| Josh Hutcherson Takes Us Behind the Scenes of His Upcoming Film, 'Epic' |
[May. 22nd, 2013|07:53 pm]
|
Transporting, imaginative, beloved—all three words describe animated films, which, at their best, give live-action flicks a run for their money. But how is the experience different for the actors, besides the fact that they can be on the job in their pj's? I like to know how things work, so I called one of my favorite stars, Josh Hutcherson, to get the scoop on exactly how he made Epic, this summer's hottest animated film.
"It's so weird seeing someone else's face with my words," says Josh, who lent his voice to Nod, the adventure feature's hero. "Nod is a warrior for the Leafmen, and their job is to protect Mother Nature and defend her majesty the Queen, played by Beyoncé." Along with Mrs. Carter, the film's star-studded cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Jason Sudeikis, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, and Steven Tyler. But much to my surprise, Josh says he never interacted with any of them in person. "It's all remote! I met Amanda for the first time doing interviews," he says with a laugh. "We're supposed to be playing love interests in the movie, so that's a funny situation."
Story edited for TeenVogue.com. Pick up the complete interview with Josh Hutcherson in the June/July issue of Teen Vogue, on newsstands May 21.
Teen Vogue obvi |
|
|
| Governor's Suite Room Available, Thursday to Sunday |
[May. 22nd, 2013|04:46 pm]
|
Hello,
Due to an urgent family problem, my husband and I cannot attend Wiscon 37. We have a governor's suite room booked from Thursday to Sunday. Please contact me if you'd like me to transfer it into your name.
We would be willing to help subsidize part of the transfer since, at this point, we'd rather money go into helping someone enjoy their convention rather than a late-cancellation fee go straight into hotel coffers. |
|
|
| Right, Wednesday reading meme |
[May. 22nd, 2013|04:23 pm]
|
What am I reading now?
Anasazi America, by David E. Stuart. Yes, still. It's good, but slow, and I have been interrupting myself. The book promises to combine archeology and history, but I'm still in the early chapters, which are necessarily archeological (pre-dating any written records from that part of North America). The book is talking about climate, changes in tools, food sources, settlement patterns, and economics (in a large sense), and the author promises to draw connections between the collapse of the Anasazi civilization and our own time and circumstances.
King of Morning, Queen of Day by Ian Macdonald. Too early in the book to have much to say about it, except that I can entirely understand some of the reasons the characters are annoyed with each other, without anyone actually doing wrong.
What have I read recently?
Aunt Lulu, by Daniel Pinkwater. A cheerful, silly picture book that I reread after spotting it while unpacking. A librarian, sled dogs, and some fine illustrations.
An Excellent Mystery, by Ellis Peters. Reread of a Brother Cadfael that I asked the library for because I didn't recognize the title. Good, but I think I've had enough of these for a while, even if the King County Library System has the middle of the series (the first several, and the last few, are relatively easy to find).
The Highest Frontier, by Joan Slonczewski. I wanted to read something of hers before Wiscon, where she is one of the guests of honor (the other, Jo Walton, is a friend of mine and a writer whose work I like and have read just about all of). This is a coming-of-age adventure about a bright girl from a very political family set about a century in the future, in a world badly affected by climate change, with eerily familiar politics even though the anti-reality forces . Jenny Ramos Kennedy is descended from two presidents, and her family takes for granted that she will go into politics too, but in the meantime she's playing varsity zero-gee sports and being awakened to take EMT/first responder emergency calls.
The story is set mostly in a space habitat, with chunks in virtual reality ("toyspace") and in Somers, N.Y. A kudzu-covered Somers, with a very different fauna and ecosystem than is found there now. It's as plausible a choice as any, but there's something odd about that level of "I've been there" not-really-familiarity for a bit of suburb. The book is fast-paced, the world-building is mostly convincing, and I didn't think the ending quite lived up to the first nine tenths of the book.
What am I going to read next?
Likely something random I download for the kindle (I have a long flight ahead of me) followed by something from the Wiscon dealer's room. Or maybe back to the library stack. [I may drop this section, given that its predictive value has been lower than that of just rolling a die.)
Cross-posted from Dreamwidth (http://redbird.dreamwidth.org/1386472.html), where there are  comments. I welcome comments here or there (OpenID and "anonymous" are fine if you don't have a DW account). |
|
|
| The Patch |
[May. 22nd, 2013|07:42 pm]
|
|
Some of you will remember my Girl Scout cookie rant, in which I talked about the appropriateness of making five-year-olds “sell” cookies (which meant, functionally, that their parents were doing so in competition with each other). You suggested in that post that I allow you to buy boxes of cookies for soldiers, so I put up a donation button. Counting the boxes I bought, we sent over 70 boxes to our men and women in uniform… which meant Child was one of the only children in the troop to earn the “Gift of Caring” badge.
She received it today, and here it is. It’s the only cookie badge I think we can iron onto her uniform with pride.
