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Tag Archive: Matt Damon
Ford v Ferrari movie revs into high gear in new trailer
Filed under: Movies, Retro Fix — Leave a comment
First previewed back in June here at borg, Ford v Ferrari (as titled in the U.S., it's Le Mans '66 everywhere else) revisits that legendary battle of man vs machine vs man. And its next trailer has arrived (check it out below). James Mangold, who has directed some brilliant movies, including Cop Land and Logan, is directing the film, so it's going to be an easy pick to see when it lands in theaters this November. It's long overdue that we get to see automotive legends Ford and Ferrari in a biopic about the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Henry Ford II worked with Lee Iacocca to lead a team of engineers and designers to build a car for Ford to compete with Enzo Ferrari, and the result was the GT40 Mark II. On June 18-19, 1966, they would face off.
It was the subject of a 2009 book, Go Like Hell, and the 2016 documentary based on that book, The 24-Hour War. The leads in this version of events seem to be not the legendary opponents in the battle, Ford and Ferrari, but Matt Damon as racecar driver-turned-designer Carroll Shelby of Shelby Mustang fame, and Christian Bale as Daytona and Sebring-winning driver Ken Miles. These were the days of racing when every other name would become a racing legend, names like A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart, and Lloyd Ruby. Playing Iacocca is Jon Bernthal (The Punisher, The Walking Dead), with Tracy Letts (Homeland, The Post) as Ford, and Remo Girone (Live by Night) as Ferrari. Rounding out the cast are Caitriona Balfe, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, and Ray McKinnon.
Here is the second trailer for 20th Century Fox's adaptation of the events leading to the 1966 24-hour race, Ford v Ferrari aka Le Mans ′66:
Tags: 20th Century Fox, 24 Hours of Le Mans, A.J. Foyt, Caitriona Balfe, Carroll Shelby, Christian Bale, Days of Thunder, Disney, Enzo Ferrari, Ford v Ferrari, Ford v Ferrari movie trailer, Ford v Ferrari official poster, Ford vs Ferrari, Go Like Hell, Henry Ford II, Jackie Stewart, James Mangold, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Ken Miles, Le Mans, Le Mans '66, Lee Iacocca, Lloyd Ruby, Mario Andretti, Matt Damon, Noah Jupe, Ray McKinnon., Remo Girone, The 24-Hour War, Tracy Letts
Armor and props from The Great Wall movie provide another success for auction house
Filed under: Backstage Pass, Fantasy Realms, Movies — Leave a comment
Fans of director Yimou Zhang′s international mega-production The Great Wall didn't need to go all the way to the Great Wall of China to have a chance at obtaining a piece of the 2016 film this past week. Auction house Prop Store′s Los Angeles location joined with Legendary Entertainment to offer 477 lots of both key and background costumes, armor, prop weaponry, and set pieces from the first partnering of the United States and China on a giant blockbuster film. The Great Wall is a Chinese dynasty fantasy set at the famous landmark, merging giant battles and action with the mega-sized monster genre, pairing China's biggest stars with an international cast, backed by a crew from 100 countries. Although the movie received mixed reviews from critics, what can't be denied are the visual concepts and craftsmanship of New Zealand's Weta Workshop and Mexican costume designer Mayes Rubeo, who designed imagery for the film never seen before. Check out our review of the movie here at borg back in 2016, along with Abbie Bernstein's ground-breaking book The Great Wall: The Art of the Film (reviewed here).
Weta Workshop kitted out the armies of The Great Wall with an arsenal of color. The workshop design studio rendered more than a thousand concepts for the film, with 6,000 final weapons used by the key cast and 600 extras, including shields, spears, axes, daggers, crossbows, swords, and arrows featured in the auction. Mayes Rubeo, known for her designs in Thor: Ragnarok and Avatar (and she created costumes for both the original Total Recall and the halted Mouse Guard live-action movie), utilized historic Chinese fabrics, textiles, techniques, hand embroidery and applique, and leathers in each costume with about 18 components per person, all featuring an animal and unique color combination: the blue crane corps, red eagle corps, gold tiger corps, black bear corps, and purple deer corps.
It should be no surprise that the top costume sales went for the two stunning, blue, armored costumes worn by the film's Chinese star Tian Jing as Commander Lin Mae. Featuring sheathed swords, helmets, leg daggers, feathered suit and hard armor, they sold for slightly more than $9,000 and $17,500 each. Other hero costumes that sold included Matt Damon as William costume variants ($1,687, $2,625, $4,375 and $5,125), The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal′s character Tovar's costumes ($937, $1,625, and $1,687), Willem Dafoe′s character Ballard ($344, $531, $875, and $1,437), General Shao's (Zhang Hanyu) black armor ($2,187 and $4,500), Commander Wu's (Eddie Peng) gold armor ($2,750 and $4,250), Commander Chen's (Kenny Lin) red armor ($2,250 and $3,875), Commander Deng's (Xuan Huang) purple armor ($1,625 and $3,875), and Strategist Wang's (Andy Lau) costumes ($1,000 and $2,500). A variety of historically-inspired, ornate hero (lead actor-used) swords ranged from $400 to $3,875 for one of the swords unique to Tian Jing.
Tags: Abbie Bernstein, Adam Savage, Andy Lau, Auctions, costume design, Eddie Peng, entertainment memorabilia, Kenny Lin, Matt Damon, Matt Damon movies, Mayes C. Rubeo, Mayes Rubeo, Pedro Pascal, prop design, Prop Store, Prop Store auction 2019, screen used costumes, screen-used movie props, The Great Wall, The Great Wall auction, The Great Wall movie, WETA Workshop, Willem Dafoe, Xuan Huang, Yimou Zhang, Zhang Hanyu, Zhang Yimou
First look–Ford v. Ferrari and Le Mans '66, a movie so big it needs two titles
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It all started when Henry Ford II tried to buy Ferrari to boost Ford Motor Company. But Enzo Ferrari said "no." It's long overdue that we get to see automotive legends Ford and Ferrari in a biopic about the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans road race. Ford worked with Lee Iacocca to direct a team of engineers and designers to build a car for Ford to compete with Ferrari, and the result was the GT40 Mark II. At the June 18-19, 1966, Le Mans they would face off. It's a legendary battle so good it's getting two titles for the big screen: Ford v. Ferrari in the U.S. and Le Mans ′66 everywhere else. James Mangold, who has directed some brilliant movies, including Cop Land and Logan, is directing the coming film, so it's going to be an easy pick to see when it arrives in theaters this November.
It was the subject of a 2009 book, Go Like Hell, and the 2016 documentary based on that book, The 24-Hour War. But the leads in this version seem to be not the legendary opponents in the battle, Ford and Ferrari, but Matt Damon as racecar driver-turned-designer Carroll Shelby of Shelby Mustang fame, and Christian Bale as Daytona and Sebring winning driver Ken Miles. These were the days of racing when every other name would become a racing legend, names like A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart, and Lloyd Ruby. Playing Iacocca is Jon Bernthal (The Punisher, The Walking Dead), with Tracy Letts (Homeland, The Post) as Ford, and Remo Girone (Live by Night) as Ferrari. Rounding out the cast are Caitriona Balfe, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, and Ray McKinnon. (While you're waiting for the movie, check out the LEGO kit).
Beyond the fictional stories in Steve McQueen's 1971 movie Le Mans and Tom Cruise's 1990 movie Days of Thunder, here is the first trailer for 20th Century Fox's adaptation of the events leading to the 1966 24-hour race, Ford v. Ferrari aka Le Mans ′66:
Tags: 20th Century Fox, 24 Hours of Le Mans, A.J. Foyt, Caitriona Balfe, Carroll Shelby, Christian Bale, Days of Thunder, Disney, Enzo Ferrari, Ford v Ferrari, Ford v Ferrari official poster, Ford vs Ferrari, Go Like Hell, Henry Ford II, Jackie Stewart, James Mangold, Jon Bernthal, Josh Lucas, Ken Miles, Le Mans, Le Mans '66, Lee Iacocca, Lloyd Ruby, Mario Andretti, Matt Damon, Noah Jupe, Ray McKinnon., Remo Girone, The 24-Hour War, Tracy Letts
All the movies you'll want to see in 2019
Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — Leave a comment
It's that time of year again, time to take a look forward at what movies should be on your radar for 2019. Are you going to see them all? Heck no. These are the genre films we think borg readers will want to know about to make their own checklists for the coming year–and they are only the films we know about so far. We pulled 78 of the hundreds of films that have been finalized or are in varying stages of final production, slated for next year's movie calendar.
What looks to top the list for most fanboys and fangirls? The last of the nine films in the Star Wars saga. Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Shazam! is DC's contribution. Quentin Tarentino returns to movies to direct Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Martin Scorsese is back with an all-star cast in The Irishman (on Netflix). M. Night Shyamalan finishes his dark superhero trilogy with Glass. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton return in Terminator. Jordan Peele is back with another horror film with Us.
Do you like sequels? This is your year. Another Men in Black, X-Men, Shaft, Happy Death Day, Lego Movie, Hellboy, John Wick, Kingsman, Jumanji, The Secret Life of Pets, How to Train Your Dragon, Fast and the Furious, Zombieland, Addams Family, Charlie's Angels, Godzilla, Shaun the Sheep, Annabelle,and Stephen King's It and Pet Sematary—Disney is trying to get you to move into your local theater with another Toy Story, Aladdin, Dumbo, Frozen, and Lion King–all in one year. Yep, lots and lots of sequels are coming.
Some films don't have locked-in release dates yet. Amazon Prime and Netflix haven't revealed dates for these 2019 releases:
Martin Scorcese's The Irishman, a film about Jimmy Hoffa starring Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, and Bobby Cannavale (Netflix)
The Kid, a Western biopic with Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Dane DeHaan, and Vincent D'Onofrio (Netflix)
The Man Who Killed Hitler Then Bigfoot, starring Sam Elliott (Netflix)
6 Underground, a Michael Bay film starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Hardy, Dave Franco, and Mélanie Laurent (Netflix)
The Last Thing He Wanted, Dee Rees directs Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, and Toby Jones; journalist quits newspaper job to become an arms dealer for a covert government agency (Netflix)
The Laundromat, Steven Soderbergh directs Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, James Cromwell, about the Pentagon Papers (Netflix)
Radioactive, Rosamund Pike plays Marie Curie, with Anya Taylor-Joy (Amazon)
Some of these films will have revised release dates, or get pushed to 2020.
So grab your calendar and start making your plans–here are the movies you'll want to see in 2019 (and many you might not):
Glass – Superhero, M. Night Shyamalan trilogy part 3, stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy; continues where Unbreakable and Split left off – January 18.
Serenity – Mystery/Thriller, stars Anne Hathaway, Jason Clarke, Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Strong, Diane Lane; sorry, no relation to Firefly – January 25.
King of Thieves – Heist Comedy, stars Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay, Charlie Cox, Michael Gambon, and Ray Winstone – January 25.
