The Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, Foster the People at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Xmas: Concert Review

The Bottom Line

Alt-rock lite is alive and well.

Venue

Gibson Amphitheater�
Los Angeles
(Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011)

Here?s how you can tell you are at a radio show: The crowd only rises from their seats when the artist onstage plays a single. This is a surefire tactic, at least according to last evening?s second night of KROQ Almost Acoustic Xmas. Universal City?s Gibson Amphitheatre, packed up to the top of its balcony with radio listeners, became a boisterous setting for performances by eleven artists often featured on KROQ, the overtly drunken crowd surging with enthusiasm for bands like The Black Keys, Foster the People and Mumford & Sons. Certainly these were true music fans, but one question still lingers: Do music fans who find tunes on the radio ever make it past an artist?s single?

In many ways, the evening was presented in the radio aesthetic -- a shot-fire experience of as much music as possible with few lulls and brief interjections by the station?s DJs (including Dr. Drew). The stage revolved, flipping between each set to prevent any pauses in the musical experience -- a technique you may have seen before at the Hollywood Bowl. The artists? sets were terse, expanding beyond 30 or 40 minutes only for two ?headliners,? The Black Keys and Jane?s Addiction. The abbreviate sets meant one of two things for each artist?either they followed the prescripted (although we assume unofficial) radio show guidelines and bookend a few album cuts with singles or they eschew any sense of obligation to this format and just play.

CONCERT REVIEW: Blink-182, Bush, 311 Bring it Back to 1999 at KROQ Almost Acoustic Xmas

For the most part, the bands last night, a notably more nuanced collection of artists than Almost Acoustic Xmas?s first night (Blink-182, Chevelle, et al), stuck with the former tactic, although that doesn?t necessarily mean their sets weren?t as potent. The Naked and Famous, whose ?Young Blood? is currently No. 1 on KROQ, appeared early in the evening, following a quick opening performance by Los Angeles?s own Grouplove. The Naked and Famous, who fall somewhere in between Blonde Redhead and MGMT, don?t seem like a group who might produce a No. 1 radio hit. And, although singles ?Punching In a Dream? and ?Girls Like You? joined ?Young Blood? in the set list, it was the presence of ?Frayed? (from last year?s debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You) that revealed the layered gradations in the band?s skillful psychedelic pop sound.

Other notable sets included Florence and the Machine, probably the most popular performance of the night, which married hits like ?Dog Days Are Over? and new singles ?Shake It Out? and ?What the Water Gave Me? with cuts from new disc Ceremonials like ?Never Let Me Go? and ?No Light, No Light.? What did the crowd clamor out of their seats for? Hint: It wasn?t the achingly lovely rendition of ?No Light, No Light.?

Same deal for Mumford & Sons, who performed several brand new tracks (to a subdued audience). ?The Cave? and ?Little Lion Man? drew the grandest responses (was this the first time anyone in the crowd had heard the latter without a radio edit?), but it was the haunting croon of new song, ?Ghosts That We Knew,? that truly resonated as frontman Marcus Mumford howled, ?I will hold on with all of my might/just promise me we?ll be alright.?

On the other end of the spectrum was Death Cab For Cutie, who treated this radio show like they would a headlining slot at The Greek. The foursome, led by a bearded and notably gaunt Ben Gibbard, leaned heavily on new disc Codes and Keys. But while single ?You Are A Tourist? did appear (as did ?Soul Meets Body?) the group used its 40 minutes are a rock-heavy jam session, giving expansive, urgent voice to tracks like ?Doors Unlocked And Open.? This was, unfortunately, when most of the intoxicated crowd went to the bathroom.

What does it say about music fans when they dance wildly for ?Tighten Up? but won?t budge for ?Milk and Honey,? a brand new number from The Black Keys? El Camino? What does it reveal about an artist when an audience shrieks at the opening chords of ?Wonderwall? and ?Don?t Look Back In Anger? but sigh with apathy for Noel Gallagher?s current (and remarkably compelling) musical endeavor? Perhaps it means that the radio industry can still dictate musical taste. Maybe no one has the patience to sink deeply into an entire album, or maybe we assume the single is as good as an artist is going to get. Still, though, when tracks like ?Young Blood? and ?Shake It Out? can top the rock radio charts, hope remains.

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Fran Drescher Has Some Colorful Things To Say About Reality Television! Oh BTW, Her Cousin?s A Real Housewife! Awk-Ward!

We all know reality isn?t the golden child of television, but�Fran Drescher�is calling it how she sees it ? relatives in it or not!

After her cousin�Aviva Drescher�joined the�Real Housewives of New York, Fran was asked her opinion on the subject, and here?s what she said:

I would never [do a reality show].

First of all, I don?t like them. It appeals to the lowest common denominator. It?s not really reality, because they have to have conflict in them to have people sitting there.

I?ve never flipped a table in my life. I?m scared to admit it, but one of my cousins is one of the new�Housewives�of New York.

Ouch!!

Does Fran have an issue with reality tv or her�cousin???

[Image via�WENN.]

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Mandy Moore Shops In Sweats Too! At Costco!!

Yay!!! Who doesn?t love seeing the stars just like us!?!

Mandy Moore�was seen wearing sweats to shop at Costco this weekend!

She also made a little stop at Nature?s Best too. Gurl is breaking barriers!!!

[Image via Danny/WENN.]

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Who Won The Biggest Loser?

There's no squabbling among judges on The Biggest Loser. No controversy over who gets eliminated each week and who goes on to collect the $250,000 grand prize at the end of the season because there is no voting.

There is simply the scale, the numbers it reads and the resulting eliminations. Therefore, we can't debate the merits of the "Battle of the Ages" winner, can just offer our congratulations to...

... John Rhode!

This 41-year old special education teacher and football coach from Mesa, Arizona dropped 220 pounds throughout the competition. That adds up to 49.44% of his initial weigh-in body weight of 445 pounds and, to put it mildly, is truly astounding.

A job very well done, John!

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George Clooney Joins Prop 8 Play Reading in Los Angeles

George Clooney has always been political, but not political enough to seriously entertain thoughts of running for office. "Look at my life and look at everybody else's life in politics," he said during press for 'The Ides of March' back in October. "Why would I ever want to do that? I'm having a very good time." Indeed! Besides, if he was running for office, it's doubtful Clooney would be able to participate in such lightning rod events, like a reading of the play '8' in Los Angeles this March.

Written by Dustin Lance Black ('Milk,' 'J. Edgar'), '8' is a play that focuses on "research and transcripts from Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the 2010 federal court battle that dealt with the legality of Prop. 8, the controversial ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage in California. The judge in the case ruled that Prop. 8 was unconstitutional, but the decision has been appealed."

Clooney is the first actor announced for the reading, which will be held on March 8, 2012, in the Wilshire Ebell Theatre.

Said Clooney in a statement: "It is astonishing that gay and lesbian Americans are still treated as second-class citizens. I am confident that, very soon, the laws of this nation will reflect the basic truth that gay and lesbian people -- like all human beings -- are born equal in dignity and rights."

No word yet on other stars who will participate, but you can expect a heavy roster of talent. In addition to Clooney and the Oscar-winning Black, Rob Reiner will direct the staged reading.

[via LAT/Culture Monster]

[Photo: AFP PHOTO / HO / JAMES MORGAN]

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Scarlett Johansson's Christmas List: Barack Obama Reelection, Long Nap

Stars, they're just like us! They even make Christmas lists and give them to Santa Claus red-carpet reporters. Speaking to Hollywood Life on the red carpet for the premiere of 'We Bought a Zoo' in Manhattan on Monday, Scarlett Johansson revealed what she wants most this holiday season: four more years for Barack Obama. Also, some sleep.

"I hope 2012 brings a reelection for President Obama," she said. "And this year I've learned a lot about patience and tolerance."

As for her holiday plans, Johansson told Hollywood Life that she hoped to sleep until after New Year's Day. "I'm looking forward to a long winter's nap!" Noted!

