Vancouver fest unveils Asia-heavy slate

'Longwang Chronicles,' 'Jalainur' set up for world premieres




VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver International Film Festival on Thursday unveiled what organizers called the largest slate of East Asian cinema in North America, including world premieres for Li Fifan's documentary "The Longwang Chronicles" and Zhao Ye's "Jalainur," which is set in frosty Manchuria.

The festival, which is set to run Sept. 25-Oct. 10, will screen door 73 East Asian films, with 27 international premieres and 18 North American debuts.

The Dragons & Tigers competition for emerging Asian directors includes international premieres for "German + Rain" from Yokohama Satoko and Uchida Nobutero's "Kaza-Aana" (Japan) and Charliebebs Gohetia's "The 'Thank You' Girls" (Philippines) and North American premieres for Emily Tang's "Perfect Life" and Gao Wengdong's "Sweet Food City," both from China.

This year's Dragons & Tigers jury includes Ichiayama Shozo, filmmaker Pe-nek Ratanaruang and critic Elisabeth Lequeret.

Vancouver's 27th installment also has booked an international premiere for the Cuba Gooding Jr. starrer "Linewatch," from Kevin Bray and Sony Pictures Entertainment, and a world premiere for Spanish director Ivan Noel's coming-of-age drama "In Your Absence."


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Download Godhead

Artist: Godhead: mp3 download    Genre(s):  Metal Alternative     Discography:      2000 Years Of Human Error    Year: 2001    Tracks: 11      Power Tool Stigmata    Year: 1998    Tracks: 14 The low striation signed to Marilyn Manson's mark, Posthuman Records, the industrial peasant dance band Godhead experient a kick start to their vocation after age of stern touring and playing in the immunity scene in their native town of Washington, D.C. Their belligerent, industrial heavy caught the attention of Manson and the band landed a slot on Manson's 2000 international God, Guns, and Government go. Manson acted as executive manufacturer and oversaw ontogenesis of the band's Posthuman debut, the 2000 tone ending 2000 Years of Human Error. 2000 Years is the fourth album from this intemperate rock/metal stripe. Godhead has released tercet independent albums: Godhead (1994), Nullity (1996), and Power Tool Stigmata (1998). 2000 Years was produced by Danny Saber (Contraband Sabbath, U2, Rolling Stones) and motley by John X Volaitis (Orgy, Marilyn Manson, Korn). The album displays Godhead's religious and social discontent and exhibits the intense electronic and rock combinations of lead singer/guitarist Jason Miller, bassist and coder the Method, guitar player Mike Miller, and drummer James O'Connor. On the album, Godhead likewise does a dark, macabre cover up of the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. David Bowie's longtime guitarist Reeves Gabrels was a noteworthy guest on the record album. Manson lent his vocals to "Break You Down," while Gabrels co-produced and played guitar on the track, "Tired Old Man." Godhead has likewise toured with bands like GWAR, Genitorturers, and Christian Death.

Could Pansexual Ryan Phillippe Make �54� a Good August Movie After All?

Courtesy of Miramax

The comments section of our history of the August Movie has been lively the past few days, with people taking us to task for declaring movies they love (or at least like) examples of the studio castoffs that populate the late-summer release calendar. Passionate defenders have preached the pleasures of Cop Land, The Cell, Stardust, Desperado, and Open Range. Few, though, have stepped forward to proclaim the quality of 54, a sad representative of yet another kind of August Movie: the Miramax-style Misfire. These movies are killed by studio or mini-major heads (sometimes, but not always, Harvey Weinstein*) through constant reshoots and new edits.

54 famously had scenes relit and reedited by Miramax earlier its August 1998

Project 'Runaways' in works at Marvel

Latest comic book to headed to the big-screen

"Runaways" is the latest Marvel Comics book to get the big-screen treatment from Marvel Studios.


Brian K. Vaughan, who co-created the series with artist Adrian Alphona, is writing the adaptation, for which Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will act as producer. Vaughan is also a co-producer and writer on ABC's "Lost."


As opposed to other Marvel characters getting the silver screen treatment, such as the Hulk and Spider-Man -- who have been around since the 1960s and are pop-culture fixtures -- the heroes in "Runaways" are relatively new, with the comic series launching in 2002.


