About Movies And Coincidences II

A star is born vs A star ★ is KILLED

A star is born (1937)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075265/

Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of alcoholic star Norman Maine, is given a test, and is caught up in the Hollywood glamor machine (ruthlessly satirized). She and her idol Norman marry; but his career abruptly dwindles to nothing

A Star Is Born (1954)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047522/

Norman Maine, a movie star whose career is on the wane, meets showgirl Esther Blodgett when he drunkenly stumbles into her act one night. A friendship develops, then blossoms into romance before tensions increase as Esther’s career takes off while Norman’s continues to plummet.

A Star Is Born (1976)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075265/

Talented rock star John Norman Howard has seen his career begin to decline. Too many years of concerts and managers and life on the road have made him cynical and the monotony has taken its toll. Then he meets the innocent, pure and very talented singer Esther Hoffman. As one of his songs in the movie says “I’m gonna take you girl, I’m gonna show you how.” And he does. He shows Esther the way to stardom while forsaking his own career. As they fall in love, her success only makes his decline even more apparent.

 A Star Is Born was co-produced by Streisand and her then-partner Jon Peters for Barwood Films and Warner Brothers with Peters as the main producer and Streisand as executive producer. Among the actors considered for the male lead were Neil Diamond and Marlon Brando. Both Streisand and Peters wanted Elvis Presley for the role: they met with Elvis and discussed the film, and he was interested in taking on the part, thinking it would revive his stagnant career. Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, insisted that Elvis have top billing and asked for a substantial sum of money for the role, even though he hadn’t been in a film since 1969 and people were unaware of what kind of box office draw he would be, which essentially ended Elvis’s involvement with the project. Parker also did not want to have Elvis portrayed as having a show business career that was in decline http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Star_Is_Born_%281976_film%29

 The following are some “what if” scenarios based on actual events…

Elvis Presley – “A STAR IS BORN” 1976

In 1975 Barbara Streisand approached Elvis about playing the male lead in the third remake of “A Star Is Born“. While this might have been a golden chance for Elvis to redeem himself as an actor (after his horrid ’60s movies), Colonel Parker pretty much killed the idea and we can only wonder “what if?”

 Himesh Reshammiya Stars in ‘A Star Is Killed’

  As if working on an international album wasn’t enough, Himesh Reshammiya is also set to star in the upcoming international movie, A Star Is Killed.

The thriller follows a man who tries to solve the mysterious murder of a superstar. Himesh plays the role Sidharth Patel. Could it be inspired by the death of superstar Michael Jackson that some say was murder?

The movie directed by French movie maker Christophe Lenoir does not yet have a release date but the trailer sure makes us curious for more!

When DH! sat down with Himesh to talk about his international album @ the Edge, that is set to release in the spring, he told us:

“Music doesn’t have a language and my album connects universally. I want to take my music to the next level so it’s important not to restrict it to Asia or India.”

We guess he feels the same way about movies! What do you think of the trailer for A Star Is Killed? Does it look like a hit or a miss?

Can you see a clock?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1517451/

A Star Is Born (2013)

MAYBE  

About movies and coincidences :)

Riley Keough 

 

Known For

  The Good Doctor (2011) = Conrad Murray
The Good Doctor (2011)

The Runaways (2010) = Xscape
The Runaways (2010)

Elvis by the Presleys (2005) = Lisa and MJ  ¿?
Elvis by the Presleys (2005)

  Magic Mike (2012)  Magic Mike (2012) = Cirque du Soleil

Lisa Marie Presley

Lisa Marie Presley’s early attempts at breaking into the family business were overshadowed by the family legacy – she is, after all, the only child of Elvis, ex-wife of both Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage, and survivor of a chemically enhanced childhood. But after taking some seven years out of the limelight to find her footing, Presley returns this week with the excellent T Bone Burnett-produced album “Storm and Grace,” a vintage-sounding set of songs that gives her rich, bluesy voice the showcase it deserves. The first single, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” is out now. She talked to us at a playground near her home in Los Angeles.

Q: Why did it take you seven years to do your third album?
A: I was exorcising demons. Shedding skin. I went through a lot of things. I got rid of everything I ever knew – people, things, labels. I just went through a whole whitewash and then I woke up and went through a processing period, moved to England and had some children.

Q: In a way this feels like the first serious album you have ever made. How does it feel to find yourself at 44?
A: In the past I was always pushed in the pop arena. I was never a pop star. I’ve always been a singer-songwriter. There was so much business going on and torture by the previous label. It was a constant battleground. It was never right. It was so not my nature. This is more who I am, without question.

