Pricless Information about food And Drink, Games And Recreation And More

“Tropic Thunder” clung on to top spot in the British box office rankings over the weekend, holding off the challenge of Liam Neeson in a killing rampage through Paris.

The Hollywood war movie satire, with Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr and Jack Black as actors lost on location in southeast Asia, took 1.34 million pounds ($2.37 million), according to Screen International.

“Taken” came in at No. 2 with Neeson as an action man forced to come out of retirement and spill blood after his daughter is kidnapped.

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were new at three in “Righteous Kill,” as veteran cops on the trail of a serial killer.

“Death Race,” with Jason Statham as a convict forced to compete an auto race where the only object is to stay alive, came in at four, one place above Abba-themed musical Mamma Mia! which was down from second place.

“The Women”, with Meg Ryan and Annette Bening, were down three at six while “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas,” slipped from six to seven.

“The Duchess”, an 18th century costume drama starring Keira Knightley, was down three at eight.

Ninth was drug-addled comedy “Pineapple Express,” down five places, while “Disaster Movie”, a comedy spoof from the team behind “Scary Movie” and “Meet the Spartans”, fell two places to No. 10.

In his first major collaboration with HBO, Norman Lear, who produced such landmark sitcoms as “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “The Jeffersons” and “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” has teamed with the premium cable network for a drama series set in the world of 1970s pro wrestling.

Written by Aaron Blitzstein and produced by Lear’s Act III Prods., the character-driven drama, tentatively titled “Everybody Hurts,” revolves around a family running a pro-wrestling business in New York and peeks into the lives of the wrestlers and their fans.

Lear and Act III’s Lara Bergthold, who are executive producing the project, had wanted to do a show about pro wrestling for a while.

“Pro wrestling is a pretty fair reflection of good and evil in our culture,” Lear said.

Added Bergthold, “Wrestling is where people turn to when they feel the government is lying to them and there are no real heroes in their lives.”

The two met with Blitzstein to discuss a different show idea when the conversation turned to Blitzstein’s stint with World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Blitzstein is a late bloomer as a writer. He started off working in the music representation business with such bands as Foo Fighters and Sonic Youth, and spent a couple of years as vice president of marketing for WCW before moving to Los Angeles in 2004 to pursue a career as a writer.

“Every day was the greatest day ever and the worst day you could possibly imagine,” Blitzstein recalled about his time at WCW. “I’ve never seen more colorful people than pro wrestlers.”

The three started developing a pro-wrestling show, setting it in the early days of the sports entertainment phenomenon, before it became a billion-dollar industry.

“It was more of mom-and-pop type of feel back then,” said Blitzstein, who is drawing on his memories as a wrestling fan growing up in Baltimore and New York. “And it was a little bit more ridiculous and fun.”

Lear, Bergthold and Blitzstein found a lot of similarities between the political and economic climate in the ’70s and today.

“It was post-Watergate, and the U.S. was dealing with an energy crisis and the Iran hostage crisis,” Blitzstein said. “Now we’re dealing with the Bush administration, our soldiers in Iraq and the skyrocketing gas prices. The show is as much about family and politics as it is about wrestling.”

There will be comedic touches, especially in the portrayal of the wrestlers, that will capitalize on Blitzstein’s comedy-writing background on such shows as “Late Show With David Letterman” and “Crank Yankers.”

He moved to drama with FX’s “The Riches,” leading to his project for HBO.

As record albums go, Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” may not by the biggest seller of all time, but it has influenced generations of jazz and other musicians and is about to celebrate its 50th birthday.

The 1959 oeuvre sold more than three million copies and was named No. 12 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time in any genre, let alone jazz.

Davis’ horn has been silent for 17 years, but mention the album’s five tracks, “So What,” “Freddie Freeloader,” “Blue in Green,” “All Blues” and “Flamenco Sketches” and any jazz fan will hear that haunting, reedy sound again.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking work, Columbia/Legacy, a division of Sony, is putting out a luxury collector’s edition which includes two compact discs of the original album, plus outtakes and alternative versions, a documentary DVD and more.

