Pop Buzz UK

Stories about the Beckhams are like London buses, there’s none for ages, and then 3 come along at once. One is about David Beckham, one is about Victoria, and one is about that shadow on their marriage, Rebecca Loos who David allegedly had an affair with a few years ago.

We start with David, who has apparently agreed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for children’s charity UNICEF. The 19,340ft African mountain is now on Becks agenda after U2 front man Bono is reported to have badgered him in to climbing it to raise money.

No date has been set for the climb, with Becks having commitments with LA Galaxy and insurance issues needing to be worked out. It’s thought the climb will take six days, and Beckham will have to be at the height of fitness to even attempt the feat.

Meanwhile, proving their life isn’t all about football and charity, Victoria Beckham has revealed that she likes to get drunk all the time.

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Last July I told you about JK Rowling’s plans for a possible eighth book in the hugely popular Harry Potter series.

Now before anyone gets their hopes up, we’re not talking a new fictional work to carry on the series where The Deathly Hallows left off, but rather an encyclopaedia full of fascinating facts and undiscovered details about the Harry Potter universe and the characters which reside within it.

Unfortunately it seems that someone has beaten her to it, and in an attempt to gain fame and fortune, is trying to publish an unofficial reference book about everything Harry Potter.

Writer Steve Vander Ark and publisher RDR Books have plans to release an encyclopaedia of their own, which is obviously being fought with legal action by Rowling. She said:

“I am very frustrated that a former fan has tried to co-opt my work for financial gain. I believe that RDR’s book constitutes a Harry Potter rip-off of the type I have spent years trying to prevent,”

“Both I, as the creator of this world, and fans of Harry Potter would be exploited by its publication.

“I feel intensely protective, firstly of the literary world I spent so long creating, and secondly, of the fans who bought my books in such large numbers.”

And of course the money that you’d lose if this book came out without your permission. Rowling is perfectly right though, because this book, titled Harry Potter Lexicon, would be using her work, and the characters she spent so long giving life to, without any guarantees of accuracy.

The book was due for release last November but publication was delayed after Rowling sought an injunction. A legal case will now follow, and a decision made as to whether the book is lawful or not.

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I’m as much a fan of the Carry On series of films as the next man, having grown up with the repeats of them every Sunday evening on television, but I’m not sure how I feel about the possible return of the series, and who is being lined up to appear in it.

It seems that a new film is being planned, called ‘Carry On To The Next Round’, and comedian Russell Brand, along with Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding are just two of the big names being lined up to star in it.

For those who don’t know, the Carry On films were bawdy, rude, and slapstick movies which basically revolved around trying to fit as much sexual innuendo in to a 90 minute film as possible.

The series did very well during the 1960s and 1970s, with the ever present cast of people like Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor. Although they were low budget parodies, us Brits used to love them… simple times.

The 1980s brought with it a whole new generation of people, and with Margaret Thatcher leading the country, and yuppies ruining it, the clamour for cheap and cheerful laughs came to an end, and so did the series.

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Daniel Radcliffe is the star of Harry Potter, no hang on, he IS Harry Potter, and so is one of the most eligible bachelors in the UK right now.

In fact, Prince William himself is probably the only young man more in demand. So there’ll be cheers around the world to the news that Radcliffe has split up from long term girlfriend Laura O’Toole.

Radcliffe is 18, and worth about £20 million at least, with the promise of a further £25 million from the final two (or could it be three) Harry Potter films, so as well as being a good looking guy, he’s minted in to the bargain. Quite a catch then.

Unfortunately, it seems him and O’Toole just couldn’t make it work between them.

The couple met during the West End production of Equus at the beginning of last year. Radcliffe was playing the lead role of Alan Strang, while O’Toole was the understudy for the part of Alan’s girlfriend in the play.

Despite Laura being four years older than Radcliffe at 22, or maybe because of it, they fell for each other quickly, and started seeing each other. The play ended in May, but the pair were spotted enjoying each others company for at least six months afterwards.

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Philip Pullman is the best selling author of His Dark Materials, the trilogy of which The Golden Compass is the first book.

That has obviously been turned in to a big budget movie, which opened in the last week over in America, as well as the UK.

Newsround, a British children’s television news programme spoke to him about it, and during the interview he revealed his love for the new version of Doctor Who, the main writer Russell T. Davies, and David Tennant.

Even more interestingly, he expressed an interest in maybe writing an episode of the cult show for the BBC:

“[Penning a story for the show] sounds like enormous fun.”