Q: Did you feel like you were pushed into being a pop star in the first place because of your father and the family name or is it something you genuinely wanted to do?
A: I was always in the mirror with the microphone since I was 2 or 3. It’s just that I’m a singer-songwriter. It’s what I’ve always been. But with my former label I was constantly battling something. I could feel it. I wanted to hide behind a lot of production. It was safer. This is where I’m at in my life more.

Q: The good thing about the first two records is that everyone got over the novelty of you making records.
A: You’re exactly right. It was a blessing. This time, I want the music to speak louder than my life or anything else that’s spoken – not anything else I’ve done or my life. I did all those talk shows that were really uncomfortable and talked about the things I didn’t want to. I feel like I paid my dues.

Q: Now you can let your daughter Riley Keough (star of the new movie “Jack and Diane”) take it all on.
A: Oh, God. She’s much more together than I ever was. {sbox}

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/13/PKK81O9O1D.DTL

https://www.julienslive.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/72/lot/28840/

“Smell here [arrow with box]

/ Lisa/ I truly need/ this rest/ I haven’t slept/ litterally [sic] in 4 days now./ I need to be away/ from phones and/ Business people./ I must take care/ of my health first/ Im’ [sic] crazy for you, Love Turd.”

BAD 25 – Michael Jackson

Click in the pic to enlarge

The Jacksons Return!

 

The cat returns ♥

 

Michael Jackson is dancing again, on Pepsi cans

Bad 25: Video Teaser! 

May 21, 2012

Michael Jackson is still ‘Bad,’ 25 years after album

Reuters) – Michael Jackson’s “Bad” returns this September with new music and never-before-seen concert video in the first re-release of a full album from the King of Pop’s catalogue since he died in 2009, Jackson’s record company and estate said on Monday.

The “Bad 25″ deluxe package, released on September 18, commemorates the 25th anniversary of the original, Grammy-winning album with hits like “The Way You Make Me Feel,” and it will include demos and songs that didn’t make the final cut of the original version.

The new songs were recorded in Jackson’s studio while he was making the album, and the package also offers a DVD of Jackson’s performance for Britain’s Prince Charles, Lady Diana and 72,000 fans at London’s Wembley Stadium in 1988.

The video was discovered in the singer’s personal collection, and thought to be the only copy of the performance, taped for Jackson’s own use, the estate said.

Jackson, a member of the Jackson Five family of singers and one of the best-selling pop stars of all time, died in 2009 of an overdose of the anaesthetic propofol and sedatives. His doctor at the time, Conrad Murray, is currently in jail after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the singer’s death.

Craig Marks, editor of Popdust.com and co-author of “I Want My MTV,” said the “Bad 25″ anniversary package should highlight Jackson’s legendary talents as a live performer and, perhaps, lure new fans.

“It continues to focus fans’ attention on his music … hopefully it brings to the fore what an incredible live performer he was and his songbook, given that ‘Bad’ was at the time considered to be very successful but was in the shadows of ‘Thriller,’” Marks told Reuters.

“Bad” won two Grammy awards and sold more than 45 million copies around the world, fuelled by the popularity of singles such as “Dirty Diana,” “Smooth Criminal” and the album title track, “Bad.”

It was the singer’s last collaboration with legendary Motown producer Quincy Jones, who helmed the production on Jackson’s solo album “Off The Wall” and the hit follow-up “Thriller,” one of the best-selling albums in history.

Marks believes “Bad” marked the end of an era for Jackson and Jones, and that Jackson used the record to explore deeper struggles following the phenomenal success of “Thriller.”

“The paranoid romantic hell he’s in, his mini snapshots of how he felt being in the public eye so nakedly, and in some ways so alone, he wasn’t able to trust many people and he felt very isolated. You can hear that in the record,” said Marks.

To gear up Jackson fans ahead of September, the late singer’s record company will re-release the first single from the album, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” on June 5th in the U.S.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

“Live for Now” campaign

The Jackson cans are part of Pepsi’s new “Live for Now” campaign, which seeks to harness pop culture to boost sales. Pepsi-Cola is currently No.3 in the United States, behind Coca-Cola and Diet Coke in a declining market for carbonated drinks.

http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/05/03/still-the-king-of-pop-pepsi-launches-jackson-ad-campaign

http://www.michaeljackson.com/us/mj-estate-pepsi-partnership-celebrate-bad-25?cid=lg:pdi&utm_medium=post&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ypp%20-%20mj

“We are thrilled to bring Michael and Pepsi back together, as they were in 1988, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the BAD album and tour and to put Michael on one billion Pepsi cans – perhaps a Guinness record,” commented John Branca and John McClain, co-executors of the Estate of Michael Jackson. Branca and McClain added, “We’re excited to see it all come to life.”

