Sunday 26 October 2008

Silicone Pop Remix Edit

Madonna and David Banda. leaving the New York Kabbalah centre yesterday.

Some showbiz clichés exist for a reason.

For nearly a quarter of a century, Madonna, who turned 50 this year, has been a music megastar, a pop culture provocateur and a global brand name. But what she really wants to do is direct.

"I've been in relationships with a lot of filmmakers," she said with a laugh in a recent interview. (Long before Guy Ritchie, her soon-to-be ex, there was Warren Beatty, and before him, Sean Penn, not yet a director at the time.) "I've been awfully envious of them. I guess I got tired of just wishing I was doing something and decided to do it."

Madonna was speaking in her Upper West Side apartment, at the start of a week that was shaping up as a media perfect storm. It was the day after she completed the sold-out New York run of her Sticky & Sweet Tour, a few hours before the downtown premiere of her directorial debut, "Filth and Wisdom," and two days before news of her split from Ritchie made tabloid front pages around the world.

In a lavender-walled drawing room overlooking Central Park and filled with photographs of her children, she sat beneath an angular nude by the Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka and discussed her new incarnation as scrappy indie auteur. Madonna, it goes without saying, is a take-charge interviewee: by turns gracious and brisk, easily amused by herself and actually quite funny. Irony is not part of her repertoire, though, nor is self-deprecation. Her sense of humor seems to revolve around an almost gleeful sense of her imperiousness. She speaks in clipped, semiformal cadences and she has a habit of finishing her interviewer's questions.

Madonna's turns in front of the camera -- in hall-of-infamy disasters such as "Shanghai Surprise" and "Swept Away" -- have long been the stuff of punch lines. But the leap to directing is perhaps not such a huge one for the high priestess of the music video. This pop star's great talent -- some would say her greatest -- is as a maker and manipulator of images. Who would deny that she is a visual artist in her own right? In the heyday of MTV, no one could match her flair for iconographic reinvention, whether channeling Marilyn Monroe in the "Material Girl" clip (directed by Mary Lambert) or playing the dominatrix queen of a "Metropolis"-like kingdom in "Express Yourself" ( David Fincher).

When the conversation turned to her music videos, she declared theatrically, "I discovered David Fincher." Madonna has long sought out arty up-and-comers to direct her promos (Mark Romanek, Chris Cunningham, Jonas Akerlund), but she made clear that her involvement did not stop with hiring them. "I take at least 50 percent of the credit for directing and coming up with concepts," she said.

When she decided to write a screenplay, she said, "I would try and pick Guy's brain. He said, 'Just write what you know,' which was simple and good advice. The fact of the matter is that all the work I do is very autobiographical, directly or indirectly, because who do I know better than me?"

"Filth and Wisdom," which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and opens in Los Angeles on Friday, is indeed proudly Madonna-centric, but it looks back on a distant chapter of her life -- you could call it a drama of the Madonna origin myth. Just as her last two albums, "Hard Candy" (2008) and "Confessions on a Dance Floor" (2005), summoned the electro beats of her early-'80s club-going days, this scruffy roommate comedy -- although set in a drably anonymous present-day London -- is a sweet-tempered ode to her bohemian youth in New York.

The aspirations of the film's three friends -- singing, dancing, charity work in Africa -- broadly represent the Madonna career project. At its center, though, is a seemingly un-Madonna-like figure: the Ukrainian-born indie rocker and poet-philosopher Eugene Hutz, ringleader of the Gypsy-punk troupe Gogol Bordello, basically playing a version of himself.

After hearing Hutz's music and seeing him in Liev Schreiber's 2005 film "Everything Is Illuminated," Madonna detected a kinship. "I connect to people who I recognize as having gone through the struggle," she said.

By "struggle" she means the plight of the artist who has not yet found an audience -- a subject that is still dear to her heart. "She wasn't born selling out Madison Square Garden," Hutz said in a separate interview. Or, as she put it, "You must realize that I once was a struggling artist. I'm now a struggling filmmaker."

"Filth and Wisdom" recasts in playful, romantic terms the creative drive that, in Madonna's case, has often registered as careerist calculation (the Material Girl who once titled a tour "Blond Ambition" is herself partly responsible for the image). "Longing is such a charismatic thing," Hutz said. "It speaks to dedication and passion."

Given that Madonna has always been a genius of cool by association, it's no surprise that "Filth and Wisdom" flaunts its aesthetic influences. "I didn't think that I made a movie for the masses of America," she said. "It has more of a European sensibility."