The title was critically praised for its honest portrayal of teens and their issues and in 2006 won a Harvey Award for best series.


"Runaways" follows a group of teenagers who find that some family secrets are bigger than others when they discover their parents are actually super-villains. Running away from their homes, the teens band together and begin a journey of discovery, both of their parents' origins and of their own inherited powers, while trying to make up for the evil done by their folks.


While Marvel has already scheduled its next four films through 2011, "Runaways," like the company's "Ant-Man" project, remains in the incubation stages.


Vaughan is well known in comic circles for his creator-owned works including "Y: The Last Man," which is in development at New Line, and "Pride of Baghdad."


Vaughan is repped by CAA.

See Also

• ‘American Idol’: We’re Live-Blogging The Archuleta Vs. Cook Results Show!
• Fall Out Boy pays tribute to Hall & Oates
• Project ‘Runaways’ in works at Marvel

Daso and Pawas

   
Artist: Daso and Pawas

   Genre(s): 
Electronic
   

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Discography:


   
 Night Express EP (FLASH005) Vinyl

   Year: 2007   
Tracks: 3

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Cultus Ferox

R. Kelly trial: The defense's 5 biggest hurdles

As R. Kelly's attorneys launch his defense this morning, they've got some explaining to do. The prosecution presented a solid case against their man and, as in any criminal trial, there's damage control that needs to be done.

Here are five things the defense is certain to address now that it's calling the witnesses:

•Mole, mole, mole: The defense told the jury during opening statements that the sex tape at the heart of the child pornography case would actually set Kelly free. Attorneys said Kelly has had a dark mole along his lower spine since childhood, but said the man in the tape has an unblemished back. A prosecution expert, however, showed the jury a freeze-frame image of the man's back and there appeared to be a mole. Look for the defense to call its own video expert to dispute that.




•That's what friends are for: Three former friends of Kelly's alleged victim identified her as the female participant in the video. The young women, who are now in their early 20s and went to grade school in Oak Park, were adamant in their identifications, and no one suggested they had an ax to grind. The defense will counter their testimony by continuing to paint Oak Park as a place where normally bored residents leaped at the chance to take part in the seedy case.

•Family ties: Three relatives positively identified the alleged victim as the video's female participant. The defense will portray them as greedy opportunists who may have had a vendetta against Kelly. They'll also remind jurors that neither the victim nor members of her immediate family—including her mother—will identify her as the female participant during the trial.

•Technical difficulties: The defense has suggested someone may have framed Kelly by digitally placing his head on another man's body in the sex tape. Two prosecution experts have said such a seamless edit would be nearly impossible, especially with the technology available a decade ago. The defense team may need an expert to back up its theory or risk looking foolish to the jury.

•Lisa Van Allen: The Georgia woman testified she had three-way sexual encounters with Kelly and the alleged victim between 1998 and 2000. As titillating as her testimony may have been, it served a very important purpose: Van Allen is the only prosecution witness to assert direct knowledge of an inappropriate relationship between Kelly and the girl. The defense informed prosecutors Monday that it would be calling a former female friend of Van Allen's to undermine her testimony. Van Allen told the jury that she had a three-way sexual encounter with that woman and R. Kelly, as well.

Stacy St. Clair

June 3, 2008 3:35 PM: Sun-Times critic won't be arrested

There will be no jail time for Jim DeRogatis, but the R. Kelly trial judge ordered the Sun-Times music critic to come to court Wednesday.

A subpoena had been issued compelling him to appear Tuesday, but DeRogatis never showed.

The newspaper argued the renowned music critic never received the subpoena, though a Sun-Times reporter, attorney and the editor-in-chief's assistant all received legal documents indicating he was expected in court, according to statements made before Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan.

Gaughan said it was possible DeRogatis was unaware of the ordered appearance and would not issue a warrant for his arrest.

"I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt," Gaughan said.

Gaughan ordered DeRogatis to appear Wednesday so the defense can question him in front of the jury about his connection to the sex tape at the heart of the case. DeRogatis, who first wrote about Kelly's relationships with young girls in 2000, received the video from an unknown sender in early 2002.

