Prince of Persia Sneak Peek

"Disney gave IESB a sneak peek and The Surrogates and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time at the Walt Disney Studios Showcase in Hollywood on Wednesday.
Prince of Persia is massive - the sets are huge, the action sequences are huge and the only thing that comes to mind is that this is another Pirates of the Caribbean in the making. Can you say billion dollar franchise?"
Source: www.iesb.net

A couple of break-ups

Drew Barrymore splits from Justin Long. A source close to the actress says the two ‘are still friends’. Drew Barrymore and Justin Long have broken up. Her rep confirmed the news with no other details than that the two "remain friends".
Source: Evan Agostini / AP file
Drew Barrymore kissing Ed Westwick, Chuck Bass in "Gossip Girl". "Kirsten Dunst was looking particularly smiley in NYC on Saturday, but she found herself in a little bit of drama earlier that night. She stopped by SNL to support her Spider-Man costar James Franco, and ran into Drew Barrymore who was there to cheer on her BFF Cameron for her cougar cameo. Apparently Drew wasn't too happy to see her ex Justin Long's rumored new flame and the ladies had to split off with their respective celebrity buddies. The awkwardness continued at the after party at Wildwood Barbeque, as Drew and Kirsten continued to do their best to keep their distance in the crowd of celebs that included Emile Hirsch, Ellen Page, and the kids from Gossip Girl".Source: popsugar.com

"Natalie Portman and her folk-rocker boyfriend Devendra Banhart have broken up, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

Portman, 27, began dating Banhart, also 27, after starring in his "Carmensita" video, which was shot last March. A short time later, they took their romance public when they were spotting kissing on the streets of New York and over a sushi dinner at Jewel Bako.

A fan of Banhart's music, Portman had asked him to donate a track to the charity compilation she curated on iTunes, Big Change: Songs for FINCA. She returned the favor by forgoing her usual fee to appear in the video".

Source: www.people.com

Bryan Lee O'Malley rocks

"Michael Cera is in. Now what about the rock 'n' roll?

Inspired equally by music and video games, Bryan Lee O’Malley’s “Scott Pilgrim” series is a “High Fidelity” for those weaned equally on Nintendo and record stores. The six-part comic series -- Parts 1-4 are out now, and O’Malley hopes to have Book 5 in stores by the end of 2008 -- is being turned into a film by Universal Pictures, with shooting pegged to begin later this year.The books may not come with a soundtrack, but music has a starring role. For instance, the title in Book 3, “Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness,” is a nod to a certain Smashing Pumpkins album, and the main character himself is named after a song from little-known defunct indie rock band Plumtree.

“Juno’s” Cera has been cast as the young Scott Pilgrim, a character who tempers his self-proclaimed awesomeness with a bevy of neurotic ticks.
So how much, if any, of Pilgrim’s mystique comes from being in a rock band?

“None”, said O’Malley. “Zero percent. The girl doesn’t care about the band. I had one girlfriend who was obsessed with the fact that I wrote and recorded songs, which, of course, is great for the ego. But to the woman who became my wife, my musicality is just little bonus on the side, if that, which is probably better in the long run.”"I thought of early Uncle Tupelo, when they were really smushing punk and country into one weird arrhythmic monstrosity," O'Malley continued.The band's Jeff Tweedy went on to form adventurous pop act Wilco, while Jay Farrar, who voiced most of Uncle Tupelo's songs, started Son Volt.One of Uncle Tupelo's early songs, "I Got Drunk," is below, but it probably doesn't provide a full picture of the sound of Sex Bob-omb. O'Malley is quick to add that Bob-omb is "not nearly as good, and 10 years too late, and with Scott and [drummer] Kim singing along and adding ba-ba-bas to everything."

[...] Here's the track list, which O'Malley describes as kind of an "intersection between '70s rock, Canadian Pilgrim_basslineindie stuff and a laid-back country feel."

1. Plumtree, "Scott Pilgrim"
2. Joel Plaskett, "When I Have My Vision"
3. The Flying Burrito Brothers, "To Ramona"
4. Thrush Hermit, "Oh Man! (What to Do?)
5. Wilco, "Someday Soon"
6. Big Star, "O My Soul"
7. Sloan, "Can't Face Up"
8. Guster, "Ramona"
9. Old 97s, "Stoned"
10. Super Friendz, "10 lbs"
11. Beachwood Sparks, "By Your Side"
12. Cuff the Duke, "Long Winter"
13. David Bowie, "Let's Spend the Night Together"
14. Mamas and the Papas, "Dedicated to the One I Love"

Source: latimesblogs.latimes.com

"Eagle eye" - Michelle Monaghan

"After the commercial success of "Transformers" and "Disturbia," "Eagle Eye" reaffirms the status of the likable Shia LaBeouf as one of the prominent thespians of his generation.The screenplay by Alex Kurtzman (also a producer) was proposed by Spielberg, who's credited as exec producer and is instrumental in launching and keeping on track LaBeouf's career (and much publicized life off-screen). Spielberg's concept stipulated that technology was becoming ubiquitous, surrounding us in many ways, and thus can suddenly or not so suddenly turn against us human beings. In 1968, in his seminal sci-fi "2001: A Space Odyssey", Kubrick played with the notion of what if the technology that that we love and depend on, was used on us in harmful ways, beyond our control. Since then, there have been several film about this idea, some by Spielberg himself.While socializing with her peers one night, Rachel receives an odd call on her cell by a strange, anonymous woman, who tells her to follow instructions blindly and implicitly, or else Sam, whose appearance is visible on a wall of TV screens across the streets, will get killed.Back in Chicago, Jerry finds his usually meager bank account inflated to $750,000, and his sparsely furnished apartment crammed with do-it-yourself terrorist supplies. He, too, receives a call from the same mysterious woman, warning him to run away, or risk being arrested.

