By Mike Collett-White
LONDON (Reuters) - For one day only, visitors to the Royal Albert Hall in London will be able to go underground to the loading bay and see giant graffiti portraying the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger and Paul Weller.
"LOAD," which is open to the public free of charge on Monday, June 22, brings contemporary street art and some of the greatest names in rock and roll to the walls of one of the bastions of classical music, albeit three floors underground.
"We do want to change people's perception," said Lucy Noble, the Hall's head of programing.
"We do want to do new and challenging things so that people think, 'Wow, look at what the Royal Albert Hall's doing.' And why not? Just because we are a 138-year-old building, it doesn't mean to say that we can't embrace new ideas and do new things."
Alongside The Killers, The Beatles, Elton John and Frank Sinatra, appear representations of Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and Muhammad Ali.
"Every single thing that you see depicted in the artwork, all of these people have performed at the Royal Albert Hall or been at the Royal Albert Hall," said Noble.
In 1954, British wartime leader Churchill was honored with an 80th birthday concert. He was also the first person to give a television broadcast from the Hall in 1946.
And Einstein spoke there in 1933 to raise money for the Refugees Assistance Fund, helping those fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe.
PROMS TO POP
LOAD is the latest in a series of exhibitions held at the distinctive red-brick, curved building in Kensington, London.
Best known for the "proms," a summer season of classical concerts with a patriotic finale attended by thousands of boisterous fans, the Hall has also hosted tennis matches, rock concerts and speeches by leading figures.
For members of the "Wonderland Collective," one of the attractions of decorating the large brick walls of the cavernous loading bay far beneath the stage and auditorium was the idea of permanence.
"The fact that it's staying now for however long, that's a big incentive for any artist," said Finbarr DAC, one of the graffiti artists who has been working in the bay around the clock for the last few days.
"Every artist including Banksy has done work that's been painted over. This is not going to be painted over. At least that's the plan anyway."
He and his partners, brought in by alternative events organizer Daydream Network, used stencils and projections to create black-and-white, highly polished representations of the stars of the stage, be it political, scientific or musical. Continued...
Source: Reuters
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Docu exposes disturbing truth about U.S. food supply
By Kirk Honeycutt
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In 1906, Upton Sinclair published his muckraking novel "The Jungle," which exposed corruption, unsanitary conditions and horrifying labor practices in the U.S. meatpacking business. The book caused a sensation that brought about a huge public outcry and considerable reform. More than a century later, "Food, Inc.," a documentary from director-producer Robert Kenner and investigative journalist Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation"), might be "The Jungle" for the 21st century. Things, it seems, have gotten worse in our food supply.
No question, watching this film is a tough go. Horror films cause less seat-squirming. The challenge faced by Magnolia Pictures is how to bring in the unconverted, meaning those who pooh-pooh the notion that what they eat could possibly be unsafe. Making the film available across several platforms should deliver not only greater returns but a better-educated public that can vote for greater food safety by the way they shop for food.
Several films, including "Food Fight" and "Fast Food Nation," have explored many of these themes. But none engenders the sense of urgency -- and anger -- that "Food, Inc." does. The main villain is agribusiness, a multicorporation behemoth that controls virtually everything you eat.
The film, like Sinclair's novel, is an unapologetic exercise in advocacy journalism. However, lest anyone accuse the filmmakers of unfairness, representatives of the corporations that control our food supply were offered time to explain their approach to food safety. Everyone proved camera shy. Worse, the corporations pressured farmers not to give interviews or allow cameras inside food factories. Conditions are that bad.
But one chicken farmer did cooperate. And hidden cameras got inside a "factory farm." Don't schedule dinner after seeing this film.
Guided by Schlosser -- who appears on camera, as does fellow food journalist Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma") -- the film explores how food has changed more in a half-century "than in the previous 10,000 years." Despite the farm images that appear on packaged foods, a handful of corporations, not farmers, control our food supply. Governmental regulatory agencies charged with overseeing food safety essentially are toothless because most of the administrators are former -- or future -- food company executives.
Here is what results: Cattle are fed corn rather than grass because it's cheaper. This has produced new strains of E. coli virus that have stricken thousands and killed hundreds. The processing of animals -- an often cruel process for animals and humans alike -- admits far too many contaminants into the meat supply.
