| NZealand TV host resigns after mocking Indian name By 2010-10-10T10:08:50ZWELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- A New Zealand public television host resigned Sunday after his mocking of an Indian official's name sparked a diplomatic protest of racism.... hosted.ap.org |
25 and counting: Darius Rucker reaches milestone By CHRIS TALBOTT 2010-10-14T15:09:19ZNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Darius Rucker has spent the last few years reinventing himself as a country star. He's had a platinum debut, No. 1 hits and his follow-up, "Charleston, SC 1966," debuted this week with high expectations.... hosted.ap.org |
Man on a mission: is no sequel impossible for Tom Cruise? With Mission: Impossible IV on the way, Cruise clearly aims to revive his career through pointless sequels. What could be next?It's hard to know whether Tom Cruise's attempts to rehabilitate his career are endearingly scattershot or outright desperate. He's worked every angle available to him, going for both critical acclaim with misguided pieces of would-be Oscar bait and commercial success by sending himself up jigging around in a fatsuit – but all to little avail. Fortunately, he appears to have stumbled upon plan C: indiscriminate sequel-making.Everybody already knows about Mission: Impossible IV. It'll be directed by Brad Bird and co-star The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner, and it seems like the safest sequel for Tom Cruise to shoot for. It's already an established franchise and, although the last instalment was written off as a commercial flop, the new film could take 40% less than Mission: Impossible III's worldwide gross and still be able to match Knight and Day's comparatively measly takings.But Top Gun 2? That's a different matter entirely. It's been claimed that Paramount, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tony Scott, Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise are all in talks to bring Top Gun back to life, Wall Street-style, presumably with a plot about Shia LaBeouf piloting an unmanned drone from a shed near the Pentagon while he listens to Kenny Loggins albums. It's early days yet but even if it all goes belly up Tom Cruise shouldn't be disappointed. After all, he has a wealth of other films that could just as easily be turned into sequels. Such as ...Cocktail 2 - Tom Cruise still runs the bar he opened at the end of the first film. Since then he's become a hopeless alcoholic which, if nothing else, at least explains why he has to shout all of his lines this time.Far and Away 2: Further and Further Away - Almost two decades after running off to America, things have changed for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. They've got divorced and gone on to marry new partners. Nicole can't move her face as much as she once could, for some reason, while Tom keeps jumping up and down all the time. These factors combined have ruined whatever chemistry they had in the first film – although neither of them have learned how to do a convincing Irish accent yet. That's something they have in common.The Last Samurai 2 - Further to the events of The Last Samurai, in which Tom Cruise witnessed the death of the last samurai, this film sees Cruise just sort of listlessly wandering around Japan for a couple of hours, occasionally checking his Facebook app to see if any samurais have been in touch, then remembering that they haven't because there aren't any, and then sighing.Valkyrie 2 - He may have been put to death at the hands of a firing squad in the original, but a little thing like that won't stop Cruise's German military captain from trying to kill Hitler. Where Claus von Stauffenberg failed in life, Zombie von Stauffenberg will succeed ... or will he? Essentially an updated version of the Road Runner cartoons but with Tom Cruise playing Wile E Coyote, Hitler playing Road Runner and more harrowing instances of wartime atrocity than you might expect.Any suggestions of your own?Tom CruiseAction and adventureThrillerStuart Heritageguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Hair-raising moment for 'Strictly' star Michelle 'Strictly Come Dancing' star Michelle Williams had a hair-raising experience when a dance lesson with her new partner went wrong. feeds.breakingnews.ie |
Clip joint: fancy dress Dressing up is hard to do ... so get some Halloween fancy dress tips from our costume clipsThis week on Clip joint, we're holding a virtual Halloween party. Admire the pumpkins with their hacked-out grins. Listen to those spooky tunes (we're thinking: Ghost Town on a loop). Feast on those underdone potatoes. Blush as you realise that that gorilla you've been chatting to for over an hour isn't your girlfriend but a stranger called George.Why the gorilla? Because, like all Halloween parties, this one's in fancy dress. Ah, fancy dress: guaranteed to spark conversations (usually beginning with "And who are you supposed to be?"), aid general hilarity and trigger blood-chilling shock when your mild-mannered colleague turns up in the full Frankenfurter. Fancy dress is the ultimate party theme as long as people make the effort. An eye patch isn't good enough, nor is sticking on a Ronald Reagan mask (unless you're planning some bank robbery the next morning). Stuck for ideas? Thinking you might just stay home instead? Don't worry: clip joint has scoured cinema to come up with five top tips to the best fancy dress disguises.1) Co-ordinate with your friends. Imagine how embarrassing it would have been to come as a kitten to this great bash in An American in Paris. 2) Be dedicated. Frank in Donnie Darko's costume wows the world. You too could follow in his footsteps (hopefully not all the way …)3) Don't fear simplicity. Got a spare bed sheet? Throw it over your shoulder, wrap some bay leaves around your ears and you're a Roman emperor.4) Remember: bed sheets are versatile. Follow ET's example and be a ghost. A ghost with a big-footed secret.5) Grow a thick skin beneath your cozzie. No matter how hard you try, some people just won't get it. Like Leon and Matilda, they'll always be puzzled.Last week on Clip joint, Susannah Straughan set the agenda with the best clips showcasing the boardroom on film. She writes: Thanks to everyone who trawled the galaxies to gather clips from Star Wars to Connery-era Bond – and everything in between. In the interests of company regulations I'm afraid I'll have to rule out Garkpit's offer of a West Wing smorgasbord and Shexmus's The Twilight Zone. No doubt Mad Men fans could fill a column with Don Draper's finest moments. Here are my selections: 1) The ayes have it, or in the case of Mommie Dearest, Faye Dunaway's eyebrows. A big vote of thanks to ExFi for this one. 2) A suitably larger-than-life boardroom entrance for the Million Dollar Legs of WC Fields – as chosen by StevieB 3) You can't overlook It's a Wonderful Life, even though I don't love Jimmy Stewart quite as much as leasko (or my ex-boss). 4) As monkey2 has noted, this scene from RoboCop should act as a dire warning to all corporate yes men to stay out of the firing line. 5) I second millmossy's proposal about more boardroom comedians, so let's hear it for the Errand Boy himself – Mr Jerry Lewis.Halloweenguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |