Happy Anniversary!

Due to my computer being stubborn, I wasn't able to post this til now.

So I duly apologise to Shane and Gillian (who I'm sure are devastated about the belatedness of my congratulations) and wish them a very happy 3rd anniversary. For yesterday.

Three years and one day ago, Shane Filan wed Gillian Walsh in Ballintubber Abbey in Mayo.

Mark and Kian were his groomsmen, Jodi upstaged the bride in a red dress, it rained, Gillian arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, there was a laser light/fireworks show and Shane mimed their favourite song. The end.

So to Shane and Gillian: Happy Anniversary. May this year be as good as the last one. And if last year was shit, may this one be better.

PS. Sorry I defiled your wedding photos that time by putting Mark and Kevin's faces over yours.

Marie Antoinette

Director/writer/famous daughter Sofia Coppola’s watchword seems to be ‘slow’. Previous films The Virgin Suicides and Lost In Translation have been slowburn dramas with strangely flat story arcs and no particular climax.

But while these two films have found their strengths in strong character development and emphasis on detail, Marie Antoinette is less successful.

And there’s not even a beheading.

Kirsten Dunst’s French Queen spends her time gambling, eating cake, and having indiscriminate sex with attractive Swedes. Which is all well and good – her husband (Jason Schwartzmann) isn’t particularly interested in doing the nasty with her, and she doesn’t have the first clue about ruling a country.

Then some stuff happens. She wears towering wigs, goes through the entire French supply of shoes, eats more cake, dances to The Cure, faces the requisite angry-mob-with-flaming-pitchforks. Oh yeah, and pops out a couple of kids along the way.

There are some highlights. Rose Byrne’s party-girl is a delight, as is Rip Torn as the lecherous king. And every now and then Kirsten Dunst shows some real insight into her character’s emotions... and her backside and nipples. Plus there’s some funny stuff about sex. Which is good. If only the contemporary winks and nudges hadn’t worked so much better in A Knight’s Tale.

You can’t help feeling that Coppola has missed the point… and along with her, so have we.

The Queen

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, seems to be as far elevated above our consciousnesses as her position is elevated above our own. An aging woman commanding a decomposing system of rule, she is the mother of a cowardly weasel of a prince and the wife of an adulterous geriatric.

Yet director Stephen Frear and writer Peter Morgan’s version of The Queen is imbued with such heart, depth and – dare I say it – wit, that it is impossible not to find virtue in her.

Primarily chronicling the week following the death of Princess Diana, the film presents a side of the titular Queen (Helen Mirren) previously unseen by such lowly commoners as ourselves.

Through her strained dealings with new Prime Minister Tony Blair and her interactions with family (Sylvia Syms is both charming and affecting as the Queen Mother) and the press, we are able to see the trials involved in maintaining such stoic dignity. Mirren’s performance is subdued and nuanced, creating ranges of heartfelt emotion with the simple twitch of an eyebrow or the fall of a foot.

The performance of Michael Sheen as Tony Blair is equally commendable, his uncanny resemblance to the Prime Minister only the starting point of a triumphant and sensitive performance.

While there is no way to verify the accuracy of the events, the film stands on its own as an affecting story of dignity and restraint in the face of accusation, propaganda, and the potential wickedness of politics, not to mention the feeling of helplessness when one realises one may not be as understanding of her world as one once thought.

Another strength of the film is its refusal to take sides. Every character has his or her own reasons for acting, and their own benefits to gain and advantages to lose. Tony Blair is no less a person than Her Majesty, simply the flipside of a spinning coin, and those caught in the wake of the events are drawn with sensitivity, regardless of which way they would like the coin to fall.

Its power draws from its unrelenting intent to present the story of a lady in crisis, her world thrown into sudden turmoil, and is, overwhelmingly, a success.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Brian McFadden on Aussie TV

Brian will be appearing on Channel Nine's Carols By Candlelight, which airs at 8pm tomorrow night.

Delta will also appear, but they will be performing seperately (as far as I know).

Anyone who misses the performance will be able to download the video from The Committed, probably from December 26.

Marvin's New Baby

Mark and Kevin have adopted a boxer puppy. Her name is Saffy. I'm going to assume that this is a reference to Ab Fab and then laugh at them for being such wonderfully camp queers.

Everybody say 'awwwwwww...'

New Single!

Total Eclipse Of The Heart will be released on February 5, 2007.

It will be released on 2 discs. You can order them both from HMV.co.uk. Search for 'Westlife' and it should be listed.

I'll post again when I know more about b-sides and cover art.

Westlife talk to SonyBMG Australia

Check out SonyBMG Australia's Westlife interview here. The video goes for about 15 and a half minutes, and the boys discuss their Guinness world records, the new album, their next musical direction, Delta Goodrem, the tour, breaking Australia, the fans, the Ashes, Australia Idol, and - believe it or not - Mark's love of monkeys.

Not to mention, Mark seems to have very 'active' fingers throughout.

Georgina Pregnant With Twins!

Nicky confirmed it last night on Jensen, a Dutch television show.

Louis' Rumour Mill

The Walsh-man's up to his old tricks again, believe it or not. This time it's a plane accident that could have gone deadly, which is very frightening, though the article does leave me wondering:

• why is the name of the airline not mentioned?
• if a plane malfunction so serious occurred (regardless of who was on the plane), why did we hear nothing in the Australia press?
• was Shane the only one on the plane? Why? Is it because he has a young daughter and that makes it more dramatic?
• is this a different accident to the other one they had when they were leaving Sydney (on the same day) and the hydraulics died? Was that the plane Nicky, Kian and Mark were on, seeing as Shane was by himself?
• does Louis' have some kind of bad karma that attracts plane accidents to his acts?
• why does Paul Martin always seem to write the more untraceable articles about Louis' acts?
• what shows? Why wasn't I told of this? And what do they mean, 'sold out'?

Hmmm...

Ponder these questions and more while you read the article.


SHANE'S 200MPH AIRPORT TERROR
Westlife star tells of fear for life after aircraft fails
By Paul Martin

WESTLIFE'S Shane Filan revealed last night that he felt lucky to be alive after a 320kmh plane nightmare.

The 27-year-old singer's flight from Sydney was abandoned seconds before take-off when the aircraft suffered a sudden mechanical failure.

The Sligo star and other passengers had to spend the night at an airport hotel while the incident was investigated.

He told the Daily Mirror: "We were flying down the runway and then suddenly the plane was shaking like mad.

"I gripped on to the seat and then there was a huge crunching and screeching noise.

"The pilot slammed the breaks on so hard that it actually veered off the runway on to the grass.

"I closed my eyes and waited for the worst to happen. I was thinking, 'Oh my God, I don't want to die like this'."

Shane, who with wife Gillian has a one-year-old daughter Nicole, was returning home from a two-week promotional stint in Australia where the band had played a string of sell-out shows.

He added: "We have to fly all the time with Westlife but I'm dreading getting on a plane now.

The experience really scared me and I had to take some sleeping tablets to get through the flight the next day."

"I'm chilling out with my family for a few days now and hopefully I won't be too nervous next time I get on a plane."

Before this incident Shane was famed for his love of flying.

A year ago he bought a private helicopter for his Sligo mansion.

He has taken flying lessons and is on the verge of qualifying for a full licence.

Ronan Keating once hired hypnotist Paul McKenna to get him over a fear of flying after an air scare while in Boyzone.

He said: "I have tried everything from hypnosis to self-help books but I still dread getting into a plane."

New DVD

Westlife's new DVD of the Face To Face Tour 2006, live from Wembley was released in Australia on the 2nd of December. Everyone go out and buy a copy.

I've already got two copies.