The Simpsons to set new record for TV series

It seems that Fox has no intention to make The Simpsons stop as they have recently ordered two new seasons for the featured animated comedy. With these two extra seasons The Simpsons will surpass the number of seasons Gunsmoke, a successful drama and Western, had which has been the record holder so far. The 21st season of The Simpsons will begin in autumn. 

The very first episode was broadcast in December 1989 and a year later the show had its first debut abroad, to be specific, in the UK. With the new two seasons with their 44 episodes the show will have had almost 500 episodes by the end of 2011. During these successful 20 years the show had it received two dozens of Emmy Awards. Creators made a new intro after twenty years to indicate their further commitment to the stories of Homer and his family along with other citizens of Springfield. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7914265.stm

Quake III playable through our web browsers

One of the most extraordinary games that defined multiplayer games was re-released on Tuesday. Quake Live is an action-packed game that can be played through our web browsers. The game is a new, but relatively similar edition to the acclaimed first person shooter called Quake III, released by id Software back in 1999. Although I understand this piece of news is closer to the Entertainment section than Science and Tech, however, I think by launching Quake Live id Software contributed to the already fast development of web games. And besides, in my opinion never before did a web game have such amazing graphics. 

The only thing a user needs to do is to install the plug-in for his or her browser after loading the site. No fees need to be paid; everything is for free of charge. Detailed explanation is given on how to play the game; all of our questions will be answered if we take a tour on the site. The three main characteristics that id Software uses to highlight Quake Live’s advantages are: safety, an easy way to join the community and the short time it takes to start playing the game. However, as the site enjoys an extremely high popularity the last advantage does not really exist anymore: especially late in the afternoon one has to wait for at least an hour to be able to start shooting some enemies or looking for the flag that needs to be captured. 

Id Software, the company that created the first person shooter a.k.a. FPS genre back in 1994 by publishing Doom, certainly did not expect that Quake Live would be this successful and would attract so many players or as the fans of genre are often referred to, shooters. You only need a valid e-mail address to validate your signing-up and after logging in you can start looking for the opponents suitable to your needs. Note that only Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers are supported, the support for other alternative browsers are in progress as we speak. The same applies for the operation systems: Mac and Linux users have to wait for a while until they can relive memories created 10 years ago. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7907530.stm

Slumdog Millionaire young stars to be moved

Slumdog Millionaire, Danny Boyle’s newest film, was nominated for 10 Oscars and during the 81st Oscar Academy Awards show it was capable of bringing 8 nominations to reality on Monday. The movie is indeed a wonderful experience and it really was in the centre of the last Gala, however, people would not think that two of the young Indian child actors still live in the slums of Mumbai. 

Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail, the children who play the younger versions of the main characters, live in one of the many slums Mumbai has. Considering the fact that their performance contributed greatly to the success of the movie it was unacceptable why the children had not been moved. Moving the children to a new place along with their family would have been the perfect reward for their work. The chairman of the local housing association agreed and told BBC: “Since the children have made the nation proud, they must be given free houses. The chief minister of the state has approved this.” 

Both the children live under horrible conditions; in fact, Azharuddin’s home has been recently demolished. As the boy’s father told BBC it had happened quite often in their lifetime that the government had decided to demolish their homes. He also added that they had hardly got any money from the creators of Slumdog Millionaire. What they were given was not much and it was already spent. He is glad that finally the family will get a permanent roof; however, local authorities said that the process would need some time to be accomplished. 

When the director, Danny Boyle was accused of the exploitation of the two children, he denied the allegations. In fact, as it is said, the children were given wages for 30 days while the making of the picture was in progress, and the wages were above the average. However, the average is different in Mumbai from that of the US. Plus, these wages only amount to a small percentage of the revenue the film-maker studio will get for Slumdog Millionaire. Although it seems nice that the children are supported and arrangements are being made as we speak to make them enrolled in school, critics say that these are just political moves as the elections are coming. Politicians have always been under pressure because a large proportion of the Mumbai population lives in shacks or in worse places. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7909660.stm

Oscar 2009 winners

The 81st Oscar Gala – or commonly referred to as the Annual Academy Awards – commenced at yesterday night and came to an end this morning. In fact, according to European time, the so-called GMT, the ceremony started today at dawn and ended by 6 o’clock. Nevertheless, whichever Time Zone you may be, you must have been glued to the screen to watch the famous actors and actresses who were sitting with bated breath in the Kodak theatre to wait if their name would come out of the envelope. 

