Monthly Archives: December 2013

Duke and Duchess Attend Sky 3D Premiere

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TRHs The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined selected guests tonight at the Natural History Museum for a gala preview screening of David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive 3D.

The Duchess wore an Alice Temperley dress for the evening, which was her first in her role as Patron of the Museum.

katemiddlton

The Duke and Duchess met Sir David Attenborough and Dr Michael Dixon, Director of the Museum, before enjoying the 3D film, which airs at 6.30pm on New Year’s Day on Sky 3D and in 2D on Sky 1 HD.

Among the audience for the screening were Stephen Dillane, Natasha Kaplinksy, Annabel Croft and Bruce Parry. They were joined by other supporters of the Museum and Sky staff and investors.

After the premiere screening, Sky News anchor Dermot Murnaghan hosted a Q&A with Sir David Attenborough, Dr Paul Barrett, Natural History Museum dinosaur researcher, Anthony Geffen, CEO of Atlantic Productions, and Celia Taylor, Head of Factual Programmes at Sky.

Kate Middleton & David Attenborough

Dr Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum said;

‘It was a real pleasure to welcome The Duchess of Cambridge as our Patron, and The Duke of Cambridge as an old friend of the Museum to this event. Tonight’s premiere was our first chance to share this innovative Sky 3D film, which builds on our long friendship with David Attenborough and explores our collections as never before.’

In this ground-breaking film, Attenborough takes us on a journey through the Natural History Museum in a compelling tale of discovery, adventure and magic. State-of-the-art CGI, 3D technology, science and research combine in the film to bring the museum’s now long-extinct inhabitants to life.

As the doors are locked and night falls, Attenborough stays behind and meets some of the most fascinating extinct creatures which come alive in front of his eyes; dinosaurs, ice age beasts and giant reptiles.

Some of the resurrected beasts include Diplodocus, the famous dinosaur that welcomes visitors to the Museum’s Central Hall; the Moa, a long-extinct giant flightless bird; Gigantophis, a snake that grew up to 36 metres around 40 million years ago and the Archaeopteryx, one of the earliest known birds that had features of a dinosaur.

The 3D film was produced by Colossus Productions, a joint venture between Atlantic Productions and Sky 3D, in collaboration with the Natural History Museum.

The film is a collaboration between Natural History Museum scientists, Sky 3D and Colossus Productions. Produced by a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning team, the film was shot by the same 3D team behind recent cinema release Gravity with visual effects produced by a team whose combined credits include the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises.

This film builds on the Museum’s long relationship with Sir David, and presents the Museum a unique opportunity to bring to life some of the extinct inhabitants of its world-class collection. Partnering with Sky 3D and Colossus in this way enables the Museum to reach an even larger audience with the wonders of the natural world.

David Attenborough commented: ‘I have been coming to the Natural History Museum since I was a boy. It’s one of the great places to come to learn about natural history. In this film we have the technology to bring back to life some of the most romantic and extraordinary extinct creatures that can be conceived; some are relatively recent animals like the dodo, others older like the dinosaurs, and some we only know through fossil evidence. Using our current scientific knowledge, this film brings these creatures alive allowing me to look at some of the biggest questions surrounding them. I hope that it will make people think about these extinct creatures differently and bring the Museum to life in a new and exciting way.

Martin Scorsese To Retire?

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Martin Scorsese to retireMartin Scorsese has said he wants to retire from film-making after a ‘few more films’. The legendary Oscar-winning director was speaking last weekend at the Marrakech film festival, where he was acting as jury president. He went on:

“I have the desire to make many films, but as of now, I’m 71 and there’s only a couple more left if I get to make them, I miss the time when I had the desire to experiment and try different kinds of films, I miss that time, but that’s done, it’s over. There is obligation as you get older, you have family. I’ve been very lucky in the last 10 years or so to have found projects that combine the desire, the obligation to my family and the financiers.”

Scorsese said that when he started working with Leonardo DiCaprio it was “tricky”  because the actor was so well known for Titanic. “When I did Gangs of New York and The Aviator, people kept asking me, ‘Is he an actor?'”

“I said yes. I saw What’s Eating Gilbert’s Grape, he film he did with [Robert] de Niro, This Boy’s Life before Titanic. So there’s a stigma there which people still refer to.

