martes, 31 de enero de 2012

“Beyond Magnetic” available now on CD


Thrash metal lords Metallica released yesterday their “Beyond Magnetic” EP to celebrate their 30 anniversary in the music industry.

The album, being the first time it has been available outside of iTunes, contains four tracks recorded during the “Death Magnetic” (Warner Bros. Records, 2008) sessions but they were not included in the final album.

Fans had the opportunity to sneak a taste of the new EP through Mission Metallica, members of the Fan Club enjoyed the gift for free after the band performed the fans club shows last December at the Fillmore Theatre in San Francisco and from this week everyone can get the physical copy in their hands.

“Beyond Magnetic”, which was produced by Rick Rubin, includes the following songs:

1. Hate Train
2. Just A Bullet Away
3. Hell And Back
4. Rebel Of Babylon

lunes, 30 de enero de 2012

James Morrison awakes for new UK & Ireland tour



BRIT Award-winning English singer-songwriter James Morrison kicked off his “Awakening UK & Ireland Tour” at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin this weekend.

The Rugby musician will be playing gigs throughout the UK during February to present his third record “The Awakening” (Island), which was released last September and got the number one spot, he has topped it for the second time in his career- Morrison previously scored a number one with his 2006 debut “Undiscovered” (Universal).

The album features the single I Won’t Let You Go, which went into the UK singles chart at number 5. It also includes James’s collaboration with Jessie J, Up, released on November 27.

Tickets for the tour are now on sale from http://tickets.jamesmorrisonmusic.com.

The dates are:

FEBRUARY 2012

Wednesday 1 - Manchester O2 Apollo
Friday 3 - Cambridge Corn Exchange
Saturday 4 - Southampton Guildhall
Monday 6 - Leicester De Montford Hall
Tuesday 7 - Birmingham O2 Academy
Thursday 9 - London Hammersmith Apollo
Sunday 12 - Southend Cliff Pavilion    
Monday 13 - Bristol Colston Hall
Wednesday 15 - Glasgow O2 Academy
Friday 17 - Leeds O2 Academy
Saturday 18 - Nottingham Royal Centre
Sunday 19 - Newcastle O2 Academy

Martin Scorsese talks about Oscar nominations


The nominees for the 2012 Academy Awards were released last Tuesday with Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” (Paramount Pictures, 2011) leading the way with 11 nominations. 

The filmmaker, who is one of the candidates running for best picture and best director, said: “I am deeply honored to have been nominated by the Academy for my work on “Hugo”. Every picture is a challenge, and this one - where I was working with 3D, HD and Sacha Baron Cohen for the first time was no exception. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you¹ve been recognized by the people in your industry. I congratulate my fellow nominees. It¹s an impressive list, and I’m in excellent company.”

“Hugo”, a kid’s adventure that pays homage to early cinema, is nominated in the following categories:

Best picture
* Graham King and Martin Scorsese, producers

Best director
* Martin Scorsese

Best art direction
* Production design: Dante Ferretti
* Set decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo

Best cinematography
* Robert Richardson

Best costumes
* Sandy Powell

Best film editing
* Thelma Schoonmaker

Best original score
* Howard Shore

Best sound editing
* Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Best sound mixing
* Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

Best visual effects
* Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

Best adapted screenplay
* Guión de John Logan

viernes, 27 de enero de 2012

Sundace Film Festival reveals jury prizes in Short Filmmaking


Jury prizes and honorable meritions to short films were announced on Tuesday at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

The awards, which will also be honored at the Festival’s Awards Ceremony on Saturday, were presented at the event held in Park City, Utah.

Trevor Groth, director of programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said: “The explosion of interest in the short form is evidenced by the record number of short films submitted to this year’s Festival. Our shorts programming team as well as audiences at the Festival have been struck by the depth of quality and uncompromised voices present in these stories from around the world. Our esteemed jury selected seven winners from a field of 64 that represent a talented group of artists who are sure to continue pushing the limits of creative filmmaking.”

This year's Short Film program, presented by Yahoo!, was comprised of 64 short films selected from a record 7,675 submissions and the list of winners includes:

“Fishing without Nets”, a story of pirates in Somalia, told from the perspective of the pirates themselves. The film was awarded with the jury prize in short filmmaking.

“The Black Ballon” strays from the herd and experiences what life as an individual is like. He explores New York City in the deepest way, seeing all of its characters. It won the jury prize in U.S. fiction.

“The Return (Kthimi)”, a man comes back from a Serb prison to his wife and son. Much has changed since he was declared missing and continuing where they left off four years ago may not be as easy as it seems. The Kosovian movie was awarded with the jury price in international fiction.

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” tells the story of the survivors in the areas hardest hit by Japan's recent tsunami and how they find the courage to revive and rebuild as cherry blossom season begins. A visual haiku about the ephemeral nature of life and the healing power of Japan's most beloved flower. The film won the jury prize in non-fiction.

“A Morning Stroll”, when a New Yorker walks past a chicken on his morning stroll, we are left to wonder which one is the real city slicker. The movie got the jury prize in animated short film.

“The Arm”, in an attempt to keep up with social pressure in a technologically advanced world, Chance starts a texting relationship with Genevieve, a girl he meets at a yogurt shop. The film was awarded with the special jury award for comedic storytelling.

“Robots of Brixton”, immerses the spectator into the trials and tribulations of young robots surviving at the sharp end of inner city life, living the predictable existence of a populous hemmed in by poverty, disillusionment and mass unemployment. The British cinematic tale was presented with the special jury award for animation direction.

This year’s edition runs through January 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

The Festival’s Awards Ceremony will be hosted by Parker Posey on Saturday 28 at 7.00 pm MT and will be live streamed at www.sundance.org/live.

A complete list of film and events is available by clicking here.

viernes, 20 de enero de 2012

Peter Jackson’s film about the WM3 to premiere at Sundance


The documentary produced by Peter Jackson based on the case of the West Memphis Three is set to premiere out of competition at the Sundace Film Festival this Saturday.

“West of Memphis” (WingNut Films), which goes under the direction of American Filmmaker Amy Berg, reopens the investigation of the case of the US teens- known as the West Memphis Three-  convicted of the satanic ritual killings of three eight-year-old boys (Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byers) in Arkansas in 1994.

The film, following the steps of the three previous HBO documentaries by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (“Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills”, “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations” and “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”), raises questions about the evidence as it is widely believed that the trio (Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley Jr.) has been wrongly convicted -in fact some supporters include Johnny Depp and Eddie Vedder- and they were set free on August 19, 2011 after spending 18 years in jail.

Jackson, who scooped another award winning best animated feature film for “The Adventures of Tintin” (Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures, 2011) at Monday’s Golden Globes ceremony, and his partner, Fran Walsh, produced the film alongside Echols and his wife, Lorri Davis.

The first screening will be held at Utah's Sundance Festival on Saturday afternoon.

For more information about the movies competing in the festival click here.

If you want to know more about the case or the documentaries you can visit the WM3 official website.

jueves, 19 de enero de 2012

The Boss’ new album out in March


Bruce Springsteen 17th studio album “Wrecking Ball” (Columbia Records) has been set for a March 6 release, as confirmed by Doctor Music.

The new record will include 11 new tracks and has been produced by the own Springsteen and Ron Aniello with the band’s longtime manager Jon Landau as executive producer.

Landau said: “Bruce has dug down as deep as he can to come up with this vision of modern life.

“The lyrics tell a story you can't hear anywhere else, and the music is his most innovative of recent years. The writing is some of the best of his career and both veteran fans and those who are new to Bruce will find much to love on ‘Wrecking Ball’.”

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band will be touring the US and EU during the whole 2012. The UK tour is set to kick off on June 21 in Sunderland’s Stadium of Light. The band will also perform at the Hard Rock Calling, Hyde Park on July 14 and the Isle of Wight Festival, Newport, on June 23.

What follow is “Wrecking Ball” tracklist:

1.  We Take Care of Our Own
2.  Easy Money
3.  Shackled and Drawn
4.  Jack of All Trades
5.  Death to My Hometown
6.  This Depression
7.  Wrecking Ball
8.  You’ve Got It
9.  Rocky Ground
10. Land of Hope and Dreams
11. We Are Alive                                 

Enter Shikari on tour at HMV


Post-hardcore band Enter Shikari will be signing copies of their new album “A Flash Flood of Colour” at HMV stores.

Rou Reynolds and his troop will be meeting fans at Leicester HMV in High Street today at 5pm and will come home to St Albans tomorrow at the same time.

Their self-released third album which was released on Monday has already outsold the rest of the Top 10.

The Hertfordshire quartet will commence its UK 2012 tour on March 17 in Edinburgh and will be supported by Young Guns and other guests to be confirmed.

For more information about the tour dates and how to get your ticket click here.

“A Flash Flood of Colour” tracklist:

1. System…
2. …Meltdown
3. Sssnakepit
4. Search Party
5. Arguing With Thermometers
6. Stalemate
7. Gandhi Mate, Gandhi
8. Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here
9. Pack Of Thieves
10. Hello Tyrannosaurus, Meet Tyrannicide
11. Constellations

martes, 10 de enero de 2012

New images from Burton’s “Frankenweenie”



It seems the development of Tim Burton’s new animated flick has been masked in secrecy, but a new set of pictures from “Frankenweenie” (Disney) has been released to pique your curiosity.

On one way protagonist we see protagonist Victor checking to make sure his worse-for-wear but beloved dog Sparky is in his rightful place under the bed, animator Jens Gulliksen bringing Victor to life on the Pet Cemetery set, assistant art director, Barry Jones, set dressing the Classroom set, and Matias Liebrecht animating the little boy on the Attic set.

“Frankenweenie” is a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments.

The movie, which is being filmed in black and white and will later be rendered in 3D, will hit theaters on October 2012.