Artist: Sacriversum
Genre(s):
Metal: Gothic
Discography:
Soteria
Year: 1998
Tracks: 8
Friday, 27 June 2008
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Staying Young@Heart is easy for 83-year-old rocker
Patricia McTee Ervin missed being in the sleeper hit movie “Young@Heart” by a year. A relatively new member of Young@Heart, the 83-year-old Ervin joined Northampton’s rocking senior citizens’ choir, which regularly covers “Purple Haze” and “I Wanna Be Sedated,” right after the documentary about the group wrapped.
That’s fine with her. Ervin’s not chasing the choir’s newfound celebrity built around the film: Young@Heart’s Friday show at the Somerville Theatre sold out two weeks ago. She’s after the thrill of the performance.
A 50-year resident of Boston, Ervin moved back to her Austin, Texas, birthplace in 2006 looking to escape winter. She seemed settled, surrounded by old friends and living in a nice condo with a swimming pool. But when visiting her daughter in Northampton last year, she was discovered.
“(Choir administrator) Diana (Porcella) saw me struggling at a post office to get one of those mailing boxes sealed up,” Ervin said from her daughter’s house in Western Massachusetts. “She asked my daughter if she thought I needed help. ‘Oh, no,’ my daughter replied, ‘she’ll figure it out.’ ”
Something about Ervin’s tenacity enticed Porcella (Ervin thinks it might have been her cursing). Porcella brought Ervin to a Young@Heart rehearsal. After a rousing audition of “The Old Grey Mare,” choir director Bob Cilman told her to grab a seat. She was in.
Ervin’s spunk, charisma and tenacity are common to every member of the choir. It’s these characteristics - along with stirring covers of songs by James Brown, the Clash and Coldplay - that made the movie such a success.
First aired on the BBC in 2006 and brought to American theaters in April, the film captures a gaggle of elderly singers preparing for a big gig. What sounds like a filmed joke at the expense of the choir is anything but thanks to the group’s talent and Cilman’s loving-but-perfectionist approach.
“We put on professional pieces with no professionals,” Cilman said from his office at the Northampton Arts Council. “The film is excellent, but it made it look like, ‘Are they going to pull this off? Will it or won’t it work?’ That is never my worry. What was completely accurate in the film was the rehearsal process.”
As fantastic as it is, the film underplays the choir’s huge international following. Since 1996, Young@Heart has toured a dozen times, selling out concert halls in Europe, Australia and Canada.
“One thing the film has done is given us exposure in the United States,” Cilman said. “We played a sold-out show at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles this year and did a performance with David Byrne in New York City.”
Now their celebrity is taking hold stateside. Not that Ervin cares.
“Going to Europe is wonderful,” she said. “But touring isn’t easy for us. But when we perform it’s a thrilling experience. To be surrounded by the voices and music, it’s very engergizing. After three hours of singing, I’m ready to climb Mount Tom.”
And she probably would if she had the time. With a tour to finish and a condo in Austin to sublet, Ervin’s future is full.
That’s fine with her. Ervin’s not chasing the choir’s newfound celebrity built around the film: Young@Heart’s Friday show at the Somerville Theatre sold out two weeks ago. She’s after the thrill of the performance.
A 50-year resident of Boston, Ervin moved back to her Austin, Texas, birthplace in 2006 looking to escape winter. She seemed settled, surrounded by old friends and living in a nice condo with a swimming pool. But when visiting her daughter in Northampton last year, she was discovered.
“(Choir administrator) Diana (Porcella) saw me struggling at a post office to get one of those mailing boxes sealed up,” Ervin said from her daughter’s house in Western Massachusetts. “She asked my daughter if she thought I needed help. ‘Oh, no,’ my daughter replied, ‘she’ll figure it out.’ ”
Something about Ervin’s tenacity enticed Porcella (Ervin thinks it might have been her cursing). Porcella brought Ervin to a Young@Heart rehearsal. After a rousing audition of “The Old Grey Mare,” choir director Bob Cilman told her to grab a seat. She was in.
Ervin’s spunk, charisma and tenacity are common to every member of the choir. It’s these characteristics - along with stirring covers of songs by James Brown, the Clash and Coldplay - that made the movie such a success.
First aired on the BBC in 2006 and brought to American theaters in April, the film captures a gaggle of elderly singers preparing for a big gig. What sounds like a filmed joke at the expense of the choir is anything but thanks to the group’s talent and Cilman’s loving-but-perfectionist approach.
“We put on professional pieces with no professionals,” Cilman said from his office at the Northampton Arts Council. “The film is excellent, but it made it look like, ‘Are they going to pull this off? Will it or won’t it work?’ That is never my worry. What was completely accurate in the film was the rehearsal process.”
As fantastic as it is, the film underplays the choir’s huge international following. Since 1996, Young@Heart has toured a dozen times, selling out concert halls in Europe, Australia and Canada.
