Saturday, August 30, 2008
HUMIDITY HAIR
Thursday, August 28, 2008
christian ronaldo
Following a night out at the clubs last evening, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo headed out bright and early for a shopping spree at Ed Hardy in West Hollywood on Tuesday (July 22).
Looking as if he laid out in the sun a bit too long, the Manchester United hunk browsed through the shop�s selection before settling on a few items and heading off to his next stop.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Nothing sells like celebrity
Early last year, marketing executives at Totes Isotoner, a Cincinnati company that had spent the previous 30 years churning out a reliable lineup of humble umbrellas, crowded around a computer and listened to a teenage singer from Barbados named Rihanna breeze through a tune titled, appropriately, "Umbrella." The song, not yet released, had commercial, jingle-ready lyrics and a stick-in-your-head hook: "You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh." Totes, which hadn't deployed celebrity endorsements since the former NFL quarterback Dan Marino hawked its gloves more than a decade earlier, was smitten. "Umbrella" became a corporate rallying cry, with the song drifting through Totes' offices at all hours.
Rihanna and her representatives wanted Totes to do more, however, than merely use her to peddle a product. They wanted Totes to create customized umbrellas featuring sparkly fabrics and glittery charms on the handles � all recommended by the emerging star and her team. Totes also guaranteed the singer a percentage of the sales of the umbrellas.
"Umbrella" went on to become a huge, Grammy-winning hit. And Totes, although it declines to discuss sales data, describes its relationship with Rihanna as "invaluable." The company, which had never tried such a sweeping design shake-up before, says it now reaches younger shoppers and that traffic on its Web site � which links to Rihanna's own site � has soared.
"We've worked hard to build me and my name up as a brand," Rihanna says. "We always want to bring an authentic connection to whatever we do. It must be sincere and people have to feel that."
But where the star ends and the product and pitch begin has grown less and less discernible in the era of the human billboard.
These days, it's nearly impossible to surf the Internet, open a newspaper or magazine, or watch television without seeing a celebrity selling something, whether it's umbrellas, soda, cars, phones, medications, cosmetics, jewelry, clothing or even mutual funds.
Nicole Kidman sashays in ads for Chanel No. 5 perfume. Eva Longoria, the bombshellette star of "Desperate Housewives," sells L'Or�al Paris hair color. Jessica Simpson struts for a hair extension company, HairUWear, and the acne skin-care line Proactiv Solution. And Jamie Lee Curtis spoons up Dannon Activia yogurt while promoting environmentally friendly Honda cars.
Using celebrities for promotion is hardly new. Film stars in the 1940s posed for cigarette companies, and Bob Hope pitched American Express in the late 1950s. Joe Namath slipped into Hanes pantyhose in the 1970s, and Bill Cosby jiggled for Jell-O for three decades. Sports icons like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods elevated the practice, often scoring more in endorsement and licensing dollars than from their actual sports earnings.
But over the last decade, corporate brands have increasingly turned to Hollywood celebrities and musicians to sell their products. Stars showed up in nearly 14 percent of ads last year, according to Millward Brown, a marketing research agency. While that number has more than doubled in the past decade, it is off from a peak of 19 percent in 2004. (Hey, it could be more extreme: Celebrities appear in 24 percent of the ads in India and 45 percent in Taiwan.)
Starlets and aging rockers are likely to continue popping up in ads for a very simple reason: Celebrity sells. If consumers believe that a certain star or singer might actually use the product sales can take off.
"The reality is people want a piece of something they can't be," says Eli Portnoy, a branding strategist. "They live vicariously through the products and services that those celebrities are tied to. Years from now, our descendants may look at us and say, 'God, these were the most gullible people who ever lived.' "
Newer forces are also propping up the celebrity-endorsement boom. Companies, trying to align themselves ever closer to A-list stars (as well as B-listers, C-listers and reality TV pseudocelebrities) and their quicksilver fame are constantly seeking new ways to merge the already-blurry lines between the commercial and entertainment worlds.
Television programmers and music producers are particularly eager to play along as joint marketing deals offer artists new ways to reach audiences while also defraying their own marketing costs. Celebrities have also grown much more sophisticated about the structure and payouts of endorsement deals.
Last fall, the rapper-impresario Sean Combs created a 50-50 joint venture with Diageo, the spirits giant, for Combs to be the brand manager of the Ciroc vodka line. Combs says he made the profit-sharing deal only after refusing to work solely as a pitchman.
2008 Summer Movie Preview
When: May 2
Who: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges; directed by Jon Favreau
What: After a brush with death, billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) transforms into the title evil-fighting superhero, complete with a decked-out high-tech suit of armor.
