Posts Tagged ‘entertainment’
Some Good Animated Films
Some of us have been told stories when we were kids, that babies were brought to their parents by storks with extra-strong beaks. But have you ever wondered where these babies come from? Watch the clip above to find out. Parents are going to have to tell a different story now, when it comes to the birds and the bees…or in this case, the clouds and the storks.
This short film comes with a moral lesson – don’t judge a book by its cover. Created by Fabrice O. Jubert, an animator who used to work at DreamWorks, French Roast is about a high-class businessman who forgot his wallet while having coffee at a fancy coffee shop. To buy him time in finding a solution without getting embarrassed, he keeps on ordering coffee. As the day (and the coffee) goes on, our protagonist meets some characters in the film who eventually help him out of his predicament. French Roast was also nominated for Best Animated Short Film in the 2009 Academy Awards.
How far would you go for love? Oktapodi is a French short film that shows us how two octopuses overcome a series of comical events to stay with each other, and get away from the clutches of the restaurant delivery guy. Take a look at how true love can overcome the odds – especially when you’re also in danger of ending up as someone’s dinner.
Oktapodi started out as a Graduate Student Project. It has won several awards and a nomination for Best Animated Short Film in the Academy Awards.
Many of us are probably familiar with this one. I myself have been seeing this animation a lot when I go to the TV section in the Department Store. Geri, our main character in the film plays chess against himself one autumn day at the park. So how do you actually win in a game of chess against yourself? Watch to find out.
This short film won Best Animated Short film at the 1997 Academy Awards. And oh, a little trivia here: Geri appears on Toy Story 2 as the guy who fixed up Woody.
I’m sure many people can relate to this short film – myself certainly included. Ever tried setting up your alarm at several times to make sure that you wake up on time? Our main character here takes it to different level as he sets up several alarm clocks instead. And not just in his bedroom, he’s got alarm clocks all over the house!
Created by Mesai, and independent animation team in Korea with director Moo-hyun Jang, watch the video to get an idea of how you look in the morning when you “fight” with your alarm clock. Well, it’s not really the waking up part that’s hard isn’t it? It’s getting up that we always struggle with.
http://listverse.com/2012/12/16/10-must-see-animated-short-films/
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Vijay’s ‘Thuppaki’ Review.
Vijay‘s films have not been doing well since Pokkiri,Villu.
Nor had Murugadoss’s from Ghajini.
Vijay in Thuppaki.
The recent Deepavali release ‘Thuppaki’ has brought cheers both to Vijay and Murugadoss.
I doubt whether any Indian Film has done as much work as Murugadoss in this Film on ‘Sleeper Cells’
The concept of ‘Sleeper Cells’ have been well-explained and the use of ordinary people being used as ‘Sleepers ‘ have been brought out excellently.
The planning of the Terrorist and the measures taken by Vijay to counter the Terrorist’s plan are intelligent.
For a change in Tamil Films, the Hero his grey cells, instead of mere brawn.
The screen play is tight, excepting the first half where the narration is slow and there are as many as three song sequences in rapid succession.
But for the last ten minutes , the first half drags on.
However the second part is packed with action and intelligence.
The film is logical as far as films go.
Murugadoss pays attention to details to such an extent that you find a plaster in Vijay’s hand in the last few frames where he fractured himself in a fight, this is a rarity in Tamil Films.
Dialogues are natural.
The songs are in the films seem to be forced and do not seem to jell with the flow(come to think of , which songs in recent Films fit with the flow!)
As to Music Harris Jeya Raj churns out his stock.
The clever use of the crowd whistling and cheering in Vijay’s introduction scene is so good that I was turning around in my seat to see how many in the audience were whistling!
I often say that there are two types of back ground scores in Tamil’Indian Films.(there are exceptions)
One is where you take some time to identify the original score.
The other one is blatant to an extent that at the instance of a few bars, you can fix the source.
Harris Jeyaraj unabashedly lifts the back ground score of ‘Bourne Ultimatum!’
