'Family Guy' MacFarlane adds his voice to 'Simpsons' gig

  LOS ANGELES: Seth MacFarlane may already have three hit animated television shows, one hit raunchy comedy movie and the coveted Oscars hosting job for next year, but the comedian is adding another notch on his resume: guest voicing on "The Simpsons."
"Family Guy" creator MacFarlane will appear in the season premiere of the 25th season of "The Simpsons" in 2013, Fox Television, home to both shows, said on Friday.
MacFarlane will play a married man who pursues matriarch Marge Simpson after the two meet on a website and form a bond over their love of a "Downton Abbey-esque" show called "Upton Rectory," show producer Al Jean told Entertainment Weekly.
The episode, entitled "Dangers on a Train," will air in fall 2013.
MacFarlane's guest spot is a crossover for the actor, writer and director, who was inspired by "The Simpsons" when creating "Family Guy," an animated comedy following the dysfunctional Griffin family headed by dim-witted patriarch Peter, who bears similarities to Homer Simpson.
Both shows air on Fox, and the news comes after MacFarlane featured Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, in a recent "Family Guy" episode.
MacFarlane, 39, also created and voices characters for animated comedies "American Dad" and "The Cleveland Show," and he had a box-office hit with R-rated comedy "Ted" this past summer.
He will be hosting the Oscars in February.
"The Simpsons" first aired in 1989 and is now the longest-running U.S. sitcom in history and is broadcast in more than 100 countries.
The show has seen a diverse range of guest stars across all spectrums of pop culture including Bill Clinton, Buzz Aldrin, Tony Blair, Julian Assange and Lady Gaga. (Reuters)
REUTERS

Childhood dreams give birth to giant robot

TOKYO: Like many Japanese, Kogoro Kurata grew up watching futuristic robots in movies and animation, wishing that he could bring them to life and pilot one himself. Unlike most other Japanese, he has actually done it. His 4-tonne, 4-meter (13 feet) tall Kuratas robot is a grey behemoth with a built-in pilot's seat and hand-held controller that allows an operator to flex its massive arms, move it up and down and drive it at a speed of up to 10 kph (6 mph). "The robots we saw in our generation were always big and always had people riding them, and I don't think they have much meaning in the real world," said Kurata, a 39-year-old artist. "But it really was my dream to ride in one of them, and I also think it's one kind of Japanese culture. I kept thinking that it's something that Japanese had to do." His prototype robot comes equipped with an operating system that also allows remote control from an iPhone as well as optional "guns" that shoot plastic bottles or BB pellets and are powered by a lock-and-load system fired by the pilot's smile. The robot, which took two years to pull together from concept to construction, also comes with a range of customized options from paint scheme to cup holders. It isn't cheap. The sticker price for the most basic model alone is around 110 million yen ($1.3 million). Kurata said while he has received thousands of inquiries about buying a robot, he's also received a large number of cancellations and declined to specify how many people have actually bought one. But that's not so important. "By my building this, I hope that it'll sort of be the trailblazer for people who can do more than myself to make different things," he said. "They might be able to make a society that uses robots in a way I can't even imagine. I expect more from the implications of building it than from the robot itself." REUTERS

Childhood dreams give birth to giant robot

 
COTONOU: Tomb raiders have dug up more than 100 graves at a cemetery in Benin since Saturday for what authorities suspect is a black-market trade in human organs and skulls for voodoo ritual fetishes.
The incident is the most serious case of grave-robbing in the West African state, the world capital of voodoo where most of the country's 9 million residents practice a benign form of the official religion.
Authorities in Dangbo, a village 10 km (6 miles) from the capital Porto-Novo, began an investigation after a mason working at the cemetery said he spotted several masked men digging up the graves, from which organs and skulls were removed.
"The desecration of graves is about money in this region," said Joseph Afaton, director of the cemetery. "It is for sacrifices, or for bewitching."
Body parts of humans and rare animals are prized by some people in central Africa for their supposed supernatural powers, and are used in occult ceremonies. Traffickers often obtain human remains from grave robbers, but a recent spate of killings has also been linked to the gruesome trade.
Authorities in Cameroon in September arrested five people suspected of trafficking human body parts after they were discovered at a checkpoint carrying a severed human head. (Reuters)

REUTERS

Kim Kardashian brings out fans, protestors, cops in Bahrain

 
MANAMA: Television celebrity Kim Kardashian brought out screaming fans, angry Muslim hardliners and police throwing stun grenades when she visited Bahrain to launch a milkshake franchise, witnesses said.
About 100 Sunni Salafists demonstrated with banners outside The Walk Bahrain, an upmarket mall in the capital Manama, after some MPs tried to block the visit over what they called her "bad reputation", according to a local newspaper.
Thousands of fans, who had paid up to 500 Bahrain dinars ($1,360) a ticket, broke into hysterical screams as the 32-year-old celebrity launched the Millions of Milkshakes franchise inside the mall.
Witnesses said police dispersed the demonstrators with stun grenades as the inauguration proceeded inside. There were no reports of casualties.
Kardashian stirred controversy even before she arrived in Bahrain from Kuwait, where she opened another store last week.
Hardline Sunni Muslim MPs presented a motion to parliament calling her "an actress with an extremely bad reputation", according to Bahrain's English language Gulf Daily News.
The assembly did not vote on the motion, the newspaper said.
Many Kardashian fans tweeted their displeasure, saying the "MPs should focus their time on solving key political, economic and social issues", the newspaper reported.
Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, is trying to overcome nearly two years of unrest among its majority Shi'ite Muslims demanding political reforms and equality with the Sunni Muslims who rule the kingdom. (Reuters)