Frank Cooper, chief marketing officer, Global Consumer Engagement, PepsiCo added, “Michael Jackson will always be the King of Pop”, and his music has always inspired fans and artists alike. But, this partnership goes beyond nostalgia and will engage with consumers all around the world with iconic imagery on more than one billion Pepsi cans, digital content and epic, live events, so that they can continue to connect with Jackson’s music and honor his legendary impact on entertainment.”

Michael Jackson has a long standing relationship with Pepsi spanning more than 25 years. The legendary King of Pop starred in his first Pepsi campaign alongside his brothers in 1983, as part of the Pepsi ‘New Generation’ campaign followed by Pepsi’s sponsorship of the epic BAD Tour and the iconic “Chase” commercials which served as the impetus for the current reunion. Pepsi also featured Jackson in the ‘Music Icons’ commercial that premiered during The X Factor in 2011.

Pepsi’s new “Live for Now” campaign is a culmination of extensive global research demonstrating Pepsi fans’ desire to capture the excitement of now and live each moment to the fullest. First launched in the U.S. last month, “Live for Now” will come to life through a breadth of global, pop-culture platforms, events and unique partnerships and will begin to roll out globally throughout 2012.

BTW

Michael Jackson Estate
JOINS PEPSI!
Deal with the Devil?

TMZ

Michael Jackson‘s Estate has just made a huge deal with Pepsi — the company whose 1984 commercial arguably ruined his life, and some say it’s a deal with the devil.

You’ll recall, MJ’s hair famously caught fire during a pyrotechnic mishap while filming the commercial — causing severe burns on his scalp that led MJ to become a hardcore prescription drug addict … and that addiction eventually led him to Dr. Conrad Murray.

he MJ Estate feels Pepsi is the right company to join forces with for a couple of reasons.  First, Michael himself worked with Pepsi twice after the incident, once in 1988 and again in 1991, so the singer obviously didn’t hold a grudge. And a spokesperson for the estate tells us, “We’re here to market the re-release of the ‘Bad’ album and Pepsi is the most effective place to do it.”

But lots of people blame the Pepsi shoot for putting MJ on a drug-fueled path of self-destruction — including one of the singer’s former managers Frank Cascio, who said MJ was introduced to Demerol (a heroin-like opioid) following the accident … to help deal with the pain.

The Jackson/Pepsi promotion will vary country-to-country — but will include a TV commercial, special edition cans with Jackson’s image, and chances to win downloadable remixes of Jackson’s songs.

MJ and the green jacket :)

april/2009

8/17/2011

Dr. Arnie Klein‘s got some fall shopping to catch up on in Beverly Hills — because TMZ has learned, the Michael Jackson estate just REJECTED the good doc’s claim to return his old, $10,000 jacket.

TMZ broke the story — Klein says he loaned Michael Jackson a $10,000 Gianfranco Ferre jacket before the singer died, but MJ never returned it.

Klein filed a claim against Michael’s estate back in February 2010 to get it back — and yesterday, the estate finally got around to giving him an answer … go fly a kite.

But the estate didn’t just tell Arnie to buzz off — according to the legal docs, the estate also rejected a former lawyer’s $3 million bill, an old accountant’s $60,000 bill … plus an additional $354,230 in other claims.

That said, it’s not the end of the road for Arnie or MJ’s other creditors — they can still sue the estate in court. But it’s unclear if that’s what Arnie and co. plan to do.

Brett Ratner on Michael Jackson

Brett Ratner on Michael Jackson : ‘You felt like God was within him’

By Patrick Goldstein From the LA times:

My father loves to brag to his friends that while his son is a big-shot Hollywood reporter, it was his father who actually met Michael Jackson. Until he retired a few years ago, my dad had a store called the 24 Collection on the Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach that specialized in fashion, jewelry, art and one-of-a-kind oddities (I still have a clock set into a Cuban cigar box with a portrait of Fidel Castro on the clock face). One day Brett Ratner, who grew up in Miami and whose mother was a regular customer at the store, called my dad and asked if he could bring his pal Michael Jackson by to look around. As he often did as a courtesy for celebrities who might be annoyed or hounded, my father closed the store that afternoon and put the staff at Jackson’s disposal.

