George RR Martin offers to kill Game of Thrones fan


Eccentric Game Of Thrones author George RR Martin, well-known for his willingness to slaughter practically any character in his novels, is now offering to kill-off one lucky fan – for $US20,000 (NZ$23,540)

Martin has launched a fund-raising campaign in aid of his two favourite charities. In exchange for a donation of $20,000, well-heeled aficionados will get the chance to have a character named after them in a future A Song of Ice and Fire novel. Regardless of the character’s social standing (lordling, knight, whore, peasant etc), Martin guarantees they will meet a “grisly death”.

The money will go towards the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot in New Mexico, two causes close to Martin’s heart.

And if a $20,000 death is a little rich, there is a range of other prizes up for grabs. A mere $4500 will get you a signed script of the first ever GoT episode; one of Martin’s trademark Greek sailor caps (pre-worn) will set you back $7500; while $15,000 buys breakfast with the master and the chance to quiz him about GoT minutiae.

In addition, everyone who forks out for the campaign will go into a draw for a day out with Martin.

“You and a friend will be flown out (from wherever you are in the world)

Blu-ray review: Her


REVIEW:

Blu-ray review: Her

(Sony Pictures, R16)

Spike Jonze’s unconventional love story about a socially isolated man and his computer scored big during the awards season, picking up an Academy Award and Golden Globe for its screenplay.

The accolades are well deserved, with Jonze’s crafting a strikingly original tale.

However it is the romantic chemistry

DVD review: Dom Hemingway


REVIEW:

DVD review: Dom Hemingway

(Transmission/Paramount Pictures, R16)

Dom Hemingway exists in the wonderfully terrifying British gangland of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Sexy Beast.

Although this tale is not quite as good as either of the aforementioned films, it still has enough swagger and gritty panache to make it a worthwhile and viscerally violent viewing experience.

Released after a 12-year stretch at Her Majesty’s leisure, the excellently-monikered career safecracker Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) is ready to settle a few scores and get what’s coming to him – namely, his share of the burgled loot he kept his mouth shut about while he was inside for all those years.

Was the payoff worth the wait Therein lies the rub.

As Hemingway, Law deserves a spot in the great rogues gallery of the United Kingdom’s most memorable cinema bad guys. A minor spot, sure, but he squeaks in with his “Lemmy from Motorhead” muttonchops intact. He has the talk of The Long Good Friday’s Harold Shand (played by the late, great Bob Hoskins) and the arbitrary brutality of Trainspotting’s Begbie (Robert Carlyle). It’s a mix that does not serve this character particularly well.

You see, the trouble is Dom Hemingway is not quite in control of his emotions – especially the anger-associated ones. He’s a loose unit. A spectacular failure of the so-called prison rehabilitation system, prone to exploding after being primed with a beer or three. And Law, who rumour has it stacked on 30 pounds for the role by drinking 10 Coca Colas a day, pulls it off beautifully.

Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke pops up as Dom’s daughter, who is not thrilled with the return of her dad to the outside world, but the real bonus of Dom Hemingway is the brilliant banter between Dom and his offsider, Dickie Black, played by Richard E Grant at his most acerbic since Withnail & I.

And the one-liners are frequently, wonderfully quotable: “I should f***ing kill you,” Hemingway tells one of the victims of his pent-up ire, “But I fancy a pint instead.”

One to watch with the lads and a few brews.

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– Stuff

Game of Thrones surpasses The Sopranos


Game of Thrones, HBO’s Emmy-award winning fantasy epic, has surpassed The Sopranos as its most popular series ever, the network said.

Episodes in the fourth season of the show have an average gross audience of 18.4 million, including repeat showings, video on demand and mobile streaming, which broke the record of 18.2 million set by the 2002 season of the mobster drama, The Sopranos.

Video on demand and delayed viewing habits have changed significantly since 2002, with more options being open to television audiences.

Season three of the show averaged 14.4 million viewers per episode. Two episodes of the fourth season have yet to be aired, with the finale set for June 15. HBO has already committed to making seasons five and six.

The series on Time Warner Inc-owned HBO network features dragons, castles and dragons. It is based on the best-selling books by fantasy and science fiction writer George R.R. Martin about fictional, medieval families fighting for control of a mythical land.

The show, which first aired in 2011, stars Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams, and is sold to more than 200 markets outside the United States.

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– Reuters

Justin Bieber ‘crying a lot’


Justin Bieber is reportedly crying frequently due to the backlash over his use of a racial slur.

The 20-year-old pop star caused widespread outrage this week after footage of him using the N-word in two videos was made public.

And it’s claimed Bieber is deeply remorseful and has been gushing tears for days.

“It has been a real shock to Justin and he has been crying a lot. He keeps asking ‘have I let my fans down’ and would never dream of using that language now,” a source told British newspaper The Mirror.

Apparently the Baby singer is most upset about how many of his devoted fans, lovingly dubbed Beliebers, have been negatively responding to his most recent controversy.

“He was 14 when the video was shot, a boy. He is a different person now. He is just praying his fans give him another chance,” the insider continued.

Bieber has apologised twice this week in response to the scandalous video footage.

The star acknowledged his words may have negatively impacted millions of people.

“I need to step up and own what I did,” he told British newspaper The Sun in an exclusive interview.

