Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren have welcomed a baby girl called Honor Marie Warren.
The Sin City star's representative Brad Cafarelli confirmed to People that Alba gave birth to the tot on Saturday, and not Sunday as previous reports had claimed.
Honor was born at Los Angeles' Cedars Sinai Medical Center, which has also seen the births of Halle Berry’s daughter Nahla, Christina Aguilera’s son Max and Nicole Richie’s daughter Harlow.
It is the first child for the actress and new husband Cash Warren, who wed in a low-key ceremony at Beverly Hills Courthouse last month.
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Summer of the anti-hero
In the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie, Edward Norton utters a phrase that perhaps best epitomizes the big-screen superhero: �When I lose control, it�s very dangerous to be around me.�
No kidding! Anyone who unwittingly turns into a rampaging green monster when they�re ticked off is definitely somebody I�d rather not sit across from at the euchre table. But, as a superhero, shouldn�t we admire The Hulk�s feats and noble qualities instead of fear him?
Well, not necessarily. When a character is reluctant, flawed or devoid of the attributes we associate with altruistic heroism, that character is called an anti-hero and there are few better examples than The Hulk. Whereas traditional heroes brave danger for the sake of others, the character of Bruce Banner merely copes with the gamma-radiation accident that reluctantly turned him into a monstrous rage.
While anti-heroes have been prevalent in cinema since the days of pulp fiction (think Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon), they only continue to increase in popularity. Many critics argue that this advancing popularity is hinged on a cynical recognition that people find naturally-flawed characters more believable.
This summer surely vindicates that notion. In addition to the Incredible Hulk, such movies as Wanted, Hellboy 2, Death Race and even Indiana Jones are relying on the antiheroic traits of their lead characters to attract audiences.
It began with Iron Man, a superhero whose alter-ego is fraught with human frailties. A loner who drinks, smokes and womanizes; by comparison, he makes Superman look like a Quaker.
Vengeance is often an attribute of anti-heroism. This summer, it�s best represented with The Dark Knight. Not only does that film feature the vigilante justice of Batman but it introduces an even more dubious anti-hero in Harvey Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart), a district attorney who transforms into a savage killer. Two-Face is the consummate anti-hero in that, being on the side of justice, he only kills the bad dudes � a morally complex question to be sure.
Then there is Will Smith. In his new action-comedy Hancock, he simply plays a hard-drinking superhero that�s described as �edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood�; he even seems to get jiggy by threatening little kids.
While these characteristics aren�t admirable, we still empathize with anti-heroes because they represent our own flaws and thereby embody the promise that we too can overcome our frailties for the greater good. As for me, well, I�m just relieved my central frailty doesn�t happen to be a bad attitude and green skin.
See Also
Friday, 6 June 2008
‘Umbrella’ Watch 2008: Is Lil Wayne’s ‘Comfortable’ the Song of the Summer?
From now until something displaces last year's "Umbrella" from the top of our iTunes most-played list, Vulture will be judging the contenders for this year's Song of the Summer.
"Comfortable" isn't our favorite track on the recently leaked Carter III (so far that honor belongs to either "Dr. Carter" or "La La"), but on an album half-packed with obvious, hit-ready singles, this Kanye-produced response to Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" (which melodically declares that she, too, can be deposed) has the best shot at "Umbrella"-level ubiquity. In fact, we can't really foresee any future reality in which this won't get played on the radio; Wayne's short, curse-free (!) verses tone down the cleverness and roll back the misogyny, placing the focus squarely on the hook (easily the hippest thing Kenneth "Babyface" Edmunds has been responsible for in a decade and a half). It's got a hummable chorus, a theme everyone can relate to (being sick of Beyoncé), and the advantage of inclusion on what promises to be 2008's most-obsessed-over hip-hop album. Surely this will be at least a little inescapable, right?
"Comfortable" isn't our favorite track on the recently leaked Carter III (so far that honor belongs to either "Dr. Carter" or "La La"), but on an album half-packed with obvious, hit-ready singles, this Kanye-produced response to Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable" (which melodically declares that she, too, can be deposed) has the best shot at "Umbrella"-level ubiquity. In fact, we can't really foresee any future reality in which this won't get played on the radio; Wayne's short, curse-free (!) verses tone down the cleverness and roll back the misogyny, placing the focus squarely on the hook (easily the hippest thing Kenneth "Babyface" Edmunds has been responsible for in a decade and a half). It's got a hummable chorus, a theme everyone can relate to (being sick of Beyoncé), and the advantage of inclusion on what promises to be 2008's most-obsessed-over hip-hop album. Surely this will be at least a little inescapable, right?
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