“One thing the film has done is given us exposure in the United States,” Cilman said. “We played a sold-out show at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles this year and did a performance with David Byrne in New York City.”
Now their celebrity is taking hold stateside. Not that Ervin cares.
“Going to Europe is wonderful,” she said. “But touring isn’t easy for us. But when we perform it’s a thrilling experience. To be surrounded by the voices and music, it’s very engergizing. After three hours of singing, I’m ready to climb Mount Tom.”
And she probably would if she had the time. With a tour to finish and a condo in Austin to sublet, Ervin’s future is full.
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
"Indiana Jones" illuminates dark Cannes film fest
CANNES (Hollywood Reporter) - The myriad makeshift signs said it all: "Me, Indi Jones tickets, please" as hundreds of fans amassed at the Cannes Film Festival Sunday in hopes of securing passage to the world premiere of the fourth installment of the Steven Spielberg franchise.
And if not to the movie, then at least a glimpse of the director, executive producer George Lucas, stars Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf and practically the entire (human) cast as they made their way to the chock-a-block press conference after the screening.
The film played to a packed house made up mostly of press at 1 p.m. There was the energy of anticipation in the room beforehand, and the applause at the end was polite, but then that's all the emotion journos tend to display no matter the movie.
Early word from exiting journalists was a general thumbs-up, though with a few strongly expressed cavils and qualifiers: "too long," "too many stunts," "too wooden," not enough time for any of the characters to catch their breath or interact. But such objections, however valid, will probably hardly matter in box office terms, judging from the general public enthusiasm that seemed to transform the mood of the Croisette.
Even among frazzled sleep-deprived festgoers, one could feel the shift: Enough of politically challenging, socially relevant competition pictures -- a la "Blindness," "Gomorra," "Linha de Passe" -- let's have some brightly lit fun to match the returning blue skies over the Mediterranean.
Spielberg, who hasn't been to the festival since he brought "ET" in 1982, put it best. He was the last among the creators to be convinced that Indy deserved to be brought back, and it took 17 years to free himself up enough from DreamWorks and his self-described "dark period" movies to tackle it.
"We did it as a celebration of the movies," he said at the news conference. "We wanted to reacquaint people with the pure joy of seeing something with others in a darkened room."
Interestingly, Spielberg also said that, yes, another Indiana Jones sequel was a possibility: "Only if you (the public) want it. We'll have our ear to the ground," meaning, presumably, attuned to the global wickets.
And if not to the movie, then at least a glimpse of the director, executive producer George Lucas, stars Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf and practically the entire (human) cast as they made their way to the chock-a-block press conference after the screening.
The film played to a packed house made up mostly of press at 1 p.m. There was the energy of anticipation in the room beforehand, and the applause at the end was polite, but then that's all the emotion journos tend to display no matter the movie.
Early word from exiting journalists was a general thumbs-up, though with a few strongly expressed cavils and qualifiers: "too long," "too many stunts," "too wooden," not enough time for any of the characters to catch their breath or interact. But such objections, however valid, will probably hardly matter in box office terms, judging from the general public enthusiasm that seemed to transform the mood of the Croisette.
Even among frazzled sleep-deprived festgoers, one could feel the shift: Enough of politically challenging, socially relevant competition pictures -- a la "Blindness," "Gomorra," "Linha de Passe" -- let's have some brightly lit fun to match the returning blue skies over the Mediterranean.
Spielberg, who hasn't been to the festival since he brought "ET" in 1982, put it best. He was the last among the creators to be convinced that Indy deserved to be brought back, and it took 17 years to free himself up enough from DreamWorks and his self-described "dark period" movies to tackle it.
"We did it as a celebration of the movies," he said at the news conference. "We wanted to reacquaint people with the pure joy of seeing something with others in a darkened room."
Interestingly, Spielberg also said that, yes, another Indiana Jones sequel was a possibility: "Only if you (the public) want it. We'll have our ear to the ground," meaning, presumably, attuned to the global wickets.
Friday, 6 June 2008
US shows shelve Heath Ledger video
Plans to broadcast footage on US television of the late actor Heath Ledger allegedly at a drug-fuelled party in Hollywood have been pulled "out of respect for his family".
The footage is understood to have been shot two years ago following an awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
US celebrity programmes Entertainment Tonight and The Insider were due to broadcast the footage and had previously aired a promotional clip for the proposed screening.
Ledger is not shown taking drugs in the video.
In a statement Entertainment Tonight said: "Out of respect for Heath Ledger's family, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video which has been circulating in the world media."
The footage is understood to have been shot two years ago following an awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
US celebrity programmes Entertainment Tonight and The Insider were due to broadcast the footage and had previously aired a promotional clip for the proposed screening.
Ledger is not shown taking drugs in the video.
In a statement Entertainment Tonight said: "Out of respect for Heath Ledger's family, Entertainment Tonight and The Insider have decided not to run the Heath Ledger video which has been circulating in the world media."
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