Wednesday, 3 September 2008

Traitor

Can a thriller in truth be a thriller without thrills? Better yet, seat an international spy account really come through by purposefully getting us to sympathize with the enemy? That's the duple edged steel being wielded by Jeffrey Nachmanoff with his novel film Traitor. Even the title offers yet some other bit of bifurcation -- on the one manus we hold a deeply religious military personnel (Don Cheadle) working with terrorists to blow up Americans. On the other, we see how he uses his faith as a means of undermining the group's most trigger-happy objectives. Of course, this doesn't make the tale interesting or exciting. Sometimes, just beingness different doesn't save you from existence dull.


Samir Horn (Cheadle) was 12 when his churchman father was killed by a railroad car bomb. After years struggling with Islam, he becomes an explosives expert, working within a radical sect. When FBI agents Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce) and Max Archer (Neal McDonough) storm their headquarters in Yemen, Samir and his cohorts ar jailed. Soon, he is befriended by Omar (Said Taghmaoui) world Health Organization recruits him to bring together his latest mission. Under the counsel of leadership Fareed (Aly Khan) and Nathir (Raad Rawi), Samir will construct 50 bombs, each one destined for a trip on a U.S. cross-country bus amount Thanksgiving. As a valet de chambre of conscience (and secrets), involvement in such a plot will test every fiber of his existence -- and his loyalties.


As much as it wants to military position itself as the "thought process man's action film," Traitor actually betrays all signs of ingeniousness. In fact, it oftentimes over-rationalizes its ideas, leaving the audience limp from lack of excitement. We know something is up with Cheadle's Samir the moment we see him, and every action he then takes seems calculated and controlled by influences outside our narrative purview. Indeed, as it passes along as a formality, peeling away the obvious layers from its proposed puzzle box seat plot, we keep waiting for the moment when the storyline's other shoe drops. Sadly, when it does, we've already figured out the twist.


That's because Traitor spends so much time apologizing for Islam, dragging out ancillary characters who rightly champion the religion's peaceful and convinced messages. On the leaf side, this means there's less room for suspense or entertainment. There is nothing haywire with apologizing for people who survey all Westerners as devil targets -- especially when you place their political agenda lame into every conversation. But when the entire moving picture revolves around rooting for (or against) the success of a massive felo-de-se bombing campaign, you're request a circle from the popcorn and nacho crowd.


Cheadle is no help here, his glowering persona purposefully geared to make his accomplice more acceptable. While many of his gestures seem clamorous (he gives a hungry prisoner his food), the actor does try to complicate his character. But again, he does so to the detriment of the intrigue. Since Samir is such an honourable and decent man, we can't think him committing mass mutilate. Even as he appears to be preparing for the act, we inherently suspect another course of action.


As a director, Nachmanoff is non good at such misdirection. He wears his adumbration right out on his cinematic sleeve. Granted, we don't anticipate much from the man who co-scripted Roland Emmerich's dopey The Day After Tomorrow, just in a current climate of "us vs. them," Nachmanoff's conservative approach only muddies the clash. It's hard to be pushed to the edge of your seat when the moralizing and mean game good guys (Pearce and McDonough are appropriately angry Americans) keep pushing you back.


Most healthy people understand that at that place is a clear contradiction between dogma and the interpreted right to demolish. By pickings both sides seriously, Traitor might be reasonable, but it's far from involving.




Not sure... do we have Prince Albert in a can?




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Sunday, 24 August 2008

Dirty Smoke From Ships Found To Degrade Air Quality In Coastal Cities

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Thursday, 14 August 2008

'Destiny' closing Toronto film festival

Slew of world premieres unveiled Wednesday




TORONTO -- The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled a slew of world premieres Wednesday including its closing-night selection, Charles Martin Smith's action-comedy "Stone of Destiny."

The latest troll of premieres include Rian Johnson's "The Brothers Bloom," which stars Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo; Stephen Elliot's U.S.-Brit co-production "Easy Virtue," starring Colin Firth, Jessica Biel and Kristin Scott Thomas; and Michael Winterbottom's "Genova," toplined by Firth and Hope Davis.