Government policy favors subsidies for the "wrong calories" in our diet. This has led to epidemics in obesity and diabetes. Because of these policies, the cost of many foods is actually down -- but at the hidden cost of increased medical expenses. Don't flatter yourself if you don't eat fast food: The "system" reaches into everything you eat.
Kenner takes you through these unsettling stories through a mix of articulate talking heads, cameras peering where Food Inc. doesn't want scrutiny, citizens lobbying their representatives in Congress and entertaining graphics and animation. It's Michael Moore without the self-aggrandizing hyperbole.
What it's not, though, is discouraging: The film ends by asking people to shop wisely, to support farmers' markets and food produced by organic or sustainable farming methods. If Wal-Mart can change its products and policies because of customer demand, every one of those Food Inc. companies can do likewise.
Source: Reuters
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In 1906, Upton Sinclair published his muckraking novel "The Jungle," which exposed corruption, unsanitary conditions and horrifying labor practices in the U.S. meatpacking business. The book caused a sensation that brought about a huge public outcry and considerable reform. More than a century later, "Food, Inc.," a documentary from director-producer Robert Kenner and investigative journalist Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation"), might be "The Jungle" for the 21st century. Things, it seems, have gotten worse in our food supply.
No question, watching this film is a tough go. Horror films cause less seat-squirming. The challenge faced by Magnolia Pictures is how to bring in the unconverted, meaning those who pooh-pooh the notion that what they eat could possibly be unsafe. Making the film available across several platforms should deliver not only greater returns but a better-educated public that can vote for greater food safety by the way they shop for food.
Several films, including "Food Fight" and "Fast Food Nation," have explored many of these themes. But none engenders the sense of urgency -- and anger -- that "Food, Inc." does. The main villain is agribusiness, a multicorporation behemoth that controls virtually everything you eat.
The film, like Sinclair's novel, is an unapologetic exercise in advocacy journalism. However, lest anyone accuse the filmmakers of unfairness, representatives of the corporations that control our food supply were offered time to explain their approach to food safety. Everyone proved camera shy. Worse, the corporations pressured farmers not to give interviews or allow cameras inside food factories. Conditions are that bad.
But one chicken farmer did cooperate. And hidden cameras got inside a "factory farm." Don't schedule dinner after seeing this film.
Guided by Schlosser -- who appears on camera, as does fellow food journalist Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma") -- the film explores how food has changed more in a half-century "than in the previous 10,000 years." Despite the farm images that appear on packaged foods, a handful of corporations, not farmers, control our food supply. Governmental regulatory agencies charged with overseeing food safety essentially are toothless because most of the administrators are former -- or future -- food company executives.
Here is what results: Cattle are fed corn rather than grass because it's cheaper. This has produced new strains of E. coli virus that have stricken thousands and killed hundreds. The processing of animals -- an often cruel process for animals and humans alike -- admits far too many contaminants into the meat supply.
Government policy favors subsidies for the "wrong calories" in our diet. This has led to epidemics in obesity and diabetes. Because of these policies, the cost of many foods is actually down -- but at the hidden cost of increased medical expenses. Don't flatter yourself if you don't eat fast food: The "system" reaches into everything you eat.
Kenner takes you through these unsettling stories through a mix of articulate talking heads, cameras peering where Food Inc. doesn't want scrutiny, citizens lobbying their representatives in Congress and entertaining graphics and animation. It's Michael Moore without the self-aggrandizing hyperbole.
What it's not, though, is discouraging: The film ends by asking people to shop wisely, to support farmers' markets and food produced by organic or sustainable farming methods. If Wal-Mart can change its products and policies because of customer demand, every one of those Food Inc. companies can do likewise.
Source: Reuters
Clear Channel deal gives musicians Web channels
By Mitchell Peters
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Artists like the Eagles and Christina Aguilera can now play DJ, at least online.
Clear Channel Radio and Front Line Management have formed a joint venture to create artist personal experience (a.p.e.) radio, a stand-alone company that will enable musicians to produce their own online shows. The channels will run 24 hours a day and play songs chosen by the artist, interviews and commentary. The program will launch in July with the Eagles, Aguilera and Weezer.