The critic turned the tape over to the Chicago police, prompting an investigation that eventually led to child pornography charges against the singer.

The Sun-Times contends DeRogatis is protected by the reporter's privilege and is not required to testify about information he gathered as a journalist. The judge, however, has ruled he is connected to the trial's most critical piece of evidence and can be questioned.

"He's a material witness," Gaughan said. "He turned over [the sex tape], which is the basis of this prosecution."

The Sun-Times intends to appeal the judge's decision and ask the appellate court to bar DeRogatis from being called as a witness until the matter is settled. Gaughan said he will not delay the testimony unless a higher court orders him to do so.

"I have 15 people in the jury box and this trial is into its fourth week," Gaughan said.

Stacy St. Clair

Antonelli Electr.

   
Artist: Antonelli Electr.

   Genre(s): 
Electronic
   

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Discography:


   
 Click

   Year: 2000   
Tracks: 8

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Russell Simmons - Simmons Challenges Estranged Wife Over Custody Bid

EMO: Welcome to the Black Parade

"A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams/ Your misery and hate will kill us all/ So paint it black and take it back/ Let's shout it loud and clear/ defiant to the end we hear the call/ To carry on." (From: "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance.)

Welcome to the Black Parade – a place, depending on which side of the
age/outrage divide you are standing on, is either a shadowy Shangri La for
young suicide victims to pass the rest of eternity with fellow outcast kids
who dig the same music, or, more prosaically, merely the infectious title
track of one of the more engaging rock albums of the past few years.

Concern in Middle England has been mounting in recent days over the threat to
the nation's youth posed by emo, a not-so-new fangled musical fashion that
has spawned a loyal and growing tribe of followers, one instantly
recognisable to even the most casual of observers for its shared attachment
to skinny jeans, long black fringes and apparently permanently downcast
expressions.

According to the Daily Mail, emo is a "sinister teenage craze that
romanticises death", with bands such as My Chemical Romance (MCR), the
New Jersey, Grammy-nominated five-piece whose Black Parade album was one of
the most compelling releases of 2006, providing the musical soundtrack to
what it sees as the worryingly depressing lifestyles of the nation's current
crop of youngsters.

A Kent coroner's comments over the suicide of 13-year-old Hannah Bond, in
which he expressed concern over the dead girl's passion for emo music,
spawned a glut of lurid headlines earlier this month. But it was the Daily
Mail that decided to delve deeper into the craze – prompting one of the
unlikeliest protests London has seen for some time.

Next Saturday, fans of MCR will descend on the Mail's Kensington headquarters
in west London to vent their rage at what they claim is "badly
researched journalism in danger of promoting irresponsible stereotyping".
It is a remarkably polite and measured response for a group supposedly in
thrall to a mind-bending cult.

According to one of the organisers, Anni Smith, 16, from Hampshire, festering
anger that has been simmering below the surface for some time has finally
spilt over. Some 300 people have already logged on to the protest site,
www.whatthefrank.co.uk, expressing their desire to take part.

She believes the numbers determined to march eventually on the Mail HQ could
be much higher and today organisers will meet representatives of the
Metropolitan Police to discuss tactics for the demonstration and a possible
transfer to nearby Hyde Park to avoid any trouble. Ms Smith, who has seen
MCR four times, said that far from being advocates of mass suicide, the band
are passionate opponents of self harm – as evidenced in the lyrics to their
most famous song with its defiant message "to carry on". "I
love their passion and the way they believe in what they do," she said. "They
are amazing people. They want everyone to be OK, healthy and happy. A lot of
people are affected by depression and a lot of MCR fans are too. This
article was careless and badly researched journalism which really surprised
us. They are the complete opposite of a suicide cult.

"The band has always been adamant that if you have problems you should
get help and not give in."

The backlash has been growing apace. Internet chatrooms are clogged with
comments from fans furious at what they say is breathtaking ignorance being
displayed from across the generation divide by a people happier crooning
along to Jim Morrison's "Soft Parade" than the later, darker
assembly.

"Society constantly looks for something to point a finger at when things
don't go right," wrote one fan to the NME this week. "It's time to
face facts that being a young person today is tough."