In my opinion this year was a great year as there were quite a few movies for which we could go to the movies. The race for the small golden statuette was pretty fierce among the actors as well as the actresses. The outcome was not obvious as it was in the last couple of years. Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button received the most nominations – 10 and 13, respectively – however, only the story of the young Indian boy who becomes a contestant of the famous “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” could bring most of these nominations to reality. In the end Danny Boyle’s newest film received 8 statuettes whereas Fincher’s latest movie only got 3. 

Kate Winslet could finally win the award as it was her sixth nomination. It was not expected but admirable as among the nominees there was Meryl Streep, who was nominated for the 15th time and had already won 3 Oscars. Sean Penn won the statuette for playing gay rights activist Harvey Milk in Gus Van Saint’s latest production. As it was expected, the posthumous Oscar went to Heath Ledger for his role of Joker in the year’s most successful blockbuster movie, The Dark Knight. The actor’s family went on the stage to take the award and say their thanks to the Academy. Penelope Cruz became the first Spanish actress to win the award – she played extraordinarily in a romantic comedy titled Vicky Christina Barcelona. 

Find out the rest about the ceremony here: 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/oscars/7904567.stm

The complete list of the winners: 

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR 

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Christian Colson 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE 

Winner: Sean Penn for Milk (2008/I) 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE 

Winner: Kate Winslet for The Reader (2008) 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING 

Winner: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR 

Winner: Okuribito (2008)(Japan) 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES, ORIGINAL SONG 

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - A.R. Rahman, Sampooran Singh Gulzar("Jai Ho") 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES, ORIGINAL SCORE 

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - A.R. Rahman 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING 

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Chris Dickens 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND 

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, Resul Pookutty 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING 

Winner: The Dark Knight (2008) - Richard King 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS 

Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, Craig Barron 

BEST DOCUMENTARY, SHORT SUBJECTS 

Winner: Smile Pinki (2008) - Megan Mylan 

BEST DOCUMENTARY, FEATURES 

Winner: Man on Wire (2008) - James Marsh, Simon Chinn 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE 

Winner: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008) 

BEST SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION 

Winner: Spielzeugland (2007) - Jochen Alexander Freydank 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY 

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Anthony Dod Mantle 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP 

Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - Greg Cannom 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN 

Winner: The Duchess (2008) - Michael O'Connor 

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION 

Winner: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - Donald Graham Burt, Victor J. Zolfo 

BEST SHORT FILM, ANIMATED 

Winner: Maison en petits cubes, La (2008) - Kunio Katô 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR 

Winner: WALL·E (2008) - Andrew Stanton 

BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY BASED ON MATERIAL PREVIOUSLY PRODUCED OR PUBLISHED 

Winner: Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - Simon Beaufoy 

BEST WRITING, SCREENPLAY WRITTEN DIRECTLY FOR THE SCREEN 

Winner: Milk (2008/I) - Dustin Lance Black 

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE 

Winner: Penélope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) 

Hollywood resurrects Jason for the umpteenth time

Who would have thought that Hollywood would make another sequel to the Friday 13th series? And who would have thought that Jason’s umpteenth return would be a huge success? The newest instalment of the Friday 13th series topped the US box office at its opening weekend, setting a new record for the slasher genre, which had previously been held by the re-make of the famous Japanese horror, The Grudge. 

Actually, the 12th episode of Friday 13th is the re-make of the very first which made its debut in 1980. Some say that it is not just the re-make of the first film, but the first four because only in the upcoming sequels did Jason decide to hide his face behind a hockey-mask that became the trademark of the series. The story of the Friday 13th films is pretty simple: a handful of teenagers set out to have a wonderful summer time near Crystal Lake Camp, unaware of the presence of a murderer. 