Tags: 2019 movies, 6 Underground, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon, Aardman Animations, Ad Astra movie, Adam Lambert, Addams Family 2019, Al Pacino, Aladdin 2019, Alan Arkin, Alan Ruck, Albert Brooks, Alexandra Shipp, Alfre Woodard, Alison Brie, Alita: Battle Angel, Amy Adams, Anna Paquin, Annabelle 3, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Mackie, Antonio Banderas, Anya Taylor-Joy, Arctic 2019 movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Avengers: Endgame, Ben Affleck, Ben Hardy, Ben Mendelsohn, Beyoncé, Billy Magnussen, Bobby Cannavale, Bobby Moynihan, Brad Pitt, Bradley Whitford, Brie Larson, Bruce Willis, Call of the Wild, Call of the Wild movie 2019, Captain Marvel, Captive State, Cate Blanchett, cats, Channing Tatum, Charlie Cox, Charlie Heaton, Charlie Hunnam, Charlie's Angels, Charlize Theron, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Chloë Grace Moretz, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Christian Bale, Christmas 2018, Christoph Waltz, Clive Owen, Cold Pursuit, Colin Farrell, Common, Craig Ferguson, D.B. Sweeney, Daisy Ridley, Dakota Fanning, Dan Stevens, Dana Carvey, Daniel Dae Kim, Daniel Radcliffe, Danny DeVito, Dave Bautista, Dave Franco, David Harbour, Death on the Nile, Dee Rees, Dennis Quaid, Diane Lane, DJ Khaled, Djimon Hounsou, Donald Glover, Donald Sutherland, Downton Abbey, Dumbo 2019, Dwayne Johnson, Eiza González, Elisabeth Shue, Elizabeth Banks, Emma Thompson, Emma Watson, Emmy Rossum, Eva Green, Evan Peters, F. Murray Abraham, Finn Wolfhard, Ford vs Ferrari, Frozen 2, Gabriel Bateman, Garrett Hedlund, Gary Oldman, Gemini Man, Gemma Chan, Glass, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Greyhound 2019 movie, Happy Death Day 2U, Harrison Ford, Harvey Keitel, Helen Mirren, Hellboy, Hellboy 2019, Hellboy 2019 movie, Helter Skelter, Hobbs and Shaw, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, IT: Chapter 2, Jackie Earle Haley, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Cromwell, James Earl Jones, James McAvoy, Jason Clarke, Jason Statham, Jay Baruchel, Jeff Fahey, Jennifer Connelly, Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Jeremy Strong, Jesse Eisenberg, Jessica Chastain, Jessica Rothe, Jessie T. Usher, Jim Broadbent, Jim Carrey, Jim Gaffigan, Joaquin Phoenix, Joe Pesci, Joel Kinnaman, John Goodman, John Lithgow, John Malkovich, John Oliver, John Wick: Chapter 3, Joker movie 2019, Jon Bernthal, Jonah Hill, Jordan Peele, Josh Gad, Josh Lucas, Jude Law, Judi Dench, Jumanji 2, Karen Gillan, Keanu Reeves, Keegan-Michael Key, Keira Knightley, Ken Watanabe, Kenan Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Kenneth Branagh movies, Kevin Dunn, Kevin Hart, King of Thieves, Kingsman 3, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Kristen Stewart, Kurt Russell, Kyle Chandler, Laura Dern, Laurence Fishburne, Lee Pace, Leonardo DiCaprio, Liam Neeson, Linda Hamilton, Little Women, Luke Kleintank, M. Night Shyamalan, Mads Mikkelsen, Mahershala Ali, Maisie Williams, Margot Robbie, Mark Strong, Martin Scorsese, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Masi Oka, Matt Damon, Matthew Broderick, Matthew Vaughn, Meghan Trainor, Melanie Laurent, Men in Black International, Meryl Streep, Michael Bay, Michael Fassbender, Michael Gambon, Michael Keaton, Michelle Rodriguez, Midway movie 2019, Mila Kunis, Milla Jovovich, Millie Bobby Brown, Mira Sorvino, Missing Link 2019, Mr. Rogers, Naomi Scott, Nicholas Hoult, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Oscar Isaac, Patrick Wilson, Patton Oswalt, Pedro Pascal, Pet Sematary 2019, Playmobil: The Movie, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, Quentin Tarentino, Radioactive, Rashida Jones, Ray Winstone, Rebel Wilson, Rene Russo, Richard Roundtree, Rocketman, Rosamund Pike, Ruby Rose, Ryan Reynolds, Sally Hawkins, Sam Elliott, Samuel L. Jackson, Sasha Lane, Serenity 2019, Shaft 2019 movie, Sharon Tate, Shazam, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sophie Turner, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spies in Disguise, Star Wars Episode IX, Stephen Fry, Steven Soderbergh, Stuber movie, Taron Egerton, Terminator movie 2019, Tessa Thompson, The Aftermath, The Good Liar, The Hustle 2019, The Informer, The Irishman, The Last Thing He Wanted, The Laundromat, The LEGO Movie: The Second Part, The Lion King 2019, The Man Who Killed Hitler Then Bigfoot, The New Mutants, The Secret Life of Pets 2, The Woman in the Window, Thomas Haden Church, Tim Allen, Tim Blake Nelson, Tim Burton, Tim Miller, Timothy Olyphant, Toby Jones, Tom Bateman, Tom Courtenay, Tom Hanks, Tom Holland, Tommy Lee Jones, Toni Colette, Toy Story 4, Triple Frontier, Us 2019 movie, Velvet Buzzsaw, Vera Farmiga, Will Arnett, Will Smith, Willem Dafoe, Wonder Park, Woody Harrelson, Wyatt Russell, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, You Are My Friend, Zach Galifianakis, Zachary Levi, Zazie Beetz, Zoe Saldana, Zombieland Too
Studio Ghibli Fest returns to theaters starting this weekend with nine big films
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Following the success of last year's Studio Ghibli Fest, animated film distributor GKIDS and Fathom Events are bringing back to U.S. theaters nine critically acclaimed films throughout the year for Studio Ghibli Fest 2018. Starting this weekend the series will feature both dubbed and subtitled versions of Studio Ghibli classics, beginning with a 10th anniversary screening of the fan-favorite family adventure Ponyo (2008) on March 25 (dubbed), 26 (subtitled), and 28 (dubbed), with original actors Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kazushige Nagashima, and Yuria Nara in the subtitled version and Cate Blanchett, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, and Matt Damon in the dubbed version. In a spin-off of the Hayao Miyazaki story Whisper of the Heart, the character Baron re-emerges in The Cat Returns (2002), back in theaters April 22 (dubbed), 23 (subtitled), and 25 (dubbed), with stars Chizuru Ikewaki, Yoshihiko Hakamada, and Aki Maeda in the subtitled version, and Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, and Tim Curry in the dubbed version. Miyazaki directs his tale of a pigman pilot bounty hunter in Porco Rosso (1992), back in theaters May 20 (dubbed), 21 (subtitled), and 23 (dubbed), with original stars Shûichirô Moriyama, Tokiko Katô, and Bunshi Katsura Vi in the subtitled version, and Michael Keaton and David Ogden Stiers in the dubbed version.
Studio Ghibli's village of magical raccoon dogs fight back in Pom Poko (1994), in theaters June 17 (dubbed), 18 (subtitled), and 20 (dubbed), starring Shinchô Kokontei, Makoto Nonomura, and Yuriko Ishida in the subtitled version, and Clancy Brown and J.K. Simmons in the dubbed version. One of Miyazaki's most thrilling films, the legendary Princess Mononoke (1997) is back July 22 (dubbed), 23 (subtitled), and 25 (dubbed), starring Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, and Yûko Tanaka in the subtitled version, and Minnie Driver, Clare Danes, and Gillian Anderson in the dubbed version. Director Isao Takahata offers one of the finest World War II stories in all of cinema in his gut-wrenching Grave of the Fireflies (1988), back in theaters August 12 (dubbed), 13 (subtitled), and 15 (dubbed), starring Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, and Akemi Yamaguchi in the subtitled version, and Adam Gibbs and Emily Neves in the dubbed version.
Everyone's favorite gentle giant cat is back September 30 (dubbed), October 1 (subtitled), and October 3 (dubbed), when My Neighbor Totoro (1988) returns, starring Hitoshi Takagi, Noriko Hidaka, and Chika Sakamoto in the subtitled version, and Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, and Tim Daly in the dubbed version. Perhaps Miyazaki's most acclaimed film, the fantastical, spiritual, riveting epic Spirited Away (2001) is in theaters October 28 (dubbed), 29 (subtitled), and 30 (dubbed), starring Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, and Mari Natsuki in the subtitled version, and Suzanne Pleshette, David Ogden Stiers, and James Marsden in the dubbed version. And finally, a boy and girl search for a floating castle in Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky (1986), in theaters November 18 (dubbed), 29 (subtitled), and 20 (dubbed), starring Keiko Yokozawa, Mayumi Tanaka, and Kotoe Hatsui in the subtitled version, and Anna Paquin, Mark Hamill, James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, and Mandy Patinkin in the dubbed version.
Here is a quick preview of Studio Ghibli Fest 2018:
Tags: Adam Gibbs, Akemi Yamaguchi, Aki Maeda, Anna Paquin, Anne Hathaway, Ayano Shiraishi, Bunshi Katsura Vi, Cary Elwes, Cate Blanchett, Chika Sakamoto, Chizuru Ikewaki, Clancy Brown, Clare Danes, Cloris Leachman, Dakota Fanning, David Ogden Stiers, Elle Fanning, Emily Neves, Fathom Events, Gillian Anderson, GKIDS, Grave of the Fireflies, Hayao Miyazaki, Hitoshi Takagi, Isao Takahata, J.K. Simmons, James Marsden, James Van Der Beek, Kazushige Nagashima, Keiko Yokozawa, Kotoe Hatsui, Liam Neeson, Makoto Nonomura, Mandy Patinkin, Mari Natsuki, Mark Hamill, Matt Damon, Mayumi Tanaka, Michael Keaton, Minnie Driver, Miyu Irino, My Neighbor Totoro, Noriko Hidaka, Pom Poko, Ponyo, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Rumi Hiiragi, Shûichirô Moriyama, Shinchô Kokontei, Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli, Studio Ghibli Fest 2018, Suzanne Pleshette, The Castle in the Sky, The Cat Returns, Tim Curry, Tim Daly, Tokiko Katô, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Tsutomu Tatsumi, Yûko Tanaka, Yoji Matsuda, Yoshihiko Hakamada, Yuria Nara, Yuriko Ishida
First look–Sandra Bullock leads the next all-star heist, Ocean's 8
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When the Rat Pack (you know, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop) first made the heist comedy Ocean's 11 about a group of WWII pals in Las Vegas, do you think they had any idea they were establishing a brand that would be continuing with a new film 58 years later? In the latest entry, Ocean's 8, Warner Bros. has Frank's daughter Nancy serenade us in the first trailer, which features a nicely cast crowd of actors. In case you haven't been keeping count, this will be the fifth film featuring an Ocean family member leading a group on a major con. Sinatra was the original Danny Ocean, and in the reboot Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen, George Clooney took over the role and led a cast including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts.
Next year we'll see Sandra Bullock lead the way as Debbie Ocean, fresh out of jail and enlisting a group of varying skill sets to steel valuable jewels at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her co-stars include Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Armitage, Olivia Munn, Rihanna, Katie Holmes, Mindy Kaling, and Dakota Fanning.
Check out Warner Bros.' first trailer for Ocean's 8:
Tags: Anne Hathaway, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Dakota Fanning, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, George Clooney, Helena Bonham Carter, Joey Bishop, Jr., Katie Holmes, Matt Damon, Mindy Kaling, Ocean's 11, Ocean's 8 trailer preview, Ocean's Eleven, Olivia Munn, Peter Lawford, Rat Pack, Richard Armitage, Rihanna, Sammy Davis, Sandra Bullock, Warner Bros
Buttercup, Batman, Barbossa, Buddy, Bond and more–Prop Store lines up giant entertainment memorabilia auction for September
Filed under: Backstage Pass, Con Culture, Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes, TV — Leave a comment
For more than six years we at borg.com have been covering entertainment memorabilia auctions–sales of not merely replicas or mass-produced collectibles, but the real objects seen on film–rare or even one-of-a-kind costumes created by award-winning Hollywood costume designers, detailed props created by production crew, model vehicles created by special effects departments like Industrial Light and Magic, prosthetics created by famous makeup artists, set decoration, concept art, and much more. Amassing a wide variety of artifacts from classic and more recent film and television history, London and Los Angeles-based Prop Store is hosting its annual auction later this month. Known for its consignment of some of the most well-known and iconic screen-used props and costumes, Prop Store's ultimate museum collectibles auction will be open for bidding from anyone, and items will be available at estimates for both beginning collectors and those with deeper pockets.
The Prop Store Live Auction: Treasures from Film and Television will be auctioning off approximately 600 items. You'll find the following movies and TV shows represented and more: 3:10 to Yuma (2007), 300, Aliens, Back to the Future films, Blade Runner, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Chronicles of Narnia films, Elysium, Enemy Mine, Excalibur, The Fifth Element, Gladiator, The Goonies, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Jason and the Argonauts, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the Indiana Jones films, Iron Man, the James Bond films, Judge Dredd (1995), the Jurassic Park films, Kick-Ass 2, Kingsman: the Secret Service, Lifeforce, Looper, The Lost Boys, The Martian, The Matrix, Men in Black III, Mission: Impossible (1996), The Mummy (1999), Patton, Pirates of the Caribbean series, Predators, the Rocky films, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Star Trek franchise, Star Wars franchise, Starship Troopers, Superman films, Terminator films, The Three Musketeers (1993), Tropic Thunder, Troy, True Grit, Underworld: Evolution, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Willow, The Wolfman (2010), World War Z, and the X-Men films.
You can flip through the auction house's hefty 360-page catalog, or start with a look at what we selected as the best 50 of the lots–what we predict as the most sought-after by collectors and those that represent some of fandom's favorite sci-fi and fantasy classics and modern favorites.
Industrial Light and Magic 17 3/4-inch Rebel Y-Wing filming model from Return of the Jedi
Sark (David Warner) Grid costume from the original Tron (1982)
Julie Newmar's Catwoman costume and Burgess Meredith Penguin hat from the classic Batman TV series
Buttercup (Robin Wright) Fire Swamp red dress from The Princess Bride
Chekov (Walter Koenig) "nuclear wessels" costume, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) costume, and Sulu (George Takei) double shirt from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Full crew set of costumes (Malcolm, Zoe, Wash, Jayne, Inara, Kaylee, River, Book, and Simon) from Serenity (sold as individual costume lots)
Jack Nicholson purple Joker costume, plus separate coat and hat, from Batman (1989)
Enterprise-D 48-inch "pyro" model from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Will Munny (Clint Eastwood) stunt shotgun from Unforgiven
Star-lord helmet from Guardians of the Galaxy
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) Mjolnir hammer from Thor
Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II jumpsuits made for Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman
Witch-king of Angmar crown from The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Val Kilmer Batman suit and cowl from Batman Forever
Maverick (Tom Cruise) flight suit from Top Gun
Geoffrey Rush Captain Barbossa costume from the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, Curse of the Black Pearl
And there are so many more. Like…