At Berlin, she was mocked by some critics for name-dropping Jean-Luc Godard and Pier Paolo Pasolini in her press kit (it didn't help that both names were misspelled), but the Godard comparison isn't wildly off base, since "Filth," with its jumpy energy and voice-over digressions, samples freely from the French New Wave playbook.

When Madonna talks about movies and cinephilia, she sounds like your typical earnest neophyte director. "I don't have a memory of going to movies," she said. "My father frowned upon it and thought it was a decadent indulgence." But as a dance student at the University of Michigan, she discovered a local art house, and along with it, the French New Wave and the golden age of Italian cinema, from the neo-realism of Rossellini and Visconti to the more in-your-face poetics of Fellini and Pasolini. She once wrote to Fellini -- "a begging letter and a fan letter," asking him to direct the video for her 1993 single "Rain." (He politely declined; she framed his response.)

The low-budget grubbiness of "Filth and Wisdom" is partly a matter of style, but it was also about minimizing expectations (overall, reviews for the film have been lukewarm at best). "I very deliberately kept it small and inexpensive," she said. After the shoot she set up an editing suite in the basement of her London home. "My editors never got away from me," she said, laughing. "I liked to do sneak attacks."

In the past year Madonna has also written and produced a documentary (directed by Nathan Rissman, her former gardener) about the effect of AIDS on children in Malawi, called "I Am Because We Are." Spurred by her experiences visiting the country and adopting her now-3-year-old son, David, the film reflects her belief that documentaries should take a stand rather than simply record reality.

"I got into an argument with someone at the Sundance festival who said I have to make a choice between being an activist and a filmmaker," she said. "That's rubbish. I've been an activist and an artist all my life."

In this election season, those activist flourishes have included banning Sarah Palin from her tour (it's shtick she’s worked into her act) and projecting a montage at her shows juxtaposing Barack Obama and Gandhi and John McCain and Hitler. "I'm allowed to have an opinion," she said. "If Pasolini did it, I can too."

Not only is Madonna a fan of Pasolini, the Italian provocateur with a gift for mingling the sacred and the profane, "Saló," his anti-fascist screed adapted from the Marquis de Sade novel (complete with grueling scenes of humiliation and torture), was once a personal litmus test. "I used to sit people down and say, 'Watch this movie and if you don't like it we can't be friends,' " she said. She used to do the same with a Frida Kahlo painting, "My Birth," a bloody depiction of the artist's emergence into the world.

But that was a younger, more judgmental Madonna. "I'm a little more compassionate and forgiving now," she said.

She might even be looking to forgive and forget her own missteps. Not least for its creator, "Filth and Wisdom" is a fresh start in a less-than-distinguished movie career. "Trying to get into films through acting was a mistake," she said. "Every time I would act in a movie I would get in these horrible arguments with directors about my vision. I would have to surrender to the idea that the director was the one with the vision. And that doesn't fit with my personality."

Madonna arriving at the New York Kabbalah centre with her family. New York City, 24.10.08

Madonna and Hamutsun Serve at Japanese TV show Sukkiri (NTV).

Saturday 25 October 2008

Cleo Hypnotized Electro Remix

Madonna leaving her hotel and going to a concert venue in Montreal this thursday.

Madonna graces the cover of mexican magazine Maximo Evento, this music magazine dedicates its full edition to Madonna´s amazing carrer and as you can see this edition comes in dwo diferent covers, and the magazine is bigger in size. A must have among fans.

Warner Netherlands confirmed that the 3rd single of Hard Candy, Miles Away will receive an official video. The video will be a compilation of footage of Madonna's current tour, premiering on November 17th. Moreover, Madonna has not yet decided about the final tracklisting for the maxi-single, which is set to be in stores on November 24th.

Madonna graces the cover of Vancouver weekly magazine The Georgia Straigth.

Stunt coordinator, dancer and martial artist Stella Angelo show some cool behind the scenes footage of the background video used during Spanish Lesson on the Sticky & Sweet Tour. In the actual video, you can see Stella's silhouette performing a Latino dance while the Spanish words appear at the same time when Madonna sings them.

Friday 24 October 2008

S&S Tour Studio Version

In a new interview with Japanese TV, our lady reveals the possibility of the Sticky & Sweet Tour heading to Japan at the end of the tour. Watch the clip below for moreThe latest interview with Madonna and Hamutsun Serve was broadcasted by Japanese TV show Sukkiri (NTV). Madonna admitted loving Japan and the Japanese culture. She also confessed that she may have been a Japanese samurai in another life. And she is still seeking for the possibility of touring in Japan.

Madonna returns home to New York, via helicopter, after a day out with the children on Long Island (October 21 2008)

Madonna graces the cover of mexican magazine DJ Concept, and this magazine dedicates musto of it´s edition to Madonna, this magazine is concisdered as a collectable.

