Tintin Goes Native, Belgium Red Carpet for Spielberg Film

Brussels. Belgium rolled out a royal red carpet on Saturday for Tintin, its most celebrated son, as Steven Spielberg premiered his blockbuster movie in the comic book hero’s home capital.

Posters of the intrepid boy reporter with the quiff and funny pants were plastered across town, and a parade of vintage cars, as portrayed by author Herge in albums set in the 1940s, was organized to coincide with the event.

Spielberg flies in for the first public screening of “The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn,” an Avatar-style movie that will bring the boy hero and his trusty sidekick Snowy to cinemas elsewhere from Wednesday.

Co-produced by “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson, Spielberg’s “Tintin,” in the director’s own words, is billed as a kind of “Indiana Jones for kids.”

Loosely based on several of the 24 Tintin comic albums, the story kicks off in a well-known Brussels antiques market, and city authorities are looking to a tourist bonanza for “the most celebrated of Belgians” — as the posters say.

Tintin and Spielberg, whose project dates back 30 years, headlined papers and TV broadcasts in anticipation of the movie, which gets its red-carpet premiere early afternoon before Spielberg leaps onto a high-speed train to Paris for a second premiere later on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of excitement over the movie,” said Dominique Maricq, an oldtimer at Herge Studios. “We’re curious to see how Hollywood portrays him.”

Welcoming Spielberg’s decision to unveil the 3-D animation in Belgium, Maricq said that from the start Belgian specialists had been “impressed by Spielberg and Jackson’s determination to respect the spirit of Tintin’s world, to not turn him into an American super-hero.”

Even one of the King Albert II’s daughters will be attending the red carpet event.

But among the most avid spectators will be a Belgian retiree who has the distinction of being the sole person ever to have played Tintin on screen — 50 years ago in a French production.

Jean-Pierre Talbot, a round-faced 68-year-old retired schoolteacher with a Tintinesque quiff, became an actor by fluke after being spotted on a beach by a film director as resembling the comic book hero.

“I’m upset and a little emotional,” he said before seeing the Hollywood rendition. “I never acted again but for people here I’ve remained Tintin.”

Created in 1929 by Herge, whose real name was Georges Remi and who was then in his early 20s, Tintin and his colorful and sometimes foul-mouthed companions have achieved cult status for millions worldwide.

Shot using motion capture technology, the Spielberg movie uses real-life actors — Jamie Bell of “Billy Elliot” fame as the fresh-faced hero, Daniel Craig as the villain Red Rackham — to breathe life into its characters.

Jackson is to direct two sequels.
Claire Rosemberg
Agence France-Presse

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Spielberg 'Honored' by War Horse's Royal Premiere

London. Prince William and his wife Catherine on Sunday attended the British premiere of Steven Spielberg's new film War Horse along with 600 serving and ex-serving military personnel and their families.

Spielberg said it was "an honor" to be attending his first royal premiere with the Duke and Duchess as he made his way in the rain down the red carpet at London's Leicester Square.

The US director also praised the couple's "wonderful" gesture to invite soldiers to the event.

"It's a great honour that they've (William and Kate) given up their time and also given up their charity and it's wonderful because it was their idea to bring the veterans here, so they could share this evening," he said.

The movie tells the story of Joey, a horse raised on the English countryside who is torn away from his home -- and stable lad Albert -- and sent to France to the battlefields of World War I.

The story follows Albert on his mission to find his equine partner amid the blood, mud and misery of the Great War.

Spielberg used celluloid film to record the movie, which received a Golden Globe nomination this month ahead of its Christmas Day release in the United States, to give it an old-fashioned feel.

The Hollywood heavyweight said filming the movie was "a beautiful, beautiful experience."

"All these actors, every single one in this movie bonded with Joey," he added. "If I could do it all over again, I would only do it again so I could repeat the experience."

Joey was played by around a dozen horses from all from around the world, notably Spain. Stable boy Albert is played by 21-year-old British actor Jeremy Irvine, who had previously only worked in TV.

The movie, which follows on a hugely successful Broadway and West End show, also features Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Emily Watson and David Thewlis.