Johansson can be seen in 'We Bought a Zoo' this Christmas.

[via Hollywood Life]

[Photo: Getty]

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Christmas Gift Spending by Country

The Economist features an interesting chart this week, showing the correlation between a country?s wealth, and the average amount its citizens spend on Christmas gifts. Note the two outliers, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Despite their considerable wealth, the Dutch have clearly maintained their minimalist austerity chic. Not the case in Luxembourg, which has the highest GDP per capita in the EU, and the third highest in the world. So, while you may get a pair of wooden shoes for the holidays from that Dutch relative of yours, that Luxembourgian uncle stands to be much more generous.

It?s also worth noting America?s position. Despite considerably less per capita wealth, we appear to be spending only about $70 less per person than the Luxembourgers. Interesting also that despite their crushing debt woes, the Irish are big givers, at least compared to their PIGS companions: Portugal, Greece and Spain.

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Under Fire: Journalists in Combat: Film Review

The Bottom Line

Harrowing documentary details the traumas of combat journalism.

Director/screenwriter

Martyn Burke

Producers

Martyn Burke, Anthony Feinstein

Executive producer

Laura Morton

Director of photography

Donald Purser

There?s a damning set of statistics presented at the beginning of Under Fire: Journalists in Combat that give it a haunting immediacy. It seems that a mere two journalists were killed in World War I, and 63 journalists lost their lives in World War II. Contrast that with 1397 members of the news media killed in the ten years between 1996 and 2006.

That precipitous rate of mortality, as well as an alarming rise in kidnappings and torture, has led journalists to be at increased risk for such conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety disorder and substance abuse. Martin Burke?s documentary, currently on the shortlist for an Oscar nomination, provides interviews with a series of prominent war correspondents and photographers who provide vivid testimony as to both the hazards and the allures of the profession.

Although the film?s series of talking heads interviews--accompanied by flashy visuals and interspersed with often graphic and disturbing combat footage?hardly breaks any new aesthetic ground, the technique is generally effective. That?s because the subjects, each of whom is accompanied by a list of their scarily extensive combat credits-- are an almost uniformly articulate, insightful group who frequently prove themselves capable of analyzing their own complex motivations.�

Thus you have Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times correspondent and author of War is the Force That Gives Us Meaning, describing himself as being a ?war junkie???In the same way a drug physically breaks down an addict, I was being broken down by war,? he explains.�

Finbarr O?Reilly, a Reuter?s photojournalist who is seen being given onscreen therapy by the film?s co-producer, psychiatrist Dr. Anthony Feinstein, admits that he had a compulsion to get into the war: ?You sort of resign yourself to the fact that you?re probably going to get hurt and just hope that it isn?t too badly when it happens.?�

The film, which borrows part if its title from Roger Spottiswoode?s superb 1983 film drama about war journalists in Nicaragua, also explores the sort of moral issues haunting war journalists. Paul Watson of The Los Angeles Times describes his lingering guilt over having photographed the corpse of a U.S. soldier being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu, while BBC correspondent Jeremy Bowen is haunted by his decision to stop at a certain location, only to then watch a colleague get killed just a short distance away (we see the live footage).

There will hopefully come a time when this documentary will come to seem a piece of vintage history. But right now that time seems a long ways away.�

Bottom Line: Harrowing documentary details the traumas of combat journalism.

Mercury Media International.
Production: JUF Pictures.
Director/screenwriter: Martyn Burke.
Producers: Martyn Burke, Anthony Feinstein.
Executive producer: Laura Morton.
Director of photography: Donald Purser.
Editor: Christopher McEnroe.
Music: Mark Korven.
No rating, 90 min. �

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It's a Boy for Fantasia Barrino!

Fantasia Barrino has been through quite the ordeal over the past year or so, but the former American Idol champion now has a reason to smile: she's a new mother!

The singer gave birth to a son named Dallas Xavier Barrino today. He was born in North Carolina and checked in at 7 lbs., 9 oz. and 21 inches long. Fantasia also has a 10-year old daughter from a previous relationship.

"I feel so blessed that my son Dallas Xavier was born healthy, and is a wonderful new addition to our family," the 27-year old tells People. "I thank all my fans for their well wishes and continued support."

Fantasia has not gone public with the identity of the new child's father, but it's been strongly reported that he's Barrino's long-time boyfriend, Antwaun Cook.

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Fran Drescher Has Some Colorful Things To Say About Reality Television! Oh BTW, Her Cousin?s A Real Housewife! Awk-Ward!

We all know reality isn?t the golden child of television, but�Fran Drescher�is calling it how she sees it ? relatives in it or not!

After her cousin�Aviva Drescher�joined the�Real Housewives of New York, Fran was asked her opinion on the subject, and here?s what she said:

I would never [do a reality show].

First of all, I don?t like them. It appeals to the lowest common denominator. It?s not really reality, because they have to have conflict in them to have people sitting there.

I?ve never flipped a table in my life. I?m scared to admit it, but one of my cousins is one of the new�Housewives�of New York.

Ouch!!

Does Fran have an issue with reality tv or her�cousin???

[Image via�WENN.]

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GROSS! 1 In 6 Cell Phones Contaminated With Fecal Matter!

Yep.

According to a study, at least in Britain, 1 in 6 cell phones could have E. Coli because of contamination from fecal matter.

Because people don?t wash their hands after using the bathroom:

The findings also suggest that many people lie about their hygiene habits, according to the researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London.

The study authors went to 12 cities and collected 390 samples from the cellphones and hands of volunteers, who were also asked about their hand-washing habits.

Ninety-five percent of the participants told the researchers that they washed their hands with soap and water where possible. However, lab tests revealed that 92 percent of phones and 82 percent of hands had bacteria on them. The researchers also found that 16 percent of hands and 16 percent of cellphones harbored E. coli bacteria, which is found in feces and can cause serious illness.

Gross! We learn that at such a young age! Why can?t people be bothered to take the time?!

Wash your hands, people! Ewww!

[Image via AP Images.]

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Posted by The Admin on October 24, 2011 in Health, Tech Talk and tagged Bacteria, Bathroom, cell phone, contamination, Escherichia coli, Feces, gross, habit, Hand washing, hands, illness, london, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Medicine, mobile phone, People, queen mary, Queen Mary University of London, research, researchers, school, study, test.

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Principal Bans Cheerleaders From Wearing Inappropriate Breast Cancer Tees

The principal at Arizona?s Gilbert High School has banned cheerleaders from wearing the breast cancer awareness shirts they bought to raise money for a cure.

The squad planned to sport the pink ?Feel for lumps, save your bumps? tee at football games, but can?t now that they?ve been deemed ?inappropriate?.

Booster club president Gaylee Skowronek was surprised by J. Charles Santa Cruz?s decision, saying:

?We thought the shirt was age-appropriate.� I think it?s hypocritical they would approve a fundraiser for breast-cancer research but they won?t approve a shirt to bring awareness to breast cancer.?

Even though the saying was on the back of the shirts, maybe he thought boys would see it as an open invitation to cop a feel?

What do U think???

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Posted by The Admin on October 24, 2011 in Fashion Smashion, Wacky, Tacky & True and tagged Age appropriate, arizona, breast cancer, cancer, Conditions and Diseases, Gilbert High School, Health, shirt.

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Miley?s Email Hack Was Shockingly Easy

You?d think that more more high profile you become, the more difficult you?d make your passwords?

? and the security questions for the retrieval of lost ones.

The hacker who allegedly got into a lot of celebrity accounts has detailed how he got into Miley?s Gmail. Actually, it isn?t all that detailed, because:

The man says he simply went to Miley?s Gmail and tried accessing it. The prompt asked a security question, the name of one of her girlfriends. He guessed the one she?s known the longest, based on a Google search ? and he scored.

We don?t even know what to say to that.