Thank you all, for your generosity. You continue to be the most gratifying people to make art for, and I am deeply grateful for you all. :)
Mirrored from MCAH Online. |
|
|
| Fifth Harmony covers “Lego House” |
[May. 22nd, 2013|06:35 pm]
|
When Fifth Harmony ladies Camilla, Lauren, Ally, Dinah-Jane, and Normani stopped by the Seventeen offices recently, we were of course were excited to chat with them, but we were really excited to hear them sing! They treated us to a private acoustic performance and we got it all on camera so we could share it with you! Fifth Harmony is hard at work recording their first album with One Direction producer Julian Bunetta, and since their new songs are still under lock, they harmonized an amazing cover of Ed Sheeran's hit, "Lego House."
Video at the source because it won't embed. |
|
|
| promising |
[May. 23rd, 2013|12:34 am]
|
Spent most of the day doing practical exercises and learning what we'd done wrong. Still very enjoyable/interesting. There is a possibility of a temporary secondment to this group (international IHTSDO cross-mapping) which I am interested in looking into. So getting through the course with flying colours and demonstrating aptitude would be a good idea.
---
“What are your fees?" inquired Guyal cautiously.
"I respond to three questions," stated the augur. "For twenty terces I phrase the answer in clear and actionable language; for ten I use the language of cant, which occasionally admits of ambiguity; for five, I speak a parable which you must interpret as you will; and for one terce, I babble in an unknown tongue.”
-- Guyal of Sfere, Jack Vance |
|
|
| Janelle Monae and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Rock the Windy City |
[May. 23rd, 2013|12:29 am]
|
Singer filled in for ailing Aretha Franklin
Many huge mainstream artists have been backed in concert by full orchestral accompaniment. Jay-Z mixed hip-hop with strings at Carnegie Hall last spring, and Phish's Trey Anastasio noodled on his guitar alongside several metropolitan city orchestras on a cross-country tour a few months prior. However, few have slid so comfortably into such a hit-or-miss experiment as Janelle Monáe did on Monday night in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The futuristic, funky R&B singer – who is set to drop her second album, The Electric Lady, this fall – was filling in for Aretha Franklin at the League of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association's annual Corporate Night. Due to illness, Franklin was forced to back out of Monday night's benefit show, as well as another orchestra-assisted gig last week in San Francisco.
( legend in the making tbhCollapse )
source
flawless
 |
|
|
| Rooney Mara & Casey Affleck on Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Their Career Choices, + the Joaquin Debacle |
[May. 22nd, 2013|06:15 pm]
|
The first thing I said to Rooney Mara was so wrong, it turned out right.
It’s the Sunday midpoint of the Cannes Film Festival, and I’ve just sat down in a subdivided hotel ballroom across from Mara and Casey Affleck, costars of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, the moody, Malick-esque criminal lovers odyssey from young American writer-director David Lowery. The stunning Saints, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, had reemerged the evening before in a streamlined new cut, as the big Saturday-night screening of the Cannes sidebar Critic’s Week. A massive crowd had huddled in one of the worst downpours in recent Cannes memory in hopes of getting into one of the festival’s smallest venues to see the film. Most of those people were turned away; those who did get in mobbed around the stars before the movie with cell phones aloft; the amateur paparazzi attack continued after the movie, amid a standing ovation. My summary of the evening/attempt at an Affleck/Mara icebreaker went like this: “The screening last night was so intense.”
( wall of text aheadCollapse )
source |
|
|
| Brit ain't a cheap Queen, lbr. |
[May. 22nd, 2013|06:13 pm]
|
'X Factor' Saves Big by Replacing Britney SpearsNew judges Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio are slated to earn a far cry from the star's $15 million salary as they join Simon Cowell amid a steep ratings slide.
Simon Cowell is downsizing The X Factor.
The May 20 hiring of Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio as season-three judges is likely to save Fox and producers FremantleMedia and Cowell’s Syco a lot of cash.
( Get that $$$Collapse )
Source.
I wanna see how Paulina does it, tbh. |
|
|
| Carey Mulligan & Tobey Maguire: 'Great Gatsby' Australian Premiere! |
[May. 22nd, 2013|07:13 pm]
|
Carey Mulligan hits the red carpet at the premiere of her latest film The Great Gatsby held at Moore Park on Wednesday (May 22) in Sydney, Australia
The 27-year-old actress was joined by her co-stars Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton and his girlfriend Alexis Blake, Elizabeth Debicki, director Baz Luhrmann, and his wife Catherine Martin, who was also the costume designer of the film. PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Carey Mulligan Last week, Carey celebrated her Flaunt magazine cover at a special dinner during the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. FYI: Carey is wearing a Nina Ricci top, Lanvin pants and Tiffany & Co jewelry. ( image heavyCollapse )
Dark hair is your friend, Ms. Debicki
source |
|
|
