Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Ashlee Simpson changes her name
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Knuckledust
Artist: Knuckledust
Genre(s):
Rock
Ethnic
Discography:
Universal Struggle
Year: 2003
Tracks: 13
Time Won't Heal This
Year: 2001
Tracks: 10
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Martin's songwriting ruined by sleeping pills
The singer told Rolling Stone that he gets inspiration to write new material in the middle of the night, but finds it a struggle because he usually takes sleeping pills beforehand.
He said: "My problem is that I often take a sleeping pill in order to go to sleep, but then I get excited about a song, so I go and play music, and then it kind of kicks in halfway through.
"I have a little corner where nobody can hear me in the middle of the night, and that's where I spend most of the night times.
"'I wake up the next morning and find these strange notes to myself... I'm a little bit ashamed about it."
Martin added that knowing his wife Gwyneth Paltrow used to date Brad Pitt meant he would never become complacent, saying: "You've got to be hungry. If your wife went out with Brad Pitt, you'd want to prove yourself, you know what I mean?"
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Potential strike already affecting film biz
The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), in what could be characterized as its lack-of-progress report issued Thursday, argued that a de facto strike "limiting the green-lighting of features and disrupting pilot production" already has begun. As one talent attorney observed: "No one is doing anything that finishes after June 30, (and) nobody's starting anything now. There is the impact of a strike already."
The threat of a stoppage has had an impact on production schedules at the major studios, which pushed a slew of projects into production back in April in order to complete filming by June 30.
DreamWorks is wrapping both John Hamburg's "I Love You, Man" and Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" this week, while Paramount is aiming to finish principal photography during in the next two weeks on its untitled Wayans Bros. comedy, "G.I. Joe" and Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island," starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Warners is finishing up shooting on Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant," its Seth Rogen-starring "Observe and Report" and the action pic "Ninja Assassin." Universal is racing the clock on "Land of the Lost," starring Will Ferrell. Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain," "When in Rome" and "High School Musical 3" are on track to be finished by month's end. And Columbia/MGM's latest Bond adventure "Quantum of Silence" is set to wrap next week.
United Artists is squeezing in the additional footage it's shooting on the Tom Cruise starrer "Valkyrie" before the witching hour strikes.
CONTINGENCY PLANS
At the same time, a number of movies aiming for key 2009 release dates decided to risk potential disruption by moving forward anyway.
Columbia's "Angels and Demons," the follow-up to "The Da Vinci Code," already was forced to postpone production once when writer Akiva Goldsman could not turn in a script polish during the writers' strike. With a release date moved from December 19 to May 15, 2009, the film began shooting this month, with Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard on location in Rome. Crossing its fingers, Columbia is calculating that if a strike does force a shutdown, production can resume in time to make the spring release date.
Remy Ma Sentenced To Eight Years In Prison; Jailhouse Wedding To Papoose Called Off
Tuesday (May 13) was a rough day for Remy Ma. One day after her planned jailhouse nuptials to fellow rapper Papoose were called off due to a misunderstanding about an alleged skeleton key Pap was wearing when he showed up at Rikers Island prison, the MC was sentenced to eight years in prison.
On March 27, Remy Ma (born Reminisce Smith), 26, was found guilty of two charges of assault, in connection with an argument she had with a friend, Makeda Barnes-Joseph, last July, during which Barnes-Joseph was shot two times while the two women struggled in a car.
According to Remy Ma's lawyer, Ivan Fisher, the New York Supreme Court sentenced her to eight years in prison on Tuesday for charges of assault, weapons possession and attempted coercion. Fisher said the prosecution had originally requested a 13-year sentence — less than the max of 25 years she was facing — but the judge in the case gave the rapper eight years, which Fisher plans to appeal very soon. Though he couldn't say for sure, Fisher said it's possible the judge in the case was swayed by an emotional address Ma gave the court during the proceeding, during which she addressed the victim directly.
"Remy Ma spoke to the court and movingly spoke to the victim, who was in court, to share with her how sorrowful she was about what happened to her," Fisher said. "It was an extremely moving moment, where she expressed how badly she felt about the tragedy of being shot and that she was very, very sorry it happened to Makeda."