There is also a Miles Davis exhibition planned for the Cite de la Musique complex in Paris and a feature film starring Don Cheedle as the famously idiosyncratic artist.

Vince Wilburn Jr., Davis’ nephew and a manager of his estate, said the album has been reissued and remastered several times. It has sold two million copies since Davis died in 1991.

“I’m not surprised it’s selling still, this is Miles Davis,” said Wilburn. “It’s music, groundbreaking and fresh. People love Miles.”

“Kind of Blue” featured the iconic Davis and his band, Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley on alto saxophone, John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and drummer Jimmy Cobb, the only surviving member.

Wilburn said there was no end to Miles Davis music for future release.

“There is tons of material, bootleg sessions and endless hours of music. The trouble is deciding what to release. The quality is there, but it’s a question of respecting the music,” said Wilburn, who played drums with the band in his uncle’s later years.

Davis’ influence can be still be heard in today’s music.

“Everybody I run into, they were influenced by Miles — Sting and Keith Richards, Q-Tip and Nazz, Joni Mitchell,” he explained.

“Everybody was touched by Miles. His spirit lives on.”

Music mogul Simon Cowell has earned himself the ire of his fellow judges by dumping an X Factor hopeful in favour of a ‘reject’.Cowell’s decision to remove 21-year-old Rikki Loney, who had been among the six lucky contestants that made it to the judges’ houses stage of the contest, resulted in a showdown with Cheryl Cole, 25, and Dannii Minogue, 36.

The decision has exposed Cowell to another series of X Factor “fix” allegations.

Cowell is said to have changed his mind and yanked dumbstruck Loney out of the line-up to replace him with Liam Payne, 15, from Wolverhampton.

Loney has lashed out at Cowell, 48, revealing his feelings about the decision.

“I am gutted. Simon decided to dump me in favour of someone else at the last minute,” the Daily Star quoted him as saying.

Loney revealed that he was waiting in the wings at the O2 Arena in London to hear his fate from the judges, when he and the rest of the boys aged 14-24 were told by producers that the decision had been delayed.

“He couldn’t even look me in the eye when he told me it was over. Cheryl and Dannii weren’t happy with this and that’s why they were arguing,” he stated.

“No-one had a clue what was going on. Then all of a sudden I was separated from the other boys backstage. I could hear Dannii and Cheryl raise their voices but I didn’t know why.

“Now I realise they were arguing about me. The panel asked me to stay behind after the others had gone and Cheryl told me: ‘I am so sorry.’

“I could see Louis and Dannii looking upset as well. But Simon couldn’t look at me. I knew then it had been his decision to axe me. I was gutted,” he added.

Pop star Britney Spears’ ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib has confirmed he owns a sex tape featuring himself and the singer.Ghalib, whom Britney dated during her breakdown, says he will sell the tape for the right price, reports thesun.co.uk.

‘There is such a tape, but I won’t discuss prices for hypothetical enquiries. Unless there is a locked-in deal, I will go no further,” he told Heat magazine.

He added: “I am not interested in selling out any other details about Britney.”

Fancy car or expensive rickshaw? British car brand Mini has given the ubiquitous Asian mode of transport a luxurious twist, fusing a bicycle with the back of one of its cars.The Mini Rickshaw was created by connecting the front of a traditional rickshaw with the rear of a Mini Clubman to fete the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. It comes equipped with plush seats, safety belts and embellished with gold-plated dragons.

Weighing about 450 kg (992 lb), the rickshaw has no engine and is powered by muscle strength only.

The vehicle, with its “Beijing 2008″ licence plate, has been drawing the attention of many Chinese who often step into the Mini showroom to ask about its specs.

“People walking by were quite interested in this rickshaw. Many of them kept asking us that whether this rickshaw can be seen around Beijing streets or be sold in the future,” Liu Chen, Mini marketing manager, told Reuters.

