grade 12 คือ ม.1 ถึง ม.6) เมื่อเขาอยู่ grade 7 เขาก็เริ่มเล่นรวมวง และอยู่ในวงใหญ่ 3 ปี คาดว่าน่าจะเป็นวงดุริยางค์ หลังจากที่ครอบครัวของเขาย้ายไปที่ Las Vegas เขาก็เล่นในวงของวิทยาลัยแห่ง University of Nevada และ Nevada All-State Big Band Frank เล่นให้หลาย ๆ วงใน Las Vegas จนค่อนข้างเป็นที่รู้จัก และมีข่าวลือว่ามีบุคคล 2 คนคอยสนับสนุนเขาคือ Paul Anka และ Barry Manilow อยู่ประมาณ 2 สัปดาห์ อย่างไรก็ตามหลังจาก Frank สพน์โอกาศในการทำงานเล็ก ๆ เขาก็เริ่มทำงานที่ไม่ค่อยสุจริตนัก โดยเป็นพนักงานในงานเลี้ยงที่ Circus Circus Casino (การละเล่นใน casino อาทิเช่น slots roulette และ blackjack)

ต่อมาเมื่อความอดทนที่จะอยู่ใน casino ได้หมดลง Frank เดินทางไปที่ Orlando รัฐ Florida ในที่ที่พ่อแม่ของเขาได้ซื้อโรงละครไว้โรงหนึ่ง Frank เล่นกลองในการแสดงที่ชื่อ A Chorus Line กับ Jesus Christ Superstar หลังจากนั้นเขาก็ตกงานมาตลอดจนกระทั่ง Marilyn Manson มาชวนเขาไปเล่น Frank เปลี่ยนชื่อเป็น Ginger Fish หรือปลาขิง มาจากฆาตรกรตอนกลางคืนอย่าง Albert Fish และดาราสาวหน้าใหม่อย่าง Ginger Rogers ปีนี้คือปี 1995 ปลาขิงมาแทน Sara Lee Lucus มือกลองคนเก่า มันน่าแปลกมากที่ปลาขิงเคยทำงานเปลือกนอกเพื่อศาสนากลับมาทำงันกับคนบ้านอกศาสนา

พูดถึงการแสดงของ Manson เรา ๆ ก็รู้ เวลาจบงานทุกครั้งจะมีการทำลายข้าวของ Manson มักจะเหวี่ยวขาตั้งไมค์ไปโดน ปลาขิง และเขาก็เข้าโรงพยาบาลบ่อย จนปลาขิงมั่นใจว่าสักวันเขาต้องถูกฆ่าแน่ ๆ ปลาขิงบอกว่า ถ้า Manson ทำร้ายจนเขาทนไม่ได้แล้วเขาจะฆ่า Manson ทันที และเขาก็จะติดคุก แต่ตราบใดที่เขายังมีชีวิตอยู่เขาก็จะเล่นมันต่อไป เล่นทุก ๆ ที่ กับ Manson จนกว่าความตายจะพรากเราออกจากกัน และที่ที่เดียวที่ยังไม่ได้ไป และจะไม่ไปก็คือคุก (พวกเราคงรู้ว่าเด็กชายที่ไปร่วมห้องนอนกับปลาขิงสมัยอยู่ Las Vegas คือ Edsel Dope ผู้มักจะพูดถึงคุกบ่อย ๆ เช่นกัน ทั้งคู่ชอบคุกหรือใครชักจูงอีกคน ถึงอย่างไรก็ตาม Edsel Dope ได้อิจฉา Tripp Eisen ที่ได้เข้าคุกสำเร็จไปแล้ว) นอกจากนี้ปลาขิงผู้นิสัยดียังแก้ตัวให้ Manson ผู้ทำร้ายตนอีกว่า ทุกคนก็มีอารมณ์รุนแรงเหมือนกัน ตัวเขาเองก็มี เพราะทุกคนยังไม่โตพอที่จะควบคุมมันได้ เวลาหงุดหงิด รำคาญก็จะโยนของเป็นธรรมดา เขายังหวังว่าทุกคนจะโตขึ้น และเขาจะคอยดูการเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งนี้

ในฤดูร้อนปี 2000 วง Paradox ออกอลบัม SUMMER เอ้ย! ฤดูร้อนปี 1998 วง Manson มี tour ที่ Europe แต่ปลาขิงมีทำสัญญากับ Mono Nucleosis ไว้ ทำให้ต้องล้มเลิกการแสดงทั้งหมด มันก็เป็นอุปสรรคอย่างหนึ่ง แต่ภายหลัง Manson ก็ได้ สมใจนึกในสมัย Holy Wood (2000-2001)

Marilyn Manson and Twiggy, Drawing by Sw Eden

ไม่นาน ต่อมาในสมัย Mechanical Animals ประมาณ 1998-1999 มีหลาย ๆ อย่างเปลี่ยนแปลงไป Zimmy ที่น่ารักออกจากวงแล้วแทนด้วย John5 ทั้ง ๆ ที่เพลง Promote ของอลบัมเป็นผลงานของ ZimZum Twiggy และ Manson ร่วมกันแต่ง นอกจากนี้ Michael Beinhorn จาก Soundgarden และ Hole ยังถูก Manson จ้างให้มาเป็น producer คนใหม่ในวงอีก ปลาขิงต้องจำเชื่อฟังเขา เพราะนายคนนี้เคยไล่ Patty Schemel มือกลองคนเก่าของวง Hole ออกจากวง ปลาขิงมาบ่นว่าแต่เดิมก่อนมีไอ้นี่มาเขาทำงานเพื่อวง แต่ครานี้ต้องมาฟังคำสั่งไอ้นี่ Manson จ้างไอ้หมอนี่มาเพื่อทำให้เสียงดนตรีดีขึ้น แต่ทำไมต้องให้ไอ้นี่มาสั้งให้เขาปรับปรุงการเล่นกลองไม่รู้เท่าไร แทนที่จะให้มันลงมาเล่นเองอย่างที่มันชอบเสียเลย ที่ปลาขิงโกรธได้ขนาดนี้เพราะ Beinhorn ไม่เคยแสดงให้เขาดู หรือสอนเขา เอาแต่สั่งเขา เหมือนกับปลาขิงไม่เชื่อว่าไอ้นี่เก่งจริง แต่ในที่สุดเขาก็ล้มความคิดเขาซะ เมื่อเขาพบว่า Beinhorn เป็นคนเก่ง

ปลาขิงเป็นคนที่แปลกที่สุดในวง เพราะเขาไม่เสพ ไม่สูบ และไม่ดื่ม Manson บรรยายเขาว่า เขาเงียบที่สุดและจนดูน่ากลัวที่สุด เหมือนกับระเบิดเวลาที่รอการระเบิดครั้งใหญ่ Manson ยังให้ฉายาเขาอีกว่า “the strangest and quietest person in the band” (ที่จริงอาจจะเป็นคนปกติสุด แต่เทียบกับทุกคนในวงที่แปลก) นอกจากนี้ปลาขิงยังเป็นสมาชิกคนหนึ่งที่อยู่ในวง Marilyn Manson ได้นาน นาน นานมาก ๆ รองจาก Pogo (Gacy) (1989-ปัจจุบัน) ปัจจุบัน ปลาขิงทำ side project กับวง Martyr Plot หลังจากเข้าโรงพยาบาลเพราะตกเวที ทำให้ Chris Vrenna (ex-NIN) มาเล่นแทนชั่วคราว

Marilyn Manson in Court, Drawing by Sw Eden