“But we found that he regenerated my enthusiasm for making films. Mainly because, as you get older, it gets physically difficult and also the business especially – the financial issues. You’re responsible for a lot of money, if you get it. It’s all pressure, but can you do it? His enthusiasm and excitement really kept me going, for another five pictures now.”

I had the pleasure of working on Scorsese’s Hugo and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I still feel honored. I am glad that Scorsese will at least make a few more films, his contribution to cinema is outstanding. The day he retires will be a sad one but we will still have his legacy.

 

Rita Ora looking hot right now in Dom Goor

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As the news hit that Rita Ora has been cast as Christian’s sister in the new 50 Shades movie, she took it in her stride and strutted out in a sleek power monochrome combination of white cigarette pants and black sheepskin coat by Dom Goor.

Looking ultra-glamorous and keeping warm can be a bit of a style challenge, but Dom Goor’s beautifully soft toscana sheepskin coats provide the perfect solution.

rita ora coat

She certainly looked warm. Available to buy from Harvey Nichols.

The coat worn by Rita Ora is priced at £1390 and items start from £85 for the suede and toscana mittens.

Doctors And Nurses Most Fanciable Workers In Britain

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Doctor most fanciableThe NHS may have its troubles but its caring staff are the most fanciable workers in Britain, new figures revealed last night.
Doctors are the most dateable men in any uniformed profession while nurses remain the number one choice for the nation’s men. And it is their caring qualities and ’empathy’ that make them more appealing to singles looking for love than soldiers, sailors, police officers, firefighters and others.
The poll of more than 1,500 adults by matchmaking website Uniformdating.com included both those who wear a uniform to work and those who don’t. Asked which man or woman in uniform they would most like as a partner, 29 per cent of women went for a doctor followed by 12 per cent who went for a firefighter and the same who said a member of the armed forces.
Among men, 26 per cent chose nurse but a further 17 per cent said doctor, suggesting some of the old Carry On stereotypes are being reversed. Asked why a health expert appealed so much, both men and women said it was their role to care and empathise with their patients that were their most attractive qualities.
Doctors are also seen as intelligent – though many women admitted a decent pay packet also helped! And one in four of the female nurses polled in the survey said they still thought their uniform meant men did not take them seriously.
Women still lust after hunky firemen, brave policemen and dashing pilots as well as fiery chefs and men admit they fancy female members of the armed forces, flight attendants and policewomen.
Police officers are seen as loyal, reliable and honest in their work which would be attractive qualities in a relationship.
But there were few votes for postmen and women in the survey, attracting just one per cent of the male vote and two per cent of the female vote.
And many said they were turned off having a member of the armed services as a partner because of the long periods spent away from home.

 

Cashing in at Christmas: Christmas songs earn £800,000 Per Year

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christmas songsTake a bow! Noddy Holder, the man who admitted his song ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ is like winning the lottery each year. He’s never admitted the actual income he receives form the PRS (Performing Rights Society).

The budding team of researchers at Prezzybox have spent the last year adding up all the factors that contribute to a wealthy annual Xmas cheque to find. For the first time here’s a definitive Christmas Royalty Calculator! As you can see here: http://www.prezzybox.com/apps/christmas-song-royalties.aspx the money keeps rolling in, second by second, minute by minute.

This shows the Christmas Songs Royalty Earnings so far in 2013 *Keep checking as it updates every second. In 2013 Noddy Holder has earnt an amazing half a million pounds so far.

 

  1.  Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody                        £512,000
  2. Pogues – Fairy-tale OF New York                      £386,270
  3.  Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas          £347,615
  4.  Wham – Last Christmas                                    £301,622
  5.  Cliff Richard – Mistletoe & Wine                       £98,408
  6.  Band Aid – Do they Know It’s Christmas          £78,030
  7.  Shakin’ Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone £53,834
  8.  Pretenders – 2000 Miles                                   £45,344
  9.  East 17 – Stay Another Day                              £30,219
  10. John Lewie – Stop The Calvary                         £13,258

By the 31st of December Noddy Holder will have made well over £800,000, Whilst Mariah will have raked in £455,000 and the Pogues £520,000, not bad for a year’s work! Our researchers take into account PRS royalties, plays on radio, TV, duke box plays, shop plays and compilation album sales.