According to Conor McNicholas, the magazine's editor, the furore has generated
the NME's biggest postbag this year. "The reaction of the right-wing
press is fairly moronic, knee-jerk stuff," he said. "Genuine music
fans who know the way these things work are not afraid of speaking out and
saying this is wrong.

"They sell papers on the basis of fear and the more frightened parents
are the more sales there are for the Daily Mail. They are setting parents
against their children which might sell papers but is incredibly destructive
of family relations in the long term. If you want to alienate young people
the best way to make them feel disaffected is to take away the music and
culture they love."

Emo can trace its origins to the live music scene of Washington DC in the
mid-1980s. The term referred to the emotional performance of artists such as
Fire Party and Thursday, though the thrashy, hardcore sound would be largely
unrecognisable to modern-day disciples who seek out a poppier, more
mainstream style – from bands such as Wheezer and Jimmy Eat World to
American Idiot-era Green Day and Fall Out Boy.

My Chemical Romance, according to the band's folklore, was formed in the grim,
soul-searching weeks following 11 September 2001. So haunted was the front
man, Gerard Way, by the image of the planes smashing into the Twin Towers
that he wrote "Skylines and Turnstiles".

Today's generation of emo fans are a gentle bunch – evidence next week's
demonstration where organisers are going to extraordinary pains to minimise
the chance of young people falling foul of the law. Protesters are reminded
to bring money and food, plus "anything else you may need for the day",
but warned against packing signs that are on a wooden stick. Instead they
are being asked to hang slogans around their necks saying "MCR Save
Lives" and "I am Not Afraid to Keep On Living". Nowadays emos
fashion their angst based on the writings of bedroom miserabilists such as
Morrisey: it is all about the twisted emotions of adolescence. Critics say
emo followers are predominately female, middle class, self-obsessed,
internet-obsessed and in the thrall of a plethora of pretty boy bands.
Dangerous they are not. In fact being an emo is a pursuit increasingly
fraught with danger. Earlier this year emo fans were attacked in North
America and in Mexico where commentators accused the males of flouting macho
Mexican culture. Internet blogs and callers to music TV shows urged
anti-emos to "take back" public spaces from groups of long-haired,
skateboarding fans while others, more insanely, whipped up direct
emo-bashing hysteria.

Sophie Brown, 14, an emo fan from Llandybie in Wales, was among the first to
begin fighting back. Suicide is a sensitive issue in the principality in the
wake of the media coverage of an apparent spate of deaths among young people
in the Bridgend area of South Wales. Newspapers talked about a cult and
police and charities begged the media to tone down the coverage for fear
that it might lead to more suicides. Sophie says it is much too easy to
scapegoat the music. "People make their own choices and would not
simply do something of that magnitude because a song told them to. Suicide
is a serious decision. It may even be an insult to victims to say their
death was due to the music they listen to," she said.

She says she has friends who have self-harmed. "But those are the ones
who have had bad family lives," she added.

Her mother, Diane, a 44-year-old Daily Mail-reading housewife, agrees and has
even taken her daughter to an MCR concert. "My husband and I are big
fans but we are not emos. We went to the concert and from our view it was
wonderful. People were hugging – it was lovely. In my day we were told not
to listen to Judas Priest because of the devil but it never did us any harm."

But Paul Kelly, whose son killed himself and who is a trustee of the charity
Papyrus, which campaigns against youth suicide, still thinks parents should
be aware if young people develop an unhealthy interest in death and begin to
appear depressed. "There is some evidence to suggest that people have
taken their own lives after being becoming connected with such interests.
But we do know that suicide is a very complicated thing. There are a
multiplicity of factors at play and it is difficult to blame one particular
factor."

Some 1,800 young people aged under 35 take their lives each year. But Mr Kelly
says talk of suicide cults is unhelpful though internet sites which provide
technical details on how to take one's own life should be banned. He is also
concerned about sites such as Mydeathspace which commemorate suicide
victims.

"Pictures of young, attractive people and eulogies to them runs the
danger of glorifying suicide. You see these people getting worldwide
attention and you might think, 'why don't I go out in a blaze of glory?'"
he said. "It is difficult with young people because they want to go
their own way but the worst thing you can do is tell them stop doing it – it
has the opposite effect."