Locales, Editing are good without being intrusive,
This is probably a film of Vijay where the Love part is so meager and so detached you practically feel nothing despite the efforts of the girl to expose herself.
Viay has done an excellent job as an Army Man.
Dance, the forte of Vijay, is as expected of him.
Do I detect a stiffness in his limbs while dancing?
His sardonic expression while fighting the Sleepers in an effort to rescue the girls is refreshing.
Where is the famous Vijay’s mischievous Twinkle in his eyes?
A film that does not disappoint Vijay’s fans and Murugadoss buffs.
A good entertainer.
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How Porn Stars Are Recruited,Inside Story.
We are mystified as to the process of Hollywood casting.
More mysterious is the World of Porn Industry.
How and who recruits the Porn Stars?
How are the Agents Paid?
I read on interesting article.
Looks like ‘Dog Eating Dog profession!’
Story:
This story first appeared in the Nov. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
On a late-summer afternoon in a dingy San Fernando Valley apartment, talent agent Mark Spiegler is having it out with a producer. Pacing the length of the living room that for the past nine years has doubled as his office, Spiegler, portly with thinning brown hair and a graying 5 o’clock shadow, sets out his demands: If his client, a top actress, is going to agree to a project, certain accommodations must be made. “You want her ready at 8, you should do the makeup,” Spiegler barks as he stomps past a bookcase filled with framed photos of himself with various women. “If you want her later, she’ll do her own makeup.”…
Spiegler’s spat over the call time might seem familiar to agents at the CAAs and WMEs of Hollywood who often find themselves protecting their star clients from producer demands. But Spiegler has a particular reason for being concerned about the 8 a.m. shoot: It would require his client to get up around 4:30 a.m. to receive an enema. Because the scene calls for the woman to perform anal sex.
Yes, Spiegler, 54, represents porn stars — and he’s one of the biggest agents in Los Angeles’ $1 billion adult entertainment industry. As the Ari Emanuel or Kevin Huvane of hardcore, he handles such top performers as Skin Diamond, Chanel Preston and Asa Akira, the client for whom Spiegler is arguing.
$1 Billion Adult Entertainment Industry
Mark Spiegler, 54, represents porn stars — and he’s one of the biggest agents in Los Angeles’ $1 billion adult entertainment industry. As the Ari Emanuel or Kevin Huvane of hardcore, he handles such top performers as Skin Diamond, Chanel Preston and Asa Akira.
Ultimately, the production company, New Sensations, will agree to delay the shoot for Akira, 27, who will do her own makeup and be paid about $2,000 for the scene. “That’s the whole reason for us being here,” says Spiegler, whose boutique firm, Spiegler Girls, represents a small group of elite women and is known as one of the adult industry’s top agencies. “We are the buffer — so the girl doesn’t look bad. We take the heat.”
At the same time, shrinking porn profits and a talent supply-and-demand imbalance have caused performers’ salaries to decline. Whatever the moral qualms Americans have (40 million to 50 million people in the U.S. regularly watch pornography on the Internet, according to studies) about the proliferation of movies with such titles as Orgasmic Oralists, Damn, She’s a Lesbian and Dong of the Dead, the tough U.S. economy has led to an explosion in the number of people hoping to find work in porn — some perhaps emboldened by the dream they too could become crossover stars like Sasha Grey (Entourage) and James Deen (the forthcoming Lindsay Lohan starrer The Canyons). While a decade ago the average female performer would make about $100,000 a year, Spiegler says she now might make as little as $50,000 — all while juggling responsibilities such as social-media outreach and personal appearances.
And where there were only two or three reputable adult agencies 10 years ago, now 14 agencies are licensed and bonded, though top shops L.A. Direct Models, 101 Modeling and Spiegler Girls dominate the upper echelon of performers. None would discuss how much money they make, but observers say that top agents can pull down $250,000 a year from their 10 to 15 percent takes. “It’s very competitive, and the well-known agencies do control most of the talent,” says Dan Miller, executive managing editor of industry trade magazine XBIZ. “It’s just like Hollywood in that regard.”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/porn-star-agents-inside-risky-390466
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Mitt Romney Elected US President
Media usually takes sides during a political Campaign, this, we all know.
