Posts

Showing posts from 2008

List of nominees for the Golden Globe Awards

Nominees for the Golden Globe Awards announced Thursday in Beverly Hills, Calif.: MOTION PICTURES: PICTURE, DRAMA: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "The Reader," "Revolutionary Road," "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Visitor." PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY: "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "In Bruges," "Mamma Mia!," "Vicky Christina Barcelona." FOREIGN LANGUAGE PICTURE: "Baader Meinhof Complex," "Everlasting Moments," "Gomorrah," "I've Loved You So Long," "Waltz With Bashir." DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"; Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"; David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"; Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"; Sam Mendes, "Revolutionary Road." DRAMATIC ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Revolutionary Road"; Frank Langella, "Frost...

‘Madagascar’ Teems with Box Office Life

Propelled by a fantastic showing from Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, the Holiday season launched with slightly higher attendance than in 2007 and 2006, though it trailed the season's starts for 2001 through 2005. With the subsequent scheduling of another event picture, Quantum of Solace, Holiday business may not experience the second weekend lull of the past few years, when weaker titles were released. The Madagascar sequel grooved to $63.1 million on approximately 7,100 screens at 4,056 sites, handily swinging past the $47.2 million debut of its 2005 predecessor and ranking among the ten biggest animated starts of all time. Rendering Escape 2 Africa's opening even more impressive is that it had a non-holiday berth compared to the first movie's Memorial Day weekend, and its four-day attendance was still higher, reaching $68.3 million through Monday. The first Madagascar went on to gross $193.6 million by the end of its run, and the sequel's opening and timing portends a b...

CF Martin D-14 Fret Madagascar Rosewood w/ Adirondack Solid

CF Martin D-14 Fret Madagascar Rosewood w/ Adirondack Solid Spruce Top. The Martin I’d like to have, but the list price of $1899 puts it out of my league. As does my acoustic guitar playing.

2008 Pulitzer Prize Winners

Fiction: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," by Junot Diaz (Riverhead Books). Finalists: "Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and "Shakespeare's Kitchen" by Lore Segal (The New Press). Drama: "August: Osage County," by Tracy Letts. Finalists: "Yellow Face" by David Henry Hwang; "Dying City" by Christopher Shinn. History: "What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815-1848," by Daniel Walker Howe (Oxford University Press). Finalists: "Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power" by Robert Dallek (HarperCollins); "The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War" by the late David Halberstam (Hyperion). Biography: "Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father," by John Matteson (W.W. Norton). Finalists: "The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein" by Martin Duberman (Alfred A. Knopf); "The Life of Kingsley Amis" by Zachar...

Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) par Yves Buin

Image
(Clin d'oeil à Daniel Caux) « Pour moi ne comptent que ceux qui sont fous de quelque chose, fous de vivre, fous de parler, fous d’être sauvés, ceux qui veulent tout en même temps, ceux qui ne bâillent jamais, qui ne disent pas de banalités, mais brûlent, brûlent, brûlent comme un feu d’artifice. » Disait le Jazz Poet. Selon Yves Buin, son biographe, Jack Kerouac a formalisé le souffle jazzé, inspiré du saxophone et le phrasé paroxystique de la « forme sauvage » dans les quelques principes de la prose spontanée. Écrivain psychiatre, également poète et passionné de jazz, Yves Buin a collaboré à Jazz Hot à la fin des années 60, avec Patrice Blanc Francart, Daniel Caux ou Philippe Constantin. Invités Yves Buin. Yves Buin est né en 1938. Il a publié une vingtaine d’ouvrages dont Maël (Bourgois), La Terre d’Arnhem (Plon), Bornéo, après la nuit (Grasset), (Seghers), Kerouac (Gallimard), Borggi (Rivages Noir) ou L'oiseau Garrincha. Il est le coauteur du Manifeste froid, avec Jean-Chris...

Madagascar: Saluting Rado, a Poet Legend

The Malagasy blogosphere is unanimous in saluting the passing of Rado, the renowned Malagasy poet. Jentilisa writes a detailed biography : “Zanaka mpitandrina ny tenany, teraka tamin'ny 1 oktobra 1923 (tapabolana sisa manko) ary Ankadivato ilay fonenana nahalehibe azy. Notezaina tanatin'ny fitiavana an'Andriamanitra sy ny tanindrazana tahaka ireo hafa novolavolaina tanaty lasitra protestanta nandritra ny fanjanahantany” “He was born, Georges Andriamanantena, on October 1, 1923, the son of a Protestant priest in Ankadivato (a neighborhood of Antananarivo). He was brought up in the respect and love of God and country, in the Protestant tradition that prevailed during the colonization times.” On his father's side, he descended from a long lineage of Protestant priests (fifth generation), and as tebokaefatra says, on his mother's side, he descended from the village of Amboanana, which was “…ilay vohitra kely ao atsimon'Arivonimamo, izay nisehoan'ireo Menalamba...

‘No Country’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’ Lead Oscars

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Hollywood is in a bleak mood this year, and the Oscar nominees announced Tuesday morning reflected that state of mind. “No Country For Old Men,” about the ruthless aftermath of a botched drug deal, and “There Will Be Blood,” starring Daniel Day-Lewis as a scheming oil man in an epic about American capitalism, took the lead in the Oscar race with eight nominations each, including best picture and best director. Meanwhile, “Michael Clayton,” a throwback thriller to the 1970s, starring George Clooney as a corporate fixer, received seven nominations, including nods for best picture, best actor (Mr. Clooney) and best supporting actress (Tilda Swinton). “Atonement,” the adaptation of Ian McEwan’s time-shifting, betrayal-filled novel, also captured seven nominations, including for best picture and best supporting actress (Saoirse Ronan). Unlike last year, when flashy mainstream hits like “The Departed,” “Dreamgirls” and “Little Miss Sunshine” dominated, the 2008 Oscar ...

Travelling man the unofficial king Malagasy

It’s interesting to learn that the unofficial king of Malagasy soul lives in an apartment building just off Roncesvalles Ave. and works for an elevator company. Then again, Toronto is filled with such royalty — both of the music and arts variety — who half the city doesn’t even know about. But those-in-the-know certainly know Donné Roberts. The Madagascar-born, Russian-raised singer/guitarist (his father was a diplomat at Moscow’s Madagascan embassy) has made a name for himself as the person responsible for bringing the music of his birthplace to Toronto. The music of Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar, is filled with reggae, funk, jazz and rock elements. Roberts, who also sings in Russian, English and French, says it’s a music that speaks to his soul, allowing him to truly express his feelings and experiences. The 38-year-old has pioneered Malagasy soul in Toronto, performing with a variety of bands, including the award-winning African Guitar Summit and with his own group, ...