Thurdsday 23 October 2008

Into The Groove

Sticky & Sweet Backdrop

Madonna features the cover of this week's issue of Dutch magazine "Grazia".

Madonna features the cover of this week's issue of Dutch magazine "Gala".

Wednesday 22 October 2008

THE VIRGIN TOUR

Madonna kept her kids smiling with a trip to the Chelsea Piers Gym in NYC yesterday. Rocco and Lourdes looked like they were having a blast as they practiced tumbling on the mats while Madonna watched with her entourage. It's good to see the kids having so much fun since apparently Madonna wants to keep them in New York, but of course this only fuels rumors that she wants to be close to Alex Rodriguez — especially now that she supposedly wants to have a baby with the baseball star. Wonder what Guy thinks about Rocco's love for his Yankee shirt?

Two new lythographies have surfaced over the "Sticky & Sweet Tour" on Madison Square Garden, this limited edition where available only on the 11 and 12 October concerts limited to 500 copies.

Dos nuevas litografias de la gira "Sticky And Sweet" fueron puestas a la venta en exclusiva en los conciertos en el Madison Square Garden en Nueva York, ambas con un limite de 500 unidades.

Also this amazing "must have" Musschino sunglasses replica are some of the new tour memorabilia.

Shining Bet Remix

Madonna leaving the Kabbalah Centre in New York on Monday.

Trudie Styler has spoken out for the first time about the split between her friends, Madonna and Guy Ritchie.

"I love them both," Trudie told Access Hollywood Monday night at the Whitney Museum of America Art’s Studio Party in celebration with Versace, where her husband, Sting, was performing. "They’re both dear friends of mine and all good things sometimes come to an end."

Trudie and Sting were famously responsible for setting up the now separated couple at a dinner party in 1999. Madonna and Guy married the following year at Skibo Castle in Scotland.

Although a rep for Madonna confirmed last week that the pop star and Guy were divorcing, Trudie, the godmother of Madonna and Guy’s eldest son, Rocco, said she thinks things between the two will end up all right. 

"Obviously they’ve been struggling for a while,” she said. “I think they’re destined to become great pals."

Trudie has been a longtime friend of both Madonna and Guy. She previously served as executive producer on Guy’s movies “Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch.”

Tuesday 21 October 2008

When Madonna married Guy Richie in the Scottish Highlands just before Chrismas 2000, no photographers were allowed in and until today, no pictures have ever been published.

Gwyneth Paltrow is helping her friend Madonna through breakup of her marriage.

The actress told reporters that she's supporting the pop star following Wednesday's announcement that she's separated from filmmaker-husband Guy Ritchie.

"She's a very good friend. I'm supporting her in all the ways that I can. I'm just there for her. I speak to her a lot," Paltrow said as she attended the premiere of her film "Two Lovers" at London's Film Festival.

Like Madonna, Paltrow — who's married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin — lives partly in London.

Madonna and Ritchie, who were married at a Scottish castle in December 2000, have two children: Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 3, who was adopted in Malawi in 2006. Madonna also has a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.

Madonna's publicist said Sunday that details of a divorce settlement are yet to be finalized, dismissing reports that the couple had agreed to a custody arrangement for the couple's children.

The couple own homes in London, Los Angeles and New York, and a 1,200-acre retreat in Wiltshire, England.

Madonna leaving the Kabbalah Centre in New York on Saturday, more photos.

More than two decades ago in a Queens basement, Madonna recorded music that's never before been released. Listen to it in a Daily Beast exclusive by Andrew Morton. Below, Madonna biographer Andrew Morton offers a previously unreleased tape that includes Madonna singing some of the first ever songs she wrote. The tape was made by Ed Gilroy and his brother Dan, Madonna’s ex-boyfriend, who lived with the singer in the basement of a Queens synagogue. The audio below is a combination of Madonna's acceptance speech when she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year, interspersed with her early recordings. Says Morton, "It is sweet and raw. It signifies to me how far she has come, a reminder of the explosion of talent." The lost tapes begins with Madonna and Dan in bed. She’s encouraging him to go running. It then cuts to her speech where Madonna says how she was fortunate to have people like Dan Gilroy who believed in her. Then flashback back 27 years… “I’m going to strangle him,” she joked before breaking out into one of the songs, “Born to be a Dancer.”

Friends close to pop singer Madonna have reportedly nicknamed her director hubby Guy Ritchie – 'Material Guy' – owing to his purported cash demands ahead of their divorce. The 'Material Girl' hit maker had revealed to her friends that money was all that Guy was after and that he wants to bag as much of her hard-earned 320 million pound fortune as much as possible.