“Michael walked around every inch of the store, feeling things, smelling things,” my father remembers. “He’d ask questions about what this was or that was, where it was from, how we found it. I made sure the staff didn’t intrude on him, although one person did ask for an autograph, which made them an ex-employee right away. But Michael was just off in his own world, curious about everything he saw.”

I think my dad got his hopes up when he saw that Jackson was also accompanied by an aide who had a zippered envelope full of cash. But the King of Pop never bought anything. After spending an hour in the store, he just thanked everyone for letting him look around and left.

I called Ratner this morning to ask him how he became such fast friends with Jackson. It turns out that they met in 1998 when Ratner was finishing his first “Rush Hour” picture. One day, Chris Tucker was doing a scene and broke into a wild, Michael Jackson-style dance. The sequence was so funny that when Ratner had test screenings of the film, it got one of the biggest laughs in the picture. But because it was an obvious Jackson impression, Ratner knew he had to clear it with the pop star before he could put it in the movie.

That presented a problem, since Jackson was so reclusive that even Ratner, one of the great celebrity schmoozers of our time, couldn’t get to him. He even called Jackson’s Neverland ranch but never got anywhere. Then he got lucky. “My editor was talking to the projectionist who ran the final screening and it turned out that he was Michael’s personal projectionist,” Ratner told me today. “So I gave him the print and asked him to play the beginning of the second reel for Michael, which had Chris’ dance in it.”

Two days later Ratner picked up the phone and heard the soft, feathery voice of Michael Jackson. So what did Michael say? Keep reading.

“Michael said he’d watched the whole movie and loved it, especially the scene Chris did with his dance. He said, ‘You have my permission to use whatever you want.’ ” That was great, but Ratner needed something in writing. When he asked Jackson to sign something on a piece of paper, Jackson simply invited him up to the ranch. “So I drove up there and walked in, with all his giraffes and other animals, all out there to greet me.” Ratner recalls. “I ended up staying at the ranch and we just became great friends. We both had this huge, almost childlike fascination with movies and music and all kinds of entertainment.”

Over the years, Ratner and Jackson spent an enormous amount of time together. They would film each other, with Jackson asking Ratner about how he became a film director and Ratner asking Jackson about how he became an entertainer. “I have hours of footage of us, sitting around in our pajamas, with me asking him about what kind of music he loved as a kid, what kind of books he had on the wall as a kid. When you were with him, you really felt like God was within him. He was an amazing, superhuman kind of person, but he always treated you as an equal. He would be your friend and he never asked for anything in return.”

One of their favorite activities was to have dance-offs in the game room at Jackson’s house. Jackson would put on a record, usually a song by his sister, Janet, and unleash some awesome dance moves. Then Ratner or Chris Tucker, who would sometimes come along, would play Michael’s records and dance along to them. I asked Ratner if that felt a little like a mere mortal playing one-on-one with LeBron James. “Hey, I wasn’t self-conscious. I’m a pretty good dancer. It was just fun to do it together.”

When they weren’t dancing, Ratner and Jackson would watch movies together. He says they must’ve watched the original version of “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” 50 times over the years. “I know that people looked at Michael and thought he was strange, but to me, he was fascinating,” Ratner says. “He was the most inspirational person in my life. His one dream was to cure all the sick children in the world. And when I’d say, ‘Isn’t that impossible?’ Michael would just start to cry. He was very emotional about things that moved him. I guess you’d have to say he was a pure innocent in a world that wasn’t so innocent anymore.”

http://brettratnernewsblog.blogspot.de/2009/07/brett-ratner-on-michael-jackson-you.html

WHO SHOULD BE ‘RESURRECTED’ AS A HOLOGRAM NEXT

The first weekend of Coachella 2012 had an amazing lineup, but the most talked about performance of the three days was when Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre “resurrected” their fellow Death Row rapper Tupac Shakur as a hologram. With this innovative technology upon us, leaving us with an ambivalent mix of feelings that ranged from creepiness to complete awe and amazement, we want to know: Who should be the next artist to be brought to life again as a hologram?

