360 DEGREES Weblog

 Incredible a-capella one man band!

We saw a preview of the first 45 minutes of Pixar’s newest animated feature, Up. Boy, were we ever impressed. One of the most enjoyable characters in the film is Dug, a dog who can talk. Now, I know what you’re thinking: talking dogs, big deal, it’s been beaten to death starting with Homeward Bound and most recently with Underdog. The difference with Dug is that Dug actually is a talking dog, not a dog talking like a human:

Up comes out in theaters (in 2D and 3D) on May 29th

I’m very impressed with Funtoro- FunStar Professional which is the most recent Multi-media On Demand System. It’s designed to turn your car into an entertainment hot spot and mobile office, all in one. The most noteworthy feature is that the First Multi-media Entertainment On Demand System in car supports 6 to 12 independent zones simultaneously. This means that there’s no fighting for the remote as everyone has their own monitor to enjoy their movie, photo, music, AV game, USB playback and without interfering with the content others are playing. The monitors have touch sense which makes them super easy to control. Also, it can be fitted into any type of vehicle and it allows you Internet access. It’s definitely one of the hottest mobile entertainment systems available right now.

 

Paris Hilton, the celebrity we love to hate is back in the news. What is she up to this time? The lady has decided to add a touch of sparkle to her already striking and attention grabbing pink Bentley. How? By ordering a £200,000 ($280,490) diamond-encrusted dashboard made for her darling pink Bentley! (As if the shocking pink wasn’t enough to ruin the beautiful cars beauty). Probably another way of showing that she is definitely not affected by the recession. However, the lady might have to wait for awhile to have this sparkling enhancement as the Cheshire plant is halting production until May due to the economic downturn. That leaves enough times for her neighbors to run for cover before their eyes are treated to this horrible sight! The crazy celebrity is definitely leaving no stones unturned to give her car the pampering she thinks it deserves.

No one seems to know whether or not Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey will be leaving his hit television show but one place he will appear this year is in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans race on June 13-14. The actor, beloved by many as “McDreamy” has had racing as a hobby for many years. During the period of time when his acting career was stalled, he attended the Skip Barber and Panoz racing schools. He is the co-owner of IndyCar Series team Vision Racing and has raced in a variety of events. In 2008 he participated in the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car series driving a Mazda RX-8.

Dempsey will race with co-drivers Don Kitch Jr. and 2008 Gran Am Koni Challenge Champion Joe Foster under the team name Team Seattle in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Their Ferrari F430 GT race car will be prepared by Advanced Engineering. Team Seattle raises support for Seattle’s Children’s Hospital. The race is test of skill and endurance in which has bested many of the world’s top drivers. An article on Wired questions where Dempsey falls on the spectrum of celebrity race drivers. Is he the accomplished Paul Newman type or a mere dilettante? A good showing at Le Mans could establish Dempsey as a serious racer.

The overall premise for Up is the idea of feeling overwhelmed and wanting to escape from it all, a feeling that we can all relate to, hence the visual metaphor of the floating house. The main character, 78 year old Carl Fredrickson, is based largely on this idea, but in a very deep and poignant way. The first 20 minutes or so of the movie develop Carl’s character in a manner that Pixar hasn’t really touched before, and it was impressive, although somewhat difficult at times, to watch… Largely because at the beginning, Carl comes to embody that sense of unfulfilled dreams that on some level, most of us feel. As producer Jonas Rivera explains,

“Jokes and gags are funny, but what’s the emotional thing that’s going to stick in someone’s heart and stay with them for hours, days, years… And so that’s what we were looking for, something that really resonates with people. And I think ultimately, the humor will play better if it has that foundation of emotion.”

When you get personally involved with a character, you become more attuned to everything that they experience. Sad things are sadder and funny things are funnier. It takes a masterful touch to make this kind of involvement work in a self-described “action comedy adventure,” but Pixar made it happen.

Up will be the first Pixar movie available in Disney 3D.

 

The contents of Neverland Ranch are finally heading to the auction block this April. Julien’s Auctions will be auctioning off more than 2,000 of Michael Jackson’s possessions April 22-25 in an eight-part mega-auction in Beverly Hills. Jackson decamped from Neverland a while ago and it has quietly been renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch. This is the first sale of his property that Michael Jackson has sanctioned. The Guardian reports that when Darren Julien and his team of auctioneers went in to assess the ranch’s goods they were astounded by both the number and style of the objects they discovered. Many items are made of bronze or marble with elaborate gilding. PIeces include suits of armor, a throne, a cape, a portrait of Michael Jackson in Elizabethan dress, rhinestone gloves and socks, costumes, awards, even his Rolls Royce limo is up for sale for an estimated $140,000 - $160,000.

The Guardian has a photo gallery which shows some of the pieces for sale. Jackson has to be one of the wealthiest and most ego-driven packrats in the world. His childlike acquisitiveness manifests in his collection of video game machines, Disney art and Peter Pan memorabilia and much of it bears his image in his prime. It’s an astonishing display of wealth without restraint. There’s something in nearly every price point, from small rhinestone brooches to elaborate pieces of art and statuary. Given the sheer amount of objects up for grabs Jackson could stand to make quite a tidy haul. Even the signed and numbered five-volume catalog sells for $500.

Julien’s Auctions will host a seven-day exhibition at 9900 Wilshire adjacent to The Beverly Hilton open to the public April 14th to April 20th. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares®, a charity of The Recording Academy®. Auction Network will also broadcast the auction live on national television and stream video of the auction online and people all around the world can bid in real time on the items up for sale.

Fed up with the minimalist design aesthetic that many a upscale West End venue has adopted over the past decade, club guru Freddie Frampton and interior designer Paul Daly got together to see what they could do to fix all this. And fixed it they have.

The club is beautifully finished and has been designed to induce patrons back onto the dance floor. And why wouldn’t you want to dance when the club has installed possibly one of the coolest dance floors that we have seen in a while. The circular interactive video floor cost over a quarter of a million pounds and can display film footage, graphic effects, logos etc. It is topped off with a raised, revolving DJ booth/bar in the centre. Think 70s disco floor meets the future.
Off to the left of the floor are six individually themed VIP booths, each having being designed by the likes of Jade Jagger, fashion label Core and Dom Perignon.

The club has a distinct retro/futuristic feel, part mirror maze, part Xanadu, part upper-class Jetsons space shuttle, and is sure to be a hit with London’s glamorous Mayfair set (read socialites, WAGs and the occasional reality-TV star).

Thanks Coolhunter

Movie critic TC Candler has chosen his 100 top of best movie posters.
Here are the picks for the top 100

 

Just a few months ago Philippe Starck was announcing the death of design. Never one to be taken too seriously, Philippe Starck is set to contradict himself once again and launch a new reality television show. Produced by the BBC and scheduled to air on BBC 2 next year, Philippe Starck’s “School of Design” will feature ten aspiring product designers that will be given the opportunity to work alongside Starck and his design team over a period of several months.