At a time when artists are looking for ways to forge deeper connections with fans, Front Line and Clear Channel will use ad-supported a.p.e. radio to market albums and tours by offering fans exclusive content as well as an inside look into the musical taste of their favorite artists.
"We feel that the old model of trying to get radio airplay and some video play is broken," says Front Line founder/CEO Irving Azoff, who also serves as CEO of Ticketmaster Entertainment and chairman of a.p.e. "We were looking for a seven-days-a-week, 24-hour artist online venture, and the radio channel seems to make real sense."
The a.p.e. radio channels, which also will be open to acts not represented by Front Line acts, can be heard on Clear Channel's local radio station Web sites, through the company's iheartradio iPhone and BlackBerry application, and through widgets placed on the artists' Web sites.
"We want artists to host the channels, tell stories and turn new fans on to new music," says Evan Harrison, president of Clear Channel's digital division and CEO of a.p.e. radio. "It's really a different approach, and we wanted to give the artist the foundation and infrastructure to let them do their thing."
SHARING STORIES
In recent weeks, Clear Channel programmers went into a studio with Aguilera for a three-hour session during which the singer discussed motherhood, fashion and music. Aguilera's playlist will feature songs from Santigold, Black Sabbath and Etta James, Harrison says.
"I am so excited to be one of the first artists on a.p.e.," Aguilera said in a statement provided to Billboard. "Fans always write to ask me what I like and listen to, which makes this such a great opportunity for me to share my musical inspirations with them. My channel is going to be a special place for my fans to find out about my new music, upcoming tours and lots of other news and original content. It's going to be fun."
Each online channel will feature about 1,000 songs, plus stories and comments from the host. The channels will be updated weekly with new music and content.
"When you talk about an Eagles-hosted radio channel, most people would assume they're going to hear Eagles music all the time," Harrison says. "The truth is, you'll hear an Eagles song every hour or so, with a story around it. But what's really exciting is that Joe Walsh will invite his friends to help participate, talk about destroying a hotel room or tell a more personal insight about where he was during the Kent State shooting."
Azoff points out that Clear Channel can reach more than 22 million online users per month through its digital platforms. "Our job as managers, and part of the service we offer to artists, is bigger distribution channels that nobody else can get them," he says. "And bringing Clear Channel in as the partner here is the big play." An artist's channel also "becomes an entry point off of which you can go to the artist's Web site and buy tickets, merch ... and hopefully engage them in some kind of social networking," he says.
In addition to programing the channels, artists will share in the profits they generate from ads. "Is it going to make a lot of money? No. It's more of a marketing tool," Azoff says. "But what is recorded music? It's mostly a marketing tool, right?"
(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters)
Source: Reuters
David Letterman apologizes for "flawed" Palin joke
By Christine Kearney and Alex Dobuzinskis
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - David Letterman apologized on Monday for making a sexually charged joke about one of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughters, as a group of Palin supporters planned a rally demanding the late-night TV show host be fired.
"I told a joke that was beyond flawed, and my intent is completely meaningless compared to the perception" of the joke by viewers, he said during Monday's taping of "Late Night with David Letterman," according to a transcript given to Reuters.
"And since it was a joke I told, I feel that I need to do the right thing here and apologize for having told that joke," he said. "It's not your fault that it was misunderstood, it's my fault."
Last Tuesday, Letterman joked that New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez had "knocked up" the former vice-presidential nominee's daughter during a family trip to a baseball game.
But the daughter in question was 14-year-old Willow, not the intended target, 18-year-old unwed mother Bristol. Letterman said the following night that he was confused between the two and would never make sexual jokes about a 14-year-old.
Despite his explanation, Palin has charged that Letterman made "sexually perverted" comments.
In the transcript from Monday's show, Letterman also said he was sorry to Palin and both her daughters.
"I would like to apologize especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow, and also to the Governor and her family and everybody else who was outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it and I'll try to do better in the future," he said.
The apologies came as a group of Palin supporters, calling themselves FireDavidLetterman.com, planned a Tuesday protest outside the show's studio at the Ed Sullivan theater in New York's Times Square.
Palin and protest organizers, including Republican New York State Assemblyman Brian Kolb, have said the comments were demeaning to women, and they are comparing Letterman's case to that of radio host Don Imus, who was fired from CBS radio for offensive comments about a black women's basketball team.