Other domain bows headed for Toronto include Richard Linklater's "Me and Orson Welles," French helmer Francois Dupeyron's "Aide-toi le ciel t'aidera" and Rithy Panh's "Un Barrage contre le pacifique."

Additional high profile entries include Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire," John Crowley's Michael Caine starrer "Is There Anybody There?" Bruno Barreto's Brazilian entry "Last Stop 174," Stephen Belber's romantic comedy "Management," German director Max Farberbock's "A Woman in Berlin" and Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," which stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.

Martin Smith's "Destiny," which stars Robert Carlyle, closes the festival Sept. 13.


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Wednesday, 6 August 2008

Friday, 27 June 2008

Mondo Ray

Mondo Ray   
Artist: Mondo Ray

   Genre(s): 
Indie
   



Discography:


Black Mirror Boy   
 Black Mirror Boy

   Year: 2005   
Tracks: 17




 






Thursday, 19 June 2008

Budget Slashed At Bangkok Film Festival



The Bangkok Film Festival, which for a time seemed destined to become the
Cannes festival of Asia, will apparently become a shadow of its former self.
The Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand and the Thai
Directors' Association announced that they plan to keep the festival alive this
year with an event to take place during the week of Sept. 23-30 that has a
budget of just $750,000. The last Bangkok Film Festival held before the 2006
coup d'etat had a budget of $5 million, while last year's, a drastically scaled
back version presented by Thailand's Tourism Authority, was budgeted at $2
million. �



16/06/2008





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Friday, 13 June 2008

Girls Aloud - Cole Confirmed As Osbourne Replacement On X Factor


GIRLS ALOUD star CHERYL COLE has been signed as the new judge of hit U.K. TV talent show THE X FACTOR - taking over from disgruntled star SHARON OSBOURNE.

The pop beauty, who scored a chart hit with Black Eyed Peas star will.i.am on his track Heartbreaker last month (May08), will join the judging panel of the programme when it airs on Britain's ITV1 channel later in the year (Sept08).

Cole will join music mogul Simon Cowell, pop manager Louis Walsh and singer Dannii Minogue on the hit show.

Rock matriarch Osbourne quit earlier last week (06Jun08) amid speculation of a longterm rift with Minogue - sister of pop superstar Kylie Minogue - and reports TV bosses had refused her demands for a pay rise.

Osbourne went on to admit she had indeed asked for a "ridiculous" amount of money before resigning from the show after four years as a judge.

And the 55-year-old has given her blessing to her replacement, telling British radio station Radio One, "I've heard they're asking Cheryl from Girls Aloud, who I love. I'd like to see Cheryl."

Cole is ecstatic about her new role: "It's a massive honour to be following in the footsteps of Sharon Osbourne."

However, the pop star has denied the move will mean her days with Girls Aloud are numbered, adding, "The rest of the girls have said they're right behind me. So whilst we get started on the next album, it will be brilliant to be a judge on The X Factor."

Cole beat former Spice Girl Mel B and Welsh classical singer-turned-chatshow host Charlotte Church to land the job.





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Sunday, 8 June 2008

Gov't Mule and Leslie West

Gov't Mule and Leslie West   
Artist: Gov't Mule and Leslie West

   Genre(s): 
Rock
   



Discography:


Album   
 Album

   Year:    
Tracks: 12




 





Planet Green network not what you might expect

Saturday, 7 June 2008

Tal Bachman

Tal Bachman   
Artist: Tal Bachman

   Genre(s): 
Pop
   



Discography:


Staring Down The Sun   
 Staring Down The Sun

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 13




As the boy of Guess Who/BTO guitar player Randy Bachman, Canadian-born pop out singer/songwriter Tal Bachman was elevated in a musical surroundings, fascinating the comprehensiveness of his father's enormous record collection and commandment himself to play guitar. As a teen he increasingly lost interest in music, however, and rather went on to cogitation political philosophy at a little university in Utah; at that place Bachman grew to accept his destiny as a performer, however, and before long renounce school, returning to his native Vancouver in 1995 to begin writing songs. His self-titled debut followed on Columbia in 1999, and he scored a smash hit with "She's So High."





