James Cameron
Canadian directors James Cameron and Jason Reitman both been nominated for best director and best picture.
Cameron, the Oscar-winning veteran director of Titanic, is nominated for his work on Avatar. The epic science-fiction thriller was not even been publicly released yet and it is already receiving immense critical acclaim.
Reitman, a rising star in Hollywood, directed 2007’s Juno and 2006’s Thank You for Smoking. His newest release, Up in the Air, stars George Clooney (nominated for best actor in a motion picture, drama), and its dialogue and humour have captured the interest of thousands already.
Alongside the Canadians are veteran directors Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino for Invictus and Inglorious Bastards. The two movies are up for best picture, along with several nominations for best acting awards.
Kanye West beat out fellow rappers Drake and Eminem to be voted seventh on MTV News’ Man of the Year list, MTV.com reports.
The Taylor Swift incident halted what had been an incredibly eventful year for West. Tracks from late 2008’s 808s and heartbreak have been playing throughout the year, and the electronic-hip hop mix is becoming a popular trend among both urban and mash-up artists. West kicked of 2009 with a performance at President Obama’s youth inauguration ceremony, and then headlined both the Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo music festivals. He also appeared on popular tracks like Run this Town, Drake’s Forever and Keri Hilson’s Knock You Down. West has also contributed to the rising careers of artists like Kid Cudi, 88 keys, Drake and British singer Mr. Hudson. He is currently working on developing young rapper Soulja Boy’s latest album.
Fans of both Adam Lambert and Eminem have weighed in with MTV on the rapper’s controversial anti-gay lyric from the song “Elevator.”
Eminem, whose new album Relapse: Refill will be officially released on December 21st, has once again revealed his controversial opinion of homosexuality…shocking. But this time there were specific targets:
“Sorry, Lance, Mr. Lambert and Aiken ain’t gonna make it/ They get so mad, when I call them both fake/ It’s all these f—ing voices in my head, I can’t take it/ Someone shut that f—ing baby up, before I shake it.”
Doesn’t seem so harsh until you here the fake/it’s combo, and then you understand that Eminem is still as reckless as always.
Amid talks of adultery and romance rumours, Tiger Woods’ biggest concern was the Florida police…that’s no longer the case.
After smashing up his Cadillac Escalade near his Orlando estate, the Florida Highway Patrol is penalizing Woods with a careless driving ticket that will cost him $164. The multi-millionaire golfer spends more than that on a meal.
Florida Police also failed to obtain a search warrant to uncover any alternative causes of the accident, not having sufficient evidence to back it up.
Barbara Walters has announced her annual top 10 most fascinating people of the year. It is reported that 2009’s show will include Lady Gage, Sarah Palin, Kate Gosselin and Adam Lambert.
Both Sarah Palin and Lady Gaga have become notable sign of female empowerment world wide. Palin recently released book disclosing the details of her personal and political life – over the course of her book tour she was frequently asked whether she’d be running for president in the next election. Lady Gaga has endured one-hit-wonder and shock value accusations; proving herself as a popular mainstay on the international music scene.
For Lambert and Gosselin, though, it’s a different story. Gosselin’s popularity arose out of marital controversy with her husband that very conveniently played out during her reality TV show, Jon and Kate plus Eight. Lambert had minor success after American Idol, but his popularity skyrocketed when he controversially made out with a male band member during the American Music Awards and then mocked oral sex with another male on stage.
Six-year NBA veteran Chris Bosh is releasing a DVD on December 15th. “Chris Bosh Presents: First Ink” will include an in-depth look into the Raptor’s summer training, side projects and experiences with the NBA’s elite.
“First Ink” is a 30 minute video documenting Bosh’s training over the 2009 preseason, and his new training regimen.
The DVD will also include five of Bosh’s comedic CBTV side projects, including his Used Car Salesman skit during his campaign for All Star votes.
The rock star turned tattooed porn star spectacle is getting back to music with his new project, Beserk, CHARTattack.com reports.
The nu-metal group will include the drummers from Velvet Revolver, Incubus and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, along with Godsmack singer Sully Erna.