“But in fact, it’s promotional and we don’t have any plan to put it into the market.”

Mini is owned by BMW, the world’s biggest premium carmaker, and China is one of the brand’s significant markets.

Gao Jingjing, a Mini sales assistant, said the rickshaw highlighted Eastern and Western manufacturing skills. However, unlike regular rickshaws, few people would be able to afford it — if sold, the vehicle would probably retail for almost $900,000.

Rickshaws were widely used in Beijing before Communist rule, with their numbers peaking around 370,000 in 1939.

Now, these traditional vehicles are a tourist attraction, with more than 1,000 in service in the city.

Former Miss India Gul Panag, mostly seen in de-glamorised acting roles, recently caught public attention by posing in a black lingerie for the cover page of Maxim, a magazine for men. Gul said she did it to show off the ‘glamorous and real side’ of her personality.’It was not for a change in my image. I am very happy to have the image that I have. I am associated with a certain type of work and I don’t want to change that ever. But what is important is that people should understand that what they see on screen and what I am are two different persons,’ Gul told IANS.

Gul has received critical acclaim for playing offbeat roles in films like ‘Dor’ and ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’, in which she was seen mostly in Indian attire.

‘In reality, I am not that kind of person as shown in most of my films. I am not a village girl clad in ’saris’ and ’salwar-kameez’ in real life. I am a regular modern girl who is glamorous in real life and that’s what I wanted to show. In fact, nobody has ever seen me in ’saris’ and ’salwar-kameez’ in real life,’ said Gul who debuted with Parth Arora’s ‘Dhoop’ in 2003.

‘I can look good in a bikini or any other sexy outfit or equally convincing in a nightie. That’s the job of an actor,’ she added.

Commenting upon her roles, she said: ‘I believe that I’m extremely versatile as I can do power packed performances as well as look good as and when required. I don’t want the people to be confused that the role that I have been playing in my films is what I am in real life. It’s just the man who is playing the villain in films is not bad in real life.’

What made you say yes to Maxim?

‘Why not? It’s the highest selling men’s magazine in the world,’ she said.

Asked about her future plans, she said: ‘It’s not that I’ll be doing more glamorous or power packed roles. It’s about the offers. Glamour cannot be substance to a role. However, in most of my forthcoming films, I have glamorous roles.

‘In ‘Hello’ I am glamorous. I have two more films - ‘Straight’ and ‘Hello Darling’ - in which too I have glamorous roles.’

The actress said she is playing a modern, urban young woman in ‘Hello’.

‘My character is neither black nor white. It has a huge amount of grey in her. In the story, she is stuck in a conflict in choosing between love and practicality.’

Based on novelist Chetan Bhagat’s ‘One Night At The Call Centre’ also stars Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sohail Khan, Isha Koppikar, Sharman Joshi, Amrita Arora and Arbaaz Khan.

Gul said she liked the story and her role in particular. ‘I never sign a film unless and until I am convinced with the story. In this case, I knew the story beforehand because I had read the book earlier. It is an extremely interesting story and I hope people will like me in the role.’

Gul said she enjoyed most working for ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’.

‘It is closest to my heart and I enjoyed working in it the most.’

Among the newcomers, Gul finds Imran Khan as most dynamic and wants to work with him.

‘I think Imran is extremely talented and the most promising among the newcomers. I came to meet Imran for a short while during an audition where we interacted and I found him a highly sensible and dynamic actor. If given a choice among the newcomers, I would definitely choose him,’ she said.

Using a mirror to create the illusion that a person’s paralysed limb moves in tandem with a healthy one appears to speed recovery from stroke, a Japanese researcher said on Friday.The finding showed the optical illusion works faster than conventional treatment and suggests the mind plays a powerful role in the body’s recovery, Kazu Amimoto of Tokyo Metropolitan University told the World Stroke Conference in Vienna.

“The mental aspect of rehabilitation, has far greater importance than previously understood and should be paid far more attention,” Amimoto said in a statement.

