Toronto Film Festival unveils lineup
The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled a star-heavy lineup amid increased festival jockeying for the most plum premieres of Hollywood’s fall season. Toronto’s slate for Sept. 4-14, announced …
Month: July 2014
Woody Allen conjures up illusion for ‘Magic in the Moonlight’
By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) – Woody Allen explores the mysteries of illusion and love in “Magic in the Moonlight,” a period romantic comedy inspired by 1920s clairvoyants who were debunked by leading magicians of the day. In “Magic in the Moonlight,” which opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, reality and illusion collide on the Cote d’Azur in the Roaring Twenties, when spiritualism and seances were in vogue. “I set films very often in the past because I can create the illusion more tantalizingly.” Like “Midnight in Paris,” Allen’s most successful film with global earnings of more than $151 million, “Magic in the Moonlight” travels back to 1920s France. It is a world of blue skies, vintage cars and costumes, sumptuous villas and an international cast headed by Briton Colin Firth.
Obama fundraises for Dems, demands GOP cooperation
LOS ALTOS, Calif. (AP) — With Congress struggling against time to address key legislation, President Barack Obama on Wednesday portrayed Republicans as members of a party that “has no agenda other than making government not work.” He said that view breeds public cynicism that helps the GOP by dissuading the public to vote.
India bids to reassert influence in Nepal with power pact
By Sanjeev Miglani and Gopal Sharma NEW DELHI/KATHMANDU (Reuters) – India is set to offer Nepal a landmark pact to help develop its huge hydro-electric power potential as the South Asian giant takes another step to re-assert influence among smaller neighbours where China has been forging closer ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who went to Bhutan last month on his first overseas trip since coming to power, will soon visit Nepal, which has recently been questioning its position in India’s sphere of influence. Both Nepal’s opposition Maoists, who have long sought to check Indian influence, and members of the ruling Nepali Congress party say the Indians are trying to lock them into an unequal treaty designed to shut out China to the benefit of Indian companies.
House, Senate advance competing border proposals
WASHINGTON (AP) — At an impasse on immigration, House Republicans and Senate Democrats advanced competing proposals Wednesday for dealing with tens of thousands of young migrants showing up at the southern border. Each side quickly ruled the other’s approach unacceptable, leaving any solution unclear with Congress’ annual August recess looming.
“Shakespeare in Love” bows on London stage – with the dog
By Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) – The 1998 hit movie “Shakespeare in Love” wove the Bard’s famous words into a Hollywood romantic comedy. Now it’s back in a stage version that retains the sly humour of Tom Stoppard’s script while making it all seem a bit more Shakespearean. The play that opened at London’s Noel Coward theatre on Wednesday night, backed by Disney and leading British producer Sonia Freedman, inevitably lacks the star power of Joseph Fiennes as Shakespeare, Gwyneth Paltrow – who won an Oscar for best actress – as Viola de Lesseps and Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I. But Tom Bateman as Shakespeare and Lucy Briggs-Owen as Viola bring an engaging and youthful energy to a script adopted from the screenplay by Stoppard and co-writer Marc Norman.
Sanders pleads for VA reform bill as talks stall
The chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee said Wednesday there is still time for Congress to approve a landmark bill to improve health care services for veterans, despite deep disagreement …
39 killed in Nigeria bomb blasts
Abuja, July 24 (IANS) At least 39 people were killed in twin bomb blasts in Nigeria’s northern city of Kaduna Wednesday, security sources and eyewitness said. In the first blast, 25 people were killed while the second one, according to Police Commissioner Shehu Umar, claimed more than 14 people, Xinhua reported. A security source said that most of the people who died in the first blast were adherents of the Darika Islamic sect led by Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, a renowned Islamic cleric. Former head of state and chieftain of the All Progressive Congress party, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, was said to have narrowly escaped the second blast.
Taare Zameen Par fame Vipin Sharma roped in for Vipul Shah's Life OK show
It’s yet another exclusive newsbreak on Tellychakkar.com about Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s yet untitled drama soap for Life OK.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali compares Priyanka Chopra to Hillary Swank
So rave reviews have already started flowing Priyanka Chopra’s way. But nothing can perhaps beat Sanjay saying -If Hollywood has Hillary Swank, we have Priyanka Chopra.
And it’s not for nothing Sanjay chose to draw this comparison. In the 2004 Hollywood hit, Million Dollar Baby is about an amateur determined woman who works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional. Mary Kom too traces the journey of Indian boxer Mary’s phenomenal rise to the pinnacle of glory.