LOS ANGELES - MARCH 19: Musician Prince performs onstage at the 36th Annual NAACP Image Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on March 19, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
In April, the reunited Guns N’ Roses are playing six shows, two in Las Vegas, two in Mexico, and two at Coachella. A full-blown tour may be in the works — when a fan bumped into Axl into Atlanta, the hard-partying singer allegedly said, “We’re gonna do a whole tour” — but nothing has been announced yet. Besides, Axl doesn’t have the time to see if he can still threaten to fight Bob Guccione, Jr. at Spin — he’s too busy reportedly auditioning for AC/DC.
On his radio show, Atlanta-based DJ Jason Bailey said a “very, very good source” told him “Axl was meeting with [AC/DC].” It’s “all but a done deal that Axl will front AC/DC for the 10 remaining shows” on their tour, after doctors advised Brian Johnson to stop performing live, or risk “total hearing loss.”
“From what I was told, this was all kind of new inside information to me, Angus is a very black and white guy. He’s like, Brian, for health reasons, can’t continue fronting the band. He was supposed to retire after the last tour, so they wanted to continue going out on the road and continue making music, so if you can’t do it, we appreciate your services, but the show must go on. They’re in town, they were auditioning people for the job, and then they flew Axl in, again, this is from my source.”
If Axl Rose gets a hall pass to cheat on Guns N’ Roses with AC/DC, it’s only fair that Slash is allowed to do the same with Aerosmith. Duff McKagan’s been sleeping with Loaded for years, but no one seems to notice
Programme Name: Goodbye Television Centre - TX: n/a - Episode: n/a (No. n/a) - Embargoed for publication until: n/a - Picture Shows: Sir Terry Wogan - (C) BBC - Photographer: Guy Levy
Marilyn Manson is no stranger to the world of acting, recently starring in shows like Sons of Anarchy and Once Upon a Time. Up next, like fellow singer Lady Gaga before him, Manson joins the cast of a small screen horror favorite. Read on!
Manson has been cast in Season 3 of WGN’s Salem, which began production this week. He will guest star as Thomas Dinley, the town’s barber/surgeon to whom residents go for anything “from a shave and a haircut to being leeched, bled, sliced open or sewn up.”
Manson previously collaborated with Tyler Bates on Salem‘s opening theme song, though he has never before appeared on-screen in the series.
Set in the volatile world of 17th century Massachusetts, Salem explores what really fueled the town’s infamous witch trials and dares to uncover the dark, supernatural truth hiding behind the veil of that infamous period in American history. Season 3 will pit the power-hungry devil against Mary Sibley.
The new season premieres this coming April.
Alien Next Door is a new book, created by artist Joey Spiotto (a.k.a. “Joebot“), that reimagines a creepy Xenomorph from the Alien film series as a friendly martian. The book, published by Titan Books, is currently available to purchase online from Amazon.
Joey will be doing a book signing in Los Angeles at Gallery1988 (East) on November 7th, during his upcoming Storytime 2 art show. The Storytime 2 exhibit will feature 50 new pieces by Spiotto that are inspired by his favorite films, music, TV shows, and video games.
via io9
Wilder made his film debut with a minor role in 1967's Bonnie and Clyde. He took on his first major role in The Producers, playing Leo Bloom against Zero Mostel's Max Bialystock. The film was a box office flop and received mixed reviews, but Wilder earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He quickly became an in-demand commodity in Hollywood, taking parts in several comedies, including the idiosyncratic title character inWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
Willy Wonka brought to life the weird and wild Roald Dahl book of the same name, and it thoroughly established Gene Wilder as a leading man who could hold his own in any comedic situation. As the enigmatic Wonka, Wilder chewed the scenery right into a Golden Glove nomination for best actor and became known to a legion of young film-goers.
Despite Wilder's personal success, though, none of his films of this period met with much commercial success. He finally broke that streak with a role in Woody Allen's 1972 film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask). He then took a last-minute role in Mel Brooks' 1974 comedy Blazing Saddles, a decision that would help define his career.