Tags: 300, 3:10 to Yuma, Aliens, Army of Darkness, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Auction, Auctions, Back to the Future, Batman, Batman Forever, Batman TV series, Bill Murray, Blade Runner, Bruce Campbell, Burgess Meredith, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chris Hemsworth, Clint Eastwood, Cool Runnings, David Warner, DeForest Kelley, Doctor Who, Doug Jones, Elf, Elysium, Enemy Mine, entertainment memorabilia, Excalibur, Geoffrey Rush, George Takei, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, Gladiator, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry and the Hendersons, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Ian McKellen, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Industrial Light and Magic, Iron Man, Jack Nicholson, James Bond, Jason and the Argonauts, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jessica Chastain, Judge Dredd, Julie Newmar, Jurassic Park, Kick-Ass 2, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kristanna Loken, Lifeforce, Live and Let Die, Looper, Matt Damon, Men in Black III, Michael J. Fox, Mission: Impossible, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, movie models, Papillon, Patton, Peter Weller, Pirates of the Caribbean, Predators, Prop Store, Prop Store auction 2017, Return of the Jedi, Robin Wright, RoboCop 2, Rocky, Roger Moore, Sark, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, screen-used movie props, screenused costumes, Serenity, Shaun of the Dead, Shawshank Redemption, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Wars, Starship Troopers, Steve McQueen, Superman, Sylvester McCoy, Terminator, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Empire Strikes Back, The Fifth Element, The Goonies, The Lord of the Rings, The Lost Boys, The Martian, The Matrix, The Mummy, The Princess Bride, The Shining, The Three Musketeers, The Wolfman, Thor, Timecop, Tom Cruise, Top Gun, Tron, Tropic Thunder, Troy, True Grit, Underworld: Evolution, Unforgiven, Val Kilmer, Walter Koenig, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Will Farrell, Willow, World War Z, X-Men
Now streaming–China's ambitious, epic action film, The Great Wall
Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies — Leave a comment
Review by C.J. Bunce
It is a study in East meets West, or at least it tries really hard to be. Visually The Great Wall will likely be the most beautiful film you see this year. The worldbuilding is on a grand scale, epic, and worthy of the historic monumental icon of China. The intelligently thought out military structure and interplay of weapons, color, purpose, props, and costumes is second perhaps only to Peter Jackson's Tolkien world fantasy films. The costumes are exquisite–detailed, rich, stylized, ornate, and simply phenomenal. But like many big movies this year, it is a weak story that keeps The Great Wall from its potential.
If you're a fan of classic action films from China, you will have no problem jumping right into the action of The Great Wall. But if you're easily distracted by new things, you probably should skip this one. Its style of storytelling and dialogue are unique for a mainstream Western release so it is understandable why the film had problems attracting audiences here, even beyond all of the politics that accompanied its release (the objection of some in Matt Damon's lead role, a Caucasian lead in a medieval, epic story about China–whitewashing as discussed with respect to Doctor Strange–similar to criticisms when Tom Cruise was the lead in a Japanese-focused story in The Last Samurai). And if you don't like subtitles, you probably won't be drawn to The Great Wall. But you'd be missing something spectacular. So many features make the biggest budget film in China's history worthy of at least one viewing.
You'll find much telling instead of showing, something better films of the Western tradition endeavor to avoid. You'll witness soldiers marveling at what by all counts is an epic military battle, but then they actually state as much. It's a quirky thing that will probably make the average Western moviegoer shudder a bit. Yet if you look beyond the almost characteristically Eastern movie abrupt dialogue shifts, interspersed tangent story elements and nonlinear style, you'll find some great takeaways. Like one of the year's best, badass heroines in Tian Jing's swashbuckling Commander-turned-General Lin Mae–a powerful dragon killer in command of the entire Chinese army whose cliff-diving daredevilry and death-defying air balloon war machines evoke the best World War II movie action sequences. The martial arts stuntwork is like that of no other movie this year. The special effects are impressive, especially the interplay of set construction and battle scenes and heretofore unseen methods of combat and destruction used to defend the wall. The purely CGI creations–WETA and Industrial Light & Magic's mythic Tao Tei dragons–look real, and they even have their own layered culture with the ability to plan an intelligent battle strategy.
Tags: Industrial Light and Magic, kickass women, Matt Damon, medieval fantasy, Peng Yong, The Great Wall, The Great Wall movie review, The Great Wall: The Art of the Film, Tian Jing, Weta, Zhang Yimou
Book Review–The Great Wall: The Art of the Film sets a new standard for art books
Filed under: Backstage Pass, Comics & Books, Fantasy Realms, Movies — Leave a comment
The best thing about reading a book about the making of a film, without first watching the film, is that your view of the book is not skewed by your opinion of the film. If you knew nothing about The Great Wall, the new behind-the-scenes look in The Great Wall: The Art of the Film will prompt you to want to see it. Not only will you find incredible concept art, set design, costumes, and props, the book itself is unique. In the past five years "making of" film and art books have vastly improved in quality. Abbie Bernstein's new book from Titan Books features the best quality images, the best layouts, and the best book design of any book yet reviewed at borg.com–the book itself has a traditional Chinese book binding and gilded edges. It also features an element left out of many film books these days–it includes images of the entire film, and doesn't remove spoiler elements, such as, in this case, detailed images of the film's monsters and ending (the art book for Star Wars: The Force Awakens provided no final image of Luke Skywalker and several costumes and props, as an example).
An icon of China cinema, the man behind several "art house" films in China and the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics, director Zhang Yimou discusses in the book why The Great Wall is unique and how it became the biggest production in China film history. If you have watched stunning Chinese film work over the years and aren't a fan of dubbed or subtitled films, the barrier is language–how can you connect U.S. and Chinese film audiences? Yimou intended just that by making a Hollywood-esque film as a Chinese production in English with a cast and crew from dozens of nations, including more than 100 on-set translators. Beyond that goal, the powerful imagery of the film as displayed throughout The Great Wall: The Art of the Film, is the stuff of Academy Award-winning costume design and art design.
Along with interviews with Zhang are chapters featuring producer Peter Loehr, actors Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal, Jing Tian, and Willem Dafoe. The most visually stunning chapters detail The Nameless Order, with Zhang's color coding of each fighting corps, including the royal blue Crane Corps–the fighting unit consisting entirely of women. We see frosted plastic pages displaying each corps symbol, and poster quality designs highlight each leader, along with their shields and weaponry. Detailed sections feature the creation and design of the film's monsters–the mythical Tao Tei–and how WETA and Industrial Light and Magic created them. And each key sequence of the film is revealed with photographs of special effects and the actors in action.
Tags: Abbie Bernstein, Best of 2017, Book review, Industrial Light and Magic, Jing Tian, Matt Damon, monster movies, Pedro Pascal, Peter Loehr, Tao Tei, The Great Wall, The Great Wall: The Art of the Film, The Great Wall: The Art of the Film book review, Titan Books, WETA Workshop, Willem Dafoe, Zhang Yimou
Filed under: Fantasy Realms, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café, Superheroes — 1 Comment
Our annual "All the Movies You'll Want to See…" series has been one of the most viewed of all of our entries at borg.com each year. So this year we again scoured Hollywood and its publicity machine for as many genre films coming out in 2017 that have been disclosed. The result is a whopping 58 movies, many you'll probably want to see in the theater or catch on video (and some you may want to skip). We bet you'll find a bunch below you've never heard of. Bookmark this now for your 2017 calendar!
Most coming out in the second half of 2017 don't even have posters released yet. We've included descriptions and key cast so you can start planning accordingly.
What do we think will be the biggest hits of the year? How about Star Wars: Episode VIII or Wonder Woman? Luc Besson's Valerian and the City of 1,000 Planets? Ghost in the Shell? Or Beauty and the Beast?
You've heard endlessly about Logan and Justice League, but 2017 will also see numerous other sequels, like Alien: Covenant, Blade Runner 2049, Thor: Ragnarok, and sequels for Underworld, Resident Evil, Planet of the Apes, Pirates of the Caribbean, XXX, John Wick, King Kong, The Fast and the Furious, Cars, The Kingsman, Transformers, Despicable Me. And The Six Billion Dollar Man is finally on its way. Look for plenty of Dwayne Johnson, Tom Cruise, Vin Diesel, Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Zoe Saldana, Hugh Jackman, John Goodman, Michael Peña, Ryan Reynolds, Sofia Boutella, and Elle Fanning in theaters this year.
So wait no further, here are your genre films for 2017:
Tags: 2017 movie checklist, 2017 movie posters, 2017 movie release schedule, 2017 movies, A Monster Calls, Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection, Ali Larter, Alien: Covenant, American Made, Angourie Rice, Anthony Hopkins, Asa Butterfield, Baywatch, Beauty and the Beast, Ben Affleck, Benedict Cumberbatch, Blade Runner 2049, Blazing Samurai, Brad Pitt, Britt Robertson, Carla Gugino, Cate Blanchett, Channing Tatum, Charles Dance, Charlize Theron, CHiPs movie, Chris Cooper, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pine, Christopher Nolan, Cloverfield, Colin Farrell, Colin Firth, Daisy Ridley, Dave Franco, Dax Sheppard, Derek Jacobi, Despicable Me 3, Diego Luna, Domhnall Gleason, Domhnall Gleeson, Dunkirk, Eddie Izzard, Elizabeth Debicki, Elle Fanning, Emma Watson, Eric Bana, Fate of the Furious, Felicity Jones, Flatliners 2017, Gal Gadot, Gary Oldman, Geoffrey Rush, Ghost in the Shell, God Particle, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Harrison Ford, Hugh Jackman, Idris Elba, Jackie Chan, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Corden, James McAvoy, Jason Statham, Javier Bardem, Jeff Goldblum, Jet Li, John Goodman, John Wick Chapter Two, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Judi Dench, Jumanji, Justice League, Karl Urban, Kate Beckinsale, Katherine Waterston, Keanu Reeves, Kennth Brannagh, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, Kirsten Dunst, Kong Skull Island, Kristen Wiig, Kurt Russell, Lara Pulver, Liam Neeson, Life movie, Live By Night, Logan, Logan movie, Luc Besson, Marisa Tomei, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Michael Peña, Michelle Pfeiffer, Milla Jovovich, Morgan Freeman, Murder on the Orient Express, Nicole Kidman, Olivia Munn, Patrick Stewart, Paul W.S. Anderson, Penelope Cruz, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Power Rangers movie, Ralph Fiennes, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Ridley Scott, Rings, Robert Downey Jr, Robin Wright, Rock Dog, Rosario Dawson, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, Sam Neill, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Smurfs; The Lost Village, Sofia Boutella, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Stephen King's It, Stephen King's The Dark Tower, The Beguiled, The Coldest City, The Emoji Movie: Express Yourself, The Great Wall, The Greatest Showman, The Hitman's Bodyguard, The Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Lego Batman Movie, The LEGO Ninjago Movie, The Nut Job 2, The Space Between Us, The Story of Ferdinand, Thor: Ragnarok, Tom Cruise, Tom Cruise movies, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, Tom Holland, Tommy Lee Jones, Transformers: The Last Knight, Trey Parker, Underworld: Blood Wars, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Villa Capri, Vin Diesel, War for the Planet of the Apes, Will Arnett, Wonder Woman, World War II movies, World War Z 2, xxx: The Return of Xander Cage, Zach Galifianakis, Zoe Saldana
Retro read–Abraham Lincoln returns as an android in Philip K. Dick's novel, We Can Build You
Wonder Woman arrives at 750th issue with nearly 50 variant covers
Creating the Alt World–Book explores adapting Dick's complex The Man in the High Castle for the screen
Rising Sun–Tabletop game tie-in brings Japanese heroes to comics
Dispatches from Elsewhere is AMC's next quirky, strange drama
Rom: Dire Wraiths–Sci-fi monster tale pits the Apollo 11 astronauts against classic alien threat
Gears of War: Ascendance–Tie-in novel leads into the Gears 5 video game
Next Black Widow trailer arrives with Taskmaster face-off and a look back
First look–Team Jared leads Marvel/Sony's next comic book adaption, Morbius
Now streaming–Dark, vivid futurism awaits in Netflix's Altered Carbon, with new season on the way
