Lily Allen Goes Grunge for Elle Cover
Lily Allen could easily be mistaken for Courtney Love in her recent grungy photoshoot for a fashion magazine.
The singer graces the cover and the inside pages of this month’s issue of Elle magazine- which celebrate 25 years of London Fashion Week.
The shoot, dubbed ‘The Designer Remix’, sees Lily go blonde and in looks created specially by seven of London’s hottest designers, including Richard Nicholl, Luella Bartley and Giles Deacon. Shot by world renowned fashion photographer Rankin and styled by Elle fashion director Anne Marie Curtis, the images reveal a new, tough look for the controversial singer.
The October cover star speaks exclusively to Matthew D’Ancona about fame, personal ambition, self doubt and her reputation as ‘Loudmouth Lily.’ The interview unveils the heart behind Lily and also shows her new ‘older and wiser’ approach to life over the course of what she describes as “the year of the girl”. The trademark London street talk that connects Lily with other Londoners of her generation, makes way to reveal an unexpected shyness.
Lily’s famously opinionated outbursts seem to be something of the past when commenting about her relationships with fellow female artists Little Boots and Florence Welch (of Florence and the Machine). “When I was younger, I really didn’t get on with them, but now I kind of do.” Uncharacteristically diplomatic or the start of a new phase for Lily Allen?
Emile Hirsch Heaps Praise on ’so Perfect’ Stewart
Kristen Stewart has actor Emile Hirsch to thank for her role in vampire hit Twilight – he convinced director Catherine Hardwicke the actress couldtackle any role.
Hirsch was wowed by the 19 year old’s talent after working with her in Sean Penn’s 2007 adventure movie Into The Wild, and couldn’t help but recommend her to his Lords of Dogtown collaborator Hardwicke while she made plans to bring Twilight to the big screen.
Hirsch tells Okmagazine.com, “I was gushing about her. I think she-s so talented and so perfect. “She’s a great conversationalist, very inquisitive. She’s got a little bit of an edge, too, though, so she’s not a pushover. She’s strong and cool. She’s beautiful, she’ssmart, and she’s emotional, too.
Queen Latifah ‘i Don’t Want Abdul’s Job’
Queen Latifah has dismissed reports she’ll be Paula Abdul’s permanent replacement on American Idol, but reveals she has signed on to be a guest judge on the hit TV show.
The rapper-turned-actress is considering an offer to join regulars Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi for an upcoming audition or two, but she insists she has no plans to become the fourth judge when the talent show returns to Los Angeles for a new season.
She says, “I don’t want to replace Paula Abdul. I feel like she is irreplaceable”.
Abdul quit as a judge on the show earlier this month.
Her spot at auditions has been filled by special guests like Victoria Beckham, Mary J.
Blige and Katy Perry, among others.
Cranberries reunite for tour after seven years
Irish rock band The Cranberries will reunite after a near seven-year break for a tour in North America and Europe with some new songs and old hits like “Zombie” and “Linger.”
In January singer Dolores O’Riordan performed together with some former band members in Dublin for the first time since the band from the western city of Limerick broke up in 2003.
They met again at O’Riordan’s new home in Canada at the christening of her son Taylor.
“Never officially broken up, the band instead has been on hiatus, and being in the same room and playing music together for the first time made them realize how much they had missed each other,” said the band’s web site (www.cranberries.com).
The Cranberries, one of the most successful Irish bands of recent times, was formed in the early 1990s. It will begin its tour in North America toward the end of the year and continue in Europe in early 2010, the web site said.
The Irish Times newspaper said the tour would start in Toronto in mid-November.
“We lost contact with each other,” O’Riordan told the paper, adding that she was “tickled silly” by the thought of recording a new album again with the band.
“We were always friends, but I wouldn’t be hanging around with them offstage. They’re real lad’s lads. What was I going to talk to them about? Breastfeeding?”
“Bad Boys 3″ in the works
Columbia Pictures is developing a third installment of the high-octane “Bad Boys” franchise, hiring a writer for the screenplay.
The hope is that Peter Craig’s script would reunite director Michael Bay, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. At this point, with the project in the early stages, none has a deal to return.
The “Boys” movies feature Smith and Lawrence as Miami detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, caught up in cases involving car chases and explosions. The first “Boys,” released in 1995, helped launch Bay as a director and Smith as an action star even though it was not a fire-stamped blockbuster — it grossed $66 million domestically and $141 million worldwide. The sequel, released in 2003 when Bay and Smith’s stars had risen, grossed $138 million domestically and $273 million worldwide.
All parties have expressed a willingness to return if a story can be hammered out. One potential hurdle, however, would be the costly deals with the players. Craig co-wrote “The Town,” which Ben Affleck is directing for Warner Bros. and which shoots in Boston next month. He is adapting anime “Cowboy Bebop” for 20th Century Fox and Keanu Reeves.
Spanish album an unexpected “Plan” for Furtado
Nelly Furtado’s first Spanish-language album is a mixture of design and circumstance, as so many grand plans often are.
There she was in the studio with her friend, guitarist James Bryan, attempting to help write the lyrics for a song titled “My Plan.” But nothing worked. She tried writing the lyrics in Portuguese, but that didn’t work either. And then, Alex Cuba — a Cuban-Canadian singer-songwriter whose album Furtado had recently heard and liked — stopped by the studio to say hello. Why not try the song in Spanish, he suggested. Then he had a go at the lyrics.
