Tom Hanks to receive the lifetime achievement award at the Rome Film Fest

Hollywood star 59-year-old Tom Hanks will receive the lifetime achievement award at the upcoming Rome Film Fest. He has won two Academy Awards and will join in a public conversation with the fest’s director Antonio Monda about his body of work. The festival will also host a 15-film retrospective of his top hits.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 24 June 2016.

Tom Hanks has delivered three decades of blockbusters that include movies like Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code and Bridge of Spies, and he won the best actor Oscar for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. His 2004 movie 'The Terminal' is proof that Tom Hanks is an actor par excellence.
Appreciating the actor, Antonio Monda has said that "I consider Tom Hanks to be one of the greatest actors of all time ... for the versatility that he commands extending from drama to comedy, for the psychological finesse with which he immortalizes characters who will remain forever in our imagination.”


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Darth Vader, the galactic man in black, to make a comeback in Rogue One

It has been revealed that Darth Vader, the galactic man in black, is set to make a comeback in the first standalone Star Wars story, Rogue One. The film is set before A New Hope, the original film in the blockbuster series, and stars British actress Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen and Forest Whitaker.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 23 June 2016.

Some "never-seen-before" characters will be introduced and a few classic ones will be brought back. One of them is Darth Vader, the galactic man in black himself. Incidentally, rumours of this return in British film-maker Gareth Edwards' contribution to the Star Wars franchise began to circulate in April when the first trailer was released. The 100-second teaser featured a retread of John Williams' familiar Star Wars score, including a snippet of the infamous Imperial March, that is used to signify Vader's approach.
The actor who will portray the role of Vader is not known.
32-year-old Felicity Jones, 32, who was Oscar-nominated for her role opposite Eddie Redmayne in The Theory Of Everything, plays rebel Jyn Erso, who has notched up a string of convictions for forgery, assault and theft. She is sent on a specific mission to help investigate "a major weapons test" - better known as the Death Star in development. She has also to find out how to destroy it.
Last year's 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' made more than $2bn worldwide, and analysts have backed Rogue One, due to hit cinemas on 16 December, to dominate this year's box office.


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Remo D'Souza takes off on a 10-day family vacation after 15 years

Ace choreographer-filmmaker Remo D’Souza is off on a 10-day family vacation after 15 years. He will return as super judge in the upcoming season of dance reality show “Dance +”. His wife Lizelle has done the entire planning for the trip and, ass per the itinerary, the couple, with their two sons, will visit places like Phuket and Bangkok in Thailand.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 20 June 2016.

On his vacation, Remo has said that he is taking a break after 15 years and he was excited. His wife has planned the entire trip and it is supposed to be a surprise for him. He hopes the long-awaited vacation will be full of fun. Since his reality show 'Dance +' will begin on Star Plus on July 2, he has been working till late in the night on the set to ensure that there would not be any problem in his absence.
Dancers Dharmesh Yelande, Shakti Mohan and Punit Pathak will be participating in the show as mentors.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Finding Dory sets a record on debut with $136.2m collection in US in opening weekend

Finding Dory, Pixar's sequel which comes 13 years after Finding Nemo, has had the highest-grossing debut for an animated film ever. It raked in $136.2m in US cinemas during its opening weekend and beats previous record holder Shrek The Third - it had earned $121.6m on opening in 2007.
Finding Dory is also the second-largest June opening of all time, behind Jurassic World.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 20 June 2016.

The story of Finding Dory revolves around the blue tang fish, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres, who suffers from short-term memory loss. The plot is about her quest to be reunited with her long-lost parents. Others who lend their voice are Diane Keaton, Albert Brooks and Idris Elba.
AS indicated by Dave Hollis, Disney's executive vice president of distribution, Finding Dory is a picture for everyone - not just for families.


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Aamir Khan's next season of Satyamev Jayate to focus on water scarcity in Maharashtra

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has indicated that his reality TV show, Satyamev Jayate, is very much on in spite of his busy schedule and he wants to tackle the water scarcity problem in Maharashtra in his next season. This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 17 June 2016.

Aamir Khan is a busy man and is currently in the second phase of shooting for his upcoming movie Dangal. It is Ludhiana’s Leel village. Dangal is a biopic on wrestler Mahaveer Phogat and the 50-year-old actor is portraying the protagonist’s role. It has generated a lot of interest among his fans and cinephiles.
On the subject of the perfectionist actor's popular reality TV show, Satyamev Jayate, he has revealed that his team has already started work and necessary research. It is a very crucial and ambitious project to deal with water crisis in Maharashtra and make the state drought free in coming years. In view of focus on the water crisis in the state, the next season of Satyamev Jayate will be worth waiting for.


