One of the Heroes of Slumdog Millionaire – A.R. Rahman

A.R Rahman, who won 2 Academy awards for Slumdog Millionaire has quite a story to tell himself. A.R. Rahman was born Dileep Kumar in January 6, 1966, in Madras and was the son of a film music composer and conductor, R.K.Shekar. Dileep lost his dad when he was 9 years old and his family had to rent out his father’s musical instruments to make a living.

To help support his family, he joined famous film music composer Ilayaraja‘s troupe as a keyboard player at the age of 11. He dropped out of school as a result of this and traveled all around the world playing with various orchestras. He also obtained a scholarship to the Trinity College, Oxford, where he graduated with a degree in Western classical music. In 1989, he converted to Islam along with the rest of his family and was known as Rahman thereafter.

Rahman is skilled in Carnatic music, Western classical, Hindustani music and the Qawwali and loves to amalgamate these styles of music to create his own distinctive style.

To hear some of his music, you can visit his website or at Rhapsody.

New Moon Auditions Vancouver, Canada

“Aikins/Cossey is seeking actors between 15 and 25 years of age in three B.C. casting calls in Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.

Candidates will receive scripts and be asked return the same day to read for a part.

Victoria: Feb. 7, Paul’s Motor Inn, 1900 Douglas St., 9 a.m. to noon

Vancouver: Feb.8, Second Avenue Studios, 225 W. 2nd Ave., 9 a.m. to noon

Kelowna: Feb. 8, Delta Grand Okanagan, 1310 Water St., 9 a.m. to noon”

-Vancouver Sun article.

If you’re Native American, and interested in the Twilight series, get your butt in gear. What have you got to lose? Vancouver is beautiful and shooting is set for spring of this year… a spectacular time of the year on the west coast of Canada.

If you audition drop us a note and let us know how you make out!

** Dakota Fanning to play Jane of the Volturri, in New Moon**

People’s Choice Awards: The Reel Deal

I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I won’t bother. I’ll leave you to Whitney Pastorek’s article from Entertainment Weekly. This article does not disappoint, with whit, sarcasm and honest to goodness real opinion, it’s like a slap in the face, waking you from the mundane. Enjoy!

” This is not the blog post my editors asked for. In this space, you are supposed to be reading a Best and Worst of last night’s People’s Choice Awards, one of those snarky little fiestas where I run down all the highlights of the ceremony, crack some jokes, get worked up when Sugarland doesn’t win, whatever. But PopWatchers, I can’t do it this time.

I know what you’re thinking: “Yeah, it’s hard to make a list of ‘bests’ when there weren’t any.” But even if I faked it by saluting Christina Applegate‘s classy speech or the emotional fortitude it must take for Ellen DeGeneres to keep getting up there and smiling at the nice people who cheer for her when she dances her funny dance but refuse to give her the civil rights necessary to marry her “roommate,” I would be doing you, the intelligent and savvy readers of EW.com, a disservice. Because the People’s Choice Awards, by any reasonable standard, are the worst kind of pandering, artificial hooey. And we, the alleged people, deserve better.

I intend no disrespect to the winners of the “awards,” nor to enthusiastic hostess Queen Latifah (pictured), nor to the hardworking men and women who labored behind the scenes to produce these two hours of televised pap and circumstance. But with the exception of The Dark Knight — victorious in so many categories they had to shove them all into a montage at the end — do I think for a second that these “winners” are, indeed, the “people’s” choice? No. Let’s be honest: As the very clear post-show disclaimer explained, a complex system of “E-Polls” and market research and extravagant math went into choosing the nominees you saw upon your screen. And that system led to a telecast in which praise was lavished on a crassly commercial cross-section of demographically advantageous properties starring celebrities who were willing to show up.

Even as mindless distraction, this awards show was a failure. There was no suspense; every category could be easily predicted by remembering who you’d already spotted in the audience. Would the “Favorite Rock Song” be “All Summer Long” by Kid Rock, or those other two thingies performed by people who were not currently located inside the Shrine Auditorium? To quote “winner” Rock: What a surprise. Chris Brown accepted his “Favorite Combined Forces” award (for “No Air” with Jordin Sparks) “live via satellite” from Dublin, Ireland — where by my calculations it would have been approximately 3:30 in the morning. Rascal Flatts were handed a statue immediately after completing their unconvincing Rascal Flatts impersonation, and like 200 people rose as one from the good seats to collect the “Favorite TV Drama” award for House. Yes, tipping the winners off ahead of time has become pretty much de rigeur at this sort of thing, but when those “winners” stretch the limits of plausibility or common sense, I start sawing at my wrists with Twizzlers.

Examples: We were told early in the broadcast that voting was still open in the “Favorite New TV Comedy/Drama” categories. And yet when the time came, the casts of Gary Unmarried and The Mentalist — which, oh wow, just happen to air on the network we’re watching! — were in the house and ready to go. The cast members of the losing shows? Conspicuously absent. (Okay, there were 90210 people milling about, but I’m willing to believe they, like Paris Hilton, have nothing better to do.) But wait, there’s more: Britney Spears losing to Robin Williams for “Favorite Scene Stealing Guest Star” — in an Internet-based voting competition? Kate Hudson (movie to promote) and Latifah (host) going head-to-head for “Favorite Leading Lady”? The Secret Life of Bees winning “Favorite Movie Drama”?? People. Bees made $37 million at the box office. That is just slightly more money than Marley and Me made opening weekend.” Full article here.

Familiar Faces On Screen: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has appeared in movies such as The Last Emperor (1987), License to Kill (1989), Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) and Mortal Kombat (1995).

