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Berlin, Nov 9 (DPA) The German parliament Sunday celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, commemorating the efforts of European civil rights activists which helped end the divide between East and West in Germany and Europe.
“The people east of the Iron Curtain only had their large hearts to set against the [...]

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has just wrapped filming on director Jon Favreau’s second installment of Iron Man, in which she plays Tony Stark’s top assistant and love interest Pepper Potts. Now she’s preparing to star opposite Nicole Kidman in Tomas Alfredson’s follow-up to Let the Right One In,
The Danish Girl.

An adaptation of the David Ebershoff book of the same name, The Danish Girl is based on the true story of the relationship between the world’s first post-operative transsexual, Einar Wegener, and his artist wife, Greta. When Greta asked her husband to stand in for one of her models one day, the experience led the two of them down the road to transformation that changed both of their lives forever.

The script is by Lucinda Coxon and producers include Gail Mutrux, Anne Harrison, Linda Reisman, Per Saari and Kidman, who replaced Charlize Theron in the title role.

Link | Posted 11/8/2009 by BrentJS

Gwyneth Paltrow | Nicole Kidman | Tomas Alfredson | Let the Right One In | Iron Man 2 | The Danish Girl

It was ladies’ week in Hollywood (and related environs) as real stars like Rihanna and Mariah Carey opened up on TV about serious, emotional issues; celebish types like Kate Gosselin rehashed…

Reality star Kourtney Kardashian is getting worried about pregnancy weight gain. “I’ve gained 26 pounds since getting pregnant,” says Kardashian, 30. Ironically, Kourtney’s younger sisters, Kim, 29, and Khloe, 25, both lost weight this summer and can share their diet and exercise secrets with their sister after she has her baby. Meanwhile, there seems to be a pregnancy boom among reality stars this summer. Also expecting are Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, 39; Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel, 39, and Girls Next Door star Kendra Wilkinson, 24.

In an in-depth interview with Total Film, Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro lays out his vision for The Hobbit in detail and talks about how he plans to take creature design out of the shadow of The Lord of the Rings. In conceiving these creatures, he says he will “keep the DNA in the same gene pool as the Rings trilogy,” but with some critical differences.

…in the trilogy most of the creatures are brutish or inarticulate. In The Hobbit, the creatures speak: Smaug has beautiful lines of dialogue; the Great Goblin has beautiful lines of dialogue; many creatures do. So we had to design them with a different approach because you are not just designing things that are scary.

I also wanted some of the monsters in The Hobbit to be majestic.

I wanted the Wargs to have a certain beauty so that you don’t have a massively clear definition: what is beautiful is good and what is ugly is not. Some of the monsters are absolutely gorgeous.

Of course, the most anticipated of these creatures is the dragon Smaug. It’s something that del Toro has been working especially hard on, and he promises something really unique here.

…we’re finishing his colour palette and a little bit of the texture. But the bulk of the design took about a year, solid. It’s because of the unique features of the dragon.

Early in production I came up with a very strong idea that would separate Smaug from every other dragon ever made. The problem was implementing that idea. But I think we’ve nailed it.

And then there are the spiders of Mirkwood.

Well, they are the progeny of Shelob, but Shelob was quite a promiscuous girl [laughs]. She mated with many partners. And insects and spiders are incredibly adaptable creatures. There will be spiders…. They are more creatures of the shadow, more creatures of the deep forest. They are not earth nesting. They are nesting in the canopies so physically they have adapted to that environment…. With Shelob, she was quite low to the ground so she moved like a tank. Our spiders have to feel massive but be very nimble.

What comes through most in this interview — which is well worth reading in full — is just how much fun making this movie is for him. And from all the hints he drops, it looks to be massively fun for the audience as well.

Link | Posted 11/6/2009 by Bill

Guillermo del Toro | The Hobbit

Darren Samuelsohn / New York Times:

EPW Dems End-Run Boycotting GOP, Vote 11-1 for Climate Bill  —  Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Democrats quashed a three-day-long Republican boycott and passed global warming legislation today using a procedural move that could undermine support from moderate senators if the bill reaches the floor.

It’s “allez cusine” for Michelle Obama, who will announce the secret ingredient during her Food Network debut on Iron Chef America, in an episode premiering in January.

The Jan. 3 premiere, which was partially shot in the White House, pits the White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford and Bobby Flay against …

THERE was no Christmas, children marched while reciting verses about Grandpa Lenin and school lessons were full of propaganda - but childhood was happy behind the Iron Curtain, says Irena Macri.

Los Angeles, Nov 4 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Dallas star Michael Irvin and “Iron Chef” host Mark Dacascos were sent packing on Tuesday night in the second double elimination on ‘Dancing with the stars.’
The eliminated stars, said that they enjoyed their duration on the ‘Dancing with the stars’ show and were very excited by the talent of [...]

London, November 4 (ANI): The British Government’s waste watchdog has determined that large wardrobes of seldom-used clothes are no longer environmentally acceptable and people should instead rent outfits and accessories, thus helping to cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
According to the Times, a report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has called for the [...]