There have been so many artists that we’ve loved and lost over the years. From the shocking death of R&B songstress Aaliyah in 2001, to Amy Winehouse‘s passing in 2010, some were just taken far too soon. Would you like to see either Aaliyah or Amy resurrected as holograms for one final performance? Or perhaps TLC’s rapstress/bad girl Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes is someone you’d like to see onstage as a hologram, performing with T-Boz and Chilli as a trio once again?

Michael Jackson is another deceased pop star whose life was cut short unexpectedly. The King of Pop was on the brink of his final This Is It tour when the world found out about his passing in 2009. Would you like to see MJ bust a move one more time? Or maybe Tupac’s rapping counterpart, the Notorious B.I.G., is someone you’d like to see live again? Can you just imagine if Pac and Biggie were both “resurrected” as holograms for a joint performance? That would be a sight to see.

Fans of Tejano songstress Selena would probably be ecstatic to see a lifelike projection of their beloved ‘Dreaming of You’ hitmaker, whose life was ended at the hands of a cold-blooded killer. And finally, Whitney Houston left us in 2012, but we’re sure fans of Nippy would spring at the chance to see the vocal powerhouse take the stage again, even if it’s just a hologram version of her actual self.

So, since Tupac has already paved the way, who would should be “resurrected” as a hologram next? Or does this whole hologram thing completely freak you out? Cast your vote and/or leave us your thoughts on holographic performances below.

Who Should Be Resurrected as a Hologram Next?

Aaliyah

Amy Winehouse

Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes

Michael Jackson

Notorious B.I.G.

Selena

Whitney Houston

VOTE

http://popcrush.com/who-should-be-resurrected-as-a-hologram-next-readers-poll/

 

Paris Jackson making acting debut in White Castle

A movie featuring the daughter of the late Michael Jackson in her first acting role will be filmed at Nottoway Plantation in White Castle.

The film Lundon’s Bridge and the Three Keys is being produced by Paralight Films based in Lehi, Utah.

The story is the first in a series of five books authored by Dennis Christen. Fourteen-year-old Paris Jackson will play the character of Lundon O’Malley in a part live, part animated adventure of the battle between land and sea. The project is a unique one that was created as an educational fundraising tool to give back to the schools and to entertain the world. One half of the price of the books, posters, cinema admission, and related retail items will go directly to the school of choice of the purchaser anywhere in the U.S.

The film production team recently visited South Louisiana for a closer look at River Road plantation homes, nearby Cypress Bayous, and Mandeville’s Fontainebleau State Park. After the first day they announced that Nottoway’s mansion, with its picturesque rotunda and majestic Oak trees, was chosen as the home of Dalina, the story’s Queen of the Sea.

“The minute I looked up at the grand white castle and the massive columns I knew this was it,” Christen says. “In one of the scenes the children turn into butterflies and will fly around under these magnificent oak trees. This is exactly what I had envisioned.” 

Stephen Sobisky, founder of C-it Entertainment Group and Sandman Studios, explained that producers and location scouts don’t normally bring the talent along on the preliminary visits.

“Paris wants to pursue an acting career, but she’s young and new to the business,” Sobisky says. “Our team wants to give her hands-on experience in the start-to-finish process of film production. A well-rounded actor or actress should begin at the beginning.”

Paris’ role in the film also includes taking an active part in the school fundraising component of the project. She plans to travel, when her school schedule permits, and introduce the Lundon’s Bridge book series to middle-school students across the county – encouraging them to become involved in a fun new way to raise money for programs like art, theater, music and film making.

While in Louisiana, Paris, friend Michaela Blanks and the production team visited a Seventh grade class at Iberville Parish’s Math & Science Academy, located in Plaquemine. Michaela is almost a year older than Paris and plays the part of a butterfly in the film. She also has some experience in theater and modeling.

Openly admitting that Louisiana is very different from the Los Angeles area where they both grew up, the girls exchanged questions and answers with the local students, posed for group photos, and promised to see them again when they return to the area for filming.

A highlight of the school visit was an appropriate question from one of the young southern gentlemen in the class. “Would ya’ll like to go mud riding in the swamp next time you come?” The girls’ eyes lit up and smiles gave way to their obvious replies. They left no doubt that they couldn’t wait to return.

The movie will be filmed this summer.

The book Lundon’s Bridge and the Three Keys is now available at www.amazon.com.  For more information about Nottoway visit www.Nottoway.com. For more information about the book and film project visit www.lundons.com

 

Jackson and the production team recently visited Seventh graders at the Math and Science Academy in Plaquemine.