New Back to the Future and Ghostbusters toys bring 1980s sci-fi favorites home
Now streaming–DC Universe's Swamp Thing is not a superhero series to skip
Supernova Era–Cixin Liu's ambitious sci-fi novel of children leading the world arrives in English edition
Designing Jaws–Production designer Joe Alves reveals concept art and more in new look at the 1970s blockbuster
Killing Quarry–Max Allan Collins puts Quarry in the crosshairs in latest novel
New trailer–Finally! X-Men origin story The New Mutants is almost here
The Moviemaking Magic of Star Wars–Ships and battles take center stage in new Star Wars guide
Doctor Who in theaters today, returns to regular timeslot tonight after strong opener
Retro fix–Vertigo, Boileau and Narcejac's novel that inspired the Hitchcock film classic
Retro fix–Bond on Bond, Roger Moore's reflections on 50 years of James Bond
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Posts Tagged 'Kanye West'
Must-see bands at the 80-35 Festival
Posted in review, tagged 80-35, Beach Boys, Black Diet, Booker T and the MGs, Brian Eno, Danny Heggen, Des Moines, Duane Allman, Fury Things, Greenwich Village, Husker Du, Isaac Hayes, Johnathan Tolliver, Kanye West, Maids, Memphis soul, Minneapolis, music festival, River Monks, Stax, Tree, Venice Beach, William S. Burroughs on July 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »
(Above: Ziggy Marley will perform at this year's 80-35 festival, but there are many great bands waiting to be discovered.)
Over the past six years, the 80-35 music festival has put Des Moines and the Iowa music scene on the map. Great headliners draw increasingly bigger crowds, but the festival's secret strength is drawing the best acts from the upper Midwest.
This year is no exception. Bands from nearly every neighboring state will fill the fest's three stages this weekend. Here are several bands I'm most looking forward to experiencing live on our nation's birthday. (Note: Since I will only be able to attend the first day of the festival, all of the following recommendations are from Friday's lineup.)
Any noisy three-piece rock band from Minneapolis is going to draw comparisons to Husker Du. Fury Things don't run away from the similarities. Guitars explode from blown amps and drums sound like they are being punished. The band makes a compelling case for coming out early, and are guaranteed to jumpstart the day. (Fury Things perform at 12:45 p.m. on the Kum & Go stage.)
If the Beach Boys hung out in Greenwich Village instead of Venice Beach they probably would have turned out a lot like the River Monks. The Des Moines-based quartet combines a sea of lush harmony vocals over a forest of banjos, guitars and other wooden instruments. Bonus points for an album cover that looks like a physical realization of Brian Eno's topographic covers in the Ambient series. (The River Monks perform at 8 p.m. on the Hy-Vee stage.)
Singer Johnathan Tolliver fronts soul outfit Black Diet like the second coming of Isaac Hayes, only with a better falsetto. The band may come from Minneapolis, but the sound is straight-up Memphis soul. Touches of slide blues guitar alongside a meaty B3 organ imagine what Booker T and the MGs may have sounded like if Duane Allman sat in (and brought a gospel choir). (Black Diet perform at 4:45 p.m. on the Kum & Go stage.)
Maids haven't released an album, but the electronic duo has more than enough original material from surreptitiously released singles to fill a set. Danny Heggen's high tenor soars over keyboards and drum machines while just a touch of guitar fill out the minimalist sound. The song "Seashell" sounds like a lost 8-bit classic until waves of synthesizers take over the track, turning everyone in their wake into Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. (Maids perform at 6 p.m. on the Hy-Vee stage.)
Tree probably isn't named for his love of forestry, but the Chicago MC proves there is more to hip hop than odes to weed. His raspy voice and rhymes are good enough, but what really stands out is the production. The song "Fame" sounds like it was inspired by William Burrough's cut-up technique, with snippets of gospel organ or jazz piano diced and reassembled at random. "The King" employs fellow Chicagoan Kanye West's old trick of speeding up a familiar song for the backing track, but Tree ends up with something that would sound like an over-the-top parody if it didn't work so well. (Tree performs at 2:45 p.m. on the Kum & Go stage.)
Look for a review of Friday's 80-35 festivities next week on The Daily Record.
10 Must-see bands at Kanrocksas (part 1 – Friday)
Wakarusa Music Festival: A Look Back
Review: Jay-Z and Kanye West
Posted in Concert review, Kansas City Star, tagged All of the Lights, Blueprint, hip hop, Hova, Jay-Z, Jesus Walks, Kanye West, Niggas In Paris, Run this Town, Taylor Swift, Touch the Sky, Watch the Throne on December 15, 2011| 1 Comment »
(Above: Jay-Z and Kanye West battle sharks and charm the Sprint Center crowd during a recent "Watch the Throne" tour stop in Kansas City, Mo.)
Hip hop superstars Jay-Z and Kanye West titled their first joint album and tour "Watch the Throne," but they could have just as easily called it "Where's the Recession?" Seats near the stage commanded $200 while many seats in the upper deck went for $50. The asking price on tour T-shirts at the concert was $45.
That's a lot to ask of fans in these times, but the deep-pocketed mass (12,000) that crowded into the Sprint Center on Tuesday night got a lot of bang for its buck. The gigantic main stage looked like a sleek aircraft carrier, completely bare, save a DJ and pair of multi-instrumentalists hidden in the back.
A smaller stage set at the back of the floor. The main stage was flanked by two gigantic screens. A dozen flashpots, including one above the stage, walls of light and the best laser show this side of Pink Floyd completed the visual extravaganza. Topping it all off was nearly two and a half hours of music encompassing three dozen songs, two-thirds of which were Top 40 hits.
West and Jay-Z appeared on opposite stages. As the duo opened with five songs from "Watch the Throne," the stages below each performer grew, elevating each man on a two-story cube of video screens.
After the initial run of duets, the two alternated pairs of mini-sets, never intruding on the other's material, but often appearing to back each other up, as on "Run This Town" or "Diamonds of the Sierra Leone." A healthy sprinkling of "Throne" tunes ensured Jay-Z and West were never apart for long. By the end of the night the crowd was treated to 10 of "Throne"'s 16 songs.
Because there was no band, the songs stuck close to the original arrangements. This also meant that the rappers were the only people onstage. It takes a lot of showmanship to carry an audience alone for that long, but the number of hits, he amount of charisma and overall spectacle kept the crowd on its feet, dancing and waving with each beat for the entire set.
For the most part, the lack of live instruments didn't hurt the material, but there were a few moments that were obviously strengthened by the supporting musicians, such as the guitar solo on "U Don't Know Me" and keyboards on "Made in America."
The tag-team of hits also contrasted the two performer's styles. Jay-Z was more straightforward, wearing street clothes and devastating with his phonetic dexterity and intricate cadences. His big moments were frequently punctuated by pyrotechnics. West, on the other hand, wore a black leather kilt over his black leather pants and performed in near darkness, surrounded by lasers.
Each style brought its own high points. Jay-Z overpowered the crowd during "Public Service Announcement" and "On To the Next One" and had the house singing on "Empire State of Mind" and "Jigga What." West's best moment was an extended version of "Runaway" that found him standing atop a red cube on the second floor singing about his mistakes and ruminating on love. Completely invested in the moment, West dovetailed "Runaway" into another emotionally revealing number, "Heartless." Later, West's perfectionism got the best of him when he twice halted "All of the Lights" to fix a lighting cue.
For most of the night the set functioned like an meticulously calibrated mixtape, with each song setting up and naturally leading into the big number. Somehow the playlist got stuck on repeat during the night's final song. Not only did the main set end with three runs through "N****s In Paris," but the pair returned for two more takes as an encore. When the two left the stage for the final time it set off a series of sparklers across the state, but those fizzled in comparison to the fireworks delivered throughout the night.
Setlist: H.A.M.; Who Gon' Stop Me; Otis, Welcome to the Jungle; Gotta Have It; Where I'm From; Jigga What, Jigga Who; Can't Tell Me Nothing; Flashing Lights; Jesus Walks; All Falls Down; Diamonds from Sierra Leone (remix); Public Service Announcement; U Don't Know; Run this Town; Monster; Power; Made in America; New Day; Hard Knock Life; Izzo (H.O.V.A.); Empire State of Mind; Runaway; Heartless; Stronger; On to the Next One; Dirt Off Your Shoulder; Give It To Me; That's My B***h; Good Life; Touch the Sky; All of the Lights; Big Pimpin'; Gold Digger; 99 Problems; No Church in the Wild; N*****s In Paris. Encore: N****as In Paris.
Jay-Z – "The Blueprint 3″
Jamie Foxx brings it to Sprint Center
Fiasco Friday sparks Howard Beale moment
Posted in band feature, Kansas City music scene, tagged 808s and Heartbreaks, Blood on the Tracks, dancehall, Diplo, Editors, Fitz and the Tantrums, Fourth of July, George Clinton, Glasvegas, Joy Formidible, Kanrocksas, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, M.I.A., Major Lazer, Maroon 5, Muse, Passion Pit, reggaeton, Switch, Wakarusa on August 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »
(Above: The Lawrence band make breakups sound like fun on "Friend of a Friend.")
The big names at the top of the bill will draw the most fans, but sometimes the best performances are from lesser-known acts early in the day. In the week leading up to the inaugural Kanrocksas music festival we'll examine 10 overlooked acts. Below are five acts from Friday's lineup. On Thursday we examine Saturday's bands.
The Joy Formidable (Ad Astra stage, 2:50 – 3:30 p.m.)
The Joy Formidable have toured with the Editors and Passion Pit and turned to Muse and Glasvegas' producer to help behind the boards for their studio debut. Singer Ritzy Bryan has a touch of Bjork in her delivery and the arrangements hint at what could happen if Jesus and Mary Chain were a pop band.
Fitz and the Tantrums (Main Stage, 2:50 – 3:30 p.m.)
This Los Angeles-buzz band play opposite the Joy Formidable, which is fitting because their music is at the other end of the spectrum as well. Working without a guitar, the group splits the difference between the Dap-tone sound and Maroon 5.
Fourth of July (Ink Unplugged stage, 6:15 – 6:45 p.m.)
This Lawrence quintet, comprised of two sets of siblings, combined the heartache and pain of "Blood on the Tracks"-era Bob Dylan with the relentlessly upbeat jangle of Camper Van Beethoven. A longtime mainstay of the Lawrence/KC music scene, their work deserves a wider audience.
Kid Cudi (Main Stage, 6:10 – 7 p.m.)
After bringing only a DJ to his Kansas City debut at the Midland theater last year, Kid Cudi has decided to bring a live band on the road with him this time out. Cudi's studio work places the minimalist introspection of Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreaks" in more lush, accessible surroundings. It should be interesting to watch Cudi try to translate his headphone music to a festival setting.
Major Lazer (Critical Mass tent, 8:15 – 9:05 p.m.)
DJs Diplo and Switch are best know for helping create the pastiche behind M.I.A.'s three albums. On their own the pair – who met through working with M.I.A. – create some swampy, dubbed-out dancehall reggae. Put Shaggy in a blender with the Bomb Squad, add George Clinton's showmanship and you're close.
10 Must-see bands at Kanrocksas (part 2 – Saturday)
Claypool hits the jackpot on casino debut
(Below: A bonus video from Major Lazer.)
Posted in Top 10, tagged 2010 best of, 2010 in review, Andre 3000, Arcade Fire, best albums of 2010, best of, Big Boi, Black Keys, Bobby Gates, Brad Mehldau, Cee-Lo, Gates BBQ, Gnarls Barkley, Goodie Mob, Janelle Monae, jazz, Josh Redman, Kansas City music scene, Kanye West, Late Night with Jimmy Falon, Oriole Post, OutKast, The Roots, top 10 albums on December 14, 2010| 1 Comment »
Year-end, Top 10 lists are everywhere. Only The Daily Record presents its favorite records in haiku. Enjoy.
1. Arcade Fire – Suburbs
Four sides of vinyl.
Suburban sprawl? Viewing life
takes time to explore.
2. The Roots – How I Got Over
Late night's finest band
drops another classic.
Best since "Game Theory."
3. Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
Ambitious concept
spread over diverse styles,
An amazing voice.
4. Bobby Watson – Gates BBQ Suite
Mouth-watering sounds
Basie, Ollie should be proud
Tribute to KayCee
5. Black Keys – Brothers
Broader sound gives pair
more room for dirty landscapes
Blues and guitar bros.
6. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Self-proclaimed jerk
Submits tortured, twisted art
Tender, repulsive
7. Cee-Lo Green – The Ladykiller
Soul man blurs genres
for nonstop party. Like it?
If not, forget you.
8. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Lefty, Son of Chico Dusty
Execs slow release,
block Andre, but can't stop fun.
More "Speakerboxx" joy.
9. Oriole Post – Silver City
A down-home hoedown
Warm as buttermilk biscuits
Full of Midwest heart.
10. Brad Mehldau – Highway Rider
Piano maestro
back with Josh Redman.