Bezerk will perform on January 8th at the Guitar Center Drum-Off ’09 Grand Finals at Los Angeles’ Wiltern Theatre.
The group will highlight the $40,000 drum-off including five undiscovered drummers who will battle for money and respect through the approval of a judging panel.
Sean “P. Diddy’”Combs finally found a noble excuse to get rid of $3 million that he had lying around.
The rap mogul celebrated his 40th birthday in New York alongside a diverse guest list that included Bono, Kim Kardashian, Jimmy Fallon, Nelly and even Martha Stewart. The celebrity crew represented Combs’ widespread contribution to the entertainment industry.
Apparently the money was well worth it. His Twitter this morning read: “I haven’t had a hangover in five years but I have one now.”
If you haven’t heard Jacksoul’s 2000 hit, “Can’t Stop”, you should stop reading this and listen check it out, because it really is among the greatest Canadian songs in modern music history.
Jacksoul Singer and Songwriter Haydain Neale died Sunday morning at Toronto’s Mount Sinai hospital after a seven month struggle with Lung cancer. By his side was his daughter, friends, brother-in-law and wife, who said, ““Through all these challenges, Haydain’s sense of humour and love of music were ever-present. He constantly brightened the room with his singing and his smile. His joyful presence and beautiful voice will be missed by us all.”
It was an untimely death for a gifted contributor to the Canadian music industry. “Can’t Stop” was the most played track in Canada for four straight weeks in 2000, and “Still Believe in Love”, released in 2004, was one of the most popular tracks of the year. He won a Canadian Urban Music Award that same year, and R&B Song of the Year at the 2005 SOCAN awards, for the track Shady Days.
Gym Class Heroes rapper Travis McCoy will be releasing several different projects over the next year, according to Billboard.com.
With an upcoming solo project, McCoy is eager to escape the image of, “That dude who sings the song about his girlfriend,” in his group’s most popular song, Cupid’s Chokehold. “With this record, I feel like people are going to take me more seriously as a rapper and hopefully, as a singer as well.”
McCoy will also be releasing a documentary on MTV December 1st. “Travis McCoy’s Unbeaten Track,” will Chronicle the artist’s experiences while travelling with MTV’s Staying Alive foundation to South Africa, India and the Philippines. It will be accompanied by his charity single, One at a Time. “since it is a charity track, I wanted to keep the cheese factor to a bare minimum and make sure it’s sincere and from the heart,” said McCoy.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Bollywood debut was so awkward I could barely watch, but I couldn’t look away either.
There has never been any mistaking Harper for a cool guy; an Obama-type personality. Harper belongs on TLC, not MTV, and that isn’t news. But his appearance on India’s version of So You Think You Can Dance reaffirmed that there really isn’t much personality under his tough conservative skin.
In early October, Harper performed on stage with famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Harper’s rendition of The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends was actually…not too bad. It was the first time that many had seen Harper peek his head out of a Conservative shell that he’d been hiding in since he became Prime Minister. I started to cut him some slack.
Seinfeld’s Michael Richards, aka Kramer, made an appearance on Curb Your Enthusiasm, attempting to make a joke out of his 2006 racist rant at the Laugh Factory, TMZ reports.
In an episode of Seinfeld-creator Larry David’s popular series, Richards goes off on a African-American character and threatening him, says, “”If only there were a horrible name that I could call you … that would make you as angry as I am.”
At the same time he is being filmed by a group of spectators, mimicing the 2006 incident. He then pulls of a few Kramer-like gestures and storms off.
For fans of Richards, the 2006 tirade was the disappointing destruction of arguably the most popular character in sitcom history. While this may have helped to ease the tension, I think the best thing for Richards is to bury the incident completely.
Canadian rocker Hawksley Workman (Ryan Corrigan) has set his upcoming album, Meat, to be released January 19th. He will also release Meat’s follow up album, Milk, later in the year, according to Chartattack.com.
Corrigan will start a cross Canada tour that will kick off in B.C. on March 6th and conclude in Toronto on April 24th. Tickets will eventually be sold through Ticketmaster, with a presale starting today and ending Thursday through Six Shooter Records’ website.