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TE3N first day box office collection of Rs 2.61 crores in India fails to impress

TE3N was a much awaited movie starring Big B who had driven a scooter in the streets of Kolkata for the movie, as a part of the script. It had brought together the Shahenshah of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vidya Balan. But, its first day collection has failed to impress.
It was released over 1169 screens across India and 373 screens overseas and has minted Rs 2.61 cr at the Indian box office while, in the international market, it has managed to collect Rs 1.90 cr on the first day of its release.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 2 June 2016.

As one filmcritic has put it - the treatment of both place and characters appear to turn everything lackadaisical. In its attempt to be less ‘dark’, loud background music is added in at each step. The plot has too much fuzz, and the characters are all surface. The droopy facial lines of the Big B, Vidya Balan’s stolid-cop-stomping fail to go deep into the characters.
Questions arise of why her full-fledged actis labeled as a guest appearance. That mystery remains unresolved. The only saving grace seems to be Nawaz’s guilt-ridden priest who tries to break free once in a while, and a few red herrings infuse some intrigue towards the end.


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Christina Grimmie shot dead by unidentified gunman in Florida

Christina Grimmie, a former contestant on the American version of The Voice was shot at by an unidentified gunman in Florida - she died in hospital after being shot at a concert in Florida. She had come third on the show in 2014 and was targeted while she was signing autographs after performing at the Plaza Live venue in Orlando.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 11 June 2016.

As per the police, the unidentified shooter had two guns and he walked up to the 22-year-old near a merchandise table and opened fire. He later killed himself after being tackled by the singer's brother - Grimmie was hit at least once. She had just opened for the band Before You Exit when the shooting took place.
Christina Grimmie had posted a video of herself shortly before the concert was set to begin. She had encouraged her fans to come and see her perform.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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Sonu Nigam opens up on technology and modern day music

Sonu Nigam has made some very valid observations on the changing face of music today. On the subject of several Bollywood actors going behind the microphone to record songs, Sonu feels that modern day technology can help anyone become a good singer. But the litmus test of a singer is during live shows.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 5 June 2016.

Sonu Nigam (42) agrees that actors can sing in films because there is demand for it. But performing live on stage is an altogether different matter because it is the true litmus test of a singer. Sonu also feels one must move on with times because the culture of albums has made way for singles.
He clarifies - in earlier days, album making was treated as films. There would be two dance tracks, two romantic numbers, one sad song. Today, nobody buys music albums - it is the age of downloads and of singles. Therefore, all the energy that one used to devote to an album has to be now put in one single. The song must be good, and the video perfect.


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Arnold Schwarzenegger was chased by an elephant in South Africa

Arnold Schwarzenegger is an action star of Hollywood but was involved in a nerve-racking experience with an elephant on his trip to South Africa - he was chased by the elephant. Arnold, the 68-year-old former California governor shared a video of his close encounter. The animal blocked the road in front of his group’s vehicle, and then walked around the car and gave chase to it as it drove away.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 2 June 2016.

In the short video clip, the driver of the vehicle shuts off the engine to avoid startling the elephant. However, when he turns the car back on the elephant, it bellows and backs away. In spite of the horrifying experience, the “Terminator” star praised the stunning creature for its beauty and might. In his opinion, we need to stop killing them – take a photo, not a shot. She them in the wild, do not go after the ivory.


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Rock music festival in Germany suspended due to lightning strike in which more than 70 injured

Lightning strikes during a rock music festival in Germany compelled the organizers to suspend the program - more than 70 people have been injured, some of them seriously. It was the Rock am Ring festival, which takes place in Mendig located about 93 miles (150km) from Frankfurt and there was a demand to shut it down as more thunderstorms are forecast.
As indicated by the festival organizers, 42 people had been hurt, eight seriously, but the numbers rose to 71 as more fans came forward with injuries.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 4 June 2016.

There was a crowd of nearly 45,000 music fans who had gathered for the event and it was interrupted by extreme weather for at least half an hour. Initially, claims that the rest of the three-day festival would be called off were dismissed but, it was later confirmed that it would be suspended because of concerns about more bad weather.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Black Sabbath are scheduled to perform at the event which is in its 31st year.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

World's smallest porpoise of Mexico is on the verge of extinction

Coca-Cola to stop production of its beverage in Venezuela because of sugar shortage

Melting of Totten Glacier due to global warming could raise sea levels by three meters


Moody’s mind flits from Black Money to White House (satire)

Lord Shiva and Durga on home delivery and drones (satire)

Didi plans new conquests via Rabindrasangeet (satire)


Daniel Craig is through with James Bond - turns down £68 million offer from MGM

Snoop Dogg and Lucy Liu will be seen together in thriller 'Future World'

Kavita Kaushik to play the role of an Army doctor in TV show “Dr. Bhanumati on Duty”


Was the EgyptAir crash an act of terrorism by the ISIS?

Suicide bombings in Baghdad kill 43 - brings total death in 7 days to more than 145

One more Chibok girl rescued - she was kidnapped along with 275 others in April 2014