stuff
Stills from Chéri, Stephen Frear's romantic drama set in 1920s Paris, where the son of a courtesan (Rupert Friend; Pride and Prejudice) retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) who educated him in the ways of love. Based on the novel by Colette. (Gorgeous Pfeiffer via Film Experience) [imdb]
In M. Night Shyamalan's live-action adaptation of cartoon series Avatar the Last Airbender, newcomer Noah Ringer will star as Aang, Jackson Rathbone (Twilight) as Sokka, and Nicola Peltz (Deck the Halls) as Katara. Jesse McCartney, originally cast as the exiled prince Zuko, has been replaced with Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel. Before the recast, the all-Caucasian principal actors where getting a lot of criticism from fans of the anime, including writer/illustrator Derek Kirk Kim:
'[The Last Airbender is] wholly and inarguably built around Asian (and Inuit) culture. Everything from to the costume designs, to the written language, to the landscapes, to martial arts, to philosophy, to spirituality, to eating utensils!-it's all an evocative, but thinly veiled, re-imagining of ancient Asia. [edit: Pictoral evidence.] (In one episode, a region is shown where everyone is garbed in Korean hanboks-traditional Korean clothing-the design of which wasn't even altered at all.) It would take a willful disregard of the show's intentions and origins to think this wouldn't extend to the race of the characters as well. You certainly don't see any blonde people running around in "Avatar." [...] I was speaking with Gene Yang (author of "American Born Chinese" and National Book Award nominee) about the casting and he said it best:"It's like a white Asian fetishist's wet dream. All the Asian culture they want, without any of the Asian people."'
Sadly, this all sounds very familiar if you've been in the Firefly fandom for a while. And having the antagonist, Zuko, recast to be played by the one Asian lead actor is even more offensive, if that's possible. [imdb]
Four new photos from Terminator Salvation. Also, some concept art with comments from director McG.
Bruce Sterling, "2009 Will be a Year of Panic" (via):
'As 2009 opens, our financial institutions are deep in massive, irrational panic. That's bad, but it gets worse: Many other respected institutions have rational underpinnings at least as frail as derivatives or bundled real-estate loans. Like finance, these institutions are social constructions. They are games of confidence, underpinned by people's solemn willingness to believe, to conform, to contribute. So why not panic over them, too?'
And lastely, a question I've been thinking myself lately. Who is on twitter?
Rachel Maddow
forty-five people I've never heard of who all invented the internet
people who are concerned about the collapse of the publishing industry
people who like Battlestar Galactica