Note that 7 sequels were made in the 1980s; however, in the ‘90s only one Jason movie was made. At the beginning of the 21st century Hollywood went crazy by putting the psychopath on a spaceship to let him carry out yet another massacre, but this time in a sci-fi environment. A couple of years ago Jason was set loose to fight another cult figure of the horror genre: Freddy Kruger, the man who wears a red and dark green striped sweater as well as a metal-clawed leather glove to haunt his victims in their dreams. The battle of the two icons can be seen in Freddy Vs Jason, which was the least successful film of all. 

Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers sees another reason behind the success of the new film other that the resurrection of a classic franchise: "Hollywood seems to be unstoppable right now. With this notion of the recession helping the box office, I guess this is just another example of that. People want to go to the movies and just have fun and escape."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7892135.stm

Will Ferrell plays Bush

One of the most extraordinary comedians of our time, Will Ferrell, plays former President George W. Bush in his new Broadway play. "You'are Welcome America: A Final Night With George Bush" is currently playing at the New York Cort's Theatre. 

But what do the critics say? Well, they are divided. Some praise Ferrell's impersonation, whereas others criticise it. But what exactly the impersonation is about? As the comedian puts it, he appears as Bush in front of the audience to talk about his time, "to celebrate my eight years of service to you." 

According to BBC USA Today critic called Mr Ferrell's 90-minute monologue "a witless, pointless spectacle" whereas other critics from The Washington Post or the New York Times said Will's performance had had a "gleeful, adolescent spirit". 

Ferrell brother, Patrick, also appears in the show portraying a Secret Agent who break-dances, and a Condoleezza Rice impersonation is also given to the audience in the form a tap-dancing.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7874749.stm

Rowling receives Legion of Honour

JK Rowling, author of the best-seller Harry Potter series, has been given France's highest civilian award, the so-called Legion of Honour. It appears that she is not the only one who received the honorary title in her family. Her great-grandfather had been made a knight because of her bravery during World War I. 

French President Nicolas Sarkozy himself handed the medal to Rowling who happens to be fluent in French; as her great-grandfather was French we can say British is not the only blood that runs in her veins. 

She apologised to the people who were present at the ceremony as it turns out that the name of Harry Potter's arch nemesis, Voldemort, means thief or the flight of death in French. 

According to BBC Rowling was just looking for a "name that evokes both power and exoticism". The reply of the crowd indicated that no offense had been taken. 

But why the award? According to Mr Sarkozy Rowling made millions of children read again by creating the story of the young wizard with the lightning scar on his forehead; to make one read is not easy nowadays in the world of the Internet. It takes some effort to cajole children into reading so that they are not glued to the display all day. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth in the series, had already been a best-seller in France when works on the translation into French started. 

Note that the Legion of Honour had originally been made up by Bonaparte Napoleon almost two hundred years ago and officially only French citizens can be made members of the society. Yet, foreigners can receive the honorary title, as well. 

JK Rowling is not the first to receive the Legion of Honour: Steven Spielberg and Barbra Streisand had been given the merit before. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7869216.stm

Spears obtains her 2nd restraint order

After getting a restraint order against her former manager, the 27-year-old singer was given the next one against ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib by a Los Angeles judge. 

As we know Ms Spears' affairs have been controlled by her father, who, because of fulfilling this role, is referred to as a conservator. 

Mr Ghalib has been accused of the same as Spears' former manager had been: he had deliberately tried to disrupt the conservatorship between the singer and her father. 

But what exactly "disrupt" stands for? According to the order, ex-manager Mr Lutfi sent "anonymous, harassing and threatening" text messages to the father of the blonde celebrity. 

Britney Spears is about to start her next tour in the US next month with her latest album, Circus. Her life was not without any scandals in the last couple of years, perhaps this tour will be the proof that she has finally settled down and is ready to start over. 

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7863700.stm