Come on celebs, step up your security game! Make it a challenge.

We say go Inception with it, false email accounts linked to other false ones, and so on! Ha!

And hackers ? quit being creeps. Seriously, it weirds everyone out.

[Image via WENN.]

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Posted by The Admin on October 24, 2011 in Miley Cyrus, Tech Talk and tagged Celebrity, celebs, details, email, false, friends, girlfriend, Gmail, google, Google Search, hack, inception, Miley, Miley Cyrus, security, Security question, serious, seriously, weird, WENN.

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The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn: Movie Review

Rarely does a film wow us in all levels and in each expectation we have. "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" is a prime example of grabbing that elite status. It is a film that not only amazes us with its stunning visuals, huge and complicated set-pieces and one of the best (if not the best) motion-capture effort we have seen yet but it also completes the whole experience with an adventure fraught with detail-accurate representations of the Herg�'s characters, non-stop action and humorous scenes. This is one film worthy of Herg�'s vision and one also worthy of Spielberg's almost three decade wait for a big screen adaptation.

Tintin (Jamie Bell) is roaming around a outdoor town bazaar when he decides to buy a model ship named The Unicorn. The model ship quickly attracts the attention of two men, one an American named Barnaby and one who introduces himself as Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig), who both offer to buy the model for huge sums of money. Tintin refuses to sell the ship to both and takes it home where it is broken by Snowy. Tintin doesn't notice that a parchment of paper has fallen from the mast. Remembering the two men who approached him earlier, Tintin decides to investigate further about The Unicorn and its mysterious history and why everyone else is so interested in a toy model.

Honestly speaking, we cannot single out a feature where "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" did not excel. In fact, the film is a tour-de-force bringing a balance of the comical and the realistic, of action and humor and the best visuals we have seen yet in a film (in our opinion, this even beats "Avatar" handily). It is even scary at times seeing Tintin and the other characters so vividly and photo-realistically recreated in 3D. You know that some features are too exaggerated to be a normal person but the visuals are done so well that characters turn-out more life-like than just animated characters. While the film does start slowly, it compensates this with a non-stop thrill ride after the first 15 minutes or so. And speaking of action, the best thing about them are the complex and interconnected nature of sequences in a single scene which accurately captures what happens on Tintin comics. "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn" is the best film we have seen all year. It is a perfect ode to old fans of Tintin and it will surely make lots of new ones as well. Even better, it contains all the elements of what makes a film fun and it does these all too well.

Rating: 5 reels

Why you should watch it:
- visually speaking, this is the best we have ever seen
- the original characters are accurately depicted
- the movie is perfect in all aspects

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- kids may find the story a little too complicated

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Adele Tops Best-Selling Albums of 2011

This just in: Adele had a very good 2011.

The singer - who is recovering from throat surgery and said this week she may not release a new CD for a couple years - sat atop the music world this year with the number-one single, number-one video and, unless something miraculous takes place in the next four weeks, the number-one album.

"21" is on pace to be the the first album to sell five million copies in 12 months since Usher's "Confessions" in 2004.

Based on Nielsen SoundScan, here are the top-selling albums of 2011:

1. Adele, 21 - 4,817,000 copies sold
2. Lady Gaga, Born This Way - 1,973,000
3. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV - 1,776,000
4. Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party - 1,389,000
5. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More - 1,328,000
6. Jay-Z/Kanye West, Watch The Throne - 1,124,000
7. Michael Buble, Christmas - 1,038,000
8. Beyonce, 4 - 956,000
9. Lady Antebellum, Own The Night - 908,000
10. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream - 907,000

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Tom Cruise Wants New 'Top Gun' To Be as Homoerotic as Old 'Top Gun', and More...

December 9, 2011 Comments

- Tom Cruise has confirmed rumors that we're getting a Top Gun sequel. Claiming they're "working on it," Cruise explained, "If we can find a story that we all want to do, we all want to make a film that is in the same kind of tone as the other one and shoot it in the same way as we shot Top Gun." And then, if it all goes well, Cruise will at last again get those weird feelings he got during the volleyball scenes. (Thanks, Francis.)

- In response to yesterday's news that we need a new American Psycho, author Bret Easton Ellis tweeted, "I have warned Lionsgate that I will not approve a new version of "American Psycho" unless it stars [Keeping Up with the Kardashians asshole] SCOTT DISICK or MILES FISHER [above, as seen in his music video impersonation of Christian Bale]." Well, just so long as it gets made, guys, because we definitely need this.

- With Steven Soderbergh dropping out of the long-planned Man from U.N.C.L.E. remake, Guy Ritchie is now reportedly stepping in to take over. Well, just so long as it gets made, guys, because we definitely need this.

- Ben Kingsley is in talks to rejoin Asa Butterfield in Ender's Game, while Sacha baron Cohen is reportedly in negotiations to join Les Mis�rables. Thus concludes our Hugo: Where Are They Now? segment. Good night.

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'In The Land Of Blood And Honey' Premiere: Angelina Jolie's Dad, Jon Voight, Crashes the Party

No one likes a party crasher, especially when the party is the premiere of Angelina Jolie's directorial debut and the crasher is her semi-estranged father, Jon Voight. Thursday night in Los Angeles, the actress's dad showed up to the premiere of 'In The Land of Blood And Honey.' Although Jolie was all smiles as Voight came up and hugged her, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that he did so unannounced -- and that Angie was not happy about it.

According to THR, "While the producers could not stop the carpet photogs from snapping shots of Jon and Angelina in a brief and noticeably awkward embrace, the official party photographer was given strict instructions not to take any photos of Voight -- with or without Angelina. And the party's security forces were told to keep him far away from Brad and Angie all night."

Jolie hasn't had the best relationship with her father, but in a recent interview with 60 Minutes, she admitted that things have gotten better. (In 2002, Voight went on TV and said his daughter had "mental problems.") If this report recent is true, "better" likely did not mean showing up without an invitation to her movie premiere.

[via THR]

[Photo: AXELLE/BAUER-GRIFFIN.COM]

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There Be Dragons: Movie Review

In olden times, when people didn't know much about the world, they labeled their maps of unknown or dangerous places with the phrase "here be dragons". Ironically, "There Be Dragons" is one epic film piece because of said dragons littered throughout the movie - the dragons here are the trials and tribulations all lead characters will and must face in their lives. Those personal dragons not only make the characters deeper and more human but the movie also integrates all of them together perfectly that the film leaves an indelible mark to the user. "There Be Dragons" is an epic that's for sure. Not only because of its top notch production but primarily due to the stories it wants to tell.

Robert (Dougray Scott) is assigned to write a book on the life of Jose Maria Escriva (Charlie Cox). The assignment brings him back to Madrid - his hometown and the place where his estranged father, Manolo (Wes Bentley) lives. With a little bit of luck, Robert finds out that his father actually knew Jose Maria Escriva personally. Through his father's stories of his life with Escriva, not only will Robert find out details he needs for his book but he will also find out his father's secrets and a shattering revelation about himself.

"There Be Dragons" is one beautiful film. From the first scene to the last, the movie is littered with scenes that will leave you astounded - from its gritty Spanish Civil War parts or the saintly and holy revelations of Jose Maria Escriva or the more recent modern space of Madrid. Everything just feels authentic and real and it is a feat in itself. "There Be Dragons" biggest asset though is its story - a story composed of the lives of its three main characters of Manolo, Saint Escriva and Robert. The movie uses their different stories to accentuate its message and moral - that life is unpredictable, full of "dragons" and how we respond to those "dragons" define who we are and who we become. Although even with all its merits, we felt that the movie did had lackluster acting especially with Wes Bentley as Manolo. Some may also hate the religious side the movie takes but in our opinion, the movie was unbiased when it comes to Catholicism and the various "signs from God". In fact, the movie leaves those scenes open for interpretation - it can be a miracle but it can also be just coincidence and chance or human nature. Bottomline, "There Be Dragons" is one rewarding film full of symbolism and lessons presented in an easy-to-digest and easy-to-interpret package.