Expansive, probing.
Posted in Industry commentary, tagged 1996 Telecommunications Act, Atlantic records, change, corporate radio, fan protest, Fiasco Friday, Fiona Apple, grassroots, hip hop, Howard Beale, Kanye West, label beef, Lasers, Lost Tapes, Lupe Fiasco, major label meddling, Matthew LeCorte, Nas, negativity in media, Network, radio airplay, rally, Wilco on October 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
(Above: "Go To Sleep" is one of many new songs rapper Lupe Fiasco has completed for his new album, "Lasers." Despite submitting the album to his label two years ago, a release date of March, 2011, was just announced last week.)
Today hundreds of young music fans will protest outside the headquarters of Atlantic Records in New York City as part of Fiasco Friday. A similar rally will also take place in Chicago.
The gatherings started as an frustrated discussion on an internet forum over Atlantic's two-year refusal to release an album by rapper Lupe Fiasco. Inspired by success stories of similar incidents with Wilco and Fiona Apple, this new generation of fans want major labels to respect their voices.
"Lupe is just one part of a larger issue," said 17-year-old Matthew LaCorte, one of Fiasco Friday's organizers. "I would like Atlantic to stop interfering in the creative process of its artists and to help get a more positive message – a message like Lupe's – on commercial radio."
Tall requests, to be sure. Artists complaints of label meddling can be found in ever era of the music industry, and are a major reason why artists from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to the Eagles have divorced themselves from major label. Complaints of commercial radio playlists have increased – while overall listenership has decreased – since the 1996 Telecommunications Act allowed single corporations to gobble up more and more of the national spectrum.
Rapper Lupe Fiasco.
"Our goals mirror Lupe's L.A.S.E.R.S. manifesto, which he posted online," LaCorte said. "We want to alert people and tell the message of Lupe Fiasco, who's music has a drastically different message from what you hear on the radio."
In part, the 14-point manifesto declares an end to glamorizing negativity in the media, promotes environmental responsibility, individualism and political accountability, elevates substance over popularity and calls for the end of war and a "processed culture of exploitation, over-consumption and waste."
But it will take more than T-Pain's ubiquitous and chart-topping auto-tune to make these lofty goals part of any mainstream discussion.
"I'm not exactly sure what to expect from the rally," LaCorte said. "I know we'll have lots of signs and so some picketing. I'm planning on giving a speech, and I know we'll have lots of chants and rally calls based on Lupe's music."
Oh, and Fiasco will be personally participating in the New York rally. In late September, Fiasco tweeted "well if y'all there…I guess I gotta be there too!"
"This started because we all wanted 'Lasers' to come out," LaCorte said. "Last week Atlantic finally gave us a release date of March 8, 2011, so in a way we've succeeded. Fiasco Friday will be both a celebration of our success and a chance to protest issues we feel still need to be addressed."
Fiasco is hardly the only rapper facing label resistance right now. Last week Nas raged against Def Jam's refusal to release the second volume in his "Lost Tapes" series as part of his contract.
"Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago," Nas wrote in his open letter. "I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my way because since day one I have been my own man."
LaCorte said he was fine with Nas' perspective. But when the original petition calling for 'Lasers'" release was ignored by Atlantic, he knew it was time to make a bigger noise.
"Having fans protesting is not good for business," LeCorte said. "But if we fans do this – petition, boycott, make phone calls, send letters and stand up for the musicians we admire – if we make our voices heard, there will be a change."
Review: Lupe Fiasco
Chuck D looks forward in reverse
Review: "How to Rap"
(Below: Howard Beale's ever-relevant rant from the 1976 film"Network.")
Posted in Song Review, tagged Alexis Korner, Alphaville, Beastie Boys, Behind Blue Eyes, Boogie Down Productions, Bruce Springsteen, Changes, Chess blues, Creep, David Bowie, Devil's Right Hand, Dion, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Fight For Your Right To Party, Flaming Lips, Hoochie Coochie Man, James Brown, Janis Joplin, Jay-Z, Joan Baez, Joey Ramone, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Kanye West, KRS-One, Ladies of the Canyon, Led Zeppelin, Let It Be, Limp Bizkit, Long Black Veil, Louis Armstrong, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Muddy Waters, Napoleon Dynamite, Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Sammy Hagar, Stairway to Heaven, Steve Earle, Steven Seagal, The Band, the Beatles, the Who, Van Halen, Wayne Coyne, What A Wonderful World, Young MC on September 3, 2010| 4 Comments »
(Above: The only acceptable version of "Hoochie Coochie Man.")
A fun game has been going around the internet recently: Name 15 albums that influenced your taste in music today in 15 minutes. Because we never play anything straight up at The Daily Record, we twisted the rules a little and came up with 15 songs we dislike by artists we like.
Led Zeppelin – "Stairway to Heaven." Might as well get this heavy out of the way first. Classic rock radio has destroyed this great band's best-known song. I've heard it so many times at this point I can conjure it up in my sleep. I never need to hear it again. Let me go one step further: I'd rather hear a half-hour live version of "Moby Dick" than have to sit through "Stairway" again.
Joni Mitchell – "The Circle Game." Joni Mitchell's 1970 song about the cycles of life is actually a remarkable song. It works too well, though, leaving me completely depressed and feeling like I care about has decayed around me in just under 5 minutes. No wonder Mitchell selected this song to close her classic album "Ladies of the Canyon." After this there's nowhere to go.
Beastie Boys – "Fight For Your Right To Party." The Beastie Boys were a lot more creative and fun than the frat boy stereotype this dumb song earned them.
Van Halen – "Love Walks In." The Sammy Hagar period of the band is rightly painted as inferior to the original lineup, but you can't help when you were born and I came of age right in the middle of Van Hagar. I never had a problem with Eddie switching from six-string to synths, but the sugary melody combined with lyrics about aliens made this song more than I could handle.
Boogie Down Productions – "Jimmy." Usually a master of the message, KRS-One's sermon on safe sex comes off as both preachy and simplistic. The idiotic chorus destroys what little credibility may remain. The track did inspire the Young MC cut "Keep It In Your Pants" from his follow-up to "Stone Cold Rhymin'." I wish I didn't know these things, but I do and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
Anyone – "The Long Black Veil." First performed by Lefty Frizzell in 1959, this country classic has become a staple for Johnny Cash, The Band, Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, Bruce Springsteen and a dozen more. I can't argue with any of those artists, but for a reason I could never put a finger on, it never resonated with me.
Radiohead – "Creep." This song introduced Radiohead to America, and for that I should be grateful, but "Pablo Honey" is the outlier in their catalog for me. In my mind, the catalog officially starts with "The Bends."
James Brown – "Killing Is Out, School Is In." This song became the unintentional center point of Brown's 2002 concert at the River Market. A lackluster set had already been derailed by a couple Janis Joplin covers by Brown's then-wife and mayor Kay Barnes onstage proclamation of James Brown Day. Several years after Columbine, the message was not only no longer timely, but embarrassing. The song was later released as a single. Thankfully few heard it.
David Bowie – "Changes." Yet another song ruined by radio and turned into lazy shorthand for its era by television and movie producers.
The Beatles – "The Long and Winding Road." Dislike may be too strong a word for this song, but Paul McCartney had already delivered a better ballad for the "Let It Be/Get Back" project. This one feels like a syrupy afterthought to me.
Steve Earle – "The Devil's Right Hand." This number brought Earle acclaim as a songwriter before he established himself as a recording artist in his own right. I think Lynyrd Skynyrd covered the same turf better with "Saturday Night Special." The verses aren't band, but the song is overly reliant on the repetitive chorus.
The Who – "Behind Blues Eyes." This sensitive number never seemed to fit in with the rest of "Who's Next" and it seemed even more out of place as a single. Pete Townshend usually struck the right balance of being tough and vulnerable at the same time (see "The Song Is Over" or "How Many Friends"). He sounds weak and whiney on "Blue Eyes." Limp Bizkit's cover confirmed my instinct. Sympathy for Fred Durst? Never!
Anyone but Muddy Waters – "Hoochie Coochie Man." In the hands of Waters and the Chess studio pros, this is a blues masterpiece. For just about anyone else, it is usually a lame attempt for a middle-aged white guy to show he's hep to the blooze. I'm looking at you Eric Clapton, Alexis Korner, Steven Seagal and Dion.
Jay-Z – "Young Forever." Alphaville's 1984 hit "Forever Young" worked perfectly as the soundtrack to Napolean Dynamite's dance with Deb. In the hands of Hova, however, it is ridiculous.
Louie Armstrong – "What A Wonderful World." There's nothing wrong with Satchmo's sublime performance. He manages to walk the tightrope between sincere and saccharine as the strings underneath support his presentation. Unfortunately, no one understood the song's message, as it has a crutch when movie producers want to tug on heartstrings. Joey Ramone's version was great upon release, but in the decade since it has become a hipster version of the same cliché. I guess this leaves me with Wayne Coyne and the Flaming Lips' weird yet heartfelt reading. I don't think mainstream America is ready for that to be thrust down their throats – yet.
Review: Flaming Lips New Year's Freakout
Review: "Pops" by Terry Teachout
Steddy P and DJ Mahf – "While You Were Sleeping"
Posted in Album review, Ink magazine, Kansas City music scene, tagged Blackalicious, Ces Cru, DJ Mahf, DJ Shadow, Gift of Gab, hip hop KC, Indyground, Jay-Z, Jbomb, Kanye West, LL Cool J, Mac Lethal, Mathias, Nappy Roots, Steddy P, Super Mario Brothers, Tech N9ne on July 29, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Ink Magazine
Steddy P takes care of his fans. Since Steddy's debut album in 2008, fans have never had to wait more than a few months between new offerings. This month Steddy dropped the While You Were Sleeping EP/mixtape to keep fans happy until the emergence of his next full-length album. But While You Were Sleeping is more than a stopgap release. Six new cuts show Steddy's recent activity in the studio. But more fun is the second part of the album: 13 tracks from the back catalog, remixed by DJ Mahf.
Mahf, who oversaw Steddy's 2009 album, Style Like Mind, clearly had a blast marrying "Kenneth Arnold" to the "Super Mario Bros." video game soundtrack. "Miss Your Coffee Table," one of the few odes to the fairer sex on the mixtape, incorporates both Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest and LL Cool J's "I Need Love." Other tracks pay tribute to early Kanye West, Jay-Z, DJ Shadow and the Nappy Roots. That Steddy's original verses stand up against such recognizable backgrounds is a testament to his clever wordplay and intricate delivery.
At times Steddy's delivery recalls that of Blackalicious' Gift of Gab. Steddy does a good job of changing textures when necessary, and recruits great guests such as Ces Cru, Mathias and Jbomb to further vary the vocal patterns. Steddy's best performance across the 19 tracks comes early. "BARS (Loser's Club Remix)" is Steddy's answer to repeated invitations to freestyle battles. After calling out so-called Midwestern rappers who quickly vacate to the coasts he revs into double time. It's not quite Twista-fast, but impressive nonetheless.
Although they appear first, the new tracks almost seem secondary. Steddy comes strong out of the chute on "Enough" and "Bars," but the production falters on "Steddy Persistence Pt. II," the third cut. Each song is handled by separate producers. The tracks don't flow together well, and the quality fluctuates.
On "No Doz" Steddy uses a violent slasher/horror film metaphor to establish his lyrical dominance. His words are threatening, but try as it might, the chintzy synthesizer loop can't be considered sinister. A similarly vanilla loop is featured in "And It's Like That," which manages to include a shout-out to Steddy's former home turf of Mizzou, to KU and even to the UMKC Roos.
The final new song, "WindOverHead," is the most successful. The production includes hints of the ambient and industrial, as well as snippets of saxophone and opera over an understated piano melody. Steddy shines across this landscape, calling out Tech N9ne and Mac Lethal and marking his IndyGround territory.
Despite a few minor missteps, While You Were Sleeping is a nice place for longtime fans to regroup and experience Steddy's catalog in a different light. Newcomers will find the album a handy place to catch up. Best of all, it's free.
KC's MCs throw down this weekend
Nas and Damian Marley – "Distant Relatives"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


