September 14 - 20, 2013
Entertainment
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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
Nelson Mandela ‘no saint’ in new biopic Bob Odenkirk (right) stars as scheming lawyer Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad opposite Bryan Cranston.
Breaking Bad spin-off prequel announced US network AMC has announced a Breaking Bad spin-off prequel, based around the character of lawyer Saul Goodman. Better Call Saul will see Bob Odenkirk reprise his role as the crooked criminal lawyer in the onehour show, AMC and Sony Pictures said. It added the spin-off would “focus on the evolution” of the character before he came to represent crystal meth kingpin Walter White. AMC did not say when production was due to start or when the show would air. The title of the prequel is taken
from a season two episode of Breaking Bad where Walt and his business partner Jesse hire Goodman after seeing the lawyer’s TV commercial featuring the slogan, “Better Call Saul!”. With Goodman serving as the comic relief in the original series, the spin-off is expected to be more comedic than Breaking Bad. Creator Vince Gilligan first hinted at the possibility of a series centred around the scheming lawyer last year. “I think a Saul Goodman show could have great legs,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
A NEW screen biopic of Nelson Mandela does not shy away from the less flattering aspects of his character, according to its British star. “It was important we had both sides, the good and the bad,” said Idris Elba. Early scenes in Justin Chadwick’s film show Mandela as a womaniser who was violent to his first wife Evelyn. “I didn’t want to deface Mr Mandela in any way,” the Luther actor continued. “But I didn’t want to portray him in a way that wasn’t honest.” Elba was speaking at the Toronto Film Festival, where Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom had its world premiere this weekend. Based on the former South African president’s autobiography, the film charts his early life as a lawyer, his political activism and the 27 years of imprisonment that preceded his democratic election in 1994. Naomie Harris, also British, plays Mandela’s second wife Winnie in Justin Chadwick’s two-and-a-half hour drama. The film has had a mixed reception from critics, with one calling it “more dutifully reverential than revelatory or exciting”. “We’ve seen the saintly Mandela we all know and love,” continued Elba, who did not meet “Madiba” before embarking on the project. “It was important for us to take
The film is based on Nelson Mandela’s autobiography.
the audience on a journey prior to that and understand who he was.” The internationally revered antiapartheid campaigner, now 95, was released from hospital last week after three months of treatment for a recurring lung infection. “Like everybody I’ve been very concerned for his health but I’ve been keeping optimistic,” Elba told reporters on Sunday. According to Chadwick, the Hackney-born actor was the right person for the biopic despite being from England and bearing little physical resemblance to its subject. “There were other obvious
choices, but Idris was the brave choice,” said the director, whose other credits include the BBC’s 2005 dramatisation of Dickens’ Bleak House. “He doesn’t look like Madiba, but we weren’t going for a lookalike, soundalike version.” “Idris managed to capture the Mandela magic,” agreed Terry Pheto, the South African actress who plays Evelyn in the film. Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, David Harewood and Sidney Poitier are among the others to have portrayed the beloved statesman on film and television. (BBC)
Stewart accepts $500,000 offer for 15-minute chat
Jack Topping is an ambassador for the Save the Children charity.
Preteen Liverpool choirboy lands record deal AN 11-year-old choirboy from Liverpool has signed a deal with the record company that famously turned down The Beatles. Jack Topping is the youngest person to be signed by the Decca label and will release his debut album in November. The youngster, who is an ambassador for the Save The Children charity, was discovered while singing in the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Choir. His Wonderful World album will feature two covers of Beatles songs. Jack will do versions of the Fab
Four’s Let It Be and The Long And Winding Road as well as Ave Maria, Pie Jesu, The Lord is My Shepherd and You’ll Never Walk Alone. Dickon Stainer, president of Decca Records, said: “He’s the Gareth Bale of choristers, a once in a generation talent.” His voice will also be heard on the Save the Children’s Christmas ad campaign song Tomorrow. Decca turned down The Beatles after auditioning them on New Year’s Day 1962, reportedly telling them guitar bands were on the way out. (BBC)
KRISTEN Stewart bankrolled $500,000 from an unnamed Middle Eastern prince for a good cause. Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein spilled the beans to reporters at the Toronto International Film Festival Sept. 8 screening of “12.12.12,” the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert movie. According to Weinstein, the prince paid the large sum in order to spend 15 minutes with Stewart, reports Us Weekly. The “Twilight” star was intrigued with the offer and reportedly asked Weinstein how much the royal was offering, which led him to come to a pricey agreement with the prince in exchange for a chat with the 23-yearold actress. “And Kristen sits with the guy for 15 minutes,” Weinstein said of the deal he brokered, which was a substantial donation made to the Sandy relief effort. The unnamed prince forked over the dough in cash prior to meeting with Stewart at Madison Square Garden. But the half a million dollars proved to be a minimal donation in the total sum the benefit concert raised.
With the help of other A-list celebs like Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler,
Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen, the fundraiser raked in $30 million. (Nydailynews.com)
The prince reportedly paid $500,000 to chat with Kristen Stewart for 15 minutes. The money was donated to a Hurricane Sandy relief fund.