“Since Russell T. Davies came back and started having a hand in it, [it] has been wonderful. I’ve really enjoyed it. David Tennant is terrific. Billie Piper was wonderful as Rose.”

He’s right of course, the show is brilliant, especially the new incarnation, with some brilliant writing, amazing special effects, and acting talents which were never even got close to on the original show.

I would love to see Pullman write an episode, as he’s an awesome writer, and his style would fit perfectly with the show. I just hope Davies saw the interview, or is even maybe reading this, and gets in touch with him to discuss the possibility.

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WARNING: Contains Major Plot Spoilers…

My girlfriend and I went to see The Golden Compass last night and as fans of the book came away slightly disappointed, partly by the amount of changes made from the book, and partly by the fudged ending.

I previewed the film way back in June, when I was super excited about the prospect of seeing one of my favourite books ever be brought to life on the big screen. My review is slightly different…

The casting is pretty much spot on, with Nicole Kidman being perfect for Mrs Coulter, and Ian McKellen doing a fine job as Iorek Byrnison.

Some of the special effects are stunning, with the armoured bears particularly standing out. The whole Iorek part of the story, especially his fight to become king of Svalbard, was the highlight of the film for me, and stopped me walking out in disgust.

The daemons were also well realised, being exactly as I’d imagined them in the books. It must have taken some incredibly detailed work to get so many daemons on screen at one time.

Some of the alterations to the text I could understand, while some I could see no rhyme nor reason for. The ordering of the story is altered substantially, with Iorek becoming king BEFORE Lyra visits Bolvangor.

To people who haven’t read the book, this won’t matter a jot, and the film will probably leave them content. For fans of the book however, there are some glaring omissions, the biggest being the soppy ending.

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First of all I didn’t even know this film existed until a few days ago… and I call myself a Sci-fi fan? Pah. But it does, it looks absolutely brilliant, and it’s just been announced that one of my favourite comedy actors Simon Pegg has been cast as the young Scotty (he of the “beam ‘em up Scotty” fame).

The film, which is due to start production early in November, and is scheduled for a Christmas day 2008 release. Although it’s Star Trek XI, being as it is the eleventh full-length film to be made from the long running franchise, it’s actually just called ‘Star Trek’, no more and no less.

The film will cover the early adventures of Captain Kirk and Spock, showing what happened even before Star Trek: The Original Series. This is why the actors playing our beloved characters are so young. In fact Matt Damon was rumoured to be playing the young Captain Kirk for a while before producer J.J. Abrams informed him he was too old…. thank God.

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This week has been terrible for me personally as I’ve had a stinking cold, or as I like to call it ‘Man Flu’. Yes I know it’s the same thing but it makes me sound more ill than I am, and elicits more sympathy from my girlfriend.

The rest of the country has been dominated by talk of a possible general election, which now isn’t going to happen. And I really don’t care either way, as whoever gets in always turns out to be as bad as the last shower of shit who were in before. Power corrupts.

Picture Of The Week: Gordon Brown sticks his finger up at the voters

Debating: Whether Paparazzi photographers should be licensed or not

Gossiping: Pete Doherty’s alleged suicide attempt over Kate Moss

Reading: ‘Making Money’ by Discworld author Terry Pratchett

Playing: Surprise surprise it’s Halo 3 on the Xbox 360

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Ooh look at that, we even have a picture now! 451 has changed their rules for posting and so the weekly review has been changed a bit. I hope you like the new changes, please let me know by commenting!

Picture Of The Week: Is This Madeleine McCann Or Not?

Debating: Jose Mourinho’s Sudden Departure From Chelsea

Gossiping: David And Victoria Beckham Arriving Back In London

Reading: ‘Wintersmith’ by Terry Pratchett: Part Of The Discworld Series

Playing: ‘John Woo Presents Stranglehold’ On The Xbox 360 & Ps3

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Debating: The continuing saga of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance

Gossiping: Britney Spears’ continuing slide towards career oblivion

Reading: ‘Atonement’ by Ian McEwan ahead of seeing the film

Playing: Super Paper Mario on the Nintendo Wii

Viewing: The MOBO Awards in London on Wednesday

Watching: Still ‘Run, Fatboy, Run’ directed by David Schwimmer

Listening: The new James Blunt album ‘All The Lost Souls’

Buying: ‘Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix’ DVD

Searching: ‘International Talk Like A Pirate Day’ Information

Learning: Zsa Zsa Gabor is related to Paris Hilton

Madeleine McCann, Britney Spears, Atonement, Ian McEwan, Super Paper Mario, Nintendo Wii, MOBO Awards, Amy Winehouse, Run Fatboy Run, David Schwimmer, James Blunt, All The Lost Souls, Harry Potter, Order Of The Phoenix, Talk Like A Pirate Day, Pirate, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Paris Hilton

Keira Knightley is reportedly not going to appear in any more blockbuster type big budget movies. The Pirates Of The Caribbean star wants to instead focus on smaller, but more challenging roles.