When it comes to selling your home, a significant amount of your home's resale value will depend on what's happened to the Havant market as a whole. Here average sales values have risen by 34 per cent over the last ten years. However, there are several tactical decisions you can make to push up the final price.
Creating an extra bedroom, perhaps with a loft conversion, offers one of the best possible returns. Although initial costs are not inconsiderable, the relationship between size and price is fairly linear, so if you can expand the size of your home by 10 per cent, that could create an extra £26,000 of value to the average seller in Havant.
Bedrooms aside, the square footage of your home is one of the first things buyers look at, so you should create more of it if you can. In Havant average prices sit at £261,000, so each five per cent size gain could translate into at least the same capital gain proportionally.
Kerb appeal is often overlooked by sellers when they put their house on the market, yet it is one of the most important ways both to add value to your home and to make it stand out to a first-time viewer. Kitchens also come under buyers' microscopes, and sometimes a little investment in them goes a long way indeed.
Buy-to-let landlords will want to make sure their rental property is in the best condition to achieve maximum yields. Furnished properties can often rent faster than those that are unfurnished (but do check with us as it depends on the type and location). It is also a good idea to update the interior and exterior of your property every three years by painting the walls, cleaning the outside space and replacing furniture to stop it looking dated. A fresher looking property will increase its chances of renting more quickly and nullifying potential long void periods.
Weighing up the potential cost of any home refurbishments is essential because it has to be a profitable exercise so it's a good time to seek advice. If you want to find out more about how much value you can add to your home, and what Havant buyers are looking for, please pop into our office and have a chat with us. We are always happy to help.