Most critics so far have been broadly positive, although some have questioned Spielberg's approach, like the Guardian's newspaper critic Andrew Pulver, who said the director "can't seem to snap out of a now-habitual mode of vitality-erasing, dewy-eyed affectation."

The Duke and Duchess attended in aid of the Foundation of Prince William and Prince Harry, the charity set up by the royal brothers in 2009.

The servicemen and women invited to the premiere came from the Duke's regiments.

Agence France-Presse

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Can Lionel Messi Become the Greatest Football Player of All Time?

Paris. Lionel Messi became only the second man to win three consecutive Ballon d’Or awards on Monday and the question now begging to be asked is: could he become the greatest player of all time?

The 24-year-old from Rosario, Santa Fe is not short of silverware but what really sets him apart is the effervescence of his dribbling, the inventiveness of his team play and the extraordinary regularity of his goalscoring.

In 2011, Messi scored 59 goals in 70 club games for Barcelona. It was a figure bettered only by Cristiano Ronaldo (60), but Messi also contributed 37 assists to the Portuguese’s 21.

Only Michel Platini had previously won the Ballon d’Or for three years running and Messi now belongs to an elite group also featuring Dutch legends Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten to have been honoured with the award on three occasions.

“Messi will be the player to win the most Ballons d’Or in history,” Cruyff predicts.

“He will win five, six, seven. He is incomparable. He’s in a different league.”

Messi has also proven himself capable of rising to the occasion when the sport’s biggest prizes are on the line.

His influence echoed long and loud over the closing stages of last season’s Champions League, after he netted twice in Barca’s semi-final defeat of Ronaldo’s Real Madrid and found the target against Manchester United in the final at Wembley.

Barcelona’s trophy haul in 2011 meant that Messi now has three Champions League winners’ medals and five La Liga crowns to his name.

He has also won the FIFA Club World Cup twice and it is a matter of time until he surpasses Cesar Rodriguez’ record of 235 goals for his club.

In terms of pure ability with a football, Messi bears comparison with any player who has ever played the game, but his one Achilles heel is his inability to reproduce his Barcelona form in the light blue and white stripes of his country.

Messi’s goalscoring record with Argentina is a disappointing 19 goals in 66 games, and he was unable to prevent his country from crashing out in the quarter-finals at both the 2010 World Cup and last year’s Copa America in his homeland.

Traditionalists contend that, for all his astonishing exploits at club level, he cannot be compared to Pele or his feted countryman Diego Maradona until he has left his imprint on a major international tournament.

His next opportunity will arrive at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when -- at the age of 26 -- he should be in prime position to showcase his gifts on the game’s most prestigious stage.

“I still have this dream and that is to be a world champion and lift the Copa America with the national side,” said Messi recently.

“And I know I’ll do it, I’m convinced I will.”

Away from the sport, Messi cuts a far more bashful figure than his great rival Ronaldo, but that has not prevented him from amassing a huge personal fortune through several lucrative endorsements, notably with Adidas.

He was named one of Time magazine’s people of 2011 and is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, but it is through his dazzling dribbling, his carefully weighted passing and his artful finishing that he has earned his global fame.

Typically deployed by Barca coach Pep Guardiola in a roving forward role, he roams the pitch with seemingly boyish abandon and few things hush a stadium more quickly than the sight of Messi embarking on one of his gambolling runs towards goal.

“There are no words left to describe him -- he is interplanetary,” said Real Zaragoza coach Jose Aurelio Gay in March 2010.

“We could have beaten Barcelona but we could never have beaten Leo Messi. If we had scored four, he would have scored 12.”

The terrifying thought for Barcelona’s rivals is that he is still getting better.

Agence France-Presse

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Tom Cruise: I always dreamt of making movies

Tom Cruise made a mark for himself as an actor and filmmaker in Hollywood and the star confesses that he dreamt of making films ever since he was four years old.

His next production venture, Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, in which he plays the lead role, is ready to hit screens worldwide on December 21.