Lovelace DVD Review | Film

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lovelace film reviewI have (proudly) never seen Deepthroat. Neither am I a fan of, nor watch porn, but even I know who Linda Lovelace is. I also have to say that I was deeply uncomfortable when, prior to this film being released, topless pictures of Amanda Seyfried were released to the press. This film is about a women who was raped, exploited and forced into porn; so a film about a women being exploited, which is promoted by a women being exploited is just uncomfortable. So it was with trepidation that I decided to review it.

To be fair, I think the film is good and harrowing. Showing Linda Lovelace as the victim I believe she was. The script is great, the acting is top-notch and the film does justice to the storyline. But I do think the underwater shot of Amanda Seyfried swimming in just a pair of pants was unwarranted. More thought should have been given in a film which is about rape, porn and exploitation. Some of Lovelace is very hard to watch, without giving away too much, Lovelace’s abuseive husband, Chuck played brilliantly by Peter Sarsgaard, beats her, rapes her and even sells her. He’s the one who gets her into porn, almost destroying her in the process. A brilliant and almost unrecognisable Sharon Stone plays Mum, a religious, traditional woman who find it hard to deal with her daughter’s work, and in the end feels guilty for turning her away when her daughter confesses her husband beats her, “What did you do to make him beat you? There must have been a reason.” Hard to believe a mother would say this to her child, and the scene where dad, played by the always amazing Robert Patrick, talks to his daughter, confessing he has seen her movie and had to walk out, “Is it something we did?…I had to walk out, that wasn’t my little girl up there. I didn’t recognise her” he weeps down the phone.

This is not a film to watch when feeling fragile and we had a male writer even refuse to watch it (he thought the topless pictures of Amanda Seyfried that were released were inappropriate). In the end I do think this is a good film that tells the story well, it just should have been less exploitative. Some of it made for uncomfortable viewing. But it does at least show how destructive porn is. A few people seemed annoyed that the film is from Lovelace’s point-of-view but to me that seems obvious: this is her story, but less of Amanda Seyfried naked next time would make their story stronger, and do more justice to Linda Lovelace.

Lovelace is available on Blu-ray, DVD and download to own and rent from December 23

LOVELACE DISC INFORMATION:
Released:            23rd December 2013
RRP:                     £17.99 (DVD), £21.99 (BD)
Certificate:          18 (UK)
Running Time:    89 minutes
Extras:                 Behind Lovelace

Call For Entries: The International Nelson Mandela Poetry Tribute

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Nelson Mandela, quote, quotes, death

Credit: Wikipedia Commons

To mourn his death and celebrate his life, Poetry Zone have opened the International Nelson Mandela Poetry Tribute, as a fitting way to gather poetic tributes from around the world in an online collection – accessible to all. They welcome all contributions and would appreciate your support in alerting people to this global poetry initiative.

Nelson Mandela was a man to whom poetry and the poetry of words mattered. There’s the legend of his reading of Invictus to his fellow prisoners on Robben Island, but in every speech Mandela worked language to leverage its impact. He may not have formally published poetry, but Mandela was a poet.

On his death, the US State Department issued a poem by Maya Angelou in memory of Nelson Mandela and there have been earlier tributes by Thabo Mbeki and Tupac Shakur. At his memorial on Tuesday his Grandchildren showed the power of poetry, rousing the crowd with short electric stabs in a call and response tribute to Mandela’s modesty and power.

For the many people who write poetry around the world, an opportunity now exists to contribute their own poetry; to write a poetic tribute on the passing of a great historical figure. Sorrow, Gratitude, Appreciation, Love, Respect… You don’t need to be a poet laureate to take part – and it’s not a competition. It’s about personal responses. What did Nelson Mandela mean to you? How did his message affect the world? What do you feel on learning of his death? What are your personal memories and reflections? Did he inspire you? Maybe you took part, in any small way, to help end apartheid. Or you played an important role… How do you think his legacy will endure?

Nelson Mandela was a global figure who brought a message of reconciliation rather than retribution, despite his own suffering and the nature of the apartheid regime which he’d opposed. It was this that made Nelson Mandela a true inspiration to millions around the world, a man who was prepared to lay down his own life to affect the change needed to rectify the glaring abomination of apartheid.

It is free to post poems at www.PoetryZoo.com, or simply email poems to Mandela@poetryzoo.com and they will be included in the anthology .

As the world reacts, we are glad to be able to provide a fitting international tribute in poetry to Nelson Mandela: Madiba, Tata.