REUTERS

Aamir Khan returns with ‘Talaash’

 
MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan returns to the big screen Friday in his first commercial film release for three years, taking up the role of a mustachioed police inspector in a Mumbai crime thriller.
In "Talaash" (Search), promoted as a darker tale than the industry's typical mix of glamour, action and comedy, Khan stars alongside popular actress Kareena Kapoor as a prostitute and Rani Mukerji as his wife.
Producer-actor Khan has given little away about the eagerly-anticipated film, which is set in the underbelly of India's entertainment capital and has been described by the star as an "intense suspense drama".
"I want the suspense to be there, that's part of the promotions. Sometimes being quiet also might promote it," Khan said.
"I found it fulfilling... the suspense part of it. But at its heart, it's a story about someone coming to terms with loss... it is a very emotional story at its core," Khan told the Press Trust of India ahead of the release.
The star reportedly had to learn to swim for scenes in "Talaash" -- a film that "proves once again this actor's films are not to be skipped and completely worth the wait", said a review in the DNA newspaper.
Directed by Reema Kagti and co-produced by Khan, "Talaash" marks the 47-year-old's first appearance in a movie since art film "Dhobi Ghat" (also known as "Mumbai Diaries") was released in 2010, directed by his wife Kiran Rao.
Khan's last commercial hit was "3 Idiots" in 2009, a coming-of-age comedy about three engineering students which became the highest grossing Bollywood movie of all time.
His 2001 film "Lagaan" (Land Tax) became the third Hindi-language movie to be Oscar-nominated for best foreign language film.
This year Khan launched a 13-episode Sunday morning television show that won plaudits for tackling some of India's darkest social problems, drawing comparisons between him and US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.

AFP

Cameron tips Hobbit to spark film tech revolution

WELLINGTON: Oscar-winning director James Cameron on Wednesday predicted Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" would do for high-definition film-making what his own hit "Avatar" did for 3D movies. Jackson has filmed "The Hobbit" at a groundbreaking 48 frames a second rather than the standard 24, a move that drew mixed critical reactions when a preview was screened in Las Vegas in April. But Cameron, a surprise guest at the premiere of the first instalment of "The Hobbit" in Wellington on Wednesday, said he faced similar scepticism pioneering modern 3D techniques on "Avatar", now the highest grossing film of all time. He said Jackson's latest movie was destined to be a hit, making it easier for him (Cameron) to employ 48 frames a second which eliminated the "strobing" seen in standard films. "If there is acceptance of 48, then that will pave the way for Avatar (sequels) to take advantage of it," Cameron told reporters. "We charged out ahead on 3D with Avatar, now Peter's doing it with the Hobbit. It takes that kind of bold move to make change." Jackson this week likened the higher shooting rate to the introduction of compact discs, saying it was the way of the future for film. "I personally think it's fantastic, but it's different," he told Radio New Zealand. "I remember when CDs came in and there was a nostalgic feeling that the sound of a needle on vinyl was what music should sound like -- suddenly you've got this pristine clarity and a lot of people were nay-saying it." Cameron said Jackson was a singular film-maker who had turned the New Zealand film industry into a global force. "He's elevated the industry to a global level, where people from all over the world -- artists, film-makers, special effects technicians and so on -- come here to work, that's unique," he said. "It's really only happened a couple of times before, in Los Angeles and maybe London... it's the first time it's been done by a single film-maker." Cameron, who owns a farm in New Zealand, said he was on the property working on scripts for sequels to "Avatar", complaining: "Unfortunately it's too damn distracting because it's so beautiful". He said he hoped to have the scripts completed by February and begin filming by the end of next year. "I want to get these scripts nailed down, I don't want to be writing the movie in post production," the director said. "We kind of did that on the first picture, I ended up cutting out a lot of scenes and so on and I don't want to do that again." Cameron, originally from Canada, said he was enjoying the relaxed lifestyle in New Zealand. AFP

Second "Hobbit" movie gets new name, July 2014 release for third

 
LOS ANGELES: The third film in the upcoming "Hobbit" movie trilogy will be released worldwide in July 2014, the movie studios behind the venture said on Friday, and the second film now has a new name.
The third film -- "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" -- will open in movie theaters on July 18, 2014 - just seven months after the newly titled second film "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" arrives on December 13, 2013. The second film originally carried the "There and Back Again" title.
The first film, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" starring British actor Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, has already been set for a December 14, 2012 opening.
Director Peter Jackson, Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, and MGM announced in July that the 3D-film adaptation of the classic novel by J.R.R. Tolkien would be split into three films rather than the two originally envisaged.
Warner Bros. executives said they believed the third movie would play well in the summer - the most lucrative period for the movie industry and the launch pad for action-packed blockbusters.
"We wanted to have a shorter gap between the second and third films of ‘The Hobbit' trilogy. Opening in July affords us not only the perfect summer tentpole, but fans will have less time to wait for the finale of this epic adventure," Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. said in a statement.
"The Hobbit" is the prequel to Tolkien's epic fantasy "The Lord of the Rings" which Jackson made into three Oscar-winning films about 10 years ago. (Reuters)

REUTERS