"I think it's about the 20th film I have produced. I love cinema, I love movies and my whole life. Since when I was four years old, I remember I dreamt of making movies, so I started producing," said the 49-year-old actor.

Cruise turned producer with Mission: Impossible and continued with movies like Vanilla Sky, The Last Samurai and Mission Impossible III.

"Mission: Impossible was the film I produced and I came up with the idea of making the series into movies because, as a child, I saw the series and I thought it would make a great film because there wasn't anything like that. And you know it's fun hiring directors, writers and being involved in casting and story," he added.

Ghost Protocol also features Paula Patton, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Michael Nyqvist and Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor.

Meanwhile, Cruise is very clear about continuing with the franchise.

"There are lots of stories and lots of places to go," said the actor, who has enjoyed 30 years in the industry.

Cruise made his acting debut with the 1981 movie Endless Love and he has appeared in 30-odd films. His next release will be Rock of Ages directed by Adam Shankman.

Don't miss it
Tom Cruise makes his first official appearance at a press conference for Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol at the Burj Khalifa at 11am this morning. tabloid! will be live tweeting from the conference. catch the full story — with interviews with all the film’s stars, plus a review, in tomorrow ’s tabloid!

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Three's a trend: Look-alike marriages

Steven Tyler and Erin Brady

Who are they? Erin, 38, is a model, and do we really need to introduce camp-as-a-row-of-tents Aerosmith rocker, Steven Tyler, 68, who's also American Idol's kookiest judge? His one-liners were mind-boggling. Our fave? "Confucius says crowded elevators smell differently to midgets." We have no idea either.
Relationship status They met in 2006 - came to Dubai to party at Cavalli Club in 2009 - and got engaged last month.
Key similarity point Big pouts, oval faces, luscious locks - they both look like Janice Dickinson. Dude looks like a lady.
Fashion tip Overdo it. All the time.

Nikki Reed and Paul McDonald

Who are they? Nikki, 23, plays vampire Rosalie Hale in Twilight and Paul, 27, was a 2011 finalist on American Idol (which starts again next week!)
Relationship status They met at the premiere of Little Red Riding Hood last March (Nikki blushed when she first met Paul), became engaged in June and got married in October in Malibu. Divorced by next March? We hope not.
Key similarity points Take away Paul's beard and the bottom half of their faces are identical: their wide smiles are both the shape of upside down 'taches.
Beauty tip How do they keep their pearlies so bright? Maybe they rub rare Icelandic snow on their teeth? Or just brush after every meal (and have constant whitening treatments)? 

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Al Kass Int’l Cup U-17: Vasco, Kashima Antlers win

Action from the Group C game between Aspire International and Brazilian side Vasco da Gama in the ongoing Al Kass International Cup U-17 tournament held at the Aspire ground in Doha yesterday. Vasco won 3-1 to go top of the group, which also include Dutch side Ajax Amsterdam. In the day’s other match, Japan’s Kashima Antlers stunned Italy’s Juventus 3-1 to join Aspire Qatar at the top of Group A on three points. Today, the Antlers will play UAE’s Al Jazira while Egypt’s Al Ahly take on Barcelona.

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Pietersen changes sides in India’s IPL

England’s batting star Kevin Pietersen has left Deccan Chargers to play for Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League this year, his new franchise said yesterday.

Pietersen, who turned out for Bangalore Royal Challengers in 2009 and 2010, had signed up with the Hyderabad-based Chargers last year, but could not play for them following a hernia surgery.

The exciting right-hander was picked up by the Virender Sehwag-captained Delhi Daredevils during the transfer window for the fifth edition to be played from April 4 to May 27.

“We are pleased to add Kevin to our line-up,” said T.A. Sekhar, the cricket head of GMR Sports, owners of the Delhi Daredevils franchise.

“He brings rich experience and an explosive quality to our batting and can be a more than handy off-spinner as well.

“We are sure that Kevin will help us to be very competitive this season and the Delhi Daredevils fans will enjoy this addition.”

Pietersen, preparing for England’s Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates later this month, said he was relishing the opportunity of playing in the same team as Sehwag.

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