A curiously angstless but worthy album from this Welsh singer-songwriter sees him pondering time, age, and love in winsome, often ethereal tones. Battles is melodic with a chamber music feel and an affinity with the likes of James Taylor. It searches for meaning: “I dont believe in magic, so how do I see you?” and “Are we simply treading water whilst looking out for something better?” typify the lyrics. A Wales-is-home, home-is-where-the-heart-is reception on last autumns festival scene heralded this more-than-pop folk artists arrival. Lewis tours in Scottish and northern venues this spring, with just a couple of dates in London and the West Country.
Album, Album Review
In September, Shakira that she was expecting her first child with her soccer star beau Gerard Pique.
“We are happy to announce the birth of Milan Piqué Mebarak, son of Shakira Mebarak and Gerard Piqué, born Jan. 22nd at 9:36 p.m. in Barcelona, Spain,” the couple announced on Shakira’s .
The statement explained how they decided on his name. “Milan (pronounced MEE-lahn), means dear, loving and gracious in Slavic; in Ancient Roman, eager and laborious; and in Sanskrit, unification.”
Milan weighed 6 pounds, 6 ounces and both the mother and the child are “in excellent health,” according to the hospital.
“Just like his father, baby Milan became a member of FC Barcelona at birth,” the proud parents added (Pique is a defender for FC Barcelona).
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Son, Son Find
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The “Twilight” finale had better reviews than the franchise’s previous four movies, but you’d never know it from the Razzie nominations singling out Hollywood’s worst of the year.
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2″ led the Razzies lineup late Tuesday with 11 nominations, including worst picture, lead-acting slots for Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, and supporting-acting nominations for Taylor Lautner and Ashley Greene.
Other worst-picture nominees are the naval action tale “Battleship,” the family flick “The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure,” Adam Sandler’s raunchy dud “That’s My Boy” and Eddie Murphy’s comedy flop “A Thousand Words.”
A spoof of the Academy Awards, the Razzies announcement came a little more than a day before Thursday’s Oscar nominations. Winners for the 33rd annual Razzies will be announced Feb. 23, Read more…
Movie Year, Year
This season the Metropolitan Opera is reviving Francesca Zambello’s 2003 production of Hector Berlioz’s opera “Les Troyens,” conducted by Fabio Luisi. While men may be the warriors in the epic opera, based on Virgil’s ”Aeneid,” the women clearly dominate the performance, from Deborah Voigt’s Cassandra and, even more so, to Susan Graham’s Dido.
The action starts with the Greeks suddenly disappearing from their siege of Troy but leaving behind a giant wooden horse. The prophetess Cassandra (the daughter of the Trojan king) warns her people of their coming destruction but, like the Republicans and Nate Silver during the presidential election, they don’t listen.
The Greek soldiers are hidden in the horse and when they attack, the Trojan women collectively commit suicide. Meanwhile, Aeneas and
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Met
Natalie Portman is one hot commodity. According to , she is the best actor for the buck. For every dollar she is paid for a film, the studio releasing the movie earns $42.70.
Eddie Murphy, on the other hand, was deemed the most overpaid star with the studio earning only $2.30 for every dollar he is paid.
For Portman, the films the magazine considered were Black Swan, No Strings Attached and Your Highness, leaving out Thor since they considered her a supporting actress in the film.
Second on the list was Kristen Stewart with her Twilight co-stars Robert Pattinson (ranked fourth) and Taylor Lautner (ranked sixth).
What also separates Stewart and Portman is their respective salaries. Read more…