While still digesting the menacing news, Jerry is apprehended. Tonally, "Eagle Eye" exploits not only our heavy reliance on technology--specifically cell phones and Blackberries--but on the prevailing fear, scare and paranoia in the wake of 9/11, the notions that we are never really alone, that unknown people could observe and control our behavior, that we could be arrested on the slightest suspicion or whim.When Jerry and Rachel first meet, they immediately assume that the other is the source of their troubles. However, they quickly realize they are both victims in a larger scenario over which they have no control, and that if they are to survive, must learn to trust one another.

[...] Rounding out the cast were Ethan Embry as FBI Agent Grant and Anthony Mackie as Major Bowman. Caruso. An underling agent to Morgan, Grant is always nervous around his hothead boss, but he's the guy who provides the vital information and thus propels the plot forward. Once the basic situations and premises are set, the narrative declines in energy, and the second half of the film, which becomes more of an actioner than a paranoia thriller, is rather generic and predictable, containing all the requisite escapes, chase scenes, bombs and explosions".
Source: emanuellevy.com Michelle Monaghan as Rachel Holloman in "Eagle Eye".
Michelle Monaghan and Shia Labeouf at The Los Angeles Premiere of Eagle Eye, 16 September 2008.

Donnie Darko no. 53 greatest movie of all times

Source: www.empireonline.com

"On a shadowy, non-existent street in Weirdsville, USA, first-time writer-director Richard Kelly lives next door to David Lynch and Greg Araki. In order to keep up with the neighbours, he has crafted his own magnificently bizarre hybrid of suburban paranoia and apocalyptic teen angst.

Of course, there could be a 'logical' explanation for the disturbing nightmares and time-travelling episodes that central-character Donnie undergoes. He's a sharply intelligent but world-weary boy, and the fact that he avoids taking his medication hints that what we're seeing – including his imaginary giant rabbit friend – is the by-product of some form of schizophrenia.

But Kelly leaves plenty of room for dark and playful ambiguity, and it's the casting of Jake Gyllenhaal that makes these bold moves succeed. A black sheep triplet to Tobey Maguire and Elijah Wood, Gyllenhaal's exquisite comic timing and laidback personality create a wonderful tension with the odd events surrounding Donnie. Cult glory beckons".

Reviewer: Alan Morrison.

Source: www.empireonline.com/reviews

Hollywood leftist messages

“My father-in-law’s mother committed suicide in the great depression. He said to me, ‘Movies saved me, every week I would see heroes winning and I thought I could be that.’ That’s a pretty powerful argument.”

“Why do you think people come to the United States of America? Are people smuggling the constitution under their pillow and reading it at night in Bangladesh? Or are they seeing things in American film?A movie could have a direct message with Maggie Gyllenhaal and the Gyllenhaal triumvirate of hate that says that America is horrible, and yet that message is overwhelmed by the proliferation of excess on the screen. They’re like ‘Did you see there were four different types of orange juice on the table? I’d rather go to that place where those people are complaining about how badly they have it.’ You know it’s like I think that people read between the lines, that America, despite the fact that our Hollywood class says ‘It sucks here. It’s horrible’. People see it on the screen and go, ‘No it doesn’t. Look at all that shit you have! It’s so good there, I want a piece of it.’”

[...] “These people [the as of yet closeted conservatives] want they want to reconnect Hollywood to its initial successes. Not this sort of dark inverted, moral system, that expresses the darkness of these peoples’ spirits. They’re really dark people. They’re conflicted people and they want us to see how conflicted they are.”

Source: www.observer.com

Holidays in Dubai

"DUBAI (Dobayy), second largest of the seven emirates constituting the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. [...] Almost half the inhabitants of Dubai are from the Indian subcontinent; 100,000-150,000 are of Persian origin. This Persian community, the largest in the U.A.E., has been instrumental in promoting ties between Persia and Dubai.

Relations with Persia before 1357/1979. Toward the end of the 19th century the Persian port of Lenga lost its free-trade status, and nearby Dubai became the leading entrepôt in the area. The liberal policies of the emir of Dubai persuaded many Persian merchants to move there from Lenga. Dubai thus became the major port for trade with Persia. In addition, the growing Persian community provided opportunities for special cultural ties between the two countries. Nevertheless, Dubai, as a member of the Trucial States, was still under British control, and its relations with Persia were governed by the overall relations between Great Britain and Persia.Persia was able to exploit the rivalry between Dubai and Abu Dhabi by developing close ties with the emir of Dubai. A consulate was opened in Dubai in July 1952; it was elevated to consulate general in 1954. On the other hand, the trade-oriented economy of Dubai ensured the emir's greater interest in Persia than in his immediate neighbors. In the early 1970s more than half of about 50,000 trading dhows in Dubai were engaged primarily in re-export trade with Persia. Cultural relations flourished as well, as Persia sponsored educational, health, and other institutions in Dubai. Students from Dubai attended Persian universities, particularly in Shiraz.

[...] The end of the war and subsequent developments in the Persian Gulf area, including the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, only strengthened ties between Persia and Dubai. Many hospitals, schools, banks, recreation clubs, workers' cooperatives, and other institutions in Dubai are run directly by the Persian government or semigovernmental organizations. If no new major crises occur capitalist initiatives adopted recently by the Persian government should strengthen relations with Dubai in the near future". Source: www.iranica.com