Workman’s debut album, For Him and the Girls, was released on 1999, and will go on sale today in the U.S. for the first time.
The Popular MTV host whose game show helped spark the careers of comedians like Adam Sandler, Colin Quinn and Dennis Leary was found dead in his house on Sunday, MTV.com reports.
Between 1987 and 1990, Ober hosted “Remote Control”, a popular music trivia game show that was one of the first non-musical programs on MTV.
The show was a highlight of a career that started with his comedic discovery on Star Search in the mid-1980s. He was also involved on the production of shows like Mind of Mencia and The New Adventures of Old Christine.
“Ken Ober was one of the sharpest, quickest, sweetest guys I ever met,” Adam Sandler said to MTV news, “He was always a great friend and I will miss him very much.”
According to TMZ, DMX ducked out of a Dec. 12 mixed artial arts against actor Eric Martinez, and reportedly be replaced by Coolio.
The rapper’s manager reportedly insisted on a gauranteed victory over his opponent as a contract condition. Thunder Promotions, the fight’s organizer, were not on board for a fixed fight.
The group plans on filing a breach of contract lawsuit against DMX, and say that Coolio will “Take [the fight] seriously.”
In a real-life re-enactment of an Entourage episode, Mark Wahlberg will head to the golf course with series stars Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrera.
The group will play at L.A.’s Wilshire Country Club this Monday at a charity event for The Mark Wahlberg Youth foundation.
Along with the Entourage will be fellow actors Jack Nicholson, Don Cheadle, Greg Kinnear, Jon Hamm and James Denton.
“I cannot be put in this position and forget where I came from,” Mark explained to etonline.com. “A lot of people don’t have the opportunity to really get a second chance, so we try to create an opportunity for the kids.”
Delerium is currently in the process of releasing a new track and music video that will include R&B singer Kreesha Turner.
The Canadian electro group is working on the video for “Dust In Gravity” in Hamilton, ON.
The group’s first single in four years will be released on Itunes on November 24th, and will appear, with a remixed version, on their upcoming remix collection this Spring.
In a Kreesha Turner blog posted on Chartattack.com, the singer sounded enthusiastic about the new collaboration, and praised the Delerium’s musical genius.
Universal has announced that Lil Wayne’s long overdue rock album, Rebirth, will be released on December 15th.
The announcement comes just a few weeks after the release of his new mixtape, No Ceilings, and a week after the release of Weezer’s Raditude album, on which he makes an appearance on the song Can’t Stop Partying. He told Billboard.com that he plans to maintain the consistent rock vibe that he intended.
“I play guitar on 80 percent of the songs, and there’s a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album.”
While working with two rock giants like Travis Barker and Rivers Cuomo should give Wayne the right idea, there is still no certainty about the outcome of this album. Based on the mild response generated by Prom Queen and Can’t Stop Partying, the anticipation will be filled with more curiousity than excitement.
Former Bad Boy rapper Shyne held a press conference in Belize yesterday; his first public appearance since being released from prison and immediately detained by immigration officials for four weeks, and then deported to his native country Belize last week.
Shyne changed his name from Jamal Barrow to Moses Michael Leviy while serving a nine-year sentence after a shooting in a New York City nightclub. Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs was also present during the incident, but was acquitted of all charges.
Speaking to students and reports at Wesley High School in Belize city, Leviy expressed the spirituality that influenced his name change. I want to be like Moses or King David or King Solomon. Those are the guys I aspire to be like. I didn’t want to be like the kingpin on my block; I wanted to be like the guy who parted the sea, that’s why I chose that name.”
Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo and bassist Scott Shriner are promoting a warm surprise available for purchase with a copy of their new album.
Fans can own a customized “Weezer Snuggie” with their new Raditude album, available in stores today.
The group has even made a hilarious infomercial that includes footage from the original Snuggie infomercial.
If you haven’t seen it yet, the Snuggie is a warm, robe-like blanket that is reminiscent of some sort of cult uniform.
Raditude is Weezer’s seventh studio album, and includes the hit single “I Want You To.”