Rating: 4 and a half reels

Why you should watch it:
- the story and its characters are its best asset
- beautiful is the only thing we can say on how the film was shot and the set pieces presented

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the acting and the cast could have been better
- some may hate the semi-religious side the movie takes

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Demi Lovato and Kelly Clarkson Duet: Have a Merry Little Christmas!

Demi Lovato and Kelly Clarkson took to the stage as a pair last night at Z100's annual Jingle Ball concert in Madison Square Garden and delivered a heartfelt musical message to fans:

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Could Demi match the first-ever American Idol note-for-note? Of course not. But who out there can?!? Sit back and let these two artist serenade you with a holiday classic now:

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Time To Remake and Update 'American Psycho' with Occupy Wall Street Stuff and Some New Music

December 8, 2011 Comments

A studio cannot subsist on Saw sequels and Tyler Perry's alone, no matter how hard they might try, Lionsgate has decided they'd better go ahead with a remake of Mary Harron's cult classic, American Psycho.

The project is to be written and directed by Noble Jones, a second unit director on The Social Network who previously shot music videos for Mary J. Blige and Taylor Swift--whose music he may very well thoroughly analyze through his American Psycho protagonist's monologues. See, while the Christian Bale-starring 2000 original (like the Bret Easton Ellis novel) placed Manhattan investment banker/serial killer Patrick Bateman in the 1980s--making the film as much a dark satire of Wall Street boom yuppy culture as it was a violent thriller--the plan for this new version is to set it in the present day, taking into account the obvious changes on Wall Street and advances in business card fabrication. Now Bateman will abruptly cut off conversations because he has to return some Netflix envelopes, presumably.

The remake will also apparently be even cheaper than its $7 million predecessor, as it's being pitched as a "microbudget," which would seem to imply production values along the lines of the usual films dubbed as "microbudget": $2 million horror movies involving security cameras. So if nothing else, it should at least be interesting to see how the gruesome axe murders play when they're only implied by a swinging chandelier and a knocked-over tripod.

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Answer to Our Nudge Photo Contest

The results are in from the nudge photo contest we posted on Monday. Thirty-six out of 103 responses got it exactly right: to stop folks from urinating on the wall. �Many also wrote that it was to prevent grafitti, so close but not (as I?ve been told) the exact motivation.

The first to answer correctly was, Skyjo, whose response was third overall.

Of the 36 correct answers, we randomly chose comment #63 by ann, ?So that people won?t urinate on the wall as a sign of respect.?

Nudges aren?t just for humans. Here is a photo, also from Jan Chipchase, of a similar nudge with the same exact goal of �reducing public urination. This time the target is dogs, not humans.

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Justice for Sale: Film Review

The Bottom Line

A female lawyer searches for justice for a man convicted of rape in the Congo.

Production company�

IFProductions

Directors/Screenwriters/Producers

Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen

Law and Order goes to the Congo in Justice for Sale, a smart and to-the-point study of a disputed rape case investigated in and out of the courtroom. Young documakers Femke and Ilse van Velzen have forefronted Africa and cultural injustice in all four of their films; here, the Democratic Republic of the Congo takes the stand as a no-nonsense young lawyer, Claudine Tsongo, reviews the iffy case and its international implications. The fact that a woman lawyer and female directors take the side of a man who appears to have been unjustly sentenced for a crime he didn?t commit lends much authority to the doc?s thesis. Though the subject will be of marginal interest to most viewers, it should hit the spot with audiences interested in contemporary Africa.

The light it casts on the Congo?s justice system is not good, but it?s not totally bad, either, considering the remarkable lengths Tsongo ? who is unpaid -- goes to see justice done, at least on film. As the story opens, Masamba, a frightened but dignified local healer, languishes in Bukavu prison serving a 10-year term for rape. He has always asserted his innocence, even when plea bargaining would have lightened his sentence. Claudine interviews him professionally, then sets off to track down the plaintive and her husband, hoping to get his case reopened. Half the pleasure of the film is watching her smooth, unruffled interview technique as she cajoles reluctant witnesses to come clean.

Suddenly there is a flashback to the original court case, an open air affair that saw the judges sentence Masamba despite scanty circumstantial evidence and conflicting testimony. This surprise scene makes it clear that the invisible, behind-the-camera filmmakers got involved at a much earlier stage in the legal process.

Tsongo and her fellow lawyers make a number of strong points about the corruption of the national judicial system, but more interesting is the role played by local and international human right organizations. Their efforts to curb violence against women have backfired, encouraging courts to go for quick convictions in rape cases, whatever the evidence. The film makes this sobering point forcefully and well.

Views of the African countryside and villages add a lot of color to the story.

Venue: IDFA Film Festival (Dutch competition), Nov. 23, 2011.
Production company: IFProductions
Directors: Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen
Screenwriters: Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen
Producers: Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen
Director of photography: Rogier Timmermans
Music:� Jeroen Goeijers
Editor: Paul de Heer
Sales Agent: Films Transit International Inc.
No rating, 83 minutes.

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Gozaran-Time Passing: Film Review

The Bottom Line

Sober but moving study of an Iranian conductor?s exhilarating attempt to bring Western music to Iran has cross-cultural appeal

Venue

IDFA Film Festival (competing), Nov. 21, 2011.

Director

Frank Scheffer

Screenwriter

Frank Scheffer, Michael Dreyer

The plaintive notes of a musician?s exile from his beloved native land underscore the beautifully made Gozaran ? Time Passing by Dutch documaker Frank Scheffer, whose films have explored musical talents as diverse as Frank Zappa and Gustav Mahler. Although the film?s subject, Nader Mashayekhi, is a composer, here the focus is on his daring experiment to bring Western classical and contemporary music to Iran, a short-lived but exhilarating dream that catches the viewer up in a world of great music, poetry and desire for change. Made soberly but with great feeling, the film?s cross-cultural theme and emphasis on young women musicians should broaden TV interest considerably.

Mashayekhi had been living abroad for 30 years when he was invited to return to his native Iran in 2005 to conduct the Tehran Philharmonic Orchestra. He goes with the bold idea of bringing new music to a culturally closed circuit world. Rather surprisingly, he recruits an orchestra composed mainly of young women, some of whom play instruments like the trumpet rare in Iran; there is even a female soloist, which is generally a taboo. Most astonishing of all is his choice of music:� Mahler and Arvo Part, whose ?St. John Passion? is performed with a giant crucifix projected behind the orchestra.

Two years later he?s back in Vienna, morosely brooding over his broken dreams and feeling more than ever like a composer in exile.� �

Avoiding all the political intrigues that must have been transpiring behind the scenes, Scheffer shows the conductor working quietly with his musicians, explaining Mahler?s vision in a few carefully chosen words. The pretty faces of the young women in their black headscarves soak up his lessons and in individual interviews they echo his idea that Iran has become a society where it?s very difficult to express one?s feelings, if not through the outlet of music, painting and poetry.

The composer himself is a special cross of Eastern and Western influences, and his deep love for Iran and its traditions provides the film with an on-going motif. He seeks inspiration in the primordial landscape of Iran?s deserts, whose startling beauty is captured on HD cam by cinematographer Melle van Essen. Listening to natural sounds in an ancient abandoned village, Mashayekhi says that Iranian poetry, particularly Hafez, has changed his understanding of the sound music of John Cage. Though this could easily have turned an abstruse tract for music scholars, Scheffer skilfully edits the material in a way that keeps the film comprehensible and aesthetically moving, without ever lowering its high intellectual tone.

Venue: IDFA Film Festival (competing), Nov. 21, 2011.
Production companies: Pieter van Huystee Film, EuroArts in association with Dreyer Gaido
Director: Frank Scheffer
Screenwriter: Frank Scheffer, Michael Dreyer
Producers: Pieter van Huystee, Bernd Hellthaler
Director of photography: Melle van Essen
Editors: Frank Scheffer, Riekje Ziengs
Sales Agent:� Eye Film Institute Netherlands
90 minutes.