We, in India, are also aware how much misreporting,paid up stories,cooked up exposes and scoops make up the election fever.
The US Media is a class of its own.
Barack Obama.
Samples.
Breaking News, Mitt Romney elected the 45 President of the United States.-Infowars(look at the name).
“Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear,” the New York Times wrote in the editorial piece Barack Obama for Re-election.
However the confusion created by Romney’s various backtracks perplexed many political players and observers, that then decided to “stick with the devil” they know, as the Economist wrote, endorsing Obama despite his sometime disappointing first term.
“Like so many other independents, I have found the past four years to be, in a word, disappointing,” Bloomberg wrote, to then conclude saying that anyway he “will be voting for him.”
“Mr Obama’s first term has been patchy,” wrote The Economist, “[his] shortcomings have left ample room for a pragmatic Republican, especially one who could balance the books and overhaul government.”
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/401050/20121102/romney-obama-endorse-newspaper.htm?cid=5
The Columbus Dispatchpublished the results of a poll that seemed to indicate that Ohio voters had swung, perhaps decisively, towards Barack Obama in the presidential campaign. The poll indicated that likely voters in Ohio favor Obama over Mitt Romney by a 50-48 margin.
When the details of the poll are examined, however, the results don’t look nearly as positive for the president. The final paragraph of the article notes that the sample has a 2.2 percentage point margin of error. This means the race is still statistically tied, but another detail should be even more disturbing for Democrats.
The big problem is that the sample is described as being 40 percent Democrat, 36 percent Republican and 21 percent independent. To put those numbers in perspective, CNN Ohio exit polls from 2008 show that in that Democratic landslide year 39 percent of Ohioans considered themselves Democrats, 31 percent Republicans, and 30 percent independents. It is extremely unlikely that the number of Democrats has increased by a percentage point over the 2008 election.
Last week, Gallup released a survey of the 2012 electorate that indicated that the demographics of voters this year resemble 2008 in almost every respect except one: party affiliation. In 2008, 39 percent of Americans considered themselves Democrats and 54 percent leaned Democratic. Twenty-nine percent were Republicans and 42 percent leaned Republican. This is almost identical to the Ohio exit poll data as well as the results of the national popular vote.
In 2012, 35 percent identify as Democrats (46 percent lean Democratic) versus 36 percent who identify as Republican (49 percent lean Republican). That is an 11 point swing in the party identification toward the Republicans over four years. When leaners are included, the swing is 15 percent toward the Republicans. It is extremely unlikely that the percentage of Democrats in aswing state like Ohio would increase while Democrats became less common nationally.
http://www.examiner.com/article/flawed-polling-obscures-likely-romney-landslide
Trump, in a stunt designed to draw media attention and set afire the conservative blogosphere, said he would donate $5 million to charity if the president released his college records and passport applications.
“I have a deal for the president, a deal that I don’t believe he can refuse, and I hope he doesn’t. If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give to a charity of his choice – inner city children in Chicago, American Cancer Society, AIDS research, anything he wants–a check immediately for $5 million,” Trump said.
He added that the check will be written “within one hour” of the documents’ release and set a deadline of 5 p.m. on October 31, one week before Election Day…and also right as children are heading out the door to begin trick or treating on Halloween.
In the US, they seem to have an excellent entertainment once in four years before Christmas.!
Vijay TV Super Singer Junior 3 Excerpts,Live
Vijay Tv has been conducting Live Reality show of unearthing Musical Talent in Tamil.
The programme had/has judges from the Carnatic to the Light Music genre.
The judgments have so far been professional and the involvement , participation and performances of the children have been out standing.
The jarring note is the lady anchor who kept on repeating inane jargon, ‘amazing,one and only(what does it mean?)’ not to speak of the Tamil hyperbole!