Brian Says: Director Favreau (Elf), despite not being the clear-cut fanboy favorite, is ready for this gig, thanks to a decade and a half spent in front of and behind the camera working on every kind of movie and budget. But you know who�s waited even longer and is even more primed? Downey Jr. His Hollywood trials and tribulations don�t change the facts--really just one fact: He�s one of the most talented actors out there. And seeing as Tony Stark isn�t as stiff as Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker, the wry Downey Jr. is a great fit. Be not afraid, Comic-Con Nation.
hollywod.com
A stylistic jump from his past films Mothman Prophecies and Arlington Road, fans can expect a more indie feel to the movie. Set in suburban California, the film follows a depressed man with reclusive tendencies who can�t avoid the outside world when his neighbor finds the face of Christ in a water stain on the side of his house.
Hollywood.com talked with Pellington, writer Albert Torres and stars Luke Wilson, Adriana Barraza, Radha Mitchell, and George Lopez to find out more about the film:
Mark Pellington on the theme of person loss in his films:
�Both Arlington Road and Mothman are about widowers, which was ironic. I think the similarities, going back to my first movie, all of them were dealing centrally with male characters searching for answers to loss, kind of coming to terms with loss. Before that previously I probably connected more to the loss of my father and unanswered questions in those movies.�
Luke Wilson on miracles:
�I definitely believe in miracles, I don�t know about believing in the face [of Jesus on a wall] or something that specific. I like the idea of playing a guy who definitely doesn�t believe and is kind of forced through all these things that happen to think about it, because I know that happens to people either something good that happens or something bad that happens can change how somebody feels very quickly.�
Albert Torres on his inspiration for the script:
�I grew up Catholic and heard about these kinds of things happening (faces appearing on objects) and how they effected people in certain communities and started to think about what kind of person, who would be the worst person for something like this to happen to and that was the starting point. It came at a time when�I didn�t really have a career in screenwriting at that point and I quit writing and then I got kind of depressed myself much like the character and realized that I needed to start writing, but write something I wanted to see versus something that I thought I could sell to somebody.�
George Lopez on finding a role outside of comedy:
"When the show was over I told CAA that I didn�t really care how big the parts were as long as the scripts were good�Then I got this script and Albert Torres wrote it�and it was magnificent. I just thought the script was so great and had so much heart. Movies had been done about visions and things, but this one the characters were so natural and powerful and it was something that no one would expect me to do. Sandra Bullock executive produced my show and after it was over she sent me an email and said; �Now you�ve got to do something that no one would ever expect you to do, you�ve got to do something completely unexpected� and playing Father Salazar qualifies as that bit of advice."
�I liked the sincerity of the story. I was actually impressed by Mark who kind of wears his heart on his sleeve unabashedly, I think he wanted to expose himself in that way in the movie and he wanted the actors to expose vulnerability to their characters and keep it very real and very simple and naturalstic. As much as there is a comedic tone to the story it is very engaging emotionally because it feels very real and I like that tone.�
Adriana Barraza on finding happiness:
�I believe in miracles, but not only in catholic or religious miracles. I believe in miracles because life is a miracle itself. I survive two heart attacks, I survived many losses in my life and I survive loss of my faith and I recovered my faith. I believe really in miracles since I was Henry Poole years ago and I was walking in an airport. I was so sad and so depressed in that moment because it was really a horrible moment in my life and then�I looked up and then a woman that I don�t know, I didn�t know who is she, walk in front of me and smile at me. In that moment I thought, �Oh my God� people smile.�
Radha Mitchell on her beliefs:
�I think there is a thirst in culture for some sort of spiritual sustenance and I think the movie kind of feeds that without preaching anything�I think the fact that it is the face of Jesus sort of suits the story and suits the street where the story is set. If it was in another country it would be the face of somebody else.�
Mark Pellington on his style:
�Stylistically I felt like I had done in my videos � there was a greater range of kind of emotional and tonal choices in a lot of videos. In movies I had only done those two and my life is very different now then it was then so I was looking for something that showed the range of feelings I wanted to express.�
�I found some spirituality later in life in not being healthy and being healthy. When I was going to have my surgery and you lay on the table and you don�t have anything on and there isn�t anything to really grab except for what you believe in, since that point I�ve become a little more connected to spirituality�[I had] kidney transplant three years ago, I�ve got a lot of medicine running through me but I�m good.�
Mark Pellington on making the film:
�It was very healing and cathartic to be able to show up every day and then go through the process of editing to understand and it feels different now to watch it then it did at the editors assembly or when we showed it at Sundance. With some distance from it you can kind of let it go.�
 | Anonymous wrote: I saw a screening of this at a festival a while ago. How exciting it is finally going to be available to the general public! 8/19/2008 5:32 PM PDT |
 |  |  | |  | |  | |  |
News Archive
| More News | |
| ? | |
| |
| ? | |
| |
| ? | |
| |
| ? | |
| |
| ? | |
Henry Poole Is Here' Interviews: Luke Wilson and Cast Jump In
A stylistic jump from his past films Mothman Prophecies and Arlington Road, fans can expect a more indie feel to the movie. Set in suburban California, the film follows a depressed man with reclusive tendencies who can�t avoid the outside world when his neighbor finds the face of Christ in a water stain on the side of his house.