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Weekend Box Office: 'New Year's Eve' Drops the Ball, Wins Anyway

'New Year's Eve' was supposed to bring the party this weekend, but it played more like a New Year's Day hangover. It mustered an estimated $13.7 million, about half what it was expected to earn. Still, on one of the most lackluster box office weekends all year, that was enough for a victory.

'New Year's Eve' was director Garry Marshall's follow-up to his similar holiday-themed, all-star ensemble romantic comedy 'Valentine's Day,' which debuted with a huge $56 million two Februarys ago. Of course, that was on the biggest date weekend of the year; this was not (plus, it had the still-strong ''The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1' to contend with for female ticketbuyers). No one expected it to open as big as 'Valentine's Day,' but most expected an opening around half the size, not a mere fourth the size. Besides the 'Twilight' vampires, blame scathing reviews and poor word-of-mouth.

Opening in second place, 'The Sitter' also performed below its already underwhelming expectations. Jonah Hill has never carried a comedy all by himself, and judging by the mild reception for the recent 'A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas,' this isn't a time of year with a strong market for raunchy comedies. So pundits predicted an opening of around $12 to $13 million, but Sunday estimates came in at just $10.0 million. Director David Gordon Green, who has yet to regain the highs of 'Pineapple Express,' now enjoys the dubious distinction of having released two flops this year (the other was this spring's 'Your Highness').

After three weekends atop the chart, 'Breaking Dawn' finally slipped to third place, with an estimated $7.9 million. A decline of 52 percent from a week ago isn't that unusual for a four-week-old blockbuster. The supernatural romance has earned $259.5 million in North America to date.

'The Muppets' also dropped two spots, down to fourth place with an estimated take of $7.1 million. That represents a modest decline of 32 percent in the movie's third weekend. To date, Kermit & Co. are seeing green to the tune of $65.8 million.

The only Christmas-themed movie currently playing, 'Arthur Christmas,' saw the smallest decline among wide-release movies, just 11 percent in its third weekend. At No. 5, it earned an estimated $6.6 million, for a three-week total of $33.5 million.

Also opening this week were two movies that did very well in limited release, according to studio estimates. Charlize Theron's black comedy 'Young Adult' earned an enormous $40,000 per screen on eight screens (by comparison, 'New Year's Eve drew $3,505 per screen), and its total debut of $320,000 landed it at No. 15 on the chart. One notch below was Gary Oldman's espionage thriller 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,' which earned an even more astonishing $75,250 per screen at four venues, for a total of $301,000. Holding up well in limited release were 'The Artist' (up 38 percent this week with the addition of 10 screens, for a total of 16, with a per-screen average of $18,250 and an estimated weekend take of $292,000) and 'Shame' (down just 21 percent, to an estimated $276,000, or $13,143 per screen). All potential year-end awards contenders, these films should continue to do well as they expand into wider release.

Overall, the top 12 movies earned just $69.7 million this weekend, marking the third straight week of declining box office. Grosses for the year are more than 3 percent below where they were this time a year ago ($9.5 billion, compared to $9.8 billion), but that gap could widen if this month continues to see such lackluster performance.

'New Year's Eve' - Trailer No. 2

The full top 10:
1. 'New Year's Eve,' $13.7 million (3,505 screens), new release
2. 'The Sitter,' $10.0 million (2,750), new release
3. 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1,' $7.9 million (3,604), $259.5 million total
4. 'The Muppets,' $7.1 million (3,328), $65.8 million
5. 'Arthur Christmas,' $6.6 million (3,272), $33.5 million
6. 'Hugo,' $6.1 million (2,608) $33.5 million
7. 'The Descendants,' $4.8 million (876), $23.6 million
8. 'Happy Feet Two,' $3.8 million (2,840), $56.9 million
9. 'Jack and Jill,' $3.2 million (2,787), $68.6 million
10. 'Immortals,' $2,4 million (2,286), $79.9 million

[Photos: Warner Bros. ('New Year's Eve'), 20th Century Fox ('The Sitter'), Paramount ('Young Adult')]

---

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GROSS! 1 In 6 Cell Phones Contaminated With Fecal Matter!

Yep.

According to a study, at least in Britain, 1 in 6 cell phones could have E. Coli because of contamination from fecal matter.

Because people don?t wash their hands after using the bathroom:

The findings also suggest that many people lie about their hygiene habits, according to the researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Queen Mary, University of London.

The study authors went to 12 cities and collected 390 samples from the cellphones and hands of volunteers, who were also asked about their hand-washing habits.

Ninety-five percent of the participants told the researchers that they washed their hands with soap and water where possible. However, lab tests revealed that 92 percent of phones and 82 percent of hands had bacteria on them. The researchers also found that 16 percent of hands and 16 percent of cellphones harbored E. coli bacteria, which is found in feces and can cause serious illness.

Gross! We learn that at such a young age! Why can?t people be bothered to take the time?!

Wash your hands, people! Ewww!

[Image via AP Images.]

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Posted on October 24, 2011 in Health, Tech Talk and tagged Bacteria, Bathroom, cell phone, contamination, Escherichia coli, Feces, gross, habit, Hand washing, hands, illness, london, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Medicine, mobile phone, People, queen mary, Queen Mary University of London, research, researchers, school, study, test.

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See a Little Light: A Celebration of the Music and Legacy of Bob Mould: Concert Review

The Bottom Line

Rock's heavy hitters blow out Downtown L.A.'s Disney Hall in celebration of a punk icon.

Date:

Monday, Nov. 21

Venue:

Walt Disney Concert Hall

?I did not get a gold watch tonight!? insisted punk icon Bob Mould towards the end of a two-hour-plus tribute to his music on Monday night at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. ?I have plans!?

Of course he does. Though Mould has never achieved a level of fame even approaching mainstream, he's got one of the most revered bodies of work in music. His '80s band Husker Du served as an inspiration for bands like Nirvana and R.E.M., and his early '90s follow-up project, Sugar, now sounds like a blueprint for the pop-minded, raw-edged rock sound that's been dominating radio for the past decade. He's never slowed down, releasing solo albums, guesting and producing for young artists, becoming an open gay voice in the music community and, most recently, writing and releasing a tell-all biography covering his entire upbringing and its effect on his career.

So the fact that he's got plans isn't a surprise, nor is the amount of reverence for his material brought to the stage by an all-star cast during Monday's tribute show, presented unexpectedly as mostly a cathartic blast of energy rather than a toned-down examination of Mould's songwriting.

It also was a healthy dose of '90s nostalgia, especially since the evening's host, Matt Pinfield, hasn't aged at all since his stint as host of the alt-rock stomping grounds of MTV's long-cancelled 120 Minutes. He interviewed each performer as if they were sitting on his red couch, grasping at stories of Mould's influence on their songwriting.

The actual answers to that question were obvious in each performance, most of which were performed by acts supported by Mould's current band. Spoon's Britt Daniel started the evening with a take on Sugar's ?The Act We Act,? vocally sputtering throughout to make it his own. Craig Finn, the singer for the Minneapolis band The Hold Steady, revealed he and Mould shared not just a hometown but a guitar teacher before taking on ?The Real World? and ?A Good Idea.? The night's one misstep ? a song from comedianne Margaret Cho, performed with the best intentions but the weakest delivery ? was followed up by the first set from Mould himself, sitting in with L.A. noise-rockers No Age, thrashing in awe as they blasted through ?I Apologize? and ?In A Free Land,? both aggressive and raw despite the odd austerity given to the night by the venue itself.

Clearly, the big guns were saved for the end of the night: Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl attacked a six-song set of Mould classics, assaulting the drums on ?New Day Rising? as he threw his hair around in unabashed jamming-with-my-heroes mode, after smiling wildly and widely as he guitar-jammed with Mould on ?Something I Learned Today?.