The rapper burst into tears as the sentence was read, and Fisher described her state as "benumbed," "very emotional" and "sobbing." The lawyer said Ma "spoke to the court about the impact the sentence would have on her son [who is 7 years old]."
Both Remy Ma and Fisher have said that the shooting was an accident. After the sentence was handed down, The Associated Press reported that Papoose screamed, "All you want is money!" in the hallway outside the courtroom, seemingly addressing Barnes-Joseph, whose civil suit against the Grammy-nominated Ma has been dropped but could be refiled in the future. Barnes-Joseph was in the courtroom for the sentencing, but was not in the hallway when Papoose began shouting, the AP reported. As he was escorted out of the courthouse by court officers, Papoose reportedly added, "Lock me up! Lock me up!"
Fisher denied that the key Papoose wore to the prison over the weekend could unlock handcuffs, as was widely reported.
"I don't know much about it," he said, "but I know that if the corrections folks thought this was a key used to open their handcuffs, I doubt very much that they would have released Papoose." The lawyer added that the two still plan to wed, but maybe not until Ma is transferred to an upstate prison.
After hearing the sentence, according to XXLMag.com, Remy told the judge, "I'm not a thug. ... I'm not a hard-core anything, I have feelings. I'm a wife, mother, daughter, big sister." The site also reported that supporters of the rapper were in the courtroom wearing red-and-white T-shirts that read, "Free Remy."
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Kid Rock hospitalized
Kid Rock was rushed to the hospital minutes before he was to head on stage Friday at a music festival in England, according to People.com.
Organizers of the Download Festival said the rocker, 37, had been hospitalized in Nottingham, which is 100 miles north of London. He was suffering from stomach cramps and dehydration, his spokesman told the music magazine NME.
He had reportedly attended a late-night event at Central London�s Whisky Mist nightclub that had continued into the early hours of June 13.
The performer had stirred controversy in the U.K. earlier in the week after telling a black interviewer that he thought the confederate flag was �cool.�
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SAG, Sandra Oh go 'robo'
'Grey's Anatomy' star records message for the union
SAG members answering the phone Wednesday might have heard a familiar voice on the other end: Sandra Oh.
The "Grey's Anatomy" star and guild member recorded a so-called "robo" message for the union urging dual SAG and AFTRA members to vote down the tentative AFTRA primetime TV contract. Calls were placed to members throughout Wednesday afternoon, and similar messages are expected to be placed during the next week.
SAG enters its 34th day of negotiations todaywith the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers and has accused AFTRA's deal with the studios of distracting the current talks.
SAG also contends that AFTRA's contract falls short in several areas, including actor rates, new media and clip consent.
"What AFTRA did was take the DGA proposal essentially without change," SAG chief negotiator and national executive director Doug Allen told Back Stage West. "What they did in new media is precisely what the DGA ended up with and not at all what AFTRA and SAG proposed initially or where SAG is in our proposal today."
In an e-mail to national board members and alternates, Allen said the automated calls were part of an effort to educate members on the AFTRA contract. The guild also has set up a voicemail and box for recipients of the calls to leave comments.
Oh's message comes a week after James Cromwell recorded a message sent automatically to AFTRA members. The actor also has lent his face and name to AFTRA's "Vote Yes" campaign along with Sally Field, Jane Curtin and Stephen Collins.
On Tuesday, AFTRA mailed out to members an official ballot, indicating either a yes or no answer to "I approve the 2008-2011 Exhibit A to the AFTRA Network Television Code," along with a 13-page rundown of the tentative deal with the AMPTP.
"Upon ratification by you, the new contract immediately puts real money in performers' wallets and protects future earnings as the industry evolves," AFTRA president Roberta Reardon and national executive director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth wrote in a letter included in the ballot materials.
The union plans to follow up by visiting AFTRA sets, robo and member-to-member phone calls, mailings, video testimonials posted on AFTRA's Web site and on YouTube and local meetings, house parties and two large informational meetings at its Los Angeles headquarters Saturday and Monday.
Ballots are due no later than July 8, with results expected the next day.
The sluggish talks between SAG and the AMPTP might in part be because the union is waiting to see how AFTRA members vote on the proposed deal.
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