Anyone worried that a young person they know is feeling suicidal should
ring Papyrus's Hopeline UK: 08000 684141

See Also

• Eyes on Venice as Cannes winds down
• Keeping the film Rolling
• Winehouse to perform at Glastonbury
• LiveDaily Interview: Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low

will.i.am joins the Wolverine film

will.i.am joins the Wolverine film

Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am is to star opponent Hugh Jackman in the newly blockbuster 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'.
Hoarding reports that testament.i.am, real list William Adams, will play the mutant Specter in the 'X-Men' spinoff.
Wraith has the exponent to make himself translucent.
The mould of the new photographic film too includes '30 Days of Night' headliner Danny Huston, 'Friday Night Lights' star Elizabeth Taylor Kitsch and 'The Number 23' star Lynn Tom Collins.
'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' is due in cinemas on 1 May 2009.

X Factor winner to take on America

X Factor winner to take on America

Leona Lewis' Number 1 album 'Spirit' is to be released in the US in the springiness.
Hoarding reports that the album will be released in the US on 8 April.
Lewis' 'Bleeding Love' picture volition premier on American VH1 on 4 February.
The US reading of 'Spirit' volition lineament 2 new songs: the Akon-written 'Forgive Me' and 'Misses Glass', written and produced by Madd Scientist and RockCity.
Register the review of 'Spirit' here.




Christopher Willits

Twisted Method

   
Artist: Twisted Method

   Genre(s): 
Rock
   

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Discography:


   
 Escape from Cape Coma

   Year: 2003   
Tracks: 13

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Twisted Method was a brigham Cy Young nu-metal stria from Ness Coral, FL. Collection around vocaliser Derek Tibbett, guitar player Andy Howard, bassist Derek DeSantis, and drummer Ben Goins, the band began to slow constitute a local next for its heavily derivative goodness, merely smitten gold when an gap expansion slot for another struggling move light-emitting crystal rectifier to interest from a local showman, world Health Organization secured a few tag showcases for the youngsters. As the level goes, MCA polarity the striation on the durability of its live evidence -- no demo tape measure needed. The label issued Twisted's debut, Escape cock From Ness Coma, in July 2003, and the mathematical group was sent out to spread the word of God of God with a ply of second-stage Ozzfest gigs.





Hermanos Moreno

Ledger's death is ruled accidental

Ledger's death is ruled accidental

The death of Aboriginal Australian doer Heath Book of account has been ruled accidental by the Freshly House of York Urban center Checkup Examiner's Office staff.
The office said today that the 28-year-old worker died due to the shout of prescription medications.
A assertion said: "Mr Heath Ledger died as the result of ague intoxication by the combined personal effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine."
"We have concluded that the manner of dying is accident, resulting from the mistreat of prescription drug medications."
The actor's family released a statement saying: "Today's results put an end to supposition, only our son's beautiful intent and enduring remembering will everlastingly stay in our hearts."
"Piece no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy."
The statement as well said: "Heath's accidental death serves as a precaution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription drug medication, even at depression dose."
Ledger was set up dead at his Freshly House of York apartment on 22 January.

BACARDI and MySpace to Offer 'Dream Gig' in Miami to DJs

BACARDI and MySpace to Offer 'Dream Gig' in Miami to DJs

Miami, April 3, 2008 -- MySpace.com, the internet's
prime Minister social networking

Lohan to work in morgue as punishment

Lohan to work in morgue as punishment

Actress Lindsay Lohan volition work at a dead room as part of her penalization for a drink-driving offense.
The 21-year-old star will complete the work-placement as part of a court-ordered program, in which she must watch about the dangers of drink-driving.
According to reports, Arhat is due to expend two four-hour years at the morgue, as comfortably as completing a stint working in a hospital emergency brake room.
The actress was arrested twice last year on charges of driving spell under the influence. In Aug she pleaded guilty to infraction drunken driving and cocaine charges.
Arhant served 84 transactions of her 24-hour jailhouse prison term final stage Nov. She must now complete an intoxicant education program and perform 10 days of community service.