But it was roots-rocker Ryan Adams who stole the night; by performing two of Mould's less-known, more recent numbers alone with an acoustic guitar, he gave a plaintive weight to his 10 minute performance, conjuring meaning in melody and finding notes that never existed in the songs original state, yet felt even more true in this one. If Mould ever does have that gold-watch ceremony, he'd be lucky to have Adams provide the resigned, resigning soundtrack.

Set List:

(Britt Daniel & Jessica Dobson) The Act We Act, JC Auto
(Craig Finn & Tad Kubler) Real World, A Good Idea
(Margaret Cho & Grant Lee-Phillips) Your Favorite Thing
(No Age, Bob Mould) I Apologize, In A Free Land
(Ryan Adams) Heartbreak A Stranger, Black Sheets of Rain
(Dave Grohl, Bob Mould) Hardly Getting Over It, Could You Be The One, Ice Cold Ice, Something I Learned Today, Chartered Trips, New Day Rising
(Bob Mould) Hoover Dam, If I Can't Change Your Mind, Celebrated Summer, Makes No Sense At All
(Dave Grohl, Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Margaret Cho, No Age, Bob Mould) See A Little Light

Movies Reviews

Underworld Awakening: Sneak Peek

?Underworld Awakening? tries to bring a new dimension to the epic battle between Vampires and Lycans as the first movie in the franchise to be shot in 3D. Kate Beckinsale returns in her lead role as the vampire Selene, who successfully escapes imprisonment to find herself in a world where humans have discovered the existence of both Vampire and Lycan clans and are now conducting an all-out war to eradicate both species. catch the trailer of "Underworld Awakening" after the jump.

Opening across the Philippines in January 2012, ?Underworld Awakening? is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

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Justice for Sale: Film Review

The Bottom Line

A female lawyer searches for justice for a man convicted of rape in the Congo.

Production company�

IFProductions

Directors/Screenwriters/Producers

Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen

Law and Order goes to the Congo in Justice for Sale, a smart and to-the-point study of a disputed rape case investigated in and out of the courtroom. Young documakers Femke and Ilse van Velzen have forefronted Africa and cultural injustice in all four of their films; here, the Democratic Republic of the Congo takes the stand as a no-nonsense young lawyer, Claudine Tsongo, reviews the iffy case and its international implications. The fact that a woman lawyer and female directors take the side of a man who appears to have been unjustly sentenced for a crime he didn?t commit lends much authority to the doc?s thesis. Though the subject will be of marginal interest to most viewers, it should hit the spot with audiences interested in contemporary Africa.

The light it casts on the Congo?s justice system is not good, but it?s not totally bad, either, considering the remarkable lengths Tsongo ? who is unpaid -- goes to see justice done, at least on film. As the story opens, Masamba, a frightened but dignified local healer, languishes in Bukavu prison serving a 10-year term for rape. He has always asserted his innocence, even when plea bargaining would have lightened his sentence. Claudine interviews him professionally, then sets off to track down the plaintive and her husband, hoping to get his case reopened. Half the pleasure of the film is watching her smooth, unruffled interview technique as she cajoles reluctant witnesses to come clean.

Suddenly there is a flashback to the original court case, an open air affair that saw the judges sentence Masamba despite scanty circumstantial evidence and conflicting testimony. This surprise scene makes it clear that the invisible, behind-the-camera filmmakers got involved at a much earlier stage in the legal process.

Tsongo and her fellow lawyers make a number of strong points about the corruption of the national judicial system, but more interesting is the role played by local and international human right organizations. Their efforts to curb violence against women have backfired, encouraging courts to go for quick convictions in rape cases, whatever the evidence. The film makes this sobering point forcefully and well.

Views of the African countryside and villages add a lot of color to the story.

Venue: IDFA Film Festival (Dutch competition), Nov. 23, 2011.
Production company: IFProductions
Directors: Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen
Screenwriters: Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen
Producers: Femke van Velzen, Ilse van Velzen
Director of photography: Rogier Timmermans
Music:� Jeroen Goeijers
Editor: Paul de Heer
Sales Agent: Films Transit International Inc.
No rating, 83 minutes.

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The Latest News on Global Warming; Weirdness Still Prevails

(Digital Vision)

The U.N. is holding its big annual conference on climate change in Durban, South Africa. For those of you still paying attention to global-warming news, you may want to add a couple of links to your reading:

+ There?s been a second round of ?ClimateGate? e-mails, (the first preceded the U.N.?s climate-change Copenhagen conference in 2009); the Times?s� Andy Revkin becomes a more prominent character this time around, for which he is attacked, against which he promptly defends himself.

�+ A new study in Science argues with the accepted wisdom on climate sensitivity. From the website of Oregon State University, home to lead researcher Andreas Schmittner:

A new study suggests that the rate of global warming from doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be less than the most dire estimates of some previous studies ? and, in fact, may be less severe than projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report in 2007.

Authors of the study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation?s Paleoclimate Program and published online this week in the journal Science, say that global warming is real and that increases in atmospheric CO2 will have multiple serious impacts.

However, the most Draconian projections of temperature increases from the doubling of CO2 are unlikely.

+ And in the Wall Street Journal, Bret Stephens raises hell by not only arguing that global warming is akin to a religion but that the religion is dying:

As with religion, it is presided over by a caste of spectacularly unattractive people pretending to an obscure form of knowledge that promises to make the seas retreat and the winds abate. As with religion, it comes with an elaborate list of virtues, vices and indulgences. As with religion, its claims are often non-falsifiable, hence the convenience of the term ?climate change? when thermometers don?t oblige the expected trend lines. As with religion, it is harsh toward skeptics, heretics and other ?deniers.? And as with religion, it is susceptible to the earthly temptations of money, power, politics, arrogance and deceit.

Also, fwiw, our latest podcast (?The Truth Is Out There ? Isn?t It??) examines how we make up our minds about the risks of climate change, and reports the surprising finding that higher levels of scientific knowledge are correlated with greater polarization on the issue:

Greater scientific literacy and numeracy were associated with greater cultural polarization: respondents predisposed by their values to dismiss climate change evidence became more dismissive, and those predisposed by their values to credit such evidence more concerned, as science literacy and numeracy increased.

In other words: the more you know, the more you know that what you know is true ? even when it?s not.

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Joshua Jackson Doesn't Have A 'Fringe' Double, And That's Okay

Peter Bishop has it pretty easy. Well, actually, it's Joshua Jackson that has it pretty easy. You see, he's the only guy on "Fringe" who doesn't have to play like a million different versions of his character on the show.

And he's not complaining.

"I mean, I can see the fun that everyone's having with their doppelgangers. But I'm not gonna lie, the extra six weeks off this summer was pretty awesome," he joked in an interview with MTV News. "So, while I was sitting there on vacation, I was not thinking to myself, 'Gosh, I wish I was having a conversation with myself right now as a different version of me.' It seems like it would be fun once and then a bit of a pain in the ass after that, so I'm not terribly jealous."

While he's not playing many versions of Peter, he does have to interact with many different versions of the people he knows and loves, which is sort of fun and sort of not fun. We'll let him explain.

"It's a little bit of both: it's daunting because there's a lot of details now. I guess it's less so for me, but particularly for the guys who are playing two, sometimes three versions of their characters, I think it's daunting because you want to make each one of those characters individuals and you have to keep those individuals in your head," he explained. "That's a lot to do and TV moves really fast, so it's not like you have a lot of time. I think that's daunting, but at the same time it keeps it interesting."

Plus, there's this: "It makes it pretty simple for me. It turns out I'm not that smart so they were worried that I wouldn't be able to pull it off."

Peter, though, is a secret genius. And now that none of his family or friends in the "Fringe"-verse know who he is, we get to see his smarty pants abilities a lot more.