Blazing Saddles was a western like no other, and it set out to offend every viewer equally. Now a cult classic, the movie set Wilder on a path through his other classic films, including four with Richard Pryor: Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) and Another You (1991).
Stir Crazy, in which Wilder and Pryor played prison inmates, was a notable hit, and like Blazing Saddles before it, the film helped to cement Wilder's reputation as a comedy legend.
Wilder began writing and starring in more films in 1974, starting with Young Frankenstein (in which he played Dr. Frederick Frankenstein). Like Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein set out to turn an established genre, this time horror, on its head. Starring Wilder as the infamous Dr. Frankenstein's grandson, the movie is unrelenting in its jokes and sight gags, and audiences have been connecting with it since the day it hit theaters.
Wilder also wrote, directed and starred in 1975's The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother and 1977's The World's Greatest Lover. WhileYoung Frankenstein was a hit and achieved a huge cult following, the others failed to gain positive critical response and were commercially unsuccessful.
There are few places more dazzling in the Robot Restaurant located in Shinjuku, Japan. We use the term 'restaurant' very loosely because it's more like a variety show, that you just happen to be dining at.
A visual feast for the senses, where the every which way you look is a kaleidoscope of colourful lights and relentless noise, where drummers are armed with glow sticks, cyber strippers fling themselves around neon poles and life-sizes robots go head-to-head in boxing matches.
But the fun doesn't end there, we haven't even mentioned the flying Terrordactyls, giant sharks, bigger Anacondas and the dance off between robots starring a bevy of scantily clad women, naturally.
So if you're in Japan and literally want to have your brain overloaded to the point where it's nearly melting, make sure you head to the Robot Restaurant, it's an experience you won't forget anytime soon.
It’s hard to imagine an experience more perfectly suited to Tokyo, and one less likely to exist anywhere else, than Shinjuku’s Robot Restaurant. With a stage show that stretches the definition of terms like “elaborate” and “bizarre,” the restaurant has quickly become one of the city’s most popular venues.
We were dazzled by the Robot Restaurant from the moment we spotted it. The entire facade was illuminated in blinding LED lights, and towering lady robots with giant bouncing breasts were roving about the foyer. A band inspired by Daft Punk was rocking out behind the robots, and everything was flashing and loud and over-the-top. Sensory overload? Definitely. And we hadn’t even picked up our tickets yet. I suspected that the performance was going to be more like sensory assault.
Having arrived well in advance of the evening show, we passed the extra time in the restaurant’s upstairs lounge. You’ll want to do the same, because the lounge is unbelievable. It’s as though the world’s most outrageous interior designers were given crayons, glue sticks, glitter and mescalin, and told to go crazy. Everything is mirrored and shining. On every table, there’s a robot dinosaur. On the stage, a lady-band clad in metallic bikinis and angel wings is playing soft lounge music. The drinks are cheap and the vibe couldn’t be better. You and the people around you are in a place unlike anywhere any of you have ever been, and you’re all excited and giddy and talkative. It’s a bonding experience.
Now, however, it’s showtime. You and your new friends head into the underground theater, take your seats, and await the spectacle. Soon, the lights go out, the speakers switch on, and giant vehicles appear on either side of the narrow stage, ridden by ladies dressed as Amazonian war princesses from the year 3000. They’re pounding on drums, rotating around the stage, screaming and dancing to the music, and you’re just… confused. What the hell is happening? It’s hilarious, pointless, impressive and overwhelming in equal measure.
And that’s just Act One! By the end of the show, which stretches out across seven or eight acts, you’ll have perhaps seen boxing robots. Women riding huge mechanical cows. An alien-eating shark robot. Huge motorcycles and airplanes with pole-dancing lady passengers. A tank, I think. There was definitely a freedom-fighting panda. The shows change frequently, so you might see other things entirely, things which no sane human would ever be able to predict.
We had fun from the moment we entered the Robot Restaurant, and I’m not sure my brain has yet been able to process everything we saw. Almost as much as the show, we enjoyed watching the spectators sitting across from us. Without exception, they had their eyes wide open and huge smiles plastered across their faces. I’m sure it’s how we looked, too.