Kosmos

Sound Tribe Sector 9

Sound Tribe Sector 9   
Artist: Sound Tribe Sector 9

   Genre(s): 
New Age
   



Discography:


Artifact   
 Artifact

   Year: 2005   
Tracks: 20




Founded in Georgia in the late '90s, Sound Tribe Sector 9 chop-chop tasteful a style of dub-influenced, breakbeat-infused psychedelic medicine with a profound emphasis on chemical group extemporisation, like to the work of jam dance band peers such as the Disco Biscuits, Lake Trout, and the New Deal.


Sound Tribe Sector 9's debut effort, Interplanetary Escape Vehicle (1998), was recorded shortly after the group's formation and provides only skimp hints of what the sound the band would develop, rather focussing on more or less generic instrumental funk and jazz grooves. With the add-on of percussionist Jeffree Lerner in 1999, the band's sound solidified into a powerfully original, highly danceable tapestry. Through changeless touring, the chemical group began to work up a large following among crush band fans. Two more releases -- Live (1999) and Offered Schematics Suggesting Peace (2000) -- captured both the band's developing sound and their increasing pursuit in Mayan mysticism and refinement. The former accurately attested the surefooted tone of the band's unappeasable live performances, spell the latter secondhand parallel tape loops, a blend of unrecorded and studio tracks, and wide enjoyment of invitee flutist Kofi Burbridge to create a more than subtle mix. With a regard for spirituality, equivalence, and a liberation of musical egos, the band eschews solos in favor of small, insistent parts that add together into a musical image that is at once monotone and texturally deep. The band resettled to Northern California in previous 2000.






Train

Train   
Artist: Train

   Genre(s): 
Rock
   



Discography:


For Me, It's You   
 For Me, It's You

   Year: 2006   
Tracks: 13


My Private Nation   
 My Private Nation

   Year: 2003   
Tracks: 11


Drops of Jupiter   
 Drops of Jupiter

   Year: 2001   
Tracks: 11


Train   
 Train

   Year: 1998   
Tracks: 13




What started as iI guys with strong voices and unmatched guitar became San Francisco's Train by 1994. It was in late 1993 that Patrick Monahan left Erie, PA, and met up with the Los Angeles stria the Apostles. Lead singer/guitarist Rob Hotchkiss and mate guitarist Jim Stafford had essentially disbanded by this clock time, but the prospect encounter with Patrick Monahan proved uncaused, as Hotchkiss lengthened an invitation to the crooning Monahan to become a two-man ring. After making thoroughgoing appearances in subdued coffeehouses, they distinct to var. a entire band and enlisted erstwhile Apostles members Stafford and bassist Charlie Colin. Colin brought along his beneficial friend, drummer Scott Underwood, and Train were on their direction.


Coach settled in San Francisco to develop their heavy in a relaxed, laid-back air. In an unconvincing scenario, executives from Columbia Records verbalized an interest and, in a passably conjunctive strategy, farmed the fledgling band out to the bush league -- in this example, Aware Records -- where they could grow course and unhurriedly. In 1997, they went on term of enlistment, porta for the likes of Blues Traveler, Barenaked Ladies, and Counting Crows. Train knew they had arrived when they sold out a performance at San Francisco's prestigious Fillmore locus. Their completed debut album was released the following yr. Drops of Jupiter followed triad years later, becoming a atomic number 78 hit on the back of its single of the same describe. My Private Nation followed in 2003. Though reception was initially weak, the single "Get to Me" finally caught fire, and Train had their up-to-the-minute Billboard graph stumble. A holdover live album appeared in 2004 spell the band returned to the studio to track record My Private Nation's reexamination. The single "Taxi" proclaimed the band's render in late 2005, and the Top Ten uncut For Me It's You followed early the next twelvemonth.





