Posts Tagged ‘Actress’

Keith Urban, Vince Gill to back stars at benefit

Keith Urban performs during the All for the Hall concert on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. The concert is a benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. – AP Photo

 NASHVILLE:Imagine the rush of singing in front of thousands of fans, then turning around to find Keith Urban and Vince Gill in your band. That’s the experience some of country music’s top stars will have at the All For The Hall benefit concert Tuesday night.

Urban and Gill, as musical directors for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum fundraiser, have merged their bands and are sitting in all night. ”It would be awesome if we could keep it this way forever,” Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild said after rehearsals Monday.  ”I don’t think we could afford it,” bandmate Kimberly Schlapman said. ”But it is amazing to be up front singing and turn around and there’s Keith Urban and Vince Gill. I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m impressed with myself.”

Gill and the Australian star Urban come from band backgrounds and weren’t about to pass up the chance to be part of the gang again.   ”I love playing,” Gill said. ”I like being invited to play. I like it when people think enough of my playing to invite me to play. … You never grow tired of that.”

The first two All For The Hall benefits raised about $1 million, and this year’s installment sold out in a day.   The theme for the fundraiser is duos, vocal groups and bands, and the lineup includes Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, Miranda Lambert’s Pistol Annies, Alabama, Alison Krauss and Union Station, The Band Perry and Thompson Square.

Urban promised a couple of surprise guests. ”Both titans, definitely,” Urban said.  This will be one of his fans’ first chances to see Urban perform since surgery late last year to remove a polyp and a nodule from his vocal cords.

In a phone interview last week, Urban said he was worried he might lose some of his singing ability. But he actually emerged with benefits he never imagined.

”I think if a footballer in their 40s was given their knees back like they were in their early 20s, that’s kind of how I feel right now,” Urban said. ”It’s an extraordinary feeling of freedom.”He has been working with a vocal coach to strengthen his voice.

”I already feel that this next album, the thrust and the pull as a songwriter, is to talk more about some of my stories, personal stories, beyond my relationship with my wife (actress Nicole Kidman) and subjects that I’ve never really tapped into that much,” Urban said. ”So I think getting my voice back has sort of been a metaphor for finding my voice more so as well as an artist, broadening it, really, to the things that I want to write about and I feel ready to write about that I guess I haven’t in recent years.”

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Via DAWN.com

Weekly Classics: The Shining

The Shining is one of those films that really took the horror art-form to the next level. In this movie, the element of fear permeates past just plot and characters. From the sets to the sound-design and the score, everything is designed to set the senses on edge.

The Shining was directed by Stanley Kubrick, and bears the unmistakable stamp of his style. It is based on a horror novel of the same name written by Stephen King in 1977, and was Kubrick’s first big release. It stars Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall (as his wife) and Danny Lloyd (as their son).

Even though it was made in 1980, The Shining still delivers that unshakeable, “creepy” vibe three decades later, and this is the sign of a great horror movie.

The fact it is great, however, is no secret. The Shining is rated as one of the best horror movies ever made. It is ranked third on IMDB’s horror list, and Martin Scorsese ranked it as one of the 11 scariest horror movies of all time.

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The movie begins with Jack Torrance (Nicholson) giving a job interview. Jack is a recovering alcoholic and a writer. He has recently sobered up, but has lost his job as a teacher due to his drinking, which had gotten so bad that it had led to him assaulting a student and on another occasion, even his own son.

The interview that Jack is taking is for a job as the winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, which is an isolated old building in the Colorado Rockies. He decides to take the job because he wants a change in environment, which can help him get a fresh start, reconnect with his family, and work on his writing.

The hotel is built on an old Indian burial-ground and is completely snowed-in during the wintertime. The manager warns Jack that a previous caretaker had gotten cabin fever and ended up killing his family and himself, but Jack is dismissive about this information and doesn’t let it effect his decision to stay there for the coming months.