"That becomes a difficult thing not because he's brilliant but because in order for the show to explain itself every week [there has to be a layman]. It's tough because two of the three leads are supposedly geniuses ? one of the things that's been nice for me this year is that Peter is getting the chance to display his intelligence and abilities," he explained. "Because in the previous version of 'Fringe,' Peter is always the second smartest man in the room because Walter is always the smartest man in the room and in this version he is his father's son, so he gets to display that. I like that. It?s a nice new wrinkle in the character."

Tell us what you think in the comments section and on Twitter!

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Hugo: Film Review

A passionate brief for film preservation wrapped in a fanciful tale of childhood intrigue and adventure, Hugo dazzlingly conjoins the earliest days of cinema with the very latest big-screen technology. At once Martin Scorsese's least characteristic film and his most deeply felt, this opulent adaptation of Brian Selznick's extensively illustrated novel is ostensibly a children's and family film, albeit one that will play best to sophisticated kids and culturally inclined adults. Paramount has no choice but to go for broke by selling this most ingenious of 3D movies to the widest possible public, hoping that critical acclaim and novelty value will pique the curiosity of all audiences. All the same, it remains something of a tricky proposition commercially.

PHOTOS: Martin Scorsese On Set

Like so many of the most popular and enduring fictions centered on children, from Dickens to Harry Potter, this one is about orphans and castoffs, kids who must scheme, fight and resist authority to make their way in life. With exceptional imagination, first Selznick and now Scorsese and scenarist John Logan have found a way to connect their resourceful leading characters with one of the great early figures of cinema, Georges Melies, most famous as the originator of the science fiction film with his 1902 A Trip to the Moon and, perhaps more significantly, the first man to recognize the connection between the cinema and dreams.

In an incidental moment that alone justifies the entire recent resurgence of 3D, Scorsese recreates the legendary presentation of the Lumiere brothers' 1897 Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, at which audiences flinched in horror as a train filmed coming into a station appeared to be headed right at them, in a way that astonishingly captures the reaction the brief clip was described as having created. For anyone remotely interested in film history, Hugo must be seen in 3D if only for this interlude, which the director and cinematographer Robert Richardson have pulled off through an impeccably precise combination of framing and timing.

PHOTOS: Martin Scorsese: Into the Past

The richness of detail and evident care that has been extended to all aspects of the production are of a sort possible only when a top director has a free hand to do everything he or she feels is necessary to entirely fulfill a project's ambitions. As has been seen all too many times, this sort of carte blanche has its pitfalls in indulgence, extravagance and waste. In this case, however, the obvious expenditures of time, care and money would seem to have been devoted to matters directly connected to Scorsese's overriding obsessions with film ? the particulars of its creation, manner of presentation, the nature of the people who make it, its importance to the inner lives of those who love it and preservation both of film itself and the reputations of its practitioners.

By contrast, the film's faults have more to do with less exalted issues such as slight overlength, a certain repetitiveness and the evident fact that Scorsese is not a great director of physical comedy.

The eponymous orphan here is Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a prepubescent youngster who, after the death of his beloved father (Jude Law in flashback), is grudgingly taken under wing by a dissolute uncle (Ray Winstone) who tends to the complicated system of clocks at one of Paris' major train stations, circa 1931 (as specified in Selznick's book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, although not in the film). The labyrinth of gears, cranks, shafts and stairs that comprise this hidden chamber is explored in an extraordinary shot that winds up through it, and when the old man expires, Hugo, with nowhere else to go, surreptitiously takes charge of the clocks, unbeknownst to the vigilant station inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen).

THR COVER STORY: The Dreams of Martin Scorsese

When the coast is clear, Hugo slips out of a wall grating to snatch something to eat and runs afoul of a sour old man (Ben Kingsley) who tends a toy shop in the station. He also meets another station dweller, Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz), who's been raised by the old man, her godfather, and his wife. A precocious lass who, in a nice invention of Logan's, likes to use big words, Isabelle is a bookworm with bright eyes and a wonderful smile who has no complaints except that her protectors won't permit her to see movies. Hugo remedies this by taking her to a showing of Safety Last, famous for the image of Harold Lloyd dangling over the streets of Los Angeles from a clock. Thus is born a new cinephile.

Having found his first friend, Hugo dares to bring Isabelle to his private lair, albeit with an ulterior motive; a heart-shaped key she wears around her neck looks like just what he needs to activate his primary inheritance from his father, an elaborate, unfinished automaton he's been tinkering with that he suspects might provide him with vital information.

VIDEO: 'Hugo' Q&A: James Cameron & Martin Scorsese

The upshot is that Isabelle's guardian is none other than Melies, the film pioneer thought to have died during World War I. Embittered and forgotten, Melies destroyed his own work, melting the celluloid down to be used as heels for women's shoes, and the children, in league with an early film historian (Michael Stuhlbarg) set about engineering the resurrection of the old gent's reputation, while also restoring his sense of purpose in life.

This impulse to recognize and rehabilitate a filmmaker and his work lies at the core of Hugo and has perhaps never before been so lovingly and extensively expressed in a narrative feature. As the film pushes into its second hour, Scorsese and his team imaginatively and exactingly recreate the shooting of scenes from several notable Melies films, replicating the extraordinary sets, costumes and ?special effects? they employed, and which often featured the director's wife Jeanne (Helen McCrory). A particular point is made of how Melies' films were hand-colored, frame by frame, the results of which are vividly rendered through the fortuitous recent Lobster Films color restoration of A Trip to the Moon. In related contexts, many other silent films ? some famous, others not so much ? are sampled in an enormously expressive but admirably disciplined manner.

Compared to Scorsese's fundamental achievement in so eloquently articulating his abiding passion in a fictional context, the melodrama surrounding Hugo's precarious existence in the station and his persistent, if easily distracted, pursuit by the station inspector feels overextended and indulged. The kid-in-peril interludes feel both obligatory, as something to potentially engage younger audiences, and padded to give more screen time to Cohen, who delivers an arch performance that is faintly amusing and slightly off-key. The director works overtime to give the station scenes cinematic life, letting the camera loose to prowl amid hordes of extras and dense scenic detail, but overkill eventually sets in after one or two too many chases. An under-two-hour running time should have been a goal.

One aspect that takes a bit getting used to is the across-the-board use of British accents by the, admittedly, mostly English cast for characters who are all French. It was a perfectly pragmatic decision, in the end, as having the actors employ French accents would likely have proved annoying and universal American accents would have been no more logical than British ones; it's probably just the vast difference in speech and temperament on opposite sides of the Channel that somewhat jars.

Although he ultimately comes through with a winning performance, Butterfield, previously seen in Son of Rambow and The Wolfman, seems a bit stiff and uncertain in the early-going; there are scenes in which he seems over-manipulated, right down to the slightest gestures and the direction of his glances. By contrast, Moretz (Kick-Ass, Let Me In), with her beaming warmth and great smile, is captivating as a girl who leaps at the chance for some adventure outside of books. Refusing to sentimentalize, Kingsley catches both the deeply submerged hurt and eventual pride of an artist long but not forever erased from history, while McCrory invigorates as his younger wife, who first protects but then crucially helps liberate his secret.

The film's craft and technical achievements are of the highest order, combining to create an immaculate present to film lovers everywhere. It would be hard to say enough on behalf of Richardson's cinematography, Dante Ferretti's production design, Sandy Powell's costumes, Rob Legato's extensive visual effects, Thelma Schoonmaker's editing, Howard Shore's almost constant score and the army of technical experts who made all of Scorsese's perfectionist wishes come true.

One amusing detail is that the view from Hugo's clock tower seems to vary in height from scene to scene, as judged in relation to the Eiffel Tower across the city; at times it's level with the second deck of the landmark, at others is even with the very top and at least once provides a perspective actually looking down upon it. A work of great imagination indeed.