"I'm totally devastated that Guy's turned out to be such a gold-digger," the Sun quoted the singer as telling a friend. "I thought we'd been on a spiritual journey together for the past ten years — but obviously I was wrong. He's just after my money. I've worked my ass off for the last 30 years to get what I have, and now this gold-digger wants to take it from me. He keeps upping his demands — he just wants more, and more, and more from me. It's unbelievable."

Close pals of the Queen of Pop further said that Guy, who is reported to have his own 25 million pound fortune, never shelled a penny out of his own pocket during the couple's eight-year-long marriage.


A friend said: "If he's meant to be worth millions, then Madonna's
never seen a penny of it. "He's never contributed towards the running of the family and his son's schooling. Contrary to the image being projected, Madonna's been the rock of the family. She's the one who has the kids with her at all times."

Madonna is second only to Barbra Streisand as the female artist with the most top 10 albums–and Streisand had a two-decade head-start. Madonna’s hit-laden debut album cracked the top 10 in October 1984. Her most recent album, Hard Candy, hit #1 in May. Madonna reached the top 10 with 11 consecutive albums from Like A Prayer in 1989 through American Life in 2003 (discounting a belated single-disk version of Evita). Her tally includes three albums that reflect her checkered Hollywood career-the soundtracks to Who’s That Girl and Evita and an album (I’m Breathless) that was concocted to capitalize on her role in Dick Tracy. Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March.

People seem to be surprised how fast Madonna has moved on with Alex Rodriguez so quickly after her divorce from Guy Ritchie was announced earlier this week. I guess having a secret apartment in NYC since 2007 where she would meet Rodriguez may have something to do with that.

Monday 20 October 2008

The real father of Madonna's adopted son David is worried about the three-year-old's future now that she is getting a divorce.

"I am still a poor farmer with nothing to offer, but maybe he would be better off back with us," says Yohane Banda, who lives in a remote village of Malawi in Africa.

He saw a recent picture of David with Madonna on a crowded street in Athens. The youngster's adopted father Guy Ritchie was not present. "He doesn't look happy in this picture. He looks bewildered. If there is no love in the family, is there any love for him?"

Banda does not intend to intervene in Madonna's marriage crisis but wants to know more about his son's future. "All I wanted was for David to have a better life."

The peasant farmer placed David in the Home of Hope orphanage at seven weeks old after his mother died from childbirth complications. When Madonna and Guy Ritchie adopted David two years ago his father was assured the little boy had a stable family life ahead of him.

But that dream has been turned on its head. David now faces a life spent shuttling across the Atlantic between Madonna and Guy's homes once the divorce comes through.

Banda has since remarried and has a son and a step-daughter. He is sad that he has never heard from Madonna again. "I have never heard from her since the day I agreed to let her adopt David. She has sent no photographs or news. I suppose she just wants him for herself."

Officials of Malawi's ministry of women and child welfare are equally concerned about David's fate. They hope that David's future will be a priority in the divorce proceedings.

Justin Dzonzi, the lawyer who tried to prevent the adoption on behalf of 67 children's rights groups, told Mail on Sunday: "The ideal in adoption cases is for lost parents to be replaced by a set of new parents. David is now losing his new parents, it is indescribably sad for him. There is no provision in Malawi law for us to take any steps now."

Madonna's divorce settlement with her estranged husband Guy Ritchie has yet to be finalised, the singer's publicist says.

The Sun and The Mail on Sunday reported that the two had struck a deal over their finances and how to split their property. The Mail also reported that they had agreed to a custody arrangement for the couple's children.

In a brief e-mail message sent to The Associated Press, Liz Rosenberg said she would not be commenting on media reports that the pop star and her film director husband had reached or were about to agree on how to share the couple's multimillion dollar fortune and custody of their children.

"I will not be commenting on the various reports regarding the divorce or of the settlement which has not been finalised," Rosenberg said. A statement from Guy Ritchie's representatives in London also declined comment.

“My concerts are always my escape. I get onstage and I just forget everything but the music and the audience. The minute the lights go out, I’m back to … well, reality.”

That was Madonna, Monday night, at the after-party celebrating the premiere of her film directorial début, the offbeat and often charming "Filth and Wisdom."

Madonna, beautiful but perilously slender in a modest black frock, did not elaborate on her current “reality.” Perhaps she did not need to.

To lighten the mood, I complimented Madonna on her film, which is often sordid (surprise!), and also (big surprise!) quite uplifting in its feel-good, sing-along ending — a crazy mix of punk and gypsy music. “I love that everything works out, that it’s a happy ending,” I said. Madonna replied with feeling, “Oh, there always has to be a happy ending, right? I’m very strong on a happy ending. And a sense of humor, if I can keep a sense of humor right now, I’ll be OK.”