Oprah Winfrey - Winfrey Turns Vegan

The Ten Commandments Tablets To Be Sold At Auction

Charlton Heston's most iconic movie treasures are to auctioned off as part of a massive memorabilia sale later this summer Tablets from The Ten Commandments and the kaftan and pallium the late Heston wore in Ben-hur are among the items which will go under the hammer at the upcoming Profiles in History auction in Los Angeles on July 31 and August 1. The Ten Commandments tablets, which are expected to fetch up to $60,000, were one of four used in the 1956 movie classic, and are considered to be the best preserved. They were given to The Sands Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where they have been on display for many years. A spokesman for Profiles In History says, "These tablets retain the beautiful red and black-speckled patina of the Mount Sinai-inspired granite, with translucent white engraved letters and nearly pristine edges. There are few props in the history of film that are so easily recognizable, and so coveted by seasoned collectors of original Hollywood film relics. Overall the tablets remain in exceptional condition." Meanwhile, Heston's Ben-hur costume is expected to fetch more than $12,000. The two lots are part of a 1,000 item haul, offered as part of Profiles in History's 32nd auction of Hollywood memorabilia.


See Also

Black Tape For A Blue Girl

Black Tape For A Blue Girl   
Artist: Black Tape For A Blue Girl

   Genre(s): 
Instrumental
   New Age
   



Discography:


The Scavenger Bride   
 The Scavenger Bride

   Year: 2002   
Tracks: 13


As One Aflame Laid Bare By Desire   
 As One Aflame Laid Bare By Desire

   Year: 1998   
Tracks: 12


Mesmerized By The Sirens   
 Mesmerized By The Sirens

   Year: 1997   
Tracks: 10


This Lush Garden Within   
 This Lush Garden Within

   Year: 1993   
Tracks: 13


A Chaos Of Desire   
 A Chaos Of Desire

   Year: 1991   
Tracks: 12


Ashes In The Brittle Air   
 Ashes In The Brittle Air

   Year: 1989   
Tracks: 11


Before the Building Fell   
 Before the Building Fell

   Year:    
Tracks: 10




Black Tape for a Blue Girl's ethereal, mournful sound well-nigh defined the darkwave artistic of their judge Projekt Records, a caller owned and operated by the group's founder, composer and keyboardist Sam Rosenthal. Formed in 1983, Projekt was in the beginning visualised as an sales outlet for Rosenthal's solo electronic music; upon relocating to California terzetto geezerhood later, his music adoptive a heater, profoundly personal sound heralded by the formation of Black Tape for a Blue Girl, which debuted in 1986 with The Rope. Where subsequent efforts including 1987's Spell-bound by the Sirens and its 1989 followup Ashes in the Brittle Air john Drew heavily on ambient soundscapes, the mathematical group -- a revolving ensemble of performers that in addition to Rosenthal as well at multiplication included vocalists Oscar Herrera and Lucian Casselman, violinst Vicki Richards, clarinettist Richard Watson and violoncellist Mera Roberts -- expanded into progressively thick electronic textures over the form of records like 1991's A Chaos of Desire and 1993's This Lush Garden Within. After a three-year respite, Black Tape for a Blue Girl resurfaced in 1996 with the EP The First Pain to Linger, a disk packaged with a novel authored by Rosenthal; the uncut epic Remnants of a Deeper Purity appeared that same class, followed in 1998 by As One Aflame Laid Bare by Desire. Ahead the Buildings Fell appeared in early 2000.





Cowell to produce Potts Hollywood film

Boknakaran, Ande Somby, Rosynk

Boknakaran, Ande Somby, Rosynk   
Artist: Boknakaran, Ande Somby, Rosynk

   Genre(s): 
Other
   



Discography:


Moya Pe Tvoja   
 Moya Pe Tvoja

   Year: 2000   
Tracks: 15