Hollywood.com talked with Pellington, writer Albert Torres and stars Luke Wilson, Adriana Barraza, Radha Mitchell, and George Lopez to find out more about the film:
Mark Pellington on the theme of person loss in his films:
�Both Arlington Road and Mothman are about widowers, which was ironic. I think the similarities, going back to my first movie, all of them were dealing centrally with male characters searching for answers to loss, kind of coming to terms with loss. Before that previously I probably connected more to the loss of my father and unanswered questions in those movies.�
Luke Wilson on miracles:
�I definitely believe in miracles, I don�t know about believing in the face [of Jesus on a wall] or something that specific. I like the idea of playing a guy who definitely doesn�t believe and is kind of forced through all these things that happen to think about it, because I know that happens to people either something good that happens or something bad that happens can change how somebody feels very quickly.�
Albert Torres on his inspiration for the script:
�I grew up Catholic and heard about these kinds of things happening (faces appearing on objects) and how they effected people in certain communities and started to think about what kind of person, who would be the worst person for something like this to happen to and that was the starting point. It came at a time when�I didn�t really have a career in screenwriting at that point and I quit writing and then I got kind of depressed myself much like the character and realized that I needed to start writing, but write something I wanted to see versus something that I thought I could sell to somebody.�
George Lopez on finding a role outside of comedy:
"When the show was over I told CAA that I didn�t really care how big the parts were as long as the scripts were good�Then I got this script and Albert Torres wrote it�and it was magnificent. I just thought the script was so great and had so much heart. Movies had been done about visions and things, but this one the characters were so natural and powerful and it was something that no one would expect me to do. Sandra Bullock executive produced my show and after it was over she sent me an email and said; �Now you�ve got to do something that no one would ever expect you to do, you�ve got to do something completely unexpected� and playing Father Salazar qualifies as that bit of advice."
�I liked the sincerity of the story. I was actually impressed by Mark who kind of wears his heart on his sleeve unabashedly, I think he wanted to expose himself in that way in the movie and he wanted the actors to expose vulnerability to their characters and keep it very real and very simple and naturalstic. As much as there is a comedic tone to the story it is very engaging emotionally because it feels very real and I like that tone.�
Adriana Barraza on finding happiness:
�I believe in miracles, but not only in catholic or religious miracles. I believe in miracles because life is a miracle itself. I survive two heart attacks, I survived many losses in my life and I survive loss of my faith and I recovered my faith. I believe really in miracles since I was Henry Poole years ago and I was walking in an airport. I was so sad and so depressed in that moment because it was really a horrible moment in my life and then�I looked up and then a woman that I don�t know, I didn�t know who is she, walk in front of me and smile at me. In that moment I thought, �Oh my God� people smile.�
Radha Mitchell on her beliefs:
�I think there is a thirst in culture for some sort of spiritual sustenance and I think the movie kind of feeds that without preaching anything�I think the fact that it is the face of Jesus sort of suits the story and suits the street where the story is set. If it was in another country it would be the face of somebody else.�
Mark Pellington on his style:
�Stylistically I felt like I had done in my videos � there was a greater range of kind of emotional and tonal choices in a lot of videos. In movies I had only done those two and my life is very different now then it was then so I was looking for something that showed the range of feelings I wanted to express.�
�I found some spirituality later in life in not being healthy and being healthy. When I was going to have my surgery and you lay on the table and you don�t have anything on and there isn�t anything to really grab except for what you believe in, since that point I�ve become a little more connected to spirituality�[I had] kidney transplant three years ago, I�ve got a lot of medicine running through me but I�m good.�
Mark Pellington on making the film:
�It was very healing and cathartic to be able to show up every day and then go through the process of editing to understand and it feels different now to watch it then it did at the editors assembly or when we showed it at Sundance. With some distance from it you can kind of let it go.�
hollywod.com
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
angelina jolie
Name:
Angelina Jolie (Voight)
Birthday:
June 4, 1975
Place of Birth:
Los Angeles, CA
Occupation:
Actress, Model, UNHCR Ambassador
Height:
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Father:
Jon Voight
Mother:
Marcheline Bertrand
Brother:
James Haven Voight
Spouses:
Billy Bob Thornton ( 5 May 2000 - 27 May 2003) - divorced Jonny Lee Miller ( 28 March 1996 - 3 February 1999) � divorcedCurrently dating Brad Pitt