Link: Make your Robot Restaurant Reservations Here
An even blacker comedic twist on the Phibes pictures, Theater of Blood rates as Price’s cinematic triumph, and one that encapsulates his entire oeuvre. This occasion he’s failed Shakespearean actor Edward Lionheart who, believed dead, elaborately murders the stuffy British reviewers responsible for his worst notices. Victoria catalogues how much Theater of Blood meant to dear Dad: “When you get to: a) fall in love with your future wife [Coral Browne] in a graveyard; b) electrocute her while playing a gay hairdresser; c) kill off all the critics; d) work with Diana Rigg and so many other great British actors; and e) recite Shakespearean verse while doing all of the above—how could it not be one of my father’s favorite films?”
We could easily list another 13 petrifying Price pictures on this list, so if you have the desire to learn more about the man and his movies, go to www.vincentprice.com, check out Shout Factory’s definitive two volume Vincent Price Collection on disc and pick up Victoria’s wonderful book Vincent Price: A Daughter’s Biography, as well as Lucy Chase Williams’ The Complete Films of Vincent Price.
Madame Tussauds wax museum in London has launched a new highly detailed Star Wars exhibit that features figures from all six current films. A making-of video shows the meticulous work that went into creating the exhibit, and a video of the exhibit’s VIP launch party shows the excitement of fans.
photos via Madame Tussauds
[tweetmeme]Tonight’s edition of “Dark Wave” — the Sunday night celebration of the “darker side of classic alternative” on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave — featured music by The Sisters of Mercy, This Mortal Coil, Dif Juz, Revolting Cocks, Shriekback, Nash the Slash, Sex Gang Children, The Sound, Siouxsie and the Banshees, PiL, Coil and more.
“Dark Wave,” hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs founder/editor Matt Sebastian, airs every Sunday from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave (Channel 33). The most recent two episodes also are available as part of Sirius XM’s new On Demand service for online subscribers.
And if you’re not a subscriber, check out a free 30-day trial online.
Finally, if you’ve got requests for future shows, drop ’em in the comments below.
Playlist: “Dark Wave,” hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Matt Sebastian — 4/26/15
This Mortal Coil, “Drugs” Killing Joke, “A New Day” Front 242, “Circling Overhead” Peter Murphy, “Final Solution” The Cure, “Accuracy” The Chameleons, “Inside Out” Anne Clark, “Heaven” Douglas J. McCarthy, “Move On” Lords of Acid, “I Sit on Acid” Christian Death, “Dogs” Iron Curtain, “Shadow” Moev, “Yeah, Whatever” (12-Inch Version) The Smiths, “Headmaster Ritual” Abecedarians, “Misery of Cities”
The Jesus and Mary Chain, “Cherry Came Too” Throwing Muses, “Saving Grace” That Petrol Emotion, “It’s a Good Thing” Love and Rockets, “Waiting for the Flood” Leonard Cohen, “Everybody Knows” Dif Juz, “No Motion” Echo and the Bunnymen, “With a Hip” Coil, “The Snow (Answers Come in Dreams II)” Depeche Mode, “To Have and To Hold” Public Image Ltd., “The Order of Death” Revolting Cocks, “Crackin’ Up” Ministry, “Revenge” Nash the Slash, “Swing-Shift” Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Song From the Edge of the World” Flesh For Lulu, “Cat Burglar”
Joy Division, “The Only Mistake” Sex Gang Children, “Guy Wonder” Xmal Deutschland, “Incubus Succubus II” The Sisters of Mercy, “Black Planet” Passion Puppets, “Like Dust” The Psychedelic Furs, “Sister Europe” (Peel Session) The Mission, “Stay With Me” Bauhaus, “Fear of Dub” Gary Numan, “A Dream of Siam” Skinny Puppy, “Stairs and Flowers” The Sound, “Sense of Purpose” Shriekback, “Underwaterboys” Balam and the Angel, “On the Run” The Creatures, “Around the World”
Company street adress 12
State 1234
precious@ourdomain.com
Phone: (550) 2343-1234
Fax: (550) 2343-123