I looked down and pointed to her shoes. “Well, apparently, you’re keeping some sense of humor. Aren’t your high-heels shaped like revolvers?” Madonna kicked back a shapely leg and popped a calf muscle. “Yes, they are revolvers. And I might be shooting somebody pretty soon.” At that, M’s omnipresent manager, Guy Oseary, led her away to be petted by others — possibly to keep her from any more not-so-veiled remarks.


Even though it is always fashionable to say Madonna is “over,” the Cinema Society’s Andrew Saffir pulled in a sizzling crowd for La Ciccone — Dolce and Gabbana also hosted the night, even though M, that perverse little minx, did not wear D&G.

The paparazzi, barricaded behind the red carpet in front of the Landmark Sunshine Theater down on Houston Street, were in heaven — and vociferously vocal — for the likes of Oliver Stone, basking in good reviews for his compelling “W.” movie, Jessica Alba (she had that post-pregnancy glow), Brooke Shields (ravishing), America Ferrara (looking a million times prettier than at the recent Emmys), Vanessa Williams (like Brooke, eternal in her allure), Jeremy Piven (studly and sexy and on the prowl), Lake Bell (who was a knockout in practically no makeup!), Chace Crawford and Ed Westwick (two “Gossip Girl” hotties), Judith Light (still an advocate of Proactiv Acne medications!). Also Juliette Lewis, Russell Simmons, Alan Cumming, Padma Lakshmi, Shoshanna Lonstein Gruss, Erika Christensen, Fred Schneider, David Blaine, Michael Imperioli, Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts and a gorgeous, radiant Lindsay Lohan.

Lohan was all shapely legs and a long mane of hair, which appears to be going progressively back to her natural and more flattering auburn. She was not with her significant good friend, Samantha Ronson. The paps all but lost their minds as Lohan strutted and posed.

But something fascinating occurred when Madonna arrived, something I’ve never seen before. There was one frantic cry — “She’s here!” — when she stepped onto the red carpet and slowly made her way in, talking to media and posing. And then, a kind of eerie silence descended. The cameras kept flashing (and flashing!) but the standard loud demands that she move closer, look this way, hurry up! were muted. The photogs even stopped fighting and elbowing among themselves. It was almost as if they feared she’d turn and leave if they didn’t give her some respect and breathing space. One grizzled and usually rude paparazzi said, “She’s not like the rest of them … she’s the queen. She’ll give us what we need.”

And she did.


Inside, before the film rolled, Madonna spoke: “You know, sometimes when you are successful in one area — I don’t mean to toot my own horn — other people seem to think you should never try anything else, never reach up or further in your career or life, and I say … f—k what other people think!” (This attitude is reflected in the movie itself, which was written by Madonna and Dan Cadan. It is evident especially in the character played by “Filth and Wisdom’s” fantastical leading man, Eugene Hutz, who is funny, sexy, repulsive and oddly, endearingly vulnerable.)

The audience seemed to enjoy the movie; certainly they circled Madonna afterward and covered her with praise. Then it was off to the Thompson LES Hotel where M and her party were immediately put into a corner banquette. This tiny airless area became clogged with friends, would-be friends, fans and your standard looky-loos. It seemed claustrophobic to the max, but Madonna was as relaxed as a milkmaid in an open field. This has been her life for a quarter century. She probably doesn’t even notice the crush. (Though she’d sure as hell notice if it vanished!)

Everybody who had the nerve got a look at Madonna or threw her a word or two, over the heads of her security. But Lindsay Lohan had the jitters. Twice she said, “I’m going over,” and then changed her mind. “I can’t, I can’t … it’s too much.” In the end, they “chatted briefly.” (Listen, Elizabeth Taylor finally admitted a few years ago she was too awed by Barbra Streisand to ever speak to her! Stars – in so many little ways, just like us.)

Liz Smith

In the United States, Filth and Wisdom is now available for instant viewing on most digital cable service provider's 'On Demand' menu.

Most American digital cable subscribers should find the film available for a 24-hour rental in both SD and HD format along with other movies that are currently available for On Demand viewing.

The film will be available for instant viewing until Tuesday 20 January 2009.

Madonna was seen leaving the Kabbalah Centre in New York on Saturday, wearing shades and a baseball cap it seemed the marriage break-up was taking its toll on the 50-year-old mega-star.

But the pop queen's obsession with maintaining a perfect body has been cited as one of the factors behind her split with Guy Ritchie.

Sunday 19 October 2008