The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Madonna thanks exes for encouraging movie career Posted: 01 Sep 2011 07:14 AM PDT  US pop star Madonna (C), director of the movie 'W.E.' poses with actresses Andrea Riseborough (L) and Abbie Cornish during a photocall at the 68th Venice Film Festival September 1, 2011. – Reuters The 53-year-old American has been married to US actor and director Sean Penn and British film maker Guy Ritchie – and has spent much of the last few years behind the camera rather than on the stage. W.E., her second feature film, appears at the Venice film festival outside the main competition, but the presence of one of the world's biggest celebrities inevitably dominated the attention of the world's press. The film re-tells the story of American divorcee Wallis Simpson, whose affair with Britain's King Edward VIII led him to abdicate the throne. It does so through the eyes of another American Wally Winthrop, played by Abbie Cornish, who lives in New York in the 1990s and becomes obsessed with the life of a woman with whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. "I am and was attracted to very creative people which is why I married Sean Penn and Guy Ritchie, two very talented directors," Madonna told reporters after a press screening of W.E. "They both encouraged me as a director and as a creative person to do what I did, and they were both very supportive," added the singer, who wore a short-sleeved black dress with white trim. There was applause for the movie after the first screening and one early review, in the Daily Telegraph, gave W.E. three stars out of five. "Her version of their (the Windsors') lives is a fantasia that will not trouble historians," wrote David Gritten. "Yet oddly, that's a relief after so many stale, plodding TV documentaries about this unlovely couple." Madonna said she saw parallels between herself and Simpson, a woman who was vilified by many for her role in a constitutional crisis but who is sympathetically portrayed in W.E. by Andrea Riseborough. Like Simpson, Madonna is a woman who lives her life in the public glare, and is also an American who moved to England for several years while married to Ritchie. "I identified with her in that I think it's very common when people become celebrities or public figures or icons that we are often reduced to a soundbite and that you're given a few attributes and then you're not allowed to have anything more than that," she said. "I did go through periods of feeling like I was an outsider when I first moved to England. "I certainly didn't feel like that by the time I'd lived there for 10 years. And I feel, since I moved there, that I feel very welcomed by England." Asked why she chose Simpson as a subject, Madonna replied: "I was deeply and utterly swept up in trying to understand the reason that this man, King Edward VIII ... would relinquish this great position of power for love." She added that she hoped the success of "The King's Speech", set at the same time and in a similar world to W.E., would help, not harm her project. "I was a little bit nervous, because I thought, 'oh dear, if someone else is making a movie about the same time-frame, then who would be interested in my movie?' "But then I saw the film and I saw that it was from a completely different point of view and I view the success of that film as sort of laying the groundwork for my movie. "So there is a little bit of history and a little bit of knowledge and we are not starting with a blank slate." – Reuters |
| ‘Harry Potter’ picked top summer movie: Poll Posted: 01 Sep 2011 03:32 AM PDT  Over six thousand fans watch 'Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2' Croatian movie premiere at the Roman Amphitheatre in the Adriatic city of Pula, 270km from Zagreb, July 19, 2011. A new poll has picked 'Harry Potter' as the top summer movie. – Reuters pic Voters in a new poll released today by NextMovie.com had the British boy wizard casting his spell over nearly 60 per cent of voters for favourite summer flick, easily surpassing "X-Men: First Class" with only 15 per cent of the tally. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was No. 3 in the survey with comedy "Bridesmaids" and thriller "Super-8" rounding out the top five in that order. Fans voted the kiss between "Potter" characters Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger as their favourite moment of the final "Potter" film in the survey of more than 25,000 votes. The biggest bomb of the summer was superhero film "The Green Lantern," starring Ryan Reynolds, with 41 per cent, while sci-fi ape thriller "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was picked the summer's biggest surprise hit. Comedy "The Hangover Part 2," the much-anticipated sequel to 2009's box-office smash "The Hangover," was voted the second most disappointing film of the summer, but in an odd twist, it managed to nab the title of favourite comedy with 35 per cent of voters favouring it over No. 2 comedy, "Bridesmaids." NextMovie also asked its readers who was the "Hottest Babe," and "Friends with Benefits" star Mila Kunis beat out "Cowboys & Aliens" leading lady Olivia Wilde by a 4 per cent margin – 31 per cent to 27 per cent. Among men, "Captain America" actor Chris Evans won the "Best Abs" title, fighting off stiff competition from the likes of "Conan the Barbarian" actor Jason Momoa and Chris Hemworth in "Thor." While boy wizard Harry Potter may have thundered ahead in this year's rankings, fans are already excited for next summer's big releases, with more than 76 per cent selecting "Snow White and the Huntsman," starring Hemsworth and "Twilight's" Kristen Stewart, as the film they are most looking forward to seeing. – Reuters |
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