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[omid.k]

With its director and star in place, Spider-Man 4 is about to snare a Pulitzer Prize winner in its web.
David Lindsay-Abaire, the playwright who won the nation's highest literary achievement for his 2006 drama, The Rabbit Hole, is in final talks with Columbia Pictures to pen the latest superhero sequel, per the Hollywood Reporter.

Both director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire signed on last month to the fourth and fifth web-slinger flicks, which will reportedly be shot together à la The Lord of the Rings to keep the budget down. No word yet on whether Kirsten Dunst will be back as Mary Jane Watson.
The plot of the fourth installment is being closely guarded. Lindsay-Abaire will be the latest acclaimed writer to board the blockbuster franchise, following veteran screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park), who wrote the first Spider-Man back in 2002; fellow Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, who helped craft the story and wrote an early draft of 2004's Spider-Man 2; and two-time Oscar winner Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People, Paper Moon), who wrote the final drafts for Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3.
Rabbit Hole starred Cynthia Nixon and Tyne Daly and won four Tonys, including Best Play. Lindsay-Abaire is adapting a movie version, to star Nicole Kidman, and is also working on the book and lyrics for the upcoming Broadway musical Shrek.

[omid.k]

Joaquin Phoenix is quitting movies to focus on music

.
"He has said that `Two Lovers' is his last. But this is not strange. Joaquin has been directing music videos and been involved in music for the last number of years," Susan Patricola, Phoenix's publicist, said Friday.

Phoenix first talked about his decision to "Extra" this week while attending a fundraiser in San Francisco, abruptly ending the interview after the reporter wondered whether he was joking.

[omid.k]

Agent 007 received the royal stamp of approval, with Princes William and Harry attending the world
premiere of the new James Bond thriller, Quantum of Solace

The princes, dressed in dinner jackets and cheered by fans, joined star Daniel Craig and other celebrities Wednesday on the red carpet in London's Leicester Square. They spent nearly a half-hour greeting cast and crew inside the Odeon cinema.

Proceeds from the gala are going to charities for military veterans, and 200 soldiers and their families were invited to the screening.

William, 26, and 24-year-old Harry are both officers in the British army. Harry spent 10 weeks this year serving on the front line in Afghanistan.

The 22nd official Bond film, "Quantum of Solace" features Mathieu Amalric as the villainous Dominic Greene, Olga Kurylenko and Gemma Arterton as the spy's love interests and Judi Dench as spymaster M.

It took Prince Harry 20 minutes to reach Arterton, and he joked: "What took us so long to get down this end?" Arterton said afterward that she "had a giggle" with the princes.

The film is Craig's second outing as 007, and picks up where its 2006 predecessor "Casino Royale" let off, with the secret agent out for revenge for the death of his girlfriend, Vesper Lynd.

Casion Royale, which glossed over the gadgets and one-liners in favor of a more wrenching love story and intense action sequences, was widely praised for its darker take on the Bond franchise. But Quantum of Solace has gotten mixed reviews.

"I think it's a good follow up, it's not a great follow up," film critic Olly Richards said. "Casino Royale was this complete invention and just surprised everyone. ... This goes slightly more traditional with the story — you've got someone trying to take over the world with a very bizarre plot that you can't quite make sense of. But there's still all of the things you love in there: There's fantastic action, very beautiful girls, lots of stunts, some very very good stuff with Judi Dench."

Director Marc Forster said he wouldn't be working on the next Bond film.

"I was happy to make Quantum of Solace," he said at the premiere. "They asked me to do the next one. I was very honest: I passed because I'm working on something else."

Quantum of Solace was filmed around the world, with scenes shot in Panama, Chile, Italy, Austria and Mexico.
The film was getting its first screening for the general public later Wednesday as part of the London Film Festival. It opens around the world starting Friday

[unartig]

Friday, October 31, 2008


L-R: Daniel Craig, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Billy Piper, Britney Spears, Pete Doherty, Heather Mills, David Beckham, Jade Goody

Halloween is the time of year for wearing scary masks, but with the faces that these celebs are pulling, they won't need a disguise to make people leap out of their skin

From Pete Doherty's frightful face to David Beckham's gruesome grimace, there's certainly a monstrous bunch in this set.
Remember Heather Mill's dramatic breakdown?
And who can forget Britney's horrific head shaving incident.
Don't have nightmares now

[unartig]

by LINDA NARTEY
Friday, October 31, 2008

A haggard looking Kate Moss was a picture of disaster when she arrived in LA for Halloween today looking tired and spotty

The model, who left London yesterday without any make-up, didn't feel the need to freshen her face with some colour before she left the plane.
And the paparazzi took advantage of her real self to get these grim pictures.


Kate makes a dash through LA airport clutching her snake skin passport

.After her eleven-hour flight, Moss looked tired, old and very pale as the camera's flashed around her
The years of partying looked to be taking its toll on the supermodel who tried to make a dash for the exit with her boyfriend Jamie Hince.
Kate recently denied rumours that she was pregnant for Jamie, but her all-black clothing disguised any bump that could be emerging

[unartig]

Friday, October 31, 2008

Inches from the sea: The Air Europa plane in the Canary Islands

Dozens of passengers had to be evacuated today after a jet carrying holidaymakers from Glasgow skidded off a runway stopping inches from a beach

The Air Europa plane, thought to be carrying 74 people, went off the end of the runway after it touched down at Lanzarote airport.
Spanish police said there were no reports of injuries.
The airport on the holiday island was reportedly closed following the accident this morning.
A spokesman for Air Europa said: "There was a problem on landing. All the passengers left the plane and are fine and are being taken to their hotels."

It stopped at the perimeter fence that separates the airport from the beach

[unartig]

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Rose Gentle hopes SAS commander's resignation will force Government to take action

The mother of a soldier killed in Iraq has said she hoped the resignation of an SAS commander over the continued use of the lightly armoured Snatch Land Rover would force the Government to take action

The Daily Telegraph reported that Major Sebastian Morley is quitting in disgust over the deaths of four of his soldiers in Afghanistan who were killed when their Snatch hit a landmine earlier this year.
Defence sources insisted his departure was for "purely personal reasons". However, it is understood he was unhappy at the continued use of the Snatch despite its obvious vulnerability.
The newspaper reported that he believed Corporal Sarah Bryant - the first female soldier to die in Afghanistan - and three male colleagues, the SAS soldiers Corporal Sean Reeve, Lance Corporal Richard Larkin and Paul Stout, all died needlessly.
Rose Gentle's son Fusilier Gordon Gentle died when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in June 2004 in Basra. A vital piece of kit that could have protected the vehicle was later found to be lying unused in a nearby storeroom.
She said: "I'm glad that Major Morley is making a stand. I only hope that it means that the government will finally do something and withdraw these vehicles. It should have been done a long long time ago. The Government have been talking about replacing Snatch Land Rovers but they need to put their money where their mouth is now.
"I have been asking for this for four years. It is too late for Gordon and the others who have died but there are a lot of boys out there still who deserve better protection. They need the right equipment for the job."
In his resignation letter, Major Morley, the commander of D Squadron, 23 SAS, was said to have blamed "chronic under investment" in equipment by the Ministry of Defence for their deaths. The paper said he believed the MoD was guilty of "gross negligence" and that its failure to supply better equipment was "cavalier at best, criminal at worst".
Defence Equipment Minister Quentin Davies later dismissed Major Morley's reported complaints as a "travesty" which he found hard to take entirely seriously.
"There are a couple of things that are odd about this resignation. He said that he tried to alert the Ministry of Defence to the inadequacies as he saw it of his equipment," Mr Davies told BBC News. "I have asked several questions in the ministry ... and no one can trace any such communication from him. Maybe we will come up with it but it does seem rather surprising, the whole of that aspect

[unartig]

Thursday, October 30, 2008

A man has launched a campaign in Japan to legally allow comic book-loving humans to marry their favourite fictitious characters

More than 1,000 people have signed Taichi Takashita's on-line petition to establish a law permitting marriage to comic characters, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Takashita says he feels more at ease in the "two-dimensional world."
He said: "I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world.
"However, that seems impossible with present-day technology. Therefore, at the very least, would it be possible to legally authorise marriage with a two-dimensional character

Comic books known as "manga", animated "anime" films and on-line virtual reality games have become increasingly popular in Japan, with fictitious characters frequently elevated to celebrity status.
Among the most high profile of manga fans is the current prime minister Taro Aso.
He recently complained he had not had time to read any comic books since taking office last month.
Takashita's petition was launched only days after a woman was jailed in Japan after "killing" her virtual husband after he suddenly divorced her as part of a popular interactive internet game.
One person who supported the petition, wrote: "For a long time I have only been able to fall in love with two-dimensional people and currently I have someone I really love.
"Even if she is fictional, it is still loving someone. I would like to have legal approval for this system at any cost

[unartig]

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Pamela Anderson: an example of a blonde lady

Blondes, it seems, are the best girlfriend material but, when it comes to a wife, men look to brunettes

Famous blondes such as Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears and Legally Blonde star Reese Witherspoon are certainly objects of male desire - 36 per cent voted them the sexiest women in a survey out yesterday.
But 52 per cent of men said dark-haired women were best to marry, because they were more dependable and sensible. Just 18 per cent opted for blondes

Some 49 per cent said brunettes were the most loving women, with 53 per cent feeling they could rely on them more than anyone else. Almost 48 per cent also thought brunettes were the best cooks.
But more than half of the men said they had been on most dates with blondes.
The research revealed 33 per cent of guys had a particular hair shade they always went for.
Hairdresser Andrew Collinge, whose hair-care brand carried out the poll, said: 'I thought men were more modern than this. I'm obviously in the minority as I married a blonde

[unartig]

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A bank customer who criticised a call centre worker later found his bank account frozen and his identity changed to that of a Ugandan divorcee

George Bates: not a divorcee from Uganda

. It happened after carpenter George Bates, 23, gave an Abbey operator a low rating in a post-call survey
He also found his overdraft withdrawn and direct debits cancelled - landing him with £60 of charges

'This arrogant operator obviously decided to change all my details in revenge,' said Mr Bates, of Bristol. 'I was terrified I'd never have my money back.'
Abbey cancelled the fines and apologised