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was born on 27 September, 1950 in Tokyo, Japan, the son of an actress from Tokyo and a Japanese-American father who served in the United States Army (stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Polk, Louisiana and Fort Hood, Texas).

- His family finally settled in Southern California, where Tagawa began acting while in high school. He was an exchange student in Japan while studying at the University of Southern California.

- In his free time, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is developing a new form of martial arts, called “Chun Shin.”

- He is a part-time masseur for the University of Hawaii football team. He often helps injured players.

- His latest role involves playing Heihachi Mishima in Tekken, the film adaptation of the popular video game franchise.

Barbara Hershey in Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning

Sixty year old Barbara Hershey takes on the grown up role of Anne Shirley, in the continuation of this beloved story by Lucy Maud Montgomery.

Having never read the Anne of Green Gables books, Hershey tells the Globe and Mail that she relied on the script as her bible. She wanted to bring a freshness to the role, and a Katherine Hepburn feel to an all grown up Anne.

I can’t help but be interested in how Hershey does, as this role has huge shoes to fill. Having grown up in Canada, as a child, the Anne of Green Gables stories are a particular fond memory for me, and I suspect for many others of my generation. Very much a Little House on the Prairie feel, with east coast values and spectacular scenery.

Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning airs Sunday on CTV at 7 p.m. ET

Harry Potter Encyclopedia Green Light

“A Harry Potter fan and website operator said yesterday he’s going ahead with publishing an encyclopedia after losing a lawsuit against the author of the massively popular book series.
Steven Vander Ark said at a news conference at a southwestern Michigan bookstore that Muskegon-based RDR Books will publish his Harry Potter Lexicon on Jan. 12.
Vander Ark, a former school librarian, and his publisher say the revised version meets specifications for such a book laid out in the judge’s ruling.”
Source: Toronto Sun

I believe I read recently elsewhere of an unauthorized “encyclopedia” for the Stephenie Meyer saga, Twilight. My opinion is, unless it’s in cooperation with the original author, then other people should not be able to profit from their material. Everyone is just trying to make a buck these days, forget about integrity and original thought.

For writers, be warned, take care of which thoughts you pen, before the ink dries they may no longer be yours.

Valkyrie: Tom Cruise Does The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

Tune in and turn on, Tuesday, December 9th at 11pm EST on CBC, as Tom Cruise is interviewed by George Stroumboulopoulus, on his new WWII movie, Valkyrie.

Valkyrie is a based on true life events of the attempted assasination of Adolf Hitler lead by Cruise’s character, Col. Claus von Stauffenberg. This film has been plagued by bad press, including the controversy raised by the German Government surrounding shooting sites for the movie and Cruise’s religion.

With a Christmas release date, Valkyrie is positioned to be an Oscar contender. Check out The Hour tomorrow night to see what Tom Cruise has to say about this film, and to see if it is Old Tom Cruise who shows up, or whacky New Tom Cruise.

What’s your Bacon Number?

I heard about this game many years back and I always thought how amazing it was, that one statement turned into a phenomenon called the Bacon Number!

Kevin Bacon, in a 1994 Premiere interview for the film The River Wild, while talking about his fame and career, comments that he’s worked with everybody in Hollywood or someone who’s worked with them.

It was then, that 3 students got together and created a game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”. According to this game, Kevin Bacon was at the “center of the universe” and the “Bacon number” of an actor or actress is the number of degrees of separation they have from Bacon, as defined by the game. The higher the Bacon number, the farther away from Kevin Bacon the actor is.

Did you know that Pope John Paul II had a “Bacon Number” of 3?

Step 1 – Pope John Paul II was in Padre Pio — Tra cielo e terra (2000) with Giovanni Lombardo Radice.

Step 2 – Giovanni Lombardo Radice was in The Omen (2006) with Vee Vimolmal

Step 3 – Vee Vimolmal was in Where the Truth Lies (2005) with Kevin Bacon.

So what’s your Bacon Number?

Unforgettable Bad Guys in Movies

We were watching Last King Of Scotland on television 2 nights back and it reminded me of what a great job Forest Whitaker has done in that movie. His portrayal of Idi Amin is so believable and does appear fearful.

It got me thinking about other great performances by actors portraying bad guys and how they actually injected fear into your head during and after the movie. Some of the ones I could think of were:

Anthony Hopkins – Silence of the Lambs,
Jonathan Scott-Taylor as Damien Thorn – Omen 2
David Prowse James Earl Jones (voice) – Star Wars 4,5,6
Arnold Schwarzenegger – Terminator 1
Robert Patrick – Terminator 2
Alan Rickman – Robin Hood and Die Hard
Denzel Washington – Training Day
Daniel Day-Lewis – Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson – A Few Good Men
Joaquin Phoenix – Gladiator
John Travolta – Broken Arrow
John Malkovich – Con Air
Gary Oldman – Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Michael Douglas – Wall Street
Arnold Vosloo – The Mummy / The Mummy Returns
Jack Nicholson – The Shining
Ian McKellan – X-Men
Michael Madsen – Reservoir Dogs
Wesley Snipes – Demolition Man

I am sure I have left out some other great performances, let me know if you think there are other good performances to mention.

So who is crazier? Denise Richards or Charlie Sheen?

Charlie Sheen has claimed that his former wife, Denise Richards, asked him (in an email) for a sperm sample so she can have more of his children.

Denise Richards says that she was seeing Ritchie Sambora at the time of the email and that if she wanted sperm, she would have asked Ritchie. Can you imagine what their children must be going through?

So who do you think is crazier?

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