Representatives for Palin on Monday were not immediately available to comment on Letterman's apology.
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Source: Reuters
Blame gets shared for dark side of reality TV fame
By Laura Isensee
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Television talent show contestants fantasize about fame and fortune but for some people, an appearance on one of the shows only leads to real problems of stress, anxiety, depression, even suicide.
But who is to blame when an everyday person becomes an overnight TV sensation and can't cope -- when Susan Boyle falls ill after failing to win "Britain's Got Talent" or when "American Idol" fan Paula Goodspeed, who was teased after a poor tryout, commits suicide outside the home of a judge?
Boyle was again making headlines on Monday when she was forced to cancel a performance over health concerns while on tour with other "Britain's Got Talent" performers.
TV producers and industry watchers vary in opinion, but they all say networks who air the shows, companies that make them and contestants themselves shoulder some responsibility.
Emotional stress can depend on "baggage (people) bring into a show," said John Lucas, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical School.
Some contestants may already be vulnerable to depression or expect a show "will change others' perceptions of them or ... their ability to contend with their ordinary day-to-day existence," Lucas said. "And neither is likely to happen."
Networks ask producers to screen potential contestants for mental health issues, said David Broome, executive producer for "The Biggest Loser," on which contestants lose weight. It enters its eighth season on U.S. network NBC this coming fall.
The types of screenings vary, but people who live isolated in small groups for weeks, as in hit shows "Survivor" or "Big Brother," go through more rigorous tests than contestants on talent shows such as "Idol" or "Britain's Got Talent."
RED FLAGS
Pre-show screenings tests for red flags like clinical depression, tendency toward anger and if someone has been abused physically in their past.
"Biggest Loser" contestants undergo in-depth psychological and medical tests, and producers expect some mental health issues to arise because "almost 100 percent of the time, weight is an emotional issue," Broome said.
While taping a program, TV networks often require producers to hire psychological experts and counselors to be available if contestants have a breakdown.
Yet, while psychological screening and counseling can identify obvious mental issues, it is impossible to determine exactly how people will react to finally realizing their bubble of celebrity has burst when a show has ended.
"When you take regular people and suddenly put them in the spotlight, you never know what's going to happen," said Bob Thompson of Syracuse University's center for television and pop culture.
"I don't know that ... we can really point the blame at anyone unless you indict the notion of celebrity. And that eliminates these kinds of shows entirely," he said. Continued...
Source: Reuters
Harry Potter publisher denies plagiarism claim
By Mike Collett-White
LONDON (Reuters) - Bloomsbury Publishing Plc on Monday denied allegations that author J.K. Rowling copied "substantial parts" of a book by another children's author when she wrote "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire."
The book, published in 2000, was the fourth installment of the hugely successful boy wizard Harry Potter series that has sold more than 400 million copies worldwide and been turned into a multi-billion-dollar film franchise.
"The allegations of plagiarism made today, Monday 15 June 2009, by the Estate of Adrian Jacobs are unfounded, unsubstantiated and untrue," said a statement from Bloomsbury, which publishes Harry Potter in Britain.
"This claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously."
In an earlier statement, Jacobs' estate said that it had issued proceedings at London's High Court against Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for copyright infringement.
"The Estate is also seeking a court order against J.K. Rowling herself for pre-action disclosure in order to determine whether to join her as a defendant to the ... action," the statement read.
It named the estate's trustee as Paul Allen, and said that Rowling had copied "substantial parts" of "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard -- No 1 Livid Land" written by Jacobs in 1987.
It added that the plot of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire copied elements of the plot of Willy the Wizard, including a wizard contest, and that the Potter series borrowed the idea of wizards traveling on trains.
"Both Willy and Harry are required to work out the exact nature of the main task of the contest which they both achieve in a bathroom assisted by clues from helpers, in order to discover how to rescue human hostages imprisoned by a community of half-human, half-animal fantasy creatures," the estate statement said.
"It is alleged that all of these are concepts first created by Adrian Jacobs in Willy the Wizard, some 10 years before J.K. Rowling first published any of the Harry Potter novels and 13 years before Goblet of Fire was published."
According to the statement, Jacobs had sought the services of literary agent Christopher Little who later became Rowling's agent. Jacobs died "penniless" in a London hospice in 1997, it said.