“Facing my mistakes from years ago has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with.

“But I feel now that I need to take responsibility for those mistakes and not let them linger.”

In the first video he told a racist joke, while in the second he was heard changing the lyrics to his track One Less Lonely Girl to include the offensive N-word. He was also seen joking about killing black people and being a member of the Ku Klux Klan.

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– Cover Media

Klutzy clown doesn’t deserve second run


After watching the first episode of the second series of Agent Anna (TV One, 8.30pm, Thursday), it’s hard to understand why a dramedy as entertaining as Nothing Trivial got canned while this hammy pantomime was thought good enough to be allowed the chance to draw second breath.

Middle-aged Anna Kingston is still working for Eden Realty – just. Her sales levels continue to be negligible, ditto her confidence as we see her in the opening scenes weeping at the wheel of her car, till she collides with a police vehicle. This makes her, as usual, late to work, where she is routinely bullied with sarcasm by the lowest form of wits in sarcastic Sandy and vulgar Leon, a man so unattractive it beggars belief when we see him later at a nightclub pull twin nubile blondes.

Anna is at work alone when Grant (Joel Tobeck) rocks up wanting to buy a property for two mill. Beside herself at the thought of reversing her sagging fortunes, Anna is swept along by Grant, who drives like Mr Toad and breaks into a house on the market that Anna can’t find the key for.

Grant breasts the bathroom window and assists unco Anna through the aperture all legs upside down as he pulls her through, manhandling her like a freezing-works carcass. This sorry sight gag is followed by more Benny Hill antics where the client tries to get the agent to have a grope in a waterbed while playing with the vendor’s vibrator.

What a wag. You can hear the crash of wood against flat screen as every real estate agent watching throws their for-sale signs at the TV set. Enter Leon, showing his clients round, who happens upon Anna and Grant hiding in a wardrobe as the vibrator whirrs away, almost giving the game away to the potential buyers. Gosh, they are a caution.

Anna’s a circus act, Robyn Malcolm having made her into a klutzy clown as she grins and bears the slings and arrows of her past “Outrageous Fortune”, in a hit home-groan TV comedy that made her into a national icon.

Anna had to be the opposite of Cheryl West, with Anna described by Leon as a “mousie passive- aggressive people-pleaser” emitting irritating gag levels of sorry-sorrys while the audience waits for the hapless real estate agent to exact a revenge fantasy on those oppressing her.

No doubt this will happen sayeth future extracts of the show where she’s seen cougar-kissing a younger dude and dressing saucy. With so much revealed of what’s to come, will there be any surprises left as Anna does a 360 on herself

ONE TO WATCH

A Kiwi allows himself to be ridiculed tonight on The Graham Norton Show (TV3, 8.35pm). The guests – Brenda Blethyn, Stephen Mangan, Jean Paul Gaultier and Barry Manilow.

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– The Dominion Post

Fight for their right: Beastie Boys win $2m


A New York City jury has awarded the Beastie Boys US$1.7 million (NZ$2.0m) in a copyright violation case against beverage-maker Monster Energy Co.

The decision came Thursday at a civil trial in federal court in Manhattan.

Monster had admitted wrongly using Beastie Boys songs in a video that was online for five weeks. But the beverage maker insisted it should owe no more than US$125,000. The Beastie Boys had sought US$2 million.

The trial featured the testimony of rapper Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz. He told jurors the legendary hip-hop group would never license songs to endorse commercial products.

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– AP

Actor accused of shooting in 911 call


Actor Michael Jace, who is charged with killing his wife, called and told his father-in-law about the shooting and asked him to come for the couple’s two young children soon after it happened, a 911 call indicates.

In the three-minute call, the father of April Jace told a dispatcher that his son-in-law had called and texted him about the shooting.

“My son-in-law called me, and (texted) me, and said come get the kids because he shot April, our daughter,” the caller, whose name was redacted from the audio, told a fire department dispatcher.

Michael Jace, who played a police officer on the TV series The Shield, was arrested on May 19, and police have said he also called 911 directly to report that he had shot his wife. That 911 call was not released.

Jace has been charged with murder but has not yet entered a plea.

His father-in-law called 911 while driving to the Los Angeles home of the couple. By then, police had already been notified of the shooting, according to the audio.

Michael Jace’s attorneys Jason Sias and Jamon Hicks did not comment on the content of the audio but noted that the case is relatively new and they were still investigating.

“We have the utmost concern for the Jace children,” Sias and Hicks wrote. “Mr. Jace has a constitutional right to a defence. It remains extremely early and we are still in the fact-finding process.”

Police have not disclosed a possible motive for the shooting but previously said they were investigating whether it was prompted by financial difficulties or other marital problems. Michael Jace had filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and had fallen behind on payments to creditors as recently as December.

The family of April Jace released a statement last week calling her death “a senseless act of domestic violence.” The family said it was rallying around April Jace’s three sons, who range in ages from 5 to 18.

April Jace, 40, a financial aid counselor at Biola University, had two sons with her husband, both of whom were at home at the time of her killing. They were uninjured. Her oldest son was from a previous marriage.

Michael Jace also appeared on the show Southland and had small roles in the movies Planet of the Apes, ”Boogie Nights” and Forrest Gump.

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– AP