The Adv Art students created some AWESOME life size Keith Haring cutouts then designed them with art from their personal visual cultures. They also had to write artist statements to be posted by their exhibit. They are hanging all around the middle school.
Check out the Bauxite Middle School Art page to see some of the ones they've posted so far.


Lately people ask me 'what's new?' and instead of my usual 'same old, same old' response, I say well, everything actually. So much has happened in the last few weeks that I thought I'd share a little general life update with various things that are going on at the moment. I didn't realise until I started writing just how much I had to tell!
A few weeks ago we were full of the excitement of moving into our new apartment in Bournemouth. We had our suggested moving date booked off work and were about to exchange contracts. We'd sold our house back in October and had our offer on the apartment we were buying accepted around the same time, but our solicitors had been a bit rubbish and needed a lot of chivvying along to get us to the point of exchange. It was frustrating that it had taken four months to get to this point, but near the end of January we started to get close and we could see the light at the end of the tunnel – we signed our final contracts, got quotes from removal companies and started making arrangements to move house. We were hoping we might exchange on the final Friday in January, but our solicitors couldn't get hold of our buyers solicitors. Then, after a few days of chasing, on the Thursday we found out that our buyers had decided to pull out. I can't even explain how stressful this was – knowing all of our time and efforts and planning was about to be completely wasted. We had already lost a previous buyer and lost a previous flat we really wanted, and there had been several concerns regarding the lease of the apartment we were buying, and so in the end we had to walk away from the beautiful apartment we were buying in Bournemouth. Had our buyers not pulled out we undoubtedly would have moved in (and I would be writing this from the beautiful light, airy lounge, just outside of Bournemouth city centre) but instead we've decided to go back to the drawing board and reassess what we want, and where we want to live.
We're now changing tack slightly and looking at Lymington instead of Bournemouth – it means my commute won't be so long and we can look for a house rather than a flat/apartment. We've since sold our house again (every time we've put it on the market it's sold within a day which is very gratifying!) and things are starting to feel positive again. Hopefully things will go more smoothly this time (third time lucky?) or I suspect we'll just end up staying here!
Buying and selling can be indescribably stressful and it's crazy to me that people can walk away right up to the moment that you're about to move. You really can't be sure of getting the place that you love until you have the keys in your hand, and it's a very vulnerable feeling.
A couple of weeks ago I had two job interviews – full assessment days that included two presentations, a written assessment and a job interview for each – it was hard going! I haven't had a job interview for about five or six years so to say I was nervous was an understatement – I spent the week and weekend before reading up on research, making notes and creating countless index cards with examples to use at interview. I could barely sleep the night before my first interview, but come the morning I drank innumerable cups of green tea, donned a suit and hoped for the best. It was a tough day but I felt positive afterwards and it left me feeling less scared for my second assessment day on the Friday. During my preparation time for delivering my second presentation on Friday the fire alarms went off and we all had to be evacuated from the building – just what you want during a job assessment day! Luckily that one seemed to go okay too, and I nervously awaited the news last Monday. I was chuffed to bits to find out on that Monday morning that I'd got the job I was really desperate for, and I can't wait to start. We're reorganising our whole HR department so I don't start the job until April but I'm looking forward to doing lots of preparation and getting stuck into a new challenge. I'll be working in Talent Management which is an exciting change for me (anyone else out there who works in Talent? Let me know!) Hopefully by April we might be a bit clearer about where we'll end up living too!
This has been a funny old year so far so we decided we definitely needed some adventures and travels to look forward to. I'm hoping to go for an all-inclusive holiday with my friend in May but we haven't managed to book anywhere so far – the first couple we tried kept having loads of hidden charges for baggage or transfers and we have a set budget so we're trying to find somewhere that will be nice but still fit what we're looking for (if you have any tips for holiday booking sites let me know!) In June Tom and I want to go to France for a couple of weeks with Bodhi. We have to get a pet passport for Bodhi but it will be amazing to take him away in the van and go on a bit of an adventure down to the south west coast. It's Tom's 30th birthday in June so I'd really like to get an Air BnB to stay somewhere like Biarritz or Capbreton for a couple of days and celebrate.
At the end of August we're also going to Cancun with my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents. I've always wanted to go to Mexico so I could not be more excited about this! We have a 'swim up' room so we'll mostly be drinking cocktails, eating Mexican food and splashing around in the pool.
There's definitely a lot going on at the moment – but lots to look forward to! I can't believe how much change there's been since we got married last year, in a way it will be nice to have a bit of normality and stability soon once I'm in my new job and we've finally found somewhere to live!