One point that kept occurring to me was that the child Yazhini was included in the finals, though she was not voted for the Spot.
The explanation given was that, though she was not voted to be in the Finals, she has been included because the margin of marks granted to the last selected(in terms of votes), was only a fraction higher.
In plain language she scored less, yet she was selected because she scored marginally lower.
Is is fair to the contestants?
Why make a sham of votes then?
If you fail by one mark or 15 marks, you stand failed.
Coming to the finals ,Gautham ,Pragathi,Suganya,Ajith,Yazhini – all of them performed well.
Yazhini was good in patches.
ith is a master Performer on stage.
Suganya was scintillating in ‘Ezhu Swarangalil’
Pragathi displayed all round versatility.
And Gautham stole every one’s heart with his soul rendering rendition of ‘Ullathil Nalla Ullam’ which would have done Sirgazhi clap in his grave.( I have a post on this).
I have a dubious record of selecting winners.
I posted a blog on this on Super Singer last edition where I proved I lived up to my record of picking up some one who comes cropper(who, I feel , other wise would have won! ).
So I am not predicting the winner and spoil the chances of the Winner.
I shall post it after the results are announced to check whether even my thoughts affect the Final out come.
Again I retain my record of picking up a loser!(updated at 840 am 27 October)
Now it is the turn of Pragathi to suffer.
Ajith has been declared the ‘Winner’ of the Super Singer Junior Season 3-(2012)
Few points on the Final.
The show ,unlike the last one dragged on.
The Lady Anchor irritated the viewers by endless and meaningless chatter.
The performance of the Finalists on this occasion was very ordinary when compared to their earlier performances.
The exception was Pragathi.
One may not brush it aside as nervousness as the last year’s finalists turned out scintillating performances in the Finals.
The choice of songs by them was not really intelligent.
When you face a Live audience in the Finals, one should ensure that they choose a song that is in tune with their natural style,Simple and not a challenging one and one that is popular or at least that is very well-known to the people to ensure that they are able to relate to you and carry you through to the winning post.
Prgathi ‘s song ‘Isaiyarasi’ was rendered brilliantly ,but people were unable to relate to it as people are not very familiar with this song.
Goutham should have chosen a more emotional song as it is his forte.
‘Paattum Naane’ is a demanding song and the style of singing demands regal approach more than other things.
( by the way why at least one finalist of any singing competition chooses Paatum Naane?My cousin chose it in Raj Tv and won the Title)
After A.R.Rehman‘s entry the whole atmosphere became Rehman-centric and though it is said that his visit was a surprise, it did not appear so by the songs chosen by the contestants after his arrival-all songs were from Rehman’s.
As I was telling my son, Rehaman’s songs rest on orchestration .much less to actual singing and the singer is lost.
To add to the woes. surprisingly the Orchestra was mediocre, barring key board.
A word about the Winner.
Ajith is a good talent , he is yet develop the skills to be a Winner,
Pragathi had all of it,including versatility.
Probably people were swayed by Ajith’s age and his antics on stage.
Pragathi, cheer up, you should have won, you did not’…this is not the end ..you will become some thing of a celebrity singer before long.
God Bless.
Excerpts.
Related:
Normally even in elections,if I vote for some one .the Party will lose.
Hope I am proved wrong this once.
I am writing this portion of the blog after the Winner has been announced.
To my chagrin, I retain my track record.
Sai Charan has won the Title.
He too deserves the award.
It is just that Sathyaprakash is slightly better .
The most touching scene was Santosh, the boy with a smiling face, who genuinely expressed his happiness at his friend/Competitor’s Day of Glory and carried him on the dais spontaneously.
A born entertainer, Santosh is destined to become a good light Music Singer with his mellifluous voice and right modulations.
More importantly a great human being , for one at such an age.
May God Bless Him.
http://ramanan50.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/vijay-tv-airtel-super-singer-season-3excerpts-and-live/
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