Jack’s son Danny is an unusual child – he seems to have some sort of extra-sensory perception, and an ‘imaginary friend’ he calls ‘Tony’ who he represents with his index finger. When he ‘talks’ to him, he uses a low and croaky voice to simulate Tony’s replies.

Danny has had a terrifying premonition about the hotel; and surely enough, when they are touring the hotel before their stay, the in-house chef (Scatman Crothers) explains to Danny that the hotel itself has a “shine” to it along with many memories, not all of which are good. ,He tells Danny to stay out of Room 237,.

Once the family is alone in the Hotel for a month, things start getting strange. Jack’s writing is frustrating him and he is getting more and more stressed and on-edge, while Danny is getting more strange visions associated with Room 237. As the plot unfolds, we witness horror overtake the family, and a strange series of events starts to unfold between these three characters stuck in the isolated Overlook Hotel.

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At first glance, the film is a “haunted house” or a “ghost” story, but most critics would dismiss such a simple categorisation. The reason for this is that none of the events in the film are defined or resolved, and the viewer is left to choose between them. The point-of-view also shifts between the three principle characters in the movie, and the sanity of each could be questioned easily, leading to many different interpretations of the film’s events depending on who you think has not lost their mind. Roger Ebert writes ,in his own analysis of the film, that: “The movie is not about ghosts but about madness and the energies it sets loose in an isolated situation primed to magnify them.”

As usual Kubrick paid inordinate attention to detail while ,making this film,. His notorious perfectionism would often leave his cast and crew feeling worn and harassed; Actress Shelley Duvall, became so overwhelmed by the stress of her role that she became physically ill for months and claims that at one point her hair began to fall out. Jack Nicholson too, was so frustrated with the ever-changing script that said he would just throw away the copies given to him, knowing that it was just going to be changed anyway. The film also set the record for the most number of takes on a single shot.

The unique feel of the movie, however, justifies Kubrick’s obsessive attitude. The elevator scene (from the trailer above) is a testament to this chilling result. The shot – which is now one-of-many iconic horror-movie moments that The Shining boasts – ,took nine days just to set up,. Each time it was attempted, and the blood poured from the doors, Kubrick would say, “It doesn’t look like blood.” In the end, the shot took almost a whole year to get right.

The casting of Jack Nicholson seems to be perfect as a horror lead; but Stephen King wanted an actor whose descent into madness would be surprising for the audience. In the end however, Kubrick’s decision to stay with Nicholson proved quite successful, and his performance in this role is ,remembered and celebrated till today,.

So to sum things up, The Shining was made by a highly celebrated director, contains great feats of visual film-making, boasts the acting genius of Jack Nicholson (in one of his most iconic roles), and is one of the most remembered horror films ever made. Needless to say, if you want to be scared, watch this movie and you will get what you bargained for.

,View Dawn.com’s weekly classics archive here,.

Nadir Siddiqui is a photographer and interactive producer at Dawn.com. You can view some of his photography ,here,.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

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Via DAWN.com

Sapna case forces Khosa to quit ministry

LAHORE – Dost Muhammad Khosa has resigned as provincial minister for commerce and trade – understandably over the accusations of kidnapping his spouse, stage actress Zaiba Khan, who is commonly known as Sapna Khan.Sources say resignation of Khosa, who also has been a stopgap chief minister of the current PML-N government in Punjab, was forwarded to Principal Secretary to the Chief …

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Sapna case: Khosa resigns as provincial minister

Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leader and Punjab Minister for Industries Dost Muhammad Khosa Wednesday tendered his resignation over Sapna kidnap scandal.
Dost Muhammad Khosa was under pressure by his party to resign from the cabinet due to his alleged involvement in actress Sapna’s kidnapping. He sent his resignation to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif who accepted it and moved the …

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Sapna Khan kidnapping drama takes new turn

JAM SAJJAD HUSSAIN AND MIAN DAWOOD
LAHORE – Setting a unique example of providing justice, the City Police once again favoured those sitting in power corridors, as Racecourse Police on Friday registered a kidnapping case against father and other relatives of stage actress Sapna Khan on an application of PML-N influential leader and ex-chief minister Dost Muhammad Khosa.
As cross version, …

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LHC orders investigations of Sapna murder case

Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday announced a detailed verdict of Actress Sapna Khan’s murder case.

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Via DAWN.com

Bollywood actress Nupur Mehta denies role in fixing scam

NEW DELHI  – Bollywood starlet Nupur Mehta on Monday refuted reports of her involvement in any match-fixing ring which allegedly used the actor as honeytrap to lure cricketers. Mehta warned that she will take legal action against the British paper The Sunday Times which came out with the report and used her picture in it.
Mehta said that she has no personal attachment with any cricketer and …

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TV actress Tahira Wasti passes away

KARACHI  – Renowned television actress Tahira Wasti died at the age of 68 on Sunday after a protracted illness.
She shot to prominence playing some leading roles in plays like ‘Afshan’ and ‘Aakhri Chatan’, besides others when the viewers across the country had to glue state-run Pakistan Television for family and historic flicks. She was the wife of Syed Rizwan …

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Brother of actress Gemma charged with murder

London (Sky News)

Police divers are continuing to search for body parts belonging to late actress Gemma McCluskie after her brother is charged with her murder. Tony McCluskie was charged on Saturday night. He will appear before Thames Magistrates’ Court on Monday. His sister’s headless torso, which was also missing arms and legs, was discovered floating in a canal close to Hackney’s Broadway …

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Megan Fox has archaeological ambition

Megan Fox wants to go on an archaeological dig. The ‘Friends with Kids’ actress – who is married to Brian Austin Green – is fascinated by history and wants to take an educational excursion somewhere before making another movie.
Asked about her next career plan, she told MTV: ‘’I would really love to go on an archaeological dig. I have an offer to go somewhere in England …

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Meryl streep is humbled on Japan visit

Oscar’s Best Actress premieres “The Iron Lady” in Toyko. – Video by Reuters  

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A visually rich film that explores the subtleties of emotions restricted by ground realities

ISLAMABAD: Oscar-nominated award-winning Brazilian film The Central Station was screened at the Brazilian embassy on Sunday, on the final day of Festival of Brazilian Cinema in Pakistan.

“All movies that were picked for screening are purely Brazilian. We invited people to come see this film to popularise Spanish and Brazilian films,” Thomas Napoleao, the first secretary of the Brazilian embassy, told The Express Tribune. “It is a very big industry that not many in Pakistan seem to know of.”

The film, which has won 30 film awards including the Golden Bear of the Berlin Festival and the Golden Globe award for best foreign language film, follows the journey of a woman Dora and nine-year-old boy Josue as he searches for his lost father who he has never met.

Dora makes a living writing letters for illiterate people at the Rio de Janeiro central train station but, instead of delivering them, she either discards or tears them up. Her behaviour lands her into an awkward situation in which she ends up taking in the homeless young boy whose mother had come to Dora for writing letters to her husband.

Unwilling to care for him, she sells him off to an orphanage known for murdering children and selling their organs.  But for once, her conscience gets the better of her and she steals him back from the orphanage and decides to travel with him to Bom Jesus where they believe his father might still be living.

But what could have turned into a typical “cynical person turns good” tried-and-tested formula manages to break away from the usual and transport the viewer into the more human side of the script.

Dora is callous and makes no bones about it. Often, she lashes out at the only one she can: young Josue. But the more they travel, the more she finds herself responsible for the young boy who tries his best to act independent and grown up.

The characters of Dora and Josue are in perfect harmony. Instead of outshining each other, both roles are strong and stand their ground. Josue, instead of becoming a sensitive victim of circumstances, is ever sharper around his surroundings.

All is not rainbows and roses though. When they finally manage to locate Josue’s father’s address after a long, arduous journey that leaves them broke and hungry, his father is nowhere to be found. Instead his two sons (who are Josue’s brothers whom he never knew of) are living there. The fate of the missing father is left a mystery as each brother interprets the father’s long absence as a sign of optimism or pessimism.

Although Dora begins to grow fond of the young boy, who with his innocence and candid behaviour makes her understand herself, she feels it is best that he be left behind to stay with his brothers.

Young Josue is played by Vinicious de Oliveira who was a shoeshine boy who beat more than 1,500 children who were auditioned or interviewed for the role. The role of Dora is played by award-winning Brazilian actress Fernanda Montengero. Made through grants from the Sundance Institute, the NHK and the French Ministry of Culture, this film was shown at film festivals in 1998.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2012.

Sharmeen brings Oscar home

NEW YORK – Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy blazed onto world stage when her documentary “Saving Face” about acid attack victims won an Oscar award at the lavish Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood that is certain to help improve Pakistan’s battered international image.
Actresses Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy presented the coveted award to co-directors Ms …

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Pakistani documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy blazes a trail with Oscar

NEW YORK – Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy blazed onto world stage when her documentary “Saving Face” about acid attack victims won an Oscar award at the lavish Academy Awards ceremony in Hollywood that is certain to help improve Pakistan’s battered international image.
Actresses Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy presented the coveted award to co-directors Ms. Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel …

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Sapna: CCPO may be called in court

LAHORE – After weeks’ laps, the Lahore High Court on Friday once again took up the case of missing actress Sapna Khan and summoned Civil Lines Division SP for reply on petitions by her father Misal Khan and former chief minister Sardar Dost Muhammad Khosa seeking registration of cases against each other.
The court also hinted to summon the CCPO if the SP or the Race Course SHO failed …

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Caring for environment: Lights to be switched off for an hour on March 31

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature’s (WWF) newly appointed Earth Hour Ambassadors for the year 2012 gathered at Pearl Continental to officially inaugurate this year’s Earth Hour, albeit exactly one hour later than it was scheduled to begin. Each ambassador was escorted by students of WWF’s leading ‘Green School’, Dawood Public School, holding candles in their hands.

The dignitaries include renowned actress and comedian Bushra Ansari, hockey legend Sohail Abbas, singer and philanthropist Shehzad Roy, tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, actor Faisal Qureshi, model Nadia Hussain and singer Fawad Khan.

Once the programme got under way Shehzad Roy jokingly quipped, “the electricity goes quite frequently in Pakistan anyway, so we are already quite environmentally friendly.”

He then took on a more serious note, pleading with Sindh Environment Minister Sheikh Muhammad Afzal who was present, “we have to stop dumping sewerage from Karachi into the ocean. The government can be pushed through our pressure groups to do this much.”

WWF Pakistan President Khalid Mahmood supported Roy’s statement saying, “there are poorer countries around the world that have managed to stop dumping untreated sewerage into the ocean, Pakistan can do it too.”

Earth Hour is a symbolic action that turned into a movement for change, becoming the biggest global climate change initiative. For cynics, it represents just another campaign that extends only to the privileged and guests highlighted this issue. “We have to convey this message in Urdu as well, not just in English for the small population that speaks it,” asserted Bushra Ansari. Roy had earlier added that even the privileged community wasn’t aware of many environmental issues.

Olympic hockey star Sohail Abbas continued in a similar vein. “We should take this hour and reflect on how we live our lives,” he suggested. Nadia Hussain added to Abass’ words by saying, “I’ve realised that I have to create awareness as a mother to educate my child, as a housekeeper to educate those who work with me, and as a neighbour.”

The ambassadors were decorated with badges honouring them and the ceremony was concluded by all the guests lighting a candle in unison, to officially inaugurate the efforts for the awareness campaign that will take place over the next month until Earth Hour.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2012.

Actress Tamanna Begum dies

LAHORE – Renowned film and TV actress Tamanna Begum passed away after protracted illness in Karachi on Monday. She was suffering from kidney disease.
The legend artist Tamanna Begum was born in Lahore and started her career from Radio Pakistan and did some theatre plays as well.
In the 1970s and 1980s Tamanna Begum became very popular.
Tamanna started acting in movies and quickly rose to fame …

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