Opens: Nov. 23 (Paramount)
Production: GK Films, Infinitum Nihil
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer, Christopher Lee, Helen McCrory, Michael Stuhlbarg, Frances de la Tour, Richard Griffiths, Jude Law
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: John Logan, based on the novel ?The Invention of Hugo Cabret? by Brian Selznick
Producers: Graham King, Tim Headington, Martin Scorsese, Johnny Depp
Executive producers: Emma Tillinger Koskoff, David Crockett, Georgia Kacandes, Christi Dembrowski, Barbara De Fina
Director of photography: Robert Richardson
Production designer: Dante Ferretti
Costume designer: Sandy Powell
Visual effects supervisor: Rob Legato
Editor: Thelma Schoonmaker
Music: Howard Shore
PG rating, 130 minutes

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Does Raising the Minimum Wage Increase Unemployment?

Conventional wisdom holds that instituting or raising the minimum wage will increase unemployment. But a recent paper by Jeremy Magruder, an economist at Berkeley, finds the opposite effect. Magruder examines the case of Indonesia in the 1990s, ?where real minimum wages rose rapidly in a varied way and then dropped quickly with the inflation rate in the South East Asian financial crash.? Here?s an excerpt:

When�minimum wages rose in one district relative to their neighbors, that district observed an�increase in formal sector employment and a decrease in informal employment. It also�observed an increase in local expenditures, which is consistent with the hypothesized�mechanism of the big push: that local product demand increases labor demand. Moreover, this increase was only observed in local industries which can be industrialized and�do supply local demand, supporting the model further. Tradable manufacturing firms�saw no growth in employment, and un-tradable, but non-industrializable services saw an�increase in informal employment.

Of course, few modern-day economists argue that an increase in the minimum wage will actually create jobs in America, and such policies failed dismally during the Great Depression. Magruder explains why the policy may have worked in Indonesia, but not in Depression-era America:

One, as a less-developed country receiving substantial foreign investment, Indonesia may have had new access to potential, unadopted, and profitable technologies that simply needed a market. A second is that much of the 1990s were a time of growth in Indonesia, when sticky wages may have limited wage growth (the opposite of conditions in the depression). Finally, Harrison and Scorce (2010) show that anti-sweatshop activism also raised labor standards in foreign firms without an accompanying drop in employment. This indicates that wages may have indeed been below marginal products in the 1990s, reducing coordination and creating an opening for policy.

(HT: Chris Blattman)

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Woody Allen - A Documentary: TV Review

"Most surprises are negative." That's a quote from Woody Allen in the positively evocative surprise that is the PBS American Masters series' Woody Allen: A Documentary, airing in two parts Nov. 20 and 21.

Writer and director Robert Weide got unfettered access to one of the country's great and most prolific directors whose private life and personal feelings about his work had never been adequately captured. Credit Weide, who spent a year and a half with Allen, including at home, traveling and on the set of a working film, for not botching such a grand opportunity.

Woody Allen manages to astutely chronicle not only a career in film but to shed some light on the man behind the movies, and in so doing it pushes the too easily used "neurotic New York Jew" out of the way as a catchall for Allen into areas both familiar and not. Whereas Allen spends much of the documentary deflecting credit and using self-deprecating lines to soften the glare of introspection, there are plenty of moments when he seems at his most open and vulnerable. Even in the shortest of scenes -- getting out of a car, talking to actors on set -- a lot can be gleaned about what the 75-year-old is like at this stage of his life.

PHOTOS: Woody Allen Turns 75

And sometimes it's those small moments that stay with you -- Allen sitting on the side of his bed, glancing at the random scraps of paper where he jots down movie ideas and then forgets them and moves on, or admitting that he really doesn't have anything to say, in short uncomfortable social situations, to the actors who work in his films. Or the delight he seems to take in falling short of genius because he got in the way and made a mess of it (he's still critical of Manhattan and Hannah and Her Sisters, among other films, for not turning out exactly how he would have liked).

"This is the Woody doc everybody has been waiting for, and I am delighted that this creative giant is finally assuming his rightful place in the American Masters library," said series creator and executive producer Susan Lacy.

Weide begins the documentary with Allen essentially wondering what all the fuss is about and gets him to take a car trip to his old neighborhood and open up and walk around. And Weide taps into a simple truism that is a hallmark of Allen's career: He's constantly writing and creating and has never stopped thinking about doing just that virtually every day of his life. Weide then starts at the beginning, with Allen writing jokes as a teenager and sending them into newspaper columnists. That begat writing jokes for publicists to give to their clients, then writing for Sid Caesar, to his earliest, most painful work as a stand-up comic (where his natural shyness is simply overcome by his refusal to stop doing what he loves). Weide tracks Allen's early career through television (with indispensable comments from Dick Cavett and Allen's sister, Letty Aronson) to Take the Money and Run, the guidance of Charles Joffe and Jack Rollins, and what would then become a unique structure for making and financing films, roughly one a year, with total autonomy for the rest of his life.

Woody Allen has an enormous number of stars talking about their involvement with Allen (including Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Dianne Wiest, Owen Wilson, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Penn, Mariel Hemingway and John Cusack).

Aronson gives the most detail about what he was like as a child, and there's some hilariously revealing footage Allen shot of his mother, Nettie Konigsberg. Weide gets just the right amount of professional balance by including the actors, co-writers like Mickey Rose (Take the Money and Run, Bananas), Marshall Brickman (Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan), film critics like Richard Schickel and F.X. Feeney, former assistants and cinematographers like Gordon Willis and Vilmos Zsigmond and even Martin Scorsese to opine on Allen. There are enough outside comments to flesh out what Allen adds and what he shades a bit with his self-deprecation.

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And, yes, if you're wondering -- and everybody will be -- Weide addresses the Soon-Yi Previn situation, but even with Allen and others discussing it, some people won't be convinced that Weide went far enough with his questioning (he said Allen never refused to answer a question). In fact, you can't profile someone like Allen in 3 1/2 or so hours and not leave yourself open to second-guessing. Maybe some viewers will believe that even with unprecedented access, Weide didn't shed as much light on the reclusive Allen as he could have.

That's because, despite some of the intimate discussions Allen engages in, his shyness is still formidable. And much of the best material in the documentary -- Allen criticizing his own work, his candor -- mostly comes with an undercoating of humor. That's natural, but you have to wonder how much deflection of real emotion and honesty is going on and how much Allen is meticulously guarding the search for personal revelations and soul-baring.

To Weide's credit, there is a flourish midway in the documentary where he catches and edits together a number of people, including Allen, using the term "compartmentalize" as it relates to Allen's mental makeup.

Even if there are shortcomings, Woody Allen remains fascinating, funny and insightful. The film has many moments where actors -- all of them dying to work with Allen and then feeling a mixture of confusion (about how well they did) and admiration for what he got out of them with a minimalist's touch -- recall his style. Cusack and Wiest say that Allen's coaching is simple: Do what feels natural, and do it in a hurry. They then laugh, as does Allen, when adding that this derived from his interest in getting home to watch a Knicks game.

STORY: Woody Allen Changes Title of Next Film

"I don't have a lot of patience in life or in general," Allen says. "If I've gotten what I want, then I want to move on, finish and go home."

That rush, if you will, has churned out a vast list of movies, some of them great and others not -- the calculation of a life's work that Allen seems to sum up in two different responses: 1) that he wished he had done better even on the great films; and 2) that he's happy people come out and watch his work at all, even if the film doesn't do well.

"Woody Allen has never felt obligated to top himself," Feeney notes. "He's felt obligated to do whatever interests him the most."

"I don't really care about commercial success," Allen says, and laughs while adding, "and the end result is I rarely achieve it."

Woody Allen ends with reflection on Midnight in Paris, his most financially successful film. And, fittingly enough, Weide acknowledges that Allen's life and career are still in forward motion: "The prolific nature of Woody's output has provided me with an embarrassment of riches. In fact, Woody will have made three features just in the time it's taken me to make this one documentary."

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