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text:
print("High There")
log_info("Hello from DSL land")

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


London is one of the top foodie capitals of the world. The pace of exciting new London restaurant openings is faster than I can follow. Especially since I started blogging, it's as if I've grown a finely-tuned radar that detects them. It's basically my superpower. My friends turn to me for restaurant recommendations now, carefully tailored to their specific needs. Dinner with the parents. Very conservative people. Ok, coming from where? Mmhmm. Yes, definitely try this place. A romantic dinner date, with drinks. Oh, she's from Tinder? Just go here.
So it's no surprise that my London Restaurant Top 10 is constantly changing. I love so many places. I could write a top 10 for Mayfair, for Asian food, for cheap bites, etc, which I hope to do another time. But for this post, as a reflection of the fluidity in London's restaurant scene, I wanted to share my top 10 of places I've been as well as those that I haven't.
To kick things off, here is my personal London Top 10 favourite restaurants right now. I've picked out those places that stand out the most for their incredible food and powerful flavours. While I also tried to select a range of cuisines, the focus really is on what has impressed me most.
It's interesting that I didn't include a sushi restaurant, as sushi is one of my favourite foods, but after having the best sushi and dinner of my life in Honolulu, the bar is set pretty high. Value for money was also an important factor, and in my view, these restaurants are all fairly priced for what they are. In terms of location, my selection also reflects the area I dine in most frequently, in and around central London.
This place is number 1 according to Time Out London's Top 100 Restaurants, need I say more? The Barbary is the perfect blend of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking. Because of the counter seating, it's best for dinners for two, sharing small plates of dips, grilled meats and vegetables along with the best buttered naan you'll ever try.
Ottolenghi pastries and salads are a serious London obsession. After serving as a pastry chef in three top London restaurants, the Israeli Yotam Ottolenghi teamed up with Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi to open the finest delicatessen around. Their unlikely friendship and innovative food are what London is all about! They now have several delis, cookbooks, and the gorgeous NOPI brasserie that became an instant favourite of mine. Their cooking style is very unique, with a focus on vegetables and unusual, yet explosive, flavour combinations.
Possibly one of the most exciting developments in London's food scene has been the Anglo-Indian restaurant revolution, looking to bring more traditional Indian flavours to British palates. We've come a long way since the days of Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken I have to say. Dishoom is also fantastic, but it was the creativity and flavours of Kricket that did it for me. Best described as food with an Indian twist, and at incredible value, this is a place where the staff will soon know me by name.
Taiwanese tapas sounds so catchy! This is the third restaurant by the super successful Bao family, which opened in April last year. Continuing on from the small plates food trend, examples of their top dishes include chilli egg drop crab, char sui Iberico pork and Taiwanese streetfood-inspired dumplings and pancakes. This place really nails it on the atmosphere, food and drink. Read more here.
It's hard to choose a dim sum favourite in London, although for me Yauatcha stands out as the best contemporary Chinese of them all. Yauatcha was created by top restauranteur Alan Yau of the famous Wagamama and Busaba chains. Although he sold his majority stake in his two Michelin-starred restaurants Yauatcha and Hakkasan in 2008, it's retained its Michelin star since 2005. Its modern interiors completely mask the fact that this place has been around for so long. I love everything on the menu but you won't find a better venison puff.
My top Mayfair pick, and one of my all-time favourite restaurants, is from celebrity chef Richard Corrigan. Generally speaking, food around Mayfair is expensive, clientele mostly in suits or Louboutins, thus not everyone's cup of tea. But what I love about Corrigan's is that it serves British and Irish cuisine, with a focus on game and seasonal ingredients, cooked to perfection. It's a multi-award winning restaurant and one of the best examples of British food. Corrigan also owns Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill in Piccadilly, another of my favourites.
This no-frills Korean BBQ restaurant at the end of Kingly Street is hands down the best. I've tried other fancier versions but none compares to this family-run original, open since 1990! There's always a queue and yet they'll always manage to find you a table. Here's what I order: kimchi, rice cakes with fishcakes, glass noodles with chicken, mixed Korean BBQ, pork or chicken bibimbap. You won't regret it.
London has no shortage of good pizzas but this isn't the top good restaurants of London, good doesn't make it into my top 10! Homeslice in Neal's Yard specialise in giant 20-inch thin-crust pizzas served whole or by the slice. The toppings are original and delicious, such as BBQ beef brisket, chorizo corn and coriander, and spiced lamb with cabbage. It's absolutely amazing.
These are the guys responsible for the bao fever and bao explosion in London over the past few years. Bao started off as a street stall, landing its first permanent venue in Soho in April 2015. Nearly three years on, there is still a huge queue outside Bao on an almost daily basis, where the average wait time is 1-2 hours! The trio behind Bao are fast becoming one of the most successful restauranteurs in London. 100% worth the wait, or book a table at their Fitzrovia branch. Read more here.
Where else can you find Thai-inspired goat shoulder? Smoking Goat opened on Denmark Street in Soho around the same time as Som Saa, during a wave of interest in Thai-inspired restaurants that the cool kids are calling Nu-Thai. I'm extremely disappointed to discover that it's recently closed, as the lease expired?! That's ridiculous. The good news is that they opened a second goat in Shoreditch, and hope to return to Soho in the near future. Ben Chapman, the chef behind Smoking Goat, is also the man behind the super popular Kiln.
As I mentioned before, my Top 10 is always changing along with trying new places and keeping up with all the new openings! Although I've not eaten at these yet, these are the restaurants I've heard the most about and would like to try soon. I can't review the food, but I can tell you why I'm interested.
Padella, Borough Market: Apparently,, Padella makes the best – and cheapest – pasta in London. Jumping on the pasta resurgence, there's another new place called Pastaio that's joined the competition. I haven't tried either yet, but it's on my to do!
Malibu Kitchen at the Ned, Bank: I've heard this place is amazing. I think it's pretty awesome that health food is now a massive trend. There's been a huge shift towards vegetarian and generally healthy dishes for both you and the environment! My current favourite is Farmacy in Notting Hill.
Barrafina, Drury Lane, Covent Garden: Some rate this place as the best for Spanish tapas in London. I'll have to try it first to give my opinion! I really love Donostia at Seymour Place, or Tendido Cero on Old Brompton Road.
Dinings, Marylebone: I've heard such good things about this sushi place in Marylebone and can't believe I still haven't been. Probably because Kyubi in the Arts Club is my go-to restaurant for sushi. I also love Roka, Zuma, and Yashin Ocean House and order YouMeSushi delivery about once a week.
The Palomar, Soho:This is the big sister to the Barbary. The food is supposed to be similar, although I can't seem to get a table! I usually make reservations with only 1 weeks notice, which is why I keep missing out on this place.
Hoppers, Soho: I've read that this place is in the same league as Kricket, except the food is more Sri Lankan-inspired than Indian. Having been to Sri Lanka last year where the food was incredible, I'm really keen to try this place.
Kiln, Soho: It's the same owner as Smoking Goat, and I've heard it's even better. I've checked out their menu and literally want to try every dish!
Som Saa, Spitalfields, Liverpool Street: Som Saa opened at the same time as Smoking Goat, and is rated by many as the best place for Thai food. While I still love traditional Thai, this "new-Thai" concept is more like the food you'll find in trendy places around Phuket or Bangkok.
Londrino, London Bridge: I recently went on a mission to find the best Portuguese restaurants in London. At the time of posting, Londrino hadn't opened yet. It's brand new and I've heard good things about chef Leandro Carreira.
Temper, Soho and City: London was lacking proper American-style grill houses until places like Smokestack and Temper came along. Their Soho concept is a bit different, as it's grilled meat in tacos! Sounds interesting.
This article was written by Lara Olivia and originally appeared on MissPortmanteau.com. Follow her adventures on Instagram. Club Elsewhere brings you compelling stories for and by the world. Contribute an article of your own by sending a message to the editor.
Lara Olivia is a Norwegian and Portuguese writer sharing all she knows about the good life on her blog, MissPortmanteau.com. Follow her @miss.portmanteau on Instagram.
I flew first class, but was it worth it?
Maui's road to Hana: road or destination?


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KEN JOHNSON with Irving Sandler
On the occasion of the New York Times art critic, and contributing editor at Art in America, Ken Johnson's recent publication Are You Experienced? How Psychedelic Consciousness Transformed Modern Art, consulting editor Irving Sandler welcomes the author to his West Village home to talk about his life, work, and more.
RICHARD VAN BUREN with John Yau
After Hurricane Irene prevented them from meeting at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, Maine, where a selection of his sculptures was on exhibition, Richard Van Buren and John Yau met in New York to discuss his work and his upcoming show at Gary Snyder Gallery (November 10 – December 17, 2011).
ROSAMOND BERNIER with Phong Bui
On the occasion of her 95th birthday and the publication of her memoir Some of My Lives (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Rosamond Bernier, founder/editor of L'OEIL magazine (1955–1971) and lecturer extraordinaire, welcomed publisher Phong Bui to her Upper East Side home to talk about her life and work.
JOSEPHINE HALVORSON with Phong Bui
A few days after the opening reception of her exhibit What Looks Back at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. (October 21–December 4, 2011), the painter Josephine Halvorson stopped by the Rail's headquarters to talk with publisher Phong Bui about her life and work.


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Q: How to test for dynamic URL parameters being defined in PHP? I'm calling a fpdf file through an URL. For some calls I need to supply specific parameters, which are only used on specific calls. I cannot update all calls to the FPDF file, so I want to test inside the file, whether a URL parameter exists.
I'm trying like this:
<?php
 require('fpdf.php');
 ini_set('display_errors', 1);
 error_reporting(E_ALL);
 import_request_variables("GP", "rvar_");

 if (isset($rvar_store){
 ... set something
 }

So the URL parameter store will be passed on some php-calls, while there is no parameter on others.
The above doesn't work (I get a blank page).
Question:
How do I test for a URL parameter? I need to test if it is defined?
EDIT:
My url called will look like this:
 fpdf/item.php?iln="+ilns+"&sprache="+locale+"&bestellkeys="+bestellkeys;

or when I have my spec param:
  fpdf/bestellung.php?iln="+ilns+"&sprache="+locale+"&bestellkeys="+bestellkeys+"&store=true";

A: Simply use
isset($_GET['your_param'])

In your case maybe more like
if(isset($_GET['iln'])) {
    // .... set something
}
if(isset($_GET['sprache'])) {
    // .... set something else
}

Of course, that will work with URLs like http://domain.com/script?iln=someValue

A: if your script is available at http://somehost.com/script.php
and you call it via http://somehost.com/script.php?param1=value1&param2=value2, you'll have value1,value2 available at $_GET inside the script. If you want to know the name of the script called (script.php) or the host where the script is called (and many more), try $_POST. Is that what you need?

A: Try this:
if ($_REQUEST['rvar_store']){
 ... set something
 }

A: The use import_request_variables() is discouraged; in fact, it will be removed in PHP 5.4;  PHP will automatically copy request variables in their respective super globals such as $_GET (for variables on the query string) and $_POST (for posted content).
To test for the existence of store=true in the query string:
if (isset($_GET['store']) && 'true' == $_GET['store'])) {
    // store is given and contains 'true'
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange