Lady Gaga grows horns and claims she's channelling Alexander McQueen

Bony femme ... Lady Gaga's hyperactive skeleton on the cover of Born This Way

She may be renowned for her fanciful soundbites, but Lady Gaga has now gone full-fledged silly, claiming she has magical bony protrusions which "come out when I'm inspired". Oh yes, and she is channelling the ghost of Alexander McQueen.

Lady Gaga has shown off her skin-bumps in a few places so far, including on the cover of latest single Born This Way and in a new photo-shoot for Harper's Bazaar. "Gaga emerged from make-up at our shoot with pointy shoulders and sharp protrusions on her forehead and cheekbones," explained Bazaar editor Laura Brown. It's a look more Klingon than Björk, but when writer Derek Blasberg asked Gaga about the get-up, she insisted that they are all natural.

"First of all, they're not prosthetics," she said. "They're my bones ... They've always been inside of me, but I have been waiting for the right time to reveal to the universe who I truly am." The singer said the ridges rise up when inspiration strikes – and that she's not alone. "We all have these bones! They're the light from inside of us."

Interrogated more firmly, Gaga did admit the facial horns are part of a "performance-art piece", with "body modification" being "part of the overarching analysis of Born This Way". But she denied the use of any plastic surgery, and made no mention of subdermal implants. "I am an artist, and I have the ability and the free will to choose the way the world will envision me," she said.

Gaga also claims that the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen is the composer of her latest single, released on 11 February. "Right after he died, I wrote Born This Way." She was particularly struck when the release date for the song turned out to be the anniversary of McQueen's death. "When I heard that, I knew: I didn't even write the fucking song! He did!"

"I think he planned the whole thing," she continued. "He's up in heaven with fashion strings in his hands, marionetting away."

• Born This Way, Lady Gaga's second album, is out on 23 May.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/apr/14/lady-gaga-horns-alexander-mcqueen

James Bond distribution deal agreed with Sony Pictures

The next Bond movie will be distributed by Sony Pictures, the studio that put out the last two 007 films.

Sony will co-finance and distribute the 23rd Bond film - directed by Sam Mendes and due for release on 9 November 2012 - after striking a deal with MGM.

In January it was confirmed Daniel Craig - star of 2006's Casino Royale and 2008's Quantum of Solace - would return in the as yet untitled new film.

The franchise had been on hold because of MGM's financial troubles.

The studio, which will retain distribution rights in some overseas territories, has since emerged from bankruptcy under new ownership.

Casino Royale made $594m (£364m) at the international box office, while Quantum of Solace took $586m (£359m).

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13077851

Jamie Campbell-Bower and Bonnie Wright: Engaged!

The Twilight Sage and the Harry Potter franchise have done more than entertain millions around the world.

They have helped Jamie Campbell Bower and find true love!

E! News was the first to confirm that Campbell-Bower, who portray a Volturi member and also stars on Camelot, and Wright - best known as Ginny Weasely on the big screen - are engaged.

"I'm very happy," said the actor of the development. "It's a wonderful, wonderful time."

The couple started dating in 2009 and we couldn't be happier for them.

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http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/04/jamie-campbell-bower-and-bonnie-wright-engaged/#ixzz1JUsst7gn

Foreign Box Office Preview: 'Rio' Opens Overseas Ahead of U.S.

Opening a full week before it debuts in the U.S., the animated film -- voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway -- could clear $45 million in its international debut.

Signaling the might of the international box office, Fox’s 3D toon Rio is opening in most of the world this weekend, a full week before it debuts in the U.S. And if projections are right, it could easily be the top grossing title of any film anywhere.


Rio — voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway — goes out in 46 markets, including major territories Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, Spain, India and China. Conservative estimates show the animated family film clearing at least $45 million, if not more. [Read The Hollywood Reporter's review here.]

Historically, Hollywood studios have always unspooled their films at the domestic box office first. But that’s changed with the rapid growth of the international market. Now, event films and animated pics often make far more overseas.

Rio was tailor-made for international audiences. The movie, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Carlos Saldanha, is about a domesticated Macaw named Blu who is afraid of flying. His life takes an adventurous turn when he travels from the U.S. to Rio to mate with the last female of his kind.

Rio is based on an original story by Saldanha and was nurtured by Fox Animation Studios president Vanessa Morrison.

The voice cast also includes Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, will.i.am and Wanda Sykes. Rio is the sixth film from Fox partner Blue Sky Studios.

Box Office Preview: Russell Brand to Dominate Weekend With 'Arthur,' 'Hop'

In opening first overseas, Fox wanted to capitalize on kids getting out of school in Europe and other regions for spring break. In the U.S., only about 20% of kids are now out of school.

Rio could make life difficult for Universal’s CGI/live-action hybrid Hop, which opened last weekend in the U.S. and in a number of territories, including the U.K., Germany and Italy.

Hop overperformed in the U.S. but saw a softer bow internationally. Part of the problem could have been good weather in Europe, which kept families outside. Some box office observers suggest the pic’s uniquely American take on the Easter bunny could make it difficult to sell overseas.

Rio goes up against Hop in several major European markets as well as in Australia, where both films opens this weekend.

Rio bows in the U.S. on April 15.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/foreign-box-office-rio-opens-176224

'Kung Fu Panda' Scribes to Pen 'Candyland' for Universal

Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, the writers behind the screenplay for Kung Fu Panda and its upcoming sequel, have been tapped to write Candyland for Universal.
Kevin Lima is attached to direct the project, which is being produced by Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir. Christopher Chase is exec producing.

The board game, which was set up at Universal when it made its six-year deal with Hasbro in 2008, has a story centered around finding the lost king of Candy Land. The players wind their way through enchanted lands such as Candy Cane Forest and Gum Drop Mountain, see characters such as Princess Frostine and Gramma Nutt as well as the evil Lord Licorice who can make players lose a turn.

The studio is envisioning a live-action epic adventure. Etan Cohen worked on the project previously.

Jeff Kirschenbaum and Maradith Frenkel are overseeing.

The writers, repped by WME and attorney Ken Richman, have staked out a thriving career in animation, having also worked on DWA’s Monsters vs Aliens, as well as TV’s King of the Hill.

'Britney Spears: I Am the Femme Fatale' Trailer Premieres Tonight!

All day, Britney Spears is taking over MTV. That takeover includes a trailer for MTV's upcoming special about the pop star, "Britney Spears: I Am the Femme Fatale," which will take fans inside Britney's life to see what it's like to release a highly anticipated album.

Before the trailer premieres tonight at 7:58 p.m., teasers will air throughout the day. In the sneak peeks, fans get to see Spears work on the just-released Femme Fatale, including going over final production with will.i.am on their collabo. "I did some tweaking to 'Big Fat Bass,' " the Black Eyed Peas mastermind tells Spears as she gives the song another listen.

While on the way to rehearsals for her pre-album performances — including her set this past Friday at the Palms in Las Vegas, which will be included in "Britney Spears: I Am the Femme Fatale" — Spears admits to having some "jitterbugs." It is, after all, her first time back onstage since the Circus Tour.

In another intimate look at the singer's life, fans get to see Spears and her assistant as they go to Starbucks to take a minute for themselves in the hustle-and-bustle of a hectic schedule. "It's nice to have a peaceful moment just to sit down," Spears says. "It's nice to relax before the chaos."

That chaos included getting fans excited for her album release. On top of taking the stage in Vegas for a set full of pyro, shimmering bodysuits and flirty dance moves, Spears also pre-taped today's "Good Morning America" performance in San Francisco's Castro neighborhood. "I totally loved how her bustier was lit up," fan Corina Andrati excitedly told MTV News moments after Spears wrapped her three-song set. "I'm so blessed to be here."

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http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1660830/britney-spears-femme-fatale-previews.jhtml

Nostalgia for the Light

There is no escaping the past in the Atacama Desert in Chile, where rain in some areas comes every 400 years. There is no humidity. No insects or plant life. Human remains are mummified, frozen in time. And the air is so thin astronomers can reach back millions of years.

Here, our strongest telescopes turn wheeling galaxies into spectacular light shows that trivialize the fantasies of Lucas and Spielberg. Distant planets seem close as apples on a backyard tree.

Not far from the desert’s gleaming white observatories, beautiful against blue sky, Chilean mothers till parched red soil with their arms and feet, looking for a reaching hand, a once useful leg – remains of a son or daughter who “disappeared” during Pinochet’s regime.

Patricio Guzmán’s documentary, Nostalgia for the Light, pays equal attention to the astronomers and searchers, regarding their quest as the same – a search for life.

The film is gorgeous, purposefully slow, almost a meditation. Guzmán tells us life in the Atacama Desert is an eternal book of memories. And he lingers on every page, capturing shots of constellations with the care of a master photographer. Imagine Ansel Adams, working in colour, let loose in the Milky Way.

At the same time, the filmmaker turns memories of desert victims into religious ceremony. An architect, one of 80,000 socialists imprisoned in the mid-1970s after General Augusto Pinochet led a coup d’état, tells how he paced the Chacabuco concentration camp, memorizing room sizes. Afterwards, alone in a cell, he translated the numbers into blueprints that might bear witness to the horror of Pinochet.

Another political prisoner remembers how he and friends would steal out at night, studying the sky with a makeshift telescope. How they felt drawn into heaven.

Just as astronomers’ telescopes go beyond our galaxy, filmmaker Guzmán’s gaze extends past the 20th century. Pinochet did not have to build Chacabuco. A hundred years earlier, workers were enslaved in desert camps and died mining salt that covered the soil like crusts of snow. The concentration camp where lawyers, doctors and writers were sent once housed Aymara and Mapuche Indians.

Although Nostalgia for the Light’s field of vision is deep, it’s also curiously narrow. Guzmán specializes in Chile’s recent history. His most famous efforts are The Battle of Chile and Salvador Allende. And he presumes the audience for his new film has seen those works. No effort is made to explain Pinochet’s overthrow of Allende’s democratically elected government.

Still, what he has done here is amazing to look at and important to consider. Guzmán’s message is simple: Vision is a gift that must be honoured with study and practice. He leaves us contemplating the words of a Chilean mother who continues to search for lost children. “I just wish the telescope didn’t just look at the sky, but could also see through the earth so that we could find them.”

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http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nostalgia_for_the_light/#!reviews=all