In its response, Bloomsbury said Rowling "had never heard of Adrian Jacobs nor seen, read or heard of his book Willy the Wizard until this claim was first made in 2004, almost seven years after the publication of the first book in the highly publicized Harry Potter series.
"Willy the Wizard is a very insubstantial booklet running to 36 pages which had very limited distribution. The central character of Willy the Wizard is not a young wizard and the book does not revolve around a wizard school."
Bloomsbury added that the claim was first made in 2004 by solicitors acting on behalf of Jacobs' son, who was the representative of his father's estate.
"The claim was unable to identify any text in the Harry Potter books which was said to copy Willy the Wizard."
Source: Reuters
Gory British prison drama wins Sydney Film Festival
SYDNEY (Reuters) - A drama about a violent British prisoner has won the top award at the 56th Sydney Film Festival, beating three local films for A$60,000 ($49,000), the largest cash prize in Australian film.
"Bronson," written and directed by Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, looks at the life of Welshman Michael Peterson, who adopted the name Charles Bronson after the action movie actor.
Bronson, who has been called the "most violent man in Britain," was jailed for armed robbery in 1974 but his sentence has been repeatedly extended for crimes committed in prison, including attacks on fellow inmates and guards as well as hostage-taking. He has spent about 30 of 35 years in jail in solitary confinement.
Bronson, 56, is played by English actor Tom Hardy, who met him in prison while preparing for the film, which was criticized
in Britain for glorifying the criminal's life.
The president of the festival jury, director Rolf de Heer, said "Bronson" best demonstrated "the competition's criteria of emotional power and resonance, audacity, cutting edge, courage and going beyond the usual treatment of its subject matter."
The Sydney Film Festival celebrated its 56th anniversary this year but the official competition is only in its second year, funded by Hunter Hall Investment Management to reward "courageous and audacious filmmaking."
Last year another prison drama, "Hunger," about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in his dying days, won the inaugural official competition.
Twelve movies were in the official competition at the 12-day festival this year with no clear favorites, although three Australian movies had gone down well with audiences.
These were "Disgrace" about a university lecturer in post-apartheid South Africa, "Missing Water" about a refugee who fled Vietnam in a small boat, and "Beautiful Kate" directed by British actress Rachel Ward about a writer returning to his family farm as his father is dying.
The first Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize of $10,000 was split between two films -- "A Good Man" about a struggling Australian farmer and his quadriplegic wife, and "Contact" about an Aboriginal woman's first contact with white men when she was 17.
(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)
(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at blogs.reuters.com/fanfare)
Source: Reuters
"Bronson," written and directed by Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, looks at the life of Welshman Michael Peterson, who adopted the name Charles Bronson after the action movie actor.
Bronson, who has been called the "most violent man in Britain," was jailed for armed robbery in 1974 but his sentence has been repeatedly extended for crimes committed in prison, including attacks on fellow inmates and guards as well as hostage-taking. He has spent about 30 of 35 years in jail in solitary confinement.
Bronson, 56, is played by English actor Tom Hardy, who met him in prison while preparing for the film, which was criticized
in Britain for glorifying the criminal's life.
The president of the festival jury, director Rolf de Heer, said "Bronson" best demonstrated "the competition's criteria of emotional power and resonance, audacity, cutting edge, courage and going beyond the usual treatment of its subject matter."
The Sydney Film Festival celebrated its 56th anniversary this year but the official competition is only in its second year, funded by Hunter Hall Investment Management to reward "courageous and audacious filmmaking."
Last year another prison drama, "Hunger," about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in his dying days, won the inaugural official competition.
Twelve movies were in the official competition at the 12-day festival this year with no clear favorites, although three Australian movies had gone down well with audiences.
These were "Disgrace" about a university lecturer in post-apartheid South Africa, "Missing Water" about a refugee who fled Vietnam in a small boat, and "Beautiful Kate" directed by British actress Rachel Ward about a writer returning to his family farm as his father is dying.
The first Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize of $10,000 was split between two films -- "A Good Man" about a struggling Australian farmer and his quadriplegic wife, and "Contact" about an Aboriginal woman's first contact with white men when she was 17.
(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)
(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at blogs.reuters.com/fanfare)
Source: Reuters
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