The Atonement actress said:

“I can’t imagine ever doing another one. I had five months off from Pirates during the summer last year, when I made Silk and Atonement, and it was so great - I want to be able to explore emotions in smaller projects.”

“That’s not to say I won’t suddenly read a big Hollywood blockbuster and go ‘oooh, that might be good…’ But I haven’t yet.”

I love Keira, I think she’s a great actress and absolutely gorgeous to boot. You may have even noticed she’s in the Pop Buzz UK header alongside Pirates co-star and fellow Brit Orlando Bloom. I wonder what her true reasons for this decision are.

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Debating: The Twin Towers 9/11 Attacks 6 Years Ago

Gossiping: OJ Simpson being arrested and charged over armed robbery

Reading: ‘Jamie At Home’ by Jamie Oliver

Playing: Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘08 on all formats

Viewing: The New Cadburys Advert - Phil Collins = Gorilla

Watching: Run, Fatboy, Run starring Simon Pegg

Listening: Leona Lewis’ New Single ‘Bleeding Love’

Buying: Tickets To The Led Zeppelin One Off Charity Concert

Searching: Footage Of Britney Spears Atrocious VMAs Performance

Learning: Older siblings stunt growth

9/11, Twin Towers, Terrorism, OJ Simpson, Jamie Oliver, Tiger Woods, Phil Collins, Cadburys, Simon Pegg, Run Fatboy Run, Leona Lewis, Led Zeppelin, Britney Spears

Debating: The decision to make Madeleine McCann’s parents suspects

Gossiping: Paul McCartney dating Renee Zellweger

Reading: ‘The Last Testament’ by Sam Bourne

Playing: Medal Of Honor: Airborne on the Ps3 & Xbox 360

Viewing: Klaxons winning the Mercury Music Prize 2007

Watching: ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ starring Matt Damon

Listening: Kate Nash’ brilliant new song ‘Mouthwash’

Buying: Rome: The Complete 2nd Series

Searching: Performances of Luciano Pavarotti after his death

Learning: Rock stars are twice as likely to die prematurely than us

Madeleine McCann, Paul McCartney, Renee Zellweger, Sam Bourne, Medal Of Honor Airborne, Ps3, Xbox 360, Klaxons, Mercury Music Prize, Bourne Ultimatum, Matt Damon, Kate Nash, Rome, HBO, Pavarotti, UK, British

Debating: The British army withdrawing from Iraq

Reading: ‘Mercy’ by Jodi Picoult

Playing: Bioshock on the PC & Xbox 360

Viewing: Brian Belo winning the Final Of Big Brother 8

Watching: The adult comedy ‘Knocked Up’

Listening: Still the abysmal Sean Kingston… Why?!?

Buying: FHM Magazine Just For Hayden Panettiere Pictures

Searching: News On Actor Owen Wilson after suicide bid

Anticipating: ‘Superbad’ opening in UK Cinemas

Learning: Prison officers are on average assaulted eight times a day

British Army, Iraq, Basra, Jodi Picoult, Bioshock, PC, Xbox 360, Brian Belo, Big Brother, Knocked Up, Sean Kingston, Hayden Panettiere, Owen Wilson, Superbad

Debating: Gun Crime in the UK after Rhys Jones Death

Reading: ‘The Afghan’ by Frederick Forsyth

Playing: ‘Wii Play’ for the Nintendo Wii (Now widely available)

Viewing: The new series of The X Factor, now in its 2nd week

Watching: The brilliant Bourne Ultimatum with Matt Damon

Listening: Sean Kingston even though he’s shit

Buying: Newton Faulkner’s début ‘Hand Built By Robots’

Searching: Controversial British Film ‘9 Songs’

Anticipating: The Blackpool Illuminations being switched on

Learning: Chickens can be diagnosed with depression

UK, British, Britain, Guns, Gun Crime, Rhys Jones, Frederick Forsyth, Wii Play, Nintendo Wii, X Factor, Bourne Ultimatum, Matt Damon, Sean Kingston, Newton Faulkner, 9 Songs, Blackpool