Hemiplegia, a condition in which one half of a person’s body is paralysed, is one of the most common long-term consequences of stroke and one of the biggest challenges for rehabilitation.

Conventional therapy seeks to restore mobility and movement by concentrating directly on the paralyzed half of the body using physical exercises and stimulation.

In the new therapy, the researchers placed a mirror on the middle of a person’s body so that movements from the healthy limbs made it appear as if the paralysed arms and legs were moving in similar fashion.

This optical illusion had a far greater effect stimulating the brain and improving motor function in the paralyzed part of the body, Amimoto said.

The researchers compared the treatments by measuring the angle at which the foot joint could bend and the time it took people to perform a task with the paralysed lower limb.

They found in the study of 14 stroke patients that direct treatment brought a 0.9 degree improvement in the angle of bending and no acceleration of movement while the mirror trick resulted in acceleration in movement of more than 12 percent, Amimoto said.

Hollywood actor Russell Crowe is set to play Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming ‘Sherlock Holmes’ flick.

The ‘Gladiator’ actor was due to play Sheriff of Nottingham in a retelling of the Robin Hood story, which has been put on hold for the time being.

Both Crowe and Guy Ritchie are keen to work together in the detective flick, which is based on a forthcoming comic book series featuring souped-up Sherlock.

“Russell wants the part, Guy wants Russell, all they’ve got left to do is dot the i’s and cross the t’s,” British tabloid The Sun quoted an insider as saying.

The upcoming flick will also see Hollywood actor Robert Downey Junior playing the lead role of Sherlock Holmes.

“I’ve got to spend some time with Guy and I love his take on it, we’re both martial arts enthusiasts and in the original stories of Sherlock Holmes, he’s kind of a bad-ass and a bare-knuckle boxer and studies the rare fictional martial art of baritsu,” Robert d. Junior said.

“It’s a period piece where you don’t modernise it, you just realise how modern it was,” he added.

“Akashagopuram”; Cast: Mohanlal, Shwetha Menon, Hilda Varghese, Geethu Mohandas, Nitya and Bharat Gopi; Director: K.P. Kumaran; Music: John Altman; Sound Designer: Nigel Holland; Cinematography: Santosh C. Thundiyil; Rating: ****

Malayalam thespian Mohanlal has yet again given an excellent account of his histrionic talent in “Akashagopuram” (castle in the air) by melting himself into the skin of a character with shades of grey.

Albert Samson (Mohanlal), a middle-aged architect scared of young whippersnappers overtaking him, schemes and plots to stay on top.

To ensure his rise to what he thinks is his pinnacle, Samson kills the career of his mentor, played by Bharat Gopi (a fitting swansong for the late actor), meddles with that of his son (Manoj K. Jayan), uses his fiancée (Geethu Mohandas) to climb higher and cruelly ignores the wails of his mourning wife (Shwetha Menon, terrific) till he runs into a young, female admirer Hilda Varghese (Nitya).

For those who haven’t read Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen’s classic play “Master Builder”, on which “Akashagopuram” is based, the movie is a revelation.

Mohanlal has moulded his body language to suit his character and locale.

“Akashagopuram” is embellished with imaginative cinematography of Santosh Thundiyil who has captured the picturesque London into his frames and painted the scenes with a perfect palette.

The spirited music of “Titanic” fame composer John Altman etches its dramatic moments to the taste of an audience familiar with international cinema.

The sound design of Nigel Holland, who was associated with films like “Batman Begins”, “Braveheart”, “Congo”, and “Resident Evil”, accords the dialogue delivery, effects and scores the exact underlining.

National Award winning director Kumaran’s master craftsmanship honed by majestic megaphone wielders like Adoor Gopalakrishnan is clearly visible as he brings out the best out of everyone in the cast.

Kumaran has rendered the play into a modern Malayalam masterpiece without sacrificing any of the original’s twists.

“Akashagopuram” is a must see for film lovers even for those who do not understand Malayalam.

The film’s only minor handicap is its length.

Indo-Asian News Service