“And I really liked it,” Furtado recalls. “So we started really organically writing songs — me, him and James.”
“My Plan” evolved into “Mi Plan,” Furtado’s first full-length Spanish-language album, due September 15 as a joint venture between Furtado’s own label, Nellstar, and Universal Music Latin America. “Mi Plan” will be released simultaneously in all of Universal’s 77 territories around the world and may be the most ambitious Spanish-language release by a mainstream star.
While it’s common for Latin crossover artists like Enrique Iglesias and Shakira to release albums in Spanish, these always have included at least one English version of a single for mainstream radio. Even Christina Aguilera’s “Mi Reflejo,” her 2000 Spanish-language album, consisted mainly of translations of English-language hits — and she has a Latin surname.
For Portuguese-Canadian Furtado, who has recorded Spanish collaborations, recording solely in that language is a gutsy move. “To me, music is a language in itself,” Furtado says. “I know it sounds cliche, but that’s what my experience has been around the world. I think some people, no matter what, are not going to like it because it’s not the language they speak. But some of the people who listen to music in a different kind of way, they’ll like it.”
Get the rest of the feature upcoming this all in TCHAD magazine Special Editon Hollywood North issue ..
Stallone readies for fifth ‘Rambo’
John Rambo’s officially readying for a fifth mission.
Nu Image/Millennium Films has greenlit the franchise’s fifth installment, with Sylvester Stallone starring and directing, repeating his duties from 2008’s “Rambo.”
The upcoming project’s storyline revolves around Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border. Production will start in the spring.
The film will be produced by Avi Lerner, Kevin King Templeton and John Thompson. Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Boaz Davidson will exec produce.
Stallone had indicated in interviews that a fifth Rambo was in the works. He teamed with Nu Image/Millennium on the 2008 project, which grossed $42 million domestically and $113 million overseas.
Nu Image/Millennium is in post-production on “Expendables,” starring Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li and Mickey Rourke. The actioner’s set for release on April 23 through Lionsgate.
Rambo first appeared in the 1982 pic “First Blood,” followed in 1985 by “First Blood II” and in 1988 by “Rambo III.”
Jennifer Aniston’s Diet Secret
Jennifer Aniston can lose 5lbs in a day.
The ‘Bounty’ actress follows a special regime whenever she wants to look particularly svelte, and is able to lose a dramatic amount of weight in a short space of time.
A source on the set of ‘The Baster’, which Jennifer filmed earlier this year, said: “Whenever she wants to look her best, Jen does this strict diet so she’s able to lose 5lbs in five days.
“She did it during her past few films and doesn’t find it hard at all. I saw her eat pasta only once!”
The 40-year-old star has been sporting a more toned physique lately, and it has been claimed her new fitness regime has left her feeling better than ever.
The source added to Life and Style Weekly magazine: “She runs before filming starts. We were filming from 6am until almost 11 at night, and she had a great energy level the whole time. She was upbeat and smiley and never flubbed a line – and her body looks amazing!”
It was recently claimed Jennifer, who is currently filming ‘The Bounty’ in New York, works out at 3am every day to ensure she stays in tip top condition.
A source said: “Jennifer has had a totally overhaul for this film. She wants to be seriously fit, yet remain curvy.
“There are a lot of early starts on set, so she has had to get up at 3am to get two hours in the gym before filming at 5am. She is supposed to be playing a 35 year old, and is concerned she won’t look the part.
“It hasn’t been easy, but she has combined one-on-one yoga sessions with gruelling weight and workout sessions.”
Sam Worthington Agrees With Terminator Faults
Sam Worthington has revealed that he does agree with some of the criticisms of Terminator Salvation.
The actor starred alongside in Christian Bale in the fourth instalment of the franchise which, despite it’s high profile advertising campaign, was not met well by the critics.
In an interview with Sci-Fi Wire he said: “I can nitpick with the best of them, man, and kind of go down the list of things I saw on IMDB where they found holes in it, and go, ‘You are f**king right’.
“If there was a big ten-ton robot coming outside that gas station, surely we would f**king hear it. And I missed that.”
“So I’m going to be a bit better when I’m looking through my f**king scripts. So it raises my game a bit, because now I feel like an idiot for not saying it to McG, you know?”
Despite these harsh reviews the film still went on to gross over $370 million at the global box office. However this paled when compared to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Terminator: Revenge of the Fallen, they both grossed over $800 million.
But there are rumours circulating that a fifth movie could possibly be in the pipeline.
George Clooney’s Hand In Car Accident
George Clooney has broken his hand.
The ‘Leatherheads’ actor smashed his digits after accidentally shutting his car door on his hand while at his home in Lake Como, Italy.
Clooney’s spokesman Stan Rosenfield said: “He was on his property in Italy and he shut the car door on his hand.”
The 49-year-old hunk received treatment at the private Ars Medica clinic in Gravesano, Switzerland – which is a 40-minute drive from his luxury lakeside property.
Clooney, who suffered the injury earlier this month, is not expected to suffer any long-term damage and Rosenfield has played down the seriousness of the incident.
Rosenfield jokingly added: “The doctor has given him 30 to 40 years more to live, and no live animals were harmed during the wrapping of the hand!
“The only reason he went to the hospital was to get a temporary cast put on.”
This isn’t the first time Clooney has been involved in a motor vehicle accident.